England lost on penalties. It was very sad. Bukayo Saka took the 5th, his shot was saved, it was heartbreaking to watch.
… but I’m not angry that he took it.
It takes guts to step up. A true leader takes that sort of responsibility knowing full well how the country behaves when someone misses. That’s brave. Don’t give me ‘that’s not bravery’ shit either, a penalty for England is one of the gutsiest things you can do, full stop. Not many would do it. He did, we have to look after him now.
The disgusting abuse after the game is just a standard thing in sport. It’s not just an English thing, but last night, it felt like it. What more can be said here? Some people do it from the darkness of a burner account, others are stupid enough to do it from their real one. We shouldn’t tolerate it. It’s disgusting and weak.
You can fully witness the levels of pathetic we’ve allowed into our political system when the usual suspects go from badge kissing to dim takes like ‘maybe less time on the politics’ to burn a kid that feeds hungry kids.
We shouldn’t indulge it. We should bottle the togetherness the football brought our way. We should look forward to how this experience will take us up a level for the next World Cup. I don’t need a scapegoat, getting to the final was immense, I’m extremely proud of the team, and my love for Saka just went a little deeper.
The best way to solve for the nonsense? Have fucking great season at Arsenal and show the weapons what you have. Oh, and maybe hope the whizzes at the social media company could block certain types of language aimed at athletes. If you can block a IG post because it has protected music in the background, you can block a monkey emoji on a black athlete’s post. No excuses I’m afraid.
Short one today, back tomorrow.
Just want to note, I’m at Aus vs france in rugby.
Not one single person booed an anthem. Everyone stood up and respected France and then cheered.
Brocco/ Johhny go do one.
If we go into the season having spent £50 million on a CB but with either the same or no serious upgrades in midfield any hopes the club has of challenging for top 4 will be over before a ball is kicked. It will lead to the same negative, dull football we had last season – does anyone think with fans back in the stadium they’ll put up with it? We have less than 5 weeks till the start of the season when several players will be returning to pre season late because of the Euro’s. We really need to… Read more »
The other issue is if you don’t address the causes of racism then all you do is drive it underground and hide it For example if I was a racist guy and I know I’ll be in big trouble for saying anything racist, sure maybe I won’t say anything. But when that minority guy applies for a job under me, ‘sorry, sir you seem not to be qualified’ Racism can remain just as real and damaging even if it’s not openly said. Whack the mole and meanwhile work out why it’s there and how to make it go away for… Read more »
I asked this ‘cos I have not seen him linked up for preseason….and surely, he should be on top of our list of Young guns to look out for this season.
“As I posted earlier Spurs and Chelsea would not consider the offers made for Xhaka and Bellerin.”
Neither of those clubs would have been stupid enough to spend £35 million on Xhaka in the first place and certainly wouldn’t have been stupid enough to turn down a bid of £23 – £27 million 18 months ago.
We really are our own worst enemy.
Stroller
Playing hardball is doomed to fail.
We should take a massive hit on the players to streamline the squad or we will be left in a worse situation than last season…
Let Lacazette, xhaka, bellerin, Willian, , AMN , Torreira, Kolasinac go for peanuts…if not , we will be stuck with a number of players that Arteta does not want and will freeze out of the team , creating a bad atmosphere around the club..
What a state to be in ….
We are Not in a position to play hardball,
Arsenal is the high school boy with bad teeth, big eyes and pimples at the prom
Goobergunner
There is plenty of racism in France. Let’s not delude ourselves that it only occurs here.
What should also be considered is that Football in France is predominately an ethnic minority playing sport whereas rugby is the opposite.
I have not discussed the issue of racism on Le Grove. It is becoming a serious problem, which
needs to be resolved. The “knee” was a good starting point , but is having little impact.
What needs to be done is target those internet providers who allow abuse to be published and if necessary put them out of business.
“””‘Most clubs on the Continent are treating us as imbeciles. “””
ES, finally catching up.
THEY ARE IMBECILLES.
They sign Willian, Runarsson, Cedric, Mari
They give 3 year deals to PEA.
They sell Martinez. Now one of the best 5 keepers on the planet and Leno now wants off.
They want to buy defenders for £55m after 36 games for BHA.
I am even read somewhere , Ramsdale is back on the agenda.
Ramsdale +Arsenal ÷Amazon Prime.Doc?
They will start with the Benny Hill soundtrack every episode.
Pierre
Sorry I disagree.
Arsenal need to change the culture and make it crystal clear that the club is not a soft touch.
Xhaka and Bellerin are commercial assets with a market value. Similarly so is Smith-Rowe.
The fact that Aston Villa considered making the offers they did is indicative that our club are
currently being “disrespected”.
That needs to change.
Emirates
“It is becoming a serious problem”
But is it? I’m not talking about racism outside of football but the football world is a very different place to what it was 30 or 40 years ago. How often do you hear racist chants in grounds now? Social media is a problem but are those people what I would describe as real football fans? How many of those sending racist comments over social media regularly attend PL matches.
The recent abuse Ian Wright received was a kid based in Ireland.
Emiratesstroller We already have a big surplus of players If we want to change our squad, then we have to sell We can’t buy a Xhaka replacement, while Xhaka and his wages are still at the club We’ll have 6 Central midfielders with Lokonga, if we buy another one, without letting one leave, then we’ll have 7 We only need 4 and a talented youngster from the youth team Clubs don’t pay top money for players who they know their parent clubs don’t want, have no use for, and who’s wages they know are still a liability When your hand… Read more »
raptora
—–
I actually enjoy the pre-season matches, a chance to see some players that we rarely see. I’m particularly looking forward to the Rangers game.
Stroller
How do you think our season will pan out if we play hardball and consequently cannot sell those players.
You do realise that there is a possibility that we will have between 5 and 10 disenchanted players around the club who know that they do not figure in Arteta’s plans.
It’s a long list.
Xhaka
Cedric
Bellerin
Willian
Lacazette
Kolasinac
Torreira
Nketiah
AMN
Nelson
Can add Saliba and Guendouzi to that list of unwanted players..
12 players …it’s not looking good is it.
Racism, vile as it is, is ‘merely’ a symptom of generalization. As soon as we generalize that a particular group of people are all alike (including, say, people with different beliefs than our own – religious, political) we’re only a step away from doing it on national/ethnic basis, and that step can be triggered via a variety of ways – social, economic etc The other day I saw the most upvoted comment in the Guardian comments section, which said ‘The Dutch are splendid people.’ What is the implication here – that another ethnic group is less splendid? See, you can… Read more »
Pierre
Xhaka is in Arteta’s plans – he’d like him to stay it’s Xhaka who wants a move so if he stays he’ll be disenchanted but not because he’s surplus to requirements. He’ll be back to the first name on the team sheet every week.
Rich The club will reduce the size of its squad this summer. However, Bellerin and Xhaka are still commercially valuable assets whatever some who post on here may think. You don’t sell them cheap or loan them out. If you analyse our squad there are now very few players on the books who are past their prime. Aubameyang, Willian and Lacazette have reached or about to reach their 30s. Most of the other unwanted players apart from Xhaka and Torreira did not cost us mega bucks in transfer market and their wages are no longer exorbitant. I accept that Arsenal… Read more »
ES: “Arsenal need to change the culture and make it crystal clear that the club is not a soft touch.”
You mean like a year ago when Lazio wanted Mustafi and Napoli wanted Sokratis but both moves failed for whatever reason after salary agreements were supposedly reached. What else could have stopped the deals from happening?
Maybe Arsenal played hardball.
Surely all clubs realized that we’re not a “soft touch” anymore after both players left for free after half a year of paying their salaries and missing on any transfer fee. At least we showed them we are tough cookies.
Marc
Is xhaka wanting to move an Arteta non-negotiable…
I think it is , so if he doesnt move he will be frozen out..
Raptora
Exactly
Danny,
Yeah, Rangers are going to give us a good game. Stevie G has brought them back to life.
Emirates
It doesn’t matter how much Arsenal think a player is worth if no one if prepared to meet that valuation. You position them as valuable assets but at the same time they aren’t good enough and we need to upgrade those positions.
Emirates
What you’re proposing is just theatrics. It’s cutting off our nose to spite out faces.
Like Rich stated, we have a dealt ourselves a week hand already. Sell and move on.
Pierre
You of all people know that Arteta’s non negotiables only apply to certain players. Xhaka is not one of them.
Dissenter
Let’s refuse to sell Xhaka for under £20 million (for example) so in a years time he’s got a year left on his contract and value has dropped even further whilst we’ve paid him £5.2 million in salary.
If you sold him for £15 million and saved the salary you’re in a neutral position financially.
“Anyone would get abuse if they missed a pk”
Did an adult with a brain actually say that and post it on here ?
There are some dumb cunts on this blog – couldn’t have outed yourself more if you tried
Pierre
Despite all the negativity I doubt there will be the problems that you and others suggest.
1. Bellerin, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Nketiah and Nelson will be sold.
2. Guendouzi and Mavropanos have been loaned out with obligation to buy.
3. Runarsson and Saliba will be loaned out.
4. Kolasinac will be released from contract.
5. Luiz contract has ended
6. Odegaard, Ceballos and Ryan have left club at end of loan.
So the only unwanted players that I anticipate will still be at club when transfer window
closes are Lacazette and Willian.
Emirates. I’m not trying to say there isn’t racists here or anywhere. I’m saying it’s not hard to respect another countries anthem if you want the respect back. Don is just a piece of shit
I omitted Torreira from list. That is probably the one major problem, because he will have to
leave on loan, because I think that he is unsaleable.
Goobergooner
Unless you are a “moron”. Sadly this country is full of idiots. Most come to football intoxicated
and brain dead.
ES: “1. Bellerin, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Nketiah and Nelson will be sold.”
Wishful thinking. Hope you are right. Cause you were just advocating playing hardball which means that probably 2 of the 4 don’t move.
2 of the 5***
Emiratesstroller The value of a player to a club, will always be on the pitch If we have a surplus of players, then that surplus is of no value to the club Their wages are still a liability, their contracts winding down, they’re stagnating and out of the shop window, which will mean their value just drops even further Having a large surplus of disenfranchised players, creates an unhappy dressing room, and is detrimental to internal competition for places Nobody pays big money for a player they know their club can’t extract value from, and who’s wages are still costing… Read more »
Fabrizio Romano 6 mins ago
Paperworks signed for William Saliba to OM from Arsenal on loan until June 2022, done and confirmed. Arsenal priority now will be working to complete Ben White deal with Brighton after personal terms agreed. ⚪️🔴 #OM
…and Lokonga official announcement, expected soon. ⏳ #AFC
From Jeorge Bird’s excellent blog about Arsenal Youth players we read this… “Jack Henry-Francis may not yet have been given a professional contract at Arsenal but the midfielder has already received his first senior callup…” I don’t know how old this lad is but I bet he is younger than Saliba… Arteta should just drop the charade and pretense now and sell the player. For reasons only known to him, he doesn’t like the player. Plus, he’s going to be spending the whole year with Guendouzi, I can just imagine all the complementary things young Guendouzi will say about Arteta.… Read more »
Stroller
Cedric ?
Rich a great post. I completely agree. We are absolutely stuffed in the negotiation stakes. Talk about playing a bad hand. I do expect there to be a flurry of comings and goings at the last minute. But rest assured we will get well and truly screwed. The other issue is that Arteta must know he only has limited to turn it around. The board may be fully behind him but unless the fans are on board he is toast. There must be a lot of panic behind the scenes. Imagine the mood at the Emirates if we get off… Read more »
I hope saka keeps his chin up.
It’s so easy, how just one or two negative comments can impact a person even if they are greeted with a million positive words. Just one or two negative comments are enough to demotivate as human nature is mostly trying to please everyone.
But I hope saka says fk the haters and knows he is loved by the Arsenal faithful. Great talent and will only get better from the experience of a Euro final.
Saliba will outlast Diet pep at Arsenal
Emirates, (and a few others bringing up alcohol).
I’m definitely drunk at this game. But not enough to want to bash the French for winning on our soil.
It is an underestimated factor in this “moronic” behaviour.
Not the best game, a lot of penalties, and the French came out on top. Fair Play I say (quite ironically)
https://twitter.com/Mode55489648/status/1414871988628336645/photo/1 3rd year on loan while we gave the likes of Holding and Mari a total of 55 apps last season . Yes, we have the 3rd best defence but the same people that are bigging that fact, are also pushing for a 55m CB. Obviously we need another type of defenders to play Artetaball. Does that exclude Saliba? I guess it does if we are starting the season with Holding and/or Mari in the squad but not with him. I guess they are more valuable to Arteta than a young CB who has been a standout for 2 French… Read more »
Rich
“Our hand is awful, trying to bluff is pointless, our hand is wide open, and everyone can see it’s weak”
You and I have been making this point for months now and the clocks ticking….
Every hour, day , week , month that goes by without any movement , our hand becomes weaker..
Mavropanos, Saliba and Guendouzi were easy to loan out , who wouldn’t want quality young players for next to nothing
I can’t believe we send saliba on loan again. Arsenal have been incompetent for a long long time
Wenger had too much to do but his experience and vision kept us competitive on the pitch up to a certain point, ,
edu and arteta and vinai are not capable of running a club on their own. None of them have any experience and vision. And nobody seems to be answerable to anybody. I have lost faith in any direction this club is pretending to take us.
Yeah, it’s Saliba case again.
To the poster bringing up Mari, my question for you is – is Saliba ambidextrous for you to think he can play as a lcb? I’m asking this because there’s no correlation between the two.
“I can’t believe we send saliba on loan again. Arsenal have been incompetent for a long long time”
Y’all just moan for the sake of it. What’s there not to believe. It’s been clear to all and sundry that he is going out on loan again (just didn’t know the destination club) but here you are sounding like it’s an expected breaking news
*unexpected*
Just a quick question to the Arteta fan boys (yes I said it!) if Arteta had been sacked in December and Mourinho been appointed as his successor who then looked to send Saliba out on loan this summer – what would you be saying?
Tee Would Wenger have sent Cesc out on loan to get a new CM to replace Veira? No, Wenger knew when to trust kids. Yes he made a few denilsons and djourous on the way but it was a small gamble to take. We spend 50m on white, do you think he has an instant impact on the team? Is there a guarantee he will become world class? Or is it also a gamble? If it is, why are we not gambling on Saliba who cost us half that? We are not moaning for the sake of moaning. We moan… Read more »
“To the poster bringing up Mari, my question for you is – is Saliba ambidextrous for you to think he can play as a lcb? I’m asking this because there’s no correlation between the two.” Where Does Saliba Play? Saliba played in a back three during both of his seasons in Ligue 1, typically playing on the right side of Loïc Perrin and Timothée Kolodziejczak, although he was mainly preferred on the left, with Wesley Fofana mainly playing on the right. Let’s take a look at both of his heat maps from the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. 2018/19 2019/20 From… Read more »
Marc Not sure if you consider me to be apart of the “Arteta Fan Boys” I’d be saying exactly the same thing, either play Saliba, or send him to play and develop elsewhere, the worst scenario is he stays, and warms the bench for 80% + of the season I’d prefer we loaned him domestically, and we should have renew his deal first to protect his value, but don’t have a problem with using the loan market to develop young assets, even ones that cost €30 million This investment is still in play, we’re only 40% through its original lifecycle,… Read more »
Rich No but you at least put up a coherent reason why you’d do what you would (some of the time!). Where it becomes a problem is right now Saliba will not renew he’s looking to get out and the argument that we’re only 40% of the way through his contract not if we send him on loan again we’re not it’s 60%. We should be looking to bring him into the squad getting matches in the league cup, FA Cup and also some time in the PL. In a perfect world he could also get time in the group… Read more »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAm3kl7iAys
Saliba played LCB in Nice.
raptora
Posters like tee will argue anything against an opinion that calls Arteta out. He’ll come back with his English isn’t good enough next.
No idea why we are prioritizing the CB position again when midfield is in shambles.
Look at UTD, great mid and they finish 2nd with a decent back and frontline.
Spend our dough on the midfield and may be then we don’t depend on these ball playing defenders who can’t do their job at defending.
Raptora ..the last paragraph in the link you posted.
“In less than a year, saliba has already made strides in areas such as reading the game and defending transitions, and he’ll only improve playing in a possession-heavy side and working under a progressive manager such as Arteta. For a team that has struggled so much on the defensive side in recent years, it appears those issues may be coming to an end soon.”
The writer was a little off the mark there …
Pierre,
Off the mark is an understatement…
Marc I have no idea what’s happening with him I’m surprised they didn’t at least give him an opportunity in pre-season to impress first We’ve lost Mustafi, Sokratis, Luiz, we’ve loaned out Mavropanos, so there was certainly an opportunity for him to stake a claim, because we no longer have a huge surplus in the centre half position It could be that he’s fallen foul of Arteta, or it might just be that a 20yr old centre half, isn’t the move you make, when your job is dangling by a thread I don’t buy the argument that renewing his deal… Read more »
“ In less than a year, saliba has already made strides in areas such as reading the game and defending transitions, and he’ll only improve playing in a possession-heavy side and working under a progressive manager such as Arteta.“
progressive manager…
😂😂😂
Progressively shit
China1
I had met a british (or was it Swiss) teacher in Dubai in a connecting flight to London 3 years back. Coincidentally he was a teacher at that time ( probably for English subject).
Was it you? 😅
Rich
Yah but we don’t have EL, so we need to cut the squad in half. Get rid of all the extra weight because we won’t be back in Europe any time soon.
Rich
If the paper works under way Saliba won’t be risked in pre season friendlies – if he picked up a knock it could scupper the deal and then Arteta would be stuck with him.
Also on what grounds are we doubling salibas salary?
Is that how we get players to play for arsenal? Double or triple their salary?
So a manager has no faith in a CB and sends him on loan for 3 seasons, only to double his salary so he stays on at the club? See something wrong there?
Marc
Saliba hasn’t gone to Scotland, and he’s currently in Marseille
Looks imminent
Providing Smith-Rowe commits to the club, I really hope we give him the No10 shirt, would be a fantastic advertisement for Hale End
Gons that’s a big old red flag If you ask me
Clubs buying young players, then sending them out to develop elsewhere
Or putting them in the shop Windows in order to pump their value, really isn’t that uncommon
We’ll have to make a decision on Saliba next summer, one way or the other, either sell him, or renew his deal, and then play him
Ideally he progresses well this season,we get him to commit, then he comes into our team
But at very least, we need to get our money back
ES “The fact that Aston Villa considered making the offers they did is indicative that our club are currently being “disrespected”. What a strange and particularly naive comment . Why is ok for Arsenal to keep going back to Brighton and it’s not ok for Villa to do likewise re ESR? Are Arsenal disrespectful toward Brighton? Not for me it’s just business. Ben White appears to be available and whilst it’s hard to believe but clearly Villa had picked up messages re ESR. Then you say this 1. Bellerin, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Nketiah and Nelson will be sold. 2. Guendouzi and… Read more »
For years, Wenger claimed signing established players would hamper the growth of the youngsters at the club, and fans rightly berated him for it. Ironically, same fans are now opposing the need to a CAM this summer simply because we have ESR.
*sign
We are a funny bunch us fans 😝
“Giorgio Chiellini claims he put a CURSE on Bukayo Saka before he missed the decisive penalty in Euro 2020 final: Video shows Italian mouthing South American ‘Kiricocho’ hex during England star’s run-up”
Kiricocho
Kiricocho
Kirococho
I was saying boo-urns
I wouldn’t take any nonsense from Inter about a loan for Bellerin… they’ve just received a shed load of cash from PSG for Hakimi.