courtesy @allthatchas
Matteo Guendouzi has been dominating the news cycle because he went after Maupay after the game risking a suspension, then the story carried on when it turned out he was basically calling Brighton players peasants.
That is Matteo I’m afraid. He’s a bit of wally. However, I can’t knock it. If you’ve played football at even the worst level, you know that it is standard to tell a forward you slipped their mum one at half time. It’s just what happens. Being precious about sledging is very Arsenal. Broader issue is this unpleasantness isn’t just on the pitch.
Still, the FA don’t care about the words and they’re fine with the shove after the game. So he lives to fight another game.
Next up is Southampton. He’ll start because we have basically no other options with Torreira and Xhaka out injured. It’ll no doubt be another slog of a game unless there’s a magic 17-year old that can dominate a Premier League midfield that we’ve had hidden away.
Depressing.
Not as depressing as some of the transfer news. We’re signing Pablo Mari, who, look, I kind of like. Right profile, has won things, and he’s the perfect age. Problem with Arsenal is it’s hard to trust the ‘why’ of the decision making.
Cedric Soares looks like he might be signed to a perm deal. Kia.
We’re being linked to Willian again, Kia.
We’re also being linked with Neto, the Barca reserve keeper who is repped by, Kia.
You have to laugh, you really do. What is the point of Edu if his best idea is always to send a Whatsapp to Kia? Pathetic. Hopefully, Josh is starting to pay attention to the two constants in our lives at the moment, shit football and Kia. He must LOVE that we’re being turned into a fee machine.
There’s quite a bit of average talk going on elsewhere. Barca are hedging their bets on Lautaro by talking to Arsenal about Auba this summer. Feels like a bit of a crap rumour to me. Barca tried to loan him in January, which I guess is standard practice when it comes to their piss-taking negotiation tactics. They just sold Arthur to Juve for £72m, so let’s see where that cash heads.
We’re also being linked with a swap deal for Mikhi and Kluivert. Again, the young Dutchman was exciting a few years ago, but a bit of a worry that they are willing to get rid of a player so young for one so average.
Anyway, a lot of blandness online today, let’s hope for something spicier tomorrow. Have a good one! x
The only positive on this whole fucked up transfer business id, God will be very kind to me on judgement day because he knows how much I have suffered as an Arsenal supporter.
Bring on the Dortmund kids!
Arteta got his vet luiz
Maybe auba leaves now… ?
Wonder if auba rates this new business the club just did
Despite trying to be balanced – I must say that I feel that the club is dishonest and fraudulent at the core. Weber since gazidis talking Bayern Munich in 2014 we’ve made out we are in it to win again – post Emirates build. It’s bullshit. We all know it. But we act like we are trying to perpetuate that con. We sign 2-3 trinkets to make it look like we are trying – all with zero intention of adding enough around them to win. Then they get bored/pissed/knackered tying to drag us along and want out. Until the owners… Read more »
I see Kluivert coming in. Not sure if he can play centrally in attack but he has good dna 🧬
We have a glut of wingers and cb
I do hope Partey comes… and a proper 10
From Don Raul to Con Raul is what is happening. The contract thing is as clear as mud this is what appears on ESPN and it could be just 4 contracts to see out the season. “”The club is trying to finalise everything in the next few hours and we have no choice, we have to do it and even more with all the injuries we’ve had. We are trying to resolve this.” The deals if completed by the midnight deadline will allow all four players to finish the season at the Emirates, with Luiz’s inclusion after his horror show… Read more »
We sign … 1 central defender who can’t defend with as many red cards than goals in the EPL … 1 central defender who can’t run … 1 fullback who last two previous clubs have judged not good enough At least they are cheap! Clearly Arsenal is going to win this summer TW with those marvellous inspiring deals. I think that Torreira lacks the necessary physicality to be a great defensive midfielder at Arsenal. However I do not trust those in charge to replace him with a player with the right attributes. So even if he want to leave, I… Read more »
Yep.. bring back Wenger.. he will dither and dither and dither and dither and dither then do absolutely nothing. And Nothing might actually be better then signing David Luiz to another season. So we extended the contracts of all our backup crud? Only problem is.. given our injury history our buck up crud is our starters within a month of starting the season so hopefully it’s not a thing beyond this season. . To be honest though.. Mari looked no worse then Mertesacker did when he first got here.. Soares no idea what that is all about. More depressed about… Read more »
Smh.
“will allow all four players to finish the season at the Emirates”
It’s not finishing the season I have an issue with – it’s signing players up for long contracts.
Mari is slow as molasses
Plays very casually and too high up
Will be caught out by quick attackers
Midwest
I would point out that Luiz is exactly the type of signing Wenger would do.
So yes like mertesacker
Well it might it be that bad
Luis wanted 2 years and we gave one year?
Marc-
Maybe.. I hated the Luiz signing from the jump. Too many absolutely head scratching fuck ups in his career combined with disaster performances like in the World Cup. Thought we were rid of him. Maybe he is going to be the cone boy in practice. Or maybe Matty G needs a hair doppelganger around to perform better.
Where’s the official announcement.
Luiz was an abysmal signing, worse to extend, these feel like peak Wenger panic deals. WTF is Huss doing with the numbers here, mental.
Soares for 4 years is perplexing
These old defenders seem to be a pattern
Weird
I do hope luiz sits as a reserve and Saliba and Mari stay fit. Holding and mustafi before luiz please
The four most divisive players on this team are:
Luiz
Xhaka
Ozil
Mustafi
On all four, Arteta has aligned himself with the players (Save for Ozil Post covid break) against the Majority of the fan base and Management.
This is why I say the man is riding a bike on some thin ice. If these players are true to form they will cost us games and he will bear the wrath of the fans.
Sal
Arteta wanted Luiz’s contract extensions. He’s publicly stated that he wants him to stay.
You’ve gone from blaming Raul and Huss Fahmy but you’re leaving out Arteta who’s just as central to these meh contracts.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-boss-mikel-arteta-ready-22242351
Please tell me this is fake news
And yeah I hope that scrub Maupay learned some humility today
Guendouzi is a little shit that thinks more of himself then he should Maupay’s comment about him are spot on.
4 year deal for Cedric is a bit excessive. he will turn 32/33 by then. Still if he is on reasonable wages and we can move him on then it’s okay. I have seen enough of him to know he will be good for us. He didn’t have a great stint at Inter but He has responded very well this season at Southampton. I don’t mind Luiz for another year. As I suspected, It means we are working on transfers from player sells budget. So we won’t add another CB to the two we are adding. I haven’t seen enough… Read more »
Mikel Arteta grace period with the fans is likely to be over with these weird contract for all these average defenders. I expect him to be sacked by April 2021. Don’t underestimate Arsenal fans on social media, they mad toxic.
If these extensions are true then we are settling for mediocrity: a guy who wasn’t good enough for Man City, a guy who wasn’t good enough for Chelsea and a guy who wasn’t good enough for Southampton. At least Ceballos wasn’t good enough for Real Madrid.
We have very little funds available so why commit To these guys who have shown themselves lacking in quality and/or fitness.
How did it come to this?
In a year or two when we are mid table, and you ask yourself, where it all went wrong. It was here, after we signed Luis, soares and mari and then went on to lose at Southampton.
This has all the makings of a mid table team. Great foundations to put up
Some fans already sharpening the knives
I do hope we go all out in midfield
Will be interesting to see his midfield plans
If he we end up keeping xhaka and do not buy a 10 then the knives turn into machetes
Extending the dross. Sigh.
Mid-table mediocrity beckons for at least the next couple of seasons.
A club position of strength squandered since 2006.
I truly hope he is not convincing xhaka to stay or guen or torr. It’s seems like he wants to be liked by giving players contracts ala wenger in return for loyalty
This would be disastrous
I said a few days ago I hope Arteta has a say in new players. After today I walk that back…
Good to see Arteta getting the players he wants in Cedric, Mari, Luiz extension ………
Won’t be long before He has His team and we’ll see Arteta’s real saucy game.
After those signings I can’t wait to see who Arteta wants in midfield.
Too much sarcasm?
Great when your 4th choice defender (Luis) is on 125k. No wonder we have to pay over the odds for saka, a first teamer.
Don’t know how martinelli is injured, but I have a feeling with arteta here, he might leave soon.
Arteta reportedly wants guen out of the club which is a shame, because he could be a good useful squad player.
I don’t care for guen we can do much better
We have always had class mids not like this garbage now
Clearly the worst midfield in a long time.
I worry the message this sends to auba and also Saka.
Everyone will want big money on long contracts
Ala wenger
Emery for all his failures would have booted these under performers out the door
My God the reaction in here is over the top. The only deal I am bothered about is Cedric’s contract being for 4 years. I would have preferred a 3 year contract with an option for a year. And I think he can even displace Bellerin. He has been great for Southampton. Stop Narrating he wasn’t good enough for them. They wanted him to sign a new contract but he chose not to. Luiz was a calamity at Chelsea and Mancity games. But he has done better in all of the games since arteta took Over. And he is going… Read more »
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7lnwgcEM5pE
How any one can’t see the talent in Guendouzi amazes me. He isn’t going to be Fabregas. But I see him as a Busquets type of midfielder. Doesn’t score a lot or assists but keeps things ticking. If he develops his game I fully believe he can become a very good player for us. If not we will get a very good fee for him in the future.
Nobody is keen on Lewis Dunk . The guy looks solid , dont know if its the system or the player . Good aerial ability , passing and defensively secured . I feel he is better than Mings actually.
LeftsideJune 23, 2020 19:50:14
Why is Song likely an age cheat?
His uncle Rigobert who took him to Bastia is a known age cheat, Etoo their compatriot is also doubtful and you can tell physically from appearance and perfomance.
Sid, you mean his brother, Rigobert? 😉
Habesha
I agree. Guen is a good player, maybe has a bad attitude. But that shouldn’t stop us keeping him if he develops his game.
Look at the youngsters, after martinelli and saka, who is the best young player?
In my opinion, guen is better than willock, nketiah and Nelson.
I feel he is even better than ceballos, who is a terrible midfielder, but people like him because he occasionally does a little step over in the middle of the park, slowing the game entirely.
A guen, torreira base midfield, is the strongest we have when everyone is fit.
At one point we could have had Jonny Evans for cheap …. wish we pulled the trigger
Instead of luiz
Gonsterous, it depends how that bad attitude manifests itself. If he’s a bite your leg type,fine. If it’s a “go through the team’s pockets at half time” type, not fine. I would argue we’ve desperately lacked a leader in the dressing room and a leader on the pitch. Niggly kids with big hair and a bad attitude aren’t going to help with that until we have a Vieira type to slap them down with their cock. We also lack professionalism, and have for. For some time. It’s going to be tough for Tets to install that, and even more so… Read more »
“At one point we could have had Jonny Evans for cheap …. wish we pulled the trigger Instead of luiz“
That shows how far we’ve fallen. Once we had so many legendary centre backs we could even fit them all on the bench. Now we’re rueing Jonny Corporal Evans.
I hope Saliba is the shits, I really do.
Yeah Torr & Guend would be the better combination for our midfield
One sneeze and Saliba will suffer from Mustafid-19
Im telling you for free!
Moray
Attitudes need to be controlled of course. But we cant keep selling players based on their attitudes. It’s how we end up with the Luis signing. Just a couple of yes men to the manager.
If there are no leaders on the pitch, then the manager has to be the leader. (Like fergie was). A manager who knows what level he wants the club and his players to be at.
I don’t get this whole bad attitude stuff about Guendouzi. He is a bad loser. He is arrogant but He puts in the work. And He stands up for his team mates and for himself. He may need a bit of humility but that wouldn’t reflect badly on the team as long as he is putting in the work and listening to his coach. He is still 21 so he has room to grow as a person and a player too. And good players always have a bit of ego and arrogance about them.
There was me telling people that Soares could be signed on a permanent deal before the season ended but no they said he could only sign on a Bosman at the end of the season. So thoughts?
He had the club by the balls and if the deal is indeed four years then there really is trouble ahead.
It seems in the latest reports, arteta is fighting to keep ceballos too. 6 months in, and we have completely lost the plot.
Or that we don’t have substantial funds to bring in players which is why we’re trying to keep these players perhaps
Mikel gets Soares and Luiz.
Honestly , dont see a any way I can defend these deals. Just hope Arteta knows what he is doing.
Raul fraud post incoming from Pedro. Surely.
Don’t get the guendouzi hate. People expect him to be the finished article at 21, but say nelson, eddie and willock have a higher ceiling, when they are the same age but play worse than guen.
Gonsterous
“Don’t get the guendouzi hate”
Familiarity in comparison to the others you mentioned.
Down the line they won’t like those others either.
Here we are in 2020. From a 19 year old Colossus Vieira to a 20 year old no talent ballet dancer Guendouzi. And they wonder why the team is crap. Is he as good as Mount as good as Declan Rice. As good as Grealish?. Is he as good as even Tom Davies at Everton?. No. He is a clueless kid who runs around a lot. Losing tackles every time and provides no offence.
Then again. I’m not surprised. We have fans who were mesmerized by the outstanding talents of Wilshere, Walcott and Ramsey.
How disappointing Edu has been thus far.
They have the start of next seasons window to try to rescue matters.
Don’t think anyone can say there’s an over reaction though, we’ve been here before with filling up the squad with so many average players on long contracts who inevitably turn out to be starters because our equally average starters end up being injured for the most part. Unless there is an actual plan to fix that midfield in the summer and build from there, this looks like bad deals all round. Hope Ceballos is not extended too, not enough in his game for me. The hope is that there’d at least be funds available in the summer for the new… Read more »
It seems Arteta is Rauls wingman
You heard it here 1st!
Wasi, it will be interesting to see how Pedro spins this when we’ve seen Arteta publicly say he wants to sign these players and we’ve also heard that the suits were not keen to extend Luiz. My guess is that we’ll see a bit of a u-turn, Mari will go from being too slow and ponderous to a promising player, Luiz from a disaster to an experienced older head needed to guide younger players and Soares will no longer be a waste of money, he’ll be desperately needed competition for Bellerin. Isn’t that what marketing people do all the time… Read more »
I’m shocked by these transfers, frankly shocked at the way we are handling things.
Being an Arsenal fan in 2020.
Just glutton for punishment.
The official word from Arsenal.com: We are delighted to confirm that defenders David Luiz, Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares have agreed contracts to stay with us beyond the end of this season. In addition midfielder Dani Ceballos has extended his loan from Real Madrid until the end of the current 2019/20 season. David Luiz, who signed from Chelsea last summer, has agreed a new one-year deal. Pablo will complete his formal move from Flamengo on a long-term deal when the transfer window opens next month. Cedric will also join us permanently on a long-term deal from Southampton. Technical director Edu… Read more »
Just band aid signings, papering over cracks.
There seems to be no transfer philosophy in place at all.
I’m lost what on earth is Edu meant to be doing?
Saliba and Luiz CB pairing next season?
Pie if you looked at the last 10-15 years there is little reason to be shocked by anything this club do.
It’s never the deals that fans are actually interested in either.
Andy
Theres enough proof that Arteta was behind the extension of Luiz and signing of Mari and Soares.
Either it will be that Luiz is experienced et al , Mari is exciting and Soares is good competition
or
Raul being the fraud he is signed all these players so that he can provide bread and butter to his mates and Arteta has nothing to do with these signings.
So underwhelmed.
Not even confident for Thursday against the saints.
I really hope we win.
Maybe we are papering over the cracks in defense with these signings so that we can focus on leveling up our midfield this summer with our limited funds and then focus on our defense after that.
I hope that is the case. Otherwise these cheap and average defensive signings dont mean a thing if we dont go out and strengthen our midfield considerably.
Yeah 100% leftside.
I’m just astonished at these deals. Claim poverty ask the current squad to take a pay cut?
Then offer deals out like this, quickly to players that haven’t set the world alight or even played for us?
When Saka hasn’t even signed a new contract? What are they offering him? What project they trying to get him behind?
Baffled beyond belief.
Wasi, that’s what I’m at least hoping for. No transfer fees as such. Hopefully, it is stick with what we’ve got and use the rest of the money midfield and/or up front. It’s probably just me, but when I see Lacazette, he’s body and mind, he looks elsewhere. Maybe he’s tempted a move? Would anyone be happy with us selling Auba and Laca (if auba wasnt going to sign) if it meant we could strengthen the midfield properly? I think I would be happy with that. I know Aubas goals would be missed. But were so unbalanced as a team… Read more »
Can’t say I’m overly enthralled with the new signings but the fact is , the money has been spent and Arteta is having to pick up the pieces. I don’t see a problem with keeping Luiz, he had a very good few months prior to lockdown so I would prefer to judge him on that than the poor performance after lockdown when it was obvious that Arteta made a mistake in bringing him on when he wasn’t ready to play. Mari looks decent at best, though whether he is a commanding centre back remains to be seen. From what I… Read more »
Not surprised to see that last little gem at the end of your post Pierre. Do you think Ozil will play at Southampton? Surely if he can’t make the team for that game given our recent form, there must be a serious problem?
Pieafc
I’d be happy selling one off this summer, and another in the next Sommer.
We can replace one of them with martinelli ( hope arteta doesn’t ruin him for us) and hopefully we can get in another striker when the next one is sold. Nketiah can be back up.
Also am I the only one confused as to why so many of our players are just dropping like flies?? Is it the training or is it just targeting injury prone players?
Edu “””””Since Mikel arrived here he was asking for a central defender who was left-footed. “”””” Serious managers used to cite ,that they wanted central defenders that couid just defend – what difference does it make he if is Left footed, Right footed or ambidextrous? There is no way Arteta will survive the wreckage of June 23rd 2020. A day where his inexperience, idealism and possibly his bad luck ( Martinelli) came to head. Arsenal will be on the lookout for their 4th manager post Wenger ( inc Fred ) by the turn of the year. As for Edu and… Read more »
Andy It’s not about Ozil , the question is should Arteta have stuck to what he was doing before lockdown regarding team selection, formation and tactics. I said all along that Tierney( who I like) coming into the side, creates a conundrum for Arteta. I made the point of how is he going to fit Saka into the side without disrupting the balance of the side. He’s tried him on the right and in the middle and we have lost both games and the fans are already losing their patience, which is sad to see but not surprising , as… Read more »
If there is a more ridiculous man in soccer than Edu?
(Ps. Andy thanks for the quotes )
What a pillock of a man Edu is.
Gonsterous
Liverpool had 3 players injured in the Everton game . its not just us. Martinelli had a collision in training thats unfortunate
Pierre, those are some of the basics that fans have been raising questions about. Now Martinelli is out it’s obvious that Saka should be on the left, Auba in the middle and Pepe on the right. The two full backs are an easy selection. Of course that leaves the Ozil question – does he play or does MA select a second striker and play two up top? The real problem of course is the midfield, if we had two decent CMs in the mould of PV4, Petit, Gilberto, or even Edu we wouldn’t have to compensate in other areas because… Read more »
Apparently Soares’s salary is about 2 mil a year or around 40k a week. Big score by Kia if you ask me.
Man is leeching the club dry.
Scary stuff if true. I sincerely hope there is a plan in place from Arteta as he would have had to ok the permanent loans and contracts extension for Luiz. Personally I don’t see why on earth you would extend a guaranteed mistake like Luiz unless your worried about losing the confidence of the senior players, as on the footballing side, the man is a shit defender, end of. Mari we have only seen glimpses of, and is for sure an Arteta approved signing, so I’m prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’ll be a backup for… Read more »
Guendouzi Isn’t Arsenal problem, Arteta and Edu is. It’s very obvious that they both are clueless. Didn’t want them at the club in the first place because their appointment was based on sentiments than ability. Can’t believe two former midfielders struggling to identify players with talent.
Wasi
“””‘Apparently Soares’s salary is about 2 mil a year or around 40k a week. Big score by Kia if you ask me.
Man is leeching the club dry.””””
I hope Hussey , has inserted relegation clauses in Mary and Cedric nice new 4 year ones!.
Another pillock on the Arsenal payroll!
The signature of Cedric Soares on a new long term contract is the final nail on Jordy Osei-tutu career at Arsenal.
Jordy Osei-tutu will be sold to a Bundesliga club and uses them as a stepping stone before in two years time join a Champion’s League club.
Why are we paying the alleged £40kpw salary to Cedric Soares to sit on the bench when we could pay £5kpw a U21 player to do the same thing?
Andy, “The real problem of course is the midfield, if we had two decent CMs in the mould of PV4, Petit, Gilberto, or even Edu we wouldn’t have to compensate in other areas because we have a centre about as robust as a blancmange.” This is exactly why last summer I was dead against Pepe purchase and kept arguing that for the same price we should go for Tanguy NDombele. His impact on our fortune would have been much greater. Same thing about Boubakary Soulmare. From Lille he was the one I would have rather taken. We went after the… Read more »
40k per week for abstarter for one of the best European National teams and people are pissed? Fuck I think Bellerin is not a better defender than Soares and he’s getting thrice his salary or thereabouts. The real problematic deal is Mari. The few times he’s played for us he’s been shit. I remember his first game, against West Ham I think, he fell and Antonio had a free run at our goal.
Val, you’re absolutely right. Ask any fan last summer and I doubt that even 1% of them would have said that signing an expensive wide forward was our top priority. Makes you wonder what they are smoking as someone once said.
It’s always about attack and dismissing defence and as time goes on the attack becomes less and less potent. Always. Pepe signed over getting the midfield right and that includes defensively. Signing ball playing CBs and not giving a shit if they can defend. Continuing with Xhaka who is poor defensively on the whole at the base of the midfield. And we know where this laissez faire attitude comes from don’t we in not wanting to get to grasps with the less glamorous aspects of the game. It’s in the DNA from years and years of Wenger and the club… Read more »
Valentin
You mean the same Osei tutu who was so poor in defense in 2. Bundesliga, had to be converted to a right winger before doing anything of note.
Valentin
You mean the same NDombele who cant seem to complete 20 minutes before being gassed out.
Very talented no doubt, but his fitness level is poor. You can do well and ask tottenham fans what they think of him.
Ishola70, Can we stop blaming Wenger for mistakes that people make last summer and today. Raul and others were brought to change the culture and the mind set. If they can’t do it, then they should either step aside or be moved out. They promised: Strategic planning, long term squad building, financial tightening, better management of players’ contract. I don’t see any of that in those recruitment. I see haphazard purchase of mediocre players who will turn out to be more expensive than young players with untapped potential. There are numerous U21 players in France with more potential uplift than… Read more »