How computer games have impacted the next generation of players

by .

I don’t want to toot my own horn over here, but I basically learned to mix sound like Jimmy Lovine yesterday.

Yes, I apologise, I made a hash of the volume in the podcast yesterday… but I have just learned how to fix it and combat white noise at the same time.

Go on, listen to the podcast right now and sue me for blowing your ears off because it’s so damn loud and pristine.

It’s nice to learn, but maybe not nice to have to listen to a podcast for the second time in a row… but please, do your job today and listen to it for a second time.

One of the sections of the podcast we talk about modern managers and why some of the older legends of the game are struggling to cut it in 2020. There was a great piece in The Times at the weekend that basically eviscerated the idea that young players care about the history of the club they are at, citing OGS constantly harking back to the 90s to spark something in his United players. It said he takes them to weekly quizzes… it’s so pathetically disconnected, it makes me a little sad.

‘Come on boys, I’ve got a terrific quiz for you today’

‘Don’t tut Pogba, I brought some of that rap music you like.

‘Jessie’

*OGS performs BIG dab*

‘I’ll see you at 5, bring the Wotsits’

The long and short is basically what I’ve been saying on here for a long time. The idea that a reputation for winning trophies in the past as marker for future success is fatally flawed. Players aren’t interested in reputation these days, that’s for fans and journos that think a bollocking fixes terminal decline in football teams.

The currency of modern football is ideas and vision. These young players coming through now want to know how to improve on the pitch and in the mind. You have to engage them with far softer kid gloves than you did in the past, and you have to be able to speak modern football.

The cultural reference is modern technology and what it has allowed these players to experience from their bedrooms.

Growing up was FIFA and Championship manager for me. It wasn’t to the level of complexity it is now, but I distinctly remember wasting disgusting amounts of my time waiting for the PC to load a season of Champ Man. I knew every player in the world, I knew the formations, I knew how transfer windows worked, I knew ballpark wages, I knew dates of birth by memory, I knew every player that was worth knowing in Europe because Champ Man has a legit scouting network. I was hooked, like a Champ Man smackhead. It literally fucked my education.

The thing that was missing through my era of gamification was the ability to watch the players. I knew Saviola, Bobby Pires, Henry and Bakircioglu (if you know, you know) were going to be big, but I had to wait for a World Cup to see them. Or be around for live tune-in on TransWorld Sport.

Fast forward to now, the kids can play FIFA and Champ Man, and actually watch the players they’re scouting in the games. These footballers are growing up experiencing tactical systems in games. They’re keeping abreast of the best footballers in the world because anyone they like has a highlights comp some nerd 14-year-old has made for them. Players have never been so educated.

The same is true of the kid fans. The obsessives can watch 2nd Division Brazilian football with 3 clicks of a mouse if they so choose. The entire world of football is available on Youtube.

So when Jose Mourinho comes into training and asks these players to play a cynical version of the game because he knows what’s going on, they don’t believe him. They don’t want to shithouse like they used to. They want to get better as players and Jose can’t offer that in 2020. The only way he can deliver a Premier League winning side is to buy it, but no one wants to invest in his methodology because it’s horrible.

Now, Arteta might turn out to be a duffer. But he’s getting more out of the Arsenal players than Carlo or Jose would have had out of them. He’s bringing them another level we straight up didn’t know existed. He knows each individual as a person, he knows their strengths and weaknesses, and he knows how to make them better in the context of the modern game. That’s what players buy into in 2020. Nerds.

The casual mocking of ‘this isn’t <insert game>” in 2020 starts to look increasingly ridiculous. Those games are driving up the knowledge of the players, sparking different sorts of conversations on the training ground, and requiring a different type of coach to manage the lust for improvement.

It’s very exciting and it makes me very happy to know we have a manager that probably dabbled in FIFA and Champ Man… because, you know, it basically means I could be a manager, right?

Ok, maybe not, but it’s interesting to see how gaming culture is impacting football in 2020.

Check out Drew. No fucking around. Cease and desist letter in the post from Adidas. Elite wedding attire stealthiness regardless!


Right, listen to the fucking podcast, leave me a 5* review praising the volume and get to work, there are bills to pay.

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WinOrDie

Tr4phy

WinOrDie

Tr4phy 2

Romford Pele

Morning lads, how are we this morning?

WinOrDie

Tr4phy 4

Romford Pele

4th?

Guns of Brixton

Football Manager was the one for prospective managers. 🤩

I remember finding Julian Draxler as a talent there back in 2011/12.

Im sure as rain scouts use FM to find players

Romford Pele

Not much Arsenal news now we have a week in between games.

Barca finally sacked Valverde – at least two seasons late. Setien is a good coach and plays good football although his teams have often been naive defensively.

Sid

You heard it here 1st!

Jim Lahey

@RP –

“Not much Arsenal news now we have a week in between games.!”

We could finally have our very own eccentric billionaire to throw money at the club! But somehow I doubt it!

CG

Fascinating Read, many thanks, PedRo. “””Now, Arteta might turn out to be a duffer. But he’s getting more out of the Arsenal players than Carlo or Jose would have had out of them.””””” He probably is ( but its too early to say for sure ) But Arteta ain’t getting more out of his players than the exceptional Nigel Pearson. And Pearson is as Old School as they come. Or Steve Bruce to think of it- if we look at the table and the players he has at his disposal. Quite Simply There will always be a place for young… Read more »

Romford Pele

Jim – you talking about Dangote? By all accounts he’s said that he’s always wanted to buy Arsenal but wouldn’t do it before 2020 so he could complete other investments as part of his portfolio. Let’s hope he can force the Kroenke’s out when the time comes!

Jim Lahey

@RP –

As long as its just the money and he doesn’t try run the club I am all for it!

Romford Pele

Jim – very true! That said, i’m not overly enamored with those in charge at the moment either!

Romford Pele

Ornstein saying he thinks the club will be very active in the summer but doesn’t think we’re likely to do much this window. Maybe a loan signing or two.

Bergkamp63

Anything in the John Stones rumour ?

Vintage Gun

Aaahhh good olde Champ Manager…

I remember stumbling across a teenage Kompany and snapping him up for under £1m!

The 1st time i won a cup (FA) i screamed so wildly that my mom banned me off the PC for a week.

Romford Pele

Bergkamp63 – it was in The Sun so not sure how much validity to give it. Plus City only have Laporte (been injured for months), Stones, Otamendi and Garcia as CBs. So with three fit CBs, with one being very inexperienced, don’t see how they sanction it.

James wood

Interesting post as ever but for us old fuckers
it was Subbuteo.😂

HighburyLegend

“How computer games have impacted the next generation of players”

And mostly, how Fortnite fucked them up.
Just ask Pierre and his pal Mesut what they think of it.

HighburyLegend

@CG : who’s your real idol, Pedro or Arteta ?? You can’t choose both!!

China1

Lol I caned the shit out of PES as a kid. Then after thousands upon thousands of hours of experience I started setting myself new rules. No famous players, no players under 30, no good players, Scottish players only LOL I will always remember the absolute ecstasy of lobbing the Barca keeper from the edge of the box with a 36 year old ‘McKinley’ in a 3-0 win in the cup final. Average age on the pitch was 34 and I’d had to supplement my team of shit old Scottish players by playing a 36 year old second choice keeper… Read more »

Romford Pele

Funnily enough, i’ve been really impressed with how good we’ve defensively since Arteta has come in. I didn’t think we’d have a structure that would be in place so soon to limit the chances opposition would have on our goal. AMN padlocked Zaha at the weekend., It was very good. Where we need to improve actually imo is our phase of creating chances and adding disruptors going forward. At the moment all our attackers have their limits. We lack ball-carrying midfielders. We don’t have enough players who can disrupt and commit people through the centre. We used to have guys… Read more »

CG

High Leg

“”@CG : who’s your real idol, Pedro or Arteta ?? You can’t choose both!!””””

One can not be impressed with the work PedRo puts in.

All free.
And I love things that are free.

Must be impressed with my prediction that John Stones coming to Arsenal?

I predicted it- a month ago.

(My exclusives are free too.)

Cesc Appeal

It is going to be quiet a January then.

The only sort of fan pleasing move I could see is a potential move for Guimaraes if Benfica mean we feel we have to move now or lose him…if we are genuinely that interested.

Arteta wants Stones but as RP said given City’s CB situation not sure that happens, although Stones is said to feel out of favour with Guardiola.

Mustafi proving hard to shift on…again. The day he is finally pushed off…

Romford Pele

CA, it’s annoying isn’t it. We’re feeling the brunt of poor squad building with poor profiles for a while. And the fact our commercials have been poor in addition to no CL has seen our revenue drop massively.

Arteta is defo going to have to go all out for the EL. Along with Ajax, Inter and United, we’ll be the favourites. From a revenue perspective we have to be in Europe next season because at the moment we’re going to have to do a lot of selling before we can start buying.

HighburyLegend

“(My exclusives are free too.)”

Next lottery’s winning numbers, maybe ??

Sid

Arsenal will win the EL you heard it here 1st!

Pierre

RP(strangely enough, the initials of the original Romford Pele,Ray Parlour)

.” There’s only so much coaching can take us.”

Patience

Coaching his already fixing the defence.
Coaching is already fixing the balance of the midfield.
Coaching will fix our creativity.

Patience.

Pierre

Is

Romford Pele

Pierre – Ray Parlour one of my favourite ever players plus he’s from ny neck of the woods, hence the name! RE coaching, fixing all, I don’t agree. The balance of the midfield has been better but it has its limits. We need more dynamism. Xhaka can’t dribble away from pressure. The midfield is still quite static. We don’t have enough dribblers or runners off the ball so it can still be quite predictable. And as of now Ozil is the only creative player in the team and he’s on the decline. That’s not enough. Coaching will only take you… Read more »

Spanishdave

Back in the good days, Dennis, Robert and Tierney used to go back to the training ground in the afternoon and work on set plays.
Our overpaid ones go home to their iPads and car showrooms.
They will never become legends

Emiratesstroller

Deloittes have just published the revenues of the World’s leading football clubs and Arsenal’s ranking has nosedived. We are now ranked 11th in the list behind not only Man Utd and Man City but also Chelsea, Liverpool AND Spurs! Here are the reported revenues of those three clubs and ourselves. Liverpool £533 Million Spurs £459 Million Chelsea £452 Million Arsenal £392 Million This says everything about the catastrophic mismanagement of the club in recent years. The Kroenke family will need to make some urgent decisions about their financial commitment to club. If this continues I doubt that the club will… Read more »

Wasi

RP The defensive organisation since Arteta came in has really been good but tbh the groundwork had already started under Freddie. The main role played in our improved defensive structure has been of Torreira imo. Emery demanded Torreira to push forward a lot and make himself available in the box. This led to Xhaka defending vast spaces all alone and like Freddie said it was about physical sprints through which we were getting bombarded by shots in transition. Xhaka is a poor runner and couldnt stop the opponents counterattacks , being bypassed fairly easily. But now Torreira stays behind with… Read more »

James wood

Emirates 10.55
How would debt relate to those placing
I mean Man Un are approx £ 700 million in debt.
Spurs must be well cattled with the new stadium.?

Romford Pele

Wasi – i’m not sure how much I credit to freddie tbh. You’re right in that he put Torreira back in his natural position but the general shape the team now has in and out of possession is much better under Arteta. He’s given us that level of compactness that we haven’t had in years. It’s weird because we drew 1-1 with Palace because bar that goal they virtually created nothing. We didn’t either but we haven’t looked compact like this out of possession for a while. AMN was very good again. Physically and technically he’s good and being used… Read more »

Pierre

RP “RE coaching, fixing all, I don’t agree.” Neither do I but you have said how impressed you are with the defensive improvement. I dont suppose Arteta has even started on the offensive side of our game . I’ll be disappointed if there isn’t a massive improvement by the end of the season with these same players. Midfield wise ,at the moment he is doing what needs to be done , making us solid, disciplined and playing risk free football, but I expect that to change in the next few months. Arteta may change system , he may bring in… Read more »

Vladdy P

Lol @ Vintage Gun. Laughed quite hard at that one!

Romford Pele

Pierre – yeah it’s important to remember it’s only been 5 games and we can all acknowledge it’d be a process. I guess my initial assumption was that he’d work on the attack and scoring loads of goals first before fixing the defence. That’s the approach Klopp and Pep focused on first. I’m sure Arteta will start working on the offensive game. Aubameyang being suspended maybe gives us an option now to field a more balanced attack because while Laca, Auba, Ozil and pepe are good players, it’s not exactly balanced in it’s approach. Like I said, we need newer… Read more »

Cesc Appeal

RP In terms of selling we need a massive clear out anyway. So many players in this squad are simply not good enough or are too similar and are away from being an EPL player. The problem we have is selling them. Look at Mustafi, it’s almost sad now, just no one wants him. We’re loaning people around because our buying and wage decisions have been negligent in recent years. The club have spent money, but I have no belief that Arsenal can perform the necessary squad turnover necessary. They’ve never been good at proactivity and large volume work. Said… Read more »

That Dreamcast Kid

For me one of the perks is definitely the familiarity of footballing terms even for pre-school kids of various background and mother tongue. Easier to coach as they immediately get what we talk about.

It’s usually me with my nephews playing Pro Evo these days and we usually talk dabble more in the gameplan than the actual play haha. For some of them the greater emphasis on simulation definitely helps in how to play in real life mostly basic positioning, teamwork and passing skills & vision.

Romford Pele

CA, Agreed that we need a clearout with mass changes. Like you say, we have a lot of players that nobody wants, either because they’re useless or on high wages, or both. Since 2016 we’ve spent money a lot of money but it’s been on a lot of wastage, while wasting wages at the same time too. When you compound that with lack of CL and poor revenue, it doesn’t make for good reading. So spending more money at a time when you don”t have loads coming in is only gonna be an issue long-term. The term pro-active is key.… Read more »

Left testicle

RP
My Auntie and Uncle used to live in Collier Row, do you know it?

Romford Pele

LT, know the area well mate. Havering is quite a big borough, very conservative. I live in Upminster. Have always been an East London/Essex lad.

Biggles

Regarding the Deloitte list, we have actually increased revenue compared to the year before. In the 2019 list, we had revenues of €439m, this year we’re at €445m. Sadly though, in the 2018 list we were on €487m. The problem we have is that although we’ve increased revenues, other clubs are ramping them up way higher than us. The Spuds have gone up €170m in two years for instance and Liverpool even more so, going up €180m in the same two years, both blowing past us in the process. It’s almost like revenue is linked to success or something… Which… Read more »

That Dreamcast Kid

take it from me HighburyLegend

those shooter games are just training that spatial vision that Ozil always have so naught wrong with that

Emiratesstroller

James Wood Clearly both Man Utd and Spurs have larger debt piles than us. However, the issue is that Arsenal’s status in EPL is in decline. When we built Emirates Stadium we were told by the Board that the club would be able to compete with all the Major Clubs in World Football. Now we see that we are ranked fifth in EPL and our status is dropping like a tombstone. The so-called financial constraints imposed on the club by the owners has had an impact on both the calibre of our management and on the team as well. As… Read more »

S Asoa

There is no doubt that considering the stature of this Club, Kroenke has been a bad choice for Arsenal. But considering immediate damage Raul has been worse.

Biggles

The one thing I’m hoping for is that Mourinho does the business for us again by ruining Spurs now. He did a number on United from which they haven’t yet recovered and he actually made Chelsea a bit more averse to mass spending sprees.

Only problem is that even if we can make up the ground on mighty teams like uh… Sheffield United and Wolves and Crystal Palace, I don’t see Leicester having a big enough collapse for us to catch them.

Freddie Ljungberg

S.Asoa. How so? Getting one manager appointment wrong? That’s hardly unique, happens at every single club. Lowering the wage bill over the summer by 35-45m? That was about time. Buying 4 future starters in one summer, 2 of which could very well be outstanding players for us based on their potential (Saliba, Martinelli) and Tierney and Pepe could very well be the best we’ve had in those positions for years… again based on potential more than what has been shown so far for obvious reasons. Think you’ve been partaking a little too heavily of the Raul is the devil oatmilk… Read more »

Wasi

RP
Pepe is hugging the touchline but he is not as isolated as he was before. He always has Ozil to support him in the inside right area. He maybe more effective playing near to the goal but his dribbling ability wont be as effective there imo.
By playing wider he can drive with ball to the opposition defender before skinning him with speed. But he doesn’t do that often either which I think he should owing to his tremendous dribbling ability. Maybe when Tierney returns he can alternate with Amn/Bellerin as the inverted anf advanced Full backs.

Romford Pele

Wasi, you’re right he’s not as isolated as before but I still don’t think he’s getting into enough goalscoring positions. Neither Mane/Salah hug the touchline. They both start inside with overlaps from the FB. We should be limiting the amount of running/taking on he has to do imo. Here’s what the Lille owner Gerrard Lopez said about him: I think Pepe is a winger who is also a world-class finisher. This is a guy who played goalkeeper until he was 13. He understands them like few others — that’s why his finishes, even from long range, are rarely blasted and… Read more »

Romford Pele

Pedro – welcome to my neck of the woods, next time i’ll take you for a pint! It’s very middle class and peaceful but i like it. For those of us that work in central, the transport links are good too. You got the distrcit line or C2C train which gets you into Fenchurch St in 20 mins. Not bad considering it’s zone 6!

James wood

Emirates 11.45.
Just shows us all the calibre of the owners
they are quite willing to keep dragging us down
as long as they are grazing in the long grass.

I saw a huge demonstration by the Man U supporters
regarding the Glazers .
..?

Romford Pele

Manchester Evening News pretty much killing the link with Stones. As expected, City would rather add than lose a CB.

Romford Pele

Haha Pedro, yeah quite a few footballers and celebrities live round this way. I remember when Bale was at Spurs, he lived in Emerson Park – nice for some! Those houses round there are mad!

Freddie Ljungberg

Pedro Did that happen or was that just newspaper click bait? Don’t see Emery around or Nuno either for that matter so the immediate damage that S.Asoa thinks he has done is more in his imagination than anything else. Sure it can be argued that they waited too long to sack Emery, I have no problem with that. But it was reasonable to think things were going to be better after the summer with new signings, it wasn’t and he was let go after given a chance, not at the exact moment when it was clear he had lost it… Read more »

Nelson

It is obvious that Palace has studied our team against Manure. They started by putting more manpower to stop Ozil and Pepe. When we tried to attack with Luiz’s long ball, they sent players to block the passing lane. I understand why Arteta wants John Stone. PapaSok is not a ball playing CB. It is impossible to come up with a plan B if you don’t have the required players.

S Asoa

Freddie L.

“Think you’ve been partaking a little too heavily of the Raul is the devil oatmilk that Pedro has been serving…”

Am a bit pragmatic , but had a good laugh at the way you put it mate 😂

HighburyLegend

“Romford, I was in Upminster a few weeks ago!”

lol born to make a gorgeous couple.

WengerEagle

Wow, Valverde sacked at Barcelona. Not that it didn’t need doing, painfully limited coach but a weird time of the season to drop the guillotine.

Guess blowing yet another chance at silverware in the Supercup was the last straw after blowing the CL SF at Anfield and the Copa Final vs Valencia.

The guy that they brought in is a bit of a wild card. Betis gaffer who are an interesting but underwhelming outfit with the players that they have.

Freddie Ljungberg

S Asoa 🙂 Think you need to look a little further back to why we are in the mess we are now. Raul didn’t balloon the wage bill out of all proportion, he didn’t sign masses of trash players that no one wants to buy and all we can do is farm them out on loan. He’s the one who has to untangle the mess and since player contracts usually lasts longer than a year it was never going to be a quick fix. I’m not saying he’s the Messiah either, but from my perspective he’s off to a good… Read more »

Marc

“Anything in the John Stones rumour ?”

If you even have to ask that after reading it in a Newpaper then all hope is wasted on you.

Good grief.

WengerEagle

Inter Milan are a strange one, they have two of the most in-form CF’s in Italy in Lukaku and Martinez as well as Gabriel Barbosa still on the books and yet they are seemingly pursuing Olivier Giroud.

Anyone explain the logic behind that from either party’s POV? Giroud is hardly going to get more game-time there is he?

Looking to snag Ashley Young as well is pretty bizarre.

Marc

Emirates

I’d say that those figures are taken from the last set of accounts so for Arsenal they wouldn’t include the new Adidas deal so they’d be another £30 million. What really stands out is the difference between EL and CL income which is why it’s so critical to get back in ASAP.

Marc

WE

I’m sure I saw a rumour the other day that Barca was trying to sound out the Poch re the position. Now he’s gone on record saying he’d never manage Barca – it will be interesting if he stands by it.

WengerEagle

Yeah Lautaro looks very promising, his all-round game still needs work but there’s so much to work with there. Fast, powerful, ambidextrous, scores all types of goals with both feet and his head.

Lukaku is what he is in regards to his choppy technique and lack of guile, difference is that Conte knows how to play him to his strengths and he has many. He definitely lost his way at United too, understandable given Mourinho losing the dressing room and Ole being completely clueless as to how to best utilise him.

Romford Pele

Eagle, Setien is a great coach. Plays fantastic football but his teams are a bit naive defensively.

Valverde long overstayed his welcome. Absolutely trash coach.

Barca are in trouble the moment Messi retires. They need to maximise the little time he has left at the top.

Romford Pele

“Anyone explain the logic behind that from either party’s POV? Giroud is hardly going to get more game-time there is he?Looking to snag Ashley Young as well is pretty bizarre.”

Conte is a good coach but he has really weird taste in players. He’ll then dump them on the scrapheap then moan about not being backed. Very odd. Gotta remember he splashed £40m on Drinkwater for no reason whatsoever.

Danny

Emiratesstroller January 14, 2020 11:45:22 ——————— When we built Emirates Stadium we were told by the Board that the club…. ———————– The russian scum mf Abramovich wasn’t around when we started on the Emirates. He single handedly destroyed football as we know it. Without him, Wenger and Ferguson would’ve fought it out for years, no bloody Mourinho, therefore the Boards forecast could’ve been a reality. I don’t see Arsenal qualifying for Champions League ———————————— 2 seasons ago we made the semis of the Europa cup. Last season we were runners up. There’s no reason why Arteta shouldn’t win it this… Read more »

Graham62

ES

We have been mugged off ever since we left Highbury.

Those “so called financial constraints” are not the real reason for our fall from grace, it was our fans failure to show some balls when it really mattered.

Accepting the status quo is, imo, the real reason we find ourselves further down the pecking order, not the so called financial constraints you and so many others speak of.

Romford Pele

Honestly would be such a lift if we could sneak into the CL through the EL backdoor. Could really accelerate a lot in terms of squad dveelopment.

WengerEagle

Marc

If he stands by it and spurns the opportunity then he’s a fool. He’s not Barcelona born and bred, he managed Espanyol for only a couple of years. He shouldn’t be wedded to them like he is to Newell’s Old Boys.

The gigs don’t get any better than being in charge of Messi-led Barcelona.

Marc

Danny

We were also only a point off top 4 last season. Arteta has made all the right noises and seems to have the players on side but he does need to start adding results to the mix. We need a decent run in to the season for several reasons, it shows Arteta is going somewhere when we’re trying to sign new players and it gets some much needed confidence into the squad for next season when Arteta will be under huge pressure to achieve top 4 minimum.

Romford Pele

I’m not convinced Poch is as wedded to Espanyol and Spurs as he makes out. Spoke to a lot of people who reckoned the Arsenal job would’ve interested him. By that token it wouldn’t surprise me if he did go to Barca in the future,

Dissenter

Wenger Eagle
I suspect Poch is waiting for the PSG job in the summer and he will probably get offered that job.
You’re really flogging guy for being true to his word. He must have felt a special connect to Espanyol, you don’t have to be native born to feel a special connection.
….and by the way, the next Barca manager will be handling a difficult transition when Messi starts to drop off – he’s 33 y/o in June.

Romford Pele

Messi is already on the wane and Barca’s recruitment policy is nothing short of shambolic. Wouldn’t surprise me to see them drop further once he retires. had Neymar stayed, they’d have at least 1 more CL for sure as that front three was virtually unstoppable.

Neymar would’ve been primed to carry the torch too. They have nobody now.

Elmo

“but I had to wait for a World Cup to see them. Or be around for live tune-in on TransWorld Sport.”

I thought people only tuned into TransWorld Sport to catch up on the kabbadi.

Danny

Marc
———–
I think we should solely concentrate on winning the Europa Cup. There’s very little chance of us going down or of getting 5th, the FA Cup is good for the Europa Cup for next season but I think that’ll be hard this season to win.

Marc

WE

I don’t know why but I’ve always had this feeling that he see’s himself at Madrid. Problem is you sit back waiting for the Madrid job that never happens and miss out on another huge chance in the meantime.

HighburyLegend

I’m so jealous of Pedro.

WengerEagle

RP Sounds a bit like Zeman, remember him? Not a winning coach but fuck me an entertaining one. Yeah I have a feeling that Real Madrid will rule supreme this decade over Barcelona, they no doubt will hope that Messi can collect a couple more titles before he sails off into the sunset. Real have serious youngsters in Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, Valverde, Odegaard who is absolutely mustard and will be a superstar, Mendy, Asensio provided he returns from injury the same player. Only players flagging age-wise are Modric, Ramos, Bale and Benzema who is currently playing at near peak level.… Read more »

Marc

Danny

It’d be fantastic if we could win the EL – a trophy is always a bonus and for Arteta in his first half season would be an achievement. What would be the real thing would be the CL football it brings with it.

Problem is its not as easy as saying “right I think I’ll win the EL this season”.

WengerEagle

I mean he’s on the wane but he’s still the best performing player in Europe. Which is ridiculous at his age.

Danny

Poch wasn’t considered for the Barca job because he can’t manage this season or he’ll lose the payout from Spurs, Emery also wont be back this season and just like Mourinho and Conte took a year off.

azed

RP

Liverpool have three runners in midfield plus two fast CB’S who are good in 1 v 1 situations. It would be hard to replicate their system with our players.

Infact with our squad, you either sacrifice the attack for compactness and defensive solidity or we push more players forward and deal with the outcome defensively.

Marc

WE

You know what Barca need?

Super Xhaka!

Dissenter

Romford
Spurs was Poch’s finest moment in management. There was never going to be an Arsenal moment for him. Why would anyone take a job that’s filled with so much drama?
For what? to get to manager Mesut Ozil…no central defenders…with no prospect of big money coming in.
It would have been a backward movement; coming to.rival club with a worse squad.

WengerEagle

Marc

Maybe, Zidane has really turned it around there though and has them back to their league and CL winning form.

I don’t see them winning the CL mind, don’t trust them to have a decisive scorer in big CL knockout moments. Ronaldo was that guy after all and they never replaced him.

Benzema is great but I wouldn’t trust him in those moments like I do Ronaldo.

Danny

Marc
Problem is its not as easy as saying “right I think I’ll win the EL this season”.
—————–
Of course there’s always a risk with cup competitions but these players now have a lot of experience in this competition after the last 2 attempts at it.

Marc

Danny

So the Poch turns down the well paid Barca job so he can keep the Spud payoff?

If he’s interested in football more than money it won’t even be a consideration.

Romford Pele

Eagle – yes that’s a decent comparison. Setien’s Betis side are always very good for a watch. Will be hard stepping up though as Valverde found out moving from Bilbao to Barca. Have to deal with more egos and an interfering board. Nowhere near the same. Hope he does well though. Madrid have been doing fantastic buying up all the best young talent. Have you seen Odegaard’s creative numbers this season? even better than Messi’s. That is something special. They’re also getting Reinier Jesus from Flamengo too. So if you add up up the amount of playmakers, they have Isco,… Read more »

WengerEagle

Dissenter

Maybe, Tuchel is a chancer at PSG and it’s only a a matter of time before he’s shitcanned.

I’m not hammering him for being loyal but Barcelona isn’t a managerial gig that you can turn down, come off of it. That’s as elite as it gets for a gaffer and there’s not a single one that wouldn’t bite the hand off for a pop.

Marc

“Of course there’s always a risk with cup competitions but these players now have a lot of experience in this competition after the last 2 attempts at it.”

Previous Arsenal squads had plenty of experience of the CL after over 20 years in it but that didn’t make a difference did it.

Dissenter

WE
Ageing physiology will catch up with Messi..and then what
Barca have been shambllic in the market for at least 5 years. They gave an ageing squad. Messi aside.
Poch will be wise to avoid managing them. They aren’t the crème de la crème anymore.

Romford Pele

Azed – yep good points. Arteta needs help in the transfer market. Saliba coming is a step in the right direction. Hopefully we can get someone like Upamecano/N’Dicka/Todibo too.

We don’t need to copy Liverpool and I would never advise it. We should be ourselves but that comes with having more athletic profiles first and foremost.

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