The great nation of Coromos delivered us the December Christmas present we all asked for — they knocked out Ghana in a spectacular giant-killing for the ages, which means Thomas Partey, barring anything weird, should be back in England very shortly.
I don’t know whether he will be fit for the Burnley game, but to be honest, it’s not like anyone else will be. I just hope he’s not sad about the early exit because if we’re getting peak Partey back, we are dancing in the streets.
Arsenal vs Liverpool is on, which means a number of big journos are going to have to find those newspaper website clicks somewhere else this week. Martin Odegaard is passing those lateral flows like he connecting the midfield with attack. Well. Not sure if that last sentence worked, but you saw the ambition of it, and that’s what matters. I’m interested to see who we roll with, the good news is that those extra few days should have an impact on our player’s legs. We can have a crack at them.
In transfer news, we’ve ripped up Kola’s deal. He’s the last of the bad eggs out of the club. Somehow, he’s managed to land a move to Marseille. I don’t know how they sold that to their fans, but who cares, he’s gone, we can move on, and we’ll NEVER have to see him rolled on as a center-back again.
There are also strong rumours that we’re going to move Elneny out of the club, Fenerbache have come knocking, Mesut has clearly put in a good word, that would be a great deal for us if we can get more than £16 in fee.
I have absolutely no idea what we’re doing with our midfield with regards to signings. The Melo deal is off, we’re not being loudly linked with anyone, unless bringing players back from loan and hoping Patino/Azeez grow up real fast is the solution. It’s a little worrying… but you would guess that if we’re moving out players, we have a plan that doesn’t look like we’re smacking ourselves in the face.
The Vlahovic rumours are moving into ‘dangerously boring’ territory. The Italian press keep saying he doesn’t want Arsenal, if that’s the case, the story is dead. No way Edu is on the phone begging him to join. The worry is that, yet again, there are no alternatives being linked. Not that being linked is the be-all and end-all, but usually, there’s a bit of smoke.
Only one recognised striker for the rest of the season is a bit shit. That one striker is 29 and leaving in the summer. Eddie is playing like it’s May 31st already. Even more worrying if Auba has heart problems. Not sure many men with kids would risk their life over football. So let’s hope the issue isn’t that bad. Even then… Auba isn’t exactly suitable, is he?
Thomas Tuchel, 2014 Le Grove dreamboat, 2021s ‘ARSENAL LACK AMBITION FOR NOT SIGNING THIS PERFECT HUMAN’ is in a bit of a crisis at Chelsea. They drew against Brighton, no shame there, but a shame when you are slumming it in 3rd for an Abramovich team. If Arsenal win their 3 games in hand, which is ambitious speculation in the name of gloating, we’d go level points with them. Quite something, wouldn’t you say?
Just think about this: How many of the ‘elite’ things that happened this summer at other clubs… that some of our fans used to slam our ambition… have come good?
Tuchel? Nah.
Varane or Kounde over White? Nah
Onana over Ramsdale? Nah
Lukaku?
Grealish?
Jadon?
Emerson Royal?
Auoar?
Just because it feels sexy, doesn’t mean it’ll be sexy.
Put that quote in my obituary.
Right, short post today. Have a nice evening. x
P.S. CLICK IN THE YOUGOV SURVEY TO UR RIGHT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS, PLEZ x
WengerEagle,
Jude Bellingham and Aureliens Tchouameni are looking like they still make them like that though rarer these days.
Naija
Both pale in comparison to Cesc at that age but it’s an unfair standard to hold them to. Cesc may be the greatest teenage CM in the modern era, cannot recall seeing a better one.
Teenage/early 20s.
Cesc was brilliant, loved him, and could understand why he went to Barca
But I couldn’t even look at him after he signed for Chelsea + Mourinho
2 teenage central midfielders currently ripping it, Bellingham + Pedri
Can anyone think of any in the PL over the last decade?
Or even teenager centre backs in the PL?
Cesc called Papa and asked him to come back home but Papa was too hurt to say yes.
Through th prism of time, probably turned out a mistake by Papa. Yes, we had Ozil already, but he shouldn’t have said no to a player like Cesc. I was angling more towards Wenger’s decision, but looking back at it, he should have embraced our boy back.
WengerEagle
In my opinion Bellingham, Pedro and Tchouameni are all midfield generals like Cesc at such a young age.
But what sets Cesc apart from the rest and the world really is the fact on top of being a midfield general he was also a final ball monster. He literally taught me the term ‘assists’
Rich Phil Foden although he’s more of a CAM/forward. Wilshere if you count 2010-11 as the last decade. Slim pickings after that, think there is much less of a tolerance/emphasis for the elite sides in England now to develop youngsters in the first XI with the pressure to win and money being pumped into the clubs. Chelsea farm out their youngsters and let them develop out on loan for the most part. You have to remember as well that as AFC Forever rightly points out, CM is such a crucial part of any side and is the engine room. It’s… Read more »
Rich: He was gutted that Arsene didn’t want him (which of course, was a bad shout) — where else was he going to go?
Naija I’ll take your word on it re Tchouameni as I haven’t seen much of Monaco. I do remember Fabregas raving about him recently though and he would know what it takes better than anyone for a young CM. Even he is 21 though, at that age Cesc was leading the league in assists and adding lots of goals to his game. I like Bellingham, he has plenty of personality for such a young lad and really is a good footballer. I think he is being a little overrated though, just my opinion. Not even close to as class as… Read more »
Does Auba want to go to Saudi, when he can run down his Arsenal contract and finish his career playing for the Inter Miami or Toronto FC in the MLS?
Player power rules the day, Auba has to do only what is good for him.
Remember when the chant was “sign da ting”?, Now we have to honor our side of the deal.
WengerEagle
Don’t forget the theatrics between Lehmann and Drogba !!
Rich,
Great news about Auba is true. The Athletic reporting that he’s been involved in serious disciplinary breaches during AFCON, involving drinking and altercations with hotel staff. It increasingly looks like the guy has lost it and just isn’t able to reset mentally.
Even before I saw your post I was thinking that the perfect solution would be if an Arab club came in for him. He can continue making a shit ton of money and buy a few more pimped out Lambos without the sporting pressure and off-field temptations.
Papa was right, only a simp would take back a girlfriend after she takes off with her lover, then gets heart broken by that lover.
WE Agreed, it’s why I had no issue with the club loaning out Saliba, the only mistake we made was not renewing his contract first, and allowing him to edge towards the last 2 years of his deal Sending a talented 20yr centre back out on loan to develop, is nowhere near the drama some made it out to be, so far the loan is a success Hopefully Saliba in the cold light of day, will see this loan as being really beneficial to his development, come back to the club, commit, and begin being integrated into our first team… Read more »
*if true
How many players can do it all – scoring, assisting, dominating from the midfield position as much as Fabregas? Iniesta maybe? Cesc has 1/3 more goals and 1/3 more assists than him and he wasn’t playing with Messi his whole career where every regular pass can turn out an assist just like that, although I realize how good Iniesta was but he wasn’t as productive as Cesc in the final third. It’s literally Cesc and De Bruyne in my lifetime – both absolute magicians of the final ball. De Bruyne more powerful and raw than Cesc, Cesc more elegant and… Read more »
People tend to forget how good and dominant Cesc really was at his apex here (not Gooners, PL fans in general). In 2009-10 he played 26 PL matches and scored 15 goals with 13 assists and a Whoscored rating of 8.25 which is beyond great, that is one of the highest ratings ever for a PL season since the data has been record (2009). In fact, only x3 players in the 12 years since Whoscored data is traceable have had a full PL season rating of > 8.00 and that is Luis Suarez at 8.43 in 2013/14 (largely seen as… Read more »
Aubameyangs mother illness has affected him emotionally
Yes.Wenger was trying to make a point.Backfired badly.Cesc should have been welcomed back like the prodigal son.Instead we got stuck with the bug eyed waste of space.Another nail in wingers eventual coffin.
I would take peak Cesc over KDB but it’s very close, agree Rap. Funnily enough, even though Iniesta is clearly > a player than Cesc was and is the greatest MF in my eyes since Zidane, I do not think that he could have come and done what Cesc did for us between 2005-2010 at such a young age. Just style and attribute-wise, Cesc was more primed and built for the PL than Iniesta. Much more of an end product as you say and more robust and tenacious, a real CM whereas Iniesta played more advanced for Barca and had… Read more »
On a more positive note.Great to see Tets standing up for the club at the presser.A bit more of the backs against the wall spirit being shown.About time.
On a more positive note.Great to see Tets standing up for the club at the presser.A bit more of the backs against the wall spirit being shown.About time.!
Rich
That is the hope, and if he is sold at least don’t make same goof as when we sold Mavropanos for peanuts to Stuttgart only for him now to be worth x10 times what we sold him for in the summer.
That transfer was bizarre. Guy clearly showed on his loan last season that he was a good player and was only 23.How are you not getting more than £3m (if they avoid relegation, which they will) for a player like that?
WE It goes to show that for players it’s often about choosing the right club, Wenger made this point really well on a few occasions At Arsenal, Cesc was the main man, everything went through him, and he was the heartbeat of the team At Barcelona, Messi was the main man, they already had an established midfield base with Xavi + Iniesta, so he was more of a spare wheel at Barca, and a cog in the system If you look at the Vlahovic links, I know little about the player other than highlight reels, and the game the other… Read more »
“Now we have to honor our side of the deal.”
What does this even mean?
Positive Pete “On a more positive note.Great to see Tets standing up for the club at the presser.A bit more of the backs against the wall spirit being shown.About time” Absolutely. I said this yesterday, we’ve been a bunch of yellow bellies for far too long trying to be the good guys. Where has it got us? The highest red card count in PL history and a statistic that shows we are averaging almost a booking every foul. As for giving Sheffield Utd a rematch, name me one other team that has done that when they scored a goal through… Read more »
One of the best Arsenal wins that I remember very clearly is visiting Bolton, trailing by 2 goals and a man down at half time. I believed in our team so much that during the half time break, I went to the local bookie and put money on an Arsenal comeback win. We scored the winning goal in the added time of the game. Cesc celebrating the winner was literally me at home. I miss that passion. Our 2008/09 team deserved to win the EPL, we just cracked in the deciding moments of the title fight (and Eduardo’s injury).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vDJamEVyD8
New post duh
AC Milan 0 Arsenal 2 was one of the best, at the San Siro
Positive pete “Yes.Wenger was trying to make a point.Backfired badly.Cesc should have been welcomed back like the prodigal son.Instead we got stuck with the bug eyed waste of space” Well , cesc won nothing with probably a better bunch of players than Ozil played with , who helped the club win trophies with monotonous regularity as soon as he arrived. Imagine all those glorious cup final victories Arsenal fans would have missed out on if the “waste of space” hadn’t joined the club . A couple of 8th place finishes since Ozil was frozen out of the team is an… Read more »
Jamie
““Now we have to honor our side of the deal
.”What does this even mean?”
There’s a binding contract till 2023.
You can’t force him to go work in a country where his wife can’t move around freely and is only lucky to be able to drive.
Yeah Cesc vs Pirlo, Ambrosini and Gattuso I think, the very best in their positions in the world, and dominated. Boy was a box of skill, tenacity, vision, and gifts(assists).