Morning all.
I watched Man Metropolis beat Chelsea yesterday afternoon, a consequence I didn’t essentially wish to see however one Chelsea deserve for myriad causes. Enzo as captain? Ugh. John Terry would have been proud. Anyway, Erling Haaland did what Erling Haaland does. He scored a purpose, and statistically he’s ridiculous.
100 video games, 91 targets, 15 assists, 9 hat-tricks. How will you argue with it? But, at one level early within the second half I had a have a look at the in-game stats and he had touched the ball simply 5 occasions. To be truthful, he received a bit extra caught in through the second half, and ended with 17 touches, nonetheless 6 fewer than Savinho who was taken off at half-time with an harm. His move completion was 37.5%, which is so low that’s a determine you not often see on the finish of 90 minutes from knowledgeable at this degree – particularly in a Pep Guardiola crew the place possession is ten tenths of the regulation.
It received me eager about the continued dialogue about Arsenal and whether or not we want a striker or not. For comparability, in opposition to Wolves on Saturday, Kai Havertz had 44 touches of the ball, finishing his passes at 78%, and ended up with a purpose and an help. He did spend a few of the closing levels in midfield although, however I questioned about whether or not a striker is admittedly what we want.
I’ve seen some individuals will say that ‘a Haaland’ (should you might even discover one), wouldn’t be an excellent match for a Mikel Arteta crew, and I can see that perspective. The flip-side, after all, is that when you might have a participant who can do what he does, you make them match. As Guardiola has carried out. Haaland just isn’t a Pep participant in any conventional sense, however his expertise and high quality is such that even the most effective managers, even those most wedded to their rules of play, should compromise for the good thing about the crew.
That stated, I feel the Norwegian is fairly distinctive within the trendy recreation, and looking for one like him simply because that’s what Metropolis have is a idiot’s errand. I do know we went after Benjamin Sesko who – bodily at the very least – could possibly be seen as a form of Haaland analog, however that didn’t undergo. And, when it comes proper all the way down to it, now we have a 6’4 centre-forward proper now who received a purpose and an help on the opening day of the season, roughly selecting up the place he left off final season when his type and finish product was very, excellent. I additionally suppose the reportedly imminent arrival of Mikel Merino to play in midfield just about cements Kai as the primary selection up entrance, and doubtless means he received’t play as typically in midfield.
As I stated in yesterday’s weblog, simply earlier than Saka scored I used to be a bit involved about him as a result of he’s had such a brief summer season vacation. I seemed on the bench, and I wasn’t craving a striker, I used to be in search of one other vast participant who might come on to make a distinction and provides him a break. The purpose prompted a change, Leandro Trossard on for Saka, however the midfield departure of Declan Rice to cramp (a certain signal that he and others are going to wrestle a bit within the opening a part of the season), meant Havertz dropped again into midfield and Gabriel Jesus got here on up entrance.
I like Jesus so much, I feel he’s received a lot to supply throughout the entrance three if he stays match, however that query mark over his availability will solely begin to fade after we see him play week in, week out. Even then, like a few different gamers on this squad, there’s a component of threat with banking on his health just by advantage of what we’ve seen from him since his arrival two summers in the past. All of which is to say that with 11 days of the switch window left, if there’s to be an attacking addition (and I actually, actually hope there’s), then I would like somebody who can provide us one thing within the vast areas slightly than up entrance.
Whether or not that participant can also be versatile to offer us an choice as a 9, we’ll have to attend and see. Arteta has Havertz, Jesus and Trossard obtainable for that spot, every of them giving us completely different qualities, however the skill to unleash one thing completely different on the flanks would give this facet one other dimension that could possibly be very, very helpful over the course of a protracted season. To me this makes extra sense than looking for worth within the centre-forward market which, proper now at the very least, appears low on choices – at the very least by way of the quantity we’re prone to spend. There’s zero likelihood of a £100m+ Osimhen, for instance, not that I feel that’s a deal we should always do anyway.
So, let’s see what occurs. The continued futures of Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson will play a component within the closing a part of this window, and if there’s any motion there this week then I count on Arsenal to be energetic within the different course.
Proper, I’m gonna go away it there for now. Please be part of us for a model new Arsecast Additional a bit afterward. Hold an eye fixed out for the decision for questions on Threads @gunnerblog and @arseblog with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or should you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, go away your query within the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod ought to be out mid-morning. For now, have an excellent one.
