He comes from Portugal- now how does he play for Arsenal?

Over the last few seasons, Arsenal have been able to create a strength in depth to their squad. The majority of players recruited since the summer of 2021 have been successful to some degree, save for a few younger punts like Nuno Tavares and Sambi Lokonga, though they haven’t played enough first team football to have had a distinctly negative impact.
 
Every big team has totem pole players who will pretty much play no matter what but, for example, Arsenal can justifiably start any one of Kiwior, Zinchenko or Tomiyasu at left-back without creating much discussion. Jorginho and Rice can team up in midfield with Havertz upfront, or else Havertz can play in midfield with Rice behind him and, again, neither call would merit much further discussion.
 
The inclusion of Leandro Trossard’s name on the teamsheet would barely register. Then I think there are a cluster of names in the first team squad who might well be sliding out of view. Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe rarely register significant minutes now. While Arteta was obviously firm about his choice of goalkeeper as soon as he signed David Raya I think we have moved to a stage now where everybody accepts that Aaron Ramsdale is not longed for N5.
 
I am certain that Thomas Partey will be moved on to any club with an acceptable medical facility if such a club can be found. Then there is Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny, who will absolutely certainly leave the club this summer. Sambi Lokonga’s form on loan at Luton is significant only in a transfer fee sense, while a more permanent solution will almost certainly be found for Kieran Tierney this summer too.
 
In essence, there is a strong sense of hierarchy within the squad. The core players, the important players, the fringe players and the ‘oh yeah, I forgot that he still played for us’ players. The only exception, in my view, is Fabio Vieira. The Portuguese doesn’t fit comfortably into any of these categories (which, to be fair, I have…

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Author : Tim Stillman

Publish date : 2024-03-28 13:00:02

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