Are you still riding high off the fumes of that win at the weekend? I am. It’s such a great feeling.
You know what is also great? ‘Too small for football’ ‘game 1 failure’… Ben White, is in line for an England call-up. Inject that right into my veins. There’s a video clip of Arteta talking about the benefits of having a defender like VVD being able to pick out a pass from deep. It was almost a year ago today.
Exactly 1 year apart. Arteta knew exactly what he wanted and he implemented it. Fairs. pic.twitter.com/n7nrPWbqZX
— Afc things (@Gunner2Jasper) September 27, 2021
I honestly can’t believe we spent a summer questioning the need to sign a defender that could do all the things David Luiz could, but at speed, without the doughnut behaviours that were part of his baggage. Ben White is going to be a very good signing for us this season and I suspect no one will be questioning whether he was £15m too expensive for us by the end of the season.
You know how you know things are going right? The people licking their wounds for their premature write-off of all the players we signed this summer are talking about… William Saliba. Quite something, wouldn’t you say? Donald Trump was the master of deflections like that, but I won’t have it here, I see you. Those people that said all our summer signings were terrible must face the consequences of their actions.
Arteta has a long way to go towards vindication, but the players we’ve signed don’t. They’re sharp buys.
The best thing about the resurgence of a whopping three games is that Gabriel has come back a total machine. There’s a lot of complaining about some of the terrible moves that we did with super-agents last year, but no one gives credit to the snip of a deal we landed with our Brazilian monster. He’s found his footing in year two and it’s been a pleasure. Could he be the Sol Campbell of the revolution? Maybe. He’s imposing, aggressive, his passing has moved on leaps, and he gives everyone the feeling of security. I have been so impressed with him.
Gunnerblog made an interesting point about the weekend. Players we didn’t see on the bench.
- Chambers
- Mari
- Elneny
- Kolasinac
- Balogun
- Nketiah
Those are some statement bench moves that for me, signify that whatever went on during those magical 15 days, really did mean something to how Arteta is approaching this season.
In fact, it’s why I don’t concern myself about William Saliba. The starting 11 we rolled out at the weekend was the youngest to have ever won a NLD. I don’t think there’s a world in which the Frenchman isn’t brought back into the mixer next season, at a better time, when we have European football.
Also, worth noting… I’ve heard that Eddie is on fire. He’s got that ‘I NEED A NEW DEAL’ vibe about him. A lot of people write off players too fast, myself included. We forget that sometimes, in life, shit just clicks. Think there might be some concerns that if he’s left to leave, we might have an Emi moment. Remember, Emi was nowhere until he turned 27.
Saka and Ramsdale HAVE been called up to England.
Ramsdale revealed his favourite dish is… Jamaican.
It’s official.
‘Arsenal’s reputation for blooding young players is upheld by the CIES data, with the Gunners boasting the lowest average-age team (25.01 years) in the Premier League.’
If we’re losing Granit Xhaka and replacing him with Lokonga, that’d take our starting 11 average down to 23 I think (is that bad maths?). That’s a statement about the future, right?
This is a number to be proud of if we can continue to play well moving forward. The new strategy is now public, the media is starting to clock that we’re pretty decent, now we just have to keep winning hearts and minds with good performances.
This weekend, we play Brighton, a team that has really made some strides on last year. They aren’t quite the same without Bissouma, but obviously, he’s looking good to get back into their starting 11 for the game.
We absolutely tanked them at The Emirates when fans were allowed back into the ground, but this time, at home, it will likely be a little tougher. Both clubs play the same style of football, so we’ll have to be at our best. I’m pretty sure Graham Potter will have a decent plan for Martin Odegaard, who he cited as controlling things last time around.
I’ll have more on that tomorrow, see you in the comments, where SALIBA VIOLATIONS will be cited and punished.
LISTEN OR WATCH THE BELOW
englandsbest
‘Really happy we’ve put the in-fighting to bed’.
Where have you been or are you referring to Pedro’s censorship? He has every right to do it as a private business/blog but it’s still censorship.
bacaryisgod, I exit comments that’d get your in trouble if you were saying them in an Arsenal bar. Makes things more pleasant for the patrons trying to enjoy a nice pint.
How is it mutually exclusive for want Ben white to do well and question whether 50 m spend on a position we had covered is a bad move?
Xacka is now injured l, he’s insanely average but don’t want to see pipe arteta missed xacka for most of the season. No, we could have bought a top mf for that and been completely fine.
Lakonga as being the answer is insane, he’s 21, absolute yute. You make your bed.
Use grub to burnish your argument, get out of here using salibas name.
DUIFG, Xhaka isn’t insanely average, so let’s clear that up. Secondly, we didn’t budget for a central midfielder, so that meant we’d need proper cash to rpl Xhaka. We didn’t get it.
… finally, we absolutely needed a centre back when Luiz left. If you didn’t realise that last season, then you certainly should have seen what White has offered this time around. Think I saw he was the 3 highest xG contributor in our team vs Spurs. He was needed.
Pedro
Who would you bring into midfield, Sambi? Niles? Elneny? Chambers?
Raptora, Are you the one who keeps saying that Emi made the right choice going to Villa? I just don’t understand that attitude from an Arsenal supporter. Keep in mind, he says himself he was assured by Arteta 90 or 95% chance he had won the opening day start. I’m happy with Ramsdale, so it’s not a big deal to me. But why would you think he’s better off at Villa than this current Arsenal and in the next few years, as he’s late 20s. You’ve said you’re happy for him, right? Others here have said it also. Why? Isn’t… Read more »
The one thing I’m happy to pay instant dues on is underestimating Ramsdale. He may still have flaws in his game with mid to long range shots (not the looping ones obviously!) in an excellent analysis that someone linked to here, but he’s brought an undeniable energy and attitude to the position. Looks quite good with his short and long passing too.
The one thing very few posters were expecting was the late signing of Tomiyasu and loan departure of Bellerin. Full credit to everyone at the club, including the Kroenkes, for going the extra mile.
Nigel Tufnel
Look-it’s worked out well for Emi. He had a great season at capped it off with some great performances in the Copa America.
Seems to have finally worked out well for us too.
No need to turn this into a drama. Either you are missing the obvious fact that Raptora is a big Arsenal fan or you are just spoiling for a fight.
Nigel,
You need to chill. You want to see him fail? He’s dead to you?
I get that attitude towards cunts like Nasri, Adebayor or even RVP. But Emi was a model professional for many years. You have no clue what went down between him and the club. If that 90-95% thing is true, it would indicate that there was either some serious breach of trust or, at the very least, some big interpersonal issues at play.
Whatever it is, I too wish Emi success. He’s earned it. Hopefully, we’ll be fine with Ramsdale.
I know Emi Martinez is good at handling high balls and crosses, but I’m going to take a good look at his distribution, because Ramsdales is so good, decisive and confident so far. I remember Emi’s was better than Leno, but so is mine.
Have to say that Nigel Tufnel comes across as a bit of a condescending prick..
Maybe he should try talking about the football instead of acting like an irritating adolescent
Love sausage,, Cuck #2 appears. Answer the question I posed to Raptora please. What if Smith Rowe had decided to join Emi and push for Villa this past summer? I’m sure your friend Emi told them to recruit him. Would you wish Smith Rowe well if he dumped us before we did our summer business? You say Nasri, van Persie are different cases. But where do you draw the line. If OUR club wants a player to stay, and you push to go. He’s dead to me. A guy leaving to a bigger club for a shot at major trophies… Read more »
Pierre,
Seems condescending because you can’t handle the logic. So I’m sorry.
While I made a bunch of valid points, you respond with “condescending prick”.
Nothing to refute the points, because you can’t. And then you say I’m not talking about football.
But very lengthy, unfunny sketches that are always Anti Arsenal, are ok?
Even though they have nothing to do with football.
Tell me which point I made from any post that you want to debate.
You’ll just avoid that.
Pierre, are you happy for Martinez, and wish him success?
Then answer the question I posed to the cucks please.
Nigel, Dial it down a notch, you’ll hurt yourself. As for your question, I don’t feel it’s hard to draw the line. In fact, there are three lines. The first one is about how the club treated a player. In RVP’s case, we kept investing in him and refused to buy a player that might threaten his development while he was spending most of his time in the medical room. Then one good season and he’s gone. The second line is about a player’s behaviour after he leaves the club. E.g. Adebayor’s goal celebration against us. That’s crossing the line.… Read more »
Rich, it has to be Sambi for me. I hope we don’t make the mistake of letting Mo back into the mixer. We need to use this season to develop our signings.
Wouldn’t be shocked to see a bit of AMN in there. He’s looked really focused this season.
Nigel
You’re trying too hard to make a name for yourself here.
If Arsenal had ultras. you would be the secretary of the Arsenal fundamentalist cell.
Stop making a fool of yourself.
Love sausage,
Very reasonable response, even though I feel differently.
Nigel Literally the only good thing about you recently is your name. I’m happy that Emi has done well, as I expect Pierre probably is too. He was a model professional for us, played a big part in the last F.A Cup win but felt let down that he wasn’t guaranteed to start. I disagree with his position on that issue but the club also didn’t have to sell. His fee was applied to the Partey transfer and if we needed to sell him to get Partey that still might pay dividends if Partey can stay healthy. Of course, we’ll… Read more »
*Villa
Pierre, are you happy for Martinez, and wish him success?
Why wouldn’t anyone wish a player who came to us as a 17 year old, won a. memorable trophy for us and was moved out for good profit, well in his future endeavors.
Dissenter it’s funny how you never debate me on any single point. Not once.. Just throw general comments and insults. I wonder why. Just because you’ve been spitting negativity here so long, you think you have some kind of seniority? Make a point about my player, or football comments next time. Just once. Then debate. I’m very specific in my comments. Go for it. Were you one of the ones saying Ramsdale was like a sad 4th or 5th choice for the national team. Would rather have Johnstone (like it was your money was spent on Ramsdale). Don’t lie because… Read more »
Fair enough Bacary. One of the best posters here.
I don’t think any comments stating that arteta is out of his depth in the last couple weeks would be inaccurate or over the top as some posters suggest We have beaten 2 sides that we should be beating and the NLD, which is always a High intensity affair. We’ll know by the end of December, if arteta really has what it takes to take arsenal football club back to the heights of its glory days (I know the arteta obsessives will plead for the classic judge him in May) At the end of the day, time will reveal all,… Read more »
Bacary I feel the same. At that time Martinez is the better keeper based on form vs Leno. But the $$ is too good to pass for 6 months of stellar work plus it was needed for Partey transfer. The same could be said if Willock goes crazy and scores for 20 consecutive games and then what? We say Willock is better than Partey? Anyway I need to mention Saliba. I don’t see him play but if Wenger thinks he is good, he is likely good. If he plays himself great, lets hope he either makes it back here or… Read more »
Gonsterous
Yeah.
I resented Arteta for having the same acronym as Wenger but playing Mourinho style football.
He better not turn back to type.
Almunia really sorry to see you withdraw because apart from your brilliant satirical mind that brings humour to many here, but goes over the heads of the Tim-nice-but-Dim flat-earthers that dwell here who actually think you’re belittling our great club and that they are the true supporters. Satire irony at its best. The satire sketches are just that a humorous view of AFC in the manner of Punch or Viz magazine in their time or the brilliant ‘Have I Got News for you?’ BBC 2 offering of satirical current affairs/news comedy. All have the same comedy denotation to ease our… Read more »
Thanks Nigel.
IT should be AMN Loko and TP anyhow…
Tony
I do not know what happened.
Pedro tolerated the likes of me, Charlie and Pierre and we are like diehard Wenger acolytes while Le Grove was THE WO blog of the net.
Dark Hei you think Pedro should add some blog merchandise?
Could make some crazy T-shirts, coffee mugs etc
Would be a good way to cover his expenses.
“Pedro tolerated the likes of me, Charlie and Pierre and we are like diehard Wenger acolytes while Le Grove was THE WO blog of the net.” And became part of the furniture here as many others did, thankfully. I think the only way this blog will find balance is if Arteta somehow finally gets his overthinking act together and keeps bringing in results to rack up points. or It all goes pear shaped again as has always happened thus far after a purple patch however brief and Josh says enough is enough. Truly, I have no idea which way the… Read more »
Le grove handcuffs, whips, masks, rabbit wands would sell like hot cakes
There some things you can’t teach a GK but they have to come from within, they are based on passion and are expressed in very crucial moments and can be difference of a win or loosing points. Emi has that Leno has never shown it and I have yet to see it from Ramsdale. In the game between Villa and Manure, Emi fucked with Bruno’s and Ronaldo’s mind. He was passionate and confident telling Ronaldo I want you to take the penalty and I fuck you over. He got into Bruno’s head and he misssed. Emi turned around and did… Read more »
quite/quiet
Emi Martinez can tell a medoicre manager better than Diet Pep fanboys
I don’t feel strongly one way or another about houssem aouar but he looks pretty special here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g39XPuYEew
As did Cherki, but Shaqiri had a shocker.
Tony Good morning from a very damp and windswept West Sussex. Do none of our contributors get out to walk the streets. Do none of our contributors talk to fellow human beings who have been monitoring our clubs demise over the past decade or so? Arsenal have been the joke of the town all this time. Being sceptical about things is therefore bred into every Arsenal supporter. Arteta has an awful long way to go before he can convince me that Arsenal Football Club have turned a corner. Beating Norwich, Burnley, FC Wimbledon and Spuds in the NLD will mean… Read more »
MD- Gunner
I was one of those posters who apparently overstepped the mark with my narrative towards Pedro. I was prevented from posting l
The thing is why can’t we point out things when our own leader is flip flopping around to suit his own agenda (blog).
The past few months it’s been so bad you have to wonder who Pedro is actually catering for on here.
englandsbest is someone who comes to mind. Who else is there?
So many good posters have gone missing.
Why is that?
Good morning Graham from stormy (rain season) Thailand. Have to agree with what you say. As I’ve said earlier it depends on the next 5 games for the fans to assess if this time the winning is backed up with more wins. I just don’t know how to call it, but Arteta has the ears of who matters so let’s see how things progress. The Amazon cameras will add to the wanting to look good although playing under the microscope nothing new. Just that this microscope is going to be sold and viewed many times to and by its fans.… Read more »
Tony
Where do you think this squad of players should be finishing this season?
Where do you think we’ll finish in comparison to your expectations?
How many points do you think we’ll get?
Where you stand on Arsenal currently depends on where you set the bar. Arteta seems to have stopped the slide but surely we have to wait until we beat the likes of West Ham and Leiceater before we start getting excited. We look a million miles away from a top 4 side
Rich If we assume Arteta is going to improve greatly expanding on the NLD performance or we end up with a new manager after Xmas and we don’t lose ESR, Saka, Partey or Ode for any lengths of time, I’d say this squad can be back in the EL cup and should be pushing very close for top 4. That’s solely based on the last 3 wins. Again too many variants to call it, but I still expect 4th. That was my statement at the beginning of the season. I’m not buying into the patience latest PR offering from Per.… Read more »
“Plenty of stern tests still to come for this lot.United and Liverpool for a start, and pretty much any other team in the top half.”
I have watched some of the united games. they are lucky to be where they are. De Gea has kept them in the game in their last match. A couple of more losses and you will see the team falling apart with Big Egos’s coming out against the manager.
Last season, the performance fluctuated and so was the defensive lineup. This time, Arteta has finally setup his defense. It will go a long way for the confidence of the team. Auba seems to like what he saw. Last game, he gave an effort that we haven’t seen for a long time. Since we don’t have European football this season, I believe we should be in the top6 by January. If we sign another good CM, dreams can come true.
Tony
Who is Wilcox? I was referring to Willock. He is not a Defensive Midfield Player.
When it comes to waffle I suggest that you take a look at your own posts. At least I try to focus
on Arsenal and football matters in contrast to you.
Pierre
Grow up!
Using descriptions such as ‘condescending prick’ as an argument is adolescent.
I think it’s the inconsistency and hypocrisy of the pro Arteta posts that is still winding people up. Small but telling example – Pedro last night retweeted a tweet that about Saliba that begins “ Mikel sent him to OM to become a man” Except for the last few months he was repeating and casting around for proof that it was entirely Saliba’s choice to pick France over the much preferred (by Arsenal and Pedro and most fans) EPL loan to Newcastle. In other words when something g goes wrong it’s nor Arteta – when it goes right it’s all… Read more »
As Pedro has posted Xhaka has a specific role in the team. That is as a Defensive/Holding Midfield player. No-one suggests that he is a brilliant player, but he does fulfil the function that he provides so long as the rest of our midfield is fit for purpose. I saw for the first time on Sunday a combination in midfield which offered that balance. If you are going to make a comparison between Willock and any other players in the current starting eleven then you do so with Partey, Smith-Rowe and Odegaard. Personally I consider all three players superior in… Read more »
MDGunner
Oh dear, I jumped the gun.
1
The anti-arteta brigade feeling hurt and ill-done by. ‘How can you expect constructive criticism?’
you ask.
I’d be hard put to find any in your comments. Impatience personified. Blame the manager for everything. Disbelieve his every word. Ignore any sign of improvement.
Still there is hope for you.
It’s all a bit daft now on this blog. For those that were accused of going over the top in regards to the defeats the team suffered in the first couple of matches then the same accusation can now be laid at the feet of those doing exactly the same because of a couple of wins. The wins against Norwich and Burnely were not very good overall performances. When someone puts in WBA in the League Cup then you know that is just trolling. The first half against Spurs was excellent. That’s what gives hope. When the dust has settled… Read more »
Nice comments Ish
The other issue as a number of people have pointed out is that the board have decided to back Arteta so there is not much point anymore in demanding his exit.
I think we are looking at best case 4th ahead of Utd and worse case 8th. Really hope for the former as we need CL aim the long run to retain talent.
Graham This is what pisses me off more than anything. If Arteta stripped naked at the side of the pitch and proclaimed his love for Shirley Bassey, it would be considered part of the “process” as far as Pedro and his bosom buddies are concerned. He should read your last paragraph because many of us feel exactly the same. He has the power to close us down, which is his prerogative. He says he doesn’t care what others think but it’s strange that when other posters over the past few years have communicated appallingly to each other, nothing was done… Read more »
Good post Graham, and it’s a shame to see so many good posters turning their back on this site as a result. This “Say Arteta is great or your a troll” rhetoric is weird if I’m being honest and hard to comprehend given how it was open season on here during Emery’s and Wengers reign. Led by Pedro himself. Now people are getting censored and threatened with the bin for praising Saliba but it’s fair game to slag him off. I honestly don’t get or agree with all this censorship over non offensive views on football. It’s a shame because… Read more »
From now on I’ll concentrate on the football.
If Bissouma plays, I’ll go for a score draw.
No Bissouma and I fancy a 2-1 win.
http://www.thehardtackle.com/news/2021/10/01/transfer-news-arsenal-chelsea-rival-barcelona-for-ryan-gravenberch/
Please, please please bring him in. With the culture that we are trying to build at the club he would be an excellent acquisition.
Signings looking good, yes and plenty of time to develop for the likes of lokonga and tavares now too with xhaka out and Tierney likelihood of time off. Ramsdale, tomiyasu are both doing the business already far as I’m concerned and I’m slowly getting onboard with the white signing as well despite initially being concerned about the fee, height, physicality etc. The fee shouldn’t mean anything to fans, I for one couldn’t give a rats ass if the kroenkes waste some money. The main questions for fans should be is he good and will he improve the team. If he… Read more »
What we can all agree on is that as fans we all hope to enjoy watching Arsenal play again and that doesn’t mean just results but the overall performances and entertainment but these usually go hand in hand. We hope to see more of the type of Spurs performance rather than what proceeded it to a large extent. The entertainment value from Arteta’s side until very recently was to put it mildly quite barren. We hope this will no longer be the case and we see much more better overall team performances and with the enjoyment of watching to go… Read more »
Hear! hear!
Graham62
Pardon me for stating the subtext: Arteta is a poor manager because he didn’t bid for Bissouma. Right?
Graham62
“If Arteta stripped naked at the side of the pitch and proclaimed his love for Shirley Bassey, it would be considered part of the “process” as far as Pedro and his bosom buddies are concerned”
Time to move on from these childish, personal insults mate. If Shirley Bassey stripped off I would probably be physically sick. It would actually be worse than reading Tony’s abuse-laden novels and that really is saying something.
Can we all agree on the following: After a surprisingly good (if perhaps somewhat expensive in a few cases) transfer window, we now have a balanced squad (just a little bit light in central midfield). It is also a young, skilful and energetic squad, with no European distractions to tire it out. One could say that it is a squad capable of challenging for Top 4. Man C, Liverpool and Chelsea are nailed on for the Top 3 places, but Man U (managed by the likeable but clueless Norwegian Jesus Ole) is vulnerable. IF we make it to the Top… Read more »
Ishola “We hope to see more of the type of Spurs performance rather than what proceeded it to a large extent. The entertainment value from Arteta’s side until very recently was, to put it mildly quite barren” Agree. This is why the profiling of players was so important Ish. Our build-up play from back to front was too slow and it was easier for teams to get set against us. We have to face facts, the personnel we had simply couldn’t play the way Arteta’s PP dictates. The moment that demonstrates this best for me was when Leno played the… Read more »
It’s too early to say that this squad is capable of top four.
Too many fans are making concrete decisions on players mostly new that have only played a handful of games for the club.
But I see what you were doing there Words on a Blog. You were putting pressure on Arteta and raising that bar for him but the majority of fans will see 5th or 6th as a progression from last season. This is what you can go with when the previous season was failure. Go with the progression line.
Sotongunner, I agree with your post. Good stuff. I don’t agree with the part of Saliba having a bad attitude as there is no indications of that anywhere he’s played. “It is customary that the Saint-Etienne academy players live at the training ground complex. What’s unusual about Saliba is that once he stepped up to the first team, he stayed there. At the end of his breakout 2018-19 season, training centre director Philippe Guillemet confirmed to Le Parisien: “He is still there. He is peaceful. He wanted to stay in the centre to be quiet, to recover well. No travelling.… Read more »
Great post Rap.
Saliba’s a true Gooner.!
Being named generational for top 4 after nearly 3 years at the helm is severely lowering the bar, Words.
But I agree targets set at the start of the season should still stand.
Top 4 and give him a crack at Europe. Win the CL and Arteta can be claimed generational and handed the holy grail. It’ll be the first in our history, so he deserves to call his sauce generational.
Ishola I took a fair amount of stick after we lost our first 3 games under mitigating circumstances And dared to suggest that our first 11 is decent, our squad better balanced, and we’d get plenty of results this season, once things settled down It wasn’t like I was suggesting anything too outlandish either 5th, spitting distance of 4th, and 69-74 points Things aren’t all rosy in the garden, but the mass hysteria after our first 3 games, was completely detached from the reality of our situation We’re susceptible to injuries in certain areas of the pitch, because our squad… Read more »
AFC Forever
“Agree. This is why the profiling of players was so important”
What we saw prior to the Spurs match from Arteta for too many matches was handbrake football. Stabilisers on the bike football.
If these new signings mean no more handbrake football or at least much less of it all for the good.
It remains to be seen though whether Arteta himself will fully let go of the handbrake. Looks like there are less excuses for him now though as most fans are going with the line that he now has the tools.
” Youngsters doing well considering many reckon Arteta doesn’t rate them.”
Quality statement.. can you elaborate on the MANY
@Graham on Pedro
” it’s a shame he now has to treat the rest of us like we are idiots who are not capable of forming a view.”
Well said!
Also some good posts as always from Graham62 , I know you don’t post as much now but they are always on point when you do.
If Arteta makes top four with this squad I’ll be the first one to call him Mr Generational, and Pedro Mr Visionary.
Englandsbest can be called the wiseman.
Can I just ask the locals which Arsenal pubs in London have gotten so extreme that upon voicing any criticism of the club or the manager you’d get your teeth kicked in and your ass thrown out.
I’m making the trip this month to watch Arsenal play and I have a very basic dental plan.
Ish “It remains to be seen though whether Arteta himself will fully let go of the handbrake. Looks like there are less excuses for him now though as most fans are going with the line that he now has the tools” Yes. I’m not going to change my mind from last season. My entire point has always been that Arteta has been hampered by the players he had. I will live and die by that obviously. That was why I liked the Ramsdale and White signings. Not popular but I have been consistent. PP is largely about fluid transition and… Read more »
Stand in for Xhaka Back when we were all trying to figure out why we were paying so much for Ben White, the crew over at Arsenal Vision podcast did an excellent interview with David Harrison I believe of the Brighton and Hove supporters club who made an intriguing suggestion. He suggested that Ben White would make a superb defensive midfielder given his passing range and tackling ability. He postulated that it might be in Arteta’s masterplan to transform him into one… Agree? Disagree? Worth thinking about? After White who is the next best defender to partner Gabriel in the… Read more »
AFC Forever
“With regard to the way he played in his first season; he had to play that way”
The concern for many was that we saw the handbrake football in his second season as well.
But we hope Arteta has now turned the page on this entering his third season.
*middle of the defence… not park
Ishola
Yep, that’s fair
Words on a blog We get that you are trying hard to be fair-minded but you are contradicting your.self by using the term ‘generational’. Counting Arteta a duff manager if Arsenal don’t make top 4 is missing the point. What matters is that he is moving the Club in the right direction. A choice, if you like, between a quick fix or a return to the elite. A quiick fix is temporary, a return to the elite means consistently competing for top ritles and trophies. A matter of time. However, as an optimist, my expectation is – and has been… Read more »
woah Pedro calm down with that vindication thing man . Its only 3 wins , I would say wait for a bit for Arteta 2.0 atleast until the ManUtd game . Lets not get too hasty . 3 matches doesnt make a season . As for the signings yes they looked good together so far , long may it continue. But Leno , Torreria , Guendouzi they all looked good for a while as well , so keep calm and stay excited for the matches . Lets not polarise the fan base here.
“Emi has that Leno has never shown it and I have yet to see it from Ramsdale. In the game between Villa and Manure, Emi fucked with Bruno’s and Ronaldo’s mind. He was passionate and confident telling Ronaldo I want you to take the penalty and I fuck you over. He got into Bruno’s head and he misssed. Emi turned around and did a jig to the Manure supporters, absolutely priceless. That is what we lost and he deserves for that fantastic passion a well wish, too bad it is not helping AFC.” You saying this because he saved the… Read more »
Leeds
Good question.
That is true about White being able to play as DM, he has done that.
I don’t think he will be played that way. However, what he offers is the ability to pass short, long AND step into midfield to go past players. That’s why he was signed because we don’t have anyone else like that. If we lost him and we needed to play another centre half to partner Gabriel, it would slow our build-up play from the back. Holding or Mari come in.
AFC Forever The issue both Emery + Arteta have had is a lack of quality and balance Emery’s first season was overall nowhere near the disaster some made it out to be, and I wasn’t surprised we’ve finished 8th in back to back seasons I’ve been accused of being both a Emery + Arteta apologist, but I just don’t think our squad has been up to much I wasn’t surprised that when we introduced Smith Rowe + Odegaard, and Partey returned from injury, that the football and results improved last season I wasn’t surprised we lost to Chelsea in the… Read more »
“But Leno , Torreria , Guendouzi they all looked good for a while as well , so keep calm and stay excited for the matches . Lets not polarise the fan base here.”
Leno for me is still a good goalkeeper, Torreira was good till Emery deployed him as a 10 while Guen wasn’t all that for me.
Rich “Emery’s first season was overall nowhere near the disaster some made it out to be, and I wasn’t surprised we’ve finished 8th in back to back seasons. I’ve been accused of being both a Emery + Arteta apologist, but I just don’t think our squad has been up to much” Always my view. I’ve been a big critic of the balance in the squad. People forget neither Emery nor Arteta came into a squad like Chelsea have but they were expected to make a few tweaks and off you go. Never going to happen. Balance is key, so too… Read more »
The Athletic is reporting Jack Henry-Francis has signed his first professional contract with the club. Congratulations to Jack.
It’s always good to see another double-barrelled surname rolling off the Hale End production line :))
Great question on the Radio the other day. Who are your clubs 10 most exciting players of all time, the players who got you off your seat?
1. Henry
2. Cazorla
3. Ozil
4. Brady
5. Bergkamp
6. Armstrong
7. Van Persie
8. Cesc
9. Robbie P
10. Ian Wright
AFC Arsenal
Emery is not a bad coach/manager as he has proven in Spain.
However, he was the wrong appointment for Arsenal not least because of his poor communication skills.
Arsenal is a Cosmopolitan Club with players coming from divers countries and backgrounds. Having a Manager who had a poor grasp of English was going to be a problem as he turned out to be.
1. Henry
2.Cazorla
3. Pires
4. Cesc
5. Wright
6. Alexis
7. Vieira
8. Bergkamp
9. Smith Rowe
10. Saka
Rich
I love the fact you have added Smith Rowe and Saka…!!! Hopefully, over time we can add a few others.
Emirates Stroller
“Arsenal is a Cosmopolitan Club with players coming from divers countries and backgrounds. Having a Manager who had a poor grasp of English was going to be a problem as he turned out to be”
Totally agree. I couldn’t understand him half the time, I have no idea how anyone could for whom English isn’t their first language. Very nice guy but it was a big job and the language was a problem.
#SalibaFanClub awwww yea!
As for Ben white. People will be happy with his signing if he plays like a 50m player most of the time (or looks like he is going to in the near future). He hasn’t vindicated his price tag in a couple of games but if he plays like he did against Spurs as his typical level he will do
Also tbf I called Gabriel a great deal shortly after we got him. He started really well last season
AFC Forever I couldn’t not add them, they’ve been a breath of fresh air Saka’s potential is unreal, already performing at a high level, but we even scratched the surface of his overall potential We’ll need to manage him, but he has the potential to become one of the worlds best players over the next few seasons Smith Rowe just gets better and better, he’s a player who can get fans out of their seat He injects pace and movement into our game, and his first touch is exquisite I’d fear where we’d be without them, pulling these two out… Read more »
I’m not sure it will be that straight forward for Saliba to come ‘back’ to Arsenal. He’ll have 2 years on his contract so at some point Arsenal are gonna want to extend him or risk losing him on a free. Why would he extend particularly if Ben White is England and Gabriel is the new Sol? He’s currently 1st team and loved, would cash do it?
AFC: “I often cite the amazing job Klopp did and the 30 plus players he had to change as an example of what a manager has to do sometimes to implement a particular strategy.” You might want to change the citation as Klopp managed to add 15 points in his first full season to Liverpool’s average of the previous 2 seasons – from 60 and 62 points to 76 pts and a 4th place. In the Summer of 2016 he sold Benteke, Ibe, Allen and co to get the likes of Mane, Wijnaldum and Matip on a transfer window PROFIT… Read more »
Gabriel was 25m but certainly has not looked like it for the vast majority of his time with us. He did have an off period briefly in the middle of last season but on balance he looked the stand out CB since he joined. If he is kicking on this season he will be massive for us If white can be as good in his own way that will be awesome. Also if saliba really does live up to the hype and against all odds stays with us next season we could be really blessed at the back. If saliba… Read more »
Rich Can’t disagree. Saka and ESR are really humble lads too, so it’s easy to take to them. Hard to believe how young they are! The Saka interview after the NLD was something else, what a lovely lad he is. Talking about how he and ESR had been wondering what it would be like to score in a NLD and saying he is just like the fans. I also liked the Ramsdale interview with David Seaman standing next to him. These lads are not like the Guendouzis’. these are down-to-earth, ordinary guys with a humility that suggests they will listen… Read more »
Pedro Genuine thanks for steering me to those other sites. I used to post regularly on the Gooner as ‘Arseneknewbest’ (towards the end of his reign obviously! ) but once he went, the name became redundant! I’ll give the other sites a try too, in sadness, after concluding the current narrative on this site is no longer for me. My other half also gave me the idea of using whatsapp to see if some of you want to keep lines open with like-minded Arsenal – rather than Arteta – fans. It may or may not work. So in honour of… Read more »
Arteta refused to sell Xhaka and Maitland-Niles, offered contracts to Xhaka, Mustafi, brought Mari and Soares, Runarsson, sold Martinez, paid money to get rid of/let them wind down their contracts of Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Sokratis, sent the likes of Saliba, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Guen, Mavro, Kolasinac. My point is that he made a LOT of decisions. They all influenced us in one way or another. His job is to make sure that we end up better in the table. We didn’t. We finished 8th again. His judgement as a whole on how he saw the team was bad as he didn’t achieve… Read more »