Guest Blog: Clippers or Nets?

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GOOD MORNING. Guest blog from @jblauphoto this morning. He’s back after finally getting over the Unai Emery period. Enjoy the piece and give him a follow!

I bought some Arsenal merch yesterday.

First time ever.

(Not including the few trinkets I bought for the kids at the Stadium store in London last year.)

For real, I dropped my own money on a sleek Adidas track jacket.

And I’m excited for it to arrive.

(If it ever turns up, as both Fedex and the USPS are delayed, what with America being such a fucking nightmare at the moment.)

I offered to pick up my column again this year, and Pedro said sure, because while I wrote each month in 2018-19, last year, with the shitshow that was the late-Emery era, I wanted no part of it.

Or Arsenal.

I almost gave up.

Sure, I kept watching, but until they appointed Mikel Arteta, I was starting to think the ship was sinking, and I wanted one of those life rafts.

(No Leo DiCaprio, freezing to death next to Kate Winslet for me, thank you very much.)

My final column of 2018-19 said that Emery choked so badly, he should be fired right then, so the rebuild could start before things got worse.

I was right, of course, and took a victory lap in a pandemic-era column last Spring.

But I’m not always right.

After that Man City thumping at the re-start, and then the Brighton capitulation, I almost caved and cancelled my NBC Sports.

I came so close.

I also thought we should cash in on Auba in the Spring, as his lack of resolve against Spurs on that penalty shot, and then in the dying moments of the Olympiakos game, made me think he wasn’t made of the strongest stuff.

Mea culpa.

I was wrong.

The way he stepped up and almost single-handedly won the FA cup Semi and Final was pure-ice-water-in-the-veins kind of stuff, and layering that on top of his speed, leadership, and finishing skills, the man really is a rare footballer these days.

He’s got it all, and he tracks back so well that he made Arsenal realize Ozil is worthless for today’s game.

(The tortured artist who deserves to be protected from the hard work.)

Here we are, on September 17th, and I just paid money to rep Arsenal when I walk around town.

Except I can’t walk around town, unless I want to wear a mask and dodge the Texan tourists. (This being Northern New Mexico in late #2020.)

I’ll wear my track jacket with pride on my sofa, when I watch my games on NBC Sports, Peacock, ESPN+, and whatever package I have to buy for the Europa League.

And what product will I be watching?

I was always an Arteta believer, and my general agreement with Pedro’s perspective is perhaps why I get to write for you once a month.

(That, and I’d like to think my combination of occasional wit and solid analysis is good enough to earn my high salary. I mean no salary.)

To answer my question, I’ll be watching a team that is built for the modern game, for once, and is on the ascendancy, even if we likely are chasing that 4th spot in the league.

(3rd would be a dream, and we should be expecting to seriously compete for the Europa League title as well.)

We’re not Liverpool, (yet,) but the smart, aggressive pressing, focus on speed, willingness to counterattack when necessary, and collective defending mean we should not get destroyed by anyone, anymore.

I’ve now been a fan for 9 years, and I’ve seen all those awful 6-0 score-lines of the late Wenger era.

And the horrible 5-1 losses that make you feel like you want to eat a shit sandwich, so your stomach feels as bad as your head.

No longer.

Momentum and belief can’t be bought, and after our run to the FA Cup, and beating Liverpool twice in 6 weeks, this club now believes that Arteta is a Spanish Jesus with slicker hair.

They trust his mind, and his vision.

They trust his gut, and his heart.

For all the comparisons I’ve made to American sports in the past, Arteta is the model for my two favorite US franchises, the NY Giants and the Brooklyn Nets.

Each hired super-smart grinders with vision and great communication skills. (As opposed to head coaching experience.) Each plucked someone who had learned under greatness, one of whom was also an amazing player in his day. (Joe Judge and Steve Nash.)

Mikel Arteta is the future, and that promotion he received was most definitely aimed at Manchester City.

Will it be enough to keep him?

I’d bet on yes, because his honesty and integrity are a big part of why his players love him.

(Plus, I’ve never been to Manchester, but there’s no way it’s as cool as North London.)

Right now, while the midfield needs some reinforcement, and Josh and Stan are partying at a social distance with masks on in Orlando, our front line, goal keeping, back line, and youth group all look the best since I’ve been a fan.

And while Chelsea just spent a shit ton of money, ask the Los Angeles Clippers what super-stars will give you without chemistry, elite coaching, and time to gel.

I believe, for the first time since I became an Arsenal fan.

With late-stage Wenger, I hoped he might have one last run in him, but he simply would not adapt. He thought defense was for chumps, but how many mega-clubs have tried to hire him since he left?

With Emery, I prayed there was more there than met the eye, but deep down, I was dubious.

Now, I’m ready to watch, and pay all those fucking channels to see the games.

Arteta makes players better, and he knows that coaching is teaching.

Watching those few master-class goals where we played out from the back, the one thing that Wenger and Emery teams could NEVER do, is proof of how much he’s taught these guys so far.

(For fucks sake, he taught Mustafi how to stop making so many stupid mistakes.)

Arteta is a stylish genius.

And I hope I look half as good as he does in my new Adidas track jacket.

If it ever arrives.

Go Arsenal.

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261 Comments
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karim

Jamie

One could see he really had potential and he played well when given the chance.
Go figure what happened inside Kim Jon Weng’s head

Radio Raheem

Jota for 35m is a good deal.

Jamie

karim –

Poor old Wenger had completely lost the plot at that point. Sold Gnabry, kept Joel Campbell.

Go figure..

redbro14

Cheers Jamie, I’ll do that.

Bojangles

With the signing of Runarson as our no 2 gk I’m hoping Leno goes through the next few seasons uninjured.

Victorious

Considering 72M pepe, our most recent big money recruit from France is still ‘settling’ to the pace of the league, I wouldnt blame the club for trying to negotiate a more realitistic price for the Aouar lad regardless of how talented he is.

Hopefully the club doesn’t allow Aulas pull their pants on this one

Marc

“The player wants the move which is a plus for us,Think Aulas is posturing and if we hold our nerves I see him panicking as the transfer window draws to a close.”

It’s win win from his perspective – we up our bid he gets more, if the media coverage encourages interest from other teams that pushes the price up he gets more and if none of that happens and he has to sell at the last minute he accepts the bid on the table from us.

Tom

“Is there a list of banned words anywhere so I can be more careful next time?“

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits will get you binned anywhere but here it’s “Pedro is wrong”

Buzzy

So Liverpool spent 70m on Bayerns least effective player and on someone who could not even start for Wolves. They are going to have a shocking season. You heard it here first.

Marc

Tom

“Sanllehi was really good at his job” and “Arteta might have got that wrong” will also work

Tom

Marc
Ha ha

Jamie

You crazy fools! Pete takes heat all the time.

I love the Raul jokes too, but ultimately if Pedro was wrong about Raul, Raul would still be employed at Arsenal and Kia would be dropping nonsense on TalkSport or whatever.

Plus his biggest win is calling Arteta 2 years ago when most (myself included) were laughing at him.

At the same time he also said CG had elite assessment, so nobody’s perfect.

Marko

Buzzy leave the glue down

Jamie

You’re right. I’m a few whiskys deep. West Ham tomorrow. Can’t wait.

Jamie

As a sidebar, my least favourite content is when you and Pedro argue because I rate your content more than most. And CC’s, obv.

Keeps the comments rolling though, so I guess it serves a purpose.

What about Wilshere though, eh? 100k a week and West Ham can’t get rid. Poor guy was broken a decade ago.

Champagne charlie

“So Liverpool spent 70m on Bayerns least effective player and on someone who could not even start for Wolves. They are going to have a shocking season. You heard it here first.“

Thiago Bayern’s least effective player? Drop your address on here Buzzy, go on….

Kay

Bit jealous on Jota tbh

redbro14

Ha ha Tom, that is very funny! I’ll keep it in mind next time!

WengerEagle

What are Liverpool smoking paying 35m for Jota?

Bang average player.

azed

I’m told Arteta is happy with his squad and that Arsenals business in the transfer window is completed in terms of incomings. They will look to sell fringe players in the final two weeks.

Huge breakdown in relations behind the scenes at #afc. Arteta and Edu “rarely speak” and there’s a feeling around the club that no one really knows what they’re doing. Huge mess, making negotiations for targets “nearly impossible”.
@Arsenal
are in trouble next season

Pedro

What are your sources telling you? Saw the above on Twitter.

redbro14

Azed ….if true we are back to Emery style disfunction. If true Edu should go. Get Marrota in.

Champagne charlie

Azed

Can you put a link to that tweet?

LeMassiveCoq

Haven’t posted for a while.
Nice blog post. Positive, as it should be.
A little part of me thinks you have a bit of a man-crush on Mikel…
He is pretty saucy.

Man got da sauce!

We’re gonna win the fuuuuuucking league!

Ok ok… probably not, but I believe again. It’s all that matters right now.

Henry+Root

Axed
Twitter is a playground for idiots to post anything. Anyone can put stuff up and that could b3 a tweet from a Spurs fan for example making mischief.
My understanding is Edu and Arteta get on very well and Arteta is very keen to add to the squad in midfield . .
Social media can be a curse when stuff like this is posted

redbro14

Hey Pedro, thank you for checking. Strange. No big deal though. Very much enjoyed the post and comments.

azed

Pedro

I don’t really follow rumors but that just popped up on my feed because BD liked it.

salparadisenyc

Azed

Save to say that dudes blowing complete and utter smoke.
My kids brings more game to the twitter.

Marko

Yeah don’t believe everything you read on twitter try to get your info from a reliable source at least

Goobergooner

Pedro,

Like I mentioned before love the new layout.

One thing I have noticed is when you quote an interview or whatever (not sure what you call it to be honest) and the text is not aligned to the rest of the article, my mobile screen misses a few letters on the right hand side. Not the biggest problem can still make it out, but yeah just thought I’d let you know.

Goobergooner

Cheers mate!

TheLegendaryDB10

I am really liking these rumours/stories about Torreira going to Atletico Madrid. The obvious is to do a cash+player (Partey!!) deal.

And we all know that Torreira never was the right fit for us due to his size not really matching up to the rigours of the PL (but we can’t fault his grit and determination).

I genuinely believe that if we get Partey, he will radically transform our midfield. I really see him shine in an Arsenal shirt.

Crossing fingers & touching wood that we manage to get him.

TheLegendaryDB10

I agree with Goobergooner re your written quotes in your articles Pedro. The indentation to the right means that the last letters of a word are slightly out of screen sight.

You just need to move these quotes a few chars back to the left and all the text will be more visible. 🙂

Sid

Runarsson

“A decent ‘keeper in terms of his reflexes, his positioning and aerial ability is lacking badly, and while he does have a powerful kick, his distribution out from the back often left much to be desired, frequently putting his defenders under pressure. Too, at Dijon, a long ball was a reasonable choice, as in Julio Tavares and Jhonder Cadíz, he had two reasonable aerial threats at which to aim, something that will scarcely be the case in north “

azed

Who is BD?

Pedro

BennyDevito

Doesn’t post that much often again.

Useroz

Getting deals done would be challenging and we’d understand. Who should go and targets we have have been debated over and over again in the last 2 to 3 months. I’d expect Edu and Arteta to focus on specific targets both in terms of moving on and buying and just try their best. At the end of the day at least we tried. It’s frankly not encouraging when Arteta changes his mind after every game or training session who he falls in love again and wants to keep. That’s just BS. Holding wouldn’t turn a better or faster defender in… Read more »

Sid

Basketball needs more john stockton and Dirk nowitzki, its good to blend flavours

Tee

“It’s frankly not encouraging when Arteta changes his mind after every game or training session who he falls in love again and wants to keep. That’s just BS.Holding wouldn’t turn a better or faster defender in 2 hours” On how many players has he changed his mind? If I’m not mistaking your line of thought, we should just sell and sell even if we are not sure if our target will be gotten? Hope you know we need more than just the 1st 11 to go the whole season? It’s clear what we need now is partey and auoar to… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Useroz I don’t think that Arteta is changing his mind at all. Leaving aside “Newspaper/Media” talk, we have seen Arsenal being relatively consistent in who they need and want to recruit. Apart from being forced to look for new goalkeeper on account of Martinez deciding to leave the only defender wanted and recruited was Gabriel. Similarly we know the two primary candidates for recruitment in Midfield are Partey and Aouar. One anticipates one will come in before transfer window closes and of course Ceballos was brought back. Willian was the only forward sought and secured so there was clarity there… Read more »

Pierre

Of course all games are important but tonight’s game v West Ham could be season defining. As we know , Arsenal fans are very fickle, none more so than on Le Grove… To lose or draw with west ham will undo a lot of the good work achieved in the last couple of months. The main reason we need to get a positive result v west ham is the tough set of fixtures over the next month or so. A win will give us some breathing space and keep the confidence high. 6 points from the opening 2 fixtures is… Read more »

MidwestGun

Clippers or Nets? Neither one.. Clippers are the Man. City of the Nba. Crazy rich owner with inferiority complex because they play in City with Lakers and will never be as popular ever, no matter how many championships they can try and buy. Nets.. Are the Tottenham Spuds of the Nba… Play in biggest City and never win anything ever. Except wasting money on bad players. Soooo.. yeah you lost me with the headline.. hahahaha Anyhow, if we want to emulate a Nba franchise.. with a hot younger coach who came from a winner. Golden State Warriors…..Steve Kerr. 8 championships… Read more »

Graham62

Pierre

I get where you’re coming from on this but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that tonight’s game is “season defining”.

3-0 or 3-1 to the Arsenal.

Steveyg87

Wolves losing Jota is a massive blow for them. Unless they use that money and reinvest smartly. Deal is rumoured to be around £35m

Emiratesstroller

Pierre

Arsenal will win tonight. In last 2 seasons West Ham played well at Emirates and even on one occasion deserved not to lose. However, on both occasions they did lose.

Arsenal are now in a much better place than they were then and I think that West Ham look like a poorer team under Moyes.

John S

Good blog post…For the first time in years, I’m genuinely excited for what the future holds….Mikel is everything we need and more….I do think we’re two players away from an incredible transformation from being a side comfortably outside the top 6 …(after some more elite coaching & bedding in) to genuine title contenders…..maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself but one more year, two more windows, & we’ll be there….🤞🏻

Leftside

West Ham are in disarray behind the scenes also, we previously have been the gift that keeps giving to a struggling team, or a player in need of breaking a duck but I think we will win tonight.

Jamie

Damn, RBG died last night

TheLegendaryDB10

I concur with ES and Graham. I genuinely think we will win tonight.

From what I saw last week, West Ham should be no threat. As long as we play with the same focus and determination that we had last week, we should be OK.

I believe that Mikel and the team can deliver tonight.

Chrispy

scroll scroll scroll. Guest posts….meh.

Emiratesstroller

Stats don’t lie. West Ham have a very poor record against Arsenal since 2007 with just 2 victories in all games.

Another factor is that Arteta has of course good knowledge about Moyes likely tactical game,
because he played under him at Everton for over 6 years. Arteta in contrast to Wenger does
look at how the opposition plays.

Graham62

ES.

Now now, no Wenger attacks please.

😀

Sid

Todays game will be a borefest, likely a draw, if arsenal win it will be from set pieces.

Valentin

A 5-2 victory after a scare for Arsenal conceding first on set pieces.

Pierre

I’m expecting a pretty similar line up to last week. Can’t see any reason to change any personnel with the exception of Saka for AMN at left wing back, to make us better offensively , though defensively it may make us a little weaker.. Luiz, if fit , may get the nod over Gabriel, though personally I would like to see Gabriel retain his place as he has a superb heading technique, David Moyes sides are normally all about getting balls into the box. Holding and Gabriel are very strong in the air which could be vital as Leno is… Read more »

Henry+Root

Sid
You’re not amusing and your cynicism is depressing . Enjoy being an Arsenal fan…presuming you are

Matt

We look complexity clueless today. Why is Bellerin on Antonio at corners.

Matt

*completely