Get this people, I am in America, BUT, in a place called ESSEX. I grew up in Essex and there is a second one. Mad times. ‘Yoooou fuuucking SLLLLAAAAAYYYYYGGGGGGG’ does not go down as well with the locals as it does back home, but hey, you can’t have everything. Talking of Essex, listen to this with the volume on. Absolute ‘YOU LOOKING AT MY BIRD’ gold.
Brentwood beer garden vibes here. https://t.co/V0NfIfLGmv
— Le Grove (@LeGrove) July 23, 2020
Finally, the Premier League season is coming to an end. It hasn’t been glorious for Arsenal. In fact, it’s been our worst ever. No Europe via the front door for the first time in a very long time. The best we can hope for is winning the FA Cup Final against a Chelsea side that has some very scary players in their attack.
The coach has called the problems we’re facing a ‘beautiful challenge’, he knows that his career trajectory directly depends on what he brings to the club over the next two seasons, and he will go hell for the leather to up our standards. It’s a scary challenge, but as many folk will tell you… it’s easier to take a team at their lowest ebb, than getting in there after a winning run. The only way is up.
As for the challenge being ‘beautiful’? Well, let’s just say that when I see an ugly baby, I always call it beautiful. The Arsenal challenge is ork levels of cuteness. Someone has to hug it though, I’m glad the person dishing out the faux affection is a man that has such pristine athleisure stylings.
Europe really is massive for us this summer. You can’t make up the gap with free transfers and Whatsapp scouting tips from untrustworthy sources. We need to have a sharp eye to the future this summer and every single player we look to has to have the ability to add something to the club in the longterm.
We’ve been linked with a bid for left winger Joelson of Sporting Lisbon. The young player looks absolutely electric. He’s explosive from a standing position, has all the tricks you’d expect from a Sporting player, annnnnnnnd… he’s with Kia. The story is that we’ve bid for him because he’s under a contract dispute. Some worry Kia is using us for a bigger pay packet at Sporting… but whatever it is, the player looks good and it’d be the first future-facing name to come from his portfolio.
There’s a view that this sort of signing is why you work with super-agents. The crass idea is if you take some dross, you’ll eventually land some gold. It’s a fucking abomination of a ‘process’ that only the amateur mind would look at as smart. You have 24 spaces in a squad, if you want to be elite, you don’t sacrifice any of them in the hope of a future deal. Doing quid pro quo signings is Del Boy Trotter stuff, it’s just not how a club like Arsenal should ever act, so hopefully, that’s not been the case.
I genuinely hate the way people look at dark arts in football like it’s clever. The type of people that purr over this sort of thing are the types that like to tell you who the hard men are at the local shit hole pub. Being smart is the best way to win at football, doing things properly, underpinned by good decisions from talented people. That is what should be revered… and look, don’t take my word for it, look at how many clubs are trying to move away from super agents reccos. Look at the state of Barcelona these days, The Athletic reckon they barely use a scouting department.
‘Among a host of concerns, The Athletic can reveal that scouts feel alienated from the recruitment process. Barcelona, quite remarkably, held just one first-team scouting meeting over the past year. Barcelona, as well as rivals Real Madrid, declined to comment on all points presented to them for this report. There is also frustration that the club’s world-renowned data scientists are not trusted or involved in the recruitment strategy, while several figures around the club stated they felt the club had become overly dependant on certain agents for recommendations.’
Sound familiar? Super-agents are bad news. Still, at least we know that Mikel knows what he’s after this summer… creativity.
“You go back to (Santi) Cazorla, to (Tomas) Rosicky, to (Andrey) Arshavin when he played there, to (Aaron) Ramsey when he played there, to (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan when he came in. Even Jack Wilshere used to play in those pockets all the time.
“That is a lot of players who are now not here. We have to renew that cycle, because if not, those kind of players won’t be there for us anymore.
We need a real infusion this summer. We need a marquee creator, but we also need at least two other players that are on the up that can help us. We can’t have just one Jack Grealish this summer is what I’m saying.
Still, that makes things very exciting. We’ll be addressing the fun positions which. I mean, we need players everywhere. An 8, a 6, a new centre back. The list is vast, but the most important areas are in chance creation because things are dire at the moment.
I’m not sure what Arteta is planning against Watford this weekend, we know he’ll want to win, and he’ll have had some time to think about how bad we were in the final third. Does he practice setting up a deep block again? Does he try something new in the pockets we’re lacking? Or does he see the game as a dead rubber?
Who knows, but the Chelsea game is going to be very difficult and if we play like we did against Villa, we’ll be handsomely beaten.
Right, short post today, see you in the comments.
s
Pedro
“Shocked that you are suggesting he lower his standards for a player you like.”
The mistake Emery made was marginalising Ramsey and Ozil in the first place, which cost us points and Arteta has cost us points with his stance on Ozil.
Footballing reasons apparently.
Out of interest, do you believe that Ozil has been omitted for “pure footballing reasons”
everything points to Arsenal having better results and performances with Ozil on the pitch.
You’re looking at it through misty eyes and a tin foil hat on your head it’s a coincidence. You know how I know that? Because despite a very small portion of games where we won 4 and drawn 4 and done well Mesut was still contributing…fuck all. Luckily as well there was a nice glut of home games too.
Emery left Arsenal in 8th which isn’t the end of the world.
Too early to judge Arteta on whether he can improve on his first 19 games.
Pierre, pure footballing reasons is a very broad catch all.
He doesn’t work hard enough or have the right attitude. So he doesn’t play. Long term, exiting him is right and there is no doubt that binning him and Guendo was the right move longterm
But arguing Arteta has standards that are too tough seems a weird take considering only two are consistently failing them. Two players that have a been a problem for multiple coaches.
Arteta on creativity And whilst losing to a side then in the bottom three is obviously a concern, perhaps the bigger concern that evening was the fact the Londoners were unable to muster up a single effort on goal. The Villa game, along the north London derby earlier this month, showcased pretty clearly that Arsenal, when faced with a defence that sits deep, really struggle to carve out big chances. And now, in a recent interview with Sky Sports, Mikel Arteta has been discussing his side’s struggles with creativity: “Sometimes it is down to individual quality, but the whole structure… Read more »
Pedro
“He doesn’t work hard enough or have the right attitude”
I didn’t hear him complaining 3 months up until lockdown, did you.
A potential champions league was up for grabs, and you want to talk about long term.
I would have thought that the goal was to try and secure a potential champions league spot this season…maybe not.
Marko Of course, none of us knows what happens behind the scenes but it is safe to assume Guen is not someone who would give anything less than 100 percent in training. Looks like his on field antics against a Brighton player is the main reason behind Arteta ditching him. After all Guen was starting every game before that incident against Brighton and he has been a pariah ever since. I am all for discipline and good behavior but getting rid of a player for one incident of indiscipline is too much. A ban for a couple of matches would… Read more »
Strangely enough , during the period earlier in the year when Ozil was in the team and we were unbeaten domestically, there was none of this lacking effort and commitment bullshit.
The lacking effort and commitment label as occurred post lockdown when he hasn’t been in the side…
Don’t want to hear anything more about that lazy,shift shy,bug eyed waste of space & more importantly ,money 💰.The turks by the way are taking the piss expecting us to foot the bill for three quarters of his wages 😂 let him rot.
Guns.- think might have a possible alternative name for Szboslai or however you spell it….simply “ The boz”?Tricky one hey?
TR7
“Looks like his on field antics against a Brighton player is the main reason behind Arteta ditching him.”(Guendouzi)
So you think Arteta is talking bullshit as well when he cites pure footballing reasons for leaving him out of the side.
TR7 a bust up and failure to apologise is what’s being reported. Again I am slightly trepiditious of letting go such a highly regarded prospect but at the same time I wouldn’t let some bad blood between people fester and linger over multiple seasons. My only concern is that if you set that standard can you or will you always be able to maintain it? Rumours in the past that we might be looking at Depay and Dembele this summer might test that standard in the future. But I get you one or two incidents might be a bit harsh… Read more »
Guendo is a number of reasons. The way he conducts himself, how he behaves at training, the way he treats the staff… he also had a lot of prior before Arteta.
Pierre, I think it’s been pretty clear throughout Ozil’s Arsenal career that he fades in and out of being interested in football. He’s a bad egg, you just have to face up to it. If he was doing what was required, he’d be in the starting 11.
there was none of this lacking effort and commitment bullshit.
If you’re a number 10 and you get 3 assists all season you lack effort. If you’re someone who consistently misses games due to “illness” or a “sore back” then you lack commitment and are a sponge of the highest order. That your brain can’t comprehend it is unsurprising
Pierre, This has all blown up AGAIN, because Ozil refused the wage cut. Plain and simple. Arteta is in cahoots with the owners and The Dopes on this one. If we are talking about non- negotiables. I would have thought , the Arsenal captain giggling at a corner, and loosing his man and them scoring , is where I would start. Hardly a captains example, is it? And that’s before we get onto Laca and his balloon smoking. They want Ozil out. An I sincerely hope Ozil stays or gets paid up in full. Arsenal and Arteta being dishonest and… Read more »
I also suspect the reason you don’t know more about Guendo is the club are holding off the truth until he’s moved on. Help retain some value going into the summer.
“An I sincerely hope Ozil stays or gets paid up in full.”
Said no Arsenal fan ever.
Bit of a shame regarding Guendouzi from a playing perspective. Like others that play with Xhaka there is seen a need for the fellow midfielder to play a bit deeper with him. So criticism of Guendouzi has been warranted but it would have been interseting to have seen him let off the leash more in midfield rather than playing a more conservative deeper role most times. The game against Spurs springs to mind when he was given free rein to attack and he had a great second half when Arsenal were chasing the game. This midfield needs to be able… Read more »
This infatuation Pierre has with Ozil is just weird at this point.
“Help retain some value going into the summer.”
That ship has long sailed
“I also suspect the reason you don’t know more about Guendo is the club are holding off the truth until he’s moved on”
Wonder what this earth shattering truth is…..a young rich dude acts like a brat, proper end of the world stuff that.
Is this the same Guendouzi everyone loved prior to Arteta taking over?
Pedro is this the same Matteo Guendouzi you wholeheartedly backed news he was getting his pay doubled just a few months back?
What does he do to the staff? Line them up and smack their faces every morning?
Keeping Xhaka and binning Guendouzi is a bit arse about face if we want to see this team and midfield really improve.
Sure Guendouzi is not a top player right at this minute but at least he could have fitted the profile of a midfielder that would be comfortable operating higher up the field unlike Xhaka.
Guendo has lovely hair, the club should stop being homophobic
Ozil and Guendouzi have one goal and three assists between them this season.
The suggestion that we would have done better with them isn’t supportable.
Arteta’s pick of players has left him the worse manager after 19 games compared to previous Arsenal managers after 19 games.
Karsa
Why are you comparing Ozil and Guendouzi in relation to goals and assists?
For a kid Guendouzi for the most part since he joined has been instructed to play a more conservative midfield role alongside Xhaka wheras Ozil has no such handicaps being a CAM and playing that position for Arsenal.
Receding
It’s not their faces he’s smacking and that’s the issue.
Why are you comparing Ozil and Guendouzi in relation to goals and assists?
Because that’s what you expect from your ‘star’ player.
And what else does Guendouzi offer apart from been tackled from his blind side or falling over?
“Arteta is in cahoots with the owners and The Dopes on this one.”
The horror, the horror!
Who can imagine a situation where the manager. tech dir and DOF are all working together.
No wonder Arsenal are in disarray.
The delusion in this one is deep
Pedro
Have you heard any news on the PL’s plans regarding getting fans back into the stadium for next season?
Since when has Guendouzi been a “star” player? Ozil would be the one seen as the “star” player and he has no excuses for palrty goals and assists. This kid Guendouzi since he has come to the club has been asked to play a more reserved midfield role for the most part holding fucking Xhaka’s hand as is the case with all the midfielders. First it was Torreira holding his hand, then Guendouzi and now we see Ceballos doing it. How is this midfield going to improve and get more expansive when we have a midfielder who always needs someone… Read more »
“Because that’s what you expect from your ‘star’ player.”
Who called a 21 year old CM a star player?
Also busquets must be shit, the fcuker despite his height hardly scores or Assists.
Since when has Guendouzi been a “star” player?
Since never.
I seriously doubt you couldn’t tell that Ozil was the ‘star’ player and Guendouzi was the chap who falls over.
Guendouzi may well turn out to be a talent but, in our current situation, we can hardly afford to wait 2/3 years to see if this will happen.
“Obviously what has happened to Ozil has nothing to with effort and commitment in training or his performance on the football pitch as he was an ever present in the league up until lockdown.“ What’s obvious about it exactly? Is it incomprehensible that a player acted in accordance initially before reverting to levels that don’t fit the new mould? Why should a manager divulge details to that degree to appease fans? That’s a ridiculous concept, and whether you like it or not there’s always going to be a level of discretion in what occurs behind closed doors. But what you’re… Read more »
Karsa
Yeah it’s more difficult then it should be as Ozil has been of inconsequence for a good several seasons now.
Ozil has no excuses for a shit return in terms of goals and assists as he plays CAM and is not instructed to play deeper with Xhaka.
And that’s before we get onto Laca and his balloon smoking
Let’s not forget that Ozil was part of the original balloon incident. Should have seen his bug eyes then phew
Yeah it’s more difficult then it should be
Indeed it is.
The way I see it, we have 5/6 promising youngsters coming through that I’d keep before Guendouzi.
Add the fact that he’s probably worth a few bob makes him a sensible sale imo.
In an ideal world I’d like to give him a chance but we have so many players to blood alongside a pressing need for players who can deliver now.
“It’s not their faces he’s smacking and that’s the issue.”
Oh My!!
CG “never under wenger”
Ashley Cole
RVP
Veira
Fabrigas
Alexis.
I have defended Guendouzi before and I will again. He will become at the very least a really good player. He can play the deep midfield role. He hasn’t got much Attacking instincts but he is great at passing his way out of defense just like Similar players in Busquets and Jorghinho. 88.3 percent passing success rate from a 21 year old in our midfield is really good. He has Slicing passes in his locker too. I hope we bring in Partey and Let this kid grow and Learn from him. A nasty streak from a kid in our team… Read more »
Ultimately if a young player has a bad attitude it will impede their career’s no matter how talented they are.
Jay Emmanuel Thomas was one of the most gifted young players I’ve ever seen in an Arsenal shirt and could have gone on to be a club legend – because of his attitude he’s done nothing.
Karsa “The way I see it, we have 5/6 promising youngsters coming through that I’d keep before Guendouzi.” You like others don’t understand that Guendouzi since he has arrived at the club has been asked to play a much more involved role in the midfield in comparison to say someone like Willock and of course Guendouzi has played far more matches. What we see with Willock most times is sub appearances and asked to be a runner going into attacking positions from midfield. Guendouzi has had far more responsibility in his role. Believe it or not Guendouzi would have been… Read more »
Habesha
Let’s see what the club come out with when they sell Guendouzi. I’m not happy with the decision Arteta and management have taken.
because whisper it Guendouzi is higher rated than Willock.
And rightly so.
I would consider Martinelli, Nketiah, Nelson, ESR, and Saka as the youngsters I’d focus on.
Maitland-Niles and Guendouzi also have potential, but I would sacrifice them both in favour of the others.
I’m not a big fan of Willock at this present time.
Looking back at it, it was not Arteta’s job to ask the players for a paid cut. It should be the owner and/or Raul’s job. If you read the 10 richest football team in 2020, Arsenal is the only one diminishing in value. Obviously, someone is doing a lousy job.
Willock is a real mystery of a player I think. When first the Nelson , Eddie, Willock trio broke out , I thought Willock wouldn’t even be at Arsenal for 1 or 2 more seasons. He was quite weak then and didn’t have enough in his game. But then under Emery he progressed well in the little time he got.And then in the EL final ,his cameo was superb. He was on for about 15-20 minutes but was our best player that night. Had luck been on his side that night, he would have scored 2 assisted 1 and we… Read more »
“Look at the players that we had in the past at this club in those positions,” says Arteta. “You go back to (Santi) Cazorla, to (Tomas) Rosicky, to (Andrey) Arshavin when he played there, to (Aaron) Ramsey when he played there, to (Henrikh) Mkhitaryan when he came in. Even Jack Wilshere used to play in those pockets all the time.’
Sauce is grabbing his bosses by the ball with the Mikki and Ramsey’s comment.
Take a bow, Sauce, you are the boy!
Willock for the most part since he has come on the scene has been eased into the first XI at times.
He hasn’t had that much responsibility in his role. A runner going into attacking positions.
When he was asked for more responsibility starting EPL games he struggled a fair lot and was subbed out.
Still very big question marks about him being a top player.
Arteta’s job was to get Arsenal back into the top 4 and on that basis he has failed.
I notice Arteta’s end of season collapse mirrors that of Emery’s.
Guendonzi is the best of our midfielders at advancing the ball from deep, his abscence is one of the reasons our attackers are seeing less of the ball
diet Pep prefers using Luiz to advance the ball a very poor tactic, Luiz is making more passes than our CMs
Un
You hope it’s done until next May!
“Arteta’s job was to get Arsenal back into the top 4 and on that basis he has failed. I notice Arteta’s end of season collapse mirrors that of Emery’s.“
😂
Can you share more of what you notice? Brighten up my weekend and that…
” I notice Arteta’s end of season collapse mirrors that of Emery’s”
Not really he hasn’t been whopped in a Cup Final yet.
Doh!
We’re not judging Arteta against the worse manager in Arsenal’s history are we.?
Arteta was hired to improve substantially on what went on before.
Solskjaer’s Man Utd had the worse start to a season in 33 years and they stuck by him, just saying.
Pierre
Of course it goes without saying that Guen and Ozil are out of the team due to reasons beyond football. I am not a fan of Ozil, never have been. He has had similar problems under Emery too and Wenger was too lenient to take any action against him. Still I am not against using him against teams which don’t press high. But Guen is still a kid and I think Arteta has gone overboard wrt him.
Tony Adams will always be a club legend but it’s not surprising why Arsenal keep him at arms length. This week he popped off in support of Ozil but take a look at this quote from some years prior. “ It was an insult to buy Mesut Ozil when we’ve got Jack Wilshere there, who is every bit as good,” Adams told Standard Sport. “If I’d been Jack I’d have knocked on Arsene’s door and said ‘why the hell are you spending £40m on this player when I can do it just as well. “A lot of fans have questioned… Read more »
‘I notice Arteta’s end of season collapse mirrors that of Emery’s.’
Plus the fact that we are the only team this season to have failed to register a goal on target against Villa.
Sauce is culpable unless you want to press players poverty, and if you don’t say players poverty for Emery and you say it for Sauce, then you are one big hypocrite.
Un Ikr. He might be our highest scoring midfield but the bar isnt very high is it. Imo he needs a loan next season. A championship team with a good/outside chance of making playoffs , which will guarantee Willock starts week in week out is where I’d look at. Or a mid table Bundesliga team . Because honestly , its clear we are looking to strengthen our central midfield. And Esr will be preferred over Willock if Arteta goes with a no. 10 or wants an auxiliary winger .So Willock’s game time will further decrease unless he ups his game… Read more »
“Tony Adams will always be a club legend…”
I would simply leave it there 🙂
James Olley pumping out “information” that Arsenal have 30 mil to spend this summer (possibly more if we win the FA cup).
Says our business will largely be swaps, loans and anything else funded through sales.
Lots of talk lately about us swapping Lacazette for Partey, Guendouzi for Depay, and a loan for Coutinho. Free transfers Sarr and Willian still bubbling away.
Calypso Kid
You do seem to be obsessed with most points after 19 game stat. You just don’t seem to be able to grasp the bigger picture, or you are deliberately ignoring it.
The club should not touch Depay with a bargepole. Would be absolute buffonery to swap Depay for Guen when the latter has a higher ceiling and the former is not himself a model professional either.
Plenty of business that can be done with a 30m budget if that is true.
Absolutely vital we sell off some players too though. No reason we can’t come out of this summer massively improved without going for bargain basement players. I was thinking we didn’t have anything and had to sell to buy so that is an improvement in my eyes.
Calypso is being wilfully ignorant, that’s the very best I can say for some of the patter he’s coming out with.
But how about those first 19 games though? The gold standard that it is.
Un
What if we had signed Suarez or Higuain in the summer of 2013 instead of Ozil, could it have made the difference that year in terms of the title? I was thrilled when we signed Ozil but also acutely aware he wasn’t the most pressing need in that transfer window.
Arsenal can finish no higher than 8th which in my opinion is totally unacceptable when you take into account Arteta had 20 games to turn it around.
Yeah. We should have moved heaven and earth to keep Wilshere fit and built our team around him. Un Its not in club’s hands to keep a player fit. After all , Wilshere turned out to be glass boned. Extraordinary talent, yes. Maybe overplaying him when he was young caused the problem or maybe it was just meant to be. Either way , Arsene wasnt wrong in buying Mesut. Wenger had a real eye for talent. And him agreeing to pay 42 mil for a player is a big enough statement in itself.He fell short in managing Ozil and surrounding… Read more »
I wouldn’t read too much into reports about who were after at the moment because 99% is just clickbait nonsense made up to get clicks
We’ve already been in for about 200 players this summer if reports are to be believed!
Wasi it can be bad for precisely the reasons you’ve given Just being talented isn’t enough if you don’t have the required basic work ethic and attitude not indeed fit into a team without needing to be constantly accommodated (despite us not having the players to do this) That’s the definition of a poor signing. It’s like saying it can never be bad for a university to hire a genius to be a professor regardless of the fact that despite their intellect, they rarely come to class on time, don’t mark their students tests properly and they can’t be relied… Read more »
Un
I’m from India.
And re Willock. Look at the development of ESR when he’s got consistent game time .A loan to a smaller team not only guarantees game time but theres also real responsibility on your shoulder to perform well , because at your loan club you are not treated as high potential youngster but a key member of the squad ( Esr was probably Huddersfield’s top 3 most important players since signing on loan). This helps the player become mature faster than he would if he gets cup games and theres no real responsibility on his shoulders.
TR7
What details do you know of Depay’s professionalism?
It’s speculative at Arsenal, the team we all follow, so I find it a bit rich to hear that a player over yonder isn’t a model pro by some standard none of us are even aware of.
In that mock up of deals Depay is clearly a “replacement” for Lacazette.
The minimum expected from Arsenal’s last 9 fixtures would be 5 wins, 2 draws , 2 losses and even then that would have been below par.
China1 Thats why I said Arsene failed to manage Ozil properly. Ozil is the rare breed of player with talent to be one of the best players in the world but no real desire ( at least on the face value). I dont have many examples of such players , maybe you could Balotelli in this list. I say Arsene failed in managing him , because Jose who likes to work his players to the ground was successful in bringing the best out of Ozil. So Arsene either needed to man-manage Ozil like Jose or build the tean around him… Read more »
Just 8 more points would have seen Arsenal go into the final game with a fighting chance of finishing in the top 4.
Charlie From the Guardian : ‘When the squad gathered a few days after their 2-1 win at Angers, Génésio laid into Depay. “I want to apologise to Memphis,” said the manager. “I want to apologise for all the times you were late, to apologise for all the kit that you wear that does not belong to the club, to apologise for the way you conducted yourself during the warm-up against Angers, your lateness and your lack of effort. If you want to have a great career, you must have humility.” Reports suggest the dressing down was met with near universal… Read more »
CG
“If we are talking about non- negotiables.I would have thought , the Arsenal captain giggling at a corner, and loosing his man and them scoring , is where I would start.Hardly a captains example, is it?And that’s before we get onto Laca and his balloon smoking.”
Spot on CG..imagine if Guendouzi was giggling at a corner that cost us a goal…no doubt the non negotiable and standards would come into effect.
Obviously Arteta picks and chooses his “standards” and ” non negotiables ” ..
TR7
Didn’t those two have a very public war of words before he was later sacked? The stuff at United is of little significance, people change in a 5 year period. I’m certain any player we recruit this summer will be vetted to ensure they fit with the ethos at the club regardless.
They can concern themselves with that, as a footballer he’d bring a lot of quality in the final third for not a lot of money.
Pierre
You’re really riding this non-negotiable thing hard aren’t you?
What makes you think Arteta picks and chooses who it applies to? What evidence do you have supporting the assertion?
All comes across very scornful because Ozil is in the bad books.
Not a fan of signing Ceballos on a permanent deal. This means he’ll be playing 30-40 matches next season. His stats since the restart have been decent, but I am really hoping we can sign a better #8 CM.
For me, Xhaka should apologize for what he did during the CP game than Guen.
The positive with preaching the non-negotiables culture so hard so early is that the new players that come in will automatically conform to it irrespective of their nature.
Btw , the rage if it had been someone like Ozil , Xhaka , Mustafi instead of Auba in the giggling scandal would have been absolutely outrageous.
Un
I don’t think Martinelli and Saka should be unequivocal starters, they’re still kids. Martinelli is out until Jan anyway. Plus from the noise online Depay would be replacing Lacazette in the squad so we’d not be adding anything as much as we’d be shuffling.
He’s a quality player as he’s shown in recent years, but think it’s a bit too easy a link because he’s in the final year of his deal.
‘Didn’t those two have a very public war of words before he was later sacked?’ Neymar eventually got Emery sacked at PSG, still it doesn’t vindicate Neymar’s arrogant and cocky attitude. Pierre often vindicates Ozil’s stand under Emery by suggesting it was the player who had the last laugh. Players are more powerful than managers these days which is sad. ‘The stuff at United is of little significance, people change in a 5 year period. ‘ You are not willing to give a kid (Guen) a second chance and totally back Arteta’s stand on him. By the same standards, Depay… Read more »
Un
Ozil with a proper set of players around him would have been one of if not the best player in the league.
But we had the likes of Walcott , Ramsey , Coquelin and Giroud and when we had the money to spend we bought Mustafi , Xhaka and Perez.
Should have been Kante, Manolas ( ideally VVD) and a striker.
Nelson
Xhaka incident was nothing big. Fans took their frustation out on him for the team struggling and he gave some back. No big deal. Heat of the moment.
If Guendouzi is treating staff at Arsenal facilities in a poor manner, that’s an entirely different case
Joelson has been left out of the squad for the first time since matchweek 27 of the Portuguese league.
Raul madness incoming ??
😂 shower some hate for this comment.
Tony Adams on Mesut Ozil (this week): “He’s (Ozil) a talent. The guy can win games. He’s a bit like Dennis Bergkamp, a World Cup winner and can open up doors. “If you don’t get the results and you have a player like that on the sidelines that you’re not using, everyone’s going to point to it.” ““That is the job of the coach (Arteta) to get the best out of his squad of players – not to avoid it and say: ‘No good, don’t want you.’ “”There would be a place in my team if they toughened up behind… Read more »
“Neymar eventually got Emery sacked at PSG, still it doesn’t vindicate Neymar’s arrogant and cocky attitude“ Who’s vindicating anything? I’m saying it’s questionable that a manager takes to the media to throw shade at a player. “You are not willing to give a kid (Guen) a second chance and totally back Arteta’s stand on him. By the same standards, Depay should be a non-negotiable/untouchable,shouldn’t he ?“ No, Arteta isn’t willing to give Guendouzi another chance having done so already. I back holding the players here at the club to those standards. The fact Depay was melt at United 5 years… Read more »
Un
Guess I cant state the name of my City. The comment got deleted twice?
‘Who still brought his best out under wenger more than Aubameyang Lacazette Pepe Saka Martinelli with a little bit of Nketiah willock and neslon’
Dont get this. ?
Charlie
Vindictive ? Come on now ! I don’t expect a footballer to be a paragon of virtue. As long as he can be professional enough to not be a pain in the arse of his manager/colleagues, it should be ok. My simple point is it would be odd for Arteta who is apparently a disciplinarian to pursue Depay.
Godfather
Tony has always been a bit ‘abstract’ shall we say, in his media appearances.
I still remember him as a pundit on Sky Sports maybe 15 years ago, wearing a shiny purple suit and saying that Rafa Benitez should be “Getting more Brazilians in there” in response to any question he was asked!
Nonetheless he is one of our legends, one of my absolute hero players growing up as a young kid.
Un
Yes because we were still playing attacking Football and didn’t have Emery then.
+ Gabi and Martinelli are 18 and just like Pepe , playing their first season in the PL.
I believe if we had a Suarez to play alongside Mesut and Alexis we’d have surely won the league .
Or
Had Santi stayed healthy full season , I beleive we could have won the league without Suarez.
Lowering expectations because Arteta is new to management is doing nobody any favours.
Better to have sky high expectations under a star manager like Klopp.
Un
Depay can play left side or through the middle. If he replaces Lacazette then it would surely be in the same manner come through XI?
TR7
I totally get that some players have a question to ask about them, but you can’t sit and rule someone out on that basis is my point. What they do at Arsenal trumps how they are anywhere else.
A lot of revisionist shite on here. Nobody, not even the previous coaches people said Guen had problem with, ever said he doesn’t do well in training. The most documented infact emphasized he trained well and was obsessed with winning everytime he was called upon. However, he has some screw loose. Ffs who was born perfect here? Arteta should have fined this boy instead of ostrasizing him and get it over with. Now he’s towed the big man line and the boy had decided to sink his teeth in too. That’s an Arsenal resource, paid handsomely, made lame by a… Read more »
Assaulted an opponent
You’d feel more disappointed in Klopp than Artets because expectations come with a reputation and Klopp has a far greater reputation than Arteta.
I don’t have time for ozil like Pierre but let’s face it he is right on one thing and I respect him for being brave enough to be consistent with his view on the ozil situation.When he was benched last season,some of you here said that the Ayers like him and it will destroy squad unity,of course it was bullshit but what changed? Two,what are these non negotiables?Again,I’ll agree with Pierre and Cg….laca smoked balloons and auba was having a chat and laughing at a corner where is the outcry?Even in a classroom/workplace when there is one set of rules… Read more »