27 Jul 2020 13:07:30
"Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has hinted he may have to enter the transfer market because an injury to Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi, 28, has left him short of defenders. (Evening Standard) "
I know we need not believe everything (anything? ) we read on the BBC Sport Website and that they are anyway only collating what other media outlets are making up - er, "reporting" but this one above takes the biscuit, surely.
I mean we only have about ten other Central Defenders/ Defenders he can use in a back-three/ five.
* Saliba
* Sokratis
* Holding
* Chambers
* Luiz
* Mari
* Kolasinac
* Tierney
* Mavropanos
* Medley
+ Harry Clarke
I'm not saying any or all of them are any good - or in the cases of Medley or Clarke, whether they are yet good enough to try out - but surely losing Mustafi to injury doesn't mean we need to be looking to find new defenders? They way we defend might mean we need to look for new defenders, definitely, but not just because poor old Skhodran has a tweak?
I have proved myself to be a useless keyboard Manager in the past but I would only keep the untried youngsters, Clarke and Medley, Tierney (who looks excellent but as a left back or wing back, not one of three central defenders) Saliba and Holding.
Luiz, Sokratis, Mustaphi, Kolasinac, and possibly Mari and Mavropanos can go, though that may be a little unfair on both the last two.
27 Jul 2020 13:18:53
I would let them go but keep Mavropanos. Not seen enough of Mari to be honest.
I agree - a clear out is required and get some experience and leadership in there.
27 Jul 2020 13:26:02
It's appalling isn't it that we have so many CB's and cannot produce a decent back 2 or 3 out of them. We can exclude Saliba and Mari I guess because Saliba is very much for the new season and Mari got unlucky with injury. Fingers crossed those 2 can be the base our defence now and the others can slot in and provide squad depth. I agree that we may need to add due to lack of quality but that's about it. We need to give Medley and Clarke an opportunity at some point or we'll end up losing them and sticking with the ones who actually cause us more issues than good. The trouble as well is that nobody wants to take injury prone and mistake ridden players off our hands so until their contracts are up we're screwed.
27 Jul 2020 13:26:02
It's appalling isn't it that we have so many CB's and cannot produce a decent back 2 or 3 out of them. We can exclude Saliba and Mari I guess because Saliba is very much for the new season and Mari got unlucky with injury. Fingers crossed those 2 can be the base our defence now and the others can slot in and provide squad depth. I agree that we may need to add due to lack of quality but that's about it. We need to give Medley and Clarke an opportunity at some point or we'll end up losing them and sticking with the ones who actually cause us more issues than good. The trouble as well is that nobody wants to take injury prone and mistake ridden players off our hands so until their contracts are up we're screwed.
27 Jul 2020 13:52:22
It's more than likely just paper talk Max mate and as for being a useless keyboard manager, aren't we all :-) .
It's just some people like to remind us how they all predicted how Saka would be a player but conveniently forget to remember tipping Wiltshire and Gibbs for world stardom :-) .
27 Jul 2020 15:14:08
I feel sorry for Folarin Balogun. When Saka played at under 23 level he was phenomenal hence his integration to 1st team training and ultimately his chance in the cup/ EL.
Balogun has also been just as impressive. He scored 28 goals in 28 apps for the under 18s and then got his shot at the under 23s in Premier League 2 making 15 apps and scoring 10 goals with 4 assists. I wouldn't blame him if he decided to leave to get regular football elsewhere but it would be a big mistake if we let him go.
27 Jul 2020 16:01:33
He needs to get out on loan Glen mate, obviously we can't drop Laca and Pea to accommodate him and other corse you've got Eddie and Martinelli demanding game time.
The step up from under 23 to premier league is humongous and although some like Marcus Rashford take that step with ease for others it's just too huge in one leap. Rashford scored 2 goals in each of his first 3 games which is why he has never looked back but that's a huge ask from a teenager. Let Balogun go out on loan and see what he can do are championship or even league one or two level.