The dust is starting to settle on the Pablo Mari signing (which hasn’t been confirmed yet) and there’s lots of back and forth about the validity of the hire.
There are two camps. One that says we should be happy we’ve just signed a Copa Libertadores winner. The other that thinks the standard of football over there is for chumps.
I don’t really know where I stand on this signing.
For me, I have a few worries.
- City and Arteta passed on him for 3 years and let him go for sub £1.5m and no one in Europe came in with a deal longer than a year.
- The Brazilian league is much slower than the Premier League, it is easier to stand out there.
- He looks quite slow, which isn’t ideal in a league that is more intense and has players like Traore destroying careers on the weekly.
I also have a few, ‘well, this could be interesting’
- We are not City, they have an outrageously high threshold for talent. Being ‘not good enough’ for a team that was dropping 98+ points in the league is no shame
- Players grow, especially centre backs. Name the best centre backs in the world at the moment, most of them are in their late twenties early 30s. Pablo is 26 years old, about prime time to start showing what he’s made of.
- He looked mighty fine against Liverpool’s best starting 11, keeping all the pace monsters quiet by reading the game like peak-Maldini.
- We are skint. Arteta has picked up a piggy bank filled with air. So you can bitch all you like, but unless you know a cheap centre back that’s available now and willing to join, then we really are bumming around at the bottom of the barrel.
- He’s a winner. He won the biggest trophy in South American football and he played a big role in it. Flamingo played a daring style of football that captivated the world, Pablo ran a high line, he made his lack of pace work, and he led like a warrior.
- I don’t mind curveball signings. It’s what we need to be doing. Sometimes they work, sometimes they fail. Remember, Arsene Wenger made a living out of ‘who the fuck’ signings way back when. Remember Gilberto? What a game-changer that was. Remember Néstor Fabián Caballero? Of course you don’t, he played 1 game.
I think we’re basically in a ‘shut up and support the player’ space.
To clarify the comments on agent hanger-ons yesterday. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t engage with Super Agents, it’s often unavoidable. Look at Dortmund and what they had to do to bring Haaland to their team. What I’m saying is we shouldn’t be letting these people set the agenda for us, and we shouldn’t be asking players and managers to switch agents to land moves to Arsenal, as is alleged by Phil Costa with the Ukrainian guy, and what seemed to happen with Unai Emery.
Arturo Canales is a name that comes up again and again. He should never have been allowed to influence Arsenal on who the new manager should have been post-Wenger, yet he was. Was he also advising Raul to give Emery a new deal? Was he the one lobbying for Emery to stay on longer than he did? Who knows… a proper club is not swayed by anyone outside the brain trust installed to advise it.
‘WOULD YOU COMPLAIN IF IT WORKED’
Again, a dim counter-argument. Outside the fact we’re sitting in 10th after investing £200m in the squad, being led by agents or a coterie of outside advisors has not helped many of the major clubs. You need look no further than Manchester United to see what opening your world to the whims of people with vested interests in themselves can do to a prestigious operation. As a fan, you should want your football club to have elite internal talent that can make decisions about talent without the outside nudge of an agent looking to move bodies around their network. Liverpool are case in point. They are not run by outsiders. They are run by an elite crew of world-class people that inform their decisions on cutting edge data. You can doubt some of the players they sign, but never the reasons why, because there will always be a robust rationale as to ‘why.’
Same couldn’t be said as to why we signed Dennis Suarez last season, right?
Hopefully, our Technical Director is of a modern mindset, and this deal is about his understanding of the Brazilian league. Hope, hope, hope.
Right, BIG GAME tomorrow as we have the chance to redeem ourselves in the FA Cup against Bournemouth. Can’t wait. See you in the comments.
P.S. Talking of the comments section. We need to do better. Keep it to the football because stealth red cards are coming out with 6 match bans. Trolling, incessant arguing of old points, or just being a bitch are all cardable offences.
1st
2nd
3rc
Tr4phy
CB was the one position we need to go all out for high quality and proven, not another stop gap
Tr4phy
Pedro I have no idea if Mari will be a good signing or not, what I would say is bringing up the “super agent” issue every time we’re linked with someone is not only tedious and looks so agenda driven but is just plain daft. Who identified Mari as being a good potential signing Edu – our Tech Dir who just came over from Brazil, Arteta with prior knowledge from his City days or Cagigao who is reportedly behind the signing of Martinelli – I have no idea but I’m not going to accept that some agent juts picked up… Read more »
Let’s face it, we’ve just signed clueless manager.
We need another stop gap for Saliba? We have Luiz, Sok, Holding……and Mustafi!
Ala Suarez, a strange one this, maybe Areteta rates him (did Emery really rate Suarez???)……..or maybe Don Raul’s on the take….GG style!
First eleven
Why would a championship winning club let a warrior of a defender leave, for peanuts after 6 months?
Pretty “meh” signing, it’s the kind of signing everyone glosses over as “potentially smart” but deep down know it’s just adding another average player to a group that is already collectively average.
The chances that the same club that signed Mustafi found some diamond in the rough that nobody else was interested in is slim to none.
I thought Masterstroke summed up this blog perfectly yesterday- great articles but the backbiting and naivety of some of the comments defies belief on occasions. This is a well-balanced article and for avoidance of doubt going out and signing Upamecano or another centre back for about £40 million isn’t a) feasible and b) a good idea with the financial constraints on us as our revenue falls and our wage bill is of very significant proportions already without signing another superstar. This is a carefully thought-out transaction . I suspect it is permanent but we have only paid an initial loan… Read more »
Marc, it might be tedious to you, but I don’t see it that way because I believe in Arsenal values… so if something looks unArsenal, like the mutterings around Nuno, the Kia intervention with Luiz, Napoli walking away from the agent stench around Pepe, or Arsenal taking advice from Canales again… I’ll write about it and you’ll just have to skip past the words.
Any word on when this ‘signing’ is getting announced? Post bournemouth perhaps?
We are in 10th simply because we leak goals. Plain stupid mistakes. The club is working on some kind of damage control so we can finish the season high. Now we have a Brazil Championship winner, Copa Libertadoria winner, key player in all of that. If Brazil’s Championship is weak, is the championship for the whole of South America also weak. We conceed goals late in games through set pieces. Long balls sent into the six yard box. We get outjumped because our defenders are not on the tall side. That’s the problem we are trying to solve and this… Read more »
I for one will be pleased if mari joins. Dunno wtf haters are talking about. Mert was slow as well, he was pretty fuckin good
We need bodies, he’s a extra body with experience, albeit in the league.
If it means mustafi and his nervousness and error prone ways are away from the first team, then I will lay judgement until Mari plays badly or doesn’t look suited to the league.
Let’s hope this is not the last of our Samba signings.
Coutinio anyone.
Coutinho sorry Henry R.👍
Marc Completely agree. The fact that Sanllehi knows everyone in football means you can pretty much attribute any signing we make as a ‘contacts signing’. That is part of the reason he was hired. My guess is if Mari works out well it will be one of the sauce twins who gets credit, if not it will be a contacts signing and stick to beat Sanllehi with who was referred to as ‘Don’ months ago. It’s all very reactionary. The truth is you need a mix of clever scouting, marquee buys and wrangling risky type buys. Arsenal history with Sanllehi… Read more »
I have no problem bringing in a guy that looked very good against Liverpool 8n the wcc. He seems cultured and anyone that can jump in front of the shit show that is Mustafi is good for me
Let me see. Signing an unknown unproven manager is Arsenal being brave and innovative, but signing an unkown and unproven CB. Thats just daft or a sure sign of capricious agents underhand influence on the club. Eh?
CA, you and Marc spent the last 12 months bemoaning squad poverty, now Raul has secret sauce, he’s delivering a fine balance of signings, and he’s actually the victim?
Global, if you read the post and head to point 6 in favour.
‘I don’t mind curveball signings. It’s what we need to be doing. Sometimes they work, sometimes they fail. Remember, Arsene Wenger made a living out of ‘who the fuck’ signings way back when. Remember Gilberto? What a game-changer that was. Remember Néstor Fabián Caballero? Of course you don’t, he played 1 game.’
Pedro Why have you turned into a child? You’re such an extremist it’s unbelievable. You are either arguing black or white in your opinion. You’re arguing black and I’m saying it’s grey. You need a contacts approach, you need a youth scouting approach, you need a hidden gem approach, you need a risky low fee approach, you need a loan approach. Depending on your circumstances (success, funds etc) one of these might take primacy but never should it be totally in any one favour. We have Sanllehi (contacts both agents and scouts), Cagigao (scouting), Edu (scouting and contacts). The history… Read more »
We need a CB, we got a CB. Lets hope for the best. The jury is still out on the manager himself. Plus we are technically broke Pedro.
Zach, I don’t know if it’s just me looking at him favorably, but he looks more mobile and bigger than Mertesacker.
I’m mostly pleased that we’ve prioritised height here… the kid from Ukraine looked good on the ball, but he was sleight of frame and short.
Global, I wrote that as well:
‘We are skint. Arteta has picked up a piggy bank filled with air. So you can bitch all you like, but unless you know a cheap centre back that’s available now and willing to join, then we really are bumming around at the bottom of the barrel.’
Yellow card for not reading the post.
Newcastle United about to get a £200m cash injection when MBS buys them. How depressing.
If it means Mustafi never plays for Arsenal again, I’m all for the incoming CB!
After MBS buys the Toons. He will ask all the Geordies to join his Whatsapp group
Second that Bob.
You just can’t rely on Mustafi to be part of a solid back line, unfortunately.
Mari seems to be the type of defender needed to succeed in Arteta’s system, so I have high hopes.
Global, I for one will not be saying anything bad about the new owner.
Pedro
Was that a Yellow for Mark and Cesc or awaiting a VAR decision
Just read the guy who writes ACLF passed. Second blogger in a month. So sad.
Hillwood, a quiet word in the tunnel at halftime.
Pedro
Was that Yogi? Or am I thinking of someone else? A cultured left foot? Sad news, haven’t read his blog for a while but always enjoyed his views on Arsenal, always seemed to take everything with a pinch of salt.
Cesc,
Are you still there or have you been sin binned?
Left, I would never sin bin CA.
Chris, yes, that’s the guy. Very sad, he was one of the few that posted daily. Goonerholic also passed recently.
From the 6 mins of footage I’ve seen of Mari, I can say he looks better than mustafi and current holding.
He’s big, well built and yes he lacks pace but so did John Terry and later V. Kompany and of course our own Adams. If he can sit back and marshal a defence he will be perfect for us.
Plus his attitude looks good. Holds his head high and has great cheek bones.
ACLF was where Queen of Suburbia used to go to tell people that I phoned her house to harass her kids.
😂
Go on Shrewsbury!
LT
Still here
They said the same thing about Van Dyke – he lacks pace.
Wonder if anyone is still saying that.
Still here. What a shame.
The absolute scenes when Normski/Aubergine/northern whatever/etc etc/ etc etc is calling for people to get banned.
Hannibal Lector complaining about people’s eating habits comes to mind.
^ 😂
We don’t have a lot of money to burn. We suffered losses last financial year and are staring at a bigger loss in the current financial year. Should we fail to qualify for Europa League, we will be in a real soup. Signing of Pablo should be seen from the context of our current risk appetite too.
Guys, eyes on the prize…
Thomas Lemar, what do we think of that?
TR7, have you watched Mari?
Feel like most are in the dark as to whether it’s a good move
That’s the beauty of The Cup
Is that a replay for Pool then?
Love and Cummings both scored in that game, don’t know what to make of that but I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.
This latest long streak of p**s we are buying clearly fits that old adage: “” if you pay peanuts , you will get monkeys”” He is a signing West Ham or West Bromwich would expect to make. It’s a signing- that tells you all you need to know about the Edu and Raul double act. Ie. They have not got the foggiest in what they are doing or more importantly what they are actually trying to achieve…..can anyone enlighten me on what our future goals are ? They are clearly making it up as you go along. (Like most charlatans… Read more »
Pedro He’s the profile we should be looking at imo, supremely talented, moved to a big club too early and didn’t live up to the hype and fee and is now hopefully out to prove something. Reduced hype = lower fee Creative talent seems to struggle under Simeone, especially lately so shouldn’t deter us. Wouldn’t bring him in on the left wing, got Zplenty of players that can play there now, Auba, Martinelli, Saka, but if he’s coming in to fill the creative void in the middle of the park for us I say go for it. Atletico wants him… Read more »
CG, I reckon they are signing much needed centre back coverage knowing that CC is out, Mustafi is garbage, Holding is injury prone and the other two are in their thirties.
Pretty clear.
Pedro
No, I don’t have any idea about his quality. I am only saying given our precarious financial situation, we shouldn’t expect the club to spend mega money on a center back and that too in Jan window. We do have Holding, Saliba, Luiz and Chambers, so we have options when everyone is fit. Our focus should be on central midfield in summer, defense not a pressing concern for me.
CG
Give up the 8 CB spiel
Chambers is out for 9 months, Mavro is on loan and is unlikely to make it, We’re trying to give Mustafi away but no takers so far, he should never play for us again.
Holding is not guaranteed to come back at the same level and even that wasn’t anything special, just good.
We’ll get rid of at least 3 CBs in the summer without doubt. Don’t let that stop your whining though.
If we can get peak Monaco out of Lemar then I say it would be a saucy signing.
Someone is pure defensive, arteta seems to like to split defence and attack so lemar should get more freedom.
If he replaces Ozil in the side then I’m all for it.
Simeone*
‘Holding is not guaranteed to come back at the same level and even that wasn’t anything special, just good.’
Holding’s been a big disappointment so far this season.
As you say he wasn’t really special last season but he was very steady in our defence and we looked worse after he went out with that ACL.
Just has looked a world away from even being steady.
Rumours are Matviyenko is still a possibility for the summer which suggests massive changes at CB.
CH
How can you say that? Ffs he hasn’t even kicked a ball yet
I’ve often contemplated TRW s why cheap signings that other West Brom type clubs have made and we’ve missed
VVD at Southampton was one of those
We will need to go for deals and a loan with summer option is The right way to go for a Jan signing
CG !
Pedro
I get the feeling lemar is not fit for british league, Lacazette/ozil style… maybe he becomes more bernardo silva ish if we sign him and get lucky. My guess is its either a smokescreen to move him on ie kia’s press plants w kurzawa or a loan as he hasnt been up to simeone’s standards. Easy to see a french attacking player not living up to that mans standards. Imagine n pepe at atletico…
CA
If we’re out of the running for Upa and are looking for a left footed CB that can instigate attacks I’d hope we’d looking at Gabriel at Lille instead, would probably be in the same price range as Matviyenko but has the physicality and height too.
We’ll see, maybe Pablo smashes his first 6 months and we don’t have to buy anyone else, that would be ideal.
Pedro
How many of Sven’s signings do you think were any good?
Sometimes,( sometimes)…..not actually signing players improve you.
Engendering a team spirit
Allowing a coach to have a real go at improving players ( Spurs were better when they didn’t buy anyone)
Why are we washing our hands with Holding and the young Greek lad.?
Our Wenger turned Kolo Toure into an Invincible, remember.
Arsenal FC are becoming the Battersea Dogs Home of European soccer the amount of mongrels we have.
Mari- is a cross breed Lurcher who needs a home granted- but not at The Arsenal.
I think Lemar could work as a CAM to phase Ozil out
Left wing is his position but I hope that isn’t whats in mind as I really want to see Saka develop and make this role his own
I now a few views on here believe a central role could suit him and could provide more zest and energy to the attack
“Sometimes,( sometimes)…..not actually signing players improve you.Engendering a team spirit
Allowing a coach to have a real go at improving players ( Spurs were better when they didn’t buy anyone)”
This only applies when you already have good players. We don’t, not in CB. Not even close, not even one. There’s question marks over all of them, be it focus our fitness, simply can’t rely on the bunch we have now.
FL Quite possibly. At £7 Million it’s one of those that even if he does moderately well here we can sell on for twice that or more if we need to…hello Italy. It does seem like the emphasis has shifted onto a left footed CB which seems to have come from Arteta…although it could be coincidence. Just seems Upamecano was the one we wanted and now suddenly it’s all about left footers. Makes sense to pair a left footed CB with Saliba. Would be fantastic is Mari turned out to be a gem signing. Two towering CBs is what we… Read more »
CG
Our young Greek lad is injury prone and looks nervous every time I’ve watched him
Northbanker
If you look at Lemars highlight reel most of his good bits is in the center of the pitch:
https://youtu.be/WFqnPJY8aeU
He can’t be any worse than the current version of Ozil so if it’s a loan with option it’s a no brainer.
ESR is on loan already, Ceballos wants to leave so we’re really short at Cam anyway.
Bat
“”””CG Our young Greek lad is injury prone and looks nervous every time I’ve watched him”””:
He has.
But he looked rock solid and a prospect when Dortmund Eye and our Wenger were ( for a brief time- together)
He looked then like a world beater.
He now plays like a panel beater.
How many appearances did Mavropanos make under Wenger 3? One of which included a good game and another included a red card. How many matches of the 3 he started under Wenger did we win?
What the fuck, reports that has been Kobe Bryant killed in a helicopter crash.
CG
A panel beater is a skilled tradesman
Messed up that sentence. Horrible news if true
It’s true
Kobe Bryant is gone, gone too soon but his legacy lives forever.
RIP Black Mamba
Are there any links for the game?
Manu had Martinelli on trial and passed, if this deal is actually happening and he turns out to be decent, it would be Arsenal 2, Manchester a big fat 0.
Plus, it would be a deal to fill a position that has been existing for absolute years…a backup at LCB., less than 10 mill…worth the punt.
FL
True that Spurs didn’t and reached the ECL final but maybe it also began the root of a decline since then
Most great teams have continually bought to keep existing players on their toes and constantly seek the 10% improvement
The Liverpool teams of the 70s did and so did Man U under Ferguson
I always thought we needed an additional top class player most seasons under the Wenger teams of the first decade to kick on higher. Had we done so maybe we could have won the ECL
Blessed are the panel beaters
NB “True that Spurs didn’t and reached the ECL final but maybe it also began the root of a decline since thenMost great teams have continually bought to keep existing players on their toes and constantly seek the 10% improvementThe Liverpool teams of the 70s did and so did Man U under FergusonI always thought we needed an additional top class player most seasons under the Wenger teams of the first decade to kick on higher. Had we done so maybe we could have won the ECL” Oh I agree with all that, we need to buy ourselves out of… Read more »
Private helicopters and planes are death machines waiting to happen. These vehicles are not regulated like a commercial jet or helicopter would be. Unbelievable.
Sad news for the NBA and Bryant. RIP.
Jamie I just read that, Terrible news. RIP Kobe.
Evening Grovers,
Good post Pedro.
Sad news indeed about a Cultured left foot. ACLF along with Goonerholic were the 2 blogs I read before I found LeGrove.
These things tend to happen in 3s so you and Geoff please look after yourselves and keep away from any sneezing Chinese.
Keep it Goonerish.
Anyone who says they heard of Mari before is lying . I find it quite similar to Koscielny signing. Wenger used his French scouts to unearth him . Edu used his knowledge plus I believe he must’ve consulted Arteta and then signed Mari .
CG Arsene Wenger also turned a postman into a Sanaogo !
That’s devastating news about Kobe, star sportsmen like him touch so, so many lives positively and for him to go out like that is utterly tragic.
Establishes a wonderful life for himself and family, then gets it unceremoniously cut short. Rest in peace that man, thoughts are with the kids losing their father. Heartbreaking.
G8
Are you sure? It’s possible Wenger turned a Sanogo into a postman.
Ooof, and his daughter was onboard. Awful. Helicopters are so risky. Wealthy can’t get enough of them.
RIP Kobe
Awful that his daughter was with him.
Very sad
Pedro
Whilst anything like this is always tragic how many are killed in car crashes on a bit of local road?
Celebrities obviously attract more attention but any parent and kid being killed is a family torn apart.
Marc: The fatal helicopter accident rate has progressively increased over the last three years—from 0.54 per 100,000 flight hours in 2016 to 0.6 in 2017 to 0.72 in 2018—according to data released by U.S. Helicopter Safety Team (USHST) on Monday at Heli-Expo 2019. Year to date, the rate is 0.4 per 100,000 flight hours. To achieve the safety organization’s goal of reducing the overall helicopter fatal accident rate by 20 percent by 2020, the cumulative average rate would need to measure 0.61 per 100,000 hours. Likewise, the number of fatalities per 100,000 hours jumped from 1.02 in 2017 to 1.64… Read more »
My point was more that… if I were incredibly rich, I’d still not fuck with helicopters
No amount of Money and Comfortable life is going to heal the gut wrenching pain that his wife and his three daughters are going to feel from now on. It is just very Sad. Sometimes Life is just unfair in crappy ways.
Wow Pedro
Did you get lucky with Google there or is that a specialist field?
Pedro
If you were rich and lived in a clogged up metro area like London, NYC or LA, you would take your chances with helicopters.
The rate of private jet crashes is astronomically higher than commercial jet accidents too.
Limousines have a higher rate of accidents compared to regular cars too.
Nature has a way of rewarding the average Joe, it seems.
Sad to hear of Kobe Bryant’s death. Painful if lives are cut short tragically. Reminds me of Emiliano Sala’s. Maybe some regulations need intensifying to protect passengers of private jets. RIP to him.
I believe if what got us Pepe was done in the past, we may not be where we are. Hope this Mari guy fits the bill for Arteta’s game. We sometimes need efficient players to do the work without necessarily being superstars.
Pedro
Not sure what you’re trying to say there, just a quick google says that in 2016 102 people were killed each day in the US in car accidents.
It’s one of the things I’ve never understood about the psychology of Americans when it comes to the Vietnam war – just under 60,000 were killed in a dozen or so years – more Americans were killed every 18 months on the roads however Vietnam is a massive scar on the American population.