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It would appear Arsenal aren’t quite as broke as we’d initially thought. The news dropping the loudest of rumbles at the moment is that we’re going in for Denis Suarez for £14m. However you feel about the player, it’s hard to disagree that he’s 1) Young (24) 2) Technically superior to Iwobi 3) Capable of hitting higher levels.
Most of his success came at Villareal in 2015-16 when he dropped his best numbers with 12 assists and 5 goals in 48 appearances. He also played under Emery in his last season at Sevilla where he racked up an impressive 5 assists, 6 goals, in 46 appearances. Also notable that he was signed by City way back when!
His numbers at Barca look, well, decidedly Iwobi-ish if I’m honest. I think he’s cut from a similar cloth. A little bit faster, but the type of player who stitches midfield and attack together with cute intricate play. I know it’s a basic, but just having someone out on the left who you can rely on to always have a good touch is where the bar is set at the moment.
He’s an upgrade. I just hope he’s not a £150k a week upgrade. Worth remembering that when he was a teenager, he was compared to players like David Silva. If he fulfils here, then we’ve unlocked a lot of potential value. (read here for an interesting scouting report).
Today we take on Blackpool in the FA Cup. I’m excited to see Saka land a heavily mooted start. I think we need to see more of these kids and they need to land pitch time. If they don’t, they might as well be out on loan. From the sounds of it, the manager is going to heavily rotate, hoping to inject some much-needed energy into the legs of players that have been drained over the past two months.
Short one today, have a great day!
Emery still doesn’t trust Medley and Saka…
Micheal
I assume it’s a Blackpool fan and not a gooner trying to save on traveling costs!
That’s an XI with little end product. Along with Nketiah, need Ramsey and AMN runs into the box to generate shots.
No smith Rowe or Saka?? That’s a shame
Same old boring faces tonight then
Side show bob crab passer Elneny having precious minutes wasted on him…. fantastic. Can’t wait for his half a dozen 10 years passes later. Riveted by the anticipation
Would rather have seen jenkinson than litchsteiner at right back.
Un na
Pretty sure Smith Rowe is injured otherwise I think he’d be starting.
“I assume it’s a Blackpool fan and not a gooner trying to save on traveling costs!”
Boom, boom !
What’s up bitches? GOH here for the Saturday afternoon session.
Have we played and lost to Blackpool yet? Have we bought a loser footballer yet?
Sorry Micheal
Not feeling great today so best I could come up with.
Terrible XI. I was sort of hoping we would never see Lichtsteiner or Koscielny again. Willock offers very little, and Nketiah, though he can finish, doesn’t seem to do enough else. Iwobi is Iwobi. Pretty drab.
Kick-off might be delayed. Fan is sitting on top of Arsenal bus !
It’s Pierre he’s demanding Ozil starts against lower level opposition
Bamford
Are you suggesting more kids or a stronger first team line up?
Marc Why not send the whole team on holiday as they all look fatigued apparently… I must make the point that our first 11 haven’t played hardly any European or league cup games plus not many have been involved internationally as other top 6 sides so they can’t be fatigued from playing too many games. Maybe ,without realising it, you are reaching the conclusion that it is the managers over training and treating them like work horses on the pitch that is making them so fatigued as I have been saying all along. Think about it ….what other reason can… Read more »
Marko
Better than my joke but you should have added away from home as well!
Graham
I would rather win the FA Cup than win nothing this season
News:
Several Blackpool supporters blocked Arsenal’s bus from leaving the team hotel in an effort to postpone Saturday’s FA Cup tie.
The Gunners were forced to change to a new bus as Blackpool supporters continue to protest the club’s owner Owen Oyston.
One Blackpool fan climbed on top of the coach, while several others stood in its way in an effort to prevent the bus from leaving the hotel and heading to Bloomfield Road. “
Pierre I’m not saying all of the players look fatigued. I said that Torreira’s performances have dropped off and I’ve put this down to fatigue. I didn’t offer a reason other than playing in a new faster league and not getting the winter break he’s been used to won’t help. A home game against Fulham and a Cup match against a team 2 divisions below us who’s fans will be out numbered by the visiting fans seemed a good opportunity to do this. Again your agenda stopped you making a valid point which would have gone along the lines of… Read more »
Fair play to Blackpool fans for protesting against their ownership. Rumours of a pitch invasion at halftime. Televised match as well. Good on them.
A united fanbase can put pressure on an owner. 10000 Liverpool fans walked out on a match in the 77th minute to protest ticket prices. The prices were then frozen for a couple of season
Some on here feel like Suarez is already washed up and not the stellar signing we need. I can see the points but until we give the lad a chance Id rather reserve judgement. From what Ive seen he has a good first touch, technical and has good take off speed. This is what we need in the final third. One touch Ozil, Rambo, and Mikki do not possess this quality as much or at all. I think he would be an overall improvement to our team. We will lose players in summer, so why wait to stock up then?… Read more »
Marc No, the only way to change things would be to – 1. Rejig the CL format. Only “champions” to qualify from domestic leagues and make it straight knockout. Format as FA Cup structure. Just imagine Barcelona v Man City in the first round. No teams to drop into Europa League. Once you’re out of Europe, you’re out. Finito! 2. Teams 2-4 only Europa League. Winners get CL slot for next season. 3. Restore Cup Winners Cup for winners of domestic cup competitions. Winners CL slot. 4. FA Cup/Kangaroo Cup semis to be played on neutral grounds. Both FA Cup… Read more »
geared for
Tony Adam’s is wearing the worst suit ever – look’s like something the whole of the 70’s rejected.
Marc
Big Tone wearing the olive green suit again?
SF
You do realise that you’re posting on the internet and it’s compulsory to have a knee jerk dismissive reaction?
Coming on here and saying assuming we actually sign the player we should see what he does – madness.
Dream
No it’s blue.
Marc
lol
Sorry man, its too early in the morning here in california and Im stil having my morning coffee… in about an hour ill be more reactionary and angry…and illogical
Please accept my apologies 😛
Not to mention so far our buys under the new set up have been pretty great.
SF
Well sorry it’s not good enough.
I WANT TO SHOUT AT SOMEONE!
Kos injured in the warm up. Really think he’s finished. Only positive is it might make the club loosen the purse strings to replace him.
How long is kick off delayed
On SSN they have mentioned the protests but nothing about any KO delays.
Re Tone’s suit I’d say it’s color is aqua (a mix of blue and green).
Come on The Arsenal!!!!!
The players are coming out now
Looks like it’s kicking off on time.
I reckon the Tolly has more people in it than the Blackpool crowd.
Jenkinson in for koz,
Smith Rowe now on the bench.
Oh joy Mike Dean is the ref.
Marc
It’s pretty dead here in the Gunners pub (to my surprise actually; expected more punters). So not sure whether the Tolly would be full. Seems everyone travelled up to Blackpool!
Lichtsteiner being embarrassed by a league one player
That’s Licht’s defense for you. Kept moving back and let the opponent to shoot.
Would much rather have seen Medley than Lichtsteiner
Eddi has problem aiming. Two chances missed
£20m sounds a bit much for a 25 year old bench warmer.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/05/arsenal-barcelona-denis-suarez-transfer-january
Two sitters for Nketiah
Deflection and post caused confusion but happy to see Willock score!
0-1 to The Arsenal!
Ramsey’s shot was good
Bit late to be singing that Arsenal fans.
We’re losing Ramsey for free so Emery can get his man Suarez. This fucking club
We’re losing Ramsey for free so Emery can get his man Suarez. This fucking club
Nah see it as taking a stand against over paying players who don’t justify their wage. Can’t complain about the likes of Ozil and Mhiki and then give Ramsey a new deal. No stay the course we deserve better. Has nothing to do with Suarez anyway
“No stay the course we deserve better. Has nothing to do with Suarez anyway”
You say we deserve better then mention Denis fecking Suarez.
‘We’re losing Ramsey for free so Emery can get his man Suarez. This fucking club’
I don’t think this is even remotely true.
Ramsey was asking for £280 000 a week and Sanllehi is the one that pulled the offer that Ramsey, remember, had left unsigned.
I don’t think us getting a £10-15 Million CAM likely on about £60 000 – £80 000 a week is us swapping them out.
I think this is us trying to get our wages under control after the utter negligent stupidity of Ozil’s deal.
god do you remember when our youngsters used to whoop teams like this 6-0? Playing better football than the seniors
Cesc Appeal
I believe Ramsey was asking for the same as Mkhitaryan
Marko
Talking sense!! Is it a blue moon tonight?
We can’t have a situation where you have Ramsey, Ozil and Mkhitaryan taking up nearly £800 000 a week in wages and none of them are ideal and usually you can only play one at a time.
The stupidity was Ozil’s deal, that is what has hampered us.
What a long pass from Ramsey.
Guys… Suarez deal make sense if it comes below #20m.
Arsenal have struggled with not having a natural dribbler or very technically gifted AM who can take on people.
That’s why we make endless side passes and 70% ball possession with hardly getting into the box of our opponents.
Dream10
Disagree.
The club would have given it to him.
AMN and Eddie won’t make it at Arsenal .
Also, lets not make judgement about Ramsey against Blackpool. I like Ramsey, he has his limitations and wants to be a CF all too often but I much prefer him to the pussy. Unfortunately, we’re tied to the pussy for the foreseeable to the tune of £350 000 a week. That is the context you have to remember when Ramsey’s contractual decision was being taken by Sanllehi. £350 000 a week to Ozil, £180 000 a week to Mkhitaryan and now we have to decide if we want to give Ramsey his massive wages. That would be three CAMs, none… Read more »
You say we deserve better then mention Denis fecking Suarez.
I’d imagine we’ll be paying him significantly less than Ramsey and it’s possible he could be used in a way that is actually beneficial to the team. That’s what I mean. I’m not saying that I prefer Suarez to Ramsey but I’d rather value for money and have players who are hungry. You can’t complain about what the club done with Ozil and Mhiki and then justify a deal for Ramsey. Big no no
None of our players seem capable of taking on a player from a stop position.
Very depressing as this is just League One opposition.
If you add the transfer fee and the wages Suarez will be on don’t think there’ll be much of a difference to what Ramsey asked for over a three or four year period.
That suggests to me a technical decision. Suarez is certainly a different profile of a player, perhaps, better able to control play than Ramsey. On the downside might be less of a goal threat.
I genuinely think that people are confusing Denis Suarez for Sergio Roberto.
Because the former is completely bang average, also turns 25 tomorrow so we’re talking about some kid with a high ceiling.
Terrible move for me factoring in losing Ramsey, a much better player for free.
So we’re not*
Must be because he’s Spanish and has a sexy sounding name.
He’s a Spanish Iwobi.
Cmon Eddie
Eddie has good speed. He needs to build up his upper body strength
0:2 good stuff
Another goal for Willock! 0-2. As much as we are playing in a pretty flat manner we are still leading. Have to say that we are playing Blackpool after all.
Willock really surprises me this game. He looks bigger and more dynamic.
WE
Don’t worry, we have Emery now and Sven fucking Mislintat. Everything is going to be just fine :p
Wilock is very direct, he glides, I’d like to see him played in the league
WE – Exactly He’s surname his Suarez, he must have magical mystical technical abilities that the bland, boring Ramsey doesn’t?
He probably has some nice feet in tight spaces but that’s about it.
My concern with Emery is he seems to be too comfortable with these middle of the road type players. He does seem to get the best out of them in fairness but we’re hopefully aiming for higher.
god do you remember when our youngsters used to whoop teams like this 6-0? Playing better football than the seniors
No but I remember defeats to Bradford and Blackburn Rovers and a humiliating defeat to Forest
Reply shows that Iwobi controlled the ball with his hand
To be honest let’s not pretend that we are losing a bad player. He’s going to Juve by the look of it. Not West Ham like Wilshere. In his prime years. I would have given the 200k that Ramsey wants within the blink of an eye. But the Ozil tumor is irremovable. It’s Ramsey getting sacrificed for Ozil and Mikki. More useful player than both of them. Wenger’s last FUCK YOU done us so good.
Eagle
Overmars and petit came at 25 after not achieving too much
Sanchez also
It can happen
Overmars was always brilliant.
Only problem with him was the knee injury that we took a risk on.
Raptora
Agreed.
Ramsey is paying the price for our total stupidity with Ozil.
Anyway I slice it I cannot understand what the club were thinking.
Nketiah makes good runs.
Nketiah is missing chances but definitely worth persevering with.
My concern with Emery is he seems to be too comfortable with these middle of the road type players. He does seem to get the best out of them in fairness but we’re hopefully aiming for higher. You can’t say something like this but at the same time question the decision to let go of Ramsey. It’s ridiculous a player who hasn’t held down a place for 10 years and who doesn’t know his best position is about as middle of the road as you can get. Also it’s a bit unfair to Suarez I don’t think he’s a replacement… Read more »
Nketiah with the big, big misses? How is he a striker lol?!
Nketiah has to work on his finishing.
Lol, Pedro in what world is 25 young? He turns it tomorrow.
People were calling Walcott young until his mid to late 20’s as well.
And capable of hitting higher levels, based off of what evidence? He’s never even gotten a sniff as a/Barca player and was nothing special at Villarreal and his other loan spells.
We’re just adding another Iwobi, does very little for our XI.
West Ham drop 35 million on Felipe Anderson (same age)/meanwhile Arsenal looking at Denis Suarez for 14 million?
Something wrong with this picture.
‘Something wrong with this picture’ Lack of money. I think we’re in a worse position than many fans think due to the appalling management on and off the field of Wenger and Gazidis. I really think our lot are just trying to do the best they can to get us to the UCL where they can then be more aggressive. For years this place called the position we would end up. We were laughed at when we said Spurs would overtake us, that Klopp would and that we would really struggle to get our act together once we had finally… Read more »
Felipe Anderson looks as good as say Willian. Would have improved our team instantly. This Denis Suarez dude? I don’t know maan.
Marko – You seem obsessed with his held down a position bollocks. I suppose Luis Enrique was shit because he could play in multiple positions for Barca?
Ramsey does know what his best position is. He’s said it multiple times and Wenger played him at the start of his career there and at the end.
Wenger Eagle
Some are saying Suarez is a loan with an option to buy. Apparently, there is not enough money for a CB and to make Suarez’s signing permanent this window
Can everyone who seems to be re writing history re Ramsey remember he had a big money deal on the table for months and didn’t sign it. It got yanked the minute Sanllehi took over control of these things. That either means he was holding out for even more money or had no intention of staying. Either way we weren’t keeping him, only regret is not getting a fee. We really need to start putting one of these options in contract to extend for a year if we want. Any player who gets down to a year take the option… Read more »
We are behaving like a small team now. Talking about taking players on loan.
West Ham drop 35 million on Felipe Anderson (same age)/meanwhile Arsenal looking at Denis Suarez for 14 million?Something wrong with this picture.
Arsenal are also technically speaking (apparently) looking at Fornals, Havertz, Pepe, Under, Pavon, Lozano and Sarr as attacking options now whether or not we can actually get them in this January is something completely different. We can get Suarez in now seemingly. The question then becomes do we wait until the summer? Or try to get someone in this month?
Dream10,
And where does Suarez play? I don’t see a place for him if we aren’t moving someone on. No? I don’t think that he improves us.
Need to knock this growing sentiment that Ramsey has been anything but frustrating on the head. But for that good season he has been inconsistent.
The annoying part is Denis Suarez, if it does happen, doesn’t quite excite. In a way I’d prefer if we got an unknown like Guendouzi.
Cesc
I think the wages situation could be a bigger issue than available transfer funds. I’m not suggesting we have hundreds of millions for signings but we just have far too much excess on too many average players.
Unn
Overmars was 24 when we signed him, won multiple league titles and the CL with Ajax not to mention was a full Netherlands international.
Petit was a league winner for Monaco with well over 300/apps, full France international.
No comparison to Denis Suarez who’s been little more than a squaddie besides a mediocre loan or two.
Nketiah is showing what a good player he is today …great running off the ball and good composure on the ball ….
No problem with him missing chances , all strikers miss chances but he looks hungry for goals ..
What’s happened to Ramsey and his glory hunting for goals….has he at last learnt what is needed to play in centre mid…very impressed with his all round game….
Raheem
Well low expectations mean the fans will give him some breathing room.
We are behaving like a small team now. Talking about taking players on loan
Chelsea… Kovacic…Bayern…James Rodriguez
None of those names blow my socks off Marko, some have decent potential but will cost more than a limb.
Pierre
Ramsey is having a decent game but he is playing against a third division team, decent is the minimum requirement.