Welcome to 2021 my darlings! I hope you had a lot of fun and didn’t sleep through it like I did. Fuck 2020.
Onto better things, I hope.
So, what have we to talk about today?
Saed Kolasinac has left the building. He’s taken a loan move to Schalke. He’ll still earn pretty decent money, but nowhere near what he’s picking up with us. Most importantly, he’s gauranteed game time, and a promotion to club captain. Really, he should have left in the summer and taken the move to Leverkusen, but here we are, now he’s in a relegation battle. The thing to note here… when you are in your mid-twenties, it’s hard to ignore that your job is football and if you want the full 10 years as a player, you have to actually earn minutes on the pitch.
There’s a story doing the rounds from Liam Brady where he basically says, ‘Mesut needs to go, it’s not good, Mikel is right to bin him.’ That’s what you’ll hear from people that work at the club. ‘If only the fans knew.’ Now, you can say, ‘well Bernd Leno said a nice thing’, or, you could look at the facts.
Arsene Wenger let him have away days off. Aaron Ramsey said he was teachers pet who sought special privileges like days off, that he was given. That was on Arsenal.com.
Unai Emery bombed him out of the first team very quickly, things went downhill for the Spaniard, then he brought him back in, soiling his standing as a leader in the process.
Freddie Ljungberg dropped him. He was also pissed at the coat throwing incident after he subbed him.
Mikel Arteta gave him, what, 13 games in a row? Then summer came. The usual shennanigans flared up, now he doesn’t have a squad number.
This isn’t a hard puzzle to solve. Someone said to me on the Twitter.com ‘it’s one side of the story.’ No, there’s 4 sides there, 5 if you include Ramsey, 6 if you include the German national team. Then there’s the playing side of this, if you really loved football, why wouldn’t you want to play? Take your game to another club and prove that we’re bastards. He doesn’t do that because he’s more interested in the petty fight at Arsenal than the football.
People ask why Arsenal don’t flay him in public. Outside being unprofessional, I’d heard rumblings that the club has to be very careful around him because he’s basically a bit of an HR redflag. Employment laws count when you’re a footballer and this whole episode has the potential to be a bit of a flashpoint if handled badly. Anyway, we only have 5 more months of this, then we can move on.
On the exit side of things, there are probably two big focuses, with two minors. The two big players we need to find homes for are Sokraits, who is attracting interest from Fenerbache, and Mustafi, who I refuse to beleive can’t find a loan move this window. Both are solid. Both would do a job for a club over 6 months. Both need to raise their profiles because they aren’t raking in retirement money on their current deals.
I suspect there might be loan moves for some of the kids as well. Joe Willock should really find a club to go to. He has talent, no doubt, but he’s not found consistency or a real role in this squad. Reiss Nelson managed to dodge a loan in Jan and the summer. He needs to go to a club like Crystal Palace or Leeds and find his game. I really like his mindset, but at the moment, he’s not confident enough to hit the ground running.
William Saliba needs to find a place to go. This one really gets me. He’s 19 years old, he played against big teams, he’s looked the part, but Arteta doesn’t rate him. He should have played Europa and the Cup games. Mikel really lacks PR chops, he sees his job alone, without realising there’s a bigger eco-system you have to think about when you are at a big club. Let the fans see he’s not good enough in these games. Right now, we’re just remembering comp videos. The situation was poorly managed, now we need to make it right. Move him to a Premier League club or one in the Championship. We need him playing at a furious tempo, we need him to pick up UK power muscles. His value needs to rise, not plummet. Hopefully, there’s a plan.
If we move out that level of wages, then it’s time to look at incoming players. Areas that are absolute musts are #8s with power and dynamic passing, a back-up keeper, and probably a left-back if we want to preserve our new front 4. There’s talk of a right-sided centre back right now, but that feels like a move you make in the summer after you’ve exhausted all the options you currently have.
Clubs I would avoid buying from: Chelsea Alumni, Sevilla, China, Kia.com, Barca Loans Department, Keeping Coach Black Book.
Places that might be interesting. PSG has a lot of attacking options and Arteta is friendly with Pochettino. Real Madrid, Atleti, and Barca first team are all gagging for cash after a terrible year. The Championship often has untapped value. I would also suspect there might be some opportunties to bring in some experienced heads the might already be in the league. We’re not a threat to anyone in H2 of the league next year, maybe the sympathy vote helps us out?
There are also some resolutions the club should be sticking to this year:
- No more big deals to older players. Lacazette has found his mojo, he’s talking about how the new system works for him, he sounds… happy. Don’t fall for it. He has to go if he starts playing well. We made too many emotional decisions in the summer. 3 months of form cannot cloud out 18 months of nothingness. We must, must, must make the tough decisions this year, even if fans hate them.
- Set the profile of player we want. We aren’t top 4 contenders. We need to stop buying finished articles that aren’t of the level. Time for Arteta to become a coach, which means it’s time for us to age down the profile and start hunting for the next big thing.
- Work out the strategy. It’s clear there isn’t one. Vinai might be able to tell you what he ‘thinks’ strategy is, but I suspect his strategy is an objective: make top 4. We need to nail down a plan that is clear, concise, and actionable. Then we need to filter every decision through that strategy. PROJECT YOUTH ++ as a line tells you how you need to plan. It gives you rules to follow. It tells you how to staff, scout, and recruit. It sets the tone with fans that have high expectations. We don’t have a pithy name or a coherrant vision, so it’s hard to tell if we’re failing until you’re sitting 13th in the league Jan 1.
- Become disciplined. It’s all fancy and cute to have principles and rules, but no good if you don’t follow them. As a club, we lack discipline. A basic example of this: ‘We will sell players with 2 years or less on their deals.’ Errrr, how did that work out? We’ve either let players run down their deals and panic re-signed them (Auba/Ozil) or we’ve just let them walk (Ramsey/Welbz). If you set rules, you have to hold yourself to them, otherwise you make shitty decisions. We should also be looking at mistakes we’ve made so far to set new rules. No more longterm deals for over 30s, ever. It worked for Wenger when he started, it should work for Arsenal now. We cannot afford to be a retirement fund for players that don’t need to care.
- Don’t waste a crisis. The biggest mistake you can make when you’ve gone through a horrible patch is to assume that moment was a blip. A great leader looks at the mess, why it happened, and plans out a way to rectify it. Topline: Making Arteta manager was a poor move. Letting the keeping coach dictate transfer strategy was costly process. Giving deals to over 30s was bad. Each of these problems should be listed on a wall, categorised, and the root problem identified. From there, someone should be engineering solves, even if they are extremely painful to implement. 80% of our problems can probably attributed to 3 or 4 clear issues. We need to find those.
2020 was a year to forget, but at the same time, it was 1000 potential lessons learned in a very small space of time. That’s the key though… it’s only a lesson if you have the guts to learn from it. Otherwise, it’s just 1000 problems you ignored. My worry at Arsenal is we’re a club built on self-preservation. The easiest route is always the most likely. Does Vinai have the guts to make the necessary moves to ensure we’re not bemoaning a second coming of this? Or is he just praying Arteta can be the rockstar he thought the footballing gods bestowed on him? 2021 is about addressing the problems against a clear football strategy.
This is a chance for a new chapter. We’ve tasted rock bottom. Let’s never go back.
Happy New Year Pedro and all the Grovers.
2nd
Tr4phy
Yoink
Tr4phy 2
Jamie, damn it!
😎
Happy New Year guys, let’s hope this pans out better for all of us
Excited for 2021 Arsenal wise, provided the football isn’t stopped. I feel Arteta has got a grip of things again and hopefully it stays that way. We’ll see if Luiz and Willian are straight back in but I read last night that both Arsenal and Willian are looking for a way to cut their losses. Let’s hope so. I want to see AMN, Willock, ESR, Nelson and Balogun given games ahead of the likes of Willian, Elneny, Xhaka etc especially if in Balogun’s case he might be off to Liverpool. If Leeds can give West Brom a good pasting we… Read more »
Let’s hope we use January to clear some of the dead wood.
Happy new year to you and yours
Top
Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock needs to go to Leeds Utd or Crystal Palace on loan according to Pedro. Good Lord. Who are Nelson and Willock going to replace in CP and LU? Leeds are above us and Palace are on par with us in the league standings. It is out of a sheer sense of our own vanity and belief that we are somehow this so- called big club nowadays and teams like Leeds and Palace are so small they don’t deserve our respect hence they need to absorb our non-playing youngsters. Let me inform you that neither Nelson… Read more »
Agreed the likes of Nelson. Willock and Nketiah have wasted their opportunities and should be sold not loaned. Hilarious to think any PL team would take them or start them.
Also agree Laca should be sold but this club dithers so it will take until summer before they sell him.
Why would you sell Laca unless you have someone better to take his place
Unfortunately we are stuck with some of our mistakes i.e. Willian, Runarsson & Soares for sometime yet! In the summer we should make it clear to them it has not worked out & ask them to get their agent to find them another club. Need to be ruthless now.
Also agree that Willock, Nelson & Eddie are not good enough for any other prem team let alone us so should be moved on. They need to be playing regular for their own sakes. Balogun can then be given more opportunities.
Nketiah and Willock may be from the Hale End but no team aspiring to be at top of the league will take these players. We need to do better.
What we need is also to not run back to the likes of Luiz, Ceballos (they will both be gone this year). Willian should only play EL games in the group stage also, or dead rubbers in general.
Pedro, How can you say with a straight face that Arteta lacks PR? This is all Arteta has been. A PR campaign to get the job and a PR campaign to avoid people having a more in depth look at his abysmal premier league results record. Arsenal overlooked more experienced and more upcoming deserving managers candidates because of the so called link to the past as a former player and his connection with Pep. Anybody else would have been kicked out of the club. Look at the performances and the results and can you honestly state that you would tolerate… Read more »
pedro, got a good lol out of this: “Clubs I would avoid buying from: Chelsea Alumni, Sevilla, China, Kia.com, Barca Loans Department, Keeping Coach Black Book.” ggg/izzo, i would give both willock and nelson a loan move, what they need is consistent game time, which we aren’t going to give. They are still young enough to progress to the next level, and in 6 months time we can re-evaluate. The extra playing time may show enough to another team to pay a good fee for them if we do not want to bring them back into the first team/squad for… Read more »
Also anyone care to fill me in on why the hammers have forever blowing bubbles as their theme song? hahaha its so ridiculous. in saying that, one day I will be watching arsenal away to west ham just to experience a stadium full of bubbles haha
How can Willock, Nelson, Nkethia be said to have wasted their opportunities, when most have not been given a look in. Nelson has been injured most of the times and when he played he had showed to be much better at linkup than both Pepe and Willian. In a proper midfield, I would take Willock over Elneny and Xhaka in a heartbeat. He run more, he intercepts more, he tackle and he offers a threat which is a lot more than the axis of slowness and backward passes do. Nkethia may not everybody cup of tea, but put him in… Read more »
“From there, someone should be engineering solves, even if they are extremely painful to implement. 80% of our problems can probably attributed to 3 or 4 clear issues. We need to find those.”
Also is this a roundabout way of saying that Arteta has to go? 😂😂
Arsenal heirarchy is seriously appalling. Edu, vinai and tets are not up to task at all. Then we get to the wholly unbalanced squad.
I do not expect top 4 in 3 years let alone CL trophies.
Izzo “Agreed the likes of Nelson. Willock and Nketiah have wasted their opportunities and should be sold not loaned” In typical le grove fashion , a comment without substance. They may or may not be good enough , bùt let’s not pretend that they have had opportunities to prove themselves or even wasted their limited opportunities. Between the 3 of them they have started 5 league games which is hardly enough to judge any player. They have played regularly in cup comps and I’m not sure anyone could say they have wasted their opportunities. Willock 3 goals and 3 assists… Read more »
2021 here and still bleating on negatively about Ozil…., didn’t I last hear AW and Ljundberg saying he should be in the squad?? Arteta guffed, as you don’t go from playing someone 13 times in a row and then all of a sudden drop without cover or a replacement. Made the same mistake with Guendouzi and hence brought half the players against him, who irrespective wanted quality in the side, which also shows their value of Ozil as a positive. So not very smart when trying to keep a team together….. But alas, this place is now an Arteta fan… Read more »
5am,
Fuck Arteta?! Haha is that better. I can’t get behind many, if not most of his decisions. But we get what deserve putting rookies into every meaningful position.
I’ve liked the look of Nelson when he’s played.
May not always have the final ball but he is direct and plays with purpose.
Better option than Pepe.
I don’t agree with talk of selling Willock, Nelson and Nketiah. We haven’t seen enough of all of them to come to the conclusion they are not good enough,,however they are certainly good enough to be part of the squad, and help with the home grown quota. I am a fan of Willock in particular and would like to see him given significant game time. If I did have a slight concern it would be Balogun, he looks like an exciting prospect, it could be that the club would have to prioritise giving him game time that could have otherwise… Read more »
Pierre
Unlike many here, I actually agree with you on a bunch of things but Willock, and Nelson to some extent is not one of those. I don’t think Europa League can be used as a measuring stick because the level of competition is quite frankly shit. And whenever I saw those two anywhere else they have been extremely poor, Willock in particular. The jury is still out for me in Eddie.
5am
“2021 here and still bleating on negatively about Ozil…., didn’t I last hear AW and Ljundberg saying he should be in the squad??”
You did .
“Arteta. Made the same mistake with Guendouzi and hence brought half the players against him, who irrespective wanted quality in the side, which also shows their value of Ozil as a positive. So not very smart when trying to keep a team together…..”
Not very smart at all was it…
You guys are pretending Willock didn’t play under Emery as well. Done nothing with the chances given. Nelson is a crock but whenever he’s played PL for the first team has always been weak. Nketiah has played far more games than deserved don’t care most have been subs and what has he done? Get eaten alive by every defence in the league and not scoring. I get that you lot are sentimental but there is next batch of youngsters coming through that should be understudy to whoever we buy to replace all the outgoings. That is ruthlessness and what it… Read more »
Ozil is a shit stain on arsenal football club. LiamBrady a proper arsenal and football man tells us all how we had guessed it and how it is. Its not rocket science. Biggest mistake they made was not going down the hr route Against the bug eyed twat with his political comments and everything else involved in that circus. Surely they could have found a way to just cancel contract for gross misconduct the way he has attacked the club and cost it money. Good article Pedro, still not 100% sure arteta is the answer but am 100% sure clearing… Read more »
Upstate ” I don’t think Europa League can be used as a measuring stick because the level of competition is quite frankly shit” It is the only measuring stick that can be used atm as 5 starts combined in the league for willock , Nelson and Eddie is not enough to judge a player. I’m sure some of our academy players will fall by the wayside, but that is normal …as ive said before , i think it is more a collective thing with our kids coming through, due to their on field relationship built up ovee the years. If… Read more »
Valentin and Pierre, I generally don’t respond but I will. Marinelli and Smith Rowe have had far fewer opportunities than Nketiah, Nelson and Willock. Yet they have grabbed them with both hands and both are younger. Saka too has grabbed them. My point is who would they replace in Leeds and Palace. Nketiah and Nelson have both gone on loan and sadly as they grow older they are not fulfilling their potential hence Arsenal’s constant need to find replacements. You are confusing expending lots of energy with football skills. They are mediocre players at best attempting to replace mediocre footballers… Read more »
I definitely wanted Ozil out, but not in the way he was discarded from the team without a replacement. Its seriously bizarre how our midfield has deteriorated over the last few seasons. whether its not aligning with non negotiables (guen, ozil), not being considered good enough (torreira,mkhitaryan), injury prone and not considered good enough for their wage demands (ramsey, yet only asked for such an increase because ozil was taking it easy on the big bucks, and if we had sold with a year left we would have got some decent cash)[and i also doubt ramsey would have downed tools… Read more »
People seem to have rose tinted glasses regards Ozil. He was so fucking lazy, strolled around disinterested and his negativity became infectious. He hasnt got miligram of Arsenal in his heart, and the fact he is prepared to stay at home looking at Older Woman Fun hjyust about says it all.
Valentin, last time I checked, Arteta won a trophy. Jose and Carlo have not. Bit more than PR/ Jose is 6 points ahead of us with a better squad, in the bottom four for touches in the oppo box, with Spurs fans calling for him to be sacked. Frank Lampard is 6 points ahead after spending 250m. Carlo, who is having a great season, is 10 points. Nuno is 1 point ahead of us after spending a load in the summer with a better squad. City 6 points. Villa 6 points. Southampton 6 points. No one is binning their managers… Read more »
Sotonguneer
“LiamBrady a proper arsenal and football man”
In reality , what you have is a player who wants to stay and play for Arsenal and a player who didn’t want to stay and play for Arsenal.
Arteta’s achievements in 2020
1- winning the FA cup
2- ostracizing Ozil
Arteta’s failures in 2020
too many to count!
He is setting records for the wrong reasons, including the first covid19 case in the PL
He is a jinx
Arteta out!!
Happy and healthy 2021 to all
lucky goal by West Ham.
West Ham now taking the lead against Everton
Happy New Year, gents!
Ozil-gate is almost over, and for his sake I hope he gets a move this month. Rotting for another 5 months does nothing for Ozil and I’m sure he wants to play for obvious reasons.
I think Willock has a little bit more than Nelson, but based on the state of what Arteta is serving up neither are what we need atm so a loan move for guaranteed game time is essential.
As for Saliba, Arteta really fucked up, there.
Everton were touted as potential league champs a couple months ago. Amazing what a couple bad results can do to an alleged title challenge.
That Soucek ain’t shit to look at but fuck me he loves to get on the end of things
Arsenal have never lost consecutive games against sides who started the game in the relegation zone.
West Brom have a 1-13 aggregate score in their last 3 home games.
If we can’t beat west brom away Arteta has surely outdone himself.
Bottom 5 side West Ham now level on points with 5th placed Villa.
Power rankings.
Carts, you’re one of those guys rating a player on their fuckability now too? 😂😂
I’ve maintained all along that Ozil should have been sued for breach of contract. Too many HR advisors without balls in every organisation.
Pierre, if Ozil didn’t get a fuck off massive pay cheque, he would have pissed off on a Bosman chasing another massive fee.
He’s not an arsenal man at all.
Pedro
You’re back to beating the Arteta drum again.
How can you say Nelson has had his opportunities when Arteta is intent on playing Willian every time he’s available?
Arteta is too busy pissing on the micros and is devoid of any larger scale thinking.
Let’s see what he does when his favorites are available for selection again?
Happy new year and thanks for le-grove
Pedro, So the FA Cup is now proof that Arteta is the right man? So did you suddenly changed your mind and are now arguing that Wenger should have stayed after he won the FA Cup? I didn’t think so. The FA Cup is a distraction. We won it after playing 10 men behind the ball and nicking a goal , while tanking in the premiership. The FA Cup is a nice day out but FA Cup IS NOT A MEASURE OF PROGRESS OR SUCCESS. Portsmouth won it and are now in the lower league. Same with Wigan. The standing… Read more »
“William Saliba needs to find a place to go. This one really gets me. He’s 19 years old, he played against big teams, he’s looked the part, but Arteta doesn’t rate him. ”
Saliba probably told Arteta that Guendouzi has better hair. I don’t see any other reason, especially as your insiders also rate saliba.
Pedro,
“His football was bad PR. HIs stats thing was bad PR.”
That’s not bad PR, that’s just bad management.
Successful managers don’t need PR consultant, they won games meanwhile bad managers have excuses.
I have to admit that Arteta talks like a coaching expert. And then he made numerous errors in practice. Some are incredible naive errors such as the match against Spuds and Leicester City when we all knew that he was walking into a trap. One thing I believe is that part of Willian’s problem was Arteta’s system. At one time, Arteta’s offense was long ball from defense to winger and then crosses to the box. That didn’t suit Willian at all. Now that the offense starts to take shape. ESR has demonstrated how important it is to have a link… Read more »
Nelson, I’d go a step further and say that having a player to actually play off in ESR, Willian would play better.
Still prefer any of the youngsters over him, but none of our attacking players have any real form this season.
And it’s not a coincidental slump of every forward at the same time, I can tell you that for free. Except for Sid, that’ll cost you (or take away from my debt to you)
Grealish’s haircut is ridiculous 😂😂
Pedro, stop “Rebranding success” as Wenger did. FA Cup means nothing and you know it. It is like 2015 when Wenger won the FA cup back to back end we keep 4th place both seasons, what an achievement, isnt it? “OF COURSE NOT” were YOUR WORDS. Well if we use the same measure with Arteta then he hasnt any good on him. We can won the FA cup and be relegated at the same. time,, what is the point of. that? If Arteta wants to proof something he needs to do a better job and land at least a 6th… Read more »
The crazy thing is…. If we were to take 9/9 from WBA, Palace + Newcastle? We’d have 29 points at the halfway point, Which is kind of where I’d expected us to be, back in amongst the pack. Watching us play, I certainly don’t fancy us. And think we’re a couple of key injuries away from being in real trouble. But if we get in and around 5th-8th place And can get closer to 4th than the 10 points from last season? It’s pretty much hitting par, 3rd + 4th wasn’t impossible, but always unlikely. Hopefully we can get Partey… Read more »
Somewhere on the planet, agent Bamford is laughing his head off.
The key is – if we are able to keep Thomas Partey fit for the season. If he stays fit — the oppn running through the midfiled is pretty much nullified. They would have to use the width of the pitch to create and if we have players like Gabi and Saka hounding the sides at best we will end up not losing the game – and provided we take our chances we will be sitting very well. I would say we must not rush Thomas Partey back and instead deal with the taking a bit of time to let… Read more »
Arsenal have the better players than United ,was one opinion.
OGS is a terrible manager, was another.
Holding the first one was always a head scratcher for me although the second one was always more likely.
Holding both at the same time has become quite inexplicable.
“Grealish’s haircut is ridiculous 😂😂“
Yes it is.
You can’t be a serious professional when you wear your hair like a housewife.
Or when your CB has a mop for a haircut when half of of his actions involves heading he ball.
Or when you wear a man bun tall enough to cause air traffic to take notice
The vanity of modern era players is beyond ridiculous.
Sure, the Batistutas of the yesteryear sported long hair but that particular style never impeded header accuracy.
I support Arteta 100% with the Ozil issue. He demonstrate all what’s wrong with Arsenal players. Lazy, weak, has no accountability, greedy and thinks he’s bigger than the FC.
This Villa team play some good football
“Carts, you’re one of those guys rating a player on their fuckability now too?”
got to start from somewhere, right lol
Shit decision from the ref and from VAR. I thought this bullshit was what it was meant to cut out!? Fuck me.
didn’t look a pen to me.
honestly think there is some kind of conspiracy man United paying for penalties
Mike Riley and his crew strikes again for Utd
Some of United’s passing is pretty to watch
Sagg
“Pedro, stop “Rebranding success” as Wenger did. FA Cup means nothing and you know it.”
And there was i thinking that the reason we play football and support football clubs is to win trophies ..apparently not, it’s to try and finish in the top 4 , or is it top 6 ..
So, is top 4 now a trophy or not …was wenger right all along .
Right on cue Mings heads wide off the post after the ball slides over his hair instead of getting a firm contact.
Pierre
Sagg is right, Arsenal should be competing for the title.
“Now we’re four behind and three midfielders. It’s much easier, because before we lacked attacking players. This tactical change is also good for us”
Lacazette on the switch from 7 at the back.
Took Arteta long enough to realise that it was never sustainable to play like that. Way too long considering we scored and created absolutely fuck all like that. How did we not switch sooner?
That was never a penalty for manure
Blatant dive by Pogba
Fucking PGMOL continue their dirt in 2021
Of course SAF was watching from the stands
Nothing changed then !
Tom what are you talking about. You head the ball with your forehead not the top of your head.
Take it you didn’t play much.
Hairstyles being an issue ffs
The only one of our youngsters that aren’t getting much (or any) playing time that has PL teams falling over themselves to bring in on loan is Saliba, should tell you something about how he is rated. Willock, Eddie and Nelson would hardly get any games if loaned out in the PL so it’s pointless, maybe in the championship. “Let the fans see he’s not good enough in these games.” This from Pedro on Saliba is what Arteta is afraid of I think, that Saliba would do the opposite, he’s not benched because he isn’t good enough. Been much better… Read more »
Henry19
You do realise that Henry was No. 14 at Arsenal..?
After all that Utd are joint top. Fucking hell.
Pierre. My point here is back then FA cup and top 4 was not enough then today it still NOT ENOUGH. Because if an FA Cup and a Top4 is enough Why did we sack Wenger then? Yeah, win a FA trophy feels good but it is not the TOP ACHIEVEMENT we are looking for neither is Top 4 or 6. But it seems like if Arteta lands a FA cup and a Top 8th is like a nee heaven, when Top 6th should be the minimum we should expect from a bad. season with this team but it seems… Read more »
Wilko
At 54 I reckon I’ve played more football than anyone I know Play three times a week still.
Forehead headers are the preferred type of course but just one type amongst many others.
Getting over the ball isn’t always possible so glancing headers and flicks are a real thing whether you might’ve heard of them or not.
Just curious, have you played at quite a reasonable level Tom?
Now MU is top of the league.
Underachiever incompetent Ole is top of the league
Overachiever generational master sauce Arteta is 13th
The difference is that they bought Bruno Fernandes while we sign Willian.
Anyone still laughing at Ole? By the way, has Man City smashed any team yet in the Prem this season?
David Smith
Define reasonable.
When I played in Poland’s second tier I thought I did but then I discovered Wenger’s Arsenal lol.
Poland’s second division is probably the equivalent of league one in England.
As professionals go I was pants, but I play now on over30 outdoor league and two indoor teams open division so make of that what you will.
Tom please tell me more on your knowledge of headers. Even though a 10 year old knows what a glancing or a flicked header is.
The incident you mentioned and blamed Mings hair for didn’t require a glancing or a flicked header rendering your point irrelevant and incorrect.
Pierre
Henry Norris look it up.
Interesting Tom, Poland’s second tier sounds pretty reasonable to me!
Wilko
All you need to do is watch one PL round of matches to realize half the goals from corners come from glancing headers top of the head types, so honestly zero playing experience is required to debunk your original statement, but by all means keep digging that hole.
Tom, its been an all nighter here in aus for me. still drunk actually. This made me spit my breaky beer: “Or when you wear a man bun tall enough to cause air traffic to take notice The vanity of modern era players is beyond ridiculous. Sure, the Batistutas of the yesteryear sported long hair but that particular style never impeded header accuracy.” hahaha. i always think of fellaini with his afro and he would never have noticed the ball actually hitting his head with all that cushioning, hence why he attacked it so well. Man, you cracked me up… Read more »
haha carts,
it was just funny you mentioned it because an earlier post of mine ( may have been yesterday) was about that theme of good looking players haha.
so fortuitous for me that you just so happened to comment on it again haha
Man U are proper cunts though. 11 pens already this season. Cannot tell me they dont have some ref leniency, and the fact that those diving pricks always get away with it is disgusting.
Another Penandes winner, lol for fuck sake.
United starting to look a legit threat to the Bin Dippers. Ole is a bumbling fool and they leak like a sieve at the back with the Waiter in nets but they have so much firepower up top in Cavani, Bruno Fernandes, Martial, Rashford and Greenwood that along with the some dubious penalty help from the refs (like Liverpool got last season), they could just pull it off.
Mings hair didn’t prevent him from getting a decent forehead on the ball.
Thus debunking your nonsense statement.
Goober, yes Utd undoubtedly get overall leniency from referees, in fergies day, because he bullied them and had sufficient influence to stop them getting games involving Utd if they , pissed him off, these days, not because they support Utd, but Utd fighting it out with Liverpool is good for “ The Brand” and their boss, Mike Riley is very much an establishment figure who does what he is told
That said, I think Leicester have had even more pens than Utd
United are not top, they are 2nd!
The hairstyle chat on here is hilarious 😂
Humility is something the Arsenal hierarchy lacks. If they were humble, they’d put hat in hand and beg Arsenal fans for patience while they undo the mess Raul Sanllehi created. The first should be to sack Edu as technical director. A club of Arsenal’s stature should have someone who’s experienced and competent (Luis Campos), not a friend of a friend. Second should be to demote Arteta from manager to coach so he can first learn to how to manage a squad. Not sure how a first-time manager learning how to handle 25 egos, suddenly has the bandwidth to manage hundreds… Read more »
Yeah davidsmith, I’m feeling you. Mike Riley is the definition of one of those dweebs who was shit at the game but got into ref’ing because he loves the game so much, but also wanted some authority over the better players who used to run rings around him. Now he’s at the top and it’s hard to think he isn’t getting those sneaky brown packages passed under the table to keep the bs up. I like to think it’s not rigged. But sometimes it is really hard not to 😂😂. Man U are pgmol faves, but Leicester being the underdog… Read more »
Like var is a proper farce
Sounds about right Goober.
Still amazed nobody has looked into the Riley Utd thing, I am sure Scudamore was heavily involved as well, but he has retired now, allegedly , but guess they don’t get.caught out on phone calls like the Italians did back in the day
Pedro also talking about Utds unusual level of “ officiated support” on his twitter feed.
These officials aren’t even subtle when it comes to Utd