Well good morning my darlings and welcome to a footballing FEAST of a weekend.
Arsenal have locked in Martin and Aaron.
Aaron’s name was given to him because his grandad was called Ron and in Birmingham, people say ‘arrr Ron’ when they mention people… so his name is basically a family pun and I’m out here crying like a child.
Anyway, strong interview from Ramsdale. He’s very likable and he also added some propaganda to the mixer by letting us know he actually won player of the year at Wimbledon as well. 3 players of the season awards, that’s quite something at 23. There seems to be a huge discrepancy between fans that watch him every game and Arsenal analysts that have watched 6 seconds of him. He’s a keeper that seems to be a bit of a fan on the pitch, and the fans like that he engages with them. Last player that did that at Arsenal was Partick Vieira, he used to make the fans sing, I loved that.
I also like that alpha comment from him that he was here to take Leno’s #1 jersey. Love that. Let’s hope he can deliver it.
Another thing I noted. He made a special point to highlight that his distribution is the thing. He basically says he mixes it up, which I think is what Arteta wants, because Leno is very predictable with his passing and he makes a lot of bad decisions.
My guess is the Edu strategy this season is to push Leno out by the end and force him to take a transfer next summer.
I also thought it was noteworthy that Aaron said part of his experience was going through a slump in form. He’s very much self-aware and he seemed to know he is not the finished article.
On a side note, I loved the welcome fans gave him. They well and truly drowned out the attention-seekers. Young players need to feel the love, let’s make sure we’re doing all we can this season.
Martin Odegaard had his second welcome video. Interesting that Madrid wanted him at the start of the summer and told Arsenal where to go, then they opened the door later on. From what I understand, it was an Edu/Arteta gamble to wait on him, as they suspected he might be let go. Buendia was the ‘just get it done move’ we passed and held out for the main target. Risky business, but in fairness to Edu, he got it done like he always seems to. I cannot believe he can BBQ, go on a yacht, and have 6 holidays… whilst getting deals done. His ‘HOW TO MAKE IT AND VACATION’ business book is going to be a best seller.
The player seems excited, extremely grounded, and keen to kick on. There’s no stronger motivator in life than being told you can’t do something by someone at your previous company. I was fired from Ted Baker when I was 16 because they said I couldn’t sell. I moved to First Sport and no one sold sneaker polish like me, I was the best in the game. The sky is the limit with Odegaard, I think we’ve made a sharp signing, and hopefully the 5 months prior will give him a good springboard to adapt.
Arteta said in his presser that there was still more business to be done.
We can register 25 players this season. There’s about 7 that will need to be culled in the coming week or so. I’m not sure there will be many sales, but there will be loans, no one wants the ignominy of being cut from the squad.
Kola, Torreira, Runarsson, one of the centre-backs, Willian, Eddie, Reiss, a loan for Balogun… they all have to be looking to find clubs if they want to stay relevant or get experience.
If we can sell, especially in the right-back position, we’ll target a new signing without doubt. I don’t think we’ll move on any of our strikers, though I do desperately want to believe we’re targetting Arsenal fan Calvert Lewin. Imagine him beasting Tierney crosses all season. It’d be a sight to behold.
However it ends up, this squad is now Arteta’s. The dregs of yesteryear are mostly out the door, we have the specificity to play the way he wants to play, and we have the boys that dropped a second half of the season masterclass.
You have to accept that gelling all those players is going to take some time. The next 2 months will be a bit rough as we integrate and bring players back from injury, the key for Arteta is staying in the chasing pack. If he can massively improve on last season’s first 14 games, we should be in the mixer for top 4 come what May.
It’s on him now. He can talk about the negative people outside the club causing problems, but it’s not true, the problems have been caused by him. There are some correlations to how Frank was in his second season, everything was someone else’s fault, he started to sound paranoid, and his behaviour went from chill to erratic.
Arteta needs to get a grip of the situation, deal with adversity in a positive way, and start showing what he’s about on the pitch.
No more playing around the edges.
No more slow football.
No more listless starts.
No more petulance in the media.
I want the fire we saw in the first 6 months of his tenure. We need to see aggression, hard pressing, and sexy combination football.
The time is now.
Let’s see what he has for tomorrow… and remember, after the game, we’re going on the whistle with a live twitch where you can ask elite questions and comment on my hair.
Right, see you in the comments you sexy beasts x
Men vs boys
Arteta’s next record broken? Losing every league game this season 2-0.
What did the fans sing?
Serge – totally agree. It takes an outstanding manager to beat big spending teams like Chelsea and City. That certainly isn’t Arteta. Can’t see Liverpool beating Chelsea this year though
Looks like we will be going back to the bottom of the league. Nobody worse than us that I can see
We will not score in a brothel in Amsterdam red district!
At last silencer on Tets. Sitting quietly, expecting backlash.
Hope fans do not disappoint
Tavares reminding me of Andre Santos
Leno has played well, we’re lucky this isn’t 3 or 4.
Theres enough time to get an actual manager in before this bum breaks more records the wrong way.
LOL
Throws on Balogun for Martinelli,with 10 minutes to go,whilst 2-0 down at home.
Talk about chucking the kitchen sink in desperate times..
He’s cracked it..
He’s toast.He was from the Villareal game to be honest.If we’re brutally honest he was toast from Christmas 2020.He was just given an extra year to turn it around for whatever convoluted reason.
Out of his depth.Chelsea exploited the right flank in the first half.
The man is clueless…
£100 million out of £150 million spent on defence….
Where the heck are our goals coming from in attack?
Hahaha…
Northbanker there are some available as well why we persevere with this dross I don’t know
Arteta hanging his head
Completely out of ideas
Thinking about litany of excuses as his ship sinks
Emperor is naked
Thank you Norwich for saving us from 20th place though that is where we deserve to be.
We couldn’t score in a 24/7 brothel
We should have scored 1 or 2 Saka’s pen and Holding’s chance.
Chelsea should have scored 5.
Can’t believe how it is not obvious we need another CM. No link at all again moving forward. Only from the sides.
Serge, everyone in my section is complaining about Arteta
Arsenal lose. This is the way…
Balagon is terrible is he Sanogoals son?
A season of Granit Xhaka in CM, lol we truly made our bed there.
I’m saying it now, Balogun is a dud
Well …. time to turn my phone Don’t need then banter from my brother the Chelski fan. . How we can have the same dna … I have no idea.. No idea what I can say back other then Fuck off!
should’ve taken the 13 million for Xhaka
The positive thing is, Chelsea is behind us and couldn’t get worse
and we went to spend 80m on central defender and 2nd GK…
Booooo
First home game of the season and boos ringing out already
It’s like Arteta can’t think on his feet
He sticks with whatever they worked on the training ground, no matter what.
It was obvious that Tierney was being overrun so easily…and he made no adjustment.
Chelsea have been operating in the second gear fir about 50 mins now. They won’t wats3 any sweat on a team that can’t match them.
This team really has nothing. No ideas, no cohesion and no spirit. This is all on arteta. Was hoping he would come good but doesn’t look like he ever will.
LeftsideAugust 22, 2021 18:20:24
Serge, everyone in my section is complaining about Arteta
Oh good man I am back for the next game I will be letting them know how I feel
Co commentator on my channel encouraging Arsenal to keep Arteta. “Let him grow into the job” he says. Grow from what? From a turd into a complete watery dump. maybe he is Englandsbest alter ego
Lokonga and Leno the only two to come out of today with any credit for me.
ESR had a shit 2nd half.
Give Balogun a chance… he’s a kid.
From @ahmed91gooner
Arteta has now lost more Premier League home games in (20 months) than Arséne Wenger did in (6 years) at the Emirates.
History maker
Is there anyone who actually thinks Arteta is still the right man??
A £100 million spent on the defense(£50 million B.White-Covid+£30 mill Ramsdale missing) + CM £16 million Lokonga( a good player by the way) and two goals already conceded at half time and now at full time at the Emirates…
So far, four goals conceded over two games-against Brentford & Chelsea… Zero goals scored till date.Zero points from six so far..And our £50 million CB not present,Xhaka ever present-extended on a renewed contract with a pay rise…
At the Emirates….Second week..Read ’em and weep..
Tactical genius fails to spot the obvious weak spot on the left flank which led to the first goal.
Repeated touchline shouting but about what? The second goal came from the same exposed flank not long after.
Clapping the lads for their efforts but lots of boos
The food is stellar, it’s just the sauce that is rotten and gives the whole dish a horrible flavor.
Does Ben White move the needle one micrometer?
Does playing guns today help us breach the gap?
What a waste of a summer, so many strategic and tactical blunders were made
I guess it’s the fault of the negatives on this blog
Maybe Arteta can get in another defender to help us create chances and maybe score a goal this season?
A goal from us could have changed the game quite easily, god knows it’s happened to us over the years.
So much work to do and if we don’t go in front in games it’s unlikely we would turn it around.
Too early for the club to sack Arteta so this is it for the moment I guess
Where are the goals coming from ?
Eagle
But can’t you see how important it was to replace David Luiz and what he brought to our play?? Who needs goals anyway
Arteta must feel happy that the team he put on the pitch has been consistent and lost both games 2 nil.
Have we ever sit at 19 after 2 games?
Our team is badly coached. Whenever we lost the ball, we didn’t get back to the defense shape fast enough. Saka was not doing his defensive duty. Of course, our strikers are not at the same level as Lukaku.
The main positive was that we didn’t get slaughtered
What a combination, a diarrhea team and a constipated manager.
Balogun needa to go out on a loan otherwise he looks worse than Sanogo. Saka was pathetic today.
Pepe ,ESR and Lokonga quite enterprising.
Things will get better
Glad your clapping Andy…plenty of effort but beaten by a better side…no shame in that.
@matt nope…beasted by 1 player…micromanaged pile o shite
And Rambo before you wet yourself that was not a positive
Minor blip. We had a great summer.
😉
Leno and Sambi Loknoga our best players today. Holding ESR tried as well. Pepe had a good first half. That was it.
In a match like this with so many absentees you expect your senior and most experienced players showing up.
Where the fck was Xhaka?!?
Can we get mourinho on the phone and ship him tonight?
Unfair to criticise any players until we get a proper manager.
We weren’t competitive. Arteta has turned us into a mid-table club. We could have been four down. How bad do we have to get before he is fired. Emery was fired for less. Much less. Arteta out.
After two games, zero points, zero goals scored and =4 GD.
TRUST THE PROCESS
Mari is absolute crap….
We joked about relegation fights last year but it might just come true this time
Seriously , Odegarrd wouldn’t have changed a thing today. Just more classy cycling of the ball … possession football my arse.
Seriously , Odegarrd wouldn’t have changed a thing today. Just more classy cycling of the ball … possession football my arse.
“Is there anyone who actually thinks Arteta is still the right man??”
Pedro
Charlie
Emiratestroller
Tee
Positive Pete
Zacharse
Rich
Northbanker
Bob
TT
Bergkamp
That’s just the starting 11, there are another 6 on the bench.
Taking Saka off whilst leaving Pepe on (how many times did he not beat the first man?) is a sackable offence in itself. Sorry DIet Pep that puts me in the Tets out camp……..
Not taking that Xhaka money= stupid
Not getting in a CM alongside Lokonga=stupid
Not getting in any attacking player=stupid
Spending 50 million on a defender with all the other gaps=stupid
Spending almost 30 million on a goalkeeper with all the other gaps in squad=stupid
Can’t wait to see Arteta booted out of this club.
Yeah
Englandworst, Pietro, NegationPete,
They will come out of the woidwork after 2 days
What do the MOBs see that the clueless AKBs can’t get? At the end of the match in the relegation zone 19th and after the next game 9 points off top 4 and behind the Sp*ds. Unbelievable. T-3 posts by Pedro before he flip flops again to the umpteenth time. This borders on comedy gold.
Batistuta
Spending almost 30 million on a BACKUP goalkeeper with all the other gaps in squad=extremely stupid
Meek, listless, no fight and that’s just the fans.
Any bids coming in for Arteta?
More than happy to give Bellerin and Elneny a new deal if Edu could sell Arteta.
I bet Tuchel put the handbrake on in the second half with the idea to keep Arteta in a job.
We were outplayed by their formation, not even a player difference there. Our team was not prepared for their 3-4-2-1. At all.
Shocking stuff.
League position 19th. City on horizon.
But we signed Ramsdale and some kids so not to worry.
That game stings. really demonstrates how far we
have fallen. Can’t see where the goals are coming from. Going to run ESR, Saca, Sambi into the ground. Dark days
And yea, Unai Emery was sacked at a time when we at least even managed to get on thw score sheet.
Now it looks like we could play for 3 days and not come close
We are at a crisis point. The path to 40 points will be daunting with this manager. The quicker the change the better chance we will reach the safety threshold
TR7 Englandsbest needs to be the manager of that team. He`s full of excuses
“Too early for the club to sack Arteta so this is it for the moment I guess”
He was appointed in 2019, what are you on about.
Have never seen a group of fans insist only a former assistant manager can reverse the fortunes of a club despite him being on the job for 20 months now
That FA cup win was a curse
The most gut wrenching thing were their subs. Quality depth we don’t have.
Is there anyone who actually thinks Arteta is still the right man??”Pedro
Charlie
Emiratestroller
Tee
Positive Pete
Zacharse
Rich
Northbanker
Bob
TT
BergkampThat’s just the starting 11, there are another 6 on the bench.
😂😂 nice one
MD Gunner.. don’t fret we are still I pre season. Think positive.
When was the last time we started a season and didn’t score in the first 2 games?
Tr7@
Pedro is the owner, manager, CEO and captain on that team!
Who scouted Mari?
Sackable offence, his signing.
How much better is Ben White over Saliba
Does that difference [highly debatable] justify spending so much money on a central defender when the midfield is so bare?
We so need another CM… the two just doesn’t work. Think we have to look at playing ode and ESR as 8s with one sitting… we just lack control on the ball… I’d also like to see Auor coming in from Lyon… The formation just doesn’t work, as we don’t have the forwards that can create for themselves…
On a different note, A few on here liked Pepe’s, performance I thought he was awful… would much prefer someone direct!
PhD2020August 22, 2021 10:11:22 Last season our First XI 2020/21 which finished in eighth place and out of Europe was:- Leno Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney Xhaka Partey Saka Odegaard ESR Auba/Laca This season 2021/22 having lost our opening game to a newly promoted championship side in the way of Brentford-we’ve gone and spent circa £150 million on our First XI which resembles the following:- Leno/(back-up Ramsdale) Bellerin/Chambers White(replacing Luiz-with£30 million Saliba on loan) Mari/Gabriel Tierney ( back-up Tavares) Xhaka Partey/( back-up Lokonga) Saka Odegaard ESR Auba/Laca Not moved the needle at all in terms of the First XI-having spent circa… Read more »
Good list TR7.
I’m in the same boat as The Baying Mob. I’ve been in love with football and Arsenal for the best part of 40 years but I’m starting to think I need to just switch off for the sake of my sanity. Can any of the Arteta apologists at least tell me where the line is in terms of results? How many games can we lose before it’s time for him to go? And that’s not even taking into consideration how dreadful we are to watch. If we were shithousing our way to victories there would at least be a silver… Read more »
“ There’s no stronger motivator in life than being told you can’t do something by someone at your previous company. I was fired from Ted Baker when I was 16 because they said I couldn’t sell. I moved to First Sport and no one sold sneaker polish like me, I was the best in the game.”
Stop trying to make your own sound anything like a footballer mate. Your name is Peter. You’re a middle aged, middle class white bloke trying to be down with the kids when you work for an ad agency.
The most expensive car boot sale signings ever assembled.
The owners dilly dallyed when Klopp was available and did the same when Tuchel was available. Soon, stadium atmosphere will be so toxic that the Kroenkes will panic and fire Arteta. Then the process starts again with some cheap coach and Football boss. Mediocre buys. Repeat again.
The only way Arteta knows how to get a result is with a defensive formation playing deep and playing long balls in the hope that Auba/Saka/Pepe will convert.
Shut that down and he is lost.
Ben White was really smart dodging this game. His legend still remains intact…..almost anyway
“Arsenal will end a day in the relegation zone after more than one game of the season played for the first time since August 1992.”
“In what is their 118th campaign in England’s top four tiers, Arsenal have opened a league season with two defeats and no goals after two matches for the first time in their history”
I don’t believe Arteta will survive into the new year. And we will lose to nil against City. But, to judge him now, he hasn’t exactly had a lot of stability lately. Player power issues, getting rid of the unwanted, main striker gets malaria then Covid, maintaining our usual position at Or near the top of the injury league, Partey , Martinelli , Tierney are constant injury issues, (hopefully the new physio can help), then a tricky start, aligned with a Covid outbreak, some interesting officiating today, nobody will convince me if our defender had made that foul, it wouldn’t… Read more »
Sorry can’t put Englandbest in the starting 11. He doesn’t even pretend to be logical. He can be the AKBsauraus if you will.
Can’t see Liverpool beating Chelsea this year though
North have to disagree with you on this one. I Think Liverpool can beat Chelsea. They have a far superior attack than us. And Lukaku would be up against one of the best CBs in the world.
Good teams can get at Chelsea. We are just an easy team to play. We started really well today but a better team that started like us would of at least scored.
Who did we sell to be able to afford Ben White?
I ask because we were told Xhaka wasn’t sold because Roma didn’t offer enough for us to get his replacement
Mikel has already hamstrung his successor so badly with the tragic signings he’s made.
No one even talks about Willian and Runnarson anymore.
Agree IQ, just not sure two sitting midfields cuts it with the type of forward we have, as they don’t give us a platform… no one can hold the ball up or play interchanges… We need a Lukaku to play this formation.
then us*