Why not?
Yeah, I hear you, where is the post on the fitness centre? Where’s the inside gossip on Rosicky’s hammy’s? Where is that post?
You’ll have to tweet James. He’s holding the content hostage.
Me? I’m wondering if I can get in touch with the Arsenal fitness team and ask them if it’s possible to self-diagnose that your broken wrist is better after 3.5 weeks because it doesn’t hurt and it has good rotation? Can you heal quicker than 4 weeks? Am I… super human? How do you test it if you don’t have an x-ray? What did the people of olden times do?
Who knows, but I’m clocking mad word count this week.
In Arsenal transfer deadline day news, there wasn’t any. Kike Marin said we’d dropped a last gasp £100m Dembele bid, David Ornstein slashed his news down with a vicious tweet. I mean, as sexy as the rumour was, it certainly didn’t make sense that Arsenal would drop a speculative record transfer bid on the final day… despite us doing that for Ozil and Lemar last summer.
So, we are where we are.
My takeaway from the window is it’s been pretty fucking solid.
There are a lot of people complaining it was shite, but seriously, let’s all take a second to remember how banterful our summers have been for 15 years and absorb what has happened.
The Brief: Get the club back into the top 4
The Strategy: Hire in very experienced players to make it happen, peppered with a few very exciting prospects
The execution: It’s been a touch bland, but largely spot on
Lichtsteiner and Sokratis are winners and leaders. They know how to defend on paper, the big question is whether they can deliver it in the pace of the Premier League. Add Bernd Leno into the mixer, a keeper with cat-like reflexes, a more tactical approach to distribution, and an all-around more contemporary vibe and you have the beginnings of a group of players who can work in a much more rigid defensive system.
We have a lot of defenders this year. Mavrapanos, Bellerin and Holding all have a lot to prove. Kolasniac, Jenks and Mustafi are lucky to still be about. Monreal is obvs a baller, and I’m glad he didn’t get sold. Overall, that’s an iffy mix of names. I hope the lack of reinforcement doesn’t cause us problems.
That’s the key to our backline this year. Accountability, smarts to operate as a unit, with enough experience to see us through a fall season. The system is more important than the individual talent.
Midfield is looking legitimately solid and exciting. Torreira and Guendouzi look a level up from what we’ve been playing with. Both have a turn of pace, the desire to marshall the back four and a delightful range of passing to release our attack to do their thing. Can I just reiterate the above point… we now have 2 deep-lying midfielders who actually want to play in that position. We also have the very exciting AMN to look forward to… he was Wenger’s last ever sub, will that be a parting gift or a curse?
We didn’t lose Ramsey either. Think what you like about that, for the time being, let’s be positive and assume he’s staying because surely the club wouldn’t take a chance on keeping a distracting storyline on the books. ESPECIALLY AFTER LAST SEASON. If Ramsey is focused, he’ll be an asset this season, IF he can keep fit. Ornstein says the talks are positive, but the parties are a long way off… you’ll know it’s over when Arsenal leak he was asking for £350k a week and a parking space on the pitch. Fingers crossed this isn’t delaying tactics from his agent who can now smell a mega payday next year.
Moving forward, we have an abundance of talent, even if our attack does look a touch narrow. Mikki and Ozil are very creative if they find form, Auba and Lacazette are worth 50 goals at a minimum. Iwobi, Reiss, Rowe, Eddie, JOEL CAMPBELL and Danny W. There’s something there with a bit of coaching and a big bag of HOPE.
ANYWAY. Rome wasn’t built in a summer people (Roma was).
Remember all those people telling you for years how complicated football was? Well, the backroom team rebuilt the entire club in 6 months. This season, we’ve laid the groundwork. If we make the CL next summer, we’ll have more than £70m to spend, and I’d imagine we’ll be able to attract a higher calibre of player.
The big hope now is that the players gel, the manager’s ideas sink in, the players stay fresh and uninjured this season and we have a lot of luck.
I’m positive, because why wouldn’t you be? We’ve spent 10 years being miserable, it’s boring. Plenty of time to cry when things actually go wrong.
Also, how hilarious was Spurs summer? My whining spud mates reckon Poch was promised a pot of gold to spend… and he was given NOTHING. HILARIOUS. I know Spurs have a good squad, but bringing in new blood after a failed season is essential… unless you think finishing potless is a success, which to be fair, is kind of a Spurs attitude.
Let’s hope we can have a good run and put them out of the CL at an important time in their rebuild.
Right, see you in the comments! x
If they play De Bruyne that makes things a lot more difficult for us
FML. There go our chances for anything.
Hopefully “involved” means on the bench with a late introduction in an effort to turn the game around. Unsuccessfully of course.
I love the positivity. I have become a mood hoover for Le Grove.
It’s a 5-0 city for me.
Will be interesting to see how emery utilises Ramsey within a more rigid team structure. He has his positives ..energy ,willingness to attack the box etc but will he be given the same freedom in the present Arsenal team . I can’t see him playing in a 2 man midfield as he would be rendered ineffective as emery likes discipline in midfield (unlike Wenger). Ramsey would struggle with the disciplined role as he doesn’t possess the defensive mentality or acumen to play the role …nothing that I have seen over the last 5 years or so would make me think… Read more »
“from the wide position Ramsey can attack the box .arriving late which can make him potent in an attacking sense …” I don’t like Ramsey on the flank because he has the technique of Theo (nonexistent) but not his speed and is usually slower than the full backs. His combination play is decent but doesn’t really have the needed technique or tricks to keep the ball in his possession under pressure and/or go through an opponent. He is pretty average in a lot of components but his drive, energy, runs inside the box, spreading the ball around and trying to… Read more »
Emery is used to flank players that don’t even defend much like Neymar, Di Maria and Mbappe. Ozil fits the bill pretty good, although he lacks speed. While he’s always liked highly working midfielders like Veratti, Motta, Rabiot, Nzonzi, Banega, Krychowiak. He doesn’t really like classic, highly technical CAM’s but plays more of a 3 CM formation with one of them in front of the other two. Ramsey fits the bill pretty good.
Forgot Matuidi as another of his midfield players. Ramsey could be Matuidi for us, with worse physique, shorter step but better goal scoring ability.
GOH
“It’s 5-0 city for me”
Great to have that feel good factor.
I’m far more optimistic.
I’ll go 2-2.
Raptora
I wasn’t advocating playing Ramsey out wide , I was just trying to show some positivity towards him ,which is not easy to do as I would rather he was on the bench if he stays as i believe he would be an excellent sub if we need someone to come on and make things happen in box if we were chasing the game.
Not so good though if we needed someone to protect a lead .
CC
So your saying SK’s amended position has affected our chances and put Unai Emery under “intense pressure”?
Isn’t this a slight overreaction?
Personally mhkitarayan fits the bill for me as the cam as he has a football brain and has the ability to bring others into play …can’t understand why anyone would write him off already this season due to a couple of pre season friendlies.
He showed much more in the more recent game and looked to be getting up to speed which is actually what pre season is all about.
Pierre, I know that I must value every good word you put for the lad. It is a rarity. I believe that Emery will use him as the third guy in front of the other two in a midfield three. As a starter that is. So as much as you don’t like the player you’ll have to get used to him being integral part of our team. At least until the winter lol. To be honest a lot of this Arsenal’s fate will be on Ramsey’s shoulders. If he shines in this role he’s going to be used game in… Read more »
Raptora
“I don’t like Ramsey on the flank because he has the technique of Theo (nonexistent) but not his speed and is usually slower than the full backs. His combination play is decent but doesn’t really have the needed technique or tricks to keep the ball in his possession under pressure and/or go through an opponent”
So you want him him the team despite his non existent technique,is slow and is unable to keep the ball under pressure due to his poor technique and can’t beat a player …..
Kind of like Ozil, just that Ozil prefers to lay on the grass every time he gets an opponent on his back. He gets the ref’s mercy in around 10% of the time, the other 90% he losses the ball and the opponent team organizes a counter attack.
But you want Ozil in the team?!
You’re
“So your saying SK’s amended position has affected our chances and put Unai Emery under “intense pressure”?“
I’m saying instead of building optimism and excitement ahead of the season, we halted the good vibes and thrust the overall direction of the club into a cloud of uncertainty.
Emery is under intense pressure because there will be less leniency and calls for Stan to do something after acquiring full ownership – if we are to start poorly.
We simply should’ve started out with great optimism, but it’s been deflated the past week. With contracts dragging another reason
Since the summer of 2013, NET transfer money spend by: Chelsea – £200 Arsenal – £285 If start the count for a summer less – meaning starting from summer 2014, then 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, 5 years of transfers, which for me is more than enough to understand the situation, it’s the following: Chelsea – £152m Arsenal – £252m We’ve spent basically £50m NET a year for the last 5 years. Which is good enough figure in my opinion. And heavily overspends Chelsea’s. We shouldn’t have been in the situation we are at the moment. So many positions not… Read more »
Raptora casually ignoring where Chelsea have dipped in and out of the negative thanks to Roman in the aims of being competitive.
Just because they’ve cleaned it up the last few doesn’t mean they’re ripe for comparison. Both clubs since they’ve been within means weren’t starting at the same point in terms of squad, but leave that part out.
How big of a period makes sense to you Charlie?! Who’s fault is it that all of our “talents” like Gervinho and Arshavin failed miserably, while Chelsea’s like Hazard and Courtois progressed in to one of the best in the world?! Who’s to blame we got Chambers for twice as much money as they got Gary Cahill after the player wanted us for years?! We could have gotten Cesc back but instead bought Gabriel and Welbeck for more money than Cesc’s transfer fee?! Simple questions. Now tell me again how are we supposed to be at the same level as… Read more »
‘I’m saying instead of building optimism and excitement ahead of the season, we halted the good vibes and thrust the overall direction of the club into a cloud of uncertainty. ‘
Totally agree CC.
Why not at least keep things under wraps until the season was well underway.
All the focus now is on his power and greed. Maybe if he had dropped a few extra quid on the CB or wide player we so desperately need, things might be seen in a more optimistic light.
We could have had core top players at our club for years if the autocrat was to be good at his job. Chelsea have a had a lot of hit and miss but they were quick to move the failures and go for another player with the money. Instead the autocrat was content to collect average players or turn good players in to average ones. How don’t you see it. Jesus fk. Nothing has changed. Guys still think that Wenger is faultless. Fuck my life.
Arsenal and Chelsea’s firepower in the market simply don’t compare. We were budgeted to Gervinho when we looked at Hazard, we couldn’t afford the 32 mil etc. Cahill to Chambers is citing transfers a decade apart so let’s ignore inflation and make out like we chose a more expensive player right? Cahill is any average so not sure that point anyway, he’d have been another in the dross pile. Could’ve gotten Cesc back but bought a CB and ST. Maybe we needed a CB and ST (we did). Cesc was a luxury at that point despite the shit reason we… Read more »
Content? I think that most would be thrilled if we pulled off a draw vs City.
They were a juggernaut last season. Won 32 of their 38 league matches.
They lost just 2 league games all season, huge ask to expect us to be able to beat a side that good in Emery’s first competitive game in charge.
It took basically a miracle effort from Liverpool and United and some profligate finishing from Man City to even lose those two matches by a single goal.
Raptora Fingers crossed if we manage to get 4th or better, maybe with the help of a Mourinho implosion and Spurs struggling, with the new kit deal, new Emirates money etc we should about a £130-150 Million budget next summer. At least now we have Mislintat and Sanllehi spending it, they’ve done a mostly solid job so far with it and then you will have an actual manager and actual coaches working with the players we buy. That should mean we see players brought in we actually need fitting into an actual system and that none suffer the effects we’ve… Read more »
I’d be very happy with a draw so long as we play well and aren’t simply the benefactors of City having an awful day in front of goal.
Unai hinting Ospina, Jenkinson and Campbell could leave. Need to sell them, no loan deals. Good that Welbeck is staying, he is a handy player to have in our squad. Also looks like AMN will play left back against City.
Welcome to the EPL for Torreira on Sunday. A real job on his hands keeping that City midfield quiet and shielding what is a dodgy defence.
If we are to have any chance we cannot have any passengers at all, Bellerin and Ozil have to pull their fingers out and offer us something.
“How don’t you see it. Jesus fk. Nothing has changed. Guys still think that Wenger is faultless. Fuck my life.“
Nah just fuck your logic, it’s totally ignorant and ignores relevant context because you’re trying to present a ridiculously simple pov.
Roman takes financial losses to prop up Chelsea, Stan wouldn’t dream of that. The two models have been worlds apart, now they’re just mountains apart.
I know it’s a bit nose/spite/face but Ramsey shouldn’t be anywhere near the first 11 until he signs a new deal, even if it’s just a 12 month extension with an agreed transfer fee for January.
What team are we likely to see?
Leno, Bellerin, Sokratis, Mustafi, AMN, Xhaka, Toreirra, Ramsey, Ozil, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan is my guess with Laca starting from the bench.
The so called pundits who are supposed to know something of the game — all writing us off. Good, I think we will surprise some people this year and the likes of Gary Neville et al, will need to eat humble pie. For instance, I think Tottenham will implode. Tottenham didn’t strengthen. Unless they have some amazing talent coming through that we don’t know about their first team is going to be bruised and battered before long. The pressures of fighting on 4 fronts will get to them this season. Poch will be poached to Man United. Harry Kane will… Read more »
Bc of where Wenger left the state of things, we sorta need the following:
1. AMN to come good. Either as a fullback or CM
2. One of Reiss or nketiah to make significant strides this year
3. Matteo…
4. Chambers to have a good loan spell
5. Back into CL – likely by way of the Europa. Top 4 gonna be such a dogfight andwith the state of our defense I don’t see it happening.
If these things happen, puts us in a great position for next summer and year two of Emery.
Personally would take Ozil out and play Lacazette but can’t see Emery being that ballsy in his first match vs a Pep side.
You know it all. It makes perfect sense that none of our players have made any progress since god knows how long and make the jump from a talent to a star. Chambers, Ox, Gervinho, Andre Santos, Podolski, Welbeck, Debuchy, Gabriel, Xhaka, Mustafi, Perez… All players that were supposedly ready to become top class at Arsenal. None of them did. Why were they bought at all? Isn’t this the whole reason of buying a young player or someone that is rated? To find the gem that will become a top player?! None of them did. They weren’t bought as a… Read more »
WE
Really interested to see what Emery goes with in terms of the LM and ST, does he try this Aubameyang and Lacazette thing again? Will he go for one of them at ST? Will Iwobi be on the pitch?
Interesting because Emery will line up for City, not just because that is our line up.
I’m trying to convince myself that Guardiola has said De Bruyne and Sterling are in good shape because he knows Emery is a real researcher of his opposition and wants to throw him off, keep him guessing.
Raptora
Are you suggesting that ozil is lacking in technique.
He has his faults but lacking in technique is not one of them.
“None of them did. Why were they bought at all? Isn’t this the whole reason of buying a young player or someone that is rated? To find the gem that will become a top player?! None of them did. ”
Wenger is the reason. By keeping him him on, we wasted not only money but years of talent. He left us in a proper proper mess.
‘By keeping him him on, we wasted not only money but years of talent. He left us in a proper proper mess.’
Yep.
At least we’re on the road to recovery now. Long road ahead. But it feels good to be actually trying to become better in every department.
“Chambers, Ox, Gervinho, Andre Santos, Podolski, Welbeck, Debuchy, Gabriel, Xhaka, Mustafi, Perez…”
Those are the players we’ve spent good money on. If we add the rest players with potential that regressed or didn’t turn out elite under Wenger you can add the whole british core in Wilshere, Ramsey, Gibbs, Frimpong, Jenkinson, Akpom, Gnabry, Afobe etc etc.
I took a course in psychology in my college days, part of what I learnt is exhibited by some usual suspects here.
You voice negativity, so that if it happens, you come with the I told you so attitude. But if it works out fine, you are secretly happy.
Either way it’s a ‘win-win’ scenario for them. It’s the way some people are trained to cope with disappointments and expectations.
So Pochettino getting his excuses in early, blaming Bwekthit for any struggles the Spuds will face, saying “I feel sorry for the English people.”
Wanka.
Raptora
Except money was the subject not Wenger, you’ve just turned it into that to try and score points.
Arsenal haven’t (and don’t) operate on the same financial level as Chelsea in transfer dealings. We didn’t back when you were complaining about Hazard, and we don’t now.
I’ve said t about 5 times but you’re on a Wenger tirade. Roman wants a competitive team, Stan wants a healthy business.
Pierre, He doesn’t really have a good dribble on him does he? Not on Santi’s level of trickery either. He is more technically gifted than Ramsey, I give you that, but his technique doesn’t really strike me as to who would be classified as a good technically player if you can’t use your technique to go past players or to be able to free yourself out of the pressure of the opponent’s players. He’s not that good at either. Santi although not fast, had top technique for dealing with players that come near him. Same goes for Rosicky, Hleb, Nasri… Read more »
Pochettino blaming Brexit for Spurs not signing players.
He’s sounding more and more like Wenger everyday.
Leeds,
lol
Arsenal and Chelsea’s firepower in the market simply don’t compare. We were budgeted to Gervinho when we looked at Hazard, we couldn’t afford the 32 mil etc. Worth pointing out budget had absolutely nothing to do with the Gervinho signing it was once again stubbornness and dithering on Arsene’s part. The summer of 2011 when we bought Gervinho for about 11 million we had already bought Chamberlain for similar money then went through a mad dash to get in a few shite signings after the 8-2 defeat to United spent (wasted) about 40 million on Arteta, Park, Andre Santos, Mertesacker… Read more »
“Arsenal haven’t (and don’t) operate on the same financial level as Chelsea in transfer dealings. We didn’t back when you were complaining about Hazard, and we don’t now. ” Not true for the last 6 years. And that’s a big chunk of time in football. We’ve been on the same scale as them. If you think about it, now a person is left with the impression that Liverpool is on Chelsea’s level of a club. Why? Because they’ve progress on the pitch. If we were to make a do well in UCL or EPL like they did in the UCL… Read more »
To think when Jenks was on loan at West Ham a couple of seasons they were offering us £12m and Wenger turned them down. Last summer Ospina was rumoured to be a £6m target for Besiktas… again Wenger said no. Campbell, should have been sold ages ago to AC Milan when he impressed at the last world cup… he was a rumoured £10m player then. Ahh, if only. I can only think that excessive wages are hindering any potential suitor from taking these three out of our grasp. Really, our transfer team needed to better to find these three players… Read more »
Raptora To be a top footballer you need a good technique. First touch is vital and to be able to create a yard of space is essential. With a drop of the shoulder ozil creates space for himself, that’s why he makes the game look easy… Bergkamp was also the master at it along with Henry. Ramsey doesn’t have the ability to create space for himself, that’s why he always appears busier on the pitch as his first touch often Let’s him down. In saying that, I agree ozil is not a dribbler of the ball and he does find… Read more »
*last world cup being 2014
Raptora
Chelsea stockpiled players for years and during the last 5 years have sold players like mata, lukaku, De Bruyne, salah, ramirez and more without it affecting their performance hence their low net spend during this period…. Surely that is obvious to see.
And that’s not to say that wenger didn’t make mistakes in the market…. before marko jumps in with his 2 pennies worth.
From the expressed
“Chelsea transfers: The 32 unwanted players Blues have sold since 2014 – for nearly £500m!”
Chelsea have done both well and poorly in the transfer market. Well in the fact that they won league titles and a champions league and poorly in the fact that had they kept rather sold certain players the last few years they probably would have won more titles
“Wenger, toward the end of his tenure was a poor judge of player potential and actual playing ability and he compounded the situation by giving fringe players ridiculous high wages… and he couldn’t say no to poor players quick enough.”
Poor judge or Frightened old man?
Its my believe Wenger over paid the poor players to buy their Loyalty.
Says a lot about how little Sarri must rate Batshuayi to be loaning him out to Valencia for the season with only a 32 year old Giroud and a shot to pieces Morata available for the CF spot.
“I’m positive, because why wouldn’t you be? We’ve spent 10 years being miserable, it’s boring. Plenty of time to cry when things actually go wrong.” OK Pedro you are back. I have a feeling that no matter what happens, I will enjoy this season much more than the past 10 incarnations. This post is balanced. Let’s not over-hype an OK TW nor speculate that a blind owner oblivious to fans’ wishes will just turn around overnight. But no one can stop us enjoying our team. It would have helped if we had added some world class talents, but even if… Read more »
When looking at the struggle to repair our club it becomes apparent how much damaged Wenger, the board and the wengerites did by putting us in a footballing coma.
We’re on life support right now, next 2 years decide if we make a full recovery and become a Bayern or remain a vegitable like Newcastle.
Big times.
@Leedsgunner To think when Jenks was on loan at West Ham a couple of seasons they were offering us £12m and Wenger turned them down. Last summer Ospina was rumoured to be a £6m target for Besiktas… again Wenger said no. Campbell, should have been sold ages ago to AC Milan when he impressed at the last world cup… he was a rumoured £10m player then. Ahh, if only. ___ Fiorentina offered even more for Campbell, £15 million. Also don’t forget Middlesbrough offered £20 million for Chambers. What a fucking walking disaster Wenger was in the end. Did a terrible… Read more »
Marko You’re talking nonsense, we didn’t buy Hazard because of money. Simple as. If you’re going to try and spin me the idea we bought 6 players with the money we could’ve got Hazard for then you’re being woefully dim. Take it your approach would’ve been to buy one prospect for 30 mil than try and address the apparent half dozen issues with the squad? That makes sense. Playing the hindsight special. Raptora Gonna just end it there mate, your head is so buried in the sand when it comes to finances. You continue looking at the last few years… Read more »
Chelsea, United and City have been on a different level altogether for last decade or so when it comes to transfer budget. Liverpool is the only team in top 6 who are comparable to Arsenal in this regard. Spurs are a notch below even Pool and Arsenal.
Azed Its my belief Wenger over paid the poor players to buy their Loyalty. It is this and a little bit more. AW was not just buying loyalty, he was also ensuring that he had a bunch of nice players around him who would not challenge him and his lack of ambition that he was displaying. This is one of the many reasons that Sanchez put on a massive tantrum between the last season before that and his last season before he left us. He came from Barca where he experienced their training sessions and the requirement to be the… Read more »
You’re talking nonsense, we didn’t buy Hazard because of money. Simple as. If you’re going to try and spin me the idea we bought 6 players with the money we could’ve got Hazard for then you’re being woefully dim I’m confused was it money or wasn’t it money? And respectfully Charlie you can fuck right off if you want to say that the reason we didn’t get him was because we wanted to address squad issues. That summer was about as painful as it got for Arsenal fans we bought Chamberlain and Gervinho early enough spent the rest of the… Read more »
CC Fair points. This struck me as somewhat poignant. It’s Usmanov’s final statement on Arsenal football club: “I have decided to sell my shares in Arsenal Football Club which could be the best football club in the world. I wish all the best and great success to this wonderful football club and to all those whose lives and careers are entwined in it.” Now, I’ve never heard anything like that from Stan or Josh. Instead we get a lot of crap about ‘values’ and not being in the business of sports club ownership to win trophies. From Josh last season:… Read more »
Now, I’ve never heard anything like that from Stan or Josh. Instead we get a lot of crap about ‘values’
Values predate the Kroenke’s Alex. They didn’t coin the phrase
Marko
I’m comparing Usmanov’s statement with theirs.
Fans want to hear the basics. Things like: we love arsenal and we’re going to do everything in our power to make the club as successful as possible. That sort of thing.
…in other words, not the kind of opaque statements we’ve had from Kroenke, Gazidis, Keswick and wenger over the years.
Yeah but the context is all wrong. Josh made his around the time we were dogshit and everyone knew it hence the sugar coating whereas Usmanov’s was kinda of a generic statement one makes on the way out the door
Meanwhile all the while the Elephant in the room was that it was being claimed that Arsenal could buy who they wanted and the tens of millions languishing in the deposit account . Had Arsenal wanted Hazard, Mata etc then they could have found the money but clearly they weren’t prepared to push the boat out and hook line and sinker the native being peddled was swallowed Far too many have been conned into not seeing things as they are When Stan forks out the dosh to buy the remaining shares he will have put roughly the same amount of… Read more »
“‘You got to have open and honest dialogue about the reality that we are on because if we are sugar coating anything about ourselves, about our team, about our direction, we’re only kidding ourselves and we’re only going to be worse off for it in the long run.’”
Sounds like someone looking at the situation at that time and saying it’s not good enough. That we can bullshit ourselves all day long but that’s not what he’s looking to do.
CC
Get your point, to a degree.
Anyway, let’s look forward to an exciting weekend of Football.
Misery guys tonight. Come on Leicester, do us all a favour.
All culminating in the game on Sunday at the Emirates.
Win, lose, or draw, all I ask is that the players give 100% from minute one.
It would be nice to see some tactical aptitude and a competitive desire rarely seen in the past few years.
Looking forward to seeing Emery on the touchline.
Should be a great occasion.
Come on Arsenal!
Terraloon
Oh dear another agenda driven plastic fan who knows fuck all. Abramovich pulled the plug on the new Chelsea ground – where’s the commitment there?
As for the Hazard / Mata quip we were in for those players but it was Wenger who had over all control of transfers. Did we have a period of austerity yes but that had nothing to do with Kroenke and prior to this summer (haven’t seen new figures) we had the 3rd highest net spend in the PL – significantly higher than Chelsea.
Michael24
100% agree
AH
‘You got to have open and honest dialogue about the reality that we are on because if we are sugar coating anything about ourselves, about our team, about our direction, we’re only kidding ourselves and we’re only going to be worse off for it in the long run.’
I had the impression, when this comment was made, which was after Josh’s inspection of the club, that this was a direct barb against AW (and IG)’s running of the club.
I had the impression, when this comment was made, which was after Josh’s inspection of the club, that this was a direct barb against AW (and IG)’s running of the club.
Exactly it was around the time we couldn’t buy a win especially away and we were languishing in 6th.
Unfortunately “values” are part of today’s corporate rhetoric.
“E by gum, all I want from the lads is flippin straightforward stuff. Get the ball up field and stick it in the bloody onion bag”.
Thanks Josh.
Ah, if it was only that simple.
Even my wife is excited about the MC game.
May get two Yorkshire puddings for lunch on Sunday.
Pogba started off well here. Great defensive header there which was something he needed to work on
I suppose we also didn’t buy Ronaldo “because of money”?
Pogba having a good game.
Leicester getting at ManU. Just think ManU are in for a difficult season.
Marc
Stop being a tw*t. You know nothing about me or indeed what type of fan I am so just do one.
Try reading what I said rather than trying to just put your own spin. RA love him or hate him has and continues to put his own money into the running of Chelsea the numbers are there . Where does the money come for Arsenal transfers ? Have I missed something did Kronke turn loans into equity? Did he he hell.
Leicester new boys Ricardo Perreira and Maddison are playing well here.
Terraloon
Chelsea have been running on a self sustaining model for a few years now. I do know what type of fan you are – not a very bright one.
If de Gea got a serious injury ManU would finish mid table.
At this rate we’ll be bidding 40 million for Ricardo Perreira next summer
James Maddison has been in the EPL for 30 mins and already had a disgusting dive. Are English players thought that at young age or what?! Vardy, Alli, Sterling, Rooney, Kane all among the biggest divers in the league. I honestly think English players have been doing it regularly for years now. Wasn’t the case before. You’d look at the filthy foreigners, South Americans and Iberians.
This dive from Maddison was very ugly.
Marko
I know ManU will probably end up scoring another 1 or 2 goals but they haven’t looked great.
Fred should have been booked as well.
Leicester without Vardy, Mahrez and Kante giving United a tough game at Old Trafford.
Ihenacho is very average ,Vardy would have scored at least one by now.
I mean I seen worse. Actually Ramsey esq
Yes. Extremely lucky for United that Vardy didn’t start today. This would have been goal 100%.
We heard you the first 100 times Marko.. You like Pereira… Now give it a rest
raptora
Diving by English players has been endemic for years now but they’ve always got away with it. The list goes on and on – Gerard and Rooney were two of the worst.
Receding
I’d rather have someone being positive about a player (and I don’t mean every Spud / Scouser is amazing etc) than the constant negativity you get on here sometimes.
Marc this is United under Mourinho. Very defensive very ugly. And his response to this is yet another defender. I mean they still win games but it’s all very unconvincing and horrible to watch
Receding wonderful input as always
Sorry, I see Josh’s statement as one more in a long line of misleading, mealy mouthed rubbish the powers that be at arsenal have been spouting for years.
It was also two comments Receding. Two. Change your tampon
Marc,
Kind of feels like we’ve had the good boys that don’t dive in Theo and Ramsey and Welbeck and Wilshere. Imo Wenger was too honest for that so he was not letting them dive. Which is fair play to him. But as sad as it is cheating c*nts do win you games. So in a world where every club has one or more English players that dive and they win games because of it, being the only honest club and losing games because of it, is not the best feeling in the world.
Marko
He’s gone by the 1st Jan – it’s all just shit. Shit to watch, crappy results, piss poor morale etc. I seriously wonder if the ManU hierarchy are all ready regretting their decision to give him a new contract and have limited spending to players they see as either having sell on value or being a generic fit under a new manager.