It’s like you have all the pieces but you’ve got them mixed up man, you can’t see forest for the trees.
Our defense is ok, it’s been solidified but that’s at the expense of our attacking play. We all get that and we agree on that yes.
This isn’t so much an Arteta issue as it is a personnel issue. Objectively it’s clear that Arteta wants more expansive and creative play,- he wouldn’t have brought in your favourite 10 in world football in Odegaard otherwise.
Now look at AMN the only way to get use out of him was to play him at left wing back with Tierney guarding him. That’s not ideal you don’t want players who need babysat. You want hybrids, players who can do the job of two men.
Players like Bellerin, AMN, Elneny, Xhaka, Holding etc can’t attack and defend so Arteta is logically asking them to defend first and foremost. Bring in more players like Partey, Saka, Gabriel, Kounde, Bissouma who don’t have pea sized brains and can actually function as both spear and shield and then the collective creative play will get better from defense to attack.
Guardiola plays the best attacking football in the league hands down and he does that by spending ludicrous money on defenders every damn window. A strong foundation paves the way for a strong creative spine. There’s no point having a good attack if the midfield can’t get them the ball with quick turn overs and the same goes for the defense to midfield transition.
This deal just makes so much sense for us, and it is totally doable. If the board step up and put down the money, I’m convinced we get him to come. He would instantly upgrade our attack and become our talisman. He would be like the missing key, the whole front four would just go up a level.
A lot of this is hear say and speculation. I think Arteta’s highly protective of Gabriel which to me is a good thing, he’s the best defender we have but he’s young and raw. I don’t think anyone can dispute that Gabriel is the first name on the defensive team sheet and that in itself is a problem at the club that I think Arteta recognizes.
Looking to buy someone like Kounde and build a defense around him and Gabriel is music to my ears, if it costs a small fortune so be it.
There’s absolutely no reason we don’t address our creative concerns either. People love to throw shade at Arteta but he’s known where the limitations on the squad are, it’s whether or not the board back him to fill them at this point.
If he was to available Bizzy why wouldn’t he go elsewhere?
City are looking at him, Liverpool are looking for an inverted winger like Mane and Salah, United too(looks like they’ll be going for Sancho). Even Spurs may enter the race.
Given our needs is it wise to go all out on him, spending ~100m just on a transfer fee, and then give him 4-5 year contract on mad wages(300-400k pw I reckon).
We’re never getting Grealish. I am so fucked off tonight. I mean this is Kante and Suarez all over again! Assuming of course that we made a bid and refused to increase it to match Villa’s I mean…if we weren’t interested and didn’t make a bid then fair enough…but if we decided not to increase offer I am really fucked off with the club.
I literally had to go out and cut my lawn aggressively earler to try to take my mind of this, and as that didn’t work I’ve just had to go out to get beer and ice cream to try and make myself feel better.
If Man City want him desperately they’ll get him but, if Josh Kroenke isn’t as big a liar as Arteta, then this is going to be a big window for us so we should at least try and get him.
The advantage we have over them is that Grealish will be a guaranteed starter for us but at Man City he’ll be rotated.
We are desperate for this level of signing and the board owe the supporters after such a poor season, which is completely down to their ineptness and lack of ambition.
If by “a big window’ the board mean a Championship player, they will have lied to us yet again.
Nothing new there then.
Our best bet to sign Grealish was when he was a Championship player.
Maybe we would have stood a chance with the European Super League.
It’s a pipedream now, our best hope now is he stays at Villa and they somehow fail to improve the next couple of years. They do seem very ambitious though so I reckon that won’t be the case.
