Well GOOD morning to you all. January is always a fun month because we tend to forget the rules of the transfer window.
- Most deals are done at the backend of January
- Sometimes it’s better not to spend money
- If a player is based in Italy and Juventus has cash, that’s where he’s going
- The internet liking a player does not factor in scouting department decisions
Vlahovic is off to Juve. A club that lost $236m dollars last year, has $400m in debt, jumped in and took the striker off the market. Same deal as Locatelli. I’ve seen people digging out the club for a fail here and I don’t really get it. The player had dodgy agents and the club that broke them is the one being investigated for 42 suspicious deals. Hard to compete with that level of dirt.
Talking of dirt, did you see that Vitor Perriera, the manager Kia floated our way, was in the running at Everton until the fans protested? Honestly, it’s mad that Usmanov and Moshiri were so keen to own Arsenal but have zero clue on how to run a club. Why would you hand over to super agents? (because you’re not really interested)
Back to Vlahovic and fans criticizing Arsenal for having a go.
- Arsenal should always put their hat in the ring for elite players
- Elite players will always have options
- Sometimes they pick the alternate option
Something else people need to be aware of with transfer business. Only in the days of Wenger was there one target or bust. In real football, there will be multiple options for the same position. Clubs will often be talking to lots of agents and clubs at the same time because you NEVER know what is going to happen. Arsenal didn’t land all their primary targets in the summer, they wanted Tammy Abrahams, the player wanted Arsenal, but we couldn’t shift any of our forwards, Chelsea preferred to sell abroad, so he went to Roma. The nature of transfer business is unpredictable.
There’s also some embarrassing carry-on in the base with people losing their shit that we haven’t signed Youtube sensation Bruno Guimarães. The Lyon midfielder looks to have all the ingredients we need in a midfielder, he’s mobile, he progresses the ball like a demon, and he gets stuck in. Newcastle is the frontrunner right now, though Lyon are denying this as they try to create a market for the player. The price is £30m, the wages are £60k p/w… but it looks like we’re passing.
Why?
Well, not every player the internet likes is a target.
Arsenal are very lucky that our owners are taking big risks on transfer targets. We’ve overspent considering our situation. We borrowed last summer, if we sign a big name striker this January, that is coming out this summers pot. I don’t think we have the money to be dropping £100m in a January transfer window.
Outside that, take a look at what is going on at the Rams for clues as to how we’ll do our business. They are signing BIG names. But the way it works in NFL is if you take on a big name, you lose capital elsewhere. So what have they done? Got smart with data and scouting.
The base premise is they have been sharper than other clubs with lower draft picks.
“Our model is predicated on players who were drafted lower down in the draft being starters and contributors, probably at a higher level than other teams,” says Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff. “You need them to play—and you need them to be cheap for a few years.”
They found a guy called Cooper Kupp. Now the NFLs best receiver. Here’s what they did.
There were several things about Kupp that caught the Rams’ attention before they drafted him. Even though he played at a Football Championship Subdivision college, one level beneath the likes of Alabama and Georgia, he was spectacularly productive. He set records for career receiving yards, touchdowns and receptions.
He also didn’t slow down when Eastern Washington played up. He had 246 yards in a game against Oregon. He posted 145 yards and three touchdowns against Washington, when the Huskies featured future star cornerback Marcus Peters—whom the Rams would later trade for to become Kupp’s NFL teammate for two seasons.
The strangest thing they liked was that he looked slow. The Rams’ brass was thrilled when he ran his 40-yard dash in 4.62 seconds, a snail’s pace for a wide receiver. That’s because they didn’t care about how fast he ran one day in shorts. They knew he was actually fast. They saw it themselves when he constantly outran defenders.
They also had something better than their eyeballs: better data than a 40-yard dash time. The Rams had seen Kupp’s GPS-tracking data—which can produce numbers such as how fast someone runs on every play—from that year’s Senior Bowl. Those figures were proof he was faster than the most popular metric led everyone to believe.
Identifying talent where no one else is looking is where the value comes. KSE is the 2nd biggest sports franchise in the world, it seems like they might be implementing similar strategies. Josh K said this in the summer.
“We’ve only really owned the club since 2018. We have a young manager, we have a young squad and we’re charting our path to the future.
“In the United States we have a certain model [used at other organisations run by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment] and we’re implementing that here, and we have over the last three years, which is, young players, talented players with the right mentality, let them grow together while continuing to sprinkle in talent throughout the squad.”
We have resources and as long as we’re using those resources smart, appropriately and intelligently, one plus one eventually will add up to three.”
Arsenal doesn’t need the internet to tell it where to spend money, we have scouts that scour the world all day. We need them to find value. My guess is the club are looking for the same thing they were looking for in the summer. 21-24, 2-3 seasons of experience, hyper-specific profile, 18 months left on their deal, or a player that has fallen out of favour at a big club, but still has big talent to unlock.
Youtube favorites haven’t exactly been a huge success over the past couple of years. Remember everyone champing up Ndombele? Shit for Poch, shit for Mourinho, being pushed out by Conte. I remember people calling him a top 3 midfielder in world football. How about last summer when people were setting themselves on fire for Emerson Royal at £30m? What did Arsenal do? They found a right back that could play centre back, who was valued at £15m, came with immense character, who is now one of our most important players. Emerson Royal? Barca are leaking to the media that they couldn’t believe the bid and Conte is replacing him with Traore already.
Bruno might be the greatest midfielder of all time, but the only club that is close to dealing for him is Newcastle who are in a relegation battle. They aren’t even flexing their muscles to land him. Arsenal might want a midfielder that’s more robust and ready. We might fancy Tielemans (18months), Renato Sanches (18 months), or Douglas Luiz (18 months). Who knows. But at this point, I think I’d prefer to trust our analysts over a the internet that told us Odegaard was boring, Ramsdale an average keeper, and Tomiyasu a waste of money because someone from Sky said no one in the league wanted him.
Ok, that’s me done. See you in the comments. x
Honestly all this nonsense about Arteta’s personality will go away as long as he win us some matches.
He can expect us to make a lot of stupid noises as long as he continues with goaless football.
I don’t really care if he is short or he bins Guendozi etc.
But continue with these results, he can’t expect us to keep quiet right, heh.
Being linked to Cody Gakpo now, not exactly a marquee signing but he’s also been linked to Liverpool and Man C.
Could be a decent punt at 25m, got all the ingredients we’re looking for in a striker.
Big step up from the Eredivise though.
There are fans who suggest to wait for the Summer. The reality is that Manure will be stronger with a proper coach next season. Antonio Conte will have modified Spuds to play his system after his first Summer TW. This season offers us the best chance to get the top4 spot. We don’t have squad depth. We need to strengthen to fight for top4 now.
We have resources and as long as we’re using those resources smart, appropriately and intelligently, one plus one eventually will add up to three.”
No, it always adds up to two. What American model doesn’t take into an equation is that if we finish 8th for a third season in the row, the club will not be able to stop our young talent joining the clubs with real ambition and better knowledge of basic maths.
Also, the another big problem there is that loose cannon Arteta is left in charge to decide which players have “right mentality”.
Georginio Wijnaldum wants to join us. Unless Auba or Lacazette goes – this is a signing that we should leave well alone.
He just wants a last one big pay day before hanging up his boots.
Going thru the comments and it’s strange the length raptora goes to bedwet. From calling OM the liverpool of france to proclaiming guen the messiah. This guy should be given a bedwetting mbe or sumtin
Gakpo looks to be a real power house
But he seems to prefer cutting in from the right.
Could he be comfortable in the middle?
And Dutch league experts here?
I like his height and the expertise with which he despatches his shots.
Cutting in from the left rather
Arsenal are trying to build a cycle of being competitive We tried the short term route of signing experienced players on big contracts with no resale value, and that failed miserably We’re now trying to grow a squad of young players together, and buy players who’s values we can increase on lower wages, you don’t need to be inside the Arsenal boardroom to draw that conclusion, Top 6 is a realistic target this season, and should be the minimum requirement, we were never going to get top 3, when you look at the quality + experience of the teams/squads occupying… Read more »
Rich
Is that all for free?
2023/2024 jeez.
That’s some incredibly long term planning and scope for excuses for a club that’s been out of Europe for close to 6 seasons
Alex Ferguson once said “If you don’t change your team every 5 years, then they’ll change you” Fergie didn’t used to freshen up his teams, he’d change his coaching staff, during freshening up his teams, there would be dips Even City and Pep dropped for 12 months recently while they struggled to replace peak Fernandinho, Kompany, and David Silva ———- Redundant examples… Using Fergie-who won a European Cup Winners Cup & a Super Cup at Aberdeen and broke up the Celtic vs Rangers dominance with 3 SPL titles along with other cups. And Pep-(Barca B and Barca who won circa… Read more »
It wasn’t a defence of Arteta It was an example of how the club are trying to build back to the top There’s no shortcuts from this squad of players: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%80%9320_Arsenal_F.C._season This is what we’re working with now in comparison, of course we lack experience, tactical nous + cohesion at this stage of the teams development, it would be strange if we didn’t Ramsdale 23 Tomiyasu 23 Saliba 20 White 24 Gabriel 24 Tierney 24 Tavares 22 Sambi 22 Odegaard 23 Smith Rowe 21 Saka 20 Martinelli 20 White 24 + Gabriel 24: are still the youngest centre back pairing… Read more »
Rich Very well You have to realize that our rivals aren’t resting on their oars wither7 -If Conte is still at Spurs< he too will have his players i and more time to get them playing to his style…and he’s a top manager. -United will appoint a decent manager -Westham don’t look like they will go away -Steven Gerrard has been impressive at Villa -The Wolves manager has also been impressive Is is possible that Arteta may have run his course and all we are doing is propping up methods that haven’t yielded results. If we don’t qualify for at… Read more »
You mentioned previously in your long winded….well, sleep inducing story telling and I quote: RichJanuary 27, 2022 10:13:04 Alex Ferguson once said “If you don’t change your team every 5 years, then they’ll change you”Fergie didn’t used to freshen up his teams, he’d change his coaching staff, during freshening up his teams, there would be dips. Even City and Pep dropped for 12 months recently while they struggled to replace peak Fernandinho, Kompany, and David Silva —- And I simply pointed out,using such managers..i.e Fergie and Pepe given their respective successful managerial careers was not really a good example,in fact… Read more »
Rich. Love your optimism but you really are far to insular in that you ignore just how other clubs will be planning, will be buying , will be improving and how they will now be approaching games against Arsenal. I keep reading that this is the youngest team so do Arsenal get bonus points for that ? We are now into the second half of the season and to be honest coaches worth their salt will now know far more about the new signings and the “surprise element “ won’t be there be even then what is is interesting ,… Read more »
It’s true that other clubs will be buying too, but it doesn’t always follow that that means they are improving.
I don’t see that Man Utd, Chelsea, or Leicester have improved this season.
Dissenter I’ve been consistent all season, I’ve said that if Arteta doesn’t get minimum top 6, then his position becomes untenable My argument isn’t that our business plan will 100% bare fruition, I don’t have a crystal ball, and if I did, I’d be using it for much more productive things….. My argument is about what the current business model, and business plan of the club are, and these plans should be able to outlive any incoming and outgoing managerial appointments * We’re aiming to cut off excess waste, we had a first team squad of 37, including players out… Read more »
Yes I’ve read about the Rams model. So if we’re using it where are the players that have been identified ? Why haven’t we bought any ?
If you’re having a bad day, then Ornstein just tweeted this:
“Barcelona working to sign Adama Traore from Wolves on loan with ~€35m buy option. #FCBarcelona speaking to #WWFC & 26yo. Not done yet. Spurs deal all-but over. Club-to-club talks were going positively but he wasn’t keen to play RWB”
Karsa
I don’t see that Man Utd, Chelsea, or Leicester have improved this season.
Let’s wait till the end of the season by then any odd features in terms who you have played against irons itself out.
Chelsky looks like flying kites about offloading Kai Havertzto Arsenal. Guess it is Williams con syndrome again
OK,some good news now
Roma and the Special One still want to take Xhaka the Granite Lampost from Arsenal
Great news that Spurs are being spursy with their transfer window business, I’d love a Conte/Levy public bust-up right after the deadline on Monday just to derail their season. Happy days if both Adama Traore and Luis Diaz transfers fall through! In regards to our business, I think the club are smart to not overpay this January to bring in a striker or midfielder. Certainly, Arthur with a 40 million obligation to buy is a high price for a player that doesn’t really excel in any particular midfield area. Oshimen, Isak and DCL(my preferred order of targets), are summer deals… Read more »
TerraloonJanuary 27, 2022 11:44:56 I am far from convinced that this season is going to result in a return to European football indeed I actually think, and it’s something that I keep on about, but the lack of experience is going to cost and cost big. —— This especially..^^… The lack of experience,which is always a big factor when it comes down to the latter half of the season..I just don’t see how we can navigate our way through such unchartered territory with both a young team and a novice. manager…It seems,we are already gassed in the red zone,along with… Read more »
Teraloon
I agree with you that a ‘young team’ need experience to get over the line this season and into top 4. I don’t believe our experience players have the know how to get there. An injury to any first teamer really upsets the balance, thats how fragile our first 11 is.
Remember also we are only as good as our last game. So will need to see a vast improvement.
PHD And you know we’re not going to do well how? Or you just don’t us to do well so you can legitimate your arteta bias? And you saying “guess that’s why we are where we are” means what exactly? As we are 2 points off 4th with a game in hand.
Newcastle and Arsenal vying for prolific Napoli striker Victor Osimhein from Nigeria. Arsenal should offer the “ troublemaker, flop, ageing legs Auba” to Newcastle if there is no further competition. With Auba missing and flopping for Newcastle , would be a reality check about where the problem really lies. The elephant in the room, as they say
PHD
Very scholarly and reasoned, notwithstanding the gloved fist
Terraloon We can’t control what others do, so there’s no value in worrying about it, we can only control what we do If we come up slightly short of 4th, 5th-6th. with the youngest team in the league, then that’s a cause for optimism, because the likelihood is that that team will improve If we come up short with an ageing team that’s past it’s best, and wasn’t good enough to begin with, then that’s a cause for pessimism, because the likelihood is that team will regress The issue we could face is if we come 7th, or end up… Read more »
*Yeah,youth is the way forward..We’ll have our ups and our downs-but when push comes to shove,who are the youth going to look to,to get them out of the quagmire at the business end of the season.Lack of experience,will be our undoing,along with an overhyped water carrier,novice of a manager who in the words of Peds is ‘transactional’,when it comes to dealing with players.. Part of being a coach,is not just about having the ideas,the tactics,the training programme,but also amongst many things man-management..It seems his inexperience in the latter appears to be quite an issue.A liability of sorts… I’ve worked with… Read more »
Rich
‘ We can’t control what others do, so there’s no value in worrying about it, we can only control what we doIf’
You have to favor what others are doing in your own planning.
It’s tantamount to setting up a team to play without doing research on your opposition.
You can’t plan in isolation.
You often write as though everyone else is stationary.
PHD The issue is that it doesn’t matter who our manager is, there was no shortcuts back to placing Arsenal back at the pinnacle of English football As we improve and develop elite young talent, it’s inevitable the sharks will start circling, that’s a consequence of having top players Of course there’s dangerous to that, but at least top clubs now want our players, which they didn’t a few years ago, this is just a consequence of having better players on our books, ones we could sell for £50-£100 million, if they refuse to commit Everyone wants Arsenal to get… Read more »
Adama Traore not convinced by Spurs and Conte. HAHAHAHA!!! Now in talks with Barca.
RaulishussJanuary 27, 2022 12:43:33 PHD And you know we’re not going to do well how? Or you just don’t us to do well so you can legitimate your arteta bias? And you saying “guess that’s why we are where we are” means what exactly? As we are 2 points off 4th with a game in hand. —— Yeah,you can reverse that argument and ask why is the blogger so uber optimistic? To the point he compared an unknown quantity,i.e a novice manager by way of Arteta -with no previous demonstrable track record taking on a huge club to Steve Jobs… Read more »
I wasn’t too annoyed with Traore being linked to spurs. But I don’t want them to get Luiz Diaz. Still Traore and Luiz in one window would have been disappointing for us.
Dissenter Clubs around us will be both progress and regress, we can’t control that, and if that wasn’t happening, football would be boring What we can control is what we do, which is to ty and grow a team that can be competitive at the top level We can plan our squad much better, we can improve our recruitment, we can manage our contracts much better We can certainly recognise when a older player is set to dip, and when a younger players career is about to take off much better We can stop stockpiling talent, £20 million Niles, £25mill… Read more »
Kai Havertz went to the wrong club. Wrong fit there and I would take him at Arsenal. Before Chelsea we were all waxing lyrical about this generational elite talent. 22 yrs old and he would fit in attack with the “youngest team” in PL. Replaces Laca.
You can’t validate a project by what you expect to happen. You can only judge by what has happened. All the talk about youngest team and progress is fine, it won’t matter at all if we sit 7th in May. If we sit 4th nobody will care about how we got there until we’re neck deep in Europe. Then, the results will define the project just as they do now. All we have at present is “the youngest team in the PL,” a hole in the midfield, and an appalling lack of January goals. We are sitting precariously at 6th,… Read more »
RichJanuary 27, 2022 13:12:39 You asked why the plan was: This season – Europa League Next season – Champions League 2023/24 PL Title ——- This is your view-non?Your subjective opinion-non? If so,square that with Edu’s statement in Sept 2021 after our block busting summer transfer window-with Sky Sports..See below. Edu-said the following when interviewed by Sky Sports in Sept 2021(after our £150 million spend in the summer)… GS: “If all the players are fit, what do you think this squad should be capable of this season? Is it top four? Is it top six? What’s realistic?” EDU: “I don’t want… Read more »
We are in the middle of a scoring crisis.
Which has happened a few times with Arteta.
Not scoring for 4 games with few shots is a big problem and shows poor coaching.
We have reverted to playing with fear and slow build up is the result.
Confidence is gone again and I doubt very much that we will finish above 6th.
Our squad. is big but poor in quality too we cannot shift the dross .
Arteta hasn’t achieved anything in two years, the so called process is really make believe.
Edu is a clueless clown doesn’t bring anything to the club.
PHD
With a young team, do you really expect the club to release their internal metrics, that only increase pressure?
But at the same time, there’s surely KPI’s firmly in place
DissenterJanuary 27, 2022 13:06:16 Rich ‘ We can’t control what others do, so there’s no value in worrying about it, we can only control what we doIf’ You have to favor what others are doing in your own planning. It’s tantamount to setting up a team to play without doing research on your opposition. You can’t plan in isolation. You often write as though everyone else is stationary. ———— “You can’t plan in isolation.” “You often write as though everyone else is stationary.’ —— For some individuals they can plan in isolation and they can write in terms of everyone… Read more »
Everyone stressing about our position, it’s ridiculous There’s always a chance we could slightly underachieve, and finish 7th-8th, which would make things tricky in securing our talent But it was always going to be tight between 5th-8th, I’d be surprised if there was more than 7 points separating those clubs at the finishing line United haven’t been convincing, but with the amount of individual talent on their books, they’re favourites to edge into 4th When I asked most on here what they’re expectations were at the end of the transfer window in August, a few said 4th minimum, the majority… Read more »
RichJanuary 27, 2022 13:46:29 PHDWith a young team, do you really expect the club to release their internal metrics, that only increase pressure?But at the same time, there’s surely KPI’s firmly in place —— Rich,not being funny…. I’ve made quite a few posts today..And I think I’ve more than elucidated my thoughts on the club,the team,the manager,Arsenal etc….I think if you scroll through my posts,you will get a general gist of my thoughts…You might interpret it differently,but if you read it with an objective mind-I hope you can understand where I am coming from. I do understand your question and… Read more »
No to Havertz. These are the sort of players that aren’t made for the premier league. Sancho is the same. Power and pace trumps a lot in the premier league. If it is skill that you have then you need to be robust enough to handle it. And we don’t need a N 10.
*But,I’ll just make clear that my viewpoints are taken over a long term trajectory
Rich If we come up short with an ageing team that’s past it’s best, and wasn’t good enough to begin with, then that’s a cause for pessimism, because the likelihood is that team will regress It seems to me you are vastly under valuing the importance of experience. The squad is wafer thin yet Arteta has either moved experienced players on or alienated them. It is clear that he just won’t tolerate others viewpoints and that up to a point is ok when things are going ok but when they are not things disintegrate at a pace. Club after club… Read more »
“I think there’s some fans who would rather Arsenal fail, so they can say they were right about the manager, than to see Arsenal edge over the line, and eat a little bit of humble pie” Time to come off your high horse, Rich. No one here would openly want for the team to tank so that Arteta gets the hoof. Ownership has its KPI’s and if Arteta does not meet them then course of action is obvious. Personally i don’t care for Arteta the brand, he’s arrogant and caustic. If however he can get this team to perform consistently… Read more »
RichJanuary 27, 2022 13:55:36 We’ve a decent chance of edging over the line, let’s drop any agendas, and get behind the team + manager, until the end of the season I think there’s some fans who would rather Arsenal fail, so they can say they were right about the manager, than to see Arsenal edge over the line, and eat a little bit of humble pie —- Yep,unleash your true inner feelings.. So,you’d be happy and confident to have a newly qualified or inexperienced assistant surgeon, with you being the first patient for him or her to perform a triple… Read more »
PHD I think you’re talking about confirmation bias I’m not looking to confirm my own biases, I’m just realistic enough to know that: 1. Arteta is 90% certain to make it to the end of the season, so there’s no value in having a meltdown every time a young team drops points 2. Even if the club aren’t sure internally about extending Arteta’s contract, it makes perfect sense to strengthen him in the dressing room in the meanwhile, by painting that picture 3. We could easily finish 7th/8th, take a few key players out, and we could struggle 4. If… Read more »
“Adama Traore not convinced by Spurs and Conte. HAHAHAHA!!! Now in talks with Barca.”
Asoa won’t like this – it negates his usual vomit and a dent to his linen of attack on Arteta. He believes Arteta is the sole reason we aren’t able to sign players.
” but at least top clubs now want our players, which they didn’t a few years ago, this is just a consequence of having better players on our books, ones we could sell for £50-£100 million, if they refuse to commit” Saka – Arsenal academy product ESR – Arsenal academy product Martinelli – Bought before Arteta took over May be in a subtle way or perhaps not so subtly you are crediting Arteta for the club having players who are sought after. Moreover even under Arsene we always had players that our rivals wanted and eventually poached. The club having… Read more »
PHD I get your argument… I’ll just hang on to the fact we’re 2 points off 4th with a game in hand. You don’t think this team with arteta can make top 4 but i think we definately can and we will.
Tr7 everything isn’t about arteta. Aren’t you tired of been wrong? Maybe you should take your advice and quit the blog if arteta contents pisses you off so much. P.s arteta has gotten the best from esr and saka and that’s a FACT.
Tallest Tiz
Thanks for the tip!
Best wishes!
The scenes around here when we pass up Guimaeras only to sign up Douglas Luiz and the realization of who his agent is. Well at least we avoided Vlahovic and his dirty agents…
Isn’t Kia Guimaraes agent?
I don’t care for the age-profiled view. Using young players’ progression to paint a rosy tomorrow is incredibly simplistic, when there are a hundred other factors that will contribute to a success/failure of a football club. The emotive fan buys into it though as it makes for a great story.
Take age out the picture and look at a like-for-like squad comparison. Just look at the number of positions/roles across the team that have solid and dependable players now VS two seasons ago.
For me its clear Arsenal are moving the right way.
Kai Havertz wants out?
If he is up for sale we should definitely pick him up… I suspect it will be pricey though. Chelsea is excellent in maximising the selling values of their fringe players.
Furthermore, often foreign players, once bruised, they often want to retreat back to home comforts, which is understandable I suppose.
Marko is back!!! how are you mate?
Exactly
If I were Adama Traoré I would tell him to steer clear of Barcelona. Right now they are still a basket case. Even if the new sponsoring deal may come to fruition, they are still in a financial mess. They are now trying to cash in on players they hired on a Bosman. As I don’t see Traoré thriving in Xavi system, he may well spend 1 year at Barcelona before being sold back to a premier League club. That would be a stupid move to leave Wolves to end up 1 year later at Norwich or West Bromwich. IMHO… Read more »
TR7
The consequence of developing elite young talents is:
1. To quote Wenger “When you play with youngsters, you play with points”
2. As elite talent develops and matures with experience, big clubs will want to take that talent off you, and be the ones to benefit from the education we’ve given, because big clubs like City, rarely give young players opportunities, and prefer to buy ready made players who are good to go
“Manager cults are weird,”
A manager is perhaps the most important figure at any club, it is natural that people delve more on the decisions and actions of managers than of anyone else.
Kai Havertz is a no for me.
Not because he is a bad player, but because he will be expensive and that we already have two players in his position; ESR and Ødegaard.
As Arteta is unlikely bto sanction the sale of the latter, I can’t see the benefit of selling a home grown ESR to fund the purchase of Kai.
Marko welcome back. Nice to have you around
Karsa
Yep.
I think we, as a club have given Kia enough money don’t you?
I like Bruno G but the hysteria around missing him reminds me of the whole Buendia circus last year when we missed out on him.
Looking back, Martin Odegaard was, in my opinion the far far superior buy… and cheaper too.
Before I start gnashing my teeth I’ll wait until the window shuts… better to buy no one than to waste millions on average joes who won’t take us anywhere at best and backwards at worst.
“Willian,Martinez,Auba,Saliba,Guen,Eddie(wants out)..”
PHD
Don’t forget to add Nelson, Mari and Bellerin to that list. Mari was his first-ever signing as a manager and Arteta has already fallen out with him. His previous vice captain, Bellerin, was so desperate to leave his team, he took a massive pay-cut to go to Real Betis.
A huge number of players with a diverse range of personalities have had disagreements with Arteta but it’s never Mikel that’s the problem. Any fallout is always seen as Arteta “changing the club culture” by some fans.
Under arteta it’s trust the club he needs more time trust the process but under Emery and later Wenger it was these guys don’t know what they’re doing they screw up in the transfer market and change is needed. Just fyi it’s 230 odd million spent under Arteta and the league position hasn’t improved and the football hasn’t improved. Oh and we’re still fucking up in the transfer market and losing players for free or minimal transfer value. We’ve been one of the biggest spenders the last two seasons but you wouldn’t know it with our midfield and striking options… Read more »
Leeds
Couldn’t agree more. No more super agent buys, and no need to lose our heads before the window actually closes.
90% of deals are done on the final day.
Before I start gnashing my teeth I’ll wait until the window shuts… better to buy no one than to waste millions on average joes who won’t take us anywhere at best and backwards at worst.
I’m definitely of the same opinion I’d rather keep the money for the next manager even though we’re literally throwing away our season with no reinforcements coming in
Game of fine margins.
Most of the comedy chucks in defense are now cleared and we got a solid unit. There’s some good work done in the midfield (central and attacking) as well.
Replace the inadequate Lacazette with a better model and we probably breeze the Burnley match.
To all who point towards the youth in the team you forget one thing the owners. They are not interested in football results they are looking at Arsenal as an investment. As soon as one of the young players approaches WC status they give in the next TW with a massive profit to the liking of KSE. Arsenal is approaching a feeder club status unless they can get a DOF and manager in that can put pressure on the owners by showing results and I don’t mean years into the future. Sorry about busting your bubble about the young players… Read more »
The youngest squad narrative is good, the part thats missing is that they will regress under Diet Pep
E.g Ozil, Auba, Willian, Tierney, Partey,
TR7 It might be natural to be more focused on the manager, but clubs who have all powerful managers, are destined to transition from that manager in a bad way, because you then create a power vacuum that needs filling, think United after Fergie, and Arsenal after Wenger When the average lifespan of a manager is just over 2 years, that’s a recipe for disaster Our structures behind Arteta are the most important ones Look at Spurs, they spent €30 million on Emerson Royal, then appoint a manager who plays with wing backs, 5 months later, they’re trying to buy… Read more »
Rich “Getting back in the CL used to be the extent of our ambitions, I get the feeling we’re now trying to construct a squad that can win the title, rather than just tread water” There is a case to be made of fans over-rating players at this time. Yes I know the shock horror of it all. Fans over-rating their own players. Take Ramsdale for instance. He is now getting criticism from fans. A few months ago he was the bees kness and England’s undisputed No.1. Everyone loves his character on the pitch including me but he was getting… Read more »
PHD
Some persuasive and well-made arguments mate. Good to see you back on here presenting some incontrovertible arguments to the acolytes of the basque bantamweight.
If I ever needed someone to shoot some fish in a barrel for me, you’d be at the top of the list mate. 🐟🐠🐡🦈 🏹
“I’m definitely of the same opinion I’d rather keep the money for the next manager even though we’re literally throwing away our season with no reinforcements coming in”
100% agreed Marko.
Arteta, Edu and Co. can only hold themselves responsible when they decided to spend most of the summer’s budget on defence. I can think of at least 5 football directors and head coaches that would have made better use of the club’s resources than these lot.
“acolytes of the basque bantamweight”
🤣🤣🤣. This one caught me off-guard.
It’s good to see you back KP. I missed those sharp one-liners.
PhD2020
You’ve been on fire today.
Buendia has recently stepped up his performances
In the last few games, he’s been as good as Odegaard.
Arsenal are more likely to win a title in the foreseeable future by hitting on a style of play that is highly effective rather than the players that are signed. Yes you need players of a certain standard to get to that point but how we play as a collective will trump that and this is where the coach/manager is so important. I see too many times fans underplaying the importance of a manager/coach. Arsenal are not going to buy their way to an EPL title. The league is too competitive and there are teams in great positions of strength… Read more »
GX doesn’t care if he gets carded. It’s in his game and psyche and whether you like it or not, he ain’t going to change. Does Arteta accept this way of thinking? Is it an agreement between the two of them that Xhaka’s lack of discipline is beneficial for the team? It was highlighted on here yesterday that “Xhaka is not a bad egg”. Well actually, I think he’s far worse because rather than put the team first he’s putting his own inefficiencies and failings above all else. Rash challenges shows a lack of discipline and significantly respect for your… Read more »
“There’s a 50/50 chance Arteta leaves in May”
Rich.
I don’t think the probability is that high tbh. Maybe a 10% chance he leaves in May. Just think about it. Arteta is going through his third goalless run in the league in less than two years (second this season). But right now he’s almost certainly discussing the prospect of his contract extension with the BoD.
Arsenal Football Club hasn’t maintained a healthy level of standards for a big club in a long time and that is why I don’t think his job isn’t under any real threat.
Rich, you definitely deserve some coin from Pedro for singlehandedly pushing his agenda and keeping the thread going. A couple of things though: the idea that Arsenal players ranging in age from 20 to 24 will all mature and hit their peak simultaneously in two years time is more hopeful than realistic. Unless Arsenal have stumbled on a group of highly unusual talent, our players will hit their peak as most other do and that’s between 25-28yo. Also, if 7-8th this season is ”slightly underachieving ” then why would Kroenke fire Arteta? Seems unreasonable to me. But suppose they do,… Read more »
Ishola, The only player bought within the last two years who today would objectively be worth more is our Japanese right back. And not because he has become a world class right back, but because we got a cheap dependable right back. Arsenal has issues: + Bringing players. We keep assessing players ability and their financial worth incorrectly. Worse we then proceed to give them wage way above their market value. Ramsdale is an average goalkeeper with a price tag of a world class. Past the initial honeymoon period, his infectious character can’t hide his limitation as a player. Same… Read more »
Arsenal finishing 8th this season is unthinkable.
No European commitments and out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, it would be an unmitigated disaster.
Couldn’t Kai Havertz be that Lacazette upgrade that Underrated suggests…? I could see him doing well in that role actually… and thriving.
All for nothing though-Chelsea won’t sell to us in all likelihood. With him being the age he is… perhaps we can arrange a loan for him if he goes back to Germany to rebuild his career.
He should take heart. If KdB and Mo Salah prove anything, just because you failed at Chelsea early on in your career does not mean anything. Dust yourself off… pick yourself up and try again.
I see ya Valentine.
New post though.
Something about Xhaka leaving us…………….again.
“ Arsenal finishing 8th this season is unthinkable…” Err… what have you been reading for the past month on this blog? It is very much on Pedro’s mind and he has been pulling out all the stops to reframe the narrative should the whole show go down in flames… The mere fact that Pedro is suggesting that Arteta should be given a new contract (even though we have no possibility of silverware) demonstrates this. I have, to be fair, become more open and friendly to the process in recent months but my bar for success has remained the same. If… Read more »
Pretty certain we’re finishing 8th and likely 9th with our current midfield (two players that enjoy red cards and injuries) and strikers(can’t score even if they played all day). 17 games left.