via @Arsenal.com
Finally, Auba signed da ting.
I do NOT want to see a ⌛ emoji EVER again. NEVER.
This moment is huge for the project. Auba is one of the best sharpshooters in the world. He’s the de facto leader in the dressing room. Charismatic, swagger for days, the absolute embodiment of everything we love at Arsenal. An adopted North Londoner. We are VERY lucky he’s dedicated his prime to us.
It didn’t come cheap. £250k a week over 3 years plus all the trimmings. The total deal could be worth up to £55m. Wow, wow, wow.
Totally deserved though. There’s no debate over whether this deal is worth the money. He’s expanded his game, shown that he can push through the downtimes, and he’s proved that he is the BIG game player we’ve been desperately hunting for over the years.
There are many layers to why this signing is important, and look, I’ll be first to admit I wanted to cash in on him.
Firstly, the Arteta revolution would have taken a lot longer if we’d lost him this summer. Goalscorers are still the rarest of commodities in world football. More importantly, it’d be very hard to buy the sort of momentum his endorsement offers.
Secondly, we now become an even hotter project in the eyes of world football. Signing elite players just became a little easier. If you are Aouar (who took a red last night to speed his move to Arsenal), the thought of feeding balls to Auba must be exciting. If you’re a young player, imagine the prospect of sharing a dressing room with a global icon?
Thirdly, this has been a summer of carnage for football. We have no money, but our dear leaders have shuffled the pack to make this happen. That shows that we now have people in the backroom that can sell a big idea to the CEO. It also means – I hope – that we have a CEO that can sell to the KSE group in Delaware.
This is a good day to be an Arsenal fan. The dark clouds that have hung over the club for 10 years are starting to break. There’s light. The vision is clear. You can feel the energy behind the rocketship the club is trying to send into orbit.
There’s still a huge amount of work to do. Our squad is a long way from perfect. We need to shift on some of the problem players. We need to find consistency. The on-pitch execution needs to rapidly evolve into something that is pleasing.
That’ll come with time. Ups and downs will be part of that journey. Our faith will certainly be tested this season.
… but we’re on the right path.
The players, fans, and club believe we’re going places. When was the last time you felt this way about Arsenal?
Just a short one today. I have a fresh Auba podcast I recorded with Dom. Enjoy!
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Audioboom
Bellerin is wanted by Barcelona says Fab Rom
Club will sell him now or next summer, inclined to think it’ll be next after he has a good season under Arteta (theory). Seems a player that wants/needs a new challenge, been at Arsenal since 16 and he’s plateaued for me.
Bamford
Wolves and Leicester above the arsenal in your made up imaginary scale?
Come on. I know you’re a pessimist but that’s delusion. We had our worst start in 38 years and those teams just pipped us.
I would remind posters that we have 3 Centre Backs on the books whose contracts end next summer ie Luiz, Sokratis and Mustafi.
Since Luiz is being retained this season it makes sense offloading the other two in this window and hopefully recouping a small transfer fee on both.
Banford
Curious of two things with that list, 3 technically but I won’t go near one of them, so here goes:
How do you land at us being worse than Leicester and Wolves?
How do you land at Spurs being so low and Everton so high?
CC,
You don’t need to be a chef, to realise that McDonald is not elite cuisine.
I forgot you still think that Leno is a world class goalkeeper and that all his mistakes that directly lead to a goal were Emery’s fault. Including the ones he made against Chelsea, Southampton, Olympiakos when playing for Arteta.
The ghost of Emery is strong in that one.
Anything else more illuminating to tell us.
“you still think that Leno is a world class goalkeeper”
Arteta also, unfortunately for us…
I think Mustafi gets a lot of undeserved flak from Arsenal fans
He gets a fuck tonne of deserved flak as well. Unless you’ve been watching a different player in a different team these last 3/4 years. He shouldn’t be here.
My current “power rankings” are below.
We remember your power rankings and the science behind it from before and it makes as much sense now as it did then. Thank you. Still holding United so highly I see despite just the one signing. Makes sense can’t wait to see a title tilt from them
@Bamford10
Even if we accept your assessment, your conclusion of that ‘unless one of the top 4 really, really struggle’ is laughable as it assumes your scores are statistically precise. Allowing for a reasonable degree of error, it’s as likely for Arsenal to finish 10th as we are to finish in the top 4, even top 3!
It’s arrogance to assign such a high degree of precision to your ratings.
CC
I had a serious bout of dejavu When I read this from you ‘ I think Mustafi gets a lot of undeserved flak from Arsenal fans, ’
So let’s cut straight to the chase. Is it the hair?
“I forgot you still think that Leno is a world class goalkeeper and that all his mistakes that directly lead to a goal were Emery’s fault“ Not sure how you forgot that given I’ve never stated it. Sounds a lot like you’re projecting another bullshit view that you routinely accuse others of doing. Remind us all how Martinez asking to leave is a warning to the academy players that ‘even if you play well in the opportunities given the club will bench and sell you’. I enjoyed that rendition alongside the player himself outwardly praising the club for being loyal… Read more »
Anything else more illuminating to tell us.
Said no one ever to you Val.
Bamford, I would say that you scale is really skewed. In my view ManCity has a much better squad than anybody else. Followed closely by Liverpool. Liverpool last season were lucky with injury, but if one of their players suffers a long term injury and they have to rely on somebody below their first 15 first team players they could in trouble. VVD out for the season and their defense crumble. ManUtd, Chelsea and Arsenal have a comparable squad in term of quality and depth. The main advantage of ManUtd is that they have the same coach and know what… Read more »
And if after seeing where we finished last season and what’s going on with the team relative to other teams you still think we could finish 10th, you are not paying attention. Or you just have an agenda. Either way, you don’t deserve to be taken seriously
ManUtd, Chelsea and Arsenal have a comparable squad in term of quality and depth. The main advantage of ManUtd is that they have the same coach and know what he wants.
What?
China
Not the hair, it’s the objectivity. When you consider current options for a right sided centre back in a 4 who do you land on?
For me it’s Mustafi for the reasons I’ve outlined. Doesn’t mean I rate him, just rate him higher than a lot of the crap written about him.
Lest we forget arsenal were an absolute car crash last season and wolves were only barely better than us
People were getting mad excited about how good they were but they were only where they were because arsenal spurs utd and Chelsea were all below par and left the door open for them to look competitive
I’m not saying they’re not a good team, but they are a complete irrelevance to the top end of the table if the big clubs show up
Utd have the advantage because “OGS knows what he wants.”
Interesting.
Charlie id go with Gabriel and holding in 2 man Cb pairing without a second thought
Holding is a very reliable player with a run of games under his belt and is far less likely to have a brain shart imo. He’s technically a little worse but I’d rather have holding be a 7.5 in every game than mustafi be a 9/10 for 80 minutes and a 3/10 for the other 10. I just don’t trust him
just rate him higher than a lot of the crap written about him. Charles I have to say you’re talking out of your hoop on this one. This is no knee jerk reaction to the player it’s a consistent showing of errors and poor decision making and average performances over a 3/4 year period. We had this last season from you when we were doing poorly and you talked about bringing Mustafi back into the team things couldn’t get any worse and he was still poor still the same. He has a year left on his deal so they’ll likely… Read more »
“OGS knows what he wants.”
He wants a blow job ?
CC, You explicitly argued that Leno mistake were influenced because he was playing being an unsettled chaotic defense disorganised by Emery. Which I responded that he made the same mistakes under Arteta and before Arsenal when playing in Germany. You keep using experience like it is a factor in that case. Experience is irrelevant if it is trumped by quality. Experience become just an extra decision criteria once the first criteria of quality, number of unforced errors, ability to distribute, ability to catch rather than punch are similar which they are not in this case. Again you are the one… Read more »
Ben You’ve misinterpreted me: while I do think I have a good eye for things, I don’t think of my rankings or numbers above as anything more than one guy’s take on the situation at present. Of course there is a good deal of subjectivity and imprecision going on there. Do I put some stock in my assessment of things? Sure. But I fully accept the fallibility of all of that above — except for my opinion that we (without first-XI additions) are not in position to compete for top four. I have very little doubt about that. If you… Read more »
China/Marko I’ll happily disagree on current best option for right centre back. Mustafi is better than Luiz in a 4, Saliba is too green, and Holding simply isn’t as good and I don’t buy the run of games line that he’s now being afforded. I was excited by Holding and his mentality is absolutely elite, unfortunately his ability as a defender isn’t what I thought and he’s a player that flounders when not heavily protected by those around him. In a 4 he’d be chaotic. Best case scenario for Arsenal is Saliba having a supreme adaptation plus showing a maturity… Read more »
Charlie
I’ll try to explain some of that later — after the work day — but it ultimately comes down to quality of first XI, quality of squad, stage in the team development process, manager philosophy, player chemistry / player profile / player fit. Many factors. And some intuitive stuff.
As I say, I’ll try to say more later.
Also, I’ve said the above in part because it’s my take at the moment and in part for discussion purposes. Le Grove should always be the most interesting and stimulating discussion about Arsenal going. Each does his part. 😉
Personally I think too much is made of whether you’re left or right footed at CB. In central positions it’s a luxury rather than a major deal whether or not you use the ‘correct’ foot for yo ur side.
As a case in point, it would be interesting to see how many of elite PL CB partnerships involved a left footer and a right footer. I’d hazard a guess not more than 50%
Jamie,
I don’t rate OGS as a manager, but OGS is not the complete idiot some make him to be. He always play counter-attacking football. For the player it is easier to understand so in term of repeat performance there should less drop in performance.
Once they have all their players back, I do expect a consistent 5~7 performance of them.
With us, under Arteta we can turn a 8~9 against big teams and then drop a 3~4 against lowly teams.
Ben
Also, I didn’t say anything about us finishing 10th, nor does anything about my table suggest that. I said Arsenal fans should expect to finish 6th or 7th and should hope for 5th. You can argue that my assessment allows for a 9th place finish for Arsenal, but that will require Everton and Spurs to come together better than we do. I do not expect that. But sure, I guess that’s *possible*.
Marko,
I thought you were just told to stop being so snarky.
Obviously like the Scorpion on the famous fable, you can’t help yourself. It’s your nature.
Marko,
I thought you were just told to stop being so snarky.
Obviously like the Scorpion on the famous fable, you can’t help yourself. It’s your nature.
Mustafi(slow in thought) over Holding(slow physically and in thought) anyday but both have to leave,
But Charlie holding was in a 4 man defense for months last season when we were unbeaten and was roundly applauded as being one of our better players over a good period of time
Then the injury happened. Came into the fold again this season and struggled initially but he’s putting games together now and I’m not surprised he’s doing well.
Came into the fold again last season*
It’s weird that the new season has already started
Val –
Under OGS, Utd are just as likely to drop 3-4. Lost to Chelsea and Sevilla in the FA Cup and Europa semis, respectively.
The only thing he has going for him is the amount of money he can throw at his team.
Do you think OGS would have made similar immediate improvements to our tactical play as Arteta last season? I don’t.
I can’t tell if Val is trolling at this point. Because a 28 year old after 10 years wasn’t trusted (over a better more established keeper) to keep his place in the starting 11 that youngsters coming through will be having second thoughts about staying on at Arsenal. Is that it? We’ll just forget about the players previously and currently who have come through the academy and done well by Arsenal but no it’s our treatment of Martinez which will lead to the flood gates opening a mass exodus if you will.
Final point: this should be obvious if you read my post, but the points to the right of the team name do *not* represent how many points I think that team will earn in the league. That number represents my subjective assessment of the quality of that team out of 100. Just like a teacher would grade an essay, that is something like my grade for that team as a whole (all factors included).
Hi Bamford.
Do you think Man U are a single’ power point’ behind City?
If I were giving City 95/100 I would be giving United maybe 88/100 at best. City have way more quality in my book.
Of course that may not be how your ratings work…
Marko,
I know I should not, but I am always surprised how basic comprehension escape you.
I’m fairly sure kids will understand that sometimes players get sold not because they’re unwanted but because football is a business and things sometimes go that way
Val The organisation and structure of the defensive setup ahead of a goalkeeper is quite obviously an influence in error-making and general performance of a GK. It’s no surprise to anyone that the goalkeeper with the highest clean sheet ratio in Europe is……..drumroll……..Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid, the most compact and defensive elite side in Europe. Meanwhile Leno performed under Emery here in a defensive structure that saw us challenge the top of the leaderboard for shots faced in the whole of Europe. Never mind actually breaking down further about what exactly constitutes an error and the responsibility associated with… Read more »
JOKE FRIDAY An elderly Le Grove follower takes a break from posting inane comments on the site and goes to the village pub with his wife. As he quaffs his pint of bitter and she sips her dry white wine he leans over and says to her: “do you remember the first time we had sex over 50 years ago? We went to the back of the beer garden and you leaned against the back fence and I made love to you.” “Yes,” she says. “I remember it well.” “Ok,” he says. “How about taking a wander back there and… Read more »
Mustafi is better than Luiz in a 4, Saliba is too green, and Holding simply isn’t as good and I don’t buy the run of games line that he’s now being afforded You know you’d be making a decent case if you weren’t talking about Mustafi and if we hadn’t seen him play exactly the same in a 4 or a back 3/5. Look I know the whole opinion thing and everyone’s entitled to one and all that but honestly after all this time if any Arsenal fan is suggesting Mustafi as a starter they are simply wrong they’re just… Read more »
I know I should not, but I am always surprised how basic comprehension escape you.
I know. I’m not surprised how honesty and truth escapes you though.
Jamie, I would not necessarily blame the players for those defeats. I don’t think those performances were 3~4, they were just tactically beaten. I don’t rate OGS as a manager. I think that when confronted to a tactically astute manager he struggles. He also does not seem to be able to think on his feet and be able to adapt to unanticipated formation. So no I don’t think he would have been able to mould Arsenal the way Arteta has done. However against most team in the premiership, the quality of his players compensate for his lack of tactical diversity.… Read more »
@Words : sorry, but too long to read.
“I don’t rate OGS as a manager.”
On this we can agree.
CC, Slandering because I don’t rate Leno as much as you do! You still have not explained how Leno’s mistakes under Arteta are the results of Emery’s chaotic organisation. Was he still traumatised by the previous coach? My opinion on Leno is that he a great shot stopper, but not a great goalkeeper. That Martinez without being a world class goalkeeper was a better goalkeeper. He also had a calmer influence on the rest of the defense. Leno’s luck is that both new CBs are dominant in the air and will hide his deficiencies in that domain. Set pieces, high… Read more »
Let’s agree though that OGS is a damn sight better option than Mourinho.
“Let’s agree though that OGS is a damn sight better option than Mourinho.”
There was one donkey here last season who wanted Mourinho to replace Emery. Imagine.
Bayern Munich buying Dest will be great news for us because it’ll likely mean Barcelona move for Bellerin and Dest would have been cheaper. They can’t do anything until they sell players first though which kinda makes them fucked
Based on the modern game, where does José stand in the pecking order?
On top of this, how many players genuinely want to play for him?
This includes Spuds players.
Ze market is showing signs of movement, lets get cracking Edu.
“
Holding is a very reliable player with a run of games under his belt and is far less likely to have a brain shart imo. “
…only until he faces a tricky and /or fast forward. That would be embarrassing.
Holding simply isn’t v good and lacks pace in recovery.
Less brain fart cf Mustafi. but…
Former arsenal flop, who’s fully fit, can’t even make the bench for west ham.
Oh yeah Thiago is going to be a great signing for Liverpool for sure. Worry a bit about them defensively and still think Werner would have been an excellent fit for them but Thiago alone is a great window for them
@Bamford10
My point was based on statistical levels of confidence and errors. If you understand that, Yiu would understand why based on your ratings 10th and 4th are equally likely. If you don’t, I’m afraid I can’t explain. It seems a percentage point in your ratings is an insurmountable difference between teams, which suggests a very very high level of confidence. That is the sense in which you are deluded
Marko, it was reported recently that Barca wanted Bellerin on loan. As far as I have heard they are not planning to make a big offer.
Since over hype Ramsay left arsenal, hes been a bench warmer and a bit part player for Juventus, basically he got found out playing with better players around him.
“If you think I’m wildly off base on this point, let’s come up with a wager on this. It could be fun”
Bamford
Not another Legrove wager ,surely.
Although the conclusion of the last one was fun. Any chance we might here from the Dariano dude again?
“He also had a calmer influence on the rest of the defense.”
Spot on.
Seems that everyone saw that, except… well, you know who.
In other news Edouard has been linked with a move to Villa.
Arsenal wasted years with players like, jenkinson,gibbs,wilshere, Walcott, lets hope they Don’t make the Same mistake with the likes of, willock,Nelson,Eddie nikita,mitland niles.
jay
‘Since over hype Ramsay left arsenal, hes been a bench warmer and a bit part player for Juventus, basically he got found out playing with better players around him.”
That’s a Paulinho dog whistle right there 🙂
Marko
I didn’t read everything there I’m waking between places (dedication to LG Pete, peep that). But we probably agree in large, I’d rather we replace Mustafi but in the context of a fight centre back I think he’s currently best for a couple of reasons. Despite two “better” players in the squad per se.
Val
No, not because I rate Leno, but because you don’t and you want to downplay his ability and talk up his shortcomings above and beyond the norm. Even moreso after backing Martinez and seeing Arteta let him walk out the door.
Leon
Bellerin
Luiz
Gabriel
Tierney
Xhaka
Ceballos
Aouar
Willian
Pepe
Aubameyang
sub,Mari,Ozil,Elneny,Lacazette,Martinelli,Saliba
Ozil?? Don’t talk crazy! Saka all day long.
Jamie
the first 11 is sick tho? just Aouar short from having the strongest starting line up in years.
plus ozil is not going so might aswel use for this season.
Loving this Allas tweet regarding Memphis to Barca, sums up where that Catalans are.
Memphis to Barcelona for 30 millionn
@Le_Progres
The president of Barça told me on Sunday that Barça was suffering a lot from the Covid crisis and had no possibility of making an offer. #memphis
Jay, yeah, solid fist 11 for sure!
first* 11
Jay
There was a reason for that.
Our then boss was unable to use them wisely.
Arteta seems a different kettle of fish.
new post
Sal
It’s not just Barcelona that’s facing a crises. A lot of the big continental clubs don’t have money to spend. Premier league clubs are still better off. Clubs didn’t even get the opportunity to make money from pre-season tours this year.
That’s probably why Aouar is within reach for Arsenal.
This hype about Aouar…. a bit annoying, to say the least.
Anyone else enjoying the fact that Tottenham are away in Bulgaria today? Haha