A beautiful love story + A SpursLOL + news round-up

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via @Arsenal insta

The big rumour doing the rounds yesterday centered on Arsene Wenger. Yes, his next job may be at AC Milan of all places. Who is the CEO there? Ivan bloody Gazidis. That my friends would be Stockholm Syndrome in action.

How can a man who has taken 10 years worth of pelters decide that the best man to solve the absolute shit tip that is AC Milan is Arsene Wenger? he literally spent 3 months of the year meeting the brightest minds in the game. He interviewed them, watched their powerpoint presentations, as he watched our first team burn under our ex-manager.

Now he’s going in for more?

What the f*ck is wrong with him? It’d be ESPECIALLY crazy considering the way he mooched around when Emery landed, talking about the vote, the vision, the new era approaching. I mean, honestly, there are better managers unemployed at the minute. Give Conte a call, he knows Serie A and he’s been passed over for countless jobs. Unreal.

It doesn’t make any logical sense. Wenger has no ability to organise a defence, he won’t have world-class talent at his fingertips and his only tactics are centered around players enjoying themselves.

Not our bloody problem though.

There was quite a lot of debate about Leno and whether his mistakes constituted mistakes for no real reason. I think anyone with eyeballs would realise he’d dropped a clanger, and hopefully he’ll be working hard to iron out his weaknesses from balls in the box.

“It gives me confidence to play in big games like Liverpool. But I think he (Emery) pushes us because nobody is safe to play. I think both of us will play many games & so the performances have to be good. I think we push each other every day in training & in games”

Regardless of my concerns when it comes to his aerial handling, it’s clear he gives us a lot with his agility and excellent footwork. As many folk have rightly pointed out, he’s easily up there with Ederson and Allison when it come to distribution, and that has such a positive impact on the defence in front of him.

There are quite strong rumours that 33-year-old Laurent Koscielny is off this January. The club in question is apparently Aston Villa who need another John Terry like defender to stink out their backline. I’m sad to see the Frenchman go. He’s been consistent in our shoddy defense over the years, and he’s been a rock at times. The ruthlessness of the Emery regime is sometimes a bit jarring, but hey, it’s better than giving 5-year deals to absolute crocks.

Reiss Nelson is up for Bundesliga Rookie of the month. He’s played 11 games, racked up 6 goals and has 1 assist. That’s spectacular considering his tender age. Right up there with the best in the world when it comes to teenagers. Long may that run continue.

Finally, I shall leave you on a LOL. Spurs have been told their ground won’t be ready until at March at the very earliest, and that’s if there are no additional issues. Quite hilarious. What a fucking mess. A joke of a club!

See you in the comments. x

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China1

Of course mate lol

Joe

It was wenger who said Xhaka was a box to box.

What an idiot wenger was. Clueless really.

So good we have a manager who knows how to use his players.

Joe

Hilarious that bam and Pierre are questions Emery’s decisions about how where and when to use our players as Emery has taken us on a 13 match unbeaten streak

Think he knows what he’s doing.

Marko

So don’t be surprised when the usual suspects start calling Torriera or xhaka box to box midfielders….they’re not.They sit in and protect the defence

If Xhaka has been largely improved this season then Torreira’s influence in the Swiss midfielder’s displays should not be overestimated, as he himself concedes.

“Lucas gives us good balance in the team between offence and defence,” Xhaka said.

“He lets me play my game with the ball and go a bit more in front. I am happy with him.

Somewhere between holding and going forward… sounds box to box

Dissenter

“That being the case ,why would I want wenger to stay and continue his policy of picking players that I believed were not fit for purpose…”
So you’re admitting that you criticized the said players for the decline of the club… just as you always went after the majority owner, referees and even the grass
….but you never criticized Wenger directly.

I recall you lambasting Kroenke every time we suffered a horrific loss to run interference for Wenger.

That AKB post should have been kept for archival puporses to use to describe your kind.

Paulinho

Difference is, Torreira actually has the ability to play ahead and behind the ball, and join the attack and threaten goal. You need multi-dimensional players that can adapt and do what the game demands. We played well against Liverpool but didn’t look like scoring in a month of Sundays after they took the lead, so what did Torreira do? Took it upon himself to play higher up the pitch, play a one-two with Lacazette, and try and actually take responsibility, because the players ahead of him at that point weren’t doing much. Those our the players you need to actually… Read more »

Leedsgunner

Nacho is out definitely for this evening. If it was up to me, I would draft in Ainsley Maitland Niles as an emergency left back… rather than Xhaka.

If at all possible, I think these players need to be rested for the EPL, Torreira, Xhaka, Lacazette, Bellerin and Holding.

I would play:

Cech

Lich – Mustafi – Sokratis – AMN

Guendouzi

Ramsey – Emile Smith Row – Welbeck

Eddie Nketiah

Subs

Martinez
Mhkitaryan
PEA
Özil
Bellerin
Holding
Iwobi

Leedsgunner

Cech

Lich – Mustafi – Sokratis – AMN

Guendouzi

Ramsey – Emile Smith Row – Welbeck

Mhkitaryan

Eddie Nketiah

Subs
Martinez
Xhaka
PEA
Özil
Bellerin
Holding
Iwobi

Marko

As much as I think Xhaka has improved recently I think our midfield would be even better with two midfielders who can tackle intercept and read the game. I think Torreira can do the things that Xhaka offers us and I believe with a proper DM we’d be even better.

Paulinho

Marko – You looking for a Marc Von Bommel type?

Freddie Ljungberg
Paulinho

Freddie – it’s odd then how the highest valued Nigerian couldn’t even keep his place in their average national team then during the World Cup.

Dream10

Marko & Paulinho

If we’re looking to replace Xhaka with another defensive minded player, need to make sure he’s a quality passer. Granit, for all of his faults, is one of the leaders in the PL in getting the ball into the final third. That’s probably one of the things Torreira doesn’t have. Guendouzi can do it, but he’s naive defensively.

Having two more quality passers at CM would help us offensively. Can really hurt teams that way. A rotation of a two new passing CMs, Torreira, Xhaka and Guendouzi as the fifth option would be class.

Freddie Ljungberg

His value has gone up (according to them) by 15m euros in the last 2 months so obviously they think he’s been improving. I wasn’t one of those desperate to sell him in the summer but I also didn’t think he was good enough for us, but he had age and homegrown status on his side so was willing to give him more time. The way he’s playing now and again factoring in his age he can become a useful player for us, already is infact since we don’t have anyone else that takes on players and drives forward like… Read more »

Paulinho

Dream10 – Torreira is more likely to keep it simply, but he has the ability play those Xhaka passes through the lines pretty easily. He actually does it more than people think, even against Liverpool he played quite a few raking passes down the middle, and of course he did against Leicester for our third goal. I would rather a player more comfortable facing the press than a long passer that can only do those passes when he’s got enough space to turn. Players like Edu could pass it well, but also had mobility, and just way more to their… Read more »

gambon

I would say we certainly need to replace Xhaka with better if we are to compete at the top of the game.

That said, to win the PL and challenge for the CL, we would need to replace almost the whole team.

Xhaka has far too many flaws to be a world class player. Unbelievably slow, cant turn, makes far too many mistakes, has literally no ability to run with the ball, barely scores goals.

Top teams have midfielders that can control a game, but with far more complete games.

Paulinho

Freddie – I’ve always been neutral on Iwobi. I don’t think he has improved this year, and yet I never thought he was garbage like some seem to think he was a couple of years ago. I remember his performances when he first broke into the team, and they were impressive; easily as impressive as anything I’ve seen since. His problem is he cannot sustain anything. His best asset his his ball control and dribbling but even then he struggles to maintain those when starting two or three games in a row. Even this season Emery has dropped him a… Read more »

Freddie Ljungberg

I agree he has to become more consistent if he’s going to be a starter long term, but for now he’s the only winger we have so will have to live with his flaws, hopefully he keeps improving under a proper coach, he certainly seems to have more confidence in himself now.

We still need to buy a goalscoring winger in January and then evaluate where we are with Iwobi and Nelson in the summer imo.

bennydevito

I think it’s far too early for calls to get rid of Iwobi, even under Wenger he showed flashes of brilliance so let’s see how he is after a full season Emerying rather than calls to splash the cash.

His cameo appearance against Liverpool alone was enough to justify giving him more time, to get rid now would be foolish imo.

Globalgunner

The player I most compare Iwobi too is Leroy Sane at Citeh. They both play essentially the same position and are both the same age. Is iwobi as good as Sane?. No. But he is already much better this season than any other. If the 2 players had been in each others team before now. Sane would be worse.Iwobi would be better
There is hope for Iwobi under Emery

gambon

benny

I wouldnt get rid of Iwobi at all. For me hes a squad player, not a first team player.

But Im not sure what we are supposed to be waiting for?

3 seasons of Iwobi, and absolutely nothing to suggest he has real quality about him. Hes never going to be a Sterling, or a Hazard, or a Salah – but we’re trying to compete with clubs that have them exact players in the same position.

mysticleaves

Quick to point out that with Iwobi’s weaknesses and flaws this season he has 1 goal and 5 assists. Was a real presence in the Chelsea and Liverpool games (top 6 teams) and made goal scoring contributions.

I am happy to see how his career goes but I am happy he’s on the right part and still believe he can be a good winger/CAM crossbreed. If he leaves he will still be in a relevant UCL club in Europe just like Coquelin.

bennydevito

gambon,

Agreed about Xhaka but I think he’s already showing signs of improvement that would justify perservering with for a season or 2 while Emery works out our best system and gets improvements out of other underperforming Wengerised players.

As for replacing the whole squad, well I wouldn’t agree with that and we don’t have City’s money either, but over the next 2 – 3 windows I suspect the likes of Ramsey, Welbeck, Monreal to be replaced either internally or with shrewd buying.

bennydevito

gambon,

Re Iwobi, yes I would agree with that summary defo but hold out hope he may surprise us with some proper coaching and man management.

mysticleaves

global gunner

I made the assertion that I see a lot of Sane in Iwobi and i was almost stoned to death. coaching influence is the reason Sane is this good. He’s better than Iwobi in taking shots and speed though but iwobi is better defensively and is no slouch. Their dribbling and fearlessness could be on par if Iwobi continues taking the drills being handed to him by Arsenal coaches.

Marko

Iwobi is nothing like Sane. He’s doing well but that’s about it but Sane is significantly better. As for the Xhaka stuff I’m not necessarily advocating for his removal or necessarily criticizing him during a period where he has improved but I’m saying as much as it has improved this season (thanks to Torreira) our midfield could still do with being better and can still improve. We were never one player (not quite counting on Guendouzi just yet) away from addressing it. I maintain someone like Kondogbia or Ndombele or even Neves or a Tousart alongside Torreira could be even… Read more »

Jos

Your Comment Here

Joe

I remember his performances when he first broke into the team, and they were impressive; easily as impressive as anything I’ve seen since

He didn’t have much of a chance after wenger got a hold of him. You can already see the difference Emery is making with him

He deserves a year or so under Emery to
See what he can do.

Sane had pep managing him, Iwobi had wenger.

Not fair to compare them at this juncture of their careers.

bennydevito

gambon,

Isn’t it nice to be back on LG again though? I do miss the old days of 9am daily posts that lasted years but understandibly after Wenger depressed us all and Pedro moving to the states the daily posts stopped.

Do you ever listen to the podcasts? Hilarious and brilliant in equal measures.

Are you back attending any games?

bennydevito

Are there any Grovers on here who gave up their season tickets but now wish they hadn’t? Is it easy to get them back or is there a 5 year waiting list still?

Marko

I think we’ll end up seeing Emery replace the vast majority of the squad eventually. It’ll be more gradual instead of more instant like what City are capable of but 5 players signed on a 70 million budget in one summer is a start and don’t be surprised if you see more happening next summer with possible champions league money. Likely a couple fullbacks and a couple of wingers with another CM coming in (Elneny and Ramsey certain to go) in the next January/summer windows. Would also imagine a CB with Kos and Chambers going. Question is what caliber of… Read more »

gambon

Benny

I think its just great that Arsenal have hope again. If Wenger was still here we would 100% know what was going to happen this year.

At least things are changing, even if im a bit sceptical how much we have improved so far.

I went to the legends game but that was more of a piss up, and I will get up to a few games this season.

Pierre

Dissenter “I recall you lambasting Kroenke every time we suffered a horrific loss to run interference for Wenger.” You are another who is misrepresenting what I am saying ,just as China did earlier. Kronke or off the field problems is not something that have particularly interested me …What does interest me is the football on the pitch. Most of what is spoken about off field in the media is bullshit …kronke has never interested me at all when wenger was the manager , in fact I have said more about kronke in the last few weeks than I have done… Read more »

Redtruth

Pierre, come on, you can say it: ‘Wenger is shit, ..there, that wasn’t too difficult.

bennydevito

gambon,

I’m going to see if I can take my 12 yr old son at some point this season for his first ever game, in fact if any Grovers can help me get 2 tickets side by side at some point after Xmas that would be great.

Un na naai

Xhaka has far too many flaws to be a world class player. Unbelievably slow, cant turn, makes far too many mistakes, has literally no ability to run with the ball, barely scores goals.

Gambon

You’re pretty much describing most of the worlds most successful deep lying playmakers

Pirlo, xabi Alonso, late Scholes, carrick. We don’t need him to do all of this things and it’s clear that our midfield is better with him. Chelsea and palace games being prime example. Games we should have won. Games he wasn’t in midfield

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