Well, that was a wonderful weekend.
Spurs lost to Carlo’s attack-minded Everton side. James looked every bit the silk machine from 2014. Spurs looked, well, they looked very Jose Mourinho. I’ve been watching All or Nothing, it’s a lot of fun, but I’m not sure the reimagination of Jose Mourinho really came through as strong as he may have liked. He’s living in the past, he’s tactically weak, and his man-management approach just doesn’t sit well with players of this era.
Just look at that headline, then remember how many people were envious that he was going to Spurs.
‘True winner’
‘He’s had some personal problems, he’s finally happy’
‘This squad is perfect for him’
Let’s hope Daniel Levy’s teenage man-crush keeps him at the club for the full length of the deal. He’s the disaster they deserve. Spurs stagnation will continue.
West Ham crashed to Newcastle. What a disaster they’re having. The stories I’m hearing and reading are absolutely unbelievable. Long may that continue. It’s always a tough day out, but a focused performance against a team in open revolt against ownership could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
United lost to Villa in a friendly, also hilarious. On the topic of their team, I find the rounding on Mason Greenwood disgraceful. Harry McG gets into a ruck, allegedly tries to bribe the coppers, and he’s rolled out on the BBC like a victim. Greenwood pulls babe on Tinder and engages in the lamest legal high going and he’s treated like he’s asked to reintegrate from the Caliphate. The bullying of young English kids in the media is abhorrent, I thought we’d seen an end to it after the last World Cup… the only way it stops is if we stop clicking the links.
Chelsea up this evening. I am very interested to see what Frank Lampard has to offer the top 3 this season. Hopefully, it’s a big serving of fuck-all, but we’ll see. They have had a very sexy summer, if things click, they are going to be a force of nature this season.
The big Sunday Arsenal news was the Emi Martinez deal. The Argentine cup hero has moved to Villa in a transfer worth about £20m. It’s sad, because I think he’s performed above and beyond expectations, but the reality is Arsenal aren’t at a level where we can afford to have two elite keepers. That’s a tremendous fee for someone that’s been with us gathering loan dust for 10 years. Emi gets to play regularly and bump his is pay by a multiplier of 6 / Arsenal add some pennies to the SAVE OUR MIDFIELD fund.
The story doing the rounds is that we’re in for Runar Alex Runarsson to replace him (comp here). He’s Icelandic, very handsome, and he plays in Dijon so he must be mustard. Lololol. He looks like a fun keeper, fast off his line, a good shot-stopper… a puncher from crosses though. I have no idea how good my analysis of the four-minute video is, but this is the sort of signing I’m down for. If you-know-who was here, we’d be ploughing pound notes into a 7 year Neto deal.
Aouar and Partey is the summer vision, people at the club think they can make it happen, we just have to push forward and make the deals happen by selling some deadwood and moving our swap plans forward. All is not as it seems, as is always the case with transfers. What certain execs are telling the press might not marry with their true intentions. There’s a lot of posturing going on.
We have almost 3 weeks of the window to go. Keep an eye on Torreira, Kola, Sokratis, Guendouzi, and Reiss. That’s where the magic is likely to happen. Maybe even Mustafi, but I think he might be in the same boat as Mesut Ozil > In love with the deal.
Whatever happens, I’m convinced we’ll end the transfer window with a set of players that will at the very least compete for top 4.
It’ll be a tough season though. Everything is going our way at the moment, but there will be dark times. The reimagination of Arsenal will have plenty of bumps in the road, but for once, you can’t deny that we’re following the correct process.
We have to take the season in mini-phases.
The current phase of games takes us to the international break. We need to have racked up 9 points to be on target. West Ham and Sheffield United are two must-win games. The Liverpool game will always come with low expectations, but at least we’re now in a position as a club where you pretty much know that we’ll show up with a game plan that if executed well, will give them something to think about. Leeds got at them, Liverpool were fragile at the back, there’s no reason we can’t do the same.
Phase two after is going to be very, very important. City, Leicester and United on the bounce… capped with a final game against Villa. Come out of that run with 7-8 points and we are cooking. The crazy thing is, it doesn’t matter what phase you look at, most games are tough these days. There are 8 teams competing for top 4 this season. That’s mad. You know what’d make all those games a little easier? AOUAR AND PARTEY. Let’s see if this week brings a breakthrough.
Before I go, I would like to point you in the direction of a truly excellent article from Andrew Shanoudi over at Medium. Grab a coffee and take 10 minutes to read his excellent analysis of why Arsenal have been a bit shit over the years. His use of data and clever graphs paints a grim picture of where things have gone wrong, but it also gives you hope, because we’re addressing the issues with some smart moves.
A couple of highlights were that he calculates our ROI on players.
To put matters into perspective, for every million pound Arsenal net spent on their squad, they lost 99% of what that million should’ve added in squad value. It’s the worst possible ROI ratio among the premier league’s top eight teams, utterly unacceptable for a team that is supposedly trying to close the gap.
This graph also shows the value we’ve lost in player sales.
STAGGERING. What a fucking great read that was. I wish I could make graphs and smart arguments like that.
How about a plug for Shadab, a talented creative that worked with me recently. He redesigned some logos of Premier League clubs. I told him my audience was refined, cultured, and artistically inclined. What do you think?
Now for my plug. Get some Arsenal Opinion in your ear holes. This week, I talk to Alex, we chatted about the Fulham game and we have a transfer orgy of sorts. Enjoy, leave a 5* rating, don’t you dare pull the trigger on a 1*. I am watching.
Pedro
Ozil getting stick isn’t anything new. A lot of people, pundits, ex players, fans, were all having a go way before Wenger left. This hasn’t just happened over the past 2 seasons, so don’t pretend.
Let’s see if Havertz gets the same treatment after a year or 2 if he his performances aren’t good enough. I bet he doesn’t.
Overmars, he used to get stick from Jose who’d sub him on 60 and call him a coward. Carlo also bombed him for Di Maria because of character.
He has a loyal fan club that live off his sexy comps. As a player, he’s delivering less than Andy Carrol these days. He’s not interested in football.
Pedro He’s delivering less than Carroll because someone made the decision to leave him out the squad when the football resumed after lockdown. Pre lockdown, he played every game and we were unbeaten. If it’s for footballing reasons that he wasn’t included, it doesn’t make sense. All I’m saying that the criticism he’s received has been unfair, not just over the last 2 years, but before then, even when he was linking up with Sanchez. Even now, he’s never said he doesn’t want to play for Arsenal and that he want’s to get back in the squad. I reckon the… Read more »
Ozil with his lack of application has achieved more as a footballer than Arteta
Im telling you for free!
Another banal comment by sid that has no relevance to anyone. He should probably write a book with his idotic thoughts and throw it at people’s heads in the street for free. Maybe then he can stop boring us all. ❤️
Theres a particular poster whose panties turn bright red every time Sid posts.
Im telling you for free!
Val It is possible to criticise a French player of Arab origin without you getting upset. Yes it is. Go on, Benzema ( the way he ruined his France career ), Ben Arfa ( immature ), Nasri. ( for being himself obviously ) for example, they all deserve it. How can you compare Aouar with Guendouzi, seriously ? He was caught dancing, L’équipe once gave him a 3, is this all you’ve got ? He had a fight with Genesio ? Where does that come from ? Anyway, you can have reservations about his potential arrival but don’t give him… Read more »
Sid
Ah yes, but how is Ozil perceived by the footballing world and, significantly, how will he be remembered?
WengerEagle
Yet another reason, if not the main reason, why Wenger will never return to the club.
Val is more interested in the soap opera drama aspect of football that occurs between players, coaches, and front offices than the actual product on the pitch.
Karim has taken the bait.
Get ready to be bored to death with long epistle.
Arteta was a consummate professional his entire career, captained multiple sides, and was widely respected as a team leader. He wasn’t as talented, but his mentality was always top notch.
Ozil the exact opposite, and decided to retire on full wages in his late 20s.
Plenty of average footballers have achieved more as a footballer than Arteta: Djimi Traore, David May, Anderson and Wes Brown..
Even Bebe ‘won’ a league title at Man U!
Most people just laugh and shake their heads when you mention Mesut Ozil.
That says it all really.
First impressions on Alex Runarsson from YouTube videos. Very good with his feet. Almost too confident. Has good reflexes. But his major weaknesses are his positioning and Erratic decision making when faced with barreling attackers. he rushes off his line and that makes him concede goals. He needs to improve decisions on when to come out. Catching crosses is also a bit of a problem due to positioning. He is a bit of Flaphandski type. All in all he looks like a David Luiz of Goalkeepers. He can come out with a 9 or a 5. That’s not great for… Read more »
It’s all about self-awareness.
Ozil, unfortunately, has no self-awareness.
Sad really.
No doubt the £350k a week helps.
Havertz is not like Ozil.
He is Dele Alli type player.
Ozil gets underrated because he has lost interest in football.
He was the best no 10 in football pre 2018.
His 2015-16 was the best season ever by a classic no 10.
He had 19 assists that season,would have had double that if his teammates didn’t waste so many chances.
Ah yes, but how is Ozil perceived by the footballing world and, significantly, how will he be remembered?”
Pierre should answer that.
The point is there are footballers you would struggle to remember anything they contributed on the field.
More importantly, if Lampard keeps playing such a shit midfield like yesterday,he is going to miss out on top 4.
ABRAHAM
Pulisic-Mount/Havertz- CHO
Kovacic- Kante
Is his best front 5.
If Abraham doesn’t get a lot of games this season,we should try to buy him next summer.
He is a complete CF which is what Arteta wants.
Havertz will head back to the bundesliga in the same way as Nuri Sahin,
Karim, Have you Googled Aouar Menes critique, Aouar Sagnol critique? To pretend he has no baggage is disingenuous. At Lyon Aouar behaved exactly like a younger version of Özil. So unless, there has been a click and he permanently changed, most people who have followed his career have doubt about his character. Remember how in February he could not wait to be substituted when OL were losing against PSG? How can such a talented professional footballer failed to restart the game if it is not by complete lack of application and concentration? https://www.90min.com/fr/posts/6554198-video-houssem-aouar-realise-l-engagement-le-plus-rate-de-la-saison-twitter-explose Remember how he was sulking after the… Read more »
This is like desperate clown talk.
Is this the same Ozil that no one
In the football world with even minimal
Intellect wouldn’t even cast a second look
at when he could be basically signed for a free?
The only clowns are the blind followers
and Gazidis and Wenger who decided to
Waste the Kroenke money on this loser.
Again no serious club wants anything to
do with Ozil!!!
There is a reason why the likes of Mikhi
and Alexis have a new lease on life
but football heads want nothing to
do with that loser
@The Godfather
When I saw they layout of your post I was expecting a poem 😀
Valentin
Out of curiosity,I want to ask,what’s your implication and probably your gain in all that you write about Aouar
Arsenal shouldn’t sign him or what?
The current first team squad numbers 32 players according to the Arsenal website. So on paper we need to offload 7 players before recruiting any additional players to be compliant with 25 player registration rule.. However, the situation is not quite as problematic as is implied. First there are two players in the squad who will not be available before January namely Martinelli and Chambers so that they don’t need to be registered. Second we know that Torreira and Sokratis are going to leave which brings the number down to 28. I am not including Martinez in equation, because he… Read more »
Aulas is mental taking to his his twitter calling out journos who published saying Mephis to Barca done.
Imagine Kroenke pulling that move.
Neglected to mention best part : “Bartomeu told me they’d struggle to make the offer for Depay struggling within Covid Crisis.”