I thought it was brave of Arsenal exec leadership to jump on Teams with the fans yesterday. Josh and Vinai fucked up. They have apologised to everyone and they took a whole load of questions on the chin.
The challenge with interview questions is that to be good at them, you can’t be emotional. Arsenal fans have been in an extreme pit of hell this week and I think the tension led to questions the exec team could handle.
We didn’t learn a lot from the call, only the things we’ve been talking about all week.
Arsenal didn’t lead the charge on the Super League, but they said yes. We didn’t break the windows, but we had our hands on the goods. The semantics of it don’t matter, we were involved, the fans busted the ruse, and now we are where we are.
There are a few things that don’t matter.
Trust.
Honestly, who cares about trust? What does trust really equate to for us? It’s not tangible. It doesn’t make my experience with Arsenal that much better. It’s just not that important.
Trust, for fans in 2021 isn’t earned… it’s spent.
The stories spreading through the internet are that the club is going to heavily invest in this football club this summer to make up for what they did.
Hold on… what? As a reward for bad behaviour, ownership is going to invest in their own product to make it more competitive?
It’s absurd logic on many levels, but mark my words, if there’s a £100m summer incoming, no one will care about ‘trust.’
The struggle I have with Josh, Vinai, and the execs that went before is they create these weird battlefields in the minds of the fans.
‘Long-term heavy investment is not sustainable’
Firstly, football in general is one of the most sustainable businesses in the world. How many professional clubs went to the wall during the global pandemic? Not many. Football is robust, it never goes broke, it always survives.
Second point, long-term high-level investment is only unsustainable for clubs that don’t want to do it. One of the big issues in the game is that certain clubs use bottomless pits of cash as their weapon of mass destruction, that won’t stop and will always happen as long as there’s oil in the ground.
Third point… if Arsenal just did things properly, they wouldn’t need to keep investing at high levels in the long term because they’d have a sustainable model that buys low, sells high, and constantly feeds high-quality players into the first team or out the door for big fees to other clubs.
Josh talks a good ‘I’m the only sensible businessman in the room’ game but he doesn’t produce evidence of it in the things he does and signs off.
Signing Willian on a 3-year deal at 32 years old for £250k a week was not long-term thinking. We know Chelsea had £120k a week 2 year deal on the table. We know Spurs couldn’t afford him. We know the player didn’t want to leave London. With all that leverage, we still managed to pay double and give an extra year, and no one suffered the consequences of wasting £39m of money we didn’t have when it came to funding the Gunnersaurus.
David Luiz, on big, big money, at 34 is not long-term thinking. £24m all in to replace Koscielny in season one. Then we went in again after he had a shocking season. Will we go there again?
Auba on a mega new deal, at 31, was not long-term thinking. I understand why it happened, if he’d scored 30 goals this season, we’d be 4th, not 9th… but a disciplined businessman with a long-term view would have sold.
Crying about the mess we’re in when it’s of our own making is unacceptable at this point in time.
Here’s the thing, Arsenal fans constantly complain about investment without realizing we’re one of the highest net spenders in the league.
The problem isn’t money, it’s that we give that money to people that spend it badly. That’s on Josh and no one else.
If there’s money available this summer, then he needs to set some rules for how it can be used.
- No contracts to players over the age of 28. Harsh, but needed.
- No players over the age of 24 should be signed.
- Edu needs to shift players out of the club and raise capital. If we win the Europa League, don’t give deals to the bums that have us in 9th right now. Move them on. Be ruthless
- Every name we consider needs to come with a scouting report, no more deals with super-agent buddies.
Josh should get an advisor that has worked in football at a high level behind the scenes. A Chief of Staff type that can help him with decisions and call bullshit on people that don’t give a fuck. Edu cannot be trusted. Look at his relationship with Kia. Look at some of the financial decisions he’s made with certain players. How did the physio get his job in the medical department? Who vetted that? Who continues to let the contacts people do contacts things that look the same as the contacts person before? Where is the control in the system? What have we learned? Where are the checks and balances that stop this summer being a disaster in which we waste cash again because we’re so damn slow to figure out average talent?
Arsenal need structure, we need to get back to some basic principles, and we need to do things the hard way.
Joe Willock is pulling up trees at Newcastle, sell him. Eddie has prestige on his name, sell him. Sell Reiss, Mavropanos, Torreira, and Matteo. Do not give a new deal with David Luiz. Sell Lacazette at his peak and don’t be tempted by another player looking for that golden goodbye.
Then invest in the future. WIlliam Saliba is going to be one of our 4 centre backs next season, give him games. Martinelli, Flo B, Odegaard, ESR, and Saka are the exciting core of a team we should build around. Arsenal need to build on that ‘U21 minutes’ table we’re top of this season because it makes fans happy and the strategy of growing a team from youth level up is better than one of cobbling together old players that used to be good… ‘one last job for the boys’ is not a sustainable vision. What you want is to build towards the Champions League with young/hungry players, so when you get there, you can compete for 5 years.
I might be in the minority here, but I don’t want to see more of Josh. I don’t care what he has to say about his love for the brand. What I’d like is less talk, more action, smarter thinking. Don’t tell me you’re a loving owner, show me, with an exciting vision, paired with a disciplined plan, activated upon with brutal efficiency.
Arsenal PR needs to sit down with Arteta and use this crisis as an opportunity for him. Let him sell the future, give him better talking points, use the end of season to blood the kids and ‘maybe’ win a trophy. This whole debacle really does shine a light on what Arsenal is at the moment, I know many can’t see it now, but Arteta really is the least of our problems right now.
Time for Arsenal to stop making life so fucking hard on themselves. Make smart decisions, even if they are hard. Move the club forward. Build on the worst season in living memory on and off the pitch.
Josh K has the privilege of fixing the most exciting problem in world football. He’s barely 40. Fix it, and he’ll go from a football insurrectionist to a god. It’s that simple. Make Arsenal great. Give trust to those that deserve it. Get back to basics and stop trying to shortcut sporting greatness.
Time to move forward.
There’s some actual football later today. I’m hoping to see something innovative out there. No strikers, what are we going to do?!
See you in the comments. x
13 wins 13 defeats this sesson nice symmetry in Superfans Vs SuperShittyfans battle.
Arteta wants everyone happy?
Generational indeed
TYAGN Yah there was a plane with the banner Back arteta, kroenke out during the protest. Everyone entitled to their opinion but for me, arteta has to go, not good enough for a top club because he since he has come on board, we have been getting worse. The worst thing about getting a new manager is, no one does their homework and every player gets a fresh start, I mean how thick do you have to be to think the previous manager was letting the players down when both manager and players share the blame. Arteta is a slow… Read more »
China “Any rational person from here would surely agree that unless we do miracles in theEL now this season has been an abject failure and artetas entire tenure on balance has been well below standard” China you are making the same mistake with the Europa League like you did with the FA Cup in stating performing a “miracle” to win it. Arteta winning the Europa League doesn’t suddenly elevate Arteta up to a great manager or very good one. These are secondary competitions. It will be a great historic night for the club to win Europa League but this doesn’t… Read more »
Worth having a look at the terms of reference of the UK Governments review of football. Won’t effect say Swansea or Cardiff. It’s only England.So potentially these two clubs possibly ( unless the Welsh Government adopt the reviews findings) The Review will: Consider the multiple Owners’ and Directors’ Tests and whether they are fit for purpose, including the addition of further criteria; Assess calls for the creation of a single, independent football regulator to oversee the sport’s regulations and compliance, and its relationship with the regulatory powers of The FA and other football bodies; Examine the effectiveness of measures to… Read more »
And also not learning from that FA Cup win.
EPL tells all.
Ishola note I didn’t say winning the EL would make him great or even good, I said it would mean this season was not an abject failure (still a very problematic one but CL qualification and a trophy goes a very long way to covering some of the cracks of the season)
There’s a very important distinction
And the reason winning the EL would be a miracle is not because it’s so hard but because arteta has shown a tendency to make us underachieve. Something which will see us likely knocked out in the EL.
and btw I am not belittling the Europa League itself to win.
It will be a great night if Arsenal win it.
It’s rather to do with Arteta himself. He proves he is very good by doing good things in the EPL.
@Gonsterous
Their is just no shred of evidence that Arteta has improved the team. With a better squad than Emery he’s done a hell of a lot worse , so how can anyone defend him? The Prague game was only different because our guys had their shooting boots on for 10 min of that game. Even in that game we were poor in the second half
Terraloon
What the fuck does the Givernment know about football.
There should be a review of the Government.
Kronkephobe
“. I’m sure Tony can arrange the PA.”
Please don’t start him off again on his sub woofers …
China “And the reason winning the EL would be a miracle is not because it’s so hard but because arteta has shown a tendency to make us underachieve. Something which will see us likely knocked out in the EL.” The odds will be against him winning it yes but he has already shown in the FA Cup previously that he can galvanise and put together a few games in the cup competitions. This of course is nowhere near the standard if you want to do good things in the EPL. You can also argue of course that Arteta has weakened… Read more »
Events of last week got me thinking, are the kroenke’s the sole reason for the clubs demise? I would say no, yes they have not been popular with us fans, primarily from my point of view because of their record of success of current clubs under their ownership. Let’s be honest all owners of clubs these days do so for a reason, some as a money making venture, some as means of laundering money, some for boosting their worldwide image, the kroenkes are in it for money without doubt but I wouldn’t hold that against them per say, the owners… Read more »
Newcastle scored in extra time. Ha! Ha!
I don’t want Chelsea and Pools to make the Top4.
Shit! again VAR????
Yeah. Willock scores!!!!!!
Willock is Newcastle’s SuperSub.
And they said willock couldn’t do it in the prem …mugs ..
VAR fucked us last night again although I have to concede we are bang average
What a game! Newcastle scored at the 92 mins. VAR called no goal. Then Willock scored at the 94 mins. Game tired 1 – 1.
Pierre
Why isn’t Willock starting games for Newcastle?
It’s nice that he can pop up with goals coming on as sub in the later part of matches but some may see it telling that he actually isn’t picked many times to start games for Newcastle.
Arsenal don’t need a super sub midfielder.
We need a first team midfielder that starts every match.
But of course the aspect of promise can still be bandied around.
Would this willock have surfaced under arteta? The earlier we know that arteta is a curse, the better for us and.most especially our youngsters. Imagine willock playing superbly under Bruce.
If we had a competent DoF we should be ripping off Newcastle for 20M for Willock, he’s having some unbelievable run of goal scoring form
But fully expect the clueless duo of Edu and Arteta to do something dumb by sending him out on loan again
Willock sticking a few £million onto his transfer fee.Media & barcodes trying to nab him on the cheap £20 million.Sod that.min £25 million.£20 million taking the piss.
All those talking about winning the Europa…are you nuts? Arteta couldn’t win Russian Roulette if you gave him an empty revolver. This is a rehash of the Emery season only that our form is way worse and emery was actually a manager.
Ishola
:”Why isn’t Willock starting games for Newcastle?”
Why isn’t martinelli playing for Arsenal
Why did Arteta drop Ozil to the detriment of the team..
Mr Serge.
The only wrong VAR decision yesterday was the confirmation that there was even a foul in the first place. For me it was an attempt by Ceballos to con the ref. He does this sort of thing all the time. If roles had been reversed the vast majority on here would rightly be calling the opposition player a diver, a chart or more than likely something stronger
Both offsides were tight but based on the technology available both were judged correctly.
Pierre
“Why isn’t martinelli playing for Arsenal
Why did Arteta drop Ozil to the detriment of the team..”
Well of course I don’t expect Martinelli to start every match but of course he hasn’t been given enough chances.
Ozil was a bum.
Newcastle have been figting relegation for most of the season.
Surely Willock claims a first team place in such a team if he is as good as you are telling us.
Wiilock’s deficiencies as a midfielder clearly are keeping him out of the starting line up but he still has is goal scoring boots. Maybe more use to us in the front 3
Be absolutely gobsmacked if Arteta wins the Europa league seriously, can’t see where the goals are coming from, if we fail to get an away goal at Villareal,we’re out.
Vickingz
“Would this willock have surfaced under arteta?”
Arteta started willock 2 times in the prem this season, one as a man marker in the Leeds game.
Say no more.
Le groaners complain that we haven’t a goalscoring midfielder when we have one right under our nose .
7 goals with 3 assists from 12 starts tels it’s own story.
Arteta deserve to be sacked even if he wins the EL. Been absolutely shocking in the league ever since he took over.
I don’t even bother remarking about penalty incidents now in matches as they happen.
I found it ridiculous a long time ago in how they can be awarded for the slighest and faintest of touches on a player.
It’s an all round circus so you should expect the final outcomes of these incidents to be comedy as well.
Kroenke has been a terrible owner for Arsenal. He sat and watched while we were forced to sell our best players year after year. All for the sake of managing loan repayments. It would have been easy for him to re-finance our debt; allowing us to keep our best players. He chose not to because it would have affected the value of his portfolio for a few years. A quick look at the value of AFC in 2007 compared to now shows the very real profit he has made. And it was at the expense of every fan. By preaching… Read more »
Ishola
“Surely Willock claims a first team place in such a team if he is as good as you are telling us.”
On the same basis, surely Martinelli claims a starting place if he is as good as you all are telling us.
The fact is , willock has started a similar amount of games than Martinelli and has 10 goals/assists to martinell 2 goal/assist .
And willock is playing in midfield
Let me guess Willock should get a new deal because he scored a few goals latley? What a joke. Newcastle is his level. Matter of fact he can’t even get a start there.
Pierre
I see Martinelli as a natural CF that is playing as left wing and he has Aubameyang and Lacazette in front of him.
I don’t even call for Martinelli to start every match but just to be given some more matches whereas you seem to be telling us that Willock is good enough to be starting for Arsenal every week.
Windings
So what is Martinelli’s level if he can’t get a start in this present Arsenal side .
Arteta is a dumb coach so expect him to start Xhaka again at LB vs Villareal, Emery though not the brightest bulb but expect him to know the player so well and swiftly deploy the electric Chukweze to punish arsenal
Imagine going out against Mr Good ebening? Lol could be a very dark and shameful day for the club.
Victorious
Emery knows Xhaka’s weaknesses well enough.
He knew them well enough to throw Xhaka under a bus near the end of his time at Arsenal.
He will be looking to take any advantage relating to Xhaka in the tie.
Ishola ” don’t even call for Martinelli to start every match but just to be given some more matches whereas you seem to be telling us that Willock is good enough to be starting for Arsenal every week.” Not even close to the truth.. .my argument is that le groaners write off our academy players prematurely before they have been given a chance to prove themselves. The common theme on here is Willock can score and assist in the cup competitions but will never replicate it in the Premier league, and here is , with limited game time , hitting… Read more »
Arteta on the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sept 28 2020: “We were in the game for a big part of the game,” Arteta told BBC Sport. “The reality is they are superior to us in many aspects. You could see that in some phases. “I am really happy in the way the team competed and kept believing. This is the standard we have to reach. We are on a different journey. They have been together five years; we have had a few months.” Liverpool- Loss to Villa, Draw and loss with Everton, Draw with Brighton, Draw and loss with… Read more »
His goals do not surprise me , anyone with a football brain can see that he has a hunger and desire to score , he makes superb late runs into the box and is not afraid to miss
He does need to get involved in the game more that’s for sure.
He lacks confidence and belief but he doesn’t lack technique,energy , pace and desire.
Pool can’t beat any team now to save their lives yet they maul Arsenal at home and we supposedly have the transformation manager. Yep, Arsenal surely is transforming
Its no shame going out to Emery he’s a competent coach that lost his way here. It would be more embarrassing for Emery to lose a tie to a team managed by Arteta.
Leftside
“Its no shame going out to Emery he’s a competent coach that lost his way here. It would be more embarrassing for Emery to lose a tie to a team managed by Arteta.”
lol well that’s puts a new perspective on the game for sure.
Ishola I am actually in a small minority here because honestly speaking I can live with us not doing well in the league regularly IF we become an amazing cup team. For the record this wouldn’t mean just picking up the odd FA cup or an occasional EL, but a prolonged period of winning and getting close in multiple cups each season. For example if we come 10th but win the EL and FA cup hey I probably am more than happy with that. Or if the following season we come 10th but won the CL (don’t laugh I know… Read more »
Ishola
Arteta is so out of his depth at this level and Emery will be extra motivated for obvious reasons.
I think the reason why I feel this way is because I have never subscribed to the top 4 is a trophy BS There’s one league winner and everyone else is a loser. This is why I wasn’t celebrating when we came second to Leicester like some on here who thought it was a big deal. It was of no great interest to me and only good as a means to an end to get marginally more prize money and automatic qualification for the CL… again which is only fun if you’re in it to win it. No participation trophies… Read more »
Our standards are also non existent. Di Matteo won the CL for Chelsea and was despatched when performances declined (I don’t want us to hire and fire as frequent as them but the cold truth is they behave like a big club with standards and ambition).
An FA Cup shouldn’t mean we have to endure Arteta whilst he makes us a mid-table side for the foreseeable future. His league performance as a coach would be abysmal if we were managing the side that defeated us yesterday, let alone for Arsenal.
How has he managed to perform worse than Emery though? Honestly didn’t that was even possible.
China
There is a difference though to doing shit in the league.
This season we are doing shit in the league.
Emery is well known to spend a lot of time studying video of the opposing team. We’ll lose if we keeps our formation for the last two games. They’ll target Xhaka for sure. I suggest we play Saka as LB and Xhaka in midfield. Saka can support the attack with overlapping run on the left side.
Vic, without trying to sound like RH here – we were a point infront of United when he was sacked. Our current manager comes in and we finish 10 points behind of them. I’m sure they’re like 20 points ahead of us now.
All the stats and records make for grim reading for Arteta. You genuinely have to question how he’s still here and what is a low point moving forward?
Our problem this season more than anything else of course is, we don’t create enough chances so we don’t put the ball in the net anywhere near as much as we need to be doing. 44 goals in 33 games is horrible.
Yeah we are. Our league campaign has been a disgrace
FA cup and league cups were a failure and the EL were still in but have seriously flattered to deceive for much of it
Which is why I doubt we will win it and I’m not impressed one bit and what I’m seeing right now
Left The club just never learns and will make same mistake we did with Emery. Emery should have been gone end of his first season and after the final. Instead they let him start the new season with all the negativity surrounding the team and he was sacked in November. That season became write off. Instead of sacking Arteta as soon as thisbseason ends they will let him continue even if Villareal knock us out and he finish 11th. All pressure next season and October November time they will sack him and next season will be write off again Could… Read more »
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“Just managed to see the highlights, definitely Lenos fault. But that celebration from Richarlison was hilarious, wtf was he trying to do?”
I’m still trying to figure it out But whatever he was doing it was bizarre and hilarious in equal measures . Strange kid.