Daniel Feliciano, SkySports.com and others: Arsenal have been linked with a £25M move for Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder in recent weeks along with a host of other defensive midfielders.
Carvalho is probably the best fit for the Arsenal side from the players they’ve been linked with. A complete defensive player, Carvalho’s strength and power make him stand out amongst his peers. He uses his body to shield the ball when in possession, or to ease his opponents out of the way when winning the ball back.
A solid passer and very composed under pressure, William has a knack of pinching the ball early in an attack which helps to set up counter attacks – something Özil, Walcott and Sanchez would thrive with. He’s not the most mobile, but his preference to sit and screen the defence rather than bomb on and help with attacks means his lack of pace rarely causes issue. Carvalho for £30M would seem high, but within two years he’ll be one of the elite holding midfielders in Europe. By the halfway point of his contract, the fee would be forgotten by whichever teams snaps him up this summer.
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Andy Brassell, journalist and broadcaster: To summarise on William; he came back from his extended loan spell in Belgium and went pretty much straight into the XI without missing a beat. He benefitted from the new presidential regime’s return to focussing on youth products – which is part of the club’s tradition, and made sense financially – but he looked incredibly comfortable and mature straight away.
His passing could do with a bit of work, but he’s intelligent, strong and well-organised. When he missed the derby with Benfica (Eric Dier stood in for him at DM) he was badly missed, and it reminded people how important he was.
Personally I think a year more in Portugal (and getting CL experience) would suit him, but he’ll be at a big club sooner or later.
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Patrick Ribeiro, Arsenal and Sporting fan, blogger: At a young age, William Carvalho is known to have always played with opponents two or three years older than him, a clear reflection as to how he became the dominant and physically intelligent presence he is today for Sporting Lisbon and his adopted nation, Portugal. His decision as a teenager to reject SL Benfica – Portugal’s biggest club – in favour of an eventual move to his beloved Leões is an indication of his maturity and determination – as well as his football. Should Carvalho join Arsenal, not only would he be reinforcing an are of our squad which may be on the verge of caving in, he would also afford Arsène Wenger greater tactical flexibility.
At Sporting, Leonardo Jardim had his players working under a similar tactic to Atletico Madrid’s, with his team pressing high in an organised manner. However, there were moments when the likes of Adrien Silva and André Martins left Carvalho to fend for himself – much like Arteta this season – but Carvalho’s strength and composure allowed him to regain possession with great consistency, regardless of the opposition, and for said reason, rival fans rate Carvalho highly.
Focusing on what we have currently, Arsenal play a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system, with Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta being our midfield duo. To those who have analysed Arsenal’s pre-season games this season, you would have noticed that Ramsey is even more daring and willing to attack this season. For a team that was exposed so much on the counter last season, there’s very little hope, if any at all, of Mikel Arteta coping defensively when we’re hit on the break, assuming Ramsey continues to get forward as often as he has during pre-season.
Carvalho isn’t blessed with pace, but his strength, positioning and rare ability to think two or three steps ahead of everyone else not only makes him an ideal partner for Aaron Ramsey or Jack Wilshere, but also one that would fit like a glove into Arsenal’s style of play – as well as addressing one of our weaknesses. You’re knocking three cans over with one kick. Carvalho’s addition means Ramsey could continue to create alternative avenues to attack freely, which would see the two possibly formulating a similar partnership to that of Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira.
A route many would like Wenger to explore is the narrow 4-1-2-1-2 formation, a system which Carvalho would suit well. Theoretically, the 22-year-old would simply transport the ball from defence, sitting deep and allowing Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy to push forward when possible – Cavalho would execute a similar role to what Steven Gerrard does, for Liverpool. Debuchy, in particular, has demonstrated for Newcastle United that he likes to bomb up-and-down the right flank, meaning the need for a tactically-astute, positionally aware holding midfielder would be necessary, to cover Per Mertesacker. Carvalho’s ability to read the game, coolly extinguish danger and keep possession of the ball after could make him the first name on the team sheet for his aforementioned traits. With adequate defensive cover provided by Carvalho, we could see Wilshere and Ramsey form the two in midfield behind Mesut Özil, with Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott as our two forwards.
