Arsenal fans are absolutely raging on a 24/7 cycle at the moment. Matt on the podcast told me he thinks we’re nearing New York Knicks levels of consistent disappointment in the way things go for our club. I could not disagree.
Old Le Grove would double down and join the thomas party. New Le Grove needs some light this summer. So I’m going on the counter here.
First thing we need to remember: Nothing has happened yet.
Emi Buendia rumours are simply rumours. Remember, the world of ‘transfer gossip’ is now big business if you want to be famous for something utterly pointless.
‘Oh, what I’ve heard is Edu wore the wrong shirt on the zoom’
‘Arsenal were interested, but slow’
‘Arsenal offered up a payment structure unbefitting of their prestige’
‘There wasn’t a good plan from Arteta’
Come on people, all of these things can’t be true, so what’s the point in raging?
Here’s what happens with transfer rumour merchants.
One person says ‘ARSENAL TO BID FOR BUENDIA’
Others hopeful ITKs don’t want to miss out so will support the rumour with blend of ‘hearing the same’ and ‘they’ve scouted him’ or the ultimate copout ‘they like the player.’
This is an echo chamber used to protect reps, but it’s not grounded in reality, because most people don’t really have good sources on transfer deals.
When everyone is saying a similar shade of the same thing, fans take it as gospel, not realising there’s a whole world of hedging that goes on in this game. I can’t even feel sorry for people, I get sent tweets from smart people ‘@Joerbill698490000 ‘DEAL IS CLOSE ON X PLAYER’… like, honestly, these are the accounts that are riling you up? Every summer, 10 accounts hoping to get famous show up with fake rumours, every summer, people follow along and get angry when it falls through.
Next up.
Sometimes YOUR taste in players is absolutely terrible. Same here people, I’ve tied my reputation to some absolute shockers over the years. Where I’m going here is this: Last summer, Arsenal fans were tweeting ‘This club is FINISHED’ when Edu tried to move for Jorginho and John Stones. A season on, how are we feeling about those taste levels?
Reuben Neves might be an unsexy signing but that doesn’t mean he can’t fit the club as a whole. Do my loins moisten? No. But look, not many people have purred over Jorginho over the past few years, and it’s clear that every manager that works with him loves him, now he’s a Champions League winner. John Stones was a joke on this forum, I’ve had one guy tweet me every time he makes a mistake for years because I liked him, now he’s a league winner and one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
Pulling players out of underperforming clubs, if done with sharp data analysis, can be a winning move. Can’t imagine too many Arsenal fans were clamouring for Wijnaldum when he was bumming around at Newcastle, now he’s out at Liverpool and he’s joined PSG. Can you imagine if we’d gone for Choupo Moting after Stoke? He just signed a new deal with Bayern. We have to give this new scouting model a crack, if the sharp people on the laptops are recommending these players, then let’s see what’s what before crying that our club is over.
Everyone keen to jump on the Bissouma bandwagon, his agent is pushing his clients’ name towards Arsenal this summer, and it would make a lot of sense. Why are Arsenal fans excited about him? Because we’ve been starved of athletes for years. We’d take power and pace over a technician all day long (not that Bissouma is just P&P), but there has to be a balance. Again, I have no idea if we’re in for him, but he checks a lot of boxes and we have a make-weight with Eddie that would suit Brighton’s need for a proper finisher next season.
There’s also a lot of slander in the system for Martin Odegaard packaged with bad business ideas.
Here are the rules for Odegaard.
- He’s either good enough or he’s not. If the analysts at Arsenal have watched him at uncomfortably close quarters for 5 months and there’s still a ‘maybe’ about him, we shouldn’t go back for him. Reality? 5 months of intimate scouting will tell Arteta and Edu exactly what they need to do.
- You don’t loan a 22-year-old for a year if you are convinced he’s good enough. Creativity is a massive issue at Arsenal, he’s a big creator, if he’s the one, we need him on a perm deal. Developing other clubs talents is an absolute no-no, because we’re either pumping his price, or we’re bringing in an uncomitted duffer like Dani C and we’ll not move forward. There needs to be an answer.
- Football is bankrupt the world over. This summer will mark one of the most distressed markets in history. Odegaard is gettable this season for a good price because Madrid will likely have bigger targets elsewhere. Move on him now.
- Concerns about impact should be very much weighed against a few things. Firstly, he had only played 300 minutes prior to joining us in January. Secondly, the Premier League is really hard to adapt to. Thirdly, he came into a very broken squad. I think there is every chance that with a good preseason and a better understanding of the league… he could blow up.
Big club buy, they don’t rent.
The final rumour I want to talk about is the swap deal for Hector Bellerin and Aaron Ramsey.
I really hope we don’t go there. 65 appearances in 2 season, 6 goals, 6 assists. £400k a week deal. 30 years old. Injured all the time. He is not reliable, his numbers have cratered, and he’s been a superstar signing that has contributed to Juve falling off. Let him go to Everton.
The one joy I’ve taken from most of the transfer rumours this summer is the players all seem be sub 25 years old. That’s how it should be. We need a squad of sharp talent that we can develop and grow with. I don’t want to revisit old movies we know the ending of. How often has going back in time worked for Arsenal? Almost never. We are bad at signing older players, really bad.
The big lesson of last season is that the younger players respond better to the way of Mikel Arteta. Older players aren’t interested because they are at the stage of their careers where they don’t need to learn new tricks.
1st
Alright, guys?
Hmmm
Tr4phy
Tr4phy
First time I had to play tactically for AGES lol
Bollox
Just here to remind you that I’m off to read the post.
I don’t think Pedro and other bloggers are understanding I’m not angry because I think Aston Villa outbid us (whether they did or not) I’m not angry because I think Buendia might have chosen Villa over us (whether he did or not) I’m angry because I think Buendia would’ve been a perfect signing for us, PL proven, been excellent for 2+ years, affordable, available, and no “big” team in for him. I’m angry because we SHOULD have gone for him. People keep saying we didn’t miss out on him, we just didn’t want him. That Odegaard was our priority. But… Read more »
Top ten?
Read that today and now Fabrizio confirms it.
Fabrizio Romano
Leicester are in advanced talks to sign Odsonne Édouard from Celtic, now working to complete the deal – many clubs interested so #LCFC keen to secure it quickly.
Not yet at signings stage but Leicester board now confident. Soumaré deal with Lille, done and confirmed.”
Solid Summer for Leicester already.
I just hope/pray we have a plan.
Lots of holes to plug….
ValentinJune 7, 2021 14:50:18
Yes,fair points with the NFL and NBA..
They were points I thought about putting forward,but opted to keep it simple.
Golden State Warriors prior to 2014-2015 is another team,that you can cite as an example-maybe?Last championship won by them was circa 1975,then went on to win it in 2015,2017,2018.In between,signed KD(Kevin Durrant) during the 2016 season as maybe he could see what the vision was.
Point being,regardless of the history,could see a plan, a path in place.
That is not currently evident at Arsenal,if we look over a ten year period as an example.
Signing Ramsey will set the club back 5 years. Also isn’t arsenal planning of using saliba to get neves? We really are all talk under arteta. Tells willian we want to win the CL in 3 years, next thing we know, we are out of Europe. Asks the owners to be ruthless, has no idea what his transfer policy and targets are. All talk no bite, when it comes to Arsenal and arteta. Edu is another one who is not good enough. Incompetent people in all the positions at arsenal starting from the owner down. As I keep saying, in… Read more »
Leicester with good early business as per, no excuses over there.
Only at Arsenal will we have numerous gaps that need to be filled and decide our number 1 target is a player at a club who have said they don’t wish to sell. There is always a built in excuse with these jokers.
Lemme get this straight transfer windows under Arsene and Unai this place pissed and moaned constantly about missed targets failure to move quickly etc etc but Arsenal under Arteta it’s trust the process and watch me excuse these things that I would normally criticize the club for doing. It’s the consistency I love. FYI I don’t really care about Buendia but I’ll continue to call it like it is and not pretend otherwise. No philosophy or direction at Arsenal so of course our transfer targets lack such too
“The big lesson of last season is that the younger players respond better to the way of Mikel Arteta.”
You mean Saliba, Guendouzi, Martinelli, Willock, Nketiah, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Balogun? Cause neither of these had a good season or was given a decent amount of playtime for Arsenal. Almost all of them got loaned cause Arteta preferred Willian, Ceballos, Elneny and Pablo Mari.
The young players you are talking about are basically Saka and ESR.
8 players vs 2. Lol
And as said by other posters, Ode and Buendia are two different profiles of players, so if we’re really pining for Ode then why are we putting in a bid for Buendia? This club will continue to bumble along and wonder why nobody takes them seriously. This isn’t 2004 players from other clubs etc do not care about us going a season unbeaten anymore.
To be fair leftside this is a club under a manager who spent time last summer talking up Willian as a potential number 10 and then proceeded to never play him there and complain and struggle with creating chances for most of the season so it’s very understandable that he’d target two completely different types of players for the CAM position
Literally everyone reported that we put a transfer bid for Buendia. Yet Pedro here, is saying how they all lied instead of accepting that 99.9% we did bid for Buendia but it failed? As DM said, Buendia looked the right type of player. And may I add, for the exact money all of our transfers should be. Around 30-40m but never above 50-60m. High class player who could become a top class at Arsenal. That Arteta and Edu decided he ain’t it, remains to the test of time. But he did look like the right profile especially compared to Odegaard.… Read more »
‘The big lesson of last season is that the younger players respond better to the way of Mikel Arteta. Older players aren’t interested because they are at the stage of their careers where they don’t need to learn new tricks.’ ——— Really now? Big lesson,I’ve learnt,is that we’ve finished in 8th place for two consecutive seasons.We are out of Europe and Arteta’s tactics,man management and in game management,not to mention his alienating and public humiliation of players, raises a lorry load of questions. Arsene talked about values…Arteta talks about process. I guess the current project under Arteta given he played… Read more »
Buendia story comes on top of a myriad of poor decisions by the club since Arteta and Edu heralded a new era, a fresh start. Something just does not feel right, but I think for most fans feel this is now not just about gut feelings, there is a history of systemic failure since Kronke’s took over. We all know how crucial this summer is, we are teetering on the edge of terminal decline. This is a fact. Our ownership and people running this club are not good enough, or experienced enough to rescue this awesome club from the decline… Read more »
Man United looking to getting Sancho signed up. Ball is in their court. Just have to pay up.
A Bundesliga pundit tweeted that Chelsea are pushing hard for Haaland. Wage structure the biggest stumbling block. Raiola wants Haaland to get paid
“this is a club under a manager who spent time last summer talking up Willian as a potential number 10 and then proceeded to never play him there”
Willian played #9 though vs City. According to BBC he was the worst player on the pitch with a score of 5.17/10. Saucy.
Pedro, it’s so said that our once huge club has deteriorated to the state of also-rans! Imagine, we can’t even compete with the likes of Aston Villa in the transfer market. How low can we go? Look how we’re being dominated by Chelsea! Since Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea in 2003 they have delivered 17 trophies, including two Champions League titles. In present day football, you have buy your way to the title, as we have seen with Man City and Chelsea in recent years. With Stan Kroenke in charge, I’m not sure if Arsenal will ever again challenge for Premier… Read more »
‘This is a club under a manager who spent time last summer talking up Willian as a potential number 10 and then proceeded to never play him there and complain and struggle with creating chances for most of the season’
Marko, yup – this is exactly one (in an already long, and growing list) of reasons that Arteta isn’t fit for purpose.
Raptora, I literally explained how transfer twitter works and you come back and tell me that a bunch of people said the same thing.
It’s an echo chamber. Crying about a deal that you know nothing about achieves nothing. I didn’t explain the deal, I just told you that pinning your hopes to people who just want to be famous for having inside knowledge or drive clicks might not be the sharpest move.
DM, you are angry the club isn’t acting on your transfer whims. At least you are honest.
NT, you can’t say the club has deteriorated until you see what we’ve done this summer. The window isn’t open yet.
“ I just hope/pray we have a plan.”
Haha just because we haven’t for getting on two decades shouldn’t make this an impossibility
Part of the reason Neves didn’t have a good season is because their star striker missed the season, and Jota also left
Pedro, most of us have little faith due to past windows. Even when we go large it turns out to be a terrible misjudgment
Moray, it’s a new world this summer. A new model for player ID. A fresh start.
Let’s see where it goes.
New world fresh start? Seems like same old to me
“New world this summer.”
I feel the need to add that it’s Arteta and Edu’s 2nd summer. Previous one wasn’t a very good one mind you. Just sayin’.
One would think it’s the 1st time these two are tackling a Summer together. It isn’t.
Arsenal being Arsenal – Kings of dithering like few others.
Gonna say it, still don’t see what they see in Ødegaard- if he’s all that then why hasn’t he cracked the RM lineup after all this time?
More and more it’s becoming pretty obvious that Arsenal are bottom feeders for scraps. Not seeing many rumours of any player clamouring to sign for Arsenal and Arteta.
Rumours of big spending this summer? Rumours indeed. I guess we shall all see.
Great post Pedro. Not sure why you bother for these miserable sods. Seriously, we should have two blogs one where we can discuss football sensibly and another where the moaners can spend every day telling us how shit Arsenal is while bigging up Villa and Leicester. Honest, you get more Arsenal positivity on a Spuds blog!! The Buendia fake outrage was funny because it was so predictable. As for claiming we are somehow inferior to Aston Villa, Jesus who are these morons who claim to be fans? Next season will be a great season. Mikel won a trophy in his… Read more »
Not that I’m interested in old odd issues or anything…but why do people here prefer to react? It was terribly obvious that Mikel wouldn’t be able to do the job immediately, but almost everybody here was cool with it…then he began to tank it and this place becomes ever flooded with reactions. I was here day and night then, stating a million reasons per minute on why Mikel shouldn’t be hired. Had we all ACTED, our collective objection could have spread from here to Twitter and from Twitter into Edu/Vinai/Josh’s heads. Don’t let anyone tell you Twitter doesn’t matter…Twitter so… Read more »
Ernest, not sure Edu is a ditherer.
There are so many polar opposites here that it makes good drama
Pity that Pedro can’t cash in on it.
Don’t always agree with your posts, but most times I do. Sometimes I’ll moan at you on Twitter, most times I’ll agree. But this post was one of your best, clearly explains how to much social media and media are a bad thing. Too many competing for attention. Just read bbc gossip and newsnow and Arsenal are buying around 55 players per season. We all know that when Fab or Ornstien tweet it’s worth a read, the others not so much. But thank you for keeping context and not sensationalising every rumour as some do.
Diss, if I was getting paid for clicks, you’d call me a sell out
We are a dim club. It’s shocking people are supporting or excusing this level of dereliction of duty. We had threr players in Buendia (who could get us goals that the midfield needs badly), Soumare) who could have been an amazing partner for Partey) and a young striker in Odsonne Eduardo that could have replaced Lacazette, and we let our competitors have free run at them. If money was our problem then I’ll excuse Buendia, but Eduardo and Soumare went for below 20 mil bucks ffs. And it’s a lie we were not in for Buendia no matter how hard… Read more »
Spot on, Pedro I hate to give Trump an uptick on anything – but he was (and is) right about fake news. And to prove the point, he used it better than anyone. Fake news has been bread and butter for the football sports press every off-season. And still we fall for it. Fair enough, it makes for excitement until reality returns in August (used to be September.) What is laughable (and sometimes painful) though, is the way some on here use false rumour to attack the Club and, in particular, Arteta. A word in their ear: you don’t fool… Read more »
Gentlebris
Not sure you’ve got a much to go on, you were in favour of Nuno, Carlo, and bigging up Jose something rotten.
Savage
“Part of the reason Neves didn’t have a good season is because their star striker missed the season, and Jota also left”
Spot on. When Raul Jimenez was injured in the challenge with David Luiz, Wolves fell apart. Jimenez was a huge player for them. I would have taken him at Arsenal, he has a lot of quality in and around the penalty area and very strong in the air. Big loss for Wolves and that’s why they struggled.
Love how when rumours were circulating that Arteta was in trouble the focus became Edu and how shit a job he was doing but now it seems everyone is safe let’s back them they know what they’re doing. I dunno I just don’t quite see it
Pedro I agree 100% with the point you make that Arsenal should not entertain a swap deal for either Bellerin or Xhaka. The idea that we should agree a swap for unwanted rejects from Juventus [Ramsey] and Roma [Under] is ridiculous. Neither is going to improve our team. Ramsey is in his 30s and his career is on a downward spiral. He started just 13 serie A games for Juventus and his transfer valuation is a third of what it was when he left us. This is a player who left us because we were unwilling to extend his contract.… Read more »
“Ernest, not sure Edu is a ditherer.”
Not sure of anything any longer, Pedro.
All that i know is that you cant start the upcoming season without properly addressing the problems of last season. To that point we are being asked to trust the process. I will leave it at that and reserve judgement at the appropriate time.
Bris, the prime example of someone with a big opinion on what we have, who had worse opinions on what we should have had.
Twitter matters? Funniest thing I think I’ve ever read on here
Makes a change from the incessant whining though — it feels more like a crèche in here than an AFC blog
Has there ever been any more toys thrown out a pram at any one time than what we’ve seen chucked out here in the last few days.
It would be thoroughly depressing if it wasn’t so funny
Let’s see then who we actually sign. Players on the up (Buendia certainly appears to be one of them as was Watkins last summer for example) or players on the way down like Willian, Luiz, Soares. We seem to be pretty well split on Odegaard, claims that he’s on his way up based on faith can be countered with the point that RM don’t let decent players go. Clearly if they sell him RM don’t see whatever it is that Mikel sees. It would be interesting to see how many players transferred between big clubs go on to improve. I… Read more »
Won’t be surprised if the club wait till the final to buy/loan Odegaard again. Surely there has to be another right footed playmaker with quality technique and end product we can sign.
AFC Forever, I wouldn’t have taken Jiminez, he’s 30, how many times are we going to take oldies on the way down before we learn our lesson?
“5 months of intimate scouting will tell Arteta and Edu exactly what they need to do.”
There is your problem right there they don’t know jack as has Nevins evident by many asking what is Edu doing at the club and the managerial incompetence of Arteta shows up in the table finishes.
Pedro
Did you seem Fabrizio Romano waxing lyrical about Edu the other day? Seemed somewhat odd.
Doesn’t have to be right footed, just more dynamic than Odegaard. Ikoné from Lille looks good
Nevins/been
“Let’s see then who we actually sign. Players on the up (Buendia certainly appears to be one of them as was Watkins last summer for example) or players on the way down like Willian, Luiz, Soares.”
You can be as optimistic as you want, but when presented with the facts that you lay out Andy, its essentially either bad luck or incredibly poor planning.
Hello Ernest.
Yes, piss poor planning so far, but have we learnt anything? I’m not really optimistic but even not being quite so stupid in the market might be a small ray of light, a move in the right direction.
What I do know is that more of the same unadventurous, tired, dull signings this summer and we can effectively write off yet another season.
Andy Henry, Vieira, lately the chelsea trio KDB,Salah, Lukaku, players off the top of my head who were at ‘big’ clubs and went on to explode elsewhere,but they are exceptions. I think your point is spot on and I agree we need to find young and hungry. I think that’s why not getting Buendia disappointed me so much. It’s not impossible that we can still secure this type of player but it seems that Arteta plays everything so safe we’re going to be severely disappointed again. It wasn’t losing Buendia,it was the path it suggested we are on. I hope… Read more »
CC, I did see that comment. The idea that any one person can just suddenly be connected deeply to every single club in the world is a fantasy only twitter could carry. That opinion shows that he can say literally anything and people go along with it.
Englandsbest “What is laughable (and sometimes painful) though, is the way some on here use false rumour to attack the Club and, in particular, Arteta” Yep. Much better to have something untruthful that fits a narrative than a truth that challenges it. Just look at the 26 game run Arsenal went on, these people need positivity like a Moose needs a hat-stand. As football is our national sport there is huge competition for clicks. Content is hugely speculative, there are few who are really ITK despite their claims. The lying journalists always makes me smile when they quote: “A source… Read more »
MD, you were probably crying about us being linked to Jorginho last summer.
Andy
“AFC Forever, I wouldn’t have taken Jiminez, he’s 30, how many times are we going to take oldies on the way down before we learn our lesson?”
No point now in any case, won’t be the same player after that injury. A couple of years ago I would have taken him, top striker. Technically really strong. I agree, we need to focus on younger players.
Pedro
Yea, was left a bit puzzled how he came to that conclusion honestly. But more you scratch with him the more you see it’s very much as you’re painting. Good old Fab has been in hot water of late passing info off as his own despite doing a cut and paste from other journos.
Kind of speaks to the Wild West nature of Twitter ITK, and how you’re only as good as your last exclusive full of all the juicy deets – real or otherwise.
CC, Yeah I wanted Jose, but never the other ones you mentioned. And Jose had his poorest season in his career at a suspect club…but where did he still finish? Above Mikel. Pedro, I did not say Jose or no one else, I suggested Jose just like others suggested other bright names. But you specifically told us Mikel was world class. I don’t have time for reactions…Mikel has the job, I knew he couldn’t do it immediately(and I wanted immediate impact), but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do it in the long run. I suspect Mikel will shock you guys… Read more »
I love the total and oblivious use of optimism by some on this blog. The amusement factor alone is worth the price of admission. For those that love to trash the so-called anti-optimism crowd, its a flipping game for crying out loud. Football is nothing more than a game that allows for enjoyment, happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, and pretty much any emotion you want to tag to it. No right or wrong to be attached. The fact that a couple of you continue to harp against those that aren’t you, tells you that you cant delineate between your membership to… Read more »
“In present day football, you have buy your way to the title, as we have seen with Man City and Chelsea in recent years. With Stan Kroenke in charge, I’m not sure if Arsenal will ever again challenge for Premier League title” The notion that a number of clubs managed in the past to win the league without buying is just nonsense Historically the vast vast majority of league winners have transferred in the majority of their players. I can’t immediately put my hand on the article but it made comparison between transfer spend as a % of income 1940-50-60s… Read more »
Relax, guys.
Pedro is Arteta’s spin doctor. Only a fool can’t see that.
I bet Pedro doesn’t believe half the things he makes up each day.
Bris, if your suggestions have all been fired or axed, you can’t come to me with ‘instant reaction needed’
You had worse ideas than Arteta.
CC, telling how many journos are calling him a tap-in merchant. He’s basically The Fat Jewish of football content, but no one cares.
A joro jara joro
“What I do know is that more of the same unadventurous, tired, dull signings this summer and we can effectively write off yet another season.”
Indeed and please no more signings of beyond sell date players, it would be disheartening given last seasons abject results through such signings.
He’s basically the Fat Jewish of football content, but no one cares.
Eh?
Ernest, you slagged Edu, totally fair… but used the worst players you can find.
If I’d said, Edu is elite, look at Martinelli, Odegaard, Mari, Gabriel M, and Thomas Partey… AND look at the dross he’s moved on, it paints a different picture. If it’s just a game, at least play a fair one.
Its those worst players that cost a fortune Pedro, the ones that likely will keep the club from making creative signings. Come on, even you can see the problem those ill advised signings brought with them.
“if the sharp people on the laptops are recommending these players, then let’s see what’s what before crying that our club is over.” Surely the whole point, ‘Dro, is that we HAVE already given StatDNA and the machines a chance. The summer of 2016 that holed the club below the waterline was a StatDNA summer. Xhaka, Mustafi and Perez for £100m. And you can understand how the machines come to their conclusions to recommend those types of players: Xhaka was in a PL team of the season this year (CIES), and Mustafi was the highest rated defender in the league… Read more »
Terraloon, that doesn’t surprise me, much of the money that would have gone on transfers pre-Bosman now goes directly into the players’ pockets. I’m pretty sure it’s been a long time since our transfer budget exceeded our wage bill.
Jorginho was last summers “joke club” link, and in the end he was a big feature in a side that finished 4th and won the CL. Meanwhile many of the same people scoffing at Jorginho leaned hard into pyramid Pirlo as an “excellent” foil for Partey.
I was laughed at for recommending John Stones as a ball-playing CB to replace Luiz. Why? Because he wasn’t Upamecano. Playing a smart market is so foreign to Arsenal that fans lose their shit unless the player incoming is pissing in online sauce.
Ernest, Willian was the worst signing of the last 10. years, no doubt. But if you only focus on the bad players to be miserable about, are you being truthful to yourself?
I don’t think so.
Raising the white flag before the window is a mayo levels of sauce.
And you know me Pedro, Im yet to be convinced that the club are heading in the right direction. Trust the Process is what you keep saying – okay, and then? The process is taking time and the progress is equally slow.
You dont finish 8th and out of Europe and declare any level of success, you just cant and don’t. Am i missing something in all of this?
Terraloon Mate, spending is on a different level now. The four Champions League semi-finalists were all doped clubs; City, Chelsea, PSG & RM. However, what has been more dangerous with the modern ‘buying’ of success is how that has had such a huge inflationary effect creating an artificial market for transfer fees and wages – which is a very bad thing. Barca and Real are floating with £1bn debt, Chelsea owe Abramovich £1.3bn and Man City & PSG have been doped a similar amount over £1bn. In 1979 Trevor Francis became the first £1m player, joining Forest from Birmingham City.… Read more »
Ernest: I think these stark differences in reactions to what’s happened or not happened, merely reflects the types of supporters here The point Pedro makes is for us to withhold judgement until we’ve actually done our work. For us to have a TW, we need to sell before we make any purchases. Much like with TP last summer, our targets this TW may have probably agreed to join us behind the scenes. And contrary to what some people here think, Arsenal is a great club with a long history and will appeal to many, even in the absence of European… Read more »
“And Jose had his poorest season in his career at a suspect club…but where did he still finish? Above Mikel.“ I mean he didn’t, he was sacked and went to Italy with his tail between his legs. Sacked a week before a cup final no less because they thought that little of him. – Pedro Think it was Wheatley that absolutely tore him a new arsehole but deleted the tweet. Very much saying what you’ve said there, he hoovers up exclusives and plays into the Twitter oracle he’s perceived. It’s a business ultimately, fans need to appreciate that when they’re… Read more »
Pedro “It’s an echo chamber. Crying about a deal that you know nothing about achieves nothing. I didn’t explain the deal, I just told you that pinning your hopes to people who just want to be famous for having inside knowledge or drive clicks might not be the sharpest move” Isn’t that what you and Le grove did during your stint as ringleader of WOB? Have to say, its fvcking ridiculous for some of us who have followed Le grove for years to now hear you say ‘There’s no point being miserable’, ‘It’s an echo chamber’, ‘I don’t want to… Read more »
Ernest, it’s all about framing. If your idea of a completed process was 18 months, that is on you. Very few managers in world football work on that timeline, and if they can… the rockstars… Arsenal was not going to be desirable (as evidence with Conte > Spurs).
There are plenty of trends that point towards the process going in a good direction. You can be miserable, and look for the bad, or perk up, look for the positives and hope the plan is elite this summer.
Rambo, honestly mate, if you are so upset with the site, take your attention somewhere else.
I was laughed at for recommending John Stones as a ball-playing CB to replace Luiz. Why? Because he wasn’t Upamecano. Playing a smart market is so foreign to Arsenal that fans lose their shit unless the player incoming is pissing in online sauce.
Wait are you talking about playing the market smart by suggesting a defender who already moved for 50 million while Bayern snapped up Upamecano for less than 40 million at 22? Genuinely brilliant that
The more non-negotiables Thomas Partey breaks with his national team and get sacked from it, the more time he has to recover from his first season in the EPL.
However if he were to start to do the same with Arteta, I wonder which treatment he would get: the Willian (everything is forgiven) or the Guendouzi treatment (get out of my club)?
Ernest ReedJune 7, 2021 17:16:36
Am i missing something in all of this?
———
Yes, subjective bias….. 🙂
lol
Did you not get the memo..
‘Trust the process’..
‘Value the process’ or ‘Process valuing’ as of now. 🙂
CC, you simply can’t be that connected to everything unless you have a BBC behind you. Even then it’s really difficult.
But really, why accounts like that bang, is everything is in one place. It’s easy curation.
Leicester and villa both quietly just getting on with improving their squads
Leicester in particular make it look so easy to buy good players at good prices. Why do we find it so tough
PedroJune 7, 2021 17:24:18
CC, you simply can’t be that connected to everything unless you have a BBC behind you. Even then it’s really difficult.
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Really Pedro.Thanks for enlightening us,on your extra curricular activities.
🙂
Valentin, Willian is probably exiting this summer. For all the talk he didn’t face consequences, he was pretty anonymous post Xmas.
Guendo couldn’t keep his behaviour in check on his apology loan, nor would anyone in europe take a chance on him. Maybe you have to take an L on his treatment, seen as his talent hasn’t landed him a move anywhere decent.
Thomas Partey has never been a problem for discipline, if he was, one would hope he’d be treated the same way everyone is.
Pedro
‘ CC, you simply can’t be that connected to everything unless you have a BBC behind you. .’
Excuse me? This used to be a family blog
As for whoever called some of us miserable sods
Yeah something about having an absolutely dreadful season somehow makes people reluctant to bring out the champagne
Funny how that happens innit
Ernest Read
Not Willian again?!!
At the time everyone was saying what a good bit of business it was getting a proven Premier League performer who had just been voted Chelsea’s player of the season. He had scored 13 goals and had also won Chelsea’s goal of the season. It was a no-brainer on a free transfer.
Beating Arteta and Edu up is misplaced; it should be Willian who gets a bloody good hiding because he was the one that played like Oprah Winfrey.
There is no guarantee with any signing. Look at Alexis Sanchez when he went to MUFC.
LOL China…now thats funny!