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Every elite team needs to rely on a certain amount of fluidity in their starting line-ups, especially as the demands of international football and continental competitions continue to expand. The idea of a ‘best eleven’ or any sort of fixity in this respect is becoming a relic of the past. That probably changes a little in the final furlong of the season after the March international break.
At that point, if fitness permits, challenging teams tend to favour stability as the finishing tape moves into view. However, any elite team will still have a core of players who will start pretty much every game that they are fit for. At Arsenal, I would pitch those outfield players as Saliba, Gabriel, White, Rice, Odegaard, Saka and Havertz, which is 70% of the outfield team. That is quite a high amount.
As Timber and Calafiori become more assimilated, White and Gabriel might move into a slightly more fluid category. Two years ago, Jesus and Zinchenko would have featured in the untouchable category but have since moved down a strata to ‘high level squad players’. The signing of Mikel Merino might eventually affect change elsewhere too.
The fact is that most of the core I have identified stayed fit for the majority of last season. While Jesus and Zinchenko have endured a relegation of sorts, Kai Havertz has certainly been ‘promoted’ in terms of his status since the turn of the year. Clearly there was an acclimatisation process in the early months of last season as the player was integrated into the team and continued to wrestle with confidence issues incurred during his spell at Chelsea.
He started and played the full 90 minutes in the opening two Premier League games, before being subbed in the 55th and 76th minutes of matches three and four. Matches five and six saw him start on the bench, as he did on match days eight and nine. He started eight of the first 14 Premier League matches of last season, completing the full game on four of those occasions.
There…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/09/because-i-got-kai/
Author : Tim Stillman
Publish date : 2024-09-12 12:00:27
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