I want to talk about exec leadership at Arsenal today because it’s absolute lunacy what’s going on at Arsenal at the moment.
I awoke yesterday to Kia trapping off on Talksport about upcoming changes in the structure at Arsenal football club. Totally egregious that a super-agent is airing Arsenal gossip on talk radio. Not just any super-agent, one that is at the centre of a scandalous transfer story for David Luiz, and one that is the agent of our technical director. Why is he talking?
Arsenal, repped by Bertie Mee, Herbert Chapman, Arsene Wenger and known as the Bank Of England club because of our class, has let the dogs in the back door and they’re running amok.
Think about this, two people seemingly driving the club at the moment have been involved in two of the most infamous transfer stories in history. The Tevez/Mascherano deal with West Ham and the Neymar transfer at Barca.
Is it any surprise that we’re in such a mess?
Raul, seemingly in lockstep with the fast fading great ‘Invincible’ hope Edu, is running the club into the ground.
Our last three January signings – Mari, Suarez, and Soares – boast one completed 90 minutes in the league. They’ve cost us £15m, enough to fund a top European 22-year-old for 3 years. Sure, it’s unfortunate that Mari suffered a bad injury, I feel for him, but the reality is he wasn’t playing yesterday if David Luiz had his head right. If you can’t displace a 33-year-old fading centre back when you are 26, it’s highly likely you are probably not the future of Arsenal football club.
The problem Arsenal has is there is no CEO. Dual leadership doesn’t even look good on paper, it’s a shit idea, always has been. You cannot share power. You need one person accountable. That’s just how humans work.
We need someone at the top of the tree who can get their head around the commercial aspects of our operation and the football parts. We need someone with the guts to scrutinise deals, challenge the data, and do the right thing for Arsenal. How many execs could survive our January signings alone? How could you rationalise the signing of Pepe for that huge fee, with a certain Jorge Mendes involved, buying from your mate (who was banned from French football for 3 months for allegedly breaking financial reporting regs) from a club that is run by someone who sees fees as the most profitable part of the game? How does he explain the run down contracts? How does Raul survive our position in the table? How has he moved Arsenal forward?
It is disgraceful that we are in such a mess 3 years after the so-called rebirth of Arsenal football club.
If Josh K doesn’t care about the club, he should care about looking like a fool, care of Edu and Raul.
If he doesn’t want to run Arsenal, he should invest in someone that can. Arsenal is a very wealthy organisation. Josh should go and find a CEO that understands sports or entertainment. Look into CEOs that have done positive things with limited funds. Speak to Hans-Joachim Watzke of Dortmund and find out what he needs to move to London. Go and speak to Ian Ayre who is in Nashville at the moment after a solid stint at Liverpool where he hired Jurgen Klopp. Speak to Beppe Marotta of Inter Milan (previously Juve). Do something creative. Rummage the NFL, the NBA, find anyone doing interesting things at prestigious sporting entities. Just don’t leave Arsenal to rot under rudderless leadership.
To make matters worse, Ivan Gazidis, who initiated all this, is now working off a Le Grove suggestion from 4 years ago. He’s hiring in Ralph Rangnick to bring power and pace to a slow league. Quite incredible he’s finally making a good decision while we’re still suffering from the most despicable power grab in European football history. No owner, no board, a patsy Technical Director, and super-agents so comfortable they are gossiping on the biggest sports radio station in the UK about our great club.
Nothing sums up our problems more succinctly than the David Luiz debacle.
1) Arteta had to drop a 33-year-old for a big game because Arsenal can’t afford his deal
2) Allowing him to derail a game because his head was gone
3) Having this problem after paying, according to The Athletic, £24m for his services. ONE YEAR.
4) Allowing a whole media cycle to be dedicated to whether Arsenal can seal a deal for him, because he’s important.
This one transfer is everything that is wrong with Arsenal under Raul. A lack of preparation, a lack of data, ‘contacts’ scouting, disgraceful fees, and absolutely shit output.
How can David Luiz be so important?
Ok, I’m being mean to Luiz. He’s not a bad player, even now. He’s been good under Arteta. However, his full body of work and the short term nature of his signature will always be judged as another bad piece of business. Edu should have signed someone young that could have grown with the club, instead, he did what was right for his agent, not what was right for us. I am pretty sure we were recommended Akanji last season, I saw him land a beautiful assist from deep for Dortmund a few days ago, he’s 24 years old and we could have signed him for about the same fee we nabbed Luiz for. Even if we couldn’t, are you telling me the best our scouting network could muster was someone in the Kia portfolio?
I also need to counter the ‘what about Martinelli’ argument. Of course, Raul and Edu will bring in some players outside their network, they can ‘t give all the deals to their ‘contacts’. The problem is just how bad the bad deals are. Emery, Pepe, Luiz, Suarez, Soares, Mari… not to mention heavy links to Willian, Kurzawa, Nuno and interviewing Perreira.
We need a prestige exec to come in and lay down the law with Raul and Edu. Ask them what drove certain signings, get into the weeds on what the fees were, understand why we are in such a mess, and ask for a clear plan for how they escape the doom. If the answers don’t suffice, move them the fuck on and start again with a clean slate. We have a good coach, now support him with the players and infrastructure he deserves.
Josh has to know that he’s being played like a fool. I cannot believe that he doesn’t have a single friend who is not giving him clear advice on just how bad the mess we’re in is. I’m also deeply hopeful that the Edu guff in The Athletic about how he goes about transfers was a reaction to the bad press. I also hope that Raul is going to pull the Luiz deal because it’s too hot for the club after the stories of last week.
Josh should speak to people at the club. People that have left the club. He should get into the details and see if his money is being spent wisely, then make a decision on whether he wants to be pushed around like the rich kid trying to buy friends in the school playground.
Something needs to change, my fear though, is there’s still some way to drop before actual meaningful action is taken.
Arsenal needs the accountability that comes with world-class leadership. The longer you leave hacks at the top of your organisation, the more expensive it becomes to dig your way out of the problem.
Time to act, Josh.
See you in the comments. x
P.S. Emergency podcast below.
where is everyone
2
DM, Bankz
Tr4phy
sweep
daddy damn
Haha
Wasi
“Kuoassi is off to Bayern.
Id be interested in Disasi tho. His concentration is a concern according to some but his physical attribute and young age is something that interests me a lot.”
Ah didn’t know it was finalized already.
Nevertheless there’s options out there that are not slow as fuck so we should be looking at them.
Not sure what to say about that post by Pedro though, wow, Gazidis really did a number on him eh. A blogger scorned and all that.
Back to pleading with the owner to step-in eh. My goodness this club is done. It’s already going to cost the world to dig ourselves out of this. Can you people now see why Abramovic was spending crazy in the beginning? He wasn’t buying the league or doping. He was digging Chelsea out of the gutter they was in to a level where they can self sustain. Which they are right now. Arsenal will have to do the same or bring through our own version of ‘the class if 92’ Now I’m thinking when Wenger warned us about being careful… Read more »
I agree Pedro, Mari was never going to be good enough… He turned like the QE2 just before he got injured… Far too slow for this league, he will get caught out high up the pitch every week, particularly if we want to squeeze the game so we can press as a team. My concern is how far we have fallen and I’m not sure Arteta alone, as good as I think he is can make the difference. There are too many bad eggs at the club, players and execs who want the gravy train to keep rolling (Qzil twitter… Read more »
Totally agree Pedro with one exception – Raul needs to be sacked straight away and not otherwise dealt with. I don’t know were Edu is in all of this but to date he has appeared to be nothing more than Raul’s lackey and not the so called final piece of the jigsaw. I never understood what job he was really doing and going forward we need a proper CEO, if Vinci is an good he goes back to being the CFO, nothing more, and a Director of Football. For CEO, the names seem sensible but not someone from the US… Read more »
Vinai
Wednesday night .How events unfolded 5 mins …our defensive/holding midfield off injured. 20 minutes…a central defender was taken off injured. 45 minutes…defensive error leads to first goal 50 minutes…red card and a penalty given by the Manchester born referee…game over .Considering we were playing one of the top 4 sides in Europe away from home, I’m not sure what more Arteta could have done. We had ten men , our left back was playing at centre back, our right winger was playing at left back , the only thing we could do was make it a damage limitation exercise….which we… Read more »
The Club named the Bank of England Club,was Sunderland in the fifties.There was a maximum Wage and Sunderland were exposed and fined.
Should have said.Sunderland paying over the maximum.
Tenerife Goon
“”””The Club named the Bank of England Club,was Sunderland in the fifties.””””””
And we are going the same way as Sunderland with these Dopes currently in charge.
Ask yourself this.
If Raul , Edu and Vinny lost their jobs belatedly today?
What clubs would employ them?
(Maybe Vinny would get an interview for the Grimsby Town secretary’s post….)
Ps. (10/10 Post. )
Exceptional.
We have moved from this manager will bring a turnaround in our fortune
to the CEO is the problem, this narrative has been marinating for some time now its ready to be served
Im telling you for free!
Ah, the dreaded CG stamp of approval.
The only 100% sure way of knowing you’re wrong about something.
It’s definitely Raul’s fault we didn’t muster a single shot on target against City.
FUCK THIS SHIT IT JUST DEPRESSING
Kroenke out
#Arsenalfanslivesmatter
Pepe, Tierney, Martinelli and Saliba four signings that have the fans excited and look positive. Lich, Sok, Guendozi and Torreira 4 signings that are seen as failures. The difference – one set were signed by Sanllehi the other were by the master and data driven guru Mislintat. You want to blame Sanllehi for an agent going on Talkshite? Fuck me every moron going is on Talkshite spouting an opinion on a regular basis and the more provocative the better – to even mention it is just doing want they want you to. There is one clear connection between Arsenal and… Read more »
Don’t get the people getting on Edu’s back already either. Apart from transfers, where he’s had one January window where we spent the magnificent sum of 1-1.5m in loan fees ( yeah I didn’t cherry pick the highest number I’ve seen and added wages to that, sorry)for Soares he hasn’t had any time do to anything yet. All his other responsibilities are things that we’re only going to notice in the long term. Same with Raul really, he was in charge of 1 window and 4/5 players are future starters for us, don’t see a problem with that, best window… Read more »
Also the bit were you say before it’s too late, it is too late Pedro. Because of the kroenkes and their stewardship, we are nothing more than a mid table team.
Pierre, nobody is slating Arteta because we lost away at City. It is however perfectly justified to question a line up that has our best players not starting in their favoured positions. What was he trying to achieve? Whatever it was it didn’t work at any point in the game. Graham, agree with your last post on yesterday’s article, the single biggest issue in many walks of life are the selfish, greedy self-promoting bullshitters that seem to rise to the top in direct correlation to their lack of ability. Just take a look at the White House, or to a… Read more »
Pedro ” They’ve cost us £15m, enough to fund a top European 22-year-old for 3 years.” Did you think before you wrote the above? Because I really think you’re so caught up in a panic of “I’ve got to start laying the blame on someone other than Arteta” that you’re not thinking clearly. If £15 million will fund a top European 22 year old for 3 years selling Xhaka in Jan would’ve given us £22 million in transfer fees and £15 million in wages over 3 years – isn’t that a new shiny CM who can actually do the job… Read more »
What ever happened to Arteta will win the PL or was it the CL in 5 years?
Proper CEO, hire a proper manager before it is too late
What kind of fitness did Xhaka and Mari bring on that within no time both go back without even a clash? Does Arteta understand fitness required at this level?
Have to say that that I’m not , and never have been particularly a fan of manager’s leaving players out of the team if their work/performance in training is not as good as others. Emery was in favour of it and it looks like Arteta is going down the same road. For me , it’s all about the 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon( or whenever) . If you produce the goods during games consistently, then you should be a nailed on starter. For instance , let’s say we have Xhaka and Messi were fighting for the same position in… Read more »
Andy “Pierre, nobody is slating Arteta because we lost away at City. It is however perfectly justified to question a line up that has our best players not starting in their favoured positions. What was he trying to achieve? Whatever it was it didn’t work at any point in the game.” The point is, we actually will never know if it could work due to events that transpired. It may( though probably not) have proved to be a line up that brought us a result. I think it’s fair to say that the first quarter of the game was pretty… Read more »
Xhaka and Messi? Very very wild comparison. Ans: I would go for anyone but Xhaka. Even Diaby or even Eboue as long as the other choice is Xhaka. Xhaka is Arteta 1.0 as a 0player. Same fucking boring style. Both shit players. Would you believe Xhaka can become a manager some day even if he is under Pep’s tutelage for 10 years?
Pierre
Thing is a manager can pick anyone or leave out anyone he wants – if he’s winning matches and blowing the opposition away.
If you’re not, if you’re making selections that have fans scratching their heads or not even managing to register a shot on target then you’re going to be called out on it.
What do we need to do? The longer we keep ranting the deeper of our wound will festering. As in coaching so will it be in Management.
Pierre
Good point. Apparently Henry and Vieira were never great trainers, they used to save their energy for the weekend.
Arteta can never gets counted as a proper manager because he wants to play Xhaka when there is a perfectly fit Ceballos avl.
Shit player is now shit manager. Worse for us: he gets to show his shitty management on Arsenal. How unfortunate is that!!
Arsenal fans of losergrove forget Arteta was a non- playing captain for months together before he quit football altogether.
Same happens with Xhaka. Doesn’t it?
Sell that jackass Xhaka
Great read, and on the money. How does Raul survive, simple, one Kroenke might care but doesn’t really know the intricate details on running the club, the other seemingly just doesn’t care. Josh has Raul and edu now advising him on all matters, that is not good. They allowed Wenger to become all powerful, that wasn’t healthy but would take him over Raul at any opportunity The Ks put people in power, and will just leave them in post hoping for the best, unless something incredibly drastic happens. Do nothing where at all possible is their MO. And lest we… Read more »
Pierre is livid with Arteta. Wenger would never disrespect Ozil like this by leaving his intelligence at home for tactical reasons. So what if Messi doesn’t train well? Pick Ozil!
Honestly if results don’t go our way over the next few games, the ‘careful what you wish for’ bozos won’t be able to contain themselves. They’re just waiting for the right moment to shoot their loads.
What dickhead on earth signs Xhaka when there was Leon Goretzka avl. Oh Wenger you have screwed us so hard, it still pains even after 3 years. Fuck you, Wenger and AKBs
“Playing Saka wide right was a strange one”
Understatement Pierre.
Marc
“Thing is a manager can pick anyone or leave out anyone he wants – if he’s winning matches and blowing the opposition away.”
As overmars just pointed out , Henry and Vieira were not great trainers …..I hear Lee chapman was a superb trainer so he he would get the nod over Henry .
Jamie
“. They’re just waiting for the right moment to shoot their loads.”
Have you not read Le grove for the last 36 hours .
The pure joy exuding from the former obsessives due to ten man Arsenal losing to the multi billionaires City , is sad as well as pathetic .
Without looking things up, can someone please highlight to me, in bulletin point format, why/how we hired Raul and exactly what were his credentials.
CG are you there?
Pierre
You missed my point – if a manager’s doing the business he could pick a bunch of 12 year old school girls and wouldn’t get called out on it. Right now Arteta needs to stop screwing around and pick our best players and play them in their correct positions. There will always be games which might suit one player or not suit another but we had RW’s playing LW, Strikers playing LW etc etc.
Who’s been joyful after that defeat little p ?
Pierre
I’m confused, which “obsessives“ are you talking about.
Are we talking about the Wenger obsessives or the Wenger obsessives😬🤪?
Maybe the anti-Arsenal obsessives?
The Emery obsessives?
The Raul obsessives?
The Kroenke obsessives?
The Arteta obsessives?
Who exactly?
🙏😷🍺
Graham
It’s strange that in all the talk on here about agenda’s no one ever mentions the Arsenal obsessives.
Of course every Tom, Dick and Harry knows who the real obsessives are.
That’s right, all those folk that were in complete denial for about a decade.
Heroes, the lot of them.
“Arsenal, repped by Bertie Mee, Herbert Chapman, Arsene Wenger and known as the Bank Of England club because of our class, has let the dogs in the back door and they’re running amok” This blog prides its existence off dragging Arsene Wenger through the mud, now he’s was a reason why Arsenal was a classy club. How convenient when the heat is on and the manager with the sauce can’t get the team to perform like they haven’t been put together on short notice. “Allowing him to derail a game because his head was gone” David Luiz performance against City… Read more »
Marc
You are playing with a ban.
Arteta succeeds, he’s a genius. Arteta fails, it’s because of Raul, Edu, Vinai, Emery, Josh, PFA, Covid-19, Trump, Bo-Jo, Kim Un, ISIS, BLM, Pam the tea lady……..
I’m telling you this for free just this once.
DNA
If Luiz’s head was gone why wasn’t Sok or Holding on the bench?
azed
Do you disagree with anything I’ve asked or pointed out?
All the executives at Arsenal who was involved in the hiring of Arteta should be fired. It was a terrible decision to gamble on a novice.
Ufraud
I’ll leave you to read through Azed’s and Gentlebris (amongst others) comments of the previous 36 hours.
They couldn’t contain themselves after seeing a ten man Arsenal lose to one of the best sides in europe.
It brough back the good old days of the Wenger obsessives ( of which you were one) when the over reaction to any set back was exaggerated.
The fact that there were 1200 comments on Le grove after this defeat compared to a feeble couple of hundred comments when we were winning prior to lockdown, says it all really.
Pierre – Not sure to whom you’re referring when you say “The pure joy exuding from the former obsessives” but I found something you might enjoy: — Not often I agree with big sam but he is spot on here” on Talksport, former England manager Allardyce was highly critical of the tactics used by Emery, claiming that Arsenal should played more long balls rather than passing out from the back, which allowed Man City to press them and win back possession.“ It is the manager’s fault,” Allardyce said. “Don’t ask somebody to do against Man City what you shouldn’t do.… Read more »
If Arteta is campaigning for Luiz to stay, I’d be campaigning for ARTETA OUT!
No manager in their right mind would be campaigning for Luiz to stay unless, that is, his hands are being tied.
Marc,
“DNA
If Luiz’s head was gone why wasn’t Sok or Holding on the bench?”
That’s a very good question because that Mari kid is not a better defender than Sok or Holding. If Arteta is so much into left footed CB, why not try SK there until he gets the player he needs because its obvious that Mari is a dud. That challenge on Sterling could’ve been a red card. The execs might be trash but the decisions that are been made on the field is borderline embarrassing.
Do you disagree with anything I’ve asked or pointed out? Marc No I don’t disagree but as far as this blog is concerned, Arteta can do no wrong. All through last season, the perceived poor signings were the fault of Emery, the good were from Sven, now any poor transfer would be blamed on Raul but good ones would be credited to Arteta. No one can really say how signings are done at Arsenal but I remember saying last year that one of the reasons why Emery was signed is because he’s a coach who doesn’t like to get into… Read more »
Typical little p.
“I’ll leave it to you…”
“Watch and learn…..”
I.e you are spouting shit as usual. That’s par for the course. I mean why be honest when you can push a bullshit narrative ?
Graham “””Without looking things up, can someone please highlight to me, in bulletin point format, why/how we hired Raul and exactly what were his credentials CG are you there?”””” He was Gazidas chum. (It was one of Gazidas inspired decisions allegedly.) Gazidas felt sorry for him as Barcelona had rumbled him and he was on his way out there. He main ability is spending other peoples money badly… As for his credentials. I know he wore an Arsenal shirt the other day,( I am surprised he found one that fitted him) and tilted some Arsenal books towards his camera. Some… Read more »
azed
The single clear as daylight link between Mari and Arsenal is Arteta. Mari was on City’s books whilst Arteta was there.
So one way or another Arteta was either pushing for the signing or should have refused to take him as he had inside knowledge of the player.
Apparently Mari is now out for the season as well.
So for Brighton we’ve got Mari, Xhaka, Luiz and Torreira all out. Sok and Holding couldn’t even make the bench on Wednesday so not great signs that they are fit and ready to go.
Our CM options are Ceballos, Guendozi, Willock and AMN and CB options are down to Mustafi, Holding and Sok.
Arteta’s going to need to get his head clear for this – no one expected a win against City but dropped points against Brighton is not good enough.
Any more injuries and we could start running out of bodies.
Jamie is doing an Azed , let’s wait for old posts to be regurgitated by Jamie…
A snide at work .
Jamie
Little does Pierre know that the internet never forgets.
Nothing snidey about having your own words quoted back to you. I know they’re a little embarrassing for you though.
Finding the comments from our first game of the season 2 years ago vs City is 3 clicks away from the le-grove homepage. You really had a hard-on for Lich early on. Hindsight though, right?
The 1st 2 goals came from arsenals left channel which indicates Pep identified a tactical weakness on that side probably the root being Auba not tracking back which he shouldnt have to be doing
Auba should be in the middle scoring
Tactically amatuerish setup
Im telling you for free!
Arteta threw Luiz under the bus,
I told you he is passive aggressive
From talk sport. Adrian Durham has accused Mesut Ozil of undermining Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and believes the situation at the Emirates has to be resolved sooner rather than later “.he sent a tweet out [on Thursday] trying to tell the fans how much he loves Arsenal. It was him holding the badge while playing for the Gunners,” he explained. “That tweet is designed to undermine the manager who said he left him out for tactical reasons. “Now whether you agree with Arteta or not [regarding that decision], Mesut Ozil is disrupting Mikel Arteta there. “He’s making life difficult for… Read more »
Graham: Raul was a marketing exec at Nike, initially Barca brought him to the club because of his links with Nike and his usefulness in developing that partnership. He was known as a wheeler dealer which then got him the gig as DoF . Pep was already in post, Raul’s main contribution was augmenting an already excellent playing side with the likes of Hleb, Zlatan, Cesc and Song. Those signings weren’t ultimately successful, but his most infamous deal was the one to bring Neymar to Barca with all the subsequent allegations and legal case claiming tax irregularities which was ultimately… Read more »
Mari, Xhakalson were all on that left side of arsenal, that side was the weakest link
I knew once Arteta dropped Ozil from the Arsenal team the Barbs would turn. I always thought Nicki Minaj fans were deluded but the Ozil Barbs are another level. lol
Valentin
Raul was right to push back against the hiring if David O’Leary
We have a director of footballing operation [whatever that means] and a sporting director. David O’Leary]’s appointment would have slowed confusion and undermined both.
You have to ask what we’re the silly dinosaurs on the board during the Wenger years, why don’t they hire a consultant back then when Wenger didn’t sign a single outfield Player in a summer window.
Moreover, if the board of a footballing club needs a ‘footballing consultant, then they really aren’t qualified to seat on that board in the first place.
I would be very careful with Auba. Don’t make the same Ozil mistake. He could down tool if he gets a big contract. We should get rid of all the players over 30. The club shouldn’t give Auba a raise while asking all the players for a pay cut.
I can’t see that we can get CL football next year. It’s time to start the cleanup and prepare for the future.
*sowed confusion
Wasi, Dortmund enquired about Saliba the year before when Sven was in charge. So what is the most likely that Sven went to Arsenal with the same list of players he had at Dortmund or that Raul discovered a youth team player on his own knowing that with Grimandi gone we did not have any scout for the French market? Same thing with Mavrapanos and Guendouzi, who in your view spotted them Raul or Sven? Sven may have been difficult to work with, but his Forte is spotting young talent. Sidelining him so Raul can make some deal with his… Read more »
Christ we’re back to any signing that works out is down to Mislintat, Arteta or the Tooth Fairy and any that doesn’t is Sanllehi’s fault.
Marc
The Mari injury was unfortunate but his situation isn’t very dissimilar to what happened with Suarez during his loan , except Mari loan apparently cost us double of that according to transfermarkt.
It seemed no matter what topic Pedro was addressing at the time of Emery’s reign, the Suarez loan was being brought up ad nauseam by certain posters.
I wonder whether Arteta gets the same treatment from them since as you pointed out he’s the clear connection to Mari.
Valentin
Can you list all the transfers at Arsenal that Mislintat is responsible for and which ones have been a success?
Tom
I wouldn’t hold your breath. It will be interesting whether Mari is signed on a permanent deal.
Dissenter, The board is supposed to oversee things not make executive decisions, but they still need knowledge or advisor with regards to decision made by the executive directors. Most board members could not be agents or director of football elsewhere. Having board members who are still active in exactly the same field would be a direct conflict of interest. In Arsenal board Most of those people come from the business side, so since David Dein left, none of them have any idea of the day to day running of a football club. It is the same in every industry. People… Read more »
bullshit. they were all great when Emery was here. This shit is here for over 10 years. No single football person bar Edu in Arsenal.
Wenger inquired about Luiz when he was at Benfica now he is at Arsenal. Join the dots.
Im telling you for free!
Valentin your source regarding Raul being against O’Leary coming into the club is rather dubious and that’s being kind. Arseblog news links the story to The Mirror, who took it from the Daily Mail, where the link is removed/broken. No quotes from anyone, just mere conjecture.
Top work.
Stan let wenger take us for a ride. He let Ivan take us for a ride. He’s probably letting Raul take us for a ride.
There’s a recurring theme here and the common denominators are Stan and being taken for a ride
Chris
The Mail’s link was to the Sun who’s source was the story in the Mirror.
If it’s football and in a paper there’s a 98.7% chance it’s utter bollocks.
Marc
The postman told me Raul is to blame for the Irish potato famine.
Trust me.
“Wenger inquired about Luiz when he was at Benfica now he is at Arsenal. Join the dots.”
This is good Sid, I would pay top dollar for this.
Any other Season Ticket holders had an email re access to all remaining home matches?
Does anyone know if it’ll be a stream or access to Sky / BT etc?
Arsenal have been spending money but it looks like we’ve been navigating like drunken sailors. Behaving as if we have lots of money and we’ve won everything. While Clubs like lille, RB lipzig, Leicester, dortmund, Monaco, Porto, benfica , sevilla, ajax, are doing better in terms of recruitment. Things need to change. We’ve missed out on Paul Mitchell of Leipzig, he has moved to Monaco. Mike emenalo did a good job at Chelsea brining in the likes of Lukaku, de bruyne, Sala etc. We can bring in someone like that to help Edu and Raul do the needful.
“there’s still some way to drop before actual meaningful action is taken”
This is what I ‘ve been believing for a year or so now post Emery.
We have to fall a little more down to realise just how bad it is.
@Rollen Wenger was a good coach but he performed better when we had David Dein running the club. When David Dein left Wenger became more powerful and took some selfish decisions for self preservation. That is why he didn’t bring lots of strong characters into the team. He didn’t bring in ex players on board. I believe David Oleary could have been a good assistant to Wenger. Fergie had very experienced assistants (Steve McLaren, Carlos queiroz, Brian kidd etc). Clubs like Madrid, Bayern etc have been able to achieve alot because of the ex players involved in the running of… Read more »
Gilberto was useless a dear caught in headlights
Gilberto was useless a deer caught in headlights
We would be in exactly the same or worse position had Wenger stayed, just a slightly different path. I fully believe Wenger would have relegated us if he had continued on, he had seriously lost the plot. The reasons are the same tho, the club is run poorly, we also needed Wenger to leave to prove that because he was still there his cult following would never have believed anything else than the gold at the end of the rainbow that was Wenger regaining his mojo and taking us back to the promised land.
Bee I like your take on things. It’s quite incredible how many clubs have eclipsed Arsenal over the past decade or so. How is this possible? It’s always been based on our frigging values. What values? Values FC just hasn’t worked. Maybe the value of accepting inadequate leadership and dysfunctional systems and procedures? I’m with you with the ex-player scenario. Wenger never wanted the hardcore ex-players to put their foot through the door. It’s as if he knew they would question things, which he never liked. I’m sure all these things will be highlighted in his upcoming bestseller, with a… Read more »
Marc – season ticket holders are offered a choice between Sky, BT, or both.
Chris, that O’leary story was pretty widely reported and it was Sir Chips / Peckham leaked.
There is absolutely not reason to believe it isn’t true.
Raul doesn’t want oversight, as cited by Amy Lawrence, who is close to old Arsenal, a few weeks ago.
Baying With Wenger still in charge we would probably be in about the same position in the league but we would still have Wilshere, Ramsey, Welbeck and co on massive salaries contributing very little and the rebuild would just have been even harder after he left. That’s the problem so many on here refuses to see. When you have impossible to move players like Ozil, Mikhi, Mustafi etc on long contracts you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back. Now that they’re down to their last year of contract we might be able to shift 2 of them, we… Read more »
Xhaka and luiz have artetas blessing because they are just like he was as a player. Not great but a great model in training and nodding at what the manager says.
More yes men who think they are better than they are.
Luiz comes out with the line the coach is amazing.
Xhaka had a similar line in the January transfer window, stating arteta is amazing and basically wetting artetas arse so they can take turns bending him over.