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
Smoooth
Whooo
Third
4th place trophy
That’s another box ticked off the bucket list
Whatever makes you happy Guns
Guns
Do you feel lonely?
Nice post Pedro. Villa losing to Sheffield United (but they’re shit they wail) just goes to show how unpredictable results are, even the prediction experts on LeGrove must concede that. When you look at the table anything is possible with 3 points for wins. Burnley worked hard tonight and for the first time for god knows we are actually playing someone without a recovery disadvantage. That’s a big bonus against a croaky voiced Dyche team who run around kicking lumps out of you because eventually, they’ll run out of puff. I really don’t like Burnley and their anti-football, as you… Read more »
Speaking of the summer, who’s the best RB playing in Scotland?
Picking up the best LB obviously worked out quite well for us
Everton look like they are in a good position if they don’t do an everton. They could be up to 4th if they win their game in hand. Anyway I think we have left our selves wit too much to do. Now we are 6 adrift from the 7 the team ( which would be everton or liverpool depending on whether everton win their game in hand). And that is even taking out the likes of spurs and villa out of the contention for 7th. Arteta is in a tight spot. He needs to win the europa league or there… Read more »
Never mind all his looking to the future shit. Who’s the better GK – Willow or Jimmy Rimmer?
And the talk of a new contract for Lacazette concerns me. I like him. But he is nearing 30 with massive wages. We need to cash in and trust the youth. Martinelli can be deadly there. And there is also Balogun if we convince him to stay. We need to look to the future.
Didn’t the world class keeper over at Villa exude confidence and organise his defenders well for the Sheffield goal though. Always singlehandedly winning them points he is.
Gotta play the game at the top level in the park with your mates to be able to identify elite talent on the telly. Like if you take away Auba’s 275 career goals and 80 assists, he’s a shite striker who offers nothing. Red hot take.
Kroenke
I can remember Geoff Barnett, he wasn’t the best. Rimmer was good.
Habesha Agreed. I love Laca the player but the sentimentality and player hoarding has to stop for the good of team cohesion and finances. I would sell him based on his value and age. Moreover, Tets has no squad management ability at this point so we need a smaller group. Providing that the timing next season reverts to normal, use that time between the start of preseason and the end of the transfer window to give both FB and G-Mart a good amount of games to justify their selection. Communicate this to FB now so that he signs “da ting”… Read more »
Geoff Barnett used get a mocking round of applause when he caught a ball
Confidence wasn’t high as a result
Only one sub on the bench
AFCF – Rugby boot wearing Mick Jones and Sniffer put paid to Barnett’s fledgling career in 72 didn’t they? Barnett didn’t look the tallest even with his permed, er, Barnet.
Yeah, I loved Rimmer too (and Wilson). JR was always getting into scrapes because he was a hard and properly brave keeper. He made Terry Butcher look like John Inman…
Be interesting what we do with Balogun A decision will need to be made on both Nketiah + Lacazette this summer So there’s potentially an opening for him Couldn’t blame him for seeking pastures new though, with bigger money, a hefty signing on fee, and guaranteed playing time. If he leaves, then blows up like Sancho, it’ll certainly give fans a stick to beat Arteta with…. Like Pedro says, we’re not just gambling on talent, we’re gambling on hunger + desire still being there after signing a £10million 5 year contract I’d be tempted to go with it, we spunked… Read more »
Loved Jimmy Rimmer – we got him for silly money even in those days – about £35k from Man U
Geoff Barnett was with us forever but i don’t ever remember seeing him play. He as always featuring in Shoot / Goal though!
GunsDo you feel lonely?
Yes, Nelson… I ve been all alone for a while now *sniff*
Ray Clemence conceded only 16 goals in 42 league matches in 78/79 season which has never been beaten I think ?
Incredible thing in those days was we still played a huge number of games with so few players
I can’t count any Keeper records before the no backpass rule sorry.
Northbanker
I seen a statistic, that between 2003 and 2014, Premier League players were running on average just over 31% further per game
Through sports science, players are pushing their bodies to the limits, that’s where I think the injuries are coming from .
All three results favourable tonight. Ought to incentivise the players.
Man United shit-housed there way to a nil- nil with CP. OGS seems to have burnt out Bruno. All the results today were favorable to us… yep. Still think top 6 will be a pretty tall task. Next 6 games will go a long way to deciding what the rest of the season looks like. Advancing in Europa or not… winning NLD or not and playing Pool and West Ham.
Hopefully we get Fulham + West Brom wins tomorrow, then Liverpool + Chelsea play out a draw
Midwest, yes how times have changed for ‘keepers. The back passes from defenders that they could pick up was one of the reasons for away goals in European games because the Italians were past masters at parking the bus. It was actually a good rule change. The biggest change for me is the gloves they wear now. At my club, I help warm up the ‘keepers and I have from time to time put on their gloves and I am still amazed at how ‘sticky’ they are and how big! Back in the day some didn’t wear gloves at all… Read more »
AFC-
Yep… I was being a little bit facetious.. there were some very good Keepers back in the day.. But the demands on a Keeper these days is so very much different.. And also as you said teams could kill off games and rest the team by knocking the ball round the back and letting the keeper fall on the ball.
I am going to commend the posters who maintained that point-at-hand is not equivalent to points-in the- bank.
That will include AFC Forever and others
Who would have thought that Villa will lose to Sheffield United?
I think 6thbjust became a straight fight between Arsenal, Aston Villa, West Ham, Tottenham and Everton
This is such a weird season I wouldn’t bet on anything not being possible, except someone other than City winning the PL.
never rated cho of Chelsea looks average at best not a great dribbler goal scorer or assist maker just about 6.5 to 7 across all areas
I think 4th to 6th just became a straight fight between Arsenal, Aston Villa, West Ham, Tottenham and Everton
This is a weird season… but I still think top 4 ends up being.. City, United, Chelsea and Pool.. which sounds pretty familiar. I don’t think Everton, West ham and LC can maintain until the end. I do like this season much better then last where Pool basically had it wrapped up by now., though. The only good thing about Covid is Pool’s Championship got muted.. didn’t have to hear much about it here. . 😀
Just watched the Man Utd game and agree with Midwest, that was crap. We are improving while they are going backwards. They’ve got a congested run of tough fixtures coming up, which is probably even tougher than ours:-
Man Utd 5 games in 15 days:
7th Man City, 11th AC Milan, 14th West Ham, 18th AC Milan, 21st Leicester
Our 5 games in 15 days:
6th Burnley brutes, (A), 11th Oly (A), 14th Spuds (h), 18th Oly (H), 21 West Ham
This is where teams not playing in Europe get a huge benefit.
Midwest
Yes maybe but a team only has to go on a bit of a run and it will all change. Our last 8 games for the run-in is better than everyone else’s in many respects. 24 points up for grabs and I can see us getting 18-20 barring key injuries.
Sheff Utd
Fulham
Everton
Newcastle
West Brom
Chelsea
Palace
Brighton
I am one of those who would be hugely upset if Arteta were to leave. But no worry, he won’t be going, not for years yet. Not until Arsenal are securely cemented back amongst the elite.
And why would he go? For all his flaws, Stan lets his people get on with the job with minimum interference. And that works well if you hire the right people. It’s a freedom that is hard for a manager to give up. Particularly if he is well-paid.
The further English teams go in Europe, the bigger advantage to those with the lighter schedule
Hopefully the Europa League draw is kind to us, and our squad players step up like they did against Leicester on a more consistent basis
We need to take advantage of Burnley’s heavier schedule this week on Saturday
Yeah remember Geoff “ hedgehog”Barnett.Couldn’t catch a cold.blame him for the ‘72 Leeds goal from sniffer Clarke who must have headed it from what seemed 30 yards out & Barnett faffed at it.Sir Bob would have caught it with his teeth.Jimmy Rimmer about the only decent thing we ever bought off yahnited.
Yes, agree Rich. We’ve given ourselves a chance of capitalising Saturday through sensible rotation against Leicester. It has been a brutal schedule of games; we’ve done well to have beaten Benfica and Leicester while travelling to Italy and Greece and having that City game to manage too, with little recovery & Preparation. One defeat under those circumstances and being able to rotate Sunday, is a return we wouldn’t have had previous seasons. We have to go again but the fact that Partey & Tierney are back plus the fringe players are suddenly showing form, means we are in a much… Read more »
Midwest.That would be the Liverpool side of the 80s who at Highbury would spend the first 30 mins knocking it back to their goalkeeper to hold for as long as he could get away with.This is how they used to kill a game off & sick the life out of you.Glad that tactic was put to bed in future rule changes.
Uwot?
Ys he should have saved it. Geoff Barnett passed away in January this year, he was 74.
Saliba tonight in a 2-1 win against Nimes
80 passes, 5 long balls, 95% success rate
1 tackle
5 interceptions
4 clearances
3 blocks
2 aerial duels won
Leeds v Arsenal 1972 FA Cup – Geoff Barnett’s hair. The funniest thing is Mick Jones bandage at 32 secs, someone failed their St Johns Ambulance test!!
https://youtu.be/1PDAAGrrxQs
Jamie, did Emi fuck up?
The way these transfers are done are a bit strange
Lukaku went to Inter in August of 2019. Why does Inter still owe a vast sum of 47 million to United?
I said several weeks ago that the problem with our negotiations with Balogun are that he has the same agent as Nketiah, Nelson and Saka. The first three are on contracts which expire this summer or 2022. My view is that the Agent is forcing Arsenal to make a decision between Balogun and Nketiah. One will have to leave the club. The question which needs to be asked is which of the two would you prefer to keep? On a separate issue is will Arsenal choose to renew the contract of Lacazette this summer? If Lacazette leaves will the club… Read more »
I said several weeks ago that the problem with our negotiations with Balogun are that he has
the same agent as Nketiah, Nelson and Saka.
… that can be problematic. Should be a cap or limit of some kind to how many players at a club a single Agent can have. I mean did this guy linger outside the junior teams to nab them???
‘Arteta molested cones’
You said it Pedro!
Nobody has successfully dribbled past Saliba to date since he return to the French league
Midwest but the season is already over for the title race. The league is citys
Lets see if Edu has any balls
Hen has to insist that Saliba get that chance to sink or swim for next season.
The competition for starting places will be intense; Mari, Holding, Gabriel, Saliba and Luiz
Chambers will be sold. He does need some games to satisfy his suitors that he is ready to go.
Morning Breakfast clubbers Haven’t read the post yet. Really not much in the news this morning other than Juve offering Costs & Rabiot for Bellerin. Both can’t keep their places in there Juve team, so money only please Juve. Burnley drawing with Leicester confirms my thinking that they didn’t really show up against us without their key players: Wesley Fofana. Injury: Hamstring. … Ayoze Perez. Injury: Knee. … Jonny Evans. Don’t missed Burnley game calf injury James Maddison. Injury: Hip. … Dennis Praet. Injury: Hamstring. … Harvey Barnes. Injury: Knee. … Wes Morgan. Injury: Back. … James Justin. Injury: Knee.… Read more »
Dissenter
Edu and balls? Probably not a winning, compatible combination.
Just have to wait now and see Arteta thinks for next season assuming he makes it that far.
I’m still banging the Rangnick, Compos or Overmars drum.
Saliba and Dinos Mavropanos have been doing really well on loan. It benefits us a lot of we play this right. Good young defenders aren’t available everywhere. And if they are you pay top dollar for them like we did for Saliba. We need to cut Luiz in the summer. We need to trust young players. They might fuck up but there is room for progress and if they are not up to standard there is always a side like everton to buy them from us. That is what liverpool have been doing so successfuly over the past few years.… Read more »
Yeah considering his wages age and liability to get red carded or give a penalty we might as well give his spot to Saliba or May and be done with it. Luiz isn’t even necessarily one of our 3 best CBs as it is, so it’s not a loss for us and there is money to be saved.
Personally I’d consider Mac back and send Saliba on a season long loan to somewhere in England. By the end of next season he should be well and truly ready to compete – or sell if not etc
40 k per week is really not a big deal for Arsenal but if the likes of Gabi, ESR and Saka who have done wonders for the first team are around 30 k a week then giving a reserve team player with 4 sub appearances a 40 k/w just smashes your pay structure. You lose the upper hand in negotiations with all the youth players coming through after Balogun. We have Azeez, Taylor Hart, Hutchinson, Brooke Norton Cuffy, the Mexican winger, and many more. Some of these guys are very highly rated and will also demand crazy wages if Balogun… Read more »
I hope any renewal w lacazette comes w a clause that we dont have to pay him shit unless he scores some goals from open play. Just my humble opinion as always
Everyone says play the yout! I also say that. However, the youth are watching the Balogun saga play out. They are watching SAKA on 30K per week and thinking he should be on 130k per week. So what are they to do? Either you are a Saka x 10 to get a really good contract or you know you can earn more elsewhere if you are hyped up enough and have a good agent. Its a tough place to be… The other issue is Mike does not like Yout. He does not like playing the youth at all. ESR was… Read more »
Tierney I think it’s fine you just structure the contract differently For example low base but nice performance, goals, assists and appearance related incentives Arsenal have a habit of throwing large sums of money at players who haven’t yet earned it and then killing their motivation to kick on (ozil being the king of this). But if you tell a teenager he can earn a good salary for his age with a lot of additional bonuses up for grabs I don’t think it should be that hard for us to get him to sign Like I say he’s not mbappe… Read more »
For Balogun you offer him 30k with various incentives rising to 50k based on performances, appearances, goals and assists etc, you tell him he’s going out on loan for all of next season to a suitable club and you include a clause for extending his contract at an increased rate in 18 months or 2 years so he can see another pay rise on the horizon if he works hard
He’s going to sign if you do that or he’s dumb as fook lol
That clause to increase/extend should also be performance related as well to incentivize it
Nothing should be free
Yeah the other issue is that Mikel keeps demonstrating a disliking for playing some of our best young players Saliba, guen, Martinelli, AMN, Eddie have all been frozen out in various different ways at various different times. There’s a case for Guen’s attitude being a problem, but the others all just got completely overlooked this season irrespective of ability or form of them or the players ahead of them. And it took 6 months for us to let saliba and AMN to go out and play some games. It’s not a pretty picture if you’re azeez or Balogun right now… Read more »
https://youtu.be/ZRL0lWFDhjo
We talk about Saka being good but this compilation is Mad. He looks like a world class player already. He is the reason we are getting some joy from arsenal this season. And some form ESR too but mainly him. He deserves a huge raise in my opinion. At least to around 90k. He is earned it. Let the rest of the youngsters earn it too. Paying Balogun 40k is not mad. Renewing Lacazette at 180k is mad. We need to keep the young players.
Habesha as soon as saka broke onto the scene last year someone here was eagerly calling him our best kid since cesc He was obviously class but I was very reluctant to put him in that category but a year on it’s safe to say he’s fucking quality and hands down the best player in our squad (we’ll see what partey can do when he’s fit) Saka is dat guy who can put the team on his back even when his team mates are playing like trash. Unreal talent and such a great attitude and work rate. Plus a straight… Read more »
Saka is at 19 the player we hoped we were buying for 70m from Lille
Now if Pepe can kick on with his current form that would really be something on the two wings
I think its safe to say Saka is hands down the best talent to come through from the Arsenal academy since Cole (Fabregas was a transfer).
Also the best teenage talent since Fabregas.
Wilshere comes close but Saka possesses the x-factor in the final third. Wilshere didnt have that. Cesc did, now Saka does.
Play him at LB, LW, LWB, RW, anywhere he delivers. Against Benfica he provided that last minute assist playing at RB. We are lucky to have him.
Saka is better than jadon,
When Mert takes charge next season our backline will be solid for years, Magalh, saliba, Mavro,
All he has to add is 2 quality CMs
Good post Pedro. Interesting info about the Balogun situation. Dispels all the cobblers on here about not being Arteta’s favourite or game time. His agent is playing hardball as you would expect. £40000 pw for someone who has hardly played seems a lot to me and of course would upset Saka, ESR and maybe others.
Sid
Where do you get theses ideas?
Mertesacker in charge!
Are you kidding?
China The maturity in his game is what astounds me. The decision he makes are like a well thought of chess move. It is impossible to learn if you don’t have it. You can learn Technique, passing and shooting but the ability to make the right decisions under pressure only comes from the personality of the player. I feared putting him as on of the best young players last season because Iwobi also looked class when he started. But this season saka has gone up a level. Right now he is just below Haaland, Mbappe and Sancho as they young… Read more »
As the best young players in the world*
Saka is an exceptional talent, of that there is no doubt. What has surprised me most about him these past few months is his strength on the ball, especially at speed. He has incredible balance and has the ability to access situations very quickly,
We are lucky to have such a talent.
Bard Fair point. There’s also the issue that were he to transfer to another club and demand the equivalent of 40k, then that club’s young players would feel undermined thus having a destabilising effect. I think FB and his agent are in a bit of a corner, not least because the team’s fortunes have improved. Leipzig and others probably have a good amount of cash but are they going to spunk a fair bit of it on someone with evident promise but little top level game time? The club achieved their objective in the Auba negotiations. They’re never going to… Read more »
Theres NO way Saka is behind Sancho only Haaland(Mbappe isnt in their age bracket), he is unfortunate to play under Diet Pep and England who specialize in anti football
Kroenkephobe: the agents job is to get the longest contract for the most money. It’s not their job to look after Arsenal’s interest. At the moment it appears as though there is a Mexican stand off going on with Balogun. If he gets an offer around £40000 pw from someone other than Arsenal he will go. As you say whether anyone is willing to spunk that kind of money on potential in todays market is a moot point.It may well go down to the wire.
China
Why send balogun on loan if Lacazette is sold.
To be honest , i can see Martinelli going out on loan next season if Balogun signs a contract.
Good points raised in the post Pedro 👍
Pierre I just dont see anything happening to Balogun until he signs a new contract. If Arteta loans him or plays him and he does well his price goes up and it will attract other potential buyers. That’s stupid business.
Bard
Meaning, in essence, that Balogun’s agent is not acting in his client’s interest. It’s a perfectly circular argument where the agent’s presence is undermining the emotional factor that exists between FB, the club and fans.
If he goes for a few thousand more quid per week (a la cashley), then it has to be “Folarin who” ? And a sense of what might have been.
Then the spotlight moves onto Moller, Azeez, Hutchinson et al. with lesson learned.
I’ll have a ounce whatever Sid’s smoking please…..
If Per was in charge who would be his number 2?
The club has a contingency arrangement should there be a need to show Arteta the door. It obviously involves Per.
I hope it’s not true that we are holding ”contract talks” with Laca
He has been very poor for.a striker that cost us about £50 million and takes home 180k weekly.
If we were to i,prove enough to compete for titles then he has to go.
Who could blame Balogun for wanting to go somewhere and play?
He’s 19, and he’s currently got Aubameyang, Lacazette, Martinelli and Nketiah, all in front of him…..
That might change this summer, but the opportunity to go somewhere and become first choice, play every week, and likely earn more money, is a really good opportunity
At some point young players need to start playing regularly
There seems to be a lot of hype around Balogun, but Eddie’s youth record is better
Maybe he just isn’t ready?
There’s no evidence that Folarin’s deal fell apart because his agent was too greedy or was asking for too much money.
Sometimes, it’s just good player-good club-wrong timing.
I think Balogun came around just when we had a young manager learning the ropes with two strikers that collectively cost £115 million. We also have two useful backups. One of the back ups is a very talented Brazilian who came out with a bang and the other is an England junior international who has broken Shearer’s records at the u-20 level.
I sure wish people will stop bashing agents or the lad.
He can’t commit himself to a system where the path in front of him is too congested or chaotic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMAm665GDo&ab_channel=iGooner
Watching this was tough.
I remember skipping curfew (As I was in school at the time) to watch the final in a pub. The place was buzzing. When the Barca goal went in it felt like there was no coming back especially with 10 men. But the funny thing is looking back on it, we had many opportunities to win it!
I also remember at full time there was a guy in floods of tears as I was leaving, I remember hugging him and saying “we’ll do it next year”. Ha how wrong I was!
Lets hope VAR doesn’t have to get involved on Saturday.Kevin “ No Friend” of ours is running it.You can guarantee a stitch up there.
“Just like Wenger used to back in the day.”
Pedro, surely not some acknowledgement that Arsene did do some things right !
Having time to look back on Wenger’s reign at Arsenal. I think we can say that a lot of the later frustration was borne from previous success. You look back on how close we came to a major team, not just in England put across Europe also. We were always within touching distance. It seemed like we all knew what was required for that final push but it never came. We leaked goals, collapsed at predictable stages in the league EVERY year. Can you imagine what we could have achieved between 06-14 if we had Leno in goal instead of… Read more »
Swap Leno out for Almunia and I think we go on to hold Barca in Paris.
Jim
I was one of those that shed hot tears that night we lost in Paris
It would have been the club’s finest hours and the culmination of Wenger’s brilliance m until that time he had been a relentless force of footballing brilliance.
I knew that night that we wouldn’t be back on that stage for another generation because were on our way out of Highbury and our spending would be curtailed for at least a decade.
Thierry Henry didn’t meet that moment, great player and legend that he is. It wasn’t his finest hour.
@Dissenter –
Not Henry’s finest moment, but if you go back and watch the game again (which is painful), he didn’t hide. He had some great chances but didn’t put them away, on another day he would have had two or three.
Still my most painful night as an Arsenal fan. Not the most humiliating, that was yet to come, but the most painful.
The Bard “Pierre I just dont see anything happening to Balogun until he signs a new contract. If Arteta loans him or plays him and he does well his price goes up and it will attract other potential buyers. That’s stupid business.” I was talking hypothetically, Balogun signs a contract in june , then Balogun is ours. Have him as 2nd in line for the strikers role behind Aubameyang … He has a similar game as Lacazette, in that he is good with his back to goal, holds the ball up well but has more pace and is more explosive… Read more »
Jamie,
Spat my tea out reading this…
“Gotta play the game at the top level in the park with your mates to be able to identify elite talent on the telly. Like if you take away Auba’s 275 career goals and 80 assists, he’s a shite striker who offers nothing. Red hot take.”
😂😂😂
So we win the penalty shoot out v galatasary and we hold on for ten minutes v Barca , and the perception of Wenger changes on Le Grove… To me it just shows that you neèd that little piece of luck to win trophies. Look at fergie, john terry slips and misses the penalty in the champions league final .,..one champions league for fergue Munich should have been home and dry in the champions league v united …2 champions league’s for fergie Bergkamp misses the penalty in the fa cup semi in the lastminute and United go on to win… Read more »
£400 I paid for a ticket for the CL final, went there with all the optimism of youth, then came tumbling back down to Earth with the sending off, and the final result.
I really miss enthusiasm, the older you get, the more you prepare for the worst