Arsenal

[The Fox]

I'm sure he's capable of it, just don't think I've ever seen him play there for Barca. Due to Messi's presence in the centre his role at Barcelona is a lot more restrictive than for Chile, where he roams around much more (and it was the same when he was at Udinese). But I think he could offer pace and goals anywhere across the front line really.

[Gotters]

I knew not to be excited by the Arsenal sign highly rated midfielder tweet - he's an English U16 player.

[wev]

Excuse the Metro link, but Arsene Wengers not really doing his reputation for having deep pockets but short arms much good by wearing his Arsenal training gear whilst on punditry duties at the World Cup is he?

[gizmo1990]

Yeah but it's nice to know that if you sliced him up you know he'd say 'Arsenal FC' right through him.

[Lucky]

The 'old' Nike stuff too.

Wonder what Puma make of that.

Probably nothing.

[Rocafella]

So BBC and Ornstein have confirmed we're in for Sanchez and Debuchy. Let's assume for a second that we actually managed to land Sanchez, how do we line up next season across the front three?

[Mars]

Like a fucking boss.

[The Fox]

So BBC and Ornstein have confirmed we're in for Sanchez and Debuchy. Let's assume for a second that we actually managed to land Sanchez, how do we line up next season across the front three?

Alexis-Özil-Cazorla

Giroud

Or

Walcott-Özil-Alexis

Giroud

I reckon there aren't any centre forwards around that fit the bill in terms of price, quality and availability this summer. Suspect we'll give Campbell a chance and also use Walcott/Alexis there at times instead and see how things are next year.

[BlinkyBear]

So BBC and Ornstein have confirmed we're in for Sanchez and Debuchy. Let's assume for a second that we actually managed to land Sanchez, how do we line up next season across the front three?

Just seen this on his twitter feed. I'm losing my shit.

[The Fox]

Lots of Chile and Barcelona-based journos reporting it too.

[JDubYes]

The noise on that one was just about hopeful enough for me to actually pay attention, which I try not to do in silly (off)season. Now I've found out we're being heavily linked with Khedira and Debuchy too.

This is why I hate this. I like the idea of those three joining more than enough to make it really disappointing when, inevitably, none of it happens.

[carlito]

I don't even want to talk about Sanchez because it will hurt too much if it all falls through, but anyone else feeling a bit underwhelmed at the prospect of Debuchy?

Wasn't he a bit of a liability at Newcastle? It's entirely possible that my opinion of him is unfairly coloured by some comedy performances in his first season that are not representative of his quality but, right now, I am not sure exactly what boxes he ticks.

Jenkinson has an engine, pace and final ball already, is Debuchy that much more solid defensively than him? I am pretty sure he's not going to be covering at centreback anytime soon so it can't be versatility.

[The Fox]

I didn't really rate him but was pleasantly surprised when I saw this.

[carlito]

To be fair Newcastle did a lot more defending than the rest of those teams so you'd expect that anyway wouldn't you?

[The Fox]

I guess to an extent, yeah. I don't think he's anywhere near as good as Sagna but maybe he's not as bad as I thought. He's less of a risk than Aurier I guess, and less of a big impediment to Jenks/Bellerin as he's much older.

[Gotters]

Yeah, all of these defender stats bring to mind the xavi alonso quote about tackling being something you only do when you havent got the ball.

[Gabe]

Yeah, all of these defender stats bring to mind the xavi alonso quote about tackling being something you only do when you havent got the ball.

Well high tackling stats can also mean you often aren't in position to stop an attack before it develops because a tackle is a last-ditch attempt to win the ball. It's why the top, top defenders generally have very low stats (didn't Paulo Maldini average less that a tackle a game or something? I'm sure I've read a stat along those lines recently about him.)

That said, for fullbacks I would say it is also an indicator that they are often having to push forward to support attacks, which is why I'm not surprised to see Zabaleta also with a higher figure.

[Gotters]

my son pointed out the Squawka website Fox used above to get that stats comparison - its a super slick piece fo software that lets you compare players opta stats really easily.

I pulled up Sanchez v Vidal v Walcott & Ozil for last season and its an interesting read - I didn't know much of Vidal and could get an idea of how he does/doesn't compare to Sanchez (they are quite different players)

[carlito]

Vidal is a defensive midfielder though and let's not even dare to dream on that one.

[Gotters]

Vidal is a defensive midfielder though and let's not even dare to dream on that one.

I wouldn't draw that conclusion looking at his stats, he looks quite offensive and creates a lot, with goals chucked in too, he's not a classic holder.

wouldn't dream about it with Juve quoting £60m for a player in his late 20s

[redbloodcell]

He's pretty much the perfect all-rounder, even pretty good in the air despite being a smidgen under 6'.

He's also been on Real Madrid's hitlist for 2 seasons already, and they've been strongly rebuffed both times. I'm not sure why the English press think anyone stands much chance of getting him.

[The Fox]

Vidal is a box-to-box midfielder really, very versatile and adept in pretty much any midfield role.

Juve play him & Pogba either side of Pirlo, who is the deepest of the three, and they do his running for him. Vidal is a bit more defensive than Pogba in their system. For Chile he plays a more attacking role, with Diaz & Aranguiz behind him.

I don't believe we're in for Vidal as he'd be very expensive and is not too dissimilar to Ramsey. I'm not sure Ramsey & Vidal would work that great as a pairing to be honest, at least not without a fair bit of work. You'd be curbing both to an extent by putting them together in a two.

As far as defensive midfielders go, I reckon it'll be Schneiderlin or no one. Even though he doesn't normally play as the deepest midfielder for Southampton, he's adept in the role and wouldn't cost stupid money. I'm not sure who else we could really get who wouldn't be too much money.

[carlito]

I am pretty certain we'll get a DM. It's an obvious problem with our squad and there appear to be a few suitable candidates.

In terms of Schniederlin, who I think is fucking brilliant, he plays pretty much exactly the role we want at Saints he just won't have a Wanyama/Cork alongside him.

[The Fox]

Yeah I'd be chuffed to bits with Schneiderlin. Seen Khedira mentioned but I don't see how he has the attributes to sit and distribute in the way Arteta does. I don't think he's the right fit whereas Schneiderlin could definitely do that job, with more mobility than Arteta.

Southampton tho.

[The Fox]

Arsenal away kits 1892 to 2013/14:

And next season's:

[hauk]

Keep seeing Lars Bender being mentioned. Don't know much about him tbh, is he in the same mould as Schneiderlin?

[Silent Runner]

I loved all those JVC kits, even that mad patterned one. That purple striped one second from the end…. yeesh.

[wev]

I think I prefer the new away kit over the new home

[carlito]

Southampton tho.

Oh big time. I feel if they had shipped Schniederlin, Shaw and Rickie and kept the rest, particularly Lovren and Lallana, for at least a season it wouldn't have been too much of a nightmare to cover but now it's looking a pretty awful task.

[The Fox]

Keep seeing Lars Bender being mentioned. Don't know much about him tbh, is he in the same mould as Schneiderlin?

I'd say he's a bit more attacking/Box-to-box than Schneiderlin. Like Khedira, he's not really a 'screening' midfielder like Arteta, and I think unless Ramsey is going to curb his attacking next season, we need someone of that type to just sit, win the ball, and help build from the back. He's also had a pretty poor season I think.