Hard to go too deep on nothing games at this stage of the season, but downing Sam Allardyce to his first-ever relegation was certainly a little bit of sweetness after 9 months of mostly sour. Watching him take a back seat in the dugout chewing gum like he was Simon Cowell judging a string quartet of feral cats was quite amusing.
Additionally, it was a game of world-class goals. We largely controlled the game, key players stepped up like Smith Rowe and Saka, and there were some surprise star performances… namely from Willian, who created 4 chances and fizzed a stunning freekick in for our third.
There were frustrations with Arteta getting his line-up mostly correct. The biggest one being that Bukayo Saka unsurprisingly delivered a masterclass at left-back. He was a destroyer all game. His defending was sound, but his runs from deep were perfect, and his final balls deserved more than the return he managed. Arteta was pretty pissed after the game when he was asked if he regretted building a galaxy brain plan around Granit Xhaka these past few weeks, his answer was, NO. I’d be shocked if that were the truth behind closed doors, if it is, we have big, big problems.
There was also another sad reality. The midfield of Dani Ceballos and Mo Elneny, for a second week running, was far better than anything we put out against Villareal. You can laugh at that, but the lesson here is that we should have played a normal starting 11 without any LOOK AT ME ideas. Newcastle were totally nullified last week, sure, they’re not great, but they scored 4 past Leicester at the weekend and beat them. Against West Brom, it wasn’t exactly elite, but the basic structure allowed our forwards to be more involved in the game and create genuine chances.
Gabriel Martinelli started as a #9, he wasn’t that great, but you know what, I’ll take that from a player who hasn’t been given a run. We know he’s explosive on his day and I’d prefer to bet on potential than see Lacazette in a game like that.
There are still some oddities out there. Dani Ceballos, whilst not offensive today, is exiting the club at the end of the season. Did we need to see him playing again? I don’t understand why we didn’t use the dead nature of the season to have a go with someone else. Same with the bench. Flo Balogun was signed to be part of the first team next season, what does the guy have to do to get a place on the bench?
It’s also really interesting that Cedric has been moved so far down the pecking order. I have no problem with Cal Chambers, but it’s odd that he takes the place over a real right-back considering how sure Arteta was when we signed him.
Arteta’s press conference was revealing. I have watched every single piece of media of him over the last year, so I know the patterns. Firstly, his abrupt answer on the Xhaka/LB question set the tone for a conference that rapidly declined in mood. His dark eyes indicated a sleepless week. Then he was asked how good it was that ESR ‘scored the first of many Premier League goals,’ his answer was very familiar. He was agitate, he used the question to make a point about our season. He ran with the story about how he needed to be landing 15 goals and 15 assist to hit the top, and that his one goal is an indicator how messed up our squad is. It was an odd answer, made even worse by his praise of Willian who already ‘done it’ at the highest level.
People jumped to his defence because they read the quotes and didn’t hear the tone. It was a typical response where he uses the stick on young players. Arsene would have said ‘I’m happy, this is hopefully the start of many more.’ Arteta has a habit of not demanding the same standards of his senior players in press conferences. It’s a real weakness in his otherwise very honed PR skills. The issue is he doesn’t just talk like that, he manages that way. Gabriel has a bad half of football and he’s dropped for 3 months, other players are allowed to constantly stink out the starting 11.
That leads me to my next point. Mikel Arteta is here to stay, that is how it’s going to happen bar something very curveball. He said in the week he needs to be ruthless this summer. There is going to be a test of that very soon.
David Luiz.
This is the big one. The player is a mistake machine. He has been since he joined. On his day, he’s one of the best, but let’s be real, since he arrived, we have cratered as a football club. He has lost his pace, he is now picking up injuries, he wasn’t good enough for Chelsea, he makes mistakes, gives away penalties and has a collection of red cards that make him a hall of famer.
… what will Arteta do?
We know Edu is probably already lining up a new deal because he’s clueless. But in a ruthless high-performance environment, how can there be space for him? William Saliba is the future, he can move at speed, he’s great with the ball at his feet, do we honestly think he’d make more mistakes than a 34-year-old David Luiz who is racking them up for fun?
Ruthless is moving on the past even if there’s a short term bit of pain.
Ruthless is seeing beyond reputation.
Ruthless is doing things the hard way.
Now, of course, the bigger question is whether Vinai is going to go down the route of letting Edu decide the summer again. These decisions about the future of Arsenal should be made by someone who is going to be here for 5 years, I have my doubts Edu is that guy. Arteta shouldn’t have choice on Luiz, Edu should be the one making the big calls, but he was demoted.
That means Vinai needs to step up to the plate. We know he’s not been able to muster the courage to stop a lot of bad things happening to Arsenal over the past year. He made 50+ people redundant before signing Willian to a 3 year deal on £250k a week (double the amount he could get anywhere else). An exec that has lived through the Ozil debacle jumped right into another one without asking a single question. He then moved on the Gunnersaurus… breaching the biggest rule on redundancies, do them in one sweep so as not to appear cruel.
He needs to find some courage this summer and get his reputation back on track.
The biggest question that needs to be answered is this: What is the truth of the failings?
He cannot get to that by asking Edu and Arteta. He needs to do the hard work. Those two are in the gutter with regards to their efforts this season. The next 6 months are crucial, what is totally clear from a CEO perspective is that we need an intervention because the current track has tanked.
Some areas to ponder.
Is the management style of Arteta improving team spirit or cratering it?
The squad looked petrified against a bang average side last Thursday. Last year, we beat City and Chelsea to win the FA Cup. What happened to the fighting spirit? Things tend to get better as ideas settle, they have declined here. There must be a cause. What is it? Are we sharing that information with Arteta? I know not everything can be compared to corporate America, but generally, new leaders come with bad ideas of what leadership should be, why? Because no one is a natural. Everyone needs to work on it. People don’t know they are doing things wrong unless they are told. Football coaching is no different.
What value is the coaching staff delivering to the squad?
That question should be answered by speaking to the players, the analysts, the manager and the technical director. Because there is not a world where they are all hitting the mark, otherwise we’d be in better shape. Bernd Leno has been terrible, why? If he wants out, what can we do to change that? Who is challenging terrible ideas? Or worse, fully endorsing them. It’s important information because the only way rookie appointments work is if the teams around them counter the weaknesses. RB Leipzig know how to do that, we do not.
What could Arsenal be doing better?
We have seen some pretty horrendous ideas implemented at Arsenal that you and I could have stopped with just 5 years of watching Arsenal as our qualification. There is usually a reason bad ideas go to market. Vinai needs to find out why this keeps happening. He should be speaking to everyone at the club to find out what could be done better and see if there are consistent patterns. There ALWAYS are. Identify them, communicate them, implement better ways of working so the organisation improves.
What does the self-assessment reveal?
I would ask Arteta and Edu where it went wrong and what they think they need to be better at their jobs. Maybe it has happened, but I wouldn’t bet on it though, I’ve watched Arsenal leadership let failing staff decline in performance with zero intervention for years. It’s part of the KSE leadership training course, rule number one: Question nothing, never intervene, let talent see out their ideas until the death. It’s quite staggering how little action happens when things are going badly off the rails.
The reason we are failing, 100%, is not just a money issue. Better players always improve outcomes, but we have seen some really iffy stuff this season. Vinai should find out how aware the two most important football staff are of their failings and then decide if a bigger intervention is needed… because Arsenal simply cannot sanction a big summer without assurances on what went wrong and what needs to change to avoid a 3 months like the one Emery oversaw in year 2.
A football operation is a machine. There are things that make the machine tick. But like all machines, things break down and it impacts output. Arsenal is notorious at letting the machine fail. Vinai needs to be a more active CEO, a mechanic if you will, he needs to be nosier about what is going on, he needs to crack the spanner.
- Find your 99 problems.
- Distil them down to the 3-5 big themes. The truth of this season if you will.
- Design ways out of the problems.
- Implement them.
- Check the ways are working
- Repeat.
The idea that we’re going to roll into the summer and treat the devastation of the last 9 months as a blip is not wild assumption from me, it’s how we’ve operated for a decade. It needs to change. If heads aren’t going to roll, then truth needs to be found, rough edges need sanding, and a new way of working needs to happen right away. If it doesn’t, we’ll be well on our way to replicating the last managerial exit and we’ll be welcoming Roberto Martinez and his ‘experience’ to the carpet.
Let’s hope change is coming, it’s needed.
P.S. Listen to my damn podcast with Johnny.
Pedro
They’re going to go back for that David Raya fella to be #1 or are the links to Onana credible?
Still binned
I think Leno is a great keeper, but question if he’s distro is good enough for where we want to go. Would be VERY nervous of who we’d sign in his place.
Pedro
Commendable your unfounded faith in this lousy manager
Things will only get worse backing this idiot in the transfer market
Do you really see this muppet standing toe to toe with pep, klopp or tuchel for that matter in seasons to come even if they hand pound for pound like players
A coach with a galaxy ego who has a galaxy inferiority complex to Match it
Apparently we’re waiting to see if Andre Onana gets his ban overturned
I think we’ll sign Ryan on a permanent deal as well
If we’re going to play out the back
We may as well get two mobile keepers who’s strengths are distribution
I don’t watch Dutch football, so I don’t know what his all around game is like, but Onana’s passing range with both feet is absolutely outrageous, he’s got a highlights real that could rival some of the best sweepers the game has ever seen
Sly, already watched him beat every manager in the top 6.
At the risk of a ban Charles why do you keep bringing up the productivity of our forwards and completely ignore how the manager has struggled with getting a tune out of our offence for the best part of 12-18 months. This squad is better than that time we had according to you a top 4 quality squad it’s just that pretty much everyone has struggled with form and performances during this current manager’s reign. At this point it’s utterly mind boggling to even have discussions on whether or not this manager isn’t a total catastrophe because it’s so painfully… Read more »
“Would be VERY nervous of who we’d sign in his place.”
Agreed absolutely
Check out how two footed this guy is, looks like a keeper who wouldn’t be good for anyone with a heart condition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP2iXYrSDaU
Pedro
No comment on Arteta’s “In football you lose more than you win”?
49 goals in 35 league games is embarrassing. Across the board previously productive players have struggled under Arteta. So there’s really no point in bringing up what Maddison or Foden or whoever is doing elsewhere.
Drama queens blah blah blah….
Pedro,
raMs are going to be in the cellar this year and regressing to the mean of that crappy franchise owned by stan the maN. They won the super bowl in 99 way before owned by our scum.
raMs, just did a AFC and traded their young qb for an old and broken down one in hopes of moving forward (think Sanchez for Miki), unfortunately stafford is not a winner, his record against teams with a winning record is 8-67. See a pattern.
Fire the board, vinai, edu, mikel, assistants and statsDNA- all garbage.
From James McNicholas at the Athletic a telling of a story that sums up the Arteta dilemma: Arsenal are a club characterised by inaction and delay. It’s something that stems from the top down, and Arteta seems to have inherited it. The scorer of the opening goal, Smith Rowe, has been one of the shining lights in a dismal season — but had to wait until Boxing Day for his first Premier League start. In a team desperately lacking creativity in central areas, Arteta was strangely slow to show faith in a creative central midfielder. What’s uncertain is whether Arteta… Read more »
Ownership not operating in the realms of upgrade when you can, I’m fully on board with investing in project long term but I think Arteta has underperformed to extent its time to invest in other managerial ideas. Give new team this summer’s budget to begin.
I’m big fan of Ten Hag, got his gem of side cannibalised Monaco levels has bounced back playing same brand of attacking football. Not up to the 2019 side but the identity is there. Something we really lack.
“This squad is better than that time we had according to you a top 4 quality squad it’s just that pretty much everyone has struggled with form and performances during this current manager’s reign.“ Except this is a complete nonsense based on potential and speculation from those with an axe to grind. Ramsey, Mkhi, Ozil from 2018 completely shit on ESR, Saka, and Pepe from now. That’s just a fact, they were all mid to late twenties and delivered a level of output none of our creative players have touched in this country. That’s not a slight on the kids,… Read more »
AFCAMDEN just tweeted something that explains the situation very well: “Comparing our situation to Chelsea’s is pointless. They have a system in place where they can plug and play managers without issue. Ambitious/invested owner, well structured set up and good recruitment. Arsenal have an absent owner, two rookie leaders and a beginner manager. This doesn’t absolve Arteta from blame. He’s made some decisions that have backfired this season, which means people are questioning him. But when you understand what he’s up against, the way he is working to change the mentality/mindset at the club every day, it’s a massive job.… Read more »
Cazzy
Wasn’t a standout option Onana for me
I’m genuinely surprised by that matey seeing as you’re such a giant fucking onanist. 😁
Look out Cazorla, someone’s hacking your account. You almost sounded reasonable there.
Except this is a complete nonsense based on potential and speculation from those with an axe to grind. Ramsey, Mkhi, Ozil from 2018 completely shit on ESR, Saka, and Pepe from now. It’s not it’s a heavily biased opinion from someone who has a warped memory of the players mentioned from 2018. All of a sudden you have good memories of Ozil and co from 2018 and it’s frankly laughable considering how much you wanted Ramsey gone from the club how much Ozil was declining for YEARS and how much Mhiki struggled in English football. All the players mentioned only… Read more »
Marko, you get banned because you come here to fight. Behave or go back in the bin,
A lot will depend on our ability to move players on, how much could we realistically get for this lot in a decimated market? Nketiah – £15-£20 mill Lacazette £12-£15mill Nelson £15-£20mill Torreira £15-£20mill Guendouzi £15-£20mill Elneny £5-£10mil Bellerin £15-£20mill Niles £15-£20mill Leno £15-£20mill Xhaka £25mill Kolasinac Free Luiz Free Mavropanos £10-15mill Willock £20mill Not saying we’d sell all these players, and I’d rather give Willock another contract and loan before making a decision, but still a player who could hypothetically generate funds, although I think we’d regret it down the track If Madrid get Mbappe, maybe we could get… Read more »
CC
“We sign a replacement for Ozil last summer, as we should’ve, and I think you see our miserly home record dramatically change.”
Or play him, I guess that is too simple.
Rich
Nice list. around 175 on the lower end… that is a nice chunk and if KSE throws us a bone, that would really help
Pedro its arguing with a false narrative. If people are getting banned for arguing (not fighting) against that sort of thing go nuts I’m very happy to sit in the sidelines with the likes of Marc and Cesc appeal. We are on the right side of history on this one he’s been a horrific appointment and the sooner he’s sacked the better.
Marko going in studs up on his roomie right out of the gate.
😭
“Across the board previously productive players have struggled under Arteta.” Who are you specifically referencing here? ESR and Odegaard don’t have any previous, meanwhile Laca, Pepe, and Saka have all returned more attacking contributions this season vs last. The two that haven’t are Auba and Willian, so are they the basis of your claim? “it’s a heavily biased opinion from someone who has a warped memory of the players mentioned from 2018. All of a sudden you have good memories of Ozil and co from 2018 and it’s frankly laughable considering how much you wanted Ramsey gone from the club… Read more »
Just watching a clip on you tube of KING Dennis when he came 1st,2nd and 3rd in the goal of the month. We’ve had some special special players in our time as fans and we have been spoilt. But KING Dennis and PV4 will always be my favourites. Legends forever
you get banned because you come here to fight
Not true at all I got banned the last time for bringing up Graham Hunter quotes on Gary Neville being a good appointment for Valencia when it was brought up how highly he rates Arteta
Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhi, and Iwobi produced more goal contributions than ESR, Saka, Martinelli, and Pepe have so far delivered in their careers here.
That’s a fact.
The reason it’s getting distorted is the romance held for the three kids, and the inane idea Pepe is about to go full Mo Salah.
I really don’t care if it hurts your feelings, we had more about us in the attacking third in 2018 – flaws and all – than we do right now. It needs addressed with one or two very important signings.
ESR and Odegaard don’t have any previous, ESR not Odegaard at Sociedad does. The productivity can be construed a couple different ways for one we have struggled offensively this season that is absolutely not up for debate and yet Pepe who is widely criticized and regularly dropped is up on numbers. Saka is a bit of an anomaly cause he’s just progressing as normal I neither attribute his progress to Arteta or Emery frankly. It’s an odd hill to die on Charles considering all the negative records he’s breaking this season how obvious a poor job he’s doing. At this… Read more »
The point of keeping and playing Saka, ESR & Martinelli is so they come those sort of players doing 15 goals and assists a season.
We aren’t anywhere near top 4 so why not just let the youth gain much needed experience.
Let’s not also forget, Guendozi is a brilliant player but Arteta can’t see his ass from his elbow.
Ralph rassclaart ragnick!
Emerson bloodclart royal(e)!
Yves bumbuclaart bissouma!
Odsonne awhadibumbu edouard!
A decent ten and we can relocate ozils song to Onana.
Kaz
What do you do while the three players behind your striker are producing 25 goals between them if we’re lucky?
And our midfield consists of Xhaka, Partey, Elneny, Ceballos, who don’t even get 5 goals between them?
Marko The same Odegaard that created a season high 5 chances at Newcastle in his last league start? The same Odegaard who arrived in a new league end of Jan after being on the bench for 4 months? Just what level of output were you expecting in his entire 7 league games he’s started since joining? “It’s an odd hill to die on Charles considering all the negative records he’s breaking this season how obvious a poor job he’s doing“ If you could point out where it’s been said that he’s not had a poor season I’d love to read… Read more »
“The point of keeping and playing Saka, ESR & Martinelli is so they come those sort of players doing 15 goals and assists a season.” To point Kaz, if the expectation is that ESR become a 15/15 player then how is he going to accomplish this if (a) he does not get a regular shift and (b) he keeps getting played in various positions? Im all for taking time with a player to find their right place and time on a team, but seems to me that Arteta has taken this tact with a good number of players and it… Read more »
15 goals and assists huh
Mike smoking some good shit apparently
Shows how utterly clueless he is
Pedro
We need more in defence than the recruitment of a quality right back.
Holding is a very basic defender, but his skill set is Championship level. He has very limited
passing ability, which is why he resorts constantly to short square and back passes.
We need a right centre back who can pass the ball quickly upfield. Saliba was recruited precisely for that reason, because he has good football ability. Unfortunately Arteta was unconvinced about his defensive ability and in particular how he handled the ball in the
air under pressure.
Wonder what he thinks Saka’s numbers should be…
Aubas
etc….
lol
Pedro, The fact that he was initially OK point to being contaminated by larva who grew and started affecting him later. Some varieties of the malaria parasites can persist for years and cause relapse. So once you have malaria, you are more likely to have recurring bout of malaria. That means that unfortunately Aubameyang is now more likely to have it again. Maybe not to the level he had this time. I suspect that like many second generation immigrants born away from Africa, he thought that he was immuned. He forgot to take his tablet. Completing the full treatment when… Read more »
Nothing wrong with throwing down a high marker for key emerging talent.
Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhi, and Iwobi produced more goal contributions than ESR, Saka, Martinelli, and Pepe have so far delivered in their careers here.That’s a fact. Yes because under Wenger and even Emery there was at the very least a tune or something anything from the offence while under Arteta it’s been a constant struggle. Again your arguing that in 2018 we had better forwards but also arguing that some current players have better output than last season. It’s such an odd argument to have considering the obvious struggles offensively this season. FYI what you’re arguing with Ramsey 6 goals 8… Read more »
@Cazorla
According to the article:
Although Smith Rowe started the season injured, he was available from October. Occasionally it has felt as though there has been a reluctance to embrace the obvious.
So yes Arteta was still slow in getting ESR into the game.
Marko,
Not true at all I got banned the last time for bringing up Graham Hunter quotes on Gary Neville being a good appointment for Valencia when it was brought up how highly he rates Arteta
My apologies as I was the one who sent you fetch those quotes.
Mikel Arteta ; “We have not been competing with the top clubs in this country for five years… We have to be ruthless. There is no time to waste and there is a lot to do.”
Hiring you is the antithesis of ruthlessness
Keeping you is the embodiment of fragility, a ruthless club would have fired your ase 6 times over.
Why is that he carves out his position away when setting expectations. It’s always the players, never the manager who lets them down with inane tactics and selections.
Where was his “ruthlessness” when he kept playing Willian against form?
“Nothing wrong with throwing down a high marker for key emerging talent.”
So long as he publicly set the same marker for the likes of Willian, which of course he hardly ever does.
The same Odegaard who arrived in a new league end of Jan after being on the bench for 4 months? Just what level of output were you expecting in his entire 7 league games he’s started since joining? What are you arguing now? I’m arguing he’s got better players and a better squad than in 2018 and players currently who can produce for the offence while you’re arguing better forward options in 2018. Odegaard et all are capable of performing better under a different/better manager than we currently have… that’s it. You’re struggling with that. I suppose your argument is… Read more »
Marko
No, I’m arguing in the Premier League given it’s the benchmark for the club and it’s players.
What are they again after you’ve washed the Dundalk masterclass’ out the mix……
Have been beating the drum a while but would love Rodrigo de Paul.
Exact type of player that would transform us ala Bruno Fernandes.
Andre Onana will be a fantastic goal keeping signing for 7 million even if we have to wait till January for him to play for us
Edu needs to get that over the line, his ban will be reduced on appeal.. They almost always are.
Sell Leno for 15-20 million
But Andre Onana for 7 million
That will be good business, even if we have to wait for his ban to finish
Just get a good goal keeping coach
Onana is one of the best keepers at playing out from the back.
Dissenter,
The Willian situation is beyond, I fully came around to his acquisition based on our lack of chances being created last season. Willian then arrives looks at the numbers and says hold my beer.
Not even touching on length of his deal, this club deserves itself at moment.
The Rodrigo de Paul drum has a nice sound to it, full of bass and tenor.
Marko You don’t see a lot, but that’s neither here nor there. What you’re arguing is that guys who have potential to deliver numbers in the future are better placed than guys who have actually delivered said numbers. There was an expectation for Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhi to deliver goals and assists by X amount, it’s purely fantasy to hold ESR and Saka to those standards because they’re not at that point in their careers. They’re good players, they’re not Sancho-type freaks. That’s the bit you can’t grasp. Hope vs expectation. Same way you’ve pivoted over Pepe and hoped he was… Read more »
Anyway I’m really not interested in revisiting and reimagining things from 2018 (where you incessantly argued the quality of the squad when it came to shit talking the manager) and I’m really not interested in arguing about Mikel Arteta considering it’s just so painfully obvious how bad of an appointment he’s been
Sal
I think the club should pay Willian to leave , same way they handled Ozil
That’s how big clubs handle their mistakes. Even Westham cut their loses with Haler.
His very presence is disrupting the ecosystem at Arsenal by blocking the progression of more more deserving players and is creating a distraction for a young manager.
Dissenter
I’ve only seen highlights reels of Onana
Looks like he’d be a lot of fun for the neutral, his passing range with both feet is outrageous
Any idea what his all round game is like?
With the English premium, his goalscoring form and Newcastle staying in the PL we can easily get 20m+ for Willock. 25m even. That’s what we should be looking to do. There has to be some form of ruthlessness there and resistance to the temptation of keeping him and stockpiling the squad like we tend to do. Made that mistake with AMN last summer. Lingard is killing it at West Ham on loan, do you really think that United will hesitate to sell him to the highest bidder in the summer? He is not getting into that team. They are striving… Read more »
Why exactly is Onana banned for ? Sorry I dont watch much news .
Taketonic water regulary to improve resistance to malaria
In February 2021, Onana was banned from playing for 12 months by UEFA after testing positive for Furosemide, a banned substance. Ajax said he accidentally took his wife’s medicine and that they would appeal the decision.
What you’re arguing is that guys who have potential to deliver numbers in the future are better placed than guys who have actually delivered said numbers. No I’m arguing that the numbers are more or less the same but in 2021 it’s not the managers fault according to you despite everything that points to him being an atrocious manager. There’s plenty of managers out there who can get this current set of forwards purring but not Arteta obviously. There was an expectation for Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhi to deliver goals and assists by X amount, it’s purely fantasy to hold ESR… Read more »
Arsenal is Not the place for substance abusers
WE I predict that the summer of 2021 will be like the summer of 2020 where Arsenal fans argue against selling Joe Willock much like they argued against selling AMN. We have a real problem with letting go
Rich
He had traces of Lasix[Frusemide} a diuretic that’s prescribed routinely in clinical practice.
It’s not a performance enhancers per se but is used by dopers to mask performance enhances by flushing it drugs out of the body
The player claims it was mistakenly taken, his wife is prescribed the medication for her heart illness.th e drug testers disagreed.
Most neutrals all agree that his ban was excessive, it will get reduced by the CAS.
WE
Buendia or De Paul? Seem similar? great dribblers and passers
As Rich and Champagne Charlie have conclusively argued, ESR is, and always will be, a nothing footballer unless and until he learns how to produce a minimum of 25 goals and assists a season whilst operating as a false nine under Galaxy Brain.
That post was for DevineSherlock , not Rich
If ESR needs 15/15
He likely thinks
Auba 100/100
Pepe 75/75
Saka 80/80
Clearly this is why we have not won the league and CL. Our players are not coming close to their predicted stats. No wonder we suck. its the players!
Marko
I agree, few on here alright.
No middle ground at all, nobody is calling them shit players. Willock and AMN are good players but teams like Newcastle and West Brom are their level compared to a team that aspires to be in the CL on the regular.
Liverpool have brought in 45m for the sales of Solanke and Rhian Brewster. Two strikers that weren’t cut out for Liverpool but are young and have decent upside, at worst good Championship strikers and at best midtable PL ones.
Cazorla “”He scored his first Premier League goal and an incredible season for a no.10 of Arsenal, he needs to score 15 goals and 10 assists – then you’re right up there with the top guns of Europe and in this league. “He’s got the ability to do it but he hasn’t done it. We need to stay calm with him, give him the right support and step by step I think he’ll deliver more.”” This is what Arteta said, from his conference Can you provide links as to where he “literally” said he expects those numbers from Willian not… Read more »
It would be quite interesting to see Bielsa managing this lot.
Cazorla,
I reckon you love Frisbee, you talk about that a lot. A former champ?
This entire Gums of SF is getting boring. find something new you senile cunt.lol
maybe you got hit in the head too often with the frisbees
Sal
The players would love Bielsa. I think his style would suit us.
Attack, and a more respected coach who only wants to be a coach.. nothing more.
I got much respect for the man.
Guns SF People will probably prefer Buendia for the PL/English league experience but I would take de Paul and reckon he has a higher ceiling. Yes he is a couple of years older but he is still just 26. He is quite like Grealish in play style, numbers across the board from goals/assists/chances created/take ons/dribbles are all similar to Grealish. Is also club captain at Udinese like Grealish at Villa. Alpha personality like a Bruno Fernandes, bit of nasty to him as well as presence which is always welcome. He is the best player in Serie A outside of a… Read more »
One stat that perfectly illustrates this Arteta season is that of “big chances created”.
According to the PL we are in 12th place on that measure – behind Brighton and Leeds.
And that is a function of the conservativism of Arteta’s football, rather than our “poor” attackers.
No middle ground at all, nobody is calling them shit players.
Fuck I am. We need to overhaul the squad, we need money to do that, they will never amount to much at Arsenal and we’ll never improve with them here so imo AMN, Willock, Nketiah have to be sold this summer as they’ll fetch a decent sum of money that we need.
If we do end up signing Onana, he’ll only be second to Ederson in the league, no doubt. This will add another dimension to our attack and we’ll definitely see more shots on opposition goal thanks to Onana. But he is very much inferior to Leno in terms of shot stopping, and we’ll definitely concede more goals unless we can build city like defence and reduce the opposition shots to a minimum. Ederson is very similar to Onana. One could say Onana is a cheaper version of Ederson. Considering our price range and our needs elsewhere, if we do end… Read more »
Rich Martinelli not on the list ? We could get very decent money for him before people realise that he his rather overrated.. What I do notice is that many on Le Grove jump on the bandwagon regarding players. At the moment it’s Balogun and Martinelli who are the bandwagon jumpers favourites. A bad(or truthful) word can never be said against these 2 players . Whereas Nketiah or Willock are the bandwagon jumpers least favourite players, and it doesn’t matter that their stats a more impressive than their favourites at all levels , whether it be international , youth or… Read more »
Cavani signs a one year extension to his United stay
Just means the league title will be contested next season 🙂
“Liverpool have brought in 45m for the sales of Solanke and Rhian Brewster. Two strikers that weren’t cut out for Liverpool but are young and have decent upside, at worst good Championship strikers and at best midtable PL ones.” No Liverpool brought £45m because a naive manager thought that any players from the Liverpool academy must be half decent while anybody who had seen played knew that they were not even Championship level. AMN is already an England international, so with proper coaching he could become a good player. Willock may never be great,but he would more than an adequate… Read more »
Words on a Blog That’s not what’s been concluded Smith-Rowe is 20, he’s at the start of his career, and is a young player still learning the game. So he’s not going to be producing numbers or performances like Bruno Fernandes, De Bruyne, Grealish, Maddison or Mount, on a consistent basis quite yet None of those players were even playing consistently at the top level at 20, let alone producing numbers like they are now Smith-Rowe will get there, providing we don’t burn him out mentally + physically Mount was playing in Holland at 20, and in the Championship for… Read more »
Selling Willock just when he’s proven himself on loan will be a mistake
Goal scoring midfielders are hard to come by ; he’s always had a knack for popping up in the right places and now seems to be improving on his finishing.
I would rather sell Elneny to keep Willock in the squad.
AMN and Joe Willock compared to James Milner and Jordan Henderson… Arsenal fans never cease to amaze
Valentin
What is your point?
Henderson is also a very good player. He’s not a super technician but he is more than cut out for the modern game.
And Milner is exactly what it says on the tin, top class squad player/swiss army knife type that can play anywhere and is a manager’s dream.
AMN should aspire to replicate a career like Milner.
Dissenter
Elneny wouldn’t even fetch us 5m whereas Willock could get us 25m, what an odd take.
Onanas ate too much fufu and was trying to lose weight by taking diuretics.
Onunu-insi
With his praise of William and criticism of smith Rowe perhaps someone could point out the difference in their wages to arteta, and we as arsenal fans couldn’t give 2 fucks what he done for Chelsea more what he’s done since joining us on his extortionate wage
Dissenter I agree we should keep Willock, but we should stick him on a 5yr deal, and send him somewhere to play consistently every week Goal scoring midfielder will always hold value, particularly English ones, we can see how the rest of his games develops, then make a judgement in summer of 2022 He’s at an age where he needs to play consistently, his all round game isn’t good enough for that to happen at Arsenal, but in a seasons time, I think he may begin to develop into something special Keeping him round to play a bit part, will… Read more »
Seems like a good time for the annual list baby.
Sell everyone all loan barring Saliba and the now crocked Douzi. Mavropanos has showed class this season as well and worth a look in.
Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Lacazette, Elneny, Bellerin, Chambers, Willian don’t extend Luiz or Ceballos and I’d see what can be gained for Pepe.
May be in minority but i’m all for taking the Ø long term if possible.
As for Leno don’t get me started considering Emi is god.
Can anyone name a successful team (prolonged, not just a cup or two) who had a forward as the club captain?
Captain Tierney No way in a million years would Grealish come to Arsenal. Especially not to play under Arteta. Mate Leno now wants to jump ship, honestly wouldn’t surprise me if half the team want to tuck off. Not that there would be many tears spilt. Problem is, as ok as those players might be, I honestly couldn’t see Arteta getting in better. We’re shit man. That guy from Norwich turned us down for Christ’s sake. The only way we’ll get anyone half decent is if we double their wages. But isn’t that partly why we’re in this mess? Rewarding… Read more »
Wenger eagle
That 25 million may not be worth it when you consider that you may have a late developer who’s scoring 7-10 league goals yearly from the midfield.
“As Rich and Champagne Charlie have conclusively argued, ESR is, and always will be, a nothing footballer unless and until he learns how to produce a minimum of 25 goals and assists a season whilst operating as a false nine under Galaxy Brain.“
Source: bro trust me
Lol all that mental gymnastics to defend a manager way out of his depth, compare all you like and give as muv excused as you like for not being able to scrore from open play against Villarreal, we know how this ends for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal and none of it is good
Rich
“Keeping him [Willock] round to play a bit part, will just stall his development”
He may be the ESR of next season, who’s just about to take off after successful loans. He may take his opportunity with both hands and not play that bit part.
I just wonder about his trajectory, is he about to burst out just when people are getting stuck on 20-25 million we can get for him now?
It’s like the 17 million we got for Martinez, now he’s easily worth double that. If we hade better midfielders,, I would say …sell, but we don’t.
Messi is captain, although debatable how good a one he is.
True that most great captains tend to be Centre Halves or CM.
We’re not getting Grealish if United, City, Liverpool, Chelsea want him
But it wouldn’t surprise me if he agreed to stay last summer, on the condition he could leave this summer
Liverpool are skint
Chelsea have Havertz + Mount
City have De Bruyne + Foden
United maybe? But not if they go for Sancho
That leaves Arsenal as pretty much the only team who could pay £60-£80 million, and £200k p/w
@Wenger Eagle
Just my opinion but I’ve always preferred Defenders or Midfielders to be Captain. Never liked having a forward or keeper as Captain. Don’t know why but there you go 😃
And this is supposed to be a comeback?
Gums still bitter cos he got a frisbee instead of a football for his birthday. Sad times in sf