A very quick post for you today as not a lot is going on and I’m still out on the town celebrating the MASSIVE win against Pompey. I thought Arteta’s comments on the kids were positive.
“They always respond and I always knew they would do that. They have to learn from the difficult moments and manage them but they have the talent and desire… look how hard they work.
“We have pace in a few players up front. Reiss is a special player and can eliminate players one on one. He’s been out for a while but he’s back now and he showed what he’s capable of doing.
“I’m really enjoying working with this group of players. It’s a process. I know [people think] everything has to be today or yesterday but in football it doesn’t happen like this.
“I am pleased with all of them, the kids really responded really well.
Reiss obviously a fave because he was one of the first players the manager trained way back when. I think we were all a little worried he’d struggle, but he’s starting to find his feet, he certainly looks more direct, and a lot more confident in the new system. Let’s see if he can take that form into the Premier League, we’ll certainly need it.
Overall, I think our financial situation means a lot of hope is going to be pinned on the new coaches developing and pushing the players forward. I genuinely feel excited by the options coming through, even players on loan, like ESR OR Balogan, who scored another 2 goals last night against the U23 Monaco side. He really does look great. OR WHAT ABOUT SALIBA. Good times coming for us if these players take their chance.
Big news, our Manchester City game that was postponed for the League Cup final is coming around a lot quicker than we’d hoped. It’ll be next Wednesday, which is a bit of a bitch for away fans, but at least the club is subsidising the fans with socialist bus tickets. The good news, if there ever is when playing City, is that from a prep perspective, we’re doing a little bit better. City play Sheffield Wednesday tonight, two days after our Pompey game, then they have a bitch of a game against City on Sunday against United at 5pm, versus our less of a bitch game against the Hammers at 3pm on Saturday.
I mean, the prep time doesn’t really help us when it comes to quality. City are still a very dangerous team and Pep will go extra hard against his little bitch student who left him midseason. It’ll be an interesting match, we’ll be lucky to come away with much, I just hope we put on a good show. If by some miracle we win that game, we’ll set ourselves up nicely for the run-in, lose, things start to look dark again and everyone will cry that they wanted Mourinho as manager. Just the way things are these days.
Ok, I’m at the end of the post. I told you it’d be short, so no bitching. Instead, enjoy the below podcast with Aash. He’s very eloquent and the sound is nice and good, ya hear me?
Mask up morning all
Trophy?
Maybe 5th?
No 4th
troph’?
You lot took ages and then I forgot!
Yaaaaawn
‘Your attempt at ridiculing Sokratis actually makes you look ridiculous though I am sure you will deny that was your intention . The nature of your negative comments recently towards the manager and players tells me it was.’ Pierre, What took you so long. I stated recently that we had no business paying a player 18m a year, I believe you have been having difficulty in breathing since then. I was just making a joke at Papa, and of course you knew what it was but you had been waiting too long behind the bushes for me and any opportunity… Read more »
Pedro Arsenal’s future must be based on its development plan in producing quality players in our Academy. The transfer market should in my view be only used where the club is not producing players in its own programme. Clearly the Academy Programme has not been in recent times fit for purpose and in particular producing “proper defenders”. That is primarily due to Wengerism where players preferred to play football rather than learn the art of good defending. The club is now in transition with the remnants of older players who are in most cases rather mediocre and a group of… Read more »
What this about an all white kit?
I’m with you ES. Even though we don’t seem to be producing CBs in the academy, there are more than enough prospects in and approaching the first team squad. With Balogun and John Jules forming a line behind Nketiah, it gives us real possibilities in the future up front. The challenge will be to give them enough worthwhile playing time (loans obviously come in to this) and the confidence that they have a prospect of making the first team squad. If they don’t quite make it, then it’s up to the management to ensure we can sell them for considerable… Read more »
The academy had always focused on the attacking side of the game rather than the defensive side. The fact that the academy had not produced a single premiership quality CB is testament to that. Matthew Upson was bought from Luton so hardly qualify as a home grown academy result. However the last five years with Ampadu in particular the midfield and attacking players have been of very good quality. I also think that TH14 stint as an attacking coach was beneficial to many of those youngsters. He had the charisma and aura so youngsters were prepare to listen to him,… Read more »
Stroller The centre back position is complicated. Decisions need to be made by Arteta as to who he deems suitable to play at the back. There are 2 unknown entities that have to be taken into consideration, Saliba and Mari. Mari , I like the look of, he didn’t look at all nervous and was confident, composed and comfortable in possession of the ball. Sometimes playing against a physical, aggressive lower league side can be harder for a centre back than playing in the prem where it is often more about reading the game , technique and anticipation. He managed… Read more »
Just like Nketiah Many here also downrated Reiss too early. Look at his development under Arteta.
Always said theres a player in there and if recent performances are anything to go by there is a BIG player in there I believe.
Hopefully he finishes the season with no injuries and much more game time.
Also seems to have found his best position and playing style that is RW.
Valentin, agree with the need for a tall, physically dominant defensive midfielder but would add that this player needs to have recovery speed as a prerequisite to purchase. Watching Xhaka appearing to run on sand makes me wince every time he gets exposed and puts pressure on our CBS. Not sure Mari has the turn of speed necessary, tall and great left peg though! I think you may have a fair point about Leno. If we’re going to play out the back, it would help massively to have a goalkeeper who is not only great at saving shots but who… Read more »
There is an idea worth trying. We play Reiss Nelson on the RW and play Pepe as a fault nine replacing Laca. Pepe’s starting position should be between the lines. Once he receives a pass from midfield, he’ll run at the defenders. He can attract some faults or penalties.
Pierre
I have watched both Saliba and Mari albeit on only one occasion. Neither is in
my view the type of CB that I describe in my last post. On the other hand I can
see one of these two complementing Upamecano.
Let’s be honest we have 8 CBs on our books, but our defence is not improving.
We need to find the right combination as a “long term solution” to what has
become a perennial problem.
Liverpool had a similar situation until they spent mega bucks on Van Dijk and
that change completely the dynamics of their defence.
“Personally I would want us also to upgrade on Leno. While a great shot stopper he does not command his box and is costing us games with regular daft mistakes.“ Leno is more than good enough for our current goals of rejoining the top 4 in the PL and qualifying for CL. Not sure I understand the strategy of ousting a competent member of the XI. It means the replacement has to perform at a particular level, no ifs or buts, simply so we don’t take a step back. As always my focus would be on players on the fringes… Read more »
The reason why I suggest Pepe as a false nine.
– He doesn’t like to track back
– He prefers to shoot rather than to pass.
You make a fair point about Leno CC.
There are loads of players I’d rather see the back of than Leno. However at the moment there are too many occasions where he is being asked to distribute when the back four are being pressed and a pass back to the GK seems the best solution. If our passing out from the back is improved then there would be less of a dependence on Leno to distribute.
That being said, Leno is a top quality shot stopper!
Valentin It is very rare for a club to produce in one generation a group of young players who grow up together and save the club mega bucks in transfer market. Man United have managed it twice during my time of watching football. First the brief period of the Busby Babes and then of course the era of Giggs, Neville Brothers, Scholes, Beckham and Butts. Liverpool by contrast when they were dominating the League and Europe operated a different formula of looking for players coming through less fashionable clubs in lower leagues. That route is less likely to occur in… Read more »
Got to agree with CC – you can argue any player can be upgraded on but with where we are at the moment Leno is not a priority. There are plenty of other positions that need to be looked at first.
The City match being rescheduled for next week looks a good thing for us under the circumstances. It means we’ve got a difficult match in the middle of a run of winnable matches rather than 5 very difficult matches back to back. We’ve now got:
West Ham H
Man City A
Brighton A
Southampton A
Norwich H
Wolves A
Leicester H
Spud’s A
Liverpool H
Aston Villa A
Watford H
It won’t be easy but we do have a chance.
Cheers Unnaii,
Putting PEA and Laca to one side, we have Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah, Nelson and Pepe to play in the front three. Not much experience but incredible potential. If both PEA and Laca were to both go, which may not happen, there would be a strong argument for bringing in an experienced forward to compliment the youngsters.
Goalkeeping is as much about decision making as shotstopping. Leno has lost confidence in coming for balls in the area and that has affected his decision making. He now prefers to stay rooted to his line which puts the onus on the defenders to clear the ball , even in the 6 yard box. Great at shotstopping, great at one on ones but unless he works on dominating the box then we will continue to concede goals from set pieces and crosses onto the box. Petr Cech was the opposite to Leno , great at dominating his area but would… Read more »
Marc, Southampton away is to be rearranged due to FA cup involvement.
Un I’m not sure we need to get anything against City, of course it would be nice. Chelsea, the Spud’s, ManU etc all have tough matches as well so they will or at least should be points dropped by other teams. In the run of more difficult games Leicester and the Spud’s are the ones we need to go hell for leather to win as I think we’ve got a chance in those, Wolves are still in Europe so not sure how their fixtures work out. By the time we get to Liverpool they should have won the league and… Read more »
Bob
Didn’t realise that – OK that will be interesting.
Pierre
Well to be honest there’s a reasonably easy solution if Leno has lost confidence in coming out to claim balls in his area. And that’s on the training ground – all about coaching!
Anyone rate Cavani ? Kind of left field signing . Can play the Lacazette role but better .
Thomas, coming on here being negative about Arsenal – most people would assume that you’re not even an Arsenal fan.
Bit sad that you’d choose to spend time on here. Says a lot about you and the sort of life you’re leading.
I see us losing vs Southampton away. Fkin Saints always have our number.
Unnaii, he’s f*cking miserable!
Bob/Un,
Thomas is a black hole sucking the joy and the life out of this blog.
Even for a Chav he’s a Canute
Don’t count the City game, a draw would be a good result but not expecting anything from that.
Leicester home win and a spurs away win considering the state of their squad should be expected. Also don’t expect anything at Wolves away, Pool should be champions by the time we play them so don’t fear that a lot plus it’s at home.
We just need to have as less draws as possible and more wins as the teams above us at the moment will drop points plus be distracted with Europe. We have got a chance
How much would you spend to upgrade Leno, Pierre?
Especially when we urgently need to splash some cash at the back and in the middle, we may need a RB too.
So in the middle of all that, how much would suggest we spend to upgrade a goalie who’s easily among the best in the league?
Decent predictions Bati.
Out of EL at least allows us ‘concentrate on the league’ more. Wolves will hopefully get through to the next round of EL and have games in that competition either side of playing us. Liverpool, if they are still in the CL when they play us will have won the PL so may be more focussed on the cup.
Chavs and Spuds will be out. Sheffield Utd, still in FA will hopefully run out of steam but they have had an amazing season.
Would be daft to be thinking of upgrading a position like GK when we’ve got a non existent midfield.
Gentle, would it be possible to identify a cheaper option than Leno?
‘Don’t count the City game, a draw would be a good result but not expecting anything from that.’
If Citey go into a game with a will to win, I don’t see a football team that can stop them, not even form Liverpool or form Bayern.
I have not seen RM at that level for some time now and yet a second gear Agueroless and mostly Sterlingless Citey beat them from behind in front of their own crowd.
So unless Citey surface in one of their charity moods, we must forget that game.
Bob,
You mean a better keeper than Leno at cheaper than £19m?
Would be a bit like finding the cure for Covid-19 in three hours flat.
Leno has made some mistakes but who hasn’t this season? The Spanish dude over there at United gifted Everton a goal just couple of days ago. The dude at Liverpool has done his own things this season too. So why should we even begin to look at Leno when we have plenty to look at?
Un It’s maddening whenever there’s a howler from any player, Leno has been very good this season on the balance of play and this has been with a patchwork defensive structure ahead of him. Whether it’s been CM lacking any type of coherent partnerships, or if it’s been a back four that’s had every defensive player at the club take part at some stage. Leno is of no concern to me at all right now, our ambitions are to secure ourselves as a top 4 club again in the immediate term and he’s plenty good enough for that. I have… Read more »
CC
Agree it’s like mowing your lawn when the house is on fire – I think that can wait!
CC
Agree. No reason we even think about replacing Leno.
Easily a Top 4 keeper in the league. And keepers tend to get better and better as they get older.
Think all the goal keepers in the top parts of the league have howlers in them, Allison maybe being the best of the bunch. Chelsea spent a bucket load on a goal Keeper and he’s been second choice to a 40 Yr old for some weeks now. De gea looks disinterested and Allison while being a good shot stopper has the benefit of that pool back line. Lloris is nothing special so i think Leno is just fine for us
Wasi Leno is a decent shot stopper, but he has cost us “results” in critical games most notably our recent defeats against Chelsea and Olympiacos. There have been too many performances this season where he has made a bad decision. Most are down to poor distribution. The Olympiacos second goal was down to kicking out for a corner rather than upfield where there would have been under a lot less pressure. He should have realised that Arsenal were vulnerable to set piece outcomes. I find it difficult to understand why this goalkeeper cannot make decisions according to circumstances rather than… Read more »
There is a guy on loan at Getafe from Stoke, Peter Etebo. I think he can do what Le Coq(most didn’t appreciate him at the time)did for us. Strong, briefly technical and comes with plenty of gas. He can be our Ndidi.
Leno has had howlers but he is easily one of our best performers this season. I think he is a bit over confident at times but in the right structure I would even argue he would be a pl winning goalkeeper. We have so much to fix and he shouldn’t even be in the conversation. Back up LB, Starting CM, Starting CAM, DM to compete with torriera, A goal Scoring winger if auba leaves, And a CB ( depending on Mari) are all priority this summer for me. RB is also a position to look at depending on Bellerin after… Read more »
bris
Stoke are 1 point above the relegation zone in the Championship – surely if that guy was any good they’d have him back helping them survive.
Gentlebris “How much would you spend to upgrade Leno, Pierre? ” I am hoping the powers that be (goalkeeping coach)are working on his weak points ( decision making and coming for crosses) and then we will have a very good keeper. As for how much would I spend , put it this way, if we were to sell Leno we would get 25/30 million , so I’m sure we could replace him with about 6 months of Ozil’s weekly wage on top of the 25/30 million, making a total of 35/40 million. Anyway, as some have alluded to , a… Read more »
ES,
To make the decision easier for you:
Assuming we have(after selling some players)£100m to spend this summer.
Who would you upgrade(given you could only by four new players):
Mustafi/Papa
Ozil
Xhaka
Bellerin/AMN
Ceballos/Bien
Or
Drum rolling……
LENO?
Leno is a liability at times.
Marc,
Peter Etebo was player of the year at Stoke last term. I think there was a regime change and he got the new head dude angry.
He’s presently trending at Getafe.
He’s a full international who played next to Ndidi at the 2018 world cup.
*Ceballos/Guen.
bris
Haven’t seen him so can’t comment on that level – just seems as is the new guys are cutting off their noses to spite their face if they go down!
‘If we lose at city I see our confidence taking a beating. Arteta knows that team inside out after his 3 years there. He will know every player and what their weaknesses are He will know pep’s game plan inside out If anyone can get a result there right now it’s got to be him‘ —————- Un I disagree. The only way our confidence takes a beating is if City run up the score. Neither Arteta or Pep will allow this. City win this game easily with a 70 % possession because our game right now is ill suited to… Read more »
With only 100mn to spend, ozil is likely stay as we have bigger pbms at CM, DM, CB, RB imho.
Bellerin is finished at this level, we would be only delaying the inevitable.
Why aren’t our goalkeeping coaches doing their job?
Perhaps get new ones if it is a cheaper option.
I’m not sure you can ever predict what Pep is going to do, he’ll bring a massive curveball and throw any sort of premeditated approach at picking at his thinking.
ET Agree he has cost us a few points this season. Also his EL blunder came at a disastrous time. But its hard to argue that he has saved us a lot many points than he has cost us. He is easily our best player this season after Auba, and the kids. Also the set pieces goals that we concede at an unimaginable rate is due to a combination of factors. We have only 1 good header of the ball in our current Prem 11 in Mustafi. Luiz , Xhaka are decent but dont have the aggressive nature and bravery… Read more »
Would serve us great if we concentrate almost all our summer efforts in sorting out our midfield. Arsenal labour too much in the middle these days. Xhaka is(frankly)our best player there(DM/CM/AM)and that tells a story. We have to look for guys like BS at Citey, people with a right combo of energy, skill and idea. Then we have to find a Kante/Ndidi sort of guy, a guy with plenty of steel and gas. Torrey has neither. Passing the ball sideways like robots is what our midfield is all about these days. Then whenever they try to string the right passes… Read more »
The Mari signing is now looking more of a long term thing than a cover / stop gap signing.
Bearing in mind we signed him in Jan just as Mustafi was being reintroduced into the first team another CB was hardly a priority when we had Luiz& Mustafi with Sok and Holding as back up.
Mari against Portsmouth played in a very similar way to City’s Laporte when we were in possession.
Looked very very comfortable + always looking to play a forward pass. Also bravely stepped into the midfield when necessary.
Wasi
He was also singled out for being incredibly slow when we were looking at him, now I’m not suggesting he’s quicker than Walcott but he didn’t look that slow to me.
I agree Marc, it would appear that at the start of next season Luiz, Saliba and Mari could be three of our CBs. Let’s say we need 5, that means two from Sokratis, Mustafi, Holding, Chambers and Mavropanos.
Chambers could be difficult to shift with a longstanding injury.
Mavropanos likely to be sold.
Holding is not getting much of a look in, to be sold?
Not straightforward. Many feel Upemacano should be bought. Not sure how likely that is now.
Mustafi being fattened up for market?
He was also singled out for being incredibly slow when we were looking at him, now I’m not suggesting he’s quicker than Walcott but he didn’t look that slow to me.
Agree with that. Tbh in the YT videos he did look slow. And here he wasnt really put in situations where his speed or lack of speed came to the fore.
Bob
I think Sok will definitely be off, Chambers can’t be considered until fit again which is going to take a year but I agree on the first choice 3 if the remainder of this season goes well. Could well see Luiz and Mari start the season with Saliba coming in as he settles. Would be surprised to see Mustafi still here as well.
‘Bearing in mind we signed him in Jan just as Mustafi was being reintroduced into the first team another CB was hardly a priority when we had Luiz& Mustafi with Sok and Holding as back up.’
We still need the ace man, a VVD.
Someone to form a partnership with Saliba and give him a good culture.
Upamecano maybe.
If we sell Papa, Mustafi and Holding; we should have enough green for that.
Then Luiz, Chambers and Mari backup Saliba and Upa.
Marc
If Mari does work out. I would really like to see a CB pairing of Mustafi(in his current form) and Mari.
Will help considerably in attacking and defending set pieces I think
bris
What if Mari is that guy – a good CB pairing is better than the sum of their parts.
Let’s cool down a bit about Mari.
He has played only one game…..against a league one side.
A good game, for sure.
But let’s see him under real pressure before we start making big plans for him.
Remember the Greek lad? I was ready to say he was the best defender we had after his great performance against United.
I would like to look at Mari in a big six game and a couple other games.
bris
I wouldn’t want to judge him until the end of the season, my point was he was described as being very slow – he didn’t look that slow to me.
Theres no fair way of assesing Mari with Mustafinovs beside him, Xhakalson on his left , one CM with many weaknesses ahead of him and a number 10 thats hiding.
Promising first game Gentle, that’s all. He’s only played 22 ‘top division’ games in his career! All the same, I think I’d put money on him being with us next season.
I don’t believe defence is a priority in the Summer provided Mari can prove himself. I’ve watched him play for Flamengo before and game v Portsmouth very encouraging. We have Saliba still to come who can be a real powerhouse there. The priority is midfield – we need a dominant and powerful DM who can move the ball forward. We also need a top quality CAM who can provide a proper link in the middle of the field and keep the strikers and wingers in play. Get those 2 right and we’re moving forward. Also think that ESR can be… Read more »
Sid, yesterday he played with Luiz, quite likely to be his partner. I’d be surprised if he starts many PL games in the next month unless injuries mount up.
Apparently AC Milan want AMN.
I say if they stump up £35m he’s theirs.
Before anyone shoots me down as being unreasonable, remember £35m is what we sold the Ox for and Alex Iwobi… and AMN is only 22/23 with over 100 games played for the Arsenal.
Then use that money to part fund a top defender.
Sadly I fear we’re stuck with Ozil running his contract down but at least the light is there in the tunnel. Maybe if we get a top CAM he will start thinking about protecting his contract position ahead of 2021.
£35m… blimey that’s hopeful Leeds. £20m absolute tops.
Is Bandy self isolating or have I missed something.
.
.⛑⛑⛑🤧🤧🤧🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
*Near 50 games not 100
the midfield is the issue, can anyone name one fit for purpose midfielder at arsenal
as I struggle and if xhaka is the main stay then we definitely have an issue
BobN16
I would have said the same for Iwobi but look what we got for him! Even £20m is decent money for a bench warmer!
I was really pissed off with Leno’s decision making naivety again v Olympiakos and that was a game changer even though it doesn’t count for other issues then. Really frustrating because he’s probably the best shot stopper in the business right now. We need to be scouting for the next super keeper at a bargain price. For now though we need a really good coach to work on this decision making with him and Arteta needs to consider his strategic thinking in terms of how he uses Leno. With midfield to sort and funds tight I’d regard it as a… Read more »
Agree Leeds, £20m would be excellent money for AMN.
Leeds – I agree – why not? He is still highly rated and Gazidis probably still influenced by Emery’s assessment of him,(think it was the only sentence he uttered in English in his interview that Gazidis could understand) even though clearly not shared by Arteta.
Interesting how AC Milan sniffing around so many of our players. Gazidis must be desperate to show off his Rolodex
Upamecano is a pipe dream and we should forget about him.
I don’t even think we will sign a defender this summer. Our starting pair would likely be Saliba and Luiz and we would keep two out of Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding, Chambers, Mari and Mavropanos
I guess we would be looking to sell Mustafi, Holding and Mavropanos as they are most likely the ones to fetch us more money.
I also see AMN being sold if a decent offer came in now that we have Cedric.
Good as he is, Upamecano will be very expensive and therefore would be a mistake IF he came at the expense of either a DM or a CAM.
West Ham: 3
Citey: –
Brighton: 3
Norwich: 3
Wolves: 3
Leicester: 3
Spuds: 3
Liverpool: 1
Villa: 3
Watford: 3
25 points from 10 games.
Only kind of form that can deliver CL.
What’s more?
It’s actually doable!
The men for the crusade:
Auba Nketia/Martinelli Pepe/ Nelson
Ceballos
Xhaka Torrey/Guen
Saka/Tierney Luiz Mari/Mustafi AMN/CS
Leno
azed
AMN would probably bring in a decent fee with the English premium as well.
Not to be a spolispor, but there was an interview with a sports lawyer yesterday on the radio about sports arbitration and CAS, the arbitration court which will hear Man City’s appeal on the two year Champions League ban. The process usually takes 6-9 months, during which any penalty is deferred. He says City have two options: 1) an accelerated appeal, where CAS’s decision is given before the start of next season’s ECL., or 2) a standard appeal, in which case UEFA’s 2 year no EXL penalty will be deferred to the following season. He thinks that, regardless of which… Read more »
Spolispor – spoilsport!
Ffs
Decreed – deferred!
Reiss Nelson was apparently subject of a 20 mil bid last summer, so have to imagine AMN is in that ball park.
‘Good as he is, Upamecano will be very expensive and therefore would be a mistake IF he came at the expense of either a DM or a CAM.’ I agree with the opinion that midfield is the most urgent issue. But Liverpool only became a decent team after VVD came in. They had a very good and mobile midfield but it wasn’t enough. Unless Mari is elite level and can be our VVD( very much unlikely given the data), we will have to sign an elite defender. Note that apart from poor game management from the bench, lack of an… Read more »
We love buying crocks and giving them money.
Cedric now out for five weeks which supposedly was a minor knock.
Where is Tierney? Now out for three months and before that he was injured at the start of the season. How many games has he played for 25 mil?
Strange thing about goalkeepers, Leno makes the same cock ups time after time, joint top for fuck up leading to goals at 7, unless the last round of games has changed that.
My point is is we have goalkeeping coaches , who on the face of it, do nothing at all, as nothing seems to change with the keepers performances.
Out field players visibly improve with coaching, so why not keepers?
what am i missing here?
If you was buying a yearling at the Tattersall sales you would
check it’s legs and feet.
Comparison Amn to Ox and Iwobi and wishing for 35 mil is a pipe dream Ox was one of our best players at the time Liverpool came for him. So 35 was good money. Iwobi fee is more in the 30mil ballpark. Also he has shown a ceiling much higher than Amn. Amn has only been a gap-filling player in his Arsenal career. Also his attitude as Arteta just said is not the best. No team will pay 35 for such a player. Also English Premium doesnt matter if we are selling abroad. If 20 mil was offered id take… Read more »