Good things come to those who wait, and f*ck me Arsenal fans, we’ve waited a long time for a good summer.
It hasn’t landed yet, but it feels like we’re making progress early in the window and it’s looking very exciting.
David Ornstein can usually afford to go on holiday for most oftransfer window when it comes to Arsenal, but he’s already out there tweeting that we’re in for Lucas Torreira and a goalkeeper. The good money is going on Bernd Leno to fill that position. That’ll mean we’ll have taken two targets from under the nose of Napoli.
The keeper is a very important signing. 2013-14, Leno saved 5 of 8 penalties, so that’s good news. He has sharp reactions, he makes some pretty spectacular saves, and through some extensive research I’ve been doing this week, he looks like he has a good range of passing. I’ve watched him take the ball around strikers, I’ve seen him dink chips over the press and he’s super fast at making decisions.
Petr Cech has been a great servant to the club, but we picked him up after his peak. The goalkeeping game has moved on and successful clubs need to have a keeper who is good with the ball at their feet. We don’t have to play sweeper keeper, but the advantage of having another outlet at the back is immense. How many times have we watched Arsenal concede possession because the only option for Cech is a monster hoof up the pitch?
There’s some scepticism around Leno, Bundesliga pundit Fjortoft had this to say.
“Bernd Leno to Arsenal seems to be just around the corner.
“Was a great talented keeper. It’s fair to say he hasn’t “taken the next step”.
“But a move to England can be good for him.”
I’m not sure we’re in the money leagues to compete for the best in the game. I’d love us to bring in Atleti’s Jan Oblak or Allison from Roma. Reality is, those names demand Champions League money, and sadly, we don’t have that this season. If we do sign Leno, we’re taking a punt on potential that sounds a little like it’s stalled.
On the midfielder role,Torreira is EXACTLY the sort of player Wenger used to pick up back in the day. On the way to being elite… a touch like the time we signed Freddie Ljungberg before he blew up. We’re signing the future of defensive midfield. Remember the days when Arsenal fans were telling everyone that the defensive midfield role didn’t really exist? Muppets. I’m glad we’re solving a problem we’ve had for years, with the right tool. We’ve been so bad at defensive midfielders. Denilson, Flamini, Alex Song to name a few. We signed Xhaka thinking he was box to box, then when Wenger realised he had the pace of a mobility scooter, he jammed him in the deep-lying role despite him having no defensive attributes.
I mean, there really are questions over what the club do with Xhaka. I’m not sure there’s much hope for him. In an Arsenal team that’ll be all about pressing and tactical discipline, I’m unsure how he’ll feet, especially if we sign Torreira. Hopefully, he’ll have a good World Cup, maybe there’s a path back to Germany for him. This is another great thing about the new regime, if something isn’t working on the pitch, we’ll just move the player on. One of the worst parts of the backend of Wenger’s tenure was his inability to own up to a mistake and make a tough decision.
Xhaka has been one of the worst signings of the last 10 years. He’s offered up almost nothing in midfield, and I’ve never seen a player make so many mistakes, so consistently. Give me Torreira, with cover from AMN and I’d be more than happy with that moving forward. Our midfield needs to be based on high energy, fast, powerful player. They obviously need to be technical, but one of the key things our starting 11 has lacked is power. That looks like it’s about to change.
Arsenal are doing a lot of work to bring players in, I’m very interested to see who leaves to balance the books? Ospina? Cech? What happens to Welbeck if he won’t sign? Do we keep Lacazette? Are the club keen on the bloated squad? This is going to be a very disruptive summer. Plenty more to come, and maybe even a shock to the fans at some point.
Some additional backroom news, Freddie Ljungberg is BACK at the club, managing the under 23 team. If you remember correctly, he took an ill-fated job with Joncker at Wolfsburg. He’s now back where he belongs. Good luck to him, it’s truly special to have so many explayers making their way back to Arsenal!
Finally, jump on our podcast. A few people have told me the volume is too low. That’s a power play. To make you concentrate super hard. I have rectified the issue though. So feel free to have another go. Next time, we’ll record it louder.
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gambon
So glad half our fanbase dont run the club with their pathetic “we dont stand a chance with Martial” bullshit.
we stand a chance but only by paying silly money. if he was 20-25 m. he’ll definitely cost more and weren’t you the same person saying we can’t have a 50m player on the bench ? what’s the difference here ? martial isn’t a winger, he wants to play central, like all CF’s…
If Hernandez’s goals were extrapolated according to minutes played for United he was a 30+ goal a season forward.
if he was 20-25, it would have been a differ r story**
This guy put 8 years of PL goals into a graph that shows a trend where goals are scored more frequently as time goes on during a game.
gambon
I have to say that gonsterous just knocked you out with that last post.
” weren’t you the same person saying we can’t have a 50m player on the bench ? what’s the difference here ? martial isn’t a winger, he wants to play central, like all CF’s…”
Why don’t we spend half that money on a proper winger who wouldn’t be another 50 million bench warmer.
Luiz or Fellaini ??
So hard to choose between those 2 magnificent haircuts…
jim
no shit.. I don’t think we need a graph to tell us, there’s not going to be a lot of scoring in the first 10-20 mins, compared to the last 10-20 mins…
@gonsterous –
“no shit.. I don’t think we need a graph to tell us, there’s not going to be a lot of scoring in the first 10-20 mins, compared to the last 10-20 mins…”
And why would that be?!
All these foreign imports has affected Russian football. Still expect to see them raise their performance and win 3-0.
Martial would 100% start on the left for us.
Hes a completely different player to Lacazette.
Teams tend to be more conservative in the opening half an hour, at least one team does if they are playing a much better side.
Whereas in the last half an hour teams are often chasing deficits so have to throw the kitchen sink and commit more men forward leaving gaps to expose and presenting more chances.
Enter Javier Hernandez…
jim
why would that be ?
well common sense, people don’t generally mind missing the first 20mins of the game, but they do get ticked off missing the last 20, cause they know there will be more goals involved. during the wenger years, I used to normally give the first half a miss…
Tony D
Cheers, l will enjoy it.
Set up a family sweepstake.
I came out with Peru @ 200/1.
Put a fiver on that @ local betting shop.
My son has predicted France/Brazil final.
“This guy put 8 years of PL goals into a graph that shows a trend where goals are scored more frequently as time goes on during a game.”
Ive seen a lot of these studies and its not very definitive at best.
I think its 55% of goals are scored in the second half.
Graham 62
I agree with you
Peru will be the tram to shock everyone. They are very hard to beat and can pass their way out trouble.
I would add the following:
Morocco will be another team to watch
Portugal have a good team …and no one is putting them under pressure.
Saudi Arabia gave Germany a tough time in a recent friendly
I expect them to shock Russia today.
Portugal ?? lol
A miracle like the one in 2016 won’t happen twice.
This twat still relevant?
“Saudi Arabia gave Germany a tough time in a recent friendly
I expect them to shock Russia today.”
Would certainly sheikh things up.
Highbury legend
The won the final without Ronaldo and have developed a very good bunch of players over time.
lol gambon, good one.
lol gambon, good one.
That was.
WengerEagle: No cause it’s stat padding, the best players and decisive ones are nearly always the ones who break the deadlock, extend a lead, or equalise.
Great post. Now can you tell me if Lacazette is that type of player. Will he be at this level for us? I am telling you the answer is no.
Aubamayang?
Dzagoev is younger than Aubameyang, let that sink in.
It should be more favourable for South American teams playing in Europe than in previous World Cups. I still can’t see any of them winning it though.
“Great post. Now can you tell me if Lacazette is that type of player. Will he be at this level for us? I am telling you the answer is no” WTF is this?? Go check Lacazette’s goals for us then get back to me. JEEZ….whenever a poster on here dislikes a player they drag him into every discussion. Lacazette was the bonafide match winner for Lyon..their go to guy and leader before he left. Yes that same Lyon where u want us to go and empty the bank at Fekir’s feet. U don’t like him, everyone here knows that ..but… Read more »
qna
Auba should start over Laca no question.
If I had it my way I would sell Lacazette and reinvest the money into buying a top drawer wideman or an up and coming one like Malcolm/Guedes.
If we’re keeping him I’d play both him and Auba against weaker teams at the Emirates and start Auba up top on his own against the top 6.
Who wins it Marble, go on give us a laugh.
Attaboy Vlad.
Mind says Spain, heart says Argentina.
Receding. Did you read WengerEagles post. He was talking about the difference between very good strikers and elite strikers. There is nothing on heaven or earth that justifies Lacazette in the latter category. He hasn’t played in a big league or at a big club. He is yet to prove or disprove himself. I am calling it as I see it now. I could be proved wrong. But your hissy fit does nothing for the conversation.
clearly you have no idea what the difference between a good and elite striker is. Thats ok too.
WengerEagle. I would definitely sell him if we could get an elite wide man. But I wouldn’t do it for a potentially elite wide man like Martins. As I have said, Lacazette is a perfectly good squad striker if you can afford to have one. But I wouldn’t be starting them together, home or away. Auba starts when fit and Laca comes on from the bench. Auba will not be able to handle the full work load of a season and is bound to get injured. I would be starting Laca on those occasions. I would only sell Laca if… Read more »
.”He hasn’t played in a big league or at a big club. He is yet to prove or disprove himself. ” Fabinho…Rio Ave and Monaco…You are on record as saying he is world calass and we should have gotten him ( No Big league ..No big club by your own reasoning ) Fekir..Lyon and a couple of loans to clubs i cannot pronounce….By your posts on here another world class player who has proven himself ( No big league..No big club) Lacazette… Lyon…100 goals in 202 apps for lyon in ligue 1 alone ….14 in 32 for Arsenal in the… Read more »
WengerEagle
I’m waiting for your ‘ he’s not match fit excuse when Neymar flops.
Receding
Dissing Laca is the new cool thing here on Le Grove.
Lively start
sell laca, Auba gets injured and then the same people will be shouting that the club doesn’t have a decent back up…
Russia could’ve done with Roman Shirokov being a few years younger. He was always good for getting them going in the group stage matches.
First goal
There looks like a there could be alot of goals in this match.
Putin and Saudi Prince in the stadium
Putin and Saudi Prince in the stadium
Enjoying a game of football ; )
Receding. Nope. Just a shit post in general. As for Fabinho, yes he proved himself in a team that proved themselves against a mega spending PSG and in the UCL in multiple years. Lyon don’t get to claim success by association anymore than Everton can claim success because they are in the same league as City. Fabinho I like because he is one of very few players that are available in a position that we are in desperate need for. I don’t claim Kondogbia to be world class either, but I think he would be perfect for what we need.… Read more »
Receding owning qna lol.
On Luiz. Is the love in here because we are being linked with him? Luiz is awful. When a defensive coach like Jose bins you then you are awful.
shit teams but how exciting this game is.
If our team was sorted out then I would prefer Auba but in this mismatch I prefer Laca. Two excellent finishers but it’s what they do when they aren’t scoring that separates them for me.
this Russian team is missing a kind of magic player, a spark basically, someone like Arshavin…
@ Qna
Thanks for your useless long post. I appreciate you already said u do not expect me to understand it so i wont feel so bad i did not.
You are one of the worst posters on here and what makes yours more painful is you think you have an understanding of football when in truth you are just a thrill seeker.
This is me saving my time and energy skipping your mostly senseless ramblings
New post.
Entertaining I must say. No bore draw.
Dissenter
I also felt that Saudi Arabia could cause a shock today.
Little did we know.
Anyway, good for the tournament.
GOH
I only would take Luiz in a 3 Man Defence
The only time where he looked competent.
Otherwise I wouldn’t even consider him.