You might be heading here this morning thinking I’m about to launch into Freddie Ljungberg and the drab opener to his career in the hot seat. If that’s the case, you’ll be disappointed. We put in exactly the sort of performance I was expecting after the handsome Swede had spent just two days with a squad that looks like it’s been on a 4-day stag-do bender in Benidorm with the boys from Croydon’s biggest building site.
No new-manager-bounce for Freddie. I think fans were genuinely more interested in what he was going to wear before the game, an event far more likely to bring joy than the collection of players that have been mailing it in under a banter manager for 18 months. Turns out, his attire wasn’t quite as striking as we’d hoped. He looked like an account guy in advertising that’d just moved to 3 bedroom garage renovated space, in Stoke Newington, preparing to pop out to pick up a takeaway from Pizza Express. No 3 piece tweed ensemble for the ages, nothing CK flare-ish, just a bit boring.
His team selections were also a bit, how can we say it kindly? Interesting.
He brought back Mustafi, Ozil, and Xhaka. He opted to try and make Lacazette and Auba work upfront. He played his favourite, Joe Willock. His defence omitted Tierney, had Chambers at right-back, along with David Luiz. If we’re being forgiving, which we are, he might have been playing the politics card before he hits the team with his true vision. Conte did that in his first season at Chelsea (bringing a back 3 in after 10 games); play the card everyone wants you to play, prove it’s shite, then switch it up. I mean, not that crazy a thought, Freddie believes in high octane pressing and his front three were Ozil, Lacazette and Auba.
The attacking output was interesting for the first 15 minutes, the passing was more direct, there were some attempts at the combination play of old. The problem though, as always, was the defence. We were a total mess as usual. The midfield did a very bad job holding their shape, the players in the back 4 looked like they were new to the game, and there was the typical array of poor individual performances.
David Luiz just isn’t built for the game in 2019. He’s desperately off the pace, he’s lacking confidence for the first time in his career, and he’s lost that edge we used to hate about him. In the heat of spending frenzy last summer, we all hoped this was a masterstroke. Now we’re looking at him in cold light of day, it’s apparent that was a ‘contacts’ signing for the ages. Nearly £200k a week, a bunch of agents fees, and a pretty large transfer fee on someone that just doesn’t have it.
The manager took a lot of flak for his subs, again, I thought this was unfair. Is there really much of a difference between Saka and Pepe at the minute? Freddie basically said Pepe trains badly. He was an elite player, we might not trust his judgement on knitwear, but you can’t deny that he’s likely very attuned to effort levels in training sessions.
The overarching problem for Freddie is a simple one: He’s the caretaker.
Arsenal won’t give him the job fulltime. The players absolutely know this. Sadly, they’re all still in holiday mode. Freddie is a nice guy that they all like, but he doesn’t have any real authority in that role, because the players know he’ll be leaving. That’s not a slight on Freddie, when Alex Ferguson announced his first retirement years ago, he had to cancel it because his squad switched off. Our squad is a collection of pampered babies, they’ll take any excuse you throw their way.
Regardless, I hoped they might want to play for him, but just look at the overall pace of that game and the lack of commitment. There was no fire in the tackle, everything was halfhearted, no one risked 50/50s. The players weren’t giving it their all, because Freddie doesn’t matter to them like he should do.
That means the club really is going to have to go very hard to make sure the manager we hire is in the door by January 1st. We need authority in the dressing room and we need some ideas on how to get the team ticking again. I cannot accept the notion that the squad is worse than Norwich or Southampton, it’s simply too easy to play that card. Leicester have been a sub 50 points a season team for 3 years, their players weren’t shite, the managers were. No one, and I mean no one, had that squad of players down as anything outside average when we tanked them in 2018 with a blistering performance. Now they have a very good coach, he has them in 2nd, and apparently all he’s done is awaken an incredibly balanced squad. Not true.
Good coaching makes a difference. Players are just like us. They buy into ideas. They want to operate in an organised unit. They want to win. We need some fire in the dressing room and we need someone capable of reenergizing players that have lost their way.
It’s super trendy for everyone to talk about the deeper problems at Arsenal. I’m with everyone on that, but let’s not overcomplicate football here. We need a manager with a believable idea, good communication skills, with the ability to crack the whip in a positive way.
The managerial shortlist looks unwieldy at the minute, but it’s filtering down as we learn more about the names.
The Guardian ran a piece yesterday that said the club has massively cooled on the idea of inviting a super agent lackey into an already messy situation. I’m am VERY pleased about that. Thank you to everyone that raised the alarm there, you clearly made a difference here. Nuno would have been a fucking disaster. It looks like he’s off the shortlist.
Pochettino is apparently a favourite of the board. Why wouldn’t he be? The guy is absolute mustard, he’d be an incredible hire, but from what I understand, it is very, very unlikely he’d tarnish his reputation for Arsenal. So, likely rule him out.
Allegri has been out of a job for a while considering his talent. Word on the street is he interviewed very badly. He couldn’t sprechen zie English that well and he also asked the club to sell him on Arsenal (power move). That’s a bad footing he might struggle to come back from. I think Allegri is a saucy beast, but his English is very poor if you watch his online videos, but more to the point, the guy is at the top of his game. He’ll want to win the Champions League with his next move, fast. Any human arrogant enough to ask for the interviewer to sell them on the role is probably not suited to a shit show like Arsenal. No money, an unbalanced squad, and basically a huge step back for a top, top manager.
Brendan Rodgers is interested in Arsenal. He couldn’t be any more excited about the opportunity. He’s clearly had his people leak ‘dream job’ to the press, and he wasn’t exactly emphatic when asked about his desire to remain with the Leicester project. Brendan is not everyone’s cup of tea, but look, the guy is a very good coach, he’s certainly better than Emery and it’s very hard to deny what he’s done at Leicester is anything outside exceptional. The football he played when he took Liverpool to 2nd was outstanding. Celtic might be a cakewalk, but keeping any side focused enough to be invincible is a notable achievement. If we end up with him, I’d certainly not complain. Only worry with Brendy R is he’s a bit of a berk, and I wonder how that’d go down with players that ripped the piss out of their last manager to his face. There’s also a harsh sting with Brendan: He comes with a £14m buyout clause and he’d likely cost us £10m a year (with his team). Just three weeks ago people were leaking that we were struggling to meet the ‘fuck off’ fee of Emery’s last 6 months. We are skint. I do not think we’ll be throwing that sort of money at a manager because that will hit our summer transfer budget. He’d be a solid hire regardless.
I’ve written extensively about Mikael Arteta, you know my feelings on him, he’s certainly on the radar of the club. He has had a lot of strong endorsements in the media (Henry Winter, arguably the #1 English journalist, being the biggest). He’d come at a very low cost, he’d slot right into the system, and he’d arrive with a big idea we’d all salivate over. Challenge with him is does he engage with Arsenal again after what happened last time? Would he fuck Pep over at a very bad time for the Manchester club? We’re what he wants, the question is, do the club have the cojones to make a hire that has some meek fans wetting their pants / calling me a melon fucker on Twitter.com.
Carlo Ancelotti will most certainly be asked about the role again. He knows the league, he’s world-class at bringing players together, and he has the sexy prestige that’ll have Raul firming up at the dinner table. I love Carlo and what he’s done, but I do think he’s had his time at the very top. He’s not a tactical master and most of his success comes when he’s given the best tools to work with. Also worth remembering that he lost to Emery in the Europa League last season, during a really bad Arsenal run of form. He also comes with a huge entourage of expensive people, including his son I believe. He’s a superstar manager, on superstar wages, not quite sure he’d deliver to the levels we’d want, but still a solid name to consider just because he’s a very cool guy and I like him.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to see someone like Ralph Rangnick considered again. He’s been targeted by a lot of top clubs, Bayern had a go for him and United were rumoured to be interested. I would have preferred him as a technical director, not sure if he has the management chops for the Premier League, but it’s hard to argue that he’d not be suited to our mess at the moment. He’s picked up far worse problem clubs in his career and pushed them forward. RB are also at the forefront of football development. He’s had his fingers in lots of club pies with their franchise and Red Bull are doing pretty well out of it.
Patrick Vieira will be sniffing around the role. Petit was speaking about it at the weekend. I love him, but again, is the work he’s doing at Nice getting anyone moist? I don’t think so. For me, if you’re going to hire him, you might as well give the job to Per and Freddie. I think the football will be about the same level when all is said and done.
The shame of this process is we can’t consider names like Ten Haag, Marco Rose, and Paulo Fonseca. Oddly, not even Gio Van Bronckhorst because City are eyeing him for New York or to replace Pep. We leave a lot of good names on the table by shooting for a manager now, but as you saw today, if we don’t move in the next 30 days, Champions League qualification is lost.
Anyway… point about the above, the shortlist is starting to shrink. The frontrunners to me look like Brendan, Carlo and Arteta. All solid, all very different, all an improvement.
Still, early days, plenty of time for the club to fuck this up.
Right, see you in the comments.
DM
2
1st
Tr4phy
Trofee
Damn. Well done DM
The entire football world knows Arsenal has no ambition. No ambitious manager worth his salt will join Arsenal as long as these drab ownership is running the show. Same old, same old.
If that news about Arsenal’s valuation going seriously downward is true, there is a silver lining for sure: Dangote OR some Sheikh OR some hotshot Chinese. As long as the new owner has real ambition, I will take even the Donald Trump.
I want to believe Freddie is not as bad as portrayed. He has not had the time of his own sigh the players and am not sure that’s players are pampered or do not care. Fear and faith are powerful but fragile things. Let’s allow the man but do not expect magics only miracles.
I want to believe Freddie is not as bad as portrayed. He has not had the time of his own with the players and am not sure that our players are pampered or do not care. Fear and faith are powerful but fragile things. Let’s allow the man but do not expect magics only miracles.
Arsenal are a retirement home for players and managers looking for an easy pay day. One has to ask the question: why? Carlo gets back into the limelight. Rodgers is back at a ‘big club’. Arteta is my man. Nagglesmann seems to have fallen out if favour but I’m not sure why? Rose? I don’t know his work but he’s attractive. Tuchel? Still a good coach I think and PSG is a poison chalice. Whatever happens, it can’t be a season job or even two seasons. It has to be a five year programme that strips away the poison at… Read more »
A majestic and magnificent Monday masterpiece by PedRo and I off course thank him for it. He quotes. “””Freddie basically said Pepe trains badly.””” So this new and expensive assorted regime – have actually spent over £72 000 000( smashing our transfer record) on a one footed, one season wonder, who scored 10 penalties last year, never played a CL game and does not train properly? I just dont get this Pepe deal…. It absolutely stinks. How can any head of Football Operations job still be tenable when you scrutinise the Pepe deal? Let alone the Emery appointment. I shudder… Read more »
“…Mikael Arteta, you know my feelings on him…”
Love is a beautiful thing.
“the sort of performance I was expecting”
Dixit the guy who was supposedly super excited before the game – see yesterday’s post.
Thought Freddie was pretty poor. Apart from playing a back4, I think he got everything else wrong. Auba and Laca….yawn, how many times Freddie have they started together and played well? Mustafi???? Rather Sok on one leg. Luiz? Rather Mustafi! Midfield awful without ball and not much better with it. Doesn’t help having Ozil. That guy is stealing a 400k a week living out of Arsenal. Subbed, with 2 mins to go! Well what can you do? If Freddie treats Ozil like he deserves he’ll just do everything to undermine and get rid of him like he did to Emery.… Read more »
What’s really missing in Pedro’s post today is a glamorous photograph of Mikel.
ES
I agree with your submissions. We need a revamp and that’s exactly why I’d rather have us embark on a long term project, instead of an Ancelloti desperately trying to drag us back to top4.
We need a coach that’s young, innovative and patient enough to steer us through a slow and steady rebuild. How many windows do fans think it will take us to overhaul the squad? We have an insane amount of players we need to ship out.
In the interim, Freddie needs to get his starting eleven right.
IMO . Nothing is going to change until the ownership changes . Seems the Emery debacle has shown that our ‘trusted’ middle management are as clueless as emery was and it’s obvious that Josh and the a Walmart Syrup don’t have a clue about ‘soccer-ball’ . But they do have an idea how to make money… Fact is we are not a football club in our owners eyes …… we are an asset, something to loan against , and the club is paying the loans and interest he bought the club with, …. let this sink in . The Arsenal… Read more »
Watching us defend is like watching table footballers vs moving ones. Stick your leg out and if it doesn’t work wait for the next guy. So hard to watch. Hope we can sort this. We have pressed at times in the last two seasons, but it never lasts.
Dont really know what makes Carlo Ancelotti special anymore like Pedro says. Dont think he’d be much better than Emery tbh. Last year he couldn’t beat Emery even though we were in poor form. Napoli probably put two of their worst performances against us last season. I remember watching the match and thinking that even though we aren’t playing that well we are winning comfortably. This year Carlo has Napoli at 7th below Atalanta, Cagliari, Roma and Lazio . All of these teams are much much weaker than Napoli who have abundance of quality. You could even say that Napoli… Read more »
Not really worth analysing too much after Freddie had 1 or two training sessions.
That said, its noticeable that we out-XG’d our opponents for the first time in about 6 games.
It was about 2-1 in favour of AFC in XG, and in recent weeks we’ve been well outplayed by the likes of Wolves, Southampton, Sheff UTD and Palace,
It looks to me like Freddie basically told them to go and play with more freedom and take more risks.
His pre-match talk was probably as simple as “forget the absolute nonsense that the Spanish Pulis has been drumming into you”
I dont get why people are jumping the gun on Freddie after 1 game. He had one training session with the team and lots and lots of positives in the match to show for it too.
– Good attacking display in the first half.
-Better control
-Better pressing.
-Realizing the negatives ( transition play) and im sure hell be working on it.
And can please someone tell me why in the world was Guendouzi playing LB when we had the ball. Kid needs to be taught where to be and when. His positioning sense really needs to improve.
Also add
Outshooting the opponents for the first time in a very long time.
First game and he picks a terrible line up from his available panel. No excuse for that so if you are a manager and can’t assess players then you’re not up to it. He is bound to have seen first hand over the past number of months what was wrong with the players chosen and formations and systems. No clue so we will move on from there. You talk of the problem with Brendan Rodgers being the buy out clause of 14 mill. Yet we routinely spend 30- 70 mill on really shit players. Any successful team starts with a… Read more »
I have a feeling it will be Carlo. Arsenal are a club is crisis and I don’t think we have the foresight to sacrifice a season or two to get it right long term, more that we will go for a name and hope for the best. This will be wrong. We are really up the creek. If we had done the right thing and got Arsene to step aside five/six years ago, I think things would have worked out better. Now we are reaping the mistakes we made passing up Klopp, Pep twice! Arteta last year etc. It takes… Read more »
Willock was horrendous yesterday, what exactly is his role in the team? He is not creating anything and he certainly isn’t putting in any defensive effort, not tracking back. The less we see of him the better. Same for Saka, pushed off the ball like a small child yesterday, zero impact. Freddie was a disaster.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/former-arsenal-misfit-andre-santos-20971697
Even the worst player of Arsenal after Xhaka is saying Arsenal has a culture issue, has ambition issues.
Based on yesterdays performance, Saka and Willock both need to go on loan. Martinelli needs to be fast tracked to the 1st team. Just how bad was Saka when he came on yesterday?
How many touches did Saka getin those 12 minutes? Is this a joke which we all are missing @steveyg?
As was said about Viera, if you go with him you may as well stay with Per and Freddie. Funny thing is, the exact same thing applies with Arteta, the exact same thing,
If you go with Arteta you may as well stay with Freddie.
The kind of space Guendozi earns by his sheer mobility in the central midfield area and while he is mazing ahead, its a pity he doesn’t know/want to shoot at goal.
If he could, all his goalbound shots could be virtual set-pieces.
“I dont get why people are jumping the gun on Freddie after 1 game. ”
I don’t get why people are jumping the gun on Freddie after seing him pick Luiz, Xhaka, Ozil and Mustardi in his starting 11. (LOL)
Very good post Pedro. I hadn’t fully realised how deep the problems went till yesterday. As for Freddie, I love the guy, BUT BUT BUT – that team selection was mind bogglingly inept and gives me no confidence that he could manage the squad for more than the minimum number of games till we get someone experienced in. And I do mean someone experienced. With this squad we could find ourselves in very deep sh*t if we take a punt on someone young, exciting and totally new to coaching/management. I think we should recognise how bad the problems are and… Read more »
And I won’t even mention the amazing substitution Ozil/Martinelli, with only 5 minutes left to play.
Ooopppsss too late, I did it.
Arsenal’s tackling efforts were non-existent yesterday. On a couple of occasions, it appeared the players are saving their hamstrings for some imaginary CL game.
Anyway, Arsenal’s top-4 hopes are now totally over. So are hopes to retain Auba. Happy Europa Leaguing guysss..
Wasi
“””-Better pressing.?””””
How was it better?
like in smoother?, faster?, more cohesive?, for longer spells?
who in particular pressed well yesterday? Eg (Did Willock press well for us?)
and who were the naughty ones- who didnt press so well?
and what do we do with Pepe- if he dont want to press or cant press? Can he take lessons to improve?
And Are we pressing Brighton Thursday or are playing soccer?
I need to know Wasi.
Wasi ??
Whatitis ??
Pedro
Sorry, but when a #1 journalist says that someone is “top notch”, I tend to take it with a pinch of salt.
I’m not concerned or bothered about Arteta. It’s what’s happening right now that concerns me most.
Your ott perceptions on someone that has not even been in charge of a team for more than 90 minutes, just beggars belief.
Freddie has had three days at the helm and, as it stands, is a far better option
Imagine if Freddie would’ve started of with Martinelli, Tierney, Torreira, Saka and Holding, with no Luiz, Laca, Ozil, Mustafi and of course fuckin’ Xhaka. Now that would’ve been a statement! Sadly he didn’t. That line up was shit and he’s subs were shit. Freddie blow it big time.
Will we beat Brighton? Probably not, a draw like last season looks very likely. Kroenke is destroying us.
As horrendous as the defending was yesterday, Leno was genuinely that good and the only reason it was not a disaster. Its going to take some time to right the wrongs with this team, they are a toxic bunch.
I have posted earlier today on previous thread my priorities before appointing a new coach. The first is to make changes to the Board of Directors. Most of the Board is too old and frankly “old school”. We need to bring in people with more contemporary expertise including “football background”. The Kroenke family have limited football expertise and frankly reliance on senior management who are more often than not “ships passing in the night” is in my view dangerous. Second we need to review the senior management team. I am concerned that there are no clear demarcation lines between the… Read more »
Ancelotti is past his sell by date. We need to act fast and get Pochettino before he ends up becoming the Man Utd manager.
The team selection looked like it was picked by Emery and subs done by Arsene.
Just one game and Pedro condenation starts. If it was Arteta, he would say, give him time,the result was not bad etc.. long read!
Who has given positive endosrsement to Arteta? For what? As far as I know, it was for his coaching skills. in the training ground, but the real world of the game pitch is so different. We do not need a novice yet again. Go for experienced Carlo, Rafa and if possible to Rodgers.
Let Freddie manage 6-7 games before we pass any judgement on him. Team selection was poor yesterday but I hope he figures out the right 11 in the next few games.
I hope that was Freddie making a statement that everybody has a place in the club and all can be in the team if they play well enough and clean slates all round. Maybe he felt that what’s close to the second string should have been able to beat Norwich (which really, should be the case) and that would be some kind of reset. That’s my hope anyway. Because the alternative is that he’s worse at being a coach than any of us armchair fans are and we hit 1st of January having taken 4/18 points (draws with Brighton, West… Read more »
“There’s no denying that pretty much man for man, the whole team (apart from Auba) are underperforming.”
Leno….?
Biggles
———–
Bellerin and Ceballos, aren’t they injured?
Just go get van Bronkhorst . Give him 3 years. We will be back competing again . In the meantime , bring back Keown on the training pitch like we did when we went on that champions league run with flamani at the back . He will install some defensive shape and kill a few egos in the process. It’s like we need the boat rocked more to get out those that are too comfortable. Start looking to cash out on auba , he is like Danny welbeck with goals . And I think Martinelli will develop into the player… Read more »
Leno is having an amazing season, of course all for the wrong reasons, I mean how many goalkeepers in world football are having to make so many saves every bloody match?
“It looks to me like Freddie basically told them to go and play with more freedom and take more risks. ”
Some players were over doing it. Take Chambers for example. He advanced so far forwards when we had the ball. He had no idea when he should move back a little. His side was always caught wide open during each counter by the opponent. Our players require a lot of coaching.
“The shame of this process is we can’t consider names like Ten Haag, Marco Rose, and Paulo Fonseca. Oddly, not even Gio Van Bronckhorst because City are eyeing him for New York or to replace Pep.”
Paulo Fonseca is a strange choice Pedro as he’s also owned by Mendes
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-fonseca-bruce-manager-15234727
Good post by the way
Look at it this way, Freddie has given players the benefit of the doubt to prove they can lead us forward. Clearly some are not up to it.
These three games will give him a far better understanding of where he stands with them. Don’t be surprised to see several changes for Thursday and Monday.
Egos should not be satisfied.
Watch this space.
@Jim Lahey My bad. Leno is playing well. I was just thinking about how if you take Auba’s goals out of the equation, we’re basically relegation fodder. @Danny Bellerin was supposedly close to making the Norwich game, I expect him to be back in the squad for Brighton and probably able to play against West Ham. Ceballos is supposed to be back mid-December. I’m not sure if that’s mid-December real time, or mid-December Wilshere time, or even worse, mid-December Diaby time, but mid-December. Hopefully that means he might make Everton onwards. Obviously Freddie couldn’t play injured players, so it’s understandable… Read more »
“And I won’t even mention the amazing substitution Ozil/Martinelli, with only 5 minutes left to play.”
I think FL wanted to tell Ozil that his performance is not satisfactory. FL said that he wanted to give every player a chance. When he cut short Ozil’s chance, that is a clear warning statement.
Let’s give FL a chance to show his stuff. Top4 is over anyway. As for the next coach, I think we need a strong character. Our players are too relax. Yesterday, Laca acted like he was in a play ground.
Biggles
I do not disagree altogether with your team selections from existing squad, but
if I am perfectly honest those selections are not going to resolve our longterm
planning.
Our defence and midfield resources which are currently available are not fit for purpose.
We need better and more solid defenders and midfielders than we have got
on the books.
Whoever comes in to manage or act as head coach will expect a transfer budget and lets be realistic any potential sales of our current crop of defenders and midfielders is not going to generate much budget.
Freddie didn’t do too badly yesterday, however if felt very much like an Arsene 11 than a new team. Having said that it was still better that than Emeryball. In terms of selection the CB’s are interchangeable in their bad defending, Mustafi, Sokratis and Luiz are all one in the same except you get less brain farts from Sokratis. Didn’t really mind this. Kola only played as Tierney had a bit of a knock. He also played the 3 senior forwards as its the smart move to keep the dressing room happy but Ozil away from home is always a… Read more »
Nelson
Top 4 is over anyway.
——————–
You just ruined my day……..
Nelson
Ozil is no longer the player he was. I think most supporters recognise this.
However, the problems with our current midfield are not only down to Ozil.
Even if we manage to offload Ozil and save one and a half years wages the fact
is that we are not going to get a transfer fee for him. He is unsaleable.
Currently we do not have a single midfield player on our books who I would classify as an automatic first team starter.
I can’t wait for Arteta to join so he can instantly improve Mustafi, Mavro, Kola, Chambers, Luiz, Sok, Xhaka, AMN, Elneny, Ozil, Mkhi, and Laca (all bar Luiz and Sok were Wenger signings, thanks Arsene) rather than try to shift them all out of the club and replace with better players. Arteta will be the 4th guy trying to get a song out of Wenger’s dross signings. It won’t be a coincidence when the same set of players have us languishing in 5th-7th for the 5th season on the bounce with 4 different gaffers having tried and failed to ‘coach’… Read more »
Danny
Sorry to be realistic. For me, it is better to be mentally prepared. You won’t get too disappointed when the hammer drops.
Nelson
Of course you’re right it’s just depressing to think we’ve only just started December and the season is basically over. Maybe a nice FA Cup run……..
“p.s. Fair play to Pete for somehow finding the energy to keep providing thousands of words a week on our dying club”
I think you meant to write ‘on our dead club’
peanuts,
Saka was pushed off the ball as if he wasn’t there, this happened at least 3 times within the 1st 2 minutes he was on the pitch. Did u even watch the game?
“but I hope he figures out the right 11 in the next few games.”
@TR7 : he has been a witness of Emery’s failures in team selections since how long ?? Please, feel free to mremind us.
*remind us
Freddie :”The problem I think is that everyone can see that we had problems in transitions while we had possession, so that’s something that’s easy for a coach because we know what we need to work on.”
That’s much better than what we used to hear from Emery (we have played exactly according to our plan).
Freddie Ljungberg?
More like Ferdie Bumberg!
7 points from 4th with Chelsea to play twice. I hope the club don’t share that mentality of canning it in now or what is the point?
Rocky7
You are absolutely spot on about AFC being the KES Ponzi scheme.
Our troubles started from the time this Merchant was facilitated in by late Wenger. Perhaps that was the secret of Wenger Shit – show longevity
Top post Pedro. On the money again. This in particular struck a chord. “I cannot accept the notion that the squad is worse than Norwich or Southampton, it’s simply too easy to play that card. Leicester have been a sub 50 points a season team for 3 years, their players weren’t shite, the managers were. No one, and I mean no one, had that squad of players down as anything outside average when we tanked them in 2018 with a blistering performance. Now they have a very good coach, he has them in 2nd, and apparently all he’s done is… Read more »
Alex CutterDecember 2, 2019 11:58:13
Freddie Ljungberg?More like Ferdie Bumberg!
Cutter!! Very un-you!! A bummer joke? Dont go all MAGA on me.
How you keeping anyway? Hope you are well.
JamieDecember 2, 2019 11:22:05 I can’t wait for Arteta to join so he can instantly improve Mustafi, Mavro, Kola, Chambers, Luiz, Sok, Xhaka, AMN, Elneny, Ozil, Mkhi, and Laca (all bar Luiz and Sok were Wenger signings, thanks Arsene) rather than try to shift them all out of the club and replace with better players. Jamie Ooooh I feel some egg coming to that face of yours I’d tread carefully on Arteta, Rodgers or Pochettino. So many on here mugged themselves with Emery in desperation to vindicate their spite towards Wenger Please, for your sake, don’t fall into the trap… Read more »
Ah you just can’t beat a fried slice
Pedro You really have to stop this “contacts” agenda if you’re going to use false information. If you have a google David Luiz is reported to be on circa £125k per week not almost £200k. The Luiz signing only happened because of Kos throwing his toys out of the pram, we were suddenly in a position where we needed to bring in another CB as a short term signing who preferably had PL experience. You keep mentioning “agent” fee’s in his deal – how much were they? The reported transfer fee was £8 million. I also feel sorry for the… Read more »
Can’t believe I’m going to say this but, quality article from the guardian.
Oh I feel sick. I need to find Owen Jones and slap him. That will make me better
Emirates, I agree with most of your post as to Arsenal’s priorities, but I really wish people would stop talking about the board. I understand that in the traditional English football system, a board oversaw everything. However, Kroenke is the 100 percent owner of the club, and, as an American who owns multiple professional sports clubs (all failing more than succeeding, of course), he does not feel beholden to the English board system. Kroenke doesn’t give a rat’s ass about a board. He IS the board. So nothing will happen that he doesn’t want to happen. I just wish people… Read more »
Marc
£50 was too much for him
Was alway a calamity bar two seasons. Yet to see him ping one of those marvellous 60 yard Hollywoods too.
Even if he’s on £120k PW that’s £12m in two years and his £8m fee brings it to £20m
£20m we’ve spent on a defender no better than our worst defender-Mustafi.
For the love of god can we please just get holding and chambers in the middle and begin drilling that defence?
Leave Mustafi and Luiz for the cup games. Only problem is that those two should never step on a field together
Ny
Great post.
I’m also not sure I believe this bull shit that we’ve spent next years money.
Just alleviated ourselves of half a million per week in wages this summer, minimum whilst gaining 3 new sponsorship deals with most of stadium debt gone and structured payments for those we did sign summer
How the fuck do arsenal not have money to spend in the summer? Can anyone break this down for my simple brain in layman’s?
All over the place.
Present squad is fine but then frets over next seasons transfer budget.
How come Brentford FC produce so many quality youngsters?
Their scouting network unearths so many gems.
There is no doubt that this present squad needs a shake-up and players sold and others brought in. The club have not done anything for years and years at the real top end of football and in the last three or four seasons have stagnated from that. The club have got to be more ruthless in player turnover. From the starting XI yesterday we had Mustafi, Kolasinac, Chambers, Xhaka and Ozil. All players that have been at the club now for enough seasons and while being at the club have failed to see the team reach the better heights to… Read more »
Highbury Legend, Everyone giving Freddie flak for the team selections Chambers started because Bellerin was injured, Mustafi started because Sok and Holding have been very poor this season( and we all wanted him to get a chance after some impressive midweek displays, Chambers would probably have started CB with Luiz if Bellerin would of been available), Im not a supporter of Xhaka and would have him sold at the earliest but the past few weeks without Xhaka in the team our midfield has been non-existent. His defensive contributions are poor but he asserts a control with the ball that no… Read more »
“culprits” in order worst-best. WENGER: bought mustafi….let that sink in for a minute.. Xhaka…..good for the swiss…too slow for the prem (a host of duds…too many to mention Conclusion: set the shitfest in motion and oversaw the shitfest for as long as he could. EMERY: bought sokratis and LUiz???? WTF??? a man with no charisma or communication whatsoever. Conclusion: dealt the wenger hand and proceeded to descend into a black hole FREDDIE: Dealt a wenger hand and then given 4 jokers of no value to work with….oh and a 72million ace that can be read from the back of the… Read more »
GoonerInNY I understand very well that Arsenal is now 100% privately owned by the Kroenke family. However, it is a business which requires expertise at Board level. Neither Stan nor his son Josh has that expertise when it comes to football matters and for the record I don’t think that the other Directors sitting there have current expertise. The point I made earlier was the senior managers who are making the day to day decisions including selection of new head coach are employees and transient. When you make a strategic appointment which determines the success or failure of a football… Read more »
Un
That’s a different argument. I’m not saying Luiz was a great signing but Pedro is posting information that’s incorrect to have a pop at Sanllehi and his so called “contacts” method of conducting business.
Make the argument that £8 million and £125k per week could have bought us X or Y, offer an internal solution but don’t infer that there was millions and millions in agents fees or that the player is earning almost as much as Harry Kane when it’s not true.
Emirates
“Stan was persuaded to appoint Emery as the last Head Coach on recommendation it is believed by Sanhelli”
Do you really believe that? Do you think Gazidis and Sven had no opinion or input into the recruitment process?
Secrets to Success: 30/1/2019 Bournemouth 4 Chelsea 0 10/2/2019 Man City 6 Chelsea 0 10 goals conceded, 3 days apart – Luiz plays both games in a Chelsea Back 4. You cant win many games of soccer with David Luiz in a Back 4 but you can win lots of money buying opposition goals. The Opposition salivate when they see his name on the team sheet: they know they are in the game. They know he will defend too deep or do something stupid. (We are stuck with him for another 2.5 seasons) This signing was led by our Teck… Read more »
david luiz…is the worst defender ive ever seen…. why is that?…because he doesn’t actually defend….he backs off, gets out of position, loses focus and fails to read the danger. Just a 5-a -side player playing in mega scoring games.
Luiz has had several high profile calamity performances over the years, especially as part of a back four. Where he flourished most of note was in Conte’s back 3
All in all you look at all our defensive players that started on Sunday (bar Leno) and you wouldn’t be sad to see any of them leave the club I would imagine
The club needs serious work at almost every level before we are challenging again, even for top four.
The signing off Luiz was an awful decision obviously because of his weaknesses at the back but also because Arsenal didn’t need another old head in the squad.
One old head is enough in Sokratis.
When Koscielny left it should not have been thought the club must replace like for like with another experienced older player. Not with Papa Sok around.
We are not Juventus who are known to bring in enough older players. They start from a position of strength. Arsenal don’t.
It does make you think that the David Luiz deal was done just to fill some people’s pockets.
Arsenal a club that have been notoriously weak defensively for so long bring in a sweeper that lacks pace.
That you just do not do unless you are being given back handers.
David Luiz is a defender who doesn’t see himself as a defender.
End of.
I still don’t understand why Mavrapanos doesn’t get a chance to prove himself. Not saying he will definitely turn out to be a very good defender but he can’t be any worse than Mustafi and Sokratis. The likes of Willock get so many opportunities but Mavrapanos has been totally ignored.
Arsenal look weaker without Elneny and Iwobi who were thought to be weak spots.
Back 4.
Bellerin/Chambers/Holding/Tierney(1st choice)
AMN/ Sokratis/Luiz/Mustafi(2nd choice)
Mavropanos?
Is he still breathing?
TR7,
Mavro doesn’t play because he is almost always injured
Marc
Gazidis first preference was Arteta. He got allegedly cold feet. The question you
need to ask is why he did so?
I don’t think that Sven Mislintat was the “instigator” of that appointment. His
background was in Bundesliga and not in La Liga.
People need to get over Chambers as well.
He is not top level.
The lack of a turn of pace is going to kill him more than enough times.
Effort player which fans appreciate but not the answer ultimately.
His overall demeanour doesn’t even say top player. It says effort player. And that shouldn’t be enough for Arsenal especially when that player has such an obvious flaw that being no turn of pace.
Emirates I’m not suggesting that Sven nominated Emery to the shortlist but he was supposed to be part of the 3 man interview team that made the decision. Why is it that Sven and Gazidis get a free pass? If Sven was against the appointment or thought it was a terrible idea why hasn’t he said so – he’s been pretty vocal about Arsenal? My point in all of this is that Pedro and some on here have an agenda against Sanllehi that they reinforce with misinformation and lies. If he’s that bad at what he does you shouldn’t need… Read more »