The shitter spine of BASTARD / Xhaka / Lacazette - it’s appalling that only BASTARD has gone. And Bellerin is another who has regressed badly into a truly average RB.
This team will be 6th - 8th placed with average shitters like this clogging up the first team spots.
Another season of absolutely zero improvement coming up.
People don’t seem too fussed but to me I think RB is about as important as it gets for us. I don’t have a problem with the rest of the back 5 but this one sticks out as the weak link.
Look at the impact of Tierney on the left vs when he’s not there, as well as Liverpool and City’s fullbacks impact on their games in recent years. A fullback is a big part of your attacking game these days if you want to dominate, especially when you have a RW like Pepe who wants to spend all his time on the inside.
Chambers, Bellerin and Cedric aren’t at the standard needed here and I don’t think any of them really have the complete trust of the manager. I think that’s partly why “overload the left” was a thing. If we make one significant signing I’d pick this to be it (although I have zero names to offer for who it’d be).
K wasn’t a big advocate of us buying a RB, but if we’re to persist with the high line we used against Chelsea then definitely, RB should be a priority.
You can’t play a high line without your defenders being quick enough to recover at the back when you’re hit on the counter.
AMN could help with that but his situation is unclear and he hasn’t featured there yet in preseason.
Cedric is probably the fastest out of Chambers and Bellerin nowadays but not sure if that’s enough.
I personally think it’s been a pretty good window.
Most of the powder has been kept dry for the next (hopefully) competent team to use.
Exactly.
Arteta, Edu and the board knew how poor we were last season and they also knew we had to strengthen several positions with real quality players, while getting rid of loads of high earning, low performing dross.
They are the people who promised a big and exciting window,
They also knew the situation regarding clubs not having much money.
So they are either very stupid or they are liars.
I agree, but we are desperate for real quality like Maddison and Martinez, who are game changers.
I would even say buying just Martinez and a GK and getting rid of Lacazette would be acceptable.
Then in the next window sort out a decent AM and CM.
We need a marquee player and someone who will give the club a lift.
But only buying a first team CB is nowhere near good enough, especially as it looks like Xhaka is going to stay, which is the opposite of a new signing.
So Maddison or Martinez, preferably both, and a GK, is the bare minimum, considering the promises made by Arteta and the board, but I doubt either will happen.
Forget about the incoming players or the lack of it, why are we not able to move players that are clearly surplus to requirements. Am talking about players like Nelson, Nketiah, AMN, Kolasinac, Torreira, Runnarsson.
Then we have players like Bellerin, Willian, Xhaka, Lacazette that we want to sell, but can’t seem to, for whatever reason.
I don’t know if it’s because Arteta/Edu are not entirely clear on what or who they want or is it because we aren’t getting great offers for some of the players or what. All I know is, there are around 7 - 8 players that shouldn’t be here next season, immaterial of whether or not we buy.
Lack of buyers across Europe.
Only four Premier League teams have made significant money (+£10m) from transfers to European clubs this summer:
Man City - Angelino to Leipzig
Chelsea - Tomori to Milan
Tottenham - Juan Foyth to Villarreal
Wolves - Rui Patricio to Roma
For three of those transfers, a loan preceded the purchase. What’s the significance of that? Three clubs knew what they were buying (there may have been an obligation to buy). The fourth club has just got into bed with Mourinho and Mendes.
It’s true there are a lack of buyers for our players but that’s no excuse for us not to be able to get the players we need.
If anything it should be should be easier for us to et what we need because it is a buyers market
Not having a transfer strategy and lack of negotiating skills that are letting us down.
It doesn’t help that the people making these decisions are totally incompetent.
Where’s Maddison?
More strikers and wide men in that list than creators.
On the injury table, which makes sense how injury prone he is
Øne name stands out 
It’s yet another example of how disastrously this squad has been assembled that we have three right backs and not a single one is even close to the level now, meaning if we’re to get one we’d have to try and sell two of these players potentially. I think the biggest barrier to us dealing with that issue this window is simply that we have too many of them now. The Cedric signing in particular has really made this situation more complicated than it should’ve been.
Imagine having .1 more creative passes than the maestro that is Werner.
I’m not even down on Odegaard, wouldn’t mind having him at the club but not sure he’s the perfect no. 10 for us, I always feel like his game would be better suited to a double CM pivot with 1 DM.
This is up there with the Runarsson transfer as one of the strangest signings we’ve made.
He was injured when we got him, we already had Bellerin, Chambers and AMN, who could all play RB and we give him a five year contract on around 70k a week.
Like you say, we’ve got four players that can play at RB and none of them are more than adequate.
I don’t see that, he does his best work in the hole
I totally forgot about AMN and that makes it even worse, because he was doing alright as far as I’m concerned when he was at RB for us and we easily could’ve held off on the Cedric signing. So as you say, it isn’t three players it’s actually four on the books and we don’t see any of them as being the answer there long term. It’s just awful planning.
His numbers just aren’t there for me yet, not to say he won’t get more clinical and decisive, of course he will I just think that we need need someone here and now who can produce and put our patience into ESR who for me is the better prospect.
ESR and Odegaard can potentially play together with someone like Lokonga or Partey behind.