Morning. Let’s have a quick Christmas Eve round-up before I get on with all the Christmas Eve stuff I have to co. Mikel Arteta met the press yesterday ahead of Thursday’s trip to Bournemouth, so that will provide us with some juicy morsels.
Freddie stays
After a conversation between the two men, Arteta revealed that Freddie Ljungberg would be staying on as part of his coaching staff:
I wanted to know what he was feeling, I wanted to know what he had in mind, what his expectations were. We talked and we made a decision that the best thing was for him to stay with us. I think he can be very valuable. I think he knows the players, he knows the situation, he knows the history of where we’re coming from and also his knowledge of the game is going to really help us to be better.
I think this is good news. I know some people are wondering why – if he couldn’t win a few games in his short time in charge – we should be enthused by this. For a start, the young players who make up a not insignificant part of this squad right now have a great relationship with him. At a time when we’re going to ask an 18 year old winger to play left back, that connection is important. Not just for Bukayo Saka, but for Joe Willock, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah (when he comes back), and others.
I’ve also really liked Freddie’s attitude. He’s not afraid to make decisions which will bruise a few egos, and I think that’s very much in line with what Arteta’s outlook is going to be. Some of them need it. Also, he knows Arsenal and what Arsenal should be. Which doesn’t immediately qualify him for a position, he just happens to be a really good young coach who has that knowledge and we should definitely keep hold of that.
The full make-up of Arteta’s backroom squad has yet to be announced but we know it will include former Everton coach and Aston Villa Director of Football Steve Round, and goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana Pavon.
Everyone gets a chance
It’s hard not to think that Freddie’s decision to leave Nicolas Pepe out of the team for the Everton game was influenced heavily by the moment Fernandinho ran past him without even a challenge. The foot injury that apparently kept Mesut Ozil out of the squad remarkably healed in time for him to train the very next day, and unsurprisingly he’s fit and available for Thursday. The Granit Xhaka thing has gone quiet-ish, but it’s rumbling away in the background.
There are issues for Arteta to sort out, but as far as he’s concerned, everyone’s starting from zero under his watch:
With me, they have a clean slate. I told them that. You’re not going to be judged on things you’ve done in the past, whether they are negative or positive. This is evolving every day and I’m expecting you to perform and be in the right mindset every single day for me. If you do that, you’ll have a chance to play. If you don’t, you won’t.
That’s very fair. It’s very clear. And now we wait and see who responds to that and who doesn’t. As I mentioned above, I don’t think Arteta will be at all worried about making difficult decisions because of a player’s stature, wage packet, or anything else. I’m also sure he’s learned enough from him time as a player and a coach to understand that there is no one size fits all approach to man management. Some will need the kick up the arse, others the arm around the shoulder, but there’s only so many times you can deliver either without them becoming ineffective.
Players are going to have to demonstrate that they really want to play, that they really want to get on board with the methods and demands of Arteta as a coach, and that’s the way it should be.
Transfers might happen
I suspect that regardless of his inexperience, a pre-condition for Arteta when taking the job would have been some backing in the transfer market in January. Even if it’s limited, even if it’s you have to sell before you buy, he couldn’t possibly have looked at this squad and not insisted that it needs more than just diligent, assiduous training ground work to get it back on track.
On January business, he said:
We have a meeting in place very soon, we have some ideas, but we have to pull them together.
There are some obvious moves. Xhaka is being very strongly linked with a move back to the Bundesliga, with Hertha Berlin said to be in advanced talks to make the deal happen. My understanding is that after everything that’s gone on, the player would be more than open to that move. If we were to sanction that departure, it would suggest very strongly to me that a central midfield player is incoming.
Centre-half is another area in which we could use a signing. We have numbers, with Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Sokratis, David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi and Dinos Mavropanos, but it’s not so much an issue of quantity as one of quality. Mustafi’s Arsenal race has been run for some time, we basically told him to leave in the summer, but there wasn’t an acceptable deal for player or club. I wonder if he might find somewhere with regular football more attractive now having spent half a season without much playing time.
Mavropanos is still young, but at the very least he needs a loan move to play more regularly. Just eight first team appearances in two injury hit years means his development has stagnated. That’s how you make room in the squad and generate some revenue, but it all depends on whether you can find a suitable purchase/loan.
I suspect we might see a couple of young Spanish players brought in as Arteta begins to reshape the squad in his image.
Four things
Not press conference related but from the training ground video. Arteta laid out the four things he’d be working on with the players to drill them into his way of playing.
Ball. Teammate. Opponent. Space.
Space for players to move into to receive the ball, not outer space which is where some of them appear to have had their heads in recent months. It’s interesting stuff all the same, you can give it a watch here.
The fruits of those training ground drills will become apparent over time, hopefully we see a positive effect on Thursday against Bournemouth.
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So there you go. Almost finally, I’d just like to take the opportunity on behalf of all of us here at Arseblog and Arseblog News to wish you all a very happy Christmas. I know not everyone who reads is celebrating it, but whether you do or not, I hope you have peace and love, health and happiness – things that would make the world a better place whatever you do at this time of the year.
Catch you on the far side, and very finally I’ll leave you with a brand new Arsecast Extra recorded yesterday in which we chat about Arteta’s appointment, the job he has to do, and loads more besides. Listen/subscribe below, or in your favourite podcasting app.
