Arsenal Top-Four Dream is Kept Alive

Recently, we’ve experienced an incredible match when the Gunners clashed against the Red Devils of Manchester United. As you all know, Arsenal was able to end the 25-match unbeaten streak of Manchester United in the Premier Leagues with a great score of 2-0 at the Emirate Stadium. At the same time, Arsenal has revived all hopes of securing a spot on the top four of the league after the goals scored from Danny Welbeck and Granit Xhaka.

The game was indeed Arsenal’s first competitive win over Manchester United under the management of Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese coach preferred to keep his players fresh for their Europa League match instead of keeping their chance of staying in the top four position in the Premier Leagues alive. The last time United lost a match was in October, and rotating the life-up for the Arsenal Vs Man Utd match has proved to be fatal for Mourinho.  Now with just a couple of matches left, the Gunners are keeping their fingers crossed to move up a rank on the table.

The Gunners managed to stay in the hunt for this much coveted fourth place in the Premier League during their awesome match against Southampton lately. The goals came in from Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez in the second half. This was Arsenal’s 4th win in their last five matches and if they can move within just one point of Liverpool, they can beat Stoke City.

It was Sanchez who played fabulous in the second half and slotted home in the box after wrong-footing two of the defenders. Giroud later came in as a substitute and nodded one in from a close range. Southampton was not threatening, with only one chance in the first half when Gabbiadini got a close range shot and forced Petr Cech to make the save. After this defeat, Southampton stays in their tenth position on the table. On the other hand, Arsenal has moved up to the fifth position, with only three points separating them from Manchester City, who are currently clinging to their fourth spot.

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Arsene Wenger seems to be handling the pressure well and has made his team deliver on the pitch despite many fans wanting him to step down. This short recovery of the team could mean that we will continue seeing him manage the team. He would most probably have to prove that he can still make Arsenal reach the top -four position in the Premier League for the twentieth year in a row. With their confidence boosted after their last few wins, we can only expect to see them bring out the best of football for this end of season.

 

Cheap Players That Arsenal Should Consider Buying

It has been speculated recently that Arsenal are going to spend big this summer, having learnt their lesson from before. However, what is more likely is that Arsene is going to spend as he usually did in the past – buy at reasonable prices and hope for the best.

Trying to buy the best players at reasonable prices is next to impossible, but as Football Manager players know, there is always the possibility of investing heavily on one or two world class players and then buying a couple more free agents with the pocket change left.

In this article we will look at 3 extremely cheap, but quality options, which Arsene can buy this summer to improve Arsenal’s squad depth. We have already done the scouting, so Arsene, if you are reading, please go for these players since this is a unique opportunity and it is just like being given an offer code completely for free.

Diego Laxalt

At the end of the season Arsene Wenger started playing with three centre backs and two wing-backs in a shift to formation which surprised everyone. The 3-4-3 was popularized this season by Conte and soon managers like Pochettino and Mourinho followed suit.

Arsene was the last to jump on the train, but it seems like he made the change at the right point of the season since it was early enough for some improved performances and crucially for an FA Cup trophy.

That brings us to our first transfer target, Diego Laxalt. The Uruguayan is still only 24, currently impresses for Genoa in Serie A and can play left wing-back or left winger. He is quick, pacey, difficult to shake off when marking, times his tackles to perfection and can deliver a killer cross.

He would be ideal for Arsenal’s new formation as Wenger would have two quality outlets down the wings with the Ox on the right and Laxalt on the left. In addition, he will also come quite cheaply as his current market value is no more than €8 million.

Ilija Nestorovski

Nestorovski is a natural goal scorer who can be considered as a late bloomer. He was unearthed by Palermo’s scouts last year after they saw him scoring for fun in the Croatian second division.

You would think that it is a big step up to move from the Croatian second tier to Italy’s Serie A, but for Ilija, it wasn’t. He was Palermo’s top goal scorer this season, notching 11 goals and 3 assists in a frankly rotten side which was relegated as early as April.

His current value is no more than €4 million and he is arguably the smartest purchase in Europe right now with the likes of Everton, Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina following his situation.

Etrit Berisha

Berisha is Albania’s and Lazio’s first choice keeper and he has had a terrific season. He is currently valued at only €6 million which makes him a bargain even if his price goes as high as €20 million in today’s inflated market.

 

Arsenal: The Chaff from the Wheat

It’s time to sit down, accept Arsene Wenger will be the manager of Arsenal for next season, and focus on what we need in the team to be Champions come May. There’s going to be a lot of talk about possible players coming in, with Kylian Mbappe and Riyad Mahraz looking real possibilities, but before we start getting excited about the new action men we need to clear some space in the toy box. There were some real disappointments last season but who should be cast aside and who should we hold on to like a Macron handshake?

Goalkeepers

So, an easy kick-off, as Petr Cech must stay. He hasn’t had the best of seasons, but Liverpool’s costly errors between the sticks proved what a tricky position this can be to get right. David Ospina should also remain and have game time in the Europa League and League Cup, shared with the young rookies Damian Emiliano Martinez and Matt Macey.

Defenders

Talk of Hector Bellerin moving is disturbing and, as one of the best in his position in the world, he must be retained. Laurent Koscielny is also a keeper and Nacho Monreal has done enough to be retained but shouldn’t be the first choice at left-back. Carl Jenkinson seemed to be out the door in January and should certainly be gone this transfer window. He’ll likely be joined on the bus out of Emirates Stadium by Kieran Gibbs, Mathieu Debuchy, and Calum Chambers. All of whom showed some promise but are unlikely to be representing a Premier League club with title ambitions ever again.

It’s been a long time since Per Mertesacker showed promise but his performance in the F.A. Cup final coupled with his experience and voice in the dressing room make him a valuable squad member. With Sead Kolasinac arriving on a free transfer from Schalke, we’re left with Shkadran Mustafi, Gabriel Armando de Abreu, and Rob Holding; of those three, Gabriel should be moved on.

Assuming Wenger continues to play three at the back, that gives us Koscielny, Mustafi, and Kolasinac, with Mertesacker, Monreal, and Holding as back-up. Bellerin is superb at right wing-back and we require someone of his quality to be brought in to take up the left wing-back role.

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Source: FC Arsenal Live via Facebook

Midfield

Who knows how our season might have turned out had one Santiago Cazorla not been so needlessly risked and subsequently injured. Hopefully, those injury woes are a thing of the past and he can form a midfield partnership with Granit Xhaka, with Aaron Ramsey and Mohamed Elneny providing cover in the centre. That leaves no room for Francis Coquelin, who has not been up to standard, and Alex Iwobi, who looks unlikely to ever make the grade.

Theo Walcott is still a great player, with a good goal and assist ratio and should obviously be retained along with Lucas Perez, who didn’t really get a chance last season. I would have been in favour of keeping Ales Oxlade-Chamberlain but if The Ox has had his head turned and is unsettled, we should get as much as we can for him. The same is true of Jack Wilshere; if you can’t hold down a place in Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth team, you’re not going to walk into the Arsenal team.

That leaves us with a few youth players to get some minutes in the cups and the elephants in the room, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. It goes without saying that they should be retained and a marquee signing or two early in the transfer window might just be enough to convince them that their future with the Gunners has the prospect of glory, despite what the bookmakers might think; Arsenal are an outside 12/1 for the 2017/18 title in the early football betting.

If they can’t be retained, Arsenal should make sure they don’t ply their trade in the U.K. next season and spend an obscene amount of money replacing them.

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Source: Arsenal via Facebook

Attack

This is easy; Yaya Sanogo is on his way, Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud remain at the club, and we spend big on a colossal centre forward who can guarantee twenty plus goals per season.

It’s crazy season for transfer gossip and rumours but let’s sort our house out first and only retain those that can make a meaningful contribution to the team. It’s a make or break season for Wenger and, without European football to really worry about, he needs to sculpt a team that’s capable of making up an 18-point gap and he can’t do that with deadwood lolling around the club.

 

Sead Kolasinac Is An Absolute Beast!

So Arsenal have made their first signing of the summer, Sead Kolasinac on a free from Bundesliga side Schalke.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international is only 24 and was widely reported to be the best left back in the German league last season.

And if you look at this YouTube compilation here, you can see he looks like some player:

Of course, football compilations of players on show their best bits and I’m sure if you made a video on Alexander Hleb then you could make him look like Messi, but at the same time there are several things you cannot discount about this guy.

The first is that he is an absolute beast!

Look at the size oft his guy! He clearly has a good touch and decent pace but he is so imposing on the pitch! A justified criticism of Arsenal over the past decade is that as a team we’re a bit lightweight and too intimidated by more physical sides but we definitely wouldn’t be with this guy in the team.

He is well built and looks very strong. And what I like about him (apart from the assists and goals that you’ll see on the video) is that he doesn’t seem to give a fuck when it comes to tackling. No hesitation, no dilly-dallying – he gets stuck in and shows the other team who’s boss. He sees the ball and he goes and wins it, no questions asked.

Obviously he is a relative unknown to most Arsenal fans (as we seem to be ignorant to other leagues in Europe) and he was clearly free but I’m excited about him. A solid, reliable and young player who I’m sure can integrate well into this Arsenal side.

And having been at Schalke for the last 5 years he is fluent in German and will get on well with Per Mertesacker, Shkodran Mustafi, Mesut Özil and of course, Granit Xhaka.

And slightly off topic, but I can’t be the only one who thinks he looks like a bigger version of Lucas Perez?!

 

Why Finishing 5th Could Be A Massive Blessing For Arsenal

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So Arsenal finished the season in 5th. Now the dust has settled, does it matter?

I do find it amusing that it is widely accepted that Arsenal have had an awful season. Yet despite having a “disastrous” season, we were in touching distance of Manchester City and Liverpool for the Champions League spots. If we were in crisis, then how about those two North West clubs?

Yes, between January and April we have been awful and yet we finished 5th. People need to get a grip – seriously, after a “disastrous” season most teams get relegated.

For me 5th doesn’t matter and in the cold light of day, is a blessing.

The Europa League is a joke. The sooner we agree on that the better. It’s a poorly organised competition and playing on Thursday nights is a massive burden on a Premier League season. We have two choices; take it seriously or use the kids.

For me it’s a no brainer. Play the kids. First of all it would be a great experience for them, and secondly they could do well in it. If you listen to Jose Mourinho, the repeatedly goes on and on about how much of a pain the competition is, despite wanting to win it so they get Champions League football next season.

But the message it clear – far too many additional fixtures, played on a day which severely interferes with the domestic calendar. If you want to win it then fine, but the road to success can cause major problems, and even then you’re not guaranteed to win it.

If we treat it like a European “League Cup” and play the youngsters, then we’d only have the Premier League and FA Cup to concentrate on. The Champions League has been a distraction in many ways, and a problematic one considering we don’t get further than the last 16 anyway. Why not focus on the Premier League instead? This gives us the perfect excuse.

Look at Chelsea this season. No Champions League football and they win the league. And Leicester City the season before. No Champions League football, and they win the league.

Simplistic perhaps, but if we had a real chance at actually competing for the Premier League, it would be next season.