My dad went on a stag-do with his younger cousins about 15 years ago, I wasn’t allowed to go. He had his own style, always, a sharp dresser if ever there was one. His best bit of work advice to me was.
‘If your clients aren’t talking about what you’re wearing, you’re wearing the wrong thing’
That has stood me well, being a bad dresser and all. Back to the point, he went on a Marbella stag do and decided he liked a £1000 cowboy jacket. It was black brushed leather with Eddie the eagle tassels so he looked like a bird when in the Jesus pose. Everyone told him he shouldn’t buy that jacket, but he wouldn’t listen, he knew it would crown his outfit… and that night, he was going to look like a hero.
He bought the jacket, owned the night, and never spoke about that jacket again.
To Arsenal fans, I think Aron Ramsdale is the jacket, we’re the friends wondering what’s going on… and there’s nothing we can do to stop the purchase. Arsenal are ten pints of data deep on this kid and they can already the dopamine hit when everyone is fawning over the tassels on the dance floor.
There is only one thing I can tell you to make you feel better… the same people that have identified Lokonga, White and Tavares are heavily skewing this decision. There’s something in his profile the club think they can work with. It’s not just him, it seems he’s quite popular in football circles, remember Chris Wilder is a proper coach and he made him his star signing (do NOT look at how that turned out). It is also worth noting that despite playing for relegated teams the past two seasons, both sets of fans voted him player of the season.
He’s also very, very young for a Premier League keeper.
So we’ll see. I’m just happy we’re bringing in a backup keeper. Even happier that the money would suggest he’s coming in to replace Leno as #1 as soon as the German drops a major footwork clanger against Brentford.
What I’m not happy about is that we are heading into the first game of the season having not added a single body to our attack. Arsenal had the 3rd best defence in the league last season and an attack that dropped just 55 (9th). Chelsea finished 8th for goals and spent £100m on Lukaku. I appreciate that attack often starts in defence in 2021. Ben White and a keeper that can pass will show us plebs that in due course. However, it is still quite baffling to be at a stalemate with our strikers and to still be fumbling around hoping Leicester or Madrid decide to deal this week.
Brentford will be a tough game, just because they have no history of the Premier League yet. We should beat them, but I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever known an Arsenal start to the season to be so pessimistic. There are a couple of reasons for that.
- Arteta burned all his ‘hope’ capital at the start of last season with that dreadful 14 game run. If you were a non-emotional fan, you’d be looking at the 60% of games we played post-Christmas for clues as to how we’re going to play this season. But you’re not, you are a hot mess of emotions and all we’re thinking about is how bad that start was last season.
- Preseasons against London rivals was a bad idea. Nice if you win, but back to back derby losses really was a waste of energy.
- Our start is hard.
A lot of the fear isn’t grounded in truth. I saw someone write ‘I just wish my team could register 15 shots a game’… our worst showing this summer was Spurs and we had 11 shots, 2 on target just like them. Chelsea 14, Watford 15+, Millwall 15+, Rangers 19, Hibs 19… shots hasn’t been the issue, but our forwards certainly have been.
There are going to be a lot of eyeballs on that teamsheet on Friday.
Is it going to be Hierahy FC this season? Are we going to see the rebirth of Laca/Auba as a mainstay? Will Arteta panic and start Mo Elneny in midfield next to Granit Xhaka? Who will start as right back, because Hector has been atrocious? Will we have to see 4 bad results to see the best starting 11?
Many questions I will look to tackle tomorrow.
Before we get there, I wanted to thank everyone who has been tuning in to the podcast this summer. We had our best week ever last week! We’re going to continue to bring you podcasts with LIVE video as the season goes on. One minor shift I want to make you aware of… we’ll be doing advertising on the podcast and a little bit with a great sponsor on the site. I went back and forth on it… but the reality is, I can’t ask people to do this for free, and this platform is expensive to run… servers, tools, microphones, WILD nights out in Vegas, all these annoying little subscriptions.
Anyway, jump on the latest videos, know that cancel culture exists and YOU made me change my haircut, and leave a nice 5* rating on iTunes.
Tr7
Leno over Emi M nothing MA could do about that EMI asked to leave and 1 year left in his deal we got food money.
Willian
Awful decision
Xhaka
Could not sell him he is still better than everyone other than Partey not MA fault
Odegard
Very good signing
Auba on left
That’s where he always plays
Guen, Torr, AMN, Saliba sidelined
Agreed add Martinelli
Ramsdale
We have not signed him
White for 50M
Going rate for an excellent cb
Runarsson
Shit
So 2 of your points are correct bro
Serge
He can’t get the players because he’s opted into keeping these players instead of taking the 15mil for xhaka for instance.
“mA does need to get the players he needs though to prove he can do it”
What does that even mean?
He would have spent 100 million in a depressed economy by the time Ramsdale is done and he won’t have touched the areas of greatest need.
He needs to be sacked because his decision making is faulty. He is wasting money on peripheral needs and leaving the central ones untouched.
Pedro
Okay. I will if we some how show good football consistently and we are around top 4. But if we don’t and we tank this season, you should promise yourself to stop forgiving him. You have already done it twice last season. Once after we were on that losing streak. And the other after the Europa league semifinal loss. No more forgiveness if he fucks it up. You will have to wake up.
Incorrect on emi serge.
Emi wanted to be #1, he had proven to be better than Leno.
Arteta said he was not going to make him #1, so he opted to leave the the good of his own career.
The player was a lot more patient than any other players we have come by and grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
At the end of the day arteta fucked up there, no foresight was needed at the time just a passable eye test, which we are becoming aware that arteta doesn’t have.
Pedro
“If Saliba was as good as Ben White, he’d be at a top Premier League club on loan.”
What’s done is done and I think White will be fine, but which top Premier League Clubs were seriously battling Arsenal for White’s signature? There were a few rumblings, probably originating out of Brighton, but nothing ever really materialized.
NVM, who was battling for Sancho? Who was in for Lukaku? Who is in for Kane?
You don’t have to have 10 clubs in for a player to make it a great signing.
Pedro now reversing the logic he’s been forwarding for defending saliba being loaned out.
What are we doing here
Incorrect, AC, again.
Emi wanted guarantees he’d be #1.
He didn’t get them.
So he left to a lesser club to get the guarantee.
The end.
That’s what I said Pedro…
Mr Serge
I support TR7 on his classification of Xhaka as an Arteta Fuck up. If he hadn’t talked him into staying 18 months ago, Arsenal would have gotten value for him.
Roaary, thats a good point – this summer should have been the one where we really made a powerful statement, and the Teta Project blossomed into life. I think we’ve only been making noise for the wrong reasons so far. No way we should not have had our squad ready to go for at least a week before our first game in my opinion. Come deadline day we’ll doubtless see tweets abut how hard the transfer team have been working etc etc but could have saved themselves a lot of long nights and stress by getting the affairs in order… Read more »
Almunia
Very good, once more. The only problem I have is that I don’t find it credible that if Enos Stan K was bed-bound and barking his wishes to his son, that were Josh to hear “Ramsdale” instead of “Rams sale” that he’d have any clue who or what Ramsdale might be.
Though I also like the image of Stan K riding a small tricycle around the vast hallways of his ranch mansion croaking “RAMS SALE. RAMS SALE” (a la The Shining).
Rams Sale
LOL!
AC, no you didn’t.
Arteta didn’t say Emi wasn’t the #1. He said he wouldn’t guarantee him anything. Every chance Emi starts last season as #1.
It’s only a fuck up if #1 you beleive there was a sale for Leno last season #2 you believe in a low performance culture where players can demand a starting position
Pedro, With The top two clubs in Spain in financial disarray, there was only one market for Sancho, Lukaku, and Kane, the two Manchester Clubs and Chelsea. Both Chelsea and City are awash with wingers, which left Manchester United with a free run at Sancho. Both Chelsea and City wanted Haaland, but having sold Sancho BVB weren’t selling, so Chelsea turned to Lukaku and Pep may turn to Kane, though he could hold fire for a season and return for Haaland next summer. But having said all that, you missed my point. Just like I don’t know if there were… Read more »
Wonder how Mikel will be in tomorrows presser?! He can be quite prickly at the best of times and especially with transfer talk he seems to get agitated and give riddled answers…
Almuniasaynomore
If Arteta pulls the rabbit out of the hat and makes top four Pedro will say the rest of us look cunts.
Can Bumery go for two in a row and claim Europe’s super cup bragging right against Chelsea today?
NWM, we know he ended up in Marseille and we know that Newcastle and Southampton were in for him. We can be very certain that if a big Premier League club came in for him, he’d be there now.
to be fair pedro,
sure seemed like guaranteed xi was part of the contracts wenger was writing towards the end, even w auba/willian last season.
An innocuous bump and Ziyech is crocked. The human body is actually very fragile it seems
Zach, for sure… that was a low performance culture
Pedro, Great podcast. You guys are getting better each episode. Keep it up! I feel bad that I contributed to cancelling your haircut but honestly, it was dodgy as hell and eventually you’ll realise we did you a favour. I’m even more pessimistic than you are on the strikers. I don’t believe it’s possible to resuscitate Auba. Even at his best, he needs a free flowing kind of football to thrive. Since he’s been with us, it’s been mostly flowing freely at our expense. But either way, it created those opportunities to run at goal which he needs. Arteta prefers… Read more »
Ridiger is back to main another opposition player. Seems like a trait now. Though that one was less sinister than his eyeball socket challenge on KdB
Pedro, did Emi earn the #1 Jersey or not after helping the team to an fa cup and community shield win?
I guarantee you that we don’t get that cup with Leno not getting injured.
AC, he earned the right to be considered for #1. He would have started the season there. He bottled it and went for the safer bet.
Pedro
honest question
do you think the extra time on the training ground is going to make a big difference to our game this season? Do we think that will make the difference to ESR, pepe, martinelli, saka etc for more goals?
Also, almost forgot amazon is filming!
Guns
Now I get it
Ramsdale is being signed on the instruction of the Kroenkes
The need the RAMsdale part of his name to promote the LA rams in the UK. The lad will be dressed as mountain goat at his unveiling.
EMI decision has worked out well enough for him. He is now Argentina no 1. Which wouldn’t have happened from Arsenals bench. We need to let that one go. There are other good keepers out there only Arsenal someone cant seem to find one.
Zach, 100%. If we can stay within the top 4 by January, we’ll be in great shape to make it happen for us. People don’t realise that players don’t really like being in Europa, it’s a massive distraction.
Rough start, there will probably be some tears, but if we rack up points after our major games, all that matters is where we are by Jan.
Villarreal plays out of the back like Arsenal in other words piss poor.
Global, absolutely… he had personal goals and he made them work. But a football club can’t remove competition for personal goals.
Elmo,
I just suspend logic when imagining Josh…..
Tom,
Deep down Mikel means a lot to me.
Tony,
I was incommunicado yesterday and only saw your idea this afternoon but then the Ramsdale move broke. I won’t be ‘sketching’ for a while now, work is calling in a kind of ‘ get it done or be sacked’ way. I trust you and your son can handle that one, it’s like the lyrics I find, a humorous way of processing Arsenal. Hope all is well with you.
Do Arsenal have the inside story on quotas for homegrown players, hence the blowing of the budget on premium priced English players or are we just going yo get shafted like we did when we saved all our pennies up for when ffp would come into play when we could of strengthened a good team at the time. Only Arsenal
Mountain Goat LOL
Rams Sale was too funny
We sold martinez because arteta is a terrible manager with no real experience and he didn’t know how to handle the situation appropriately. His man management has been shocking
Wonder how Arteta will take papa Wengz backing Saliba in the media today.
Probably gonna show up for his next presser bald headed haha
Bigger yes he definitely needs to improve a lot in that department.
Way to many mistakes happening
God think I would actually take Arsene back the way things are looking
Mendy having a mare for Chelsea with the ball at his feet, Moreno should’ve scored
CC, maybe they should sign Billy goat Ramsdale, apparently he’s really good with his feet
What a game Leyton Orient v QPR
While Arsenal fans bicker over whether granit xhaka should’ve been given a new deal. Whether Ramsdale is good with his feet. Chelsea are winning UCLs ELs and playing in Super Cup finals.
Great goal Villarreal. The whole Chelsea defence looking suspect in possession in 2nd half.
Chelsea playing shite out the back, 1-1
Hate to see it.
I hate to fucking say it but Villarreal play better football than Arsenal under Arteta,,,,ever.
What an absolutely incredible goal by Villareal. They’ve been beating up on Chelsea since the restart
Good Ebening!
How pathetic our situation regarding this game. If chelsea win. Its more miles away they are from us in Europe and overall recent success. If Villarreal win.. well, Emery has once more proved he wasn’t the problem. Arsenal were. Or at least those players were.
Either way. Arsenal take an L tonight.
Villareal are doing this with players that cost less in total than Pepe and probably collectively earn less Aubamisgoal
I want Villarreal to win just so that the arteta defense force can go into overdrive mode, might even force some transfers to be completed in a hurry.
Chelsea winning can just be excused with oil money and then being European champions.
AC, you want Villareal to win so you can attack the club you support?
Did I mention the club?
You seem really disturbed by something.
It’s certainly a better result than Chelsea winning another trophy.
This Chelsea team is superior financially and the actual players, but Villarreal are actually going toe to toe with them. Arteta would have had Aubameyang man marking their right back, fucking coward!
Global, you could reshape the attack to be… Villareal are doing this against one of the most expensively assembled teams in the world.
Too many of you forget that you support Arsenal on here.
The Arteta defence force are more efficient than the Russian S-500 air patrol system
AC, you don’t read like much of a fan of Arsenal. If you are here to troll Arsenal, you can go to Reddit.
Pedro
Wrong again, we support The Arsenal, just not the current owners and management. So any occasion that shows their incompetence and put the AKBs into excuse mode is most welcome.
Some really odd views let slip in the past 24 hours, from wishing the manager sacked after 5 games to calling him a cunt because of interest in a player said person doesn’t rate
Certainly doesn’t resonate with what I grew up with regarding football. From a corner where you protect your own against outsiders and chew over the internal merits.
Now you see more and more Arsenal connected platforms on socials demonising players and figures associated with the club, stirring up hatred and bantering our own club alongside rivals. Weird.
Emery’s Villarreal playing flowing attacking football who would have ever thought.
Cc, we are the banter club now, those of us who want that status to end get demonised by arteta fanboys.
AC
That’s fucking nonsense plain and simple.
Who are the Arteta fanboys btw? Can I get a list?
MD, if you are here to shit on your own club all day without constructive ideas for fixes, why would anyone want to read that?
This is an Arsenal blog and this week, I have seriously had to debate people saying Leicester is not a stepdown from us. That isn’t Arsenal fandom my friend. It is an embarrassment.
Extra time at this stage of the season? Bizarre. Maybe welcome I guess, if the clubs can get more bodies on the field.
Pens and over makes more sense
Pedro
Were you anti-Arsenal when you were leading the insurrection against Emery?
You were against his physio, his goal keeping coach, his dentition, his accent…everything he stood for
Everything that is being said about Arteta is mild compared to what you endlessly wrote about Emery
Extra Time lets see how AFC does against Chelsky shortly.
Pedro really I don’t care what you think of me anymore, you banned me for calling it like it was last season, you’re gonna ban me again this season.
I don’t care, the results will be the results regardless of where I get to air my pain about the status of the football club I came to love.
You though, who knows about you, sound more like an arteta fan than an arsenal fan.
MD
Fucking hell shame Emery’s Arsenal did not.
Safe to say AC has been binned 🙂
Constructive ideas already been given Pedro.
Sack arteta, sack edu, sign gravenberch and aouar, play saliba, sign onana.
All the constructive ideas have been given already, all there is left to do is see if the club itself are interested in rectifying this mess or not.
No AC, those are not constructive ideas, they are childish.
“AC, you want Villareal to win so you can attack the club you support?“
I thought everyone always wanted Chelsea to lose no matter who they play.
Fuck Chelsea and fuck Tuchel , who cares if Villareal win unless you’re Don and claim Laliga is shit lol.
Dissenter you’re such a fanny at times, I really hope you’re going to be as chipper throughout the season and stand by your convictions regarding the many absolutist views you’ve shared preseason.
Don’t do the selective hearing shite if you get called on any of them, like you pulled with Auba/Dortmund discipline a month or so back.
Looks like we have more rival fans on here that actual fans of the Arsenal.
That’s the spirit, Tom.
I want Villarreal to win bollocks to the Chavs and Thier financial doping them and city and psg can go to hell they fucked football
“There is only one thing I can tell you to make you feel better… the same people that have identified Lokonga, White and Tavares are heavily skewing this decision ” Some might have raised this … but have to clarify if these are the same people that have identified Mari, Soares, Runnarboy, Willian, and continue to affirm the stats from Xhaka, Elneny, Bellerin, Auba, Amn, etc so we still hold onto them and even offer contract extension?? Even Hollywood couldn’t have made this up…. what fcuking joke of club management… in the modern football era where financial prudence and governance… Read more »
Pedro ” if you are here to shit on your own club all day without constructive ideas for fixes” No idea how you come to this conclusion from my comments ONCE AGAIN it is the leadership of the club that many of us can’t support. I am sure that more competent managers would get the best out of this squad but we will not know until perhaps December. I have posted many times the support for the fix of the team that everyone agreed on “It is the ATTACK” moaned when we lost pit on Buendia, how is that project… Read more »
how is signing prospects who can have actual future resale value and are able to progress the club in the present childish when compared to chasing madisson for some touted 80mil price tag?
makes no sense pedro.
I reckon there are a few non fans on here
You have to back the management we have no choice. The board back him and we don’t have the finances to start again
Let’s see if Ma gets the players he needs before the end of the month
Emery getting praised by the commentators for being active on the touchline all game long, shouting, pointing, encouraging his team.
We know what Dissenter thinks of that behaviour……..when Arteta does it.
Great that Chelsea have to play extra time. Let them get too exhausted to win their first EPL game. What a boring team, considering the individual quality. I hope either Liverpool or Man City win among the top 4. Can’t stand United and this Chelsea team are no entertainers.
Anyone thinks we should go for 8M man Tolisso or is that too cheap for us?
I prefer we succeed under MA than fail but if we do I will cross the bridge when it happens
I am happy to boo the crap out of him like I did Emery when he sucked shit
The Emeryista to this day is something i’ll never fully grasp… similar to the Saliba Ultras.
Diss
Absolutely correct. We saw Pedro and confused Charlie go hard on the other Spanish coach last time out now we get this
“Certainly doesn’t resonate with what I grew up with regarding football. From a corner where you protect your own against outsiders and chew over the internal merits”
Textbook definition of hypocrisy
Le Sauce
You not know the meaning of the word hypocrisy then?
cc i’ll make your lists after the brentford game. deal?
would need to page back on the blog and recover some posts from last season when arteta was delivering us peak relegation form standard of football for the opening months of the season.
if you wish though, you can start the list with pedro, hard to believe he was so vehemently against wenger and emery finishing 4th’s and 5th’s but is comfortable with arteta clocking 8th and getting us unfollowed by the uefa twitter account. have my mrs reminding me of that weekly and it stings.
AC, wild that someone who wants to fire Arteta for a rookie blip last season is demanding he hit the heights by signing 19 years old centre midfielders.
Maybe he’s looking at Maddison because fans like you have no patience to bed in kids?
how can we not have the finances to start again while being comfortable with binning off a 30mil asset and bringing in another 50mil one on the backend while chasing a 60-80mil asset?
again, makes no sense.
the narratives being peddled make no sense with the given observations.
Someone just made a great point on Twitter that Emi Martinez was on loan at Rotherham at the age Ramsdale is now.
CC: Nailed it again — totally bizarre some of the ‘support’ on here.
I saw the cunt comment too — I’m guessing it’s that thing when someone gets behind a keyboard and they’re suddenly Mr Big Bollocks or something. All this before a ball’s even been kicked.
The melt-down, whenever it happens will be a sight to behold.
Pedro: Great blog, podcast and posts tonight — very much relying on you to keep up the optimism these early few weeks of the season!!
Azpilicueta lol
AC
Surely you’d have the Arteta fanboys by name after 18 months? Could be that they don’t exist, much less berate anyone that isn’t full Mikel jacket.
How are you, and others, taking to Pedro in his steadfast views of Arteta though? Oh..
Sal, going to bat for the meekest manager of all time really is something.
Pedro
Were you anti-Arsenal when you were leading the insurrection against Emery?You were against his physio, his goal keeping coach, his dentition, his accent…everything he stood forEverything that is being said about Arteta is mild compared to what you endlessly wrote about Emery
Why does pedro run when being called out? He went past this post like he didn’t see it. I’m putting it here for you to see, pedro.
2nd Extra Time coming
Any way you cut It Villareal are doing them selves proud. Hope they win it.
pedro it’s not a rookie blip dude.
i know for damn sure you weren’t calling it a rookie blip when we beat chelsea after arteta finally had the gumption to start ESR.
you know what lets watch the season, you and me, lets see what happens.
all 38 games. league position only matters after the 38.
each game i will find one thing to praise, and you in turn must find one thing to critique.
you game?
‘
otherwise i’ll have to mention daily that you wanted wenger fired for far lesser sins than what we’re getting from arteta.
Sal I don’t think there’s anything called an Emeryista… Pedro led the charge for Emery to go, you can even say Wenger also. The question is why does he feel it’s “unarsenal” for people here to having a go against Arteta? During the Wenger out days, people are actually cheering for Arsenal to loose on here and Pedro didn’t say a word. CG was a hero to Pedro when he was against Emery but now he’s a nuisance because he things diet Pep is a fraud? I get it’s Pedro’s blog but he was ok with people having a go… Read more »
VickingZ, you talk like my hypothesis and intel didn’t pay dividends. I always had a constructive argument and solution though… plenty of which they seem to now be putting into practice.
Also worth noting, I never denigrated the name or prestige of the club.