ARTETA BITES AT BAD ASSUMPTIONS
Today at 11:31 AM
Mikel Arteta doesn't normally react to poorly framed questions, but he took offence to one he was asked today that tried to paint the view that he was fine not signing a striker.
"I don't share what? Have I ever said no to a striker?
"My opinion is clear, we lost two very important players in Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus so we lack goals, we lack people, we lack options in the front line, it's clear.
"If we can get the right player, that's what we're actively looking at. Any player? No. Someone that makes us better and has an impact on the team. We need some help, we're very short already but the team is coping. We have to do what is right for the club."
I've penned countless times on here before, Mikel Arteta knows exactly what Arsenal need. The amount of friends I have that have messaged things like 'this is just like the Wenger years of not signing a dominant 6 or a proper centre back' and my retort has always been that this is nonsense.
Arteta knows we need some magic, a bit of bang bang, an explosive game-changer that can turn a game like KDB, Salah, or Fernandes. The idea that he's behind the scenes gaslighting everyone that he has what he needs is both ridiculous and counter to how he has singlehandedly persuaded an ownership group that hasn't spend, to, you know, spend shit tonne of money since he took over. Always remember, Arsene Wenger didn’t spend money as an act of self preservation and a way to avoid personal accountability. Arteta operates the opposite way, he wants the players, and if he fails to move the club forward, he’ll take the chopping block.
Arteta is a fierce competitor, he knows what it takes to win because he's been with the best, and he is fighting hard to get what he wants.
When people complain about him and how this season is going, just look at the above chart, and try to understand the monstrous impact he's had on this club since arriving. The rookie the masses said we should pass on to sign Allegri has given the club £329m more in revenue per season. We now have the capacity to handle a £320m wage bill, our commercial revenues have grown £96m, that'll go higher if we stay in Champions League. Arsenal are now driving towards the big dogs of European football.
Why does that matter? Well, look at this chart.
Arsenal wages to turnover number is extremely healthy. It's in line with some of the bigger clubs. But, if we drop out of Champions League, we could be in trouble. Managing the finances well is absolutely key to a sustainable future. You don't need to look much further than where Newcastle and Villa are on that list. If Emery misses out on Champions League this season, his club will be in deep trouble. Newcastle absolutely have to make the Champions League this summer, or it'll be a very painful transfer window where they have to course-correct their massive investment.
True leadership is making the right investments for the medium and long term. That's why this window is so hard. If the right player was available for the right price, then we'd be doing the business right now. But if the choice is to pay vastly over the odds to pull someone out of their club right now… I don't think we'll do it because that'll take away from the summer pot of cash.
The good news is the last week of the window is going to be far more active than anything that has gone before. Nothing moves a negotiation faster than the close of a window. Players bang the tables harder, CFOs make strong cases to take bigger pots of money, focus and urgency sharpens. Believe me, Arsenal are going hard to find solves this window because they know they're incredibly short of bodies.
But, they won't make moves that are average. Fans need the high of signings now, but always remember, those fans banging the table for 'any signing' right now are the first to skewer the club when that player is clogging up the squad in 18 months time. Go look at the victory laps United fans made when they signed Casemiro. He was a game-changer, the guy who could unleash their potential, he was him… I wrote at the time that'd bite them, sure enough, he is now the him who clogging up their wage bill. The dopamine high has subsided and now they're left with a paceless legend who earns £400k a week. Spurs fans are calling for the firing of Daniel Levy. Yes, the fans who said Arsenal not winning the league was more important than Champions League football are now in the find out phase of what Europa League signings look like. It’s bleak. But remember, Spurs fans were loving their failings last year, and totally forget their part in the downward spiral of their fortunes.
Fans are mental. We think Muani was a missed opportunity even though he's only scored two goals this season. We'll bang the table for wide players who are out of form, expensive, and being shifted because they are injury prone. 'Any body would do' is how unserious clubs move. 'The right player must be there' only functions as an opinion if you believe Arsenal are in self-sabotage mode.
Arsenal have to sign 4-5 players this summer. We need a back-up for Odegaard, an explosive winger, two #6s, a back-up keeper, maybe another centre-back. You're not getting there if you spend £85m on Cunha.
I've seen a lot of critique about our signing of Sterling. It's easy in hindsight to say he was a disaster signing, but when he landed, it was easy to see how he'd be a fine back-up to Saka. He had a good season with Chelsea, he had played the Arteta system, and had it all to prove. It has proved disastrous… but out the wreckage of that signing, we'll likely have found that Ethan Nwaneri was the guy Arteta should have trusted from the start. It's a good job we didn't sign a £60m back-up. Now we can focus on other positions. Sterling also might serve as a soft warning about why Sane or Coman could be bad options. Think I’d have been all in on those guys 5 months ago… now? I’m not so sure.
Same with the left side of our defence. Calafiori is not playing second fiddle to MLS. For a club critiqued for hating on academy kids, we now have two that'll be proper parts of the squad in their teenage years. MLS and his ascendance means Calafiori can be moved to centre back. These are all good things. They are also considerations that we don't see in the moment. Max Dowman is going to be a world class prospect, the club need a path or he goes the way of Chido and Heaven. You might have to take some temporary pain to get all those players in, but over the longterm, you're putting more money into fewer positions, and showing that the academy at Arsenal is a place to put your talent if you are best in class in your age group.
We missed out on Sesko last summer and we didn't sign anyone else… the base thinking there was 'we score a shit tonne of goals, we can do it again' and that might have been wrong in the face of some key injuries. But if we get our ideal name this summer for a good price and we're still in Champions League, maybe we have our very own Alex Isak for £60m.
Planning a squad is hard. You can create a vision, but getting everything timed right is the hardest part. The best clubs take risks, they don't panic, and they don't view the seasons in do or die blocks like fans. Rolling the dice on one season can sometimes pay off, but invariably, it's much sharper to build a sustainable football club that competes consistently at the top. That's what Arsenal are doing right now. 2nd in the league. 3rd in the Champions League. We're doing that in a 6 out of 10 season. If that doesn't tell you we're on the right path, I can't help you, the vision isn't there.
Ok, that's all I got this morning. See you in the comments. Check out the Therapy Sesh with Matt, Jacob, and me.
