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Mar 27 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Given that Arsenal's performances has jumped into title contending territory this year, it explains exactly why I felt that Gabriel's anticipated improvement (which I put at 3 year timeline) wouldn't be quick enough to match title ambitions which many didn't see at the time.
Ever since that thread, Gabriel's lack of composure cost us heavily in an extremely public manner, among many other little mishaps.

He's improved on last season and I expect that trend to slowly continue but I don't think it will be fast enough to help us sustain a tilt at the
title next season.

Maybe I will be proven wrong but I genuinely think Arsenal are ready for a title race next season if they maintain their current dynamic and improve the overall quality of the first team and bench in the transfer window. ImageImageImageImage
In such a case, missing out on this possibility because of defensive issues would be a travesty. A big blow to a big dream. I do not want that to happen.
But I think Arsenal made their choice when they choose White to be paired with Gabriel. Many pointed out at the time that if Arsenal wanted a big money CB next to Gabriel, it should be a very experienced one with the leadership skills to lead the line while Gabriel/Saliba matures
By choosing a core group of extremely talented u24 defenders to lead the line for years to come, critics pointed out that Arsenal may have inadvertently chosen a longer path to the very top of the game waiting for them to mature into their potential.
Seeing that pathway reflected elsewhere in the squad (Odegaard, Saka, ESR, Tavares, Tomiyasu, Martinelli, Lokonga), maybe that was the price Arsenal were ready to pay to form a very talented and malleable but relatively affordable team for Mikel Arteta.
With time, these players will mature while maintaining a collective high level, giving us the financial room to operate to bring in big guns at needed spots as the case may be, as well as maturing into sizable financial assets that can fund the team's rise out of mediocrity.

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AI Profile picture
Mar 28
Gakpo will likely flop in relation to his current output if he came to England and plays predominantly on the wing but as a CF, he's perfect in a very technical side.

Will be a huge success if everything goes well.
People who can't read but produce opinions irritate me to no end.

'Will be a huge success if everything goes well' is obviously in relation to him converting into a CF.

Use your head.

Not to mention that I have expressed further detail on his profile elsewhere already. Don't act too smart for yourself.
Read 4 tweets
AI Profile picture
Mar 28
Already said Gakpo needed to become a striker to translate most of his current quality to a higher level and as such needed to do more work with his ball usage (can take too many touches) and movement.

Can get behind him as our coaching project signing over Nunez and Broja.
He's got the ballstriking super attribute and is just much more technically better than either of them. Tall and extremely mobile, too.

A very Arsenal type CF if he converts. Would back him to reach a higher level than either Broja and Nunez even if they have an headstart on him
Honestly, I think he's a better talent than Broja who's not so far ahead in his development, either.

Just one season of acclimatization to England and position conversion and Gakpo will be clear.

Broja has nothing over him.
Read 4 tweets
AI Profile picture
Mar 28
When Johan Cruyff said football is a very simple game but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is, people thought it was a brilliant line but not many realized exactly what he meant.

Take a look at Manchester City. Most of what they do on the pitch seems simple and
intuitive: the way they play out of the back without friction, the way they keep possession... even the way they attack the opposition. They just keep going at you for 90 minutes. Everything is simple enough. But it very often requires complex thought and

organizational processes. It's a little bit like the front-end of a software: looks pretty and shiny but behind it is a dizzyingly complex logic web.

However, that is not all. When it comes to playing simple football, complex thought processes are not the only component.
Read 17 tweets
AI Profile picture
Mar 28
I think, ultimately, Arsenal will have to choose between Tammy/Osimhen/Isak with Nunez and Broja as project choices so here is a thread that looks at some of the most important basics of their game.

Who will Arsenal choose?

(a thread) ImageImage
Tammy Abraham

He could be the best box 9 in the world. His movement to create space for himself in the box is utterly breathtaking. We're talking Halaand/Aubameyang levels.

As such, as long as balls arrive into the box, Tammy Abraham will always score goals anywhere he is.
Tammy basically is 'unfloppable'. His overall play is decent and rapidly improving. People don't know it but he's been among the more creative/associative strikers in Italy this season.

I expect him to get even better as he gets more accustomed with his body, which is built to
Read 27 tweets
AI Profile picture
Mar 27
Moving the ball into dangerous areas at a good rate is definitely a very good thing, especially if your team struggles to do so, but it can be a bit underwhelming if that's all you kinda do in a top team who are expected to have/move the ball in(to) those zones anyways?
Personally, I think Grealish was meant to be more of a direct creator a la De Bruyne, than a progressor in City's machine anyways. Of course progression and creation are intertwined but still distinct.
Imagine if Barcelona replaced Dembele with Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Read 4 tweets
AI Profile picture
Mar 27
People say clubs/academies shouldn't prefer physical intensity over technique and brains but forget that you need imaginative tactical setups to take advantage of that technique and brains—which, usually, most clubs in a league don't have.
If most clubs in a certain system/market don't have what's necessary to take advantage of certain qualities, then you don't/won't have a market for such quality. For clubs who sell to live, it's therefore better to cut ties before they invest too much in an asset they can't sell.
If the player is that technically good, they'll come through anyways.

You can't have the technique of Romelu Lukaku (which is still good, relatively, depending on what level you're talking about) without the physicality and start complaining that clubs overrate physicality.
Read 4 tweets

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