Unai Emery pulled a magic trick out of his hat. He used the powers of youth to completely disguise that Arsenal hadn’t added a single first-team player to the squad this season and we’re three games into preseason.
Quite amazing to be having a 2012 like conversation after all the backroom upheaval to address exactly this.
Before I push on into the game. I’m also finding the strategy for moving certain players on a touch baffling. If we’re serious about selling anyone, why are we starting them on this tour? Mustafi and Jenkinson should both be getting their marching orders, but we have them stinking out the tour instead? Seems a very odd way to go about things.
Anyway, the game didn’t really tell us much about the upcoming season, other than it looks like it’s going to feel very familiar unless something very aggressive happens in the next two weeks.
Our defence seems to have honed its ability to leak good chances. Fiorentina were very poor but found ways to get in behind us time and time again. It doesn’t seem to matter what system we play, we’re a disaster. It obviously doesn’t help when you have Mustafi in the starting 11, but look, it’s not me putting him there.
My major worry is this: Emery has zero pedigree with defences. He averaged 49 goals a season at Sevilla. He took PSG from 17 goals, to 27, to 29. He couldn’t better Wenger’s tally last year, dropping 51 goals despite adding a keeper, 2 defenders and 2 defensive-minded midfielders. Where does the progression come from? Nothing in history to suggest he can change things.
Moving forward we looked interesting. Eddie had a really good game. He finished very well twice. Those chances haven’t been going in when it comes to competition time. I’m of the mind that he should go out on loan this season and see if he can work on his decision making. He needs to get some teeth. I know as fans we always lose our minds with kids on preseason, but the reality for Eddie is that Emery is not going to give him many chances this season because he has Laca and Auba… so maybe he should take the move out and force his hand in the back half of the year.
I also enjoyed seeing Willock on the scoresheet again. He really does have to be ready this season, at 19, it’s a big ask, but he does look the most ready. He’s focused, he has the physicality and he can be decisive. Let’s hope Emery doesn’t bottle it.
I also thought Gabriel looked sharp… he has a lot of pace and power. That long run he made was very exciting. It’ll be interesting to see what the club does with him. Can he cut it in the first team? A huge ask if we’re honest, but you never know… I guess it’s dependent on how badly we fuck our big signings.
I was watching with my dad. He made the point that we might as well give the kids a shot, because if it’s mistakes the manager is worried about… he’d not keep playing Mustafi and Xhaka. Let’s hope he doesn’t get consumed by the panic of his job situation and move away from his youth focus.
In other news, there’s hot talk that United are in for Auba for £62m. Arsenal fans are furious at the thought of us moving him on. I love Auba, I think he’s a joy to watch at times, however, if there’s huge money on the table for a 30-year-old, we should take it and progress the squad. As things stand, we’re finishing no higher than 5th this season… if £80m gets us Zaha and Pepe, we’re in a more solid grounding next season… we might also be able to kick this Tierney deal over the line.
Holding onto your best 30-year-olds when you’re skint isn’t progression in my opinion. Especially when they only have two years left on their deal.
Right, dine out on that my friends.
What did YOU think? See you in hell (comments).
China
That’s with out even getting close to the value we got from the Sanchez deal – could’ve had £60 million from City the summer before instead we got Miki.
Woodward is such a fool he would get United to cough up £90-100M for PEA if we lay out the bait.
TR7
Woodward is such a fool he would get United to cough up £90-100M for PEA if we lay out the bait.
Arsenal will be bigger fools for declining the offer
If United offer 90 upwards then yea do the deal but anything less then they could go do one.
Anyway it’s all moot, deal is never going to happen and he’s not exactly angling for a move so best to move on from that
Man Utd can have Aubameyang for £100 million and we get Sánchez back for nothing and they pay his wages. Deal Noel!
Pierre
I said the same thing on here several months back.
Although he’s only 20, this will be a very important season for him to stake a claim in the First XI and, by that, I mean step up to the plate and push Auba and Lacazette for a place in the team.
If he’s as good as some people think he is, nows the time to show it.
The Neymar transfer saga is another one to watch
I’m not sure Barca will burst their guts to sign him. It’s entirely possible they will get their pound of flesh from PSG and the player by letting them hang, only to walk away.
Problem is that Neymar is stuck on a little kayak in a shitty creek…and he’s burned the bridges at both places.
Congrats to Shane Lowry.
Fully deserved.
Pleased for Eddie
Give him more time..
There are so many people here saying sell auba for 100-120 mil. Guys he is an elite goal scorer yes but is on the wrong side of 30 and has 2 years on his contract. We were lucky to even have been offered Icardi swap(if that was even real bid). And that too was because inter want to get rid of him. And apparently the player rejected us. Ofc why would you come to arsenal when you can go PSG, Juve etc. Anyways my point being that auba is probably gonns be with us next season and if we do… Read more »
I am not so sure that ManCity fan based is secured. Most of their new Far East and U.S based fans are glory hunters who would move in an heartbeat to another club if UEFA seriously curtails its cheating right to buy competition way. That may be strange for older fans, but there’s also the player’s fan phenomenon. People who support a player and not a club. When the supported player switches club those fans also switch allegiance to his new club. One of my colleague was a CR7 Uber fan. When he moved to Juventus she became a Juventus… Read more »
Valentin
Yeah you are right to some extent. Some glory hunter fans would switch allegiances pretty quickly if UEFA do decide to rreeaaally punish city the chances of which are none. But most of these fans after supporting one club through its glory years will develop a connection with the club and become loyal fans. Think about the new generation of young kids. The kids that are in the age grouo of 12-16. These kids are gonna grow as city,liverpool,juve,psg,barca
One of last season Arsenal problem was their utter reliance on Lacazette and Aubameyang to score. The same way selling Van Nistelroy helped MqnUtd rebalance their squad, selling Aubameyang can help Arsenal rebalance the squad. We scored an inordinate amount of goals via set pieces and via individual brilliance goals rather than overall play. Also Aubameyang was really a flat track bully, hardly scored in game against the other big 6. Having two or three players who can his goal scoring load and still contribute to the overall play may be a step forward. Of course there is no guarantee… Read more »
continued….. ,madrid fans. Unlike us because we grew uo watching arsenal and manu dominating the PL. Honestly i think the main reason that manu have such a big fanbase is because at the time the TELEVISION came out Manu were really dominating football. And everybody want to support a winning team. So people who got a new tv, followed football saw manu dominating, playing attacking football , signing big players and just became loyal to the club. That is why i think there is such a big following for Manu in Asia. The tineline matches perfectly. Although mani already had… Read more »
And CR7 is different. City do not have someone on the level of CR7 to make people change the clubs they support. Only a CR7 and Messi have that capability.
Valentin
I with you there 100% a big chunk of City’s new fan base have just followed the cash.
If the cash went away so would the fans – they are not a big club by history anyway – they didn’t even sell out their first home CL match.
Valentin
Selling auba makes sense but only if he is sold to a foreign club for 70+ mil. What we need is a good LB, CB and bellerin to return. We have good youth options in attack + the old guard too. And hopefully one more winger by the end if the window.
“Charlie you have argued against selling Lacazette in the past. Something about being able to hold up play and being younger and such. It’s just ironic that you’re now saying that we shouldn’t let emotions get in the way of selling Auba is all” Not sure you get irony. I’ve sided with selling Auba over Laca, but I’ve said more than once that despite Laca being my current darling of the team I’d see the back of him to fund a proper go of it. China “Right so we’ve sold two top players to utd and one won them the… Read more »
I’ve aid before Eddie has style like Wrighty
Lads a natural poacher …
Good unselfishness by laca
I think if united offer 80m he goes
Gabs is gonna shine this year, pace like anelka ,
Will score many
wasi
How much money do Arsenal make from overseas fans?
Valentin They followed the cash and they are enjoying their success.And even if the cash went away i dont think they’d lose even 15% of their followers. Only the very new ones. And i dont think ppl support a club for its history anymore only the old ones who have witnessed it. I started supporting Arsenal for its free flowing football and ozil’s silky play like 3 -4 years ago and im not even like a ozil uber fan who would change clubs with ozil. if u ask me real or barca its barca everyday . Did the arsenal fans… Read more »
CC
Your going up a gear requires the wingers brought in to score a combined 35 goals with Laca who got 13 last season.
I’d prefer to add the winger we’ve been linked with to add to the 35 goals Laca and Auba got last season.
Ultimately I think we’re talking hypotheticals because I don’t think it’s going to happen – if it does I’ll be sure to remind you when the damage to Arsenal becomes clear.
Marc
How would i know?
Im guessing its a good amount cuz there are a good amount of arsenal fans where im from.
Wasi
Where’s that?
India
And theres a good fan base for arsenal in Asia. Especially in Malaysia and Indonesia i think.
Most of the money from overseas is indirect. TV money, sponsors who want to be associated with a popular club, shirt sales money goes mainly to Adidas although they will factor in the popularity of the club in to the main deal.
Overseas fans will contribute very little directly.
Marc Of course we’re talking hypotheticals, and I’m well aware of Auba’s contribution. I’m just not ignoring the current situation we’re in with regards to getting guys in. The big words here are the IF’s, it’s so hypothetical but it doesn’t make it incorrect. Atletico sell their stars to their rivals, and savvy their way to better. Dortmund sell their stars to rivals, and go cocoon to butterfly real quick. The premise that we should be desperately clinging onto a 30 year old striker for fear we can’t cope without him is….and I don’t mean this lightly…..embarrassing. There’s two scenarios… Read more »
Wasi, I think that you overestimate the appeal of the club. A player does not have to be a super star, he just need to have a connection with some fans. Remember when Inamoto join and there was a list of Japanese fans following his every move. I remember a game at Fulham where there was rows and rows of Japanese fans coming with Harrods bag cheering him when he started to warm up. When he left, they left with him. Rio Miyaichi’s Roy of rover story captured the imagination of a lot of Far East fans not just Japanese.… Read more »
Valentin
Do you remember the Japanese journalists who were turning up to matches in the hope that he got a run out?
Fucking hysterical.
I would think that Holding and Papa would be our main CB’s this season. Mustafi is on the transferlist.. I don’t think we have to complain more than is needed.. Yes it makes little sense to us the fans to see Mustafi play in the preseason games but it is positive to see some of the young players wanting to get their chance and sensing the possibility of a breakthrough season.
My main concern is that Iwobi and Mhiki will/might be our first choice for the wings…
I think the Arsenal global supporters aren’t going anywhere. Our support is fully baked. It may not be growing to draw in casual glory hunters but it’s solid.
Some clubs have mysticism and a sense of class, Arsenal is one.
I’m not sure that it can withstand one more decade of Kroenke malaise though.
Hypo team
This season
Leno
Bel chambers hold tiernay
Torr Willock
Gabs ozil iwobi
Eddie
‘I remember a game at Fulham where there was rows and rows of Japanese fans coming with Harrods bag cheering him when he started to warm up.’
That was really funny. They came directly from shopping at a high brow store to cheering a nonentity.
Maybe they were his extended family.
That hypothetical team is for reals awful.
The fee for Saliba is apparently going to be paid in 6 installments.
‘Hypo team’
Was that meant to be Europa team?
Marc,
I do remember them. Some were as excited as kids.
One of the first time he went on the pitch, one member of the Japanese press screamed, shrieked and cried like a baby. My wife and I initially thought that he was some family member who has made the trip. But later we noticed that he had a press badge.
That was absolutely bonkers!
With a c
Damn you..
Ain’t that bad…
Granted ain’t strong on paper ….but we don’t play on paper …
You can see why I finish
Last in fantasy league team….
Cesc
Like buying from Argos then…
Hope he’s bette4 than there usual tat ..
You can see why I finish
Last in fantasy league team….
Haha yeah
Dissenter
“one more decade of Kroenke malaise”
You mean, one more season?
RSPC
Your paranoid mate – I haven’t even torn into that hypo team and you’ve come back at me!
Who is Gabs by the way?
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11787/11767883/arsenals-kieran-tierney-bid-linked-to-champions-league-place-not-favoured-by-celtic
If you’re still wondering why no one bar Martinelli has joined Arsenal yet, it’s all about Arsenal struggling to show sellers the money.
In technical terms, it’s cos our deals are “highly structured”.
Sadly, “We’ll give you £5m now and another £20m if we get top 4” doesn’t quite cut it.
Come on Celtic, have some faith in Arsenal!
Cesc
I’ll be relieved when that one goes through. Stupid to be excited about a player we won’t see for a season but it’s a sign of the club looking to the future and of course we’ll get excellent updates on his progress from our French Le Grover’s.
St Etienne have been quite canny in their dealings with Arsenal.
The line they (quite reasonably) have taken is: if you guys insist on deferring and backending payments for Saliba, you can bloody well wait for a year before he joins you.”
All this struggle to get deals over the line comes back to the Kroenkes and their miserliness.
Still at least Arsenal will have a cash pile that is the envy of all the other Premier League teams….
Words
City spend big all the time but pulled out of the Sanchez deal when it got crazy and it appears have just done the same with Maguire.
Being shrewd isn’t the same as miserliness.
Marc
Yeah I will be too.
Looks good, now watch him do an ACL in May 2020.
WOAB
I think that was part of selling him from the off, unless someone offered truly crazy money. The player wanted another season as well.
I do agree though, Kroenke is literally expecting miracles if he thinks the issues in this team can be addressed with £45 Million.
I want to say their smart enough not to think this, but maybe American sport has addled their brain in terms of how recruitment works?
That hypo team is League cup throwback material, few pony old heads and some decent yoof.
Where’s Carlos Vela? Stick him in for a bit of nostalgia.
Cesc
Don’t even go there.
CC
He left Denilson out as well!
Marc
Ffs how could I forget captain fantastic
Neymar situation is a strange one, you’d have to think that there’s no going back now to work with Tuchel and the side for him if Barcelona don’t stump up the cash but how are they able to afford to pay 70m for De Jong, 100m for Griezmann and another 200+ million on Neymar on top of that? They’d have to sell off half of their team to fund that surely. Still think that Griezmann was an odd move for them to make given Neymar was angling for the move long ago and he’s already proven to have amazing chemistry… Read more »
CC
Tell the truth who would you start in the current team – Denilson or Xhaka?
Ironically enough Carlos Vela is playing pub football and necking quesadilla’s on the reg, but would still improve us haha
not sure what that speaks to more of, his talent or our lack of spark.
WE
Well it’s rumoured that Barca were majorly pissed off with Neymar’s behaviour over the deal original transfer.
Maybe they’ve just got their revenge.
Marc
Xhaka by a country mile, he’s got a mistake in him but he’s absolutely a positive influence on our side.
Denilson was a more polished Elneny, average at everything instead of shite at everything.
Dissenter, You may laugh at that now, but 15~20 years ago Far East tourists (Japanese and Chinese) were a lot less discerning. Going to Harrods and visiting Dodi Al Fayed and Princess Diane tacky memorial was de rigueur for tourists. Far East players were still viewed as a charming oddity. Inamoto was really revered by some Japanese. Him Joining Arsenal was seen as putting Japan on the football map. That sound ridiculous today, but at the time his move was huge news. There was no movie Crazy Rich Asian. Things have changed but old timers still remember. Brixton has gentrified… Read more »
Vela and Ibra are just goofing around in the MLS, it really is a shocking level of football even in 2019 with all of the talk of progression for the US game, etc. Ibra at close to 38 just clowned the entire league in a matter of a couple of days, interviewed by ESPN before the LA derby laughed off the suggestion that Vela is remotely comparable to him (as he was playing for Pep’s Barca at Vela’s age) and that he’s still by far the best player in the MLS as an old geezer. Also didn’t exactly have much… Read more »
Graham 62
Our global fans aren’t going to disappear by 2020 because things remain the same
Weagle
Yea it’s pub football mate, the stars that go there milk it and say nice stuff about growth. Until Ibra-dontgiveashit-ovic rocks up and mocks the lot for being wank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL5iQAgTQyM
Valentin
I wasn’t at your remark.
It was the spectacle of Japanese tourists cheering in with bags of Harrod’s purchased items that made me chuckle. Didn’t they know that it makes them a target for pickpockets
I get what you’re saying though. When Chinese tourists started to travel around the globe in the late 1990’s they had do sense of decency and had to be taught to behave per normal mores. I remember seeing people from China [no offense meant] spitting everywhere.
*no sense of decency
Anyone thinks we should go in for Bale maybe ? Better than Zaha ? Wages might be a problem also no UCL . other than that no disadvantages.
” It’s sad isn’t it that, because of Wenger’s and Gazidis’s gross mismanagement, we have to even consider selling one of our top players.”
What u on about.. Arsenal have always considered selling their top players
Wenger Eagle
Carlos Vela shouldn’t have crossed the line though. He was never in the same planet as Ibra.
They love Ibra here because he adds more drama to an otherwise crappy league. He’s always creating news.
Divine
Bale is a crock on goofy wages. Zaha better fit than him for me.
Selling Auba to United for anything less than 80mil would rival Wenger- level stupidities like trading Sanchez for Mikhi, buying Silvestre, sticking with Almunia, letting Ramsey n Welbeck walk for free, offering 350K to Ozil etc.
Enough with the stupid moves, am convinced Raul will not display that level of stupidity.
CC, you’ve lost your fricking mind if you think selling Auba to United is a good idea, if there is half a chance he brings them in above us this season we would be bat shit crazy to entertain the idea regardless of how we spend the cash.
Our priority is to 4 and doing anything that could even potentially hinder that is just dumb.
Bale’s on £600k per week, if he half his demands it’d reverse the savings we’ve got off the wage bill this summer.
I know everyone’s got a hard on for how efficient Madrid have been with him but who can afford to pay him £300k per week? ManU, City, PSG I think all the noise out of Madrid is pure bravado.
He’s got 3 years left on this contract – how many here would give up £93 million?
If Wenger was still around Auba would be going to United for 35m on the last day of the window…..
Unai
He’s 30 years old and has only 2 years on his contract.
One of Laca or Auba ought to have been sold this summer imo
Dissenter, where are the goals coming from without him?
Who replaces him for the same money?
All I’d say, if we sell it needs to be abroad.
We also need to stop worrying about resale value on our prized assets, hes worth more to us over the next 2 years than 62m
Unai You’re not reading the intention behind a sale. Nobody needs schooled that selling a good player hurts us, and selling to a rival helps them, but the consideration should be outside those restrictive ideas. – United are going to buy and strengthen, they’re mega. It will happen, Auba or another they will replace Lukaku. IF, huge contextual word here, we can sell Auba and it produce a net gain on the squad through smart re-investment……then it’s a deal I’d have no issue with. I don’t care about how Auba strengthens United, if we take care of ourselves and become… Read more »
Man, Washington is a very odd place. Nerds galore. Fashion levels are shameful.
Anyone read the Saka quote that Emery hands off talking to the players to Ljungberg?
Champagne charlie advocating Arsenal to become a feeder club to UTD. Where’s your pride man…
Quite a few players who made rave news but ain’t mentioned for some transfer windows now. Notably, Leon Bailey, Belloti, Draxler. Bellotti surprises me most. Seem to have regressed a bit. Reminds me back in the day when we were linked to Gabriel Agbonlahor. Are some saying we should trade Auba to Utd, and sign who? Wingers? So I want those people to give me a name which will bang in the goals if Laca were to get injured. Some fans really make u wonder what they actually want. And the amount being quoted is ridiculous considering Ayoze Perez went… Read more »
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11767547/arsenals-next-generation-can-take-on-the-world-says-bukayo-saka
This one
Almost half a fortnight to start the league and yet no confirmation as of any signing yet? Things never change with arsenal. Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. Good night.
PierreJuly 21, 2019 18:18:46 Graham Personally, I would like to see someone like Thierry Henry or Ian Wright take Nketiah under their wing . Nketiah has bags of talent but he looks like he is trying too hard to impress and tends to rush things , especially in front of goal. Someone like Henry could teach him the importance of composure when he is attacking a defender going into the area and make him realise that he is the one in charge when he has the ball at his feet. At the moment Nketiah is in too much of a… Read more »
I personally think it’s a good thing that we now have an assistant having a bigger influence on matters and getting stuck in
Shame it wasn’t a few years earlier we might have made more of the opportunities with Gnabry, Reine Adelaide and Chris Willock for example. Dan Crowley perhaps
Shame it wasn’t last season, we could’ve gained 1 point in the league and have CL money to burn.
Good on Emery letting Ljungberg do some of the team talks especially as his English isn’t the best and Freddie will know the youngsters better.
Pep delegates loads to Arteta so well done Emery on that front.
I’m actually quite optimistic with Freddie as the assistant that our youngsters will get their fair chance this season.
Shame it wasn’t last season, we could’ve gained 1 point in the league and have CL money to burn.
Eh…yeah
WE
Barcelona’s net spend is a modest €120m so far. Although rumour that they needed some sort of bridging loan to get Griezmann across the line adds a level of perplexity to things.
I read that they’re in line to raise about €80m flogging several more heads, but as you’ve said, raising cash for Neymar will be tough.
CC Dortmund have said they will no longer sell to Bayern for obvious reasons and I cant see pool or spuds doing the same to top 4 rivals.
You talk of net gain however selling to a rival in the first instance is a net loss.
Selling abroad, provided we gain a suitable replacement(s) is one thing but selling to a rival for the very thing we intend to achieve is foolhardy and frankly unpalatable.
I didn’t agree with the RVP sale or the Sanchez deal, Auba to United is equally as sickening.
Unai Selling any player is a net loss if you don’t replace them, that’s an odd comment. If we sell Auba which lets us shore up the defence by 20 goals and add a better calibre attacker from wide then his goals are offset by overall improvement. Idk what you’re arguing against, there’s not actualities here it’s speculative. But bottom line is as follows, and please explain to me where it doesn’t apply: – Sell player A to get better as a team than you were with player A through reinvestment. That idealistic formula should apply to literally any player… Read more »
I’m arguing that selling to a rival is moronic, honestly, further details are irrelevant.
We saw what happened with RVP, we should never repeat that mistake.
Unai
It’s moronic because of what happened with RvP?
Well I’m that same vein it’s utterly irrelevant for what happened with Alexis…
That argument is literally a “just cos” approach, and as I’ve said numerous times already Man United are going to buy regardless. So other than emotional god knows what, your argument isn’t based on anything it seems.
Unai We may have to do a few unpleasant things to find our way back to the top. The model we are using is flawed; we have two 55 million transfer fee center forwards in the club and have to alter the set-up to accommodate them. I would rather have one center forward [of Auba or Laca] and have at least one elite winger to start games. Nkettiah/Martinelli/ John-Jules can battle it out to start from the bench. Auba is 30 y/o and has only 2 years left on his contract, come this time in 2020 he will be in… Read more »
If we failed to find an affective system which can extract top outputs from Auba and Laca, then I would’nt averse yo selling one of them
On the contrary, I think your judgement has been tarnished by your emotional attachment to the previous regime, they lived for this sort of deal.
It’s like you have some weird form of Stockholm syndrome.
Unai
That makes absolutely no sense at all, and now you’re just resorting to flailing quips because you can’t express a view beyond “it’s a rival”.
Unpick the logic behind what I’ve laid out, don’t hit me with absolute horseshite because you’re stuck.
Sports, you dont sell to rivals, business you dont deal with competition, you’ve got one example (Sanchez) where it didn’t quite work out for a rival, even though it could be argued we came off equally as badly.
Your argument is based on being like Dortmund who have put a stop to this very kind of activity.
I’m stuck?
Unai Liverpool sold Sterling and Torres to PL rivals. They bought Suarez and Coutinho in and later sold them too. It’s not a Dortmund only strategy, so trying to rest your pipe on some notion they’ve “stopped” selling to Bayern is actually you yourself again using the one apparent example as a supposed ruler of all. Atletico sell within Spain, Italians sell to one another, Germans do, French do. You sell if you’re capable of taking that sale and making more out of it than you had prior. No amount of archaic principles stand against the reality. You don’t seek… Read more »
At this point if we get 80mil for Auba, we should sell him asap. However we shouldn’t be buying Zaha for the Auba money. We should buy a quality cb and Everton suarez.
We would still have the same 40mil to buy Tierney and a decent enough CM.
We get 4 new players and lose 1 (30 yr old)