Arsenal could make horror decision + Summer of unrest ahead

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Arsenal vs Bayern

Well good morning my darlings, huge thanks to Mike for his list of potential Arsenal managers yesterday, some interesting insights there. Furious his number 1 did not align with mine, but rest assured, we’ll be talking about his dissent at a later date.

I thought the sexiest name on his list that I haven’t really paid attention to was Marcelo Gallardo. The Argentine has won it all with River Plate, he’s now their most successful manager of all time at the ripe old age of 43 years old. He’s interesting because his first gig was with Nacional. He retired from playing, took over the controls, won a league title in Uraguay at the first attempt.

What a boss.

‘But shouldn’t he have gone to Stoke first’

No. If you have it, you have it. Simple as that.

Arsenal appears to be working through names at a rate of knots if the press reports are to be believed.

Some jokers bursting into consideration with the same un-welcomeness of your mother opening your bedroom door in the era of copper dial-up internet.

‘NO MUM I CLICKED IT BY ACCIDENT I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT A BDSM IS’

The absolute worst name I’ve read is Roberto Martinez, his arrival on my Newsnow refresh was like opening a video in a Whatsapp group from a plasterer. I feel sick. I think I need counselling. If I was in the brainstorm for potential names and someone raised his name, they’d be removed from site and fired. What an absolute dumpster fire of a manager. Even when he was doing bits for Wigan back in the day, he would basically play his way all season, tank hard, then pull off great final ten games. He’s been relegated with Wigan, he absolutely bombed the Everton job, and he’s now an international manager where he belongs.

I would be DISGUSTED if we signed him. He’d be a shit hire if you were an Aston Villa fan. It’s giving up on the world. It’s the life equivalent of accepting stretchy jeans. Letting your girlfriend cut your hair in the bath. It’s limited edition Krocs. It’s calling your wife the ‘other half.’ It’s three quarter length khaki coloured trousers with a chain attached for your keys.

It is an absolute DISGRACE that I have to waste any amount of time even talking about this. Straight up one of the most offensive things I’ve heard mentioned in conjunction with the club. I will literally walk onto the pitch and set myself on fire if this happens.

Do NOT say that would be cool, because I know you secretly like me.

We’ve also been linked with Portuguese nobody, Vitor Perriera. Poaching a manager from Shanghai SIPG doesn’t give me any sort of sexy heat. He’s 51 years old, so uninteresting Porto made him assistant to AVB when he was a man child at 32, he’s been to all the backwaters of world football and the absolute deal sealer… His agent is Kia.

Fuck anyone that Kia is suggesting. We don’t want to be hiring in deadbeats that are the gateway to Arsenal being a fee cow for greedy people with no interest in the club. That’s not Arsenal.

Big Poch did an interview with some foreign news station, he spoke in Spanish, but basically didn’t aggressively rule out moving to Arsenal. He is a GREAT coach, one of the best in the world, we’d be mad not to talk to him, but I just have my doubts we’re going to be able to give him the sort of salary he’ll deserve, or that we’re in a good state to pay whatever his break clause is.

Arsenal’s end of year results dropped and they were predictably bad. We’re -£23m when it comes to profit. All the performance indicators you’d look to for a healthy club are heading south, even matchday receipts.

Our wage bill is £230m. Quite unbelievable. If we don’t make Champions League this year, we’re in deep shit.

However, I wouldn’t be too concerned. There are rumours that Auba is going to take a move to Real Madrid this summer, possibly sending Jovic and Ceballos our way. A few big names will be in the final year of their deals this summer (age they’ll be by July 1st next year is in brackets).

  • Sokratis £90k (32)
  • Luiz £200k (33)
  • Ozil £350k (31)
  • Mustafi £90k (28)
  • Auba £200k (31)

That’s nearly a £1m a week off the wage bill, which reduces our outlay to a more manageable number. I think when older players get to their last year, it’s best to just find a club. One mega injury and you have zero security. The fact they’re in the last year of their deal makes them more appealing to other clubs because of the lower fee.

Then you have to look at the names on the list for the year after, Matteo and Cal C are on that list, but I suspect we might keep them… however, Kola and Lacazette aren’t getting new deals, and they might be shipped out.

We could potentially bring in £120m this summer and rebuild the squad under a new coach. I am just praying Edu is good with the transfers, we still have no chief scout, Raul made a has of last summer, and we’ll be down a lot of experience. We need more Matteo Guendouzi’s and Gabriel Martinelli’s versus the David Luiz types.

A lot of the press in the last day lean towards the new manager being Arteta. I don’t need to keep going over this with you, you know where I stand, but I think given the circumstances, who is available, and the mess we’re in… it couldn’t be better suited to someone like him. He’s a coach, first and foremost, he’s been very influential at City, he’ll be cheap and he knows The Arsenal.

I could not be any more hyped about the possibility, but how can anyone get excited when the taste levels are so low, Robert fucking Martinez is getting a call.

I really, really, really, hope we make a good decision here. No chancers. No hacks. No super-agent reccos. Just a coach that can give us the future football we deserve.

Let’s see where it goes. They can’t wait until the end of the season on this one, we need to maximise the next 6 months so we know what is what come transfer time.

Chop, chop.

See you in the comments. x

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Paulinho

Marc – I agree, but there also a massive problem with our wanton disregard for retaining possession when we do get it. Every team struggles when they can’t sustain pressure and lose it the way Pepe, Auba, Laca, and Ozil do with such regularity.

Look at how open City are when they drop their levels just a bit going forward. Sliced open time and time again.

TR7

Edu is pushing for Patrick Vieira to be Arsenal’s next head coach. [@TimesSport]

Paulinho

Marc – Quite a lot when we signed him and that has slowly dwindled over time.

Your point?

Un na naai

Graham

I don’t think we will win

China1

Rambo you’re all over the place. you’ve just agreed with what I said – I said wenger should’ve bought a quality DM ages back so that Ramsey could do what he does best without consequence. Then we wouldn’t have to have a conversation about Ramsey’s shortcomings, because they wouldn’t have been so exposed But we didn’t do that and Ramsey didn’t want to tweak his game to protect his DM partner more, which is why he attracted this reputation as ill disciplined amongst sections of the fan base And anyway, he ran his contract into the late stages and wanted… Read more »

Rambo Ramsey

Must be humiliating for Pep.

After blowing half a billion on an already very good City squad and still be outshined by Klopp’s work in England.

Ha Ha

Marko

Klopp’s Liverpool are blowing away a lot of myths and I’ll have to love him for that.

He’s not though. He’s literally got a balanced midfield. The archetype DM and two box to box midfielders. He even tried to bring in a CAM in Fekir.

Majesticgooner

Our players are just lazy , watching the runs forwards of other teams make, the vardys,pukkis,make, can we say any of our forwards apart from martinelli make those runs? As for our midfield do we have any runners? We need a complete overhaul or this relegation fight will get messy.

Spanishdave

Hope it’s not Vieira although may fight better but not with flair.
Edu knows him well but that’s not enough.

China1

Rambo we agree on pep/Klopp at least

Paulinho

Marko – When you have a coward in Ozil who vacates central areas and moves wide when the going gets tough, then having a central runner behind him brings balance.

Ozil naturally moves wide, and Ramsey fills the vacated space. If you play Ozil and he drifts wide, and if you have two sitters incapable of joining the player higher up, you get a massive void between midfield and attack.

Receding Hairline

Patrick Viera huh

Jobs for the boys cos personally I don’t think he has earned it. His Nice side aren’t that great nor were his side in the MLS.

TR7

Looks like the so called ‘modern set up’ of ours is very lazy and unimaginative. Everyone is pushing for his own buddy, little to no due diligence. I hope we land a good manager by sheer luck, it’s not going to happen by design.

China1

Klopp has done a lot really well but the thing we can learn most from is their ability to build an elite team without a sugar daddy

Some extremely clever buys and they sold coutinho which raised a lot of eye brows but it has worked so well

We need this level of smarts in our transfer and finance management if we want to go to the next level

Paulinho

They should just bring back the entire invincible squad and announce them as the coaching staff.

Un na naai

Should have signed up Jose
He was the perfect man for this job.

Rambo Ramsey

“They should just bring back the entire invincible squad and announce them as the coaching staff.”

Better, they should get them to agree come out of retirement.

No doubt they would put in better performances than the oafs we have currently wearing the shirt.

Marko

Paulinho you’re making a great case for not picking Ozil but still not for a disciplined DM at Arsenal. We’ve tried it your way before I seem to remember Fabregas playing with Song and whoever a lot. Sure we scored goals but we still lacked defensive stability. One of the best most accomplished midfielders of the last 20 years was Claude Makelele. Part of some of the most successful teams as a DM. A DM as in he sat and protected and let others worry about runs into the box. That’s what we need

Danny S

Don

I fully agree. Even his 2 yearly melt down would have left us in a 1000% better position than we are now.

azed

“That’s a lot of words ultimately pointing towards the balance at a team level that I talked about.”

RR

If you took out one of Liverpool’s starting midfielders and replaced them with either Ozil or Xhaka, do you think there would be a difference?

Un na naai

Danny S

These players need a fucking melt down. No accountability in this team. Jose would put them right that’s for sure.

Marko

Everyone is pushing for his own buddy, little to no due diligence.

Aren’t they doing due diligence. You’re jumping the gun a bit as per. So far I’ve seen Ancellotti, Arteta, Vieira, Marcelino, Rodgers, Allegri, Poch and Vitor Pereira as favourites for the job. Media don’t know won’t know until it’s nearly ready to be announced

TR7

Yes, Pep’s City has notched up the two highest points total in a PL season.

Rambo Ramsey

Pedro,

The really successfully, talking cream of the cream judge themselves with their closest competitors.

Do you really think Pep won’t feel like shit when he sees Klopp take Liverpool from the ashes to win the PL and the CL?

Guns of Hackney

Are we back on the Fraudiola tip?

Tell you what, I’d take Pep the money fraud in a heartbeat.

In fact, I reckon Pep is primed for an end of season leave. It’s a cycle and I think he could be nearing his end.

BTW Leicester are playing brilliant football.

Un na naai

Aren’t they doing due diligence

Well they hired emery wrongly in the first place
Kept him in the summer, wrongly.
Kept him on through the international break- wrongly
Sacked him without a plan in ace and are only now interviewing candidates.

If that’s due diligence then I’d hate to see what they are like when they slack.

Paulinho

“Paulinho you’re making a great case for not picking Ozil but still not for a disciplined DM at Arsenal”

Well, Ozil is impotent without runners from deep areas, but does at least have the vision to pick them out and the mindset of teeing up others so it actually works with a player like Ramsey. So there is a natural balance in mental terms and game styles.

Ozil assisted Ramsey a lot either side of Sanchez’z arrival and departure.

Un na naai

BTW Leicester are playing brilliant football.

I said years ago that Rodgers was the best man for arsenal when wenger goes. I still say it now.

Guns of Hackney

Leicester play the right players in the right position. Weirdly, it works.

Guns of Hackney

Un

Settle down mate. BR is okay, perhaps better than some but something about him freaks me out.

His nose to face ratio is odd.

Un na naai

Paulinho
We’ve got a strike force worth £200m
If he can’t find assists with those three then I’d say he’s mailing it. Which he is

Un na naai

Guns

Yeah and his gnashers but he knows how to get his sides playing some seriously great football. I’m not expecting titles, we won’t win one until kroenke leaves anyway but he’d be the man to take us back into the champions league playing the football we were synonymous with before emery fucked the entire team up

Marc

Pedro

We’re currently closer to City’s points tally than City are to Liverpool. Liverpool are doing very well but City have really dropped off this season.

Paulinho

Don – That’s always been the myth with Ozil.

“just play him behind quick striker”.

He’s not a Bergkamp, who aggressively stayed high and central and was always primed to feed Anelka/Henry.

Ozil is a dreamer, he likes to use the number nines runs as a decoy and bide his time for the late runner. He even prefers playing off the likes of Giroud and running in behind the full back for the pull back or cross.

Marko

Well, Ozil is impotent without runners from deep areas, but does at least have the vision to pick them out and the mindset of teeing up others so it actually works with a player like Ramsey. I feel like you’re having a completely different argument to what I’m having. We need to sign a DM!!! We can no longer have the likes of Xhaka or Guendouzi or Torreira protecting our back 4!!! Also everything you just wrote is a big lol when you consider that our midfield isn’t all of a sudden shite it’s been shite for a number of… Read more »

Rambo Ramsey

Nobody will talk about Pep buying another couple titles for Petro City.

Klopp ending Liverpool’s 25 year title wait the season and taking Liverpool back to the top of European footballing echelon trumps it.

I just pray he doesn’t snatch the Invincibles glory off us.

Guns of Hackney

Un

Yep. Again though…BR didn’t exactly throw his hat into the ring for the Arsenal job.

Either he really likes Leicester which is fair enough. Duff town full of the ugliest people outside of Manchester, but, decent football team.

Or, we are so toxic…BR picked Leicester over our cesspool of shit and missed out on millions.

We’re bad.

Vardy nailing it.

Un na naai

Paulinho

I do think he likes playing off other ballers
When he had cazorla, Giroud, Ramsey and Sanchez to bounce off he hit 19 assists in 3 months.
That said I’m just not keen on players who need so many variables to perform any more. We have too many. Xakha, Luiz, Aubameyang, Ozil

They all need too much tailored to their game to work effectively. It’s too much in one team

Guns of Hackney

How much was vardy? £300,000?

Makes our £200m front three look like unts.

Danny S

If Liverpool won the league this season, I would definitely look at klopps tenure in the PL as more successful that peps so far.

And klopp has done it on half the budget probably.

Liverpool’s current model is the benchmark for any league.

Guns of Hackney

I don’t think Liverpool will win the league.

The pressure will crack them.

Rambo Ramsey

Sure Pedro, I guess you could say Pep is a victim of his own success.

He wins a title and most of the time its like – “Right and what else is new”

Marc

Ramsey

It’ll be 30 years since Liverpool won the title if they don’t win it this season.

Paulinho

Marko – What’s big LOL is you forgetting how much praise you gave Ramsey on here at the end of last season when you saw the impact his injury had on the team.

I’m not surprised you’ve completely forgotten that though and are back to being oblivious and making out he wasn’t a big deal because you were doing that at the start of last season, bigging up Iwobi over him.

Yes we have had issues for years in midfield, but I would say matters are a tad worse. And by a tad I mean massively.

Wasi

How good is Niko Kovac?

Ishola70

All this sitting behind the ball stuff. We saw what happens with that against Leicester away last season. It brought negativity to the performance straight away and saw Leicester dominating and Arsenal were lucky to get out of there with just a 2-0 defeat and yes that was with Xhaka and Torreira sitting deep. The whole team deep. You have got to try to press the game and put pressure on the opponents and that in turn came become a defensive aspect for you. The team atm are not backing each other up. The players are not backing each other… Read more »

Wasi

GoH
This Liverpool squad isnt the one that botched it last time. Theres quality in literally every position + Very good cover unlike last time

Paulinho

“I feel like you’re having a completely different argument to what I’m having”

It’s still about balance.

You need the right balance to impose our game on the opposition, without being too reckless. It would be different if you had Ramsey in midfield and Walcott, because then both would too advanced. Ozil is poor defensively but when Ramsey goes forward he at least fills a space in deeper positions.

Guns of Hackney

Wasi

Agree but…30 years is a huge stone around the neck.

I have a gut feeling Liverpool might start choking.

Champagne charlie

Fan base is absolutely starved of seeing excellent management, let alone elite cultivating of a side. It’s actually sad.

Arsenal fans reduced to dick swinging their verdict about players current and old, with some of the right special types gunning for a single player like he’s piped their mum.

Ishola70

A DM doesn’t have to keep doing his job in front of his own penalty area.

He should be looking to do his job more advanced as well.

Both.

Nelson

Freddie:”I felt I want to play the experienced players when it’s such a difficult situation”.

Still, he needs a better system. Playing Auba and Ozil as wingers will not work. Our CB’s are too weak. I suggest we get back to three at the back and play defense and fast counter. We’ll go with 5 3 2 with Auba and Pepe as the attacker. I’ll play Torr, Guen as DM and Martinelli just in front of them for pressing or box to box. At the back, I’ll play Bellerin, Chambers, Luiz, Holding and Tierney.

Un na naai

Guns

Why would he leave? He’s doing really well there and we are a shit fest. I wouldn’t want to get involve with cunts running the club or the cunt senior players we have either.

Ishola70

Newcastle leap frog Arsenal now

Un na naai

Charlie

I get what you’re saying and many of our issues could be solved immediately by hiring a proper coach but the senior players have terrible attitudes. They are meant to be leading by example and they are shitting on each other and the coaching staff
That shit that has come out today about them slagging off Freddie
Who the fuck do they think they are? Fuck all discipline being applied at arsenal
Even at Wenger’s lowest we never had this and the great man wasn’t renowned for cracking tough nuts was he?

Un na naai

Guns of HackneyDecember 8, 2019 15:36:24
How much was vardy? £300,000?

Guns
He doesn’t stop working. He’s got a great attitude and works for his team mates.
If Aubameyang has half of his work ethic I’d be chuffed.

Danny S

Don

They used to all sit on their mobiles during training when Wenger was here you gimp. Haha
Wenger was the one that instigated this rot. He brought all the weak minded players we currently have, and all the ones we got rid of in the last 18 months since he left.
Don’t kid yourself that it would be any different with him still here.

Receding Hairline

Newcastle and Sheffield dispatching Southampton and Norwich with ease. Both this teams looked like Man City against us.

Charles players performing poorly will always be a thing, regardless of coaching. Individual quality and application matters as much as coaching. Football is a game of talent and most of our players are not showing much talent, stop pining everything on coaching.

Ishola70

Vardy was actually told by Rodgers to tone down his work rate from previous. It was thought it was having an adverse affect on his goal scoring. Looks to be proved correct Rodgers.

Un na naai

I haven’t said I’m going to build the team against specific players but I felt I want to play the experienced players when it’s such a difficult situation like it is at the moment. I made a conscious choice to put down the older players to take the responsibility and change the games.

This is a quote from Freddy
This is why they want him out
He is trying to make them responsible for their own performance.

Boooooo

Paulinho

“Individual quality and application matters as much as coaching”

Yep. I think Steve Bruce has acquired more points at the same stage of the season as the great Rafa Benitez did last season, yet Benitez was supposedly working miracles at Newcastle.

DaleDaGooner

Jamie Vardy making Aubameyang look like a school boy striker

Un na naai

Danny SDecember 8, 2019 16:00:28 Don They used to all sit on their mobiles during training when Wenger was here you gimp. Haha Wenger was the one that instigated this rot. He brought all the weak minded players we currently have, and all the ones we got rid of in the last 18 months since he left. Don’t kid yourself that it would be any different with him still here. Eleventynine onethousandtymillion Yeah brain box, even if that is true they never downed tools under him and they never liked any Wenger out messages on twitter and they certainly never… Read more »

DaleDaGooner

We have nothing resembling a defensive midfielder in all the players we have for midfield, that’s the key. I’d much rather start trying Luiz or Chambers sitting in front of the CB rather than persist with Xhaka, Guendouzi or Torreira

Danny S

The thing we are most missing and have since pers last proper season is a defensive marshal.
Papa and bellerin would be useful weapons if they had someone there covering and directing them.
We should have got Cahill rather than luiz

We need a cool head at the back. Someone to tell the others where and when to go.

City lost that when kompany went and now look at them and Laporte got injured. . Not nearly as solid.

Un na naai

DaleDaGoonerDecember 8, 2019 16:05:05
Jamie Vardy making Aubameyang look like a school boy striker

Dale knows his stuff
Always on the money

Sid

The problem is xhakalson, if he is the deepest midfield we get caught on the break once the 2nd midfieldr makes runs, if we have another midfielder playing the deepest xhakalson cant make runs, cant play in tight spaces
We have to have 2 midfielders deep or play 3 cbs due to xhakalson

CG

G of H

“””Leicester play the right players in the right position. Weirdly, it works.”””

That’s it.

That’s all you have to do.
Motivate the troops, tell them they are wonderful, tell them their Wags are gorgeous and intelligent.

Recite the same old silly jokes, bring a whoopee cushion along…. that type of thing.

And a chairman that turns up every game helps too.

Keep it’s simple it’s only football/soccer.

Receding Hairline

Paulinho I have been avoiding pointing out the job Bruce is doing at Newcastle. They play with more freedom and score more goals. Benitez always had them playing so cautiously it was ridiculous.

Benitez plead player poverty at Inter Milan, did the same at Napoli, was hounded out of Madrid because they couldn’t stand his football. I understand why some keep mentioning his name as a viable option but he is in China for a reason.

Danny S

Don

No they didn’t do those things because he always protected them. Stroked their heads as they drifted to sleep and told them they were special.
He was a feeder and they were fat little piggies in his spell. If they got upset, he doubled their wages just as long as they kept quiet and played ze futebol.

He was a cancer and had to be removed in the end but unfortunately we didn’t get it all.

TR7

Chris Wilder doing a superb job at Sheffield United. A unique style of play and a great away record. Many promising managers in the league this season.

CG

Ishola

“”””Vardy was actually told by Rodgers to tone down his work rate from previous. It was thought it was having an adverse affect on his goal scoring. Looks to be proved correct Rodgers.””””

Music to My Ears
Common Sense does Prevail at least in Leicestershire.

HillWood

When you watch other matches and then watch our shower of shit it’s hardly a surprise we are where we are
Arsenal look like they have no idea how to win a football match

Bergkamp63

Just looked again at the fixture list and wouldn’t put a penny on us being 17th or 18th at the end of January.

Ishola70

From the CF position CG.

That doesn’t mean the rest of the team idle as you like to put out.

He still has good work rate anyway. It was just thought he was overdoing it and trying too hard away from the opposition penalty area.

A CF issue. Not related to the rest of the team.

Graham62

As it stands, Jamie Vardy is the most dangerous striker in world football.

Just an opinion.

Sid

Luiz cannot play DM in a team whose possesion is around 50% or less. Would be a cuckfest
Im telling you this for free!

Un na naai

Danny SDecember 8, 2019 16:16:25 DonNo they didn’t do those things because he always protected them. Stroked their heads as they drifted to sleep and told them they were special. He was a feeder and they were fat little piggies in his spell. If they got upset, he doubled their wages just as long as they kept quiet and played ze futebol. Whatever dopey the point is that they didn’t do it and he got results. Now we’ve let him go and the team is fucked in every single department after extensive squad surgery. Leno Lichtensteiner Sok Luiz Tierney AMN… Read more »

DaleDaGooner

He was a cancer and had to be removed in the end but unfortunately we didn’t get it all.

Why do some of you use “cancer” to describe anything? Do you know how that word affects people who are dealing with or have dealt with the actual thing. So insensitive and just throwing that word around. Especially as it relates. Really dumb

Ishola70

Sid
“Luiz cannot play DM in a team whose possesion is around 50% or less. Would be a cuckfest
Im telling you this for free!”

Correct.

For once I will take you up on your free offers.

Batistuta

Dale

Just out of curiosity, how does what Vardy is doing relate to what Auba is doing ? Or are we just comparing every and anybody to our players now?

Champagne charlie

Un
Im not claiming either or, I’m simply pointing out the major missing element from the club for a number of years now. So much so it’s elevating usual non-starter arguments as folk try and unpick every thread going. I mean our captains armband commanded two for over a fortnight in the season, embarrassing.

Paulinho

TR7 – I mentioned him last week. My first choice.

CG

Ish

Real Madrid once again top of la Liga and 10 times European Champions dont do Shuttle Runs for Gimmicks.( press)

They play the beautiful game.

They keep the ball.And you dont need a Harley Street physician to tell you – if you keep it – you have not got to run after it as much..

How about – we try and copy them as opposed to copying Real Mallorca or Betis?

DaleDaGooner

Batistuta, I don’t get your question, how do 2 cf relate in what they’re asked to do or need to do?

For one, work rate is miles apart…..

Receding Hairline

Worst part about tomorrow is west ham are also in deep trouble, they will come out fighting. Our players hate fighting teams

Guns of SF

Leicester is the only hope we have of keeping the invincibles in tact

Guns of SF

We will lose tomorrow

Danny S

Don

Seems there are eleventy million and one sakas. A player so nice you named him twice?

The problem isn’t the list of ‘new’ players you list there. It’s the shit left behind.

Ozil, xhaka, mustafi, bellerin, chambers, kolasinac, etc.

Martinelli, Leno, guend and Tierney are the few bright lights in this team.

Batistuta

Really no excuse as to why Xhaka and co are still Arsenal players 2 years after Wenger left though… I mean he had his flaws but the man is gone now and the new regime who were meant to get us to be more competitive have looked even more incompetent than Ivan and Wenger… Absolutely no reason why Emery wasn’t sacked over the last international break Absolutely no reason why we then proceeded to sack him without already having someone in place, it just smacks of amateur hour with Raul and co. Said over the summer that our transfer activity… Read more »

Bob N16

I am still waiting for a coach to say to Torreira ‘just sit in front of the back four and don’t worry about going further forward than 10 yards into the opposition half’. ‘Guendozi, don’t come and receive a five yard pass from a CB, make yourself available ahead of Torreira’. Not sure who compliments these two best. I guess when Ceballos is fit he is probably the best option.

Ishola70

CG

The midfield of Modric and Kroos had a lot to do with Real Madrid’s recent past success in europe. They used to suffocate the opposition midfield. They were good on and off the ball.

We are in 2019 not 1950s/1960s and your Wenger rhetoric of just you have the ball we have the ball doesn’t wash I’m afraid.

If Real Madrid did get by like that in the distant past it was because they had quality all around the team that they would have had to spend plenty on.

Freddie Ljungberg

Don Hardly an awe inspiring list of players is it? We’ve had to replace a lot of dross and cut a lot of fat off the wage bill and haven’t had the funds to replace with ready made players in their prime. There’s 7 teenagers in there, 2 over the hill stop gap CBs and 2 loan signings because we ran out of cash. This was never going to be a 1-2 year rebuild. Not saying it couldn’t have been handled better and Emerys chopping and changing didn’t help but make no mistake our squad is largely made up of… Read more »

Batistuta

Dale

Auba is a striker who’s had to play as a winger in half our games and even with our shitfest of a club, he still has 10 league goals… Vardys form or work rate while admirable doesn’t have anything to do with Auba or Arsenal…

If memory serves me correct, wasn’t half of Le grove up in arms when Wenger wanted to buy Vardy? Something about him not being polished enough for a club like Arsenal

Batistuta

Bob

Afraid the Torreira ship seemed to have sailed, he just looks lost and out of place in the league

Paulinho

“Guendozi, don’t come and receive a five yard pass from a CB, make yourself available ahead of Torreira’.”

Problem with that is by asking Guendouzi to do that you’re asking him to receive it under intense pressure because he’s entering the zone when the press gets triggered.

Bob N16

Disagree Batí, other than Leno and Martinelli, nobody is laying close to their potential. I agree that Torreira looks average at best further up the players tech but am convinced he could do a job for us as a screening DM.

CG

Ish

“””We are in 2019 not 1950s/1960s and your Wenger rhetoric of just you have the ball we have the ball doesn’t wash I’m afraid.”””

I think, you will find with the fixture list ever more saturated and the workload players will have in the future- conserving energy and keeping the ball will become ever more important.

I am afraid- and you are clearly delightfully enthusiastic been hoodwinked with all these new terms.

But you are not the only worry- so dont worry.