It was obvious last night that the Arsenal team contained players that either did not do their job or were not up to the required standard.
The team lacked creativity and forward thrusts from midfield. Something that Ramsey would have provided in abundance. Sadly dozy Ozil failed miserably once again. The man is past it I tell you. He can't do it any more and this has been blatantly obvious for the last two seasons.
And this was the reason that the front two could not play their normal game as they were starved of service from midfield and the supporting forward thrusts.
It would have been more productive to have started with Willock. He did a lot more in those 15 or so minutes compared to what Ozil did the whole match....
Sadly for Maitland Niles, although he played well in the first half, it was his mistakes that cost us goals.
The players were also too ready to open up the game so soon after we conceded the first goal. They had no nous to manage the game for a while and then try to get back.
So this defeat reduces our transfer budget for this window to 40m. This amount can these days only buy you an 'average' player!!!
So it is very important that Emery supplements that with player sales.
Lets start with the defence, an area which needs major surgery:
Players out:
Ospina (not good enough, can get a fee for him)
Cech (retiring)
Mustafi (enough said)
Jenkinson (contributed nothing this season)
Lichtsteiner (not up to the PL standard, too slow)
Players in:
Defence is a crucial area that Emery simply has to fix. Conceding 51 goals this (and about the same last season) is absurd.
There is of course Bellerin and Holding to come back and this will bolster our defence but we need another high quality centre back as Koscienly is nearing retirement. We also need another left back as Monreal too is not getting any younger and Kolasinac is really a wing back not a left back.
Promote Martinez to number 2. He is a very good goalkeeper and we can save money to spend on other areas.
Midfielders:
Players out:
Elneny (very average player, passes sideways)
Mkitaryan (has ability but has not shown it. On very high wages)
Ozil (see above...., on outrageous high wages)
Chambers (not good enough for Arsenal)
Players in:
Arsenal need to counterbalance the fragility of its central midfielders. This has been partially addressed with the excellent Torreira coming in this season and he will be better next season having adapted to the PL.
But we need to pair him with another dynamic and strong central midfielder to provide proper cover in front of the defence. Xhaka is a good technical player with a very good left foot but he is not a defensive midfielder.
On the wide positions we only have Iwobi (and Mhktaryan) and we therefore need at least another quality player. It is good to see that Ryan Fraser is on our radar and I hope that this transfer goes through.
Promote Willock, Smith Rowe and Nelson and give them more games.
Forwards:
Players out:
Welbeck (too prone to injuries and has not really produced it for Arsenal)
Players in:
We of course have to keep the two excellent forwards we have in Lacazette and Aubameyang! But we really have to provide service to them (by getting in a creative 10 and of course letting Ozil go).
Promote Nketiah and give him more games. He deserves a chance.
So in summary we need 4 players: A central defender, a left back, and a central and wide midfielder.
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