What a wally I looked yesterday!
How could I doubt John Cross. The man from The Mirror came back from the dead. He stole the internet crown from David Ornstein. A GoT like plotline.
Aaron Ramsey is DONE with Arsenal.
Now, I really don’t know what the fuck is going on here. So here are some bits that I do know, mashed in with guesswork. I won’t tell you which is what to keep you on your toes.
Mesut Ozil getting £350k a week was a massive mistake.
Aaron Ramsey’s agent pushed for that number.
Arsenal has withdrawn the deal.
Now, something must have gone on here that was major.
Did his agent name the number and refuse to budge?
Did the club catch wind of a deal with another club?
Did Arsenal decide that the money Aaron wanted didn’t match his ability?
Was it a blend of all of the above?
Here’s my thinking on it. He’s just too expensive for what he gives to the team.
Aaron is a good player, I struggle to see the greatness.
He works best when he’s allowed to do what the fuck he wants. He’s not really fitting into the Emery system at the moment. There are younger players with a better record of fitness that could do his job.
Additionally, the club is severely short of talent that works in Emery’s system. We need a winger. We need a replacement for Koscielny. We’re going to need to upgrade at leftback. There are a lot of holes in the squad. I’m not sure the best place to invest £91m is on Aaron Ramsey over 5 years.
The next area of planning Arsenal need to address in the transfer market is hot young players in the mold of Torreira. Players like Sarr. Those that’ll come in on £50k a week, and maybe look like Dembele in 2 years.
If we’re going to splash out galactico money, we should be doing that on transfer fees, not on wages.
The worst thing to happen to Arsenal this year was tying Mesut down to a £18.2m deal over 4 years. It was a crazy moment driven by ego and misplaced fear. There was nothing ambitious about it. I said at the time, the best leverage Arsenal had was that no other club in Europe had gone near him. But we pulled the trigger because the press of losing him wouldn’t have reflected well on Ivan. Now Emery is in, he can’t use him as a 10 and if he’s played on the right, he clearly hates it and it doesn’t really click.
Here’s the question now on Rambo. Where is he going?
Juventus won’t pay him galactico money, because they don’t have it. The Milan rumour is fucking hilarious if true, Ivan promising to make him as rich as him at a new club.
Will he move to Chelsea? United? City? Will they pay him mega money? It’s hard to see it, because, despite his talent, he’s not disciplined because he’s never been properly coached (until this season).
Another guess, he’s pushing Arsenal for mega money, if he doesn’t get it, he’ll chase trophies.
Whatever the deal, if Arsenal has pulled out of negotiations, I trust the decision. We have footballing brains on the team now. Raul will have made the case money wise, Sven and Emery will be looking at his data and comparing what they could buy for that money elsewhere, and the decision will be a sound one.
It’s sad that he wants to move on. I’ll always have a soft spot for him. I think the real issue is the loss of control over the narrative. Ramsey will now come under intense scrutiny. His body language, perceived effort, dedication, how hard he goes into challenges… and ultimately, he’s likely going to become a target of fan angst… and that’s a shame.
It’s like living in the same house as a partner you’ve broken up with. It’ll be sunshine and rainbows for a month, because you’re mature people. Then something will happen. He’ll drop a stinker against Spurs, and that’ll be it. Game over. Get the f*ck out of my house you selfish bitch, how could you do this to me! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY CAT!
Anyway, sad times, but fuck it… we’ll move on, we’ll find better, we’ll survive his loss. Hardly an RVP or Cesc moment.
Finally, how can you not look at that picture at the top of the blog and not feel a little sad? Project British Youth was the most miserable failure of Wenger’s tenure. The vision was interesting, but the execution was diabolical. You know why? Shite coaching. Imagine those players under Klopp? We’d be in a very different place right now…
Wipe those tears, we’re done.
I haver two say Bellerin has improved by the game. He’s not there yet.
Good for Emery.
Bamford. It’s not about the tracking back, it’s about the positioning. Essentially he’s a midfield player in the centre of the pitch that doesn’t offer a pass. He doesn’t create his own space, which is what a player in that position needs to do.
He should be playing deeper and looking to move the ball quickly to pull the opposition out of shape. Instead he just stands with his back to goal, which offers very little.
*I have to say
precisely as Emery has instructed him to.
Not so sure about that he’s been dropped and substituted so I’m not sure he’s doing precisely what his manager is asking of him.
Why is Ramsey playing as a 10 when we have Ōzil? He’s leaving we need to learn to live without Ramsey.
Cech hurt. Leno will ‘debut’…
Torriera’s yellow card magnet is just as strong as Xhaka’s, it seems.
It may be that he’s still adapting to the pace of the league.
Leno time!!!
Cech looks relived that he is injured
Well, Leno will get a chance to prove himself.
Hope Leno does well.
Leno’s chance!!!!
Did Ramsey just get the armband?
Good defending so far.
Ramsey out, Iwobi in.
Did they change the rule this year that you can sub your keeper and still make three more subs?
We are a second half team so far
Second halves have been better so Watford will probably go down.
azed
Agreed.
The game is begging for Iwobi.
Entertaining first half.
Nurse
I agree with you that his positioning should be different, but I’m 99% sure he’s playing the role the way he’s playing it because of how Emery has instructed him to.
It’s like people complaining about how far forward Monreal and Bellerin are playing; it is quite clear that they are playing like that per Emery’s instructions.
You best be joking cesc
Iwobi? Oh Dear God.
please can someone tell me what position Ramsey is palying
Laca is too honest.
He has to learn when to go down to put the ref under pressure. He tries too hard to stay on his feet.
Your Comment Here
Ffs. Ramsey will captain in 2H. Fuck off.
Doesn’t Emery has 5 captains?? One down and you have Xhara and Ozil as well.
Why Ramsey?? I question Emery’s judgment.
” please can someone tell me what position Ramsey is playing
Ramsey-position
Decent first half. We showed some good ball movement at times which was great to watch. We also had our usual moments back in defence as well.
Let’s see if Leno can handle this second half.
We need Geundouzi to offer us more control in the midfield on the ball and we can only play one of Lacazette or Aubameyang.
mcdon
Ramsey has no position…in the team. Fullstop.
Ramsey as captain is baffling
I wanted Leno to get the starting position from the get-go.
Now that Cech is injured, I have some trepidation because Cech has been very good in recent games.
Torriera’s yellow card magnet is just as strong as Xhaka’s, it seems
Not true. Less yellows the last couple seasons and he was never sent off the two seasons at Sampdoria he got one at Pescara. Xhaka two reds for Arsenal 5 for Gladbach. Basically not the same
Mustafi and holdng are gonna kill leno with their amateurish defending
Bamford Ramsey spends so much time up front that’s a fact If we’re going to play with a second CF who sometimes drops deep laca can do that as he has the work rate. Then auba can stay up top and play to his strengths I’m pretty impressed with the performance so far. We’ve not taken our chances but the overall quality is solid. Holding is looking cultured. Bellerin has been fine. Xhaka find apart from when he got blasted off the ball like nothing lol. Ozil has worked hard but his killer ball hasn’t come off. Only Ramsey has… Read more »
We lack a cazorla in the midfield to “ break the lines ” and a winger
Captain Ramsey will win us the game!
Emery doesn’t yet understand the sentiments of English fans. Percieved disloyalty is still seen as a deal breaker.
I hope Ramsey scores the winning goal and totally dominates the midfield like never but he really shouldn’t be captaining a club that he isn’t willing to commit to.
Non stop criticism on le grove of Emery’s decision to play Ramsey in a position that is very confusing ….
A position, that I have pointed out many times over the last few weeks ,Which is hard to fathom .
Bamford
Iwobi is the closest thing we have to a winger, he’s also strong and can travel with the ball.
If emery is telling Ramsey to do this then it’s his mistake. Ramsey shouldn’t even be on the pitch, let alone captain and at CF
But other than this Ramsey nonsense I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve seen. Missed the first 15 mins tho
I wouldn’t say we had a good 1H.
It was busy. But we didn’t take the chances.
Mouri would say… no goal no good you ask me
Watford have a hint of that (in)famous Wimbledon team of the 1980s.
They have a lot of nasties and street smartness.
There’s was a point where Capoue fouled Xhaka very badly as soon as he realized the referee had turned his back.
Ramsey shouldn’t be on the field… never mind be given the captaincy. Why was the armband given to him? Is it a protest from the players in support of their teammate?
.CA
“and we can only play one of Lacazette or Aubameyang”
Sensible move ….take one of our goalscorer off..
Leno was passing to Emery lolll
We aren’t testing Foster enough. No proper shots really.
I’d say we looked solid and had a good majority of possession without many major lapses which is unusual for us. I’ll take it
Ramsey as captain in a team we’re there’s Monreal,Xhaka,Ozil? Thought stuffs like this was only done by wenger ‘nothing like wenger’eh
Brilliant save Leno
Good save
Nice save from Leno.
Wengers not the only person who makes mistakes, but Wenger was one of the only ones who refused to learn from them..
Good save Leno… will give him confidence.
We need to test their keeper with proper shots and chances like they are doing to us.
Giving away too many corners for my liking.
I see your point Bamford. He played like that under Wenger too so it looks like a continuity thing.
Emery tasking him to play like that is odd to say the least, because it reduces the number of midfielders and we end up playing 4-2-4 and so the full-backs have to push on to give outlets for the two CMFs.
I agree with you that Ramsey should play alongside a CMF. It’s the position he played when he had his purple patch.
Good counter attack, we need more chances like that.
Leno?
More like Le-YES!
Oh my…. Laca hopeless header from 5 yards unmarked!!! Can’t keep missing these chances. Link up plays don’t count.
Maybe try Aubameyang centrally? Doesn’t seem to be Lacazette’s day
Auba’s decision making can be shit poor
Bellerin wads open as an option.
All these chances show how silly Laca trying to be too honest and didn’t drop when clearly fouled inside 5 mins.
We are struggling to score. Need to think subs…Mikki? Drop Ramsey. Useless.
Iwobi for Ramsey.
We need more creativity on the side to break Watford’s lines. Time for Iwobi to come on and inject more pace?
I would take Ramsey off and ask Auba to move more centrally to Lacazette and ask Iwobi to move into the wing where Auba has been isolated in the first half…
The Akbs are hilarious. Any chance to criticize Emery and defend wenger!
Fuck off from Arsenal you wankers
Xhaka’s “good” game (more okay) completely overshadowed by that clearance right there. Absolutely shite player
Obvious sub
Iwobi should have started …Ramsey ton come in as a sub for him.
Bamford
Seems like Emery is thinking like me.
What have you got to say?
Auba to come off for Welbeck…quickly please
Ramsey about to be subbed for Iwobi doesn’t suggest that he’s doing precisely what the manager is asking of him
Ramsey should keep walking past the subs bench and up to Everton.
Am I the only one that saw Ramsey shaking his head vigorously as he walked to the bench.
Get used to it… save your energy for your new team.
Iwobi turns into defender, loses ball. Very, very average player.
Emery’s gotten it wrong. Iwobi not the solution, and most definitely not a starter. Not if we want to be a good team.
Lets see the next 5 min. Put Mikki on if things don’t look up. Xhara off, or Mustafi off movin Monreal in
I am done with xhaka.
Offers 0 defensively.
Marko
Terrible argument. It’s 65 minutes in. This sub is about energy and fresh legs. It’s not about Ramsey’s not playing according to instructions.
Leno has done well so far
We should be able to beat this Watford team comfortably but…..
Not working. Give Mikki 20 min. Shouldn’t lose 2 points.
Frustrating afternoon so far
That was a good pick though from granny
Xhaka and Mustafi can be really frightening at times
Holding bailed out Mustafi there with a good sliding block
Holding motm performance today so far……credit to him
Mustafi is putting us under pressure with his terrible defending
Must give credit to the better team , Watford.
Xhaka and Mustafi are not going to improve anymore.
Bam criticizing Iwobi after just coming on but making excuses for Ramsey being subbed after 60 says it all really. No Bam if Ramsey was following instructions he’d still be on instead of continuing to be subbed. And how you feel about Iwobi aside at least he’s shown glimpses of form this season.
Seriously. Laca shouldn’t be able to sleep if w didn’t get 3 points.
Welbeck for Auba.
Hummmmm….interesting decision
Mustafi is a car crash.
Xhaka is another ,besides being a disruption to neat passing.
Watford are on a run. Shit
Leno hopes he does not keep on doing his dangerous ineffective punches
Auba has been very very poor
A draw looks fair but I’m not sure we won’t concede
Better players, more commitment, maybe a better manager too!
Mustafi is unbelievable as a defender
Yes, Arsenal have really come alive in attack after Ramsey came off. Look super solid in defense too, am I right?
Don’t we have some fvcktards on here
Watford looking far more likely to score right now. We cannot get hold of the ball in the middle. Xhaka is a liability. Torreira doing all the hard work.
Get in !
Oh god
get in!!
Bamford
Say what??
“Yes, Arsenal have really come alive in attack after Ramsey came off. Look super solid in defense too, am I right?Don’t we have some fvcktards on here
Here comes the first battalion of the Ramsey defense forces
What are you going to do when he leaves?