Things feel like they’re moving at a rapid pace in the hire for the new manager of Arsenal FC, but I’d caution you to all slow down a touch.
The leaks to the press are interesting, but I think we need to be careful about what we believe.
Things we’re pretty damn certain about:
1. Arsenal were not talking to any manager about Arsene’s job before last Thursday. That was a respect thing, the club like to claim they have class, and we’ve no reason to believe otherwise.
2. Arsenal want to get this next hire right. Ivan has been waiting for 10 years to make a proper impact on the playing side. This is his chance, his moment to shine like Pascal Cygan’s forehead on a summers day. Do not believe they fired Wenger so they could make a decision in 4 days. They have time, they’ll use it.
The club will go through a proper search and select process. Firstly, they’ll likely have spent a year building a brief of the type of manager they want to hire, Ivan already stated he wants someone who can work with young players, it’s clear they want someone who understands how to implement a pressing game, and he’ll want to lean into the playing values Wenger brought to the club. They’ll be thinking about what they’re looking to achieve, and the ways they can achieve it, as well as the different ways they can achieve those goals.
From there, they’ll compile a group of names and they’ll press contacts throughout Europe to build reports (Sven and Raul will show their worth here, just like Henrique has been doing at PSG). They’ll want to know about their characters, their ability to deal with pressure, style of management, how they work with those above them, and what players think of them. According to Ballague’s book, it was after this phase Arsene Wenger was pushed out of the reckoning for the Barca job in 2008.
From there, they’ll whittle down to a list of names they can speak to, maybe they’ll reach out to agents to gauge interest, then they’ll set up interviews.
You’d imagine for a job the size of Arsenal, they’ll be expected to present their vision of the club (Ryan Giggs classically failed here for Swansea). Arsenal will want to interrogate their ideas for Arsenal, find out more details about their footballing ideals/values, understand their management style, and get to grips with how they work with the specialists where they are. Jose Mourinho failed to get the Barca job back in the day because when he was asked if he’d relinquish his combative approach in the media, he refused, stating it’s part of his game.
I’d imagine after working with Wenger, the club will want someone amenable to a more democratic structure, a man open to new ideas, comfortable with empowering those around them with responsibility and decision making power, and the absolute key… being able to communicate ideas with intensity and passion.
Whenever you read about Pep, it’s always his intensity. Players love his training sessions (read), no one has more energy than him, no one has better ideas, and his commitment and his vision are utterly infectious (watch). Intensity is something we lack on and off the pitch, and it’s something the board will want to see back at the club.
So basically, what I’m saying is this… sure, Enrique and Arteta are going to be in the mix for the new role at the club, but don’t be daft enough to think they’re near a decision yet.
I’m not so keen on Enrique. I don’t know a lot about him, but I kind of feel he’s a poor man’s Pep G. This from Sid Lowe at ESPN very eloquently gives an insight into the manager that I’m not sure we’d enjoy.
Barcelona’s problems are a reality. The team that once invited opponents onto them now looks frightened when they are pressed, unable to find a way out; those passageways they once opened remain closed, the mechanisms malfunctioning. Or maybe there aren’t any? Maybe that element of their game, once so central and important, has been relegated to a minor issue? The evidence on the pitch suggests so, and so did the comments on the touchline.
Luis Enrique is a former Barcelona player, a Barcelona B-team manager, a man who embraced the city and the club and loved to wind up Madrid, who said he was coming “home” when he took over, likening the Camp Nou to Disneyland. But some critics suspected that he was not really Barcelona, and now they’re even more convinced. When Luis Enrique said he was “faithful” to the style but wanted to “evolve it, perfect it, improve it,” they suspected he actually meant destroy it. Now they’re even more convinced of that. Not least because they were convinced of it then, even as he won trophies and fans chanted his name
I’m kind of hoping the name will go away, but the key here is that Enrique knows someone at the club.
There’s a clear pattern from yesterdays media leaks. All the people that are supposedly still in the mix are linked to someone at the club. I don’t think that’s necessarily a key decision point, but as you know in business, it really fucking helps if someone can vouch for you. I have my doubts it’s any different in football.
I’d imagine a big part of Ivan’s decision making has to be with the fans. He’ll never admit it, but he needs us onboard. Letting Sky know Arteta was his favoured candidate might not be as irresponsible as you think. I’m sure he’s gauging fan reaction to see how much stomach we have for risk. Managerial trial balloons, I’m not sure he’d have liked the reaction, which seems cold if I’m honest.
I’ve been telling you since last May the club wanted the return of Arteta, and that the Spaniard turned down Spurs because he wanted to return to us at some point. I wrote in November why he’d be an interesting hire.
To summarise:
1. Signing Arteta works from a culture perspective, he gets the club, he’s well-liked, and he knows everyone
2. Ivan would own his pristine hair and his backside. Being a kingmaker allows you to control the manager and the direction of the club. Something he’s lacked under Wenger.
3. You’re hiring from the best-tutored coach in the world game. The greatest innovators are usually exposed to genius somewhere along the line (Steve Jobs @ Xerox). They often take others ideas, and reimagine them for themselves. If Arteta is as smart as they say he is, he could be a force to be reckoned with if he can adapt to the gravity of the job.
4. There’s a cost benefit. A young manager charges less, comes with fewer people, and if it goes wrong you don’t have to spend much to rectify the issue.
I’m not sure we’ll have the balls to go with an Arteta like signing, but look, I’d not be against the move. I think it’s strategically sound, and I’d certainly be excited about watching a young manager bring Pep levels of intensity to the Colney dossers club.
Definitely worth a few of your pennies if you’re a gambler, but I do think it might be sharper for the club to look at Nagelsmann if we’re going for untested. He’s already proved he can build something from nothing, he’s taken Hoffenheim to the Champions League (from relegation fodder), he’s shown he can develop players, and he’s on the verge of recreating the same success of last season for the second year running. He’d still be a brave move, but I think the fans would be more comfortable with him as a risk.
There will be more names linked, likely more experienced, and I think the favourites list from the bookies will go back and forth. Expect Conte to be linked, I’d imagine the Allegri rumours will start again, we’ll absolutely explore Jardim, and I’d imagine we’ll see names like Hassenhutl, Jardim, Poch, Carlo and Tedesco in the papers.
Everyone, I say this truthfully, I have not been this excited about Arsenal for 15 years.
The future is bright. It’s technical. It’s unpredictable and joy-filled whatever happens.
We’ve broken the grip of Wenger, now we can enjoy football like any other fan of a rich elite club in London.
What a summer we have ahead.
See you in the comments.
4th
3rd
Hello
Bankz is here again for the Tr4phy
Boom
we done Bankz
Damn you Bankz!
That’s how it’s done fellas.
you guys have a nice day and tell DM I got this.
Trying to convince yourself of Arteta, eh Pedro. Obvious where your head is.
Thats okay Bankz, i took the new 4th place Trophy… 1st Place for a new era!
Was excited Pedro till I heard the £50 million budget ‘war chest ‘ being spouted out by the Telegraph plus player sales.if Ivan & his cronies think that is going to cut the mustard for a brave new era.Theyre taking the piss.still,be it on their heads because next in the firing line are Gazidis & syrup & it won’t take anything near as long for the natives to start getting restless….
Personally I think the position has already been fillled, you don’t fire Arsene so methodically without having a plan. Someone must have become available that was too good to turn down. We shall see.
Nice one Bankz. Already said earlier that when it’s posted at 10am I can’t do it..
The new manager in my view needs much more than £50m which I why I think those articles are clickbait. Not sure why journos would be briefed on this, it’s more of a case of thought out guess work.
Mike fvcking Arteta armed with the massive 50 million war chest. There’s every fan’s worst nightmare.
If it does come true, I’d be very interested to hear from Bamford.
Why would Kroenke, Gazidis ignore the best candidates, proven winners and make an underwhelming appointment- Bamford would ask me last year.
I still think we’ll end up with Allegri
Morning all,
Hiring Arteta at all would not surprise me. These links go back a long way too.
I was Chair for many years in one of Britain’s leading clubs in an Olympic Sport and I recruited coaches with a top background in this sport including Olympic, World and European Champions and Medallists. None came to the club as experienced coaches. However, they all had similar backgrounds with a first class technical pedigree having been themselves schooled by the best coaches both in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. Whilst it is not essential to have a top class pedigree as a sports person that background does help although it does not mean that you have the personality and… Read more »
Pedro
Great post. Any credence in the reports we only habe 50mill for transfers this Summer? Id be shocked if that were true and will surely influence who would come in, making it an easier sell to an inexperienced manager than an experienced one.
Without a very obvious replacement there is likely to be some sort of compromise between the key players. Due to the way fans currently feel about the club Ivan will want to achieve some sort of link between the individual chose and the “identity’ of Arsenal as a club, Raul and Sven perhaps will be less concerned by that. To me there are a number of candidiates (Allegri, Jardim, Sarri, Carlo) that don’t feel like the right fit for the identity of the club – that’s a hard thing to quantify but its quite important the club doesn’t make the… Read more »
Any credence in the reports we only habe 50mill for transfers this Summer? Id be shocked if that were true and will surely influence who would come in, making it an easier sell to an inexperienced manager than an experienced one. It’s not really a surprise. Our wage bill is higher than ever and you can only increase your wages by £7m p/a through transfers. Big problem is our commercials have ben terrible for sometime. Obviously improving that immediately in the interim would help us aid the budget. Also winning the EL and guaranteeing CL qualification brings around another £30m.… Read more »
Dream10
“With a limited budget & the expectation of blooding youth, Jardim should be #1 choice.”
Good shout. As I have been saying for some time, we won’t be able to fill our XI with £50m signings. That simply isn’t feasible. Instead we need a combination of excellent scouting; smart, well-timed signings; occasional bigger signings; and a very good manager.
I like Jardim for this as well.
Roberto Martinez should be considered.
‘Roberto Martinez should be considered.’
Eh?!
‘To me there are a number of candidiates (Allegri, Jardim, Sarri, Carlo) that don’t feel like the right fit for the identity of the club’
Can Arsenal afford to be that snobbish?
We are not Barca or Bayern to trumpet about ‘Values and Image’. We don’t have easy access to the best players in the league.
Unless we get an able coach, we’ll never punch above our weight.
Romford Pele £50 million is a net budget. That means we can add to it if we make sales. This is no different to what was available in previous years. The problem at Arsenal is that most of the dross that we would probably like to sell is not going to realise much in the way of transfer fees. Wilshire would be a Bosman if he leaves without signing a new contract. Ramsey would also be undervalued because he is moving into final year of contract. When you analyse most other clubs spending there are very few with a large… Read more »
Rambo No offence mate but you’re woefully rigid in your thinking if you can’t appreciate the ‘idea’ of Arteta as manager. Pedro spelled out the strategy behind it, the only genuine cause for concern is the unknown element of how he’d take to being a manager because he’s yet to wear that cap. If he as the knowledge and passion (neither of us know this, relying on word of mouth) then he’s essentially set. I wouldn’t be opposed to the club outlining a growth strategy and asking us to come on board with that starting next season. Lets call Allegri… Read more »
I’m not sure what our bank account looks like lately but dare I say it we apologies a substantial chunk in recent years.
I don’t mind us making sales + 50m if the coffers are genuinely a bit light (spending + no cl money must have hurt us)
For all the shite in our squad, I don’t mind a slightly conservative approach provided it’s actually warranted and not the farcical bs of pretending we’re rich and spouting big names and selling our stars instead like before
Romford Pele….he’s exact type of manager article above described + has expirience of Premiership + last time Everton were any good was when he was in charge.
If Belgium does well in WC, his stock will rise immensly.
I think we should assume that the stories about a £50m transfer kitty are true. The implications are several, one of which is that we may need to look for players at lower price points, another of which is that we may have to sell players in order to buy. There is going to be a lot of moaning here, I think, about our not being able to go out and spend £200m on four £50m players. However, it was never reasonable to think that that was going to be our way to success. We simply don’t have that kind… Read more »
Rambo Ramsey
Take your point and not saying I necessarily agree with this stance – but that’s how I think Ivan will see it.
I would be delighted to have Allegri, but given we’re unlikely to have immediate success regardless because of the mess Wengers left us with then perhaps a coach with some sort of ‘identity’ or link to the cluyb the fans will get on board with is likely to be given more time/leeway?
“Roberto Martinez should be considered.”
I’m guessing David Moyes has just been sacked?
Arteta has no experience as manager. Why would we begin the post-Wenger era with an appointment that could be a disaster because the appointed manager is still learning his trade? That makes no sense. Would any other big club hire a manager who hadn’t managed before (even a B team)? No. For me, Arteta makes no sense at this moment. Let him cut his teeth somewhere, then we can take a look at him.
Crusaderrabbit
I’m glad you mentioned the “mess” Wenger has left us with because one of the more important points about the £50m transfer kitty story is that this amount is only a problem because Wenger has built such a poor squad and has spent so much money doing so. If he had built a decent squad, we wouldn’t necessarily need to spend more than £50m this summer to compete next season.
Emirates – even if we free up the wages from letting go of Santi, Wilshere, Per, Perez etc, that should give us more wiggle room.
EdTheRed – he was sacked from Everton and you want him to be Arsenal boss?
Charlie, as I’ve already said, that sort of an approach works in a Barca or a Bayern. They have a well functioning academy and they got a team brimming with class and winning mentality. Players are more important than coaches in these sort of clubs.
Cold reality is Arsenal are nothing like that. We need a strong coach that knows what he’s doing.
If the 50m war chest stories are true, can some of the more animated Ramsey defenders appreciate the merit in the decision of his new contract vs selling high?
Same with Bellerin as a valuable option to cash in on. Those two players would garner the most interest and money so let’s say 50m was offered per head, I think the club has some decisions to consider.
That being said I tend to believe we have closer to 100m available to spend this summer.
Ronald Koeman for me.
Utterly shit
Devoid of personality
Has been sacked
Arrogant
Speaks a few languages
You know what, let’s just rehire the Weng Man and give him £15m a year and a five year deal.
I’m missing him already.
Pierre
‘”But Arsenal fans decide to boycott games after losing to the best team in the league in yet another final..”
___
Yeah because it was solely because of that loss that fans boycotted games. Dickhead.
Juanfran has a hamstring issue and is out for Thursday. Costa remains unlikely as well. That could help us.
Romford Pele
Re read what I wrote. I have not advocated that Arteta should be appointed manager.
My preference would be Patrick Vieira with Luis Enrique as second option.
Rambo Disagree there, we’re obviously transforming the organisational structure of the club to operate more in line with their models. Arteta you can argue is being mooted as a low outlay/higher risk candidate, but I see the potential merits of that. I think a lot of people are against that bold avenue because they think there’s more sure things out there. Looking at Enrique vs Arteta, what happens if either fails to live up to the billing? Well very little in the case of Arteta, whereas Enrique would come with a fat settlement. Arsenal don’t have the resources to make… Read more »
Pros and cons of Arteta. Most of the pros are hypothetical because we don’t know a lot. Pros *He fits what Gazidis is looking for in terms of style of play, promoting youngsters and ensuring stability * His philosophy https://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20150325/-my-dream-was-to-play-for-arsenal- *He’s highly-rated. Had three job offers when he chose to leave. Assistant at Spurs/City/Arsenal. We know what one he chose. *There’s no win without risk, yes Arteta “has no real experience”, but so did Pep before taking care of Barcelona, he only managed its second team for a year, then in his first year in top gear went on to… Read more »
Actually, with a limited budget, selling Ramsey doesn’t make a lot of sense, as you’re going to have to spend just as much if not more to sign a better central midfielder. So it may be a net gain quality-wise, but it won’t be a net gain money-wise. I guess you could argue that this incoming midfielder could have lower wages than Ramsey, and that would save us money, but I’d like to see a list of central midfielders who improve upon Ramsey and would be at a lower wage. If there are genuine options like that, I would be… Read more »
CMs I need us to look at: Kovacic (unlikely), Ceballos, Golovin, Aouar, Ndombele
I thibk a young manager who will be given time over 3/4 windows( he’ll need that long because of the net spend budget) to transform squad.
Gazidis’ comments about another ‘project youth’ could suggest a younger appointment with a clear vision.
Unless an Ancelotti type has say Vieira as a no.2 I’d say go younger.
I’m open to a few options regarding our potential new Boss and i’ve enjoyed discussing the pros/cons of the guys available. It’s a tough choice to call but a very intriguing process. Something fresh.
My choice today based on “The King Killers” metrics ?
Leonardo Jardim.
Romford
Maybe I could be talked into taking a chance on Arteta, but I am wary of his lack of managerial experience. Just out of curiosity, though: do you know where he had offers from when he left Arsenal?
“his moment to shine like Pascal Cygan’s forehead on a summers day”
lol
“Roberto Martinez should be considered.”
Great sense of humor!!
Love the “wenger out map” by the way!!
Charlie, is now the best time to try this bold approach, when we are languishing in midtable and there’s a sort of careless and lazy culture in the squad.
I’d rather bring in a strong character that’ll get the players to snap out of their comas and play their skins out every game. Someone who brings guts and steel back into the Arsenal culture. After that we can think about adding a bit of Arsenal polish,the class, the values, the style etc etc
C’mon guys, we can have so much better than Arteta.
Bamford, it’s pretty well documented. In his last season at Arsenal, Arteta was virtually injured/not considered for selection so spent most of the time managing Arsenal U18s. What he did was considered very impressive that he was offered a job at Arsenal (academy/coaching role), assistant manager at Spurs and assistant manager at City (the one he chose) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/07/03/mikel-arteta-leaves-arsenal-to-take-up-coaching-role-with-pep-gu/ Like I said, it’s hugely risky and you can see why a lot of people are against it but then the fact that he got offered such high profile roles after retirement says a lot IMO. It’s also a name I’ve heard… Read more »
Ancelotti is about to take the Italian NT role. I also think he has too many similarities to Wenger that we need to move away from.
The £50 million transfer kitty confirms that what goes on in Stan’s head counts most of all. Not that £50 mill is small beans. Except that Wenger left the incoming manager a squad that is an overpaid unbalanced mess. To get to even touching distance of the top clubs in EPL (let alone in Europe) will require at least five outstanding signings. Add in that Wilshere will leave, that Ramsay and Welbeck are reaching end of contract, that the GK and others are ageing, and it’s clear that the new manager faces an almighty problem. It’s hard to imagine a… Read more »
The fact that so many of you are ok with Arteta as the next appointment is a direct result of what Wenger has done to this fan base. Aim low so you can’t be disappointed. It’s the Wenger way that’s been subconsciously ingrained into gooners for a decade. Time for a new way of thinking.
Rambo From a risk perspective I’d argue it’s a more sensible time. Strip it back, what do you expect from Arsenal next season? For me top 4 is the goal, with some excitement about our potential for the future. That’s achievable by a managerial candidate like Arteta imo, the comment about strong characters, discipline, fight etc make sure me think you’re already aware of the type of manager Arteta would be. Are you being fair there, or is that an idea you’re creating and running with? The United job was a harder ask because they were looking to continue from… Read more »
Romford
Good to know. I wasn’t doubting the story; I just didn’t know what the offers were. I also didn’t know about his management of the Arsenal u-18’s. Maybe it could be a reasonable appointment — to say so, you’d need to know more about what he is like when in front of a chalkboard, when running a training session, when speaking to players in the dressing room — but, as you say, it would have its risks.
My main reservation about Arteta is whether his experience since leaving Arsenal is enough to counteract the negative effect of playing under Wenger during the banter years!
Gunner2301 £50-60m net transfer spend seems about what I’d expect. Headline revenue FELL in the half-yearly accounts compared to the previous year (£193m down to £183m), the wage bill has increased, there’s no CL football again, and several major player contract extensions are going to suck up money if they’re retained (Ramsey, Welbeck). No-one expects Kroenke to dip his hand in his pocket, so with falling revenue and increasing wages, the only way you can spend big on transfers is to use cash in the bank (we still have a large balance, but it was always estimated that perhaps £60m… Read more »
Bamford, yeah, like you say, the main thing is that we know next to nothing about his managerial skills. He has always been very well-respected though and I think the fact he was offered those roles back it up. Also the new processes we have put in place would make it easier for Arteta to just focus on the football side of things. The thing that I want most for Arsenal is to be a well-coached team. You can see how hazardous we are as a team. How many times have City scored from cutbacks this season? Always the sign… Read more »
I’m sure Pedro is gazidis mouth piece like cross was for Wenger . His feeble attempt to gloss Arteta is a rediculous attempt to make him look the ideal candidate. We are an attractive proposition to some great managers , to those who think why would some of the top managers leave their current clubs put simply the money and secondly arsenal is probably one of the most stable positions in top club management. Allegri , Simeone alone who are probably the two highest profile would at least double their wages comparing what Wenger earns to what they currently earn… Read more »
Charlie, how are you so confident Arteta will get us back to the CL?
Why I want a proven coach is precisely that – the man would offer better guarantee to take Arsenal back to a good level.
Man Utd made the same mistake of going for grandiose notions like values and principles. Fell down from 1st to 4th-5th.
Arsenal could easily fall down from 5th to 7th or could become a permanent fixture in the Europa levels.
Did you guys not hear Gazidis’ press conference on Friday? He said style and development of young players are paramount in the next manager so that automatically rules out Allegri and Simeone,. no matter how good they are. Personally for me, I wouldn’t want to watch such reactive football over a 38-game season. Allegri’s Juve played at home to Napoli on Sunday and only had 4 shots at goal. At home?! Thankfully they lost and their lead was cut for playing so pathetically at home. Considering their wage bill and players in comparison to Napoli, it spoke volumes. Simeone will… Read more »
Rambo It’s not that I’m so confident he would, I don’t know. I’m simply suggesting that for there to be such high regard for him I’d be confident that achievement is within his reach. Even if Arteta took over and we finished 6th again, we would know everyone’s position is under review, his ability would be there for all to judge, it’s not the same as these Wenger years because there’s accountability now. I touted Allegri over a year ago, he’s proven himself but there’s no guarantee he’d cut it in the prem. Pep had a hard year first year… Read more »
ROP, the Pep way requires a blank cheque. Good luck with that.
What we have to accept is Arsenal will always be underdogs in the PL. Leicester weren’t pretty, they were smart. That’s the only way Arsenal will be winning league titles in the money era, by being smart.
Simeones and Allegris are your best bet for toppling billion pound Manchester teams.
People are worrying too much about Arteta. Look at what the club has done in the last few months. – Hired Sven Mislintat, considered the best head of scouting in the game – Hired Raul Sanllehi, Barcas Sporting Director, and the guy that signed Suarez & Neymar – Hired Darren Burgess, a fitness guy that has been described as the best in the world Now following these appointments, I really dont think the club are going to bring in a shit manager that doesnt know what he’s doing. Also, regarding the £50m budget, Im not sure I buy that. Would… Read more »
Any chance we can convince Klopp, based on the fact his car will still have wheels each morning?
Rambo, Obviously Pep has money which definitely helps but the main thing with him is to have players with good technique. When he took over at Barca, he inherited a trophyless team that finishes 4th and got id of Ronaldinho, Deco and others to promote La Masia graduates. That was the biggest change. His game is based around mentality and technique. You don’t need money for that. Money is what helps to stretch the gap but it isn’t the fundamental thing to his success. You can still play and be successful with an attacking set-up. Look how far Liverpool have… Read more »
Arsenal are too much of a PC/SJW club to appoint Sarri though.
gambon
Agree with your post – you don’t bring in top people to then hand the reigns over to someone not up to the job. As for the transfer budget I’d imagine at the moment it’s not set we might after all have CL football.
“The fact that so many of you are ok with Arteta as the next appointment is a direct result of what Wenger has done to this fan base. ”
I must admit that there could be a part of truth in that – I hope not.
Appreciating the merits of a younger upstart is Wengers fault?
Jesus, go a day without blaming him for something. That’d be novel.
Wenger is proper bitter man. Even from Philippe Auclair’s latest comments, you can tell Wenger didn’t wanna leave at the end of the season.
Any new manager announcement should not be made before next Thursday’s game against Madrid. The team needs to focus on this important game.
As for selecting a new manager, I want someone who can create an environment so that every player can improve and performed to his maximum. I have watched Ox and Walcort performed after they left the club. They look like a different player. Also, we have to sign players who have a high ceiling. We shouldn’t save a few pennies and sign those over the hill players. They’ll become worthless after a short period of time.
Arteta is too wild an appointment for Arsenal. For 22 years we have been painting the walls magnolia…you don’t suddenly start decorating in fusia pink!
Personally, as long as it’s not ancelloti, Benitez, Rodgers, Dyche, Howe or Wenger. I wouldn’t care.
Anything will be better than what we have had to suffer.
If it’s Arteta. Great! A balls out move and I would applaud it. Not my first choice, but why not.
Romford- good to see you back here bud. Hope all is well.
Seen underrated coq was on yesterday too, another return of a very good poster, pleasing to see that the big man’s imminent departure is bringing back some of the LG old (er) guard.
Guns
Mate we appointed ‘Arsène who’ over Johan Cruyff, nothing magnolia about that.
Eagle – all good my man. Hope you’re well and hoping for positive days ahead for The Arsenal.
CC
I’m not sure if that’s a positive. Cruyff or Wenger?
Not sure
Wouldn’t be hugely against Arteta’s appointment were it to unfold, would be a liar to say it wouldn’t disappoint me slightly though.
Having said that, he’s clearly an extremely intellignent football man if Pep values him enough to headhunt him as his no.2 at Citeh.
I just don’t Pep’s aura or charisma from him, he’s seems a very quiet and serious figure. Wasn’t particularly impressed by him as Captain in his time here.
Wonder if we can recoup 30-40m from selling Chambers & Kolasinac. Neither will be a starter. The cost of keeping them as squad players means we won’t buy fullbacks to compete with young Héctor (guy plays every minute of every match) & Monreal (will be in decline soon like Koscielny).
Looking forward to a team with players who have recovery speed at the back & in midfield. Don’t want us to constantly have to play a back three solely to hide the 1v1 deficiencies of our CBs or a midfielder wide because our CMs can’t run.
Really looking forward to the matches this week, for me the Champions League knockout stages are as good as football gets.
Much more attacking and adventurous football on display by the best players in the world than international tournaments, particularly the World Cup where teams in the knockouts often seemed paralysed by fear to make errors which comes at the expense of the football.
Suppose the pressure is much greater given that most players on have 2-3 World Cups in them whereas the UCL is every season.
WE
Exactly. Pep singled him out. That says a lot for me.
Arteta has probably learned more under pep for two years than Wenger has in 22 years.
The cold reality is, Wenger style managers are dead. The young, cerebral type manager appears to be the new trend.
Dream10, would love to recoup money from those. Chambers just signed a new deal on the same wages so there’d definitely be PL clubs after him. Kolasinac isn’t good enough, however, since we signed him on a bosman, I wonder what he’s on – won’t be cheap. I’d like AMN to develop as a FB. Doesn’t have the sharpness of brain to play as a CM but his physical tools are good. Agreed that we need more athleticism in this team. Also bring back the technique too. A proper wide forward would help although I hope the new manager develops… Read more »
Romford Pele
Welcome back! Your Roma boys doing the business. Dzeko playing at a level that Messi can dream of
Dream – haha! Thanks man. The mad thing about Roma this season is they haven’t even been great domestically, were much better last season although they’ve had good team spirit and did well to top a group with Atletico and Roma in. I don’t think they’ve conceded at the Olimpico in the CL this season. Cengiz Under is one to watch out for.
Perotti is one of those players like fine wine, he’s nearly 30 and has improved season on season for years now.
Shout out to Kolarov too at LB, been one of Roma’s key players and hugely influential for them.
His ability on the ball was never in question at City, seems like he’s improved his 1 vs 1 defending in Rome though.
Cc will continue to blow wenger, even after his departure.
He will never had enough.
If Dzeko’s on his game tonight he’s going to give Lovren and VVD a really torrid time.
Inconsistent but such a problem for his presence, specimen in the air and much better with his feet (both feet too) than your typical 6 foot 4 frontman, also deceptively fast over longer sprints.
I appreciate La Roma, but I don’t see them kicks Liverpool out.
Romford
Think AMN will.take Jack’s spot as a squad CM & will moonlight as a Bellerin’s backup.
Not sure if has Ox syndrome of wanting to be a full time #8 yet. That Max Meyer any good? He seems lightweight (then again, so is Cazorla). We need a ball carrier who is physically more robust than Santi/Jack.
Kovacic is the only one I can think of. He can play in between Xhaka & Ramsey or with either Xhaka/Elneny. Kovacic & Ousmane Dembélé is the ideal summer.
Highburylegend
Haven’t talked about Wenger once you dense cunt
Pedro A couple of points Firstly : ‘The future is bright. It’s technical. It’s unpredictable and joy-filled whatever happens.’ No. The future is only bright if arsenal fc improve and starts realising it’s potential It’s not enough just to not have wenger in charge. If we remain shit or get even shittier, the future will be shit. Secondly, unless I missed it, you failed to mention the alleged £50 million budget. If it’s true this is far more significant than any other fact so far, for obvious reasons. Far more significant than your hypothesizing on Gadzidis. Money is always the… Read more »
Dembele has started looking good for Barca though Dream, you really think Barcelona will entertain selling him?
Wenger Eagle
Unlikely. Probably have to wait till next summer. Not sure we’ll be able to afford him. Need his price to go down first
Dream10
Who do you see them going for in CM? For me it’s been their problem position for years, only amplified now Iniesta is off in summer.
Paulinho is decent but he’s nowhere near elite, really do think that they lack a world class baller in there.
Not sure Arteta would even want to come to us. He would be very aware of our squads fragile underbelly and what would be required to get us back to a stronger squad base.? After all he spent more of his career with Everton than us so why the sudden love in.? 1- He’s playing under a top coach. 2-Man city have a top squad . 3-Man C have already earmarked 2 top players for next season.? 4- Man C ARE IN THE Champions league. 5-Man city runaway with the prem. He would be a fool to give up on… Read more »
Regarding players succeeding as Managers, midfielder are a good shout, since all their playing time they have been doing a type of game management. Pep was, so Arteta qualifies in that respect. But Arteta doesn’t seem to have dominant leadership qualities. Was quite unimpressed when Pep was sent to the stands against Liverpool and Arteta the 2nd in command throughout sat shaking his legs. Liverpool gave City a drubbing.
Elmo Thanks for that mate. What im trying to fathom is how Wenger was then allowed to say he will allow Sanchez and Ozil to run down their contracts and leave for free if things are that tight? Why we offered Ozil the contract he got and did we have to pay him so much? Doubtful. Even Ramsey id be inclined to keep him but if nobody comes in hard for him i would curb his wage demands otherwise sell him and not because hes not worth 200 k he may well be given the market but if one players… Read more »
Wenger Eagle
Not sure. Haven’t followed much footy this yr, so I can only go on the last few seasons. But, it seems they could use a guy who can play with Busquets & instead of him once in awhile. Really like Kovacic. Rabiot and Paulinho can play as B2B pair. Pjanic is talented, but is a little flimsy. As long as they can provide a platform for Coutinho, I’m good. He’s heading to a new level.