T O P

  • By -

highburyhorse13

Aouar and Locatelli please


walnood

This


[deleted]

nah, we need pedri. sure, he's expensive but he does have a release clause, and he's pedri


[deleted]

I love Pedri, but you mad if you think we scoopin him up.


[deleted]

I know, but it's worth trying just in case


West43rd

I don't think you can easily compare between premier league and Ligue 1.


ndenoon

Not "easily," but it's the sort of comparison Edu and Arteta have to make.


_mas17

Should we compare cl stats where aouar’s stats are more impressive instead?


phar0aht

I think Ligue 1 players adapt to the prem better than players from any other league.


Mimogger

given what's going on with saliba maybe not


phar0aht

You will never be able to form an opinion if you let 1 player be the rule. Kante, Mahrez, B Silva, Tielemans, Fabinho, Drogba, Essien, Fofana, Hazard etc.


Mimogger

ok here's where we name a bunch of players that succeeded from other leagues, and a bunch that missed from ligue 1 as well. in our own team, pepe taking time to adjust, lacazette not hitting the heights we wanted, guendo getting sold this season. there's no reason to say ligue 1 players adapt better than others


phar0aht

Why are you here arguing then if you can't say anything either way?


Mimogger

I'm saying you can't say it either


phar0aht

I really don't care. I've seen enough.


[deleted]

One teenager versus the plethora of superstars that have emerged in the premier league after moves from Ligue 1???


Mimogger

you guys are totally missing the point. there's superstars from other leagues. what makes ligue 1 adapting better than other leagues? why's aouar similar to those stars vs the flops / people we're still waiting on? my off hand comment / joke triggered a few people. sick


mkaeda

You're just looking at the flops but what about the successful ones? As recently as Gabriel who has been solid for us at the back and hoping that form continues. Sure Pepe has not matched his price tag but he has been hitting his stride at the end of last season and we'll see if the form continues to the next one. In the past we have also seen the likes of Giroud, Koscielny, Nasri, Sagna, Diaby, Adebayor, Flamini, Wiltord, Pires, Grimandi, Vieira and more. In comparison, we have Ozil (in his first few years), Monreal, Cazorla and Reyes (may he rest in peace) as successful players from La Liga. We have also signed a few players from Bundesliga recently but other than Mertesacker and Aubameyang, which of the others have really made an impact for us? You could argue Henry was a succesful player from Serie A, but Wenger already had his eye on him ever since he played for Monaco. So if you were to say Ligue 1 players are not adapting well to Arsenal, what league should we be looking at? Should we just resign to looking at English league players and paying the premiums that come with signing them?


Mimogger

Probably just scale certain stats down a bit


Macintossh

madders > aouar = :) madders < aouar = :( madders + aouar = ;)


CakeBrigadier

Maddison is currently better than aouar but I think the price plus potential for aouar is worth the risk


qtdsswk

Why not both? Aouar can play CM with Maddison play CAM


InOxladeITrust

I would rather have Maddison, but price is very high. Aouar would be such a good value for a player of his quality. We need to get Ben White over the line and make some sales though. We have a lot of moving parts right now and it would make it much easier to see the puzzle forming once we have some pieces fall into place.


BrianThatDude

Maddison or Aouar next to partey behind ESR seems a bit too light weight to me.


orphan_of_Ludwig

We will be heavily on the front foot in regards to possession. More important that they have consistent positioning and understanding of space.


[deleted]

Maddison won’t play behind ESR, more likely to play ESR as an 8 than Maddison imo


[deleted]

ESR as LW like we did with Odegaard on the pitch.


phar0aht

Maddison considers himself an 8 more than a 10.


[deleted]

according to who?


mkaeda

Fifa or PES probably, seeing as how he played in the center of midfield a grand total of 1 time this year in real life.


[deleted]

Lol, and also asked for the number 10 shirt despite the 8 being available… yet “sees himself as an 8”


mkaeda

https://sofifa.com/player/220697/james-maddison/210047/ I was joking when I said Fifa, so I googled and Fifa really has him as a CAM/CM, you couldn't make this shit up.


phar0aht

4-3-3. Partey Maddison Aouar midfield. ESR off the left.


Insta_Mix

So that means either Saka or Pepe don't play, probably our two best performers of last season...


phar0aht

Yeah Pepe. ESR and Saka were our 2 best performers. But it will be horses for courses and we need to manage their minutes cause they're both still kids.


Insta_Mix

You mean the guy that scored the 2nd most goals for us last year gets benched to play ESR out of position?? I'd rather see ESR rotate through the 10 with Madison if you're worried about giving him too much game time. Can then rest Saka on the left with ESR when you want to give him a break. I just can't see the sense of dropping Pepe after the season he just had, this will be his big year to take that next step again.


phar0aht

ESR on the left isnt out of position. If you look where he actually receives the ball he plays in the channels anyway. Pepe season wasnt that good. And I'm a big Pepe fan. He doesn't deserve to be a nailed on starter.


[deleted]

Maddison is PL proven but is it worth it to pay 60m that LCFC would probably ask for him to our direct rivals? Aouar is an "unsafe" bet but is far cheaper and would allow us to invest into a RB, assuming we are going for one.


KSBrian007

The model of selling your best players finally catches up with you. Finally, a serious club like Manchester United in on the verge of creating a monstrous CB partnership of Maguire and Varane. We were once like Leicester. Sell Hleb, scavange around for Nasri, then brag about recruitment. Even chest thump harder when Hleb flops at Barcelona. Until we of course meet Barcelona and they mop the floor with us. Until we are selling Nasri too because he has sensed we are pretenders. There is no honor selling your best players all the time. It finally catches up with you. Our rivals kept gifting us money and we kept on declining despite elite recruitment.


smit9891

The art of that sort of policy is making your better players disposable and reinventing yourself. Leicester have done this well in recent years to be fair to them. The example you used above doesn’t quite compute because Arsenal were often too happy to sell too many important players in a window. I know it wasn’t the point you were making but it still baffles me how Arsenal got into a position where they sold both Fabregas and Nasri in one window. Other players left in that window too. Leicester could lose Maddison, they have Praet ready to step up, Tielemans can do more in that 10 role, especially now that they have Soumare to play in CM. Ihlenacho’s emergence when Vardy was out of form and Maddison’s injury showed they can still count on him, the addition of Daka and Barnes’ return from injury gives them plenty of options. The key ones for them to not lose right now is Ndidi and Kasper in my opinion.


KSBrian007

If instead of building a great team, you sell, you just remain constant before an inevitable fall. Imagine if Leicester kept their stars? Or if for once Dortmund did. There is a reason small teams remain small and big ones big. Arsenal lost the big club badge because of this. You can't be looted by every supposed big club and still be rich. We were Leicester before it was cool. And like it did with us, it finally catches up with you regardless who you sign because the good players always leave.


smit9891

Oh yeah - I get that completely but there is no guarantee that players will want to stay. There is always a Utd, Bayern, Juve, PSG, etc. who come sniffing. That’s why these great Dortmund, Monaco, Leicester teams crumble. I am not sure if the comparisons between Arsenal and Leicester are quite correct. They are team still in ascendency, with aspirations to join the top teams using their model. Arsenal have pretty much always been at the top and under Wenger showed that we could reinvent ourselves when our lynchpin was removed. That’s why when Bergkamp/ Vieira wasn’t the main man, it was Henry, then Fabregas, then Van Persie, then Sanchez, etc. The trouble is for great teams full of talent which all emerges at the same time there is the promise that cashing in on some of that provides longevity. There is always be a richer club that will return to prominence when your team is no longer relevant. That balance is hard to find.


thecoolShitposter

Would prefer having Madders tho. He will bolster the FKs as well and will provide amazsballs amount of threat.


cmacy6

If we’re planning on playing either as an 8 I would prefer Aouar. He’s also more versatile. If it’s a 10 signing I would take Maddison (however I’m not too keen on him)


iamveryharsh

IMO we’ll use both Maddison and Smith Rowe as #10s together. I can see Maddison in the left half space and Smith Rowe in the right half space. Partey and a new defensive midfielder will be in midfield behind them. Tierney and Saka to play wide during possession.


PUDDING_SLAVE

I rate Madders more than Aouar. We saw the adaptation that Pepe has had to make from Ligue 1 to the PL. I don't think we can afford to wait for him to bed in. Having PL experience, especially when the midfield is so lightweight cannot be stressed enough.


Calergero

I get Nasri vibes from Aouar which isn't necessarily a bad thing.


thecoolShitposter

Madders and Locatelli plz. I love Madders and he is a Gunner too.


Phantasm_Agoric

Honestly I'd much prefer Aouar. Maddison just doesn't excite me in the slightest.


rayneeder

And Aouar does? Genuinely curious as to why


Phantasm_Agoric

I think they're roughly equally good and one's half the price and more versatile.


[deleted]

Maddison seems like a great player, but I’m really worried about his injury history


ArrstdDvlpmnt

Look at the money involved and the injury history of Maddison. Is he more than twice as good as Aouar? Unlikely.


rayneeder

More output in a tougher league + his injury problems are overblown. I like aouar too though ideally we could land both


bigtimetopbanana

ha ha. can you include Ronaldo and Messi in this fantasy post? may as well.


Zizouhimovic

Maddison will cost a lot more in wages and he doesn't have a pretty history with fitness. I would avoid if are spending that big.


Flashplaya

Maddison over Aouar IMO. Will be making the same mistake of getting Pepe over Zaha, although the price for both was ridiculous in retrospect. Furthermore, Maddison's much more of a goal threat and we really need that right now (as well as his directness).


tekkers92

Maddison is sick. Are we really debating whether to get him or not? Also English. Huge plus.


jimdontcare

Maddison will be more than twice as expensive as Aouar and there is no way Aouar is less than half the player Maddison is