Thank you to all the folk that dropped nice comments and messages after the mental health post yesterday. I implemented the Bad Day rule for my team today, I hope you did too!
Onto Arsenal news…
We’re being linked with: Chambo.
The player is out in the cold at Liverpool, he hasn’t really banged, he’s 28 years old and seems to be whipping up a bit of attention.
Can’t see it.
He doesn’t fit with the profile we’re looking for at Arsenal. He’d be expensive. He’s not the most robust of players. I’m not sure he fits for what we’re in need of at the moment.
I suspect the next two big moves for Arsenal will be the Xhaka replacement and more importantly: The Lacazette replacement.
Big pennies will likely go on those two roles because we need a heightened amount of specificity.
Thomas Partey actually scored a goal on international duty by hitting the target with a real shot.
This is bad news.
It’s permission for him to shoot on site.
It’s an invite to bully smaller boys into letting him take freekicks.
It’s Kolo Toure long rangers, it’s David Luiz standing over the ball, it’s John Jensen in row Z.
Bad times. All because of the international break.
Weird that this is the only international break of the season when basically everyone new creating journo takes a holiday. Good for them, but I really have next to nothing to write about. I’m running on fumes. It’s going to be even harder this week because our next game is on a Monday.
My big question for the next period is how Arteta reacts if we’re still not getting a turn out of Auba after the break. Does he revert back to Lacazette, who is rumoured to be attracting interest from Inter? Or does he try Eddie, who hasn’t signed a deal? I can’t see him opting for Balogun, who despite doing bits for the U23s, really looks like he needs a move.
It’s amazing how unbalanced we can look in attack, it’s also a real shame that Auba’s form tanked so soon after he signed a new deal. What a mess this rebuild is.
I watched the Schumacher documentary on Netflix this week. It really changed my perception of the man if I’m honest. You should take it in. There was an amusing parallel with modern football in there. When the German moved to Ferrari to help them reinvent themselves as a competitive F1 team, it took longer than expected, and in his last season, there were calls to move him on. Eventually, it clicked and the rest is history. Just goes to show that patience really is a tough thing to offer anyone at the highest level of sport, even in racing, with one of the greatest racers of all time.
Right, that’s me past the 400-word count.
Listen to me and Johnny talk about Arsenal, racism, mental health, bad hashtags, and the future of our season. I uploaded the wrong file yesterday, so refresh your feed before you listen so you get the edited file, not just the dump of me and Johnny talking about plastic bags.
Ishola, it rarely is cut and dry but removing any metrics by some is quite telling.
The difference in fitness, speed, and technical abilities between England players and Hungary is quite stark.
Ish, what is interesting is the reaction to us performing much better when we got our players back in the starting 11. To winning the north London Derby. To the players people said wouldn’t move the needle… moving the needle.
After the NLD, what were the usual suspects talking about? William Saliba.
That’s where the interesting reaction tends to be.
Pedro
The “usual suspects” typically talk about Saliba, Guendouzi and Emery because you tend to stir the pot in your enticing posts.
Dissenter, the usual suspect pivot to those stories to deflect from good Arsenal vibes.
Arsenal u21 beat Newport in pizza cup. Some good performances in dramatic 4 – 3 win.
“….To the players people said wouldn’t move the needle… moving the needle.”
Pedro, just curious, but what are you basing your opinion that the players have moved the needle on at this early stage?
Tom, not sure there’s a world where the new signings haven’t moved the needle for talent, character, and output that suits the system.
Tom
You have a tendency to deliberately miss the point when you don’t have a sensible answer. I knowt it’s deliberate because you cannot be as obtuse as you sound.
The team is young and inexperienced but the whole ‘they are still learning how to play with each other’ shtick doesn’t fully add up None of our offensive players are new. Ode was here last season. He’s not adapting to anything, he is where he is. Ramsdale is a keeper – doesn’t require great adaptation in that position That leaves white, Tomi and sometimes Lokonga who this can legitimately be said for. If those three Tomi settled immediately so his new arrival doesn’t really fall under this category. That leaves just white and lokonga. Lokonga only plays half the time… Read more »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8P3YSDI56s
China, we have added 5 new players to our starting 11, I cannot be hearing that it’s ‘schtick’ to say they might be learning how to play with each other.
You are a literal teacher for a living. You should know better.
When Wenger added 5 new players, Mertesacker & co, he did Not make excuses about them learning to play with each other
The Bard It’s very easy to look back and criticize the Auba deal in hindsight. -He did look electric in the final year of his contract. -He would have walked for anything less than a 3 year deal and he would have had plenty of takers. -The cost of replacing his contributions would have been massive. Spotrac shows his base at 240k per week for a 13m annual salary. I’m sure there are plenty of bonus provisions in there. However, because he’s probably not hit many of the targets, it reduces the financial damage. -Let’s say he costs the club… Read more »
Bacary I agree even though I was one of a few on here holding out that he should have been sold at the time due to his age. However I fully understood calls to re-sign him and by the end of that season he was at times carrying the tram single handedly. In the end I was actually pleased we did re-sign him as his form then made it impossible to argue with that decision Now it seems to be a stick to beat Arteta with. But how many on here could really have made the decision to do otherwise?… Read more »
My comments on the Auba situation aren’t hindsight. I have been consistent throughout. You don’t give anyone over 30 a massive 3 year contract. It’s money down the drain.
It’s true he was scoring lot of goals but he has always been a one trick pony. He has to have another striker up front with him because if he isnt scoring he doesn’t contribute anything. I understand the maths of replacing him but long term planning is part of managent. Bill Shankly was the master of it.
Good points Northbanker. I do remember you advocating for his sale at the time. The Bard- you can’t really blame Arteta for poor long term planning on this one. The problem was that our young players (Martinelli, Nketiah and Balogun) were still t(and still are) too raw to depend on and Lacazette was going through some rough patches that season also. Where I can agree with you is that it was highly risky. Additionally, Arteta might have been developing something of a god complex by winning the F.A Cup in his first season while actually getting Mustafi to play well… Read more »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbGgBU64030 tell me what yall think
Bacaryisgod
Compound the loss of form with multiple issues with covid/malaria , family and you can see he really lacked confidence if anything. I think fans in the stadium know this and I think this run of home games will se him back to his best now. Many on here are gonna be eating their words.
Flogging Xhaka for 10m to sign someone for 30m would have been bad business.
Not if the new player is an improvement
Sid
“””When Wenger added 5 new players, Mertesacker & co, he did Not make excuses about them learning to play with each other””””
A. Wenger lost the infamous 8 2 at Old Trafford on the Sunday, he then bought x 5 players on the Monday and still finished in 3rd that season.
By the time , Arsenal play their next fixture- they could find themselves in 12th or lower in the table, depending on the results.
Simply unacceptable for a club with any ambition.
Acceptable for KSE ‘s Arsenal
CG
Did you like the way we played against Spurs ?
DS “””CG Did you like the way we played against Spurs ?””” Yes But I disliked the fotos after , where everyone, I mean everyone ( inc Edu) were celebrating after the win. They were celebrating as if they were FA Cup winners not 10th.( have a peek if you can) You will find, the home supporters are more important than the managers instrucions in derby matches. (Even Emery won a 4 2 against them.) Artetas inertia from the bench against a depleted Brighton meant all the good work against Spurs wasted anyhow. The man is average in all aspects… Read more »
AFC is a confused place at the moment – I think we bought really well last Summet and finally settled on a proper strategy, having I hoped learnt from the Willian (and as it turns out Auba) debacle. Let’s hope the Oxlade nonsense is just that . Yet I don’t have any confidence in Artetas ability as a coach. Great coaches will not only have a plan to get the right players into a system but they will also make proper use of existing player strengths. Artetas in- game management and his judgement on certain players has been shocking on… Read more »
https://www.twitch.tv/arsenalofficial
Ainsley Ask Me Anything happening right now live.
Best player you’ve ever played with?
AMN: Mesut Ozil.
Who’s your best friend in the squad?
AMN: I can’t say I have a sole best friend, but I’ll shoutout of course the players that I grew up playing with Saka and Smith-Rowe, and also the french players who we’ve been together since they joined – Auba, Laca, Pepe.
bacaryisgod Excellent post. Revelatory to some (including me) However, dealing with the ‘now’, Auba may come back as a goal-scorer, but it seems unlikely in the Arteta-style play. Whereas he might recover as top score for team that plays in a way that suits him. Come Jan, there might be sides who need him (say Newcastle, Leicester) and a decent fee might be obtained. Throw in his wages, and that’s a considerable sum or saving for the Club. Auba is certainly not one for the future, and a replacement must be high in Arteta’s agenda. It may be that Eddie… Read more »
It’s irrelevant for AMN to say Ozil is the best player he’s played with.
He’s only seen him in games and training and not on forums and blog posts.
Auba is from la belle France? Had no idea.
Gabon is part of France until the french stop keeping their money reserves for them
Auba’s born in France. He’s even played for France NT U21.
CG
Liverpool under Klopp have celebrated a draw against West Brom . I would cut the players some slack , they were under heavy pressure to deliver results and so was Arteta. My point being if you liked how they played against Spurs and moving forward if we play like that against all teams then would you not change your opinion ? Do you like the signings we made this season so far ?
Haha Pedro I stopped being a teacher years ago And which part of what I said is wrong? 3 of our 5 new signings are from the defensive unit which has been really good lately. Ode is not a new signing – it’s ridiculous to include him. Our offensive unit has not changed one bit since last season and it’s our offense which is struggling very badly this season Lokonga has only started half the games this season. So no, I’m afraid it is schtick about them learning to play together. If Pepe, Saka, ESR, Ode, Auba, Partey, Xhaka are… Read more »
What will greatly improve this team is for the old heads and the regular starters in the offensive unit to do better. Not that I’m blaming our young attacking players. It’s a tactical and coaching issue
Its very simple to defennd against Diet Pep tactics
1.man mark Auba, Saka and ESR
2. Man mark the LB
The midfielders are Not allowed to make runs into the box or play ahead of the ball.
With Newcastle on unlimited money,( what happened to ffp) our glorious owner needs to sharpen up as we will just carry on to cement or mid table place.
We will not achieve top four with our squad or manager, so what’s the plan Stan?
We saw vs Spurs if you tell the players to play more freely they can look rampant offensively and still look good at the back But for whatever reason that offensive hand break is glued down 90% of the time. Even when we have games where we score multiple goals and take lots of shots, it has rarely looked that serious. It’s why I didn’t make a big fuss about our winning streak post Christmas last year. Even some of the games where we scored 3 goals it mainly just seemed that we were being a bit more clinical with… Read more »
We have the players to look great offensively just not the smarts to make it happen. Against Leeds last year we were fantastic after Christmas. Va Spurs this season we looked like prime wenger. I don’t think the team needs 200 matches to learn how to play that way, it mainly just needs a bit more freedom. It’s not an age thing either. Some of our greatest ever football playing squads were jammed full of kindergarten players We nearly won the league playing some of the finest football ever seen captained by toddler cesc, young flamini, song, denilson, diaby, rvp,… Read more »
Ishola
” I didn’t say until the end of the season.I said give it until Christmas going into the new year and then we get a better idea about Arteta. ”
That is for those looking for hope at the bottom os the barrel.
Most of us already know. Arteta has demonstrated his house with a good set of players 2 years in a row – albeit the accidental FAMILY cup win
FA Cup win
Pete drop the ‘in’ from ‘infamous’ and you’ll be doing us justice!!
Brutal truth from Shirt fuse
https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/2021/10/11/22721268/watch-katie-mccabe-arsenal-women-everton
Sorry that was wrong link
https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/2021/10/11/22721049/arsenal-premier-league-top-four-six-champions-league-expectations
DS
“”Do you like the signings we made this season so far ?”””
No.
I wanted to see 2 or 3 attacking players signed , not simply more defenders stockpiled.
Bacaryisgod I agree the Auba situation isnt just down to Arteta although he must have had some say in it. My point is the logistics just didnt make sense. I like watching Auba play and love some of the goals he has scored but his USB is problematic and high risk. If he isnt on top form he offers absolutely zilch to the team in fact he is a liability and passing 30yo he wasnt going to get any better so why put him on mega money and 3 year contract. ? There is absolutely no up side to the… Read more »
China1
Learning is a piecemeal process. To go from ABC to Shakespeare takes a while
Likewise, building a quality football side, or returning a Club in decline to the elite. Even with a multi-billionaire owner. And don’t give me KLopp – he started three-quarters of the way along, the foundations already there. The same with Wenger back then.
To be specific, Arteta focused primarily on the defense issue last summer, in goal, at the back, in the midfield. And to good effect.
FYI , the word “bedwetter “ has a different meaning in football blog parlance
– a person of high standards and integrity …….most commonly, opposite of a flipflopper
You don’t need to drop infamous Pete, I just prefer ‘famous bedwetters’ instead Cannon ball nice try but no The point is clearly that we keep talking about how much we have to give the team time because of all the new players whilst willfully skipping over the fact that there are in fact just 3 players starting every game who are genuinely new – all of which have been playing well in defense/keeper and haven’t been ‘part of the problem’ So Ramsdale, Tomi and White have a good game but if Auba has a bad game and let’s us… Read more »
China, if you give the youngest squad in the Premier League a. year together, they will get better. The system we are building is based on a cognitive style of football that needs time, high levels of intelligence, and technical skill.
To say that you don’t think time will change anything is painfully ignorant of how teams develop.
… also, the problem against Brighton wasn’t Auba in isolation. It was our midfield not being able to deal with the press with enough confidence. If you beat the press early, Brighton sits back, Auba can do what he does best. Lobbing long balls at him was never going to extract an elite performance.
In 6 months, that midfield bypasses the press.
China1
Stop waffling and be specific:
Are you saying that Arteta was wrong with his signings, we don’t need them?
Or are you saying.we need them but there were other more urgent requirements?
Or are you one of those saying that whatever Arteta does is wrong and mistaken?
Pedro: “To say that you don’t think time will change anything is painfully ignorant of how teams develop.” Project Youth pt.2 worked phenomenally well in time. Wilshere, Chambers, Ramsey, Holding, Chamberlain, Welbeck, Akpom, Zelalem, Bellerin, the Jeff, Maitland-Niles surely formed a title winning team in time. Bringing in the argument that a team will always progress in time, just because the players are new is not how it works. Kante was a Leicester player for ONE single season. It didn’t need months or years. One season. Van Dijk played a Champions League final in his first 5 months at Liverpool… Read more »
“In 6 months, that midfield bypasses the press.“
Pedro, 6 months is about 120 training sessions worth.
Not very cognitive, or high on intelligence and technical abilities if Arteta needs this much time with his hand picked squad to bypass a midfield devoid of a single world class player.
Englandsbest: a very rare post – you comments are wholly correct. I stay on the south coast at the moment. The night before the Brighton game- we experienced abysmal weather. On the day – the lighting poles were swaying and bending. It was tipping down from all angles. The weather was arguably at KO near to the worst. The side drives down and it’s hitting them at the last moment. Weather can ruin as we know. It was an excellent point all being said. When the wind blows this way – it’s not fun. In fact I cannot cycle in… Read more »
Raptora, excellent reply to Pedro’s denial of the obvious – arteta is not the guy and never will be…