Saliba is a world class defender in the making! | Arteta has built a new Arsenal spine!

Sometimes I have to stop and think, have Arsenal entered an alternative universe? Have we gone up the levels? Have we entered a new realm? Because, you know, again, in the last 18 months to date, Arsenal have been performing quite well and it seems like everything Mikel Arteta is doing, everything Edu is doing, obviously it comes from above, everything Kroenke is doing, everything the players are doing, we're moving into a new dimension. We're moving into a new reality, which I'm sure many of us Arsenal fans relish and many of us Arsenal fans want, you know, and it's quite crazy because Mikel Arteta has opted to make us unpredictable and he has been unpredictable in his line-up, in certain selections, in certain roles he's acquired of certain regulars, actually on the fitness of certain players because one minute Saka is fit, then he's not, then he is. I firmly believe in Mikel Arteta and I believe in what Arsenal is doing. And again, we're finally starting to see the fruits of our labour. We're not all the way there yet by any means, but I am loving this. And despite where we are in the league table and us having more points from the equivalent points than last season, I believe, fans' expectations, you know, are quite high. We think that defensively, there's many things we could do better. You know, clean sheets have been hard to come by. Such is our luck. We obviously go against City. I definitely think in terms of chance, creativity and chance conversion, there's a lot more to come from the team, but surely that's a benefit, people. And I think a bit of that is down to our defence, people. First, you have to talk about Declan Rice because he ties into our defence. To date, 503 passes, 18 tackles, 13 interceptions. But he really is a star player, you know? In fact, let me not say defence. Let me say spine. There you can see in front of me, Declan Rice's heat map. Money well spent. And I think that's been the case. Mikel Arteta and the coaching staff and the people who signed the cheques, the signings have been well. There's much more to come from Declan Rice. While he's obviously got a very good technical level and passing range, he's not a creative player. But to see him fifth in the Premier League for passes, obviously with 503, is great for me to see. Obviously, when you're playing at the base of the defence, you are going to see a lot of the ball. He had a great game against Manchester City, just like against Manchester United. And when he came off against Spurs, that was a bit of a turning point. Jorginho worked against City. Obviously, it didn't work in the Spurs game. And the greatest thing Declan Rice did is something that will be forgotten. He cleared a shot early on off the line, people. There's such things to love about Declan Rice. His tackling, his mentality, his technical level, his athleticism on the recovery. I describe him as a handbrake. I think he gives a lot more confidence to Arsenal players to go forward or know that while Declan Rice isn't Superman, he is human, if he can get them out of trouble. And I really like that. And I think there's more to come from Declan Rice if I'm completely honest with you. I think personally, we'll only see the benefits of what Mikel Arteta is doing with him specifically next season, a bit like Grealish at City. And what I mean by that is the new look Declan Rice, the all-more-complete Declan Rice, the Declan Rice where we'll talk about his passing. Obviously, England will benefit from that. Typically, he plays with Jude Bellingham, who you described Declan Rice as a piano pusher and Jude Bellingham as the piano player. But I do think Mikel Arteta is going to change Declan Rice's thinking in relation to that role and how he ties into the whole team. And his stocks are rising. As you know, 105 million is a lot of money, but it's 105 million well-spent. Nobody cares about the price tag when you've done your job. And I really like Declan Rice, man. Obviously, he had a great game against Manchester City, as I keep saying. And I'm very impressed with what I describe as the spine of the Arsenal team. You know, it's come into plan. It really is looking like a functioning machine now. We've added physicality. We've added a somewhat better system. Players look more aware of themselves. And also, as I said, the spine, which would be Declan Rice's position in the back five. As you can see, we've got a bunch of options. Left back, you've got Timber, Zinchenko, Tomiyasu. Tomiyasu, Timber, et cetera, with White on the right-hand side. Centre-back, there's a bunch of options. I don't know how long it will be a case of having David Ryer and Aaron Ramsdale, but you've got Aaron Ramsdale and you've got Declan Rice in the six or maybe an eight one day. Obviously, Jorginho, Partey are players for the present. We will need to buy a centre-middle two, in my opinion, but we've got fantastic depth in there, really. Benjamin White, he's never going to get the plaudits I think he deserves, but he's a quality player. They said he should be scared of Doki Lawick, man. Simple as that. Timber's almost a forgotten man because he's not playing, but he'll give us a new dimension and done well. Tomiyasu, very good at impacting games off the bench and closing out games if we need such. Zinchenko, I feel while he's never going to be a great defender, he's done his own part to help our role. Kyrgios, again, the jury's still out and we haven't really seen him in Arsenal's shirt, but he's a good player. He also played centre-middle at Spezia. Obviously, I've got to spread some Saliba propaganda. You know, Harlan who? Harlan what? You know, Saliba probably ran off with Harlan during the international break, really and truly. Again, I'm not one for dribbled pass stats and things, but as I said, propaganda. Saliba is on his way to being the best centre-back during the Emirates era, and he is one of the best young centre-backs or centre-backs in general in the game at the moment. And one day we might be able to say he's world-class. I also feel you have to give credit to Gabriel. You know, he's not as gracious on the ball as Saliba, but he's got an incredible ceiling and has been an incredible player for us people. And we've got one of the best defensive duos in world football. Imagine they tried to say Leicester are taking our place in the top six. That was some funny stuff, weren't it, people? But back to the things. After beating City, Arsenal have two points more than last season from the equivalent fixtures. Now, statistics don't mean anything, but it does put some things into perspective that there's a long way to go. Best defences so far in the Premier League. Arsenal are third behind City, well, second, sorry, behind City only for expected goals conceded. So there's a lot to do. And we also, testament to our tether in the game plan, Man City had four shots in a Premier League game under Pep Guardiola. That's unheard of. It's definitely going into the game. Attacks wins you games, defence wins you titles. And we have a lot to improve defensively, collectively throughout the whole team. But we're on the right trajectory, in my opinion. When you look at the age profiles, when we signed actually these players and actually their value now, and considering the fact of the bulk of them are signed long-term duos or improved duos, we're laughing, people. So long may it continue, really. We've got, we're developing something special here. Let me know your thoughts.