Well here we are people, it’s the end of the year and we are 6 points off top 2. Isn’t that mad? Brendan Rodgers Arsenal fan Club was partying in the streets last night after he pulled off a shock win against a Liverpool side he largely limited. That means we’re 6 points off Chelsea and we’re 6 points off Liverpool. WILD. We were bottom after three games.
Some people are grumbling about it, I don’t really understand them. We’re 19 games in, exactly halfway into the season. There are no tricks this season, the table is the table, and we are where we are. We had the worst start in the league. We had an amazing run, crashed twice, then picked up the run again. We’re where we are because we deserve it. This isn’t some Unai Emery or Antonio Conte lucky run… this is Arsenal slowly growing with the season.
What was the biggest lesson from the Leicester game? Don’t fear Liverpool. They are a great side, but like the Yellow Man in Sin City, they feed off the screams of the weak. If you don’t show them respect, you might have a chance. Arsenal don’t have the fear against Chelsea, we’ve been great against them, but we do have it when it comes to City and Liverpool, and we have to play our way out of that. It’s a mindset, not a technical issue.
Another big point from that game last night: Leicester dropping big wins like that means nothing because they are still 9th. Our path to success this season isn’t in the mega games, it’s in the little one’s when no one is watching. Put it this way, if we’d beaten Palace, Everton and Brighton we’d be ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea right now. Consistency against the lesser teams is where we fell down last season and it’s where we’ll fall down this season if it goes wrong.
Top 4 is still a big stretch goal this season, it always has been. This is a transition year. The fear was we’d have another year like last year and sit in 7th at the end of it. So far, it seems like we’ve managed the process of onboarding really, really well. We are in the mix for 4th proper now. We’re all hyping it up like it is a given, but the reality is it’ll be tough even with all the other teams still in a bit of a mess. We have the 5th best squad in the league at the moment, that is the truth. It’s also the least experienced, and that could come with a price.
I do think the Spurs mirage is going to correct at some point. Antonio Conte is the luckiest manager in the league this season. He’s had a swath of games cancelled, loads of time to train his squad, he’s had 3 red cards go for him in the last three games, Harry Kane hasn’t been suspended, he’s had mostly home games… and they’ve been mostly poor. They couldn’t break down a 10 man Southampton yesterday. I can’t believe so many of the kids cried out to have his elite management back in the league and all he’s serving up is overlap football or LOB IT TO THE BIG MAN. Arteta has the chance to make him look dated in a few weeks, I really, really, hope he has our boys fired up for that one. A win at their place would be HUGE for the agenda.
It’s also interesting to look at the mega problems United have on their hands. They have their very own Auba problem, except OGS was too weak to address it early. Ralf Rangnick has come in and failed to address it so far. You cannot play gegenpressing football if your talisman doesn’t fancy it. You cannot progress a side with big names staring down the kids and general bitchy behaviour on the pitch. Arteta binned Auba and the squad has been rejuvenated… if United don’t take similar action, they won’t push on. The coach they have is a legend of the game, but remember, his legend has always been built on players that are 17-23. He makes stars, he doesn’t deal with them when they have £400k a week deals. This is a different job he has without the authority of a 5 year deal. Arsenal backed the manager every time the players tried to down him, now the players know he’s not going anywhere, so they behave differently. Ralf doesn’t have that.
I’m kind of hoping they have to keep playing CR7 so they piss off those young players. Mason Greenwood would be a spectacular summer signing for Arsenal this summer, it’s a long shot, but I’d be surprised if he wasn’t casting an envious eye over at his English mates getting development time under future-facing coach.
I’ve spent many years writing about having a clear vision and philosophy because it is so very, very important. Arsenal has it all at the moment, a young exciting coach (that will attract attention if he carries along this path), young exciting players (that will attract bids if we arent’ smart about their deals), a style of football that is future proof… we know where we’re going, finally. We should have started this approach a year prior, but that’s for another day. If United want Rangnick ball, they have to have a painful transition year (or two). Their kids have egos, their superstars think they know it all, and they don’t have a full-time first-team coach. Spurs have the most short term manager in football, if he doesn’t succeed this season, he’ll burn the place down to get millions THAT DO NOT EXIST. If he succeeds, he’ll piss and moan until he gets what he needs, then burn the place down (like he did at Chelsea). He took Chelsea from 1st to 5th because they didn’t hit his expectations for players. He quit Inter Milan after they massively overspent for him, then hit pandemic realities, and he couldn’t handle losing players. What are you looking at with Daniel Levey that makes you think this is a match that won’t end in Conte burning the club to the ground?
There is nothing sustainable about the way Spurs or United are operating.
Dusan Vlahovic leaking to Di Marzio that his client thinks Spurs is the right project? Get out of my face with that nonsense. The idea that a 21-year-old sees that Spurs squad as better for him than what is going on at Arsenal is farcical. Let me tell you, if he’s saying those things about Arsenal, it’s more likely that we’ve told his agent we’re not interested. There is no other reason you’d pass on literally the only club that can afford him without a painful sale.
Spurs has no money. I repeat, no money.
Arsenal don’t have a lot of money this January. I think we’re on a sell to buy. Or buy at a very low price. I’m hearing rumblings that one of our prime targets is Mattias Svanberg, the central midfielder from Bologna. Now, I don’t get transfer information direct, so don’t shoot me if it’s wrong. But it’s an interesting suggestion that lives in the world we’re playing in.
- You’ve got primary intel from Tomiyasu who used to play with him. The club will know character, how he trains, what the view is of the boy.
- Arsenal seems to be trying to create a bit of fight for AMN. Svanberg looks like the player Arsenal would like Ains to be. Transfermarkt value Svanberg at about £15m, so a like for like.
- The player has interesting attributes. He’s 6ft1, he made his name as a winger for Malmo, now he’s a central midfielder. That means you have someone in the middle of the park that is used to hugging touchlines, has an eye for goal and a killer pass, and the knowledge of what it is to be an attacker. It’s an interesting signing if we’re bolstering the ranks.
- This boy is a one touch line-breaker. If there’s one pattern you can see in all our transfers, it’s that everyone can play vertically.
Arsenal are light in central midfield. Unvertical Mo Elneny is next in line if we get an injury in January and that’s really not good news. This is the sort of move that fits perfectly with the sort of business we have been doing, so let’s see where we go with it.
The story no one wants to acknowledge is that there are people at the club that like Coutinho. Barcelona is skint, they need to make moves on that wage bill, and Coutinho is apparently in London. I suspect he’d be more likely to join Spurs, who have a contacts friendly Technical Director… but you never know. If Barca is desperate, they will release Coutinho for nothing, to free those wages. Coutinho being available is a big test of the Project Youth strategy. Now we can taste top 4 in the air, will we abandon it, or is there someone internally that can hold the club accountable?
Every young manager in the world wants experienced players because it’s easier. Always remember, Julian Nagelsmann lost in the semi of Champions League and his moan was, ‘this team needs a different type of player, someone older, but the boss says no (Rangnick).’
Ok, get yourself some Arsenal Opinion food in your system. We had our BIGGEST month for listeners and let me tell you it was NOT porn SEO that drove the traffic. Thank you for tuning in with your eyes and ears. I know I say it all the time, but podcasting is HARD and it requires a different level of effort and it’s been a totally new skill to learn (I have given you some duff formats over the years). So I appreciate all of you that gave me another chance this year with a refreshed crew. We’re loving the interaction and support… truly, you are amazing.
Also, shout out to the Grovers in the comments section. You’ve dropped about 160,000 of them this season. Quite amazing in the age of video that we’re on a basic blog chatting all things Arsenal 24/7. Thank you for being there, you’re an awesome bunch of crazies that help shape my opinion on The Arsenal every day. BIG love to you all. x
P.S. EOY podcast will get recorded today or tomorrow! We MIGHT have a special guest from another podcast we admire.
A little bit late to the party but still no DM Or groovey?
Let’s do this!
Bankz is here for the tr4phy again
4th
((((BOOOOOOM))))
Lol.
You took 4th spot out of my teeth.
Nice one
A bit late today….
Sorry Bankz. I have now experienced the game of posts. I shall take the victory and gracefully retire and leave it to the experts…
Tr4phy!
Ffs, that’s what you get for reading the article first. Bankz getting lot of competition these days…
Wasted talent Saul at Chelsea.
Good post Pedro. The temptation of buying Coutinho when we have our young guns shining is a big conundrum for Mikel.
No one actually wants to see another Willian situation at the club.
From the site
“Mikel Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year’s Day after testing positive for COVID-19.”
Damn! This ain’t good.
TLTISD you are my hero.
Bankz, you get off easy atm because of all the bank holidays etc — next week from Tuesday onwards I’ll be back and that’ll be the end of you once again. Mwahahaha. (<– evil laugh)
Center Mid is a problem for Jan and half of Feb games. AMN is going to be sold. Partey and your Unvertical Elneny is off to AFCON. so we will need to bring in a Center mid as we cannot rely on Sambi and Xhaka.
By the way the Unvertical Elneny that you deride is at least an honest player and doesn’t indulge in breaking the culture. I always see him on the touchline throughout the game warming up and encouraging his team mates. Respect him for that rather than taking a potshot.
“Mikel Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year’s Day after testing positive for COVID-19.”Damn! This ain’t good.
No it isn’t
Excellent post although don’t agree with the comment about being ready a year earlier. Arteta was building his own team and it’s now only starting to come together. Top 4 would definitely be a dream but more realistically top 6 with so many young players and to be honest not enough backup at the moment. Yes another holding MD and attacker in january would be ideal. Coutinho not for me just not the type of players that’s fits with what Arteta is trying to achieve. On the other had Dominic Calvert Lewin definitely, he’s young so still learning and of… Read more »
Arteta’s out (not Arteta out!).
Disappointing but it’ll be interesting to see how the team performs in his absence. Shame that we had to try this experiment against Cite.
It’s not surprising Arteta has covid, too much contact going on if you ask me, no need for it.
One would expect similar with the players in the next few days..
Not the end of the world if the city game is cancelled, at least we can keep our winning run going against forest and a weakened liverpool side( klopp never has put a strong side out in the league cup)
Great post, Pedro. Optimistic, hopeful – but with a dose of reality. A ‘hold it, there’s still half the season to go’ warning. A reminder that we’re in a process that takes time. Assuming Laca and Eddie stay. I think Erteta has enough in the barrel to get by without signing a striker in Jan, always an awkward window. Come summer, I still have a hankering for Haaland. He s the type of player that will do more than just make us fearsome on the pitch, his name will propel the club into the elite. Will it happen? Probably not.… Read more »
“ There are no tricks this season, the table is the table, and we are where we are.”
So Pedro admits that there were ‘tricks’ last season with all the data splicing and moving timeframes
😀😀😀
“ “Mikel Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year’s Day after testing positive for COVID-19.”
Will Mikel be quarantined along with his handbrake and sideline distractions?
Tch tch we might win this one !
and confirm what many suspected all along .
The sooner people learn that
1. Poor health system is making the covid situation worse than it is.
2. The vaccine is Not a long term solution to a viral disease.
The better for everyone.
Arteta will be okay after a few days rest and warm fluids(no pun)
So Arteta has tested positive and without doubt he will have been in and around the squad so be prepared for more positives in the first team squad
Pierre
One would expect similar with the players in the next few days
In one
Some Israeli doctor is saying Omicron is what vaccine manufacturers could not get. Very low hospitalisation, but develops a massive spike protein protecting from the deadly Delta variant.
If that is so UK should feel immunised by February considering the rampaging Omicron variant.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed
Coutinho likely to Spurs 😂
May their potatoes thrive on their ground
Certainly do not need Coutinho stinking the place out on mega money,, he’s a busted flush and certainly not the right age profile.
Quoting his example , Xaka wants Auba to stay and try to get back at Arsenal instead of looking for an exit.
Different circumstances. To my reading Auba had downed tools on Arteta , so unlikely redemption at Arsenal. If he wants to prove a point and show his detractors wrong, it will be elsewhere, considering he still looks fit and showed it in his accurate misses.
I have never heard of this kid Svanberg. I hope he is good if he is a target. I am not going to be happy with a prospect though. Sambi is here as a prospect. We need a starter at CM. A player around 23 or 24 that can come in take the CM position. Bruno Guimaraes is still a really good player that can fit here like a glove if you ask me. I would love the CM we sign to be him.
The reason omicron isnt so devastating is because there has been many asymptomatic cases so immunity is higher than during the 1st wave
The covid pandemic is unfolding the way the flu pandemic circa 1918/19 unfolded: a deadly first wave, an even more lethal second wave, a milder third wave. Which leads one to suppose that covid will, like flu, become endemic.
“Well here we are people, it’s the end of the year and we are 6 points off top 2.”
I’ll drink to that.
Pedro, Can’t wait for the certainty of the reaction here in the event that we somehow win or draw against Man City. It’s because Arteta wasn’t making in game decisions, yelling on the touchline… On and on… it will never be forgotten either. A year from now, when we’re competing for top three, the haters will say they have evidence Arteta is bad for the team, they play better without him…. IAT Bamford will come with the stat… Something like… “Hi mates, it’s me, not- Bamford…. here is definitive proof Arteta is bad for Arsenal ( like smoking) .. win… Read more »
Svanberg is kind of the new Viera lite from you tube watches. Tall enforcer in the midfield. I prefer a better passer like Lyon Bruno.
“Will Mikel be quarantined along with his handbrake and sideline distractions?
Tch tch we might win this one !”
😂😂😂 That’s the spirit.
Ive been surprised at how poor Partey has been. His control is poor for this level and as a consequence he loses the ball far too often. He looks cumbersome on the ball. I dont know whether he has lost form or he is another Pepe.
The boss is going to miss the city game due to covid. Isn’t this the 2nd time he has gotten covid?
Pedro calling Rangnick a legend of the game when his only trophies worth mentioning are a Bundesliga 2 in 2001/02 and the German Cup DFB-Pokal in 2010/11. He’s comparing Conte to Emery and bringing in “all he’s serving up is overlap football or LOB IT TO THE BIG MAN” – which we did for half a season last year btw WITHOUT having a big man LOL?! Conte with around 15 important trophies as a player and a manager including 5 top flight league titles with 3 different teams in 2 different countries gets to be called out just because Pedro… Read more »
Arteta to miss Citeh game.
Shit! Who is going to aimlessly runaround the dugout frantically waving their arms up and down?
Can Steve Round do that? I don’t think so. 🤔
Conte 15 important trophies as a player/manager and 5 top flight league titles as a manager.
It’s not serious to put down a manager who won a league title just last season in a usually 1-team league regardless of personal sympathy or lack of.
Bard, I’ve been pointing this out about Partey for a couple months now. Gave him a pass for last season because he didn’t get a good run off games. Had a full off season, and no excuses now. He has been exactly what we say about Xhaka, pretty good against weaker teams, gets caught in possession against more talented opponents. Looked good the past few games vs weaker clubs, and in a second half against 10 men.. The absolute truth, if Grovers are honest , Xhaka has been better than him since returning from his injury. You won’t hear that,… Read more »
“Omicron infection appears to protect against Covid delta variant”
Interesting news this.
Nigel
Xhaka has been here 5+ years now , decent enough doesnt cut it . We’ve all seen this story , you’ve said it yourself he plays well enough against weaker teams, has brain fart against proper teams . Guess when he had his last brain fart ? Against City of all teams getting a red card , he was supposed to be the experienced midfielder then . If I am Arteta I’d rather start Lokonga .
Lokonga probably hasn’t recovered from Covid yet.
No one has been praising Partey lately. Just the opposite – everyone has acknowledged the fact that he needs to do much better. There is no Partey fan club and the fans see all of his mistakes. I hope he improves but it’s far from a certainty. Still, he is far from being the first name I’d move on from our CM options.
50 bucks says xhaka will be here till his retirement, where he will have a testimonial match in his honour and people will still be trying to convince others of his contributions to the team on and off the pitch.
Pedro, the takeaway from Pool losing at Leicester isn’t that they can be beat— this we already knew— but rather that they can be beat even without your strongest side available. Leicester played on some 55 hrs of rest without a recognized CB, nine players injured ( two with broken legs), Vardy all taped up and playing on one leg from the off. Sure they got lucky as hell , let’s not pretend they didn’t, Pool win this game nine times out of ten but still. What we mustn’t do is make excuses when we have a player or two… Read more »
Everyone knew Partey was average, the guys claiming he was the midfielder we’ve been waiting for since Paddy are now rewriting history about the countless bad decisions Diet Pep has made.
Sid
If Partey is average, than what does that make Saul ? Awful . Look at Atletico crashing after both left .
Divine
Saul wasting away on the bench at Chelsea
Divine
Saul wasting away on the bench at Chelsea
I had never heard of Partey before he got here, but the deal had disaster written all over it. £45m for a 27 year old, who will be 29 at the end of the season with two years left on his contract having spent two seasons stinking the place up. Those that sung his praises, i think, it was more wishful thinking than fact based.
Teams have smelt A Madrid are blunt in attack, so Simeones defensive tactic has been exposed,
same problem Diet Pep had before ESR started scoring freely, now teams are cautious against us.
Divine
Out of their comfort zones?
London is slightly different to Madrid.
Partey is NOT 29
You can take this to the bank!
Samesong
Yeah , Tuchel the genius cant integrate a midfielder who’s done it all in La Liga .
Gonsterous
That’s one game I won’t be going to.
Saul is Not a game changer but can Do what is needed like Ruben Neves
Partey is loaded with huge responsibility, essentially the whole midfield defensively, and at the same time as a goal threat. We will miss him badly.
Sid you were here all last summer saying saul was the glue that held partey and was the one we should’ve moved for. Talk about rewritting history eh?
@S Asoa that is a very interesting theory about Omnicron. I have reports that Covid will basically never be eradicated, it will be like the flu virus. Every year a new on pops up and you get a shot if you want to avoid it. Here in the USA cases are way up but deaths are low, limited to idiot antivaxers who were unhealthy to begin. For midfield, I don’t get the urgency to ship off AMN, he has all the physical traits to be a greyhound like Fabinho or Fernandinho. I suppose Arteta sees something in training but AMN… Read more »
Partey just isn’t the guy we’d thought he’d be
Nigel Tufnell “He (partey)has been exactly what we say about Xhaka, pretty good against weaker teams, gets caught in possession against more talented opponents. Looked good the past few games vs weaker clubs, and in a second half against 10 men..” Maybe you are seeing what you want to see as you obviously don’t rate Partey.. If you look at the 2 more talented opponents (Liverpool and Tottenham) he has played against this season, according to whoscored he hasn’t been dispossessed once in those 2 games and his pass percentage is exceptional. 94% v liverpool and 93% v Tottenham.. This… Read more »
Partey had a few indifferent games and now he’s written off by some, funny. I watch him most weeks in person and he hasn’t been half as bad as some of you make out.
Sid,
Stop being pedantic. Partey is 29 on 13 June.
Partey is one of our better players, his problem is just staying fit, his quality shouldn’t be in doubt.
I get the feeling that AMN is not an Arteta type of person and he doesn’t quite get AMN laid back attitude ..
I don’t think it’s anything to do with football ability, i put Aubamayang and AMN in the same bracket, probably love life too much for Arteta’s liking and I would imagine Arteta pulling his lego hair out when he sees them enjoying life so much.
Highbury legend, like i said Saul can do a job like Ruben Neves, both Partey and Xhakalson have flaws that require players like the former 2 beside them.
Partey speed(which was his main advantage over Xhakalson) seems to be deteriorating to Xhakalson levels.
AMN requires a father figure like Arsene to flourish, guys that have grown in a single mother family dont do well under authoritarian types like Diet Pep
One thing I’ve learned from reading the comments here everyday is this:
Sid talks a load of rubbish all day long. I miss the old posters that posted interesting and relevant comments.
Where are you guys? Keyser, Cesc Appeal, Bamford, Paulinho, Leedsgunner etc
Those were the good old days.
Up the gooners Chelsea and spurs both have a tasty January fixture list too. We could be 3 points off chelsea or less come feb and put distance between us and spurs. I hope he bins off the Liverpool games and focuses on the league This is our best chance to get back into the champions league and a potential league cup final place shouldn’t come close to jeopardising that. It gives us elite pulling power through status and increased finances but it also gives Arteta’s vision an immense amount of credibility. It’s so satisfying to see what’s happening at… Read more »
Samir
Pedro only wanted Arteta in posters so he ostracized them for saying anything against him.
Good honest debate has gone
A lot of unsourced transfer rumors floating about on the internet regarding Arsenal transfers this Jan. so hard to say if any of it is reality.. Just have to wait and see I guess. Was reading that Coutinho was most likely going to be a loan deal where Barca covers the large majority of his wages. So basically a free player. That said.. I still wouldn’t want to ubalance wht we have going now.. For me more important to find a backup to Laca as he can’t play every match.. I guess for now that’s Eddie unless we bring Auba… Read more »
Where are you guys? Keyser, Cesc Appeal, Bamford, Paulinho, Leedsgunner etc
____
Samir… Keyser was very old and not even sure he is still alive.. Hope he is. Cesc Appeal was studying to be a barrister.. that takes a lot of time.. He mentioned it. Bamford was banished for being a douche to Pedro on twitter. Leddsginner is stil here alsmot everyday..
Paulinho has made cameo appearances.. So as have said fo 12 years now Le Grove goes on cycles nothing to do with Pedro and his binnings.
Leedsgunner… Sorry Leeds. spellcheck isnt working.
Good post today Peds… I do like our situation much better then our direct rivals.. That said our schedule coming up in January is brutal .. considering the level of competition.. Only Burnley I would say is an easier match.
Argh I can’t believe people can’t see what Partey brings to the table. He was off form. But now he is back on form. If you watched him, he had a shocker against Everton. But after that game he has slowly been raising his game by keeping it simpler. Every game he has been getting better. The Norwich game though was the best I have seen him play since he lost his form. There was one delicious pass in to Martinelli that bypassed all of Norwich’s midfielders. If we are going to finish in the top 4 we will definitely… Read more »
Midwest, Coutinho on loan with Barca paying half his wages ……..I’d take that deal.
Habesha
Completely agree. Partey has been gradually improving over the last few games. Looks like he’s going to peak for the Afican Cup of Nations unfortunately.
And then there was N5 and Romford , both objective and most interesting posters on here . Hope y’all doing well in these difficult times.
You there, keep my name outta ya mouth!
Tom
Coutinho on loan with Barca paying half his wages ……..I’d take that deal.
People on here are turning up their noses at him . I’d take him in a heartbeat . He only has to play once a week , Versatile upfront , knows the league . Whats not to like apart from fitness.
Pierre, I’ve been on about Partey lately. I wanted him signed last year, gave him a pass for being in and out with injuries last year. But I was not one of the fools comparing him to VIEIRA. Anybody want to own up to that today?There were a few. Lately I’m am best described as genuinely disappointed in Partey. Not a hater. I hope his form the past couple games is not just because of weaker teams, and 10 men. I Sincerely want him to crush it in midfield for a couple years at least.. so we can say the… Read more »
Nothing against Xhaka, Partly, Bruno Guimaraes, Neves, Sanches etc….but I desperately want us to experiment with implementing a 4-3-3 at some point. I see the potential for Sambi to fit that lone pivot role, but none of our other current defensive midfield options, or potential targets are ideally suited to this particular role. Just as Pierre is partial to his number 10’s, I love watching a lone pivot/#6 dominate the middle of the park. Rich has made mention of this on multiple occassions in the past. The final frontier to mastering possession and positional based football, is morphing from any… Read more »
DS, his fitness and his wages/fees…….but if it’s only a loan and if Barca covered half his outrageous wages , then I don’t see any downside.
Never understood all the hoopla over previous loans on here. Some work, others don’t.
Arteta has wasted or burned enough asset value that the £4-6m spent on Coutinho wouldn’t worry me much.
Tom Agree. Be nuts not to take Coutinho for six months on a cheap wages loan deal. Adds top PL experience & real proven ability. It would have no affect on our youth policy because it’s not a permanent deal. In addition, that type of quality on the training ground is brilliant for younger players who are still learning the game. It amazes me people still forget this team is in its infancy, there will be times when we need a bit more know how around the place. This season was a building exercise that has gone better than most… Read more »
If Coutinho could play a bit part and help out with the younger players it could work.
He shouldn’t just come and get ahead of them as it just unsettles the side.
Tom – Yep that;s what I was reading Barca are trying to make a loan deal as appealing as possible to try and get Coutinho a move now for playing time so they can try and pump up his value if he plays well for a move in the summer. As basically now he is a dead asset. So any savings they get on his wages is a bonus even if they cover the majority. Anyhow.. we will see. hard to tell what is goign on like I said.. so much out there.. My newsfeed has all the Arsenal related… Read more »
samir
It’s very simple. The moaners and groaners (who, sadly, are the most vocal on here) have lost credibility with their anti-Arteta-ism, so they desperately seek some other scapegoat – who happens to be Partey – which allows them to blame Arteta for buying him.
Where do people think Coutinho would play? We already have Ode and ESR vying for CAM so why fork out even a few million for 3 players to fight for that role. We need a DM and that should be our only priority. Coutinho does not play deep so what is the point of wasting more money on an older player?
Nigel tufnell “You just can’t deny that Partey has been disappointing lately, …..and your cherry picking a couple game stats out of 18 or 19 seems kind of weak.” You stated that Partey “gets caught in possession against more talented opponents”, i pointed out that he wasn’t dispossessed once against the 2 most talented opponents he faced this season and his pass percentage was exceptionally high…94% and 92% My earlier comment details why i believe Partey hasn’t been at his best, but since the Everton game he has been playing well which coincides with the team playing well . He’d… Read more »
Northbanker
“Where do people think Coutinho would play?”
Only one position …..Odegaard’s and that’s why he won’t be coming ..
Absolute no no to Coutinho. Not saying he isn’t a top player, but Arteta has established a rigorous process, a fantastic team spirit, a young squad that is fully committed. A short-term fix runs counter to that, puts the whole mindset at risk.
Those agitating for him haven’t cottoned on to what is going on. Shame.
Northbanker First, it’s not a permanent deal. Secondly, it’s a cheap way of getting in a top player who can provide cover & added value;. He can help us protect the younger players by coming on when required to freshen up the team. Players can’t play 90 minutes every game & you don’t really want to have to put on a player who weakens the team. If we’re ambitious for this season and the run in where it can be psychologically draining with the pressure, it’s a no brainier. Sometimes you need an alternative when things aren’t working. Coutinho is… Read more »
Can we just pause for a second and enjoy the fact that at least in this moment, we have nothing to complain about as Arsenal fans. That can change quickly but I just want to take a minute to soak it in! 1) The team is on a strong run 2) Our new signings are beasting it. 3) Our local heroes are making the Hale End proud 4) Captain Laca is showing great leadership 5) The owners spend real money this summer! 6) Yes, Arteta has got the team scoring goals again and playing some good football 7) The Emirates… Read more »
AFC Forever I’d be surprised if Arsenal did anything knee jerk just to cover 3-4 weeks of PL football, if we do anything it either needs to be a short term loan, or securing a top target We need to learn though, in a league of fine margins our African international quota needs to be very small, losing 2 forwards + 2 midfielders off the back of a busy Xmas period, is far from ideal The knock on effect is we then push players carrying knocks + niggles, and that takes it toll even further at the business end of… Read more »
Nigel Tufnell If Xhaka and Partey continue with their recent pass completion rate of over 90% for the rest of the season it will provide the team with the control it needs and we will dominate matches This will allow our offensive 4 to attack with freedom in the knowledge that we will not be open to the counter attack due to partey and Xhaka maintaining discipline and have a good reading of the game.. At present, 2 holding midfielders suits the team, maybe in the future we may be able to play with one in centre mid, but i… Read more »