Arsenal announced that they’ve gone into consultation with staff over 55 redundancies at the club due to the covid nightmare that’s gripping businesses around the world. I can’t imagine the decision was easy and I feel dreadful for the people going through the process. This moment in time has been awful for many reasons, but the damage it has done to the jobs market is especially difficult to deal with because the people it affects haven’t done anything wrong. Covid induced redundancies, particularly in entertainment, seem unavoidable. Remember, this is a club that was fretting over electric bills last year.
Without meaning to tack this onto an agenda – this is why the club needs to be responsible with how they dish out the ‘it’s just the way it is’ fees to the hangers-on around player entourages. A successful football team is obviously essential to a successful business, which is why I hope the club is taking the same cost-cutting eye to agents as it is to the loyal servants that are having their lives rocked at the moment.
Speaking of deals, Willian looks close.
I have accepted the reality here and I won’t argue this all summer, but before I depart on the subject, I want to clarify two things.
- I like the player, he would add something to the squad.
- I do not like the concept of a Shadow Technical Director/Directors
I will move on from that because I don’t want to put a grey cloud on the window, it’ll be what it’ll be, and we’ll just have to hope the powers that be are working their magic behind the scenes to ensure the club is being run professionally.
Mark Irwin reckons the deal is going to be worth £130k a week. If that is all in, I can deal with that sort of number. We’re not paying him a premium, though we are giving him what in all likelihood will be a dead year for choosing us over a more lucrative deal in Miami or Barcelona. The player is top quality, fit, and a professional. We have done worse over the last few years.
Part two of our ‘hold your nose’ window could very well be Coutinho, as reported post-cup final. The club clearly sees this as their marquee opportunity, the new, errr, Ozil. Barcelona is desperate to clear the wage bill and save some face. Arsenal is in need of creative players that can move the ball at speed. I have no idea what sort of plan Mikel would have for the Brazilian, but I’d imagine he’d try and reshape his game to maximise his explosive power and unlock the maximum creativity of our forwards.
I don’t know what the deal would look like here. Some are talking of a loan, some are saying it’ll be a swap with Matteo, some are saying we’ll pay a fractional fee much in the way Inter are for Alexis.
We’re in a ‘the jury is out’ moment here. On the one hand, it is impossible to deny that he’s not far better than anything we have in our starting 11. He’s moving into the peak of his powers, having just turned 28 years old. He’s played in the Premier League, under Jurgen Klopp. He had 91 goal contributions in 200 appearances. In his final full season there, he racked up 25 goal contributions in 36 appearances. Things haven’t been great at Barcelona, but let’s be honest, not many of their transfers have worked out as planned. Along with Griezmann and Dembele, it’s been a rough run for the Catalans.
Would I prefer us to be looking at players like Dejan Kulusevski and Saïd Benrahma? Sure. Do I understand why Arteta wants to bring in players with more experience? Yes. Should I be grateful that a player of his quality wants to come to a team that is in its 3rd year of Europa League football? Probably.
I think I’ve been hoisted by my own hype-train a little a bit on the player thing. I’ve spent 3 years saying that Arteta is a world-class coach that can extract more from players, now he’s picking up players like Coutinho and Willian, I can’t really moan, I have to trust the process. If the coach is in, it’d be rude of me not to go along with it… UNLESS IT FAILS THEN I WILL DOUBLE DOWN.
Business-wise, going for older players on big money with no longterm value doesn’t make sense. Especially if you’ve tried it for 3 years and consistently regressed. Dortmund invest in young players, they make the Champions League every year, and by the end of this summer they’ll have received £600m in transfer fees over 5 years (Arsenal, £200m). They’ll start next season with Haaland and Jude Bellingham, two of the most exciting young players in the world. We are told that Arsenal can’t afford to invest in top young talent, yet we’re out here finding £22m for Willian who is 32 in a few weeks. Sorry, I said I wouldn’t do that. But I find it frightening that we might be moving on Cagigao and handing over the scouting reigns to someone that gets his info from his mates.
Question, do you still think the Raul power grab is an agenda thing from me? Doesn’t look good if there aren’t replacements.
Again, this summer could shift up a gear, there are still young players we could be sniping in the background. I like the sound of Gabriel Magalhães from Lille, the right age profile we should be looking at as we look to move on from Luiz and Mustafi this season. I’m hoping that some of the swap deals we’re looking at involved players of a younger profile. I’d also like to think our youth scouts, if there are any left, are working hard to bring in top talent.
So let’s see where we go. I’ll judge the body of work when it’s finished and hope that maybe this summer is one that Raul and Edu feel under pressure to deliver on. Josh and Stan can’t continue to watch the club leak money if progress isn’t being made at every level, Edu’s job is squad shaping, he has to come with the goods this summer, so let’s see if he can be a little more creative than working with his own agent.
Right, that’s me done, see you in the comments.
“Personally I found Arteta bringing him on board underwhelming…” I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for him purely because he seems a decent sort and seems so out of place at Arsenal, but I agree he’s probably lacking in terms of elite coaching and ideas. I just can’t see him lasting long here. Think Arteta brought him on board to help him through the transition from assistant to manager but long-term plans to bring in sharper minds. I do think that process could be accelerated by the financial situation and might be off soon. Also think Ljungberg could… Read more »
I see Pierre’s really adding to the discussion today.
“Really?”
Oh do continue sir
Andy
Highly unlikely you as a fan or AST youre gonna get that level of info. Stadium debt again would be a separate category and easy enough to describe. Of course i am not the end all but knowing the sheisty shitty group that is the walton (kroenke) fam i dont doubt it
Also not talking about fees, talkin bout wages
Marko, seem to recall that you were surprised that broadcasting revenue might be cut even though the league games were finally completed. Seems that this was the case as per Raul’s statement on the redundancies below:
“Our main sources of income have all reduced significantly. Revenue from broadcasters, matchday and commercial activities have all been hit severely and these impacts will continue into at least the forthcoming 2020/21 season.”
Not a rosy picture at all.
And of course markos contributions are eminently brilliant
Marko the good ole nonnegotiable eh…Round looks like he will struggle to maintain discipline in a high school class let alone among footballers richer than he is but stranger things have happened
Paulinho yet Freddie isn’t gonna last in that role.
“Sound eminently replaceable.”
Everyone is replaceable just depends on whose coming in as replacement or in this case if they are replaced.
We’ll have to wait and see regarding Cagigao’s.
Once can’t deny this plays into the narrative already existing out there regarding the clubs new methods and dealings.
On another note very Arsenal supporters to post up the Cagigao gems without the misses and they’re surely many.
Marko That’s kind of my drift, Cagigao worship is off-key for me because I think his role could be done as good, and better, by others. His dismissal means nothing to me no matter his legacy, Arsene had a legacy after all but still his end came. What we do, and how we do it, beyond him is the meat and gravy of it all. That said, sometimes easy to get so wrapped up in the ideals of structure and strategy thus giving the football pitch specific stuff a back seat. I care that we operate in a sustainable, progressive,… Read more »
My view is that this summer will be a buyers market. Most Clubs will have lost money and face an uncertain future. A handful – Man C, Chelsea , Man U maybe – will spend money freely (plus perhaps the Clubs they throw money at), the rest will not. Therefore sell early and quickly, buy late and slowly. I hope Mikel & Co hold their nerve. I hope EVERY player (bar three or four) is for sale provided the offer is high. Come summer, clubs will be giving players away because they can’t afford the wages. I like Willian –… Read more »
I don’t know how a super agent gets all his clients. Does he contact the players or vice versa? I would think that a super agent would pick and choose his clients to keep his reputation.
A good company should not deal with just one supplier. If Arsenal is going to go the super agent route, they should have contact to at least three super agents. For every need, we’ll ask all of them to come up with choices.
That’s kind of my drift, Cagigao worship is off-key for me because I think his role could be done as good, and better, by others.
Yeah I agree. This is from someone who likes Cagigao and the work he’s done and would like to see him stay (if he is gone) but again in saying all that the reaction from some one would think that our recruitment over the years has been amazing (it hasn’t) and that going forward we couldn’t find a replacement or possibly replace the recruitment of Cagigao (we could).
So we’ve apparently gotten Gabriel.
Just thinking out loud but if Cagigao was looking after South America is it possible that the club sees BREXIT causing issues bringing in players from South America? They might be looking at it not being a strong market to recruit from in the future so does it need a highly paid senior scout looking after it?
backpass
Where did you hear that?
https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/848181/article/2020-08-05/mercato-gabriel-choisi-arsenal-jonathan-david-se-rapproche-du-losc
GABRIEL CHOOSES ARSENAL
The other thing is as you said earlier Charles a scout leaving right now is inconsequential cause targets will have been made prior to now. Whether or not we’ll regret it in the future of course remains to be seen. We need immediate gains as you said
I’m in no way complaining but if we’re signing a CB when we have as many as the rest of the PL combined that’s got to mean we’ve got the money to sign a / some CM’s right?
Marc what is wrong with you mate? Do you not think we need to sign up a CB (s)?
Un
I’m not suggesting that Arteta’s going to get every player he ever bats an eyelash at but right now his stock is about as high as it could be given whats been going on.
It would be be a crazy career move for him not to have an input and get players he’s happy with.
Archangel Gabriel to save us from Rauls sins?
That’s the other thing I didn’t say before, I fully expect movement on the transfer front to sweep this 55 redundancies and ‘key scouts my sacked under the carpet.
Neymar is Brazilian right? Think we know what’s coming.
Marko No like I said happy to be signing someone (assuming it’s not bullshit) but I’m looking at it like this – we’ve got Saliba joining this summer, Luiz just signed an extension and Mari signed in Jan, on top of that we’ve got a ton of CB’s already on the books that we need to unload. If money is that tight and us desperately needing at least one CM, two if Ceballos doesn’t come back CB just doesn’t seem somewhere where we can’t afford to “indulge” at the moment. If we are doing this surely we’ve got the money… Read more »
Well, guess I’m in the minority then with CC. Don’t care about Cagigao in the least bit.. seems like if his main focus is South America.. we have that covered already with Edu. so yep his job is redundant. Every Club and organization in the world is cutting people they deem redundant. Even small business owners who have known and had personal relationships with people forever have had to let them go. Newsflash : Covid sucks. And yes I’m aware Edu and Kia are besties. That’s concerning sure but it’s not apocalyptic concern. I’d be more concerned if were linked… Read more »
I guess I’m in the minority too.
No one is going to give a shit if we achieve our goals next season. We’ve already bagged an FA Cup in Arteta’s first half season in charge.
Hope we can see some player movement out soon too.
Looks like a power grab exercise from Kia/Raul but as long as we sign good players I don’t really care who is pulling the strings from behind.
CB just doesn’t seem somewhere where we can’t afford to “indulge” at the moment.
It’s arguably the most important area we need to address given how problematic it’s been for years
Looks like a power grab exercise from Kia/Raul but as long as we sign good players I don’t really care who is pulling the strings from behind.
Also this shite has to stop he’s a scout how powerful can he be
Marko
Funny how all this has happened within a few days of the new “board oversight” that the Kroenke’s put in because of Sanllehi’s rogue behaviour.
Dortmund finishing in the champs spots league with young talent every year is hardly comparable to what we have to face in England. In Germany they dont have 2 oil rich teams and Liverpool above them. They only have the Man U equivalent of a commercial giant in Bayern. We can’t compete with promising youngsters filling all positions and a lot of our more senior players are melts. We need to change up the ethos of the team while also making sure we have experience. I think willian and coutinho will help put us in the right direction and they… Read more »
According to the UK Independent journalist Delaney.
William offered a £10 million signing on fee.
Marko
But we have or should have addressed it. Two new players and one extended this year – the defence will perform a lot better with a functioning midfield in front of it.
Your still missing my point – everyone and his dog knows we need CM’s if we’re spending north of £20 million on another CB that’s got to mean we’ve got the money to strengthen midfield as well?
Gabriel is good, but the question is will he adapt to a very different setup. He may be required to up his passing game compare to what is required of him at Lille. Sometimes a player excels in a system because it cover his shortcomings and then when more is asked of him it become evident why no other big team was interested in him. I don’t think that will be the case here, but it is a possibility. I also think that he may bring a more calming and sensible play to Saliba who can sometimes take a lot… Read more »
Marc
I recall a reason Arteta not getting the job first time round being partly attributed to his demands when it comes to transfers, i.e being heavily involved in the decisions. Not sure where I saw it but I remember reading it somewhere.
CG
You do know that the guy you’re quoting is half Irish and half Spanish?
“Sometimes a player excels in a system because it cover his shortcomings ”
OK who mentioned Xhaka?
CG
All players get sign on fees.
Free agents especially get higher ones.
Not big news.
CG
“William offered a £10 million signing on fee.”
The total outlay of the contract is what matters though.
He;s a free transfer so he will command a sign on fee but may take a lower wage spread out over time.
Valentin
“Right now apart from David Luiz and Mustafi attempts at long passes, our CBs are poor passers and play quite conservatively.”
Isn’t that supposed to be one of Mari’s strengths?
Funny how all this has happened within a few days of the new “board oversight” that the Kroenke’s put in because of Sanllehi’s rogue behaviour.
OMG a power grab by Tim Lewis? Holy shit
Just saw this on arsenal Facebook page. Think I’ve found Pierres real identity. Ha
#ARTETAOUT FOR DROPPING OZIL
Versatile football star ozil
Ozil is towering talented and skilful player
His electrifying and distinctive performances will continue to enlighten and inspire many generations
We miss his rich contribution on and of the pitch
Marko
It get’s worse – he’s a fucking lawyer makes a Super Agent look like Mother Teresa!
Mari has a cracking long ball on him from what I’ve seen….. (on YouTube).
A super lawyer. This club is proper fucked
Marc
Mother Theresa was fucking savage. Haha
Read up about her.
It seems we are getting my man Gabriel I will be very happy if he lands..I still think he is the best young cb in ligue 1….very cultered…if this is what agent dealing gets you then am all game
In order of importance we need creative midfielder, defensive midfielder, top super qualideeeee centreback, left winger.
In my opinion that gives you a shot at top 3.
If you manage to move on a lot of the dead wood then you might need a few more squad players or promotions from the under 23 side, but midfield is the biggest priority to be dealt with after getting auba to sign.
Daniel Altos
Have you watched him play much? Strengths and weaknesses? He’s clearly highly rated but I don’t get to watch much French football.
Marko
He works for one of the “Magic Circle” law firms – they are definitely the legal version of Super Agents – just more evil.
I think Pedro is not being honest with all this agent talk….I really don’t understand what the whole fuss is about…seriously almost 90% of top players these days have super agents….someone already posted here that contrary to Legrove financial experts we don’t pay dubious amounts to the said agents…it is becoming clear that willian is clearly being pushed by arteta but if course you don’t here many dwelling on that point,it’s just “Kia is the devil” talk
Interesting what this does to our Partey negotiations, massive fuck you to paying the full buyout if we jizz funds on Gabriel, and bring in Willian and Coutinho.
Do we have backups from him?
Danilo has been mentioned as a backup option to Partey.
Could be worse.. we could have a Real Estate agent running the place. Next thing you know Stan will be moving the Club to L.A. Or maybe an Insurance Agent and suddenly the Emirates will get mysteriously torched. We already had a Used Auto Sales Agent in Gazidas running the place. Sorry I meant MLS director of Marketing.. my bad.
.
MicsAugust 5, 2020 19:34:37
Daniel AltosHave you watched him play much? Strengths and weaknesses? He’s clearly highly rated but I don’t get to watch much French football
Yes mics quite alot, honestly apart from lack of pace(he’s not that slow either)I don’t see any other weakness..He is about like van dijk to me doesn’t slide that much,he is more if an interception guy.He does have a nice long ball and he is good in the air,I’ve not seen him getting skinned alot too
Interesting what this does to our Partey negotiations, massive fuck you to paying the full buyout if we jizz funds on Gabriel, and bring in Willian and Coutinho
I’m not sure about that. I think the deal with another player shouldn’t come into it and besides him not signing a new contract and wanting to leave probably forces Atletico into accepting less honestly.
Arteta: ‘We have some young players who are playing more football than they probably should
I have a lot of faith in the young talent we have at the football club, but we need the right stability and foundations around them to make sure they develop in the right way’
‘You need players that have the experience in the Premier League and they’ve done it here, so in terms of adaption the process it is much quicker’
☕️ 🐸
“Looks like a power grab exercise from Kia/Raul but as long as we sign good players I don’t really care who is pulling the strings from behind.”
Pretty much this, lets see it on the pitch.
Daniel
I’ve been having this argument with Pedro for months. His argument is we don’t scout players or find players we want we buy the players a “Super Agent” wants to dump on us. He then talks about Mislintat being amazing and the way forward.
Problem is look at the signings under Mislintat and under Sanllehi – they just don’t equate to the outcome Pedro keeps telling us.
Already we’ve got Willian fobbed onto us by his agent which fits an agenda and suddenly a young rated CB which doesn’t.
The intrepid John Cross throwing this into the mixer:
“Arsenal were offered Philippe Coutinho. But are not pursuing that deal. Willian highly likely to sign for Arsenal but that means Coutinho won’t happen. They won’t do both.”
Not to worry CC, that swashbuckler’s gotten more wrong than right.
Well if John Cross is saying we won’t do both I’m going to chuck a tenner on us signing both of them.
Full on silly season.. in swing now. So.. hard to say what is real and what is Fake News.
I don’t mind binning scouts if it means we are replacing them with an upgrade. I mean I would get it if arsenal were firing stewards and the like if there are no fans inside Emirates. But Head of scouting is a big red flag. It will give the stories pedro has been posting some credible backing. Head of Scouting should never be a department you should cull. It feels like we are going to wing it from next summer on players we are going to sign. We need to Improve the squad either way though. But we are going… Read more »
Midwest
I think you’re being a little melodramatic I mean next thing you’ll be telling me Donald Trump is President.
John cross is as bullshit as they come
couldn’t have cost us*
Sal
Lots of talk now that we’ve cooled Coutinho interest after Willian. Silly season is epic, Matt Law said two hours ago we were pushing ahead with Coutinho and now says we won’t go near after Willian.
I’ll go out on a limb and say Willian isn’t our only creative addition this window lol but I was told we were keen on a player that hasn’t made much of a splash in the tabloids. Same guy said Coutinho was ready to ping.
I think you’re being a little melodramatic I mean next thing you’ll be telling me Donald Trump is President.
____
If your talking about the funny looking orange faced dude who tells us everyday on the television that everything is perfect nothing to see here.. then yes. we are all still trying to process how that happened.
Fuck John Cross, I’m ordering my Coutinho kit now.
Really hope Gabriel news is true, I don’t even know if he’s good but at least we’re getting some new CBs in .
Coutinho over Willian for me but honestly I don’t know how one negates the other considering Willian being signed is neither enough to address our lack of creativity or our lack of a CAM
Honestly Marc he isn’t being fair to Raul at all…people are advocating for Dortmund model have no clue,this is the pl and we bring that Dortmund shite here within 2yrs fans will be rioting,seeing as arsenal fans aren’t known for patience.This pattern of blame anything bad on Raul and anything great on arteta doesn’t wash with me…I just read an athletic article with basically edu saying arteta rubber-stamped Cedric and Mari..its not like Mikel was strong armed or anything
If your talking about the funny looking orange faced dude who tells us everyday on the television that everything is perfect nothing to see here.. then yes. we are all still trying to process how that happened.
If he gets re-elected at the feet of a 32% drop in GDP the last quarter before Election Day, I will seriously consider moving out of the country. There’s no hope left at that point for this place.
CG
We are a football club, not a charity.
The footballing side of things take priority, I’d rather we be less about values and more about winning stuff.
I think we are using corona to cull the bloated payroll we had acquired under Wenger. That’s why lawyer man was brought in, to see what we could get away with. Would rather have a better player than a tea lady.
Daniel Altos
Backing up what I said earlier. This is why Arteta didn’t get the job over Emery I think, when Raul wanted to be transfer man. It’s only the mail I know but might have had some truth.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5749021/Mikel-Arteta-demand-control-transfers-Arsenal-boss.html
CG
If you hate the club that much why don’t you fuck off and find a team / sport to support in South Africa?
Trust me no one will miss you.
Luteo-
Well the thing is . we are screwed either way.. so there is that. I mean the alternative is Grandpa Joe who forgets what he is saying half way through his first sentence. And is triggered by hardball questions like, Why do you think you can win? American Politics is the biggest cesspool there is… with no change in sight.
So I don’t plan my life around it. Better to delve into the Game of Thrones power plays at Arsenal.. more entertaining and healthy to think about.
Midwest
“we are all still trying to process how that happened.”
I’d stop with the introspection if I were you and starting preparing for a second term!
You hear any names Charles?
MidwestGun
Can you give me the low down on Governor Cuomo?
Something is not quite right with society if we fire 55 people and are still paying millions in fees.
We support this club because it has class. Or at least is supposed to.
Marc- I’m prepared dude.. I got a life time supply of toilet paper, live in paradise in the middle of nowhere and have good credit at the liquor store. All I need is Arsenal to not screw up this transfer window and people to stop breathing near me and life is perfect.
MGooner
I support Arsenal because my dad does and I will continue to. Couldn’t give a fuck about class as long as we get back to winning.
We have spent too long hearing about class and values. Fucking sick of it
And I’m sure all these scouts etc that we are getting rid of will find new clubs.
MGooner
What if the bulk of those laid off are staff who deal with match day issues? We’re not going to be back in the ground for months and then it’s looking like at reduced capacity so very lightly that we won’t need any ticket staff, reduced stewards and catering staff etc.
It’s shitty and everyone would prefer things to be better but life just isn’t like that.
Habesha-
Not really, Just what I see on the news.. Don’t have much contact with him otherwise. Sal and Ahern live in NY.. they probably know more.. From my perspective Gov. Coumo seems like a good dude with good intentions but fails to look at all the consequences of his actions which sometimes end up with unintended bad results.
we are screwed either way
Yeah but I feel one option is more gentle with lubrication and the other will make your asshole bleed. Hear you on the Arsenal bit.
I mostly like it here though so I may just need to find something to bite on and take it. Moving to another country at this point with a newborn on the way would be difficult, although my folks would be thrilled.
Marko
No, was in amongst the post-FA cup banter, said we had Coutinho ready to sign but that we were also keen on a player that’s not had much of a mention. Never disclosed, called him a boring cunt, standard.
I think it’s Aouar if I had to guess, because November we had a similar convo (mainly about incoming managers) where he talked about Coutinho, Aouar, and Odegaard being names we looked at last summer – I was speculating for Jan. big lolz.
Yeah Danny, But you cant throw 55 people out in a situation like this.
Its not even about the club. Its basic human values. There is a time for being competitive and emphasizing productivity and a time for showing solidarity.
Luteo
“Yeah but I feel one option is more gentle with lubrication and the other will make your asshole bleed.”
Still not clear on your preference!
Coutinho is a better player than willian and younger to
I dont get why so many people dislike trump.
He had a great economy for years. And during his tenure, the US did not invade anyone, even if they nearly failed with Venezuela.
Marc
Eh I’m a pretty passive lay. Have at it.
Luteo
Glad I’m several thousand miles away then!
Arteta will probably go with 4 3 3 formation. Luiz is weak in this formation. Since Arteta wants to fight for a top4 finish, he’ll need a CB to partner Saliba at least until all the injured CB’s are back.
My top tier scouting YouTube scouting of Gabriel has confirmed one thing for certain…
Man United fans were fucking adamant he was theirs 😂😂 the number of “welcome to United” compilations I’m grinning watching is elite.
Deal better happen, I’m pre-smug.
M Gooner “”””Something is not quite right with society if we fire 55 people and are still paying millions in fees. We support this club because it has class. Or at least is supposed to.”””” Well said. This ain’t The Arsenal anymore. Wheres the class gone? The club is absolutely hideous from top to bottom. We sign Cedric on a 4 year contract because he is Kia’s lackey and weeks later sacking people who have served the club for a quarter of a century( and 54 others probably earning a pittance in comparison to the overrated millionaire players) Its unacceptable,… Read more »
Marc
You fucking tease.
CC
So you’re being premature on signings as well now!
Good to see some banter on here – not been anywhere near enough lately.
I blame Pedro.
champagne Charlie 18.21.10. well said.
yup, who’s to say the three he “uncovered” weren’t him covering his ass on a comfortable 23year job. doing just enough while insidiously sinking the boat with nonsense.
2020, the year of new regimes, I’m all for it.
The strategy looks like look away while trump is president.
Anyway back to football, Auoar would ne a great signing. He is a Hybrid CM/CAM though. We would nee to go a flat 433.
Marc
Premature = quicker high.
Who’s really winning!? 😎