Oh my word, Mikel Arteta spoke highly of a youngster. This on Joe ‘I like to score goals’ Willock.
“I am really happy that things have gone so well because of the potential that he has. I think it was great for him to go away and have a different experience.
“He has grabbed that opportunity in a really positive and remarkable way and he will come back to us, we will have a conversation with him and plan the next years for him.
“And he got the responsibility and the test of going to Newcastle to help them get where they want to. I spoke with the coaching staff there and they are extremely happy because he was a key part of contributing to get the objectives that they had. That’s a real positive for him.”
Getting the Willian treatment out here!
The praise for Joe is nice to read. His goal record has been exceptional, watching him open up a sprint is something else (and reminds us all of Freddie), and it’s no easy feat scoring goals off crumbs in that Newcastle side. Additionally, the fact that the coaching staff has told Arsenal his attitude and leadership has been immense adds to the validation.
From what I understand, focus was a big issue for him and a few others in the Hale-End collective. Maybe a little too big for their boots, thinking they’re all Jadon Sancho before cashing the reciepts. Sometimes a humbling at another club is what’s needed to convince that you’ve got it pretty good at Arsenal.
Sam Allardyce had solid advice for Maitland-Niles.
“If I were him, I’d play wherever the manager picked me – and I’d never turn it down because if you are able to play in a number of positions, then you are going to get more games than if you had one position and one position only.
“Perhaps you don’t want to be tagged as a ‘utility player’ but sometimes those people are played more often than those who are stubborn and say: ‘I want to play in that position and nowhere else.’”
You have to earn your right to play at Arsenal. There shouldn’t be the expectation that we’ll give a season of concentration lapses to kids trying to make it. Fussing over your role at a big club is a bit odd.
I’m not sure what the future holds for either of them, but a loan spell down the table will certainly have focused the minds of both.
The key takeaway from the preBrighton press conference were:
- Our position in the league table is unacceptable
- There was a lot of bad shit going on between Sept / Jan that impacted that run of games
- Those problems have left the club and we’ve generally been better for it
The obvious problems were the players we didn’t eject in the summer. We know Ozil was a nuisance, we saw what Kola and Mustafi did at Schalke (Mustafi binned today), we know Sokratis was a big personality and probably not the best to be around after being ditched.
My one worry is that William Saliba might have been in that mixer. The whining in the press when he landed the move was very aggressive, something you didn’t see from any of the other loanees with arguably a much stronger case for first team selection from than him. We’ll see though. Saliba is a ball playing right sided centre back, his numbers have been pretty decent, hopefully he’ll make up one of the slots that can compete for the first team next season. Still think we’re going to need an experienced name there. Gabriel, who is older, struggled this season, to expect Saliba who has clear weaknesses to come in and pick up the David Luiz slack might be a touch naive.
We’ve been heavily linked with Buendia. This is the Premier League strategy I suspected we were chasing down. The Argentine is apparently hot on the list. I can see why, he has the same energy levels as ESR, but with more end product because he’s older. He’s done it in the Premier League, he did it after going down (shows great focus), my only issue is that £40m is a lot of money for a player that is untested at the highest level. We’re leveling out a lot of money in the most expensive market in the world when there are likely similar deals to be had for elite players in broke leagues.
Still, the other side of the coin is that we really can’t afford a slow start next season. Buendia knows the pace. He knows the requirements. He’ll have a chip on his shoulder to prove he is one of the best. Liverpool built the core of their side on players that had done it in the Premier League, it makes sense that if we’re going with teenagers, we need to have some people that are going to come in right away and offer NOW product. I’d still like to see us loan in someone like Odegaard if that were to happen. We’re not one creative player from beating the fine margins game.
The mission this summer. Improve edge in final third by 20%. Reduce mistakes the other end by 50%. Everything needs to be threaded through that lense. Buendia would certainly help in the final third.
Ok, that is me done, I’ll see you in the comments.
Sorry Eagle but DB10 is a pre requisite.
_________Henry__________
_____DB10_____CR7_____
________Scholes_________
_____Vieira___Gerrard___
Cole_______________Dixon
______Rio___Vidic______
_________VDS_______
First sub in: Romford fucking Pele
I’m on an airplane with spot web apologies for double up!
TR7
Yeah admittedly RB was the one position that didn’t have anyone jump out at me as an obvious choice. You routinely see Gary Neville put in there on lists but for me he was bang average.
Couldn’t disagree more about John Terry though, unbelievable defender.
Also don’t rate Giggs that highly for peak ability. Hazard shits all over him in that regard.
“Why would Grealish join Arsenal when if he were to leave they’d be clubs who could offer things like European football and the real version of it?“
Marc, maybe he talked to Emi and heard good things about the club and the Arteta project.
“my only issue is that £40m is a lot of money for a player that is untested at the highest level” As you say, Buendia had some positive numbers when he was in the PL with a crap team (Rich points out he was 4th in chances created). But there definitely has to be caution about performance in the Championship. Benrahma has had a nothing season at WHU after being Player of the Year in the Championship. Knockaert was Player of the Year in the Championship with Brighton then a total nothing in the PL. Buendia is Player of the… Read more »
Sal
No De Bruyne? Wow.
Couldn’t make your mind up on Scholes/Gerrard could you haha, where is the width?
VDS
Dixon Rio Vidic Cole
Vieira Scholes
CR7 Bergkamp Giggs
Henry
China1
You forgot to thank god in your acknowledgement speech.
Clearly you’ll never win this highly coveted trophy ever again.
Such an amateur mistake.
Forward width WE all vertical.
Nearly put Keano in their to partner Vieria.. Wished I did.
Terry to some extent was a ‘put your body in the line’ kind of defender who couldn’t play a high line. I think had he played for a very attacking team he would have got exposed. Vidic, Rio, VVD etc. more complete defenders for me.
China
I recall BTC was below USD 2K when tourist pilots were launched so it’d mean those pioneers had earned the bragging right of staying in up to 9000usd (=30x 300usd, or whatever they paid) a night hotels, per BTC high c.60k 🤣🤣🤣
Useroz Liverpool signed Firmino in 2015, Mane in 2016, and Salah in 2017 It takes a while to build team cohesion, even once you’ve got the parts you want Saka or Smith-Rowe are nowhere near the finished articles, and they’re not supposed to be, they’re 19+20, as they develop they’ll become more efficient in the final third Success comes in cycles, and right now we’re in a low ebb,, but if we add balance and quality, and put the right cast around our talented youngsters so they can develop in the right way, then there’s no reason we can’t be… Read more »
I wouldn’t have Giggs near an XI. GOAT career achievements notwithstanding.
Pires was miles better a player, never mind Hazard who was better again.
Sal, not going to lie I was tempted by Keane too. Keano-Vieira partnership would have been fireworks.
Just don’t see how you could have a PL XI and not have Stevie G in it.
Yaya Toure was an immense player too, in fact he should be in my starting 11. At his peak he was unbelievable.
Think Yaya definitely makes the bench.
Rich
Don’t disagree with the progressive route Liverpool had taken to achieve glory however we all know that Klopp played critical roles on and off the pitch
On the other hand, generally poorer club conditions notwithstanding, what’s the odds Arteta could and would come close to what Klopp had done in previous seasons?
That’s a matter of points of views and adds to the great discussion, and colors , we have on here day in day out….
TR7 There was no better pure defender than Terry in the PL era imo, even if he was average on the ball. Central to a defence that conceded 15 PL goals in a 38 game season, only CB I have ever really seen Messi struggle against to some degree. Ronaldo had a brutal record vs Chelsea too, only ever scored once in something like 15 games and that was in the CL Final. Vidic suffered similar issues with pace that Terry did but I always thought that Terry was a far smarter defender than Vidic who benefitted massively playing next… Read more »
Viera, Toure, Scholes, Gerrard and KDB – the 5 best midfielders in EPL ever I guess.
David Silva, Cesc, Lampard, Kante and Alonso probably make the top 10.
Rich
It didn’t take years for Mane-Salah-Firmino to come to fruition.
Was in Salah’s first season there and Mane’s 2nd. That was actually their best season to date together, all three managed 10+ CL goals which is ridiculous and unprecedented.
Wenger eagle
Some squeezed in( both time wise and positionally) but after considerable thought
Schmeichel
Irwin Vidic Adams Cole
Ronaldo Keane Vieira Zola
Bergkamp Henry
Tr7,
A top 10 list of midfielders without Santi?
Shameful.
Arsenal should offer Partey and Holding/Chambers for Kane
Agree on that CM top 5.
No Tony Adams 🙄
Words
I can’t believe I omitted my favorite Santi from the list. Totally escaped my mind. I don’t care who stays and who goes but Santi is up there with the very best. Ability wise Rosicky too was sublime.
Great team Almunia, where’s Manuel Almunia though?
Irwin, Schmeichel and peak Tony were just before my time unfortunately. Was going by who I watched but that trio by many accounts would get in the XI.
TR7,
All is forgiven!
Almunia did it thankfully… Adams.
Zola on left of a 442 is tasty, still can’t believer we did that Parma side with him in it.
Some great XIs listed above.
Cech
Ivanovic Ferdinand van Dijk Cole
Cristiano Touré Vieira Hazard
Agüero Henry
Probably Barclays 442
Left out Adams Vidic and Terry. Ferdinand and van Dijk can both play in space. You can push both fullbacks up.
Honourable mentions to Scholes, Keane, Beckham Gerrard, Shearer, van Nistelrooy, Bergkamp, Cole Was thinking about Neville or Kyle Walker for RB
Almunia
Don’t know much about Irwin but why does Keane make in to your starting 11 ?
Zabaleta was very good too, slightly underrated.
Tr7
Keane the most important player in the premier’s most successful team not in your top 10 midfielders? He would have eaten some of your top ten for breakfast!
“ It’s called wildly overestimating your ability as a sportsman, then getting a severe reality check when you realise just how many levels there are between amateur and top pro.” Michael Jordan trying his hand at baseball immediately comes to mind where he couldn’t hit a minor league curve ball to save his life. Or my personal little story when my tennis partner and a Chicago based insurance company big wig convinced me to sign up for a local tennis tournament sponsored by his company, one in which he would also participate. $25k in total prizes and $10k for winning… Read more »
Wenger Eagle
I have Almunia as sub just in case we get to a champions league final and Schmeichel gets sent off,it will be great solace to know we have him to bring on…..
🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭
Can’t believe people rate vidic so highly. Got exposed in big games, including by us because you could drag him out of position. He was extremely tough and fans liked his persona, and he was a good defender, but overrated imo.
Sol was miles better – surprisingly underrated. We had a pretty bloody decent defence during the Invincibles era, and he was the heart of it.
Carvalho is a great mention, amazing player.
Surprised to see Vidic rated above Terry by so many too tbh.
FIFA looking into holding a WC every two years. Trying to squeeze every last drop of blood out of the game.
Davi
You’re right. I would swap Campbell for Vidic.
Wenger Eagle
Great shout on Carvalho.. he was top class
Wenger Eagle
There were three players in my view who got away with bloody murder (in the prem era) because they were English internationals, Terry, Ferdinand and Shearer. That’s not to mention of course the treatment that utd received which would lead me down conspiracy theories road. That’s why none of them would make it into my team though they were obviously excellent players in their own right too. Imagine if Keane had been english what the fucker would have got away with!
Great analysis, Pedro, I find myself agreeing with every word. From what Arteta says the key point appears to be that most of the gaps will be filled by returnee Arsenal youngsters – Willock, AMN, Mavro, Saliba and so on. Some of the gaps will be left by players sold – Bellerin, Willian, Xhaka (maybe), Gendozi, Torreira, etc. But two – a dominating midfielder and (if Leno goes) a safe pair of hands, will need paying for. Both must be top class, experienced and, therefore, expensive. I would be disappointed if Laca wasn’t given a two-year extension.He was a major… Read more »
Was Cazorla’s shout Dream.
Cheers almuniasaynomore. I do have an opinion that I think would be really unpopular: Flamini in 07/08 was the best destructive/defensive midfielder I’ve seen, ever. It was just for one year, but he enabled us to play an effective 442 with Fabregas, and it was incredible. Was just everywhere.
Davi
Flamini was terrific that season. Basically Diet Kanté
https://www.planetfootball.com/
Tr7,have a read of that. Any gooner who watched football at that time would have hated his guts but he was the heartbeat of that team. An incredible mentality.
Dream10 – he was like 2 kantes (minus the dribbling)
Davi
I’ll always have a soft spot for Flamini even as brutal as he was in his second spell here at times.
Played like a boss out of position at LB in our CL knockout run to the Final and was brilliant in 07-08 next to Cesc.
Made of the right stuff, always liked his attitude.
Suarez in his last season at Liverpool was absolutely extraordinary. Had he played longer, he would have made in to many people’s starting 11.
AFC forever
“When the fans start singing “The referees a w++kr” I wonder if Saliba will pretend to pull out a phone and take a picture?”
On a similar subject. 0
I was at a champions league match v Barcelona at Wembley with my 10 year old son.
The chant went around Wembley ” the referee’s a wanker”
My son looked at me quizzically and said” Dad , why are they calling the referee a waiter”
https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/he-would-rather-die-of-exhaustion-than-lose-the-best-quotes-on-roy-keane/#:~:text=Sir%20Alex%20Ferguson&text=%E2%80%9CPounding%20over%20every%20blade%20of,associated%20with%20such%20a%20player.%E2%80%9D
Made a mess. Try this one Tr7 and Davi.
WengerEagle – same, shame he left when he did and started picking up injuries. Wasn’t the same when he came back, not even close
Almunia
Shearer was a brutal bully up front, like Kevin Davies except he could actually play and was a world class goalscorer. Led with his elbows though and was a nasty fucker.
When him and Keano were going at it, get out the way. Cliched but you really don’t see that anymore.
In fact all le grovers should go to the above link and check out Ferdinand’s comment about Keane. That’s why he was Fergie’s leader on the pitch. Pedro, please forward to Arteta ( via Doris).
Almuniasaynomore – I’m a big fan of Keane since he retired, unbelievable mentality. On the pitch I thought Flamini similar but with more pace and energy (at least for that one season), but no one had as much drive as Keane
Cazorla
Fair point about Vidic but on reflection I’d still give Sol the nod,just.
Cazorla
Fair point re Terry. He really did have his pants pulled down by RVP and Gervinho that day at the Bridge. Gervinho’s best game for us that, even Andre Santos bagged a goal, what a day for the books.
I would still take him over Vidic but it’s close.
PL XI
Schmeichel Neville Ferdinand Terry Cole
Beckham Scholes Keane Giggs
Rooney Henry
People forget how dominant those old Utd teams were.
Really don’t like the way the club are treating Saliba. Arteta is a vindictive character who does not like to be questioned. I would not be surprised if he is surplus to requirements and labeled as a player with “attitude” problems. Emery deserved to be sacked on poor performance. Arteta seems to be a plain old nasty character.
Davi
Many of us will,I’m sure, remember the real sense of optimism after Flamini and cesc outclassed the returning Vieira in the champs lge victory over Juve in 07. But for me Flamini never fulfilled that potential with us Perhaps his ceiling simply wasn’t as high as I had hoped but to be fair he really doesn’t belong in the same conversation as Keane or many of the others mentioned above.
Flamini was a meme, decent utility player but nothing more, not even a club great let alone PL great
Would be more curious at the unfashionable best XI’s for the PL era.
Maybe excluding players from the top 6 clubs. Best of the rest XI, or world 33…..
Almuniasaynomore – it’s not that he didn’t fulfill his potential, he left just after he really announced himself. I’m talking about him like a one-hit wonder, or a ‘what might have been’ – not seriously saying he’s an all time great player.
You could put him in a category like Ledley King, but even that might be generous?
On the subject of Keane, I love this press conference so much:
https://youtu.be/WyDs7BvpyUQ
If a kid asked me what Roy Keane was like as a player, I would tell them to watch that video because it better explains him than any match footage.
To be clear I think he played as well as any midfielder for one season, so he fulfilled his potential briefly (but over a full season), but then he left and broke down.
Flamini was like Diawara and Hleb, the moment they looked like a decent player they f’d off into oblivion
Dream10 A manager who demands high standards, is exactly what we need For far too long we’ve had players at Arsenal who thought they were at some type of holiday camp, I remember comments from Cech about the difference in mentality between Arsenal + Chelsea after a loss, saying that the dressing room was like a morgue when Chelsea lost, but the Arsenal dressing room was indifferent, Cesc + RVP have also said similar things A manager who weeds out uncommitted players, and replaces them with committed players, is a manager who’s going to have a good chance of success,… Read more »
Eduardo I haven’t forgotten. I remember well how for over a decade it was virtually pointless tuning in to one of their matches hoping they’d lose. But I still believe that Fergie consistently got more than the sum of their parts from them. Individual players won huge honours with the club but you just knew that if they were playing at any other club they would have been exposed. I’m thinking Butt,,Silvestre,O’Shea,Nevilles,Brown,Fletcher to name some regulars. So it stands to reason that he also made others look even better than they were. But he always had his top class players… Read more »
Spot on, Rich
Keane was an animal but the same traits that made him one of the games great captains and leader make him completely unsuited for management.
He simply cannot comprehend lower level players not sharing his win or bust mentality and his ego is too easily bruised to manage a group of twenty/thirty somethings.
Rich
I really hope I am wrong. A lot has been made about mentality and ruthlessness at Arsenal. We’re desperately lacking in the talent department. Being committed is not enough bridge the usual 30+ point gap to Man City at the top
WE People mature with age, and clever people learn to adapt, to become old and wise, you must first have been young and stupid I remember Alex Ferguson talking about how generations change, and how he needed to learn to adapt to the culture changes that occur over time, rather than the players adapting to him Not sure why Keane would get back into management though, not as long as he’s got a cushy job as an armchair manager in the studio, decent pay without any of the stress and hassle of the management He’s not a particularly astute pundit,… Read more »
Elmo
You’re killing me here. Next thing you’ll be posting links to Saipan. I’m carrying enough football trauma already, my delete button is on overdrive!
Wenger Eagle
You could argue all day over what it says about the game today that Keane’s mentality makes him totally unsuited to management. But you’re right. Pity though. 6 months of him in charge and Arsenal wouldn’t have had to pay some of the troublemakers to leave!!!!
Weagle
It’s the British Isles version of the Michael Jordan relentless mindset in The Last Dance, and Jordan and Keane could never be top managers for that reason. It’s not often publicly articulated this side of the Atlantic because it’s frowned upon to show such naked ambition.
Almunia
I watch that every once in a while any it never fails to make me laugh. Obviously a painful memory for Ireland fans, but that press conference almost feels like an intentional parody.
Dream10 Part of the process is weeding out the rotten apples, one bad apple can ruin a whole bunch, but we seemed to have almost a whole bunch of rotten apples The club should have backed Emery in the summer of 2020 when he told Ozil, Mustafi + Kolasinac to fu*k off, they were always likely to down him once they knew it was other him or them I agree we don’t quite have the talent of the other clubs, but look at a club like Burnley, they over perform because they’ve got a tight knit group of committed players,… Read more »
Pedro-will you stop trashing Sokratis? This is twice you’ve included him with Ozil, Mustafi and Kolasinc. Totally unfair. Here’s what Arteta said about Sokratis. Yes, first of all I want to thank him because he is such a professional and great person to work with. It’s a shame because this season we have a lot of central defenders, we are overloaded with foreign players and I had to make a decision. It was a tough one and to be fair he took it really, really well, he has always been really supportive and helpful, so from the bottom of my… Read more »
Think you missed a zero off the ‘Improve edge in final third by 20%’ remark. We’ve been shocking.
Rich
“there’s nobody snapping at their heels to keep them on their toes, and that’s also unhealthy”
—————————————————————————————————————–
That applies to Arteta also. He is feeling too comfortable. There is no fan in the stadium. KSE supports him no matter what. That’s part of the reason why he experimented a false 9 and played Xhaka as left back. The fans have to demand Josh to put up a clear objective for Arteta. No top4 and he is out. That is a non-negotiable.
Pap sok was a model pro at the club he was not good enough but his attitude was never in question
bacary
This is where Pedro has got to: more extreme than Arteta .Arteta is in his remorseless defence of Arteta. Say and do anything to advance The Lost Cause.
“Then think about what we had brewing in the dressing room. We moved on Mustafi, Kola, Ozil, and Sokratis. 4 senior players, all big personalities, all very disruptive behind the scenes”. I think all this talk from Pedro is pure defensive revisionism. The one player we can all agree on as a troublemaker is Ozil. There can be no doubt he tried to undermine the club even if there may be some question about him being victimized during the salary cut conversations. I’ve already quoted Arteta on Sokratis. Here are his comments on Mustafi. Usually when a player leaves a… Read more »
“There can be no doubt he tried to undermine the club even if there may be some question about him being victimized during the salary cut conversations.”
Wouldn’t take what Arteta and the club say at full value. So there should be doubt
Is it really true that Guendouzi is off to Marseille for 20 m euro?
Gommit
I think it sounds like 20m euros is in the ballpark but will probably be a little less than that considering he only has a year left on his contract.
Really have mixed feelings about this one. He’s got so much potential but if he’s a toxic as it seems, we might be making the right decision.
So much for a depressed transfer market when the Norwich chairman says “he wouldn’t even pick up the phone “ if the Buendia offer doesn’t exceed £35m from a prospective buyer.
Makes you wonder how he’d know what the offer was if he didn’t pick up the phone in the first place.
Must be a clairvoyant.
Bacary I have watched guen live many times he runs around like a headless chicken with a lot of chasing of the ball like a 10 year old I don’t rate him and never have, he does not have discipline on or off the field we are well rid
Mr Serge
You might be right but there were a couple of times during Emery’s reign where he was the only player trying to drive the team forward. My main issue with him was his medium to longe-range passing. Didn’t seem like he had a good feel for a weighted airborne pass .
Just finished watching ESPN-FC and Ian Darke was asked to name his best 11 EPL players not one Arsenal player only Emi made the bench. Then he was asked to name hi 11 worst EPL players and 3 Arsenal ones made it Aubameyang, Willian and Bellerin. Now many of us here will agree that they were all underwhelming why, the opinions are divided but the ESPN pundits did banter the name of Arteta around and that 3 years next to Pep didn’t do shit for him. Taking a look at the squads in the EPL how will AFC get into… Read more »
Tom, find it amazing that all the press write about Norwich transfer resolve like they are backed by a Saudi Sheikh. Delia must be doing mega pandemic book sales if they’re in sweet financial shape
MD, who really gives a fuck what Ian Darke thinks?
Auba has had sick parents and he contracted malaria. Bit grim to have him in a ‘worst’ 11
PapSok was a the consummate professional but we all know Pedro will throw anyone under the bus to spin a yard that makes Arteta look good.
The man always gave his all and didn’t leave anything behind in the field.
I have images of supreme leader saying ‘contracted malaria’
Reminds me of a doctor in the 1986 series Shaka Zulu
“who really gives a fuck what Ian Darke thinks?”
Pedro, picking three Arsenal players in anyone’s worst eleven smacks of major bias to me.
But not a single Wolves player making his worst starting Xl, really?
Wolves finished one place better than Arsenal last season and many had them breaking into Europe this season.
Just look where they are in the table.
Adama Traore’s numbers this season are down some 65% compared to the last.
Fuck Ian Darke and his Xl worst list.
Sok was a good professional and not the worst CB around, but not the desires level and also better suited to a team that doesn’t prioritize playing out from the back, thus why he was a little more reliable in before Xmas in emery’s first season
He doesn’t fit arsenal but all the best to him. Unlike many players, he hasn’t done anything to be a source of derision
I will always remember him wrestling opposition CFs off the pitch fondly during emery’s unbeaten run. Against burnley he grabbed and dragged this player off the pitch and Sean Dyche was crying pathetic tears about it after the game when they lost
It was more entertaining than the football at the time lol
Kane to Man City
Nuno Espirito to take over the Spuds.
Long long time, groovers
Cheers Pedro, you’re doing a good job
Just for the record the different ESPN+ pundits were asked months ago their top 4 fining teams and Ian Darke was the only one that put Arsenal as finishing 4th. The other derided him for that today so he had high hopes for Arsenal at the beginning and so did we, but were it not for the generational manager that may have happened.
Ian Darke is a decent enough commentator but this strikes me more as a most disappointing XI than worst XI. Probably fair that none of our squad made the Best XI squad though.
Every player has a price that a selling club hopes to achieve however if the sale of a player contradicts the business plan in place then the price will be driven higher as the selling club will need to find a suitable replacement.
Norwich City’s agenda is to stay in the premiership and not be the yo-yo club they are currently.
Selling their best two players without suitable replacements goes against their plan.
There are also plans to involve the fans more – something AFC can only dream about. Even through the pandemic they have not incurred serious losses.