By Alfie Cairns Culshaw (Chief Editor)
Watching Manchester United's implosion at Brentford on Saturday evening cast my mind back to the initial days under Mikel Arteta. Our Spanish manager inherited a squad consisting of toxic individuals who had an inherently negative impact on the culture that was trying to be created, but were also completely unsuited and unable to play the way Arteta wanted to play.
The result of this melting pot of incoherence and ineptitude was ultimately inconsistent results and largely bad performances. While trying to instil some of the key principles of play that he wanted to be part of our identity in the long-term, such as playing out from the back, Arteta adapted slightly to play a system more suited to the squad at his disposal. This included a conservative mid-to-low block 3-5-2 which compensated for our lack of a creative midfielder and allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to flourish as an inside forward. This adaptation delivered us a 14th FA Cup but was quickly left behind the following season, which again saw a downturn in our form and performances and led to us finding ourselves in 15th on Christmas Day in 2020.
The solution was recruiting players with the specific qualities to fit Arteta's specific system which involves highly positional football and complex attacking patterns of play. The players had to have the right specific attributes but also had to have the right personal characteristics and fit the specific age profile. After almost six transfer windows, we finally appear to have assembled a squad that can truly be dubbed Arteta's. This gives him no excuses not to deliver a team that is competitive and shows persistent signs of continuing on an upward trajectory. We are certainly seeing that.
United really ought to be looking to emulate what we've done. In Eric Ten Hag they've found a coach who is perfect to figurehead a rebuild. He has innovative and modern tactical ideas and knows how to execute them effectively, as demonstrated by his brilliant Ajax side of the last few years. At the moment, he's in the position Arteta found himself in 36 months ago, with his squad not capable of doing what he wants it to do. He'll make mistakes while he's dealing with having this group of players that are unsuited to him- just like his Spanish counterpart- but if the Glazers invest time and resources in him then there should be progression.
Will the Dutchman adapt in the short-term like Arteta did or will United continue to unravel trying to play his way? If he doesn't adapt and they continue to implode, the Glazers may not have the foresight to look at the long-term vision. The incompetent nature of their ability to make smart footballing decisions and the constant focus on immediate commercial gain means they'll probably pull the trigger too early on Ten Hag. That's great for us Arsenal fans enjoying the schadenfreude of an incredibly stupid club.
United's recruitment thus far this summer appears to be continuing on the brainless theme of recent years. An ageing Christian Eriksen brought in on high wages to play in a position where they have one of their actually competent players was a bizarre move, while their relentless insistence on not addressing their number six issue and using Scott McTominay is just very funny. Lisandro Martinez has the potential to be a smart signing- even if they paid massively over the odds- but they should probably be using him as an inverted left-back in the Premier League (as we had planned to) and not a dwarf of a centre-back.
Enough on United, but this did make me think of our process of recruitment in the rebuild and how we ourselves made some blunders- particular in the early stages. I thought I'd rate every signing so far in the Arteta era.
Pablo Mari- 3/10
The first addition under Mikel Arteta has turned out to be one of these blunders, but it's not cost us much and it made some sense at the time.
Our then head coach decided very early on that he wanted a left-footed centre-back on the left side of the centre of our defence. Most good teams have this now and it makes sense given how involved centre-backs are now in possession. Mari was quite evidently brought in to be the back-up left-footed centre-half, with Gabriel Magalhaes arriving just six months later in the summer of 2020. The move probably came about that January because it was Flamengo's off season so we could do the deal half a season earlier and the player could begin to be integrated into the side.
As a second choice left-sided central defender at roughly £6 million, Mari fulfilled this role adeptly in the 2020/21 season. However, it turns out when you start to play a high line in the Premier League, using someone as immobile and slow as the Spaniard in this position is a recipe for disaster.
It's safe to say Arteta and Edu hadn't found their feet in recruitment at this point and the grasp Raul Sanllehi still had on incoming deals hindered us with this one.
Cedric Soares- 1/10
By no means has Mari been a better player than Cedric, but from a strategised recruitment standpoint, this one made absolutely no sense and was absolutely entirely a Sanllehi deal.
Signing a 28-year-old full-back who had been displaced as the first-choice at Southampton and who possesses none of the attributes to play as an inverted full-back in Arteta's system was perplexing. He's proved to be moderately ok in cup competitions and Europa League group stage games, but a massive hinderance to how we want to play in the league. Now we're stuck with him on his £75,000 a week wages (according to FBRef).
Willian- 0/10
Do I even need to get into this one? Probably the biggest wart on Arteta and Edu's track record, with the excuse of Sanllehi not even particularly valid as he was half way out the door when we made this signing.
Absolutely nothing good came from this deal, and the club should've have foreseen this. A 32-year-old on extortionate wages who had shown signs of decline in his last two years at Chelsea? What could possibly have gone wrong?
Gabriel Magalhaes- 9/10
The first major signing of the Arteta era and the first one he got right. He was the first of the right age profile who had clearly been extensively scouted using data and film. He's slotted in seamlessly to that left centre-back role and is now probably worth at least double the £27 million we paid for him.
Alex Runarsson- 1/10
Lol. A disastrous signing but not one that has cost us hugely, having hardly played a minute in the League and having cost little in the transfer fee and wages.
Still find it utterly bemusing though. Supposedly scouted using data yet he produced the worst statistical profile of all goalkeepers in Ligue 1 the year before we signed him. If he was ultimately not deemed good enough to be Dijon's number two, how would he be good enough to be ours? He wasn't even young. Inaki Cana got this recommendation very wrong.
Thomas Partey- 7/10
It took us a while but we got it done in the end after a very long saga. Question marks over the age were very reasonable, and after a rough first season ravaged by injury, it looked like being a poor signing. However, when we eventually established our 4-3-3 system, there are arguably not many better in the world suited to that lone six position than the Ghanian.
Martin Odegaard- 9/10
We got a taster of his ability at the backend of the 2020/21 season after he joined on loan from Real Madrid, but last season we saw exactly why we invested £34 million in the talented Norwegian.
Similarly to Partey, once we started playing that 4-3-3, it became very clear that this was a very specific signing introduced with this system in mind. Not perfectly suited to playing as a traditional ten, but a round peg in a round hole as a right-sided eight, designed to help ball progression and shot creation with his metronomic passing.
Having just been made captain and likely to play a key part at the club for several years, this was an excellent deal.
Nuno Tavares- 5/10
Tough one this. In isolation I think it's a good signing. A young player with great physical capabilities and a very high ceiling, for just £7 million. It was a bit of a punt, and we could well reap the financial rewards if we manage to move him on after a good loan spell at Marseille.
However, the scouting on him and the plan as to how to use him in our system doesn't feel like it was as meticulous as it should've been. He's clearly not a ball progressing, technically secure inverted-full back, which is what we've now bought in Zinchenko.
Still, he didn't cost a lot and could go for a lot so it'll probably eventually be looked at as a positive deal.
Albert Sambi Lokona- 6/10
Almost impossible to rate this deal at this point. I think we'll be able to properly evaluate it in a couple of years time or maybe even further into the future than that. He's not played much, clearly has the potential to be a very good Arteta player but isn't there yet. It was smart as he's young and could be a valuable asset, either to sell or to be used.
Ben White- 8/10
He has to be on par with Odegaard and Gabriel, as he's essentially the same kind of purchase as them. A young and modern player clearly brought in to perfectly fit the system. However, his more hefty £50 million price tag lowers his rating marginally in comparison to the aforementioned two (even if English tax), purely because I guess it comes with higher expectations, and I don't think you could comprehensively say he's been better than those two or will be.
Aaron Ramsdale- 9/10
I know I just said the price tag thing and £25 million for a goalkeeper is a lot of money but hear me out. As a piece of recruitment, this was probably one of the smartest deals Arteta and Edu have done.
Leno was perfectly fine as our first choice. A great shot stopper who could command his box relatively well. However, Arteta recognised his inability with the ball at his feet and felt investing in a player who is a lot better in this department and who adds an entire new layer to our build-up would benefit the team substantially. Out of nowhere, he identified Ramsdale as that guy, despite very little evidence suggesting he was good on the ball. Terrific player identification, and even though he comes with a little dodgy shot-stopping, there is plenty of time to mould him into one of the world's best in between the sticks.
Takehiro Tomiyasu- 9/10
Another brilliant piece of specific recruitment. For too long Arteta was forced to make use of an array of right-backs who had their qualities but were unable to fulfil the specific inverted role that is required in his system. Maitland-Niles had the one on one capabilities but struggled in possession and had concentration issues. Bellerin was good at his peak as an overlapping final third full-back but also wasn't good enough in possession and had some defensive issues. Cedric is Cedric.
Finally, our manager found his Kyle Walker, and for just £16 million. He's also just 23. What a signing.
Gabriel Jesus- 10/10
Might feel premature to call this as the only ten out of ten signing from Arteta thus far but I think we can safely say that he's the only player that he's added to his squad who was already world class when signed, but also just about still pre prime.
That we were able to lure a player of his quality and calibre without Champions League football and for just £45 million was some feat, and he could well end up being looked at as a transformational signing. The parallels with Alexis Sanchez are obvious, and if he ends up producing anywhere near what the Chilean was able to produce, then it'll be considered one hell of an acquisition.
Fabio Vieira- n/a
Ticks all the right boxes and I'm confident we'll view the Portuguese as a successful signing, but I don't think we can evaluate it as of yet. Also not going to bother assessing Matt Turner and Marquinhos for similar reasons.
Oleksandr Zinchenko- 9/10
Similarly to Vieira and Jesus, it's slightly premature to appraise Zinchenko, but it does feel almost guaranteed that this will at the very least be a good to very good signing.
Like Tomiyasu on the other side, the Ukrainian brings us specific qualities that elevate the entire team and perfectly align with the system. His ball progression, his immense technical security and seeming ability to bring to life the left-hand side make him a bargain at £30 million, and he could potentially be used as a left eight to a high standard.
There are certainly question marks around his one on one defending, but his quality in possession helps us control games much more effectively, which offsets these issues to some extent. With the more defensively secure option in Kieran Tierney available, defensive problems are not something to massively be concerned with.
Summary
After a few initial blunders, Arteta and Edu found the formula to rebuilding a damaged squad. Young players with high ceilings who fit the specifics of the way you want to play. Some of the lower rated signings are punts that will probably still generate a profit so ultimately, the recruitment in the last two years has been excellent. In the longer-term there is no guarantee all these players will still be deemed successful signings, but it looks promising. United could learn a thing or two.
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