Electric winger on the radar

by .

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OK SO I WALKED PAST PIRLO.

Man, what a fucking babe.

That hair is more elite than his career.

Incredible moment. I shared a pavement with him.

Did I consider saying hello? No way. You gotta play it cool. He definitely doesn’t know who I am, but if he saw me again he’d say, ‘great job walking past me, real breezy, let me buy you a beer.’

I spent some time at the weekend watching a bit of PSG vs Rennes. Thomas Tuchel’s side isn’t clicking quite yet, but it was interesting watching Rennes. They have a young squad with a highly rated coach. Their stadium was packed and very loud. One of their star kids coming through is Ismaila Sarr. He’s tall, fast and a reminded me a little of an early days Dembele (who is about the same age). Anyway, we’re being linked with a move for him by The Mirror.

Seems highly likely we’d be interested in him, we’re really lacking explosive pace and skill out wide from someone who knows the job. Could be an exciting move if he carries on his trajectory. He has 3 goals in 7 matches this season. Last season he managed 5 goals and 5 assists in 27 games. Not bad considering he had an injury that kept him out for 3 months (be real, the injury makes him more appealing to us)

Petr ‘great hands’ Cech trash talked Wenger.

What? He did.

“What we lacked in the past – I would say the ‘Arsenal way’ was more important than getting the points sometimes, and this is not how you win the league,”

“Sometimes you need to make sure you win an ugly game, when you are not playing completely well but you just dig deep, close the back door and win 1-0 no matter how.”

Fair shout, there’s no doubt that Emery knows how to win a game ugly, he’s done it five times on the bounce. Now, do I desire sexy? Yes. But let’s not pretend Wenger was winning ugly or sexy. Arsenal has been a drab ship of misery for 10 years.

These words on preparation were music to my ears.

“It comes from the preparation, the everyday work and from the manager’s way of playing the game as well,” Cech said. “We work very hard every day to give ourselves the chance to compete with everybody and hopefully it will be working even better than it has been for the last four games.

“He is very demanding and this is how you improve. I think the place has become much more demanding in every way so this is great to see because this is what initially drives everybody forward and gives you the kind of kick that ‘I’m not doing enough to start the game’, or ‘I’m not doing enough to keep my spot in the game’, because the manager asked for precision and hard work every day. This is how it should be. We have very healthy competition and we are actually taking the benefit of it.”

FEED ME THE GOODNESS OF A MODERN MANAGER.

There was a half-interesting analysis of Ramsey in The Times. It kind of read like the sort of person who’d been given access codes to Opta but only watched 2 of our games in the last year.

‘RAMSEY HAS CREATED SOME CHANCES, the difference? The manager’ <ish

Errr, sure, but the difference is he’s playing as a #10.

The article referenced how Ramsey has more assists and goals than Ozil over the last 30 games. Again, looks great on paper, but Ozil has been a fucking car crash for the last 30 games, struggling with being miserable and having a back problem.

I’d LOVE to think Aaron is a magical #10, but I’m struggling to see that come to fruition. I’m certainly not convinced after two assists (1 accidental) with zero goals to his name. Some say he’d be a nightmare at the base of midfield in the Xhaka role, I’m not so sure. I thought he looked pretty good next to Arteta back in the day. Would it be fair to say Torreira is a little Arteta-ish?

Could be the Xhaka disdain talking, right guys? How can I be so mean to someone who plays so many wonderful balls into the final third!

We’ll see, it’s really not my problem, as long as we keep winning ugly, I’ll have to keep my big mouth shut.

That said, after being pilloried for daring to say I can’t see the vision Emery is offering, people are dropping that same line everywhere. It’s like I cleared the way. The Guardian and The New York Post piped up with similar musings.

Brentford are up on Wednesday, should be a grudge match after they beat us convincingly in preseason. Emery will want to avenge the savaging, and he’ll no doubt want to give Leno a nervous twitch by forcing him to keep a clean sheet and bag and assist. Should be fun.

Right, that’s all I have today, thanks for popping by. Listen to my damn podcast.

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348 Comments
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Champagne charlie

Marko

Give up mate, you’re embarrassing yourself with this comprehension struggle.

Jamie

Maybe Arteta will replace Mourinho.

Marko

Sure Charles. Excellent points as always. You know who we should have appointed Mertesacker. Now that would have been bold can’t explain why just believe me and don’t ask any questions

Champagne Charlie

Marko You disregard everything people offer up and create your own reasoning (or remove it entirely) to score some weird points. It fools nobody. There is a line with you and time and again you prove incapable of operating beyond it. This is another example of that, random assertions based on inadequate understanding, followed by further ignorant quips aimed to undermine an entire POV. It’d be effective if you were intelligent enough to grasp what folk are saying and legitimately challenge the principles of it. But spoiler, you’re not, so it isn’t. You’re like a fart in a sauna, indiscernible… Read more »

Marko

Exactly. Charlie you’re on another level to us mere mortals. Your football knowledge is so superior it’s transcendent at this point. Only you get Arteta as a bold choice only you understand plain old safe Emery and only you can see what makes Granite Xhaka such a worthy footballer. In the top 1% one might say. Yeah I’m not buying it you talk a good game alright but it’s all subjective shite at the end of the day and you’re no closer to being right from when you start in the morning to when you go to bed at night

Marko

I’m going to make a prediction Cesc Fabregas will end up a better manager than Arteta.

N5

Lovely to see the Mancs getting knocked out last night. Pile more on Maureen please!!

kc

Pogba looks like he’s going to be available come January. Maybe they’d take Ramsey and cash.

DivineSherlock

The Mourinho Meltdown is fun to watch . Cant wait to see more of it. Getting what he deserves , also I really feel zero sympathy for Sanchez. Pricks.

China

Ramsey+ozil (+cash) for Pogba I would LOVE that

Move out these two and get in an exciting dominant CM. Yes fucking please

Not gonna happen tho

China

In reality it won’t be Pogba who is available, it will be Mourinho.

China

Arteta to Utd. Seems like a no brainer to me!

After this slow motion Mourinho car crash, who could argue with this bold move!

gonsterous

when it came down to it this summer, we didn’t Have much options for manager. We either had to pay someone out of their contract or the manager available did not want to come to the arse. We made the best of the options available in my opinion. After 10 years of stagnation I don’t mind a change and I have no problem with having a decent conversation here about targets and how the team should set up. What I have a problem with, is how people can still moan about the club. either a) you aren’t a fan of… Read more »

China

How embarrassing does that piano playing video with Sanchez look now to all parties concerned?

I’d love someone to dub over that video with really sad piano music instead and superimpose some tears in his eyes as well. Would be a great laugh

China

Gonsterous id flog ozil and Ramsey. Put Pogba in a floating free role. He could work wonders linking our midfield to attack with the shackles of this Utd team unleashed

I’d go with a torreira/guen or torreira/xhaka base and let Paul roam in front of them

gonsterous

China

it would be a dream to have pogba here. Guy would automatically make us title contenders, but realistically it would cost us at least 70-80 m to get Him.
or maybe mou is desperate to get rid of him.

Receding hairline

Lol Charlie…I come across as petulant while you come across as what? Calm and matured? Okay then.. Good luck with that Emery isn’t being criticized you say..maybe you should try to comprehend more what you read.. The author of the blog doesn’t miss an opportunity to stick a boot in every chance he gets. Still very sore over the whole thing. I wonder how Arteta will be faring now if Gazidis made the so called bold move then scuttled off to Milan. Cos it’s obvious the only reason we are having this Arteta conversation is because Gazidis played with the… Read more »

TitsMcGee

“He is very demanding and this is how you improve. I think the place has become much more demanding in every way so this is great to see because this is what initially drives everybody forward and gives you the kind of kick that ‘I’m not doing enough to start the game’, or ‘I’m not doing enough to keep my spot in the game’, because the manager asked for precision and hard work every day. This is how it should be. We have very healthy competition and we are actually taking the benefit of it.” Very nice to hear. We… Read more »

Michael24

gonsterous

I think MU are more “desperate to get rid of” Mourinho.

The guy is a one man wrecking machine.

gonsterous

receding

going by the comments here, I think Areta would have us joint top with liverpool.
No defensive lapses and playing exciting football with xhaka and co turning into alonso and Gerrard.

Hitman

Arteta? Agree it shows how clueless Gazidis was.
Good luck Milan. They will need it with that clown at the helm.
Did nothing for Afc. Unqualified for a job in football. Stole a living for 10 years.
AFC went from UCL finalist and 2nd best team in the world to laughing stock under Gaz watch. Over taken by smaller clubs like Spuds, Citeh & Chavs.
Just saying for the record.

Leedsgunner

I was annoyed when Cesc left the first time to Barça but I was even more annoyed when Wenger didn’t take up the first option to bring him back. He would have been perfect for this set up Emery is trying out now. Impossible to know, but I wondered why Wenger didn’t bring him back. Did he feel slighted that Cesc wanted to leave him for pastures of home? Was it pride that kept him Wenger from making that call? Out of all our former players wearing different colours, Cesc wearing blue was difficult to take… even more than RvP… Read more »

gonsterous

actually I would have been happy with any proper manager coming in this summer. I would have got with the program because I know we would improve in the short term or the long term after Wenger left. He had too much power with no vision or plan. But what I would not get behind is getting in an inexperienced manager especially one that has never managed a team before. So I would have been against the signing of Henry, viera or arteta. Give me a proper manager with experience and give him the time to sort this mess out… Read more »

gonsterous

Michael

I agree, man utd would sooner get rid of mou than pogba. They all know what a talent he is, even if his hair style choices have been a bit weird.

Leedsgunner

Back in 2014 when we won our first trophy in ages against Hull, I was delighted, but I have thought it was a great shame that it wasn’t Cesc raising the trophy as our captain.

Guns of Hackney

Pogba to Arsenal? Do not make me laugh. He’s a superstar and way too big for Arsenal. Barca or PSG will no doubt be the likely destination. The more realistic one is getting Sánchez back by offering either a swap for Ozil or Ramsay and cash. It’s hard to see Sanchez dropping 50% of his salary to return though. Worth a punt I think. In the whole of world football, there simply has to be better players out there than we have. What are are wonder team of scouts etc doing? Why aren’t we trawling the Dutch leagues? I know… Read more »

Pierre

How about a Ramsey swap with cesc….. Cesc will struggle to get a starting place in the Chelsea team..he would walk into the role that Emery is asking Ramsey to play .

gonsterous

After fergie left, utd haven’t really been on the up. is it safe to say, youngsters prefer arsenal over utd ??

gonsterous

Pierre

I think the ship has sailed on cesc, how old is he now? he has no pace whatsoever, and he’ll be more of a liability in the way emery wants to play and press. Maybe if we had cesc 3 years back and we had built a team around him, he would work.
We should look for a younger, more athletic CM.

Guns of Hackney

Pierre

Cesc is getting on a bit now and doesn’t have the aggression that a Sánchez has. I’d happily swap Ozil for cesc and Ramsay for Sánchez.

Mind you…we would be seriously aging our team. Could be a short term fix though to get us moving upwards.

Guns of Hackney

Arsenal should be looking at swaps. We still have a couple of players worth something. Best cash in so to speak.

Ramsay, Ozil, Mustafi and Bellerin spring to mind. Cash or swaps and I think we could easily improve on these four for starters.

raptora

Pierre, I don’t think that Cesc would do well there. When he was younger he would do absolutely everything from giving the simple passes, to the extraordinary assists, to scoring important goals. He was top drawer. Not that speedy but his combination play and he was also very dangerous in and around the box. I don’t see him doing well this forward in our team though. Like Paulinho and yourself said Maddison from Leicester is making a name for himself. He is quick on the ball, very dangerous player. Very offensive. Cesc not so much anymore. Recently it’s been all… Read more »

Champagne charlie

“Emery isn’t being criticized you say..maybe you should try to comprehend more what you read.. The author of the blog doesn’t miss an opportunity to stick a boot in every chance he gets. Still very sore over the whole thing.”

What’s more likely here, you comprehend what I’M saying more than me, or you not comprehending what i’m saying? Fairly obvious.

I’m also not Pedro, so why you’re trying to lump people in together is a bit odd. Please do me the favour of pointing out where I criticised Emery in any of my commentary?

raptora

I have to say that I’ve been thoroughly impressed by Doucoure. Big presence, huge step, moves swifts around the pitch, good passing range, nice finisher, plays like 2 people really. Not a coincidence that Watford have been on the since he joined. Perfect age at 25 yo. He’s been playing in Marco Silva’s 4-4-2 formation alongside Capoue with Deeney and Andre Gray ahead of them. Imagine him lined up next to Torreira in a 4-4-2. Both of them with huge work rate, would do wonders for us. And would allow us to play Auba and Laca in a tandem as… Read more »

englandsbest

I’d give Ozil away, a £17 mill/pa saving.

gonsterous

get 25 mil for ossil, pay half his wages. We have to incur a loss cause we played an average player big money. Let’s not make the same mistake with ramsey.

Guns of Hackney

EB

We can’t give anyone away that’s still got 3.5 years on a contract. Ozil would no doubt sit it out on holiday trousering his £350k pw. He just doesn’t fancy football anymore.

Of all of Arsenal’s bad deals…signing Ozil was the worst. Hands down.

Guns of Hackney

Gons

I agree with you. See…I am sane. Mostly.

VicVic

Sanchez thought he was going to a better team than Arsenal and ManU thought they were getting a much better player than Mikki.
Pity.
Big pity.

Guns of Hackney

Vic

You forgot to mention the half a mil a week Sánchez is getting. That’s a massive incentive to leave.

raptora

Sanchez has secured himself, his kids and possibly his kids’ kids. He’s doing quite alright.

Receding Hairline

Please do me the favour of pointing out where I criticised Emery in any of my commentary?

Why then does it appear every defense of him seems to tick you off? Can’t remember you being this triggered when certain posters kept defending Wenger despite the fact we were sinking. Why does my sticking up for Emery bother you?

Champagne charlie

Receding

What are you talking about?

You’re aware this entire conversation has come about because I commented on how Rambo will be given a new deal in alignment with our weak leadership. The same leadership that went safe heading into a new era with various important decisions.

It’s YOU that’s took offence to Emery being called safe, citing “disrespect” and the like. The fact you’re now trying to paint me as being triggered by anything you;be said about Emery is plain bizarre. Wtf are you talking about frankly?

Pierre

CC. From previous lost. ” Please do me the favour of pointing out where I criticised Emery in any of my commentary?” No one should feel guilty about criticising Emery whatever their feelings were towards the previous manager. Criticism and praise should be given if warranted . Receding Hairline is having difficulty in that he was a staunch wenger out and obviously wants the new manager to succeed and any questioning or criticism of Emery he seems.to take it personally as he has put all his eggs in one basket so to say. I’m sure receding hairline is not blind… Read more »

Champagne charlie

NEW POST

Receding Hairline

Receding Hairline is backing himself into a corner with his staunch defence of Emery and yes ,he may be proved right in his judgement but he probably needs to be honest with himself and come out and say that he is concerned by what he is seeing as a new manager was surely brought into the club to implement a change of philosophy not continue with wenger’s failed philosophy.

So now you are no longer a supporter of Wengers philosophy …noted

Receding Hairline

Charlie i think we have talked this particular one to death, i have zero interest in this discussion right now so do not see me as rude if i no longer respond on that subject matter

Stuart Anderson

the people i.e. the fans that go to game pedro are the ones that count and all those around me week in week out are enjoying the optimism of the new era at arsenal after ten years of dross your constant sniping of emery is dull suggest you stay in states or watch the scum