marky mark Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalvadorsDeli Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 (edited) One interesting nugget that came out of this week's Arsecast: I think we all knew that we were looking at Mkhitaryan in the summer of 2016 after his stormer of a season at Dortmund but blogs provided a bit more detail this week and said that going into the summer Arsene had decided to sell Alexis and we had lined up Mkhitaryan as the replacement. We pulled the plug on the Micki deal because Arsene changed his mind and decided to keep Alexis. During that summer when we were linked to him, it was assumed that Mikhi would be coming to add to the squad and play the wing opposite Alexis but it looks like it was an either/or situation instead. I remember their being leaks right before that summer about Arsene being fed up with Alexis' attitude and exploring the option of selling him but it seems we came a lot closer to pulling the trigger on that deal than originally thought. Also explains why this swap deal came together even though these kinds of deals almost never happen in soccer - this was the same deal we were ready to make in two separate transactions a year and a half ago. Edited January 23, 2018 by BaltimoreTerp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustrianNiner Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, BaltimoreTerp said: Arsene changed his mind and decided to keep Arsene Not surprised by that Edited January 23, 2018 by AustrianNiner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalvadorsDeli Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 50 minutes ago, AustrianNiner said: Not surprised by that Lol whoops! Edited for clarity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted January 23, 2018 Author Share Posted January 23, 2018 So, I say this realizing that he's already drawn some minor links to City and Real Madrid (and if those are legit we likely don't have a prayer), but given the Minslitat connection and familiarity for the Bundesliga (along with what appears to be an affinity for players who played there), anyone think Julian Weigl could be a summer target? I know that just today some rags started linking him with United also, but given the other names that are being bandied about as the potential Carrick replacement, Wiegl doesn't really fit the Jose mold as much as guys like Fred and Soler do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalvadorsDeli Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Fred seems pretty locked in for a move to City right now so it does seem like the deep lying playmaker market does probably just come down to Weigl, Soler, and maybe a couple of others as far as the big clubs are concerned. I like Weigl a lot but I'm not sure I'd plump big money on him because I'm just not sure we would utilize him the right way or give him the protection he needs. He's a better player than Xhaka but they share a lot of qualities and our midfield structure as it's currently setup does not do any favors to that kind of player. If we do move on from Xhaka this summer I'd be interested in adding a player like Weigl but only if we also make efforts to add some legs to the midfield too to provide some balance to the midfield. Allan from Napoli is a good ballwinner with great dribbling ability or we wanted to add someone younger, Ascacibar at Stuttgart has a bit of Mascherano in him. I think if we provide some protection in midfield for Xhaka (obviously it was bad opposition but even just look at how much better he looked against Palace when we played with a true midfield 3) we might still be able to get the best out of him but realistically we're only going to see that happen if Wenger and/or Ozil leave in the summer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted January 24, 2018 Author Share Posted January 24, 2018 10 hours ago, BaltimoreTerp said: Fred seems pretty locked in for a move to City right now so it does seem like the deep lying playmaker market does probably just come down to Weigl, Soler, and maybe a couple of others as far as the big clubs are concerned. I like Weigl a lot but I'm not sure I'd plump big money on him because I'm just not sure we would utilize him the right way or give him the protection he needs. He's a better player than Xhaka but they share a lot of qualities and our midfield structure as it's currently setup does not do any favors to that kind of player. If we do move on from Xhaka this summer I'd be interested in adding a player like Weigl but only if we also make efforts to add some legs to the midfield too to provide some balance to the midfield. Allan from Napoli is a good ballwinner with great dribbling ability or we wanted to add someone younger, Ascacibar at Stuttgart has a bit of Mascherano in him. I think if we provide some protection in midfield for Xhaka (obviously it was bad opposition but even just look at how much better he looked against Palace when we played with a true midfield 3) we might still be able to get the best out of him but realistically we're only going to see that happen if Wenger and/or Ozil leave in the summer. Yeah. I think the Swiss national team honestly provides the best model for how to utilize Xhaka best (field an athletic ball-winner with him akin in the mold of a Wanyama or Kante - but those guys are as easily found as pure #10's), but that clearly puts a cramp on how you field/deploy Wilshere and Ramsey. I'm honestly not opposed to selling Ramsey, but I highly doubt Wenger does it unless someone from Spain comes in hot and heavy for him with a Godfather offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon14 Posted January 24, 2018 Share Posted January 24, 2018 19 hours ago, The LBC said: So, I say this realizing that he's already drawn some minor links to City and Real Madrid (and if those are legit we likely don't have a prayer), but given the Minslitat connection and familiarity for the Bundesliga (along with what appears to be an affinity for players who played there), anyone think Julian Weigl could be a summer target? I know that just today some rags started linking him with United also, but given the other names that are being bandied about as the potential Carrick replacement, Wiegl doesn't really fit the Jose mold as much as guys like Fred and Soler do. I love Julian Weigl so I'd be very on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marky mark Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 15 hours ago, The LBC said: I'm honestly not opposed to selling Ramsey, but I highly doubt Wenger does it unless someone from Spain comes in hot and heavy for him with a Godfather offer. I hope he stays, but we should sell him in the summer if he doesn't sign a new contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon14 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Mahrez apparently spotted outside the Emirates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 On 1/25/2018 at 7:10 AM, rcon14 said: Mahrez apparently spotted outside the Emirates. We sure that wasn't someone forgetting that Mahrez is blonde now and mistaking Mavropanos for him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon14 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 14 hours ago, The LBC said: We sure that wasn't someone forgetting that Mahrez is blonde now and mistaking Mavropanos for him? Quite likely lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 Well, that was miserable. Nacho looked like he cared for maybe the first half. Ozil was otherwise the only man out there playing with any heart. It's never going to happen, but I'd take David Luiz as a CDM even on loan right now over Evans. And we can finally put a fork in the Xhaka/Ramsey partnership, it's counterproductive because neither player has a mentality that suits the other. Ramsey, when he's not remembering he's supposed to come back and defense in our own half, insists on trying to play like he's a second forward. Xhaka is not the quality we need, but he's also being exposed way more because of this as he ends up - even more than normal - passing laterally or backwards 90% of the time which only serves to pull our CB's forward and leave us more vulnerable to longball counters from turnovers. We missed Wilshere today not so much for his quality but for his willingness to actually be proactive and advancing with the ball. The only real positive I can take from this is that Mkhitaryan when he came in and slotted next to Ozil finally gave us a second distributor/creator that we've lacked since Cazorla. This side all season long has fallen into the same rut it did in the days before Ozil when they were guilty of doing it to Santi, they just keep funneling the ball to the #10 and expecting him to "pass them open" while they stand around and move about in the same 1-yard radius of pitch. I don't expect Wenger to be this aggressive about the changes, but if it's me, I'm starting Mkhi in place of Iwobi and either Jack or Maitland-Niles in place of Xhaka against Everton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon14 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 My old college roommate found this: https://twitter.com/SC_J27/status/958536035088191499 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Bild with a report that Ozil has signed an extension and will get married this summer. I'll believe it when I see it from a more substantial source. Would probably mean Wilshere's days here are numbered for as many are left in this current season, though I'd personally prefer to re-sign him, shop Ramsey (were that Wales had freaking qualified for WC to boost his value and demand), and just outright sell Xhaka back to the Bundesliga and pursue a holding/defensive mid that best complements the strengths and weaknesses of Ozil and Jack - wouldn't even really sweat age of the player as long as they were established in their ability to play the role we need of them. I genuinely believe Maitland-Niles has the potential to be what Arsene had envisioned Diaby becoming were it not for the injuries, but as competitive as the league is for the CL spots these days, I don't think it advisable to just hand him the spot when he's never really played it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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