From Mike : We are still in it!
I’m not with the crazy over-reactive fans on ArsenalFanTV who are saying our season is over. We are two points off the top, with a long way to go.
Wenger can’t allow this squad of key players to be broken up over the next few years.
Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky can be replaced by one key defensive midfielder who can also play.
The problem with Lukaku is Everton paid a lot for him, 30 million which he is probably worth now. We would need to beat that by a lot to take him from them. I think there will be other options out there at better value. Now, I would much rather us go for Barkley , a Joel Campbell and 35 million is a good deal for them.
Could we snatch a Tony Kroos from Madrid? They are constantly dealing at the moment. Dortmund are also vulnerable, how about Reus?
Morata is 23 and a better option than Giroud. 30 million will get him, they can even have Giroud or Flamini.
I think Ramsey can do a great job alongside Coquelin. However, someone needs to be firm with him and let him know his role and that he can’t roam around the pitch in this role. He has the athleticism and stamina to play that box to box role ala Gerrard but he isn’t disciplined enough to do it as long as he thinks he has a free role.
A midfield (two) of Coquelin, Cazorla (Future Replacement – Barkley), Wilshere, Ramsey, New DM, One extra squad player.
The forward position essentially needs to be ripped up.
Giroud out. Welbeck out (shame but he’s not at the top level and won’t be happy to be a squad player for too long), Walcott. We need two new strikers alongside Theo, one world-class and possibly one with the potential to be world-class who isn’t Sanogo. Think Morata, Walcott, Reus, Sanchez can play there.
Number 10 is Ozil.
Wings we are OK. Sanchez, Ox, Walcott , Possibly Ozil every now and then, and really one more addition who can play left and right on the right.
I think we are another big couple of signings away from really where we need to be to be challenging and winning consistently and our squad will need to look something like this going forward in the summer.
Cech
Ospina (or adequate replacement)
Defence
Monreal
Gabriel
Koscielny
BFG
Chambers
Bellerin
Gibbs
Jenkinson
Central Midfield
Coquelin
New DM/Deep lying controlling play-maker – Kondogbia is the man!
Wilshere
Ramsey
Cazorla
Attacking Midfield/Wing
Ozil
OX
Sanchez
Reus/Draxler/Griezmann
Forwards
Walcott
Morata/Lukaku/Lewandoski/Kingsley Colman
We are still three (£100-150 million) world class signings away.
Myles says:
Thanks, Mike.
ANR gets scores of emails like this every season.
Yours might be the first one we’ve ever published.
It has become clear to me that many fans think and daydream as you do.
Morata, I think, is continental poacher-type, a technical predator who is able to sniff out chances
Watching Gerry Deulofeu was thrilling last night.
The way he took Middlesbrough apart in the Capital One Cup QF convinced me, more than ever, that he’s a player.
Neither Oxlade or Walcott is fit to lace Deulefeu’s boots. Not in the same class. Never will be, not in a thousand years.
The ball was jabbed forward hard towards Deulefeu and he was cute enough to allow the ball to bounce past him, then zoomed onto it and beat two defenders and got into the D and hit a sublime right-foot shot low into the far corner of the net. Quality!
0-1 in 19 minutes 22 seconds.
It’s uphill for Middlesbrough after that.
Then Deulofeu did some flashy stepovers and his cross for Lukaku was superb. He fizzed the ball across at a perfect height and you won’t see a more accurate cross this season. That ball had Lukaku’s name on it and the big man read it beautifully while taking a step backwards to nod in for 2-0 in 28 min.
John Stones is an athletic, elegant English talent who can attack as well as defend and he now helps to define Everton’s style of play.
Stones is a Champions League player with a big future and that ‘s why Chelsea made big offers for him. They failed to understand that the lad is not for sale.
Of course young Lukaku is hit-and-miss.
In his clumsy moments he looks like Frank Bruno. But he’s gradually improving and he’s already scored 13 goals this season.
After the game Gerry said, perhaps predictably, he likes playing with Romelu and Ross.
The irony was that Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka coached Deulofeu when he was a Spanish youth international and predicted a big future for him.
Lovely night for likeable Everton boss Roberto Martinez.
He said, “We scored two magnificent goals but I don’t get impressed with Gerard because I see him train every day. He has a natural talent that’s as good as it gets, that players dream of having and anyone would pay to watch. He’s phenomenal.”
He also said the key to Everton’s current form is competition for places.