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Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011

pik_d posted:

Kinda tempting not gonna lie

Benjani or Bojinov. Maybe Robinho.

Loving Africa Chaps posted:

Gnabry's coming home

He is.

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Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
The glory days of Nouchateau

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
Jorge Mendes giving Arsenal a poor man's Marco Asensio

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
ESPN saying they have "sources," confirming Gabriel Jesus is bound for Arsenal £40m plus add ons, and saying they are still pushing for Raphina. Would like them to instead focus on getting a good midfielder since we currently have Thomas Partey as the only competent player there and he is playing 2/3 of a season every year.

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
Any line up with Diego Costa is inherently dirtier

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011

sticksy posted:

Now I’m gonna be thinking about Dirtiest All-Time XI.

But of an untraditional 3-5-2 formation and apologies for no code tags but I had a go:

Maybe drop a midfielder in favor of Kevin Davies. A forward with 444 games in the Prem, 605 fouls and more yellow cards than goals. Held the foul record until Gareth Barry played long enough to be old and poo poo.

Also Lee Bowyer and Joey Barton aren't bad picks.

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
Bolton under Allardyce and Birmingham under Alex McLeish felt way worse to watch than worm eater at burnley

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
I hope De Jong does what's right and stays at Barcelona to gently caress them over

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
Guy has the highest SPF per 90 in the league

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
He's not wrong

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011

the sex ghost posted:

Would be bad if a club leveraged TV revenue and champions league money to cover obviously unsustainable spending on players. That would end badly, I think, for no particular reason

Please please please please

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkrgKc0nKQ

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
What the hell is going on with his Jesus tattoo?

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
When United first signed Martial, he was electric. I remember thinking they signed a player that looked like a young Anelka or Henry and being real mad about it. He's stagnated so long and I think he's missed his chance to make the next step up. Fully expect to see him in a continental league within a season or two and performing well but not good enough to be in a big club.

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
If Marquinhos is playing, there's a problem

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011

Jippa posted:

His family got death threats or something similarly nice.

Yeah, Corinthians were dogshit while he was playing and they got knocked out of Libertadores. He got the brunt of the blame, unfairly imo, and diehard Corinthian fans aren't known for giving hugs and kisses.

Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
I feel like the only position with poor depth is the striker. There's Jesus, then Nketiah, and then it's either hoping a winger can slot in there or shoving in academy fodder no one has heard of. But it's not like you can convince a quality striker to be fighting with Nketiah for the back up spot. Same goes for the majority of the positions in this squad.

I think there is an appreciable drop in quality if one of Jesus, Odegaard, or Ramsdale get injured. Nketiah is decent and Smith Rowe is good, but they are nowhere near the quality of either starter and I think that's when the results will dip. I think the American keeper is probably bad, but that's based on the little I saw in preseason which is not really fair.

CM feels okay with Xhaka, Elneny, Lokonga, Zinchenko, and Nelson in a pinch (excluding Partey cause who knows what happens in October). That midfield isn't winning any trophies, but it's not much worse than the other midfields competing for 4th. And worst case scenario, the club will be forced to buy someone in January.

Outside of that, there's a lot of dependency on the versatility of players like Smith Rowe, Vieira (who we haven't seen anything from), Reiss Nelson (who has future Everton player stamped all over him), and Zinchenko. Which isn't good but Arsenal aren't attractive enough for good players to want to fight for positions like they would for Man City.

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Vinestalk
Jul 2, 2011
To your first questions, that's exactly my point. Ninpo raised doubts about the depth of the Arsenal squad, and the weakest spot is one where more depth isn't feasible unless we're talking about the richest and most attractive team in the world.

To your other question, I think the loss of Odegaard to Arsenal is more impactful than the absence of a good playmaking midfielder for Tottenham or Alacantra's injury for Liverpool. The rest of their attacking players are good enough to get goals without someone pulling every string. I would agree that Bruno being out from United would be devastating too, but with United it's hard to judge since you never know which United will show up on a given day. The larger point is Arsenal are probably too reliant on Odegaard with, imo, a substitute that can't pick out the same passes or unlock defenses like Odegaard can.

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