Alex Lacazette is dropping a different sort of criticism into the ether… he’s moved beyond liking naughty Instagram posts, he’s now saying actual words with bite.
“They [Sheffield United] were not very dangerous but this match summarises how we are this season. We are winning the match but don’t get it over the line,”
“We are quite naive at the moment. We need to be nastier and more consistent in the 90th to 93rd minutes of matches.
“Especially when we can do better than this. We have the players required. It is a shame.”
YES ALEX. I don’t normally like to see players and coaches airing dirty laundry, but when it’s this sort of thing, it kind of signifies a shift in mentality. It’s more punchy than Johann Djourou or Denilson telling the fans we should be doing better. This feels like a rallying cry. We are better than the results we’re dropping, he can feel that the squad is underperforming, he’s one of the more senior players and he has a right to say these things.
Sure, there will be criticism of him, there haven’t been a lot of goals to speak of, but as everyone keeps telling me, he’s putting in a filthy shift for the greater good.
Mikel Arteta didn’t shirk from the comments.
“Yes, I think it’s part of the game management and I think there were things we could have done better to put more pressure on the opponent, to bring the ball into certain areas where we could rest with the ball and control the game better. That will come. It’s a good process for us to learn about those situations.”
One of the more ridiculous notions being peddled is that nothing has changed, which I’m guessing is why the new manager is being asked about the players and whether they are still feeling the excitement a few games in.
“I don’t have that feeling. The feedback I’m getting from them is very positive, they know when we haven’t won the reasons why and there are many different aspects to that – some we can influence some we cannot influence – but they are there and they are very aware of that.”
Here’s where he’s seeing the improvements since the last time we played Chelsea.
“Well a lot of things have happened and it feels longer than a month to be fair. The amount of games, the (amount) we’ve trained, the amount of things that happened. Yes, a lot of things changed, a lot of positives in terms of reactions and the things they are taking on board, the way we have managed to change the energy, atmosphere, relationship and chemistry with our fans was massively important for us. So yes, in terms of results it could have been a little bit different, I think we have been very unlucky and other aspects have influenced that.”
It was very amusing to see the vampires out post-Sheffield United.
‘WE AIN’T HAD A NEW MANAGER BOUNCE’
‘WHY AREN’T WE IN THE TOP 4’
‘HE’S A FRAUD’
I have absolute faith that these people will be deleting their tweets and apologising for their limited world view of football coaching that led them to those opinions. Xavi refused the Barca role because he lacked the confidence to take over a sinking ship midseason (thanks Wasi).
Mikel has jumped off an Elon Musk Space X passenger ship to Arsenal’s Titanic. He is picking up the worst Arsenal moment in almost 40 years. Emery had fired his captain, alienated Ozil, pushed LT out the door after playing him as a 10, had AMN taking red cards to get out of playing full back, had Auba leaking stories about leaving the club, and had us in a death spiral. The confidence in the squad was at ground zero when he landed. Remember fans pontificating on our players being so bad they were uncoachable?
There is no quick fix for Arsenal, anywhere. Look at what is happening at Spurs under Jose Mourinho, no new manager bounce, no improvement in style or thinking, he can’t even make the defence solid. He’s working with Champions League finalists.
Also, we don’t need a quick fix, we need something that’s future-facing, and that takes time. So ignore the people creating false expectations, we’re moving in the right direction, and the form will come.
The Chelsea game is huge for Arsenal. We still have a pretty broken squad of players, but there has to come a point where the vision clicks, and hopefully a bit of luck falls our way. Chelsea are further ahead under Frank Lampard, but have still been very, very inconsistent. A win against them will show a very defined mark of improvement and it’ll be huge for the fans to go away from home against a big club and win.
It’ll be tough though. We’re still playing midfielders in defence, we don’t have an Auba to lean on, and the squad is struggling for confidence. I think fitness is still a challenge, Statsbomb had a rolling xG chart that shows we’re tanking in the second half, maybe a combination of new ideas, legginess, and panic because of second-half-history is going against us. We need to get over those things and start pulling in the three points.
The real progress that Arteta has made has been in solidifying the team. We don’t leak chances like we used to and the idea of defending being a collective endeavour is now mainstream in the squad. I really want to see us continue defending well, but coming up with some new ideas to be more positive going forward. We’re very much reliant on Ozil being in form, the rest of our players struggle to break the lines, so we need a bit more boldness tomorrow.
I’m unsure who is going to start tomorrow, but Eddie might find himself some game time.
“It would depend on the circumstances, the players we have available, his performance, the way he trains the impact he makes every time he plays. He’s a young player but I have to try and treat him exactly the same as the other ones. (If) I put him in the pitch because I think he deserves it. The way he trains, the way he shows every day how much he wants it and it will depend on him.”
Alex on the podcast below said the home fans went nuts for his appearance, here’s hoping he can deliver on the expectation. Some fans felt he didn’t quite put the shift in they were looking for, but let’s see what he can do if he’s given time in a huge game. He should be looking at Tammy Abrahams and Mason Mount and wanting a bit of what they’re getting this season. He has the talent, he’s cool in front of goal, it’s just a matter of making it count when he gets the chance… something he was struggling with before his loan move.
This is a huge game, I can’t wait, let me know what you think in the comments!
P.S. I recorded a podcast with Alex below. It’s good. Listen in and an give it 5* on iTunes.
Boom
1
Just missed out
4th?
Trofee
I start to challenge DM now…
11th
First team at last!
Like Arsenal, just missed a Europa League place.
Samesong, Both of Pool’s goals were rightly disallowed. Our penalty was obvious. So has a bunch of other decisions but the people upstairs don’t want to see it. Also, excuse me that we are not Pool, we are in our worst form in 25 years, we desperately need to get some momentum going, but some people are obviously against it. Yes, we suck. Have we been butchered by around minus ~8 points? Yes. Two very important things in mind when you want to win football games: 1. Quality – where at the moment we aren’t spectacular but recently we’ve been… Read more »
Does anyone have any idea when Tierney is now expected to be available? He and Bellerin may not be the answer to our defensive woes. But together they will help provide structure to a back four in games (like tomorrow’s) where we have to rely on defense and need to play an extra player in midfield to counter Chelsea’s extra man. If the stats that Pedro cites are correct, I suspect we might line up with some fresh legs: Bellerin, Sokratis, Ceballos and even Eddie. Otherwise, we will end up with a long night of playing very deep and hoping… Read more »
I may be too critical with Pepe because of his price tag. But I rest my hope on him because he is the one in the squad who still has much more to offer if he works harder. When I watch Martinelli, he is always sprinting whether our team is having the ball or not. Pepe is much stronger technically. If he could have half of Martinelli’s work rate, our team would be much better off.
Laca needs to be sold. His mind and attitude is simply not of the high profile player he used to be. He cannot drag us out of this mess.
seems to be nothing more than an annoyance now.
Sell.
We need to get on a run of 3-4 wins in row to build confidence. However, tomorrow does not fare well for us. I see us losing again
I just can’t see how Laca can moan .?????
Himself and Ozil are struggling in this new
more energy sapping set up.
Those two really lack any vitality.
Im still on the fence about Pepe. Ill give him this season, but so far, I see a player who is intent on dribbling and trying to beat one or 2 men. However, this rarely happens.
Until he stops slowing us down with his highlight reel dribbles, he is hurting us in the final third.
One touch or 2… open up the defenses instead of making this the PEPE show
and PEPE
learn how to use your right foot!
another Monreal we have here
Cheers Pedro.
The 1st step of recovery from Arsenalization is recognise and admit this condition
Im telling you this for free!
Arsenalization is a condition where sauce is sucked outta a mans papayas.
You heard it here 1st!
PedroThe thing on the podcast that i disagree w is the matter of us failing to make europe next year. I think you didnt really think about the bigger picture which is that something like that will force kroenkes hand. The idea that it will discourage talent from joining us is just flat out wrong. We have arteta. We’ve had senile wenger and emery as the last decade. Surely that was more of a discouragement to young talent than sitting Out europe for a year. Because even if we do we’ll be back and imagine what arteta could do with… Read more »
Raptora
I not buying into this angry rant from you. Maybe you need to speak to the conspiracy theorists on here.
The result was 1-1 so you can moan about decisions until the cows come home!
Did we do enough outside of the penalty decision?
Zach, think you’re right. I have no concerns about Arteta being able to persuade talent to join… but if he had CL football, it’d make our summer sexier for sure.
but Eddie might find himself some game time.
——————
Against Chelsea he should start instead of Laca who’s been completely shit recently.
Now i’m just reposting everything i posted last night. From untold arsenal “ Meanwhile when an interesting story does emerge – such as the strange statistics concerning the ratio of fouls to yellow cards, or the fact that the top fouling clubs are primarily based in and around London – while there are no London based referees in the PL – this is not covered at all.Likewise when Europe gets excited by the announcement that Uefa declares it can no longer keep up with match fixing and needs help, the media decides as one not to cover it in the… Read more »
Pedro has joined Arsenal marketing department apparently, he trying to sell us future like Wenger did while trying to convince us that today’s results don’t matter. If Arteta is sauciest of young saucy managers than we should see improvement in play right away.
Why fire Emery and pay him large payoff to go away if we aren’t going to see improvement? Arsenal just pissing money up wall if we hire new coach but don’t expect any improvement in results.
Wow you’re definitely doing a good job of convincing fans to accept long and boring draws against Bournemouth and Sheffield because we’re in some sort of metamorphosis stage. Like Arsenal have been the only team in world history to switch coaches mid season.
All I’m saying is, there should be no petty excuses for poor and clumsy displays. This was the same reason Emery was sacked. Only three points will make a difference, no fancy talk about building a the next gen of super star-studded arsenal team will cut it this time.
Xavi refused the Barca role because he lacked the confidence to take over a sinking ship midseason (thanks Wasi).
Barcelona a sinking ship? My god almighty.
I personally don’t mind a player coming out publicly and criticizing the team in the hopes of getting a response but I usually prefer it to be a player in form and not one who’s playing abjectly at the moment. That player I’d prefer if he just did better himself.
Marko Predictable input from you as ever. Not content unless there’s a massive outlay. Kolasinac and Kurzawa are equals for the sake of argument. Their wages same/similar, now you’re hung up on Kolasinac having 2 years left and Kurzawa getting a 5 year deal ergo a 3 year surplus. Did it occur to you that we’re selling Kolasinac so we don’t have to renew him for the further few years Kurzawa would get? Kicker being nothing changes at LB, but we can spin a player for an extra 10-15 mil transfer powder? Like I said, football economics completely lost on… Read more »
How exactly are Barca a sinking ship?
Joint top of the league. comfortably true to the last sixteen of the championship
I think it’s a bit strange to read them called a sinking ship on a blog where the team is currently 32 points behind the league leaders, 7 points above relegation with calls to “write off the season”.
*through not true
I agree 100% with Pedro. Let’s be clear the current team/squad is poor and the club has sofar not recruited any new players in January. So the idea that Arteta is going to wave a magic wand and turn around our performance in just a month is frankly unrealistic. However, there are some interesting facts, which need to be acknowledged. 1. The club has drawn far too many games this season particularly from winning positions. 2. We have also conceded far too many goals in last 10 minutes as has been the case against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.… Read more »
Samesong: “Did we do enough outside of the penalty decision?”
And Sheffield did enough bar the deflected shot they scored from?
Gilles Grimandi, who both played for Arsenal and also worked as their French scout until last March, is very much against Kurzawa signing for his former club. Grimandi claims it would be a mistake for Arsenal to capture a player who lacks ‘hunger’ to reach the highest level. “Would I have signed Kurzawa? No,” Grimandi said on Late Football Club, via Get French Football News. “I watched him at Monaco, I think that he is a boy who has quality, a boy who certainly has the potential to be one of the best in his position, but sadly he is… Read more »
Pedro- Good article.. I think many do dismiss the fact Arteta wants to be here, is willing to take on the challenge, and loves Arsenal. Many of those other mercenary type managers bantered about were not coming here for fear of failure, fear of no money and they couldn’t give a crap about Arsenal as a Club. Arteta has a chance to grow with the Club and if successful it will be a thing of beauty. That said he still has to win.. and the problem as you pointed out is he is reliant on Ozil.. He hasn’t been in… Read more »
“There is no quick fix for Arsenal, anywhere. Look at what is happening at Spurs under Jose Mourinho, no new manager bounce, no improvement in style or thinking, he can’t even make the defence solid. He’s working with Champions League finalists. Also, we don’t need a quick fix, we need something that’s future-facing, and that takes time. So ignore the people creating false expectations, we’re moving in the right direction, and the form will come.“ Nailed it. Have been saying it since before a new gaffer was in place, we don’t need a bandaid we need someone that’s going to… Read more »
Predictable input from you as ever. Not content unless there’s a massive outlay. Right. Delighted with a 25 million LB signed and hopeful that a 23 year old LB from Olympiakos is signed instead of Kurzawa and have suggested Jay Dasilva of Bristol City.. Massive outlay alright. Kolasinac and Kurzawa are equals for the sake of argument They’re not though one’s as bad but older and likely to be on a long term contract. Again people trying to justify it are predictably stupid it’s ridiculous it’s not like we haven’t seen this movie before. Poor defensive player with a questionable… Read more »
The kurzawa biz seems like kia using us to get his player moving on which is not to say he will be coming. I cant see it myself
charlie/Dissenter
I’m of the view first off that LB isn’t a position for concern for us at the moment but if we’re getting ready to sell Kolasinac in the summer, surely surely there’s a LB out there who’s not a crock and defensively bad that we can get for whatever it is we hope to get for Kolasinac… Surely there’s some LB in the championship ready to make the jump, the south american leagues maybe, somebody, anybody who doesn’t have the same flaws with the player he’s meant to be replacing, that’s my point
Kolasinac and kurzawa are not equals there is no argument
No to Kurzawa if we can avoid it.
Why are we scouting him? Free or low fee?
I mean seriously at this point, we need to shell out a a few million for a loan versus getting stuck with the “Bargain”
Ala Wenger all over again
Like I said, football economics completely lost on you.
Yep clearly you’re the genius who wants a soon to be 28 year old bit part player with a questionable attitude signed on 100,000+ a week for 4/5 years and you’re coming at me with football economics. Christ you love a pointless argument
Yea they’re both bad defensively and struggle to stay fit, we have enough of that at the club at the moment to add another
I mean what’s the point of that multi million pound academy we’ve got by the way? Why are we paying our scouts if Laywin Kurzawa in 2020 is a thing, loan signing or transfer fee, it’s bad bad business if it ever happens.
yea would rather get a younger FB with potential. Look at our academy first! ALWAYS
But if we are in the market- there are better options out there.
Xavi didn’t join. Barca because of the internal club politics. They have a presidential election next year and he doesn’t want to be them on the wrong side of it.
Pedro
How did you manabe
Bati
Pretty sure the argument for swapping out Kolasinac for 15 mil and Kurzawa in for free is so that we can use the 15 mil for more important parts of the squad – like CM?
Be a bit redundant to sell Kolasinac for 15 mil and buy a ‘better’ backup LB for 15 mil.
Its our midfield that will do us in this season.
Unless we grab a difference maker now, its over.
We create shit. We cannot score- our mids are impotent
we are on dimensional still, in attack
We are lacking energy, and pace across our mids.
Its just a shit show… Ozil, Guen, Ceballos, etc are not going to make us top 4
Pedro
How did you manage to pack so many excuses in one post?
Yours sincerely
The friendly ‘vampire’.
Constantly linked to players who have been round the block twice already.
Buy youth.
Our team is only as good as our players….
That being said, Arteta can try as much as he can… and yes there will be some improvements but with a midfield like this, we can only hope for top 7-8 at this point. Nothing more
Lacazette has provided 2 assists for the last 2 league goals that we’ve scored.
He’s in a bad patch of form at the moment but even then still works hard for the team.
We fell apart once Arteta replaced him with Nkettiah on Saturday
Be a bit redundant to sell Kolasinac for 15 mil and buy a ‘better’ backup LB for 15 mil.
Are you serious? Did you just downplay the idea of replacing a back up LB with a better back up LB for the same price? That’s some feat Charles thank you
Lacazette has provided 2 assists for the last 2 league goals that we’ve scored.
Not true that was Saka for the last goal (awks). Lacazette has two assists on the season
“Are you serious? Did you just downplay the idea of replacing a back up LB with a better back up LB for the same price? That’s some feat Charles thank you”
Yea, deadly serious. Would sooner we had greater funds for the more important areas of the side like CM.
Your strategy is pukka though, making sure the backup LB is marginally better instead of bringing in a better CM.
There are left backs all over the world cheaper than £15 million, Atalanta just signed a LB for €3-4 million,we can see similar deals like that, not someone without hunger or motivation.
Kurzawa was given a 3/10 rating yesterday against division 2 side Lorient, infact they were generous with the rating with how bad he was. Kolasinac is much much better than this turd, and for 5 years?? we can surely do better.
Charlie Thing is, we don’t even know how much we’re getting for Kolasinac but let’s say its the 15 million range, we could always with good scouting get a back up LB for half that price i believe. My main grouse is in bringing in again another defender who’s not actually good enough at his primary job, yes we’d love him to be back up to Tierney but as has shown this season, we might be in a situation where you have the first choice out and then the back up who’s been known to be suspect defensively has to… Read more »
Your strategy is pukka though, making sure the backup LB is marginally better instead of bringing in a better CM. That’s not what I’m saying at all you’re the one connecting the two to justify a bad signing. Kinda like how you justified signing up Lichtsteiner. Did that go into addressing a CM or whatever? Must have missed that. Anyway like I said people trying to justify a bad signing citing 10-15 million are really fucking dumb when you consider Kurzawa comes in on big deal wages on a longer contract. Likely an extra 2/3 seasons on roughly 6+ million.… Read more »
Sokratis is a bit of a shite defender to be fair
Also, I’m sure the club has a transfer budget which should be geared towards fixing that horror midfield of ours
The Kurzawa deal is the textbook.opportunistic deal, assuming he’s only as good as Kolasinac.
It’s like retail business, buy for $2, sell for $2.50
Sell an average free transfer acquired LB for profit, replace salary space with another [assumed] average LB.
Use the funds from that outward transfer to invest in a central midfielder.
Bati Think your appreciation of the modern fullback is a bit off. Who are the best in the league? Now please tell me with a straight face that those guys are superb defenders and not the beneficiaries of a good system. Wan Bissaka for instance has been touted as one of the ‘best’ defensive fullbacks in the league. 50 mil he was, and he’s been utterly rinsed on numerous occasions. If we can take a sideways step at LB that pockets us 15 mil then it’s smart imo. Trying to get cute and pour more resources into LB after 25… Read more »
Marko
The rumor mill stated that we are signing Kurzawa on €90k weekly, less than the €120k plus he’s on at PSG.
What high wages are you referring to?
“Kinda like how you justified signing up Lichtsteiner. Did that go into addressing a CM or whatever? Must have missed that.“ We bought Torreira and Guendouzi that summer so obviously you did miss it you fucking spastic. You think we buy Torreira at near 30 mil if we spend 15 mil on some other RB instead of Licht? He was pony but the strategy/intention was perfectly admirable, the choice wasn’t. “people trying to justify a bad signing citing 10-15 million are really fucking dumb when you consider Kurzawa comes in on big deal wages on a longer contract. Likely an… Read more »
Let’s be clear the current team/squad is poor and the club has sofar not recruited any new players in January. So the idea that Arteta is going to wave a magic wand and turn around our performance in just a month is frankly unrealistic
Emirates.
So it wasn’t emery’s fault? To expect more from
Him is frankly unrealistic.
3 of the players he wanted were never brought in by Raul etc.
What high wages are you referring to?
Yeah the 115,000 he’s currently on and the likely thereabouts he’d be getting here on a long term contract. Again it’s mind boggling to me that people are trying to justify such an obvious poor signing. Like we need another one
Marko I thought you were the guy that wanted a whole new team? Back up LB in on a free then use that 10-15million on what ever position YOU feel would be best served. A CM? 2 new CFs, a CB.
Point being it contributes to solving a more pressing issue/position.
Are you actually being serious with how obtuse you are or is this a more serious problem like you’re just simply dumb.
Charlie Again, I’m not advocating us going out and splashing on a LB, all I’m saying, all anyone who has seen the lad play and i have a lot is that we should do better than him. He probably has had the best system anyone can playing for PSG and yet he’s been basically playing 2nd/3rd fiddle, got benched by Bernat who was let go by Bayern and Bernat isn’t exactly prime Roberto Carlos himself, PSG have even played Meunier at LB with Kurzawa fit and on the bench…It’s not about a system with this player, he’s just not good… Read more »
Yes it did!! Two in fact. Torreira and Guendouzi
Good one.
I’d be tearing my head out too if anyone suggested Ricardo Rodriguez, he’s been absolutely shit since he left Wolfsburg…We should be looking younger, scouting better and not jumping at the first free signing we can lay our hands on. Martinelli types, I’d sooner ask City for Angellino than touch Kurzawa
Dissenter
It’s not about mathematics or what anyone might earn, it’s about the fact that the player just doesn’t fit what we should be doing. How much did Pool get Robertson for? There’s good bargains in the lower leagues you know. Also of what use is our academy if we can’t find or produce a defender as back up from there?
What does grimaldi know about players? In all his time as chief scout, not one world class player was unearthed from france, just a whole lot of duds and a few average to good players, missed out on the likes of marez, kante, recommended sanogos gervinio, chamakh, so let him keep his opinions about players to himself, no surprise he hasn’t been offered a job like his friend and mentor Arsene wenger since the free lunch came to an end at arsenal.
We bought Torreira and Guendouzi that summer so obviously you did miss it you fucking spastic.
Listen you absolutely dumb idiot you’re feebly attempting to justify signing Lichtsteiner because we signed Torreira and Guendouzi and here we are still shit in midfield with one RB in the whole squad. Brilliant I applaud you you win this round
Bati
Stop ignoring the elephant in the room, we bought Tierney last year for 25 million ffs. He is who the club have invested in to be our first choice LB.
The club isn’t looking for their Robertson, or another young player to groom. They want a seasoned pro adept at the highest level to offer LB cover, the same cover Kolasinac offers us.
Point being it contributes to solving a more pressing issue/position.
Yup like the free signings of Kolasinac and Lichtsteiner really contributed to our midfield and defence being addressed.
Joe
“Arsenal supporters hated winning 1-0. That’s why they always chanted boring boring arsenal. They hated it. They wanted the process to change”
“Boring boring Arsenal “……Have you not heard of self deprecating humour Joe.
You have a lot to learn about English football and the fans, as many on here do who spout nonsense daily.
He probably has had the best system anyone can playing for PSG and yet he’s been basically playing 2nd/3rd fiddle
Bernat I understand he’s a very good LB and even Yuri okay was a worry but not being able to displace a geriatric Maxwell is a major red flag
Pierre
When Joe made that statement I took it as him being sarcastic on the context.
Un
Marko knows all about Kurzawa suddenly, temperament and all. His scope in European football is really something.
Still waiting for Keita to be a 58 mil footballer that we ‘stupidly missed out on’, or Pepe for that matter justifying the 72 mil outlay that had Marko ‘jizzing into a sock’ he claimed. He’s the stereotypical fifa fan that needs something shiny, fuck any strategy or consideration of a budget.
Marko
‘ Yup like the free signings of Kolasinac and Lichtsteiner really contributed to our midfield and defence being addressed.’
It’s confirmed. You really are just thick as fuck.
Marc
Absolutely 100% was not sarcasm.
Have I missed something? Have we actually either signed Kurzawa or done a deal to take him in the summer?
If the answer to both of those is no then why the fuck is Marko spending so much time clogging up the comments section on something that might never happen.
Just as a reminder – Kolas was a Wenger signing and Lich was a Sven signing – neither of those people are at the club anymore.
So we’d have been better to spend £50m on a wan bissaka type right back than the £36m we spent on two desperately needed cmf players It’s that what’s being discussed dumbo. Like I said stand in the corner let the adults talk. I’m talking about avoiding yet another poor defensive player being signed up for big wages I’ve suggested that a 23 year old from Olympiakos or Jay Dasilva from Bristol would be a better smarter signing. You know young cheap on less wages with potential. Not one person has suggested that we spent massively on a back up… Read more »
Lego
I’ve been ill so not taking too much notice of the comments section – I obviously misread the comment.
Marko knows all about Kurzawa suddenly, temperament and all. His scope in European football is really something.
It’s easy to get info on the lad. Why not actually do some research on the player instead of just existing to argue with certain posters. Bit part player on huge wages very interested in making stupid tik tok videos. The kind of fighting spirit Arsenal needs.
Anyway you lads have convinced me hopefully he gets signed. We’ll see people turn on him after an initial opening period I’d say 6 months
Batistuta
I get your point.
We did just spend on Tierney so I’m not sure an upcoming hungry LB will be willing to come to Arsenal right now
Then we have to fork out transfer fees for a back-up player.
Marko Sounds a lot like you’re basing your opinion on google, you’ve been there before haven’t you? Doesn’t end well to establish absolute views from such halfbaked “research”. Always chirping about arguing too, are you completely unaware of your own existence on here? You struggle with the concept of debate, I’m offering a POV with reasons why, I’m not dismissing views because I don’t like them….that’d be you. Auba was a disruptive individual if you read the papers before his move, heaven forbid Kurzawa just hasn’t taken to life in Paris after doing well at Monaco. Alas, you only understand… Read more »
If we were going to spend money on a FB surely RB is a better option. Firstly the jury is still to be even picked on Bellerin since his injury. Secondly AMN can cover LB and Saka’s done OK there as well.
We’ve got people going round and round about a player who chances are we won’t even sign. His agent is probably behind the rumours trying to stoke some interest.
Kurzawa and Boateng this January is bad business, all has a very West Ham feel to it. I’d rather persevere with young Saka as understudy LB and the rotation of Holding/Luiz and Sokratis till the end of the season. Mustafi obviously has no suitors so he’ll be filling in from time to time as well. Thats’ it no has-beens on bloated contracts please Raul! Arteta strikes me as the type of manager that wants to see if he can transform any and all players that have been condemned by the footballing public, while ambitious its not gonna work. Some guys… Read more »
Sounds a lot like you’re basing your opinion on google, you’ve been there before haven’t you?
And you’re basing yours on?
Anyway look at this stage I hope we sign him this month. At least him coming in this month would be a sight.
“It’s easy to get info on the lad. Why not actually do some research on the player instead of just existing to argue with certain posters.“ I’m not a mug is the short answer. I can only establish a rounded view by watching a player and knowing more about the club, league, environment they’re playing in. Basically, I’m not a football scout (that’s why there’s a job for such a thing). I don’t pretend to have all the answers….again, that’s you. I’ve talked about this particular deal in terms of strategy, I’ve said very little about the player. I haven’t… Read more »
Bob
I’m pretty sure Sanllehi will be acutely aware that as things stand we’re about to lose EL revenue let alone get CL money. We’re already committed to certain outlays from last summer so any money we have needs to be spent very wisely at the moment – not tying it up in over long over paid contracts for over the hill players.
Rap
We were the home team the onest was on us to keep the pressure on and create more chances. Sheffield United smash and grab were patient and got a deflected goal. So to answer your question yes they did enough.
Un – totally agree but we’re talking about a 4-5 month spell and not a permanent switch. I think he’s a great attacking LW prospect and that should be nurtured but for me its preferable if he’s out of position for the time being than we waste wages on Kurazawa who is no better than Kola and will surely affect the wage budget for the summer and beyond. Marc – I hope so, at times I think Raul is on the ball but then we see continuous reports about deals that stink of agent influence, not for the good of… Read more »
Bob
“Continuous deals” yeah paper talk, click bait and agent fed bollocks.
I’d look at the deals you can pin on him and he’s nowhere near as bad as some want him to be or make him out to be.
1) There’s no point having a back player/defender earning 90k. It’s insane. Your back up should aspire to be number one aka competition for places.
2) There’s a reason we can’t sell Mustafi, El neny and co, its their wages not how much we bought them(El neny was like 7m)
Unpopular opinion – I’m with Marko.
I find the Kurzawa signing rather uninspired. He hasn’t been great under Tuchel, but hopefully Arteta can improve his game with some elite coaching.
Disappointing if he’s on more than 70k a week if/when he joins. We need good money for Kola if Kurzawa is his replacement, although not sure Kola is worth his current wages as well as a decent transfer fee to the buying club.
Marc- Arteta’s press conference this afternoon supports the idea its all paper talk and click bait which gives us hope its not Raul’s lack of vision in the transfer market at work. As per Pedro’s post and Grimandi’s thoughts on the potential Kurazawa deal, its not the right move. Un- I get your point I really do but Kurazwa may just be that ineffective for us. I’ve seen him have good games and link-up extremely well with Neymar and Di Maria at PSG but I’ve also seen him have Aurier type performances at the full back position. I don’t think… Read more »
Kurzawa is a bad player,absolute dross. Its like some people never watch football outside of england, he is so poor its alarming, yesterday’s game against lorient was another Kurzawa performance.
For 90k and 5 years contract, we can do better. Watch how diallo? I think was screaming at him yesterday.
Bob
I’ve just got to the point of having heard so many players we’re going to sign that I ignore it all until it’s announced. There are times when we’re linked to an interesting player but when it’s a guy out of contract in the summer I just put it down to his agent trying to generate PL wages interest.
UN
I would prefer we get a left back from the championship or league one. There’s really no point selling Kolasinac and replacing with someone older and on similar wages to play second fiddle.
See what happened to Bellerin? He’s not improved since he became number one because there was no one to challenge him.