Arsenal fans picking up their attitude in the background
Jurassic Park x Arsenal Summer Collab
John Hammond: Dr. Grant, if there’s one person here who could appreciate what I’m trying to do…
Dr. Alan Grant: The world has just changed so radically, and we’re all running to catch up. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but look… Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?
John Hammond: [laughing] I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it! You’re meant to come down here and defend me against these characters, and the only one I’ve got on my side is the blood-sucking lawyer!
SO FITTING. Someone is putting actual dinosaurs in front of us after millions of years, and we’re crying into our salt beef bagel like something truly significant has changed and we’re about to be asset stripped by BlackRock.
GET A GRIP.
Arsenal fans have driven themselves into a pity hole over a symbolic shift in shares that has changed absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of the direction of Arsenal.
We have so much else going on this season that is more important than an impotent majority shareholder fucking off to Everton. Stan Kroenke took root in our club 11 years ago, as soon as he secured Fiszman’s share while the man was dying, the game was up. Ok, a bit unfair, Lady BS tipped the advantage even further selling her shares (15.9%), the absolute fucking cheek she has stating yesterday was a dark day for Arsenal is beyond the fucking pale. Hard to play the hindsight is 20-20 card with super-mega-rich people because they have the funds to hire smart people to help them not make bad decisions. But whatever, it’s clear Dein, Fizzer and Lady BS sold us down the river regardless of intention (plus a lot of minority shareholders along the way).
Anyway, nothing I’ve read convinces me that impending doom is upon us, and look, what can we do about the doom if it is coming? Protest? Burn an effigy? Start an online petition?
Simply put, you can’t run someone out of a house they don’t live in. That’s why local mafia struggled to racketeer when big corporates replaced the local business folk of way-back-when.
‘Tell Ronald McDonald I’ll be waiting for him at 6’, lost its edge.
Stan is here to stay, we’ve known this for years, let’s not let this rumour rattle our summer of potential because someone wrote in the Daily Granola the yanks could sell us for a bag of crystal at a Croydon car boot sale.
There’s our second challenge, this summer is what it is, it’s been action-oriented, but hardly elite. I read that our defence has conceded a whopping 1.6xG per game. I know the xG stuff is nerd talk, but fuck it, it illustrates a broader issue (that suits my agenda) that our defence is kind of shite on the eve of our opening game against the most potent attacking force in Premier League history.
It doesn’t mean this summer is in vain, it doesn’t make the decision to fire Wenger incorrect, but it does mean that it’s likely going to be a very challenging year ahead.
I still don’t think that’s cause to be miserable. We’re going to witness first hand what it’s like to have a coach that preps for games (it was kind of exciting to see Emery sitting in the stands at the CS this weekend). It’s going to be unreal to see us attempt to nullify opposition, change tactics mid game, release a sub earlier than the 70th minute, attempt to repair issues through the season (rather than at the end of season through a fake inquiry that might throw up the possibility it was the snorting of Regain that done it).
Getting bogged down in misery because fans have to sell shares that were worth fuck all and are now worth £29k really shouldn’t be bothering people as much as it has been. It’s like feeling sorry for a rich friend who has to sell a 3rd house they didn’t need for a premium… and please, I’m not missing the point, that’s my fu*king dad. He’s selling a share for a fortune that he bought for fuck all. All that piece of paper gave him was bragging rights, outside that, it was fu*king useless (he never sold his share, as an FYI).
Half the ‘influencers’ kicking up a fuss about the Stan K news only plucked up the courage to half-heartedly drop their support for Wenger this February. Where were the ‘THIS IS DOOM’ OpEds 5 years ago when Wenger was revamping the squad using the quality filter of average, selling us Project Youth, British Core and Totally Fucking Pony. Nowhere. These folk don’t want to put the hard opinions out there when they’re needed. Like when the club is slinking out the CL as the PL strengthens. But they are here when there’s a cute ‘football should just be jumpers and goal posts’ narrative to be had.
My guess? Fans will still get exactly the same access they had last season. We’ll still retain absolutely no power like we have done for 10 years. Nothing will really change. We’ll still get to see training. We’ll still get to grill the new CEO. We’ll still get to earn some small wins for our suggestions about the perfect temp to serve Bovril. There’s just no way Stan will want to lose fan trust over a placation strategy that costs his team no more than 5 days a year.
Annnnyway…
Kovacic possibly to Chelsea, which I’d imagine might rule out Ramsey for them. That leaves Liverpool and City as potential destinations because suuuurely, we’re not going to let him run down his deal?
There’s news that Arsenal might be letting Ospina, WELBZ and Elneny leave. All three are very likeable, but they’re not at the levels needed for ELITE Arsenal players.
Dembele is STILL being linked. If that doesn’t make you firm and damp at the same time, I don’t know what will. If that is the cost of a lifetime of Stan K blandness, then inject it into my veins right now and let’s be done.
Calum C moved to Fulham for the year, an odd decision, but I guess that means Holding and Mavrapanos made the cut ahead of him. GOOD NEWS FOR THEM.
Outside that bundle of joy, I have NOTHING.
See you in the comments where I shall slay you all with my razor sharp typing skillz.
Also, podcasting starts up VERY soon. Yes, we’re back, bigger than ever. Well, actually, maybe the same size BUT AWESOME.
x
1st
2nd
3rd
Top 4
Tr4phy
Yay. Finally.
Damn you Akilan
1st
Damn. A slow connection can ruin your chances
Out of the blue
here we go!
Pete, what has happened is far more than “a symbolic shift in shares”. There is now no challenge to anything Kroenke wants to do. Sure he had the shares to ultimately do what he wanted, but there were other shareholders with rights who could argue for a different approach than the one KSE wanted to take. Now KSE can do what it likes when it likes and there will be no part-owners to shine a light on things or urge a pause for thought. Silent Stan will no longer be the majority shareholder, but THE owner. Arsenal fans will no… Read more »
Samni
Yes Salah might not score 20 goals again this season
but it would be a fool to bet against it.
The mere presence of a player like him is worth so much.?
Was Wenger a shareholder ~~~~~~~~~~~~~.?
And did Wengers faulty zip coat go into the Arsenal museum.
The elephant just grown even bigger.
from the previous post (not that I’m trying to shift things away from even more exciting owner talk or anything)…
I like Firmino, and Liverpool’s attack is definitely more dangerous than ours at present, but Lacazette was only a goal behind Firmino last season – 14 vs 15 – while playing in the least effective Arsenal side in recent memory.
Aubameyang vs Salah will be interesting this season. and while Mane will definitely outscore Ozil, can Ozil make up the difference in assists to our two strikers?
Why does today’s post look like what you would find on ACLF?
There is a paranoia shown amongst many Arsenal fans on not just the power shift at the club but also, more significantly, Emery’s early doors decision making. Why are people so negative after a decade of stagnation? I don’t get it. SK has total control. So fudging what? We know nothing about the internal goings on at the club. We can speculate and have opinions, however, cleaning up the post-Wenger mess will take time. For all we know, it was Wenger controlling the purse strings. Why should an owner invest so much in players when he has a manager in… Read more »
Wallace
Heres the problem…..
Firmino, Mane, Salah looks very balanced. All playing in the right position, all compliment eachother well.
Where as with our attack……Auba is a CF playing out of position, Ozil is a lazy #10 playing out of position, Lacazette is the least talented of the 3 but he’s in the right position.
Something tells me we will start the season with Auba, Laca & Ozil but when it doesnt work we will end up with Ozil playing centrally behind Auba.
Did Wenger own any Arsenal shares.?
can’t wait for this window to end!
James
Piers Morgan does so I’d say that ranks as the first positive input in Stans tenure to strip him of them.
James, No.
Dissenter, when Madrid tried to buy Kepa he had no clause. Kepa chose to stay/Zidane chose to stick with Navas so Kepa renewed and got the RC inserted.
And as you know, if a player has a RC at Bilbao the only way they leave is if the clause is met or the player runs down his contract. Very astutely run club.
Stan owning Arsenal now makes him more accountable and hands on either directly or indirectly. could be the beginning of a new successful phase for us
Pedro, 100% agreed on the over-reaction to the Kroenke news. You can’t praise the recent change in direction and then say Kroenke’s ownership will cause a downward spiral. Looking beyond Wenger’s removal, we’re on an upward trajectory.
Also, if you look at all the other American owners of the league, they ALL have other sports franchises on the books. They’re all hobbyists.
Your Comment Here
Arsenal are close to agreeing a contract extension for Aaron Ramsey accoring to J.Wilson
*according
All these fools who believe Kroenke is all of a sudden going to be a great owner just ask the fans of his America franchises.Absent Kroenke has no ambition to win tiles or the CL.He was Wenger’s number 1 backer
And why has Dein got away without getting any stick.It was him who introduced Kroenke to the club.The was the dawn of a decade of Premier league failure under Kroenke.
@ Savage We can only be certain of the trajectory we are on around December. Changes to personnel (which is good in itself) will have to translate to evidence on the pitch. Friday and the begining of the season is upon us, we will soon see where we are at. We are starting from scratch (as the case may be) so lets all see how we do. As for SK, folks will decide individually what side of the fence they choose to sit on this. For now (until i see evidence otherwise) I don’t believe its a good move. Its… Read more »
Who bloody cares?
Arsenal don’t care about you so don’t care about them. Breaking it down…you are worshiping 11 multimillionaires kicking a bag of air around while crying fake tears into their hands.
Watch Arsenal the way I do…like a movie or mini series. Don’t get too invested in it, enjoy the good bits and forget the bad bits.
I’m not sure anyone over 12 years old should really get too worked up about football anyway.
Guns with the heroic apathy…
Sanmi I don’t care about stats, I judge a player based on his ability alone. In one vs one situation, there’s probably nobody better than Mane in the league. He has great pace and is very industrious. Take Mane out of Liverpool attack and their team becomes toothless offensively. Salah might have got a lot of goals but Mane has been performing consistently for last 5 years both for Southampton and now Liverpool. He is involved in most if not all build ups. A constant threat in and around the box.It’s mind-boggling you rate Lukaku more who is merely a… Read more »
Don hows your boy Wilshere??
KDB purely on form, ability wise not amongst the best 5 imho.
Arsenal’s £20m keeper looks almost tragic compared to what’s going on around Europe.
TR7
Disagree. Peak Hazard is the best 1v1 player in the league, Mahrez a close second. Salah is also at least a level above Mane, who while explosive/impressive, is not this consistent player you’re describing.
In fact every Liverpool fan I know says he’s either devastating or absolutely useless whilst Mo Salah is a threat in EVERY game he plays.
“Arsenal’s £20m keeper looks almost tragic compared to what’s going on around Europe.”
How have you landed here with 0 games played? You judging haircuts or something?
CC
There must be a reason why GK a. Costs £77m b. £75m and c. £20m.
There’s a reason why a Rolls Royce Wraith costs £300,000 and a Vectra goes for about £12,000.
TR7
Have always found it laughable people saying hazard was the best in the league like there was no competition. I have always thought Mane was equal, at least, to Hazard.
As for Sane being best player in the league, you lost me there.
Wonder if those clowns Sky are still claming we are in talks for N’Zonzi, or did they just quietly drop that one like all the others and hope no one noticed……
Mystic
That list of mine is not in any order. Sane is one of the top 5 players for me, not necessarily the best.
CC
Yes agreed on Hazard having amazing ability one vs one. Mahrez on his day is a great threat but he is very inconsistent.
“There must be a reason why GK a. Costs £77m b. £75m and c. £20m.There’s a reason why a Rolls Royce Wraith costs £300,000 and a Vectra goes for about £12,000” You can’t seriously be so simplistic to equate price to quality? Branding, need, economic capability, contractual makeup, goodwill, opportunity, quality. Literally dozens of influences on a players price in world football, you’re going to tell me a 60 mil GK is better than a 20 mil GK because he cost 40 mil more? Mahrez cost Leicester 750k, Bolasie cost Everton 30 mil. Leno served Leverkusen well, he’s young but… Read more »
Besiktas president in central London to hash out a deal for Vida for approximately 14-15m pounds. Wonder if it’s West Ham, Everton or us. Sounds like an Arsenal price
Paulinho
They do that to bump SkyBet traffic, they’re a fucking farce.
I think Stan is here to stay. He is going to treat the brain trust the same way he treats Wenger. Here is a budget; go do your job. Basically doing the same thing differently. No need for alarm there. Just keeping the $$ siphoning out of sight. Personally, I am kind of alarmed more by Calum Chambers leaving on loan. It seems to me that there is a hint of dysfunction within the Brain Trust. Honestly, who would you pick? Spending 20m on Sokratis or keeping Calum Chambers at the club. The ONLY way this makes sense is that… Read more »
“Besiktas president in central London to hash out a deal for Vida for approximately 14-15m pounds.”
If it’s us I’ll be seriously, seriously disappointed with the current directors at the club and possibly Emery. That’s as average as you can go. Fuck my life. Please don’t let it happen!
CC
From one AKB to another. Leno is ridiculously overpriced. He just had an error prone season.
We signed a younger error prone GK to take over our older error prone one.
Same with Sokratis; he just had a “Mustafi” season. So the best logic in the world is to sign a “Mustafi” to play with Mustafi himself.
Thankfully, our diamond eye nailed Guendozi and Torreira right. They are nothing like Xhaka.
Champagne Charlie is right,
The cost of a player is not an indicator of their quality.
Oh dear, Pedro, you are soooo wrong it takes my breath away. I give you right on one thing though: the former owners were the cause of the disaster (you forgot to include Richard Carr, by the way) Rightly or wrongly, I happen to believe that DD brought Usmanov in as a defensive move against Stan. And it would have worked too if only Danny hadn’t managed to persuade Lady N that the wrong thing to do was sell her shares to the Uzbek. Motive, man. Ask yourself why Stan borrowed £600m to obtain 100% of the shares. After all,… Read more »
With a day left, I don’t think there will any more ins. Just outgoings, that may drag past tomorrow as the window only closes here tomorrow I think.
Disappointing, cos there were wide players who we could have taken, but time to focus on Sundays game now.
englandsbest
I bet you read conspiracy websites dont you?
Pedro Peace man. You need to stop pushing the, ‘look I’m right, you’re wrong ‘ narrative. We have a new manager and a lot of new players. We have a completely new back room staff and managment structure, therefore a lot more question marks. At this stage we just don’t know how things will pan out. All we have are our opinions. Regarding Kroenke, you can hardly blame fans for feeling a bit apprenensive about the whole thing. It’s hard to find anything positive about the man. His record is terrible and then there’s the St Louis rams swindle, the… Read more »
I think keeping Ramsey is a good thing.
As i said yesterday, this summer was really about Emery getting to know the players, and getting things right on the training ground, and just getting rid of the real no hopers that Wenger was too attached to.
If we dont make top 4 this season, I think you will see a completely different strategy, with players like Mustafi, Bellerin, Xhaka, Elneny, Iwobi, Ozil etc all in the firing line.
Gambon I agree. This summer and season is going to be a slightly underwhelming one for fans if they expected a miraculous turnaround. With buys like Torreira, Guendouzi and potentially Leno we have started to lay a new and very much needed foundation. The logic of Lichtsteiner and Sokratis was to bring experienced players and voices into the team in line with our relatively small £70 Million budget. As things stands provided Torreira takes to the EPL well and the defence improves even slightly we should be good for 4th. That would mean an extra £30 Million from Adidas next… Read more »
I was wondering how long it will take before some came to the conclusion Leno was not a good keeper because he did not cost as much as Allison and now this Kepa kid that even Chelsea fans have never heard of, but they now conclude he is perfect for Sarri ball.
Well the season will soon start and all this transfer stuff ends 5pm tomorrow. Let football do the talking
Rumors Leicester are close to Soyoncu
“Alisson is certainly a good man, but not a world-class keeper you’d expect for this price. He has not given any proof of it,” Lehmann said. “I see many keepers playing at his level. He’s 25 now and made 100 professional appearances so far, 50 of them coming for Roma last season.
“I am always interested to see whether those players can actually become world class. You must ask yourself why they only played 50 matches in six years as a pro.”
Jens Lehmann on Allison
Lehmann also said Arsenal’s new goalkeeper Bernd Leno still has a lot to prove as he tries to topple Petr Cech as the Gunners’ No. 1.
“Bernd is a good keeper, no doubt about that,” he said. “The question is: Can he show more than he did in the past? He must take more risks and continue his development. He does that – good. He fails to do so? Arsenal will look at a new keeper in one or two seasons.”
Telegraph:”Arsenal are currently close to agreement with Aaron Ramsey on a new contract, although today’s transfer window deadline day will be more about who leaves, with the club open to selling striker Danny Welbeck and goalkeeper David Ospina.” Also: Express: “Danny Welbeck has been pictured in Arsenal training for the first time after a break following the World Cup. The 27-year-old has been told by Arsenal boss Unai Emery that he will not be a regular in his team and the club will consider offers which are made for him.But despite his uncertain situation, Welbeck was all smiles as Mohamed… Read more »
Not expecting Ramsey, Monreal and Torreira to be in the XI on Sunday. Ramsey is just coming back from injury and the latter two lack preseason minutes. Think Torreira and Ramsey will return to the XI at Chelsea.
I thought transfer window closed on Friday?
Sal
PL window closes Thursday at 5pm and Euro window closes at end of August. Welbeck, Ospina both linked with moves outside the PL, so still time for them to be spld
*sold
Thanks Dream,
Knew Europe was still on standard service with the Prem upping to season opener hadn’t realized it was tomorrow though.
Assuming Dembele getting the med as we type.
Good luck to arsenal and SK. I’m surprised he didn’t acquire all the share sooner.
Sadly, for he most part our model I rather archaic. All top teams in the U.K. are owned by a single entity.
Could this be the impetus we’ve always needed…time will tell.
sal
Yea. Dembélé is having a medical to confirm his broken foot from deliberately kicking the coffee table so he doesn’t have to make a move to the Emirates
TR7
So stats don’t matter any longer? Because they make an arsenal player look better?I understand certain stats are useless, but for a forward, how can goals scores and assists made be useless? Explain that to me.
Aubermayang is 3x the player Firminho wished he was
Dream 10,
Torreira is definitely playing. Same reason kyle walker played in community shield
“Assuming Dembele getting the med as we type.” LOL! Fkin pipe dream… He could have become our best ever winger and a world superstar at Arsenal… On sidenote. Welbeck as much as we joke about him, and not think seriously of him, yes – he is not a striker suitable for top 4/6 team by any means. But for the any of the teams below, I’d reckon he’d be one of their star players. CFs like Murray, Rondon, Tosun, Mitrovic, Perez, Mounie, Austin, Gabbiadini, Vokes,Niasse, Depoitre. He goes there and becomes a starter straight away. Saw it with Theo who… Read more »
Not saying that Theo and Danny are/were good enough for us, but how are teams not jumping the gun straight away. I would have. Welbeck will have more than a decent career in a lower placed team.*******
If Ramsey is going to stay then it should be Torreira, Guendouzi, Ramsey as a midfield.
If Ramsey was going it’d have happened. He’s not. Maybe in January tho
Surely we can’t go into a season with Papa Mustafi Mavro and Holding? Well we can, w are the Arsenal.
Even with this sqaud, which is better than last 3 years, we should be making top 4. Maybe not easily because of the improvement of the other teams but we really should be making top 4. 70-75points minimum
Here’s our line.up against city:
Auba,lacazette, ozil
Torreira, mkhi, Guendouzi
AMN, sokratis, Mustafi,bellend
Cech
Btw saw that Theo from 2011/12 till we sold him, has had 6 MotM. That’s 6 seasons and a half. He got 4 MotM for Everton in half a season. Shows the difference of quality between the two teams basically.
Ramsey could well be staying. Top news. For all the Ramsey doubters, one thing you can’t deny his commitment and desire. Man played with his calf stapled last season in the Europa.
We are going to be so tactical, it will be unreal.
I have seen Emery play double left back to curb D.Alves in Valencia vs barca, and stationed only one winger to run in behind on the RW and never ever defend.
The match ended 2-1 against the best club in history
Emery one time played 4 forwards against a bad ass barca. It ended in a draw
Agree that Ramsey staying is a good news if it is indeed the case. Hopefully the salary is reasonable. 200k pw would make sense.
Happiness of it is eclipsed by the horror signing that we are about to make. Fking Vida. Are you kidding me?! He’s someone Burnley wouldn’t want in their squad. Fuck my life.
Sanmi
In EPL
Lukaku – 175 appearances, 84 goals , 0.48 goals per match
Van parsie – 280 games, 144 goals , 0.51 goals per match
Very similar goal scoring record but Lukaku is an average player whereas RVP was class. Stats can be misleading.
“If Ramsey is going to stay then it should be Torreira, Guendouzi, Ramsey as a midfield.”
I have no issue with this
Pedro, old mate, I fear that you have been living in America for too long. You have ben tainted by the unvarnished greed which, for many Americans, is the way they measure and judge others. Greed, power and the exploitation of anyone who gets in the way is what drives men like Kroenke. Kroenke now has his soccer-ball franchise and free access to a pot of gold in North London. OUR club. Kroenke has bought 100% ownership of Arsenal for one reason and one reason only – his own greed. Like all billionaire businessmen, he flourishes in an evironment where… Read more »
FWIW (not much), predicted PL top 4 table from 24 BBC Sport pundits:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45088530
Only 6 of the 24 have us finishing in the top 4 (with half those 6 being ex-Arsenal players), with no-one predicting higher than 4th.
The composite results predict:
1 City 2 Pool 3 United 4 Spuds 5 Chavs 6 Arsenal
Time for Emery to confound the doubters.
How long until Pedro does another 180 about face and writes a post completely contradicting everything he has written about Stan owning 100% of Arsenal.
I will take 3 months.
Sanmi,
“The match ended 2-1 against the best club in history”
history of 5-10 years or….?
Michael
Very well said.
I’m a fan of the U.S but the culture over there is less critical of wealth and power.
Say it slowly but this could be the “Wobi Season”
TR7
Goal Stats are never misleading for strikers. 1st of all, 0.03 is a lot regarding the stats you quoted, that’s van persie adding additional one more goal every 6 matches than Lukaku,
Then you can also look at goals scored per top 6 opposition, you’d notice van persie had more, that tells another story. But to be in this conversation you atleast must be an elite goal scorer. Firminho is no where near, he barely has 50 goals in 4 seasons. Auba and lacazette are doing 50goals in 2 seasons
Elmo, Just read that. Overall predicted ranking, using all BBC predictions (using system of 4 pts for a 1st place, 3 pts for 2nd, 2 pts for 3rd and 1 pt for 4th): 1. Man City – 93 pts 2. Liverpool – 74 pts 3. Man Utd – 34 pts 4. Tottenham – 18 pts 5. Chelsea – 15 pts 6. Arsenal – 6 pts 70% of BBC pundits, presenters and commentators predicted Arsenal would finish outside the top four last season, and they finished sixth. This season, 75% think they will miss out on Champions League football again, and… Read more »
Strikers better than Firminho in epl currently
1. Kane
2. Aguero
3. Auba
4. Lukaku
5. Lacazette
6. Vardy
Based on stats in the last 4 seasons and they all gap him by absolute miles. Like scoring 20 or more goals. Bar vardy who’s maybe leading with 10+ having played for a weaker team 3 of the 4 seasons
Pedro
I think there would be a better chance of Stan & Son outplaying larger amounts for players now that the benefits go 100% to Stan & Son & not 30+% to others as before. I wouldn’t have thought Stan & Son were in the business of outplaying a fortune for the benefit of Usmanov, etc.
Now Stan & Son Have no choice but to fork out the doh, or face a revolution from the fans.
*outlaying
raptora
I can see Liverpool struggling in the league. They needed a 10/10 season from Salah to secure CL football. Mané and Firmino are 15 league goals per season types. If Salah scores 20 as oppose to the 30+, things could be tight. Theyre fortunate that besides City, there is no other outstanding performer
Dream
Shaqiri can add another 12-15 goals and Keita 5 to 7 goals. With a better keeper and VVD in defense they won’t require to score as many as they had to last season.
Pedro’s recent posts reek of the same conviction he projected when he championed the signing if the great Mikel Arteta as manager.
I still love Pedro though ❤️❤️❤️.
I don’t know how he finds the drive to keep writing for so long….for so little.
TR7
Liverpool did lose a lot of games due to goal keeping issues
How do they replicate Salah’s goals though.
If Salah replicates last sseasn’s Firm then they’ll probably win the league. That’s far fetched wish tbh.
Can we just get a decent winger and cb in before tomorrow’s deadline?
Seems like nothing will happen.