Looking forward: Havertz, Jesus, Vlahovic

Morning all.

There’s no time to relax and enjoy an espresso for Arsenal, because we have a North London derby tomorrow night. Mikel Arteta will likely face a range of questions about strikers, scoring goals, the transfer market, and more besides when he meets the press this morning, but his primary job is to get a result in this game with the same players who failed to do so against Man Utd on Sunday.

I know optimism isn’t de rigueur at this moment, and I still think it was a disastrous day as I wrote yesterday, but 9 times out of 10 we win that game comfortably in the circumstances. Obviously we didn’t, and that has understandably frustrated people, but it does feel like one of those crazy games that cup-ties often throw up. A bit of a freak.

Another day Kai Havertz scores one of his chances; Declan Rice heads it downwards and in; Martin Odegaard doesn’t miss a penalty for the first time in his career; or their keeper has the kind of game with his hands that he had with the ball at his feet. It’s on us, we failed to make the most of the opportunity to beat United, but I’d be feeling a lot worse about it if we had huffed and puffed and not made a few decent chances.

With Gabriel Jesus likely to be absent, there will be a big onus on Havertz up front again, and he was clearly affected by his misses in the game and in the penalty shoot-out. Arteta has to lift him up and get his head straight for the next game. The week he had was tough, no question, and even if you have reservations about this player, it was well below par for him I would say. He is definitely capable of better.

I saw some people draw parallels between him and Oliver Giroud v Monaco some years ago when the Frenchman didn’t so much lack his shooting boots that night, as much as he had on a pair of mismatched high-heeled clogs. For me, it was more like Nicklas Bendtner against Burnley in 2010. He wasted a host of chances in that game, each one felt easier to score than the last but he found a way to not hit the back of the net in new and innovative ways.

In his next game, a Champions League home encounter with Porto, he smashed in a hat-trick. That’s what we need from Kai Havertz tomorrow, rid himself of those demons by scoring against that lot. There is no other answer to a performance and a week like the one he’s had. Get your head right, get into the game, do your job, and deliver.

Perhaps the main story from today’s press conference will be the update on Jesus, if we get one. It’s been clear to me for a while that Arsenal need something else up front, but until now Arteta has sounded fairly reticent about making that happen in January. I can’t believe it’s the case he doesn’t want a signing, it has to be about something else – whether it’s a question of resources or availability. Perhaps both – we might have a very definite target for the summer that spending in January may impact our ability to complete.

But football often demands you react to what happens with your squad during a season. If Jesus is gone long-term, we have do something. I’ve seen some reports linking us with Dusan Vlahovic, a player we pursued in the past before he went to Juventus. A short-term loan I could probably live with, but even in our desperate need, he’s not the player we should be committing a big transfer fee and big wages to. He’s been pretty poor in Italy, and while it’s not impossible he could come good in another league, I’m not at all convinced by him.

Which could lead to conversations about ‘Well then who?’, and I honestly don’t know. I can want Arsenal to make a signing but also recognise the January market is more challenging than the summer, and there isn’t really a stand-out candidate. Do we go back for Benjamin Sesko? Do we need someone a bit more versatile or is now the time to nail down a deal for an out and out centre-forward? I guess we’ll find out in due course … or not.

There’s also a story this morning linking Jorginho with a move to Flamengo. They want to sign him for free (I’m sure they do), and offer him a three year deal. I’d be astonished if we sanctioned that midway through a season. We’re going to need all hands on deck for the months ahead, not fewer hands, and he’ll be needed. One for the summer perhaps.

Anyway, we’ll bring you all the press conference stories on Arseblog News, and you can join us later on Patreon for a North London derby preview podcast.

For now, have a good one.

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