I’m going to start the blog with a philosophical theory.
Occam’s razor (or Ockham’s razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose an event has two possible explanations. The explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct. Another way of saying it is that the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation.
Aston Villa triggered me yesterday. The threat of them taking away Emile Smith Rowe felt painful. I reacted.
… but I was wrong.
Why? Occam’s razor.
The fewest assumptions, in relation to Smith Rowe, would have him staying at Arsenal and signing a new deal.
Reasons to go to Aston Villa: Zero
Would he get more minutes? No
Can they pay more money? No
Does he have a bond with the club or the area? No
Is there anything about Aston Villa that is more appealing than Arsenal? No
Next up, do Aston Villa have a reason to pursue Emile Smith Rowe? Yes
They are about the lose Jack Grealish to a major club this summer for big money. This is humiliating. It could basically make them relegation fodder.
So what is a good counter-punch? Trying to unseat Emile Smith Rowe. Villa fans are in the comments under my Youtube video crowing. They genuinely believe this is a real story. I pity them. They have fallen for it.
It’s low-level propaganda people. That is the simplest assumption and most likely the closest to the truth.
The final question we need to ask. Does Mikel Arteta have a history of losing his best players?
Not really.
Emi Martinez is the closest you’ll get on this one. But look, he’d been at Arsenal for a decade, he’d played 12 good games for Arsenal, and we stuck it out with a keeper who’d been a big performer for us. Do I regret that move? Absolutely, I preferred Emi, but let’s not pretend that this is the same thing.
We kept Auba when everyone thought he was leaving last season.
We signed Martinelli to a 5 year deal.
We signed Sir Bukayo Saka to a 5 year deal.
We even managed to tie down Flo Balogun to a 5 year deal, which absolutely no one thought was possible.
Actually, one more area to ponder.
Would Arsenal sell Smith Rowe to fund a bigger purchase?
Edu is in the last chance saloon this summer, he understands the fans, he knows what young players mean to us.
Vinai will absolutely know the power of young players, he’s seen the attachment we formed with players of the past, there’s simply no way our Chief Exec would not see this as a pivotal signing.
Finally, Arteta has made many mistakes, but I simply refuse to believe he doesn’t understand what Smith Rowe did for his career and what he means for the fans. You cannot talk about the values of Arsenal FC and not clearly understand that Smith Rowe is one of our top 3 players going into this season. He was the reasons we went on the post-Xmas run. He is the catalyst for energy in our starting 11. He is Star Boy #2. Arteta had to constantly tell journalists you can’t field 11 kids. He knows what Smith Rowe means to Arsenal fans.
If Occam’s razor could predict, it would probably say the most likely outcome here is that Emile Smith Rowe signs a new deal.
If this doesn’t happen, I am quitting the blog world. I will give the podcast to Johnny and Matt. I will never show my face on the internet again. I absolutely refuse to believe the club I love could do something as stupid as selling a 20 years old sensation like Smith Rowe. If they do, I think it was severely damage my relationship with the club and I think a lot of us feel that way.
So let’s see what Edu has got. If he does the deal here, you have to say, he’s moved us forward with regards to contracts. We’re stemming the flow of Serge Gnabry’s leaving the club. That’s a huge step forward.
In other news, it seems like we’re close to getting Tavares, Ben White, and Lokonga into the club. 3 players sub 24 years old. High levels of technical ability, all with there relevant athletic profile, all feels like they’ve been well scouted.
Ben White will probably take a while. The England player will have to have 4 weeks break and I very much doubt Arsenal are going to want to pick up wages for a player that isn’t at the training ground. There’s money to spend this summer, but remember, this is still the club that was rationing people’s microwave minutes last year to save money.
There will certainly be movement on the attacking midfielder front as well. James Maddison feels like a pipe dream, but who knows. I think Housem Auour at £30m could be the steal of the summer. I also think you have to allow Edu to get his kicks with Brazilians. Barcelona is in deep shit financially and I just can’t imagine Coutinho isn’t on a list somewhere. Say what you will about him, he’s played in the Premier League, he’s hugely experienced, he’s won things, and he’s better than anything we have at the moment. The job of that attacking role is to add goals and final balls. He offers both. I’d prefer it if we aged down, but as Edu deals go, this wouldn’t be the worst if you’re trying to bring Smith Rowe through with someone to learn from.
I also expect a right back to happen. Hector isn’t cutting it, Inter Milan is interested, if we move him on, we need to upgrade and find someone that can do the bits we need. I’d love it to be Ainsley, but I’m not sure he’s going to cut it after a duff loan move and all the other bits of nonsense that go on.
The big question I have is around Lokonga. Are we really going to role with him as a started next season? Seems a touch risky. The Belgian League isn’t strong and he’ll need time to adapt. Who is going to replace Granit Xhaka? The Italian press won’t leave the Premier League rumor alone. There’s talk that he is under a bid from England and it’s a big deal. Juventus hasn’t engaged yet and are obviously skint. He’s a very, very good player… but I just can’t see an Italian moving? They travel worse than English players. BUT… what a signings. AND… he’s a Kia player. Is the Brazilian Transfer Mafia going to do something nice for us this summer? Let’s see…
Ok, lots I’ve just rattled through today. Stay strong on Smith Rowe and believe that our club might have turned the corner on masochistic behavior.
RIGHT. I recorded a new podcast with Johnny… we dropped it on Twitch, people actually showed up… so here’s the video.
If you want the podcast in the normal place, find it here.
Marc I think they’ve been looking at ways to make sure people do something with their tickets… rather than leave the seats empty
Ishola,
That elusive league cup, Wenger couldn’t win one, if arteta wins it is he better than Wenger?????? 🙂
Up 4 Grabs “if arteta wins it is he better than Wenger?” Well Arteta has the chance to win it with his strongest team straight from the off in the early rounds with no european football rather than trying to win it with the youngest team recorded as Wenger used to do. It will give Arteta yet another season if he did win it. And I think that’s unfortunate. If he won it as well as performing much better in the league then fair enough but I think enough fans will see it as some sort of consolation if he… Read more »
Pedro, never said Emery was amazing did I.
My point was that some of the same posters who were asking for his head immediately after Baku solely based on missing out on CL , now give Arteta till infinity to achieve the same.
And let’s not go into what the players felt and when, since only a month and a half ago you said Arteta lost the plot and the players……..so not exactly some great sources you have do you.
Pedro
Well that was the idea behind ticket exchange – this seems to be more about making sure that the owner of the ticket attends rather than selling it through the club.
If you got a 25,000 ticket allocation for the Cup Final and 40,000 ST holders then it comes down to who shows up week in week out.
Ishola,
I think it’s the first time in about 20 plus years that we have to play a second round game in the league cup.
I want arsenal to do well, if that’s with arteta at the helm then great.
Problem is I’m not sold on his special sauce, and unless this season really kicks on for him I think he hast to go if we don’t get top four.
At least he shouldn’t have the tired players excuse with no European football.
Up 4 Grabs
“Problem is I’m not sold on his special sauce,”
This is what it’s all about really.
We can talk about league placing but you have to have belief in the football being played.
Those that get upset on here at his doubters don’t seem to realise this.
You have to acquire that belief.
If this end of season run by Arteta hadn’t seen two poor performances against Villarreal and the surrender we saw to Liverpool at home in with it I’m sure there would be more believers.
“We should be aiming for a first team squad of 22, backed up by 2-3 talented youngsters ” If we go 4=3-3 i could see… GK Leno (New GK) LB Tierney (Taveres) RCB White (Holding) LCB Gabriel (Mari) RB Chambers (Cedric) DM Zakaria (Lokonga) RCM Party (Willock) LCM Aouor (ESR) LW Zaha (Martinelli) CF Auba (Balogun) RW Pepe (Saka) El Neny, Okonwonko, and Azzez provide emergency cover. Zaha i would bring in if we sold Laca, If not then i would move Martinelli to the left and have ESR competing with him and also Aouar which will give them all… Read more »
Vintage Gun
Numerically that’s exactly where we should be, direct competition is healthy
Too little competition is unhealthy, too much competition is unhealthy
Get the right level of internal competition, get the right amount of balance, improve the quality where we can
In spite of all the noise around Arteta, if we do those three things competently
Then we’ll be in a much better place to become much more competitive
If Edu + Arteta can’t implement a coherent strategy, get our recruitment and scout planning right, then they’ll both be out of a job by the New Year
now totts are in for Aouar Im reading. Sorry if this was mentioned before… lol
Edu better get on it
“With two games to go auba missed the penalty in the last minute that means we finish fifth instead of third and back in the champions league.” This doesn’t address anything other than clutching at straw to make a vague point. Maybe we can say Henry prevented us from winning the champions league. Wonder why you are so eager to tell us Arteta failed to make the Europa final but couldn’t add to the fact Auba failed to score the easiest of chances in both legs of the semi. Here you are citing the Auba penalty miss to defend good… Read more »
The people with the biggest agendas are the flip flopper sheep that just go with the crowd. Pedro can say his thoughts and opinions could change, but he went from wanting the best to wanting his agenda proved right, despite seeing the shit show everyone else is seeing and sticking to his guns. There is no credibility on here anymore. Top 4 was the only requirement of the new managers. Both Arteta and Emery have failed. Arteta waaaay more so. I have no real faith in this club to take us back to the top. Kroenke down is a bunch… Read more »
Tee a pen is nearly a given most times.
Not finishing off a cross or two in open play is a little bit harder don’t you think?
Disregard the *not*
Also tee,
5th is better than 8th. No agenda there
Pedro and co rewriting history. Isn’t that funny When arteta came in there was no mention of him being a cheque book manager. Wasn’t he sold as being generational? Generational is what Wenger was, coming into a league and winning it against over spending rivals UTD. I thought arteta was coming in to show us a smarter way into top 4. That was what was sold to us. He would improve the players we had and improve the team. No one mentioned that might be after he got to spend a few 100 million. Bellerin can’t take a throw in… Read more »
The narrative was the current squad was underachieving and Diet Peps great coaching would be the difference.
A team that cannot beat Bummerys team
Looool
I’m so glad I decided to stop posting on here.
Except this.
COME ON ENGLAND!!!
Graham, it’s just the damn transfer window 😂. Once the season kicks off we can all at least have a better idea of where we are or aren’t lacking.
All I can say is thank God for the euros and copa.
In saying that, there has been some great chat on here this tw.
“Tee a pen is nearly a given most times.”
Tell that to Morata.
“Also tee,
5th is better than 8th. No agenda there”
I’m not disputing that even if none of those met the champions league target.
Just saying an end should come to the “Auba penalty miss” mantra to prove an agenda. Arteta also had Auba firing blank in the Europa semi.
The bulk of the blames goes to the manager.
So, if you are going to keep banging the “Auba penalty miss” drum for Emery then be sincere enough to do the same for Arteta.
Tee, that’s fair haha
Also morata is shite
Manipulation is Pedro’s day job business, so hardly surprising Pedro tries hard here as a tactical sound board. Hard to get excited about England. Their football look sterile and similar to Arteta’s handbrake brand. Doesn’t help that I just had a gallstone removed and am still withdrawing from the morphine and other pain meds. Hopefully, I’ll be clearer tomorrow and get aboard the England train. Game is 2am here, so it’s very doubtful we’ll watch it live. That also kind of takes the magic away. No offense Bats, but we have to beat Italy for our losses in the past.… Read more »
Wishing you a quick recovery,
it must be tough having a testical removed
“When arteta came in there was no mention of him being a cheque book manager. Wasn’t he sold as being generational? Generational is what Wenger was, coming into a league and winning it against over spending rivals UTD.” Another trash from the illustrious trash can. Has Arteta exceeded the amount spent on transfer under Emery? Till date, White (if and when signed) will be the most expensive transfer under him. He has done more of loans and freebies. You don’t ridicule Wenger’s achievement for the club by saying he inherited the best backline from GG and then go ahead to… Read more »
Sid you cheeky bastard.
But also wishing you a speedy recovery there too Tony.
Who knows you might want to be on that morphine for an extra day or 2 😂
Tony
All the very best my man. Hope you make a swift recovery and that the mind bending drugs are doing their job. They might even help with some flash backs to the 70s and 80s. Take it easy.
Tee, you know very well that Emery didn’t buy anyone. He was given players he didn’t even want (he made that clear at the time) by the fat Spanish spiv.
It’s a fair question to ask why we haven’t seen any evidence of fantastic coaching when that’s what we were told to expect. There’s nothing generational about trying to buy your way to success.
Morning, Tee no agenda from me. I’m simply saying the goalposts have moved for arteta again. I have no love for emery, once he lost the dressing room he had to go. He was a penalty kick away with two games to go from finishing third. Unlucky, but he didn’t manage to do what he was brought in to do which was get us back into the top four. But the way the story goes on here he had us almost relegated with the club bankrupt. Arteta comes in has half a season or more and we go from 8th… Read more »
Very sad to hear about Paul Mariner. An Ipswich legend and genuine professional who played in a wonderful team, and who also did a good job for us at a time when we needed some sparkle and star quality.
Imagine my surprise…”yes we were eighth but we were only 6 points off top 4″ from emery finished 1 pint of top 4 and being called “absolutely horrible,bottletjob etc…no surprises the emery namecalling slowed down after he handed the generational one a pasting. When all is said and done I am still.not seeing one question answered by his fanboys ie what is arteta’s remit next season?
It’s shut up and support the team, judge him in may
Paul Mariner. Another of the players of my youth gone.
I’m honestly, I barely associate him with Arsenal but he only played a season or two for us I reckon. Ipswich and England legend for sure.
Thanks Kroenkephobe. Mind bending not my thing, but I opt for non chemical options for my ADHD to control the hyperactivity. I take too many different meds for my heart, colon and lungs. I’m more of a now and the future type of guy I rarely look back unless I’m prompted to, as you and Almunia did. In this house, with my tribe, I got far more going on than to take a run down memory lane. We all seem to be like that and is why we’re having 90 posters printed from pics I’ve taken over the last 20… Read more »
Kroenkephobe – Yes, Mariner seemed like an odd signing for us at the time but he did a decent job in a very average team. A top player in his prime, sad to hear of his unexpected passing.
Goobergooner
Thanks appreciate it.
I hate morphine but appreciate its painkilling properties.
That said probably need it again when the season starts, especially as I don’t drink alcohol.
Sid
You been on the Malawi cob again?
I remember Paul mariner at Arsenal I was a teenager he was here 2 seasons before GG replaced him damn we were shite before GG came in except for those 3 fa cup finals those years were shocking
I saw paul Mariner play for Arsenal quite a lot as went regularly at that time . Very sad news
Pedro – logically you must be right – ESR is a smokescreen to replace Grealish. I still think we haven’t said no strongly enough and in the circumstances it should be a public no.
There is no one we could buy who would be an upgrade on ESR. I would sooner buy no one and rely on a slow rebuild from the Academy over a number of years than sell our best young players.
Such sad news re Paul Marriner
I first saw him play for Plymouth Argyle with another player called Billy Raffety
No age whatsoever RIP
A slow rebuild would mean Okonkwo replacing Leno, AMN at RB, Patino to be the cover ACM, AZeez to be he CM to replace Xhaka or cover for Lokonga (assuming I allow him in on this new basis), Martinelli to phase out Auba and Balogun to replace Lacazette.
Tony, wishing you well.
“It’s a fair question to ask why we haven’t seen any evidence of fantastic coaching when that’s what we were told to expect. There’s nothing generational about trying to buy your way to success.” How is he buying is way out? Are you this addicted to club poverty that you now see transfer of Lokonga, Tavares and White (50m guy) as buying his way out? Why weren’t you saying we are buying our way out under Emery when we spent on Saliba and Pepe? Aston villa have outspent us under Arteta but here you are with this baseless mantra. He… Read more »
Numo Tavares officially announced.
Northbank, “Pedro – logically you must be right – ESR is a smokescreen to replace Grealish. I still think we haven’t said no strongly enough and in the circumstances it should be a public no.” Arsenal don’t need coming out in the public to say no when they are sure of retaining their prestigious asset. Saka, Balogun should have shown the fans that we aren’t loosing ESR to a club like Villa not even when he still has 2 years in his contract. Villa are just desperate to save face for when they loose Grealish. Their bubble is about bursting… Read more »
Nuno Tavares on what he will bring to Arsenal:
“I am fast, I am good at shooting with my right foot, but I’m left-footed. I can dribble, improvising. That’s my qualities, my technique. I have more qualities and I will find more in this club.”
Sounds like he is more of an attacking fullback. Still very young, so hopefully he can develop in to more of an all-round fullback.
Tavares is the sort of bet we should be taking. Young, athletic, cheap.
“Sounds like he is more of an attacking fullback. Still very young, so hopefully he can develop in to more of an all-round fullback”
Yeah, his YouTube video shows more of him attacking and dribbling
Nuno Tavares signs We needed a left back, the drop off in attacking threat down our left without Tierney is massive He speaks really good English, will still be classed as an under 21 player this season, so won’t take up one of the 17 non homegrown spots until next season, good he’s in early so he can settle Hopefully we’ve got one right for a change, and he provides an instant uplift in quality on Kolasinac, has the potential to improve much further, puts pressure on Tierney, and can be trusted to come in and play for us Providing… Read more »
“Providing Tavares can be trusted to play from the off, we need to get Kolasinac out the door ASAP”
Don’t be surprised if he decides to sit out his contract just like his buddy – Ozil ( Pierre on a private jet to address this. The trigger [Ozil] has been pulled)
RIP Paul Mariner
Bit concerning that Tavares looks very reminiscent of Aly Cissokho from his Scoutnation, very heavy and loose touch.
Considering that Scoutnation normally manages to splice enough clips together to convince you he will be the second coming of Marcelo.
Hope for the best but not too encouraging between that and Benfica/Portuguese fan reactions to the transfer.
Reckon Kolasinac will push for a contract termination. Can’t see him staying now that his great mate Ozil has gone
Tee, bit desperate to comment on players Emery didn’t buy isn’t it? Players succeed at one club and fail at another, there’s no way you can predict what may have happened. Still, my point stands, Emery didn’t buy anyone. Ironic that you forgot the name of ‘that Chelsea manager’ – it’s Martinez, same as Emi. Managers are expected to improve players, not just replace them. You forget that Arteta inherited Pepe, Tierney and Saliba. Tierney by the way made his PL debut less than a month before Emery’s sacking. Why shouldn’t we expect Arteta to make good use of them?… Read more »
‘ Reckon Kolasinac will push for a contract termination. Can’t see him staying now that his great mate Ozil has gone’
He doesn’t come across as one to walk away from that hefty pay check. He will stay and pretend he’s fighting for a place and let the burden be in the club to shift him out.
I suspect they will have to pay him off like they did Mustafi.
WengerEagle,
He is young and as such has room for improvement.
Besides, he has like 41 appearances for benfica first team between 2019 and 2020
Kolasinac was superb at facing down attackers moving slowly with a knife
Ones going quickly with a football …. Not so much
Game of cat and mouse with Arsenal + Kolasinsc I’d imagine Kolasinac will want the same deal as his mates Ozil, Mustafi + Sokratis Arsenal will be banking on him not wanting to sit around for 12 months doing nothing, he’ll be 29 next summer Contract termination this summer, will allow him to take a Bosman at 28 instead of 29, after stagnating for another season Arsenal have the slight upper hand IMO Hopefully he doesn’t sit it out until the end of August to try and force Arsenal’s hand into a payout, the sooner we clear out the deadwood,… Read more »
Tavares is a bit meh for me, it’s Lokonga that has me very hopeful of something special.
When we played Benfica in the EL, Tavares was not a stand out in any way but -I’m sure the scouts [do we still have any?] saw something.
Rich, ‘Contract termination this summer, will allow him to take a Bosman at 28 instead of 29, after stagnating for another season’ I am assuming you mean contract termination with a negotiated pay-out? No one in world football is going to pay Kolasinac half of what we pay him now, even on a Bosman. Don’t forget this guy stiffed Shalke out of a transfer fee when he was just 24 years, to come to Arsenal. He’s an acolyte of Ozil and Mustafi, we are going to have to pay him to eff off. Kola comes across as that guy who… Read more »
welcome Taveres!!
6ft, rapid and he likes the Smith lol
Says he’s got a decent right foot shot, would anyone be surprised if he was the new RB?
Anyway, back up left back sorted, no more playing mids there or the golden child.
“Managers are expected to improve players, not just replace them. You forget that Arteta inherited Pepe, Tierney and Saliba. Tierney by the way made his PL debut less than a month before Emery’s sacking. Why shouldn’t we expect Arteta to make good use of them?” How many has he replaced? Maybe the likes of Klopp and the rest aren’t good managers because they also went for what they thought was good for their style of play Arteta has succeeded in tying our prospects down to a long contract, something we usually found difficult to do in the past. He wouldn’t… Read more »
Nuno Tavares , Get In !! No more Saka/Cedric/AMN/Xhaka at left back instead.
Dissenter
Kolas didn’t stiff anyone – he moved on a free something all players are entitled to do. If Arsenal release him so he’s available on a free no club will refuse to sign him because he’s moved on a free before. The season before he joined us he made the team of the season in Germany – he’ll find a club.
Tee
Hopefully mate. Don’t love what I have seen but the lad deserves a crack of the whip so I’ll reserve judgement on him until he has been given a proper chance here.
““Players succeed at one club and fail at another, there’s no way you can predict what may have happened”I will like you to follow this your gospel when next you wanna trash Arteta with Willian signing.”
Huge difference there. I didn’t want Willian not because he ever lacked ability but because he was 32, bound to be in decline and not worthy of a 3 year big money contract. The fact that he tanked was never a surprise given his age and the propensity of high energy players to be unable to continue to deliver in their 30’s.
Marc
I’m always astounded when players claim they love a club that paid good money to sign them and then intentionally run down their contracts so they can leave on Bosman effectively denying that club money.
Ramsey did it to us too, still dislike him for that. We were incompetent all right but let’s not pretend that a player who claims to love us couldn’t have handle it differently.
Tee, perhaps you’d like to comment on why Arsenal shouldn’t have their own identity rather than be a pale copy of City?
What makes you think that that’s a good way to go? Why has no-one else been able to do that successfully? Could it be that Pep’s way only works with the very best players? How can we emulate that on a budget?
I just saw on twitter that Aouar’s brother is his agent and he is in London. Lokonga already getting ready . Arsenal summer getting into overdrive . Just get Neves as well , only 24 . Good enough to play with Partey.
Kola will find another club of course, just not anywhere the wages we pay him.
Free transfer or not.
Sherlock, yup his brother is his agent. Word was that he wanted a £10m fee and that scuppered the move last summer.
Andy “”””We’re not Manchester City, we’re Arsenal, a bigger club with more history and class than City are ever likely to have. I don’t want us to be a plasic low rent copy of that lot.”””” Not any more, we aint. Man City s feeder clubs dotted all over the world have more ambition than KSE’s Arsenal. But , I agree we just now copy them. They have an Amazon Doc- we follow They play a false no.9- we follow They pay £50m for over rated center defenders, ( Ake/White ) – we follow Arteta dresses and even talks like… Read more »
Dissenter
Kolas reported salary of £100k per week is not just salary a big chunk of it will be made up of signing on fees because he moved on a free. I very much doubt he’ll expect to sign for anything similar if he goes back to Germany.
The CL winning Chelsea manager was Di Matteo
Ramsey cost us £5 million, gave Arsenal 10 years of service, scored 2 FA Cup winning goals, and had his leg snapped in half playing for us Went to Juventus for a reported €400,000 p/w, where he’s won a title and two domestic cups in two seasons After 10 years of service, you can hardly blame him for wanting to try something different, play for the biggest club in Italy, who play in the CL, and quadruple his salary Best of luck to him, who would honestly turn down that type of money and opportunity, at 28, it was his… Read more »
Fun fact,
we’re still the third biggest club in England.
The chavs are not far off but as long as we get on our shit (I believe we’re doing so), we’ll remain there.
andy
Pep has only managed at clubs where he has the biggest budget, is the dominant club or both.
He is undoubtedly a very good manager but his methods would not work at smaller clubs or where his spending was limited. The very idea that we should attempt to follow the City model is laughable and anyone suggesting we do either knows nothing about football or knowledge comes from player Football Manager.
Rich
I take it you gave no problems with Arsenal allowing players to leave on free transfers so long as they had injuries and p]stayed for long? I’ll remember that when you start bemoaning the club’s poor business approach.
He led the Arsenal front office think he would sign and used the club’s incompetence to deny the club something for giving him a platform to perform. When he was injured all those 9 years, didn’t Arsenal stand by him and keep paying him.
*I take it you have no problem with Arsenal allowing players
You can’t blame Ramsey for what he did – any blame goes to the incompetence demonstrated by the Arsenal board in not selling him 2 years early.
Plenty of us were aware what he was doing and it was quite clear he was stringing the club along until the January when he could sign a pre contract with an overseas club.
Tavares welcome to the club.
We need a left back to replace Kolasinac and understudy Tierney and this is the sort of young
player we should look to buy at the right price for a “squad player”.
Marc
Arsenal was incompetent , we all agree to that.
That doesn’t make what Ramsey did right, in my opinion even if it’s understandable that anyone would want to garner all the proceeds of their exit for themselves.
I think he just used the distraction of the Ozil and Alexis contract situations to just get his contract to the place where there was little anyone could do to stop him.
Dissenter
You’re not wrong but Arsenal allowed him to do it – Gazidis and Wenger should have dealt with the issue long before Emery, Sanllehi or any of the others were even at the club. I’m not in the mood to re hash all the fuck ups and money we lost doing the same stupid things.
Jamie, you’re right of course, brain fog moment on my part.
Marc, that’s what people don’t get. Pep couldn’t do what he has at Arsenal, he needs the biggest budget, the best players to make it work. Easy to play a false nine when you have players like KdB and Gundogan banging them in from midfield. Not so easy when it’s Partey hitting row Z or Xhaka lumbering past the half way line.
Pep couldn’t play City-style here and his mini-me certainly isn’t going to be able to do it.
Dissenter With 12-24 months left on his deal, and with his injury record,we should have tried to sell Ramsey But if a senior player wants to run down his contract, there’s nothing you can really do, you can’t force them to leave, and you can’t force clubs to bid for him Neither can you force the player to accept the contract your offering him So we try to extract maximum value while he’s here, because there was never any questions about Ramsey’s commitment It’s different with young players, because if we’re educating them, our policy should be that we don’t… Read more »
Pep has heavily influenced modern football, certain systems of play work better than others. Luckily our coach has been privy to elite systems and has a few brain cells. I rather him make use of his experience than trying to revolutionize football lol. Reminds me of Microsoft/Apple, guess they’re wrong for copying/borrowing/remixing too? Plus, they nicked all of our players back in the day. Implemented Wenger’ old system while he was too busy trying to be farca. Spent a shit load of money and still haven’t won the champions league. I think they’ve been trying to copy us for some… Read more »
Happier with Tavares than another old pro on the way down for sure but would have preferred a hungry young LB from the lower leagues over here if I’m honest. Hope his defending isn’t as bad as has been suggested by fans of his former club.
“ Arsenal have increased their offer for Brighton defender Ben White and made a third bid of £48m plus £6m in potential add-ons for the 23-year-old England international. (Star)”
I know it’s the “star” but it sure looks like Brighton have us where they want us.
Can’t afford to lose face now, can we?
Tavares and to an extent Lokonga takes us back to where i hoped we were going previously. By now I ad hoped we would be punting on 2-3 young mostly unknown but discovered players each Summer – ideally for less than £10m a pop. We started that recent trend wth Guen (we won’t lose on him whatever the final outcome) and then on Martinelli. If we could keep this sort of deal flow together with nurtured top class Academy players then we’ll be back in an affordable and sustainable way
Rich
Ramsey should have been told sign up or leave by the time the 2017-2018 season ended.
If had not signed by the end of that season then they goal should have been to sell him for whatever he was worth.
Stop pretending that he didn’t string the club along intentionally.
I mean you’re the one who’s talk g about playing hardball with ESR, why was this any different?
DissenterJuly 10, 2021 12:29:26 Marc Arsenal was incompetent , we all agree to that. That doesn’t make what Ramsey did right, in my opinion even if it’s understandable that anyone would want to garner all the proceeds of their exit for themselves. I think he just used the distraction of the Ozil and Alexis contract situations to just get his contract to the place where there was little anyone could do to stop him. ———- Do you blame him with the shower of turd he was surrounded by,the incompetency of the hierarchy at Arsenal,his chequered injury record, the lack and… Read more »
Curse, football isn’t a monoculture, there are numerous different styles and systems and they go in and out of fashion as teams try to counter whatever is currently in vogue at the time. I’m fed up with copying rather than leading. People who copy never reach the top, by the time they’ve got the system set up football has moved on. There’s little new in football, for example if you google ‘false nine’ you’ll see that the Austrian national team employed it in the 1930’s. And Pep didn’t ‘revolutionise’ football either. He developed his model based on teachings from Cruyff.… Read more »
It’s not difficult to stop getting screwed over by players when it comes to bowman Every player when signing a new contract should have the optional 1 year extension included. When a player gets down to 2 years remaining he either signs a new contract or goes on the transfer list. If you can’t sell him after a year then he can’t be that good, and if he stalled negotiations for a whole year your incompetent. But at least you have the option of the year extension. It’s why Pogba hasn’t left on a free, or in the past Mata.… Read more »
The false 9 attacks are weak imo. At the time, we had limited options up front and you could imagine ESR’s playing style suiting the role. If we’d had Auba or Laca fit I’d agree it would have been ridiculous but as I recall neither was fully fit, so the other options were Eddie (definitely no better) or GM, who hadn’t played that much and even less up front. I would have gone with GM, but I don’t think it was as crazy a call as most seem to. Probably would have been my next preference to try either Pepe… Read more »
Davi, I would have gone with Martinelli, Pepe, then Eddie in that order. TBH I don’t see ESR as suited to the role, IMO he’s more of a creator than a scorer and I prefer a goal scorer at the point of attack rather than a #10 (which was a role Laca was asked to play on several occasions with Auba on the left and IMO that didn’t work either).
Eddie/martinelli have better goal records than ESR,
Diet Pep just imagined it would work like playing Auba on the wing did during the FA cup final.
PhD’ Takes two to tango, don’t you think? An incompetent club lost in transitions between a dinosaur manager and a new management and A player who sees opportunities to exploit and leave on a free. I don’t blame Ramsey, anyone that see that window of opportunity open may have done the same. However, I’m not going to pretend that Ramsey didn’t know what he was doing when he was selling the down the river. Anything that leaves Spurs weaker and irate is good for me, The enemy of my enemy is my friend, especially if he’s also a world class… Read more »
* However, I’m not going to pretend that Ramsey didn’t know what he was doing when he was selling the club down the river