‘It is what it is’ – Arteta’s transfer window assessment

Morning folks, a quick Saturday round-up for you.

I was curious to hear what Mikel Arteta would say about the close of the transfer window in press conference yesterday, and it typical fashion he wasn’t really giving much away, but at the same time there was enough there. When asked if the club had been ‘ambitious, fast, and smart’ as per his post-Champions League quote that went some way to define expectations for the summer, he said:

Yeah, 100% ticked. The outcome after can be different to what you expect, but the intention is certainly there, which is, in my opinion, what I value the most.

Hmmm. I strongly suspect that he is a manager who values outcome over intention, even if he might be pleased with the latter. Then, asked if it was a risk to let Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, and Leandro Trossard go while only adding Christos Tzolis, he replied:

I understand the point of view as well, but we have to understand as well the amount of minutes that those players played and the ones that were injured last year, especially in the first six months, and the data shows something completely different. But it is what it is. It is what we have, and as I said before, we already have some very, very good players.

It’s a bit garbled, but I assume when he talks about minutes, he means the ones that Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz didn’t play, rather than the three players who departed, because as I’ve said before, they played a lot last season. Beyond that though, ‘It is what it is’ isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of what we did and where we are. It’s what you say when you don’t really want to criticise, and you realise you have to just get on with it, but you also want to let people know you’re not that happy.

As ever, you can read too much into what a manager says, or doesn’t say, in a press conference, but we know Mikel Arteta pretty well at this point, and I suspect his squad is not where he wanted it to be. When asked later about the how difficult it is to complete high profile signings like Vinicius Junior, for example, he replied:

I think Andrea is better, or Josh, to talk about that because I’m not in those negotiations. They know much better than me, so I think these are questions that are related to the market and all the aspects that I think it’s better that they speak about it.

If not quite pointed, he can say that knowing full well neither of them are going to come out and talk about this kind of stuff. Berta has never done an interview since joining the club (which isn’t a problem really, just a fact), and while I think Josh Kroenke has – as the public face of the ownership – been much more present and involved (a good thing, btw), I don’t think he’s going to go into the details of a transfer window which was very good in some areas and very poor in perhaps the most important one. So, if you’re a seasoned Arteta watcher, your reading between the lines skills will have been well honed over the last seven and a half years, and you can take what you want from his comments.

My take is that he understands the business of football as well as anyone, he will realise despite your best efforts you can’t always get things done, but he doesn’t have to be happy about it. Also, as the man with most of the power at this football club, he doesn’t have a lot of time for the people who can’t get things done on or off the pitch, and if you’re one of those people, you’re probably on thin (or at least thinning) ice. If I were Andrea Berta, I’d be working really hard to make sure we’re in a position to take full advantage of the market when the new year comes.

To be fair, he did send a more positive message in the embargoed section of the press conference, saying he felt the squad was stronger now than at the end of last season. He explained:

I think we are better equipped, I think we have more players available than what we had at the start of last season, I think we have increased the quality and we have increased the leadership in the team as well, which is very important.

And in terms of the attack:

We have to prove in that particular position whether we are better or not. Let’s see. I mean, we need to play. I don’t like to make assumptions before. I think that’s not just the responsibility of those players, it’s the responsibility of the team and the dynamic of the team. And we have multiple options to play there with different profiles as well.

Ultimately, the message was ‘Don’t forget what we already have’, which I think is pretty fair. We are champions, we do have an incredibly good squad, but then I don’t think anyone sensible ever really questioned that. But nor do I think wanting to add more than one player to replace three departing ones was just typical transfer market greed. Anyway, as he said, it is what it is now, at least until January, and let’s hope he can make the most of the options he has at his disposal, starting on Sunday.

For something extra to listen to today, we have our preview podcast available now for our Patreon members, and I’ll be back tomorrow with a full preview of the Chelsea game. For now, have a great Saturday folks.

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