I feel like a child of absent parents this morning. Daddy has tumbled down the stairs, barged into the living room slightly hungover, and handed me an IOU for a Mars bar. This is Josh ‘Daddy’ K.
“To see where Sean has taken us [the Rams] in a short amount of time gives us a lot of confidence.
“The only thing on a par with the Super Bowl is Arsenal making the Champions League final.
“It is something we are very focused on.
“I have been telling my friends all week the Super Bowl is the biggest spectacle that we have here and the Champions League is something in Europe that we strive for and we look forward to being a part of in the future.”
It was all going so well, then he kind of let slip that he was thinking about the other kid who is more handsome than I, and he kind of got his wires crossed.
“I think he [Emery] and Sean are very comparable in the way they approach their craft on a daily basis,”
“There is a lot of data they break down. They are very active on the practice pitch. Their styles are similar even though they are half a world apart.
“Unai’s energy is contagious and his dedication is immense. They love what they do and they are leaders. The players want to run through a wall for them.”
Daddy has not been paying attention, has he? Styles the same? Really, Josh?
The whole interview is mildly amusing. These billionaires are so out of the loop in life that it took a Super Bowl final to acknowledge it’d be cool for Arsenal to make a Champions League final one day.
No message as to how we hit those heights, just a confident nod to Unai Emery that he’s got this, and he should spend that £40m he has in the summer really well.
JOKERS.
Denis Suarez has LANDED. Get excited people. This is him giving his new manager mad props.
“The main thing is that he dedicates a great deal of time to his work. He spends many hours and days watching videos of other teams and his own side.
“His training sessions are really demanding and he ensures that the team is completely prepared. But as I say, the biggest thing is the time he dedicates to his work. As we’d say in Spanish, he’s ‘un enfermo del fútbol’ – football mad.”
Emery is bloody football mad, isn’t he? Good times.
Really hope Denis is the real deal. He has a lot to prove. He’s a little lost in his career, he’s had spats of excellent play, but he’s never really found a place he can call home. He’s playing for a career with Emery, let’s hope he can deliver.
LOAN WITH A VIEW TO PERM, FAM.
Manchester City tomorrow is a huge game. Pep G and his team are recovering from a Newcastle United inflicted bloody nose. They need to find that winning gear against us to keep their title hopes alive this season.
Arsenal had a bit of a shocker against relegation fodder in midweek, but the eventual win turned out to be a dream ticket to TOP FOUR. We need to tighten up, because I have to tell you, City have a lot more to offer than Cardiff.
Emery needs to stop talking the talk about video analysis and show us the output of this meticulous planning we hear so much about.
But I tell you… if I see a high line with the defence we have on offer, I’m gonna bloody lose my mind. I will absolutely slam my fist on the table. Don’t doubt my commitment to aggression.
The downside to the win is that we could hand Liverpool the title. Can you imagine that? The internet memes? The southern Scousers burning their City shirts in the street? The endless coverage in the papers. Oh my, won’t it be awful… At least no one cares about City and their 23,000 fans.
Speaking of which, isn’t it amusing to see how empty the Spurs ground has been lately? I really, really hope they struggle to fill that toilet bowl of theirs. I also hope it’s quiet and too expensive for the average Spurs fan. No way they’re shifting £14 salt beef bagels there. Levels people, levels.
Right, that’s me done! Check out my solo pod. I say nice things about the comments section. Sorry to A&N who I missed but value dearly. xx
SPOTIFY | STITCHER | ITUNES | GOOGLE | POCKET CASTS
Bamford,
Emery needs a dedicated DoF, or at least someone to replace Sven, ASAP
The next tranche of fund that will be freed up in the summer must be spent wisely. We can’t afford another Wenger-esque splurge on shite.
Bamford
3 goals in 3 years for Barca. If Suarez does work out, I will eat a huge slice of a humble pie. Technical, dribbling, attacking player? Some people say that’s Iwobi. What is crystal clear to me is that Emery is trying to surrender himself with his guys. Thank god it’s just a loan. Cause when Suarez is branded useless and is gone at the end of the season, I hope so too is Emery.
Surround himself, not surrender
watching Leeds – Norwich atm.
zimmerman looks like a strong and capable guy both on and off the ball.. hard to say if he would cope with the prem tempo thou but it looks to make the whole team feel a lot more confident to have a huge strong guy at the heart of your defence.
pretty sure arsenal would benefit from having one powerhouse in the teamsheat too.
Bennydevito “You and the Emery haters are stating that Emery selects the actual person and is in full control of the transfer process, that’s what you’ve been saying. ” You will never find a comment from me saying that as I rarely comment on the transfer process and I was asking you a serious question as I didn’t know what the process was. Personally, I can’t see how it would work unless the manager has a significant(not total) input on signings. It really doesn’t bother me either way as long as we bring in quality that will improve the team… Read more »
Iwobi technical? Please fuck off. He wouldn’t be in Barcelona’s first 66, much less their first 22, much less their first 16 or so.
Jesus Christ.
Pierre,
Fair enough. Conceded.
Bob, I thought England would kick on from the autumn, all the signs were there obviously missed by coach Graham.:)
Brilliant win and a great platform for the rest of the 6 Nations, just hope Itoje is fit for the French next week.
Iwobi is a donkey… but so is Suarez.
Tony
“Graham
Told you England would beat the Irish.”
you also told us that Tubular Bells was written and performed by jean Michel. Jarre which for someone with a musical background(apparently) is baffling .
Upstate
When did politics have anything to do with “footy” and there’s plenty of that shit on here
Anyway England just beat Ireland at Rugby Football
What about a loan deal for a 25 year old winger for a team that has zero wingers causes so much argument?
The fact he once played for Emery?? Is that where we are now?
While people are blowing smoke up a 31 year old striker who got booted out of Juve, landed at Milan and who Milan happily let go.
HillWood
Politics? What are you smoking? I just said that it’s a footy blog, and most of us here don’t give a rat’s arse about rugby on here, and would appreciate it if you took that shit somewhere else.
No one in the current Arsenal side has better technique than Suarez ..
Messi still the best player in the world by some distance.
Tecnical ability:
Leno 5/10
Bellerin 4/10
Mustafi 3/10
Holding 4/10
Monreal 5/10
Xhaka 3/10
Ramsey 4/10
Ozil 6/10
Lacazette 5/10
Aubameyang 4/10
SUAREZ 8/10
The Valencia coach is doing great, making Gabriel and Coquelin look like competent players. Messi magic makes it 2-2
Upstate
Take a quick look back at the previous post
Tony, what a great game. Fantastic collective effort. Thought it was going to be tight but Ireland were well and truly beaten. They lose very rarely at home. Itoje can have a couple of weeks off. Launchbury an excellent replacement and France shouldn’t prove too difficult if England have their heads screwed on. I’ve never seen May so good defensively, summed the performance up really.
The hype is going to build!
Upstate, having a bad day? Your negativity is painful.
Ruth
“SUAREZ 8/10”
But more importantly ….can be track back.
He
Upstate
If you have ever followed this blog closely, people have other interests as well as football. Go to another blog if you don’t like it. Open your mind to other things that are out there.
Went to an Irish pub to watch England. Ireland played really well but we managed to keep our heads down and win. One very good step towards winning the grand slam (I hope!).
Bamford, depends what you mean by technical but Iwobi has great feet, good close control and combines well in tight spaces. End product isn’t always the best but you have to admit a couple of his recent passes have led to Arsenal goals. The statistics don’t acknowledge the superb pass against Cardiff to set up Kolasinac who got the assist. You have recently given him faint praise but it appears you’re down on him again, your choice obviously!
Technical ability:
Ozil mark was too low, it should be 6.5/10
Mkhitaryan 5/10
Welbeck 4/10
Iwobi 3/10
Upstate, scroll down you div! It’s what I’m going to do when I see your name. Policing the blog, bollocks, who gives you the right?
TR7, Redruth would probably give Messi 6.5/10 and Ospina 9/10!
Ozil is a poor crosser, poor finisher and can’t dribble.
Bournemouth go from beating Chelsea 4-0 to losing 2-0 to Cardiff
It’s a funny old game
Not sure I understand the negativity towards Iwobi, he’s homegrown, young, on relatively low wages and he’s been our best creative player this season, that obviously says a lot about our other options but still.
Now I don’t think.he should be starting for us but if we get 2 top class wingers in or 1 top class and Nelson steps up he’s a decent option coming in off the bench.
Iwobi is very low down on our list of priorities to replace right now.
Barcelona Messi 7/10
Argentina Messi 3/10
Redruth, tongue in cheek? Messi, one of the greatest players who has ever lived, more goals in a top European league than any other player in history., mesmeric dribbler, superb passer of the ball……7/10
Suarez who Barca have let go of 8/10.
So you are saying Suárez is technically better than Messi?
Seriously, why do you bother?
Who’s watching six-nation’s rugby, Ireland vs England?
Hope England get a. whopping
Couldn’t agree more Freddie….
Dissenter
Why because England brought civility to the world? We tried in Ireland but there’s no saving them!!!
Bit slow Dissenter…..
Suarez needs to utilise his technique more productively.
Un na
I have an Irish connection mate. Lived there for a dozen years and visit every three years.
As for your thinking we have as good a squad as United, OK, well, I disagree. I also don’t think much of your football opinions, though; you wanted us to keep and start a crocked Jack Wilshere and you rated Walcott and Giroud. You also have an agenda, namely, you hope to call for Emery’s head if we don’t finish fourth; this will only be a reasonable position, though, if you can say that our squad was just as good as that of Spurs, Chelsea or United. This is why you’re claiming this is the case. Bamford Quite the contrary.… Read more »
Don’t be fooled by the early England burst..just adrenaline from fear.
I preferred the old Lansdowne Road stadium to this glitzy Aviva.
Landsdowne was an England burial ground.
‘Andrenaline from fear’ what a load of tosh!
We have a manager in.place, now we need proper funds to challenge in all competitions.
£100m would comfortably see Arsenal leapfrog Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea..
Un
Less of the paddy gags
Good people .
Tho they make for good humour
Red
That’s a bit optimistic when two of those teams can spend 70m+ on just one player.
A 100m net spend would take us a lot closer at least, and then the ability of the manager starts to make more of a difference.
Very well complaining about drab football or questioning what the “Emery way” is when we’re lacking the crucial components for it = wingers and a Cam that doesn’t turn back and pass sideways every time he receives the ball. Some actual defenders that are good on the ball as well couldn’t hurt either.
England need to be down to 10 men
Itoje was OT there
***OTT
The board need to realise investing in the team will generate more revenue for the club.
Dissenter
England beat Ireland 20-32. But don’t let the score fool you, Ireland put up a really good fight.
Red
Let’s hope the Kroenke see this. But that’s a big “hope” considering their massive aversion to invest in anything that is not substantial.
DB10
I’m on a time warp at the moment
If Xhaka was valued at £35m then surely Suarez must be £95m.
Dissenter
No worries mate! If you can, try and watch a replay. It was a really good game!
15 a side in Rugby Dissenter, keep up!
Bob
Excited for Super Bowl tomorrow? We can talk about it in detail here on Monday. I realize that people have other interests besides football but it IS in fact a football blog. If you want to talk about rugby, I’m sure there are plenty of those around as well. I just find it annoying scrolling through the comments sometimes and reading shit that adds absolutely nothing to the actual conversation. Having said that, my apologies. I overreacted a bit, and next time will just ignore such comments.
Your team selection and formation for tomorrow’s game?
I don’t care whatever selection or formation, high line should never be our tactical approach to the game.
What’s yours???
Upstate
If you want to talk about the Super Bowl tomorrow on this blog, you can do so. I am not telling you what you can or can’t do. This place is an open space where indeed it’s The Arsenal first and foremost but nothing stops you to talk about something else if you wish to! 🙂
https://youtu.be/Uq4NRLl2EDM
Upstate, happy to chat about the Super Bowl. I enjoy visiting Legrove but I skim and scroll down if I’m not interested…..
BobN16
“15 a side in Rugby Dissenter, keep up!”
I knew that
I was referring to England’s physicality in the opening minutes. They should have had one third of the team in the sin bin facing the wall.
DB10, Bob
Fair enough, Gents. I guess I’m a bit grumpy as I haven’t had anything to drink yet. Driving the kids around from one activity to another all day today. I think I’ll pour me some tequila.
The referee make the necessary decisions….comes across as sour grapes otherwise. Physical game rugby!
Fair play Upstate……
Please god ,,tell me we have more than 40m for the summer refit of this squad
Ahhh very understandable Upstate.
Bring your train of thought here once you’re under the influence!! 😉
40….Mug
Bob N16
Fantastic game of rugby. England were absolutely brilliant. Hopefully we will
see Arsenal replicate that performance tomorrow and make it an enjoyable weekend.
Just saw that Chelski have thrashed Huddersfield 5-0. I think it is safe to say that they are going to be relegated. Has this ever happened so early in a season?
Agreed ES, that would be a hell of a double!
ES
I echo your thoughts. Crossing my fingers that we pull something off. As you said this would really make a hell of a good weekend if we somehow beat Man City.
I’m thinking a 2-2 draw tomorrow…
Bold or what
40m cheap as chips players
In the summer
Play ball ….!!!!
RSPCA
My dad is Irish as are most of my family. I’ll make paddy gags all day long.
Un na nai
The mic is switched on and the stage is all yours!
Testing 123 testing
We can’t hear you. Seems the mic is not switched on. Booooo!
Still trying to figure out where the 40 million info came from? Or is it just Pedro trolling?
I’m sure we’ll have more than £40m to spend in the summer.
Would be silly for Josh Kroenke to come out and said oh we got £150m to spend on new players. Selling clubs would inflate player prices even more knowing Arsenal have got money.
On the flip side, if we actually have got £40m to spend, we are fucked
Taking the Mhik
If we have limited funds in the summer I can see the fan base losing their patience with kronke.
Good results and signs of progression are what we need until the end of the season, without this and then the projected lack of funds then we will see a massive reaction from the Arsenal fans.
At least the fans will finally be united in their efforts to rid the club of kronke.
Pierre
For once I will agree with you. Whatever it takes to get rid of Kroenke, I will be all in.
LegendaryDB10 and Pierre making silly vows.
How about both of you win the Euro lottery with a jackpot of £1.6 billion and offer to buy Kroenke out.
Oh wait….another billionaire already offered to buy Kroenke out and he laughed off the offer.
You’re stuck with Kroenke whether it makes you cry blood or not. Drop all the pretenses and man up.
Dissenter
Well we can all but dream can’t we?
Dissenter
You and Bamford will be the last ones standing when the kronke out protest begin and this time it will get toxic unlike the feeble protests against Wenger….
Wait and see..
DB10 and Pierre
I’m just a pragmatic soul, that’s all.
We need the club too be properly run, with our without Kroenke. Good governance has to be the goal.
Hd we sold Sanchez [for cash], sold Ozil, sold Ramsey and sold Welbeck…like we sold Theo etc.
We would have in excess of 150 million to rebuild the squad, maybe then you wouldn’t be banging your heads against the marble halls of Highbury.
And I’ll agree with Pierre once again (fuck me what’s wrong with me?). Dissenter you really underestimate our dislike of Kroenke. I’ll give you an example, and no disrespect to Americans in general, but I personally can’t stand the invasion of Americanism in out culture. What do I mean by this? Well it’s the invasion of spoken American in our culture. And by that I mean: when people say I “dove” off, when it should be I dived off. When people say I “thunk” (really wtf???) when it should be I thought. And when you say February 3rd when we… Read more »
DB10
I don’t think Liverpool fans care one bit about the nationality of their owners, not when they break their hoodoo come May.
We just got the wrong American…or rather Danny Fiszman and Lady Bracewell-Smith sold to the wrong billionaire.
I was routing for the Uzbekh-Russian.
Dissenter “Hd we sold Sanchez [for cash], sold Ozil, sold Ramsey and sold Welbeck…like we sold Theo etc. We would have in excess of 150 million to rebuild the squad, maybe then you wouldn’t be banging your heads against the marble halls of Highbury.” If only eh…..If only kronke hadn’t allowed wenger to continue past his sell by date, if only he had employed the correct people to run the club then yes we may have had 150 million to rebuild the squad. Maybe you have forgotten that before wenger signed his last contract ,he had a private meeting with… Read more »
Lol db10 I must admit it bothers me that Pedro picked up the Americanism of referring to arsenal as an ‘it’ rather than a ‘they’
He says stuff like ‘Arsenal is a big club’ when every other Brit would say ‘’Arsenal are a big club’
I’m not OCD about many things in life but Pedro you kill me every time with this!
Spurs reportedly after Bournemouth’s Brooks in the summer. I guarantee he’ll be a huge success if he ends up there and we need to get in there first. Would be a great replacement for Ramsey and an improvement on Ozil, in my opinion of course.
Great shout by CG, I never considered him until he mentioned his name and have been doing some Grimandtubing on him.
Apparently Man Utd want him too. We should definitely throw our hat into the ring.
Rumours this evening suggest that Granit Xhaka has not travelled with the Arsenal squad for tomorrow’s game against Man City at the Etihad.
The Manchester Evening News pictured the squad arriving at their hotel this evening.
For City I’d go for diamond again. As Nelson said, no Xhaka by the looks of it, or Maitland Niles.
Leno
Mustafi Koscielny Monreal Kolasinac
Torreria
Suarez Guendouzi
Ozil
Lacazette Aubameyang
I’d chuck Suarez straight in, could being a bit of calmness and composer to the midfield.
Would also rather Mustafi against Sane, then Lichsteiner.
Bring*
Pierre “Maybe you have forgotten that before wenger signed his last contract ,he had a private meeting with Kronke who awarded him a 2 year contract otherwise wenger would have left at the end of his previous contract’ Yes Kroenke kidnapped Wenger and made him sign the contract at gun point, Wasn’t this the same season that Wenger was ready to set everything on for just to stay further? Wenger was so afraid of retirement he would have been glad to be manager of a club in ashes. He exploited Kroenke’s love for him. He could have walked away had… Read more »
“but I personally can’t stand the invasion of Americanism in our culture.”
Just as I have long said: one, some part of the anti-Kroenke sentiment is driven by anti-American sentiment; two, anti-American sentiment is alive and well among certain sections of the British public.
Pierre
There never will be any such protests, because the club will spend plenty of money in pursuit of greatness.
However, if it becomes clear that (i) we cannot compete on the basis of the s-s model and that (ii) Kroenke is not willing to spend his own money in order to compete, I will gladly join the chorus of calls for new ownership.
Dissenter – “’m on a time warp at the moment” More like a rugby knowledge warp. The Irish are a seriously good team and the hardest to beat of all the 6-Nations and have been for several years. They played well but were made to make handling errors by the relentless quick English tackling. England’s kicking game was as I was hoping for hitting all the right spaces and making the Irish turn time and again. Perfect tactics to play against a big heavy team. England quick ball in the break downs also too much for the Irish. I think… Read more »
ES & Bob N16 The game was a late one for me. Been waiting for Slade to produce for a few seasons now. He’s showed glimpses and had his injury problems – he was immense yesterday. As was May you rightly called Bob; Mays defensive handling/catching was off the carts. Good to see the Vinipolas & Tuilagi back to close to their best. Nowell is just a fearless beast. As the commentator said at the end it was hard to pick a MOM because so many English players put in a MOM performance. The Portugal camp was a great call… Read more »
Good article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6661565/Stan-Josh-Kroenkes-50m-panic-deals-Mesut-Ozil-left-Arsenal-crippled.html
Marco Overmars the front runner to be Arsenal’s new director of football this summer with Monchi also in the frame
Ajax have denied that the former Arsenal winger has been approached
He is among the candidates under consideration and fits Arsenal’s criteria
Raul Sanllehi, who is leading the search, will also sound out candidates in Spain
Josh Kroenke is also expected to speak with the prospective candidates
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6661809/Marco-Overmars-runner-Arsenals-new-director-football-summer.html
Both have good CVs
Would Monchi come, probably more likely that Overmars would leave Ajax
I’d be happy with either.