Morning all, here’s a quick Saturday round-up for you.
If you watched Mikel Arteta’s press conference yesterday, you might have come away with the same conclusion that I did – which is that a January arrival is, while not impossible, more or less unlikely. The manager was asked what he’d be looking for if he were in the market for an attacking player this month, and said:
First of all, someone that can impact the team, bringing in bodies doesn’t help us all. It’s just about somebody who can immediately impact our performance and can bring something that we don’t have. To find that in this market is very difficult to achieve.
Which I think most people can understand, but it doesn’t go very far to scratch the itch we might have about a new arrival. He was then asked about spending on forwards during his time at the club, and continued:
In the front positions, compared to what other clubs have done and the expenditure that we have there, we are very far from it, over the years, for different reasons. Firstly that we have already have very good players and we have many necessities in the squad to achieve in that period.
We have certain limitations and we have a lot of gaps and a lot of things to cover to become the team that we want and then the ability of those players – can you afford them, even if you want to. Sometimes, it’s not been possible.
So, you hear him talk about the market being difficult in January (which it can be), and limitations, and it doesn’t sound particularly positive. My glimmer of hope in this month goes back to something I wrote about yesterday, and the profile of player who might be the most realistic arrival. Forget the big name player and the big transfer fee – that’s just not going to happen, but maybe there is room for someone younger.
Now, if we go back to Arteta’s first comment about how he’d be looking for someone ‘to impact the team’, the implication being they need to be ready straight away, that doesn’t align with the lower-profile player I’m suggesting. It doesn’t mean that player can’t be useful though, and when we get to a summer with questions marks over the futures of Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard, and with Raheem Sterling sent back to Chelsea, you’ve got someone in already who can settle and develop in the final months of this season and over pre-season too.
Do I think it’s likely? I don’t think I’d put any money on it if I were a betting man, but it’s certainly something we could do from a financial perspective. And as Arteta himself ponders the fact we’ve spent far, far less than most of our rivals on forward players, perhaps there’s something for those on high to consider as we go into the second half of this season with plenty still to play for. I don’t think spending is the only marker of ambition, and it’s fair to point out Arsenal have spent a lot in recent years, but there’s a sense we’re letting an opportunity to strengthen slip away, and I don’t think there’ll be much in the way of understanding if that is perceived to contribute to poor results along the way.
In the meantime, we need more from the players we have, and while not the most obvious candidate from a goalscoring perspective, Mikel Merino is someone who can step up between now and May. He spoke to the Evening Standard, and explained why that could be the case:
When I came back, I didn’t have a proper pre-season to prepare my legs, to prepare my body, my lungs to this pacey league. But I think right now I’m reaching my best level in terms of physicality. And yeah, we’ll see in the future. Maybe what was a bad thing becomes a good one because at the end of the season, I’m the fresher one. Who knows?”
Everything is starting to click for me. I’m starting to finally understand everything perfectly. I know the rhythms in the team. I know the rhythms in the training sessions. I’m starting to build a relationship with everyone at a deeper level, which needs time. I think this is the right place for me.
I’ve written previously about why I think Arteta wanted to sign him, and we’ve seen flashes of what he can bring. Stepping it up and doing so more consistently would be very useful, because although there’s a lot of focus on our forwards right now, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that what we do in the phases of play before we get the ball to them can help us be more effective as an attacking team. That’s not just on Merino either, it’s about our centre-halves and our central midfielders, and we need to spark life back into Martin Odegaard as soon as possible too.
What we can do tactically to change our tune is part of a discussion we had on our preview podcast on Patreon, so if that’s something you can fancy, you can get it here – https://www.patreon.com/posts/fa-cup-preview-119720548 (just $6 per month). Mikel Arteta always says his first job is to get more out of the players we have, is he doing that right now? And how can he tweak his tactics to squeeze more threat from his team? Its all in there. Happy listening!
Finally for today, as a very busy and active football website, one of the cornerstones of what we do is reader interaction in the form of comments. Both here and on Arseblog News, we have lively, busy comment sections, but they require work and moderation. Please have a read of this (it also relates to the Arses here), and let’s do our best to keep discussions civil because there’s far too much toxicity … well … basically everywhere else.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now, back tomorrow with more and a full preview of our FA Cup tie. Until then, have a great Saturday.
