The Keys to the Kingdom

[GhostOfDixie]

Ok, so we are not top 4, but we can certainly smell them, and yes its not a pleasant smell - but once we get past the aroma of the RS, we can start to smell the sweet scent of success.

Over the next month we are going to spark rumour after rumour. People are going to shoot others down in flames, some people are going to dismiss possible signings as:

A. Not good enough
B. The club are not good enough

Well either A or B may be true, depending on what angle you look at things. James Milner may not be as good as say Trevor Steven was, but he's better than Kilbane, and at the moment we don't really have any out and out wingers.

Signing Milner could push Arteta into a more central role, now that could be the turning point. It could well be the key to unlock the gates to the realm. That being the case £5m would be enough. Ok, I understand we need to spend more, but I don't see the point in spending money on players who are not going to replace players we already have in the first XI.

We could bring in Arshavin, but what about Cahill? What about Arteta and Pienaar? What about Van der Meyde ???

Now when I first visited this site, it was under a different guise, as Danny can testify and I wrote an article about key players. Every team has that one key player that can change the fortunes of the whole club. He may not do as well at other clubs, or at international level, but at that moment in time he is the key player, and the one who is charged with knocking out the death star.

I truly believe that Mikel Arteta is that man, but I also believe he is wasted on the wings. Yeah Arshavin would be nice, so would Riquelme, Gonzalez, etc.... Personally I just want Arteta - and I want him in the middle of the field pulling all the strings. Along with Peanuts and maybe Milner bombing down the wings, and maybe even Fernandes bringing up the rear.

We can then bring in some younger squad players - just to make up the numbers, players you can rely on to do a job when called upon, but not going to cost the earth.

What we want to achieve can be done on 20m. We can break Liverpool with that much money. We have Arteta. We have a great supporting cast of players, and we have a great director.

Knights of the Realm, please stand up and be counted, take us to the promised land.

"The Best Little Spaniard We Know"​

 

[linglong]

I would be amazed if Arshavin ever came here to be honest,but we do need someone down the flanks like Trevor Steven and give Arteta the middle role to which for my money he was born

 

[Gazdalf]

Ok, so we are not top 4, but we can certainly smell them, and yes its not a pleasant smell - but once we get past the aroma of the RS, we can start to smell the sweet scent of success.

Over the next month we are going to spark rumour after rumour. People are going to shoot others down in flames, some people are going to dismiss possible signings as:

A. Not good enough
B. The club are not good enough

Well either A or B may be true, depending on what angle you look at things. James Milner may not be as good as say Trevor Steven was, but he's better than Kilbane, and at the moment we don't really have any out and out wingers.

Signing Milner could push Arteta into a more central role, now that could be the turning point. It could well be the key to unlock the gates to the realm. That being the case £5m would be enough. Ok, I understand we need to spend more, but I don't see the point in spending money on players who are not going to replace players we already have in the first XI.

We could bring in Arshavin, but what about Cahill? What about Arteta and Pienaar? What about Van der Meyde ???

Now when I first visited this site, it was under a different guise, as Danny can testify and I wrote an article about key players. Every team has that one key player that can change the fortunes of the whole club. He may not do as well at other clubs, or at international level, but at that moment in time he is the key player, and the one who is charged with knocking out the death star.

I truly believe that Mikel Arteta is that man, but I also believe he is wasted on the wings. Yeah Arshavin would be nice, so would Riquelme, Gonzalez, etc.... Personally I just want Arteta - and I want him in the middle of the field pulling all the strings. Along with Peanuts and maybe Milner bombing down the wings, and maybe even Fernandes bringing up the rear.

We can then bring in some younger squad players - just to make up the numbers, players you can rely on to do a job when called upon, but not going to cost the earth.

What we want to achieve can be done on 20m. We can break Liverpool with that much money. We have Arteta. We have a great supporting cast of players, and we have a great director.

Knights of the Realm, please stand up and be counted, take us to the promised land.

"The Best Little Spaniard We Know"​

You got me on board fella. I like that post.

Nice one Nick.

 

[Rook]

This current team (provided we get a holding mid) is good enough to push for 3rd and play slick attractive football IF they stay healthy with or without Arashvin.

Arteta does need to play in the center and he is that key man. Hopefully he's getting rested up this summer and will be able to have a full healthy season for us.

As far as signing players I think we are going to have to be a team who signs 3-6M players like Bradley, Milner and Hunt and build up depth so we don't look so [Poor language removed] if a key player goes down. We'll never be able to compete with the free spender who have the enitire tax revenues of a country or a Russian billionaire.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I think it's also worth remembering that the players we have improved over the course of last season simply through playing in Europe. Compare the early performances to that against Fiorentina at GP and there was a huge progression. That kind of learning curve will be vital when we play the big teams at home and abroad, and with the likes of Lescott and Jags earning international recognition it will hopefully give them the confidence to belong in that company.

As for transfers, a replacement for Carsley is obviously key, but so is some depth in the middle of the park. It would be lovely if Gosling, Rodwell, JPK step up and contribute to the first team, heck even VDM could play a part lol, but we do need a few extra faces in there.

 

[Andriy.EFC]

We absolutely need some very good midfielders. Sorry to spoil the party but Arteta was often our worst player on the pitch last season and I'm not so sure he will be able to carry us like he did seasons past. I'll be delighted if he gets his act together!

 

[ToxtethBlue]

I'm not against Arteta playing in the middle but if he does he needs to do alot more than he has in the past. As I said in another thread he shirks responsibility which is why he rarely dictates the pace of games. I'd like to see him demand the ball more and have more adventure in his play.

He is such a good passer so it pains me when I see him passing sideways or giving the short pass when there's a chance to open a team up. As I've said in general he needs to be more adventurous in his play. He's very capable of doing though if he gets a run of games centrally.

If where going to play him there I'd rather us go 4-5-1 so he's got someone to do his dirty work and protect him from the bullies of the League. If we do that then we'll get the best out of him centrally.

If we are going to do this I'd like us to get a better wide player than Milner to replace him, someone like Downing, McGeady, SWP or Lennon would be much better in my opinion. Either sheer pace and directness or quality and precision. I'd like to see us break the bank on a wide man if where making it prioirty. Milner's decent but we can do alot better.

Personally I can't see Moyes doing any of this. I don't think he fancies Arteta as a centre midfielder. If he did he'd have played him there regularly before but he hasn't. He's preffered the likes of Osman, Fernandes and Cahill in the attacking midfield role.

I think he's looking to buy a ball winner aswell as one of Huddlestone of Fernandes and play that. Arteta will stick to the right whereas Pienaar will probably play on the left. The good thing about our 4-5-1 system is its interchangable. Moyes should switch players about and give Arteta time on the left, right and centre so he can affect games in different ways.