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
We need to cultivate more transfer relationships with clubs like Udinese and Sampodoria they have scouting departments which are second to none…
“The next obvious question is who will he replace when he inevitably gets moved into our first-team squad next season? ” I could see Nelson playing 2 years at Hoffenheim, then coming back at 20. I think under Wenger everything was so reactionary. Look at Coquelin for example. Maybe now we have a proper plan in place to develop kids. In the summer Nelson will be 19 with maybe 20 games of football under his belt. The club may think another 12 months experience would be ideal. IMO he could replace any of our non scoring wide players. Ozil, Mykhitaryan,… Read more »
Dissenter
You think a Managaer who has made us worse each year for a decade is going to fatten up their asset?
You lot seem to forget our commercials would have been much much much higher if we actually had a proper manager the last dozen years who actually competed in the legaue and CL
He couldn’t make us better over a decade but all of a sudden he’s going to make Milan a better football team?
He’ll waste all their money on buying Rasmey and jack. Oh and sanago
Thanks Dissenter
Joe
You need to reread my comment. I didn’t say Wenger would pull off any miracles, I said he might help raise the attractiveness to an outsider. Outsider being the point. Someone who hasn’t followed what’s happened at Arsenal the last few years.
On a completely different subject could one of our American friends tell me what time results should start to come in on your mid term elections?
Oh you won’t see stuff trickling in till about 4/5 in the morning. Best sleep and get it the next morning.
As for Nelson I expect him to go out on loan again but I wouldn’t be surprised if you see him as back up/rotated on the right side of the attack next season with someone like Nicholas Pepe. Which in my mind would be great
“I could see Nelson playing 2 years at Hoffenheim, then coming back at 20.”
don’t see him staying there beyond Nagelsmann’s departure.
if he carries on like he has been i’d give him every chance to cement a place in the first 16 next season.
“We need to cultivate more transfer relationships with clubs like Udinese and Sampodoria they have scouting departments which are second to none…” Or just hire their scouts? Real high quality scouting could allow you to compete with Man City while spending far less. Look at any top class player, and you can always find a moment where you could have signed them dirt cheap. Van Dijk & Alderweireld couldve been signed for a combined £22m in recent years. Sane & Salah are a bargain at £70m, but couldve been signed for £20m combined in recent years. If we arent willing… Read more »
Gambon
Whilst we’re at it we should hire the At Madrid scouts responsible for getting their strikers. They’ve done an incredible job the last few years.
These days most clubs know all about promising young players across all the major leagues. Once in a while every club picks up a bargain here or there but almost impossible for a club to be ahead of the curve in terms of scouting.
TR7 I dont agree with that at all. In fact, the very fact that PL spending has risen every season for the last 5 suggests there is so much inefficiency. Look at Van Dijk. £2.6m to Celtic £13m to Southampton £75m to Liverpool Look at Mane £4m to Salzburg £12m to Southampton £34m to Liverpool Also, its not just about finding the players, its about making the deals happen. Dembele went to BvB ahead of every other club in Europe, because Mislintat was in touch with him from day 1. By the time other clubs were interested, Sven already had… Read more »
Gambon ‘ its not just about finding the players, its about making the deals happen.’ Yes, this I agree with. Making a deal happen is more important. I was banging Mane’s drum when he was at Southampton. Most people here and I am sure most scouts as well knew all about Virgil when he was plying his trade at Celtic. Dembele was always a hot property in the transfer market. Alderweirald was not an unknown entity either nor was Salah. Wenger knew about Kante but never made a move for him. So, yes most people who are in the game… Read more »
I’m more interested to see how Nelson’s all-round game is improving in terms of dribbling and driving through teams with the ball at his feet. I think that will be a greater predictor of future success than the goals he is getting now.
If he still just passing it square when met with a marker then I would just leave him at Hoffenheim until he develops that aspect of his game more.
Joe
“You think a Managaer who has made us worse each year for a decade is going to fatten up their asset?”
Wenger is going to have a very good director of fottball in Leonardo.
…and yes. I do think Wenger can make Milan better in the short term.
He will be the best Milan manager since Carlo Anchelotti left.
The problem with Wenger and Arsenal is that he just got stale as well as his help-rejecting stance.
Wenger to Milan would be so odd
This time I’m not even shitting on wenger or anything – just from the Ivan perspective it’s such a strange move
If it’s true I have no idea what Ivan was/is thinking/doing. That’s the strangest managerial appointment I’ve heard of in a very long time of it happens just for the Ivan wenger history alone
gambon
I disagree with you regarding letting Hoffenhein keep Reiss Nelson for another year.
I think it’s better we strike while the iron is still hot. He needs to come back to continue his development with premier league defenses.
We do not have to spend a dime to get the Winger we all talked about.
Reiss is already close to where Leroy Sane was when city bought him for 45 million in 2016. He needs to come back home in 2019.
I have to admit you were right about his talent.
Lol ofcourse Gazidis wasn’t the force behind dethroning Wenger and ushering in the new era.
The GKB( Pedro and Bamford) got it totally wrong.
This became obvious when he decided to jump ship to Milan, what a couple months into the new era?
This reuniting with Wenger at Milan is just icing on the cake as far as proof is concerned.
Gazidis was in all likelyhood pushed out of the Arsenal by the same person/group that were actually responsible for pushing out Arsene.
Kudos to whomever hero that is.
“He will be the best Milan manager since Carlo Anchelotti”
Not very difficult lol
Have a strong hate for Gazidis so I will hope it blows up in his face at AC Milan because he really is such a snide, sly and conniving snake.
However, if Wenger goes there I really will wish AC Milan all the best regardless how I feel about Gazidis.
The hedge fund guts are about short-termism
Buy a company/hijack a company
Polish the turd and sell it for a quick turn-over quickly.
It’s a lot easier to sell a club being managed by a polyglot media savvy manager like Wenger that one managed by a guttural sounding Gattuso
Unless Reiss Nelson is coming back to start (get loads of game time) next year it would be crazy to bring him back as it would devalue him if he’s not playing week in week out whilst also hindering his progression.
Maybe he will go to Leipzig when Nagelsmann’s goes there next year or a bigger club if the Sven/Unai see it as a good fit.
Anyway at least it’s exciting to see what they will do as I have a lot more confidence in the new regimes process/idea regarding our younger players.
Pedro
Regarding the rather curious gazidis/wenger dynamic, your conclusion that gazidis has hired wenger at Milan after spending years trying to get him fired at Arsenal because he’s a ‘weirdo’ doesn’t cut it at all.
If- and it’s a big if- this rumour is true, it actually offers an explanation why gazidis himself quit arsenal.
Alexanderhenry
My God you’ve got it. Gazidis wanted to keep Wenger as he was doing such a fantastic job but the all encompassing evil of the Kroneke fired Wenger and hired some idiot to replace him who’s doing a terrible job. I mean if Emery’s current record continues he’ll finish on a contemptible 80 points.
RR
I’m inclined to agree.
In the end it was probably one or both of kroenke and son.
I wouldn’t classify them as heroes though.
Stan would have had a look at the empty seats, threat of unrenewed season tickets, no champions league revenue and constant bad press and come to an obvious conclusion.
What it shows is two things:
1) The only thing that motivates kroenke is the financial bottom line.
2) This blog has about as much knowledge of the inner workings of arsenal fc as you or I.
Marc
Xhaka does have a good shot though. He strikes the ball well, technically speaking.
Graham/Bamford, I’m not having another day of you two bickering like a married couple. Keep it about the football or I’ll delete your comments. Alex, Milan hasn’t hired Wenger yet. What we do know is this: Ivan Gazidis gave Wenger his final deal. As soon as he did that, he went out and hired Raul and Sven. He sanctioned the sale of players Wenger hoarded in a brutal Jan, he let them buy in players Wenger didn’t approve of, then he fired him before the season finished. Not only that, Ivan took great pleasure in parading Emery around and made… Read more »
Stan would have had a look at the empty seats, threat of unrenewed season tickets, no champions league revenue and constant bad press and come to an obvious conclusion.
Yes. That wenger is an absolute shite manager.
Rambo No. It was Gazidis who said that the divide between the manager and the fans could not stand, it was Gazidis who said the manager would need to be a catalyst for change, and it was Gazidis who brought in a DoF (contra Wenger’s wishes) and a new head scout. It may have been Josh Kroenke who most pushed for Wenger to go, but Gazidis played a huge and important role in the re-formulation of Arsenal’s management structure. If Gazidis hires Wenger at Milan, this may show that Gazidis thinks highly of Wenger as a day-to-day manager — or… Read more »
Pedro You’ve misread my post to Graham. He and I are agreeing on what a pain in the neck Champagne Charlie is. If you read CC’s post above and review his more recent work, you’ll see what we’re talking about. And just so you know, yesterday Charlie told another poster — who called for a cessation of people calling each other the c-word — that he should stuff it and that people are free to talk to each other however they like here. Check the record if you like. Neither Graham nor I are the problem here; the problem is… Read more »
Gattuso is 4 points out of 2nd place.
Why are they looking to replace? They’ve been shit for years ( as arsenal were under wenger), why not give him until the end of the season.
It be like saying Emery had to catch man city this season or he’s out
Alexanderhenry
Fuck me not this again. Xhaka has a nice range of passing and his goal the other week was fantastic but to be classed as having a good shot you should be scoring more than 5 goals in 81 appearances. He only scored a single goal last season in the league from 38 appearances. Hitting a ball that goes wild with a lot of force is not a good shot.
Also, I’m really not sure why you keep bleating on about the Kroenke’s caring about the bottom line. We’re a business, of course that matters. We’re the 3rd highest net spenders in the league. We gave £350k a week. We blew 60m on a 28 year old striker. The club rebuilt the spine of the squad. We’ve just allowed Ramsey to leave at the end of the season. Hardly the trademark executions of an owner looking to make profit from his club. I think the long and short of it is your theory about Stan K has been pretty off… Read more »
Joe, agreed. When I read the news, I assumed Milan were having a Roma like the disaster.
Not only that, evicting one of their greatest players for a manager who has done next to fuck all for 10 years would not be a good way to ingratiate yourself with the fans.
Bamford
The post CC made yesterday about telling people to stick and calling them cunts etc is clearly taking the piss. On that comment you’ve had another in a long line of sense of humour failures, maybe it’s a difference between UK and US humour.
Arsene Wenger and Le grove …a classic love story
“Graham/Bamford, I’m not having another day of you two bickering like a married couple.”
lol
Receding
It’s clearly a case of can’t live with can’t live without.
Or just the news guys, could simply be that he’s in the news.
Pedro
Nice to see you trying to clean up this place. Many days, the comments are a running feud between a few folks. Having to scan to a non feud comment is getting tiring.
Milan hiring Wenger is bizarre. With the pedigree they have, they can have their pick of top tier coaches or continue with their stars who have earned their coaching badges. No shortage either way
Im a little irked if Wenger gets that gig. Milan are a respectable storied club. They are making a huge mistake hiring him. Oh well. lets see what he can do.
Amen Guns, this is the blog of love.
Or just the news guys, could simply be that he’s in the news.
Pedro i have no issue with you reporting it, and yes it will be beyond weird if the man credited with forcing him out turns around and hires him. That will be a story all on it’s own, frankly i do not see what Gattuso has done wrong to merit the sack
I was referring more to certain posters who start foaming in the mouth whenever Wenger is mentioned and other’s who seem to have their hearts broken all over again realizing he is gone. It’s entertaining
Pedro The best thing about your post today is the news about the Spud’s stadium. Only yesterday Matt Law did a piece in the Telegraph on what a great job Levy’s done for them. Personally I think he’s a clown, he’s hired a procession of idiot managers and you could argue he lucked out on the Poch, he’s completely fucked up the stadium project and has now pushed the Spud’s into a level of debt that make’s the hard times we had after the move look like a picnic. If the March date is true then the PL won’t allow… Read more »
“Amen Guns, this is the blog of love.”
Except to Scouser’s.
And Mancs.
Marc
Take it easy there.
I was winding you up.
And Spuds.
Paulinho “I’m more interested to see how Nelson’s all-round game is improving in terms of dribbling and driving through teams with the ball at his feet….If he still just passing it square when met with a marker then I would just leave him at Hoffenheim until he develops that aspect of his game more.” https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/reiss-nelson-interview-hoffenheim-latest-loan-arsenal-premier-league-epl-jadon-sancho-a8618296.html “I am not entirely happy with his performance,” the Hoffenheim boss noted after the Leverkusen game. He demands a lot from his side and Nelson is no exception, as could be seen by the four times that he swapped wings on Saturday afternoon. In previous… Read more »
And Chavs lol
HighburyLegend
Chelsea Chav’s or West Ham Chav’s?
Strange question… it’s obvious lol
HighburyLegend
More a case of I was going to add the other ones.
Wallace – Reading that, Nagelsman seems the perfect coach for him. Won’t let goals blind him to his overall performance. His ability one-on-one is what will ultimately dictate what level he reaches, and Nagelsman seems to have that view as well.
Loan him to Leipzig then
Shouldn’t Spuds be docked points for the stadium fiasco?
Two points for every month overdue.
Hence, 8 points to date.
Sounds fair to me.
Re; Reiss Nelson
‘Why continue to loan him when he can come back in the summer to continue his progression?
I would rather him have the role of winger in the squad than to buy another player that will block his progression at Arsenal.
He’s getting close top the level that Leroy Sane was at before he was signed by city.
Bring him home in the summer.
Re Reiss Nelson;
I have my concerns about the strength of the Bundesliga. Keeping him in Germany for another season, after this serves little purpose.
Graham
8 points to date? It was due to open in mid September that’s 2 months ago.
Reading that, Nagelsman seems the perfect coach for him. Won’t let goals blind him to his overall performance.
This from a poster who let Ramsey’s goals blind him
Marc No, actually, it’s you who have misread Champagne’s comment. He was clearly trying to say that Le Grove should remain a place where he and others can insult and verbally abuse others — including use of the c-word — and that this is not something Pedro is concerned about. Charlie suggested that Pedro is only concerned with people who go off on certain “tangents,” not with insults or abuse. Because Charlie likes to bully and verbally abuse others, he was defending his freedom to continue to do so. Anyone who re-reads his comment in context, and anyone who is… Read more »
Marc
I thought it was supposed to be ready for the start of the season.
Aug(2)Sept (2)Oct (2)Nov(2).
My mistake.
Graham
Their first scheduled match was Liverpool on the 15th September. The way they are going they will only have 6 home matches left and that’s based on moving in on the 1st.
I can’t see the PL letting them move when there’s only a few matches left of this season, might as well start from fresh next season.
Bamford
Sorry but I think CC knows how sensitive you can be and deliberately says provocative things to push your buttons.
Personally someone calls me a cunt and I have to double check whether they are a close relative.
Monaco losing at home… Henry might be jobless very soon.
Jaysus poor TH14, hoping that he doesn’t go down the G Neville path of first time management but it’s looking grim so far, 2-0 down at home to Brugge now and yet to pick up a win.
Shite team he inherited though, they completely gutted all of their talent barring Rony Lopes and Falcao who must be looking to jump ship in January.
Sidibe as well is a player.
Dissenter isn’t wrong about the Bundesliga being as weak as it’s been for a long time but even still, Nelson has done outstanding.
You;d be tempted to hook him back in Janaury wouldn’t you.
Graham I’d love to know whether the “current” £1 billion on their new stadium is actually a final number. It won’t have to go up much more to start hitting the “3 times” the cost of the Emirates. I know there’s been some inflation in construction costs but fuck me how do you go from the £380 million we paid to over a billion? We also had to buy all of the land on which the Emirates was built the Spud’s at least already owned the Shite Hart Lane land. It’ll go down as an educational guide on how not… Read more »
Belgrade look well up for this, mad how much such an intimidating atmosphere can bridge the gulf in quality.
Christ, Monaco completely tanking here, 3-0 down after 25 mins.
Paulinho
“His ability one-on-one is what will ultimately dictate what level he reaches, and Nagelsman seems to have that view as well.”
yeah, agree. would be nice if he develops into the kind of wide player who scores 15 a season, but the dribbling & chance creating is the main thing.
What a strike, oh my days.
Liverpool 2-0 down
I owe Charlie an apology, we should have battered the over rated pretenders
Such an ordinary team
He might not be playing well at the moment but even a half-arsed Firmino is much better than the corpse of Daniel Sturridge wandering around up there.
What was Allison doing so far off his line for that second goal
WE: “Shite team he inherited though, they completely gutted all of their talent barring Rony Lopes and Falcao who must be looking to jump ship in January.” It’s a team that have spent €602m/£530m in the last 6 years. That’s 100m euro a season. Yes, they’ve sold so many players but they’ve spent £110m this summer. That’s a lot man. They bought players like Golovin and Chadli. They are above average level of players. Absolutely no reason for their team to be in the relegation zone if you look at their players. Yes, they shouldn’t replicate their previous seasons, but… Read more »
Wow that result could completely open up Liverpool’s CL group. A win and they’re almost through this really puts them under pressure.
I, for one, am very happy for that nice Mr. Wenger, and am pleased he has at last found something useful to do with his time. My one concern is that he won’t have much opportunity to wear his cosy parka-anorak and be able to fiddle with the zip in that Lionel blanket way of his. Perhaps he should petition Armani to create a smart onesie suit with a zip up front.
Receding – As I’ve said to you before, you not seeing what Ramsey does apart from scoring goals, is your problem, and a reflection of your lack of understanding of the game.
Still yet to see you make a post that isn’t some attempted smart-arse response to someone else’s, say attempted because you end up just exposing even more how clueless you are. Fitting irony.
I agree with what Paulinho said regards Nelson.
He has always seemed hesitant to dominate in 1v1s since he left reserve football, where he was a constant threat.
The goals are great, but not sustainable at his current rate.
The question is what is he going to start doing when his purple patch ends.
Wenger to Milan is a joke
Both Wenger and Gazidis are useless so they will protect each other just as they did at Arsenal
LolZ liverpool.
Lol GuNZ
raptora Leicester sold one player in Kante, obviously a huge player for them but that’s marginal compared to Monaco who sold M’Bappe, Bernardo Silva, Mendy and Bakayoko in the first summer and then Lemar, Fabinho, Keita Balde, Jorge and Moutinho this summer. I know that Mahrez was sold this summer as well as Drinkwater last summer but still, drastically less than Monaco’s departures. Somewhat agree that even with their current team they should be doing better but imagine what losing all of those players so rapidly does to morale along with their gaffer. Chadli is bang average as well, Golovin… Read more »
Same question could be put to Jadon Sancho.
People getting giddy looking at his assist stats, he’s not actually creating that many chances is the thing, Dortmund are just going through their hottest run of goalscoring form possibly ever atm and are converting half chances into goals.
Again, not sustainable.
WE – Was thinking that about Sancho as well. How well is he actually doing in general play?
A lot of assists remind me of the ridiculously straightforward goals Aubameyang scored from a Mikhi assist which supposedly showed what a great understanding they had. Lot of counter attack situations and sub appearances against tired legs. Haven’t watched him though, so maybe he is being a menace in general play.
Paulinho Haven’t watched enough of him to honestly give you a proper answer, seen him maybe five-six times this season. He looks a really clever player in the final third but he doesn’t look particularly quick or dynamic in individual battles. Attributes that are harder to improve upon than goals/assists which is why you generally look for the former if you’re assessing the potential of young wide players. Pulisic for my money has a higher ceiling as a wide forward but I reckon that Sancho morphs into a number 10 and plays in a more central role where he’ll be… Read more »
I have always maintained TH14 as a manager,would bomb.He’s an egocentric.It’s about him and him only.Never warmed to him,cutting his teeth as a manager. During his last years at Arsenal,I saw first hand at the Emirates,how he bullied and shouted at the younger players.Was cringeworthy to be honest. Whereas PV4 seems to have the patience,has bided his time,cut his teeth and seems to have man management skills,along with other prerequisite qualities one would need to be considered as a noteworthy manager. Was just a question of time,before the penny dropped on TH14’s sojourn into the heady world of football management.A… Read more »
Liverpool badly need the Ox back in their midfield. Wijnaldum and Milner pair is painfully pedestrian.
Would be a shocking result for Liverpool, just went from group winner favourites to potential Thursday nights.
Pool still have time for goals. However I’d like all of the English teams to go through the group stages. Our chances of winning Europa wound drastically lower if say Manure or Pool join the tourney.
Why the hell would Liverpool need a player back who would manage a 15 minute cameo, 30 minutes looking better followed by 50 minutes then oh fuck he’s injured again and out for “insert months here”
Yeah loved Henry to death but he was never one to inspire confidence in his younger peers namely Reyes and Hleb.
WE – He physically seems a bit odd. Almost a midget version of Troy Deeney in terms having to battle keep slim and sharp enough off the mark to dribble one-on-one and go on the outside. I noticed the relative lack of pace as well, which is weird because it seems to be one of his strengths going by other reports. As you said, he’s quick in the mind so maybe that will set him apart.
“A great player doesn’t always translate into a great or even a good manager.”
It’s often the exact opposite.
The only two people worried about coming across as knowledgeable on here is you Paulinho and Bamford.
My understanding of the game is just fine thanks. Yours on the other hand is just a pretentious attempt to appear different and well informed.. Keep it up though, its entertaining
Henry doing a Gary Neville there in Monaco..
Next arsenal manager!?
Marc
It doesn’t seem to come as naturally to the players that were on the elite spectrum all right, probably because so much of what they did successfully as players came down to superior natural talent and instinct so they didn’t need to be as introspective and think about the game as much.
Yawn, you’ve already said that about three times. Change the record.
WE
I also think “top” players seem to think going through the lower leagues and learning you trade is beneath them. They can’t deal with technically inferior players but don’t have the nous to go toe to toe with established managers.
Gary Neville talks more sense than any other Sky pundit but crashed and burned when he tried management. Should be a lesson to all, talking a good game is easy, pointing out other’s faults with no consequences is easy and being number 2 to a great manager doesn’t mean you’re ready to sit in the big chair.
Marc
I am merely talking about Ox footballing attributes, of course his injury woes are a big problem for Pool. But you look at this Liverpool team and can’t help but think they could do with some dynamism and drive through the middle. Milner and Wijnaldum make.regulation 5 yards passes, that’s all. I think Liverpool looked the best when Ox was starting for them. Have never looked the same team since he’s been out.