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.
“Still awaiting for your apology about the fact that LeBron James was not in the top 5 wage in the NBA.”
lol seriously ?? Someone believe this ??
Can we now give the Leno vs Martinez debate a knock on the head.Its been to death.move on.hes gone.Next target pleasssssssssse..”…….
Leftfoot “As for getting top 4, even if we get Partey and Aouar,we are far away from top 4. Just not enough goals.” You’re even more pessimistic than I am. I was where you are, but I now think Willian is a bigger plus to our attack than I was initially thinking. His service from dead balls and from live play makes him something like a CAM — regardless of where he is deployed — and I think he adds more to our attack than a conventional wide forward. I wouldn’t favor us to finish 4th, but I think we’d… Read more »
I dont think i have said anything other than the truth about Arsenal’s defence, they are dodgy for certain and it will take a lot of serious work for Arteta to right far too many years of wrong. Can he do it? Certainly he can, given time and patience and decent players. Arteta remains a breath of fresh air in my opinion and i remain unwavering in my support of him.
“Emi wanted to leave.”
Yes. Apparently Arteta told him Leno was still number one and not to expect many games in the pl this coming season.
I think saying we have a dodgy defence is taking things a little too far. We all know the issues we’ve had but right now Tierney looks a real player, we’ve just had to very promising CB’s join us and whilst it’s too early to make judgement on Gabriel he certainly looked to have attributes that will be an asset. Bellerin is still a bit of an unknown quantity after the injury but the rest of the defence looks fine. It has recently performed well when playing a low block against quality teams but this is why we need CM… Read more »
Val –
Emi can’t displace Romero or Caballero.
LeBron James is the highest earner in the NBA. He was the highest earner at the Cavs and is the highest earner at the Lakers, so he didn’t “take one for the team” and allow them to invest in other players like you erroneously suggested. Apologise for getting that one wrong.
How about that time you told Freddie to “learn French” when you said Auba hadn’t been in negotiations with Arsenal? Yeah, that was funny. Freddie is still waiting for you to apologise.
Bojangles
That’s a distance from telling him he won’t get any minutes in the Cup’s either.
Marc,
You have been on the wrong side of so many arguments(Emery, Raul, …), it is funny how you keep coming back to get schooled.
Did they not teach you at school that Gaslighting is not debating.
You revert to type. Can’t win an argument with fact, casper doubt about other people character.
I am assuming that you are still hurt about accusing me of lying about Raul’s days being numbered days before he was sacked. Not days, in fact minutes before it was officially announced you were still defending his credentials.
“I think saying we have a dodgy defence is taking things a little too far.”
No its not Marc, although they have shown better shape in their presence, the lingering problems still exist. With the infusion of new talent things look very promising (given time) but lets not forget that the core remains a pig with lipstick, perhaps prettier on the surface but they are still ugly to watch and prone to the usual and typical mistakes.
I dare say most if not all at Le Grove knew how shitty the ROI has been. The player sales team , I’d there’s such a team, should all have been fired. Glaring errors of judgment unheard of. One such mishap would have caused Roche’s an organisation, let alone a series of them. The Snake.should forever be condemned. Erect a statute so we’d all throw whatever at it.
‘Emi can’t displace Romero or Caballero.’
Expecting Emi to soon become Argentina’s no 1. He is definitely better than Romero and Cabellero.
“Expecting Emi to soon become Argentina’s no 1. He is definitely better than Romero and Cabellero.”
Probably. Right now I think they’re going with the guy at Porto. Emi needs Villa to stay up this season. Can’t see a championship keeper becoming the Argentinian number 1, but he’s a solid keeper for sure.
Val
Think you need to look up what debunked mean. One article from the daily mail repeated by other outlets isn’t debunking anything.
Surprised you didn’t throw in a dig at Pepe at the same time so kudos for your restraint though.
Martinez and his agent has been talking for weeks now about how he wanted guaranteed minutes to stay, if we’re now playing players on merit alone Arteta obviously can’t give guarantees of playing time. If Martinez was confident enough in his ability he would have stayed. He didn’t so move on and dry your tears.
I’m optimistic. We may get close to top 4, just depends on how MU and Chelski shape up. I felt pessimistic for roughly a decade. I knew we wouldn’t challenge seriously for anything major and also knew that we were regressing under Wenger. Emery was a blip on the landscape. Arteta, on the other hand, has already proven that constructive communication and progressive actions work wonders for team morale. Irrespective of the fact that we are still a couple of players short, he has made us a far harder team to play against, as well as a team that seems… Read more »
“Leno’s passing quality is nowhere close to Martinez.“ Leno: 2650 minutes, 800 passes (30 pg), 72% completion, 408 forward (51%), 1168 touches (44 pg). Martinez: 770 minutes, 245 passes (31 pg), 67% completion, 123 forward (50%), 340 touches (44 pg). Have to say, I think this particular feather in Martinez’s cap is being offered generously at best. Would love to see an in depth breakdown of his passing ability because to me it seems his good performances in a short space of time has elevated the view of his abilities across the board. Aerial dominance and high claims have been… Read more »
Val
You maybe need a quick recap on what a “fact” is.
Marc
I never mentioned cup games. I imagine, had he stayed he would have been the cup keeper.
“Every British newspaper have the same story. Arteta had a meeting with Martinez where he told him that he was not going to be No1 and that he was thinking of sticking to one goalkeeper for all major cup competitions”.
Still no source?
Every British media isn’t a source. Just give us one for us to check and please, dont take us back to Wenger days to prove a point that isn’t there in the first instance.
Jamie, I see that you go the same school of debate than Marc. Gaslighting and whataboutery are not valid argument. Miscontruing what was said for the purpose of winning an argument. I explicitly wrote that LeBron James was not in the top 5 in term of wage in the NBA. You can argue all you want about his external endorsement, but in term of wage he is not in the top 5. I also wrote that at some point in his careers instead of chasing the money, he went for what was the most beneficial to him in term of… Read more »
I do recall at the beginning of last season Leno saying he wanted to play in all games, cups included.
Jesus, Val. Expert bullshit artist. “In the US sport, because of the salary cap, you can easily spot who is in it first for the money or who is interested first in title and then money. During their dominance, San Antonio Spurs players accepted lower wage (still high but lower than what they could have receive elsewhere) because they knew that allowed other stars to also come in, shine and help win title. The same with LeBron James. He would rather have a competitive team than take all the highest salary in the league.” LeBron James took the absolute maximum… Read more »
It was the daily mail that reported the Martinez story. Believe what you will.
“However, the Daily Mail has revealed why Martinez took the decision to leave. According to their report, the stopper decided to move on after Mikel Arteta told him he’d be playing Bernd Leno as his number one all season. Furthermore, it is believed Arteta refused to budge on rotation in the cup competitions, meaning Martinez would struggle for any minutes all season.”
Reg Martinez
Rookie Managers usually try to exercise control by being inflexible.
About what Arteta exactly said , might sound speculative, but Arteta got the ” Don Quixote ” in him and Valentin’s take sounds probable.
Martinez should have continued as a No , but with same jersey No, and salary bump, until he bombs, and use that to bring in Leno.
Everyone happy and on their toes
Valentin
I am no where near the only one who calls your “character” into question. You constantly get caught lying or deny you previously said something even when the original comment is copy and pasted to prove you said it.
You still have posted a link to this “debunk” theory – if it been in so many media outlets surely you can find one?
CC, The problem with passing is that there is no explicit stats to show that. passes don’t have a level of difficulty nor accuracy. A misplaced pass that the receiver still get will be measure as successful as a delightful chip arriving in the feet of an onrushing player. Unless he keep pumping high ball a goalkeeper will always have a high percentage of success. You could argue that bar the high ball, goalkeepers should have near 100% success. However Leno is not comfortable playing 30 yards lofted pass. Even with his hands he is slow to release the ball.… Read more »
Jamie no1 weasel on le grove .
So are you still actually disputing that Elneny didn’t even play well in the charity shield and the 1st game of the season?
Me and Mikel disagree and so do most supporters with eyes.
Elneny has vastly improved from under emery to be a viable option in there squad.
Take the L weasel you’re embarrassing yourself, again it seems.
“I do recall at the beginning of last season Leno saying he wanted to play in all games, cups included.”
Yeah because we really want players who can’t be bothered to play certain matches.
Marc,
You know full well which article I was referring to as you and your minion discredited the daily mail.
Bojangle posted a full extract of the comment.
As usual, you are trying to win an argument by Gaslighting instead of focusing on the content.
Personally I’d be embarrassed to use the Daily Mail as a source on anything.
Jamie:
Enfin, récemment je n’ai pas reçu de proposition, bien sûr.
Translate exactly as
Yes, I have not received any offer.
Too arrogant, stupid and ignorant to even realise you are making my point.
Valentin
You’ve been pulled up because you claimed it was all over the media – it’s not. It’s one source, this is why you get the piss taken out of you.
I’d also be very careful using a single source (the Daily Mail good grief) when it’s just as likely that the players agent “leaked” to the paper a reason for leaving that paints his client in a good light.
An agent is hardly likely to say “My client is leaving because he doesn’t fancy the competition”
Red –
“So are you still actually disputing that Elneny didn’t even play well in the charity shield and the 1st game of the season?”
Nowhere have I disputed this. The adults are talking. Go back to your video games or whatever. Come back in June when vastly improved Elneny has been a mainstay in central midfield instead of rubbing yourself raw after the first game of the season.
Or change your name and start again.
“I do recall at the beginning of last season Leno saying he wanted to play in all games, cups included” What’s this got to do with Valentine’s so called fact or Is this supposed to buttress Valentine’s claim? Like a poster earlier posted, give it a rest. Martinez is gone for good. Wish him all the best. Yes, we are sad to see him leave but I see him as a player who doesn’t fancy competition. Only an idiotic coach would assure a player of a starting spot in a team. I just see his international cap target heavily depending… Read more »
The Martinez story has been flogged to death. Martinez is a very good goalkeeper and having two experienced on the books would have alleviated any concern about one getting injured or out of form as can always happen. Second the transfer fee of £20 million is just about right considering that he is moving to Aston Villa. It is more or less on par with the fee paid by Sheffield United for a similar standard goalkeeper. Demanding more than that particularly in this market would only happen if one of the big spenders enter the market. The main concern I… Read more »
Val – Auba: “Enfin, récemment je n’ai pas reçu de proposition, bien sûr.” “Translate exactly as Yes, I have not received any offer.” What does “récemment” mean? Translated exactly as “Recently, I have not received an offer.” And his next sentence? “Mais bien sûr qu’on a déjà échangé avec le club ça fait pas mal de mois, et ils savent très bien pourquoi jusque-là rien ne s’est passé” Let everyone punch that into google translate and determine who’s gaslighting who. Desperate to be right on the internet. Meet Red Army. Not too ignorant to speak your mother tongue with more… Read more »
The Martinez story has been flogged to death.
Then types four paragraphs on the Martinez story.
Val I’m not making any statistical claim about pass quality, I’m aware the difficulty there is in measuring that which is why I said I’d be interested in a deep dive that lends credence to this idea that Martinez is ‘vastly superior’ to Leno with his passing. Leno has operated under prolonged chaos, and not once has that been offered up when referencing his distribution or errors – dishonest you might say. Martinez in contrast was performing in a disciplined setup which helped both his overall protection, and his ability to pass the ball. I’ve no issue with personal beliefs… Read more »
“I’m reading the Torreira to Torino deal just needs details sorted (how many installments etc) so could get an announcement over next few days. Also read that the Martinez deal is 17 mil not 20.“ Typical Arsenal. Ffs. I’d resign to losing Martinez who I think is more suited to the PL and rationalise why he’s sold eg fund purchase of midfielders. But £17m?? Seriously are we hiring only dumb people? Martinez is sold to a PL club, not Germany or Italy. Villa has plenty and a billion dollar owner more involved than Kroneke. £20m isn’t good enough. Jesus. £17m….… Read more »
The way things are going I anticipate a smooth progression.throughout the season. In other words, the results in games will be pretty much as expected.And what we expect will depend very much on how Mikel and Edu add creativity to midfield.
My guess remains a gem unearthed by Edu.
The sale of the GK may be the start of a fire-sale. I think practically any offer will be taken for Torreira, Gendozy, Mustafi, etc, more for Bellerin, part-salary payment for Ozil.
LOL – Coffee just came out of my nose, Left! Thanks for the laugh today!
You’re welcome. 🙂
Jamie you ballless wonder, you ain’t weaselling out of this one. You couldn’t give credit when due after the charity shield and dismissed his performance as similar to before he left loan. Just a few posts ago you called them ‘2 decent performances’ hardly a growing endorsement of outstanding performances. Your words wanker so yes you have disputed this. A mainstay in central midfield? No one is arguing this, this is you weaselling out of an argument when you’re bang to rights and haven’t got a leg to stand on. A vastly improved Elneny is a viable squad option that… Read more »
Red Army
Any chance you’re Elnenys agent? I don’t think this is helping him get a new contract.
He is what he has always been, a safe player that mostly play back and sideways, a couple of games in friendlies and against weak opposition doesn’t change that. He’d be a decent squad option if kept though.
Have said it before but I prefer him to Xhaka, more mobile and less mistake prone in a congested midfield. If he can add some more decisive passing to his repertoire he’ll be a good option off the bench.
Calm your tits, Red.
Neither of his performances were outstanding. He benefited from good team structure and played as well as everyone else. Nothing more.
If he’s vastly improved like you keep suggesting, he’ll get selected in the first 11 in the EPL loads this season.
When he doesn’t, you’ll disappear like a snake.
Don’t hate because you’re a mono-linguistic little Englander. Val is desperate to be right he completely misquoted Auba hoping no one would know any better. When you learn French, you’ll understand. Probably a bit of a stretch for a plumber though.
Someone has the tone of Don, Is that you Mr Beirut behind?
I dont believe Emi was told he would not be getting any game time, i do believe that he is being sold so we can raise funds for a cm and he is refusing a new contract
Check out man of the world and multi lingual Jamie.
You’d be called pompous and arrogant in every language you smarmy twat, that’s probably why you’ll have no friends.
Not like plumbers Jamie? A trade a bit beneath you?
Mikel called his performance phenomenal but with all your experience in the game you disagree.
Just say you disagree with Mikel and says he’s taking shit. Simple.
“Not like plumbers Jamie? A trade a bit beneath you?“
What prompted this?
red army as much as Jamies comments have annoyed you you really need to keep the abuse down a bit check the rules out bud 1) If you don’t agree with another blogger, debate it out, don’t resort to insults. It’s boring and discourages others from joining the thread. 2) Try and keep politics out of the conversation. There’s more than enough Arsenal news to talk about. Sometimes there’s a crossover, when there is, please be considerate when articulating your views. This is a blog for everyone. 3) Any sort of racism, homophobia, or general denigration of people will not… Read more »
now I am not the le grove police far from it and maybe its not my place but this is a place for debate and discussion and i don’t want you to get banned because some muppet has grinded your gears
FL that’s what I’m saying, he’ll be a viable option for us in midfield this season.
His loan spell did him wonders and he’s vastly improved, his confidence is sky high and the manager believes in him and is feeding that.
But you get dicks that can’t see past their previous opinion or distaste of certain players even when they come back in and excel.
If you-know-who was here, we’d be ploughing pound notes into a 7 year Neto deal.
I mean Neto is a better keeper than this Dijon lad but I suppose it’s hard to contain yourself some time. Funnily enough it’s you know who not being here anymore that has apparently showed down all our negotiations to a crawl.
Red Arteta said everyone gets a chamce (apart from ozil thank god) it seems elneny did well in the last two games as long as we still buy another cm he is a good squad player
CC,
Your own stats proves that Leno tend to punch and is rooted to his line on set pieces.
Now you are arguing something different. You are arguing that it was not his fault, but that was due to the bad setup and chaos under Emery.
I give you that it is a possibility, however I would respond that before Arsenal Leno criticism when in Germany were exactly the same: Not dominant in the air, prone to gaffe.
“he’ll be a viable option for us in midfield this season.”
That all depends on if and how many CM’s we get in the next couple of weeks. We bring in a couple and we’ll need to move some bodies out. Willock seems to have completely disappeared off the radar.
Martin Keown is on record stating on BT Sports that having sold Ospina Arsene Wenger was going to start the following season with Martinez as No1, because he believed in him.
I have to comment on this. A big huh and who gives a fuck from me on this statement considering Arsene Wenger was one of the worst top coaches at spotting talent at the goalkeeper position. His track record of signing keepers is shocking
Willock seems to have completely disappeared off the radar.
Come on Marc he started on the bench and we now have 3 subs. He needs a loan imo. Keep one of him or ESR but not both this coming season
“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.” Errr… no. The bullying the media is definitely not right, but the scrutiny will stop when multimillionaire footballers stop acting like idiots… Their millions will not insulate them from questions… and millions of fingers being pointed in their direction If they don’t want to be questioned stop acting questionably. It’s a cliche but with great wealth comes great responsibility. Having said all that, this… Read more »
Marko
Wasn’t a slight against Willock – he just doesn’t seem to have been attracting any attention. If we bring in 2 CM’s we have those, Xhaka, Ceballos, Elneny, Guendozi, Willock and ESR. I haven’t included Torreira because it does appear that he’s off but we’d still have too many bodies.
Thanks Martinez for your heroics. Shame you didn’t have the bottle to fight for your place like every other professional in the team. If the monies from the transfer gets reinvested into the playing squad AND NOT paying KSE for “consultancy” services… I’m happy. £20m for 15 or so top flight games is good business… especially for a player who is unwilling to repay the club for years of loyalty shown to them. Does Macey have the determination and the talent to step up in the Cup or European games? I wonder. I hope all the keepers at the club… Read more »
Why would he attract attention? Has he been made available for loan?
Xhakalson will leave arsenal before Elneny
You can take that to the bank
Marko
No nothing like that – maybe it’s the unusual preseason but I’m just used to seeing all the players get some time / apperances.
Marko
No nothing like that – maybe it’s the unusual preseason but I’m just used to seeing all the players get some time / appearances.
“Martin Keown is on record stating on BT Sports that having sold Ospina Arsene Wenger was going to start the following season with Martinez as No1, because he believed in him.”
Val
You do know the Wenger signed Petr Cech right? And he didn’t live the chavs to be number 2 right?
“Your own stats proves that Leno tend to punch and is rooted to his line on set pieces”. That’s an oxymoron, either he’s rooted to his line or he comes and punches… can’t do both? “Now you are arguing something different. You are arguing that it was not his fault, but that was due to the bad setup and chaos under Emery.“ I’m arguing nothing different, I stated above in my original stats-based comment that Martinez is noted for high claims and aerial dominance and that the stats suggest this. But that the stats are less illustrative (not at all… Read more »
CC
Jamie assumed I was a ‘mono lingual little englander’ and that somehow being a plumber is some sort of insult.
I’m not but regardless he’s still a pompous twat.
His message was taken down so that says something.
It’s another reason why I was against the sponge returning it would eat into what little mins the likes of ESR and Willock and Nelson and now seemingly Saka would get. Cause make no mistake about it Willian,Pepe and if we get Aouar in means that there’ll be less mins for the young players and that’s before you think about whether or not Auba is going to continue at LW going forward. I hope he doesn’t I prefer a proper balanced front 3/4 and I’d honestly like to see proper wingers played in their proper position. It’s also a bit… Read more »
I’ve never been a fan of Elneny, actually I’ve been more than just not liking him. That said, it Arteta can get good performances out Xhaka and AMN, then Elneny is definitely going to be a positive option to have in rotation. At the very least, he needs to be ahead of Willock on the pecking order. Willock should be sent put on loan to get lots of playing time. Maybe a good championship team. Elneny has had three conecutuve perfromances under Arteta; one pre-season, charity shield and then against Fulham. He shouldn’t be a starter when the window closes… Read more »
Red plumbing is a great trade mate let the snob wash over you he is ignorant
Bloody hell, what’s going on?
I think I’d actually vomit if we decided to forego a move for Partey because Elneny is now an option and Xhaka is considered untouchable. I just don’t know. I don’t mind Elneny staying because he’s not that much of a hindrance and it’s not like he’d bring in anything of note transfer wise but at the same time I don’t see him contributing a great deal over the course of a season
Agree, Willock needs toughening up.
Am told West Ham is not a likely destination for Sead Kolasinac as things stand. Player has had talks with Arteta & knows he’s behind Tierney, but wants to fight for his spot unless something significant changes.
And another one
Marko same here Partey is 3 times the player Elneny is Him and Aouar would be amazing aquisitions
Fuck sake at this rate we’ll have enough players to put together 3 25 man squads!
We will still want Partey and Aouer regardless of Elnenys form. He just gives us more options than last year.
Everyone can see we need quality additions to midfield.
Tiernney, Saka and AMN all ahead of Kola for LWB/LW position. Absolutely no reason to keep him, he is an atrocious footballer.
i wouls say paps Emi and Torr are done deals thats 45M whether they feel partey is the more pressing player to get over Aouar i have no clue but i would sign the latter first, bigger resale value higher talent ceiling etc
I’ve just seen West Ham’s fixtures between now and the end of October. Fucking hell!
Arsenal A
Wolves H
Leicester A
Spud’s A
City H
Liverpool A
I think there’s a P45 on the horizon for Moyes.
TR7 cant see kola staying there is interest from schalke and another german club sell him asap
“Partey is 3 times the player Elneny is”
Not very difficult, to be honest…
TR7
I don’t think there’s any great desire from our side to keep him (unless of course Arteta’s got another puppy he can’t let go) it’s more likely his bank balance that wants him to stay.
Kola has fone on record saying he would take a paycut to get regular footie
Serge
If he wants to play I don’t think he’s got a choice.
That article mentioned above is a must read. Shows how poor our business was in the Wenger era leading to a -99% ROI. Gazidis the meek ruining Arsenal football club. This guy doesn’t get enough flak for his bottle job at one of the biggest Football organisation. Sad to see Martinez go. Shame he doesn’t want to keep fighting for his place. But I guess he’s right to want to leave. He is 28 now and dreams of starting for his country ( which I think he deserves to). If he messes up and Leno becomes the no.1 again, he’ll… Read more »
Great results for us with Spurs losing what’s not to love.
Another good post Pedro. Did you see the report that Kronke hasn’t spent a single penny on Arsenal for 5 years, unlike Chelsea where Abromavic has pumped in £400m!
400 million! What about ffp for fuck sake?!
Wenger and Gazidas were the only mugs who tried to tow thei line.
There used to be a time when playing regularly for your club helped with national team selection.
I thought it would be easier for us to move certain players out in a national team competiton year.
Honestly what is Kolasinac smoking to wangt tio fight for his place?
Is Arteta giving these players false hopes.
Marc,
i hope you are wrong about Moyes getting his P45, unless it happens after the transfer window. We need West Ham to buy Kolasinac – hopefully for £10-15m.
So flood the Hammer’s fan forums with support for David and praise Kola.
So I hope that the plan is still to get in the both of them and that it’s just a case of getting in as much money as possible and getting our ducks in order before trying to sign them up. Partey we just need cold hard cash in before we can sign him and with Aouar there’s posturing by Lyon on price and players involved in a possible swap but we’ll see how their stance changes when it’s the last 7-10 days of the window and they’ve lost Bertrand Traore and Depay and we’re the only ones that are… Read more »
““Partey is 3 times the player Elneny is”
By what measure?
At the rate this Partey-mania is going we will need to pick a special jersey with an embedded cape if we manage to sign Partey.
At the mere mention of someone talking about Partey in a positive way
Am I the only one who doesn’t believe or buy into the Partey hype?
Lille is willing to sell Soumare, I rather go for him instead.
Such a typical indictment of Arsenal and their support base, now we are to make out that Elneny is just like a new signing. The reality is that yet again the club are papering over large cracks from chronic neglect and somehow a player who never had it is being touted as a solution. Factually speaking, anyone that thinks Elneny is a solution is likely the same person who still, for the life of them, can’t fathom why Wilshere isn’t being brought back.
Ernest gets it.
Dissenter,
I would find it funny if we were to buy Partey and both Ceballos and Elneny were to keep him away from the first team. He may be more dynamic and stronger than Willock, but I have not been impressed by passing ability. Unless Arteta changes systems, he may find it more difficult to dislodge those that many anticipate.
At Liverpool, everybody assumed that Nabil Keita was going to be an immediate starter. One year later, he is still not a nailed on first eleven starter.
West Ham are an unmitigated train wreck, Marc. How they avoided the drop last season is down to Antonio finding lightning in a bottle. The fact that they brought Moyes back for a second stint tells you how utterly horrible their ownership is.