Well, as I write this story, Leicester are level with Burnley* (*they drew). Why does this matter? It means Sean Dyche and his boys are throwing all their energy at earning a valuable point. For once, when we play a team below us in the league, we’ll have the fresh legs.
Doesn’t mean we’ll win, obviously.
They’re a bit of bogey team for us. The modern version of Bolton, except it’s never quite as shocking when we lose to them in the 2020s.
There’s amusing news in the press that Barcelona are going to make Mikel Arteta part of their presidential campaign next year. I always suspected that City or Barca would come in for him if he did well. Not sure that I would classify this moment in time as ‘doing well,’ I’m also not sure I’d want the Barcelona rebuild job if I were him. If Arteta went there and dropped a Christmas run like he did with us, he’d be fired about halfway through that moment in time.
‘There is always going to speculation when there are elections in Barcelona. It’s a huge team. Obviously I was raised there as a player and they’re always going to be linked. I’m fully focused on the job that I have to do here, and we have a lot to do.’
I’m also not sure many fans would care if he did decide to jump ship midway through a very painful rebuilding process. I think I might have denied the rumour with a more full-throated ‘get fucked,’ but there we are.
The manager once again went to great lengths to reiterate his desire to keep Flo Balogun.
‘I think I am pretty positive about it and every time I spoke to him, he mentions the same thing, that he’s determined to stay here. He has some really positive conversations with his agent as well’
I heard the player wants about £40k a week to stay at Arsenal. A very small outlay when you consider the clubs that are sniffing around him. One would assume the hierarchy is concerned about giving him a mega-deal only to see him go out on loan next season. For me, he looks like he could start for us in 2 years time. Get him on a 5-year deal, send him on loan next season, then give him a run out in our first-team squad the season after. If it goes well, he stays, if it goes badly, we’ll get a £30m fee for him because he’s fast, technical, and can score goals.
What the club is probably very keen to avoid is the CHO situation. Bayern sniffed around, Chelsea panicked and dropped £120k a week on him. Now look at him, getting double subbed for the second time in his short career. They’ll struggle to flog him. It looks like too much too early, but it might just be too much for too little talent.
I quite like the change of tone when it comes to player transfers at Arsenal.
‘We will see. We are planning what’s going to happen in the summer. It will depend on where we finish, how we finish. I think what we had to in December is unprecedented for a club of this stature. To do the amount of transactions that we had to make it tells you as well where we are. I think it was very much needed and you want to improve, you want to do that. It’s where you have things in the house and you believe that you can improve on it. Externally acquiring players to go to the next level. Everything is planned and let’s see what the market can bring and what the last few months can bring to the club.’
It’s not quite Arsene’s ‘if a special clam pops up, we might consider,’ and it’s nice that the plans are in place now. Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, and Charles N’Zogbia incoming.
The most important news from the press conference was about an injury.
‘Emile had a scan yesterday, it doesn’t look a significant injury but he was in discomfort. For the rest, hopefully everybody should be okay.’
Precaution is key. The player clearly thought he’d done something bad to himself. That’s a worry, if he’s feeling it, we should protect him, keep him in good shape for the Europa and give his body a chance to recover.
Matt Kandela, apparently a fan favourite on The Arsenal Opinion podcast, is now doing press interviews like some sort of show pony.
“Arteta’s probably not looking at one game, but the set of three games. Burnley on Saturday, Olympiakos on Thursday and then Spurs on the Sunday. So really the question is ‘How does he rotate?’”
Yeah, whatever mate.
But actually, I agree, the next batch of games are absolutely integral to the success of the season. We need to beat Burnley so we head into Thursday with momentum and fresh legs. Then it’s another horrendous shit sandwich of a fixture list. Two London derbies against the second-best manager in the world David Moyes, and an aging dinosaur over at Spurs.
Win those two games and suddenly you’re asking questions about Europe that don’t start with ‘back door’, lose them, and Arteta is back on #FraudWatch being accused in chatrooms of molesting cones.
We need 5 victories from the next 5 games. It’s time to impose ourselves on this season and finish strong, just like Wenger used to back in the day.
Let’s see what he has. Catch you in the comments. x
Jim & diss.spot on.Almunia going in goal.I was there & could have wept.Knew we were doomed from that moment.& Diss, the b’stard of a ref gave no protection to Henry that night whatsoever .Marquez & that ape puyol were allowed to kick him off the park with impunity’.luck is right Pierre.Yahnited under old red nose had it by the bucket load.Often thought the old codger had sold his soul to the devil….
Uwot
Alumni’s near post … I will never forget the game a professional goal keeper conceded two goals on his near post.
That’s one of the reasons why I ended up hating on Wenger. How did he let such a shambolic keeper stay at the club for so long.
Barca should have had to score worldies to beat us that day because our effort level even with 10 men deserved that
Instead, Almunia couldn’t protect his near post or keep his legs closed.
“Where do you get theses ideas?”
Graham62
Sid is suffering from MWS Melania withdrawal Syndrome.
I’m telling you this for free.
If we give Balogun 40k, We should be prepared to pay that for all youngsters with an ounce of talent because they’ll hold us over a barrel.
Our Academy ,this time seems to be having promising talents. Throw them in a game and first few times they are likely to make mistakes due to nervousness, yet to get the feel of the League, etc. Unfortunately we have a rookie coach prematurely promoted as Manager with lots of powers. Arteta’s mental makeup is flawed in that he seems to have a massive inferiority / superiority complex , is vindictive. So likely we might lose a most promising crop of youngsters coming out of the Academy and youth we have signed, all devalued and going out free or for… Read more »
Pierre I’m not convinced arteta wants to sell laca
I think it’s 50/50 with him being offered a new contract if he maintains current form
As much as it’s not my preference I’m operating on the assumption auba and laca are both here next season
It’s amazing to think that as good as Saka is, he isnt even being mentioned in regards to the England squad for the Euro’s. It does go to show the quality of young English midfiled talent there is at the moment – Grealish, Maddison, Mount, Foden and Sancho. Some tough decisions for Southgate to make.
Yeah one of Saka’s countless attributes is that he’s surprisingly robust
You compare him with a 19 year old CR7 for example and he would beat players through skill and pace but if he actually went shoulder to shoulder and up close and personal he wasn’t competitive at that time
Saka has the presence of a 25 year old winger not a teenager
He’s a really fabulous kid
England fans always over rate their own but this crop really appears to be a golden generation
Whoever said saka is better than haaland is smoking something
Saka is to Haaland what Griezman was to Messi
Awesome player but Haaland is almost certainly going to be one of the 3 most dominant players of his generation and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t become as legendary a player as CR7, Messi etc
Saka is immense but Haaland is playing a game on his own imo
I’d love Haaland and mbappe to come to the PL as the French and German leagues are below them and I don’t care about the Spanish league
I want Haaland nowhere near the Premier league. If he goes to Man U that makes makes them title contenders for years to come and guarantees them top four.
I know it is a pipe dream, but I hate that we have to accept that we are not even in the running for his signature!
“I want Haaland nowhere near the Premier league”
Could agree more. His career is planned out so his next step will be to a top team. That is not Arsenal.
It would be great to see him in a competitive league like the Premiership but he’s likely to be a Hazard kind of character. Years of contribution to victories then leaving for multiples. Our hope is his next step is Barca or Real, but they’re both a shitshow at the moment.
China1 The concern about Mbappe coming to the PL, would be the threat to the league’s competitiveness The draw of the PL is we’ve had 5 different winners in the last 8 seasons The Bundesliga isn’t interesting because Bayern have such an unfair financial advantage, and nobody has been able to break their monopoly since 2012 PSG have only been toppled once in 8 years Juventus have won the last 9 championships Celtic have dominated in Scotland, winning the last 9 straight La Liga is a bit more interesting, with a duopoly of Real + Barca, but they’ve won 15… Read more »
The premiership is competitive because the money is bigger and spread out more.
But it’s also helped by Man Utd being so inept and poor at spending their money since Ferguson left. And Abramovich withdrawing his usual support after his passport issue.
Man City are a computer game team with an excellent manager. They are the ones making the Premiership less competitive. Look at what Liverpool had to pull out just to beat them last year.
…and Liverpool can just go fuck themselves
https://www.cityam.com/barcelona-and-real-madrid-handed-multi-million-tax-bills-as-european-court-of-justice-issues-definitive-verdict-in-state-aid-case/
Rich but that assumes he goes to city If Haaland and mbappe were both in England presumably at different teams nothing can be taken for granted Also it is possible to beat teams that have such players imo. Part of the folly of players like this is they play in weak leagues. Like we know Ronaldo and Messi would’ve wrecked the PL (Ronaldo did) but at least he was made to work for it. Teams like Dortmund and atletico have also demonstrated there’s no hard requirement to have the single best player (or even squad) to win the league. City… Read more »
These sorts of players are massively high risk these days. They cost a fortune and don’t always live up to expectations. Look at Neymar. He looked a world beater at Barca and now looks shot at PSG. How much is he costing PSG a week ? Bale the same at RM.
The Bard
Neymar is different. He is a playboy and a drama queen. It’s obvious football is no longer his highest priority. As for Bale, everyone know what his priorities are – he put them on a flag!
Is there anyone who said Saka is better than Haaland? I dont think so, what are they smoking on le grove.
One more thing i would rather have Song(injury record of Xhakalson) equal or marginally better than Partey
The fact that Saka isnt mention for Englands Euros squad tells you how clueless Southgate is.
“ was one of those that shed hot tears that night we lost in Paris“ It’s good to see there is an emotional Gooner in you somewhere! When Henry went through one on one when it was 1-0 I was already going ahead to seeing him lift the trophy on the podium. We have been so close to European glory throughout the last 20 years, still have no idea how Keown missed an open goal against Gala. What was frustrating about 2019 EL final is that we could easily have been facing Frankfurt (who we would have beaten I’m sure)… Read more »
Yes Diss.One of wenger s greatest crimes was keeping that clown of a goalkeeper Almunia between our sticks for so many seasons when the fans,coaches,mad Yens & the dogs inthe street was telling him get rid,he’s shit.Lord knows that decision cost us 1/2 titles & cups.
Chris The latter part of Wenger’s reign left me a bit cold and unfeeling about Arsenal. It’s almost like I developed a thick skin so that Arsenal wouldn’t hurt me anymore. I so desperately wanted us to win that night in Paris because Wenger’s first decade at the club deserved something like that. You could see how much it meant to him with his reaction after the match. He and Henry completely lost their rags. I wish Wenger had prioritized the champion’s league league as soon in 2003-2004, as soon as the league was all but won. That was the… Read more »
There’s always the danger with large investments in talent, that the talent then loses it’s hunger and desire I’d love us to go for Sancho, but also have concerns about investing £90 million, and £15million p/a into a 21yr old Once £15million p/a becomes the going rate for a talented 21yr old, you set a dangerous precedent, because Saka is then going to want the same Then in 3years time they’ll want another pay rise, which isn’t sustainable over the medium to longer term Wealth creation is a good thing, as is sustainable growth, but wherever you create inflation, you… Read more »
Dissenter Yes 03-04 I think we would have gone on to win it had Chelsea not had that purple patch in the 2nd half at Highbury. We were out on our feet, like you say, semi final of the cup just before and the run of fixtures at that time was horrific. It’s a big ‘what if’ for sure. 2000/01 another missed opportunity perhaps. We weee all over Valencia in the 1/4 first leg in the second half, should have put 3 or 4 past them but only won 2-1. Of course we went out on away goals in the… Read more »
I always felt the problem with almunia wasn’t that he made a lot of mistakes (imo not that often) it was that he never won us points Top keepers bail you out. But vs almunia we conceded so many goals and maybe the vast majority weren’t his direct fault but how many times could you come out and say we got a result today specifically because of him? We’ve had it with Leno, Martinez even chesney for a bit, cech very briefly at the start of emery’s reign maybe (not before) Quality goal keepers win you points. Some of the… Read more »
Habesha
China
The maturity in his game is what astounds me.
Intelligence is underrated. I heard Saka is a straight A’s student too.
Dissenter
Losing to Chelski in the 03/04 CL still hurts.
I took my son out of school early 2 years ago to watch the EL final.
Was so excited to share this moment watching us lift the trophy and get CL again.
At half time he lost interest and went to his room….. I dont blame him… he was 8 years old.
He came back downstairs after Iwobi scored but it was too late by then.
Fucking shitty memory. Wished we had won. Hazard ripped us a new one that game
I just watched the highlights of the Champions League final… We so should have won that game! Also reminded me how many great players we had in that team…. Although, to balance that we did have Eboue throwing shapes at RB :-))))
Pat Jennings catching the ball one-handed in a pair of those gardening gloves! I never saw Geoff Barnett catch anything, not sure he could in today’s ‘’
Loved pat jennings growing up
Hopefully we get West Brom + Fulham wins tonight, then Liverpool + Chelsea play out a bore draw, with plenty of red cards and snapped limbs
Currently we have 37 points from 26 games with a points per game average of 1.4 If all the other teams continue with their current points per game average, this is what we would have to do to achieve the following final positions: 1 4.6 2 2.9 3 2.9 4 2.4 5 2.4 6 2.3 7 2.2 8 1.8 9 1.8 10 1.4 11 1.2 12 0.9 13 0.9 14 0.6 15 0.3 16 0.1 17 0.1 18 -0.3 19 -1.0 20 -1.4 So, based on this assumption, we would avoid relegation and could achieve second place 🙂 A good… Read more »
Better to have promising youth players get 30-40 p/w then another xhaka on 90 or laca on 200. Wengers pseudo socialism is still fucking us. OR WILLIAN ON 250
Eboue was awesome at that time
It was a year or two later when he became a clown!
Dive for that free kick mind before big sol scored
That final was the night before my last ever day of school yet I went in inconsolable whilst my friends were having a blast
Ray I’ll be shocked if 70 points gets just 8th
In most seasons 70 gets you at least 5th or so and often higher
I doubt all those teams above us are going to hit that
China1
March 4, 2021 18:58:09
Good catch, China, I was going to correct it, but as nobody responded I was going to let it die
You are entirely correct at 2 points per game for the run in we would total 61…70 points would put us third with Leicester
Fuck you VAR…… as you were.
Fulham have been robbed of a legitimate goal… English referees are really rubbish at their job. Zero common sense. Are limbs supposed to evaporate onto thin air now?
For the relegation battle…
Fulham, West Brom & Sheffield United currently have points per game [ppg] of .88, .65 and .52, respectively. In order to escape relegation [using the “everybody maintains their current ppg” assumption] they would have to up their ppg to 1.25, 1.75 and 2.18, respectively. Brighton and Newcastle merely have to maintain their point per game average to stay safe.
Hard to see any of the bottom three escaping.
Fulham right back is worth a shout…Ola Aina is on loan from Torino , a very tidy right back who is 24 and would be no more than 10 mil max.
Rich,
A man after my own heart. I love snapped limbs.
Despise Harry Kane.
Tottenham players didn’t even appeal for the handball..
Has to go down as one as the most inept VAR decisions this season…Fulham deserved to win the game but were che
Cheated
CL Final – really bad memories all round – I spent all day trying to get the satellite receiver i bought to pick up Sky Sports at my house in France (didn’t realise it wasn;t possible because of Sky) – really lost it – had to watch it on f..ing French network -cloakroom toilet overflowed – lost it again – wife then lost it with me – mother in law joined in – wife stormed off to bed – game kicked off – Lehman sent off – brief moment of disbelief when Campbell scored – then lost 2 -1 Saw… Read more »
The only right back I’ll take ahead of Tariz is Ashraf Hakimi. Guy is a baller and a half.
Ozil special
Mesut Ozil’s Fenerbahce nightmare continues as former Arsenal star misses sitter, is nutmegged and then is STRETCHERED off in Turkish side’s draw with Antalyaspor
VAR really having a nightmare tonight, the Werner goal was so on.
Saka has that wonderful ability to ‘put it on a plate’ for you. His Final/through ball is so effectively placed that the receiver/attacker often has little to no work to do other than put the ball in the net.
Good shot from Mount.
Stunner from Mount, Liverpool reeling.
What this season shows is that teams cannot sustain the high energy closing down style for more than one season, Liverpool are an example, they look leggy, no effective closing down , all the front players look tired. The same happened with city last season, that brand of football eventually takes its toll in the premiership.
Liverpool may be playing on Thursday nights next season
That’s a penalty
Unless the natural position is to mimic a flying bird’s wings
And Alexis still has it. What a player!