Football - To Russia with Löw

[Tinker]

1 minute ago, JordanJH1993 said:

This might be where Emery's experience in working within a managerial structure comes in handy.

£50m + what they recoup on sales doesn't seem much in this market, but Sven Mislintat seems to have a keen eye for identifying talented players on affordable prices. Emery, having worked alongside Monchi at Sevilla, should be well prepared for working in an environment where recruitment isn't entirely up to him, either.

Mislintat has an eye for Dortmund players or former Dortmund players. 

[Consigliere]

42 minutes ago, JordanJH1993 said:

Emery, having worked alongside Monchi at Sevilla, should be well prepared for working in an environment where recruitment isn't entirely up to him, either.

This is also another big reason why Emery makes sense for Arsenal. It's a new management structure for Arsenal but Emery is used to being a head coach and will not throw up a fuss about not having complete control over transfers or a modest budget. Most talk about his work at Sevilla but he also overachieved at Valencia as well on a tiny budget and at a time when the club was in serious financial trouble and were forced into regularly selling their best players. 

[Spockydog]

I'm not concerned by the perceived budget limitations. Not sure the squad needs that much work. I'd be happy if we just replaced Xhaka and Mustafi. Actual tactics and actual coaching, along with a dramatic reduction in the size of the players' comfort zone, are gonna improve us no end.

[Jeor]

I'm warming more and more to Emery now, having read a number of articles out there about him (which I hope just aren't puff pieces).

Arsenal have been working hard on the backroom staff with Mislintat and Sanhelli and clearly the new manager has to be comfortable working within a system, which Emery seems quite capable of. Having to deal with the circus at PSG and still coming out with a decent reputation for class is a pretty good accomplishment. I'm glad he gets billing as a tactician and attention to details guy. I remember reading somewhere that the "new manager bounce" usually occurs when an opposite is appointed (i.e. going from a stern disciplinarian to an easygoing feel-good manager or vice versa), so Emery's contrast with Wenger in this regard would be a good thing.

5 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

I'm not concerned by the perceived budget limitations. Not sure the squad needs that much work. I'd be happy if we just replaced Xhaka and Mustafi. Actual tactics and actual coaching, along with a dramatic reduction in the size of the players' comfort zone, are gonna improve us no end.

I also think the squad is pretty fine (especially front half with Aubameyang, Ozil, Lacazette, Welbeck, Ramsey). We just need a dominant CB and an enforcer in midfield. GK can probably wait another season or two and is not super urgent yet. I'm interested to see when they'll feel like Bielik is ready for a go. Seems he's been playing as a CB on loan but has also been a defensive mid. He's still only 20 so may not be ready, but he was trumpeted as the next big thing when we initially signed him. Similar with Mavropanos - maybe too young at 20, but seems like he was signed for the future too. With Holding and Chambers there is plenty in the pipeline, but whether they'll amount to the real deal is another matter.

[Spockydog]

The interesting question will be his position on Ozil. I reckon he's toast.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

5 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Pellegrini to West Ham

Will they give him the coin to do what he needs to do?

[Jeor]

15 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

The interesting question will be his position on Ozil. I reckon he's toast.

I think he'll give Ozil at least the first season. It doesn't make sense to sign Ozil to a huge extension and then not at least try to make it work. We're unlikely to get a big fee for him and if there aren't a huge amount of funds going around, Emery might just have to make do with the squad we have (plus one or two defensive upgrades, hopefully).

Already some articles speculating about a move for Rabiot (who is more defensively minded), but I suspect Arsenal are priced out of that one. But Rabiot could be a box-to-box guy you build a side around.

[ljkeane]

48 minutes ago, Jeor said:

 GK can probably wait another season or two and is not super urgent yet.

I'm not sure that's true. Cech quietly had a fairly poor season and at his age is he likely to improve?

[Tinker]

3 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

I'm not sure that's true. Cech quietly had a fairly poor season and at his age is he likely to improve?

Cech is going nowhere. He has just been given the number 1 shirt. 

[Consigliere]

4 hours ago, Jeor said:

I think he'll give Ozil at least the first season. It doesn't make sense to sign Ozil to a huge extension and then not at least try to make it work. We're unlikely to get a big fee for him and if there aren't a huge amount of funds going around, Emery might just have to make do with the squad we have (plus one or two defensive upgrades, hopefully).

Already some articles speculating about a move for Rabiot (who is more defensively minded), but I suspect Arsenal are priced out of that one. But Rabiot could be a box-to-box guy you build a side around.

Özil should have a place since Emery's preferred formation utilises a #10 and Özil has improved the defensive side of his game. Emery will require him to up his pressing game since he does like his teams to press high up the pitch. 

 

 

 

ETA. AC Milan are in hot water with UEFA over FFP. UEFA have now rejected Milan's settlement agreement after rejecting their initial voluntary agreement back in December. There will be a hearing next month were the club could face some repercussions: a fine, limiting of the squad, transfer ban and even disqualification from the EL.

There are concerns over how the owner is going to repay the massive loan to Elliot Management which is due this October. The refinancing of this debt has still not happened and there seems to be no guarantees on when/how it will happen. Also the alleged new sources of income for the club, especially from China, doesn't look like happening anytime soon.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

16 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Kos, Per, Chambers, Cech, Coq, Elneny, Cazorla (already released?) won’t bring in good fees and Mustafi has depreciated.

Per has retired from active football, he will be in charge of Arsenal's academy from next season onwards. That this was his final season, and that he'll be working in Arsenal's youth department has been known for quite a while. Kos, should have value, or would've if he hadn't picked up that nasty injury. As for Mustafi, back when Arsenal signed him, I think I said something to the extent, he is a good player in his own right, but not as good as people assume/think he is based on him being a German international - I think I named Süle and Tah as Germany's future centrebacks back then, and I stick by that assessment (maybe Rüdiger wants a word in on that discussion, though). Cech has simply started to decline, he isn't the goalkeeper he used to be 10 years ago. Still a good goalkeeper, but not a worldbeater anymore.

10 minutes ago, Consigliere said:

Özil has improved the defensive side of his game.

I think this part of the misconception of Özil (doesn't track back etc.). When you look at his stats, he was always among the Arsenal players that covered most grounds (iirc). Don't ge me wrong, Özil has weaknesses in his game, but some of the stick he gets seems to be a bit misplaced/out of proportions. Of course Arsenal overpaid him, with his new contract (at least imho).

[Consigliere]

Lots of talk from the Italian media saying that Napoli are close to appointing Ancelotti. Earlier reports were saying that De Laurentiis had held talks with Sarri but it doesn't look like that went well. Sarri to Chelsea then?

[Spockydog]

3 hours ago, Soylent Brown said:

Whether Ozil fits the new system or not, surely he's not going to be leaving Arsenal any time soon, what with his wages and a significant transfer fee.

You say that, but if the manager just doesn't like Marmite, then he's not gonna want to buy 300,000 jars of it every week.

 

[mormont]

10 hours ago, Spockydog said:

You say that, but if the manager just doesn't like Marmite, then he's not gonna want to buy 300,000 jars of it every week.

Except in this analogy, the manager's a chef and the restaurant has a contract with a Marmite supplier so he'd better get on and come up with some Marmite dishes. 

Besides, there's no indication that this manager won't fancy Ozil. Very few managers in his whole career have not wanted Ozil. He's been sold three times, and two of those were against the wishes of his then-current manager. 

[Jordan La Cabra]

11 hours ago, Consigliere said:

Sarri to Chelsea then?

I am still unsure about how well Sarri to Chelsea would work. Obviously, I have said before that I would like to see us appoint a coach who would play a more progressive style of football, so that we can at least be entertained if we aren't challenging every season. Sarri would fit that bill, clearly.

I am not that familiar with his work outside of Napoli, but I have seen some suggest that he is like Conte in some ways: stubborn and inflexible with team selection. Conte rotates, but hasn't veered from his preferred three at the back system since he first implemented it; it seems Sarri doesn't often rotate and mostly uses the same XI, which makes it difficult for youth players to take their chance. Conte, to be fair to him, has been more willing to try young players out than most of the managers Abramovic has appointed. With Abramovich tightening his purse strings and the success our development teams have had in recent years, it seems Abramovich would like more development players to come through.

Conte's strength as a manager is his tactical awareness, as the FA Cup final proved. His weakness appears to be man-management and building any kind of bond with his players. Costa, Luiz and Willian all seem to have fallen out with him, and no player seemed to be calling for him to stay after the FA Cup final victory on Saturday. I'd say that the language barrier can complicate things on that front.

I don't know much about Sarri's man-management skills, but I think it would be silly for Chelsea to sack Conte and replace him with Sarri if Sarri has the same approach to man-management as Conte does.

[Consigliere]

So it looks like Ancelotti to Napoli is just about done. Reports saying that he has signed a 2 year contract with an option for a further year worth €4m/year after tax. An official announcement is expected later today.

[Jeor]

Emery confirmed. Glad we got that done quickly and painlessly, and now he has time to properly plan the squad and get some transfer business happening. Apparently a three year contract, which is probably about right. The only thing is he doesn't have a track record of staying in one place long, but hopefully that's more of a reflection of his employers rather than him.

[Rorshach]

Word on the street is still that Silva’s the favourite to take over at Everton. 

However, in what I choose to look at as positive news, our incoming DOF - who hasn’t started his job yet - wants to be involved, talking to/interviewing Silva himself. If this DOF is as good as his reputation from Holland suggests (*cough* Alfonso Alves *cough*), that’s good. Would be great if someone could take charge from the get-go.

Also being reported that Rooney is on his way to MC. Which, of course, MC will take stoically on the chin.

[polishgenius]

5 hours ago, Consigliere said:

So it looks like Ancelotti to Napoli is just about done. Reports saying that he has signed a 2 year contract with an option for a further year worth €4m/year after tax. An official announcement is expected later today.

Why the hell have they sacked Sarri?

[Consigliere]

36 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Why the hell have they sacked Sarri?

Not really sure. Some articles I've read suggest that De Laurentiis was feeling that they were being jerked around by Sarri. Apparently De Laurentiis had made him an offer some time back but Sarri has been delaying giving an answer which resulted in Ancelotti being approached.