Arsenal head into deadline day evening with quite a lot of things moving in the transfer window.
The biggest story yesterday was the botched PR of Ainsley Maitland-Niles. This is another superb example of what a lack of leadership does at a club.
Long and short. Mikel Arteta and Edu have fallen out, so there’s no clarity in the system. Ainsley complained last summer that no one talked to him, clearly, once again, he didn’t have a clue what was going on with his future… then he exploded the situation by telling the world he wasn’t wanted at Arsenal.
David Ornstein piled on by stating that Ainsley had told the club he was willing to fight for a full back position.
Arsenal fans blew a gasket, rightly so…
- Lack of communication
- Poor treatment of a young player we all like
- A young player not ‘developed’ because something isn’t perfect in his make-up
- An older, far worse player, given minutes over a player that won an FA Cup at right-back
- A player showing remorse and committing to full back, a coach not having it in him to forgive.
Arse&Nose, a longtime Grover, commented yesterday that Arteta is the type of character that is abundant in technical jobs. Supremely talented, but totally lacking in social EQ. Transactional people don’t last in business. All that bullshit you see on The Apprentice doesn’t fly IRL, unless you are really, really at the top of your game. If you are not liked, it’s hard to rally teams. If you can’t rally teams, it doesn’t matter how good you are, you are doomed to fail at leadership.
Ainsley will likely leave later today because we have totally botched how we treated him… and now he’s crossed a manager digitally and we know Arteta doesn’t have the maturity to let that fly.
Hector Bellerin did leave the club, he’s going to Real Betis. Good luck to him. He’s wanted an exit all summer. The player didn’t really kick on over the last few years. Injuries and maybe a lack of focus on his football led to a summer where no one really wanted him. I love him, I think he’s an incredible role model, but this is good for all parties.
The strongest likelihood is that we’re going to sign Takehiro Tomiyasu. Adam Voge, Head of Analytics at Le Grove, has this thread on him.
Takehiro Tomiyasu is a Gunner! Here’s what you need to know about the 22-year-old fullback/center back hybrid. (1/x) pic.twitter.com/TPMewavwcN
— Adam Rae Voge (@adamvoge) August 31, 2021
It reads like the choice of this right back is fully on Arteta, so we’ll see how that goes.
Topline, he’s very tall at 6ft 2. Suspect that’s strategic with Ben White lacking height. The player doesn’t really get beaten on one vs one’s. He’s a good passer of the ball, though his attacking numbers are bland, but that is probably more driven by the system he plays in. He’s good a pressing, he’s safe on the ball, he’s there to play that inverted RB position.
Who knows if he’ll be any good, but at 22, we’ve made a big bet… and can it be any worse than Soares? Hard to imagine that.
Willian also exited the club. This is another fascinating story. Mikel Arteta drove that transfer through and Kia is on the radio making sure everyone knows that. Why? He’s protecting Edu because he knows his client has his job being scrutinised. Also, he knows Arteta isn’t going to own that error because that’s not who he is.
We hoped the Kia commentary was going to stop this summer. Edu spent time with him on a yacht, now he’s letting him flame a manager he hired in the press. Very poor. I don’t expect Vinai to have any control over anything, but I hoped Tim Lewis was going to have some ability to influence the shambles at Arsenal. What have we seen for him? Where is the ruthlessness shown to Don Raul from last summer?
- There have been zero consequences for last season
- There have been no significant changes in the backroom, bar Arteta being afforded more power
- There have been no technical changes
Tim Lewis is supposed to be eyes and ears at the training ground… is he just watching and listening, because I see very little action?
You can’t imagine that KSE, with their hands-off approach, can allow this summer to pass without some sort of staffing implication. Everyone at Arsenal knows this is dire, they’re all leaking to sources based on which faction they are part of. It’s so shoddy.
We lack experience at every level. It’s time to change things up. There has to be some fresh ideas and we have to have people in the organisation that can reduce the factions and cliques and get a grip of the club.
That brings me to the final topic.
Michael Edwards, the brains behind the Liverpool rebirth, has handed in his resignation at Liverpool and will be leaving at the end of the season.
He is a top 5 Technical Director in the world. He’s from the south coast of England. He is likely a free agent, because if he had taken a job elsewhere, there’s just no way Liverpool would make him spend 8 months on notice.
If there is a chance, Arsenal should do absolutely everything in their power to bring him into the fold.
This is the guy that ran numbers on Klopp’s last season at Dortmund and ascertained he was the unluckiest manager in football that season, so Fenway hired him.
He sanctioned the Coutinho sale and all the signings that followed.
He’s the guy that sold Rhian Brewster for £18m.
He’s a data genius. He’s still pretty young. He absolutely tops anything we have internally. We should be making moves for him.
People are telling me he’s going to Real Madrid. I have no idea about that. But what I would say is this: why?
Florentino Perez is the Sporting Director and always will be.
You will NEVER how power when you work with a King, and if you start to accrue too much sway, you will lose your head.
How can you truly have an impact at Madrid? They’ve done it all.
Spain is a dead league. There’s no money there. All their superstars have left.
Arsenal, now there’s a project for an ambitious leader.
We are at rock bottom, literally, and metaphorically.
… but that’s only to the emotional eye.
We have a young vibrant squad of players that are far, far better than people give credit to.
We have an elite academy producing a steady flow of gems.
We are a sleeping GIANT of a club.
Our owners, love them or hate them, spray money at their biggest portfolio problem.
The leadership group is the youngest in the league and they are all tanking.
Imagine the power someone who could actually do things could amass in this system.
Michael Edwards is exiting Liverpool because there’s a king there now and he wants control over Liverpool’s impending rebuild. Edwards is ducking out at a perceived peak, just like Fergie did at United.
Arsenal should move on him. There’s nowhere else for him to go in London. We are the club with the lowest bar and the biggest opportunity. This is the biggest staffing opp since we passed on Klopp back in 2014. We cannot let this pass.
Put him above Edu. It’s clear he’s not ready to be the face of our Technical side, just search #BBQinstagram if need a proof point on that, but he has some qualities, because he’s pulled off deals this summer.
Put him above Arteta. Let him see what is going on at the training ground. Let him understand our problems, identify the strengths, then make a decision on what to do about the future direction of the club.
… because I repeat. Changing the manager does not change the systemic problems at Arsenal.
Southampton sacked Nigel Adkins for Pochettino because they recognised elite talent. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions because a huge opportunity comes your way. If we had proper leadership, we would have been having conversations about our Technical issues way before we started to leak stories to the press. Arsenal should be ruthless and fix the mess of this summer. There needs to be a change, because things are out of control at Arsenal and there is no experience that can be relied on. Edu has no power, Arteta has too much, Vinai is absent… this can’t go on forever.
Anyway, podcast later. See you in the comments.
”””’Top managers don’t get bogged down in pettiness Simeone just wants to win.”””’
well played Dissenter.
Theo Hernandez?
PSG signed sporting Lisbon Lb Nuno Mendez.. Considered a generational talent by the Portuguese
Venga
I believe the “value” they were referring was was his “value” to Arteta
Xhaka is Arteta’s Napoleon Bonaparte, his generalissimo in the dressing room. I believe the amazon prime doc will show that too,
Looks like AC Milan may be signing James Rodriguez. Would be a very good Calhanoglu replacement.
Batistuta, your verdict?
Eagle
Think we just saw Simeone consolidating power in La Liga.
Has the look of a man trying to paint his masterpiece of being defensively impenetrable whilst more flowing in attack. Just added another chess piece for combination purposes. Can dictate play or sit and counter with venom when needed. Didn’t expect to see Saul go out on loan, now we know where those wages went.
Suarez will certainly be used sparingly with Cunha the cup man. Visions of both of them taking a seat with Griezmann, Felix and Correa front three. So many options makes me dizzy.
Nevermind Athletico
The gulf in quality between Arsenal and the Big 4 is nearing the level where their B teams have 7-8 players that would walk into our starting eleven comfortably
Saul is such a big coup for the Chavs.. Would have comfortably become our best midfielder by a mile what a time to be a Chav. Lol
Benitez told James Rodrigues to do one and eff off.
Avi
He had a great season for Sporting last season, watched them a little as I have a good mate that lives in Lisbon and loves football so he follows the Portuguese League closely.
A good pick up indeed, they have no real weakness now in their XI. If they keep a hold of Mbappe, it’s difficult to see anybody stopping them in the CL.
Always said that Saul was the brainbox of Atletico, made Partey better that he truly was
But that’s another topic for another day
When does Partey come back?
They better start shooting him up with horse placenta and giving him nipple massages for the Norwich game. He is Arteta’s keys back to the master’s bedroom.
Sal
Cunha [22] and Felix [21] likely bossing things for them a couple of years into the future but I agree, in the immediate present I see Suarez-Griezmann-Correa being the preferred front line with Carrasco and Llorente at times the wide man in a front 3.
Carrasco was brilliant for them last season so will feel hard-done by being dropped to the bench.
WE
Exactly, was the best LB in the Portuguese league last season and PSG just goes ahead to pick him, no fuss
Surely PSG are massive favorites for the CL this season?
I mean just take a look at their squad and the window they’ve just had? If that team click there could be alot of teams at the end of hideous hidings this season
Avi
I’m not so sure that a well organized Chelsea cannot beat PSG in a quarter final
Liverpool on a glorious night at Anfield can do a number on PSG
City – not so sure without a world class striker
United- less likely
Juventus – definitely not
Bayern- same chances as Chelsea to beat PSG
Arsenal under this management is an absolute farce.
And Pedro here to tell us that the reason tets is failing is because he doesn’t have social EQ?!?!? 😂😂😂😂
Yeah he’s an absolute genius, he’s just not understood.
TT signed.
Eagle
Buzzing with it really, there’s been a plan with our incomings really especially being back in the Champions League.
James will be okay for us, good alternative to Brahim Diaz too
I don’t even know if I’ll be able to stomach watching the Amazon prime doc. Especially if they start showing Chaka giving rim jobs in the manager’s office.
Eagle
Bantering back to the Arsenal, deflated by this window think we’re in for a very bumpy 6 weeks.
Ødegaard the only attacking player brought in, who I rate. Best incomer for me….but we really needed so much more.
Borrowed time for all above the line in management and rightfully so. Could of completely changed outlook of squad with that amount of cash. Playing 1 game a week and spending big in depth areas criminal for me. Should of been an all out assault on the first XI to get as far up table as possible.
Lol spurs terminated aurier contract that’s how shit he is lol
I reckon Chelsea are favorites along with Bayern/PSG.
Yeah it is on .com……I was praying for this deal, ‘cos White sure needs help what with him being outjumped by gudogan et al.
If most of us were in charge of Arsenal this summer, this is what we would have done. The exceptions and the signings that I agree with and for the right price are Nuno Tavarez 8 mil, Odegaard 31.5 mil and Lokonga for 18.5 mil. These three made sense interms of price, age profile and ability. That adds up to around 58 mil. Then these were the deals we could have done for the 100 mil. Ryan- free Max Aarons- 30 mil Bissouma/Guiamares- 30 to 35 mil Cunha- 25 mil. Sell Xhaka and Nketiah for 10 mil each and you… Read more »
Bati
What’s the low down on the new Arsenal RB signing?
Is he worth getting excited about?
Dissenter
Agree on Saul, Chelsea loving life at moment.
Problem with Arsenal is they don’t really seem to take on board what makes a player like Partey effective in terms of overall composition with whose around him. We could of done a version of him in various options out there but opted to keep Xhaka.
Personally i’d like to see a MF three far more attacking than anything Mikel has remotely shown with Partey pinning it. We certainly had the resource.
Sal that is the real kicker, The amount of moolah spent yet we don’t look any stronger. I rate odergaard, but would have very much welcomed buendia over him purely for the fact he likes to score more, but very good signing none the less. Lokonga has the potential to be my favourite signing. I am just praying partey comes back fit and stays fit, while Sambi displaces that shit Kent we just gave an extended contract too. So bellerin leaves, we still have AMN, Cedric, chambers and now tomiyasu to play RB. And we still didn’t actually upgrade midfield.… Read more »
Imagine how excited we would have been back in May if we knew we were going to be spending £150million this summer.
A couple of good signings but overall a fairly deflated transfer window with at least a couple of head scratchers.
It is going to be an interesting season nonetheless
Welcome to our CB/RB hybrid.
Stellar offensive stats compared to other full backs:
Assists 0.00 7 percentile
xA 0.02 3 percentile
npxG+xA 0.06 11 percentile
Shot-Creating Actions 0.86 6 percentile
He has completed 10 passes into the penalty area all last year.
Maybe he will surprise us in that department.
And having watched a lot of Japan, I’d have never assumed we’d be in for TT, but he’s only 22 and technical for a RB/CB so hopefully he can do a job for us.
Time will tell, but I hope for his sake a new manager is the one to coach him sooner rather than later
I think Tuchel has Pep’s number, I’d be surprised if Chelsea didn’t win the PL this year.
If only Arsenal had their own Abramovic!!!
What a horrible time to be an Arsenal fan.
I wonder if we’ll ever see Arsenal behave like a proper football club again in our respective timeline. I don’t hold out much hope, I’m 60 and still waiting for it to happen.
Seems like Simeone is looking to change the identity of AM, some what. There were times last season where AM would bore me to death.
Against Villarreal they looked more adventurous. Now with Suarez, Correa, Cunha, Griez & Felix they’re truly blessed with a versatile attack.
SHAMBOLIC SUMMER,
Kept most off the deadwood and loaded up even more,
Sal
The club should have studied the Saul-Partey partnership and tried to recreate something similar with a proper midfielder signing to bring the best out of Partey. He’s being asked to do too much as Arsenal.
That was the more reason to let Xhaka leave in peace.
James has not left Everton
Well I guess that’s it then.. underwhelmed is the feeling I’m getting. 221mill minus Willock spent and I’m like….. Meh.
Looks like Rafa getting his signing in bring Rondon back from China to Everton.
The Arsenal need to finish top 17 to play in the Premier League next season.
@Diss/Sal
Atleti played 4 in midfield though, no? So it would have been something like Koke-partey-saul-llorente. Very different system
It’s crucial we get back to wining ways because it is a lot easier to incorporate all these new players when the vibes are more positive around the club.
If we keep losing then it will be toxic just throwing in new player after new player.
Most of our signings are the nice boys. Typical mike, wanting full control with his soldiers. No game changers for me. No dynamic, win a game on your own players. No leaders to take the game by the scruff. Just functional players in a system mostly. I know lots like Ode – and im resigned to him being with us, but he alone is not enough. No way…. we needed at least 2 other CAM/ CM attacking 8. El neny should have been sold, Kola, Eddie, Bell, XHaka etc We had big hopes we could sell more but we are… Read more »
So EUR 40m this window would get you Griezman
EUR 35m Rodrigo de Paul
EUR 25m bought Matheus Cunha
(all Atletico)
Some people here were rating Anguissa or Bissouma earlier this summer: Anguissa went to Napoli on loan with EUR 15m option.
Odsonne Edouard was available for £14m.
Ilaix Moriba, the supposed ‘future Pogba’ Barca ‘wonderkid’, went for EUR 16m (RB Leipzig).
Koopmeiners EUR 14m to Atalanta.
Soumare £17m to Leicester.
Mike Maignan, Lille’s league winning keeper, went to Milan for £11.2m (valued at over double that on Transfermarkt).
5th (White), 9th (Odegaard), 22nd (Ramsdale)
Some of those names / prospects will flop once they step up a level, but it was certainly a summer where there was good value to be had if you knew which clubs needed money desperately.
Many of Mike McDonald’s list of MFers from early in the summer went for very modest fees.
*Anguissa over Bissouma
Dissenter
He didn’t exactly stand out anytime I watched Bologna. He’s a hard worker though and is good enough in the air but like all the stats that have been posted here says, he’s quite ordinary going forward when played at RB.
But he’s young and under a good manager could really become a very excellent player
So this is our starting lineup basically.
_________Auba
ESR_______Ode_______Saka
Xhaka__________Partey
Tierney___Gabs ____White ____TT
___________Leno
Subs… Pepe, Marti, Loko, Tavares, Holding, Chambers,Ramsdale, Elneny Lacazette
Sub subs… Soares, Mari, Eddie, Balogun,AMN
Man… not what I was picturing last June.
Middy,
Me neither. 150M and this is what we have?
Lol, why the fuck were we not in for Anguissa for so cheap? €15m is a joke, that is less than half of what we paid for Ramsdale.
So £50m could have bought us Anguissa, Cunha and Onana and we paid that for White alone.
£100m on White, Tomiyasu and Ramsdale. Lmao.
The Wenger deadwood still pollutes the club, add in the incompetence of some Edu/Arteta deals and I have to say £130million plus and we are nowhere near improvement. Gooners – it’s gonna be a tough year……….
Batistuta
Bit lukewarm on James? I think he is an upgrade on Calhanoglu myself but I suppose the latter was key under Pioli and you are banking on James fitting in as well which may not be the case.
Nice brace for Olly at the weekend. Interested to see what happens when Zlatan is back.
At least both wings see more offensive or quicker with this….
ESR_______Auba_______Saka
KT ____Xhaka___Partey____AMN
_____Gab___White___TT
___________Leno
Seems like we are going to achieve our goals as a club
Avoid relegation until Super League becomes a reality.
Generational stuff, courtesy of Josh and Arteta.
we always need 3 in the back when we play with Xhaka.
Its such a disaster that we have no other options to play more defensive all the time.
We will not score at any rate with continuing this.
He needs to go, we needed to turbo charge our CM’s this summer
WE did not
Anguissa, Bissouma, De Paul, Sanches, Aouar, the list goes on
Travesty
Honestly, outside of 1 game against man united at home right when Mikel started, our best performances have been 3 ATB.
Sorry you spend £160m you need some eye candy in front 3.
As much as I find Sid hard to stomach…I do Sid ,you’re a first class prick….he called it bang on with Saul and Partey…we bought the wrong player.
Only Arsenal would buy two CBs when our problems are the midfield and scoring goals. Maybe we’ll play with 5 CBs in defence…
I forecast that Arsenal would spend this summer between £130-150 million in transfemarket and we have landed spending at the top end of the spectrum. Am I happy with the acquisitions? Frankly there is nothing to write home about. We have spent a lot of money on six relatively young players in 20-23 age range who may have potential, but none are frankly game changers. Have we made improvements to our squad? Well on the evidence of what we have seen sofar this season that does not seem to be the case. What we do need now is to find… Read more »
Arteta has definitely now squeezed every single pound out of the club to make yet another signing without selling anyone. Tragic stuff that we spent so much and can’t really say that we’ve improved guaranteed. 30m spent in attack – Odegaard; 16m spent in midfield – Lokonga; 100m spent in defence – Ramsdale, White, Tavares, Tomiyasu (defensive RB). Turns out defence was our priority this window after a season we had the 3rd best defence and the 9th/10th best attack. It could make sense if we move the whole team higher up the pitch and we try to dominate games… Read more »
Sorry you spend £160m you need some eye candy in front 3.
____________________
Yep Sal.. We played this transfer window like we finished Top 4 last season and we just needed some depth to get us through all the matches. Not like we were trying to change our destiny and we were struggling to score goals.
I get it now.
The order in which you buy players does not matter if you only ever intended to buy defenders.
Arteta is a genius. Trying to fool us on believing that he was going to fix the midfield, when he can do so next summer when we are on the Championship.
Arsenal has to be the biggest joke in football. No wonder everyone laughs at us. All that money spent on absolute garbage. Spend the whole summer waiting for odegard who let’s face it was no great shakes last season and still stuck with the biggest bunch of mercenary crap that nobody wanted because they’re shit. The gutless Arsenal fans are complicit in allowing Kroenke destroy the club. Relegation is a real possibility now with this management and these overpaid crap players.
If this is a KSE apology it’s the worst. So much money and so much meh. I guess real hardcore squad building isn’t very sexy. I so wanted to be excited about our transfers this window but it’s basically been like a Terence Malick flick. Long, confusing, and ultimately disappointing. Also, another center back? That’s so frustrating in a fuck-you-Saliba sort of way. I know nothing of the Japanese man, I hope he’s great, but sheesh, just what exactly did Saliba do to mike to warrant being basically the only CB on the planet mike doesn’t want on the roster?… Read more »
We’ve sold 2 players outright in the past two years, recouping less than 40 mil… 2020: Mustafi, Sokratis, Mkhi, Ozil, Macey 2021: Willian **2022: Lacazette, Eddie, Elneny, Chambers No money received for any of the above, with the 2022 lot in their final year and free to walk next summer (idk if there’s any options within the contracts). Mind blowing from a perceived top club. We leave money on the table time and time again. How do we respond in the market? Incoherent fulfilment of needs, more than questionable priorities, and continued overspending on individual talent. If Liverpool, and Leicester… Read more »
Charlie,
Heath Ledger’s dead. Just like our hopes for a top four.
Someone close to the Kroenkes need to tell them that a proper manager would pay for himself by improving players enough so that other teams might actually pay money to buy them. Absolute banter that we can never sell players only loan them and have them arrive back a year later to clog up squad again. It has to be Kroenke himself or someone else who knows absolutely nothing about football who scouts these players we buy for huge rip off prices and can never get rid of.
Anyway time for bed and let’s not forget that Arteta will fix the team next summer transfer window because everyone knows there’s no value to be had in the winter window. Let’s give him 36 transfer windows to get his own players in
CC / Middy
If you break the spend down and go with Saliba instead of White, Onana over Ramsdale that gives you £70m to tease a forward option with. Ideally where Pepe plays, but I guess that would admit defeat on that one.
I’d also add if you wanna spend on another CB, sell some players. But Laca leaving in June on free is the level this crew are at, no clubs are run that poorly.
@Sal – you need to make up homegrown quota if you opt for Onana/Saliba over Ramsdale/White. I agree we should have but that’s hard to make up
raptoraAugust 31, 2021 18:56:12
It’s impressive although Tomiyasu is a defensive oriented RB at best and is more of a right-sided CB.It looks like he will not give us much of an attacking output if people expect that.
Found this one from our boy Adam Voge.Tomiyasu vs Emerson Royal
More wan bisaka than Trent then
Kroenke just let a rookie who is being groomed for the position of fall guy hold hands with another rookie who is also on the bleeding cusp of losing his job, I mean mike was always 10 games away from being fired even before we lost the first three games of the season, spend a small fortune that is, more or less, his money. What could you tell him that would make a dent? That’s reckless mindless stuff. Screams incompetence and negligence and all kind of other things that people who have billions should just not be. On any level,… Read more »
We’re morphing into Everton.
Back to back near midtable finishes and spent £160m in a single window on mostly midtable level players.
Another dreadful season awaits, top 4 is fan fiction and top 6 is also close to being fiction.
7-10th place finish awaits us at best.
Venga
Indeed!
Guess we shouldn’t of sold Emi.
Love that you want that liverpool guy to come in but arteta to stay LOL
As tho arteta is actually a good coach and it’s only the managerial trouble he’s having
Good try to buy arteta more time Pedro but it’s too transparent!
@SAL
Bloody exactly….
You just know the players we bought are going to be crap don’t you, and going to be stuck in the squad for years draining all hope and enjoyment of football out of us
#AFC have been determined to strengthen at right-back & Mikel Arteta pushed internally for 22yo Japan international @TheAthleticUK
In the same day that Arteta forces AMN to stay, he pushes for a RB to be bought in a deadline day deal. Chambers, Cedric, AMN and Takehiro. How does he expect no drama in a team with 4 RBs and no Euro football? He’s again setting himself for a failure. If you want Takehiro just let AMN go, no? lol
WE,
I think 7-10th is fairly optimistic if we keep rolling with Arteta in charge. Last year we were on course to miss on top 10 if it wasn’t for the last 5 games when we beat teams that were either mathematically safe or already relegated like Newcastle, WBA, Palace and Brighton.
I think we’ll have a worse season than last, and last was already god damn depressing and awful.
CC The 2022 expiring players are interesting situations. Nketiah: It looks like the club made the decision to prioritize Balogun over Eddie (feels a bit like when we chose Kevin Campbell over Andy Cole). The strange part here is that Eddie looked stronger and sharper in pre-season and now we’re stuck trying to persuade him to stay in order to protect his value. As with Balogun this one might go down to the wire, but if Eddie shows enough improvement, we’ll have Lacazette leaving to open a spot for him next season. Lacazette: Everyone knew we were trying to offload… Read more »
Raptora arteta prioritized teaching AMN a lesson and making an example of him over improving the squad
Sal
We don’t exit players with anything close to a level of competence, and our incomings have been wildly lopsided under Arteta.
Cannot fathom how you can look at our previous two seasons and determine the only forward-thinking players necessary are Willian and Odegaard (of which one tanked). The pressure on ESR/Ode/Saka now is way, way above what it should be.
Writing on the wall now unless we pull a Conte out of nowhere and find an approach with this lot that dramatically improves our performance level post-break. Failing that it’s a slow descent into project restart the restarted restart.
How is it that we have the highest net spend in the PL by far (30m more than Man United in 2nd) and most of us are still unsure as to whether or not we have actually improved our XI at all from last season?
United spent 30m less and have added 3 top class players that drastically improve their XI and plug the gaps from last season’s team.
When you strip out anyone who didn’t make a starting Premier League appearance last year, this is basically what we’ve traded for this summer:
Ryan/Bellerin/Luiz/Ceballos/Willian
vs
Ramsdale/Tomiyasu/White/Tavares/Lokonga
BiG Eddie: isn’t a bad squad option, but he’s not necessary given this seasons lack of Europe plus the fact he’s in his last year. Complete miss pricing Palace out of a deal. (-12 mil) Laca: best CF we have, but we chose Auba over him last year when both guys were in the ‘two years left’ zone. Rejected a bid from Roma last year and had no balls this summer. Derisory or not we should’ve exited the player and brought in Tammy on loan-to-buy. (-5/20 mil) Chambers: decent player, not well suited to our needs. Either keep and purge… Read more »
There was that fact I read a while back along the lines of we have only signed one player and later sold at a profit in the past 5 or 6 years
Twilight zone business
CC
Not as high on Abraham as you might have been. Guess we’ll see with Eddie. I suppose if there’s no way of extending his deal, there might be some struggling Premier League team (Newcastle perhaps) that will spring close to the amount in January that Palace offered for him this summer.
So we move into yet another season with no midfield and an attack with several question marks
Once again.
bacaryisgodSeptember 1, 2021 01:12:43
BIG
That’s it. At some point I’m going to need it explained to me that Arsenal out of Europe need depth signings over utmost impact to find a way back in playing once a week.
BiG Imo Laca is our best CF because he knits together other players and is smart, but he lacks the physical ability to get in enough goal-scoring situations. I think Tammy was a big miss for us this summer, while not elite I think his qualities are so sorely lacking in our CF options and for me he comfortably starts ahead of everyone we have. Started great in Italy to make matters worse. Maybe re: Eddie, but even then what help is that 6 months later? Just very Arsenal as per. But hey, I’d gladly see him flourish for a… Read more »
CC
Think we’re in for a very rough ride, self inflicted.
Can’t see anything other than an entire reboot by Christmas.
And another season wondering why,, insult to injury my eldest fave was Bellerin. Who was essentially replaced by another CB.
Yeah it’s quite remarkable that with no European football to clog our schedule our priority has mainly been the bench!
So after an abject 55 goals in 38 PL matches last season and setting plenty of modern records for firing blanks in games along with failing to score in multiple home games…
We go out and spunk £110m of our £160m budget on defensive players.
And to make matters even more hilarious for the neutral and tragic for us Gooner faithful, how do we proceed to start the season?
3 matches, ZERO goals scored (record for us) and NINE goals conceded.
9! 🤣
I’m out boys, China get the scotch flowing for these legends.
Haha well hopefully our new defence can improve our defence 😂.
Still no sign of goals though
Take it easy Sal
Who wants a dram of Talisker 57•? Charge it to Arsenal as they should be compensating you all for this shit show
What a terrible window. So many great and potentially great players on the move and many at knockdown prices, and what did we do? Went British second class and overpaid. Even ignoring what they bring on the pitch, these are great investments for the future.
And our manager has somehow decided our problems from last year were defensive and could we remedied but investing in weaker defenders who can dribble out of defence
Yep the start to the season, albeit unsurprising against Chelsea and city, coupled with the transfer window has been beyond disappointing.
All we can do is sit back and watch this all unfold now. I don’t have high hopes of a turnaround from tets, nor do I have the hope we will make the right decision on a new appointment when we actually make that move.
This emphasis on playing out from the back is such a pointless luxury
Sol Campbell was a contender for best player in our invincible season – a season in which we absolutely romped the opposition. However did he and players like Jens manage without having the fitness to take players on and ping gorgeous passes? Well they focused on doing their job brilliantly, defending and goal keeping, and kept the rest of their game basic. They let the midfield and full backs worry about how to create.
Having ball playing CBs but no midfield is the absolute definition of pointless
Ben white so poor, we had to get another defender in the same window to cover up his flaws.
You can’t make this shite up
70m well spent, should have just send it to rwanda as a tourism payment.
Ben White, who you’ve seen once, is not poor.
Wee Ben White?
For me, and I’m going to keep on saying it until our midfield is at least competent, is that playing from the back is wasted regardless of the progressive passing ability of our backline. We start way too deep, which means our forwards have to come well into our own half to receive the ball. We like to bypass the midfield at the detriment to our forward play. It is such a bizarre way to play. Partey left to hold the centre himself while xhaka subs deep. We are over run so often in the centre. Because our forwards are… Read more »