For me…Rice and Havertz are a significant upgrade on Partey and Xhaka.
Rice is a more natural DM than Partey and is able to cover significantly more ground than Partey ever could. He has been our best player this season so far (IMO).
Havertz has more attacking threat than Xhaka. I think by the end of his first season his stats will be better than Xhaka’s last year (which was his best season at Arsenal).
I agree that Raya is not a significant upgrade. But we needed a second GK. The price isn’t that much for a GK of his quality. I still love Ramsdale but he did have several lapses last season which cost us. Maybe there is a genuine concern there.
I think the prices we paid for all 3 were fair and represented excellent business.
Crikey, how many seasons did it take for Xhaka to become a really good player for us? Admittedly his international form suggested it was a problem with his role at Arsenal.
Xhaka’s first season for Arsenal 16/17 - Played 46, 4 goals, 3 assists, 12 yellows, 2 red.
Havertz first half season for Arsenal 23/24 - Played 28, 5 goals, 1 assist, 6 yellows.
This might be true, but we’re comparing a signing from another league, playing in a flailing Wenger team as a DM, to a forward moving across london, joining title contenders and playing an attacking role.
Comparing last season’s Xhaka to this season’s Havertz is a much fairer comparison.
We need Havertz to be pushing us on. I think he’s been decent overall.
Midfield is a bigger problem and the flow to our attack has got worse, that’s why our attackers don’t have as much space as last season.
You REALLY think that after seeing everything you saw this season?
That maybe SHOULD have been the case, but no way that actually happened on the pitch.
Rice is a defensive/ball winning upgrade on Partey, and covers more space. But no way he’s been on Partey’s last season level in terms of playmaking, breaking through the oppponent lines, controling the game with his passing, dribbling through the press.
Also, in no alternative universe has Havertz been an upgrade on Xhaka. Neither in terms of build up, ball distribution, just making the right passes, being open in right positions so we can move up… Nor in terms of end product obviously.
Our midfield, our build up, ball progression, flow etc has regressed massively compared to the last season.
This is a good video, which shows every opportunity our defence and midfield had to play through the lines and instead played it safe by going back or sideways.
Harrowing, watching this back - I remember cursing at the TV during each of these moves.
Why should you use the midfield to progress play when you have a progressive ballplaying GK lol
Arteta really took the effort of upgrading a really solid GK with someone who’s only really a slight upgrade in some elements while allowing the midfield to regress so much in the ballplaying depertment…
But now we have Raya to hoof long balls to Havertz just as Cech did to Drogba, or Howard to Fellaini…
And we want Toney to get another target too.
Maybe we should get Crouch and Kevin Davies too?
Yes I do. I went to virtually every home match last season and have been to every home match so far this season. The dynamic in midfield has changed this season, because Rice is a difference and more defensive player than Partey, but that has given us the freedom to play two No.8s and still be able to dominate possession, allowing us to maintain the press high up in the opposition third. The recent home match against Brighton is a good example of this.
I’ve watched Rice the most this season, and the amount of ground he covers is immense. I don’t dispute that Partey is good at progressing the ball, but we have upgraded in that position with Rice in terms of defensive cover and we have freed up a position for another creative/attacking player.
Xhaka, as I’ve said on many occasion, was a liability for the team. Last season, his last, was his best for Arsenal. That for me says it all. I am willing to bet now, that Havertz’s stats will be better than Xhaka’s by the end of this season.
Lastly, notwithstanding the last two games, which have been dreadful, the best example of how we have moved forward this season, is the win against City. We were there equals this season and got the win with a fantastic team performance. I can’t say the same about last seasons team.
Well he didn’t sign Nelson as opposed to retaining him, Trossard plays pretty regularly, Tomi plays when he is fit, Ramsdale is a keeper so makes sense he doesn’t play if he isnt #1, Nketiah usually gets time. Kiwior seemingly not very trusted. ESR is injured quite often but you can probably argue that he doesn’t trust him too and again ESR wasn’t a Mikel signing.
I’m not sure if it’s as simple as “questioning the squad construction”.
Realistically, you’re only signing 3-4 players per window, and the same with guys going out and when guys go out, you need to replace them with better players.
We are still in the stages of needing to add more overall depth and quality, whether people want to pretend like there are quality options or not, a quick comparison with City or Liverpool makes that issue pretty clear and both have built their squads over 7 or 8 years.
The question is why did Arteta bring in a player who has played as a forward all his life and try to make him an offensive midfield player. I am sure there were natural midfielders we could have signed without experimenting but as @Joshua he for some reason had to flex his muscles for some reason.
He’s still been the decision maker behind all these guys being at the club. If he didn’t want Nelson or ESR or Eddie to be here those guys wouldn’t still be here. He gave all three of those guys new contracts.
I don’t think this was a case of Arteta flexing his muscles - Chelsea completely mismanaged the player - including the positions they played him in. My understanding is that he played as an attacking midfielder, just in behind the striker, when he played in Germany. We are playing him in a position where he was previously successful. His age profile and technical quality fits what we were looking for. I wasn’t at all in favour of the transfer at the time, and considered this high risk, but I can see the logic now and I think (and hope) Havertz can be successful at Arsenal.
I stand corrected but really were their better options? Did we need to resurrect his career and confidence vs getting another dominant midfielder. I thinking anyone in the French midfield type.
We can play fantasy manager as much as we want, Arteta is building his team.
Right player or wrong player, Arteta knows what he is doing.
Kai’s quality is always there, so I don’t understand why you guys are using the word “resurrect”.
If this is what the manager wants, I want to see it in a season or two before making any conclusion.
