It’s quite a weird week to be an Arsenal fan. Personally, I’m in this football purgatory where I’m not totally detached from the season, but at the same time, not overly invested in the outcome of it.
It feels like the sort of season where it could easily go to shit… or, be a massive blowout for Arsenal as we find our footing against a bang average Villareal side.
The big talking point yesterday mainly focused on the Daniel Ek news. He’s going to fax over a £1.8b bid for Arsenal.
The Daily Mail reported that people in finance circles have had Arsenal up for sale for 2 years. I find the story deeply suspicious because if that were true, I suspect the Saudi Royal consortium that tried to buy Newcastle would have been knocking on Stan’s door. There’s simply no way Daniel Ek is the first to sniff out an opportunity for Arsenal.
You’re not a seller until you sell, anything is possible, but it just seems a bit unlikely that 1) We’d sell to Ek 2) The price would be £1.8b.
I also run into lots of questions when someone can’t afford something outright.
If he’s borrowing, the money has to be paid back. How is that happening?
If he’s buying outright, where is the infusion of cash we need for players coming from?
Outside ‘love’ and process. What is the big change that’s coming?
I mean, elite tech process at Arsenal would be a huge game-changer… but here’s something to consider. Ownership that interferes with the club is usually not a good thing. The Kroenke family do most things right. They let Arsenal spend what they earn, they don’t get involved, they empower their leaders… the problem? They are very bad talent judges.
From what I hear about Ek, he’s the empowering type… and his record proves that he’s a very good judge of what great looks like with regards to said talent.
So we’ll see, it’s an exciting rumour… I’m of the mind that what we have right now hasn’t worked for a very long time and the situation looks more and more onerous for a family that has its focus firmly in America. At some point, it might be easier just to move on from Arsenal and refocus on LA.
Right, short one today, where do you stand on Daniel Ek?
Folden looks more and more impressive. No wonder he has replaced Sterling in the starting 11.
De Bruyne is not even super quick when he first gets on the ball to dribble past an opponent.
Mahrez is quicker than him from a standing start position.
What De Bruyne has though is more intelligence in when to dribble and in what areas than Mahrez. He is cleverer on the ball than Mahrez.
All we say is Mahrez should cut out or lessen those attempts to dribble from deeper areas.
He is less adept at it than De Bruyne.
Very useful player though of course Mahrez just needs better decision making in deeper areas..
Poch won his first ever trophy at PSG after all those years of failing to win anything at Spurs
So far he edged the league cup on penalties. They’re now out of the CL and second in the league with 3 games left. Still in the semis of the French cup.
I will absolutely love it if Lille win the league and they don’t win the Cup.
After all the talk of how elite Poch is over the years, if the best he manages is a league cup at PSG it would be monumentally funny
Dribblers are just so rare now, and a lot of the ones that excel at it like Adama Traore, St Maximin and Boga lack technique and end product.
De Brunner hasn’t the technical ability to dribble pass players, he charge into space but that’s because of Amanda City’s dominance of teams.
De Bruyne hasn’t the technical ability to dribble pass players, he can charge into space but that’s only because of Man City’s dominance of teams
Ishola
How often do you see KDB shifting through bodies of players out wide? Virtually never. He isn’t that kind of dribbler even though you make him out to be.
Mahrez imo while not Messi or Neymar is more adept in those scenarios while KDB centrally when he has momentum is like a freight train and more effective than Mahrez.
Probably goes some ways to explaining why KDB is a CM and Mahrez a RW.
Yeah right De Bruyne never dribbles past opponents with the ball.
And you called me ‘basic’ earlier lol, christ.
Weagle
De Bruyne can dribble past players in tight areas and in advanced positions and have seen him do it in wide positions as well as central though of course it is mostly central areas with De Bruyne. De Bruyne yes has more scope for his dribbling than Mahrez,
Regardless the criticism of Mahrez still stands. He should lessen the urge to dribble from deep as on enough occasions it breaks down due to being bullied off the ball.
Saint Maxim is so erratic and yet I see posters on here wanting to sign him.
For every good dribble Maxim has just as many or more break down.
Hope Mahrez is reading Le Grove after being the difference in a CL semi so he can really elevate his game.
Take it in Riyad you lightweight metrosexual
Ishola
Not to nearly the same consistency and success as Mahrez out wide/in tight spaces and vice versa. You would almost swear that they are different players and play in different positons.
And this all originated from you mocking him and dsmissing him as a lightweight player. Don’t pretend otherwise and continue to make it a dribbling debate.
Ha Charlie, the metrosexual comment was a bit of an odd one at the time.
How you see Thurs panning out?
Mahrez is world class period. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t understand football. He moves with the ball seamlessly and He is so effective in taking players on. He has been doing it for the past 4 seasons now and he is still consistent. I wish pepe could move in one motion as Magrez does. Sakai on the other hand can become every bit as good as mahrez and even more.
Video footage released on sky shows security stepping aside to let protesters at United walk through a gate and into the stadium for the second breach
‘You conspiracy theorists are nuts’
Very excited about Saka as well.
He really does need to tighten up his composure in front of goal/finishing. Which he will, just hope it is sooner rather than later.
You could see even a worldie like Foden uncharacteristically unconvincing in front of goal over the 2 legs vs PSG. Missed some massive chances/1 vs 1s. Part of parcel for one so young.
Love watching Foden. Real throwback footballer.
Weagle
Not sure, been so desperate in attack all season I’ve not much confidence in us being able to weave a barrage on their goal.
Maybe the fact it’s a 90 min or bust will play into our hands there?
Weagle My gripe with Mahrez is that he loses the ball too often in deep areas when trying to dribble past players in these deeper areas and yes the big reason is because he gets brushed off the ball due to being lightweight. No more no less. You are the one who is making it out to be more than that. So Mahrez should engage his brain a little more and realise that he is not as effective dribbling deep as when he dribbles further up in the real danger areas. It’s a criticism of the player Weagle. All players… Read more »
Mahrez is great man. A hero to kids like my son. Skinny wingers who get pushed around…
Mahrez is a silky smooth dribbler… great control technique and shooting- also from set pieces. A complete player in my estimation on offense. not so sure about his defense tho…
I wasn’t sure who Tina was so I Googled it and came across this…
https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,583485,00.html
“The 10 worst examples of footballers behaving badly” 🙂
Almuniasaynomore I find it difficult to name favourite players as it’s so subjective to each individual’s tastes in players’s styles and skill sets. It’s a bit like asking someone who their favourite guitarist or drummer is. I’ll attempt it a bit differently. Post 2000 Keeper: 1/Mad Jens 2/Emi could possibly have surpassed Jens had we kept him this season. Defender: 1/Tony Adams 2/ Keown no better man marker at that time. 3/ Cole can’t take away his ability as a footballer & I blame the club for letting him go Midfield: 1/ DB10 by a country mile 2/ Paddy Viera… Read more »
Tony
Bergkamp played as a forward not midfield.
….
BuckaghMay 4, 2021 23:19:29
Radio raheem
Not a hint of hindsight I’m sure
😁😁
——++++++
Nope. You must be a new poster, keep reading.
Turns out there are guys on le grove that enjoy watching men poke at balls with rods, on a table.
What is that they keep doing to the tip of their rods?
European youth football coaches are killing dribbling
Dela Mere
For me he was more a midfielder who scored goals than an outright forward like Wrighty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2lj7RQ_IQE
one of my fave left backs of all time! Enjoy the vid during this boring time
I’m expecting farteta to come out on top vs bummery this Thursday
Will probably a good win and one of our better performances
But my predictions are always wrong so go big on a bummery victory and you’ll be making a lot of wonga
Thanks Guns, haven’t seen that in a while. Never tire watching his thunderbolt goals.
Tony
Sorry mate but Dennis was definitely a forward and he criticised Wenger for his plan to abandon 2 forwards after he retired
Northbanker Guess my memories are more from his late box entries or from outside the box. If he were around today I’d see him as an AM/10 again from the same memories like the elbow getting him a red in the West Ham game(?) I have a lasting vision of Bergy accelerating from about 8 meters in from the hallway line towards the goal letting an elbow version of a haymaker swing into the west ham player who was snapping and tugging away at him. Was a bit deliberate but a bit of a woke decision for back then and… Read more »
Tony
I don’t agree with Ian Wright being your No.1 Striker.
Arsensl-s league decline under Graham started with the purchase of Ian Wright.
Dela Mare
Yes they did decline but that was due to the change of system where they focused on him by bypassing the midfield. The system was broken but that wasn’t Wrights fault and it was testament to how good he was that he could continue to score without creative midfielders ( we had John. Jensen ffs)
Actually a similar comment can be made about withdrawing into midfield to accommodate Cesc and abandon the second striker ie to turn a Dennis into a Cesc
It was mistaken but not Cesc’s fault who for me is still one of our greatest ever midfielders even if the system was again broken
As for the negotiating through the media by Ek & Stan it’s all a bit silly. If the press have it right Ek is going to bid £1.8billion and Stan has said don’t bother the club isn’t for sale in the same papers. So reality flies straight out of the window and a show will be put on for the fans in the media. What’s really going on behind closed doors we’ll probably never know until after the fact of a sale. I feel Ek will need a lot of help from the media and fans’ ‘noise’ pressure as well… Read more »
Dela Mere
Shame you didn’t read my caveat above my selection: it’s all subjective to each individual,
I loved infectious IW and his record breaking time at the club.
That’s the way I enjoyed what I watched every week.
Others will be different to me.
Tony, I don’t think that the Kroenke wants to sell especially not being chased out of town by fans or stalked by some nouveau rich billionaire, but he may be forced by external events. He is in a financial bind with his stadium in LA so may decide to divest some of its portfolio. Not now, but in a 2~3 years that may be the case. Ek has already said that he is playing the long game. The ESL fiasco was the final nail on the idea that Arsenal could be successful without a big financial outlet or a complete… Read more »
There was some rumour that Leno may join Bayern and that in exchange Arsenal may get Alex Nübel on loan next season. So when Manuel Neuer retire the following year, Bayern has already two German goalkeepers to fight it out. Make sense for Nübel to go on loan for a year instead of rotting on Bayern bench. However with a new manager coming this summer, he may be given more opportunity to replace Neuer. Also from Leno’s perspective it does not make sense to leave Arsenal where he is No1 to join Bayern and be No2, unless he has already… Read more »
Not sure i like the idea of Bayern’s young backup keeper coming to us to iron out mistakes in his game for a season before heading back home. Especially with our current NO1 heading the other way.
Too risky.
If he’s of the required level to be our NO1 then we should include him in a p/x with Leno
Valantine I was never holding my breath for sale to happen The super/elite rich are a breed unto themselves who probably don’t understand each other. I haven’t met a wealthy person yet who didn’t occupy some part of the spectrum. I see them as a very savvy royalty level without the titles. That goes for men in powerful positions, such as army generals etc. I was with my son yesterday with his golf pro trainer when a cart pulled up and a very hyper guy his late 50s jumped out and invited us all to play so he could use… Read more »
Any all time midfield pre prem HAS to include Alan Ball.What a player.When Brady first arrived the two were known as The Master & his apprentice.It was spot on.& I’ve watched Arsenal since 67.In the prem era it would have been Thomas “ little Mozart” Rosicky but for a nightmare catalogue of injuries.
Test
Valentin
The last thing that Arsenal should be doing is perpetuating our dependence on loans unless
there is an intention to buy the player.
If we decide to offload Leno then we should be recruiting a top class goalkeeper who is an upgrade and will become a “long term” asset upon which we can build a solid defence.
Uwot Interesting. I had Alan Ball down as a bit of an underachiever when he was with us. A bit of a Billy Big Bollocks with his WC winner’s medal. He was also a tireless worker at the Toffees and I thought he may have slackened off a bit when he joined us. Perceptions I guess. A couple of controversial ones who might not make my final midfield cut but consideration and honourable mentions should be given to Steve Williams and Kevin Richardson and Petit. But ultimately my quartet would be PV, Brady, Paul Davis (beautiful player) and dear old… Read more »
Test.
Seems to gobble up every comment I write.
Val
Pedro’s got a lie detector software now.
ES,
I am against keeping borrowing players without any long term planning, however if Arsenal is really skint that maybe the only avenu left for the Club.
Arteta has already made it known that he wants another ready made CB, another partner for Partey. If we need to also buy Ödegaard, an understudy for Tierney, a RB and a new goalkeeper, even with the sale of all the fringe players that may stretch the budget too far.
Tony,
How did you go past it then?
Tony,
I think my comment which were a response to you get canned because I used a censor word. Nothing naughty, but maybe too often linked with nutjob.
Tony,
I too would love to be a fly on the wall of the Kroenke ranch when they get served by Perez lawsuit.
Val
“How did you go past it then?”
I only speak the truth.
:Nothing naughty, but maybe too often linked with nutjob”
Did you name Arteta?
“Dani Ceballos wants La Liga return Next season”
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out son.
we’ll help you pack.
Tony,
There is a channel on Reddit called Confidently Incorrect…
,😁
Talking about Arteta, did you the sudden flurry of reports linking Arsenal with every free managers under the sun? Now we allegedly have contacted Maurizio Sarri to replace Arteta. I doubt it’s true, but that made me laugh.
My favourites are Santi ,Rosicky, Paul Davis
David Jack reminds of the great Arsenal side of my youth.
Valentin
Leno has got 2 years left on his contract. If we want to offload him then we should maximise
his transfer price.
Bayern Munich are not a club short of money and we should not be pandering to their whim.
If he leaves for that club let them take the financial risk and not us.
We have already made enough mistakes in the goalkeeping department. We should be able
to find someone who is equivalent or an upgrade like the goalkeeper at Athletico Bilbao who
is already the first string for Spain.
“We have already made enough mistakes in the goalkeeping department. We should be able
to find someone who is equivalent or an upgrade like the goalkeeper at Athletico Bilbao who
is already the first string for Spain.”
Unai Simon. I watched him vs Seville the other day. His clean sheet cost me £750 off a fiver. Don’t know too much about him but he made some excellent saves.
Val
Would an elite or elite potential manager want to work under Edu?
There has to be a clear division between manager/head coach and TD/DoF unlike now.
Edu has to be collateral damage if and when Arteta is shown the door simply because they share the responsibility for their failures together both being being equal on the totem pole.
We should be proactively looking for a DoF and manager/head coach for the eventual need of a plan B.
Vintage Gun
Simon’s agent is ICM Stellar. Arsenal appear to have patched up their relationship with this agency. The Barnett family are Arsenal supporters.
I am sure that we can generate from Bayern Munich at least £20 million for Leno and that money should be used to buy a new goalkeeper if he is sold.
What we must not do is take someone else’s cast off.
Cazorla
Thanks for your eloquently put dig.
Enjoy it while it lasts: however, it doesn’t change my low opinion of you nor my sons’.
So jog on and enjoy your day.
Tony, Of course having a ready made DoF who knows all the big players in Europe would be a bonus, but only if he is willing to be part of a long term project or be willing to infuse his knowledge to an understudy. Otherwise we would be in exactly the same position whenever he decide to leave. The noise that I hear about Edu is that he is growing into the role. So if we have an experienced manager without a big ego he may be able to step up. The problem is if we hire a manager with… Read more »
@Ps
We already lost our soul to the Kroenkes so why does it make a difference if we lost it to a Russian.
Atleast with Usmanov 2 billion is a minor dent to his 12b fortune. My fear with Daniel Elk is does he have money to throw at arsenal when the 1.8 is half his net worth. With Usmanov you would know he has some monies left over to invest in Arsenal however I dont have that same confidence with Daniel. I doubt he will pump in a 1bn like Abramovich did.
ES, The problem is that in Germany there does not seem to be a lot of available No1 spot next season. So if Leno wants to leave, the only clubs likely to be interested may not be the top clubs or at least not as their No1. Bayern may be convinced to pay what we pay for him, but I cannot see any other club playing £20 millions for a No2 goalkeeper. Forcing him to stay an extra year at the club may be counterproductive if he is going to sulk and be disruptive next season. On the other hand,… Read more »
Tony Thanks for that, really enjoyed reading your thoughts on former players. We all regret being too young to have witnessed certain players, from an arsenal point of view I would have loved to watch a peak Frank McClintock so I could compare him to Adam’s,Campbell, Keown. Everyone i speak to who saw him play waxes lyrical about him. Certainly an admirable man off the pitch. I also am learning that Paul Davis is more highly regarded than I would have given him credit for,that’s annoying when you realise you’re capable of badly misjudging a player. I think cesc is… Read more »
*eye on the past
Valentin
In recent times I have suggested that there might be a problem with the goalkeeper coaching
at the club.
However, this does not excuse the errors made by Leno. A 29 year old goalkeeper should be able
to make his own decisions when he is playing and not rely on the coach to do his thinking for him.
@D M salazar.
I did state football has sold out a long time ago.
I don’t like business men like Kroenke. and his ilk
I don’t like oligarchs either.
How did these people make their billions, and who did they “screw” and, in the case of some oligarchs, kill to do it?
ES, I have been critical of Leno because he makes too many technical mistakes. However against Everton it was not a technical mistake but a concentration mistake which to be fair to him he has eradicated from his game since he joined Arsenal. Concentration lapses may be inputted to personal issues including bad relationship with the coaching staff. If the relationships are so bad that he wants out that would explain he is not fully focus. Some people can compartmentalise personal issue and work, some don’t. It looks to me that Leno left issues off the pitch have an impact… Read more »
Sod
“David Jack reminds of the great Arsenal side of my youth”
I suppose you went to the games on your penny farthing
Watched from the neighbourhood rooftops
@Pierre, theres a game i love that involves a club, balls and holes, on a well trimmed surface,
Its Not golf,
Get mad Jens in as goalkeeping coach just been sacked from his position at Hertha.
Davey
Yeah we need a “token German” in our coaching set-up
This Spotify bloke sounds like he’s trying to raise his profile, not buy a dumpster fire like Arsenal. Either that or he’s a tyre kicker.
Bollocks story. Stan would be crazy to sell.
A token German? not sure about that A WINNER
” From what I hear about Ek, he’s the empowering type… and his record proves that he’s a very good judge of what great looks like with regards to said talent. ”
That is the first thing the Club needs , good judge of people. Except , guess implies all Fraudtetas get packed off.
Good beginning to optimise our reasonably good talent.
FOURTH here we come .
Davey
He was sacked for calling another former international who now is a commentator for Sky Sports Germany a “token black guy”
Jens Lehmann was a consultant to the Hertha’s advisory board, which in lehmann terms is a token former pro amongst the suits to give an impression of a well run club.
Without his immense expertise of all things football now Hertha Berlin are sure to plummet down the table.
Oh wait……
“” From what I hear about Ek, he’s the empowering type….”
If only he could empower himself to an extra couple of billion of his own money before making the bidding
Only manged to see a couple of games at Highbury in the early 70’s due to living in the west country. First game standing with a school mate in the middle of the north bank and Radford scored with a glancing header from I think it was a Georgie Armstrong cross. Second game from Directors box (school vicar new someone) was vs Notts forest 2.0 win and George Graham stood out as an elegant controlling presence in MF. Fabregas was the best for me out of games I have seen as he just seemed to have so much time on… Read more »
@PS
In this new age you have to live and get in bed with these billionaires or else you get left behind.
The only alternative is to go down the fan owned route which isn’t entirely 100% fan owned in Germany.
Unfortunately the world is run and owned by wronguns. Even people like the royal family etc aren’t squeaky clean themselves. Yet people still adore them etc.
Sorry helps if you read why he was sacked
MidwestGun My issue is …Did Ek really say he is faxing over a bid? People still fax things? Maybe he is sending it by horse courier too . S. Kroenke does enjoy a good pony express letter.” Man there are still some legal things you have to do by fax … https://www.copycei.com/6-reasons-you-still-need-a-fax-machine/ … the US military only recently replaced it’s 70s style floppy disk system that controlled the US’s nuclear arsenal … lol … https://www.businessinsider.com/military-replaces-floppy-disks-used-to-control-nuclear-weapons-2019-10 Words on a blog Kroenke,Never really had a favourite snooker player from back in the day (1980s) when I used to follow it,It was always… Read more »
Taking nothing away from Roberto Carlos, who had a hammer of a left foot, and really good technique
But some of the defensive walls in those free kicks were awful
VAR would definitely have ruled a fair few of those free kicks out as well, with Real Madrid players pushing the opponent out of the way to create a gap in the wall
Brilliant video though
“This still angers me today, I feel we would have beaten them that night had the ref not been paid off. I would love to hear those stories come out of the woodwork, I’m sure the two Spanish clubs were paying refs off all the time. Even with that said, I seem to remember Nik Bendtner, the cunt, miss a fucking sitter at the end which would have done it on away goals, can anyone refresh my memory?” Yep that’s how it went down. And at half time i’d knew we’d be going out of the CL despite us leading… Read more »
Three of my worst 6 matches supporting Arsenal have been Euro nights.
Wayne Bridge KO the invincibles team (We were the Worlds best team that year)
Man U smacking our heads off early in the Semis (after the fantastic lazer show and rocking build up)
Most painful for me was getting KO’d by Liverpool in the quarters after Walcott ran the length of the pitch to set up Adebayor in the last few mins.
That match destroyed me more than any i can remember tbh..
I was wounded but proud of the team in the 2006 final loss against Baca
Barcelona?
Never heard of em
Uefalona I think you mean
Talking of greats my old man raved about Alex James. He said thousands stood outside Highbury waiting to see if he was fit to play. He said Alex along with Bestie were the 2 best players he ever saw.
‘ “Dani Ceballos wants La Liga return Next season”’
Good
test
You passed words
B-
China1
I’m trying to respond to TheBayingMob, but my comment keeps disappearing into the ether
TheBayingMob,
Yeah, I’ve long since come round to Steve Davis, who is a witty and self-deprecating guy, and not the Spitting Image “Steve Interesting Davis” I used to think he was.
Rich when I posted that last night, I also thought the same thing.
Nowdays, we even have players lying down behind the wall!
I still think RC would have smashed a large number in. His technique was incredible. There is no one currently who can do these… some of his shots defied physics
Vintage Gun “Wayne Bridge KO the invincibles team (We were the Worlds best team that year)” Oh shit! I had let my memory forget this, I had taken a ticket from a friend for this game, it was celebratory at half time (as I think we would have gone onto play Real Madrid in the next round, well at least that’s what I remember) – it was one of the only times I sat in the West Lower at Highbury … I was actually sat on my own which was unusually too and seat was down near the South Stand… Read more »
Vintage Gun “Most painful for me was getting KO’d by Liverpool in the quarters after Walcott ran the length of the pitch to set up Adebayor in the last few mins. That match destroyed me more than any i can remember tbh.” Mate you are giving me PTSD, can still remember leaping around my living room when Adebayor scored, I remember my wife (at the time) looking at me like I was some sort of weirdo, I was literally jumping over the back of the sofas … I still don’t understand how we were going through on away goals on… Read more »
Cazorla
“Tony you don’t deserve to have an opinion after the shambles of describing God as a midfielder.
Hopefully this golf coach can also help your son understand football a bit better. If he listens to you he’s fucked”
True, though I do hear that Tony is very knowledgeable on holiday destinations…. his Judith Chalmers impersonation is legendary..