The theme of the moment at Arsenal is the lack of leadership and how every time there’s a tough decision, we seem to shirk it. The greatest example of this was the Arteta land grab after he won the FA Cup, the project went downhill when he was given too much responsibility that he hadn’t earned. He was given control to buy players like Willian, when he should have been slapped down. He made personnel decisions that led to him surrounding himself with a lot of average people that don’t challenge him. He fell out with players, and we held faith that any arguments were in the name of fixing the busted culture we had.
Well, a year on from that decision and things are looking pretty bad, but you know what, you can kind of see why the club might have thought promoting Arteta was a good idea. Watching Edu’s behaviour on social media this summer has been a real eye-opener. If you want to get on top of how tightly a club is run, watch for the details. Which other football exec around Europe is posting his holiday snaps on a public IG feed? Which other exec, after being accurately accused of signing duff players from his super-agent pal, would post pictures of said agent on a boat with him? What sort of person would also share a boat with someone that exited Arsenal under a dark cloud of scandal? Even this weekend, after the mess of a squad he’s put together lost in humiliating fashion, he’s back on his social feeds posting pictures of himself at a BBQ.
That is a lack of control at a leadership level. Once, you can forgive, but we’re at the point where this is a pattern. Edu must know how these things are perceived because his son mentioned it in an interview, but he’s still doing it. I have little expectation that Vinai would say anything, but where is Tim Lewis on this, the ‘adult’ in the room looking after things?
Football is about the details and these things that feel insignificant actually speak to a bigger problem… because at a club run effectively, that behaviour would be snuffed out immediately, especially for a staffer that is underperforming like he is.
To make matters worse, the club has apparently put the finishing touches on a new 5 year deal for Granit Xhaka. Now, I have little problem with the player, he’s decent, he’s a professional, and the performances he’s given us have been good. However, I can’t for the life of me understand what value we are protecting here. He’s at the backend of 28, he’s just had a massive performance at the Euros, and no one came in for his signature. So we’ve tied him down until he’s 34? He already struggles with the pace of the league, did we not have a little more leverage to add a year to his deal? Will we ever stop tying down older players to long-term deals?
CORRECTION: Deal runs to 2024 with the option of 1 more year. Point still remains, are we really protecting value of a player we can’t sell at 28 years old after a banger of a Euros?
Then we get to this goalkeeping issue. We have a child as our backup keeper right now. Our main interest this summer is a £30m keeper that has all the hallmarks of Richard Wright. Namely, he looks decent getting 50 shots powered at him every day, but what does that tell you about suitability in a system where you’ll be dealing with 3 decent shots a game? We don’t have much money as it is, we’ve not added a single creative player to the system, we’re down a striker, a right-back, and a CAM… are we really going to blow that much money on a keeper no one can suss? I can trust the signings of Sambi Lokonga and Ben White because most people smarter than me ran the numbers and said they were good. What the f*ck are our analysts looking at with Aaron Ramsdale to indicate that he is £30m worth of talent in a deflated market that has Onana going for £10m?
Again, this comes back to a leadership issue. How do transfers get done at Arsenal? Who knows. I can see a straight line with Lokonga, White, and Gabriel. But that same system, or process, gave us Cedric, Willian, and Pablo Mari. My guess is there is no system, because let’s be honest, if there’s no operational structure that makes sense, why would there be a transfer process that does? Edu and Arteta are clearly on bad terms, so they’re fighting it out out in the media. It’s embarrassing, but who couldn’t have predicted that at the time when Edu was made to sit on a deck chair and tell the world he liked being cauterised in public?
The more I write about this, the clearer it is to me that the only way we get out of this mess is a restart. This is the 3rd/4th reboot we’ve had at Arsenal. Each one starts with a good idea that we can’t execute properly. We tried the Sven Mislintat approach, but let Raul encroach on the deals. We tried the Raul approach, a man of no football expertise, and he f*cked it. Then we let Edu loose, and he splurged on his mates ‘very nice deals.’ Now what are we trying? What data points led to a Xhaka 5 year deal? Who presented that idea? How did so many people agree to that after he received zero significant bids at the peak of his powers, we should make it more impossible to move him on?
None of it makes sense.
You have to reboot Arsenal with a sale. Because what we have now, unfortunately, is what we are always going to have. Rich owners, that aren’t focused, empowering people of convenience to drive their second biggest asset forward. It’s embarrassing.
Ivan G leaves? Put two CEOs in charge. A wet decision but a convenient one.
Technical Director called Diamond Eyes complains about one of the CEOs not being right? Exit him from the business and trust the non-footballing guy to guide us with his ‘contacts’ approach.
Watch that fail, let said failure hire a Technical Director that has a super-agent repping him because that is not an odd move.
Bring in a family lawyer to check out the CEO Sven warned about.
More dominant CEO gets fired. How can we fix this lack of leadership? Promote the CEO that stood by and let all the nonsense happen. Why? Convenient.
Also… keep the Technical Director that was at the table for all those deals because he’s definitely got what it takes and there’s nothing odd about his signings.
Hire an inexperienced manager and get some immediate success… PROMOTE HIM. LET HIM CHOOSE HIS OWN STAFF. DON’T PUT GUARDRAILS AROUND HIM. LET HIM MAKE DECISIONS ON PLAYERS.
Read those points and weep. KSE doesn’t know how to fix Arsenal. They are throwing money into a pit over and over again and things just get worse.
We are at the point now where the best thing for Arsenal would be a sale. Give the club to Daniel Ek, let him burn the place to the ground, hire up specialists in every position, and rebuild the club the proper way.
It’s a pipedream though, this is our lot in life, and it seems the only way we’re going to get a solve is if we land on one by accident.
I promise, I’ll get back on the hype train tomorrow, but the reality is… even 5 wins in a row won’t mask the errors at our club. We are badly run, the structure is a mess, we are not built to succeed.
If ramsdale signs will Leno go this summer ….
” We are tied on points with Man City and only separated by the narrowest of goal differences”
Arteta’ is reportedly furious about yet another leak and is determined to ruthlessly hunt down the chap who leaked his latest status report (excerpted above) to Josh that shows unequivocally how well the 75m was spent…
WengerEagleAugust 17, 2021 21:50:46
And can we wait until Lokonga plays well in a competitive game for us before proclaiming him the fix for our CM woes alongside Partey?
———–
Not if Xhaka is in there as an alternative, no.
looks like stan put josh in charge of the food at their swank new LA stadium!
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/outrage-sparks-over-pricy-sad-looking-food-options-at-l-as-so-fi-stadium-154948133.html
I’m hoping we see a better Odegaard this season can’t say I was impressed last season.
Just read Arteta is upset for missing out on Bamby Abraham. Seriously, someone put this jerk out of his misery.
We were so excited by Torreira claiming victory as we found our Kante, on the cheap and young too. Same with Gabriel Magalhaes. Lokonga will need time. Plenty of it.
Bac
I didn’t rate as a player and don’t like as a DOF…
Just my view.
“We are tied on points with Man City and only separated by the narrowest of goal differences”
Having received the good news, Josh wasted no time and tracked down Kroenke the senior in one of his ranches to relay the fantastic news … well, the rest is history
As SAGG suggests let’s wait till after the Chelsea game…
Odegaard fits the profile of players that Arteta has been targeting. Young, willing to look him in the eyes and not question him for a second, do as he says, safety first approach.
No place for flair in there. No place for expressing yourself. Just robotic preplanned positional combinations that are so easy to see through and counter.
I saw nothing in Odegaard in his loan spell to say that he is going to make any sort of difference to our attack except to push ESR out wide where he isn’t as good. He slows the ball down far too much for an out and out creative 10. You can bang on about his high ceiling, whatever, he adds little to our attack.
Also, if our TW finishes with Ramsdale and Ode, wtf are we doing about a new RB?
I really think the. club let Arteta down about Tammy Abraham.
He was as gettable as any target Arsenal have ever pursued. Roma are only paying about 5 million per season for him until they complete a permanent transfer in 2023.
This comment may invite abuse but we missed out on a decent player.
It seems Laca was asked to leave and he refused, that’s what held it up.
Azed, When a player is in the 98th percentile in shot taken but not in the 98th percentile of shot on targets, xG nor goals, it isn’t a good stat. It is the sign of player who takes a lot of pot shot, but who mostly hit row Z without actually threatening the opposition goal. In short a show pony or highlight player who once in a while score a screamer but overall is not worth paying a premium in fee or wage. The fact that Bayern management and fans were happy to let him go back says it all.… Read more »
The guts of 150m for White, Odegaard, Ramsdale, Lokonga and Tavares just is so disappointing when you consider what could have been gotten with that figure.
Imagine even:
Aouar- 25-30m
Onana- 7m
Lokonga- 17m
Tavares- 8m
Cunha- 35-40m
Mazraoui- 20-25m
Anguissa- 30m
That would have been GK, RB, CM, CAM, LF and back up LB all massively upgraded.
Instead it feels like we have barely moved the needle at all.
If the only standard fir getting a player is that “but Arteta likes him” then Ode is a good transfer.
I wonder what the buyback will be?
Diss the buy back will be above 60m active for 2 two years so it’s understood
They won’t buy him back next year they will try and sign pog and mbappe that leaves a one season window
Why don’t we just go get Calvert lewin the guy is exactly the type of striker we need
Mr Serge
How much are we paying for Ode?
Val
I know, I already said earlier that Coutinho is almost retired but as CC said, what do I and the Bayern fans know?
I agree, Eagle. Close to 150 million spent and I don’t really see much of an improvement from the squad that finished 8th last season.
It seems like we rarely ever get it right with our signings. So disappointing.
Calvert Lewin would completely transform us. It will never happen, unfortunately. I wonder which team will buy him in a year or two. United?
No one will be regretting Odegaard in a couple of seasons. That I am sure of. He needs stability and time. After that we will be speaking about how much of a steal we got from Mardid. I have seen enough to know there is a top player in there. Not like a pepe that is flashes of brilliance though. Odegaard will be a consistently good player for us. I have been surprised by the stats when I dug deep in to Ramsdale. The stats he has been poor at point to a much worse defense infront of him than… Read more »
“When a player is in the 98th percentile in shot taken but not in the 98th percentile of shot on targets, xG nor goals, it isn’t a good stat.“
Check your sources and quote the right statistics you lying twat.
98th percentile in shot creating actions from open play = ability to create chances for teammates to get a shot away.
But also, for the giggles…
Coutinho was 97th percentile for shots taken, 98th for shots on target, 84th percentile for ‘% of shots on target’, 94th percentile for xG. Lmaoooo
DissenterAugust 17, 2021 22:34:41
Mr Serge
How much are we paying for Ode
£32 m
I think Leno is a bottler and can’t play under pressure the sooner he goes the better
Think you’re getting a bit drunk on stats there Habesha. I love an old stat myself but it’s dangerous once you remove the eye-test completely. Sheff Utd conceded 25 more PL goals with Ramsdale in between the sticks as opposed to Henderson. Ramsdale has conceded 128 PL goals in his last two seasons which has to be an all-time record. He was beaten from a shot outside the box FIFTEEN times last season, the highest no. of any GK in the PL. He is 4th choice GK for an England side with poor options in that position. None of these… Read more »
And he conceded 25 more goals than Henderson with the same group of players in front of him.
We are packing the club full of players “Arteta likes”, ay considerable cost, let’s ignore he once upon a time liked Willian and Soares whom he now hates.
When are we going to see an Arteta team play football we like?
If we end the window with four players he liked and hand picked can we now set a target for him? I mean he has been here 18 months now
Weagle
You go on about the eye test with Ramsdale but say you’ve barely seen him live, bit hollow. He’s 23, and his signing is predominately based on potential. In that sense he’s no different to the likes of Saliba.
Another poor decision given our needs, but it should be judged on those merits beyond the that imo.
Wengereagle Yep. Forgot to mention he has weaknesses in long shots. But his save percentage is 70.7% to Leno’s 68.5%. Alisson saves 75.1%, Ederson 75.0%, Mendy 76.1%. That means he is saving close range shots a lot more to counteract for his weaknesses in long range shots. The YouTube videos also show him saving a lot more close range saves. Some of them are world class saves too. I guess Arteta’s coaching team are thinking they could coach the long shots weakness. The price I completely don’t agree with. It is wildly inflated. But if you take the price out… Read more »
Charlie I’m against the Ramsdale signing because everything that I just put up on that last post along with Sheff Utd supporters own takes on him along with Bournemouth fans indicates that we are getting nowhere near a 30m quality GK. Stats are great to a point but they do have their limitations as so much of this modern data has subjective metrics such as ‘progressive passes’, it is debatable what quantifies a progressive pass or carry as opposed to clearer data like a key pass or a successful dribble/take on and then the very clear data like goals/assists. I… Read more »
Habesha
Nobody is holding the 30m against Ramsdale if it goes through, it will be completely on A&E but does it really matter either way? It is a poor use of 30m is the point that really matters here.
We could get a Ramsdale quality equaivalent for 10-15m, just like we could have got a Pepe equivalent for 30m.
Rams dale is 23 most 23 year old keepers are far from ready so it’s a potential signing, apparently it’s now £18m not 24m still a bloody lot of money for potential but I think Leno has lost it
Charlie
Were you not against the Saliba signing?
As you said at the time (I did too), it would have been a clever signing to make if we were flush with cash but it was a sizable portion of our limited budget at the time.
Ramsdale may not even start over Leno.
Wengereagle “And he conceded 25 more goals than Henderson with the same group of players in front of him” To be honest the same group of players can have different seasons. Sheffield United actually were competing for a European spot on their first season back. But they completely fell off a cliff in their second season. The 25 goals aren’t completely one player’s fault. It is more like the team didn’t perform. The price is ridiculous though. We should be getting a really top keeper for that. If he doesn’t become one, then we aren’t getting value for money. We… Read more »
Onana is 25, is a better GK than Ramsdale (vastly better with his feet) and is apparently available for less than 10m, a fraction of Ramsdale’s price.
So give it a rest on the Ramsdale defence Mr Serge, come on now.
Agent fees …kickbacks
Habesha
Beaten from outside the box 15 times suggests that he isn’t a particularly good shot stopper.
Is he good with his feet? The data doesn’t suggest it.
So what is he good at? For 30m the question actually ought to be what is he exceptional at?
We I am not defending him at all I don’t want us to buy ramsdale would much prefer onana think there are many keepers better out there
The Onana deal is what made most sense. It shouldn’t even be up for a debate. 7 mil for a top keeper like him is ridiculous. We should have done that. He would have sorted the future. But I guess we will have to settle for ramsdale at an inflated price.
Just stating he has potential room to improve
Mr Serge
You have a habit of backing whatever move the club make and justifying the thinking behind it though.
You have done all summer.
“But I guess we will have to settle for ramsdale at an inflated price.”
This is where we are at now, settling for inferior back-up options for stupidly bloated money. It’s a disgrace.
We I agree with the signings we made this summer white just needs to play in a 3
We still need a cam a RB and a striker
I also like odegaard
The issue is not the signings it’s the facts we never moved any players on yet
WengerEagleAugust 17, 2021 23:19:06
Mr SergeYou have a habit of backing whatever move the club make and justifying the thinking behind it though.You have done all summer
There is a difference in understanding our signings and backing them
White was over priced but I like the player
Mr Serge
So we spent a near record 50m on a defender that has to be protected and played in a back 3?
We he has always played in a back 3 is it not mad that we bought s player that is used to s different system to what we play ?
We are actually better under MA with a back 3 and our better players get to play more advanced under it
Like i said in my earlier post
Weagle Mate the eye test is relative to your own bloody eyes, it’s a subjective assessment and makes no sense to get it from someone else and hang your hat on it. I was against the Saliba transfer, just as I’m against spending 20 mil on a ‘promising #2’, I just said that too. I also said previously (sorry Val, another myth buster incoming) I don’t understand the logic behind us spending in that position THIS window with the other more obvious needs. I’d much rather Onana at 7mil, or actually Ryan on a bosman given he was competent, professional,… Read more »
“Beaten from outside the box 15 times suggests that he isn’t a particularly good shot stopper.” I read somewhere from Sheffield fans that he is really good at close range saves. But they said his ability to guess a shot’s swerve and direction was poor. And that was why he was poor at long shots. I also saw some videos of him making insane close range saves. And to add to that his save percentage confirmed it. It wouldn’t be 70.7 percent if he wasn’t a really good close range shot stopper. “Is he good with his feet? The data… Read more »
I am not saying Ramsdale is a top keeper. I was just surprised he wasn’t as crap as I thought he was. That’s all. I am also against signing him at 20 mil even if I change my mind a bit about him. But if he comes in I won’t hold it against him, Just like I haven’t against Pepe as long as they try their hardest. Failure of proper scouting should always have consequences for the director of football or Sporting director. Not the players as long as they put the effort in.
Arsenal set to sign Martin Ødegaard for £34m from Real Madrid and target Aaron Ramsdale. By
@FabrizioRomano
34 mil is a really good price for Odegaard. I am really happy he is coming back.
Mr Serge
The point is that for 50m you would be hoping for a top class versatile CB, not one with a crippling aerial deficiency that has to be played in a specific system for a manager that may not even last the season.
Hi Pierre, I don’t mean to pick on you, but you are incredibly gracious and defensive towards two particular people who caused the fans a great deal of suffering. Mesut Ozil has to be up there as one of the worst and most inappropriate signings in Arsenal’s entire history. For his vast fortune that he rinsed from the club, he helped to win three devalued FA Cups. Never in a million years was he taking Arsenal to the next level. The same can be said of Wenger, post Emirates. The 8-2 at Old Trafford still stings, but his trolley-dash response… Read more »
Specialists in every position means tets is out the door first if a new owner comes in.
Glad you’re finally talking some sense Pedro (albeit in a round about way that excuses a lot of Artetas errors😂)
Charlie The eye test was in relation to myself on judging GKs and defensive players, taking what the Sheff Utd and Bournemouth fans have to say on Ramsdale is giving some credence to people that have watched him week in and out for 2 years now. And you know what I mean when I say the eye test anyway. Mustafi and Xhaka were stats players before we signed them, upon a few months of the eye test it was clear that both were not very good players at all to put it politely. Agree with that take and glad to… Read more »
Habesha
Ramsdale may not be a crap GK, I have no doubt that he may even go on to be a decent one.
But for a 30m GK you want that needle moved forward, not struggling to find positive things to say about the guy and merely hoping for future success with him.
It is such an Arsenal signing and endemic of the shitshow of a recruitment operation that the club has overseen these past 5 years.
Hi WE
I still think Dean Henderson is available for the right price and would go some way to healing the rift over the sale of Martinez.
Weagle I’ll agree to disagree on Xhaka, I think the derision he gets is over the top when you consider the alternatives we’ve had in midfield these past few years. But I can only agree on the overall state of the window if nothing else changes. All said and done we finished the campaign with a mediocre attack being largely propped up with youthful promise. For me that should’ve put the axe on Auba, Laca, Willian, and Pepe as the supposed peak of what we offer up front. Granted, I never expected all to depart, but we’re about to roll… Read more »
“Arsenal set to sign Martin Ødegaard for £34m from Real Madrid and target Aaron Ramsdale. By
@FabrizioRomano”
________________________________________________________________________________
If that is true, at least our attack should have more variation outside Tierney’s crosses. I like Ødegaard. An attack with Saka, ESR and Ødegaard should be enjoyable. I have no problem trying Pepe as the striker. He is two predictable when he plays as RW.
Players who arteta has signed or signed an extension since he joined
Willian
Mari
Cedric
Tavares
Lokonga
Xhaka
Auba
Balogun
Martinelli
Saka
Esr
White
Holding
Partey
Ramsdale (presumably)
Ode (presumably)
Assuming those new signings go through and no one else does that’s 16 players signed or resigned on his watch. This is well and truly arteta’s squad and he can make no excuses about it
As well if ramsdale and ode go through with no other new signings it would mean in 18 months he’s signed 8 new players outright
If our squad still isn’t good enough after 8 signings whos fault is that
The thing about it is.. Only at Arsenal could we spend like 120 mill… net assuming we sign ODE and Ramsdale…
And basically, change nothing about our starting lineup other then Ben White for Holding. We arguably improved our backups slightly. And perhaps weakened our starting lineup defensively while still having a problem of where are the goals coming from to improve our standings? In a season we finished 8th.
Was expecting a transformative window… my bad. I should know better by now. And yeah I know still 2 weeks left but we are entering trolley dash territory now.
I have been watching short highlights of Sheffield United to see if Ramsdale was good since Christmas (because it is the only stat that matters 😂). And I haven’t been disappointed. You can’t see whether he is good with his feet in the highlights but there have been some outstanding saves. You can checkout a 3 minute highlights of Sheffield for the past year on their YouTube channel. You can also see whether the fans rate him or not in the comment section. He started slowly and grew in to the season. And most of the goals he has conceded… Read more »
£30-34m for Odegaard in isolation is a good deal. If he is the profile of player I would ideally have as Arsenal’s AM – no. However, it’s a proof that the continental clubs are mostly selling on the cheap. Aouar, Onana, Dumfries another 3 that are/were available for peanuts really especially knowing that Arteta was obsessed with spending £50m on Aoaur and now he doesn’t want him at £25m. If we close down the Ramsdale deal too, I’d be shocked at how we decided to buy unproven players with the English premium the very Summer that we could have literally… Read more »
And I’m in the camp I think Ode could develop into a fantastic player so not mad at the signing but we needed immediate help now.. I think Odegaard will have to improve his shooting as well as ESR and Saka like immediately if we are to improve and that’s asking a lot for 3 young players to carry the burden in a very non- dynamic attack.
If Odegaard was in addition to an Aouar or Maddison type player then I would probably be a lot more happy about it.
Habesha, I wouldn’t get too excited about a highlight reel of a goalkeeper of all lol. You think they gonna montage their fuckups? GK is literally the position where you can look absolutely world class in one moment, to dropping the worst clanger of all time in the next one.
Champagne CharlieJuly 16, 2020 15:35:38
To echo what I’ve said on the matter again, it’s really nice to know the manager is very clear and aware of how to build a side. It was the biggest miss of the past 18 months when you analyse our recruitment.
Arteta was unwavering, you build a culture, a football identity, and then it becomes very obvious what you need across the squad.We know the type of football he wants to play, I think we’ll see big steps towards acquiring players that fit the bill in that regard this summer.
Arteta FC incoming
Raptora
I didn’t see a highlight reel of Ramsdale. I saw the highlights of premier league matches of Sheffield United to checkout whether he fucked up or not for the past 6 months. I saw all the goals Sheffield United conceded when he was playing. If there were any Clangers I would have seen them because the highlights weren’t specifically shown to protect Ramsdale’s flaws. They were just premier league highlights. They also show the chances he faced. And if there were any clangers, they would have been there in the highlights. But he was very good.
https://youtu.be/oAJ_Oj2vkr0
https://youtu.be/JbokrTt6PzY
These two for example are Sheffield United vs Burnley and Vs Newcastle in their 37th and 38th premier league match before they were relegated. The videos are available for the past year. There is no way they edited every video not to show Ramsdale’s errors. You can see for yourself with out bias.
#justsacktets
Receding HairlineJuly 16, 2020 16:09:38 The assumption he is a possession based coach is only based on the 2.5 years spent with Pep. There are no indications of that in the way we play yet. —————- Champagne CharlieJuly 16, 2020 16:16:57 Mikel Arteta the day he was appointed Arsenal manager: “We have to have passion, we have to be dominant, we have to be aggressive. We have to play in the opponent’s territory as much as we want. I want the ball, I want to attack them as much as possible, I want to prevent them from attacking me as… Read more »
Not the cutting edge I was hoping for thus far w/ reported £130m outlay we’ve likely just seen on summer. Give me 4x players 3x at minimum inserting themselves into the starting XI for that cash… add in certain markets in dire need. Look no further than Ødegaard fee (if it goes) for example which will no question be best deal we’ve struck this summer on those numbers and you begin to wonder if we’ve not bottled the window. Many names being bandied about. Top of my list of misses would be Aouar whom slots right into a MF 3x… Read more »
Champagne CharlieMarch 20, 2021 22:59:16 Emery had ample time and showed no signs of progress, we started well and got progressively worse. He was a veteran manager and the expectations were higher because of that.Arteta started well, won the FA cup, then had a horrible start to the season before overseeing a clear improvement. He’s a young coach and they are deserving of more rope because of that. Either you hire a young manager and allow him to learn, or you don’t bother altogether.. You don’t hire a young manager and hold him to the standard of a seasoned pro.… Read more »
Champagne Charlie
March 20, 2021 22:59:16
Emery had ample time and showed no signs of progress, we started well and got progressively worse. He was a veteran manager and the expectations were higher because of that.Arteta started well, won the FA cup, then had a horrible start to the season before overseeing a clear improvement.
He’s a young coach and they are deserving of more rope because of that. Either you hire a young manager and allow him to learn, or you don’t bother altogether..
——
🙂
Champagne charlieDecember 3, 2020 20:21:12
Early days but I think it’s fair to say Mari is up there with Maldini.
4 mil well spent.
Sell martinez for 20m and buy ramsdale for 18m. Someone needs to be taken out back and shot for that decision People defending arteta, saying martinez wanted to leave. Mikeal just had to say, martinez was 100% starting the first game of the season. End of story, after that it’s all about the form of the players. Keep playing well, you keep starting. Man management keeps getting bought up for a reason. As a manager, you have to be clear to your players, exactly want you want from them. I’m guessing none of the players know what arteta wants from… Read more »
If we buy Ode for £34m that will be a decent price for the potential he has at 22 years old.
The problem will be Arteta moving ESR out wide left to accommodate Ode where as Pierre says he nerds to be close to Saka.
Once Arteta has gone and we get an experienced manager, good with youth players, then we’ll see what Ode brings us, but not until.
The AKBs were certain that the form from last season would carry over to the next. I was skeptical. It seems the AKBs were wrong for the 100th time.
I wonder how tenuous the relationship is between Josh and Arteta and then how Edu fits into that relationship. If as SAGG text here Josh is in trouble with daddy because Arteta nowhere as good as he led Josh to believe. Josh wanted to believe Arteta because Arteta represents something similar to himself. Both are pretenders to their separate crowns. I’m sure Tuchel will have revised the last FA cup final lost to us so if Arteta goes down that tactical route, it’ll be covered. I’d say Arteta has 2 games left to show what type of manager he is.… Read more »
Tony
Even if we did fire arteta, do you believe the people behind the scene will have any idea what to do next?
They might bring in fat sam and pay him 8m a year. That’s the sort of incompetent team we have running the club.
“You don’t hire a young manager and hold him to the standard of a seasoned pro”
But that is what we did.
We hired Arteta as a head coach and promoted him into manager after half a season.
The owners fired Raul, and then realized they don’t know what to do and so promoted Arteta and delegated all responsibilities onto him.
I am not too hard onto to Arteta. End of the day he is indeed merely a salary man.
Gons With the money being lost I think it’s got Stan’s full attention. I think it will depend a lot on what Tim Lewis. advises and informs Stan. The cheap route hasn’t worked. If Tim can’t work out what’s gone wrong and what the solutions are, then Stan’s next step will be to go for stability. However, if Stan’s stability means CL stability, he will have no option but to go for experience at a reasonable rate, such as Fark and Potter. Conte reportedly would cost £15m, but would be an excellent statement to make: a billionaire flexing his financial… Read more »
If Odegaard is our signing, the overwhelming cry from the Arteta in camp will be incredibly “He needs to be given more time…” However we don’t owe Arteta a thing. He knew the score when he signed on the dotted line and he knew he needed to produce the goods from day one. That is the price of signing for a big club. This is the reason he needed to take advantage of the fact that he was was free from European commitments and pour all his energies into preparing against Brentford and he used it, it seems falling out… Read more »
Here comes Ode to save us.
SMH
No to Ode…
And fire Eduteta
No matter who he signs and brings in, it’s the players he seems determined to keep faith in which makes me question his judgment of player ability and potential.
His determination to keep Granit is really really disappointing.
With a storming Euros behind him this was the best time to sell hi. We will regret not getting rid of him – mark my words!
*sell him…
Ode is a good signing.
He is a talented youngster with lots to prove.
Any new manager who comes in will have lots of toys to play with. Saliba, ESR, Ode, Saka, Tierny, these are all top tier and they are not going away.
It appears the Arteta in crowd have vanished. Even Pedro is seeing the light. I do hope we dont get a pro Arteta article if we somehow beat Chelsea tho.
A win will get the Arteta in crowd fired up….
It is futile tho…. he will tank us eventually
Leeds
I disagree.
The Xhaka extension is logical.
1. We can’t sell him
2. We are broke
3. And Partey is broke.
Unless you would are all geared up for the Sembi-Elneny combo.
Ode is not a top signing. He is a mediocre player. The pro Ode crowd sees exactly what??
Like 2 assists and one goal?
I dont see potential there at all. He has already plateaued. Mark my words. His one leggedness is a huge hinderance…
But then again, he is the perfect Mike player. A task doer. Not one to do anything to upset the boss. Good soldier boy.
Gone are the days when we had artists who could improvise on the pitch. Ill take a Wenger midfielder any day over all this
Lots of talk about Coutinho, and I think that he also might not be the one we want. I was keen on him, if he was healthy but all the talk has got me now thinking twice.
If we add Aouar to Ode, Ill be happy. Ode alone cannot save us.
We need more dribbling creative mids…
Champagne Charlie March 20, 2021 22:59:16 “You don’t hire a young manager and hold him to the standard of a seasoned pro.” —– Exactly… So,why hire a young inexperienced buck in the ‘FIRST PLACE FOR A TOP JOB TO REPLACE A LEGEND’? Without any track record whatsoever for a top organisation, to covet or takeover a monumental project such as Arsenal,as compared to a veteran of war(Arsene),who’s presided over the same job, with a ‘somewhat’ distinguished record-spanning a twenty year period (3 EPL’s,1 UEFA Cup Final Runners Up ,1 CL Final Runners Up,7 FAC’S)-in a nutshell? —— Champagne Charlie March… Read more »
PhD2020 Champagne Charlie is a big fan of words and appearances. He backed Wenger till the very end based on empty words and is doing the same now. If this season goes pear shaped he will conveniently tell us Arteta had the right ideas, based on nothing but words, and then arrogantly talk down to any poster that pulls him up on it. Anything but admit he was hoodwinked by words again. Arteta has his squad, again who is setting targets for him? Enough with the Tammy Abraham wailing too, bang average striker who doesn’t even work that hard. Tuchel… Read more »
£140m spent for marginal improvement on the squad which is debatable in itself is some going, even by Arsenal’s standard. This has been a throughly underwhelming window but there can be no excuses now. We need to deliver. Arteta has essentially told us that this squad is good enough to compete and only needed reinforcements for backups. He keeps referring to focusing on the player’s he got to make them better (something that we’ve yet to see) so unless ESR, Saka, Pepe, Ode, Auba and Laca can add more goals to their game I predict that we will have a… Read more »
Morning to all the UK gooners waking up
Deserving of more rope? I would put it to us a all that if he needed rope he shouldn’t have applied to Arsenal as his first managerial position.
Why should we be his L plate training ground?
We owe Arteta nothing,
Morning Guns
Still Tuesday night here in cali. About to hit the hay
Well I wrote this yesterday Wow, the thing that just happened between Stan and Josh Kroenke, I cant believe it. I made a post way back when the December crisis was at his peak, and it was very spot.on. But I dont have words for what I just heard minutes ago. If Arsenal lose against Chelsea and fans react as rhey should, plus all the negative thing sorruonding the club a the moment, well, BE PREPARED. Josh time as Arsenal’s Head is coming to an end. In december Stan and Josh had a discussion, old man was mad about the… Read more »
We are going into a 2nd full season with as Arsenal manager and everyone including himself has refused to set targets for the season.
How convenient.