Would’ve this Palace man have been a better signing at left 8?
The transfer window has come and gone, however gooners and me in particular have been wondering whether another club’s player will play would have suited us better, okay I admit maybe it’s a little bit of day dreaming from my end.
However, looking at a position we strengthened in the summer, I cannot help but think whether we should have prioritised a move for someone who is Premier league proven and a more younger to improve that position, one player who I honestly think would have been a steal even with his £68million release clause is Eberechi Eze.
The Crystal palace chairman Steve Parish in a recent interview with sky sports, expressed his utter disbelief at the lack of interest the England International got during the course of the window, he said “I was really worried from a club point of view of losing Michael [Olise] and Ebbs [Eze] in the same window and we didn’t have in Ebbs the interest that I thought we would have.
“I was astounded. Genuinely astounded.
“I mean, the guy’s just an outstanding footballer, an outstanding person.”
He and the club were so convinced that he would move on that they already lined up PSV’s Johan Bakayoko as a potential replacement well before any interests were registered for Eze.
According to reports and rumors during the transfer window, Arsenal were said to hold an interest in the Palace player along with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, and this signing in my opinion would’ve been very logical as it would solve problems surrounding key areas of the squad, such as on the wings and more predominantly in midfield.
The player’s versatility is one of his strong suits but what I love about this player is how he moves with the ball, the elegance in the way he drives the ball forward and beats his man is well represented in the stats, his 6.41 take ons per 90 has him in the 90th percentile among attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe, 2.84 were successful take ons and has him in the 86th percentile. Ball carrying is not the only area where he shines bright statistically though, with him possessing impressive shooting and Defensive stats, he on average takes 3.57 shots per game (95th percentile) and averages 5.91 ball recoveries per 90 (97th percentile).
Couple this around play with his age, versatility and dead ball speciality, then this would have been a smart move from the club, he would have been a more effective attacking player than Declan Rice with us not losing too much of Rice’s physicality in that area.
The club ultimately settled for Merino though, so we gooners will just have to trust the club’s decisions, I mean there’s a reason why they get paid a whole lot of money to run the club !
Eze would have been a fantastic buy in my opinion, but which other player who was available in the recent transfer window that would improved us massively?
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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I still dont think our squad is fully complete and FFP is a big part of it. All those clamoring for a top draw cf need to understand that would have been our entire budget gone on one position that wasn’t our weakest area. Merino allows us to play a more dynamic system without a true dm in the line up like Partey. With Eze maurading upfield we would always need a specialist dm to cover him and with Partey decling and Zumbendi not wanting to join Merino was the right choice. I also feel Eze would end up on the left wing pretty quickly rather than left 8. Sesko, Eze and Williams next summer to complete the prjoect !!!
Zumbendi not eze sorry.
That’s like comparing apples and Zebras. Eze will have a profile overlap with our available eights. Merino is a different player and less ball to feet than our other options. Eze is a ball to feet player while Merino doesn’t keep the ball more than a second or two, which will be crucial for final balls into our channel runners. Merino will not break the momentum going forward while Eze might hold on to the ball a bit longer allowing the other teams to fall into their defensive shape killing any counter offensives. Completely different players. Merino is a good fit for our needs. There are very few players like Merino out there actually, lots of players like Eze.
@Daulat👌
We don’t need a play maker on the left midfield, we need a player in the muold of Xhaka. And that is what Merino brings. According to Sky stats he was the best in duels won last season in top 5 European clubs. And at 6.2ft he is a very combertive midfielder. He scored 9 goals and made 8 assist last season in la lega A box to box midfielder. It is obvious the article writter has no idea of what Arsenal have gotten by signing Merino. A technically gifted player in tight space.
I make bold to say Eze is definitely a good player but he isn’t what Arsenal need at the moment considering Pathey is injury prone.
Who are our 8s? To my mind, it’s rice, merino and odegaard – then we have havertz who’s not been great there aside from preseason and trossard who seems like an emergency option (and not a great one). Then we’re getting into untested waters like zinchenko, jorginho, partey and timber. It’s a mixed bag, but of our really preferred options, only odegaard is quite similar. Eze would also be better than anyone we currently have to cover for an odegaard injury/suspension, by a long way.
ESR and Vieira were the other options who maybe were more similar to Eze – the former never really had a chance after his injuries and the latter never got going.
All that was to address your “profile overlap” point – just meaning there isn’t much overlap and we don’t really have many 8s. If anything, merino has more overlap than anyone to our current 8, namely rice. Eze would be different to rice and more similar to odegaard, but he’d give us another option either in the 8 role or on the wings
I think Merino is a very different player than other players we have. Rice is a bit of an overlap, but I don’t see him as an 8, personally. And Merino is nothing like Havertz. Eze would have overlap with Odegaard and Nwaneri, and I think one of the reasons we didn’t go for Eze is that would block the path for Nwaneri. Afterall, what we sorely lacked was the left 8 and Eze wouldn’t fit that Xhaka role.
I can understand why you don’t see rice as an 8, but the fact is that’s been his primary role since he joined – that might change when merino becomes available, but I do think he and rice are very similar in that 8 role. There are differences, but both are known mostly for their defensive abilities and intelligence. If rice becomes our main 6, then who do we have aside from merino at 8? Eze would still have been a good signing to cover that role, odegaard’s role and probably saka’s as well, imo.
That’s assuming he wants to come here as a squad player, which he likely won’t when he can be starting at other high level clubs. I could see him coming in if he we put Rice back as a 6 next year but feels to offensively focused.
Not exactly – I think he’s good enough to nail down a regular starting spot, either on the left or in cm, the benefit is that he can cover other positions
Hmm that’s an interesting point I was only thinking of him as an 8, but I think for this season our LW is covered.
Martinelli, Trossard, Sterling all good options. Guess next season is different.
Odegaard and Nwaneri. I think any moment Odegaard needs rest or is injured, Nwaneri will get the nod. And Eze has a profile overlap with both the players.
That was the Right sided 8s, for the left side, Rice and Havertz were the only option we had before Merino and the player like Eze wasn’t the needed profile for the left 8s.
I certainly hope you’re right re nwaneri – if that’s the case, it’s means arteta believes he’s as good as the rest of us, and he’s best placed to know
For the price it is likely Merino was a good acquisition. I just hope Merino is even close to as great as everyone seems to think he is. We know Eze is PL proven and imo a great player to have at our #8 although obviously much more costly which, with the depressed window (spending down over 40% and less than 2014 levels adjusted for inflation) and Palace already losing Olise, the primary reasons he is still with them.
I hope so too. There’s always a risk with every (almost every) transfer so we’ll see.
While it took (almost) forever to complete, the fee was what Real Sociedad wanted and looks about as good as Arsenal could have expected (considering Merino had only a year left on his contract). The same situation (potentially) applied at Real Sociedad as at Palace in that they were clearly not going to let Merino and Zubimendi leave in the same window.
If Zubimendi had wanted to leave and with clubs certainly willing to pay his release clause or even more, RS likely would have been in a pickle with Merino’s situation. He did not want to sign the offered contract extension and thus they would have needed to bite the bullet in losing him as well and try to get what they could now rather than risk losing him on a free next year.
Like others have said, Eze and Merino are two different players. Going by what Arteta requires of the left 8,Eze couldn’t fit. Our superpower last season which made us defensively solid was what we do without the ball. Eze for all his talent on the ball,isn’t the best off the ball,which is key. He isn’t the duel-winning physical player like all the players Mikel has used there.
Secondly, we’ve been crying for a left footed player in that part of the pitch,which Eze is not. Being a leftie makes it easier for a player to slip balls easily to the winger and at a faster tempo. This is what Martinelli had with Xhaka and Zinchenko. Having a left side with predominantly right footers(Martinelli/Eze) is just unbalanced as we’ve seen with Martinelli/Rice/Timber. To get the best out of our left wingers, we need left footers behind him.
Merino is only two years older than Eze by the way. Besides, I think having at least one midfielder in his late twenties is crucial because when Jorginho/Partey leave next year, we are going to have an experience gap. Merino’s experience at the highest level is important. He also has PL experience having played at Newcastle. Has experience with the Bundesliga as well.
Finally,it’s the financial aspect. Eze would have cost nearly twice Merino’s fee. Going by the window we’ve had,I doubt the club saw it as financially feasible.
But our right side has two left footers, so why should it be any different on the left side? Part of Arteta’s philosophy is that being able to turn inside simply gives the player a greater field of view with which to make those passes – the left 8 can absolutely slip the LW through on his right foot, but he also has greater potential to play in the CF, or switch the play or find odegaard in a central position. I think these things are all marginal, and typically don’t make a huge difference tbh – the speed of thought of the players is far more important than their favoured foot, but I suppose at this level, those marginal gains can count
👍 Davi, I especially agree with your last sentence regarding speed of thought. That’s what really separates the greats. If we had gotten Eze and he stayed healthy I would have been surprised if we didn’t win the league, barring multiple terribly unexpected events of course.
Odegaard is unique for many reasons which allow him to be comfortable in the right channel. The left 8 can absolutely slip a ball with the right foot but likely not as disguised and as fast as a left footer. A left footer can also overlap on the outside and put in a cross or take away a marker;it’s a lot more harder for a right footer. Consider how Xhaka played there versus Rice.
Something else worth noting is that the right 8 in Arteta’s set up doesn’t perform the same role as the left 8. The facilitative role played on the left favours a left footer. The left 8 also sometimes drops deeper to form a double pivot with the DM or occupy the space left by the inverting left back. You ideally want a left footer in these situations because of angle bias.
If we signed Eve,I’d probably prefer him in the right 8 or left wing,not the left 8.
👍
A simple answer might be that Eze was overpriced, while Merino was an excellent purchase at less than half the price.