Coutinho deal talk electrifies summer

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Wow.

I’m not sure where the rumour has come from. I’m not sure if it’s true. But sometimes, you just have to embrace the madness and roll hard in the belief that the harder you hit F5 on Newsnow, the more likely the deal will come to fruition.

It looks like this all started with SPORT telling the world that Barca will be looking to move the Brazilian off the wage bill (to make way for Neymar), likely in a loan move, and likely to a Premier League club.

It’s not exactly tough transfer algebra, we can all see how we’ve landed with this sexy story.

Brazilian player + Barca + Raul + Technical Director that is exBrazil Technical Director and Brazilian + IWOBI ON THE LEFT

I’d embrace the deal.

Coutinho / Auba / Pepe in your front line is pretty fucking lethal. No more Iwobi clogging up and down the wing looking for a ball to stumble over. We’d also minimize Ozil or motivate him to play to a more consistent standard.

However… I am sceptical.

£27m in loan fee seems outrageous considering what our budget is/was. There are some other papers falling over themselves for a lower loan number with a view to a perm move next summer, all guess work. His wages also fall into an elite bracket, and without moving on Mikhi or someone like that, you do wonder how we’re planning on course-correcting our Champions League budget this summer?

  • We haven’t sold anyone (have Auba or Laca signed their deals?)
  • There is hardly any smoke around any of our problem players
  • We still haven’t moved on a defender, so the summer isn’t finished

This feels like we’re putting all our money on RED in a spin of Champions League Qualification roulette.

… but like any fiscally prudent Republican in America would say: when a widening of the deficit is brewing but it’s for things you want, who. gives. a. fuck.

Why should I care? Let Swiss Ramble take care of the bad news because at the end of the day, money is just in our imagination. Right?

Vinnai looks like he knows his way around a spreadsheet. Stan wouldn’t let us do a madness if he was going to lose out. Raul seems trustworthy.

This is basically a tax break for a minority group of fans who have been brutally bantered by the footballing gods for over 15  years. We deserve this. We really do.

YOU had to deal with Ashley Cole being swapped for William Gallas.

YOU had to watch Nik B sit on the right-wing because no one would buy out his £52k a week deal.

After 12 years of Wenger-prudence, YOU had to watch him blast £100m on Mustafi, Perez, Xhaka, Elneny and Asano… and you clapped it, you fucking clapped it man, and your hot take was the deals looked ‘smart.’

Kallstrom’s broken back, Sanogo vs Bayern Munich, the Santos panic buy, waiting 2 summers for Chamakh, Ryo Miyachi from high school, Wellington Silva’s pizza habit, Dick Law chasing down Joel Campbell while Wenger shit his pants on Juan Mata, Gervinho instead of Hazard, a £4m bid for Cahill, Park Chu-young, passing on Hig for £32m, £40,000,001, Wenger’s Nearly 11, the epic cash pile, the ‘if we find something special’ players, Wenger knows what’s up he’ll sort it, STFU it’s only June, STFU it’s only July, STFU it’s only August… IT IS WHAT IT IS SUPPORT THE FUCKING LADS.

It’s all over my friends, Raul is here to stroke your head and make it right.

This is YOUR moment to choke out the internet with smug. Put that ‘STAN OUT’ banner back in the box. Cancel that idea you had for a Youtube Channel. No more protests. We’re turning a corner and we’re behaving like a real club.

Did you say build a statue for Raul? I’m in. Get the petition going. Let’s have the parade bus out and roll it through London during rush hour.

Back to transfers.

If we are in Barca this weekend, I suspect there will more likely be talks about Sammy Umtiti. I would also imagine that Manchester United are more likely to be in the driving seat for Coutinho if Paul Pogba leaves them for Madrid. We’ll see though, footballers are always fiercely loyal to their old clubs… right? Plus, Dybala doesn’t fancy a move there, so I’m unsure why Coutinho would see it as a great move.

Bad news on Tierney, the injury-prone left-back is apparently injured again. His manager reporting that he has chronic pain when he kicks a ball. Not great news. I always worry about bringing in players with a poor fitness record to a far more intense league. Pepe is a monster. Plays over 3000 minutes a season and rarely breaks down, this Scottish lad has had a very poor year.

We’ll see though… the 1-5-5 formation we’re lining up with so far this season feels innovative if nothing else.

There’s a video doing the rounds that Emery is going with the multi-captain option this season. I really don’t like that approach. Shared leadership is such a fucking myth. Sure, you want everyone to be a leader, but that doesn’t literally mean sharing out the role. A leadership role halved / quartered / eigthed is a role that is diluted. When everyone is responsible, no one is responsible. We are hierarchical beings, there needs to be one-point of bollocking, otherwise, you end up with what we’ve witnessed for 15 years.

We should just put it all on Hector Bellerin. Well behaved. Iconic. Loves the club. Embraces the culture. Looks mean in a pair of jeans his mum made him. Speaks up for all the right things. Elite right back. I love him, he’s the one.

Right, Barcelona game tomorrow, we’ll see how that defence has improved for real!

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DigitalBob

1st!

DigitalBob

Coutinho makes no sense unless Ozil and or Mhki is off. As it stands theres no market for either. Raul needs to focus on Umtiti when he’s catching up with his old Barca mates tomorrow

KAY Boss

Kay

KAY Boss

Is here!

KAY Boss

Sexy!

KAY Boss

Now to the post

Leftsidesanch

5th?

Leftsidesanch

Stories doing the rounds is that we will try to get Umtiti on a season long loan with an option to buy for €60million.

KAY Boss

I’ll love the Coutinho deal to happen. Maybe it’s a smokescreen for a block buster move for an elite cb.

Alderweireld will be a fantastic addition to the team. And also a mentor for Saliba (when he joins next season) and Holding (who I don’t rate much). He’s got about 5yrs of play at the top level. Spiting the Spurs also. Will have Sol Campbell reincarnated all over.

Cesc Appeal

‘After 12 years of Wenger-prudence, YOU had to watch him blast £100m on Mustafi, Perez, Xhaka, Elneny and Asano… and you clapped it, you fucking clapped it man, and your hot take was the deals looked ‘smart.’ Kallstrom’s broken back, Sanogo vs Bayern Munich, the Santos panic buy, waiting 2 summers for Chamakh, Ryo Miyachi from high school, Wellington Silva’s pizza habit, Dick Law chasing down Joel Campbell while Wenger shit his pants on Juan Mata, Gervinho instead of Hazard, a £4m bid for Cahill, Park Chu-young, passing on Hig for £32m, £40,000,001, Wenger’s Nearly 11, the epic cash pile,… Read more »

CG

That’s a Saturday Cracker.

Nowt as good,entertaining and as informative as that on the internet( and its all free)

Celtic 5 St Johnstone 0
Celtic clearly not missing Tierney.

Scottish football- what is the point of it.

Carts

I think we avoid Tierney. There no shame in doing so, but we need to take a pragmatic view on him. Hip/groin injuries are a nuisance.

Require a level of idiosyncratic intervention on a next level. I mean I’d much rather he tore his ACL, at least that way the approach is relatively straight forward & recovery success rate is very high.

Surely a B plan much be initiated: Someone said Firpo. I’d even consider Gaya.

Yossi_B

Stuff it.. if the boys think they can work some magic and get Coutinho l say who am l to say no.. hell l’ll have him than have Yoonited take him. That’d likely be curtains for my boy Iwobi but we can make him a squadie can’t we? Fcuk it, imagine the goal threat from the wings and then Auba/Laca barreling down the middle at pace.. scenes!

Whilst at it, why don’t these magicians deliver Koulibaly and we’re set😆

PS this Tierney business starting to worry me now😅

WengerEagle

Citeh are really stupid to let Sane go to Bayern, incredible coup for them.

Robben and Ribery to Coman and Sane, not bad.

KAY Boss

We seem to forget about rb. AMN is tosh there. Too mediocre. Lacks the defensive awareness for such a delicate position. I’ll rather play Mustafi there rather than AMN.
Bellerin who’s our main rb also lacks defensive awareness. I know some may disagree but it’s the reality. A bit defensively fragile.

Carts

“The bottom line is that Lille had agreed a deal with Napoli for 64 millions in 4 installments and 2 millions for Pepe’s agents. Arsenal comes in and offer 72 millions in 5 installments, plus 8 millions add-ons and 10 millions in agents fees. Of course Lille and Pepe’s agents are jumping at such a deal.”

Lol if true

Carts

WE

That confirmed?

KAY Boss

WE, is Sane off to Bayern?

WengerEagle

Firpo is supposedly Barca bound.

Was about to say that I find it strange given Alba’s presence but can’t believe he’s already 30. His Euro 2012 coming out party doesn’t feel that long ago.

Nelson

A player’s value depends also on the need of a team. Zaha is critical to CP. They valued him at £80m. Pepe fills a big gap for Arsenal. It also puts Arsenal back in the list of big clubs. It would be easier in the future for Arsenal to attract good players.

WengerEagle

Carts/Kay

Too much smoke not to be fire, it’s not a done deal but a lot of reports coming out of Germany that it’s all but completed.

Bayern are a huge draw to a German player and with Robben and Ribery off the books, he’s somebody that they desperately need.

Pep doesn’t seem to love him either so can see it happening.

Marc

So just to get this straight we weren’t happy when we wouldn’t outbid other teams to get talent and now we’re not happy because we did.

CG’s going to have some company in adjacent padded cells at this rate.

Words on a Blog

Coutinho?

Haha, defenders are so last year…..who needs them?

This transfer window is getting surreal.

Love it.

Paulinho

WE -I’m glad in a way though. Spread the talent around a bit. Bayern need that level of talent, and I don’t think Gnabry is going to fire them back to where they were. City were just wasting an elite talent.

WengerEagle

Maguire’s definitely a good defender but can’t help but feel that United got mugged off paying 80m for him.

Van Dijk and Lucas Hernandez went for similar fees but are world class defenders. Don’t have Maguire in that bracket myself.

Carts

WE

Sane, Gnabry, Coman stretching bum holes for 90mins?

Bundesliga is going to be a blood bath; you really hate to see it 🙁

Paulinho

Looks like Emery has given the board a few home truths in terms what we really need to to prosper again. We can’t afford to have clowns like Iwobi releasing another edition of a 100 different ways to fuck up a counter attack, again.

Words on a Blog

After Coutinho is a done deal, I suggest that Raul should go for Lewandowski to give Auba and Laca some competition and Emery a bit more depth in attack.

Marc

Words

We haven’t got any one to keep Pepe on his toes either so a right winger has to be a priority.

WengerEagle

Agree Paulinho, I rate Sane even higher than Sterling tbh and think he has the potential to surpass him. No doubt that Pep prefers Sterling’s game though, more suited to the quick give and go intricate football that they play than Sane was, who is much more of an athlete and thrives attacking space and players 1 vs 1. He’ll thrive at Bayern. Gnabry far from a poor third option to have to Sane/Coman, guy that guarantees 10 goals minimum and is a top athlete himself. They just need to sort out that CM, if they had any sense they’d… Read more »

Gentlebris

Coutty to Arsenal doesn’t make any sense to me. That front is sorted for the moment and our back line is crying for help and people think we will throw more money upfront? Bullshit. Be prepared though for a shocker, a new name in the mix, a defender; the climax of the window. And by the way, I think we should not do Tierney but I can’t stop wondering why we even went for him at all(Raul is not some stupido who would be going hard after an injured player for no good reason)and why Celtics keep hyping the player’s… Read more »

Words on a Blog

Marc,

Maybe bring Gnabry back home to compete for a place with Pépé?

WengerEagle

Nelson has convinced me that he’s a better option than Iwobi from this pre-season alone.

He’s clearly got goals in him and he actually looks to attack his full-back rather than just chat to him like Iwobi does.

TR7

Sane was City’s best player in 2017-2018 season. Really silly of them to let him go.

Words on a Blog

Gentleness,

Based on absolutely no inside knowledge, I have a strange feeling that Raul will fuck Celtic over at the last minute, and bring in someone left-field for left-back

Marc

Words

Only if we put him on £350,000 a week.

Words on a Blog

Dam end autocorrect – That’s Gentelbris not Gentleness!

WengerEagle

Carts

Bundi was shite last season, it’s going to be tasty if Bayern get Sane and some of their mojo back with Dortmund also having a great window bringing in Brandt, Thorgan Hazard, Nico Schulz and Hummels.

WengerEagle

Gnabry would be worth at least 30-40m now.

Words on a Blog

Have to say that after a long period of frustration, this transfer window has been surprisingly satisfying.

If we do get a central defender and get rid of Mustafabrainfart, a legends stature for Raul is certainly in order….

Paulinho

Nelson has got that nose for a goal his all-round game is severely lacking at the moment. Against Angers that other night it was back to heavy first touches, and being too timid with the ball.

It’s like he needs to force himself to be aggressive, that’s not sustainable over the long term. He needs to want to dribble and turn forward as a natural instinct, not in a contrived manner.

WengerEagle

Barca signing Firpo for €18m and a further €7m in potential add-ons.

Dream10

Wenger Eagle

Disappointed that Sané will join Bayern.
Can’t stand them.

Barça should sell Ousmane (elite player) to get Sané. Imagine Messi, Neymar and Sané on the same team. Leroy has a 30 goal and 20 assist season in him if he is a main player at a super club.

WengerEagle

Paulinho

What did you think of him at home to Lyon?

He’s still raw at 19 but if he even only plays for us at the Emirates with the crowd behind him, it could be a huge boost to us.

Dissenter

Pedro
I see you’re fully on board the Raul train now, right after you spent the better part of one year denigrating the guy.
The contact guy is now your guy.
Time is a kool aid machine, it seems.

WengerEagle

Dream

Yeah I hate Bayern as well. You not rate Dembele as a fit for Barca?

I think he’s not been given the credit he deserves last season especially, he was immense for them in large spells. Should be interesting to see what happens to him and Malcom if/when they re-sign Neymar.

TR7

Ox was twice the player Nelson is and most people here didn’t like Ox.

WengerEagle

Ox had literally no end product for us though. Phenomenal athlete and straight line dribbler but really had a very one-dimensional game. Liverpool overpaid for him, only real big money signing made since Klopp has been there that you can question.

Paulinho

WE – It’s always much easier to isolate the full back at home, and it was a pre-season game, so that again makes it much easier. It’s like he came on with a point to prove, and that showed, but I still don’t think it means much. Away from home is where you see the reality (us last season) and on Wed when he had to work a bit harder for space he struggled and went into his shell a bit, same as always. I still can’t get that United performance at Old Trafford out of my head. Usually young… Read more »

Words on a Blog

Dissenter,

To be fair to Pedro, the facts have changed, so he’s changed his mind, rather than choosing to relentlessly pursue a narrative in the face of the evidence

Dream10

Wenger Eagle

Love Ousmane, but he’s one of those stars due to injury/timing who won’t be a 40+ games a season guy at Barça/Real. He’s definitely good enough to play for any team in the world. Sané is hungry and wants to be a featured player, not just provide width (he’s got great stats). Sané would be amazing with Messi/Neymar playmaking, making off the ball runs. Ousmane at PSG/Man City for a couple of years would good for him. We should go for him if we make CL this yr.

Dissenter

Just read Valentin’s version of the Pepe transfer and it doesn’t surprise me on but that he’s stretching rumors to fit a narrative. Even if I was drinking the same koolaid flavor, why is it a big deal if we paid more. -we are the club stuck in Europa league for the 3rd consecutive season. -we are the club that doesn’t have a natural winger in a squad with a huge wage bill. Simply put, we need the player more than Napoli and have to more to convince him to play for a EL club. It a doldrums surcharge. I… Read more »

TR7

One dimensional player who can play on wing, right wing back, CAM and CM to varying degree of success ? Agree on his poor end product but he is not one dimensional. He still has not had a run of games at Liverpool. He will do well for them once he gets fit and plays himself in to form. Nelson is a basic player really. Limited pace and not very skillful.

Mr Serge

Can’t see the Coutinho deal happening

WengerEagle

Newcastle are making some really interesting signings.

First Joelinton who’s going to be superb in the PL and now Saint-Maximin who has been one of the best dribblers in Europe for a while now.

Strange given Rafa was sacked for Bruce.

Paulinho

“Ox was twice the player Nelson is and most people here didn’t like Ox.”

Yep, another that looked unbelievable when he first played for us, and then reality set in and we saw his flaws after that initial novelty wore off.

Marc

Dissenter

That’s why the journo’s are pissed off. They weren’t even close to the story it also fucks with their Arsenal don’t spend any money narrative.

Dissenter

Words
‘Dissenter,To be fair to Pedro, the facts have changed, so he’s changed his mind, rather than choosing to relentlessly pursue a narrative in the face of the evidence’

I disagree
Pedro and some of his acolytes like Valentine went overboard in the attacks of the new regime. Pedro casted Raul as the archaic contacts guy and Mislintat as the new age data driven genius that was pushed out. He ran the narrative for one season
Some still persist in cooking up anything they think is slanderous.
How do you think we ended up with CG here?

Marc

TR7

“He still has not had a run of games at Liverpool. He will do well for them once he gets fit and plays himself in to form.”

Er when exactly has the Ox ever managed a serious run of games? Him getting injured was more predictable than Ozil going missing in an away game.

Pierre

Marc I know you are a season ticket holder but why don’t you just enjoy the moment instead of acting like a prize dick head. I’m sure one would call this trolling “So just to get this straight we weren’t happy when we wouldn’t outbid other teams to get talent and now we’re not happy because we did.” “If we hadn’t of gotten Pepe you’d have people talking about our lack of ambition etc etc.I’ll stand by my basic belief that the vast majority of these arseholes hate Arsenal and have to find a way to slag us off.” “I… Read more »

WengerEagle

Paulinho

I don’t expect him to make a huge impact on us and agree when I watched him for Hoffenheim his reluctance to impose himself on the game the way Sancho for example has at Dortmund was discouraging but for a squad option out wide you could do far worse. Already a bigger goal threat than Iwobi and who else do we even have wide after Pepe?

Whether he goes on to be a player of real substance, who knows. Too early to say still and we haven’t really seen enough of him.

Marc

Dissenter

Pedro was still pushing that line only a couple of weeks ago when the Sven interview came out even though the transfers we did when Sven was here were littered with players Sven had worked with previously.

Pedro still can’t get away from the Emery appointment.

Dissenter

Marc
I wonder why no one is stating the evident truth which is that United are being run into the ground by a management that has anchored them in debt. I read that they have paid more to service the debts that the Glazers borrowed to buy the club. They won’t be able to pay them back in the next 75 years!
How can anyone pay 85 million for Harry Maguire?

Marc

Pierre

Fuck off – I’ve said I’m buzzing – it’s the miserable cunts on here who are still moaning no matter what we do.

How on earth you can call me a troll is laughable.

Even you seem to be almost cheerful – I don’t know what’s wrong with people.

WengerEagle

Dream

Agree, Dembele is like Coman in that you don’t have full confidence in their body to hold up for 40+ matches a season at the elite end.

In terms of skillset/ceiling, where would you rank 1-5 of Sane, Sancho, Dembele, Coman, Sterling?

chris

Weagle

Was Rafa sacked? Thought it was mutual as in they couldn’t agree a new deal.

Got to feel sorry for Newcastle fans, they went from a potential Arab takeover to Steve Bruce in 6 weeks.

We could try to cheer them up by offering them Mustafi!

Guns of Brixton

Ox was effin frustrating.

Remember vs monaco?

Score a goal then helped concede one.

Typified him.
Though to be fair to him he would of done well in a 3 man Midfield (like vs AC back in 2012)

Paulinho

WE – I would be stunned if he ever did anything in football because I think there is mental issue there in terms of being aggressive enough over consistent length of time, but also innate game understanding seems to be lacking. He kept getting in Monreal’s way the other night instead of knowing where to move off the ball. Talent-wise he’s interesting. Remember against Cologne a couple of years back he picked the ball up and drove past half their team when we were desperate for a goal. So he definitely has ability at a certain level. Reminds me of… Read more »

Marc

Dissenter

The media are still suffering from a Fergie hangover. They were all terrified of him and wouldn’t print anti ManU stories.

Liverpool are about to go into the 30th season since they last won the league. If you’d have said that in 1990 you would’ve been sectioned! ManU could be about to go into a similar barren run.

Dissenter

Barcelona have a mess in their hands.
They committed a lot to signing Neymar, lost him and then went in to overpay for several possible replacements, mainly out of a bruised ego.
Now they want to go back for Neymar again…and it looks like they are on the path to more mistakes.
Is there any reason that Coutinho and Dembele aren’t good enough for Barca?

WengerEagle

‘One dimensional player who can play on wing, right wing back, CAM and CM to varying degree of success ?’

He was more often than not poor when played as a midfielder for us. I remember him being absolutely shocking in the 6-0 at Stamford Bridge, hadn’t a clue how to play the role and was just a headless chicken in there.

Only time he looked decent in midfield was the 3-0 win vs Milan in 2012 and that was only because they never got out of 1st gear and were just there to protect a 4 goal lead.

Marc

chris

“Got to feel sorry for Newcastle fans, they went from a potential Arab takeover to Steve Bruce in 6 weeks. ”

Fuck me that’s got to be depressing!

WengerEagle

Brucie’s become a meme but the guy was always a decent PL gaffer. Nothing special but one of those that boucnes around club to club and does a job like Big Sam back in the day, Woy and Sparky Hughes.

Elmo

Celtic win 7-0 on opening day, chasing their 9th successive title and 4th successive domestic treble. The absolute state of that. Why on earth would any talented player not be trying to force their way out? A completely pointless set-up.

If Tierney really has complicated injuries, I don’t think we should bother. Too big of a risk for that price when he’s been playing at League One standard.

Words on a Blog

Dissenter/Marc,

In the end, Pedro runs a blog and his role is to push narratives and promote debate.

He’s not a politician who has to be consistent or hold a political line.

Sure he was pushing the Sven is God/Raul is a merchandiser line for way too long, but all that is gone now

chris

Marc

Newcastle seem to be the personification as such if the saying ‘there’s always somebody worse off!’

Got to agree about Tierney. He looks a smashing player but that counts for little if he is going to struggle to keep fit. Let’s gazump Spurs for Sessegnon!

WengerEagle

Paulinho

Yeah it’s much more difficult to drastically improve your football IQ/game intelligence at 20+ than even technical aspects of your game such as shooting, passing and ball control. All things that can be improved through enough practice and repetition in training.

Mental characteristics are much more innate as you say. Can’t really overly teach young players how to see the game, when to pick a pass/make an off the ball run at the right moment.

Dissenter

Words
Of course it’s Pedro’s blog and he’s done an excellent job of running it.
That doesn’t stop me from reminding him of a previous entrenched position.
I used to run the same criticisms when he was pro-Gazidis.
It’s all part and parcel of the blog. Pedro is a big boy, he can handle it.

Valentin

Most of the media are in ManUtd and Liverpool’s pocket. They won’t dare write critical of either club by fear of being ostracised. ManUtd was a football club, now it is just a juggernaut commercial entity that play football. Like WWE, they are in Sports Entertainment. OGS at least tries to build a team, but Ed Woodward is such a poor negotiator he is getting ripped off by on literally every deal. If VVD is worth £75 million, in what world can Harry Maguire an inferior player on every aspect worth £85 millions? Even including the English premium and ManUtd… Read more »

Paulinho

Ox made a great decision going to Liverpool. That system is the only one I can see him being able to play him. Klopp really is a genius in seeing the worth of him in that one system.

TR7

Ox did have a few good performances as CM too and a few as RWB. Agreed he was not very good at playing CAM but again how many wingers can play a CAM role with poise against Milan ? We can debate how good he was but he is a versatile player who can play several positions. He is not a one dimensional player. Even Klopp sees a potential CM role for him although his natural position is right wing.

Marc

Words

“He’s not a politician who has to be consistent or hold a political line.”

He does have vote for Pedro as his moniker!

WengerEagle

Mad to think how much United have spent when you look at the state of them. Fred was a 50m pick-up, same fee as Citeh bought Raheem Sterling for and more than Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane cost them.

And he’s being benched by that inbred McTominay.

Marc

Valentin

How dare you – Ed Woodward is a fucking genius and one of my personal hero’s.

Eduardo

Why is Arsene Wenger bad at fantasy football? Because whenever someone offers him 100 million, he tries to give it back

Dream10

Wenger Eagle

That’s a great question. I think Sterling is top of the list right now He delivers consistently. Sancho doesn’t have the explosiveness the others do, but he gets to where he wants. Coman a great wide man with pace, but don’t see him becoming a goal threat. Ousmane is the most talented I think.

Right now Sterling, Sané, Ousmane, Sancho, Coman

WengerEagle

TR7

It was one game- 7 years ago. And Milan were basically already through, game was a mere formality.

Jack Wilshere was superb against prime Barcelona in 2011, doesn’t count for much in 2019.

Valentin

The Ox will flatter to deceive. He has all the characteristics to be a world class player, but his decision making has not improved since he joined us from Southampton. He will be brilliant one minute and then like a dear in the headlight hesitates and lose the opportunity to pass or score. For Walcott, I blame Wenger and his lack of proper coaching. For the Ox, I am not sure that the lack of proper coaching is the main cause of his lack of progress. He said himself, he is a shy guy with self esteem and self confidence… Read more »

Dream10

West Ham showing interest in Welbeck. Hope he gets that move.

Dissenter

Am I the only one that is wary about this Tierney signing This lad has some asterisks regarding his injuries. He had hernia surgery months ago and still can’t kick a ball without pain? Then it turns out that he has osteitis pubis and has had recurring problems with his pelvis. CG was the broken clock this morning when he pointed out Tierney’s injuries; this lad is only 22 y/o and is and is already battling a chronic inflammation that will cause recurring groin problems. We won’t be able to do a full physical if we signed him now –… Read more »

WengerEagle

‘He said himself, he is a shy guy with self esteem and self confidence issue who is not very decisive in his life. I think that he brings that personality to the pitch.’

Oxlade? Or Walcott?

Surely aren’t talking about Ox, one thing you can’t accuse him of is being shy. Lad never shuts up and is constantly piss taking on those promo vids on Arsenal/Liverpool channels. Goes out with that popstar singer as well so doubt his self esteem is that crap.

Wasi

Dream10 Sane wont be that good a fit at Barca imo. Where would you play him. His only position is LW. He is an out and out left winger with a different dynamic as compared to out and out left wingers. His speed and agility allows him to run inside the box from the left and then cut back or shoot or cross far post. But definitely he wont play above Neymar in the LW position if they do get him. RW is Messi. So a no-no and anyways Sane is not a natural inverted winger. He is not that… Read more »

TR7

WE

You can call Theo, PEA etc. as one dimensional players, not Ox. I am not even saying Ox has great qualities to become a CAM, I cited that he played the role just to buttress the point he is not one-dimensional. You are also forgetting he played a few times as a CM where he did reasonably well. I can see him gradually taking over from Wijnaldum at Liverpool and deputize for Salah/Mane when they are not available/rested. Trust the judgement of Klopp if not mine 🙂

Marc

Dissenter

It is strange but you need to look at it the other way. If Tierney is a perma crock in disguise Celtic are going to have a much better idea of that than anyone.

If that’s the case and someone offered you a quarter of your turn over for him wouldn’t you bite their hands off?

Valentin

If Celtic is telling the truth about Tierney’s injury and not playing silly buggers, then Arsenal should stay away. If he miss the first 8 weeks of the season, by the time he is fit to play and accustomed to his new teammates and system, it would be half way through the season. With no guarantee that his chronic pelvis injury does not flare again, I would say that he is a risk too far. Especially at the price Celtic is demanding. There are decent left back available immediately at the same price. A player who will miss the first… Read more »

WengerEagle

Dream Agree, Sterling is closest to being the finished article and his game has elevated since teaming up with Pep. Was brilliant for Liverpool but he’s really discovered and developed his nose for goal at Citeh, well capable of producing a 30 goal season this season. Sancho is quite a bit younger than the rest and his ceiling is highest for me along with Dembele. Coman is the most specialised wideman of the five and is absolutely perfect for Bayern who had two amazing out and out widemen in Robben and Ribery for a decade. Sane is the most physically… Read more »

Words on a Blog

Marc/dissenter,

Fair enough. Pedro is a big boy / seasoned politician who is happy enough to trade punches

Valentin

WE,

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/10010620/alex-oxlade-chamberlain-suffers-from-self-belief-problem-admits-arsene-wenger

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/1831542/how-arsenals-alex-oxlade-chamberlain-has-finally-got-his-head-round-his-inner-self/

There is a difference between the personality you present to the world and what you really are. Oxlade Chamberlain may be a joker off the pitch but he did suffer from self doubt. That part of his personality may be the source of his poor decision making.

WengerEagle

TR7 Paulinho said it well, Liverpool are probably the only high level team where Oxlade can potentially play a starting role. Mainly due to his athletic gifts and ability to press off the ball. He’s built like more of a sprinter than a distance runner though so I don’t think he’s suited to playing in the middle. He’s all about those short bursts of explosive speed and energy which is more suited to out wide. Klopp is showing that athletes in the modern game trump technicians. The way their midfield dominated Barcelona’s over 2 legs in the CL SF was… Read more »

CG

Celtic 7 (SEVEN) St. Johnstone 0

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