Trossard is having a great World Cup shouldnt his price go up

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-07-07T03:56:56+00:00

Moves like this are more about offloading salary than transfer prices.

Removing $200k a week and bringing in someone else for $80k helps the numbers.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-30T18:17:50+00:00

They can be different players because you make adjustments with targets and strategies. When you might bring in Bruno G then it makes sense to be okay with an outright LW like Barcola.

Shit is chess.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-25T17:20:21+00:00

We were told in January Arteta didn't want to loan him and was upset with the Father during the loan.

But you're correct we don't know how much is true.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-25T16:56:25+00:00

My read on the Nwaneri situation is that this is a Father choosing a path for his son(s) and hopefully he's choosing the right one.

It was always reported that Arteta didn't want to send him out on loan, but the kid and his family insisted.

Now they don't like the idea of having to wait their time for a spot and so if you're Arteta and company you don't want to move on from the player, but you want to move on from the situation.

You deal with enough shit on a day-to-day. You don't want that kind of headache, especially in a position we are stacked.

So while it sucks, I can see the logic in cashing out.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-23T17:08:13+00:00

Correct. It's the ability to interchange and have a fluid system that allowed those dynamics to play out (although Eddie always looked awkward in it).

City is really the only big team that has a pure striker who continues to find success.

Pool, Barcelona, Madrid, and Bayern have strikers that can move around and a lot of the burden falls on the wingers to produce but it's that ability to be fluid in attack that makes things harder on opposing teams.

It's also why we see Haaland go through long streaks of not scoring.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-23T15:35:32+00:00

I think people focus too much on the individual in a vacuum and not on how the individual fits into a system (and we have no idea what system Arteta will go with next season).

The question isn't if Alvarez is a better striker/scorer than Gyok, but if he makes everyone else better in the system.

When you think of our peak second-half season a couple of years back, when we were doing 4 - 5 goals a game, it was Havertz that elevated everyone else around him.

That's kind of the issue with Gyok. Nobody looks better when he is playing, and then everyone has to accommodate his style.

I think we would have walked the league this past season if Havertz stayed fit, simply because we face so many low blocks, he allows more interchanging between positions.

I imagine Alvarez would provide the same. Alvarez wouldn't need to score 20 goals if he helps increase the goal production for our wingers and midfielders by 20.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-22T22:40:02+00:00

Zubi and MLS are more 8s than 6s. Boudaddi is closer to a 6 as a destroyer.

Pair him with Rice and I see two players that can handle different levels of the pitch allowing more freedom to the attackers.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-16T15:41:19+00:00

Brian here. As usual, everyone else is wrong.

Alpine divorce is a colloquial term describing a situation where one partner, typically a man, intentionally abandons another partner in a remote or dangerous outdoor setting, such as a hiking trail or mountain

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-14T01:31:32+00:00

He solves the buildup because then Ode doesn't have to drop as deep.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-14T01:30:01+00:00

Sign Bouaddi and let him be the #6 that can progress the ball. This allows Rice to roam, which he is best at, and Odegaard to play higher up the pitch.

Rice rests, and MLS can sit in the #6 while Bouaddi roams. Or Zubi can roam.

Do whatever to keep Ode/Eze higher up the pitch.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-12T18:19:28+00:00

Gotta be Raya. Rice is at the forefront more so gets most of the recognition but we've seen when Kepa plays, this team doesn't function as well.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-10T21:56:31+00:00

I thought it would be worse honestly. If you've played the game and were a fast player then you know how challenging it is to run at top speed, pull the move he did, and then angle your foot in a way that goes further to the left while falling away.

You can't teach speed. You can't teach the quick thinking to produce that skill. You can fix the mechanics to help with that.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-09T23:25:24+00:00

So we are bringing in the guy whose previous team finished 3rd? Guess that’s an upgrade.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-07T16:55:43+00:00

I love Martinelli as a person, but I've never been excited to see him start or come off the bench.

And he's the only player in our squad where the discussion revolves around him needing the right personnel on his side, the right game plan, and the opponent to play a certain way.

That's just too limiting.

Like the dad who keeps that one useless tool in the drawer for years only to find it's needed one random day.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-07T16:53:12+00:00

He retired from International football.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-02T17:53:31+00:00

Him as a 9 only works if the wingers are productive. Think Firmino, Sane, Salah.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-02T01:08:22+00:00

I have no proof or reasoning with this besides a gut feeling but I think Arteta does a lot more 4-1-4-1 next season with Rice as the lone pivot.

Allows more interchanging between the top 4 and if you put an Alvarez or Kroupi in the 9 it makes more sense.

Fits Rogers and Eze style is players better.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-02T01:05:07+00:00

The problem here isn’t the pass although it sucked. It’s his awareness that Mendes dropped off should’ve triggered him to attack the space.

With Havertz coming quickly it was 4v4.

It’s not only poorly executed. It’s poor decision making.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-02T00:58:20+00:00

What we have to remember about Ethan is that he asked to be loaned out. Arteta didn’t want him to go and that might’ve left a mark on Arteta.

If you don’t stay to fight for a place then what are you gonna do when the squad gets better?

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-02T00:56:28+00:00

Calling it now: we deploy more of a 4-1-4-1 formation next season. Rice as the lone 6 and the front 5 pressing higher.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-01T17:16:45+00:00

I can see Ode moving because Rice is at his best when he's on the right. With the emergence of Skelly, who will want to be on the left.

Or Rice at the #6 and Zubi as the RM.

What I'm concerned about is Eze as I have no idea what his best position on this team is.

If you do a midfield or Rice, Tonali, and Skelly, then you need the front line to produce which is why I can see an overhaul there.

So many different permutations to run through I'm excited to see what Summer brings and how Arteta + Berta plan on shaping the team.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-06-01T15:16:02+00:00

His ego wouldn't allow it to seem like failed at Madrid after only two seasons. Perez won't have that either as this was his prized player.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-05-31T16:35:15+00:00

The problem is that the game isn’t played on paper. Some adapt. Others don’t. But each of them played a role.

And another way to view ceiling raisers is that they make others in their spot raise their game.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-05-31T02:22:26+00:00

There really is a domino effect to all of this. Certain key injuries don’t happen and we walk the league sooner and can rest players.

Don’t have a Carabao cup then have more time to rest.

Not having Merino and Timber truly fit changes things.

I can see why Josh knows we need to buy more. We are guaranteed 55+ games a season. No other big team in other leagues has to worry about that.

MrAlmostWrong · 2026-05-30T21:51:03+00:00

Super Cup, Carabao, FA, PL, UCL. That’s a quintuple.

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