People don't get it. That, after the worst league season for Arsenal in several decades, Mikel Arteta is going to be backed with over 150m in the transfer market says all you need to know about how incredibly rated he is.
Arteta's hive is shut. And we will be ahead of the curve.
Football is a hugely contextual sport. Variance is a norm. But a manager who can instill all of the right fundamentals and keep them will ultimately succeed.
Arteta is the youngest coach in the Premier League and will be one of its best for years to come. It's not a dream.
Rival fans will be wondering how this happened in 2 years time. He will be the next Jurgen Klopp, a reference for trusting the process at other clubs. Even an incompetent Arsenal board will not stop him.
Mock him while you can.
Only Klopp, Pep, Tuchel are better than him in the league. And he will take one of those spots.
It's the easiest prediction for me to make and I don't chat shit.
How can you not see it? Another coaching whizkid is upon us and you guys are going to be late to the party again.
I am not a provocative account. Check my old threads and you will see I don't tweet for shit. And I'm willing to put all of my reputation on Mikel Arteta's project.
This will be the easiest and most legendary 'bang' in a year's time or so.
You genuinely don't understand or know football if you can't see what Arteta is trying to do.
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Camavinga is already one of the most gifted tacklers I have ever seen in football. Has that Kante, Busquets, Fabinho octopus-leg tackle where their feet go so long and wrap up space such that it becomes so difficult to get. Kante adds acceleration to his tackling, too. France!
Everyone knows I am all for another RCB signing. People are insisting on giving Saliba a chance, but we will be resting all our hopes of being able to pin teams back and play out cleanly ONLY on a talented 19-year-old. Which other top club would do that?
A LITTLE THREAD.
My only problem with the Ben White signing is how late it is. Last season, he was absolutely class in the Championship with Leeds. Clubs should have got him then. Opportunity windows are important when picking up players. Sven Botman was a 6ft Ajax CB I knew two seasons before
I was wondering how good he could be at Championship level. Numerous soccer blogs were picking him up then as a potential gem. Only Lille exploited the opportunity window. Opportunity windows when acquiring players are important. Buendia and Pereira should not have stayed with
People don't realize it. Arsenal are definitely going to get back to the top and one of the major reasons for that is the astounding quality of the youngsters in their academy setup.
One of the most misunderstood things in football is the impact of legacy. A THREAD.
A golden generation or footballer at a club is not just an inspiration to youngsters but also an eye opener for coaches and managers at the club (other clubs to an extent).
Enter Thierry Henry. One of the ways in which Thierry was so impactful on a whole generation was his style
But Henry was notable not just because he was extremely gifted but by how he played. He was trademark, instantly distinctive on the pitch, devastatingly effective too. He caught the eye by where and how he played the game.
Modern inside-forwards mostly trace their roots to him.
People just don't get it. Granit Xhaka is one of the best progressive midfielders in the game but his replacement doesn't have to be exactly the same profile. It is one of the poorer things in analytics to always look at 'similar' player replacements.
GRANIT XHAKA THREAD.
Granit Xhaka is hugely responsible for Arsenal's 1st and 2nd phase of progression when building play and consolidating it. He is a pretty good midfielder regardless. People go on about his 'mobility' but all players have limitations that they adjust their football to.
Outside of possession, he was seen as rubbish when Wenger used him as a lone 6 or 8. He could be a little rash (which young midfielder isn't?) and didn't have enough athleticism to keep up with EPL PnP monsters running past him. Wenger didn't figure him out early.
People don't realize it: Buendia to Arsenal is more complicated than it seems on the pitch. It might even be a false, smokescreen signing, despite reports. Let me explain why.
BIG BUENDIA THREAD⬇️.
Arsenal play a 4231 system where the LW occupies the left halfspace and the leftback (Tierney) pushes up high to dominate the flank. It is on the other flank that things get more interesting. The RW (Saka) is expected to stay out wide while the AM (ESR) fills the right halfspace.
Since Tierney is overlapping, the pivot LCM (Xhaka) is expected to act as a fulcrum and stay back to protect the space left behind by the dynamic Scotsman. This leaves a single CM (Partey) left to control the entire midfield. So the RB (Bellerin) is not expected to overlap wide