Right? Can you honestly believe for one minute that Arsenal are about the answer their creativity problem, under financial stress, with a loan move for a precocious 22 years old creative talent from Real Madrid?
Gtfo…
Edu has probably asked Kia if Neto can play as a dynamic #10.
Kike Marin, who I have a lot of respect for, reckons the player is less inclined to leave Spain, preferring a trip back to Real Sociedad.
David Ornstein, who is back on top in the world of ITK, reckons we are very much interested in the Norwegian.
Personally, I’d be happy to see another blonde creative force at Arsenal.
I was WRONG to be tempted by Isco. Martin would make more sense. He’s an elite young talent that needs to prove Zidane wrong (lol Dani boy). Staying in Spain ain’t cutting it for me. His manager doesn’t fancy him, his loan move should be about shop-windowing himself for the summer. Joining Arsenal will give him the games he needs. Doing well with us shows he has it at the highest level.
It seems unlikely, but if this is the sort of player we’re going to start going after, then I am very excited about the future.
Papa Sokratis exited the building yesterday. He left after Arsenal terminated his deal early. Good for him. He always seemed like a true professional. There was no bitchy tweet on the way out. He just packed his bags and took a deal that was good for him.
There was a German-speaking clique at Arsenal that has been problematic for the new project. That’s not simply down to being awful humans, I think it’s partly down to pandemic-style-shit-decision-making, and the realities of humiliating senior players in public.
It’s time to move on now… but here are the lessons.
- If you are going to de-list players from the squad, tell them early in the summer. There were rumblings that Mesut did not know he was going to be binned from the squad. If that’s true, it really isn’t cool. Blindsiding someone into a corner isn’t fair.
- Stop signing short-cut players over the age of 27 years old. Unless they are truly elite, it is simply not sharp from a strategic perspective. We need to be in the selling game if we’re going to get back to the top.
- Sokratis was given £90k a week. No one in Europe would have given a limited player like that a deal that big. It was stupid and it had no upside… and because he failed on that deal, he was never going to leave. Arsenal really, really, really need to get a grip on wages. Double your money offers are stupid and seem to be our special move. It needs to end.
- Age down. We are not challenging for the title on this current strategy. The best and only way forward is to identify the best young players in world football, give them a platform, give them elite coaching, and grow them into a team that could challenge in 4 years time. I want William Saliba. I want Azeez, Balogun, Saka, Martinelli, ESR, and AMN-like players as the future of our DNA. We have our senior spine. Partey, Auba, Holding, Gabriel, and Tierney. Let’s build young muscle around them.
I will budge on the above on one signing: back-up keeper. If we sign a 33-year-old, that is fine. We just need someone decent between the sticks if something bad happens to Bernd.
Ground Zero for Mikel Arteta was Willian. Arsenal can never, ever, make a mistake that fucking embarrassing again.
Vinai needs to get real. Put in the work. Make the hard decisions. Take the long route to glory because here’s the thing… even if you miss your mark by a year or two, you’ll have a crop of young players you can cycle out the club, and you’ll always have money to pivot and tweak your plan. The sooner Arsenal accepts the truth, the faster they can get back on track. Ødegaard would be a good indicator we’ve learned a lesson and we’re moving our thinking forward. Let’s see if we do it.
Right, short post. I’m dying. See you in the comments.
Leeds
Thanks mate.
Yes I agree 100%. It seems bizarre to condemn someone with stats like and then to start promoting someone who has 1 goal in 5 games.
Absolutely spot on about young players and it being a step up. Some can’t adapt others can. Nothing beats game time.
As I said I yesterday think Balogun is completely mad not to take up the contract offer from Arsenal. I understand he wants to play but he is has the opportunity to learn from two elite strikers. Plus he has an immediate comrade whom he is able to motivate himself against… he has a spot in the first team pretty much waiting for him if he wants it without immediate attention or pressure… Clearly his agent has told him that he is better than he is. If he is that unaware and actually believes his own hype that much… let… Read more »
Yes it’s a stupid rule but it’s no different from when a defender plays a backpass and finds that there is an opposition player in an ‘offside’ position bewteen him and the ‘keeper. Those goals still stand for the same reason, you cannot be offside if the ball is played by an opposition player regardless of if you were offside prior to the ball being played.
Jamie “Eddie has done well at youth level, undoubtedly better than Balo. But take a closer look at the company Eddie is in with his record-breaking stats at under 23 level.He’s top goal-scorer for England under 21s. Only Alan Shearer is worth a mention in the top 5 of that list. Francis Jeffers, Saido Berahino, and Nathan Redmond make up the rest.” So, how is it that if Balogun( who i like) is so good, his England goalscoring feats do not compare to jeffers, Berahino or Redmond. No answer to that is there. Will just add that it is possible… Read more »
Tom
“Can’t Arsenal get their act together and start doing the same or are we totally inept?”
This season you might have seen AMN, Eddie, Saka, ESR playing for Arsenal, plus of course, AMN, Eddie and no doubt a few more will come through.
By the way, have you inside information on the clauses inserted into young players contracts or are you venting based on an assumption to suit an agenda?
PS; Please ignore the duplicate text my Macbook touchpad must be female; it’s a bit sensitive.
Leeds
Agree with you
As i said yesterday, Balogun needs to be patient , i believe Lacazette will be gone in the summer and then it could be a battle between Balogun, Eddie and Martinelli for the no.9
We get rid of Mkhitaryan and Özil.
Why on earth did we bring in Willian on a three year contract on more money especially at his age and when he wanted to stay in London?
Offer him a one year contract on similar money to Chelsea and tell him that if he performs well, Arsenal will have the option for a second year.
But no…. we need to shoot ourselves in the foot again.
Ridiculous that we continue to make same mistakes over and over again.
“So, how is it that if Balogun( who i like) is so good, his England goalscoring feats do not compare to jeffers, Berahino or Redmond.
No answer to that is there.”
Of course there’s an answer. And I didn’t say Balogun is ‘so good’, or that Eddie won’t make it. You consistently try to argue strawmen, it’s insufferable.
“Will just add that it is possible to like and rate 2 Arsenal players who play in the same position…”
I didn’t say it wasn’t possible. You can’t help yourself. Desperate to disagree for the sake of it. Dumb.
“A player in an offside position, receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, is not considered to have gained an advantage.”
————-
Too bad public defenders can’t use the PL laws in criminal court proceedings defending pickpockets?
Your honor my client didn’t steal the bag from the accusers hands……he received it from her.
Nothing like leaving football actions up for interpretation to former dentists, sales reps and cops lol.
Arteta has never managed a team in his life except for now and it shows …this vinni dude is an accountant and Edu served chips and snacks to the Brazilian national team and then we wonder why we are having issues
AFC
No insiders info here I’m afraid, I don’t have Valentin’s connections.
Going by only what match commentators say during broadcasts , and I do watch most of the prem so make of that what you will.
Jamie spot on with the comment on Eddie.
Breaking records at under 21 level could be read two ways;
1) He is an elite striker
2) He has spent more time at under 21 level because he has not shown he is good enough to step up to full international – i.e. Owen, Rooney etc…
Personally I would love him to succeed, but I just don’t see it happening for him at the very top level. Would be thrilled to be proven wrong.
There is a word of difference between the safe comfortable ‘no one really gives a shit’ world of u21 and the harsh spotlight of the Prem where no mistake is tolerated. Sure players develop at different pace but right now the reason Balogun is favoured by most over Nketiah is that when it really matters and from the limited game time Balogun has shown he’s got more about his game and doesn’t look like a lost boy wondering what to do next. It really is that simple – the u21 stats are of no real interest at all. It’s all… Read more »
Balogun is right to do whatever works for him.
The idea that Balogun is daft or mad not to take up Arsenal’ contract offer is ridiculous.
Football fans have this misguided notions that footballers are numpties being deceived by greedy agents but this far from the truth.
Balogun wont be the last player to leave Arsenal and thrive. We didn’t play him enough and he’s going to a club known for giving young players chances. It is really that simple.
world *
“Yes it’s a stupid rule but it’s no different from when a defender plays a backpass and finds that there is an opposition player in an ‘offside’ position bewteen him and the keeper”
Sorry Andy, totally different.
For one, City player was always moving towards the ball, or general direction of it, so technically he was still active.
Two, Mings never had total control of the ball when he was stripped off possession.
Jesse Lingard is up for sale
Any takers? 🙂
No thanks on Jesse. He has a face you just want to slap and an attitude to match.
For those interested, here’s a link to an article (from a political publication) on the political background to Ozil’s move to Fenerbahce and the involvement of Erdogan in the process (by the way Erdo is actually a Fenerbahce supporter)
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mesut-ozil-turkey-fenerbahce-politicised-playmaker
Chill out Jamie
By repeating “i didn’t say ” is not really an answer, is it ?
The first goal of City was the fault of Martinez, under no pressure, his clearance didn’t cross the half way line and that what caused the goal.
Imagine that clearance was by Leno!.
Couldn’t read all the comments but if anyone else had mentioned this….for the sake of emphasis I need to argue the club did no wrong by not informing Ozil he would be sold. It’s not a secret any more that we have been trying to sell Ozil for the last 4 transfer windows. If not for his wages, he should have been gone before Sanhellii. If the above fact isn’t controverted and with the tension he’s created over the wage cut and Huigur issue, he should have expected the worse. I think he felt he was going to win this… Read more »
Diss
I agree. I think from Balogun’s point of view, he sees Auba here for a while, Eddie is being picked ahead of him, and no indication he will get into the first team for a while.
I dont blame him… I blame Mike A.
If you have talent, you use it. Mike A is still having a hard time learning this concept
Keep giving me that state of Eddie until the morning, he’s not going to make it at Arsenal no matter what. The man is almost 22 and won’t start for any PL team. AMN, willock and Nelson lower table to Championship standard.
This is the same Denilson, Gibbs and Almunia all over again.
Chill out, Pierre.
You’ve lost Ozil and Don in the same week. Rough. I get why you’re upset.
“Sure players develop at different pace but right now the reason Balogun is favoured by most over Nketiah is that when it really matters and from the limited game time Balogun has shown he’s got more about his game and doesn’t look like a lost boy wondering what to do next.” You mean the ten minutes cameo against Dundalk when we were home and dry? Maybe you are suggesting he could have done anything meaningful during our bad run of form. I stand with the judgement of the coaches who watched them everyday on the training pitch. I will rather… Read more »
“I stand with the judgement of the coaches who watched them everyday on the training pitch.“
I’m sure he watched Runarson every week and took him 15 weeks and injury to Willian to notice “oh shit” ESR can be good lol
Sorry Tom, quite often with an errant back pass the lucky recipient is also moving back towards the ball (he certainly isn’t likely to be moving the other way if his team has lost possession is he?), also Mings doesn’t need to have full control of the ball, he just has to play it even if he makes a f*ck up of it it doesn’t matter. Like I said it’s a stupid law and hopefully they’ll change it. Would be interesting to see strikers shadowing defenders waiting to nip in when the defender receives the ball following this, if so… Read more »
Tee
yes it is was limited but that itself was ridiculous and Eddie got the nod ahead. It’s not so much the point that Balogun will make it, although he seems to have more about him that Nketiah, but more that it is now painfully obvious that Nketiah is a lost cause and won’t make it. And you can quote whatever u21 stats you like, my real point is that they are meaningless at this level.
Pierre You keep on bring up Ozil. Please move on . No-one disputes that Ozil in his prime was a fantastic player, but that was a long time ago. I am sure that Ozil can still do his “party tricks” with a football. However, he has lacked the energy and motivation to play competitively at top level for a very long time. I wish him well in the Turkish League, which is probably his level today. By all accounts Fernebahce are now paying him £65,000 pw, which is most likely the correct wage for his current level. I wish him… Read more »
Arsene watched Almunia for 5 years in training and he thought he was top top top quality.
Arteta watching AMN every day in training refusing any money for him, then not even starter for the second team.
What do we know.
So Eddie won’t make it and you know that how? Harry Kane didn’t start playing regularly for totenham till he was 24 all you guys do is to make assumptions and talk trash about our Academy players. How many players have you touted that didn’t make it? But you want to sound like the voice of reason
The offside rule should be scrapped from football, it should only be used in rugby
on the subject of project youth 2.0 (or even 3 or 4.0)
anyone remember JET…?
I spotted Jay Emmanuel Thomas playing for Livingston against Celtic last night. Scored the equaliser in a 2-2 draw, decent goal, but I couldn’t help thinking how the mighty (?) have fallen
Andy , the key difference there being the player in the offside position winning the ball by himself by tackling the defender. A textbook example of both “ active” and “ taking advantage of being offsides “ as you could possibly ever find. If the governing bodies want to just stick to the original rule as it is written: “when a defender touches the ball….blah blah blah…” then fine. It’s the part when they start interpreting defenders actions to determine ball control and attempted pass is where I have a problem with it. Just the fact you and I completely… Read more »
Are we hyping Nketiah based on goals against EPL teams or goals against Estonia and Modovian u-21s?
Lord have mercy what won’t I read on this site
Stroller Actually , i haven’t made a comment about Ozil , so maybe it’s you that should move on .. Many other posters ( including yourself) have made numerous comments about him so maybe your comment should be aimed at them.. You are more than welcome to look back over the past few days to find any comment made by me about Ozil …my advice to you is don’t bother ,, as you won’t find one. You have fallen into the the trap of reading other posters referring to Ozil and me and believing that it is me making a… Read more »
How is Nketiah a lost cause? And what evidence are we basing Balogun on having more about him? Can we not back them both to succeed? It’s unfortunate to see the academy lads being written off, even AMN. For every Saka (likely to be a first team mainstay for years) there is a AMN who is unlikely to ever be a world beater but can do a solid job for us if called upon. He is still a valuable member of the squad which is why Arteta has resisted bids for him. Who has world class players in every position… Read more »
Odegaard doesn’t really make sense on a loan, he has played hardly any football and just come back from an injury. So by the time we get the deal done will be 31st jan with fax machine whirling to get it done. Will take a month to get match fit then we gotta hope he can handle the Premier league on top….
Stroller, Izil commemts in the last couple of hours
Jamie
“You’ve lost Ozil and Don in the same week. Rough. I get why you’re upset.”
Stroller
“PierreYou keep on bring up Ozil. Please move on .”
Francis
“….for the sake of emphasis I need to argue the club did no wrong by not informing Ozil he would be sold.”
WOB
“For those interested, here’s a link to an article (from a political publication) on the political background to Ozil’s move to Fenerbahce”
Leeds
“We get rid of Mkhitaryan and Özil.”
“I’m sure he watched Runarson every week and took him 15 weeks and injury to Willian to notice “oh shit” ESR can be good lol” Esr was injured and only a liar like you would come out to say from both side of your mouth that you had seen william not working for us even before he signed. William was even deployed as a right winger whereas Rowe is a 10. Meaning william wasn’t the one blocking Rowe from playing. Runarson is a bad transfer and either you like it or not he was going to be used one way… Read more »
chris – they don’t need to be ‘worldies’ but when they’re not we move them on. That’s why we have far more than 11 there. Some might be useful squad material and at the moment I believe AMN is as we have cover issues at FB. If we got £15-20m for Eddie i would take it. We’re Arsenal and we want the very best,. Why settle for someone who just isn’t delivering simply because he’s academy. Its best for the club and probably best for the player, even if as in JET’s case that means ending up at Livingstone (yes… Read more »
North banker
I agree with that general premise, but don’t think any of the current academy players in the squad at the moment have reached the stage where we should move them on, but that’s just my personal opinion. I think they all need more game time or a loan move to adequately judge.
Chris “Unfortunately I feel the expectation among some fans is that every academy player needs to be a worldie or it just isn’t worth it” Of course you are right , i made the commemt the other day about the fergue fledgelings in the 90’s were not all world beaters, Beckam and Scholes were a level above Butt and the neville bros but they all contributed to United’s incredible success during that period. Saka is a ove the rest, smith rowe has hit the ground running and hopefully he remains at this high level, just as Martinelli did before he… Read more »
Muppetman,
Think we need cover for ESR, Ødegaard is a pretty elite version of that that can also play more central or on flanks. We get him flying at Arsenal who knows what future could hold, may just wanna sign on long term. Optimistic but not unreasonable.
He’s 22 coming getting him up to speed isn’t going to be a mammoth task.
Nketiah and Willock seem to be cut from the same cloth.
Obviously talented but they seem to be lacking that inner hunger that’s needed at this level.
‘Harry Kane didn’t start playing regularly for totenham till he was 24
Harry Kane put up 3 PL goals in 10 apps for Spurs age 20 and at age 21 he put up a 30+ goal season with 20+ in the PL alone.
Do people even bother to fact check anymore? Laughable.
Tom, yeah it’s all bollocks really, I guarantee if Villa had pulled that trick it would have been disallowed. The refereeing game is another one where common sense is outlawed and you can’t progress unless you follow the letter of the law blindly and toe the line (speaking as an ex-ref who gave it for exactly that reason).
*gave it up
Ozil sounds more like a religious preacher these days than a footballer.
I do see Willock as a useful squad player and also see enough in Nelson to also want to keep him. Neither are likely to be elite players but its unlikely we can ever keep a squad of elite players and the Academy graduates are more likely to be the loyal back up players. Although not Academy i also want to keep Elneny as i think he makes a great backup DM . We do need to think what the squad should look like and not just the first team. of course if we are flowing with elite players in… Read more »
Ozil is a movement with a bizarre following, football clearly taking a backseat.
A few in this space clearly on the email list.
Sky Sports reported last summer that Wolves offered Arsenal 15m for AMN, not the 20m so many people on here like to quote. Wolves had just sold Doherty to Spurs for 15m and ultimately brought in Semedo for much more than they offered for AMN. AMN’s situation is a tough one. He really is an excellent one-on-one defender but he’s also capable of making inexplicably wasteful mistakes. A simple 6-yard pass can somehow go awry and his final ball decisions are often poor. I still like him but if the rumours are true about Arsenal looking for a back-up to… Read more »
It’s difficult to see anybody coming in (apart from a GK) because the Club has no dough. If Arteta is serious about signing players, it means he has a substantial sale (or maybe two) in the pipeline, players that will fetch £15+ million apiece. And because, despite the departures, the squad is still bloated.
Torreira and/or Guendozy might figure. More likely Bellerin, or maybe Xhaka.
With the emergence of ESR, my feeling is that Arteta will see the value of keeping and coaching the
Arsenal youngsters (inc Nketiah).
Odegaard would make a fantastic addition to the squad. If we sign him, he will only take three months to get up to speed and then he will be ready for…. ready for the last three games of the season.
As much as I was enjoying Granit Xhaka and Mo pull the strings, I mean really tip of the sphere stuff. Think i’d opt for Ødegaard in the squad with ESR to carry us to summer.
“Ozil is a movement with a bizarre following, football clearly taking a backseat.
A few in this space clearly on the email list.“
Kim Kardashian’s 65m Twitter followers says it all really.
At least Ozil’s done something in his life to justify his popularity but still.
Tom
You must of missed the bootie shake fashion film for Interview magazine.
Elite movement.
Sid please explain this comment.
“Mad love to the factory babes of Cambodia descent who introduced me to their daughters back when i was in college”
Just Wow!!!
Do you like little girls??????
This is a Arsenal blog. Keep your thoughts too yourself
Nobody wants to see this.
Sal
Yes, I missed it.
All I can say we as a country imprison all the wrong people
I can’t fathom how we gave a player older than Ozil a lavish 3 year contract. The lad is going to milk every day of that contract.
At least Ozil left 6 months early.
Odegaard is nursing a knee injury and is still in a knee brace
I guess that mean he’s destined for Arsenal.
With Brexit done we can look forward to most premier League teams being versions of Burnley. Give it 5 years 😀
Lucky boy Allison.
Liverpool playing with the false attack formation… Klopp is either a genius or he has gone a bit crazy with the Covid. Origi dropping back into midfield and Mane playing as a midfielder and Ox and Shakiri whipping in multiple crosses.. Looks a bit like Arteta-ball Circa… November 2020.
Oops Origi with an epic miss, as I type..
Ohhh and a fight breaks out.. I think Fabinho can take Brownhill in 7 rounds tko.
Nketiah has offered little evidence that he would be a suitable level to be a lead striker for a club with (allegedly) the ambitions of Arsenal. Goal scoring records for England U21 mean very little. In fact too many games for the U21 is probably a bad thing as it means that you are not considered good enough to move on.
Ox signed for £40m, banter.
Reading up on the Odegaard stuff I think it might be a mute point… Can’t see us taking another loan player like Dani Cebs with no option to buy and I cant see RM putting in a buy option. Stranger things have happened I suppose. We do pretty much have to win the Europa or the FA Cup to play in Europe at this point.
Klopp bringing in the cavalry. Guess he has seen enough.
Pope looking quality.
The Godfather
“Are we hyping Nketiah based on goals against EPL teams or goals against Estonia and Modovian u-21s?Lord have mercy what won’t I read on this site’
Can’t disagree but Balogun is being hyped on here based on his form against even lesser teams. Go figure.
Yeah Pope … has made some really quality saves.. Making a case for a bigger Club.
Whoaa.. Allison… taking notes from the other end. Good Keeper battle.
Going to be a long 15 + for Burnley.
Eddie’s goals for England.
Albania a 2
Turkey h 1
Andorra a 1
Austria a 1
Kosovo a 3
Austria h 3
Slovenia a 1
Turkey a 2
Hardly Premier League standard.
Yep… Under siege. Guess they are used to it.
Ohhhhh nice…!
Cmmmmon Burnley.
Sweet… Pool losing their mojo.. more and more every game.
Oxlade is no better than Iwobi despite the price difference.
Liverpool discovering the early season Arsenal spirit in front of goal .
Sometimes an excellent player may not improve a team that was doing o well already
Did Thiago improve Liverpool?
Last season that shit would have gone in.. Curious to see how many pointless crosses Pool have floated in.. has to be high number.
“Oxlade is no better than Iwobi despite the price difference.“
Instead of Ox, Gibbs, Theo and Iwobi , the same crowed promoting for us Eddie, Willock, Nelson and AMN. This crowed has emotional connection to those players blinding what average players they are.
That be game… Can’t see as I really saw that coming… I think Klopp got too tricky… not starting Firminho or Mo.
1369 days since they lost at home.
Really doesn’t get much sweeter than watching this Liverpool side done by Burnley at Anfield.
Liverpool v Burnley should prove to the hindsight specialist that it is utter nonsense to discredit a victory because it’s only against [insert name]. The Premier League is brutal.
““Oxlade is no better than Iwobi despite the price difference.“
It really doesn’t matter because we made money off both players.
United are 6 points ahead of Liverpool at the midway point
Who would have thought this was possible
Is Van Dijk the difference for #1 and #4 for Liverpool? Good to see the fu*kers losing at Anfield
Firmino should have had a red card by the letter of the law
Bojanglesi
I suspect Balugan is getting the adulation because he was born in New York. Because there is not a single stat to support the weird fanboy behaviour from some on here. A short burst against giants Dundalk can’t be it surely? Personally I hope ANY Arsenal lad makes it and I hope Balugan is as brilliant as he is being hyped and becomes our greatest ever goalscorer. But.
Dissenter
“United are 6 points ahead of Liverpool at the midway point
Who would have thought this was possible”
This
Also, Fermino was a lucky boy.
City win the game in hand thats 7 points clear of Liverpool, last season they were 13 back at this stage.
I suspect Balugan is getting the adulation because he was born in New York?
___________
Huh? he has never played for the US national side. Only a training match once.. He is English.
Midwest
“That be game… Can’t see as I really saw that coming… I think Klopp got too tricky… not starting Firminho or Mo.1369 days since they lost at home.”
it was a matter of time before they lost. there are a lot of games played the manager has to utilize the squad he has else he risks more injuries.
If I mentioned Balogun’s name on the street pretty sure many would think I was speaking of a new dive bar.
Not a bad name actually.
Hahaha Yep I think I ordered a PBR and whiskey once at the Balogun.
Let the healing begin.