ARSENAL HUNT JANUARY STRIKER

by .

Feels like it’s been a while since we had a meaty David Ornstein drop – and it dropped harder than a hock of vegan ham.

Arsenal is channelling some of 2018 January energy as they look to consolidate their powers to mitigate risk heading into the final stretch of the season. New York Times writer, Sir David Ornstein, reckons we’ll pull money forward for Dusan Vlahovic if the player is game, though people in Italy seem to think the player isn’t really game.

You can say many things about Edu and Arteta, but when it comes to the sales pitch, and making sure the purchase is possible, we haven’t really missed that often. If Edu has to be pulled away from the family BBQ, rest assured, he’s not wasting non-grilling time on a player he’s not sure about. Also, let’s look to what Arteta said about Auba: He doesn’t have enough passion or commitment to be Arsenal captain.

I’m doubtful we’d go in for someone if we were their 9th choice.

I’m still a bit sceptical, but if you look at striking realities elsewhere, it does leave you a little more positive… because Dusan doesn’t have the best set of options right now.

Spurs just don’t have any money for big January moves, so count them out unless they bin Harry Kane

United has too many strikers as it is

Chelsea has sad Rom for the foreseeable, they are rich, but not rich enough to drop another £60m so soon (especially after Werner tanked). Tuchel has to make that one work.

Manchester City feels a little too right for Haaland, if not him, maybe Kane. Both signings won’t come sooner than the summer.

Liverpool don’t need a striker right now, I’m also not sure they are flush with cash

Juventus cannot possibly have any money, Fiorentina are not going to accept a 6-year loan deal with no intent to buy. Selling to a rival also isn’t cool for the home crowd.

If Vlahovic wants a banger of a project, there aren’t many more exciting than the one we have AND we have a little pawn called Lucas Torreira to make the deal more palatable for everyone.

Matt on the podcast made the point that a January signing is basically a 5 month preseason so the player bangs the year after. Serie A is played at a snail’s pace, Lucas Torreira looks a monster there, a player that couldn’t hack La Liga. So if we’re bringing in someone from there, the more time they get, the better.

There’s also talk about Iska and DCL if the deal falls through. All very similar in profile, though Isak does look to have that demon speed the other two don’t.

Granit Xhaka is out of contention for the weekend, which will give THE BIG MAN CHARLIE PATINO a chance to make his full debut against Forest according to Chris Wheatley, MBE. I know I said that Liverpool were a bunch of bitches for postponing our Carling Cup game, but let’s be real, if Patino is rolling in that first leg, we might be in a bit of trouble.

I know there are a lot of smug journalists out there saying football fans see bias where there is none and it does make me laugh because their job is to be curious.

Rick Parry, exLiverpool man, pushes their postponement over the line in the League Cup. Even if you are the laziest human in the world, can you not at least wonder if someone with deep affiliations might have bias? If I went into Government and gave a massive fat COVID loan to my old agency, would people ask questions? They would. Nothing is dodgy until someone does a bit of poking around.

For the record, Liverpool are on for their FA Cup game.

Manchester City has to play their game despite a massive outbreak.

Then I read that Arsenal were fined £20k for losing control of their players. United had a similar incident a few months ago, where is their fine?

Even the way the league maps fixtures is off. Spurs get new dates for Leicester when they are at their absolute weakest. Vardy is out, 4 of their players are at AFCON. Why aren’t Spurs playing Brighton or Burnley?

Arsenal haven’t played a big team after a European night out all season.

I’m going full tin-hat, but if you can look at how badly the league has implemented TV replays to help refs, do you not wonder how shitty their processes are for everything else?

We play this weekends game in an all-white shirt. Idris Elba, massive Gooner, is behind the idea.

“The idea that Arsenal are going to come out in an all-white kit and say ‘No More Red’ will hopefully make people think ‘Hang on, what’s going on here?’ – then look further and try and find out more,”

30 kids have died from knife crime this weekend, so let’s hope this has a positive impact.

Steven Gerrard has walked right into his first big deal and I gotta say, I love it. He’s signed 29-year-old Coutinho. I know Edu had a lot of love for the Brazilian, but Villa have walked right into the move and I couldn’t be happier. It’s quite odd watching Villa move in the market. They’ve gone from quite a clear transfer strategy to making some very odd moves that don’t look like they fit. Like I’ve said here many times before, every manager wants peak 29-year-old players, because it requires less effort to coach them. The magic of a proper club is to tell a manager they can’t make moves like that. Also… that Emi Buendia deal is looking like a solid dodge, right? They overpaid for him, dealt with swarms of agents, and accepted a sell-on clause that means they’ll have to get £45m-ish to break even.

Arsenal still need to do something in midfield, unless they believe Patino is good enough to cover. I guess we’ll find out this weekend. I’d love for us to bring in a player that might be the one to take over from Xhaka long-term, again, the idea of having someone ready for next season is a sexy one. That said, if the money isn’t right, Jack Wilshere would be my bet.

Ok, that is all I have my darlings, have fun in the comments, be kind x

 

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Just Another Customer

yeah need to keep and add to the core players unlike what Wenger done with 07/08 squad letting it run out of steam

S Asoa

See how instead , players purchased by the manager are given umpteen chances to fail . That understanding has not been given to youngsters who might become regulars or at least squad players saving money. It is for the Club President or DoF to intervene. Coaches do have their prejudices, which is expected since they are day in , in touch with players, who might be difficult. DoF or an owner like Abromovich then steps in. That’s why Chelsea has been such a success

Bob N16

Tony, sure ‘same for all clubs’ but it isn’t in any given season. Liverpool’s PL points tally, where they just scraped into a CL place in the final few games of the season, was primarily caused by VVD and other CBs all being missing for large chunks of the season. They had to put midfielders in the centre of their defence which clearly affected they midfield. My point was that we should finish 4th unless we have more than our fair share of injuries in key positions. Apart from at LB, any replacements for our starting defence would weaken us… Read more »

Pierre

Will say it again ROSS (not rod)STEWART …remember the name , a late developer..

Positive pete

Much of the criticism still levelled at Arteta conveniently fails to recognise the absolute mess he inherited.Somewhat overlooked.Of course he’s made mistakes & still does.What manager doesn’t.But don’t let blind hatred cloud the progress that’s been made & please don’t insult our intelligence by inferring any progress made was in spite of Arteta..
Would prefer it if our over critical fan base with their sly digs would look to the future with a bit more optimism.We’re on an upward trajectory.There will be dips.Deal with it.

Karsa

Paddy’s Palace looking lacklustre so far.

S Asoa

Must say, Arteta talks with lot of maturity, like Wenger in his pressers

Leedsgunner

Our EPL standing has to be the measure on which Arteta is judged this May. Domestic cups are nice days out for everyone but progress has to be seen in the league. Therefore with that in mind I don’t want to see any of our regular and strongest players on the field, in the starting line up versus Nottingham Forest. My side to face them? Leno Cedric Mari Holding Tavares Sambi Chambers Pepe ESR Nketiah Balogun Subs Tierney Okwonkwo Patino Hutchinson White Tomi Kido Taylor Hart Salah Eddine Lacazette I know the clamber for Patino to be given his first… Read more »

Jamie

“Much of the criticism still levelled at Arteta conveniently fails to recognise the absolute mess he inherited”

He didn’t inherit an absolute mess.

Samesong

Positive Pete

Why don’t you tell us who you would want to sign for us instead of the boring Arteta defence. Arteta doesn’t need you to defend him.

Unoni

He didn’t inherit an absolute mess.

Hmm
But emery did?

Positive pete

First up Jamie.Are you serious? Didn’t inherit a mess.Now you’re taking the piss.& samespng.True Arteta doesn’t neeed me to defend himself.But he’s hardly going to come on here & do it himself is he?lol! What sickens me is that you get the sense that there still an element,let’s refer to them as theyre popularily known by ,the Bedwetters who just can’t help themselves & are awaiting the slightest slip,blip,mistake with baited breath.Any compliment going his way is backhanded.Through gritted teeth.Of course you’re entitled to your opinion of him.Shame it’s so lopsided.

TR7

Apparently a €20m bid made by Arsenal for Palmeiras midfielder Danilo

Unoni

I find the water carrying for emery astounding. Arteta turned us from a team lucky to be mid table to a team nipping Chelsea’s heels at third. Comfortably outplaying city and offering an actual identity, something the chameleonic emery could never achieve even with a £200m spend in 18 months

Jamie

“First up Jamie. Are you serious? Didn’t inherit a mess. Now you’re taking the piss”

I’m not though. This from Pedro in August 2019 after ‘Don Raul took our summer from a 3/10 to an 8/10’- a few short months before Arteta took over:

“What all these players offer Emery is choice, and with that, no excuse for not making the top 4 this season.”

Some absolute mess he inherited. Tell Pedro he’s wrong too while you’re at it.

Unoni

’m not though. This from Pedro in August 2019 after ‘Don Raul took our summer from a 3/10 to an 8/10’- a few short months before Arteta took over:“What all these players offer Emery is choice, and with that, no excuse for not making the top 4 this season.” Yes and with those squad “improvements” came a severe reversal in performances. Of all those players brought in under emery, who still commands anything close to a first team place? Martinelli. Tierney. That’s it. The squad, while not short of quality was more of a mess when emery left than what… Read more »

Unoni

The mess being referred to was more of the mismatch of squad players and the total lack of anything close to cohesion, philosophy, team ethic and leadership

Samesong

PP

As I said before in my last comment who would you fancy coming to Arsenal? I don’t have emotional ties to Arteta only the club I love.

Fancealot

Seems most people here are extremists. Either you can’t see no positives with Arteta’s reign or you can’t see no negatives with Arteta’s reign. There should be some balance in my opinion. Has Arteta made mistakes, sometimes huge ones both on the pitch and off the pitch? Certainly! Has he made good decisions, sometimes great ones on and off the pitch? Certainly! While I ain’t totally convinced by him yet, I can’t look past the downward spiral our club has been in for years now.To name but a few, our club was (and still has some ) filled with deadwoods… Read more »

Bertie Mee

Arteta took over in December 2019 with the club falling apart.. The last days of Emery were an utter disaster . Look at the defensive performance against Southampton a fe2cweeks befor3 he left. We could have conceded 8 that day . While Emery and Sanllehi were at the club we were in grave trouble . Turning tgat around to win the FA Cup in 2020 was Arteta’s first big achievement . He then had an awful autumn but since Boxing Day 2020 we’ve been on an upward curve. ( with blips ) . So it’s not an exaggeration to say… Read more »

Rich

Jamie He kind of did, unless you think this squad of players were significantly better than 8th + 8th, and were a group of players on the way up, with still plenty of room for further progression https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_Arsenal_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_Arsenal_F.C._season We were a club without an identity, with a unbalanced squad full of dross, combined with disinterested mercenaries who’d downed the previous manager, and almost downed Arteta last 13 months ago as well We’ve had to change the culture, clear out plenty of excess in a dead market, put the foundations of a new team in place, that’s full of young… Read more »

Samesong

Apparently a €20m bid made by Arsenal for Palmeiras midfielder Danilo

And reports bid rejected as player has contract up to 2025 with a 86 million buy out clause

Pierre

Ross Stewart has won 125 aerial duels this season. To put that into context , Tomiyasu has won the most aerial duels for Arsenal this season with 43 , Aubamayang 25, xhaka 16 , Lacazette 15. The premier league league highest is chris wood with 93.. For a back up striker someone like Stewart would do a similar job as Giroud , he is technically more than good enough and would cost next to nothing Scored 17 in 24 this season. Another couple today, should be a hattrick but they gave his first as keeper own goal which was a… Read more »

Jamie

It’s weird how a squad can go from being good enough for a top 4 finish in August, no excuses, to an absolute mess with deep deep systemic/identity problems before the following transfer window even opens.

That’s the internet for you.

Positive pete

Indeed Jamie .indeed.Takes all sorts,hey?

Unoni

Every squad under emery and Arteta was capable of a top four finish. The difference was that emery took a squad from 5th to 11th and left them totally demoralized and disjointed and a novice coach took over, won the FA cup beating chelsea and city in the process (so still highly capable) and then had to adapt quickly and learn from his mistakes. This is mid way through Arteta’s second full season and we are forth and looking very good with promise in every single position. At this point under emery we were on a life raft, totally adrift… Read more »

Positive pete

Danilo ffs! Has to be a wind up.You can’t even get a decent 3 minute compilation video.Basically does nothing & offers nothing.Maybe it’s a tax dodge.

Rich

Positive Pete

Are you suggesting that there can’t be any big talents out there, unless they don’t have a decent 3 minute YouTube compilation?

Jamie

“Every squad under emery and Arteta was capable of a top four finish.”

If you believe this to be a true statement, then Arteta has already failed you twice, quod erat demonstrandum.

Pierre

Unoni “. He removed the creative heart beat of the side” Emery did tragically mis use our most creative player, Arteta rectified that by making Ozil a permanent fixture in the side , and the side were doing rather well i have to say , there were no complaints of a lack of creativity that’s for sure . However the non negotiables came into operation when ozil questioned the wage cut during lockdown and our creativity nose dived to a disastrous level until smith rowe saved the day 8 months later around Christmas time . So did Arteta inherit a… Read more »

Mb

You don’t sign cedric, willian, Mari and give new contracts to xhaka , luiz and Aubamayang and offer mustafi a new contract and then pretend it was always a youth project.

I don’t really agree to Pierre about Ozil but otherwise most of things he says makes lot of sense to me

Mb

Willian signing was a confirmation it wasn’t a youth project.. No doubt it is, now! And for the good.

G

” Let’s see if patino can play first of all” Thats not even in doubt

Time Up

I just hope Arteta is not going to be like a father to someone, he’s too young for that. Besides, Pedro is already in love with him. No, not as a father.

Arteta’s signed, Willian, Mari and Cedric, turned down 24 mil for Xhaka and extended his and Auba 350 a week contract. Only when Edu forced him to sign young did he changed.

Raulishuss

Ozil is now retiring in turkey. Enough said. Non negotiable 1 pierre 0

Time Up

Oh dam,

Me and Pierre saying the same thing. I’ll sue Pierre for living in my head for free.

He missed the Pedro’s love for Arteta part though.

CletGold

Why is The Arsenal not looking at Patrick Schick??
He’s a great striker, all round play

Berg10kamp

Signing players does not soley rest with Arteta, these things are discussed and agreed upon depending on the goals and vision of the club. When he joined the aim was to make europe and buy experience and retain the experience we have. He made a bold move and switched to youth mid season and we finished better than what we would have. The board saw that he can be trusted and have now bought into his vision of youth. If you cannot see that then I don’t know.

Bradybunch

Even with the Willian disaster class , and the disappointment of no Europe, what Covid did was create a perfect European market for kicking off project youth. Josh dared. Edu and Arteta shot, and scored big.

Bradybunch

Berg10. Couldn’t agree more.

Berg10kamp

All the players signed last summer was chosen by arteta and edu after they were given full control over the transfers. And we all know edu listens to arteta so we can say these are all his signings.

Berg10kamp

Damn good eye for talent if u ask me

Raulishuss

Pierre only sees good in ozil,wenger,willock and eddie nketiah. Not to worry though arteta is showing him up to be as clueless as the wobs(obssessives according to him)

Unoni

If you believe this to be a true statement, then Arteta has already failed you twice, quod erat demonstrandum. Jamie Not really, no. You can’t expect a man who’s never coached before to turn 11th place into top 4 after inheriting a totally demoralized squad who’d been trained to forget everything they knew under emer And then re-educated to leave a gaping hole in the middle of the pitch and if we get it at the other end to just cut it back. Last season, yes I was underwhelmed and after letting Martinez go, giving auba a bumper new deal… Read more »

Unoni

Was it always a youth project….of course not .You don’t sign cedric, willian, Mari and give new contracts to xhaka , luiz and Aubamayang and offer mustafi a new contract and then pretend it was always a youth project Pierre I agree, I was throwing the towel in on him myself but he’s proved that he can rise above his own ego if his initial ideas don’t pan out and now things are going very well for us. Wether by design or accident, I’m very excited about arsenal again. We’ve got a great blend of homegrown and foreign talent, all… Read more »

Time Up

People who said we should sign back Jack. While you at it, should we sign Diego Costa too as he’s without a club!!!.

Berg10kamp

Yes we played some pretty boring football for a while but a Championship winning side needs a good foundation and a solid spine. The boring football was us getting the fundamentals and base right, defending better and conceding less, cutting out silly mistakes. Once that happened the team gained more confidence and trust in the defence especially ramsdale being so outstanding. Now the attackers know they can attack with confidence and risk as they have the belief that if they turn the ball over their back five got them covered. Believing in your defence makes a big difference to a… Read more »

Kris

testing, testing

Havyn

Ozil had already fallen football wise before Arteta so I don’t get what you’re talking here. Tell me the assists from Ozil from 2019 to 2020. The guy was just poor

Berg10kamp

Ozil wasn’t kicked put for performances, it was more for his attitude and commitment. Case in point is guendouzi, good young player and put in a shift but got kicked out for attitude. That’s what I like about arteta, he doesnt take shyt. He can accept bad performances or lack of form but disrespect he does not. Whether u disrespect him, the players, the club, the rules that is his non negotiable.

Pierre

Haven
“Ozil had already fallen football wise before Arteta so I don’t get what you’re talking here. Tell me the assists from Ozil from 2019 to 2020. The guy was just poor”

Must have been a coincidence that our creativity fell off a cliff when ozil was frozen out of the team.

Danny

Well done Cambridge!!

G8

Newcastle United out of the cup @ home courtesy of the almighty Cambridge United!
Khasoggi must be laughing in heaven!

Mb

“”He can accept bad performances or lack of form but disrespect he does not.””

Oh, that’s why William played a full season doing nothing!

It’s football, there will be egos and attitude. I have seen Mane fighting with Klopp after a substitute. A good manager will fix that part too.

I’ll always be furious with Arteta regarding Guendouzi.

Bradybunch

When you only have one first team no. 10 in the squad, that’s not really a surprise.
Willian was shit, ESR was injured, and untested. Booting Ozil was going to cause short term pain. But he was one the the key ingredients in a bad recipe. Good riddance, take the pain and build. Well done Arsenal.

Sid

Kicking out the alphas has left the team with meek lambs

Mr Serge

Mb guendouzi is crap get over it

Mb

Mr Serge

Nope he was not. He was even playing for Arteta till the Brighton incident happened.

Tell me frankly, was it not worth just keep him instead of buying Lokonga? If anyone, it should have been Xhaka sent on loan

Mb

Sid

Ramsdale, Gabriel and White has fight in them. We just need a PV4 to fix that midfield.

Unoni

Mb so do Tierney and tomi
And Lacazette

Unoni

Yeah Guendouzi is a waster
Never understood the idea that he was an elite midfielder in waiting. Didn’t see it myself

Unoni

SidJanuary 8, 2022 17:00:33
Kicking out the alphas has left the team with meek lambs

Out of curiosity, who are these alphas?

Sid

Combined age of Partey and Dusan Vlahovic is 60

Im telling you for free!

Bradybunch

Xhaka is definitely an Alpha. … not sure what to do with this. Maybe it’s a classic Sid incendiary.

Bradybunch

Boom .

Jamie

“Not really, no.”

Yes really, Don.

“You can’t expect a man who’s never coached before to turn 11th place into top 4 after inheriting a totally demoralized squad who’d been trained to forget everything they knew under emery”

I didn’t ‘expect the man to finish top 4’.

You did when you said ‘every squad under emery and Arteta was capable of a top four finish’.

Northbanker

Sid can’t back up any comment so don’t hold your breath

Pierre

Frantic is the best way of describing Newcastle’s football , no patience , no composure and a team of individuals.. The new management look clueless , which for me is surprising as the least they should be able to do is make them disciplined and organised.. I can’t see Eddie howe lasting until the end of january, to have Newcastle playing worse football than befrire they arrived is an achievement in itself.. I watch them shaking my head at the naivety in their game as they are not a bunch of kids, they always look for the difficult ball .… Read more »

Rich

Sid

How old do you think Partey is, and how old Vlahovic?

WengerEagle

Van Persie was actually good on his right peg too, not a surprise that got past the football savant that is Pierre.

Could show plenty of great RVP goals with his right foot. It’s just that he was so good on his left it gave some the impression that he was one-footed.

Same goes for Messi. Imagine putting his right foot anywhere near Ozil’s, lol.

Sid

DV atleast 25

Sid

Guen and Saliba are alphas

Thats for free Northbanker

WengerEagle

In fact, as per Opta Joe by the end of the 2013/14 PL season, Robin Van Persie was the ONLY PL player in history to score 35 PL goals with both his Left Foot (88) and Right Foot (37).

So 40 of RVP’s PL goals came with his weak right foot by his last season there.

Not bad for somebody who was poor with their weak foot eh?

Pierre

Weagle
“Van Persie was actually good on his right peg too, not a surprise that got past the football savant that is Pierre.”

Maybe you should have read my comment properly, as i said to a lesser extent RVP, meaning that he was very good with his left foot ( he was) but didn’t use his right foot just for standing on.(he didn’t)..

One can make themselves look a fool weagle by misrepresenting what someone else has said …

Pierre

Keep digging weagle …

WengerEagle

Pierre

He was statisically the highest goalscorer with his weak foot in PL history by the end of his stint in England 6 years ago, for all I know he still is.

Why even place him in your absurd list?

WengerEagle

Ozil was embarrassigly bad with his weak foot. Played like a virtual amputee.

Pierre

Still digging

WengerEagle

” as i said to a lesser extent RVP, meaning that he was very good with his left foot ( he was) but didn’t use his right foot just for standing on.(he didn’t)..”

‘To a lesser extent’ still implies that RVP was poor on his right foot which still is a laughably dense thing to claim.

But yes, it is I who is digging…

Samesong

Beautiful Hull goal.

WengerEagle

Everton are poverty under Rafa.

Even with absences they have been dreadful for the longest time. Safe to say you can add Rafa to the elite managerial scrapheap if it was ever in doubt.

Karsa

AMN claiming Mourinho is ‘one of the best managers in the world’.

If there were any doubts about his judgement that should settle it.

The Bard

If we sign someone great but its no big deal if we dont. We are an outside bet for 4th and below that does it really matter if we’re 5th or 6th ?We need to be playing a lot better more consistently to get players interested in joining us. What I hope we’ve learnt is not to spaff millions on short term fixes like Willian.

Tom

Karsa were you expecting AMN to say Mourinho is a has been whos tanking at Roma but I don’t really care because all I want is some playing time?

Sid

Mourinho can see the similarities between AMN and Ramires

TR7

Eddie Howe has always been one of the most overrated managers in the league, never understood the hype really.

Potter, Hassenhutl and Brendan are really good managers though.

TR7

“there were any doubts about his judgement that should settle it.”

Had Mourinho rated Xhaka enough to cough up €12M for him Xhaka too would have also hailed him as the best in the world.

Tom

Lukaku gave honest answers in his interview………the reception was mixed lol

WengerEagle

Lukaku is soft mentally, needs to grow a pair.

New post.