Latest news with #squad
New York Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Mikel Arteta wants deeper Arsenal squad and end of ‘tier' system: ‘Now I'll change it'
Arsenal fans may have previously heard Mikel Arteta referring to players as being in 'Tier One'. Last season, he hypothesised about the difficulty of accommodating 'five full-backs that all feel that they are tier one'. This summer, Arsenal have internally described both Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke as 'Tier One' signings. Advertisement Speaking to reporters during Arsenal's tour of Singapore, Arteta confirmed: ''Tier One' means that they have the capacity to be starters basically.' Previously, Arsenal categorised their squad in terms of tiers — Tier One, Tier Two, and Tier Three – but Arteta suggested that system may be evolving. 'The Tier One, Two, Three system I don't believe in that much now,' he explained. 'The way the game's evolving, the demands we put in with 70, 75 games per season. 'At the end we want to build a team, like other clubs already have, where you look at the squad and you cannot really identify who is going to play tomorrow. If we get to that point, and that competitiveness has as well the right level of co-operation between the players, that's what we want.' As Arsenal look to move to a squad model with a wider distribution of top talent, the tier system is already becoming outdated. 'Now I'll change it,' said Arteta. 'Because that's going to mould, and now we're going to have the capacity as well to decide who is in the best condition to play this game hopefully. Because last year? No. 'Last year the line up was done, 'Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes.' Those five? Ok, those I have to play. 'Now give me another five who can do this and then…' and we played like this for seven months.' 'We need to get away from that, because those restrictions have limited our capacity to perform and then have the freshness that we need at the end of the season. 'Hopefully this season is going to be very different, and we can decide what is the best team with the best players to play against this opponent today, and then we want to change the game, the team — whatever the context is, winning, drawing or losing — we can change it immediately and have those players that can impact the result.' Advertisement The reshaping of the Arsenal squad is just one of the adaptations Arteta is making in his quest to end Arsenal's wait for silverware. 'The only thing that (the players) were talking about at the end of last season and the first day through the door is, 'OK, how are we going to be better? How are we going to do more?',' he said. 'We know that we are so close now in two big competitions and we just want to make the next step. There are going to be a lot of details and moments that have to go our way. We have to push for that to happen.' Arteta believes that, after this summer's transfer window, Arsenal will be closer than ever. 'Every year we have to see how things develop but I see the right balance in terms of maturity, experience, youth, hunger — and all these ingredients are there,' he said. 'The thing is there are another six, seven, eight clubs in the league that have the right ingredients to win and there is only going to be one winner. So we have to focus a lot on the things that we can control, that we can do, to achieve what we want at the end of the season.' Arsenal face AC Milan in the first friendly of their summer tour on Wednesday, July 23 at the Singapore National Stadium. Arteta's description of the tier system is an interesting insight into the squad-building approach at Arsenal — even if, as he suggests, it might be about to become outmoded. We can imagine that signings like Kepa Arrizabalaga or Christian Norgaard were categorised as 'tier two' additions: players with the experience and quality to play a supporting role in the squad, and step into the first eleven when required. It's interesting that Madueke, like Zubimendi, has been described as a 'tier one' signing. That makes sense, given the size of the fee — Arsenal could pay a total of £52million for the 23-year-old winger. It suggests Arteta wants more than two wide players he considers of 'starting' quality, affording him the ability to rest and rotate. Having lost Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to hamstring injuries in the second half of last season, Arteta and Arsenal appear to be mitigating against that kind of risk.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bruno Guimarães, Dan Burn and Isak go rafting in Austria
Watch Newcastle United's squad go rafting in Austria as part of a fun team bonding session during their training camp.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
A lot is happening at Brentford - how are you feeling?
If you don't mind us saying so, it feels like you Brentford fans are having a strange summer. The Bees have received some investment - as this page reported earlier in the week - which should, in theory, help improve the squad. Naturally, there's the small matter of the club's charismatic manager leaving, which was far from ideal. The loss of the captain wasn't great either. And, in some respects, is this image below perhaps a scenario that represented a worst nightmare back in May? Forgive us for using an image of our own site but you can see where we are going with this. A lot is going on at the Gtech - it's a lot to digest and the future seems blurry. So please, in detail, tell us what you think about things and how you're feeling. Send your thoughts here
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
A lot is happening at Brentford - how are you feeling?
If you don't mind us saying so, it feels like you Brentford fans are having a strange Bees have received some investment - as this page reported earlier in the week - which should, in theory, help improve the there's the small matter of the club's charismatic manager leaving, which was far from ideal. The loss of the captain wasn't great in some respects, is this image below perhaps a scenario that represented a worst nightmare back in May? Forgive us for using an image of our own site but you can see where we are going with this.A lot is going on at the Gtech - it's a lot to digest and the future seems please, in detail, tell us what you think about things and how you're your thoughts here
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'We are at a higher level than my first pre-season'
Fabian Hurzeler, speaking after Brighton's 3-1 pre-season victory over Stoke in Spain: "A win is always important in a test game or not. It gives the players self-confidence. I think we saw positives, negatives and things to improve."We had some new players on the pitch who adapted and understood our ideas quite quickly. They have big potential and they showed it here."[Compared to my first pre-season] we have better relationships, we have known each other a long time now. Overall, we are on a higher level but there are always things to improve."The squad is quite big at the moment but I think they understand their roles. We are one step further than we were, and now we have to make decisions about selling and loaning players."I really want to work with the players, no matter how many we have."
