Transfer Window Review, Mike Dean Comments & #EPL #ARSCHE Preview
Villa brushed aside on monday and the Boiz are back. The the Gunners are in action this Sunday for a clash with the blue lads from West London for another London derby. Before we dive into all that though, let’s recap some of Arsenal’s business across transfer deadline day where we did nothing, talk about the good, the bad, and ugly from Andrea Berta and how maybe or maybe we didn’t strengthen the Arsenal squad. I’ll also look at Martinelli’s transfer, Jesus, Ethan, when we’re going to Dortmund, and, of course, we’ll talk about Trossard and how his deal is looking so good compared to all round business as an all deal over the transfer window. Did we strengthen the squad? I’d say, in a way, yes we did. But could we have done better? Absolutely.
Lets talk about Mike Dean and his recent comments on his time referring the game. He alluded to playing a game of don't blow the whistle unless.....xyz (fill in the blanks) in his head while officiating matches, Can you beat that? Do we remember Arsene Wenger getting fined £40k for his spat with the retired ref, with an irate Wenger blasting him that he wasn't honest? Mike Dean asked if Wenger was calling him a cheat, and the Boss retorted that he maintained what he said. Well, with the truth out now, I hope the FA is refunding Wenger his quids for the wrongful misconduct charge. Apparently Wenger was right or so it seems.
Deadline Day Review
The transfer deadline day came to an end the first of September and Arsenal did one, two, three, four, five, six. Absolutely zilch transfer business except, of course, sending Ethan Nwaneri down to Germany on loan. I think the deal got us around five million i think, maybe more. But it’s a good one for Ethan if you ask me. However, I think Arsenal could have done better, right? Keeping the young man and giving him some playing time. For some reason, Mikel Arteta is still not ready to trust him. I don’t know why, but I think even giving him some chance or some playing time, Ethan would have come good. I remember Arteta saying something about Ethan being the most lethal finisher in the club that he had seen, and that’s saying a lot considering the likes of Trossard. He may make him with Merino. Yes, I mentioned Mikel Merino because he is not really seen as a striker, but the young man can also finish a chance when laid on the plate for him. I wish Ethan all the best.
Now let’s quickly look at some of the things that we did a little bit of in the transfer window in general. We bought in Bruno Guimaraes to strengthen the midfield and strengthen he did, trust me. At £75 million, that is sound business in this current inflated transfer market. The Arsenal board touted bringing in a marquee signing. We failed to do that, an F for us if you wanna score that. That’s a red flag. Basically it means, on the left side, we let go of Trossard at £17 million. Not bad, Martinelli for about £55–60 million plus add-ons, which is good business, NOT great in this transfer market. Brazil international, played at the World Cup, also a Premier League champion. Come on.
If the likes of Tonali, yeah, I know he’s not a winger, Savio for £80 mill, eighty mil. Come on. Gabriel Martinelli is worth way more than that. Now talk of some of you agreeing to, uh, you know, Saudi Arabia for around £60–65 mil as well. Well, it is what it is. We sold him for that amount. We got the money on that side.
Next, of course, we sold Gabriel Jesus to Barcelona for, what, a measly seven million, eight million pounds. I thought Arsenal was holding out for about £17 million. Well, again, that’s that. So those are some of the not-so-cool deals that Arsenal did to round up the transfer window.
In terms of coming in, we’ve mentioned Bruno Guimaraes, of course. We also have Tzolis, who has looked really, really good. Although I stumbled at him showing some kind of welcome to the Premier League and how you need to realise how tough it can be when you’re playing in this league. Madueke was not wasting time sparing emails and he didn’t have a very good game against Lille. But up until that point, he has always been chipping in the numbers and I feel that he’s still going to do that over the season. The downside is easily on your left wing, left-sided area that we brought in. Whether Arteta’s plan is to play Eze there, it remains to be seen. But that is what is in terms of that.
Overall, a transfer window that was okay, but not great. Did we strengthen? Yes, we did. However, could we have done way better? We could have. We missed out on the marquee left winger. We didn’t get in an attacker. We were doddling over Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez till, you know, time ran out. Vinicius Junior basically used Arsenal to get Madrid to pay off the money for him. He was the winner in that whole debacle and saga. Arsenal, well, as much as we showed the intent, which you may laud us for, were left empty. Don’t even mention Morgan Rogers for £117 mill, good as he may be... I just ain’t buying that.
All in all, we did strengthen. Yes, we did! Could it have been better? Of course, way much better. We still never got the marquee signing that we were looking for and we are kinda short in terms of numbers on the left-hand side, even though we know Eze could do a job there. He showed his quality against Aston Villa.
I guess, It is what it is, we mooooveeee
The transfer window is shut, so no more silly transfers and crazy amounts of money that we are just banding around chasing average... bang average players. I’m sorry to say, but that’s just what the transfer window has gone mad. Of course, the World Cup in the summer didn’t help things as well.
But then again, I like the fact that Arsenal refused to pay over the odds for players who were good, but not necessarily great. I feel we got it right with Bruno Guimaraes. I also feel we got it right with not paying £117 mil for Morgan Rogers, even though he’s been looking very lively and tasty for Chelsea.
Chelsea Preview
It’s another London derby here. Arsenal versus Chelsea. It feels like this match is coming too early in the season. Chelsea has a new manager in Xabi Alonso, and he has gotten them off to a flying start. I think they have two wins in two right now. Scored lots of goals, but also conceded quite a number.The attack is looking really, really rapid and very, very good. Cole Palmer seems like he’s a new player after having an injury-plagued season last year and also resting by not getting being picked for the England World Cup Squad . The young man seems to be coming out with something to prove, and that is always good for a player when a player goes through a low point or a low light, and they just bounce back. Morgan Rogers, of course, didn’t come to Arsenal. He went to Chelsea and he’s already gotten off to a great start to the goal. I think an assist already, I’m not really sure. Joao Pedro, we all know how good he is in front of goal. He’s been a very, very good reliable attacker for Chelsea right from the get-go. But while people are talking about Chelsea’s attack, I think one part where most people have not really talked about is what they have done to actually solidify or make themselves stronger at the back in some area that has been weak, and that’s their goalkeeping position.
Arsenal has more dynamism and more athleticism in their midfield. The gunners have more calm in their midfield compared to Chelsea. Chelsea really need to reign themselves in terms of the temperament when it comes to how they are able to keep themselves cool when they are under the crush, and they will likely be under the crush. The two games that they played, the last one against Brighton, Brighton actually had more possession of the ball. Chelsea, however, were more efficient because of their very rapid attack, and that’s something Arsenal will have to look out for on the counter. These guys can be very deadly. However, at the back, they can also leak those goals.
Arsenal’s attack might not be as strong as that of Chelsea, but it can do some damage. Kai Havertz loves to score against his former team. I’m also expecting Viktor Gyokeres, who hasn’t played a single minute this season since the start of the EPL, to get some game time because, of course, in midweek we have a Champions League match welcoming Real Madrid, ready to go. And that’s why I feel like he’s gonna play in this game. I also feel that he could be used as a battering ram against that Chelsea defence. That’s very tricky. Lacroix is good. I know that Lacroix is good. But what about the other people in the backline? I know Chelsea has lost Cucurella to Real Madrid. So maybe Saka gets some joy against Gusto on that left side, on that back left side of the Chelsea defence. If our midfield is able to dominate Chelsea, we should be able to get a lot of opportunities to hurt them and get a couple of goals and probably put that game to bed in the seven, eight minutes. One thing I’ll say is that even if we concede a goal, we shouldn’t panic. Chelsea is going to give off chances. And once they do, we must be ready and willing to kill them off or take those chances. Kai Havertz didn’t have his shooting boots on against Villa. I hope that is going to be rectified in this match because, again, I know he loves scoring against his former club. While Viktor Gyokeres is also due some game time, I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe we’re trying to get him to be part of the swap deal for Atletico Madrid, but, well, the window is closed. And that’s not happening.
It’s time to bring the BIG Vic back.
Saka, of course, obviously picks himself. Maybe he is a start over Tzolis. I really don’t know. But if I were to pick the matchday squad, this is what my team sheet is gonna look like. I’ll have Ben White at right back, although we hear timber is back in training. We need to watch the load on Benny Blanco. Of course, Konsa comes in because of Mosquera being a doubt in terms of fitness, Big Gaby picks himself. And on the left back, maybe it’s time to give Hincapie some gametime. See my full list below. Its in the middle of the park that Mikel has to make a big call, Bruno for Skelly? I would slightly agree if it came down to that, MLS has been good, I'd even say really good but Bruno is just class. Pairing him with Rice would give us not only a robust midfield but one that's punchy and dynamic going forward. It would also help Odegaard stay further up where he can really do serious damage for the gunners.
It’s going to be quite an interesting matchup between two intelligent managers who have won league titles and domestic trophies between them. The plot twist of them being friends is another one that makes it tasty, trying to predict how this swings. An Arsenal win, sign me up. A draw or a loss for Chelsea, see what I did there. Let’s all note that Chelsea are title contenders, if not favorite's, and City is already on a roll with 3W in 3... although it was only Coventry aye! Anyway, that’s it from us here at #Anaijagunner, dont forget to like, share and subscribe plus enjoy the game wherever you are.. #COYG
