It's been clear for a while that last summer was a poor one for recruitment. One deal I want to zero in on is the Califiori one. With every week that passes that deal looks more and more stupid. I think it's fair to say right now Lewis Skelly looks like a revelation. I've been so impressed with his calmness under pressure. He just looks like he belongs at this level. On the other side of the coin you've got Califiori who if I'm being honest I've not been massively impressed with when he has played which hasn't been much. He will get time to impress but right now it looks to me that maybe the case will be back in Italy in 18 months. He doesn't look like a natural in the position I could understand if he was brought in to rotate with Gabriel but that move only makes sense if they had got rid of Kiwior.
If money was tight surely someone would of had the foresight to say hang on a minute do we really need to buy this player we've got a number of left backs already and we've got this kid who we think is going to be mustard we should be looking at using this money to plug the holes in the forward areas. If not then I question why is someone not saying that is it a sign of the growing power Arteta has at the club.
Last summer
posted 2 hours, 10 minutes ago
For Timber there was the clear path to the starting XI at left back.
Arsenal clearly tried to find someone in budget, Nelson was only allowed to leave once we actually found someone.
But at the same time, if you are saying Cala wasn't needed because we had MLS already then you have to say cover for Saka wasn't needed because we already had Nwaneri. And we still bought in cover for Saka, and were just unfortunate (or fortunate I guess) that cover was injured at the same time as Saka got his injury.
posted 1 hour, 57 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 3 minutes ago
For Timber there was the clear path to the starting XI at left back.
Arsenal clearly tried to find someone in budget, Nelson was only allowed to leave once we actually found someone.
But at the same time, if you are saying Cala wasn't needed because we had MLS already then you have to say cover for Saka wasn't needed because we already had Nwaneri. And we still bought in cover for Saka, and were just unfortunate (or fortunate I guess) that cover was injured at the same time as Saka got his injury.
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I'm saying he wasn't needed because we had Zinchenko, Tierney and Timber as you say before you even factor in Lewis-Skelly. Now you may say they are surplus to requirements which is fine but get them out the door before you invest significant funds into the player. Right now we've got four potential left backs in a squad of 22 players that's just poor planning pure and simple.
posted 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
Naming Tierney is disingenuous, only his injury kept him here. Only injuries to 5 others gave him minutes.
You are neglecting the fact Cala is a CB, and we only have Gabriel, Saliba and Kiwior plus full backs who can cover. Kiwior has no long term future, kept only to allow Cala to settle with injuries prolonging his time beyond this window. To suggest we didn't need more CB cover I don't agree at all with.
I think the way the season has gone shows how much another defender was necessary. Shame we picked one with fitness issues, but that is a different argument.
posted 1 hour, 42 minutes ago
I'm saying he wasn't needed because we had Zinchenko, Tierney and Timber as you say before you even factor in Lewis-Skelly.
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Equally you had Saka, Martinelli, Trossard and Nelson before you even factor in Nwaneri. Nelson only left once we secured a replacement - suggesting they were trying to do so all summer if they could find someone.
posted 1 hour, 41 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 minute ago
Naming Tierney is disingenuous, only his injury kept him here. Only injuries to 5 others gave him minutes.
You are neglecting the fact Cala is a CB, and we only have Gabriel, Saliba and Kiwior plus full backs who can cover. Kiwior has no long term future, kept only to allow Cala to settle with injuries prolonging his time beyond this window. To suggest we didn't need more CB cover I don't agree at all with.
I think the way the season has gone shows how much another defender was necessary. Shame we picked one with fitness issues, but that is a different argument.
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No I don't think it is he's got a squad number he's played recently. That's fine if you disagree I just think there other areas of the field that needed attention first especially if they were working on a tight budget.
posted 1 hour, 38 minutes ago
Why wouldn't you give him a squad number? He couldn't be sold. The fact he has played shows how much we needed someone signed.
If we didn't have the defensive injuries we have, Tierney would be back at Celtic Park already.
posted 1 hour, 22 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 minute ago
Why wouldn't you give him a squad number? He couldn't be sold. The fact he has played shows how much we needed someone signed.
If we didn't have the defensive injuries we have, Tierney would be back at Celtic Park already.
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That is speculation we will never know for sure. Would Celtic have been able to afford the transfer fee along with his wages at the time. Maybe Arsenal would of cancelled his contract, again we will never know. The fact of the matter is for me when they submitted the squad list at the start of the season we had sufficient bodies in those positions to cover those areas. In the last few games how many times has Havertz been replaced to try and keep him fresh? Probably none because we have no one else to put in there that's the issue.
posted 1 hour, 14 minutes ago
Moved from Saka to Havertz? Jesus is the obvious alternative, plus Trossard has played up top this season. 3 players for one role. Sufficient bodies.
posted 1 hour, 14 minutes ago
Jesus was also a name on the squad list who was an alternative to Saka btw, forgot him.
posted 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 27 seconds ago
Moved from Saka to Havertz? Jesus is the obvious alternative, plus Trossard has played up top this season. 3 players for one role. Sufficient bodies.
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No I mentioned a CF as well in an earlier message if you read back.