Pet peeve of mine. Ex-players talking about how they got shit-faced before a game then scored a hattrick. Nice one. You were reckless. Your career never blew up because of it. Not sure you should be celebrating that.
Secondly. Seems like the comments section of Le Grove has turned austere in times of plenty. No one seems to fancy Dembele, preferring to invest in a creaking squad. I have to say, as much as I love the French international, spanking out £100m on one player at the minute feels a touch luxurious. We really do have very serious issues that are going to be exposed like a loose plaster trying to cover an axe wound.
Still, it is nice to see the club addressing the issues, well, if the rumours are to be true.
Pepe of Lille seems like a very hot target, and at £40m, could be a shrewd purchase. Sarr of Rennes has also been linked, could be electric if he carries on honing his craft. No doubt other clubs will be into him, like Chelsea, but we are a draw now, no doubt. We’re looking at Ramires (pictured above) from Brazil who is a center midfielder who can get about the pitch. he’s only made 11 appearances, but he’s bossed them, scored some good goals and it looks like Sven is prepared to take a risk and strike early. I LOVE that we’re trying to be a more elite Dortmund. There are also tender links to Emerson, a young Brazilian right back.
Great thing these days is this… if it looks like a hole, affects your team like a hole, it’s probably a hole in the squad the club will address within one window.
In other sexy news… Aaron Ramsey… the best Welshman in the world.. has apparently made a decision. BAYERN MUNICH. That’d be a great move for him. Germany is a wonderful country, Bayern is a huge team, they’d find a way of making him work in their setup. Well, I hope so anyway. One thing you can be sure of, he won’t be making £300k a week there… but he’ll probably win the league and be mighty well off regardless.
In Chelsea news, this BOMBSHELL dropped.
According to documents obtained by Football Leaks, and published on Thursday by the Danish newspaper Politiken, Chelsea employed Sten Christensen as an overseas scout on the same day they signed his son, Andreas, from Brondby in 2012.
Alleged copies of Chelsea’s consultancy agreements, published by Politiken, state that Sten started working for the London club on July 1 2012, the same day as his son, and was paid £11,400 per month plus VAT for four years – a total of £656,640 – while he was still working for Brondby as a goalkeeping coach.
Oh my, Chelsea, what have you done? It gets worse…
‘The Football Leaks documents also claim Manchester City, another of the five Premier League clubs under investigation by Fifa’
Now, I think we can safely assume Arsenal are not one of the clubs. I heard from a good source that we missed out on M’Bappe because we wouldn’t pay his family a chunk of cash to move to us. The big question here is this: What are FIFA going to do?
There’s talk of 2-year transfer bans. Can you imagine? It’d be unreal to watch Pep and the Manchester monstrosity function without adding six £70m players every transfer window. I mean, they’d be fine, but still, someone needs to get a grip of football.
The game is slipping away from the fans. No one has stepped in to stop blood money washing into the Premier League. No one has stopped Manchester City flagrantly break the rules. No one stopped Qatar even when it became clear they bribed their way to the World Cup.
Who and what is going to get in the way when a group of 16 or so clubs decide European football can operate like the NFL? No relegation. No way to creep into the league. I’d be appalled. As nice as it is to play great teams every week, I have a deep affection for the football of my own country. I love the rough and tumble of the league, I love the office rivalries, I love the away days I don’t go to any more.
My one hope if the Super League comes to fruition is that the fans absolutely reject it.
Football fans held captive by their bond. Shit kick-off times, expensive shirts, tickets, pies and beers… but there is always a limit to the love. I think destroying the domestic game is a gross misunderstanding of what makes football great. I’d love to see the greed punished
Big up Matty G for dropping a masterclass for France U21.
Big up the Premier League for voting in VAR next season. The masochists will be upset. Must be horrible knowing the chances of your weekend being ruined by a bad result just dropped by about 90%.
Before I go, a quick productivity tip. I was burning 4 hours a day on my mobile phone. I ditched all the apps consuming my life (remember, I work on the internet and social media is my livelihood), and it’s been great. The time I’ve wasted online gets funneled into things like reading, creating and socialising. My head feels free when I’m not thinking about those sexy, radiant, moreish red alerts on my phone. Highly recommended. Though it was sad today when all I wanted to do was post an Instagram story of the snow with the caption ‘Happy SnowYay.’
ALSO, BIG branches from four trees fell down on my road today and someone was killed by a falling tree outside a pal’s apartment. Be careful people, trees ain’t what they used to be.
Right, that’s me done. Check out my solo podcast. The reviews were pretty good. Moving forward, I think there’s no need to go a week without dropping some dirty self-aggrandising opinions.
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@gonsterous. You make perfect sense to me as does Graham 62 and a host of others regarding Wenger. Pierre has some strange personal issues I feel. To support a memory of a clearly failing manager in his last 5 years is pathetic. Loyalty needs to tempered with reality. And sentimentality in football has to be sensible and worthy. It’s interesting to read DB10s autobiography…… He never needed a manager, Dennis would know how to train and how to play….perfect match for a peripheral hands-off manager like Wenger. So both benefitted, and of course with a brilliant genius like Dennis, success… Read more »
Gonsterous
We have Tony talking about periods and bleeding once a month and you ask me how old I am for saying “you’d better start praying ,that’s all I can say “.
Stroller , There has been improvements in some areas ,away form much better ,midfield more compact and disciplined, keeper is doing ok atm but at the same time ,the home form and performances are not as good , the defence is showing no real improvement despite conceding fewer goals as confirms in our most recent games v wolves and palace …plus our creative players have not looked that good , full backs too advanced . Emery needs to have players like Aubamayang,ozil and Mhkitaryan on his side …. Off field they are all saying the right things but onfield they… Read more »
Pierre
I was talking about your whole post regarding Tony and his child. Came off as immature and I don’t believe you are anything over 35 years of age , intellectually speaking.
Talking disparagingly about someone else’s kid is utterly contemptible. Pierre’s repeated proclamations of being a 60 year old man or sinking a hole-in-one last week on the golf course are just about tolerable, albeit clothed in insecurity, but this is a new low.
The “strategy” at Arsenal Football Club while Arsene Wenger was manager was determined by one man and one man alone: Arsene Wenger. Stan Kroenke had nothing to do with it. He owned the club and trusted in Wenger and his vision. End of. As Chairman Chips Keswick said in 2014: “It’s not my place to double-guess Arsene’s intentions. We back Arsene when he has a plan. We stay quiet when he doesn’t.” It was all Arsene Wenger. And he had plenty of money to spend from 2011 on. Kroenke never limited what Wenger could do in the market and never… Read more »
Oh watch out, Banfords making statements and signing them off with “end of”. That’s that then.
Brought to you by the very same plank that talks as if he’s present at meetings amongst the board of directors. Remember in the summer when it was the outline Arsenal had for Ramsey under Emery?
Fly on the wall this one, no opinions, straight facts. End of.
Champagne
You mean when I and others cited newspaper articles about those meetings? Great argument, guy. No one was claiming to be “a fly on the wall”.
You’re just frustrated because everyone knows it was all on Wenger and you can do nothing to change this.
Pierre “Pedro I agree that during this decade our spending has increased and the quality of the player brought in haven’t been up to standard which ,or course ,is down to one man .” Well I’ll be… you do have it in you haha. Jokes aside, I do see your point about Wenger building expectation with his early teams such as the invincibles. I am 26, so I have only known the arsenal for essentially only Wenger’s reign. I do like yours and others old school perspectives. But I think it comes down to a lot more than just the… Read more »
Banford Why is your stock response to drag others into it as a way of ‘supporting’ your POV? It doesn’t work, like at all. You spoke as if it were fact, it was a reported meeting of a reported idea. Which isn’t how you represented it at all, you reimagined it as evidence of Ramsey being central to Emery’s plans. How’s that working out? Oh further example of you proclaiming what others say/feel, there’s no surprise. I’m frustrated? More like you’re desperate to kick everything under the Wenger carpet because it’s dead convenient and fits your villain of the piece… Read more »
CA, Gambon and CC.
I am totally with you that our club is trying to be the gap between the bvbs of the footballing world and the city’s.
That is what I am most excited about with all the new changes. We are actually going to be pragmatic and forward thinking in our approach to the team and transfers, as it’s not just up to one man.
I couldn’t be more excited about the future as a fan of this club.
And by the way, nothing has happened this season that contradicts those reports. Emery started Ramsey as the advanced CM throughout the early part of the season. That Sanllehi et. al. have since decided we’d be better off not re-signing Ramsey at big wages in no way disproves that Emery came in saying Ramsey and Aubameyang were central to his plans.
Xhaka has made more mistakes leading to opposition goals than any player in the PL. This includes, of course, his gaffe against Wolves.
While Ramsey has his issues, might we be better off starting him or Guendouzi next to Torreira rather than Xhaka?
Goober
It’s a space we should occupy given our resources and potential, whether we do is still the million dollar question. A question that will tell a lot more about our new staff appointments as the months progress. To make that space our own would be very exciting as you say, so fingers crossed.
Banford
Xhaka has established himself as the best option with Torreira, Ramsey has established himself as surplus, and Guendouzi as exciting but raw. Xhaka and Torreira totally dominated the Liverpool side you wax lyrical about, Ramsey couldn’t shine against Sporting or Blackpool.
Bamford
Still early for Guendouzi. Promising young player, but he’s inconsistent. His awareness off the ball is not there yet Can see him being in our PL XI when things get hectic during Christmas period.
Your Comment Here
Ramsey’s gone. And in mediocre form. Not sure he’d add much, even in replacing Xhaka.
I’d be rotating AMN and Guendouzi to play along side Torreira. Elneny in the cup games, although he needs to be replaced too.
We still need a RB to challenge Bellerin, a LB (or two), a CB (or two), and a winger (frankly, one for each flank). Big summer clear-out needed, and some top-notch recruitment. It’s a tall order. We could really use the CL money next season.
I would not mind seeing a 3 man midfield at some point of Guendouzi, Torreria and Maitland Niles.
I actually think a 4-3-3/4-5-1 might suit this team better with Torreira, Guendouzi and Xhaka in the midfield. The type of CAMs we have are just relics in modern football now anyway.
How long is it going to take for people to accept the fact that Xhaka isn’t going any where?
He’s won the respect of his manager and has improved relative to last season.
Like CC stated, the Torriera-Xhaka pairing has been the most productive so far.
Does it mean he doesn’t have a clanger in him?
Nope he’s still errors prone but he does have his positive attributes.
The expensive signings United and Liverpool made this summer, (Fred and Fabhino) aren’t doing that much better.
If you want to see what an overhyped CM looks like, go check out Bakayoko.
If only Ozil could dig deep when the going gets tough. We need a warrior as our 10 not a sook.
Here’s a summary of Ornstein’s interview with Arseblog on the podcast y’day from Reddit. Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson have both been doing extremely well in the Bundesliga at the moment. Sancho winning the Bundesliga Player-of-the-Month award and Nelson winning the Rookie-of-the-Month award too. The young crop of players have been enjoying a huge amount of success at youth level for their countries, which has sparked a debate between players and their agents surrounding game-time. The stakes are a little too high for young players to be given the chance at Premier League level, so… Read more »
Danny Welbeck There have been some informal discussions regarding Welbeck’s contract, but only if the numbers are right for both parties. Their contract offer will not be sentimental, but Welbeck is very highly regarded at Arsenal. As for Danny Welbeck himself, he hasn’t indicated too much regarding a new contract, so Ornstein is unable to say whether or not Welbeck will sign a new deal, but Welbeck is a very wise person, he is represented by his two brothers, both of whom are incredibly smart and everyone is aware of Welbeck’s situation and reality. There is a will to give… Read more »
The thing is we don’t need a No.10, they don’t really exist anymore in the pure form Ozil insists upon.
I’ve said it before but as long as we persist with Ozil as a central part of our starting 11 then there is a definite ceiling to our potential successes.
Xhaka’s contract doesn’t end until June 2023.. His transfer value on transfer market is just about the same as the fee we paid for him.
It’s not ideal but there are bigger priorities in the squad.
Xhaka with all his obvious weaknesses is here to stay.
The New Backroom Staff There was a very big change of attitude and atmosphere around Arsenal since results have picked up. Raul Sanllehí and Vinai Venkatesham are both full of energy, smiles and laughter, so the energy seems positive at the moment and very relaxed. We saw Ivan Gazidis when Unai Emery was announced and when Arsène Wenger stepped down from his position, we had barely seen Gazidis before then. Gazidis was very scarred by the criticism levelled at him during his tenure at Arsenal, with famous quotes about being able to compete with Bayern Munich and “catalyst for change”… Read more »
Stan Kroenke, KSE and the Budget Arsenal’s budget is restricted, owing to the lack of Champions League football and the club’s urge to pursue a self-sustaining model. The club is very unlikely to spend in January, not definitely, but certainly, there isn’t a great deal of money available and there wasn’t huge amounts last summer. The question for the American owners is “Will they inject some of their own money for the odd singing?”, especially for exceptional cases. As for the recruitment side of things, if Arsenal feels that they can sign a world-class player, they will present their findings… Read more »
I really wish it was xhaka that was our only problem on the pitch. But like a few have said, he hasn’t been playing as bad as his first 2 seasons ( thanks to a proper partner), and we have way bigger fishes to fry in terms of replacing players in the squad. Namely lb cb and winger, and they should all be plural if we are honest. But then he is definitely next on the chopping block.
I’ve read similar things, that Bukayo Saka is our standout young talent along with Nelson.
Another wide player I believe, which could mean in the future we go from none to a nice crop of wingers.
This is going to be controversial and appear silly but it will be a massive coup if we convince Welbeck to resign on a reasonable wage.
He’s been a good third striker and we can make some money at the end of the deal, if he decides to leave in a year’s time because of a lack of playing time.
It’s difficult to get international players who are happy to be number three in the pecking order.
We may not even need to spend that much money on a winger next summer if Reiss Neslson keeps his form and continues to improve.
He has all the attributes of a proper winger and Wenger did play him as a wingback last season so his defensive know-how can’t be that bad.
I’d like Xhaka to do well, but it’s really hard to ignore all the mistakes leading to goals.
He and Torreira are our best central midfield pairing, though. But I think we can and should do better next season. Guendouzi and AMN are raw, as has been said, and perhaps not yet ready to be starting loads of games.
Diss, Xhaka is easily replaceable, yet is one of the few in the team with a chance of receiving a good transfer offer. I see him gone within the next two summers. CA, Ozil is certainly not the best option for an Emery system. But it will be interesting to see how Emery goes about playing him over the season. His contract nearly warrants playing him, which is a shocking way to look at the situatuon, but his form is just all over the place. I have liked seeing him subbed early and benched so far though. Maybe Emery can… Read more »
Jamie
“I’d like Xhaka to do well, but it’s really hard to ignore all the mistakes leading to goals”
Very well…mistakes are part of the game. I’m not trying to excuse Xhaka by any means he deserves all thefp flak coming his way.
What about the sitters that the strikers miss all the time.
Auba has cost us more points that Xhaka this season with all the chances he misses in from of goal…when you adjust expectations for what we thought we were getting.
dream
thanx for all the copy and paste…
Dissenter
The question was about whether Xhaka should be in the XI going forward, not whether he should be in the squad.
And it looks like most people agree with me in thinking that while he may be our best available option at the moment, he probably shouldn’t be in the starting XI next season.
Dissenter – Sure, strikers miss chances too. It’s sort of a false equivalence though. The fact that Xhaka makes [apparently the most in the PL] critical errors which lead to goals isn’t countered by strikers also missing chances, in my view. They’re two separate issues. I agree that Xhaka isn’t going anywhere until the summer at the earliest, but I think we can be doing better than a player who seemingly can’t iron out the brain farts from his game. Like I said, I’d like him to improve, though I’m not sure he’ll reach the level we need to compete… Read more »
Dissenter is bang on re:Xhaka, and arguing against it is arguing against what’s plainly laid out for all to see. Emery rates him, he’s a mainstay, he’s been a positive contributor to the season despite the same names trying to reduce him to a mistake. I’ll say what I’ve said all along when the pitchforks are out for him, when Arsenal’s biggest issue is Xhaka not being good enough we’ll be in a good place. Rate him, hate him, he’s not on even on the first page when considering players to replace. – Elneny – Chambers – Monreal (age) –… Read more »
Champagne
No mate, Torriera dominated Liverpool, Xhaka was a passenger
CC
You’re completely wrong re Xhaka for one simple reason, outside of Monreal none of your list are first choice starters and 2 of them are out of contract in the summer so aren’t even worth talking about. Jenks will go when his contract runs out and Chambers will be sold in the summer as will Elneny. Kos will most likely be allowed to leave on a free in the summer.
Xhaka on the other hand will continue stinking the place out unless we replace him.
CC –
I’d add Mustafi and Cech to that list too.
Yeah, the question was whether Xhaka should be in the starting XI going forward, not whether he should be in the squad, so Charlie’s point above is irrelevant. Of course there are other players we need to improve upon, but none of the players he mentions, save Monreal, is in the starting XI, so they are all a completely different matter. As for Elneny, I find it funny that certain people are always harping on this guy. He’s not in the starting XI and he hardly ever plays. Improving on this or that squad player is not what is going… Read more »
gonestrous – no problem, anytime
Bamford
Xhaka is the type of player who is not a squad guy imo. You either play him or sell.
Favre at Dortmund is a big fan, reckon Serie A clubs would want him as well
Xhaka’s not even a squad player let alone first team material.
He’s useless , careless and hopeless., Fulham wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole which tells you everything you need to know about him..
Bamford
It’s strange that someone actually thinks the way to improve us is to replace a player who’s made 0 appearances in the PL this season and has been pushed down the CM pecking order by AMN and Guendozi so isn’t likely to making any sort of meaningful contribution unless we have a catastrophic run of injuries.
Xhaka, careless…at times . Hopeless, useless…..trolling.
Marc, maybe the thinking is that if you get rid of the weaker members (who are overpaid considering their contribution) of the squad and replace them with first team starters ( and promote the odd youngster), then the squad will become appreciably stronger. Or is that too obvious?
Trolls are those who forgive Xhaka’s inept performances
Bob
Is it too obvious to think that maybe we can get rid of both of them? We don’t have to pick one or the other but personally my priority is to deal with the guy who’s making mistakes and costing us goals.
Marc/Banford
Is it such a foreign concept to make your weakest link stronger?
If you replace Elneny with someone mustard, Xhaka gets relegated to the bench. Then our “worst” CM goes from Elneny to Xhaka.
How has replacing Giroud with Aubameyang gone for us? Giroud was first XI, and we “upgraded”. How much better would we be if we’d kept Giroud and spent 56 mil to replace Chambers, putting Mustafi on the bench?
Whoever scouted Mustafi, Xhaka and Kolasinac needs shooting.
The three stooges are an embarrassement…
Redruth, in your life outside blogging , do we assume you are a hard taskmaster who sets high standards for yourself and those who work with you/ for you?
I imagine you must be somewhat unforgiving as a workmate. Leaving the milk outside the fridge, for example, you must make your fellow workers nervous wrecks with your ferocity. You should be leading the Brexit talks, those EU negotiators would be so fearful of antagonising you, we’d probably get ‘our cake and be able to eat it’.
CC Your having the wrong argument, no one is saying Elneny shouldn’t be upgraded but Elneny isn’t getting anywhere near the first team at the moment – I mean has he even made the bench for a league match this season? I think 99.9% of people on here would be amazed if Elneny was still an Arsenal player next season and hopefully he’ll generate some money. The issue at the moment is one of our first choice starting CM’s is nowhere near good enough. You’re worrying how much the waters going to cost rather than putting the fire that’s burning… Read more »
Marc, replace your worst players with better players, is that simple enough for you?
Bob
Are you that fucking stupid? Go back and look at some of the squad players Fergie had at Utd who won multiple league titles some of those players were worse than useless.
Yes we all won’t the quality of players improved but Elneny is currently not even an after thought, he’ll go by next summer and we’ll bring in further first team starters and young promising players like Guendozi. Why are you so focused on a guy who is not a problem and ignoring one who is.
Marc, not sure why you are getting so worked up. The principle of improving the squad is a straightforward concept. I’m not the slightest bit focussed on Emery, that may well be your issue.
Bob
The original conversation was “is Xhaka good enough or should he be replaced” CC then turned that into “there are other players to replace first” which included Elneny.
My point is the list of 7 players CC mentioned are already effectively gone / will be gone. Xhaka at the current time is a first choice player – do you think Xhaka should be replaced in the summer yes or no?
Marc, I would be very happy if we were able to upgrade Xhaka in the Summer. Do I think that it is likely to happen, I’m not so sure. Maybe with our new, seemingly top class people behind the scenes, we can get some serious sorting out of our squad in the summer. We can all name 6/7 players we’d be happy to get off the payroll. With three or so incoming players ready to challenge for the first team and the promotion of a couple of youngsters, our squad will show real improvement. I’m not sure though Xhaka is… Read more »
Bob
There we go and I agree I’d like to upgrade on Xhaka although I’m not sure whether it will happen this summer. Maybe Guendozi will solve the issue by locking down Xhaka’s position as his own and Xhaka will look to move on.
I’ve a feeling that Guendouzi wouldn’t be the catalyst to get Xhaka moving; more likely the prospect of a top class CM incoming, would encourage Xhaka and his agent to find a different club.
How many years has Xhaka got on his contract? This will obviously influence the decision of when to sell him.
Marc
It’s a matter of strategy, not the backward logic you’re trying to invent to undermine.
If you replace Elneny with a player capable of playing in the first XI then it solves the idea that Xhaka isn’t good enough to start. But it also solves the nothing player with zero appearances picking up 60k as backup, instead it’s now Xhaka who has proven his use to us miles more than Elneny.
Your version replaces Xhaka, but we still have Elneny kicking about offering absolutely nothing to the team. Explain how that’s superior reasoning?
Emery certainly appears to appreciate Xhaka’s range of passing and his ability to help us in possession. Xhaka is a good passer of the ball when not under pressure. But the way Emery has his team play means it seems as if all the central midfield players need to be multi-talented and have a huge work rate and good mobility. I think this will mean very one dimensional players like Xhaka and more so Ozil will slowly be phased out of the team over the next year or so. The links to central midfield players seem to suggest that as… Read more »
Looking forward to the Italy – Portugal match tonight with a few cans of Guinness
CC I’ve said several times Elneny will be gone he’s not getting close to a sniff, this is about Xhaka not 3rd string squad players. It’ strange that you accuse me of inventing backwards logic when the list of players you put up earlier that need to be moved on had two players who’s contracts run out in the summer so will be gone whatever, a player put out on loan as he’s surplus to requirements / not good enough, two players who have been solid but are coming to the end of their time with us – Monreal’s contract… Read more »
Cesc
Think Xhaka would do well in Italy, slower pace to the play and would suit him. If we’re eying any talent in Serie A we should use him in a part exchange.
CA, I think that you are spot on with your analysis. Xhaka is a great passer but limited defensively. The way we are set up we need multi faceted players in CM. Torreira fits the bill and with experience possibly Guendouzi and AMN. Ozil and Xhaka would appear to have a ‘sell by date’! Ozil is fine if you’re a top 2 team, otherwise he appears to be a ‘luxury’ player.
“It’ strange that you accuse me of inventing backwards logic when the list of players you put up earlier that need to be moved on had two players who’s contracts run out in the summer so will be gone whatever” What’s backward about that? They’ll be gone, but quite evidently need replacing which demands resources does it not? I named those players because one way or another they are of greater concern than a guy who positively impacts the first XI. I mean there’s already dispute about Guendouzi being a better option than Xhaka alongside Torreira, so why the fuss… Read more »
CC “We have Laca, Auba, and Welbz as strikers. Is it ‘better’ (in terms of gathering talent) to get rid of Auba for Aguero, or Welbz for Griezmann?” You live in a fantasy land, we’re already trying to shoehorn 2 quality strikers into the team and your talking about bringing more in or swapping one for another. Welbeck is already gone and we will need to bring another body into the squad – this is a difficult one as we need a winger but will no longer any strikers who offer a physical presence. If you’re trying to make the… Read more »
Thank you HillWood for your post celebrating the simple pleasures of life: good antidote to some of the stuff going on here today
Bob N16 I agree. At the moment Torreira is the only Emery type of midfield player in terms of great off the ball and good on the ball, a top level work rate and good mobility. To compliment him you want someone good off the ball and great on the ball, the same work rate and the same or better mobility. That could well be Guendouzi but he is still 19, though I do think we have a potential superstar player there and I’m glad to read people at the club are very happy and smug about our find there.… Read more »
Marc I don’t have an issue, I simply disagree at the strategy. I’ve outlined why, explained why further, and still you haven’t once debated or addressed what I’ve actually said. Just made ponderous and glib remarks because you see one way only and want to damn every other offering. Bob n16 understood instantly what approach I was advocating, it wasn’t complex or a reinvention of the wheel. I think Arsenal’s transfer strategy should be to identify the weakest members of the squad and improve them to a level where they challenge the first XI. Groundbreaking and backward stuff apparently. Think… Read more »
Cesc I’m not sure Xhaka would settle for being a squad player when you have a replacement, Guendozi and AMN in competition. There would also be an issue of is he a good option off the bench? Personally I think his issues make him the last player to bring off the bench, you’re chasing a game and need someone to make an impact he’s too slow and fucks up under a press alternatively you’re a goal up and want to see the match out, last thing I want to see is someone who is likely to make a mistake leading… Read more »
CC Your strategy is so obvious that everyone moved instantly past it. You seem to be positioning yourself as having made an intelligent point but then list players who are irrelevant. I’ll spell it out nice and simple. Kos – Contracted till the summer of 2020 but will likely be allowed to leave in the summer on a free or for a nominal sum. Ramsey – Leaving on a free in the summer unless SAS can pull off a miracle and get a fee in Jan. Welbeck – Leaving on a free in the summer. Monreal – Good solid player… Read more »
Antidote
My pleasure
Hope it’s better viewing than Strictly
Even Albania v Scotland would be better viewing than Strictly
Antidote
As someone who avoids all of the “Britain’s Strictly got a bunch of useless fucker’s who should all hang – on ice” programs like the plague I’ve got to say I can’t imagine watching anything worse than Albania vs Scotland.
Marc
The topic is dead with you, you’re totally oblivious to anything but your own noise.
I look forward to the summer where we’re going to see circa 10 players replaced, just the half a squad then according to you. Brilliant
CC
What do you see happening in the summer? Your listed the 7 players what do you think is going to happen with them? I’ve only suggested moving on one other player although Mustafi could easily find himself slipping down the pecking order as well.
Replacing players who don’t feature isn’t major surgery
Marc
I’m not clairvoyant, this is a new Arsenal era so our approach is very much questionable until laid bare.
I’ve told you what my approach would be to the squad and you’ve spent your time belittling it because it’s not what you’d do. As you were on it, I told you it’s a dead topic at this point.
CC
I’m not belittling the general idea I’m pointing out that the list of players you posted as something that needed to be dealt with has already happened, you just haven’t experienced it yet.
I’m excited by what we’re seeing at the moment and I think the Arsenal team in a couple of years will look very very different from what we see today.
Cant’ you accept that?
Marc I mean if I could trade out Xhaka for someone like Partey and improve the CAM position as well I would. I really think our midfield as held us back for years as being totally unbalanced. I think when you have a three of Torreira, Xhaka and Ozil two of the three have strengths but also glaring issues which you just can’t have. Only one of them is a well rounded player and it’s pretty damning for the other two that Torreira is already way more important to our midfield than the other two. Partey, Torreira, Havertz would be… Read more »
Cesc We definitely need to strengthen the base of MF, another Torreira would be perfect can defend, is mobile, moves the ball quickly and can get forward. Would resemble the Petit / Vieira MF we had. I think we’re stuck with Ozil for the time being but it will be interesting to see how Sanllehi approaches the situation. He’ll be down to 2 years left on his contract in the summer and he’s 30. The thing I struggle with is Mikki – he’s good player and played wide for Dortmund but just doesn’t seem to click for us – it’s… Read more »
“I’m excited by what we’re seeing at the moment and I think the Arsenal team in a couple of years will look very very different from what we see today. Cant’ you accept that?” What are you talking about? This entire discussion has been about transfer strategy, why are you now trying to make out I’m somehow against your good feeling towards a refreshed Arsenal? I’ve explained my POV about three times already, you are fixated in replacing players currently in the first XI and I’m not. Can’t you accept that? You want Xhaka replaced, I’d rather see Elneny replaced… Read more »
Marc
That has been my worry since the new contract.
If we’re stuck with him there is a serious limit to what we can achieve. The only plus is that everyone at the club is under intense scrutiny so I cannot see them tolerating a player who turns up for about a quarter of the season, regardless of his commercial benefit.
CC You really are dense. I’ve said repeatedly that Elneny and Chambers will be sold in the summer. Jenks we’re stuck with and Welbeck is already off, if we were going to offer Monreal a new contract something I wouldn’t be adverse to we would have done it by now. The major difference is you want to relegate Xhaka to the bench and replace him with Elneny’s replacement. I know that Elneny’s replacement is AMN or Guendozi and getting rid of a £60k per week back up player for a £100k per week player is fucking moronic. I also don’t… Read more »
HillWood
Hope the Guinness compensated for that match
Wtf….. Hell no CC
I’m very well onboard with your last statement….
You killed it…. Anyone opposing otherwise should be taken out the back door of le-grove and binned off…
Why don’t sell elneny and bring a xhaka upgrade… Xhaka becomes squad player and helps us see out cup competition’s while the young lads learn a few passing tricks from him…. Then sell xhaka by next two season and promote guendouzi and ESR to battle it out for starting spot….
Just hope Emery manages to read all our lovely comments on le-fucking-grove….
Watched bits of the Brazil v Uruguay game last night. My god, Torreira is a pocket dynamo. He reads the game so well and, despite his stature, is capable of putting his foot in when needed.
A real gem of a player that, thankfully, plays for Arsenal FC.
Yeah what we really need a player on the bench who regularly makes error’s that lead to us conceding goals.
Get rid of both of Xhaka and Elneny – AMN and Guendozi are both ready and good enough to be cover.
Graham
Didn’t see that match but agree 100% on Torreira.
I think Sven earnt his Christmas bonus on that signing alone.
Sorry to intrude…. But someone should please enlighten me…. Marc…. Please, who the f**k are you???? Stop been too clever, by using the word…. I know…… If you ain’t an insider in the Emirates, then you are a clown trying to impose your half baked thoughts on everyone thinking you know it all…… Wtf… How do you expect to sell xhaka without actually having a tested and trusted player in place of him…. Would you rather sell xhaka and elneny by the coming summer, bring in your xhaka replacement, and then realise that your xhaka replacement is not up to… Read more »
Marc Where do you get off calling anyone dense? You’ve spent a whole evening all but unaware of what pov I’ve actually been for. You’re conflating matters talking from a players perspective, if Xhaka doesnt want to compete, or feels he’s above being benched, then his sale can be expedited. It’s one of the various unknowns I alluded to. But back on topic, it’s a matter of opinion which strategy to pursue and your continued jabs are fucking boring. Kindly explain what’s moronic about having a backup in Xhaka on 90k per week (who actually participates and offers an option… Read more »
Ddkingz
Who the fuck am I? I’m a season ticket holder who goes to matches. Who the fuck are you?
Also I don’t understand half of what you say it’s in English but makes no sense.
“Stop been too clever, by using the word…. I know……” What the fuck does that mean?
CC We need to break this down to 2 separate points. First – I’m all for selling Elneny he currently offers nothing to the squad. Can we agree on that? Second – This assumes we can agree on the first point – I don’t want Xhaka anywhere near the squad he’s a fucking liability and would be worse coming from the bench. Let’s sell both – if we can get £10 million for Elneny we should be able to get £20 million for Xhaka that’s £30 million towards your player of considerable talent. What’s the problem with that other than… Read more »
Now I really understand…. Most Londoners are brainless cunts, who know nothing than their self proclaimed righteousness…. Fuck. As a season ticket holder, do you consider yourself more a gooner than i….? The answer is NO… Your last sentence, justifies just how dumb you are… Asking me, what the fuck does that mean…. Go read your previous post before the last one…. @marc Get rid of both of Xhaka and Elneny – AMN and Guendozi are both ready and good enough to be cover…. Please answer this, you dumb… Guendouzi and AMN are ready to be cover of what…. #Season… Read more »
Ddkingz
And where the fuck are you from? By the way I’m don’t live in London but in Hertfordshire.
I sit upper tier north bank row 6 what’s the closet you’ve been to an Arsenal match? I’m guessing 3 feet from the TV – just another loud mouth irrelevant cunt – you don’t exist as far as Arsenal are concerned.
Marc….. Don’t be so hard on yourself… For you know nothing about the game than been a brainless phat cunt occupying a seat at the Emirates every weekend and midweek….
You want to loose, ramsey, xhaka, and elneny on one tw…. This just explains your knowledge of the game….
I don’t like xhaka, but I won’t want to lose the most epl proven players on my team just in one season….
Then promote esr, mg, AMN…. Because arsenal f.c have turned into an academy youth team… Or maybe because a fucking season ticket holder thinks so…. You bloke
Ddkingz I’m doing my best to understand your posts but they’re like they’ve been through Google translate. You didn’t answer where you are from? “but I won’t want to lose the most epl proven players on my team just in one season….” The only thing PL proven by Xhaka is how unsuitable he is for the PL. Ramsey is gone either way and has been awful, Elneny hasn’t kicked a ball in the league this season so losing those two is irreverent. If we sell Xhaka in the summer Guendozi would have had a year of PL experience and AMN… Read more »
Marc You come across like a 5 year old, I have a hard on for Xhaka because i’m not foaming at the mouth trying to bin him? I can see the value he brings, so while we’re in a position where finances are tight, I think you’re being a touch delusional to start assuming players that actually perform in the first XI are going to be sold left and right in such swashbuckling fashion. Especially with the contractual implications of 2 contributors, and the two first XI players that are getting a bit long in the tooth. You think with… Read more »
To your 1st sentence….. I don’t owe you any explanation on where I’m from. To your 2nd sentence… I do agree on how unsuitable xhaka is in the EPL, but you don’t want to loose ramsey and xhaka at once….. Because from the handwriting on the wall ramsey and elneny are already gone…. # I don’t rate xhaka… And I really expect guendouzi to take his place, when the time is right… But shoul this happen next season…?? NO To your 3rd sentence… I agree with the first part… But on the second part, hell no… I would love ramsey… Read more »
CC Oh dear you really seem determined to keep digging. I’ll go through your points one by one. ” I think you’re being a touch delusional to start assuming players that actually perform in the first XI are going to be sold left and right in such swashbuckling fashion. ” I’ve only pushed for one “first teamer” to be sold and if you think Xhaka performs you need to get your head out of your arse. Would Xhaka get into the midfield of any of the other top 5 teams – if yes who? “Especially with the contractual implications of… Read more »