Level up 2.0

A week is a long time in football as I’m learning fast since starting this journey.

As discussed in lasts week blog, Andrea Berta has engineered himself and the club into various options and talks with many players. This week supposedly the news is Arsenal are more advanced on Sesko at the start of the week but as is said it with his approach it now looks like a pivot back to Gyokeres could be the focus with rumblings over his release clause.

Now this weeks blog, I’m going to look at how the squad elevates once again and levels up as we go into a new campaign.

Kieran Tierney

Firstly, this week, Kieran Tierney has confirmed his move back to his boyhood club Celtic and the one where he broke through professionally.

In those final days of the Emery tenure and the start of Arteta’s reign, he was one of a few beckons of hope in that squad. A marauding full back who gets on the outside with a spring past the opposite fullback with great delivery.

He gave us a lot during that time. A memory of mine was whipping a great cross in for Martinelli to score on his European debut against Standard Liege, which early on showed what he would bring to the side.

Ultimately, as the team evolved, inverted full backs became the norm throughout football. As the setup changed tactically, Tierneys time on the pitch dwindled along with a loan to our good friends at Real Sociedad.

But on his day, a great attacking full back, who gave the team something different when needed to come in. I’m sure back in Scotland he will have some more success with Celtic and someone who the Arsenal fans will always appreciate.

Summer 2022, some City signings

Which brings me on nicely to my thoughts this week. It was summer 2022, the club preparing for the new season with the training camp in the states.

Early signings in the window that year from Manchester City included the pair of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksander Zinchenko.

At the time, it felt like an arms length, you can have these players because let’s be frank, Arsenal were not seen as a threat to title contention at that stage. You then throw into the mix William Saliba coming into the fold into a young vibrant side.

For me it started early on that you could see the teams level was heightened, the Emirates Cup against Sevilla. From minute one of the game, Zinchenko and Jesus bought a new energy. Vibrant attacking play, Jesus, causing the centre backs no end of problems, if only you could him fit for an entire campaign.

Zinchenko instantly dropping into midfield and working well with Xhaka over that side. The final score that day, 6-0. But you just saw something different going into the start of the league.

And then it was the start of the league season, that Friday night end of summer game at Selhurst Park.

That pink third shirt in all its glory and wow, the team that night instantly showed themselves. It was exciting, brash and high energy football being led by the new guys and include Saliba in that, given it was his Premier League debut. Jesus from memory going on tearing run, the ball control as he skipped 4 players, running at players, like a young R9.

The level had been upped, the other players levels had been raised by these two coming in, they gave you something different and new.

I then remember the first home game of the season that year, a 4-2 win over Leicester, but wow, that day I was so excited by the team that Arteta had put together when leaving the Emirates. Jesus with a lovely lifted finish on that day. The team sitting top right up until the World Cup, it was fast, fluid attacking football.

Ultimately though, injuries at the back piled up that season, Tomiyasu and Saliba both injured and out in the Europa League game against Sporting left us short in the run in against City.

The foundations were laid though that season and I did understand the team being packed out defensively with signings over the next two summers.

2023/24 more slow, more measured

Going into the 23-24 season, we bought Rice, who has been worth the money paid, Havertz and Jurien Timber, who we lost in the first game of that season sadly. A slower, more possession based team in the first half that season, the frantic, fast and snappy football was more measured, slow build up from the back, inviting teams out to then spring into Saka to isolate the full back.

It was maybe a tactic to reserve injury to go into the run in and the team certainly did that, running City close with high scores over the spring.

Last season

Then, as I mentioned in ‘Not another summer of Cech’ piece, the club last summer bought what you would say was depth and maybe the club affected by PSR couldn’t splash the cash fully.

The signings have been somewhat good and bought something when in the side. Though I do think we’ve become a tad predictable over the last season in some games and not really had different dynamics to play in a variety of ways, we’ve maybe been a little worked out, as 14 draws last season suggests.

Time to sprinkle something new

Which brings me to this summer, another level up in terms of the squad is needed, maybe something a little fresh and new. Football moves fast and as a fan you see new things every season, Zinchenko and Jesus elevated back in 2022, put you to a new level but we’re now shopping in a different supermarket and other players have stepped up.

So looking at the two of them, they came in 2022, they raised the bar, players with different styles to what we had.Fast forward to now; I feel like another injection of different styled players to raise us again and something different. Another striker will be coming in, hopefully with different skills and strengths completely to what we have now. Perhaps do we actually need another way to play in those forward areas?

A low touch striker but an absolute out and out goal scorer?

Someone when the midfielders pick up the ball, they’re not facing them up but on their bike if you will and going the other way. I can’t remember a goal for a while where we’ve floated one over the top or down the channel for the striker running on, maybe Havertz against Chelsea in April 2024?I think of a Haaland at City, completely different to anything they had in the previous seasons prior to him.

Perhaps, another area I would also look at is a versatile full back with reports linking a few names, someone who can come in, cover a multitude of positions and possible cover also for Saliba, we do have this with Tomiyasu and Timber but as we know both have questionable injury records.

We’re stocked on the left and Kiwior seemingly has extended his Arsenal career after being a solid and reliable cover to Gabriel over the closing months of the season.

Essentially, don’t reinvent the wheel, just sprinkle the team with a few that do something a little different, three players to go and elevate the team again just like that night at Selhurst Park in 2022 and give us some new variety to play in different ways once again.

The fixtures are out Wednesday, we’ll see our road of 38 games at 9am, just don’t give us an awkward Friday night away game under the lights on Sky please Mr Premier League Super computer. Until the next one, have a great week.