Time is moving very slowly on the transfer front, so let’s have a little chat about what I liked about the game from yesterday PLUS some broader thoughts about where I think things are heading.
Auba is smiling again
There are certain people in this world with the power to lift or sink a room just by their body language. That is our captain. Auba spent a chunk of last season looking very sad for a whole host of reasons. The hope amongst Arsenal fans is that the main man from Gabon was hit differently by the mental strains of the pandemic.
He is a world-class finisher that underperformed last season. My hope is that overhead flick is the start of better from him. Once he realises he has a supporting cast around him that can get the ball to his feet where he likes it, I think we could see a different player this season.
Sambi Lokonga could be a steal
The Belgian made an instant impact at the base of midfield. He’s a versatile player who claims people around him say he’s better as a 6. Well, sitting deeper than Partey yesterday, you could instantly see why he’d been purchased. His one-touch passing, clever movement into space, and his unpredictable repotoire made an instant difference. He will play through the middle, he will run with the ball, he always make sure there’s an angle after he’s made a move.
Obviously, there’s a huge difference between United (lost 4-2 to QPR) and Millwall, but the point here is we bought promise. In his post-game interview, he said he’d been convinced to come to Arsenal because he was told we were building around young players. That is EXACTLY what the club should be doing. A super debut, hopefully he’s firing by January.
… also worth noting that he seems like a top guy. His interview on the .com showed a man who has a great grasp of English and a bit of a spark about him (also, like that Arsenal are using fans to interview players, love the energy Frimpon brings to the interviews).
Folarin Balogun has something different
I’m not pushing for a 19-year-old to be starting Premier League games, but I think his profile is something we lack in our forward line. His athletic offering is electric, his movement over 50m is something else. He forced his goal with a beautiful diagonal run. I really hope we keep him in the mixer next season.
Lacazette isn’t a bad idea
I know it’s deeply unfashionable to say it, but Lacazette is very good, if it weren’t for his deal expiring, I’d be game to keep him around the first team for another season. His link-up play and work-rate is second to none. He was our best striker last season and he opens up the game for players like ESR, Saka and Pepe in ways Auba can’t. If he does go and we land with Tammy, I wouldn’t be despondent. I think the English striker has a very high ceiling and he’s still extremely young, but it just feels unlikely Lacazette is landing £180k a week in a broken Europe.
Missing names
Hector, Kola and Willock were all absent. This is good news because I suspect it means we’re moving them on. If Newcastle have £25m+ for a player who’d be on the periphery, then that is a great return on a Hale-Ender. The other two just aren’t right for what we need moving forward. Hopefully, Granit will find a club, this Roma thing is really dragging on, we shouldn’t be taking pennies for a midfielder that is 28 and landed a place in the team of Euros.
Right backs
Cedric and Chambers look like they are going absolutely nowhere this season. If that’s the case, I can handle it. The English centre-back has found a role in the side, he’s not let us down, and his delivery is very special. I also don’t think Cedric is that bad, his biggest issue is fitness, but I don’t think he’s terrible back-up and he looks focused (rumours that he came back to training camp very fit). Both of them were involved in a goal yesterday. It’s also worth mentioning that Chambers is very well-liked behind the scenes, you can palm that off, but after last season, good eggs are going to be of value.
Improvement
Again, goes without saying, preseason is about fitness and trying new ideas. It means nothing come the start of the season, but there are things I am looking for: Does the mood with the players look good? I would say so. Are the players we’re bringing into the club adding something new. I think so. Are the ideas that are being drilled into the team reaping rewards? Well, hard to tell, but the football looks better, less choreographed, and we’re getting up the pitch faster.
Football is so brutal at cycling through managers, most of us have never really experienced what a process can actually look like. If your ideas don’t work instantly at Chelsea, you are out. Same for a lot of the big clubs. Arsenal invested in a longer-term project and pieces have been moving forward. This idea that the football is shit because that’s what Arteta is all about is wide of the mark, we’re seeing glimpses of that. Perception will catch up with reality at some point and people will start seeing it.
We defend well. We are difficult to beat. If we bring in players that move the ball with more ambition at a faster speed, the whole idea that is being implemented will perform better. Just watching the concept of Lokonga, even against a weak side, shows you what we lacked. Now imagine what happens when you add a center-back that can do those things. Now add a CAM with end product. Things start to get sexy.
The other point that people miss is the football that Arsenal is trying to adopt is complicated. Arsenal was a dumb club. Dated ideas kept the lights on 10 years longer than they should have, then Emery tried to implement a philosophy that was anti-Arsenal. The re-education process has been slower than we’d have hoped, but you will see ideas settle this season. Players clicking with that cognitive style of football. Our football will hopefully go from learner driver mode, where every action requires a specific thought… to human auto-pilot, where the basics are natural, and everything flows naturally.
Well, that’s the vision. Young players pick up those ideas quicker because they are hungrier and all that matters is their career. This summer needs to land some finishing moves, but I’m happy with the bits we’ve already done, even happier that Arteta and Edu learned their lessons this summer.
See you in the comments.
Weagle
“Do Chelsea fans reference the ‘since Tuchel took over’ PL table? Because they would be sitting ahead of us in 2nd place in that said table (late January) along with a CL trophy and an FA Cup Final.”
Haha that is brutal
Bob “if we have enough money for our other targets”
Well we’ve spent if we include White £75m so far, throw in Ramsdale for around £20m and that’s the best part of £100m (don’t forget we’ll be paying agents fees too). Given that we’ve not sold anyone so far and even if we do make any sales it’s likely to be mostly loans with options rather than outright sales. So do we have another £100m for the MF and AMF that we need? I think that’s unlikely.
It’s not unreasonable to want the club to address the main areas of need first before we throw money at positions that are not essential.
I think we will only buy a GK (Ramsdale) with our own money, anything else will be as replacements.
A new CM if Xhaka leaves.
A new AM if Willock was to go for a decent fee. Apart from that I don’t envisage much else.
If Laca went we may replace but anyone else (Eddie/Nelson/Kola) and we won’t replace.
So technically, the club want to use what money we have in our pockets to buy a GK which they see as a bit of a priority.
Raptora
Backup keeper is such a vital position, and difficult one to manage
We need a keeper who’s happy to play second fiddle and only in the cups, but who can also be relied upon when called, when every point is vital, we can’t have a backup keeper who can’t be trusted
Having two top keepers in their peak is unworkable
So we either go for an older keeper who’s happy to see out his career on the bench, in exchange for a golden handshake, that’s always dead money, the only value you get is on the pitch, there’s no resale value
Or we go with a succession plan, we sell a talented young keeper on the idea that they’ll be a changing of the guard over the next 24 months
That young keeper can’t be a complete rookie, he has to have some experience, and we also have to be able to rely on him when called upon, and also put pressure on Leno internally
Direct competition is healthy
I like the idea of succession plans
Partey – Lokonga
Tierney – Tavares
Leno – ?
Aubameyang – Martinelli
The senior player takes the young player under their wing, the transition isn’t guaranteed to occur, but for me it’s the right idea, I’m absolutely done with older players using Arsenal as a retirement home, and for a cushy pension
I understand why some are rightly nervy after the Runarsson + Martinez debacles, but if we do sign Ramsdale, it’s completely unfair to bash him straight off the bat, he’s 23, and there’s absolutely nothing to say the succession plan won’t be successful
Weagle
You can distrust the management surrounding transfers all you want, you’re not alone and it’s not without merit. But choose to view every transfer through than lens and not just the ones that line up with your own personal POV.
If we’d have targeted Rodrigo De Paul or Cunha or whoever else you’ve touted you’d change your tune entirely on those making decisions. But because you don’t like domestic transfers because of the lack of value, or bland nature of some names, you scrutinise them further. So pick one, otherwise you come across as someone who needs his views met or it’s not good enough.
–
TR7
“Must be a real coincidence that all the people who back Arteta seem to back all his transfer targets too (White, Ramsdale, Tammy etc.)“
Pathetic comment as per. Suppose the opposite must be true then? Those that don’t rate Arteta have a much more intelligent scope for transfers because they scoff at the options we’re looking at. Back to the normal ‘them vs us’ nonsense.
The only player I wanna bash is Xhaka , wtf is he still doing at our club ?
TR7
I think you should calm down a little seeing as we havent signed either Tammy or Ramsdale. The jigsaw puzzle is getting solved piece by piece and not as you want it , remember that xD
Charlie
My comments pathetic ? Whatever floats your boat dude. You can be all condescending and supercilious as per but your track record in who you have backed over the years speaks more loudly that your words. I don’t indulge in them vs us but yes I kind of know you blindly support anything Arteta does and there’s nothing wrong in pointing that out.
Rich,
No one spends this much money to have a direct competion in the GK’s position.
Mostly because GKs don’t get injured often so it’s normal for 1 GK to play in 36, 37, 38 League games.
We don’t even have Europa League this season. It makes zero sense to shell 25m on a reserve goalkeeper.
Unless we’re selling Leno and Ramsdale becomes our main GK. Would you be fine with that?
Bland nature of some of the names? Come on Charlie you can do better than that.
Sure yes, if he they were called Benny Whitinho and Andreas Ramsdalho and were being bought in from Serie A I would be firmly behind the decisions.
You know that I back the Maddison move.
If I said to you, the same poster that was fixated with re-constructing the frontline and adding a CAM in the summer window a few months back that less than 4 weeks away from season kick-off and 100m spent that we had brought in Ben White, Ramsdale, Lokonga and Tavares what would you have honestly said? Of which 75m were on CB Ben White and GK Ramsdale.
And we have sold nobody.
CC,
It’s not nonsense if it’s obvious that the Arteta believers defend his supposed targets and the ones that don’t like him are against our targets.
25m for a reserve GK is not usual.
Ramsdale main GK is not good enough.
Think I’m on Rich’s exclusive ignore list, lol.
I do strongly dislike the us vs them terms.
It’s about what we feel is best for Arsenal, the club we all love. We are all allowed an opinion.
I am really excited about the Lokonga signing
I am not particularly happy about a rumoured approach for Ramsdale.
I am happy to see a player of Taveres profiles come in and am encouraged by the start he has made, albeit pre season only.
I am unsure about the fee for White, but recognise the potential of the signing and the particular attributes and skills he would bring.
It’s fine to be happy with some signings but not happy about others/potential rumours. It’s what we do as fans.
No nuance allowed here Chris, stop that now.
If we’re sceptical on spunking 75m on White and Ramsdale it automatically means that we are also shitting on the Tavares and Lokonga signings for 25m combined.
Raptora
It would be a bold move, but if we spend this much on a keeper, you’d have to think they see him as becoming first choice at some point over the next 2 seasons
There’s been talk Leno wants out, he’s got 2 years on his deal, maybe we’ll sell if we get an offer, and Ramsdale will be our No1 this season
If that happens, then I’d judge the decision based on the outcome, rather than what my original perception is
Spurs announced Bryan Gil from Sevilla , who the fuck is that guy ?
Chris,
Good man,well said.
Wenger Eagle,
Tom has you right, a great sense of humour to go with the knowledge. I’ve noticed it more recently. Anything to do with the pubs reopening?
Chris,
Well said.
As a proof of the garbage that some posters type, I’ll wait a bit for the info of who were the Arteta Outs that were against the Partey transfer. Or against Gabriel Magalhaes’ signing. Or against Lokonga’s.
In fact some posters will see that it was just the opposite. Arteta outs were just as happy to welcome player transfers that made sense regarding quality, price and age.
But lo and behold – you are not allowed to have an opinion on transfers that don’t make sense.
Like 25m for a GK – no one knows if he’s going to be a reserve or main GK.
Or 50m for a CB – no one knows if he’ll be a CB or inverted RB/DM when we had the 3rd best defence in the league and the 9th best offence.
Almunia
All this worrying talk about Xhaka is twisting my melon man. I know you think 90s style hip hop is music for Antichrists but check it out on youtube and try some bumping and grinding with Mrs Almunia in the kitchen. This is a genuinely good tune. 40 and 50 year old gooners may remember it and I think it was remixed recently.
So, to ‘return of the mack’ by Leicester’s very own Mark Morrison
So you said you’d promise me
He’d be transferred to Italy
Of Granit Xhaka we’d be free
No more red cards against Burnley
He’d never mouth the words fuck off
Arsenal fans have had enough
He always thinks he’s rough and tough
But his tackling’s powder puff
You lied to me, we believed we’d seen the back of you
Mikel lied to me Edu too, Edu too too too
You lied to me we thought he had packed his bags for Rome
Mikel lied to me he’s at home, laying out the cones
Return of the Xhak (fuck me)
Return of the Xhak (tragedy)
Return of the Xhak (error prone)
Return of the Xhak (no. no. no)
If you don’t know the tune Almunia, youtube it first. You might like it.
WE
I’m not ignoring you sweet pea x
I just can’t tell you that Ramsdale will be good value, but I can’t tell you he’ll be bad value either, because I haven’t seen enough of him to develop an informed opinion
Sometimes young players can develop very quickly, look at the development in Saka, Smith Rowe, Mount, over the last year
Look at Martinez, one minute fans are shi**ing themselves after our second best player in 2019/20 picked up an injury, and replaced with Martinez
3 months later fans are crying when we sell Martinez and stick with Leno, football and football narrative can change very quickly
Sheffield United fans didn’t like Ramsdale after a shaky start, they then voted him as their player of the season
That had me howling Kroenkephobe, take a bow.
Love Return of the Mack too which made it all the better.
Think I’m on Rich’s exclusive ignore list, lol.
Weagle. Welcome to Nirvana. It’s like lying on a water bed with Bridget Fonda, a pint of Guinness and an ice cold magnum ice lolly in your gob.
Have we signed Ramsdale?
If not, then why are the bedwetters crying?
Almunia
Just the pit of transfer despair we are in as of right now can bring out the sardonic humour, I don’t hold a candle to the actually funny posters on here though and leave that to the likes of yourself, Kroenkephobe, Tom, Marc, Sal, Midwest, etc.
There used to be a really funny poster on here a few years back called Insomnia, was Irish too. You remember him?
You catch any of that Sun at the weekend? Back to gloom today in this part of Dublin!
Kroenkephobe,
I know the tune well, v popular number in this house.
That’s a great version you’ve put together, well done. I hope to god it’s not prophetic, but I wouldn’t back against it. I was thinking of the lyric changing myself but there’s not much to get excited about lately,unless you want to triumphalise the possible arrival of Ramsdsle. I’ll stick to the skits for a while, good outlet for the pent up sarcasm. I think my baltic 11 kicks the crap out of yours btw!
Stop with thr fight.
There is a maik point here and it is undeniable
The most needed position for.the team is a CAM since the start of LAST SEASON and there is nowhere to.be seen at the moment while we are trying to sign a very avarage keeper at a premium.price.
So it is obvious that a lot of fans have to many doubts about what is seems, repeat WHAT IT SEEMS like a terrible decision.
Im not.going to criticize White signing, but Im going to point out thet if, and again IF at the end of the window we dont have a CAM signed because we didnt have money then White signing fee will be another Terrible decision.
Signing order doesnt matter IF YOU ARE GOING TO SIGN EVERY NEED YOU HAVE, but if you have restrictions.and arent sure about signing everyone then you have to sign priorities first.
So for everyone I believe we all need to chill oit and see wht comes at the of the transfer window..
I just cant believe they are that dumb to spend that much in not essential pñayers there should be a plan in place.
Excellent effort Kroenke!
TR7
Already went there and you came up with very little substance. Reason for that is your pathetic agenda to associate your idea of truths to reality – doing it most recently with Ramsdale and White. I’ll take your authority on transfers with a dose of salt, Elneny and Mari would be first names on the team sheet left to you.
Weagle
I’ve not uttered a word of satisfaction regarding this window, what I want has yet to be realised and I’m waiting to see how it turns out. That said, do I object to the strategy evidently in place this summer? far from it. It’s exactly what we should be doing imo. Identifying a profile of talent with significant use now, and promise.
You yourself admitted in not watching any of Ramsdale and that poor name and club pedigree influences how you view such moves. I’m not endorsing Ramsdale, or White, where I have no knowledge, but I totally understand and back the idea behind them.
KroenkephobeJuly 26, 2021 14:47:40
Class!
Wenger Eagle,
I know, back in the late Wenger years we’d have been delighted with this much activity but now it all seems a little bit underwhelming. Unless a quality attack minded midfielder is purchased I’ll be very disappointed.
I’m still painting bloody fences so I have a nice brown colour but it washes off at the end of every day. Sun gone missing down here too,Wexford, but at least you can’t paint in the rain. Pints for me on Thursday, have the vaccination cert,so I can drink and be dry even in the rain, what luxury!
Rich
Glad to hear that, had me furiously sweating there!
It’s Apples and Oranges comparing it to the Martinez situation. Martinez was a second string GK that was sprung in to action when Leno got crocked at Brighton.
He had a couple of decent loan spells out before and was an adequate no.2 to Leno at that moment. He came in and seized his chance and the rest is history.
We’re yet to sell anyone. Ornstein who is well connected to the club is putting out the info that we are likely priced out of a Maddison move and we’re over here forking out 25m for a back up GK.
How is that comparable to Martinez?
Unless we are selling Leno this summer, the move is a strange one.
Watched the U.S/Jamaica Gold Cup QF last night and want to put down a marker for Gianluca Busio. Hadn’t been aware of him until now and this is based on just one game but he was a class above.
Intelligent and athletic 19 year old midfielder and already with 60 MLS appearances. He’ll get snapped up for a good European club soon-wish it was Arsenal.
If anything, the Xhaka saga marks a turning point for Mourinho. He’s gone from managing mega-money clubs (maybe stretching that with Spurs) to a team that can’t even afford 18m for his top target.
Glad to see some posters are not falling into the typical trap of expecting Arsenal to take less than a player is worth when selling but then get annoyed when Arsenal don’t always want to pay the list price for a player they are buying.
In an ideal world our incoming transfers would arrive chronologically in order of importance but is that realistic?
Some posters are worried that by spending money on a back up LB, a CM who is not a guaranteed starter, a CB and potentially a back up GK before sorting out an attacking CM and Partey partner is not wise as it might jeopardise the funding of the midfield targets.
To those posters I would ask, ‘Do you genuinely believe that Edu and Arteta had not factored in the money needed for these CM targets?’.
The idea behind them?
Ramsdale – poor passing stats in Artetaball, 4th best English keeper when even #1 ain’t all that, young and unproven, EPL premium 25m.
White – 182cm tall, young and unproven, EPL premium 50m.
I bet you advocated for Andy Carroll too when he moved to Liverpool for £35m 10 years ago as you must have liked the idea behind it. Who cares if he turned out a huge flop, the idea behind signing a young expensive English player is enough.
It’s like the players quality doesn’t matter anymore. But the idea of what he might be or become. Mind it’s £75m investment just in the transfer fees. For that amount of money we need classy performers, no ideas.
Bob N16
You seriously asking that question?
The same Artedu that went into the start of last season with no recognised CAM? And about 8 CBs on the books.
I watched a lot of Bournemouth at the time and handful of Sheffield games and again he’s been utter shite.
A couple of Bournemouth fans feom back home i spoke to said they’d have rather had Begovic in goal during their run in at the time.
Again unless we’re integrating Torreira and Willock this season we still have some work to do on that midfield and we’ve spent 50 million on a defender already so why on earth are we making a third bid for a goalkeeper again?
There are options, good options in the market than Aaron freaking Ramsdale.
Again theres this overwhelming no of Arsenal fans who literally always want to see some kinda positive in even the dumbest situations the club trys to get into
Raptora
Ramsdale doesn’t have poor passing stats, and White isn’t unproven. That sums up your knowledge of the pair, and whereas I won’t sit and say how good they are because I’ve not seen them, you’re out here leading the charge because they don’t suit your preference.
“the idea behind signing a young expensive English player is enough.“
Said nobody ever. Wish you’d just skip it honestly, not an objective bone in your body. Pursue your Arteta diatribe with others, plenty will indulge you.
“To those posters I would ask, ‘Do you genuinely believe that Edu and Arteta had not factored in the money needed for these CM targets?’.”
My answer: I’m concerned that Arteta and Edu think that CB and GK ARE our priorities and they are prepared to do minimal business around the midfield if it means that they can get players for those positions.
In addition any calculations will likely include incoming monies from sales – monies that may not actually be realised.
We literally don’t have enough money to buy a Maddison or an actual starting partner for Partey unless Xhaka is staying or money to get a Maddison in a position that’s very important for us but we’re putting in 2nd and 3rd bids for a back to back relegated goalkeeper
Almunia
Indoor dining/pints will be bliss after so long a wait. Enjoy mate, I’m still waiting on my vaccine.
Yeah in the Wenger years it was more so that the signings were few and far between. Barring his last couple of seasons in charge we generally spent well when we did buy.
Too many summer windows like in 2013 and 2015 we only signed one player and neglected to bring in players in areas that we were crying out for.
WE
Identifying the trajectory of a player at both ends of their career, is one of the most important skills a club can have
Peak Wenger used to be the master of knowing when to dump a player, and when a young players career was about to take off
I’ve got concerns around £50 mill for Ben White and potentially £20-£25 mill for Ramsdale, particularly with our record on transfers
But I prefer go with an open mind and judge the players we sign based on their performances on the pitch
We 100% need another keeper, we’re trying to sign a keeper
We needed a ball playing centre back, we decided to loan Saliba out to play, and are taking a punt on Ben White
Ultimately the people who are paid to make those decisions, will be judged accordingly, or at least they would at any normal club
Ramsdale + White could be 2 players right on the verge of crossing over into top class, consistent performers, or they could be two duds
I haven’t seen enough to draw a definitive opinion, and find those who are definitive one way or another, based on little viewing time of either player, to be jumping the gun a bit
Young players can progress very quickly, and as we’ve seen recently, older players usually fall off a Cliff
CC,
White isn’t unproven? Okay, you are taking the piss now.
Charlie
How is Ramsdale much use to us now? Unless we are selling Leno.
And what is the idea behind them in your eyes? Purchasing players with re-sale value being one of the major factors in mind isn’t exactly a positive way to go about it. You’re either chalking off that they do well here and it won’t completely torpedo their value like say a Lucas Toreirra or that they will massively overachieve expectations and that we’ll have to sell them off when the big boy sharks come hunting which seems far more unlikely.
Arsene made a lot of transfer screw-ups in his last few years but in a couple of cases he was smart waiting for Real Madrid and Barca to splash serious cash on players like Bale and Suarez (yes, I know….) in order to pick off the Ozil and Alexis.
Not sure if it applies this window unless Kane and/or Grealish is sold and a Man City player becomes dispensable but it would be nice to have money available if it happened. High-risk strategy but at least in the case of Alexis, well worth the wait.
BIG
Ozil would have been a brilliant purchase a year earlier but we already had Santi Cazorla who put in an incredible season in the 10 role.
We need a ST far more than Ozil. Higuain or Suarez.
Any truth to the news that Brighton insisted on a sell-on fee for White? If so, that’s pretty ballsy for a club that is getting 50m for a post-Covid transfer.
WE
Not talking so much about how the individual deal worked out but more about the high-risk but potentially rewarding strategy of waiting for some dominos to fall before making a big move.
Reports that we are interested in Zackaria as a cheap £27m MF option. Hopefully just rubbish but I’d rather spend the real money on MF than CB for example.
“White isn’t unproven? Okay, you are taking the piss now.“
He’s played a full season in the Championship and PL, he’s as “unproven” as Saka and ESR who you claim as reason we don’t need a creative midfielder. Make up your own mind.
You mean you don’t rate him…..after telling everyone he’s a player you’ve never even noticed? Gotcha.
Wengereagle,
We should hardly be filled with confidence that all our transfer business window will be successful this TW but comparing our situation to last year isn’t exactly l8ke for like.
We couldn’t generate any money last year due to Covid. Of course you might argue that’ll be the same this TW and to a certain extent you may be right but the difference is that we’ve been led to believe that the Kroenkes are releasing significant funds. Last year because we couldn’t sell Torreira or Guendouzi ( + others) we could only afford one of Aouar or Partey.
We’ll have to see how it pans out but I’ve a feeling they’ll find money for Odegaard if he becomes available( selling Willock etc) I hope Lokonga isn’t Elneny’s only competition to be Partey’s partner that’s for sure.
That is a major issue to be resolved.
Ramsdale doesn’t have poor passing stats,
I am sorry but this pure bullshit. Ramsdale has a 43.4 pass success percentage. Meanwhile Leno who we criticize for not being good enough for his distribution has 76.8 pass success rate. And if you are going to say he plays for a poor team then Leno plays 3.2 long balls pergame to Ramsdales 7.4 long balls. Ederson who is the most effective distributor plays 4.4 long balls with 81.2 pass success rate.
Ramsdale is a poor distributor. The length some fans are going to defend Ramsdale is ridiculous.
If we go the youth route then the majority of our players will be relatively unproven.
CC: “You mean you don’t rate him…..after telling everyone he’s a player you’ve never even noticed?”
I watch a lot of EPL football. I’ve probably watched 10 Brighton games last season. Yes, I didn’t notice him. Yes, no one in this blog did. Refer me to a comment in one of our games vs them, or at any other point where anyone mentioned White in here? There isn’t one so point your low blows to somewhere else.
You say he is proven, what is your opinion on him after the many games of him you’ve watched during the season? Did you post it somewhere? Or you just like “the idea behind the transfer”?
He is probably a good player, but he is not proven. Nobody noticing him, including you, is exactly the proof of that. If he was proven, people would have known his play when his name came up. Pedro had to bring videos to support the transfer cause he had no clue either.
I actually rate white. I don’t think we needed him and he is coming in for expensive price when we had other priorities. But he is at least an upgrade coming in for expensive price. No matter how you try spin it, Abraham and Ramsdale are poor purchases if they come in. We are paying for average players. With white though I can see a top class player in there.
It’s gut-bursting hilariousness to see that the people defending these dubious signings can’t attest to the quality of the players.
Rich used to gush about Brighton last season and would single out Bissouma [and to some extent Tariq Lamptey] for mention. He NEVER mentioned White as exemplary in any form, now that Arteta wants him…. he’s a closet admirer.
There was not even one post from ANYONE ON THIS BLOG that put up Ben White as an exemplar for playing out of the back. Now that Arteta wants him …. the rivers of sauce are flowing.
Regarding Ramsdale, Is there anyone here that saw him play for Bournemouth and Sheffield and secretly wished he were ours?
We are set to make club record signings for central defender and goalkeeper, so excuse some of us for having opinions about them.
Goalkeepers who play for bottom teams tend to kick the ball long. Very rarely do we get to see these GKs playing out from the back. I am wondering how will Ramsdale adjust to our short passing style and playing from the back and even more so because his passing stats are not great.
Habesha
Go look at the figures instead of making a sweeping statement off of one data point. His short and medium passing numbers are very similar to Leno and Emi Martinez in terms of completed passes.
Weagle
He’d be a competent number two which we don’t have. It focuses Leno instead of settling him into comfy number one spot, and should he decide to leave in the next 12 months we have his successor being groomed beside him. I’d much rather that profile of GK than some 32 year old getting a 3 year deal to be an ornament.
Another strange defense of these contested signings is that they were voted as player of the year by the selling club’s fans.
That’s like a a cheap suit attorney banging the table when neither the law nor facts are in his favor.
Ramsdale is very good at making long goal kicks that bypassed the midfield.
If we were trying to lump the ball a la Allardyce then by all means put up those “distribution” for him.
Raptora
Where’s the low blow? Is that not you with your juvenile mocking of what I’m saying about liking the “idea behind the transfer”? You haven’t even seen him and yet you’ve an aggressive view of him as a transfer, which is quite something given your admitted ignorance of the player.
I don’t have a view of him, he’s not a player I’ve first-hand knowledge of so I’m not stupid enough to claim him this or that. But I understand the desire to recruit a technical defender that can initiate play like Luiz was capable of – a player I said on numerous occasions was our best defender and technical leader back in defence.
United just signed a director of football …and it’s showing. There are knocking off big deals easier than they did last summer. They may have just signed Verane for 38 million!
Same as Spurs, players swaps as part of deals are very complicated, that former Juve DoF is already earning his money.
Almunia
Just caught up with your baltic XI. Some team – my selection would not be fit to suck the sweat off the balls of your guys (if ever they’d be asked…). Understandable given mine were all chosen because of their connection to AFC!
You and Weagle and some of the other lads have an encyclopaedic and enviable knowledge of world football. Your other halves must be very understanding. Mine is rabidly and aggressively anti football and all other sport. It’s a wonder we’re still together given her football phobia and my manifold personality flaws. I’m also unfocused on euro leagues but once we get to Catalonia, she and I are getting season tickets for FC Girona – she doesn’t know yet and she’ll hate it!
Championship over here is close to starting which will fill some gaps in our abbreviated season. Will see a few Bluebirds games home and away when stadia reopen.
Fuck up the 2 cups and we could be looking at a 40 (40!) game season. A possible winter of discontent beckons if we become starved of Arsenal games. I haven’t fully got my mind around there being no European games since I was in nappies/diapers! 😉
DM; ‘Juventus will do ‘whatever it takes’ to sell Aaron Ramsey this summer after becoming frustrated with his injury problems and £400,000-a-week wages… and Fabio Paratici is keen to sign him once again and bring ex-Arsenal star to Tottenham”
Insult upon injury
Didnt Varane go for 43
One of the top in the world
We have Ben white for 50?
Charlie
Fair enough. He looks a lot better in underlying stats.
The real point for me is whenever I have seen him, I haven’t seen a top class GK. The sticking point is not that he is a poor player overall. It is just that we are going to pay 25 mil for him. That fee gets you a top class player.
I just hope we aren’t wasting a lot of money on a just decent player. And a recruitment setup that let go of Martinez and signed runnarson isn’t trustworthy.