Bad news on the injury front. Ironman Granit Xhaka is out for 3 months. Whatever you think about him, that is a massive issue for Arsenal because it depletes us of reliable experience and it means we’re a little closer to a 3 month Mo Elneny residency in our midfield.
It’s a killer as well because the injury was a total freak. How much bad luck do we consistently get these days? It’s always something.
This could be an opportunity.
No.
It has to be an opportunity for some of the younger players to make moves.
AMN is going to land minutes. He has to grab them. He has to stay focused, up his intensity, and find the midfield version of whatever he did in the FA Cup run.
Sambi Lokonga is regarded as a future superstar of European football. But he’s still a little lightweight for the league. He has to find a bit of bite to his game and continue to impress in the middle with his already up-to-speed passing and movement.
There might be a crack in the blinds for Charlie Patino. Look, he’s very young, he’s super green, but he has something about his game. Could he earn himself some minutes? You’d imagine he will in the League Cup.
There’s also a bit of chatter about Jack Wilshere. I love the player, he’s homegrown, and it’d be sexy to see him back at The Arsenal, but I’m not sure we can register him and he’s probably a way off Premier League full-fitness. But it’s a sexy idea, if not a little naive.
Matt from the podcast said yesterday that we might be about to feel the Gilberto-effect of losing Granit. If you don’t know what that means, back in the day, Gilberto was a bit of a mystery to people. The Brazilian midfielder was incredibly technical, but not as bang bang as our other players, so people didn’t understand what he did. Then he got injured, and we felt the pain of his absence. Closing down spaces, covering the back 4, using his movement to do clever things. Granit has his issues, his very visible HORROR moments cloud that he’s pretty reliable in the main. This is not great news for us, so let’s hope some players can step up in his absence.
One player who might have stepped into Granit’s shoes would have been Matteo. The Frenchman has performed pretty well for Marseille this season, but we’re barely out of September and French journo Romain Canuti is reporting this:
“There are a few players at Marseille who are struggling with Guendouzi. His way of working, when he always blames others for things, when he falls to his knees in training to implore God because a touch isn’t good enough, it grates”
I love this.
When everyone was beating the club over the head for being sh*t, this was the story that people kept coming back to: MATTEO WAS MISMANAGED.
Well, here we are, in September, and his teammates are leaking against him.
Did you see any of the above type behaviour at the weekend? Did you see any of the petulance, even when we were losing? No. You don’t want it. Being a d*ckhead is not ‘caring too much’, it’s a waste of energy. When players are gossiping about dickheads, it wastes time. When coaches have to worry about how hard to discipline a good player, it shifts focus from the helping people that want to behave. He is going to struggle if he continues to disrupt like this… but it’s clearly not a management issue, it’s a Matteo problem.
This week has given clarity to a lot of things, one of them, is culture. When you are making changes, things always get worse before they get better. We’ve moved on 30 players in 2 years. We’ve cut big players that didn’t have the character or behaviour we desired, and at times, it felt counter-productive. But now, we can see that actually, those moves look good. All the new players we signed seemed to have been vetted for good egg/bad egg vibes. Notable that a huge chunk of the fanbase wanted Aouar, but we passed, like the rest of Europe, because the backroom team wouldn’t punt on a talented guy that floats in and out of interest.
You can’t just sign in good eggs. They need to have talent. Martin Odegaard is a good egg, that everyone loved around the club, who boasted an incredibly high ceiling. More of those types as we move forward.
Also worth noting this: Arsenal fans threw a shit fit about our signings. Why? Because the system was not to be trusted. This summer needed to be 100%. We signed 6 players that basically no one really knew much about. If I’m going to be blunt, this summer was like a typical Arsene Wenger summer.
Robert Pires? All we knew is he was good in Champ Man.
Thierry Henry? Failed right wing back.
Patrick Vieira? Couldn’t make it at Milan.
Marc Overmars? Busted flush.
Nik Anelka? Wtf?
We had no idea, but after a while, we trusted his talent ID, even when players looked hopeless. I remember Wenger telling us Robert Pires would be like Zidane. No one could see it, but Wenger could, and it happened.
This summers deals, so far, has made the doubters looks silly. Those ‘THE NEEDLE DIDN’T MOVE’ folk will happily chew down some of that humble pie, because they didn’t want to be right. Good analysts and scouts are supposed to find value where others can’t see it. If things carry on this way… we’ll trust January. Then we’ll trust the summer. We’ll finally get a bit of trust back in a system that let us down very badly over the past decade.
Finally, before I go. How good are we all feeling today? Nothing feels as good as a NLD win. To think, only a few weeks ago, a serious conversation was whether it was ok for Arteta to use the word ‘project.’ Can you imagine being that petty? In all honesty, I can, but come on people… getting riled by the word ‘project.’ Take a walk.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments… but before you go there, watch the video or listen to the podcast.
Leeds
Don’t think Vlahovic will leave his club for less than 50M. There’s talk of Liverpool looking at him.
Pedro’ You are experiencing some serious memory loss when it comes to Gilberto. You write ‘Gilberto was a bit of a mystery to people. The Brazilian midfielder was incredibly technical, but not as bang bang as our other players, so people didn’t understand what he did’. Absolutely not true. When we signed Gilberto, he had just played an important role in Brazil winning the 2002 World Cup, had a perfect nickname (‘the invisible wall’). Any fan that followed football knew exactly what he was capable of and how he was going to help us. Maybe you were too young at… Read more »
Samesong Fine then, offer them £30m plus Torreira next summer. We should be able to raise that money easily selling our fringe players if we do it smartly… with plenty of change left over for another young class midfielder. Thinking conservatively I reckon we could sell our fringe players for the following values. Elneny (£5m) Chambers (£10m) Holding (£15m) Xhaka (£10m) Bellerin (£20m) Guendouzi (£11m)* Mavropanos (£5m)* Mari (£5m) Leno (£20m) Nelson (£10m) Tyreece John Jules (£1m) *already agreed obligation to buy I haven’t included Lacazette, Nketiah and Kolasinac because, worst case scenario, we will probably lose them on a… Read more »
Dusan Vlahovic is exactly the profile of striker we should target before he blows up more than he already has and becomes unattainable. Him and Isak are targets we should be looking at. The age profile is also good for a club like us.
The main priority for me this season is to keep Partey fit. If he is there, any of our options next to him will look decent. Remember the Elneny master class at Old Trafford. I think Partey is that good a player. He improves who ever plays next to him.
What did Arteta and Edu do for us this summer? Or put it another way what does £150m buy you these days?
A new spine.
6 solid signings.
Thank you Arteta and Edu. I had my doubts but you’re slowly winning me over.
Pedro
you are a hard guy to understand. You were almost in happy tears when Roma came in for Granit and was pissed when it was taking too much time. you werent even that happy when he was given 1 year extension.
What changed ? just think of it like , we have loaned the player until January.
Pierre
‘Let’s hope Arteta doesn’t find a way of messing it up’
Sittig on the fence with both eyes closed, dreaming of Ozil?
raptora – “I’d rather watch AMN and Lokonga in midfield than Chambers.”
Me too. Was just speculating what might be going through the Galaxy Brain just now…
Tom
You DID make it up (a habit of yours) – and without even trying.
Throwing 5 plus-es at Arteta so you can get at him for over-paying for Ben White? Dear me. If any other manager came up with that ransfer record, you’d be waving his flag. Furthermore, Ben is doing pretty good, all things considered.
And you’ll be eating your words – unless you deny what you wrote.
Let us not forget that when the irreplaceable Xhaka was unfortunately red carded v city and given a harsh 3 match ban for such an innocuous tackle , at this time we were in the relegation places and our midfield was under severe pressure to perform without the excellent xhaka we needed to haul ourselves up the table. However, somehow the likes of partey , lakonga, Odegaard and AMN managed to do the impossible and win every match without the irrepressible Xhaka to hold the team together… Of course ,in beating Tottenham we have to give massive thanks for Xhaka’s… Read more »
The problem I have with Xhaka is that he is only OK playing next to Partey. We have seen him for years without Partey. Marc kept reminding us how bad Xhaka was. I prefer to have someone who is good all the time, like Wilfred Ndidi or Yves Bissouma.
Leedsgunner
Good man, and welcome to the initiated.
Let us all pray for Xhaka’s return to the side as soon as possible .
Did you mean ‘sideline’ Pierre.
Recovery from injury might make Xhakalson faster
Wow Pierre going on two footed like a peak Xhaka tackle
I LIKE IT!!!
Yeah Leeds the fact is Torreira has some talent and I like what he can do but his head and heart are absolutely never going to be in England. He’s definitely a lost cause
I also think his career has been hurt by his mentality. He never seems happy wherever he is since he left Italy the first time. He could’ve kicked on and become a really good player whether for us or someone else but when you’re miserable that long during your best development years I think it hurts your ceiling
Xhaka might be experienced but he’s painfully average
What is the point of an experienced but painfully average player being in the starting 11? Will their experience won you many games? No because they’re average.
I’d rather have a 20 year old Theo flip flopping between elite and poor every other week, than have a 31 year old Willian ‘leading’ ‘showing his experience’
Experience means fuck all if you’re not actually that good.
This is why most of the worlds best talents are first 11 starters (often at big clubs) before they even hit 22-23 years old.
Average gives you average. Look at el Neny. A squaddie, fine. But what is the point in having players like that near the starting 11 except for rotation and emergencies? what is the point of Xhaka in the starting 11? The same point there was in Willian, mustafi, bellerin. All experienced players who didn’t actually make us better
Just find out Marseille will play. Galatasaray at 3:00 pm EST. I’ll check what happens to Guen and Saliba.
Actually, we don’t need anymore experienced players on the pitch. We have Arteta barking orders continuously on the sideline.
Unless he’s just on a purple patch of form (I really really hope not) Tomi shits all over bellerin
Who cares about who is more experienced?
We should be asking who is good. Tomi needs to keep this up. If he really can hold this level he will be a fan favourite akin to some of our previous excellent FBs like Sagna and Monreal
It’s been sooooooo long since we had a RB look good enough for arsenal. I’m so hoping this isn’t just good form
Btw Pedro appreciated and thanks for adding the visibility of results to your poll
I think that visibility of results adds value
Re the late subs made by Arteta, my take on this is he is afraid to change the formula if it looks like his plan is working.
It is as if he has this fear that, if he makes a sub, it could alter his entire game plan and mess it all up.
It is not always black or white…… myself I don’t care for Xhaka as a player, but I would rather him than Elneney for instance. That his injury is a big blow to us is not ‘cos of his exotic specificity, just that we are thin in the midfield…. bring in dear Sambi in his stead, that would be an exciting team, because from the little I have seen of Lokonga,he could be more than we hoped for, if given a run in the side….so I understand,those who see this as an opportunity, but ideally I would have loved for… Read more »
For me I like Lokonga Partey as first choice but I really have my eye on AMN.
He hasn’t done anything special so far but I’m just curious this season given he seems to be ahead of el Neny and Xhaka is injured – will he kick on? Maybe not but he’s the one I’m most curious about even tho I think sambi is better right now
China1
Most players are ‘average’ – hence the term.
And there are plenty of ‘average’ players who lead by example, and deserve their place in the side. One example should suffice: Jordan Henderson.
Without doubt MU have to be the luckiest football team ever. How many times over the years have we witnessed them being outplayed by other teams and yet somehow find the inner strength, I mean inner luck, to chalk out a win. On top of this there was Fergie time and the biased referees. Last night Villarreal should have finished them off, but didn’t. That bloke, you know the one, CR7, dug them out of a CL hole that they didn’t deserve to be dug out from. I truly hate MU, for many reasons and will always take great joy… Read more »
But, hopefully Arteta, with time (each game), will learn this.
Managing key players like Saka, ESR, Partey, Tomi throughout the season is going to be very important if we are to mount a challenge for top 4-6.
My favourite arsenal players at the moment 1. Saka. Quality, class and personality is all amazing. 2. Gabriel – I am old fashioned and like a CB to just be totally dominant. There’s room for culture and nuance and all that stuff but first of all I like an imposing CB who just owns his space and Gabriel is usually that guy 3 partey – when he’s fit and sharp he’s the best player in the squad and it’s so obvious what he offers that it doesnt need explaining. He is obviously a bit temperamental tho due to injury, fitness… Read more »
Henderson is a much better player than Xhaka englandsbest
And you’re right most players are average. Is our aim to be average too or to be competing for top 4 and higher? If average in the first team is acceptable maybe we shouldn’t have bothered to buy Partey. Just rock with xhakaneny and be done with it?
99.99% of Arsenal fans/supporters see GX for what he is and that’s a bang average player.
He is a liability and, for the most part, a player that genuinely doesn’t have the good of the club at heart. Arteta loves him though, which is a great shame because I’m pretty sure most of his teammates think Xhaka is an absolute prick.
Could be a major blessing having him out of the spotlight.
Comparing Jordan Henderson with GX.
Are you serious?
Lol!
Who overall suits the EPL better?
The “average” Henderson? Or the “average” Xhaka?
That’s what people should take into account when labelling players as average.
Why do we get excited when Pepe runs with the ball? Because he can be a game-changer. Yes, Arsenal paid too much (thank Raul), but that is no reason to write him off.
Pierre
Arteta is a 1/10 when it comes to making the correct substitutions.
do you aprove of aubas tactical fouls in the game is one of the questions in the poll, suprised thats only 94% yes lol
englandsbest
I agree with your take on Pepe.
I don’t think people write off Pepe because he can’t change a game or think he doesn’t dribble enough. However erratic Pepe is in the above aspects fans saw in the game against Spurs that you might not necessarily need a player that is going to dribble and run into cul-de-sacs. But of course many fans like the individualistic elements on display and forget overall that sometimes this is not required for the greater good of the attack. If Pepe showed these individualistic traits to a really high level consistently then of course he walks into the team. Meanwhile we… Read more »
Graham62September 30, 2021 13:15:54 99.99% of Arsenal fans/supporters see GX for what he is and that’s a bang average player. He is a liability and, for the most part, a player that genuinely doesn’t have the good of the club at heart. Arteta loves him though, which is a great shame because I’m pretty sure most of his teammates think Xhaka is an absolute prick. Could be a major blessing having him out of the spotlight. totaly agree my disdain for xhaka is massive, yes he did have a good game on sunday, but he will have a brain fart… Read more »
‘I’m pretty sure most of his teammates think he’s an absolute prick’ – if this was truly the case then he wouldn’t still be at Arsenal. It’s one thing not liking a player, it’s another to make up sh*t.
Great post Pedro. “Raul, too many people went all in on this project being over and took it too far. Slagging 6 new signings you don’t know was never a sharp move. But I have the reciepts” I think this is a very important point. When you have people who make everything about Arteta, obsessing even, you know they arent going to be able to make good judgement calls. It’s the old adage about fixed mind thinking – it leads to terrible decision making. You have to have an open mind and be prepared every now and then to be… Read more »
China1
Look, I am no fan of Xhaka, but dismissing Xkaka because he is ‘average’ is missing the point. Jordan Henderson is ‘average’ but makes fewer mistakes, that’s all. What they have in common is leadership quality and commitment. And Switzerland made ‘Mr Average’ captain of their side, which did very well in the Euros.
Even the best beams have an ‘average’ player, even the Invincibles had Clichy and Cygan.
Crazy that Napoli got Anguissa for what Roma were giving us for Xhaka. Could have completed both deals in a couple of days and our midfield would have been settled for several years ahead. I’ll keep talking about it cause fk me it was so easy to do. And we said no.
Raptora, think you put too much stock in anyone that doesn’t play for Arsenal.
Saliba over White
Aouar over Odegaard
Now Anguissa over… Lokonga. That is the future of our midfield and he is better than Anguissa.
AFC, totally onboard… now, 3 games later, everyone is having to dig in (Raptora), deflect (Mark), or embrace (lots of people)
… and I’m not on a victory train for Arteta. He has lots to do. But the player ID and squad shaping was excellent this summer. It left so many people in the mud
Raptora
It was mind blowing. Anguissa was a ridiculously easy deal to do. We wouldn’t have had to worry about Partey so much if he had come in. The issue would have been African Cup of nations but that was just two months at best. We could have also exchanged Xhaka for koopmeiners who has gone to Atalanta for the same price. He is 24 and they probably will double their money.
A team is a sum of all parts. Some players complement others around them. In partnerships, you might have a left-footer with a right-footer, even though a second right-footer may be deemed a better player. Some of the most average players provide the most to the team framework. I’m not saying Xhaka does but he’s not as bad as some people try to make out. Xhaka compliments Partey and I think he will be missed. I heard one of the young players talking about how important he is for the younger players at the training ground, how he helps them… Read more »
AFC: “That is why anyone Arteta signs is instantly rubbished. They haven’t got the ability to be reasonable because they are obsessive and completely closed-minded. ” 1. This is absolutely false as you can’t find a single person who have rubbished quite a few of our transfers in Lokonga, Partey, Tavares (after we saw him play several days after he joined us). I questioned a 50m White as we had Saliba. I questioned Tomiyasu because he’s a CB/RB hybrid and his stats showed lack of attacking intent or ability. And I questioned the relegator because I would have preferred the… Read more »
“That is why anyone Arteta signs is instantly rubbished.” Nonsense. I won’t insult the readers here by posting examples of praise for Partey, Sambi, Tomi, or Tavares (for starters). “If Arteta signs someone that player is instantly no good. If Arteta gets rid of someone they are the next superstar” More of the same nonsense. No one is sad about Arteta binning Ozil (except Pierre), Hector, trying to get rid of Kola or Elneny. “They are driven purely by their ego’s and not their support of this football club. It is not about Arsenal for them, this is all about… Read more »
Rap beat me to it. AFC always doing his best to divide the fanbase.
Please stop.
Some guys on BBC Sports were calling for Smith Rowe to be in the England squad. A bit too early if you asked me. Some performance consistency until Jan/Feb and he can be within a shout for the world cup squad. Would really love it if he would make the world cup squad though.
Pedro “… and I’m not on a victory train for Arteta. He has lots to do. But the player ID and squad shaping was excellent this summer.” My view too. This is a young group, there is loads of work required on the training field and they’ve only played 90 odd minutes together. I supported him because of my belief that he had a bigger job than some people credited and because I thought he was getting ridiculous criticism with zero credit for anything he did or the effects the pandemic had. So I dug in. It was obvious how… Read more »
Ramsdale is back in the squad.
Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale.
Defenders: Conor Coady, Reece James, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.
Midfielders: Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice.
Forwards: Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling, Ollie Watkins.
Bellingham misses out? Weird….
AFC Forever
Good one. I wonder how a team entirely made up of ‘exceptionals’ (eg Messis, Ronaldos, Neymars’ etc) would get on with each other. Badly, I imagine.
And come Jan and the new window, if needs be Arteta will treat himself to another midfielder.
Rap Firstly I have never had you in the extremist corner of the blog. So I apologise that you read that into my comment and to anyone else with whom I have enjoyed many conversations. However, I maintain the general point. Ramsdale and White were rounded on as we all know for no other reason than Arteta signed them. The Saliba bollocks is well documented. Don’t take everything so personally, this was a generalised comment which I stand 100% behind. I’m giving back a bit of the “Arteta Fanboy” and “Superfan” shit I have received on here and which lead… Read more »
“Good one. I wonder how a team entirely made up of ‘exceptionals’ (eg Messis, Ronaldos, Neymars’ etc) would get on with each other. Badly, I imagine.”
You don’t have to imagine. Messi, Neymar and Mbappe (arguably the hottest young striker in world football)) all play for PSG. Decent result for them last night against the PL champions who spanked us 5-0 a month ago.
Englandsbest “Good one. I wonder how a team entirely made up of ‘exceptionals’ (eg Messis, Ronaldos, Neymars’ etc) would get on with each other. Badly, I imagine.” Not sure shoving Messi in goal would be a good move….! Exactly. It’s all about balance and I think that gets missed a bit with Xhaka. He does a lot of the dirty work for the team and his experience is very important. I’ve never been his greatest fan tbf it’s just the fact he can do daft things but he’s a very good player and he will be missed I would take… Read more »
Ronald
Bellingham is top quality, I would love him at Arsenal. He’s still only 18, I think, so imagine how good he could become. Very high ceiling.
“this was a generalised comment which I stand 100% behind.”
Stand behind your comment and list the people here you think are driven by their egos and not their support of Arsenal. The ones who make this all about them.
If you 100% stand behind your comment, who are they?
I am enjoying the days after Spuds. We might have more of the same and I’d love that. But we might start fucking up again as well. I’m on the Conte hype train because he’s the manager that gives us the highest chance of winning things. We are seeing what sticking to OGS and what not sticking with Lampard did. Manure have stood still in the last years. We’ve declined. Chelsea’s rot was reversed and they are considered a team on the rise. I bet that Ole has had many more excellent games during his reign compared to Arteta. We… Read more »
OGS having great one-off performances doesn’t change the narrative that he is just not good enough. At least Arteta has a one-off performance to look at now and maybe try to replicate on a more than 1 game in a 22 months basis.
AFC forever ‘no other reason than Arteta signed them’-
I think with White and Ramsdale it was more about the English premium we had to pay for them and the argument that our budget would have been better spent elsewhere. Not too many people arguing that they’re not good enough although the ‘relegator’ was a cheap if slightly amusing moniker.
Raptora, one excellent performance in 22 months….Man U New Years Day was great, and the context of the SF and FA cup final were also excellent. I’m sure there were several more that don’t immediately spring to mind!
I really don’t understand this visceral hate some people seem to have toward Pepe. I mean it’s not his fault that we decided to grossly overpay for him. Yes, for £72m he has underperformed but he’s not the first player to do so in that price bracket. Lukaku, at Man Utd and Kepa at Chelsea were players in the same price bracket who also flattered to deceive. Pepe is hardly alone here. Pepe, is a confidence player, and actually when he gets a run in the team he does produce. Last season when we were losing to the likes of… Read more »
Exactly, Bob.
The push-back had very little to do with the quality and everything to do with the price tag. £20m for a young keeper when we were desperate for cover isn’t that crazy in today’s money.
£50m for a young CB has when we had the 3rd best defensive record in the league had every right to be questioned.
AFC Forever
Bellingham
Rumour was we were very close to nabbing Bellingham because he was highly recommended by our scouts but when Steve Morrow got moved out and we fired all those scouts earlier last year, the momentum was lost.
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/arsenal-transfer-jude-bellingham-edu-20388930
Leeds, that’s a shame because Bellingham really is a baller.
100% stand behind quietly becomes 0% stand behind.
We got there in the end.
The problem with the overpayment theory is what else could you do? If you’ve identified White and Ramsdale as players that will move us on then you have to pay the price negotiated with clubs who don’t need desperately to sell and contracts still to run
So you either pay that price or go for less suitable players
Anguissa is more average than Doucoure
Got a ticket for the Brighton game today! The catch? I’m in the home end. Going to have to sit on my hands when we score (not if!)
White and Ramsdale move us on against the North London farmers Not against Chelsea and Brentford
Northbanker – I agree with you in that if you are really keen to buy players and the selling club aren’t happy to lose a player then you have to pay top dollar.
As some people guessed, Ramsdale was not coming in as an expensive back up and although it’s obviously early days, it looks a better deal than it did. White still looks a little pricey but Tomy, Sambi, Nuno and Odegaard all look like we got the better deals than the selling clubs.
Very happy with Xhaka being out for 3 months from the clubs perspective. AFC’s demise has tied in with Xhakas tenure here and that is no coincidence Our key midfield anchor role was given to a guy who is too slow for Prem football and therefore is the prince of mistimed tackles. Add in his regressive passing and you have a gutless spine inserted into the team. We don’t need that kind of liability at any time and maybe this will break Arteta’s fixation with the guy (in fairness also an issue with Wenger and Emery) Going forward this is… Read more »
Xhaka can come back to cover for Partey’s absence during the ACN.
Sid – very simplistic as ever from you . White making his debut and did struggle but let’s not put all the blame at his door. I might add that Ramsdale didn’t even play so how you draw that conclusion is beyond me
Englandsbest clichy and cygan were squaddies in the invincivles because their positions were occupied by the top class Campbell/toure/cole
That’s not a good comparison
And again, henderson is a much better player than Xhaka and as was pointed out is far better suited to the PL. which is why he has made a career at a top club winning a league and CL whilst xhaka simply has not.
In any case, the board tasks Arteta to develop youngsters. How can we do it if we play Xhaka every game.
Northbanker “The problem with the overpayment theory is what else could you do? If you’ve identified White and Ramsdale as players that will move us on then you have to pay the price negotiated with clubs who don’t need desperately to sell and contracts still to run. So you either pay that price or go for less suitable players” Bingo. Crucial point. Some of this was for the reason I stated. However, there are a lot of fans who either didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand the Positional Play philosophy, so they saw Ramsdale as just another goalkeeper and… Read more »
Bob,
I honestly think that we would have paid 50m for Ode, maybe more, if Real really demanded that price and no less. That’s how badly everyone at Arsenal wanted him. In the end we probably bought Tomi only because Real put that low price on Ode. For the money involved in both deals, it’s not bad business for us. That’s 1 Ben White money and Ode + Tomi I rate as needed and good deals.
BOB N16 “Xhaka can come back to cover for Partey’s absence during the ACN” Exactly what I said earlier and he will be fresh too. In the meantime, the highly-rated Lokonga is going to get regular game time, I suspect, which can only be a good thing. I’m on the fence with AMN, really want him to succeed but he has a way to go to prove that central midfield is his best position. He certainly has a high energy level and seems to be calm under pressure, so perhaps he can do a job breaking up play for us.… Read more »
Jamie
Nobody minds justified criticism of Arteta, he made mistakes undeniably, as he has admitted himself. But it is also undeniable that he was targeted unfairly by some. Sadly it became a kind of totalitarian propaganda exercise in which the truth hardly mattered. For the good of the Club in their eyes, no doubt.
Don’t ask me to name them, they know who they are.
AFC ForeverSeptember 30, 2021 14:24:15 RapFirstly I have never had you in the extremist corner of the blog. So I apologise that you read that into my comment and to anyone else with whom I have enjoyed many conversations.However, I maintain the general point. Ramsdale and White were rounded on as we all know for no other reason than Arteta signed them. The Saliba bollocks is well documented. Don’t take everything so personally, this was a generalised comment which I stand 100% behind. I’m giving back a bit of the “Arteta Fanboy” and “Superfan” shit I have received on here… Read more »
NorthbankerSeptember 30, 2021 15:08:11
Sid – very simplistic as ever from you
Claiming White and Ramsdale have moved us on after one game against The North London farmers is simplistic.
Are they any better than Martinez and Saliba? How short can your memories be?
As you mentioned AFC, the White transfer was also clouded by the decision that Saliba should go on another season long loan. I’ll admit I was all for Saliba fitting into our back 4 – he is a very imposing CB who may not pass quite as well as White but is more than capable on the ball. Again, like many other fans I would have taken £12 m or whatever for Xhaka and would have.bought if possible Bissouma with the money Brighton got anyway for White. Hopefully in the next year, Saliba will be back, we’ll off load Mari,… Read more »
Sid, there are no farms in North London…
I’m sure the academy staff and coaching staff will make the right decision, but if they think he is ready enough, I would bring in Patino and put him on the bench. If it is true that we’ve included a recall clause for Azeez (and he’s deemed ready) I would bring him back too. If they are good enough, they are old enough. I’m sure the other Hale End lads will take care of him and help him settle in… and he won’t be the first youngster to be given a chance because of an long term injury to a… Read more »
*African Cup of Nations…
Leeds, I really think that Bellingham story is bollocks. He had the pick of every major club in England and he chose Dortmund. No chance we were close on him. Think that’s ex scouts trying to powder their CVs
Sid. The last 2 weeks have trumped whatever happened in the last 20 months. Dont you know?. We are now on a sure path to greatness. 3 losses followed by 3 wins with a neg goal difference. Lets hope that doesnt become a pattern. Onwards and upwards mes amies. Pardon my French
Sid,
Martinez decided to leave because he didn’t have the guts to fight Leno for his position.
Ben White is better than William Saliba.
“Xhaka can come back to cover for Partey’s absence during the ACN.”
Fair enough I suppose but isn’t that the “best case” scenario? What if he has a relapse or it takes him longer to get back to match fitness?
Consider Bellerin, yes true he suffered a complete ACL injury which is far more serious, but knees are funny things. Sometimes, once they go, you never truly get back what you had.
Moving Arsenal on is having Saliba, and Martinez and buying midfielders like Camavinga, Bissouma
Iirc salibas passing stats are excellent normally
AFC: “Bingo. Crucial point.” That’s as obvious as my pronounced ballsack. Excuse us, mortals, for doubting the transfer business of Arteta, Edu and Arsenal as a whole, all so proven in the last years. The thing with overpaying for players is that you have to be very confident that the players will do very, very well for you. If you are right and the exact players you overpaid for turned out to be the real deal, you got yourself a good reputation in knowing your stuff. If you are wrong, you got yourself a player that is not doing as… Read more »
Did Ben White make the England squad. BBC website doesnt show the full list
“”””””Bob N16September 30, 2021 15:41:56
Sid, there are no farms in North London…””””””
Plenty of small scale ganja farms last time i checked
“Ben White is better than William Saliba.” Maybe, but that’s the irony… it would have been nice to see him play for us, so that we as the fans could make that judgement for ourselves. I just find it strange that Arteta has been so against giving him a go. I suspect there’s something going on behind closed doors we’re not aware of. Shame really because I woould love to see Saliba in our colours mixing it up… Sell Holding Chambers and Mari then bring in Saliba and promote Ballard. We would have the youngest defensive corp then. A defensive… Read more »