It feels like I’ve been cranking content all week and what do I have to show for it?
NOTHING.
No one sold.
No one purchased.
I am starting to lose my patience. Thinking of sending Edu a seriously firm Instagram DM about my feelings.
The Granit Xhaka story is dragging like an N’Zogbia transfer rumour of yester-window. The clubs are in the final stages of negotiations, it looks like it’s going to happen, just get it done. After watching the Italy game, I couldn’t be happier. Xhaka is solid, but you’re simply not going anywhere with a good technician with no pace in midfield. If you are going to have no pace, be Locatelli with the low-punch shots. What a talent.
The story we’re all purring over is Sambi Lokonga. We really have no idea why, other than it feels intelligent and like a Wenger singing of old. New Youtube channel Latte Firm dropped this infographic.
Do I know what it all means? No. Am I going to draw sharp conclusions that this guy is taking Arsenal back to the absolute pinnacle of European football? Absolutely.
There is business to be done this summer and I think there’s a fine balance between making sure we’re ready for next season, whilst raiding European clubs on their knees. Sambi looks like a shadow player for Thomas Partey. Both seem to boast similar features. We need squad players with levels and we need to own them. Our Madrid loan options last season gave us the worst of both worlds. Odegaard did well, we wanted him, but Madrid saw enough promise to keep him. Ceballos had an absolute shocker, stunk out our first team for the most part, so we wasted development minutes on someone else’s player.
I am diving two-footed into the Premier League talent we’re trying to sign. James Maddison, without doubt, would be an excellent signing for Arsenal. Ben White, without doubt, would be an excellent signing for what need from a defender. There’s a lot of scoffing from Arsenal fans that spent 10 years demanding we ‘spend some fucking money’, now we’re doing it on players that will settle into the first team and deliver from day one, people are complaining about fees?
Ben White is a ball-playing centre-back that has made his mistakes at other clubs, he will complement our defence and pick up the good bits of David Luiz, whilst adding what he didn’t have… pace, motivation, and focus. You do not survive a season with Bielsa if you don’t put the work in, boast high levels of fitness, and have finesses on the ball with the ability to move the ball forward. While the internet was purring over Bissouma, their fans were purring over Ben White, who was named their player of the season in the fan vote. That’s the difference between actually watching Brighton and watching comps of Brighton.
James Maddison is an unquestionable talent that we lack. He’s 18 months younger than Grealish, 5 years younger than KDB, and since his Premier League debut he’s one bested by KDB for chance creation. How am I reading Arsenal fans scoff at this name? Someone moaned that he dresses like he’s buying from Hypebeast, what sort of criticism is that? If anything, signing him feels unrealistic because he’s the sort of player that ends up going to Chelsea or United.
Moving on two players of that age and profile moves us up a level instantly. You can’t argue the impact that would have on our season. When you ask Arsenal to spend some money, this is where the pennies should be going. If we’re trying to replicate the City model, this is our attempt at KDB and Dias.
I don’t even want to start on the Calvert Lewin rumors, that’d just be far too sexy for all of us to handle right now.
There’s still smart money to be spent elsewhere. Josh Doig, the Hibernian left-back, is being heavily linked. He’s 19-years-old and 6ft2, but he’s attracting a lot of attention. The worry is if Tierney breaks down, which is likely, you’ve an untested quantity filling in, but also, the benefit is then you are building out someone with a resale value and you also have a succession plan for KT (hopefully we don’t need one). The lesson from last season is young players are hungry and tend to take their chance. I’d be excited to have a promising back-up system being built out.
There’s a good keeper out there, somewhere, that we’ll have to pick up. Aaron Ramsdale for £20m does not feel like smart money when you can pick up someone like Onana for a pittance. Arsenal has been shocking with keeper signings over the years, our best #1 was Emi Martinez and we bombed him off. I know it goes without saying, but if you want an example of why a Ben White type player needs to be signed, just look at how our playing out the back dipped when Martinez left. The best keepers in world football these days can play through the lines better than Mo Elneny, we need to find one if we want to be more effective and unpredictable in this new system.
We also need to build out the right side of our defence. Cal Chambers is a very decent player, his delivery is excellent and he’s tactically astute (everyone at Arsenal loves him as well). The worry is that he very much looks like a centre-back playing right back. I have no idea where we’ll go here, but we need to find a player with the correct athletic profile that can invert. I know, I know… Ainsley could do that role, it’s such a shame he’d rather bum around in center-midfield at Watford than make a career at a club that could take him to the top but there we are. Delusions of grandeur is a bit of a problem with some of the Hale-Enders on the fringes.
We’ve also not spoken much about the #9 position, that might be because our hands are tied. I’m not sure anyone is giving Lacazette £180k a week and Auba on £350k a week is immovable unless he decides like Willian he just doesn’t fancy the slog. To be honest, I don’t think we’ll have a year like the last one from Auba again. The pattern of players we’re bringing in all points towards freeing him up earlier with better chances.
I also think Flo Balogun is going to be a very special player, he’s the closest player we have to Aguerro in style and athletic profile. I’m not sure how Arteta is going to manage his career because there’s a real story to be told with regards to loans. Do Arsenal keep Balogun on the bench like we did Eddie? Or do we send him on a short loan at the start of the season so he can develop in a starting 11? People get absolutely hysterical about loans, but forget that players like Harry Kane went on four of them. Same could be said of William Saliba. There’s no European football next season, what is best for his development? Our bench for 4 months, or Newcastle’s first team for the same time period to adapt to the language and the pace on someone else’s dime? Who knows, but the fact people get so emotional about it is a very, very Arsenal fan thing.
Finally, let’s talk about that time we spent a load of money with Lille that looked VERY odd. Remember I told you to look at the sort of people we were dealing with? Remember the exBarca exec that was at Lille at the time? Remember that outrageous fee we paid Lille who were in deep, deep shit that summer unless they sold at a big price?
The French justice system are looking into the Victor Osimhen deal last summer, as only €10M of €81.3M deal reached Lille. In the last 4 years, former Lille owner Gerard Lopez has transferred €67.7M to companies headed by himself. (@lequipe)
— SSC Nap⚽️li News (@SSCNapoliNews_) June 18, 2021
If I speak, I am in trouble.
Football is a dirty game. Genaro Gattuso lost his job at Fiorentina after two weeks because he brought his super-agent buddy to the table. It is stunning that now Spurs are negotiating with him, mainly because he’s a bang-average coach, but also because it shows their lack of ideas… if you are outsourcing your Sporting Director role to a super-agent, you are fucked.
Talking of the Spurs manager job, let’s use this moment to highlight what I told you in December… fear what comes next. Spurs, for all the banter, is a London club with an elite stadium and a squad people thought could contend the title last season. They’ve been rejected by Poch and Conte. They had to lower themselves to Fonseca, who is a good coach, but coming out from under a cloud. Now they are bumming around with passion merchants and their unsavory handlers.
I’m telling you this because it feels like there’s a pattern emerging. The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and rockstar managers will only join if they have to tools to win. The idea that we’ll sack Arteta and get Conte or Nagelsmann is fanciful because our project lacks elite levers. Spurs are struggling because no one wants to come here and fight four Goliaths with David money.
It’s still really funny though… really funny.
On that note, remember to check out the two podcasts we produced this week. They are of fine quality. Johnny is no full-time on the team, he changed his bio to reflect the blood agreement we have. Give him a follow on the internet here.
ACAST | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Play
“No one in the right mind is asking Saliba to be a starter against City and Pool.“
Actually, I wouldn’t mind having Saliba start against City and Pool…….with Arteta taking a day off
Judging how Arsenal looked against these two it could only be an improvement.
“””Incredible how much I’m agreeing with everything CG is saying today. Think i need to lay down a bit””””
Thanks Bat.
(Little tip. Have your naps, when Rich is waffling away)
I don’t get all the complaining about White. He’s a good, young player who improves us. Hopefully his signing means Holding is sold. Saliba is a talented, young player who had a good loan. If he’s good enough he’ll start.
Rich’
Are you aware that Saliba had an excellent loan at Nice, to the extent where he made the shortlist for player of the season.
Ezri Konsa is the players that circulating thorough your brain
He’s the excellent defender in the championship for Brentford who transferred his wiality to the premier league
Ben White had one good season for Leeds, that’s about it. He didn’t transfer that level of consistency to the premier league last season.
Rich It shouldn’t be an embattled manager’s decision to set the medium-term course of the club based on his need for immediate self-preservation. That’s the whole point of the ‘modern structure’: someone above him planning to a longer horizon is making the strategic decisions (e.g. we want to integrate this expensive young player now, and don’t want to spend £50m+ on another prospect that is no better, just to ‘save’ 6 months of potential bedding in time; the manager is then told what he has to work with and where there’s flexibility to spend money). That the manager is calling… Read more »
Funny that we’re gettigtied down with this Saliba/White discussion when we need at least two CM/AM before we even look at another CB. All this nonsense that we’re going to spend £250m this summer and even then people suggesting that it might be good enough for fifth! When Chelsea spent £200m last summer (because they were under a transfer ban the previous season) everyone was claiming that spending that much they’d have to challenge for the title. Yet if we spend even more then 5th is acceptable? Some people seem to be living in a MA inspired fantasy world where… Read more »
Love this song( the original,obviously) so apologies to Debbie Harry for this. ‘Maria’ by Blondie He moves like all great players Smooth as silk,cool as air Ooh it makes you wanna cry We’ve never seen him playing Arteta will make him a sub again Ooh it makes you wanna die Ooh why don’t you want this player? Ooh ’cause he wouldn’t kiss your bum? Saliba,what a player He’s insane,out of his mind Arteta,won’t play Saliba 27 million and now he wants White I’ve seen this thing before When he brought Willian from the club next door Fool played him though… Read more »
***Ezra Konsa is the players that circulating thorough your brain
He’s the excellent defender in the championship for Brentford who transferred his quality to the premier league
“Saliba is a talented, young player who had a good loan. If he’s good enough he’ll start.”
When the guy who makes that decision is a poor judge of player it’s entirely likely that he will not. Remeber the guy that decided Martinez wasn’t good enough to be our #1, the same Martinez who appears in multiple team of the season line ups.
We’ve spent money so badly for so long, that just the thought of spunking £40m + on Ben White, £40m+ on Neves £65-70m on Maddison has no appeal at all.
£150m on 3 average players. I mean don’t we ever fuckin learn. How are we ever gonna shift them in again without making more losses.
Also like Willian, no guarantee they will hit the ground running under Arteta’s dictate-a-ball.
Can someone explain the logic where we wouldn’t pay £35m for Buendia but we’re happy to pay almost £50m for Ben White like he’s what we really needed!!🤔🤔
andy1886
I’ll take his judgement over yours.
Martinez was happy to leave and we had a good offer for him. I’m sure we would have sold Leno instead if it was the other way around.
“It shouldn’t be an embattled manager’s decision to set the medium-term course of the club based on his need for immediate self-preservation. That’s the whole point of the ‘modern structure’”
Pretty much says it all.
People seem to forget that we we signed Saliba a couple of summers ago the anti Sanllehi mob were telling everyone how he was a Mislintat signing etc. We should also remember that other clubs were interested.
Gbat,
If Martinez was given the No.1 jersey that he’d just earned by winning Fa cup and community shield, he would still be here ( with Buendia) .
He left because Fraud-eta showed shit judgement and no faith in him as a keeper.
Shit judgement cos Emi us now starting for Argentina on the world stage, whilst Leno is only in the German squad (and wants to leave AFC)
Emi didn’t want to leave, he was left with no choice by the clueless one.
Gbat,
I’d take Andy’s judgement over Arteta’s. Seems to make much more sense.
I was happy to give Arteta the benefit of the doubt over the keeper situation last summer – the damning indictment is only a single season on and Leno wants out as well.
I’d take my Mum’s judgement over Arteta’s and her only interest in football is checking the fixture list so I can’t use Arsenal to get out of family engagements.
Marc,
I wasn’t, it was the wrong decision all day long, to sell Emi.
Mark
My general position is you give the manager enough rope to hang himself on things like this.
Problem is Arteta’s got so much rope we can’t get enough timber to build a gallows high enough.
Okay Gbat, forget Emi, how was Mikel’s judgement when he campained for Willian to join? Incidentally I was very much opposed to that signing too. Better judgement?
Martinez was promised a 95% chance is starting the fuse game last season
He could have stayed is he truly wanted, but I guess he saw the incoherence in our entire structure.
Martinez instigated his exit. He got what he wanted- to exit Arsenal.
Mark
I wanted Martinez to stay but I understand the decision to let him go.
I bet your were on here bemoaning Leno’s injury saying Martinez wasn’t good enough.
*starting the first game
😵
Or perhaps Cedric? Probably 80% of us thought that was a pointless signing, even MA now as he preferred to play Xhaka at LB in our biggest game of the season. Good judgement?
False 9? Great judgement? We could go on forever…
andy1886
Willian hasn’t worked out. Happens sometimes. Let’s not pretend he wasn’t a quality player.
What is stopping us buying/scouting players and taking punts at around£15-25 million? People we can still sell if it doesn’t work out, or sell for big money if it does.
Why can’t we make the smart moves?? Buy players before they blow up. Yes it’s a risk, but the rewards far outweigh this.
Sorry, no to Going back with an improved bid for Ben White, no to Mega money Maddison (injuries) .
Diss, much as I don’t want to spend ages going through the Emi thing if MA had told him he would be our #1 last season he would have stayed. It’s quite simple really.
GBat, we’re talking about judgement remember. Lots of examples to suggest that MA is a poor judge of player.
I can’t believe people are saying no to signing Maddison. And he’s missed a huge 12 games in the last 3 seasons.
Also Gbat it doesn’t take a genius to realise that forwards tend towards deline in their 30’s. the guy will be 34 by the time his contract ends. Would Wenger have given a 31 year old a three year big money deal? DB10 got one year deals on reduced wages, Pires was let go. Both signifcantly better players than Willian.
I wouldn’t mind Maddison at say £40m but not at £50m or £60m. Buendia made more sense at £33m.
Dissenter I’ve never said sign White I’ve never said don’t play Saliba, but the worst solution IMO, is to keep Saliba, and have him warm the bench In the same way White had to go to Peterborough, Newport, Leeds, and then Brighton to play, in order to develop Saliba needs to play consistently in order to develop, otherwise his vast potential stalls Conventional wisdom + group think are diseases, and people become far too comfortable in their own echo chambers, It’s much easier to repeat the mantras “Xhaka sh*t” “Wenger out” “Emery out” “Arteta out” “19yr old Saliba is our… Read more »
andy1886
A poor judge of player because he signed an excellent, experienced player that didn’t work out and loaned out a youngster that people have a weird obsession with. Managers make loads of signings and believe it or not, some don’t work out.
Gbat ” bet your were on here bemoaning Leno’s injury saying Martinez wasn’t good enough.” You’re having a laugh mate, I’ve got eyes and use them. I wanted Leno dropped cos he made the whole defence nervous with his lack of command of his area and the hospital passes he regularly played to them. I never thought Leno was good enough, and was over the moon when Emi took his chance and delivered. No question in my mind he should have been made No.1. Only Arteta thinks players aren’t ready and defers to senior players regardless. Hence Saliba, Martinez, Balogun… Read more »
It’s like I said a day or two ago, the question we should all be asking is who would Leicester replace Maddison with and how much will they pay for him
They are much smarter than us as a club and far more savvy in the transfer market. They buy low, sell high and are not majorly impacted by sales in the last few years. So we should be in the market for the players they want to buy not the players they want to sell
The same would apply to teams like Leipzig and Dortmund.
andy1886
It’s not your money. Maddison is home grown and has performed excellently for the last 4 seasons. He’s also the perfect fit for the team going forward.
Rich
That’s the problem with you
You talk round and round in circles
You never take a stand and you keep advocating loans as a way to hide bad judgements
That’s why I’m having this respectful conversation with you.
You didn’t say we sign White, but you’re happy to send Saliba away to make room for the defense you never wanted us to sign
You’re happy to minimize Saliba’s quality and exaggerate the record of the defender you never wanted us to sign.
I’m all for getting sterling, Ben white and James Madison but it has to be for a reasonable fee and wages.
45m for ben white? No thanx, not worth more than 25m
James Madison for 60m? More like 35-40m
Sterling for 180k I wouldn’t mind but he’s going to want 250-300k
It’s not about the quality of these players but the reflection of the fee we have to pay for them, which is way too much.
* You didn’t say we sign White, but you’re happy to send Saliba away to make room for the defender you never wanted us to sign
Rich
But xhaka is shit
Wenger had to go
Emery had to go
Arteta should’ve gone
Nobody says saliba is our savior, it’s a straw man argument used by people making excuses for the club to burn 45m on a player who is neither an established top quality PL player, not necessarily much better than saliba, if at all.
Which part of the above is not true?
Exactly the point people are making Gons, they are not worth spunking that kind of money on.
Also you call this group think, it’s not.
It’s not that someone said something and everyone decided to go along with it. It’s that a huge number of people have been watching the same bad decisions and mistakes for 10 years and have reached similar conclusions
Thinking differently from most doesn’t make you right. I’d just as well argue that rather than celebrating disagreeing with everyone, you might want to wonder why you’re seeing something so different from what most other arsenal fans see.
Mark
Mustafi and Kolasinac who played a massive 43 and 90 minutes in the league. Willian barely started after xmas.
Even Villa are better at transfer than Arsenal these days
They got Ezra Konsa from. Brentford for £11 million in 2019 as part of calculated gamble on young players about to take off
You look at Villa and you see a coherence in transfer dealings. Then seem to know what they are doing. The bid for ESR was part of that plan to sign players just before they take off.
Then you see Arsenal bidding to sign a lesser right footed central defender than Konsa for 300% more in a depressed market.
@Rich
Saliba needs to play consistently in order to develop, otherwise his vast potential stalls.
So why can’t Saliba do this at Arsenal. He played consistently well enough at Nice.
It would be different if we had a defense or Diaz, Varane,. VVD, but we’re talking Holding /Chambers who’re not good enough.
Yeah gonsterous exactly
The one word that matters is value
You can pay 130m for Halaand and it be an incredible investment when he wins you titles and moves on to Madrid for 250m in 4 years.
And you can sign Willian of a free contract and absolutely resent the wastage.
It’s not about the money it’s about the value. Always.
Signing white and Maddison for a combined 100m is horrible value for money. If it’s 55m combined or something at least you can be highly confident of a return on your investment on the pitch and in future sales.
I find myself missing Wenger these days.
Even a deteriorating Wenger’s judgment trumps the stuff these muppets are doing now.
Gbat
Mustafi and Kolasinac who played a massive 43 and 90 minutes in the league. Willian barely started after xmas.
They were in the squad and named in Europa League.
Willian barely started after Xmas ( despite being given undeserved chance after chance before Xmas) cos everyone was asking very loudly why he was getting starts over Pepe/Martinelli.
It wasn’t cos he had some kinda insight, Arteta couldn’t carry on doing it.
I’m desperate for fans back in the stadium because I’m tired of hearing Artetas annoying voice trying to control every facet of the game on the touchline.
I don’t remember a single poster talking about White in glowing terms until he was linked with us and now we have a few of them writing long paragraphs about how crucial it is for us to sign a ball playing defender for 50M to help us in ball progression.
“It’s not your money”
Lol, so that’s alright then.
Actually AFC is only worth anything because people like you or I spend our hard earned cash on products and services related to the club. If we didn’t then the Kroenkies would struggle to give it away. It’s a loss making business in case you hadn’t noticed.
Funny how so many supporters knew exactly what was likely to happen with Willian, Soares etc while the manager with his excellent judgement according to you didn’t.
Ultimately the transfer fees being bandied around for these targets is more in line with the fees Chelsea, city or Utd would be paying but the difference is we don’t have deep pockets like those 3. But as well it’s not like spending lots of money on quality players guarantees you they will work out anyway. Look at Chelsea’s top 10 most expensive signings below and ask yourself how many of them really worked out (so far) as great additions and the club got value out of them. Less than half. How much money has Utd blown and still failed… Read more »
Theres going to be alot of movement is what we have been told, so far it seem to be bowel movement
I would personally be bringing in an AM, and at least two CMs before even think about bringing in a defender but I genuinely think this club is ran by madmen.
Edu and Arteta were bland, largely forgettable players and they make for a very shit leadership team. I expect Arteta to be despatched by Christmas and that buffoon Edu in the next 12-18 months.
I think what you’re seeing on here is two very different mind sets. It’s harsh to say it but one of them is basically bonkers. It’s so unlikely that we’ll have £250 million to spend even with sales that it’s not even good click bait. With that in mind how much are we going to have to spend this summer? With Xhaka needing to be replaced whether he goes or not that’s one key area of the pitch, depending on what formation we’re going to play we’re going to need a couple of midfielders in one form or another unless… Read more »
‘ I don’t remember a single poster talking about White in glowing terms until he was linked with us and now we have a few of them writing long paragraphs about how crucial it is for us to sign a ball playing defender for 50M to help us in ball progression.
I mentioned that to Rich, since he was fawning all season about Bissouma and Lamptef, some others liked Dunk too.
Now he’s worthy of sending Saliba on yet another loan.
Kroenke part with 250 million.?
He would rather cut a finger off.?
“It’s not your money. ”
Yes it fucking is my money. It’s money from my ST, cash I spend in the stadium (not a huge amount I’ll admit) and then money through TV subscriptions.
Right now Arsenal are providing shit value for money and I’ve every right to complain.
James
Finger? I can think of other parts he cut off before spending that much.
TR7 yeah Ben white suddenly became desirable and worth 50m the moment arsenal were linked
We talk about other teams players and possible signings all season and I bet if you cruised through the le grove comments of the past 2 years you’d not find a single mention of him until arteta started throwing cash at him and suddenly he’s just what we need
We need at least 25 more goals in the side too, that needs to be addressed before we stockpile more CBs
I couldn’t even tell you what Ben White looked like, and I suspect that without a google search most of you can’t either
Arteta talks about control, but doesn’t seem to understand the difference between control and possession for possession sake.
Possessing the ball but doing nothing progressive with it is where we’re at,taking far too long to transition the ball forwards.
Or does he think if we keep hold of the ball the opposition can’t score.
Hey in edus defense he was a quality player. A fair chunk better than arteta
With away fans getting circa 10% of ticket allocation meaning we can expect Chelsea to have about 6,000 fans at our first home match, come half time will Arteta have more supporters amongst the Chelsea fans or Arsenal?
Would the pro Arteta posters on here tell me what is the ideal Arteta team ? How is an ideal Arteta team gonna play their football ?
Edu’s situation can be summarized with the phrase, you live with pigs, you smell like pigs.
The way Saliba is talked of on here by some people, you would think he is actually 16 coming out of secondary school. He’s a big unit, fast and has had a good loan spell for a second occasion. He is very highly rated by several high profile coaches/figures in the game. What are people so afraid of? Loan him out again and it’s highly unlikely he will sign another contract when he goes down to two years. I cannot think of a good reason not to have him as part of the first team squad unless Arteta simply doesn’t… Read more »
Arteta was a good player and not particularly bland. Good passer and determined tackler, especially for his size. Not a great or anything but he was a panic buy that actually worked out saving our season imo (think it was just after the 8-2?). Arteta the Arsenal player probably fits the profile of CM we actually need reasonably well.
Marc
I thought 10% away allocation was for cup games, has this been changed for league games too?
China1 We should have moved away from Xhaka a long time ago, but he’s still better than Elneny, Ceballos, Torreira + Guendouzi Xhaka isn’t sh*t, he’s just not at the level we need him to be at, I hope we clear the decks, and sign upgrades in midfield this summer Andre Santos was sh*t, Xhaka is slightly above average, there’s a big difference Emery slightly overachieved in his first season, and in spite of spending £140 million, we actually decreased the quality of our squad, instead of increasing it I said at the time that sacking Emery wouldn’t change much,… Read more »
Chris
I thought it was 10% it could be 5%. Obviously some teams don’t take up their full allocation.
Rich
Are you serious or just trolling now?
Dissenter I’ve never suggested we sign Lamptey, in fact I was against it, he’s all about pace, and he’s just had a really bad hamstring injury I like Aarons from Norwich + Cash from Villa for right back I like Bissouma and think he’s a really good player, I wouldn’t be disappointed if we signed him, but I’d rather a press resistant technician in the mould of Cazorla, and that would be my preference I’ve never suggested we sign Ben White, I’m saying if we sign him, to give him a chance, and judge him on his performances and impact… Read more »
Away PL at Emirates I thought was 3,000. FA Cup you get the big away contingent with 9,000, with usual corner away section + all the way behind the goal Clock End lower.
Dissenter
I seen you put Lewis Dunk in there as well, a player I’ve never even mentioned, or seen anyone else suggest we sign
I think it was CC who liked Lamptey
Buying speedsters with hamstring injuries is too much of a risk, take away their pace, and what you’re left with, is the player Bellerin is now
Marc, your comment at 12.28 suggesting ‘this place is becoming more vocal against Edu and Arteta, it’s not just a few vocal posters…’ I would argue that many potential posters are put off by the incessant negative posters such as yourself and others I won’t bother to name. Rich, quite reasonably stacks up an argument for let’s see what happens(despite not being a fan of Arteta/ Edu.) and in the very binary times that we live in, gets criticised. Any positivity or facing to up to the onslaught is met with attacks usually conflating the argument, making out anybody not… Read more »
Rich dude no one said saliba is required to get us into top 4, who said this? Everyone has consistently said we already have a pretty good defense and he is capable of providing many of the qualities Luiz could (such as good on the ball and passing) whilst if he does make some errors as he learns, that’s no worse than watching Luiz make them every three games anyway People are annoyed about saliba because he’s a big prospect who has been consistently handled in a rubbish way. If we loan him out again he’s never coming back. Why… Read more »
The way to cure the incessant negativity is for arsenal to stop be incessantly shit lol
Fuckers like me weren’t so bitter back when there were actual reasons to be excited. Even when we weren’t winning shit, just watching cesc play and work his magic every week with TR7, van Persie etc was enough to have me very much seeing the light
But when we are run like shit and often poor on the pitch, with outright poor decisions still seemingly on the horizon forgive me for not putting on a shit eating grin and being impressed
China, thank you for providing a classic example of why it’s tough on here if you bitching constantly about Arteta; ‘forgive me not putting on a shit eating grin and being impressed’.
Who on here as said that they are impressed by the present set up? However you suggest that if one doesn’t pile on to Arteta then you must be happy with where we are right now. Ridiculous.
China, the TW hasn’t closed yet and the season doesn’t start for a couple of months. Maintains this level of anger has got to be unhealthy and fairly pointless.
China1 If we fail to get top 4 next season, then there’ll be people on here screaming for Arteta’s head Saliba might bring something to the team? He might not be quite ready? We don’t know, and for all the hyperbole He might come back in pre-season, absolutely nail it, and go on and make a big impression this season I’m not taking a position either way, because I haven’t seen enough of him But I can understand why a manager with so little room for error, might be reluctant to throw in a 20yr old centre back, with under… Read more »
I can’t believe that there are still some on here that want the staus quo to apply – how long does Arteta get to prove if he is up to the job???? Maybe I am just too old and watch too many Youtube clips of Arsenal when they played with verve, substance and passion. As you say China, I can’t forget watching Henry, Viera, Cesc, RVP, Bergkamp, Pires, Overmars, Parlour, Wright, Adams, Rocastle, Brady, Ljundberg, Sanchez, Anelka, Kanu…..the list is endless. Who in todays team would make that list???
“27m wasted on a very very interesting talent and absolutely no interest in giving him a fair crack. It’s all just bullshit nonsense which is what pisses people off.”
And I’m sure someone will not agree to this with reasons like we would break him, he is not enough or whatever nonsense.
I have said it earlier, the season was a write-off after Christmas. An intelligent coach would have given minutes to likes of Saliba, Azeez, Martinelli, Guendouzi and even Torriera.
We saw Willian, Luiz, piss poor Auba(al though I believe he will be back to his form this season), Bellerin(knowing he wants out).
Finishing up 8th discovering couple more talents like Saka, ESR would have had me supporting Arteta.
Aussie, nobody wants Arsenal to continue to perform on and off the pitch in the way we have been in recent years. What are you talking about ‘status quo’ ? Most people are hoping if not confidently, that we are going to see a major overhaul in our squad this summer. It doesn’t take an optimist to see that we have plenty of room for attainable improvement by upgrading 3/4 starting positions. The comment section on Legrove does not have that much influence in changing the ‘status quo’. We’re just supporters hoping for the best but maybe expecting the worst-… Read more »
And anyone saying Gabrielle is not good enough defensive forgot he was one of the best players on the pitch before Covid and being in and out affected hus form even more.
I’m sure he will be back the beast we saw initially, unless Arteta starts dropping him every time he has a good game (like Pepe).
Le Grove 3:16
For Supreme leader so loved Arsenal that he gave begotten Diet Pep, so that the fanboys who believe in him will have everlasting midtable.
Brother Robert N61 lead us in a chorus of kumbaya
It’s true we haven’t bought or sold anyone yet and I already seem so irked but that’s because we are actively trying to set fire to vast sums of money on players like White The way the club is run reminds me of parenting my toddler. You see him running towards a massive puddle. You tell him not to jump in it because he’s not wearing wellies and hates having wet feet. He jumps in it anyway and ends up crying that he has wet feet. The transfer window is open and we’ve not fucked it up yet, but arteta… Read more »
There you go Sid, thanks for backing up my argument, not sure if was intentional, but thanks for the support.
Happy Fathers Day to all the dads on the board, soon to be dads, grinding it out every damn day. Hope you all have a good one, and have a few pints on me…!
new post btw people
China, I get your frustration, I feel it too. A great mate of mine calls me the accountant when it comes to talking about Arsenal. I’ve in the past tried to appreciate how our money should be spent, in other words whether we’re getting value for money with the wages on particular players, who we should get rid of and how we should apportion our transfer budget. He’s never given a shit and mocks me, which I happily take. This TW I must admit, with stories that the Kroenkes are going to allow us to spend big, I’m less bothered… Read more »
China1 I’m not overjoyed about spending £45 million on White But I remember when we spent £50 million on Lacazette, to sell Giroud a few months later, which was a downgrade I remember the euphoria when we spent £72 million on Pepe, and while I think he’ll surprise a few people next season, and looks like a player on the way up We’ve yet to see a return on that investment It doesn’t matter if fans embrace the signing of White or not, all that really matters is his performances on the pitch, and whether or not he improves the… Read more »
Playing out from the back isn’t our biggest problem. If the central midfield didn’t consist of xhaka, elneny or Ceballos and had a decent Cazorla esq player next to partey, it wouldn’t have been so difficult to progress from the back. You have the former three above hiding when under too much pressure. Not making themselves available, too shite to turn and face just go for an easy pass back. Every top team has that deeper playing cm/DM who drops back to receive the ball from CBS, but when ours is xhaka and he has to actually leave the cmf… Read more »
Like even if all our CMS stay. We need 2 players to usurp xhaka and elneny otherwise it’s just more of the same.
I think for me, if we buy into more potential rather than older players looking for mega moolah, as well as another marquee cm I’d be happy with that.
If we spend big dough on CB then not properly on cm I’ll be disappointed.
The club has a few opportunities to properly excite me this tw, but history keeps me weary hahaha.
All I can say is we will see