Well, good afternoon to you all.
Tomiyasu says ‘I’m buzzing.’
That’s the post people.
JUST KIDDING.
Rumours are doing the rounds that Bernd Leno has been relegated to club #13 right away. Makes sense now why we dropped such mega-money for Ramsdale. He’s a keeper we all thought was for next season, but Arteta has made a big decision and dropped the German right away.
This goes one of two ways. Ramsdale adapts to the club, the pressures of the football, and creates a relationship with the fans that last for a decade. OR, he sinks, we have to bring a pissed off Leno, and it’s all sorts of carnage. This Ramsdale signing was a big Arteta push, the Spaniard needs a ‘talent ID’ win here, so hopefully the early signs are the right signs and we can banish the misery of slightly ok keeping to the bin.
What is he banking on? Ramsdale is a big communicator on the pitch. He has great energy that transmits to the fans. His decision making and passing is better than Leno’s. He’s a catcher when it comes to high ball into the box. His shotstopping is good. Can that all come together right away? It has to. It’s that simple.
David Ornstein shared that Arteta was again the main man when it came to the right back. We’d been offered Emerson Royal for Hector Bellerin, Arteta resisted the temptation to do an easy deal, and opted for the tactically preferable Tomiyasu. Again, who knows whether this was the right decision, but after one game, it looks like the Japanese player could be a steal. He’s dominant in the duel, he’s fast, he’s tall, and he seems to embody the sort of work ethic that always makes you a fan favourite. Emerson Royal, over at Spurs, dropped a stinker against Zaha. In any high-performance field, the hardest thing to do is pick talent, the second hardest? To say no to something easy and logical. Turning down Emerson could have been a disaster, so let’s hope Arteta is right again… because his job partially depends on that right-back position being ELITE this season.
There are also some rumblings that Granit Xhaka is still a target for Roma this January. I have no idea if this is true, what I am wondering is whether the constant body blows from Granit are taking their toll on the Arteta/Edu relationship. The red card was very Granit and it could have cost Mikel his job. The covid stuff was also pretty bad and could have caused another outbreak. Professional athletes should know better. Could he receive the Willian treatment and Lokonga the ESR? We’ll see. Bit too dreamy a thought.
Mikel Arteta is finally listening to his PR team and he’s making moves on our hearts. He has opened the door to Jack Wilshere returning to the club to train. Jack had this to say.
‘I really enjoyed playing with him, sharing a dressing room with him. To hear him come out and say the door is always open is nice’
‘I think that it can only help me. As you said, being a round good players, training with world-class players and, as well, just being in a team environment is something that I am interested in. I am sure that I will have a conversation with someone at the club over the next couple of days.’
This is great PR, it’s a lovely move from the staff, and you never know… it might prove useful. Not sure if our squad can cope with his inclusion, but it’s a great story regardless. The player holds a lot of love in the fanbase and we’d all love it if Arsenal could be part of his future, even if it was a bit-part role.
The Saliba Ultras are absolutely fuming because it seems like William still likes Arsenal, sharing a birthday cake with a bit of Arsenal on it to his IG feed. The whole situation at Arsenal is weird, the manager doesn’t seem to like him, but I’d be shocked if that remained the same after this summer if he continues to play like a hero. He’s tall, fast, good on the ball, and it looks like he might be playing in a top 4 Ligue 1 side. It’d be an odd decision if we didn’t keep him on or offer him a new deal. But we’ll see.
Finally, Fabrizio Romano says rival clubs are circling Bukayo Saka. I mean, I’m not shocked… the only way we keep him beyond the current deal is if this new team bangs (and some big dollars). There will likely be a sacrifice for the next build of the team and I just hope it’s not one of our highly attractive Hale-Enders… but you have to brace yourself that it could be, just like it was at Liverpool.
P.S. Before you go, click that little chat button in the bottom right to give your opinion on the Arsenal players. It’s a simple ask, you rank the players 1-5. We’ll keep track of it as the season goes!
P.P.S. Listen to the podcast.
Valentin
I think they wanted to wait till the summer to do a proper job search but they never thought Freddie would be so bad.
Dissenter
“but they never thought Freddie would be so bad.”
He was obviously out of his depth in his little covering spell but there are still some that think he could have been the one.
Again this obsession with inhouse appointments.
Ishola70,
In defense of Ljungberg, he had no staff to help him. All he had was a part time Per who was also managing the academy. He was making the video for tactical session and preparing the training session without anybody else input.
As he said himself he was not yet ready, but he was also put in a unwinnable situation anyway.
The squad who had down tools under Emery. They knew it was a temporary appointment. So Freddie had no authority, no way of motivating them.
Galtier already has done impressive work with Nice and Lille by contrast have nosedived since he left.
Word on the street is that Campos is heading back to Real Madrid where he was a scout previously and will be their DOF/Tech Director.
Good job Wenger isnt still in charge. Smokin Jack would probably be offered a 5 year deal. He loved injured players Diaby, Kallstrom to name two.
Ronaldo reminds me of Kobe. Obsessed and with a mentality of steel. Ice Cold killer. No mercy. Just driven like MJ was before him… He is not a natural talent. I would put other players ahead of him…. Ibra on the other hand is a freak of nature. Yes he trains, but not like Ronny, and is still able to bang em in…. Ronaldo is a hard worker. Extremely and it pays off… but yes age is catching up to him… the Euros, he was shit…. pointing fingers at his teammates, demanding the ball all the time.. he was not… Read more »
Ronny was coaching from the sidelines last night. Solksjaer needs to grow a pair or he will be sacked soonest
Great comparison Guns, CR7 & Kobe.
World class talent, wold class mentality but truly out of this world work ethics driving them further than they ever should of gone.
5 goals not quite shit though Guns is it? I’d agree that he was underwhelming in the match that mattered vs Belgium all right.
Will be interesting to see how United fare this season with him up top, I suspect they will improve a good deal as he is an upgrade on Cavani but you have those who believe that he made Juventus worse as a collective and that he was pandered too. Truth likely a little in the middle but Juventus have been shit this season without him too and have just rebuilt pretty poorly in general.
I like Ronny. I even rate him better than Messi for other reasons. However, at this point he is just going to bring down whatever team he is on… his legend is going to be his undoing. You are right Juventus went down, pandered to him and Manure will do the same. He will point fingers, demand the ball and show his displeasure with his teammates. Yea he will get his share of goals but I dont think Manure rises up much more than it is currently. He will sell shirts and tickets tho, and that right there is a… Read more »
He nothing like my boy the Benz…
The old man, still doing work…. that is the true legend at RM
Hey Tony,
You haven’t missed anything from me, I haven’t much free time at the moment but I read the posts there v quickly to catch up. I’m sorry to hear your friend passed away, hope you get to say a proper goodbye to him. Mind yourself.
Liverpool vs Milan what we thinking for this group of death encounter?
Clearly with Bati here and pulling for Milan but it’s a pretty steep slope with form Liverpool on.
Shame Ibra out would liked to of seen him on the big stage suspect we’ll see our man Giroud. big match for young guns Dias and Tonnali to show whats in the tank.
Well said on Ronaldo though re his natural talent not being astronomical because it was not the case. At Sporting CP, Ricardo Quaresma was the better player with the higher ceiling. He went on to have a pretty decent career in football in spite of his way below average application and dedication. Carlos Vela is another example, he has had a better career than the vast majority of players but he has underachieved relative to his ability level. Not that Ronaldo didn’t have an abundance of natural talent, of course he did. Not exactly James Milner or Henderson in that… Read more »
As for today, Id like to see Leipzig rip City a new one.
Olmo Nkunku and Szolobaszi
Big night for Benzema tonight as he can overtake Raul as the outright 4th highest scorer in CL history.
And two of those are Ronaldo and Messi. Shows you how great Benzema has been. 71 CL goals and ZERO penalties, bonkers.
Remember the good ole days on le grove being linked to heavy to Benz with many calling him past it?
Fucking huge 😂.
Sal
Benzema wasn’t a popular figure on here back in the day. I used to have arguments with people who didn’t rate him as he didn’t score enough goals in their eyes.
Was me, yourself, N5, Dream and a few others fighting the good fight IIRC. Think he has only gone up now in a lot of people’s estimations because he has carried Real Madrid without Ronaldo or Bale.
Ronaldo is the Novak of football.
Supreme devotion to continued physical perfection and nerves of steel, but not really the greatest talent ever.
That’s why true fans of tennis and football prefer peak Federer and Messi because they’re just a joy to watch as their skill is the GOAT.
In fact if anyone tells me they prefer Nadal or Nole to Fed or Ronaldo to Messi, I consider them as either ignorant of the sport in question or complete buffoons (unless they have some national or similar bias).
Who is better is a different matter…
(except for football. It’s Messi).
Interesting to see Ronaldo auditioning for the Manchester United job last night. I wonder if that’s why he returned, his eye for the bigger prize when he retires? Only been there two games and he’s doing that.
Eagle
Pretty sure one of my first LG post’s was how it was critical Wenger didn’t miss out on Benzema at Lyon back in our title contending days. Adebayor was off to City and for a moment it looked on until Madrid pulled the intervention.
Imagine Benz w/ peak Cesc rolling in thru balls.
And then we missed him again to add maximum insult to injury, well he didn’t leave. Romford Pele was a big cog in the king Benz club along with Middy Gun who lets be honest was holding the keg in place. What a guy.
Agree Kris although I preferred Nadal to Federer given the latter dominated in what I consider a weak era of tennis between prime Sampras/Agassi and not child Rafa.
Used to bore us shitless seeing Federer spanking the likes of Roddick in every Final and having his already record printed jackets at the ready for the ceremony which was cocky beyond belief.
Rafa came along and ended that monopoly over the tour, was a breath of fresh air.
Yeah, WE, I get your point, the arrival of Rafa was vital for the sport, but as a former youth tennis player I feel Federer’s versatility and elegance of shots would have made him fantastic in any era, whereas I feel Nole and Rafa were both helped by the slowing of the balls after terrific servers like Ivanisevic had made tennis almost unwatchable.
Sal I remember celebrating when Benz signed for Real Madrid out of relief as Fergie and Utd had their paws all over him and were heavily backed to pull the trigger. He cost them just £30m and here he is 12 years later absolutely bossing it and carrying their attack almost single-handedly. Doesn’t even earn mega wages either, he’s only on £165k which is a travesty in itself but then again that wage is why Real Madrid aren’t even close to being in the mess that their dozy Catalonian counterparts find themselves head-deep in shit over. Romford Pele and Midwest… Read more »
Think the “Benzema is past it” narrative came more from the fact he was linked to us for something like 6-7 straight seasons and nothing ever came off, after awhile it probably felt like he was too old. That and the sex scandal, French team banishment, and didn’t he get benched for Morata at some point? It’s really surprising he’s the one left standing at Madrid.
The thought that players of the level of Cesc and Benzema together at Arsenal were real possibilities compared to the Pepe poo platter we are subject to these days is depressing.
Another trip down memory lane if mid was really captaining any club it was certainly the Ballotelli #ballosdeep gang. What a time to be alive.
WE
Where is Romford Pele he was a sensible guy? Knew his football and had a nice way about him.
Benz to score today….
anyone want to bet against me?
True Kris and it’s not even a massive knock on Rafa’s natural ability more-so a testament to him growing up on Clay courts in hot conditions in Spain and tailoring his game around being much more of a baseline endurance player and winning the majority of points on longer rallies between opponents and forcing opponent errors. Much harder for a big serving player or a player like Federer that specialises in hitting creative winners to go through Rafa on Clay [impossible for anyone other than Djokovic really or Soderling that one time] than on HC or Grass which is more… Read more »
Romford Pele top tier poster. Miss him and Cesc Appeal the most out of past LeGrovers. Hope they are well.
Luteo Benzema definitely had a rough year or two between 2017/18. Scored just 5 league goals the season before Ronaldo left. I felt that he had just simply reached a point where he needed to be the talisman and he got fed up with Ronaldo getting all of the plaudits. I have never seen him happier than he has been the last year or two in his on-pitch body language and his interviews after matches. He may not be winning a bag of trophies anymore but Real are still very competitive and he is finally getting his flowers from all… Read more »
Luteo
Such a strange world we’ve awoken in, this space used to be filled with the whose going to replace Wenger chatter, names like Klopp, Pep and Tuchel if we can’t convince the formers.
And look where we’ve ended up, certainly haven’t ‘awoken the sleeping giant’ have we.
Definitely miss the Romford Pele, Cesc Appeal, N5, Keyser vs Gambon sessions. Was absolutely convinced CC was Keyser, not so much any more.
AFC Forever
Not sure, maybe got fed up with the situation at the club and didn’t have the energy to keep posting?
He was a brilliant poster, imo the most knowledgeable football guy on here. His cousin Louis Almeida was also an excellent poster and was Portuguese or half Portuguese IIRC. Virtually a clone of RP in his footballing knowledge.
Paulinho was a great poster too.
Him vs Keyser was peak Le Grove reading for me back in the day. Used to have me howling on my morning and evening commute, they literally would argue all day and into the night and I don’t think on one occasion ever agreed on anything, lol.
”Was absolutely convinced CC was Keyser, not so much any more.”
No chance, Keyser truly was one of a kind lmao. A compliment to both him and Charlie that.
Haha yes early days of Champagne Charlie coincided with Keyser disappearing if memory serves.
Jesus any of the Wenger inners at that stage were just pure open game on here was almost bloodsport.
Sal
Yeah the frustrations of LG back then were very much in the wasted potential of the club, it feels like it’s evolved far past that into something else, almost a self-loathing from a sections of fans now.
Different world back then on Legrove, don’t mean to wax nostalgic but 5 short years ago may as well be a couple generations in internet time.
“But yes, aesthetically Federer has been on a different planet to anyone else. Tennis’ answer to Messi in terms of pure entertainment and wizardry.“
The classic one handed backhand and hardly breaking a sweat, no matter the conditions, make him a cut above the rest.
Sweat drenched Rafa picking his shorts out of his crack makes for a startling contrast.
Sorry Weagle , but no grunter can be the GOAT.
“Paulinho was a great poster too.”
Him i miss the most, always looked forward to his unique take on things, never runs with the crowd
Dont event get me started on who we could have had in the Wenger era.
PTSD will come back in full force if I go there…
Luteo
If Hunter S Thompson was still with us i’ve no doubt he’d be penning the Fear and Loathing in Arsenal book.
No crime in LG nostalgia, we’ve jumped right in apparently.
Paulinho was an absolute winner, must be broken with Bellerin exit. My eldest certainly is.
Where is Cesc Appeal?’
Marc
Marko
Don
It’s well whispered in the tennis world that Nadal is a drug cheat. My son used to go to a tennis coach who used to be a pro ( not a great one 😁), had a chat about it with him and he said there’s been murmurings in the locker rooms of him using drugs for years
Tom
Fed was smooth personified, guy literally sweated less after 5 hour marathon matches than Prince Andrew who has the incredible ‘inability to sweat’, unless of course he is being interviewed on a national network and accused of being a pedo that is.
But GOAT? Up for debate that. Suppose if you wrap up entertainment value and aesthetics along with accolades that he merits the nod over Novak and Rafa.
Yea….. RH… Nailed it on paulinho. Top poster
Not punching into GOAT chatter as it surface related imo, other than to say one handed back hand definitely adds big value.
Top 5 lg posters for me back then.
RP
N5
KEYSER
WE
RED
I remember watching a teenage Federer defeat Sampras in his prime at Wimbledon, didn’t know he would go on to win 20 Slams but it was hard not to see he’d be special the way he moved on the court. I began to support Nadal more once Fed was so far ahead in Slams, since I usually support the underdog. But in retrospect for me no one will surpass Federer for pure tennis skill.
Federer played like a well oiled machine, Nadal was a jackhammer, Novak like an indestructible rubber bouncing ball.
@WengerEagle
Your comments on that nonce Prince Andrew made me laugh
I used to love Federer, but he had a couple of digs at Murray and made himself look a stuck up prick. Went off him after that. But I do like Novak
Paulinho loved him some midfielders that could run in behind the defense didn’t he. The Ramsey support was strong from him. Looking at our squad now though hard to say he wasn’t right.
Top 1 poster for me now
Raulishuss
Positive pete
Negative nigel
Nigel Tufnell
Pedro
All Pedro of course, laughably bringing subterfuge and double-think to his own blog and thus diminishing Le Grove’s credibility. Properly weird.
Weagle , not invested too much into the tennis GOAT debates ( got all my energies tied up into Maradona’s bid lol) , my cut above reference was strictly to esthetics part of debate.
But I do stand firmly by the statement no grunter deserves a consideration.
Not only it’s a well documented advantage that shouldn’t be allowed but it also takes away from the overall spectacle.
I miss N5 and Cesc appeal
TYAG
Wouldn’t surprise us with Rafa to be honest and I suspect a lot of footballers are juiced to the gills too.
Very naive to think that in a multi billion pound industry like football would have nobody trying to gain a leg up on the competition. I take it for read that all sports have steroid problems underneath the surface.
@WengerEagle
In fairness our players have been off their heads for last 5-10 years the way they’ve been playing 😁
”Him i miss the most, always looked forward to his unique take on things, never runs with the crowd”
Yeah he had a very concise and to the point way of posting, similar to TR7/Vicky. He thought about the game beyond just the surface level and actually had nuance in his arguments on players and their abilities, actually learned a lot in the early Grove days between him and Romford Pele among others on the game itself, no joke.
Cheers for the mention Raulishuss. I have too many favourite posters to name as I go a fair few years back on here now and have never changed moniker.
Tom
I always wondered with the grunting, is it simply to put off the opponent? And if so, why is it allowed by the Umpire?
It’s very annoying all right, when Azarenka vs Sharapova were having a wail off back in the day you may as well have changed the channel over to a legit porno for the filthy looks your neighbours would have given you with the telly blasted.
Weagle
I agree with Tom I’m afraid. Anyone, who from the first game to the last, is persistently extricating his scrazzers from his sphincter is more a moat (mother of all tossers) than a goat.
WE
“It’s very annoying all right, when Azarenka vs Sharapova were having a wail off back in the day you may as well have changed the channel over to a legit porno for the filthy looks your neighbours would have given you with the telly blasted”
So very true! I couldn’t watch it, then when the blokes started doing it some coach was justifying it about breathing and power. Might be why I can’t get the kind of noise out of the wife, it’s the breathing….!!
Top five Legrove posters in no particular order:
Luteo, Sal, Weagle, Jamie, Midwest
Kroenkephobe, your top five pick is equally amazing
Nadal’s name and some Spanish footballers were found on medicine and blood sample found at a doctor Fuentes who got arrested and convicted of helping cyclists to dope. His preferred doping method was via blood transfusions. Incredibly Spanish court ordered all the retrieved documents and vials not pertaining to the cyclist investigation to be immediately destroyed before WADA could get an injunction. On top of that Spanish court were so slow (many says deliberately slow) that the statute of limitation meant that most of the Spanish accused avoided conviction and their name cannot be released bar the idiot who went… Read more »
Sharapova’s grunts were clocked at over 100 decibels…… that’s probably why Sid likes her so much.
Funny thing is, at US open players routinely take a few extra moments before serving when an airliner flies over , and these create the same amount of noise as Sharapovas grunts.
The wailing was a fad that passed. I think that it came from the Nick Belletieri school of tennis.
Because he had great success with a few players, everybody started to follow that method until somebody realised that they were spending more energy on screaming than was necessary.
Monica Selena was the first one who annoyed me, but then others took the baton and run with it.
Monica Selena was the first one who annoyed me
Val
That wasn’t you at Roland Garros all those years ago with the rusty Swiss Army knife was it?
#freeval
The louder the wailing, the tighter the muscle get on the other end.
Paulinho and Cesc Appeal are the two posters I missed the most, not surprising they were both put off when the blog became all about Arteta and how great he is or would be.
Martina Navratilova said the grunting was, quote: “cheating, pure and simple”
Apparently it is confusing and can slow down the opponents reaction time, hence why many call it cheating. As Tom says, stops people watching it.
Val, they still do it mate.
Sid LOL
Where is Don?
Sometimes its necessary to give him a good beating …..
I still have doubts he is the pitbull tho… or whomever
Sid, with your size the tightness at the other end shouldn’t be much of a worry………. or have you been lying to us about it?
every woman tennis player does the grunting. tell me which one doesnt
Val, Seles grunted since her early years even before Bellietieri.
Her father had her practicing using heavy oversized racket for more power, and she needed to put all her strength into every swing.
Hark at you lot having a wank over how great some past posters are brings a tear to my eyes
A lot of those guys left because wenger was chased out and some are using other guises for whatever reason
Kroenke, Sorry, it was not me either in Hamburg where she got stabbed. I was a fan of Gabriela Sabatina and not Steffi Graf like the nutter who stabbed her. 😉 I remember that one match (Monte Carlo or Madrid or another 1000 tennis tournament) was delayed because somebody thought it was funny to dress as the killer character in Scream with a prop knife. She had a nervous breakdown and needed time to regain her composure, even after the idiot had been ejected. When she came back, the public were changing her name, but she was still clearly upset.… Read more »
Sabatini not Sabatina. She was talented, beautiful and the teenager I was had a crush on her.
Any decent streams? Reddit not working anymore.
Paulinho was my absolute favourite. Shame that he hasn’t been around for a while now. He for me is definitely the best LG poster ever. Unique take not only in football but also in tennis, politics and other topics. Always spoke his own mind.
What a player Salah is he’ll be up there for golden boot.
Hey you’re in my top 5 posters, I miss this poster and that poster. What a bunch of fucking losers. Sad sad bastards.
Liverpool Milan is a great game, we are so far off this level of football …..so so far off.
I trus our squad to get there soon. With or without tets
Paulinho has been replaced by RH in style,Receeding hardly follow the trend
N5
Romford Pele
Cesc Appeal
Gambon
Wenger Eagle
And many others,back then insults wasn’t much but banters,these days a bit different
I guess maybe because of too much frustration from the team