Arsenal fans are triggered fam.
We’re chasing some tinpot Dortmund centre-back while Liverpool out there dropping £50m on Fabinho. I can’t lie, that does stick in the throat a little. The Monaco player is a classy talent at the base of midfield, one that we’ve been crying out for for a while.
I think this rumour was given more power by a Sky pundit who said we inquired, just a bit late to make the deal happen. We all know Sky has had a crisis of credibility this summer, no doubt because there’s big business is muddy waters when you run a betting company.
Are we passing on Fabinho because we have more expensive fish to fry? Who knows. But a 25-year-old DM with world class in his tank feels like exactly what we need. I’m kind of getting the feeling we’re not going to play in those markets this summer. They’re chasing Allison as their new number 1, we’re hunting down Bernd Leno. I know which I’d prefer.
But then again, maybe we’re stuck in a rut when it comes to self-awareness.
Arsenal are not a Champions League side, and we’re heading into season two with that shame around our neck. There’s no guarantee the new man is going to restore us to glory because regardless of what the fans think, players won’t see Emery in the same league as the managers of the other top 6 sides… yet.
We have to earn our stripes back, so does he. We have to prove that this season is more than a giant recovery plan. Until then, we’re going to have to sift around in the bargain basement, and hope we strike Salah like gold.
But look, that doesn’t mean we can’t find gems. It’s not like Spurs are raiding Monaco for their best players, is it? They’ve done pretty well scouting players over the past few seasons. We just have to hope the board have the guts to take risks and strike when players are on the rise, not after every team in the world wants them (Liverpool > Naby Keita).
Maybe Arsenal fans would feel a little more assured about the path the club were heading down if we dropped an exciting name. But then again, the football club isn’t run for our feelings is it? It’s run within the parameters set out by a frugal Stan Kroenke, and the budget is spent by two guys who know what they’re doing.
I hate to be the one dishing this out, but it’s really early in the window for tears, it looks like we’ve already made 2 signings, and I’d imagine there’s a lot more to come.
> We are not a 2-3 signings kind of club anymore, move away from that Wenger PTSD.
Maybe we have to wait it out before getting triggered that the Champions League finalists are dropping big money on elite players who probably want in on a project that has a high chance of, you know, getting them to the Champions League final.
My god, I want to be sick in my mouth. I’m standing up for the regime. I’m not longer counterculture. I’m part of the NEW problem that is yet to happen.
This is the path I chose… but seriously, let’s not vent too many spleens. The club did some great work in the January transfer window, and I reckon we’ll do some exciting stuff in the coming two months.
We have to exit the dross.
We have to bring in some experience that’ll root out the weakness in our old culture that was built around nice boys and year-round pleasantries.
We’ll have to start lowering the age of the squad. Mikki, Auba, Lichensteiner and Sokratis will boast an average age of 30.5 come the start of next season. It’s quite apparent the strategy is to buy in players who can give us some ‘NOW’ impetus, which is no bad thing considering the importance of the CL money.
However, Ivan said he wanted a manager who could bring through young talent, I am kind of hoping that we can do a Dortmund MKII. Young exciting players, technically gifted, loaded with power and pace, delivering a brand of football you want to pur over.
So the moral of this post is if our work so far looks a bit boring, that’s because it is. That’s because it has to be. We have to rework the fabric of a damaged culture, as well as upgrade the starting 11.
But don’t panic just yet, there’s plenty more to come from this summer, and I can only hope we’re keeping that powder dry for a great keeper, and someone a bit OH MY to replace Sanchez.
POWDER DRY, listen to me. What a boring joke this site is.
Right, see you in the comments, where I expect you to celebrate the balanced tone of this post.
Lets ask the question the other way around If I were Laca I would be mad about missing out on the world cup squad. I would wonder if being pulled out by Wenger in the 67th minute in the first half of the season then being supplanted is good for my career. I would want to move to a club where I can start every game possible .. at the age of 27 years. C’mon, how many clubs have a 55 million transfer rated striker on their books? What does being number two with limited games do to his transfer… Read more »
Wenger to Madrid should be a no lose situation for us shouldn’t it.
He fails: proves the point of Wenger Out people.
He succeeds: proves the point that the club has failed us by buying cheap players instead of spending on a quality list.
I have always felt it was a combination of both that has led to our downfall. But more because we have wasted our time with sub-par players like the British core and 2nd rate players like Podolski, Giroud, Lacazette rather than spending and competing for the best.
Pretty simple do you want a 50 million pound player sitting on the bench or a 50 million pound winger in the starting 11?
Lacazette in the EPL:
Apps Mins Goals Assists MotM Rating
26(6) 2212 14 4 1 7.09
Aubameyang in the EPL:
Apps Mins Goals Assists MotM Rating
12(1) 1058 10 4 2 7.33
Says it all really. Should have bought Auba in the summer and keep Giroud in the team. This way we save 35m+ and have two different options in attack. Plan A and plan B.
Bamford 10 The real point about Welbeck is that he is home grown and a utility player. There is no expectation that he will start in the team and he is a “bench player” Lacazette is most certainly a starting eleven player as would have been case if he joined any other club including Athletico Madrid. The only debate is whether we can play both Aubameyang and Lacazette in the same starting eleven. Personally I think we can. Strikers are generally selfish players but surprisingly on the evidence of watching both play together that is not the case. Aubameyang can… Read more »
If Emery decides he does not need Lacazette in the squad and will rather have a winger then so be it. If Emery decides he does not need Xhaka in his midfield then so be it. What i am against is this notion by some on here that this and this must be done for us to achieve success next season. It is never really that simple. Let the Coach do his thing and let us judge him when he is done. Lacazette has just spent a year getting used to playing with us…and Bamford i see how you have… Read more »
All this Lacazette talk is moot. There’s no chance the club will actively try to push him out this season. Only if the player wants it.
Wenger is 100% to blame for advocating and supporting ‘austerity’.
Lacazette is a worse Aubameyang iz all. We had the best tall CF backup in the world. Tbh since we were stuck with Lacazette it made more sense for us to invest the Auba money in someone that can make a difference in the Europa league here and now. If we had someone of Auba’s influence eligible to play in our team, we would have won the trophy. Reason why I’m not really excited about our power duo. Winter was a disaster. We didn’t need another Ozil alike and we adding another expensive forward, ineligible to play for the only… Read more »
Very much agreed raptora. Giroud was a useful striker with a very different set of attributes which are useful against certain teams and when you need to dramatically switch things up
But we’re here now and at least laca is good
Gambon
Rooney was being paid over 300K/week and he wasn’t even their main striker.
For someone who for eons have advocated we pay top wages to compete, it’s surprising you are so hung up on Laca’s wages. For me paying 70k to players who are of no use is more a waste of money than paying 160K to someone who can contribute.
Marko why is it an either or?
We can probably get 15-20 mil for welbeck, 10 mil for Perez and another 10+ mil just from selling some of our useless loanees.
That’s 40 odd million towards a 50m winger without even touching the first team or weakening the squad at all
You know what I’d do? Sell Ramsey for 50m to whoever wants him and is willing to pay 50m at all?!?!?! then buy Shaqiri for ~20m. Let’s make a whole starting 11 of eastern europeans. Joke aside you get at worse a player of similar quality even though I like Ramsey, I think Shaqiri is better than him and he’s looking for a way out of Championship Stoke, and you get some cash as well. No brainer.
As has always been the case on LG. Fans always defend our middling players by quoting statistics. The bottom line is that for years these players have failed to deliver for us in big matches. This is actually where the difference between a top tier player and a second tier player makes a difference. For the rest of the games, their stats will be comparable. Against poorer teams there will be less pressure and more time and so the 2nd tier player can finish the opportunities as well as the top tier player. Arsenal set up for top 4, and… Read more »
“For someone who for eons have advocated we pay top wages to compete,” A high wage ceiling, not huge wages for literally everyone. How can your 3rd top earner be a bench warming striker? I’ll say it again, if we had signed Auba last summer, would ANYONE literally anyone have then been calling for us to go and spend £50m on another CF to back him up? Ask yourself why Barcelona dont have a £50m back up striker on £170k pw? Ask yourself why Madrid dont have a £50m back u striker on £170k pw? Ask yourself why Man City… Read more »
Gambon, we can get 40M from selling that lot.
Welbeck -In England world cup squad, 20M easy
Perez – 10M
Iwobi – 8 to 10M,Nigerian international
The rest of them at least for 3-4M.
If we find a good quality winger in the market for even say 50M , we can buy. It’s not that all the payment is made upfront.
http://global.espn.com/football/real-madrid/story/3514315/arsene-wenger-real-madrid-one-of-the-teams-i-loved-as-a-child
Wenger to Madrid? The AKBs can support them instead.
Rambo
No one is claiming ITK status as to what the club will do, regarding Laca
All some are asking is in the face of a limited budget, would selling him to free up funds to in vest in areas where we are completely lacking make sense?
Laca + Welbeck is at least 75 million
Add that 75 million to the reported 50 [? 70] million and we have the chance to do a mini rebuild, rather than tinker on the edges.
If people think it’s possible to find a really great and young auba backup who can come in and score as regularly as laca in half the wages then I don’t see why it’s impossible to find a similarly effective young winger who can deliver the goods on a lower salary
If we were to sell Lacazette, Welbeck, Perez taking what we could get for Campbell, Asono and Akpom.
Turn that into: Martial with young upstart CF like El Haddadi.
Why not.
I’d rather have KdB than both Ramsey and Wilshere. Two tier 2s are worse than a tier 1.
If we were to sell lacazette we would make a loss on the initial amount we payed then with a replacement thats good enough you won’t have much left over for this 50m winger people want, when all is said and done you would have downgraded on lacazette just to put approx 15m towards the winger makes no sense to me just sell welbeck and perez
China
Because we need a good up and coming forward,
However we need a world class wide player. We need a Hazard/Sane/Sterling level player who can take players on, create and score goals.
Obviously some players would rather shoe-horn Lacazette on the wing because they like his beard, or think he has a nice smile.
If Lava had ambition, he would be agitating to move.
He shouldn’t be a back-up striker at the age of 27 year.
I rate him as lot. He’s too good and cost too much for that.
Giroud [I’ll take all the arrows in the world] would have been that perfect back-up striker since he plays in a distinctively different way.
Daz
“If we were to sell lacazette we would make a loss on the initial amount we payed then with a replacement thats good enough you won’t have much left over for this 50m winger people want, when all is said and done you would have downgraded on lacazette just to put approx 15m towards the winger makes no sense to me just sell welbeck and perez”
Not remotely true
His current value on transfermakt.com is 60 million euros
https://www.transfermarkt.com/alexandre-lacazette/profil/spieler/93720
Keep him for one more season ass back-up and then see if his transfer value doesn’t plummet.
I understand the reluctance to even consider the prospect of losing Laca.
Wenger conditioned us fans to selling off the best players and not replace them.
What if the money was re-spent immediately to improve the squad?
There’s new winds a blowing at Colney. No player is going to try and push his way out just yet. At the same time, Emery isn’t going to try and rock the boat too much. Don’t expect big sales like Laca until next summer.
Haha his beard is well maintained. No arguments there!
Anyway seems like quite a few of us agree that giroud + auba would’ve been a highly practical and financially suitable choice.
Even though I’m comfortable with auba and laca, I think it was typically arsenal to mismanage the situation and end up this way. I really don’t know why we even sold giroud. He was distinctly different and clearly useful.
But anyway, as I said. We’re here now and I’m happy with 2 good strikers even if they are pricey.
“If people think it’s possible to find a really great and young auba backup who can come in and score as regularly as laca in half the wages then I don’t see why it’s impossible to find a similarly effective young winger who can deliver the goods on a lower salary”
Because they all want Lacazette sold..they want him sold because they believe he is too expensive to be on the bench, some say he is too good to be on the bench. No one has asked Emery his views on this anyway,
The favorable setup with the current players we have, could be a 4-2-2-2 with a new DM, CB, RB and GK.
I somehow think Emery would give at least a year before making changes on the attack.
If we are willing to sell Laca and it indeed happens for over 40m pounds I’d be ecstatic. If the 40m+ are all we need for buying a Dembele, Bale, Douglas Costa or even Pulisic, then give me that dough ASAP!!!
We shouldn’t be too much fixated to 4-2-3-1 until we see it utilized by Emery in the first place.
BIO
You’re confusing me.
I quoted your own perceptions.
I was highlighting that Wenger’s reign, specifically the past ten years, helped to breed negativity and frustration amongst supporters. Many opinions were born out of anger and resentment towards Wenger and his methods and the divide in opinions amongst our own fanbase highlighted this even further.
As for Lacazette, I don’t see him as being back up to Auba. On the contrary, they complement one another and I am convinced Emery will see it this way.
Nothing wrong with having both Auba + laca.
Even if we the only squad to have 2 CFs where the other isnt a “young upcoming” CF.
But a tab on it till after auba hits over 32 and kick on.
We DESPERATELY need a flipping Winger
“Maxi Gomez is 21 and has scored 17 goals in 26 games for Celta Vigo. The lad is a prospect“
To be fair, that Spanish kid who signed for Everton then got loaned back to Sevilla didn’t work out well.
So yeah, although those number aren’t bad, I would get too sexed up about the prospect of them making the step up
Greaaaaaaaat
Chelsea join the GK search now.
They selling Courtois. ( Real Madrid most likely. His wife and kids live in Madrid)
Selling Laca is completely dependent on who we could bring in. He is not a player that we simply must sell. If Laca is the good player that you all say he is then he must have appreciated from the £52m we paid for him. I just think he is the perfect player to flip and improve our overall position. I don’t think we lose much by replacing him in the squad by Balotelli either. There is an equal chance that Balotelli is the better player. He did quite well last season. If it were possible I would do: Out:… Read more »
China “Anyway seems like quite a few of us agree that giroud + auba would’ve been a highly practical and financially suitable choice.” Not me. Though giroud is a decent player, he was never suited to Arsenal’s style of play…too slow. I find it very difficult to understand why any Arsenal supporter would want to return to our slow, ponderous football that Giroud was part of. Personally, unless Ramsey has a brainstorm and realises that football is a team game, then I would sell him.. There are many better footballers/midfielders of better quality and game understanding than Ramsey. Either play… Read more »
HOLD THE PRESS
Wenger is out of a job!
Madrid have no manager!
Finally he and all his supporters can be justified. They say the biggest clubs in the world wanted him, Madrid are one of the biggest so that statement included them. We were lucky he was so loyal.
OMG WTF and SMH you really think Madrid will hire Wenger your deluded 😉
HOLD THE PRESS!
Grammar police!
*you’re
Many wide players to choose from, what happened to interest in Malcom?
Most shocking fact so far : Cech with the N° 1 shirt.
A very big joke and a f*cking disgrace (©Drogba2009)
More dirt being spread on why Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and why not Sol Campbell.
Sol Campbell may be a legend, but he doesnt strike me as the brightest spark.
“If it were possible I would do:
Out: Elneny (£15m), Lacazette (£60m), Iwobi (£15m)
In: Balotelli (free), Rabiot (£40m), Winger (£50m)”
Who is “winger” ?? I know Winger the rock band, but…
(sorry…)
Agree with you on Elnino and Iwobi, not on Laca.
We don’t need to play slow and ponderous play just because giroud is in the squad and when you’re playing against a team you can’t break down and desperately need a goal late on, he’s a really effective battering ram against tired defenses, especially if you start hurling crosses in
The whole point of giroud is that he’s the opposite of what we currently have. It’s that variation that makes him useful
I did say a while back, most of the le grovers who were praising the lacas purchase would be the first to have him thrown out. Most posters here are always short term memory patients.. laca is a great player who proved a lot of people wrong here and now they again want to sell him. we’ll have the same debate in January with posters asking to sell him..
Perez, welbeck, loanee kids and Iwobi and you’ve freed up a solid 50+ mil for that finger licking good winger without meaningfully even hurting the squad quality
Sell da players Ivan!
Literally no-one wants Laca to be sold because hes not a good player.
In fact not a single person “wants” Laca sold.
However, our budget is apparently £70m, £45m is probably being spent on 2 x CBs.
That leaves £25m, with numerous holes to fill (GK, CM, Winger).
I get that you have a thing for short, bearded black men, but how do you propose we buy these 3 players for an average of £8.3m each?
Auba and Lacazette have actually shown they can play together. They have actually shown some chemistry on the pitch. And it doesn’t have to be the case that each has a set position each match. It doesn’t even have to be that each has a set position during and throughout a match. So those that state it is no good having a player that is worth such and such on the bench or eating up so much money or it is wasteful to have Auba on the wing and say these things as if they are set in stone may… Read more »
We have four competitions there will be plenty of game time for lacazette, i dont want to see a welbeck level CF filling in for Auba in all those games and i dont want Auba getting burnt out either. We seem to be getting the defensive signings on the cheap so with some sales of squad players we should be able to stretch to a top winger if thats even in the clubs plans
“laca is a great player who proved a lot of people wrong here” LOLz. If you say so. Never wanted to buy him and with his performances he proved me right. Question: Why is everyone talking about Laca being moved and not Auba? If posters are like you said “short term memory patients” then they should be banging on the door to sell Auba, no? Why are they not doing that? Answer: Because, while both strikers are pretty similar in their play, one of them is visibly better than the other one. And any person with good eyes can see… Read more »
And as Dax has just said Arsenal will be involved in a lot of matches.
Means one can rest and the other starts.
Remember Arsenal are in Europa League again. Entails a lot of matches.
Yet another reason why ditching Lacazette is silly.
And there was a poster here that stated Balotelli is a better bet regardless of wage and cost of player. For shame for such a statement. For shame.
Sokratis £15m
Soyuncu £30m (sell Mustafi £20m)
Lichsteiner (Sell Jenkinson £2m)
Adli
So thats £23m spent, and we still would need to buy at least
1 x DM
1 x Winger (Sell Welbeck and Perez for £30m)
1 x GK (Sell Ospina £5m)
In order to have a remotely competitive squad.
So the challenge is to find 3 top class, firxt XI players that improve us for £80m or so.
Sorry Daz
Tbh I’m not so sure about Ligue 1 anymore. Lacazette banging in so many goals on the regular over there made me think their teams don’t put to much emphasis on defending? If that’s not the case then surely Florian Thauvin could be worth a punt, no? 25 goals + 13 assists + 13 MotM awards. Second strong season in a row.
I think Laca deserves another year with Auba. They did have some chemistry and I would say that Auba is actually helping Laca… He is a threat that allows Laca more space and room since he always is drawing attention of the defense.
Ishola is right, they dont have the play the exact same each match. Heaven forbid!
I more worried about our DM. I like the kid Torreira…. high energy for sure. Could compliment Granit legs in CM
DM is where its at. We get that right the other pieces fall into place
I can see why someone wouldn’t want ballotelli, and I wouldn’t want him either. but to say that he scores boring goals is one of the worst reasons not to buy him..
scoring a tap in and a bales over head goal still counts as one goal.
gambon
you don’t know what our budget is, so stop plucking numbers from your arse…
There is no real zip in his play gonsterous Balotelli that is,
His bland goals just imprint that.
You see players score tap-ins but there is a buzz about them. They show good or clever movement before the tap-in.
Not with Balotelli’s goals season just gone. Bland in the extreme.
No quality about them at all.
gonsterous
No, I pretty much do know, as unlike you I know what i’m talking about.
Go back to wanking over your Lacazette photo album…
Gamon
real mature comment coming from a 40 y old..
Dont get petty.
We had a nice flow going as well.
The chakras were all lining up and sheet
Emirates “Lacazette is most certainly a starting eleven player.” This is a bit disingenuous, as you go on to say that either Auba or Laca is the starting CF or that they could play together. Well, it’s one or the other: either one starts and the other sits, or they start together. You and Graham and a few others here think they can play in the XI together. For me this makes no sense — as Auba should not be deployed wide — unless we are planning to play two through the center, something I don’t think Emery is planning… Read more »
Raptora
‘Tbh I’m not so sure about Ligue 1 anymore. Lacazette banging in so many goals on the regular over there made me think their teams don’t put to much emphasis on defending? ‘
Lol you go to any extent to discredit Laca.
Hazard, Kante and Mahrez – 3 of the last 4 premiere league player of the year are imports from French league.
The last few games of the season Laca played well. His movement was clearly better than before the knee surgery…. If that was a reason for his poor performance then he sure corrected that problem.
Laca is not Auba. However, both of them on the pitch adds a better attacking dimension- both sides of the pitch are better used.
New post.
quote ” Are we passing on Fabinho because we have more expensive fish to fry? Who knows. ”
Now don’t be silly.
All we need is a couple of decent defenders, plus Vardy and Mahrez. Ditch Welbeck