Heard some sexy rumblings that Arsenal and Zaha are into each other (player supported us as a kid). Obviously, anything can happen in football, so don’t hack my site if it doesn’t happen, but the intent is apparently there and real.
That is interesting. The £40m transfer budget we’re pitching must be a low ball figure, unless Raul and Vinai have been working players out the door to foot the bill for the deal.
When you look at us solving our wide player issues with Zaha and Fraser, I think the risk on the Scotsman looks a little smarter. We’d by buying in 24 assists and 17 goals.
I can get behind that. We’d be buying two players that have worked under managers that demand a high intensity style of football. They will both have something to prove on a couple of levels. Fraser needs to prove he’s worth the punt, and not the Scott Parker of 2019. Zaha needs to lay to rest the ghosts of his horrible move to United a few years ago.
Both moves are either going to cement us to the Europa League for years to come, or they’re smart British buys that don’t have the sex appeal of a foreign buy, but deliver in the same way Liverpool has delivered signing boring names like Andy Robertson.
The big move for Arsenal, in my humble opinion, is the centre back. We need a huge upgrade. United has lost their damn mind, apparently offering De Ligt £450k a week to join from Ajax. They are going for the straight up Liverpool move of upgrading to the best possible player they can find. Hard to not see the move as anything other than elite. The player is a leader, he’s an unreal talent, and he’ll probably look like a bargain in 5 years time.
That’s a game-changing signing. They still have a talent issue with the manager, and that’ll be hard to turnaround, but at least they are stocking up with proper players.
That sort of move really means Arsenal can’t afford to fuck around this summer. It also means the Champions League game on Wednesday is of next level importance. If it goes well, then next season makes sense. If it goes badly, what are we chasing as a club and are we falling into the same trap of letting elite coaches pass us by?
We shall see. See you in the comments. x
Update: Kante injured… wonderful. United NOT in the race for De Ligt.
Graham
Howe has a touch of The Poch about him.
Very calm
Never gets flustered
Keeps soccer simple.
His teams always score goals.
He could get to elite levels..
He certainly has put Bournemouth in the Elite Prem.
I can’t believe people are Moaning about the January transfer window. Who the hell could we have signed that would have made an ounce of difference.
I firmly believe emery wanted every penny he could get for the summer transfer window, should there have been a chance we could make champs league.
Raul was probably just doing Barca a solid taking a gamble on Suarez, in the end it was nothing gained nothing lost for us.
Unless you have big funds and major players are available, or you have dire need for players then January is best left alone.
Marko
Yeh but CG doesn’t want to see Emery and Arsenal succeed.
He wants us to lose. That way, he can keep giving Emery a kicking.
It’s all for the good of the club as far as CG is concerned.
CG
So why do you think he hasn’t been picked up by the big boys?
Is it purely because he is at Bournmouth? or is it because he’s not foreign?
Just so that you know, he was my first choice when Wenger left.
He’s winding you up , anyone with an ounce of intelligence would realise that ….nice one Charlie.
So he’s purposely being a dumb cunt. What’s your excuse Pierre
I can’t believe people are Moaning about the January transfer window. Who the hell could we have signed that would have made an ounce of difference.’ Are you having a laugh mate Someone mentioned Tieleman or something, and lots more moved if you cared to check yh that guy that ran us ragged when they put THREE past us..he was a loan signing too just like Suarez.. We could have been miles better with a defender coming in as well ,I mean mid table plodders were having our defense for toffee all season and a useless signing like Suarez was… Read more »
CG isn’t winding anyone up.
Judge him by the nonsense that he writes. He really does believe these things.
Graham but, should we not prevail, I will also accept that at least the rot has finally stopped and that the infestation that had been stagnating the club, is finally being eradicated.’ Cut the crap, anything less than a win for us on Wednesday and Emeryhl hasn’t bettered Wengers worst years in all his time in charge Emery has us going into this match with all the pressure because he bottled a great finish in the league Losing AT HOME to C,palace. Draw at home to Brighton and losing away to Everton ,wolves and Liecester was unforgivable Winning any one… Read more »
Less than 4,000 Arsenal fans going over for the final. Disgraceful
Wouldn’t go to Baku.. It’s a shitty place to host a final of such magnitude
Uefa are a massive joke
Victorious , ‘Someone mentioned Tieleman or something, and lots more moved if you cared to check’ If you consulted professor google for 30 secs, you would have realized that Tielemans joined Leicester on loan in a straight swap with [£22m rated] midfielder Adrien Silva moving to the Monaco. Leicester had done their homework so well that they had a Adrien Silva as surplus to requirement. We don’t even have enough serviceable central midfielders, talk less of a surplus to use to get Tielemans. We simply didn’t have the means…and the Tielesman deal was too much for us, at least in… Read more »
If there was any doubt Mustafi has to go (spoiler alert: there is no doubt), this article should seal it, as it is clear Mustafi does not understand the most basic job of a defender:
http://www.espn.com/soccer/arsenal/story/3861717/mustafi-arsenals-defence-has-done-a-good-job
He says if a defender makes some bad plays, nobody talks about the good plays. But the good defenders maintain concentration and don’t make those bad plays!
Leicester was able to get Tielemanns on loan because they had a player that they wanted rid of that Monaco wanted in return.
Who do we have that we can loan out that any decent club would want? Do I hear crickets?
Graham
“Yeh but CG doesn’t want to see Emery and Arsenal succeed.He wants us to lose. That way, he can keep giving Emery a kicking.It’s all for the good of the club as far as CG is concerned.”
Do you not notice the similarities between yourself (wenger)and Charlie George…
I’m surprised that you have no understanding of CG’s feelings on this matter…you continually wanted Arsenal to lose matches ( under Wenger)for “the good of the club”.
Victorious.
‘Lots more’
Elaborate please.
I remember being mocked when I said that the Leicester squad was as good as ours. Their starting eleven when we lost to them away was also better than ours.
A mid table club had a solid midfielder in Adrien Silva as surplus to requirement, when Arsenal can’t summon a player of that quality to start games.
Pierre 20 years, 10 of them in decline is not the same as 1 year of rebuild. You fuckwits got on the managers back before the season even started, even if some of you tried to hide it with the occasional I’ll judge him in May schtick while continuosly judging him. 5th place is slightly overachieving imo for this squad. Never expected us to get anywhere near 3rd as we did, but that was mostly because of the stronger teams around us messing up. EL final is a nice bonus and I really hope we can take the backdoor into… Read more »
Alright Tieleman was a stretch too far.dunno the fvck the club was doing negotiating for a nothing player for the best part of a month though I mean you would agree we could have benefitted much more if a defensive cover came in.. Or offer up the space for one of the kid to stake a claim I mean I’m not being paid weekly bucks to make these decisions but whoever gave the green light for the Suarez move shouldn’t probably be near the club The Suarez deal is up there with the WTF moments for the club If ever… Read more »
Dissenter
“Leicester had done their homework so well that they had a Adrien Silva as surplus to requirement. We don’t even have enough serviceable central midfielders, talk less of a surplus to use to get Tielemans.”
Could have loaned them Ramsey as he was sitting on the bench for the majority of the season and was surplus to requirements under Emery.
Do you not notice the similarities between yourself (wenger)and Charlie George…
The absolute lack of self awareness stuns the mind
Pierre There’s a big difference if you stuck your head out of Wenger’s xxx everyonce in a while. Wenger was finished. He had run out of dead and was making it u as he went along. He was still surrounding himself with the same yes-men that he had at the beginning of the century. We had a manager that was publicly saying that it is ideal for players to enter the last year of their contracts. We had a manager that shushed criticisms after we got shellacked 10-2 by Bayern. We had a manager who was predictably predictable for stasis.… Read more »
I’d have swapped ozil for literally anyone!
But I doubt anyone would want him.
At least Kalstrom managed for himself a goal or 2
Vic if you can’t see the difference between us signing up someone poor for 6 months and us signing up someone with a broken back for 6 months then you truly are lost
Pierre
Actually Ozil was the one that should have been loaned to Leicester
They would have said “Auf keinen fall‘ or ‘fuck off’ because everyone but you can see through his last ass.
Ramsey’s head wasn’t right after the club refused to match the Juve offer he was using to bargain for an extension.
Agree it was a signing just to save face, after missing out on Carrasco and Perisic. Obviously didn’t work out, but to judge the new setup on a January window where we were going round hand in cap begging for loans is a bit hypocritical. Doubt for even 1 second we are after any of the same targets now, we haven’t been linked to any of the same players and the Banega, Nzonzi nonsense was just clickbait. Handy to bash the manager with though I guess. It would be like judging Wenger for us being linked with Kalou for 5… Read more »
Vic
‘I mean you would agree we could have benefitted much more if a defensive cover came in.. Or offer up the space for one of the kid to stake a claim’
I asked Pierre this question in March and he’s yet to come up,with an answer
Name one defender [of any value] that moved clubs in January?
I’m waiting sweetie.
There was nothing in offer, period.
Graham “”So why do you think he hasn’t been picked up by the big boys?””” Because there is far too much snobbery about soccer. ( listen to all these posters- wanting all these exotic sounding overseas players- instead of Arsenal fan and Premier Proven Zaha) When you study Howe- he is managing Bournemouth in third gear… He does it effortlessly… he has 2 more gears to up yet on the managerial ladder. He ,would have been a very acceptable choice as replacement to AW. The best coaches in history are always the ones that keep it simple. Its No surprise… Read more »
*on offer
The Suarez deal is up there with the WTF moments for the club If ever there was a signing for signing sake
Just off the top of my head Andre Santos, Bischoff, Lucas Perez for 17 million and never using him and then selling him for 4 million. Park Chu Young what was that all about.
https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/ranking-arsenals-25-weirdest-premier-league-signings/
I’d like to add Franny Jeffers and Squillaci to the mix. But no forever etched into the annuls of embarrassment will be the Dennis Suarez signing.
What the obsessives don’t quite understand is that we are not really bothered about the Saurez loan deal just like we were not bothered about the Kallstrom loan deal .
Some you win some you lose .
But the Kallstrom deal has been one of of the many sticks to beat wenger with by the obsessives over the years and( not surprisingly) they can’t see the irony of trying to defend Emery on the Saurez loan deal.
If Wenger has sanctioned that deal all hell would have been let loose ( or is it lose) by the obsessives.
‘The process is flawed’ eh? It’s a big conclusion from a failed loan in January. A loan in which we at least protected ourselves from a long term commitment.
It’s in no way analogous to Kallstrom. KK was signed with knowledge of a broken batch, at a point in time when we were well placed in the league. It doesn’t even rise to the level of a bad mistake or a poor move, it simply should never have happened.
Is it worth taking a risk on signing Jerome Boateng from bayern?
‘ broken back’
More to the point, the worst piece of news for us is that Mike Ashley has sold NUFC to a sheikh who happens to be the brother of Man City’s owner.
I use the word ‘worst’ because, if true, next season Newcastle will join the other five PL clubs with better personnel than Arsenal.
Newcastle United have been a sleeping giant since forever. Hold your breath and watch them rise!
It also verifies what those in the know have always known: the vital factor in a football club’s success (or failure) is the owner.
KK scored a pen that took us to FA cup glory
He’s an unsung hero!!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/14/arsene-wenger-turned-chance-sign-denis-suarez-year-loan-move-arsenal-9533320/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwjZuI644LviAhUnsaQKHdfFASoQFjAPegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw0Q7GO7Nl_wgaxFrNJ6G21d&cf=1 Take a stab Marko It’s not mutually exclusive guy, agreed we’ve made some awful signings over the years which you lots like to pin all the blames on Wenger, I mean do you also give him all the credits for the numerous gems he brought to the club as well? Obviously not And that right there it’s where the hypocrisy stems from, A full year after he’s left the building we’re met with the shocking signing of a waster But instead of calling to questions those duly culpable youd sooner remain stucked in their rectum going out of your… Read more »
People acting like the Suarez deal cost the club millions. Goes to show how well emery has done in the first season that people have to nitpick small details.
Get in some more able bodied players and we’ll be a force next season.
Nice to feel the optimism coming back into the club.
First things first though, let’s tear chelshit a new one.
Victorious you are right. By any standards it was a bad move. It didn’t work out. It doesn’t however define the people in charge or foretell how they’ll perform this summer.
It was clear there was no money available in the winter. Raul by his own admission ‘does not believe in the January window’. It was an inexpensive punt that failed.
Pierre
So what you’re saying is the constant references to the Suarez loan are a bit of childish tit for tat and an attempt to smear the new manager as revenge for the grief Wenger got over the years?
Very mature and so very very productive. At least you’ve laid down the reasons for your position.
FFP will restrict what the new owners of Newcastle can do
Man City sort of predated FFP and also coincided with the PSG project so Michel Platini had to ignore ther misdeeds.
Newcastle has such a small revenue that would make immediate major investments difficult.
I feel tainted whenever Pierre mentions my moniker
Please stop
Pierre, actually, the Suarez deal should give you a lot of hope in the new guys process or however you put it. They made sure the deal would not come back to haunt us and it didn’t. That’s proper brinksmanship (SP) there. Also worth noting, Suarez was brought as someone that can play on the wing, not midfield. As evidenced by our earlier failed pursuit of Perisic and Carrasco, both on loans. Kallstrom was Wengers first and only choice and he had a broken back. I don’t even hate Wenger but you are making me start to put everything he… Read more »
Dissenter
I also think some of the power houses in the PL are fucked off with City and their spending. There’s already been rumours about them getting together to go after City, no way they’re going to allow the situation to kick off all over again.
“Pierre, actually, the Suarez deal should give you a lot of hope in the new guys process or however you put it. They made sure the deal would not come back to haunt us and it didn’t.”
Takuma Asano is still on our books
We signed the Korean dude and despite showing flashes of brilliance refused to play him
Perez…17m..one season sent out on loan the next
Pierre is a shameless dude and you guys are complicit for replying to his nonsense
Wenger turned down Suarez? Who cares….wasn’t that the same period he was saying that it’s ideal for players to run down their contracts? Barca have been offering Suarez to every club if note. It was easier for us to swallow the bait; the manager had him before, Raul has handled previous transfers with the said period and Mesut Ozil was stinking out the place. It was match made in heaven for a risk that we insisted be limited to 6 month. It didn’t work out as planned. The player left the club on April 29 meaning Arsenal is not responsible… Read more »
The new regime walked away from the deal when Barca insisted on an obligation to buy clause, Suarez only arrived here because we could not cough up the cash for Perisic or Carrasco, this same confused poster always listed Suarez while naming “technical” players Emery has refused to play, he has been trying to float the idea that all technical players are unwanted at Arsenal until Wenger or someone who shares the same philosophy is manager
I’m not defending the Suarez signing dumbo I’m arguing with it being worse than signing up someone with a broken back. It’s not.
Look, y’all Emery bashers have to know that once y’all want to put the blame of everything bad (whether unjustly or otherwise) on Emery, there will always be resistance. People will always look to deflect all blames from him too. It’s just like that.
Imagine Pedro yesterday with the line that Emery should have done much to keep rumors from escalating.
So we can either talk about buying Ziyech (Pepe if we can get him) and Depay/Fekir instead of Zaha and Fraser or continue with the back and forth.
Very little can compare to the incompetence of Wenger’s last years and trying to throw up the Suarez transfer in comparison doesn’t work. Wenger showed a consistency of bad decisions and incompetence that is unrivalled.
Actually, Emery impressed me with the Dennis Suarez situation
Some manager would have played a player they brought in [or were invested in] like a certain Sanogo was played, just to prove a point.
He didn’t do that insisting that the player had to be ready first.
mystic
I’m up for changing the conversation.
So it’s looks like Sarri is on his way – is Lampard going to replace him? How damaging is the transfer ban going to be?
Dear Jamie
Off out.
Will reply to your letter , at some stage
Yours
CG
“He didn’t do that insisting that the player had to be ready first.” And as soon as it became clear that the player wasn’t up to it / wasn’t interested binned him off at the first opportunity.
There’s talk that Koschielny is leaning at the end of the season.
*There’s talk that Koschielny is leaving at the end of the season
Dissenter
That’s a shame – it’s been years since we’ve had a CB who’s top quality at leaning.
How is Klopp’s and Liverpool’s season in the PL not painted as a massive bottle job in this quarters? In January they had an 8 point lead, could have gone 11 ahead and was massive favorites for the title. They contrived to lose and draw until the whole advantage was wiped. I think their players know they threw the PL away but klopp is the media’s and le groves favorite coach so his 96 point haul will always the the thing he is remembered for. Wenger was rightly murdered for those kind of things here. Also I will put my… Read more »
Ashley Cole starts for Derby – that’s me supporting Villa in the play off final!
‘So it’s looks like Sarri is on his way – is Lampard going to replace him? How damaging is the transfer ban going to be?’
Maybe it’s too soon for lampard. He’s doing a good job, one he won’t want to spoil by taking on Chelsea at their worst period. I think Sarri stays on, but if he goes, Zola could be given the reign.
Sokratis; “Emery is the best manager I’ve ever had”
Marc
Tough spot to be in. Terry is the head coach of Aston Villa! Choose your demon wisely
mystic
It’s worse than what you say actually. Next Saturday there’s a trophy available even more important than the CL.
It’s the Greatest bottle job in football cup. Klopp – 6 successive final losses. Poch the greatest manager never to win anything.
One of them will be talking it home. Just pray to God it’s the Poch!
mystic
In that case I’m revising my choice – I’m supporting IS terror attack.
😂😂😂😂😂
Is Tom Huddlestone still playing?
I thought he died from complications linked to severe obesity.
mystic
I suppose John Terry’s on to a winner no matter what the result today. He’ll be up there picking the trophy up no matter who wins!
Marc aren’t you on a roll? How do you see Terry doing in management long term? Has Steve Bruce found his long lost replacement?
mystic
I’m going to start a sing along in a minute Lip up fatty Huddlestone.
Terry as a manager – fuck knows. He’ll probably get a few jobs but I’ve always thought he’s thick cunt. The current generation of managers are too sharp for his like.
I think I prefer the German playoff model
The third best team in the second division play the third worse team in the top flight for a chance to take their place in the top flight
This 3rd to 6th involved in a play of stuff seems unfair, i feel for Leeds
Receding
I think it’s one of those things that have become a bit entrenched in the mind’s of supporters.
You’ve also got such a gulf between the money in the PL and Championship that the PL team really should be staying up.
Always felt same way about Terry. I am not sure he will prove to be a very good coach but he will get quite a few jobs and make enough money.
RH, I think the German play off season is rather unfair. The team in the sueperior division almost always wins. 3-6 seems fairer to me.
Mystic and Marc
Well if the team in the top flight always wins then they remain in the top flight, spares us some of the pointless teams that have come up over the years, the two seasons Huddersfield spent in the premier league always seemed pointless to me, they were such a nothing team.
Derby didn’t have such a great season yet here there are in place of Leeds, Leeds vs Cardiff i fancy Leeds
Anyway that’s just my take
Receding play off football is truly heart breaking but I wouldn’t like to see it change to a German scenario honestly. That 3rd place team is always going to be at a disadvantage against a top flight team
He’s being linked with the Barca job. I could see him being tempted and us allowing him to.
Marko
Who’s being tempted?
“Emery joins former Everton boss Roberto Martinez, ex-Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri and Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman on the four-man shortlist.”
Metro
Not much of a short list…will Allegri’s football suit Barca?
Well if Barca went for Emery and Allegri out of a job he might be up for us. Of course we could go for Arteta and either win everything ever or never have to hear a fucking peep about him again.
How the fuck does Martinez get himself on a short list for Barca. He is truly hopeless.
A very good Emery interview, he talks in detail about Arsenal, his ‘style’ and other managers.
https://arseblog.news/2019/05/full-transcript-unai-emery-speaks-to-el-mundo/?
Marc he’s on the list for Barca cause truly outside of 2-3 proven managers in world football the rest are a bit of a gamble. That’s not to say that there’s not good managers out there but there’s too few truly great managers anymore.
Quotes attributed to him speaking about working to build something at Arsenal as opposed to working to avoid the sack suggests that he could turn down the Barca job. I always saw him eventually at Madrid if I’m honest. He could be tempted and we could be too.
‘I want us to be a chameleon team, able to play in possession, in static attack against close opponents, or to counterattack. For the first, Ozil suits very well, he has the virtue of discovering spaces. For the second, Aubameyang. To the extent that we are able to combine it, we will grow.’
Easier said than done, I have a feeling he is in pursuit of something very elusive and difficult to master. Explains lack of identity in our game – we are neither here nor there.
A very good Emery interview, he talks in detail about Arsenal, his ‘style’
——————————–
Lose to Chelsea and he can take his style and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
I have a feeling he is in pursuit of something very elusive and difficult to master.
I agree. I would add especially with this current set of players. I don’t think though that he’s looking for something that’s unheard of I don’t think he’s a visionary I think he wants a team that plays a certain way with players able to play that way but also the ability to adapt
“Lose to Chelsea and he can take his style and shove it where the sun don’t shine.”
Hope you do know he isn’t going to be sacked right? At least not this summer.
His job doesn’t depend on the Chelsea game
Like Leeds, I prefer Villa where they are. Come on Derby.
I have mentioned him previously , I actually think Tyrone Mings has a bit of Van Dyke about him …very assured ,good composure on the ball, good passing between the lines, reads the game well….plays like a leader…seems to have matured as a player ( John Terry influence imo)
What was the Derby keeper doing there? Tried to catch the ball into his mid drift crazy decision.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Villa go on now and get a couple more.
Shocking goalkeeping
Marc
Was shocking keeping not far off Karius levels. The look on Lampard’s face and Cole’s reaction spoke volumes.
Pierre
Always difficult to judge whether a player can take attributes at a lower level and convert them into PL quality.
I hope The G ,Pierre, TR7, PedRo and all the other Le Grove Big hitters are dissecting this revealing interview as we speak.
File it under:
Operation Protagonist and The Chameleon!
They quoted the match as having £170 million riding on it – and you’ve got a keeper playing butter fingers.
Mings is average.
The Tomori guy for derby is much better and has had a better season.
Dissenter I want to laugh. I remember Wenger saying that FFP would be a great help to ‘honest’ clubs, like Arsenal. That was the moment I decided that Wenger was either hopelessly naïve or a shameless liar, or maybe a bit of both. I doubt whether any of the elite clubs has stuck rigidly to FFP rules. There are innumerable ways of getting around them. The truth is that the Elite clubs are richer and more powerful than Uefa. Push them hard and they’ll form their own European leagues. Curtains, Uefa. With Uefa’s blessing they gang up on newly elite… Read more »
Hope you do know he isn’t going to be sacked right?
—————————–
He should be if we lose.
Derby get one back – game on.
The next level is the next level. You prefer those kinds of soundbites cg
CGMay 27, 2019 10:28:45 …. B) Raul was clearly not working in a Arsenal best interests. ( he ushered Ramsey out of the door- because they wanted Suarez as his replacement- remember)… >>>>> I see, now it all makes sense! Raul wanted Suarez to replace Ramsey permanently (even though you’ve been insisting that was Emery….) so he decided to sign Suarez on loan for all of 4 months to permanently replace Ramsey, and not sign him permanently, and he even wanted Suarez to replace Ramsey permanently so much he refused Barcelona’s demand to have a permanent buy clause inserted into… Read more »
Villa back in the Prem.