The best thing to happen to Arsenal this season was ‘sickness.’
That was the reason Arteta gave for dropping Willian and Luiz.
Two players rumoured to have complained to Edu about how things have been going for them.
Two players that share the same super agent as our well-heeled Brazilian Technical Director.
This could have been the best bad luck ever, or it could have been a clever ploy to give the manager room to try something wild like… play the players that care.
Whatever went down, it worked.
Mikel Arteta picked the boldest line-up of the season. In came ESR, Martinelli, Mari and Granit Xhaka (yikes).
Auba, Ceballos, and Mustafi were benched.
What a huge difference it made.
I was unsure which Arteta team would show up, but thankfully, proper Arsenal returned to The Emirates. The players pressed with vigour, the passing was fast, crisp, and progressive. We battled like it was a cup final. It was a new manager bounce type of game. The sort that had us dreaming when Mikel landed a year ago.
Lady Luck was sitting in the North Bank. Our first goal came from a dubious penalty. Xhaka played a dreamy ball to Tierney, the Scotsman cut into the box and was downed by James. Lacazette sent the keeper the wrong way with a simple spot-kick. A lead in a big game?
Our second goal was even wilder. Granit Xhaka smashed a 25-yard freekick into the top corner. The sort of goal I remember seeing on his Youtube comps when he played in Germany. Absolutely stunning. While we’re talking about the Swiss, arguably Mikel’s riskiest selection, he had a great game. What a difference it makes for him when he has runners to aim fast-release passes to. He’s normally aiming at Pepe or Willian who don’t give him that.
We took a real liberty in the second half after Chelsea made two aggressive attacking subs (CHO + Jorginho). ESR played Saka in on the edge of the box, the England international saw Mendy off his line and clipped a delightful cross/shot into the top corner. Masterful. Lucky as hell. Exactly what the moment called for.
Things were nervy for the run-in. Frank Lampard had his team panic crossing like we did a few weeks ago. I think they tried 32 times. They broke our clean sheet on the ground, Tammy narrowly slotting home, kept onside by a hair on Bellerin’s leg. They also won a penalty of their own, the ref evening up for his first half mistake. Jorginho wasn’t to be the difference-maker with Bernd Leno saving well.
It didn’t go unnoticed that the introductions of Mustafi and Pepe made us less effective. Both players need to go in the bin. AMN was the choice, odd that he’s overlooked so often. Regardless, we managed to see the game out and record an absolutely huge win for our season.
The big question after the game is a simple one: What did Mikel learn?
ATTITUDE
Bernd Leno complained before the game that ‘bad attitude’ had held the club back over the last few weeks. True. Whether strategic, or an act of god, two of the worst offenders were dropped. They were replaced by people that cared. That wanted to fight. Guess what? We saw a performance. A team like Arsenal can’t carry bums, especially famous bums with big trophies to their names. We dropped them and the difference was intense.
The worry is that Arteta will let politics carry the season.
He invested £250k a week in Auba > yet Gabriel showed why he can’t play through the middle.
He was part of the decision-making committee on Willian > yet a £40k a week youngster showed why that was a disgraceful mistake.
Factor in Sokratis (£90k p/w), Soares (£90k p/w), Pepe (£150k p/w) and Mesut (£350k p/w) are all out… well, it doesn’t look good to the cheque signers. Especially when you’re losing games. Arteta either flogs people that don’t care and loses games, or he takes an expensive L and moves forward with players that form a better collective, and ultimately, will likely win more points.
I hope you all saw The Telegraph story about senior players demanding the reinstatement of Mesut Ozil. The story landed after the game citing ‘senior players’ backing his return. It’s clear that’s come from players that assumed we’d lose. They wanted the pile-on from the media post-game to be focused on how Ozil under a new manager could be the saviour the club needs. Think about that. Some of Arteta’s most experienced players thought they were starting against Chelsea, they knew they’d lose, they had a plan to sink the manager under a sea of online hate before they put a boot on. Very grim.
Mikel should put that Telegraph article up in his office. He needs to remember this lesson for the rest of his career. We need to exit these toxic bums ASAP. Give them free transfers in January.
YOUTH
Our pass completion rate was about 69%. Well below where it should be. The quality quite simply isn’t there at the moment. However, energy, hunger, youth, and a future in the game can work wonders for output. What the kids lacked in polish, they made up for with desire.
A lot of people called the starting 11 desperate. ESR shouldn’t have played, apparently. I found this deeply irritating commentary. We were 15th. We haven’t been creating. We’ve not had a performance this season. This was exactly what was needed, even if it failed. Young kids that are talented make big debuts. ESR had a big debut. He was not out of his depth. He was not bullied. He was a big fucking problem and he landed an assist. He played so well, Arteta smacked his backside when he came off in what can only be described as a serious HR violation.
Arsenal had 15 shots, 7 on target. Not a bad return.
As for the line-up being desperate… please. What was the non-desperate starting 11? What would all these so-called experts have done under the same pressure?
The biggest question was not why that line-up happened, it was why it hasn’t happened sooner.
The Chelsea game is the blueprint moving forward.
ESR shouldn’t have been blooded yesterday. It should have happened 9 months ago.
It shouldn’t have taken ‘sickness’ to bin Willian and Luiz.
We should have taken the back half of last season as a blessing and hacked out the rot in the summer.
Arteta didn’t. He thought he could coach out bad character. He couldn’t. Then he doubled down on his underlying issues by giving Auba, Luiz and Willian long-term deals. That was a shocking error. He tried to shortcut success with old players… no, no, no.
The beauty of the Chelsea game was he learned the lesson against the best team we’ve played in a while. An expensively-assembled monster of a squad at full strength. If this win came against Southampton or Burnley, people would say, ‘so what.’ When it’s against an elite team, it’s hard to ignore.
Gabriel Martinelli is what the future of centre forwarding looks like. Powerful, fast, dogged… innovative. The only worry about him is he goes TOO hard on opponents. How could anyone ever make the case for Auba through the middle after seeing that performance? It was extremely arousing to watch.
We need Saka going forward. He’s so impressive, but he looks a different player when he’s operating with quick thinkers who play sharp combinations with him, or release him off the last man. I love him. Power, speed, and invention when it comes to cross/shooting.
ESR, I’ve already gone over it, but his energy, quick thinking, and threat heading into the final third has been sorely missed.
We also have to give credit to Bellerin who looked much better. His end ball is still very sad, but he looked solid. Kieran Tierney was nearly MOM for me. He never stops, he gives a fuck, he’s going to look very good when we make this squad better.
If you put that forward locomotion in an 11 with Thomas Partey and Gabriel (defender), you start to have a core of a team that might do things better than 14th.
We still need to have a better midfield. Xhaka ain’t it. We can’t have a player that needs carrying like he does. I love Mo Elneny, but this isn’t his level. He’s lost confidence, he made a lot of bad decisions, he will never be what we need. We need players that can break lines with power and pace… and we need that person to be able to release our forward fast. It’s not those two. Big wins should not deter transfer inquiries for anyone good for glue.
If we’re letting Edu and Mikel spend in Jan, it can’t be on Christian Eriksen. Even on loan, he doesn’t have the mobility we need. It needs to be a young player that glides. Or a senior player that has the speed and power to go past people, like an Isco type.
We don’t need players to tip us into the top 4 now, we need names that can grow with us. No more older players. We need young intelligent athletes that are hungry to succeed.
Unfortunately, that requires a Technical Director with a degree in football architecture. That ain’t Edu. The puff piece in The Athletic was painful reading. They literally had an Arsenal source with an off the record comment that basically said ‘he looks the part, which goes a long way.’ Can you imagine being a professional trying to help out a colleague and that was the best compliment you could give? Utterly embarrassing. What looks good in Technical Directorship is smart decisions, discipline, and an elite vision. I wouldn’t swipe right to Luis Campos, but I’d hire him. I don’t need to see Ralf Rangnick on the front cover of Vogue to determine his worth. His value is in his record and his decisions. Edu’s record is bad.
Ignore what Mark Gonnella is putting out there, people at Arsenal know his level, they are concerned by Kia’s involvement (because it lacks creativity or smarts), but worse… they just don’t think he’s up to it… and if you didn’t believe me when I was saying this last year, just remember, it wasn’t me that demoted Edu to the same level as Arteta. Vinai did that. 10 good games from Arteta won’t change reality. We need better football leadership, more checks and balances, and a clear vision of how we move forward.
The short term message of today was clear: Bin those that are fighting against the project. Trust the youth and hunger. Win games.
Now listen to the podcast I did with Matt on the whistle.
Big Sam is doing it again!
He sure is!
Gonna be tough with those ‘easy games’
Not sure why many put Auba in the same group with Willian and Pepe. Huge gulf in class. Auba needs the Ozil/ESR feed and with higher energy in the team will flourish. Pepe is a dud; period. Willian may ultimately be more effective with a faster passing transition. Xhaka provided that fast transition yesterday. Partey/ Xhaka may well work.
Rich, you are spot on with your comment -“There has to be an established hierarchy of power.And players who aren’t happy, only have two choices:1. Work hard, wait for your chance, and then take it2. Ask for a move, but remain professional to the club you’re contracted too, until your move materialises ” This is what happens in 99% percent of clubs but I am afraid we fall into the remaining 1 percent because our manager is a piece of shit human being, is vindictive and doesn’t treat players with respect. When the manager doesn’t play by the rules the… Read more »
Link-up play is definitely a weak point for Auba but he usually brings much more to the table than that. Eddie has potential to be a Prem League impact sub at best but that shouldn’t be enough to get him premium minutes at Arsenal.
Big Sam’s clearly no hype job.
Worst algorithm of all-time?
https://www.footballcritic.com/top-players/goalkeepers
Exhibit A: Ospina 39th and Allison 42nd.
With Big Sam at West Brom, we have to quickly get out of this slump.
Yesterday’s victory had a fluke quality to it; a soft penalty, once in a decade Xhaka penalty and a misplaced cross. Even then we almost lost if at the end.
Hopefully we go on to beat Brighton on Tuesday
xhaka didn’t score from a penalty was freekick
Recently, our record away to Brighton has been quite poor.
Martinelli and Tierney as a partnership down the left wing is going to force a bunch of moves or solutions from the squad. What do we do with auba now cause Martinelli is better down that wing? Saka can be played on the opposite wing and attempt to channel Robben. How often are we going to play ESR in the #10 cause that dictates our defensive options? does our frontline work as well with Eddie or auba upfront, or is laca’s industry required? what are we doing with Balogun? Midfield kinda picks itself if we have ESR on the field… Read more »
very strange that when Laca isn’t played eddie is given the spot ahead of balogun
balogun has hold up play eddie doesn’t so we just end up playing with 10 men with eddie on the field
Dissenter
I’m not buying it was a “soft penalty”
Tierney got in front, there was clear contact, he went down.
It was a penalty.
It doesn’t matter if Tierney was looking for it, if you get the man, and not the ball, and the player goes down when moving at pace
Then you’re in trouble
100% penalty
Former Arsenal man angry at Wenger, gives stupid advice to young players By Lee Hurley -Dec 27, 2020 Emi Martinez believes he made a mistake by listening to Arsene Wenger and, as a result, believes no young player should ever listen to a manager in what is quite possibly some of the stupidest advice ever given as he changes his story. Emi Martinez was at Arsenal for 10 years and couldn’t break into the Arsenal first team despite having some truly awful keepers ahead of him. “I listened to Wenger for too long,” Martinez said. “He’d been telling me since… Read more »
Who cares.
Selling Emi was a mistake, but now he’s gone so I don’t want to listen about him.
Also, regardless of what he said of Wenger, why didn’t anyone offer real money for him after any of his loans??
Obviously ATM better than Leno, but a question how good he is going to be long-term.
No question of his positive influence on our defence when he played, though. Just inspires more confidence…
To suggest that our win was in some way undeserved because we got a soft penalty and Saka probably flukes the third, ignores any reasonable analysis of the game. We had some excellent chances that admittedly weren’t converted but even Chelsea fans would admit they deserved nothing from the game. Arteta’s has not covered himself in glory over the last two months but yesterday was an extremely satisfying win for all true Gooners. If you didn’t enjoy the win you’re clearly caught up in a narrative. Does anyone else feel that there is a reasonable argument for benching Martinelli on… Read more »
What I worry is that yesterday’s setup will not be as effective against teams playing low block. Big Sam plays 5 5 0 for 80 minutes. Only in the final 10 mins, his team comes out and attacks. Most of the time, they just kick the ball away and sit back.
Bob N16
I’d 100% rest Martinelli on Tuesday.
Bring him on if we need him, if we don’t, rest him for West Brom.
Starting 3 games in 6 days, coming back off a big injury, is probably unwise,
The key to our season lies with Arteta. The next 5-6 games are all winnable which will take us to the end of Jan. We should target 12 points for sure. Some of the teams like Palace, WBA, New Castle, Brighton would like to play us at this stage and expect to get a draw from us. If Arteta goes to Auba – Willian – Pepe then we are done. All 3 of them are excellent players but not suited for a team like Arsenal. For them to survive – they will need strong runners from midfield/ aggressive ball winning… Read more »
Rich
“Starting 3 games in 6 days, coming back off a big injury, is probably unwise,”
Mate if you’re going for understatement of the year you might have just nailed it.
Wonder if there will be more of a market for our players in January versus this past summer.
Double decker bus and a train parking by mourinho so far!
Pedro Neto should be a player we’re looking at, he’s got the skill and flair we’re looking for, but he’s also got real tenacity,
He’s an Arsenal fan as well.
So many teams have top talent now.
Wolves picked him up for £16million
We paid £72million for Pepe
Putting £45mill on the table for Neto, who looks to have adapted the the PL and speaks fluent English
Makes much more sense than taking a punt on Aouar, who might not adapt, or take a while to adapt
Rich “I like Bissouma at Brighton.A midfield pairing of Partey + Bissouma, would add some drive and tempo to our midfield.” Me too ..I have been posting links of Bissouma for a year or so , i believe he has even more to his game than he showing at Brighton.. Superb technique, calm on the ball, quick feet, decent pace , strong in the tackle and reads the game well . Would just like to see him get involved in the the build up play a little more , though Brighton’s game is more about getting the ball forward quickly,… Read more »
Mourinho/ball still sucks
Cmon wolves
Rich Neto is a player and a half, we just don’t want any business with super agent Jorge Mendes or his likes..
we have values remember!
Pierre why is that link so long? it should look like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rnALoAlrdU&t=87s
Just copy the url in address bar
More up to date
Pierre
There’s plenty of good players around, we’re desperate for a top Director of Football, with an eye for talent.
We spent €50million and £200k p/w on Partey.
Bissouma would have likely been much cheaper, and cost us a fraction of £200k p/w in wages.
We’re apparently looking at Julian Brandt from Dortmund.
He might be a good player?
Pedro Neto would be the safer bet though
Other than Martinelli, our scouting + recruitment has been rubbish for far too long.
We can’t afford to gamble on anymore foreign imports, buying domestically costs more, but it’s safer.
Spurs are such soft cunts. They win the weakest free kicks for literally nothing.
Dier has the worst head. Followed closely by Kane.
G8
Morals and values are restrictions, and restrictions are just lost possibilities.
4 players who’d solve most of our problems
Soyuncu
Bissouma
Neto
Richarlison
Add decent competition for Leno, and we’d be up there.
Get in….
Yesss
Dier has never scored a PL free kick goal but apparently he’s a free kick specialist for the Spurs.
Kane is such a diving cunt
Agree on Neto. Incredible talent.
Unless he’s got a clause in his contract I think he’s out of our league. Contract until 2025, Gestifute player at Gestifute club.
Plus Wolves a decent side full of his compatriots.
Think his trajectory is Real Madrid/Barca
Haha yeah Tom I heard the commentator mention that, was like why isn’t Kane giving it a crack? Though couldn’t care less. Give them to the bloke who scored one free kick for England against Russia in euro 2018 😂😂😂 spud logic
Yep Kane and Son go down at literally every opportunity
we only 9 points off spurs…
3 wins and 3 losses… stranger things have happened in football
Mourinho might be getting results but the football is always distasteful. I don’t know if any fan enjoys this. At every team he has managed it gets tiresome even with trophies. Trophies are great but I would swap them with watching our 2006/7 and 2007/8 football. If it is capped of with trophies like the invincibles even better. But watching amazing football is better than watching turgid football with trophies for me.
Yeah, LG.
We are in a great place. Nothing is lost yet. Oh wait, we are 15th and we’ve lost 60% of our games.
As many have said already, the real test is which players Mike picks on Tuesday and next weekend…
If we see Willian and Luiz and Xhaka ( if TP is fit) then I think it says it all…
Habesha
Jose’s Inter and RM’s sides were pretty entertaining
Also a big NO to Brandt, not impressed.
Gunner Ram
Good analysis…
I dont want to see Pepe anymore. I would rather Reiss gets those minutes.
This pepe experiment is over. He should be sold
Upstate
Not really. They were machines. But nobody would call them entertaining. Mourinho is a coach based on defending deep and counter attacking. There is a reason he never lasts more than 3 seasons at any team. His football isn’t fun. He gets fired because even with trophies his players get bored of the football. He is a winner but he has never been entertaining.
Rich
Neto is a fast winger. I think our team needs someone like Bruno Fernandes, who can open up a defense and can also score.
raptora
its a topsy-turvy season with everyone performing inconsistently
if we can string 5 wins on the bounce we are competing for europa spots
Neto is a special talent.
Similar to Saka, left footed, decent enough with his right, can play in plenty of position comfortably.
Quick feet, quick brain.
We should be all over that.
Saka + Neto together, would terrorise PL defences.
Pepe’s still the best we have on the right side unfortunately
Pepe>reiss >willian
Reiss doesn’t have attacking intent or end product
I think we still have to harness and support Pepe (with defensive responsibility 😬) till we get a replacement
That’s on Arteta
On Brandt, Very good player but not suited to the premier league. He would get eaten up in the middle of the park with the intensity of deep midfielders in the league. He is not a fighter. He will struggle just lime Havertz has been struggling. Aouar might handle it well though. Still I would prefer Buendia because he is a fighter with quality. And Lots of room for improvement too.
Nice to see ‘contenders for the league title’ Spurs dropping points.
Mourinho has them playing so well they’re 9 whole points ahead of us during our worst run in half a century.
Like Havertz*
samesong
It does the same thing ..what’s a URL anyway …
I might have a try later , though I like winding up that Alex Cutter bloke who seems to think I’ve only half a brain because I cant post a link properly. ( if that’s what you call it)
If Pool had won today instead of drawing, it would have opened up a 5 pt lead to the pack of teams behind them. Very healthy for the league that they failed to do so courtesy of Big Sam.
Spuds seems to have problem executing Mou’s game plan. They tries to defend a one goal lead. They got mental fatigue at the end of the game. Three games in a roll, they gave up the lead at the end of the game.
Strange year this one — lots of draws and some unexpected wins driving the teams very close. There isnt a clear pack moving forward — possibly with the games coming thick and fast we hope to see a pattern where lesser teams start to taper off.
sly
wasn’t saka playing on the right yesterday? if so then he is the best on the right with performances like that
It does the same thing ..what’s a URL anyway …
Its basically a web address, Link etc.
It looks like to me that you do a search for example Player then paste the actually google search address that long address rather than the video listed in google.
So I would search player and click youtube link and paste it or you can also copy or share link if you have the youtube app.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k08Y8QVo-yE
Habesha Gooner
Doesn’t sound promising on Brandt.
Last thing we need is another fleet footed player not up for the fight
KSE would be crazy to back Edu + Arteta with more of their cash.
Klopp’s team has no ACM. His high pressing game is useless against Sam’s 5 5 0 system. I watched Henderson passed the ball to one of the attacker who had no where to go but passed the ball back to Henderson. They kept repeating this play. They also asked Robertson to hit some crosses with no effect..
London
I agree
But we have him playing everywhere for now
Pepe functions closer to the 18 with a license to move centrally
There’s a player in there
Jamie
Mourinho isn’t throwing anyone under the bus just yet but he is slowly lining them up and fueling up the bus.
He wasn’t happy ( apparently) with his reams performance but saw fit to sit there motionless for the entire game.
He’s full of shit of course. He thought Spurs would make it over the line defending the one goal lead for 94 minutes which ,to be fair, looked very likely until the last few minutes of the game.
Hate to see it too.
Can’t trust Edu in the transfer market. We should only be signing an experienced back-up for Leno and let’s face it anyone would be better than Runarsson. I would even take a 37 year old Vorm over him so that shows how desperate the need is there. Other than at keeper, our focus should be on moving out any of the following on loan or sale; Ozil, Sokratis, Willian, Mustafi, Chambers, Nketiah and Nelson. Chances might be slim but we should at least try. Saliba should have been given minutes this season but now we’re hitting the second-half of the… Read more »
Parking the bus can only work sometimes, definitely not the way to go if you are trying to compete for the league title
Mourinho obviously is not after winning the title, his target is top 4 and qualification for the champions league money after missing it this season
Levy needs the money!
G8
Definitely although I have a feeling the Spud’s will win the League Cup.
Somewhere a company making DVD’s will be very happy.
Wolves v Spuds was interesting for a totally different reason than the football game.
Remember when Arteta brought on Pepe and he gave him instructions. Didn’t look him in the face nodded and I had the idea either he couldn’t give a shit or didn’t understand what was said. Now compare that to Mourinho’s instructions to Bergwijn before coming on. Intense exchange full attention and diagrams.
Pepe is not a happy camper.. his game does not exude that … very rigid
Uses his one trick over and over and it fails 90% time.
I would try something new and put him in the center in some cup games to see how he fares with more space on either side.
this right wing thing is a square peg and round hole. It does not work yet it seems to be the only position that the coach trusts him in
I wanted to give Pepe time, but he looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but Arsenal.
Even if it’s a loan with obligation, we should just cut our losses and move on.
Maybe he’d be like Mkhitaryan, a move to Italy might do him the world of good.
Guns
I think he’s an arm round the shoulder kind of player
Having difficulty thriving in a rigid structure(which all the players are complaining about) and a coach who has mishandled him. Brought in willian to replace him, never gave him a run in the side, publicly disparages him etc
He’s not a touch line right winger
Play him in his preferred position, give him a run (like willian) and we can crucify him after that
Rich agreed with Pepe.
He is taking minutes from others that are more deserving.
He is not a game changer at all
The only thing bad about him is the price we paid. That albatross is on his neck.
He is not a 72m player let alone a 25 m player
How he shakes that off is up to him… but we can do better….
take what we can get and eat the loss… or a loan I agree
Sly
I actually felt for him his first season… wanted him to succeed and break through.
Never happened… and he has had chances a plenty since he arrived.
He has done more damage in the middle and outside the box ( middle area) than the right wing, hence why I think Mike should try him more in the middle with room on either side
He’s hasn’t had a decent run or the confidence of Emery or Arteta
Both defensive rigid minded coaches
I think the right coach will get the best out of him
Guns of SF
A loan with no obligation is the way. So we can up his value a little bit. Or maybee we can use him as an exchange coin.
He will do well in Italia.
some players like him xhaka and ozil are meant for that type of league
Rich
“Starting 3 games in 6 days, coming back off a big injury, is probably unwise”
Couldn’t agree more. The thing is, if Martinelli is played all three games some here will say Arteta is overplaying him, if he’s rested for a game the same posters will be saying Arteta is reverting to type.
I have just read an interview with Liam Brady who has been highly critical about the transfer policy at Arsenal particularly since Wenger left the club. He attributes much of the blame to Gazidis who chose to take the transfer decision making out of the hands of the manager. Brady pointed out that £300 million has been poorly spent and cited in particular the acquisition of Pepe for £72 million a fee that Lille had never achieved for any player. He went on to criticise the recent recruitment of both Luiz and Willian and suggested that Arsenal will struggle to… Read more »
A sexagenarian who has never been director of football anywhere isn’t going to be a good fit for Arsenal, now even if he has managed the academy for donkey years.
A 64 years old man who is green behind the ears for a position is no different from 35 years old man who’s green behind the ears fir the same position.
Arsenal need to use the same process every one else uses; open the hiring process and have the best candidates apply, then vet and interview…then vet some more. It’s not exactly rocket science ce.
We definitely need a competent Director of Football. Our head coach should have a say in transfers, but we need top scouts and data analysts. We need to decide what style of football we want to play, and what characteristics the players we target will need, so we can implement that style. We can then also target the types of coaches, who have proven track records in implementing the same style, Manager come and go, and if we don’t set up a coherent structure, they’ll continue to come and go, because we’re setting them up to fail. Arteta + Edu… Read more »
I agree with all the comments re Pepe. He is never worth £72 as a footballer. Will never ever become one in any league particularly unsuitable for EPL. Loan him, sell him, anything but play him. He doesn’t have physicality, footballing brain, attitude fit for EPL. He himself questioned himself when he signed for Arsenal. Mind you, whoever signed him should either resign or be sacked before tomorrow. What he did was was criminal. As for Arteta, obviously he should have been appointed as a manager for Arsenal as he lacks experience. He also appears to lack people skills. Get… Read more »
Those saying it was a lucky win, would you have been so generous to say we were unlucky to lose had the result been reversed with the same type of goals scored against us? Of course not, so stop the agenda driven drivel.
Rich We had very good scouts , the problem was the executive level decision makers that didn’t;t act in th scouting. Wenger in his second decade was just as guilty as Edu and Raul. You only have to listen to Wenger discuss how we came close to signing everyone under the sun…meaning that the scouts did heir jobs. It was the indecision or poor decisions above the scouts that sucked. One of the worst things that we let Edu do was to fire the likes of Francis Cagigao who worked at the club for 23 years. that’s the guy who… Read more »
Bojangles
A win is win but stop kidding yourself why denying that the three goals were flukey.
How many times has Xhaka tucked a free kick into the top corner?
Do you think Saka intended to put the ball away into the top corner?
Luck is a part of the game, nothing wrong to suggest that we were somewhat lucky. There’s no agenda there, just some being candid.
Dissenter
No agenda? Give me a break. Those saying we were lucky were wishing us a defeat before the game, one hoping (not predicting) for 6-0.
Yes luck plays a part in many games but when it goes against us it’s on the manager, when it’s with us it’s a lucky win. Don’t give me the no agenda bs.
And btw, I do think Saka intended the shot. Watch the replay, you’ll see him look up a moment before he shoots.
I see no fluke in scoring a penalty or free kick either.
Bojan gles
Very well, Saka intended to score and Xhaka will be tucking away them free kicks from now on.,
What agenda you think people are pursuing, educate me since you seem to be a mind reader?
Out luck was always bound to change, you’re the one playing the role of super fan.
Johnathan Vidalle told the Arsenal en América podcast: “We have a scout in Brazil, he told me about Gabriel. Later Francis Cagigao asked for my opinion and I traveled to Brazil to see him. Everton Gushiken liked him, he had some doubts about some characteristics, he didn’t know if he could make it in the Premier League, but they were normal doubts, about his mentality. I traveled to see him. We try to see players live on the pitch and I liked him.” “Obviously he was playing in a fourth tier team, Ituano, but he was competing against Palmeiras in… Read more »
raptora
My point is that even if the higher powers had not signed Martinelli, the scout’s job is done once they develop the player composite and make a recommendation.
Our scouts brought the club to the position of signing several players who went on to be world class- it’s the poor decision making above them that was lacking.
Don’t believe me, just listen to Wenger’s favorite toons – “I almost signed”
Dissenter
Always will be a super fan regarding Arsenal, it’s the club I have always supported regardless of the manager. When so called supporters wish a defeat on us I’ll call it out every time.
It’s difficult seeing an agenda when you are a part of it. If you don’t see it it’s on you. Don’t ask others to point it out to you.
I’m sure Francis Cagigao recommended a load of the dross we have signed over the past few years as well. Scouts are happy to shout out their successes but not so much their failures. Don’t see any issue is trimming the scouting, especially during a pandemic, and leaning on StatDna as well as bodies on the ground once scouts can get around. These days every top club pretty much knows every good young player out there. It’s about the opinion in the club, the finances, style of play and whether they can convince the player to come. Martinelli was playing… Read more »
Our scouts have had a shocker, and whoever’s been pulling the strings has been even worse. Willian 3yr deal Mari 4yr deal Soares 4yr deal Pepe £72mill Luiz Kolasinac £120k p/w Mustafi £35mill Xhaka £35mill Perez £17mill Runarsson Mkhitaryan Lichtsteiner Sokratis Lacazette £50mill who was a downgrade on Giroud Ozil £300k p/w Lost Ramsey, Wilshere, Welbeck for free Sold Szcesney and Martinez for peanuts Rejected £60mill for Alexis, only to swap him for Mkhitaryan 5 months later We signed Mari as a squad filler, only to not register Sokratis, who would have acted as a squad filler We signed Soares… Read more »
bojangles oh yea In your pristine viewpoint, every goal is contrived and does not depend on,luck Xhaka has played about 140 league games for arsenal. how many times has he tucked in a free kick into the top corner to score. Even in the horrible run we had in two months there were games we didn’t deserve to lose but we did because that’s the nature of the game, sometimes everything goes again set you. The same way sometimes everything that can go right goes right like on Saturday. I do bow to your super fan-hood, I can’t compete with… Read more »
Rich
Seems you don’t know what a scout does
Do you think Lichsteiner, William, Luiz or even Pepe was signed with the scouting model?
Eo you believe Runnarson was signed with good scouting? He was a hasty signing made at the recommendation of the goal keeping coach. That’s not scouting.
You’ve just listed all the shoddy buys and dumped them on scouting.
Rich Personally I’m interested to see how the Edu/Arteta structure works out this Winter. I don’t buy Pedro’s line of it being a demotion for Edu. Raul and Huss left, leaving a huge hole and a lot of work to pick up, Edu has previously always worked closely with a manager and Edu’s job isn’t just transfers, there’s loads of other stuff at all levels of the club. Mistakes have been made so far but one window, in a pandemic, isn’t enough to judge them I don’t think. I’m hoping they have learned from those mistakes and also they see… Read more »
Liam Brady is an arsenal legend that for sure, but he was one of wenger’s yes men, as a football pundit he always had biased view of AW and defended his actions whether right or wrong, He was the Tony Attwood of football punditry It was understandable and acceptable in wenger’s first 12 years reign, not so in his other years In 2018 RTE football show he couldn’t make any reasonable debate of why AW should not be dismissed when the rot, the decline and the apathy were already in full force and was there for all to see He… Read more »
G8
I find it baffling that people think Wenger should have just stood aside for Klopp or Pep to take his job, something he lived for. Why would he have given it up?
It’s on the club why we didn’t move for either of those when we had chance. Not AW.
AW also didn’t believe in the director of football position.
he arrogantly questioned it’s significance.and said what job they do a manager can’t
translated as “fuck off i am arsenal and I made this club!”
Wengers I nearly signed 11 is basically an all time best 11 minus Pele and maradonna
Dissenter
“In your pristine viewpoint, every goal is contrived and does not depend on,luck”
Stop being a walley. I’ve already stated that luck plays a part in football and Xhaka’s goal had a bit of luck associated with, so you are calling it a lucky win because Xhaka scored a lucky free kick?
“Even in the horrible run we had in two months there were games we didn’t deserve to lose”
And you called them unlucky, right?
“I do bow to your super fan-hood, I can’t compete with that.”
You finally got something right.
G8
I too remember Liam Brady from RTE studio commentary alongside Eamon Dunphy.
Boring, dour and utterly predictable – that’s what comes to mind.
I don’t even want the Arsenal connection to be considered when seeking a DoF , just go for competence.
The persons in charge of Brighton, Wolves and Leicester’s signing have to be considered. The folks pulling the stings at Atalanta haver to be considered. There are too many models we can copy.
Bojangles
You do know that the “superfan” jibe is not a term of endearment.
You can hold unto your beliefs that suggesting that luck Wass in our favor on Saturday was demeaning in any way.