Transfer strategy shift

by .

via @Arsenal Instagram

The Premier League is over.

Now we gear up mentally for a huge game in Europa world.

Arsenal vs Chelsea. It’s going to be a great match. Sarri has never won a trophy before, Emery has to win this to make his gamble in the league look a smart one. It’s a total toss of a coin.

There’s been a lot of debate about the host city. I think some of the outrage has been misplaced. I reckon Baku will be a memorable away day, I think the upset from most fans is coming from 1) The unreal expense of traveling there 2) The fact UEFA picked a final destination where there are questions over a players participation because of safety. Very grim.

I mean, I’m not going to fall on my sword for Mikhi, because be real, who fucking cares if he plays, however, because I love bitching… this all of a sudden becomes an outrage I want to be part of.

That said, how critical can western Europe be? In Spain, we can’t guarantee black players won’t get abuse, for, you know, being black. A Spurs fan threw a banana at one of our players a few months ago. A fan ran on the pitch in the Birmingham Derby and punched a player (terrible punch). Someone threw a bottle at me in The Tollington because I’m a great blogger. I HAVE SEEN FLARES AT GAMES. We had a left-back that took a knuckle duster to Shite Hart Lane. I mean, here’s my point, at the end of the day, we’re all awful in our own way. Amirite?

Contract news is interesting.

Arsenal want to offer Auba and Lacazette £250k a week extensions to their deals.

We’re apparently gearing up a £75k a week offer for the second most valuable teenager in Europe (MATTEEEOOOO!)

I mean, money doesn’t seem short, does it? Also reads like the story about KSE having budget communication issues were a little off.

All this lends credence to my accurate reporting on Aaron Ramsey… they pulled the deal because Emery didn’t fancy him. It seems silly now, but if we sign an exceptional talent to replace him, we’ll be rolling in LOLz.

In other news, Emery seems to be talking up the idea that we’re going to go young next season.

‘We need to use young players like Ramsey who played here when he was young. Every player can take chances and use these chances to improve with us,’

‘Willock and Nketiah played the 90 minutes, they used this time to help us with a good match. It’s our responsibility to give them chances but find the best performance as a team. ‘Young players need opportunities to be with us in training.’

There are a lot of people bitching about us moving into another Project Youth era, but to those people, I slap you with the wet side of a leather glove and dare you step up from the floor. If the youth is where we’re heading, I am all for that. Arsenal needs to be really fucking real about who they are this summer. We need a strategy. We can’t continue down the path of overpaying for ‘ok’ players in the hope they might come good. Our risks shouldn’t be Mikhi on £170k a week, they should be Djene Dakonam, Nicolas Pepe, Ibrahima Konaté, Ndombele, Aouar or Sarr… on £12 a week. Amirite?

Yeah I am.

Bollocks to the kids and their dreams of a 4 bedroom house at 16 on a minimum wage. WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD SNOWFLAKES. Fuck me Corbyn, £10 an hour for a teenager? I worked in Maccy Ds for £3.12 an hour. I knew what the secret recipe for the Big Mac sauce was because it stained my skin indelibly like a 10 euro Ayia Napa henna tattoo. I wore that scent like it was CK1. Remember when that was the fragrance in 1998? Was I fired from McDonald’s? Yes. Did Barry who was certainly a sex offender have more stars than me? Yes again. Fuck him though, he’s still rocking the bookshop in a Kindle world while I’m out here writing for men I occasionally meet on the internet.

Anyway, we should be tracking the best young talent in Europe that has 1-2 years left on their deals, give them a London pay bump, bonus the fuck out of them so they are motivated, house them outdoors so they get nature wild, and see where we land.

If we can buy in players with one or two good seasons under their belts and give them a proper platform to thrive, we’ll be in a really great place.

See, I’d love to sign someone like Zaha. People laughed when we wrote about him years ago, but the guy has grown into quite the player since he tanked at United after he was allegedly busted for dealing with the daughter of his ex-manager (who didn’t hear that rumour, right?). However, is he going to offer us the sort of value we’re looking for if he’s a £70m player? Tough to see that. If we could get him for £50m, maybe it’s a different story.

Arsenal has to focus this summer on power and pace. We’re going to have to move on Elneny and Xhaka. Our squad can’t deal with that sort of weakness in the middle of the park. We need to have players in our midfield that explode over 10 yards, players that are nasty, players that have engines in the mould of Aaron Ramsey. They also have to be able to maintain fitness for longer than 2 months (sorry Aaron).

I tell you what I WILL NOT tolerate this summer.

Banega. Nzonzi. Anyone that smells like Sevilla or journeyman. OR BARRY NEAR THE PARK. I see you book boy.

Let’s see what lands, what we’ve done so far has been really fucking bland because no thought went into it. We’ve racked up a collection of ‘ok’ over 5 years and somehow managed to land at a £235m wage bill.

Our decisions have to get better. The only way to get to better decisions is to have a sharp strategy in place. We need a sexy vision. We need a better footballing philosophy. We need to start shaping the club properly.

Let’s hope we win that Champions League spot. Looks more and more important as each day passes.

OH MY BEFORE WE GO. NYT reporting City could be landing the only sort of fine they can’t afford, a big whack at their prestige. UEFA are considering whipping their cajones on the table and banning City from the Champions League for being BAD PEOPLE.

As football fans, we tend to ignore how money arrived at these clubs, providing it’s being spent on elite talent. City are the first side that are so good, it looks almost robotic. The money in the hands of their execs is being spent so well, it’s going to make it very tough for anyone to break in… I mean, a bit dramatic, I doubt they can maintain a stranglehold as tight as United or Liverpool did back in the day, but regardless, they are breaking the rules to dope their team. It has to stop. Fines won’t work, but taking them out of the big trophy might.

then they can give that Champions League place to Unai Emery. No Europa necessary. Well, that’s how I think it should work.

BIG DECISION.

See you in the comments. x

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Guns of SF

Benny very concerning about how city is usurping the rules
They are shady
Always wondered why there are no rules about mega clubs moving families into their catchment areas

Guns of SF

Pulling an all-nighter pete?

Guns of SF

Lots of work work with a side of blogging I bet

peanuts&monkeys

buy Sanchez back! let the Ozil + Sanchez tango fire again. if not, sell Ozil.

China1

Ah that classic period when arteta was our captain and our squad was devoid of leadership and presence on the pitch…

Great memories

Receding Hairline

Ozil Sanchez tango

We really need to stop living in the past

Receding Hairline

China just nailed it.

As captain he was meh…

Pedro himself alluded to him being difficult to deal with behind the scenes then gave him a pass that it was probably due to injuries, I wonder how someone like that will react to bad results as a manager

China1

Arteta was captain during peak banter years, at a time when the management provided effectively no leadership or management so there was a total vacuum of leadership, presence, organization, fire and so on Did arteta take it upon himself to drag the team on or did he just quietly go about his thing being a solid 7/10 player…? He was an average captain and he has never managed a football match so who knows if he will really be a good manager He strikes me as a good student of the game and probably quite smart. Unfortunately in an industry… Read more »

China1

Look at arsene*

He got a degree and people called him le prof lol

Siddharth14

This Arteta fascination is over the top. If we go by rationale then Arteta should not even be a point of discussion. The only reason Pedro and the others seem to be worshipping him is due to the fact that he would have been a radical appointment. Ex player, unproven and someone with apparent coaching potential. My basic opposition to this is such an appointment would require the club to have a robust structure already in place. i.e. having a defined vision, the quality of players in the squad and youth team, recruitment policy etc. Guardiola and Zidane have benefited… Read more »

Graham62

China1

You summed it up perfectly.

Graham62

Arteta is a follower.

Six years under Wenger and no real personal identity.

Three years under Pep and still he hides.

Bob N16

Graham, I think pretty much any young coach would be delighted to learn under arguably the greatest coach that is around at the moment.

I would agree with your ‘hiding’ dig if he’s there for more than one more season though. Unless he’s given the hope of following Guardiola of course.

I think as a captain of our previous manager has probably poisoned your views.

kristoman

I just read this article now

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/778825/Man-Utd-Champions-League-qualification-Man-City-ban

what a load of rubbish
even if manc. are banned
united still wouldn’t make it. what are smoking at the daily stars. do they even think before writing this drivel. SMMH.

Un na naai

It’s like the last days of Rome around here with all of the different factions tugging away like hyenas at the carcass of a club which was not too long ago the class of all european football.

It’s also fun to watch Petey devolve into an early middle-aged cynic/reactionary/corporate dickhead who allows his blog to host some of the most toxic gunners online.

Alex cutter
Bitter little tart aren’t you? Life obsviously meandered away from this disenchanted little fellow. Keep plugging away cutter. Meet a nice girl, have some kids, find some purpose.

Un na naai

I don’t understand why everyone is so harsh on arteta as an arsenal player. He was never going to be cesc, that’s not his fault. He was also never going to be the defensive midfielder we desperately needed but he tried admirably. I always liked him as a player. He had some great games for us and kept the team moving forward.
We haven’t had a leader in the middle since he left, that’s for sure.

Valentin

The attraction with Arteta is that he would bring both continuity and disruption. The same applies to any ex-players mentioned for a managerial job. Part of the attraction is that he seems to be well respected and liked. Both at Arsenal and within the game overall. The final part is the fact that when Arsène left, it was clear that we needed somebody who could make thing happen via coaching. Somebody who he could devise a plan to fight tactically the opposition. When it became clear, that none of the big name manager were coming, we needed a fresh new… Read more »

Valentin

@Kristoman,

The article is factually correct even if the chance of that happening are remote.

1) ManCity is unlikely to be ban next season. Between the final decision taking place days before the qualifications and the lengthy legal appeal forcing a suspension of the ban, any ban is more likely to be for the season 2020-2021.

2) Arsenal need to win their Europa League final against Chelsea. If we lose ManUtd cannot make it.

Globalgunner

Sorry Arteta was never great for us. He never replicated his form at Rangers or Everton. He came to us late stage and was too slow to play AM, to slow even for DM, would give fouls away constantly as he was easy to beat. Had no personality to dictate play or gee-up his team mates. He was constantly injured……..He did score a few pens
Great CV for a future manager

Globalgunner

People make up untruths and hope it will pass.
Zidane was a legend not a journeyman like Arteta. He had been an assistant at Madrid since retiring so knew more than Arteta about how Madrid runs….Do you think City will replace Pep with Arteta when Pep moves on?. I hear he is not even Peps no2. Thats somne other dude.

Pep was managing the Barca B team for years, he was also a club legend.

Arteta has not even managed a 5 a side team and is a legend where?

Globalgunner

Hiring Arteta would be like Cambridge University appointing Professor Stephen Hawking’s PA or Nurse as the head of the Physics department

Bob N16

Global….rubbish analogy…

Bamford10

New post.

Champagne Charlie

Global

For a guy that states people like to ‘make up untruths and hope they’ll pass’, you’ve included quite a number yourself. Kudos

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