Well good morning to you all!
Lots going on in the world of Arsenal, my overall take from a fan perspective is that everyone is just a little bit miserable. Look, I understand you, because I look at your Facebook data for a living. You are sad that you stopped reading, there’s no more power-yoga session on that ‘really great app’ you don’t use, your closest relationship is with a bag of Haribo that you can’t stop topping up…. and the football, well, it’s starting to smell like a bag of rotting Emery.
Fear not… this is not how it ends my friends. So stop sad-eating Hagen Dasz, because today, the only dessert breakfast we’re treating ourselves to is a bowl of Cheeri-positivos.
I spoke to some United fans for The Elite Football Show yesterday and they seemed to think that we’re in a similar position to the one United were in before the last January transfer window… namely, lacking creativity.
Now, we all know how they worked their way out of that problem, they signed a world-class creator in Bruno.
I think the biting reality we’re likely facing with Arteta is that until that sort of signing comes our way, we might have problems creating. The issue we have is that at the very highest level, only special talents can truly make a difference if your objective is to hit the heights. We could pump money into a lesser mortal, but that’ll only move us so far. We need to go big on a talent that can grow with us.
Now, I don’t think that quite excuses the depths of our bland creative output, so I’m not giving up. We absolutely have the squad to start creating. There’s a potentially world-class spine developing. Auba, Partey, Gabriel, and Leno could be very special if they all find their game at once. Bellerin and Tierney are top drawer. Saka is an elite young talent. The question really is, who do you build around them?
Pepe, looks like a dud at the moment. He strikes a ball with outrageous venom at full pace, but we rarely see it. He needs confidence and about 5kg in weight. Can he do that this season? Jury is out…
Dani Ceballos hasn’t played a game as bad as the one he did at Leicester in a while. Can he occupy a more advanced position now Partey has joined the midfield?
Gabriel Martinelli might not have been a fave of Mikel’s before the break, but the coach can’t tell us he’s not good because we have seen him with our own eyes. I cannot wait to have him back, he certainly looks like he’s put on the weight Pepe needs.
Willian cost a lot of money. I’m still very unsure if that was Mikel and Edu or the dregs of Raul, but whatever the situation, he’s a quality player that needs to find a role in the team and sharpish. The whole point of him was that he’d not need 3 months to adapt. Well, we’re basically in November and it’s been bland. More to come. We need senior players to step up.
Then there’s the riddle of Joe Willock and ESR. Can they be the surprise packages this season? Will Arteta trust them? Who knows…
But basically, I think we need to pull our heads out of our backsides, realise that this season will be bumpy, and pray to the gods of football that this weekend is our watershed moment.
There’s so much going against us…
We do not win away at Old Trafford. Arsenal hasn’t beaten a top 6 side away since 1912.
We are a gift to struggling managers. That is OGS right now.
We are in terrible form when you look at our style of play and output.
This game is nailed on for a loss… or is it?
CHINS UP, spoons down my friends, this is going to be a great week. I’ll see you in the comments. Come join the party and AGREE with me.
Pierre
You really need to stop the obsession with Ozil. I agree with a good part of your post but
“Is AMN next in the list for giving his ill advised support to Ozil in a press conference last week …we will see..”
AMN hasn’t been dropped because of that – he’s been dropped because he’s 2nd rate at best. The correct criticism of Arteta on AMN is he’s another example of Arteta not being able to let players leave.
Raul was rightly sacked because of the Pepe signing.
What a silly little man he was.
Ishola
Eredivisie has been a huge blind spot for us for years it seems, weird oversight when Ajax were such an obvious hub of talent there a couple of years ago.
Could go through their side and think you’re getting an enviable talent left and right. Sure there’s still a few there that would instantly improve us.
Ishola
How many players did we sell this summer TW?
Mid
What do you expect from a Yank? A strike through a curve ball.
The Chelsea keeper looks quite assured.
Couldn’t have got any worse for them in that position could it.
Whatever happened to David Neres?
Was part of that Ajax golden group but hasnt seemed to push on. Looked a very good talent.
Chavs turning it on.
Going forward they’re going to tear a lot of teams to shreds.
Marc
“How many players did we sell this summer TW?”
Ziyech was available before this summer and for a discount price in comparison to what we paid for Pepe.
Raul was sacked because of the Pepe transfer episode.
Say no more.
Marc
As you know , my comment was nothing to do with Ozil, nice try though
AMN hasn’t played one minute of football since his comment …
Personally, I believe the role that ceballos struggled with v leicester would be ideal for AMN
AMN has more explosive pace, better defensively and is more creative…ceballos struggled in all aspects v leicester as it was not his natural position .
AMN has all the attributes to succeed in that role.
Ishola
That’s fine but right now have we replaced him with better? What was our transfer business like under Mislintat?
Pepe isn’t working out but as much of that is on the manager.
Pierre
AMN is a very average player. In a year or two he’ll be playing for a lower PL team and a year or two after that he’ll be in the Championship.
Marc
“Pepe isn’t working out but as much of that is on the manager.”
Well if we look at the two players on their own and forget about managers Ziyech is clearly the more rounded and mature player. It’s not even close. And he went for half the price of Pepe.
Need bulkier players? I thought footie was a non-contact sport these days. To me plus 5kgs will mean a slower, less explosive Martinelli. But maybe I have wandered on to a rugby union site?
Ishola70
The Pepe signing was on Raul, Emery wanted Zaha.
Handing idiotic bureaucrats jobs they’re not qualified to do, rarely ends well.
The power goes to their heads
Why Raul thought he was more qualified to identify our targets, and take charge of our transfer business in summer 2019, instead of allowing our head coach to be advised by our scouts, to identify how we could improve?
I have no idea…..
Ishola
Mislintat has been held up as a hero on here and still doesn’t get any grief.
How many of his players are still at the club? Those out on loan are just because we couldn’t get a fee for them.
We had a stack of players we needed to sell – how many went? None.
Let’s say Pepe is a dud – Tierney and Martinelli look like great signings and if Arteta can get his head out of his arse we should have a player in Saliba.
Rich
Your approach is old fashioned and won’t wash with fans eager for success.
Arsenal have been sleeping for far too long to be gambling with
a coach who.may sometime in the future find his feet.
Pepe needs to be given a free reign by Arteta if he’s going to give anything to AFC.
He’s being caged in by a structure and system that is stifling him.
Let him loose against Dundalk. Give him the opportunity to plan things for himself. He needs the shackles removed if he’s going to stand any chance of benefiting the team.
Come on Mikel stop all this theoretical shite and let the blood flow.
Rich
The idea was a good one and similar to what they do at Liverpool. Unfortunately Mislintat who was supposed to be shit hot was fucking awful, Emery according to most on here needed to be sacked and WE COULD NOT AFFORD ZAHA.
Can you blame Sanllehi for taking it into his own hands. Tierney, Martinelli look great and Saliba should be a great signing – if he’d gone to the Spud’s who were also after him people would’ve gone mental on here.
Marc “AMN is a very average player. In a year or two he’ll be playing for a lower PL team and a year or two after that he’ll be in the Championship.” Strangely enough, he is considered in the top 20/30 English players atm. All i ever hear on here is how our academy players will be in the championship in a year or 2. I’m sure you and the rest of the kn were saying exactly the same thing a year or 2 ago… So do you think that despite being chosen for England he is not considered good… Read more »
Raul pretty indefensible at this stage, not sure what point is.
Pierre
Those are three midfielders quickly put together with no chemistry among them. In the 1st half, Leicester gave them lots of room but they didn’t know how to use it. In the 2nd half, Leicester came up and played, they looked even worse. Arteta blamed on players fatigue. I blamed on the players badly trained.
Angelino at LWB is quality, real head scratcher Pep opted for Mendy and Zinchenko over him.
Being a coach requires flexibility and an understanding of what is really needed for each player . Not all players thrive on regimental methods.
I for one think that Arteta needs to take his head out of his coaching books on this one.
There is a player in there somewhere.
Let him be free.
Pierre
“Strangely enough, he is considered in the top 20/30 English players atm.”
England have a handful of players who are better than OK. Number’s 20 – 30 are shit and a national embarrassment.
Until supporters see this the national team will continue to be a joke.
Manure plays most of the starting 11.
sal
Mislintat pissed more money up the wall than Sanllehi did but has never had a negative comment on here outside of me.
You should also remember it was Sanllehi who got over £30 million for Iwobi – another 2nd rate player.
Marc
You sign Saliba at 19 for €30 mill
So you don’t have to sign him at 22/23 for €80mill.
There’s plenty of time for us to get a return on that investment, and it’s not like Mourinho has any form for developing young players
I’m still a bit perplexed as why we’ve collected 8 centre half’s though?
Maybe Arteta’s plan is to play 8 across the back, with Partey sitting just in front?
Graham
Agree – it’s about knowing how to get the best out of different personalities as much as different talents.
Rich
So the Saliba signing was a good move by Sanllehi? Tierney and Martinelli (providing Arteta doesn’t fuck him up) both look great signings.
My point is time and time again people are on a witch hunt against Sanllehi – he gave us a better summer than Mislintat ( a favourite on here) and better than anything Wenger gave us for years.
What you actually mean is anyone that doesn’t share your POV is biased and wrong. No your biased comes when you specifically go after players that you clearly don’t like instead of talking about the actual problems. All our forwards not playing well and the manager having and you mostly specify Pepe and one or two others for criticism. Ceballos is another one despite being statistically brilliant since the restart it’s Xhaka who should be starting with Partey (despite his form) instead. Also the wrong part comes from saying Pepe is worse than Nelson. Things cited like running off the… Read more »
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/payroll/
Here is the reason we don’t have time and patience. Pretty much a Ponzi scheme that will crash down.. at the end of this season if we don’t start getting results.
Thats was fortunate.
Look how much we are paying our forwards to not score goals compared to the League.
Midwest
The good news is we’ve got £28 odd million of wages coming off the wage bill next summer for non squad players.
Luiz’s contract also expires but between the chance he’ll get another year and the dispute over whether he’s on £200 million a year or £500 million a year plus VAT it’s hard to comment on that one.
Leipzig plays fast but their passes are inaccurate.
Where does Ozil’s salary feature on that under forwards or midfielders?
“No your biased comes when you specifically go after players that you clearly don’t like instead of talking about the actual problems.“
Yea you’re right Marko, this doesn’t sound like what you say is right whatsoever…
Now you go ahead and tell me what the “actual problems” are, because obviously what I’ve stated as MY issues with the current side is incorrect by your assessment.
Your continued frozen hot takes on the subject of bias are the only laughable thing here.
Rich
We’ve heard all this before with Wenger, how he should be given time to build a new team which never materialised.
Let’s stop pissing about with pipe dreams and get someone in who knows what he’s doing.
What did AMN say?
Why am I getting these nagging doubts about Arteta and his Sergeant Major methods?
Marc A £72m spend, the club record on what can only be described at this moment as a dud, in a deal that then leads to you’r getting shit canned after owner brings in attorney to oversee that deal is a pretty good description of the bottom for me. To shed more light have a look at summer we just had, £27m on a CB thats got enough quality to build the back four around, Partey and Willian on a free. Thats 3 players that cost same in transfer fee as Raul’s Pepe, I know who i’d rather have spending… Read more »
Calypso
Emery had success at Lorca, Almeria, Valencia, Sevilla and PSG.
He took a lot of stick, but he was an experienced manager, who had some communication issues, but a very good CV., and a decent first season,
Our problems as still much the same, we need to work our way out of it the old fashioned way, through:
Hard work
Common sense
Pragmatism
Patience
Far too many in society want instant gratification, success isn’t earned that way, success is built through hard work, combined with making lots of good decisions, and bouncing back from bad decisions quickly.
Marc_
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/arsenal-fc/positional/
Ozil salary is in the midfield.. but it hasn’t included in Partey yet either,
If Arsenal play against Dundalk tomorrow evening, as they have been doing over the past two months, I’ll go frigging ballistic.
Wan Bissaka has a lot of Sagna about him.
Wall defensively but very poor going forward.
Eredivisie has been a huge blind spot for us for years it seems
You’re consistent I’ll give you that.
WE you see this shit Upamecano AND Konate starting with Orban on the bench. What the hell
Morata just a whisker off there, good finish though.
Rich
Instant gratification, you’re taking the piss. We haven’t competed for a title since 2004.
Nagelsmann wearing a lovely suit tonight. That’s managerial quality right there
Classic RedCalypso there. 😀
Juve getting carved up here…. Chesser to the rescue.
Look at the Chezzer.. go .
The United game is more lively
Calypso
And that’s Arteta’s fault?
You want to sack a manager who’s been here 10 months, because the 2 previous managers failed to win a title in the 15 years before he took the job?
Seems fair,…
Really hard to argue with that logic, you win.
#ArtetaOut
Rich, “Far too many in society want instant gratification, success isn’t earned that way, success is built through hard work, combined with making lots of good decisions, and bouncing back from bad decisions quickly.” You have a point but the good decision for Arsenal is to get a better manager. It’s years since Arsenal mount a title challenge and Mikel is NOT the manager to change that. It’s best to get one of the better manager who’s available than continue experimenting with Tets, when it’s obvious he’s out of his depth. Kloop was available and because of fearing change AW… Read more »
Graham
AMN
“”The squad is behind Mesut, we’re a team and that’s always going to be the case until Mesut decides to make his decision on what he wants to do and say,”
Despite heading the press conference before the rapid game , he didn’t get on .
Very rare for a player to be chosen to talk to the media before a game and then ot play.
Hopefully United expend a shit ton of energy.
Manure rests Fernandes and Rashford.
Apart from scoring a goal which was clearly offside United have done fuckall…parking a fucking boeing…sunday should be fun to watch..or maybe not
sal We’ll see on this summers transfer’s but I think Gabriel and Partey will turn out to be very good signings. My point is you argument of “Thats 3 players that cost same in transfer fee as Raul’s Pepe” – Sanllehi got over £30 million for Iwobi – we couldn’t sell anyone we wanted or needed to this summer and Tierney, Saliba and Martinelli are also very good signings. Why isn’t Mislintat getting any grief? Torreira £23 million, Leno £23 million (still number one but is that keeper or public enemy), Sokratis £15 million, Guendozi £7 million. That come to… Read more »
That is a serious suit from Nagelsmann looking like Judge Smails in Caddyshack.
Calypso So it’s Arteta’s fault: Kolasinac £120k p/w 5yr deal Ozil £350k p/w Mustafi £35mill Xhaka £35mill Perez £17mill Sokratis £17mill Lacazette £50mill Pepe £72mill Torreira £26mill Chambers £16mill Mkhitaryan £170k p/w swapped with Alexis, who we’d turned down £60million for just 5 months earlier Welbeck £16mill, but let go on a free Ramsey let go on a free Wilshere let go on a free That we’ve got a £230million wage bill, but Leicester arguably have a better squad of players, and certainly have more balance, and players more suited to this league… Give me a break…… We’re 5 PL… Read more »
Marc
“We’ll see on this summers transfer’s but I think Gabriel and Partey will turn out to be very good signings.”
Veŕy perceptive.
Rich
A lesson to learn , never reply to calypso( formerly red truth) ….pointless
Rich
“Xhaka £35mill”
Yeah that one is on Arteta because he stopped him being sold for £23 million – a fee will never get close to again.
Pierre
It wasn’t supposed to be a prophetic comment – Gabriel has looked excellent value so far and Partey fee aside should fit the basic description for a PL midfielder.
Seen that Marko, Nagelsmann must have lost the plot.
This is a weird season…the quality in CL has roughly been as good or as poor as Europa
Anyone heard from Dariano seeing as his team is on?
VAR killing Juve mojo here.
3 goals ruled out for Juve, only need 1 more to equal the most Ive ever seen which was Sassuolo having 4 ruled out by VAR at Napoli last season.
Marc- I think Arteta may have panicked a bit, he had just taken over, got an offer for Xhaka and didn’t know who he was going to replace him with immediately in that window. and he was tasked with stopping the bleeding very quickly. It’s easy to look back and say now it was bad decision after we won an FA CUP and signed Partey. So I tend to give him a pass on that decision . . I do wonder if he would have made the same decision if we already had Partey? If Yes, then that would concern… Read more »
Eagle
Harsh… last goal so tight and a very tidy one at that.
Middy
Haha A leisure suit was a must in mine dads as well.
Messi going down in the box, never seen that.
Mid west
“. . I do wonder if he would have made the same decision if we already had Partey?”
The same could be said of mari and gabriel… or cedric and making the decision to keep AMN…
GunnerDNA Number of Trophies for: Arteta – 2 Fat Frank – 0 OGS – 0 Poch- 0 We’re 6 games in, we’ve lost at City, Liverpool and at home to Leicester, and other than at Anfield, where we still could have snatched a point, we’ve not been completely overrun in anyway, and had key decisions gone our way? Then those games could easily have been interpreted differently by our fan base, football’s a game of small margins. We’ve got 3 new players settling in, and we won 2 pieces of silverware in August, which is less than 3 months ago.… Read more »
Not looking good this weekend is it?
Rashford is on a hot streak for sure.
Uniteds first two goals would have been ruled offside in prem VAR and correctly so
Pierre-
I suppose.. we will never know for sure what all the behind the scene thought processes were, But those super early ones in January, I tend to give more leniency too .Last, Summer and now. Not so much
Demiral fucking hell so silly to the douches you go.
You can almost bet on it now.. Man. U will get a pk against us. Inevitability factor is very high.
It’s quite simple, lose to ManUre and Arteta should go.
Cleary Dariano has succumbed to his own advances, successful night in his book i’m sure.
Only Messi’s 637th goal? slacker.
This is not good for us, come Sunday.
Dariano must be excited.
I reckon XG of 3 XGA of 3.54 OPP of 1.39 NWA of 6.06…
That was a quick wank there Dariano you fucking sicko.
That’s for the manure game weekend btw
Yep Glee factor on 10. confirmed.
Graham
“Come on Mikel stop all this theoretical shite and let the blood flow.”
Spot on – all the stast, XGs and analysis in the world won’t win a game. Team cohesion and individual brilliance will! Time to release the beast – none of this sideways/backwards waltzing against a team like Dundalk. No disrespect to them but we should be destroying a team at that level.
Radio with yet another top post.
I concur.
Hahaha that’s got to be Pedro playing Dariano.
Or Bamford has got a (un)healthy sense of humour.
You can ban Bamford but you can’t keep Dariano down
It’s like playing Whac-A-Mole
Imagine being Bamford
I mentioned sacking Arteta for Nagelsmann earlier and he has well and truly been destroyed lol. Awful choice of clothing from him and he has rightly been embarrassed. Upamecano has quality but he also has a mistake in him. He’s definitely a strong candidate for two or three cards a season in the PL.
Sunday looking like it could be a long 90 mins…..
Arsenal fan ladies and gents.
You wear a blazer like that and you can’t blame the players. #savefashionfromnagelsmann
Owned in Daddy’s Jackets equals zero sauce.