Blog

Welcome back to this weeks blog. We’ve finally had confirmation on Friday afternoon of Noni Maduekes signing from Chelsea and also what appeared to be a leaked photograph by the club of Cristhian Mosquera, who looks to have joined from Valencia.

We also still await the ‘here we go’ regarding Viktor Gyokeres move from Sporting and hopefully the last signing we get from the Portugese side for a very long time, it’s exhausting.

With AC Milan and Tottenham lined up in Singapore and Hong Kong over the next week, the team did have a behind closed doors game with local training ground neighbours Watford at London Colney on Saturday, by all accounts it was a 2-0 win for the Gunners but as of today, no information or highlights to look into.

The window, the age profile and tactical flexibility

As far as the blog goes this week, I’m going to assess the window so far, the strategy and where we are currently as we enter the pre season proper. Also the title this week is a nod to the HBO program of the same name, NBA fans and especially fans of the Lakers, do watch if you haven’t had a chance.

So when you look at the business done so far, with the projected transfers included you see that the club has clearly followed pattern this summer, the players bought in are for the here and now.

Mosquera aside, who will focus on later, is the only one who you wouldn’t class as a senior pro in terms of experience at the top level. I’ve looked at the team and where the project currently is, and it seems that Arteta and Berta have leaned on experience a lot more than previous windows when the squad was built from around 2021 to 2023.

Drilling down into the numbers over the last year few years, it looks like we are now at the stage of Winning Time in the project.

The summer of 2021, which included the likes of White, Ramsdale and Tomiyasu the average of the transfers was 22. A summer of young, hungry players ready to play for the shirt and have some sense of pride playing for The Arsenal, this created the baseline and the mould of players we would see for a few years.

Summer 2022, as discussed in previous blogs raised the level of squad, Jesus, Zinchenko and Saliba added to the team pushed the level up a notch, into a first title challenge. The average age of the transfers that year, 24.

And last summer, a quieter one, which was possibly a PSR balancing of the books window, saw the likes of Califori, Merino and Sterling added, with the average age of the players in, at 26.

Now that brings us to this summer, the recruits in so far include, Zubimendi, Norgaard, Kepa and Madeueke confirmed. With Gyokeres still in the works and Mosquera set to sign with the club, the average age of these players coming in this summer so far is 27.

If you throw in say an Eze as well, the age stays the same. So I now look at the project as a ready made squad, the majority of players coming in are at their peak, suggesting the club now know it needs to deliver on the trophy front. The profile of players are ready made to come in, make impact and the club seem to know that the years of building needs to now demonstrate tangible results.

And I do think ambition being shown is good, which has culminated in new deals for our good young players, the likes of Myles Lewis Skelly and Nwaneri, keeping them was also so important with more graduates in the pipeline from Hale End. Keep an eye on Dowman in pre season.

The year on year age profiles show that the building phase is seemingly done for a while, the level is set, its now about winning and delivering, you don’t want to be a team that is a nearly team, and I think Arteta for the good work he has done, needs more silverware to show for it.

The profile of players this summer, also suggests a possible tactical tweak to the setup. A powerful runner of a striker set to sign, midfielders who can dribble and also with powerful running ability.

We’ll be able to mix up depending on the game state, with the dribbling ability of the players coming in now, wingers won’t be so isolated and shoved to the touchline.

Teams that coped especially well against us last year, were Newcastle and Brentford from memory. Able to trust their full backs in one on one duals, isolating our wingers essentially to the byline, with the setup of under lapping as opposed to overlapping meant teams could setup in a way to frustrate and contain.

Now with the profile of dribblers and running prowess, the team can come inside much more centrally, fullbacks overlapping should open the game much more, giving us a different edge going into the new season.

Cristhian Mosquera

Now, the club has seemingly tied up a deal for the young Spanish centre back. A tall, agile defender, he looks quick across the ground, anticipates very well the next actions, comfortable on the ball and has an eye for a cross field switch of play, similar to Saliba. For the price paid, the age of the player, it looks to be a great deal pulled off by Berta here.

This is the one signing this summer that appears to be bought with the future in mind, still developing his game but he looks ready made to fill in for either Sailba and Gabriel going into next year and to find someone who seemingly plays similar to the players in your squad is such a great advantage to have.

Similar to the Madueke signing providing adequate cover for Bukayo, I see this in the same ilk, the team, the squad looks able to rotate in cup games and other competitions with players like this. Therefore fitter, fresher and able to hopefully maintain challenges across the different competitions and maybe, just maybe, pick up a trophy in 2025/26.

Until the next one, the games are now coming and I’ll be able to waffle on performances, tactical set ups and less on the window. Have a great week.