News from around the Arsenal camp isn’t good heading into the tour of America.
The big news is club captain, Laurent K, skipped the flight with the first team. Arsenal uncharacteristically put out a press release that read more like a ‘GOTTA GET IN THERE FIRST’ piece than anything else. It gave no context and it just felt a little lacking in class.
As for the player, I’ve heard this has been brewing for a while.
A few things to note. Laurent isn’t exactly captain material. Whatever you might think from looking at his on-pitch persona, he’s not a real leader by any stretch. He’s not a talker and he can apparently be quite difficult. This type of move isn’t par the course for him, but I don’t think it’s totally unexpected from what I hear.
Going on strike isn’t cool however you chop it up. But if you reframe it through his selfish eyes, he’s just come back from a major injury, he’s 33 years old (34 in September), he could break at any point and then any chance he has of retiring to the south of France goes up in the puff of an Achilles. He wants out of Arsenal, he’s getting very little love from a club on terminating his deal because we need all the pennies we can get, so he’s forcing the move.
It’s unprofessional, but at his age, firstly, why would he give a fuck? What is there to play for under Emery? Some players extend for greatness, but he’s not getting that here.
Secondly, should it really matter to any elite club that a 33-year-old is going on strike? Our best defender should be 25, not 9 years older.
There are additional ramifications to this. Arsenal has next to no leaders at the club at the minute. Petr Cech was the main guy last season, he’s at Chelsea. Aaron Ramsey has gone. We’ve lost other characters like Lichtsteiner and WELBZ. A lot of the spice in the side has gone. I hear that it’s not good at Colney, no real energy, no good vibes, just flat as a pancake.
Factor in that we’ve told Mustafi he’s surplus, Chambers has been told he can go, Jenks has known his fate for 3 years, Kola might also be up for sale, Ozil, Mikhi, Xhaka rumoured to want out… we are in really big trouble here.
We have one decent defender that will start this season, with a partner that won’t be interested when we line up against Newcastle. To make matters worse, the Premier League window closes, but the one in Europe doesn’t. There could be 4-5 players starting that first game that could have their minds on other clubs. It’s an absolute disaster.
There is no leadership at the club whatsoever and that’s why issues like the above are happening.
I thought an excellent point was made yesterday. We are in a poor situation financially, and we decided not to make tough squad decisions to remedy our reality. We have two 20+ goal a season strikers, one that is 29 and at the peak of his powers. Liverpool would have sold one for £80m and used the cash to bolster with youth. We decided to up their deals. There seems to have been no plan for a £40m budget we’ve known about since last November.
The biggest worry for me is that this season is all about Emery. There’s no new manager boost incoming. The players don’t care for the man, we saw that towards the end of last season, and we’ve made little effort to bring in names to counter that problem. The true averageness of what we’ve hired is going to come to a head this season. The lack of vision in his hiring will bite us really, really hard.
Wilfried Zaha would liven the starting 11 up, but he has a 5 year deal with Palace and I’m hearing that the valuation Palace have on the player is real and I don’t think it takes a genius to see that the options we’re sending their way are pitiful when it comes to part exchange deals. He’s on a 5 year deal, so they are in no hurry to move him on. So maybe hopes and dreams of them caving are far fetched.
This season is careening off the road before a plane has left the tarmac, and that’s before Xhaka is given the captains armband.
Arsenal is chaos, it’s staggering how badly we’re being run at the minute.
Receding
You’re one to promote the drivel about us not having any sellable assets so, again, spare me the nonsense about taking things in isolation when patently your reference was to numerous. Your patterns aren’t difficult to keep up with.
“Proves that palace don’t want to sell zaha, that’s it”
So you are saying Palace will indeed pay Mustafi 100k a week after paying 20m for his services??? Joke Friday
“Your patterns aren’t difficult to keep up with.”
They obviously are
“Pat what does that instance proof then?? That we can see players easily???“
That Palace don’t want to sell Zaha, that they don’t want/need any of the players offered, that they want straight cash.
Any of the above, but it doesn’t mean the players offered aren’t sellable because of Palace’s view on them – which is what you offered up.
Charles is promoting the drivel that we are loaded with assets that we can sell for money but the club is either
A. Begging them to stay
B. Not recognizing their years of service and letting them leave on a free
C. Rejecting good bids for their services
Yes i am the one talking drivel
Baldline, has anyone ever told you that you are a boring, monotonous twat?
“Charles yesterday accused the club of not putting out feeders that certain players are for sale (ignoring their salaries) now an instance was used to prove to him that even in a case were the club literally offered players to a club said players were rejected.“ 1. It’s feelers, not feeders. 2. It was a discussion about Auba/Laca when discussing how we could generate interest in selling one vs our stance of dismissing any and all clubs. Nothing to do with players that haven’t kicked a ball for the side this past season. Everything to do with engineering and coaxing… Read more »
One has to admire the brilliance of Levy.
Whilst our Numpties are on the plane writing their next Press Releases Stateside- he has stealthily got ‘in on’ the Saliba Deal.
It will have 2 consequences
1. Spurs sign him.
2. Arsenal sign him – but on Spurs terms.
Ie. For more money and a greater down payment thus effecting their limited summer budget.
Genius, when you think about it.
Levy 1 Raul 0
Baldline, has anyone ever told you that you are a boring, monotonous twat?
Shouldn’t you be on a Turin fan blog??
“Proves that palace don’t want to sell zaha, that’s it”
So you are saying Palace will indeed pay Mustafi 100k a week after paying 20m for his services??? Joke Friday”
At no point did I say that. In fact you just said that. Only you. You are saying things I haven’t said and arguing against them. Lol joke Friday indeed
“Charles is promoting the drivel that we are loaded with assets that we can sell for money but the club is either“ Good grief, am I doing that? Or am I simply saying we’re not poverty’r’us and the suits should be capable of making SOME sort of dent on the squad. – We have two elite CF’s, when we need one. – we have guys not earning the earth who can fetch money (even little) and currently contribute nothing (Elneny, Chambers, Jenks, Mavro). – we have varied quality that’s earning more that their worth we could engineer sales/loans on (Mkhi,… Read more »
Morata is 26, Spanish international
Scored 6 in 15 for Atleti in his time on loan with them.
The idea they will forego paying 55m euros for him on 5.2m euros a year salary to pay 80m pounds in fees and 10.4m pounds in salary for Auba or 5.2m pound for 28nyr old Lacazette (13 league goals) is a little hard to swallow
No matter the feelers,feeders or whatever sent out
You are conveniently ignoring their salaries because it reflects badly on the previous regime you do not want mentioned
Un nai,
That Rapinoe twat is the worst. Have you seen this?
https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/1148966283872034817?s=19
Alvaro Morata has played for Real Madrid, Juventus and Chelsea, the idea Auba or Lacazette are better buys that he is (younger than both btw) is also hard to swallow
He is a limited striker just like both of them are
13 league goals is not “elite CF” returns
Nadal racing away to a 6-1 victory in 2nd set, 1 set each.
CG
Completely agree. Win for levy here.
As we stand
Leno
Bel
Mustafi
Papa
Monreal
Torr
Xhara
Ozil
Iwobi
Laca
Pea
Starting line up for first game…
Seem familiar
Still fuck all to talk about I see…
Anyone else see Griezmann as another potentially dodgy Barca mega purchase?
Bit of a square peg in a round hole, Dembele’s attributes are far better tailored to a front 3 with Messi in it.
Cg
Well said on levy
Perhaps because he loves the club…
Our last 20 years the clubs an earner for them
We should be sponsored b6 bisto as we are the gravy train for Europe.
Anyone else see Griezmann as another potentially dodgy Barca mega purchase?
Yuuupppp. Not just saying it but I feel like Lacazette could have brought some real good balance to their attack
WE
Watch Fed Rafa , imperious tennis from both players. AFC is boring .
TR7
Have it recording. Definitely going to watch it later on.
Although it’s not as exciting as it used to be as Djokovic is just going to smash whoever advances to the Final anyway.
This has all the hallmarks of matching the final.
Marko
I get the Neymar prodigal son story because he’s already been a multiple league champion as well as a CL title (their last) and formed part of the best front 3 we’ve ever seen while there.
Griezmann just seems a weird fit, left footed like Messi and likes floating in a free role in the centre just as Messi does. No way he plays on he wing for them to an elite level imo.
Laca would have replaced Suarez though wouldn’t he? And even tho Suarez has declined he’s still a top 3-5 CF in Europe.
Nadal vs Fed always a chartbuster, such contrasting styles.
Fed’s a bad man still schooling the competition at 38.
I’m a Nadal fan but hard to make a convincing case for him as the goat over Federer.
‘Fed’s a bad man still schooling the competition at 38. I’m a Nadal fan but hard to make a convincing case for him as the goat over Federer.’
Nadal beat Fed in his pomp at his own backyard (Wimbledon) whereas Fed has never even come close to Rafa in French Open.
Um Fed lost the second set 6-1.
It’s currently 1-1 in sets and Fed is 4-1 up in the third.
Nadal has won more games in the match…
TR7 Prime Nadal is unbeatable on clay though, he’s won 12 RG which is absolutely ridiculous. It does pad his GS count a little though, he’s won 6 other GS titles through his whole career at 3 different majors and only 1 AO. I’d argue Federer has had the far more consistent career, Rafa was cat piss at Wimbledon for half a decade in his prime. Federer did compete in a weak era post Sampras and pre Nadal for a couple of years and padded his GS count too though tbf. Djokovic will surpass both if he keeps this up… Read more »
Griezmann will stagnate- 2 years and he is gone back to France. HE does not fit into Barca… too much like a Messi Lite
Whatever tho , I hate the player
WE For purists, GS count won’t decide the GOAT. I can as well argue Djoker was nowhere to be seen when both Rafa and Fed were in their prime. For me and I am sure many others it is a very important factor that Nadal could beat Fed to lift Wimbledon despite being a clay court player. He adapted to grass and hard court too whereas Fed couldn’t adapt to clay and be anywhere close to Rafa. It’s like Messi saying to CR7 – wait, I can play with my right foot too and score as many as you can… Read more »
TR7
What do you mean, Djokovic obliterated the field and most significantly Nadal himself in 2011 when Rafa was 25 which was in his prime. Beat him in 3 GS Finals in a row.
And Rafa winning Wimbledon against Federer makes him the goat? What about when Djokovic destroyed him at Roland Garros in 2015?
Feel Rocking Roger has to take Rafa here or he looses in 5.
Can’t beat the silk, Fed is my GOAT.
“The talks were always very cordial. Erkut Sogut is the lawyer who represents him and it was always cordial. The bottom line was what he was asking for was not just far from what our top salary was, it was significantly further,” he told Goal .
“Their strategy was to come in with a number as high as they possibly could and see if we would bite if we were desperate. Ironically enough, he signed for what we had offered a year-and-a-half earlier.”
Dick Law the gift that keeps on giving
Tennis is as boring as arsenal these days
WE Erm, Rafa bowed out of Aus Open against David Ferrer due to injury in QF and won French. So Djiker couldn’t possibly have beaten him in 3 finals in a row. 2015 was the worst year in Nadal’s career, he bowed out of grand slams in second and third rounds. No surprise Djoker had a great 2015. Don’t forget Nadal has had an injury ravaged career. He has played many slams at less than 100 percent fitness. On the other hand Fed and Djoker had a rather injury free career. Besides, unlike Fed and Djoker , Nadal never had… Read more »
Federer is goat simply because he doesn’t make those embarrassing noises while playing.
All said and done, Fed is the most aesthetically pleasing great Champion ever in tennis and if I had to watch one guy it would be Federer all the time. He is a magician.
Winning Wimbledon at 38 beating Rafa and Djoker on the way would be one of the greatest achievements in tennis.
Mr Serge .
Must agree Prima Donnas in both sports.
Yes!
Federer was imperious.
Weagle:
“Djokovic will surpass both if he keeps this up for a year or two more mind. At his peak he’s the best of the three.”
Djokostrap is to Tennis what Lennox Lewis was to boxing; only rose to the top once the best were over the hill, old and injured.
Bring Federer and Nadal down to the same as as Djokovic and Djokovic is 3rd and wins nowhere near the titles he’s won.
That was elite Tennis.
Federer…what a guy!
‘Erm, Rafa bowed out of Aus Open against David Ferrer due to injury in QF and won French. So Djiker couldn’t possibly have beaten him in 3 finals in a row.’
Huh? Djokovic beat Rafa in the Wimbledon 2011 Final, US Open 2011 Final and the 2012 Australian Open Final, that is three in a row.
We
“Anyone else see Griezmann as another potentially dodgy Barca mega purchase?Bit of a square peg in a round hole, Dembele’s attributes are far better tailored to a front 3 with Messi in it.”
What an odd signing.
Surprised Barcelona didn’t prioritise Neymar over Griezmann
benny
Well he [Djokovic] battered Rafa in his prime so there’s that. And Federer won about 70pc of his titles in an era where the competition was Safin, Baghdatis, Roddick, Hewitt, etc.
He beat Nadal 7 times in a row and 3 of those GS Finals when Rafa was in his mid 20’s and coming off his best ever 2010 season.
Djokovic is bizarrely disrespected, he’s just as much in the conversation as the other two and could very soon surpass them.
‘2015 was the worst year in Nadal’s career, he bowed out of grand slams in second and third rounds. No surprise Djoker had a great 2015.’
You can’t wheel out that excuse TR7, you can’t just take years off in the middle of your career. Djokovic had a terrible year and a half starting around 2017 but nobody made any excuses for him.
You weigh up their greatness by looking at what they achieved in the totality of their career and 2015/16 were a stain on Rafa, as well as his early Wimbledon exits for half a decade.
Carts
Barca’s signings for the last half decade have been pretty bizarre. They’ve dwarfed Real Madrid in transfer spend, could you even fathom that a decade ago?
La Masia has also descended into a dive where they aren’t even interested in keeping the players eating healthily. Haven’t produced a single first team player since Sergi Roberto who’s not far off of 30.
as things stand, Barcelona don’t even need to balance the books as they mad a little over 100m bringing their net outlay to about 120 odd.
You’d imagine they’d need top dollar for Malcolm and Semedo to afford Neymar and be FFP complaint.
If Neymar came in then Dembele and Malcom are certainly both sold.
Coutinho would be out the door too if PSG had any interest as I’d imagine they’ll want at least the €220 million back that they paid for Neymar which Barca can’t afford.
WE
Djoker started his professional career in 2003, played his first grand slam in 2005 and won just 1 GS until 2011. I will remember him as the guy who was a bystander when Nadal and Fed were in their prime and started dominating when age caught up on Fed and injuries started taking a toll on Rafa. Still a great champion but not in the GOAT conversation for me. It is between Fed and Rafa. Djoker’s game is robotic too. wouldn’t watch him even if somebody paid me for it.
Jeez, I don’t think there is any debate about who is the goat in tennis. Federer is head and shoulders above anyone. Sure, Nadal is the king of clay but Federer has taken the game to another level…and I hate tennis.
He’s a class act. Doesn’t show off, plays all the shots. Still serve and volleys. Doesn’t scream and grunt on every point. Just the best.
It’s rare that three players such as Novak, Roger and Rafa existed at the same time…mind blowing when one thinks about it. What, 50 grand slams between them or something?
Also, why don’t tennis players spit all over the court? 4 hours + sometimes with little breaks, no time to rest and on the move constantly. You don’t see Rugby doingnit either.
A dirty footballer is spitting waiting in the tunnel.
Fucking scumpigs.
“Don’t forget Nadal has had an injury ravaged career. ”
Which was due to the style of tennis he chose to play. Which led to his success.
Love Rafa, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Rafa’s left arm looks like popeye’s.
I bet when he tommy tanks…thunder goes off.
“only rose to the top once the best were over the hill, old and injured.”
Or, and more accurately, rose to the top once he gained enough experience, got his head together, got a proper coach, and went on a strict physical program.
I still respect Emery. But Raul is a “schweiner hund”. Only tough to people within Arsenal. Here are what he did up to now:
– retract Ramsey’s contract.
– let Welbec leave
– push Mislinat out
– Hung Kos out to dry
– Got outsmart by Spud
What’s next????
Bet Federer wishes he had switched to a bigger racquet earlier on. Since he’s started coming over the backhand on return he’s had the clear edge on Nadal on the faster lower bouncing surface. Still, a twist late in their rivalry I never envisaged.
Nelson
I think you need to send a currency printing machine to Raul for his next birthday.
Noticed they’ve been cutting away a lot less to Rafa’s brunette “girlfriend”, and her blonde “companion” in their box during his matches.
Maybe the rumors of his middle eastern trips will be surfacing soon due to all this Esptein business.
Yes Paulinho, Fed gets more crucial winners of his backhand than his forehand these days, it was unimaginable a few years ago. Nadal used to choke him for room by constantly playing on his backhand but can’t do that anymore to Fed.
TR7 He was 16 in 2003, come on. Rafa did nothing until he won the FO at age 19, never got past the 3rd round of a tourney. Djokovic started playing at a high level in mid 2007 when he just turned 20. He got to SF in FO and Wimbeldon and the Final of the US Open before winning the AO in 2008 at age 20. He exploded in 2011 past the competition because he supposedly was a Coeliac for years without knowing it and he cleaned up his diet. I mean he dominated the tour when he was… Read more »
‘Which was due to the style of tennis he chose to play. Which led to his success.Love Rafa, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.’
Exactly, nailed it.
Alex
‘Noticed they’ve been cutting away a lot less to Rafa’s brunette “girlfriend”, and her blonde “companion” in their box during his matches’
Yes , there is something amiss there.
TR7July 12, 2019 20:11:59
WE
Djoker started his professional career in 2003, played his first grand slam in 2005 and won just 1 GS until 2011. I will remember him as the guy who was a bystander when Nadal and Fed were in their prime and started dominating when age caught up on Fed and injuries started taking a toll on Rafa. Still a great champion but not in the GOAT conversation for me. It is between Fed and Rafa. Djoker’s game is robotic too. wouldn’t watch him even if somebody paid me for it.
>>>>>>
Nailed it.
Don’t dispute all of my points or anything benny…
Quite amusing that tubby Stan Wawrinka is Djokovic’s kryptonite. At least when Stan is dialled in.
Paulinho
Federer has dominated Rafa since 2017 hasn’t he? Think he’s 6-1 in H2H after Rafa being 23-10 up since the AO 2017.
Pretty nuts alright, Rafa just can’t physically impose his will on him like he used to. Used to punish Fed’s lack of quality backhand and reluctance to aggressively serve and volley like he has in recent times.
WE – Yeah it’s mental. Always been a massive Fed fan and those Nadal matches were always purgatory for me. Couldn’t quite believe it when he wiped the floor with him in Australia, Indian Well and Miami within a couple of months back in 2017.
When all is said and done, Djokovic will likely retire with the highest GS count, the highest ATP World Finals count, the most prize money out of any player, the most weeks spent at no.1 and a winning H2H record vs both Federer and Nadal.
Which to any non-biased viewer would make him the GOAT. And I say that as someone that’s never been mad on him and much prefers Nadal.
Federer is top of the tree for me.
Plays a sublime game, no histrionics, plays within the rules (unlike Rafa and Novak) and, most importantly as far as I’m concerned, is a risk taker and offensive player.
He goes on court to win, whilst Nadal and Djokovic go on court not to lose.
Nadals intensity is incredible and I love watching him play. Novak is a fantastic player but too robotic for my liking.
All three are wonderful players but it’s Federer every time for me.
Paulinho
How do you rate Djokovic? Been getting some serious slandering on here today. Gets a rough ride from the Fedal loving tennis world/media too.
Probably the most resilient sportsman I’ve ever seen. Would bet my life on prime Djokovic vs anyone else over a 5 set marathon.
God-mode Stan probably gives him the toughest contest.
The next generation are so bland compared to Federer/Nadal/Djokovic, a sad indictment of how much it’ll drop off when these guys are still destroying the competition at 38, 33 and 32 in what’s always been a young man’s game.
The much hyped Thiem is nearly 26, Rafa had won about 10 GS titles by then lol. Got knocked out in the 1st round of Wimbledon. Zverev can’t seem to make it into the 2nd week of GS tourneys.
Will probably stop bothering watching Tennis once Nadal and Djokovic call it a day.
I’m a stickler for Rules and Regulations. In this respect, Federer wins it hands down.
New post
Since 2014 Rafa is 0-13 in H2H vs Federer/Djokovic on Grass/Hard courts.
Imagine Thiem goes on to win say 30 GS titles in next 15 years after Fed, Nadal and Djoker have hanged their boots and people start hailing him as the GOAT. Imagine how would it feel to us Fed/Rafa/Djoker fans who would remember Thiem as a.player who couldn’t get a sniff when the great champions were around.
It will be bounced around for a while I reckon, doubt anyone wins more than 4-5 titles and we’ll have multiple slam winners a year.
If any of the big three were a decade younger they would win 30+ easy.
If we had a whip round
Maybe Stan will keep them in Yankee town an turn them into an mls team…
Don’t want them back over here…
I just read that Mistafi is on 120k weekly!
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/arsenal-struggling-offload-shkodran-mustafi-18008569
It’s no wonder we cannot move him on.
Now he wants to stay and fight for his place?
Diss
The club is a disgrace from top to bottom…
Weagle,
Regarding Djokovic, I’ve no need to debate your points because you’ve got your opinion and I’ve got mine and I’m not that bothered about it to get all worked up over it.