Ok, so I can write the post that I wouldn’t have dared if we’d have lost that 5-0.
That was a game I suspect neither manager really wanted to win. This season is jam-packed with games. Players need fresh legs, the League Cup is not a priority for anyone in the Premier League, particularly with the covid-fixture pile-up.
Arteta put out a starting 11 that was uninspired. Lots of players that are struggling for form, some that will be sold, and some that we haven’t seen this season. With that in mind, we weren’t that bad. We put in another fairly dogged defensive performance, we asked different questions of Liverpool tactically, and we eventually ground out a win via shootout.
The second half was more positive than the first. We found the front three a little more often, but they all seemed 0.5 seconds off the pace. Still, you can’t say we didn’t have a go and you also can’t deny that even the second team fights to the death… not something that was true of Wenger’s latter year League Cup sides. Dissenter in the comments made the point that we had a doubleheader against City a few years ago and we couldn’t muster a response in the second game. We found one today. Also worth contrasting that this same game last year was a 10 goal thriller. 0-0 is a sign of the times, it’s the vision of a backroom team that prioritizes defence over attack. I don’t hate that.
As Roy Keane said the other day, the most important statistic is the score. The hero keeping that respectable? Bernd Leno.
I AM SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU.
He made a thrilling save in the first half from Jota that spilt into the danger area, the bar rattled hard with the Minamino follow-up. Palming the ball into danger seems like a new thing from him this season. I (you as well) was a bit worried about him going into half time.
WHO WERE WE TO SPEAK ILL OF THE GERMAN KING?
His second-half performance was fucking fabulous. His low save from a swept VVD shot was magic. He tipped over a looping header where he switched hands mid-air. He was first to everything. He was a HERO.
I’ll say this aloud: EMI WHO?
One for the records: I don’t think we’ll see a lot of Runar this season.
We also need to have a conversation about Nicolas Pepe. It’s really not working out, is it? There seems to be two things going on, firstly, he’s not at the level you’d expect for a winger in season two. He slows the play. His first instinct is to cut the ball back (remember Wiltord used to do that?). Forward locomotion feels like a rarity. He’s also very weak, which means any sort of tussle leaves him on the floor. Second, he doesn’t look like he really cares. He has the same body language issues as Mesut Ozil. That game yesterday was a disaster class the likes of which you don’t expect of someone with that level of finance behind him. Very worrying. Really, quite unbelievable we gave someone £72m for him, glad that person is no longer here.
Joe Willock had some bright moments, but overall, I’m not sure he moved the needle. Mo Elneny still looking like a starter above him.
Cedric looks quite efficient going forward, I think he likely has the best delivery on the right and he certainly still has pace.
Eddie was fairly quiet, but the service wasn’t really there. Saka had a good game, slotting in all over the pitch. I love that his instinct is always forward, he’s the opposite of Pepe. He really is going to be some player. Again, it’s the players that didn’t start that matter: No Reiss against a team he scored 2 against last season.
The penalties were really good. Mo Elneny missed his. But Bernd managed two super saves denying Wilson and Origi. AMN finished like an ice-cold killer, as per usual. Laca, Cedric and Pepe all finished well. Then Willock finished the game off with a shot that narrowly squeezed under the glove of Adrian.
So the most important stat of the night? A victory at Anfield. The second most important? A clean sheet because of a worldie performance from a keeper under pressure. Get this, Leno is the first Arsenal keeper since 2012 to keep a clean sheet at Anfield. That keeper? Vito Mannone.
So what have we learned?
Well, Arteta is very much aware that we’re in desperate need of a creative midfielder. First or second team, it doesn’t matter the configuration, we’re not creative unless we’re leaking goals. Folk peddling the idea that the club doesn’t know where the squad is weak are waaaay off base. Arsenal are gunning very hard at the problem, so hopefully, we’ll hear good news. My worry is that even if we do land Aouar, is that enough? 5 years ago we had too many creative technicians, now we don’t have a single suitable player that can do the job. What happens if the one signing tears their ACL? Bland. That’s what happens.
It’s worth remembering that we’re still massively hamstrung by the terrible way Arsenal managed transfers over the past decade, the rebuild given the situation and ongoing moment is probably going to be slower than we hoped. The challenge we’re having is that all the clubs in Europe; who also have financial issues, know we want to clear deadwood. They are lowballing us. All of them looking for cut-price deals. Again, this is a legacy issue, not an Edu problem (mostly). At least a chunk of that problem is out of contract next June.
Though our creativity wasn’t elite, there was a clear shift in tactics to give us more opportunity to get the ball in Liverpool’s half, Klopp acknowledged as much after the game. We explored the right as much as the left, our lack of shots on goal felt the result of a lack of killer instinct just as much as our limited ambition with final third passing. There needs to be serious solve though, otherwise, this season is going to be laborious and very imprecise when we attack.
We also learned that William Saliba is not going to be the starting hero everyone had hoped for. Again, I am glad we signed him, he’ll hopefully be a star, but looking back to last summer, our overspending on a player that won’t be ready until next season seems quite mad considering what our squad still lacks (£100m outlay on two players still not ready is so bad). Arteta says he’ll have a transitional year with us to get fit, mentally right, and to adapt to the power and pace of the beastliest league in the world. Also worth remembering that there are about zero 19-year-olds killing it at centre back at top clubs in Europe.
I found some of the bitching about the lack of sexy football a little hard to digest. We have a clear identity with the players we have at the moment, it’s version 1.0, but it’s necessary and it will evolve (switching formations in-game seemed like a new move last night). We don’t have the squad to play expansive football, so we don’t. Arteta wants to win more than he wants to entertain, so we are a side that has been remade to be able to defend and attack in a very structured way. Someone in the comments was reminiscing about the Wenger days mid-game. Incredible that anyone would want to go back to years of Glorious Failure with big teams lining up to spank us with ease. 8 years of being absolutely pathetic, so bad teams would give us the ball so they could bully us off it and score. This season will be about pragmatic football if we don’t land the players Arteta needs to play expansive football. Arteta wants to win games, he’s not here for the purists, he’s here for the Champions League places and he’s built a system that he thinks can nick wins and keep clean sheets. This is a 1-0 to the Arsenal kind of year I’m afraid.
Yesterday wasn’t winning any awards for aesthetics, but that was Liverpool, they are better than us on every level top to bottom, and we delivered the performance needed to beat them. The third time in four games to be precise, even better when you consider the brutality of the weekend. We did it with a team that was less than ideal in a competition that is the lowest on the Arsenal priority list. Majority of the coaching staff focus will have been on winning this Sunday. The club desperately wants to go into the international break in the top 4. That is the #1 focus of this season. Getting back into the Champions League so we can afford a summer richer than Leeds United next year.
Regardless of the focus, that was a GREAT night for the process.
Winning breeds winning. Beating great teams is good for momentum. Crushing penalty shootouts is excellent for team bonding. Last night was a good night. If you can’t enjoy beating the best in the game, why bother?
P.S. Huge LOLz that we drew City in the next round. We are cursed with cup draws at the moment. City, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, now City again. Still, you have to beat the best if you want to bring home trophies. Might as well start early.
Grant
We can’t sell players this season.
Next season is going to be even more gridlocked, getting £40mill back for Pepe, and getting someone to take on his wages, will be unlikely.
He played well in the cup final, and he’s shown flashes, my concern is, he’s a bit of a lightweight, really doesn’t look to enjoy the physical aspects of the game, which in this league is a big problem, you can see why Emery wanted Zaha instead.
Dissenter
Adrian was clearly giving the Arsenal takers some grief in the build up – if you watch closely AMN is laughing at him after the pen and to give Adrian his due he gives him the thumbs up.
Did we just lose to Arsenal?
The atmosphere round here is pretty toxic.
***Did we just lose to Liverpool?
I’m getting so depressed over here I’m even getting the basics wrong!
TR7
Did we need to put the right players round Vieira to get the best out of him? What about Pires or Henry or Cesc? We just put good players round them.
It’s basically saying we need to build the team round Xhaka – you build a team round special talents not Granit fucking Xhaka just to hide his weaknesses.
Marc
It figures now because that laughter does look like he was making fun of someone.
Crikey, had to check I hadn’t typed in Bipolar .co.uk !
Some seriously in need of anti depressant’s on here !
Dissenter
It’s good to see some good natured banter – at least I’ll maintain that whilst we win the match!
AMN was throwing Adrian some shade. It was beautiful. Pepe did too, just not as well.
The pathetic nature of some arsenal ‘supporters’ in full flow.
No wonder other supporters think we’re a joke.
TR7 What a stupid post. There are no “Emery fanboys” and no one is trying to “smear” Arteta. The only thing Arteta has done since arriving is adopt a hyper-pragmatic, highly-conservative, balance-first, results-oriented approach. Yes, this is producing marginally better results than we saw in early 19-20, but the supposed “transformation” at work is being way overstated, the football is drab, and it isn’t clear that it’s going to succeed over 38 PL matches or in the Europa League. You lot think “everything has changed” — in part because we’ve squeaked out a couple of modest victories here or there,… Read more »
And Jamie Mo-radona hasn’t vastly improved his pens. He decided to miss the penalty on purpose all part of the plan to big Jay Leno up. Vastly improved team player!
Will somebody put this cunt Banford down?
You have to be the worst Arsenal supporter that this person has ever witnessed in my 50+ years of supporting the Arsenal, Bamford.
Truth be told, i am of absolute belief you are a ManU supporter, but even they don’t want you either! Geez but you are a misery to behold.
The Europa Cup draw is on. Hope we get a team close by.
Word on a Blog Most “supporters” who post on here are realistic. They see a progression under a young manager who is improving the performance and culture of the club despite the shortcomings of the squad which he has inherited. He understands also the economic realities of football in the current pandemic. No-one objects to “constructive criticism” when merited, but there are a small minority of posters like CG who seem intent on putting down everything that the manager and club are achieving in a relatively short period of time. If anyone had suggested in December that we would win… Read more »
Klopp is more complementary and has more admiration for the work Arteta is doing and the club than a good chunk of posters here. Some of you should be ashamed of yourself.
RA –
Ha! Dani is going to get more minutes than Mohaldinho in the league (barring injury). Take that to the bank.
HL –
False choice. We can’t rewrite the past and take a point at Anfield. We did win yesterday, though, which I’m happy about.
Emirates
“When was the last time that they showed the club and manager that respect?”
I’ll be honest I always get the feeling that’s because they’re building him up to knock him down again. Not sure whether that say more about the media or my attitude to the media though.
Stroller
“I don’t hear any ex pros criticising Arteta for the way that the club is playing and performing.””
In all fairness , they didnt criticise Emery up until the last month or so.
That’s all the teams in the 4 pots: Pot 1 coef. Pot 2 coef. ———————— — —————- ———————— — —————- Arsenal Eng 91.000 Dinamo Zagreb @3 Cro 33.500 Tottenham Hotspur ** Eng 85.000 Sparta Praha Cze 30.500 AS Roma Ita 80.000 Slavia Praha @4 Cze 27.500 Napoli Ita 77.000 Ludogorets Razgrad @2 Bul 26.000 Benfica @3 Por 70.000 Young Boys @3 Sui 25.500 Bayer Leverkusen Ger 61.000 Red Star Belgrade @3 Srb 22.750 Villarreal Esp 56.000 Rapid Wien @3 Aut 22.000 CSKA Moscow Rus 44.000 Leicester City Eng 22.000 Sporting Braga Por 41.000 Qarabag FK @3 Azb 21.000 AA Gent… Read more »
Arteta says Arsenal’s transfer plans are at a ‘crucial moment’.
“We need to make some decisions in the next three days. We are trying our maximum. We are maximising our resources, with full support from the owners”
Red Army
Read the blog’s rules above. Pete has a “no insults” policy here. I think calling another poster a “c*nt” and calling for him to be killed is a pretty clear violation of that, but maybe that’s just me.
Marc
I agree with you, but the fact is that most like Garry Neville and Jamie Carragher acknowledge
that Arteta is doing a professional job despite the limitations of his squad.
If this was a match nobody wanted to win with Liverpool fielding plenty of third string players and Arsenal fielding second string players how can there be great significance in it.
The time to start pissing yourself is when Teets goes on significant winning runs in the EPL.
Have patience.
That lovely warm fuzzy feeling running down your leg is not far away. The EPL campaign is now upon us.
Pissing yourself too early induces delirium as evidenced today by steve comparing Xhaka to Pirlo.
The reason for the toxicity is simple.We are about to see Arsenal f** k up yet another transfer window chasing what appears to be impossible targets with a budget worth a pint of beer.Dealing all summer with two of the most awkward clubs imaginable when it comes to transfers.Instead of trying to obtain “ realistic” targets who were cheaper & obtainable in the positions we need to fill.Thats why.
Bamford ‘The only thing Arteta has done since arriving is adopt a hyper-pragmatic, highly-conservative, balance-first, results-oriented approach.’ Sorry you don’t get it if you think all Arteta has done is switch to an ultra defensive style of play. We have been using 3 different tactical combinations depending on who we play against. Players now understand our tactical play better. They know how to not lose their shape, how to move in to a vacant position to cover for a player who has left his position to join in the attack. All this requires a lot of hard work in training,… Read more »
Lukaku is voted the player of the year for last year’s Europa Cup competition.
Emirates
I think Neville actually makes a point of keeping a neutral perspective. I can’t understand a word Carragher says so hard for me to comment.
Uwot
We’ve got enough to afford a pint of beer?
Red Army,
“Will somebody put this cunt Banford down?”
For his opinion that he’s entitled to?
The hard facts are that Arsenal are not going to play “sexy” football so long as our midfield is
lacking the calibre of players to control the ball and produce the creativity required.
wow what an insight
who knew
and here pedro was castigating emery for not playing sexy football even though he was winning at the beginning.
Oh & a gross failure to get rid of 7/8 out of the squad ASAP.Another failure for a multitude of reasons.As it stands .This window will be deemed to be a failure.Whos that on ?
It is Arsenal’s failure to make sales in the central defensive area that has led to them considering to loan out William Saliba, according to RMC – an number of English & German sides also interested. I’ll be perfectly honest with people if Saliba leaves on loan not just because we were unable to get rid of certain players but because Mikel convinced Holding to stay and not join Newcastle on loan it will be another red flag for me on his appointment. Can’t knock the good things that he is doing but cannot knock some of the really dumb… Read more »
kristoman
Pedro should be on here praising Emery for giving Arteta some breathing room. If Arteta had come in straightaway and was going through this process he’d be slaughtered and compared (unfairly) to peak Wenger ball.
TR7
the truth hurts
Marko
I’m 85% pleased / impressed with what Arteta is doing but there are a few niggling doubts the biggest being his seeming inability to let players go. He’s got a little bit of a 12 year old girl having to choose between a litter of puppies and wanting them all.
Winning the League Cup no longer gets a place even in the europa league! There’s gonna be an even worst euro competition called UECL for the winners.
I still hope we win it though, I mean as long as Jose’s Spurs don’t!
Emirates
Spot on there. Usual posters giddy at the prospect of sticking the boot in and project their views from 6 months ago forward so they can get a slice of ‘I told you so’ after being so horribly wrong.
judge Edu and Arteta on Monday
JAC
As long as any announcement doesn’t contain “like a new player”
they’ve had since August to get deals done, how much will change between now and Monday? So far, turning down bids for players but letting “the greatest goalkeeper of all time” go isn’t a sign that we know what we’re doing?
I’ll be fuming if lightweight Jorginho turns up at this club after all this.
TR7
Sure, and all of that has made us more balanced and harder to score against. But it has also meant that we are producing fewer scoring chances, and it isn’t clear that this model is going to succeed over 38 matches or in the EL. Time will tell, I guess.
As it stands, the criticisms are warranted although i still believe we’ll do better than what we’ve shown to date.
At least we won’t be facing Emery’s Villarreal in the group stage.
We have Rapid Wien from Pot2. Pretty close.
He’s got a little bit of a 12 year old girl having to choose between a litter of puppies and wanting them all. Except a more apt analogy would be a kid picking a puppy from a litter of really slow dim witted rats. Like the effort we went through and everything surrounding him and we’re about to loan him out again because we’ve accumulated garbage defenders we can’t get rid of and kept Holding. Like it looks like he’s just not keen on him or Pepe (could throw in Guendouzi I guess) and as gone for more premier league… Read more »
Just another customer.Monday isn’t far off at all & it ain’t looking good at all. & perhaps I suspect it will be f** k all.
Sending Saliba on loan is a terrible decision.
“We have Rapid Wien from Pot2”
They mean nothing to me. Ohhhhhhh Vienna!
*more premier league experience in Willian and Holding
So we won’t be getting any service from Saliba for two straight years running. Both Saliba and Pepe deals now look like sheer waste of money. We could have bought two quality mids for the money we spent on them.
We got Molde FK from Pot 3. It is even closer but may be cold in Winter.
Saliba going back on loan because he needs transition time. Lolz.
More amazing transfer dealings from the banter club.
Plus loaning out one of the most highly rated young CB’s in Europe and potentially your best CB in the next few years and one of the legitimately only prized assets in this bloated mess of a squad because you couldn’t get rid of Sokratis and Mustafi is fucking dumb. Getting rid of the good because you can’t get rid of the bad is just nonsensical
but it’s a process stop bleating
come Monday we will have two top top qualidee signings
believe in the sauce
Holy shit. Marko and GOH on the same page.
Get your lottery tickets…this is going to be a crazy time!
Liverpool are 7 levels above us that’s for sure, the types of players they recruit, the style of play, the manager, the owners, the kids, their scousy fans support etc..
Arsenal and Arteta have to sort out this shit midfield to withstand any chance of top 4 finish
No ifs or buts
Saliba lost his mum this year, had an injury filled campaign last time out on top of being in a new country, league and the wildly knee jerk expectations of Arsenal fans I can see why he’s being managed carefully.
Imagine if he wasn’t what expected right away then the daggers would come out fairly quick. I’d rather he stayed and was eased in here but players are human and all variables must be considered.
We got Dundalk from Ireland from Pot 4.
We went to Anfield and gave it a go, ultimately overwhelmed and beaten by the far better side. Most sides make fruitless trips to Anfield yet you got people like HL acting as if we’re entitled to a win.
We expect our team to equip itself as best as possible for the game and to compete and we did that to some degree. Stop crying.
A few weeks back I was slated on Le Grove for casting my doubts on Saliba and saying that Gabriel looks the better option.
Leftside
So what?
He’s a fucking professional and if he needs a year to recover, he’s not got the right mentality.
Another weak idiot.
Steveyg87
“. Xhaka is Pirlo 2.0 all day long.”
I hope to God there was a lesser know player called Pirlo 2.0, because surely you cannot be comparing Granit Xhaka to ANDREA Pirlo.
If you are please stop sniffing coffee powder
marc
when poster were saying there is only so much he can do with these lot. what was his response? the squad is good for top four that he shouldn’t play defensive football against the minor. now the goal post has moved, there are no minors anymore, the squad is not good for purpose, he doesn’t have its team even though he is here for over a year now.
Predictable take from you Watergun of Hackney
This isn’t Fifa where players perform every week. If he’s not right to play he can’t be just be thrown in. I’d rather he stayed but looking at it from the club’s perspective I can understand.
Both Saliba and Pepe deals now look like sheer waste of money. We could have bought two quality mids for the money we spent on them.
———————–
and then everybody says Kroenke doesn’t give us any money, well who can blame him when a 100 million quid gets pissed down the drain?
“””We got Dundalk from Ireland from Pot 4.”””
Maybe Saliba is up to this match??
Saliba must be best chum with Guen, Arteta is not having that!
Non negotiable!
Sorry, but mentality is paramount to reaching the top of any sport or industry. Our players do not have it.
In restrospect, our transfer business was pretty -or last season. We spunked £100 million on Pepe and Saliba, both of whom aren’t ready for prime time.
This summer window , we can’t find enough to get a £40 million deal over the line.
Leftside I understand all that easing himself into action stuff and I get it and I agree with it and I see that he did lose his mother but I’m not sure loaning him out is the best course of action to any of that. Like he’ll get over it better in Rennes? It’s not even close to st Etienne besides his long term future is here. But anyway those seem to be more excuses than anything it looks like we’re loaning him out because we’re not going to be able to guarantee him games which is honestly incredible when… Read more »
Saliba and Mattéo Guendouzi can’t make Arsenal 25 man PL squad. lol
Transfer window is so boring, not even a fake rumour today.
*pretty poor
First thing Arsenal need to do is check the mental toughness of the perspective players. Show them a graphic video and see what sparks in the head…if they fail, bun them off. Simple.
Also year of transition? Won’t that then be next season if we’re loaning him out again? So we could be signing up someone who’ll be loaned for two seasons then have a transitional season and then we will get to see him regularly year 4 I guess? I guess the same doesn’t apply to some of the other young players in the squad
Not sure why we don’t loan Saliba to a English team so he can fully acclimatise to football in England, why loan him to Rennes?
Bit disappointing to see Saliba go on loan considering Holding is still knocking around the first team. I suppose they want him to be playing first team football week in, week out at this point something he is not guaranteed. It probably means that all of Gabriel, Luiz, Tierney and maybe even Mari are seen to be ahead of him in the pecking order. If only he was left footed eh. Teets loves a left footed CB.Tierney playing CB in a three left-footed, Gabriel left-footed, Mari left footed, even Kolasinac getting games in a back three because he is left… Read more »
It’s coz Teets is going big on back three.
No left foot?
Out of here.
I’m afraid Arteta is failing his test.
That’s sad. I had high hopes.
Marko, I get where your coming from and I’d rather he was here too, just from that perspective I understand.
A part of me thinks that he may be loaned out to free up space in the squad but that would irritate me as you have the likes of Sokratis, Holding who is regressing, Chambers and Mustafi bandying about. You have plenty of players who could be shifted to make space for additions and Martinez, Torreira and Saliba who are some of our better players shipped out whilst the dross remains.
So far I’m extremely underwhelmed with Edu.
Imagine thinking Torreira and Guen have no usage but the likes of Willock, Elneny etc remain scot free.
If we have to send Saliba out on loan because he’s not ready for 1st team football, can we ask St.Etinne for a rebate? Or first option on their next young superstar?
£25m for a young defender who isn’t ready after two years seems very expensive…
Unfortunately Pepe really wasn’t very good last night against a largely second string team.(Unless..of course..you were watching that turgid team performance through “Rose coloured spectacles “…as only a few players emerged with any real credit to their performances). From my perspective he just seems to be too one-footed and can’t deal with the physicality of the Premier League.Ironically he was bought because he appeared to be better value than the more obvious candidate of Zaha (a Premier League hardened Pro who could win games on his own).The Brain”s Trust though felt that he would have a far better sell-on value… Read more »
Back three is here to stay.
I wonder how long it’s going to take for Sailba to be removed from the list of Mislintat signings and cast into the Sallenhi pot.
Not again . the unfair criticisms Mikel Arteta is getting on this blog you will think he has all the tools to succeed and he just refused to use it. Everton for starters have got James Rodriguez, Doucoure and Allan midfield who have we got? some of you are clamoring for Saka in midfield , he is a young player still developing. Placing undue pressure on the lad by making him start games in that position now will be project deemed for failure from them onset. Spurs were not at the races against Everton but got their groove back against… Read more »
Doesn’t putting Sok or Kolas into the 25 man squad just encourage them to stay and keep taking their salaries?
I thought that Saliba didn’t need to be in the 25 man squad to play because of his age anyway.
MJ
Yeah that excuse works right up until we turn down £23 million for Xhaka and £20 odd million for AMN – you don’t need to pay £50 million for a CM.
Judgement on Arteta can be split into his performance as a coach relating to players performances etc and his work with Edu on squad management.
Carabao cup and early stages of Europa are the best opportunities to bed a player in. If bedding in was the motive, pretty sure Saliba would have stayed at Arsenal. Most likely Arteta doesn’t think he is good enough.
It does indeed look like pragmatism is going to be the order of the day.
Back three also means Xhaka will continue for Arsenal because there is more defensive security for him uuurrrgggh.
Why Teets? Why?
A part of me thinks that he may be loaned out to free up space in the squad but that would irritate me as you have the likes of Sokratis, Holding who is regressing, Chambers and Mustafi bandying about. This is what is getting to me. That we’re forced to loan out a good player cause a bad player is still around is dumb. But yeah Edu is fucking up big time on this one but I’d blame Arteta for it more he seems to like a back 3/5 he loved Mustafi back end of last season and he convinced… Read more »
“”””I’m afraid Arteta is failing his test.
That’s sad. I had high hopes.””””””
Agree with the sentiments.
(Mind you don’t get banned Gof H )
No to Martinez , Saliba, Ozil, Nelsons etc but
Yes to Luiz, Willian,Elneny, Round etc
Maybe when he plays x 5 at the back and x 2 holding midfielders against Dundalk ,the question will be asked..
What is Arteta’s ultimate gameplan?
If Saliba is not even considered good enough for the league cup and Europa cup, then he obviously has flaws on his game , something which I did adhere to a couple of weeks ago in my limited time watching him. His heading technique is poor and although he may see himself as a Rio Ferdinand type player( I do anyway) , that in itself creates problems as in Ferdinand’s case he was very inconsistent in his early days and was often caught in possession…Saliba is young so has time on his side. Holding is a very solid defender so… Read more »
Marc
At that point in time(just before the January Transfer window) who would have taken up the mantle if Arsenal had accepted to sell Xhaka ? Squad management also requires having a definitive plan for replacements.
Most likely Arteta doesn’t think he is good enough.
If that’s the case then most likely the people running Arsenal are dumb fucks. I mean we beat off good teams to sign him up and even had rumours that before he even kicked a ball for us that Madrid were interested in him and the people at Arsenal don’t think he’s good enough? Meanwhile Holding is a starter for us, Mustafi is going into his 5th season here and we signed up Pablo Mari after just 6 months of top flight football in Brazil at 26/27. Makes. Perfect. Sense.
Nice one Pierre couldn’t agree with you more , ya Holdings gone from Captain Material to the new Gilles Grimandi of the group .
I like him think hes solid and tries his best isnt easily intimidated and gets stuck in, his passing can be worked on and needs to be worked on but besides decent all rounder .
Easy EL group for us.
Would a loan to Lyon to sweeten the Aoura deal ever be on the cards????