So Liverpool’s season ended with 2 domestic cup wins. An incredible achievement. My first ever Cup Final experience was Arsenal vs Sheffield Wednesday when we won the cup double in 1993. Klopp and his team of heroes stand tall with the heroes of that era that set the standard we now see today.
It’s tough for Liverpool, they are getting bantered off the internet today, people have been keeping receipts, waiting for their moment to strike.
… and it’s been brutal.
My man is starving https://t.co/z27gs5cesw
— ksi (@KSI) May 28, 2022
Michael Owen was insistent that Liverpool were still the best team in Europe despite not being able to win a cup final in open player or score a goal in 5 hours worth of finals.
When it comes down to it, sport is won in the margins, you can be legendary or a fraud on the flip of a coin. Right now, everyone is poking holes at Klopp complaining about Madrid’s keeper being too good. All the psychoanalysts peddling ‘hugs, kisses, and planning’ being the difference in the FA Cup are struggling to work out how a 10-a-day manager accused of being too casual at Bayern and lacking tactical rigor could roll into Saint-Denis and shithouse a supposedly much better Liverpool side.
Liverpool go from QUADRUPLE LEGENDS to the team that blew the easy run to the Champions League final.
They go from indestructible heroes to looking like a group that might be about to look decline in the face.
The average age of their starting 11 is about 29. Injuries have been kind to them. It is going to be very difficult for them to replace with the quality they need.
Sadio Mane is already signaling he wants out. Mo Salah still hasn’t signed a deal. The best sporting director on the planet has quit, likely because he knows Klopp wants to control the rebuilt now he’s king.
The dip might not come next season, but I’ve no doubt the Arsenal team are looking at where our squad is now, hoping that when Liverpool drop, we are there to move on them.
What I did hate last night was the disgraceful treatment of English fans. The behaviour merchants are out in force, but there is simply far too much evidence from actual media people with cameras to put this one on the fans. The French police are brutal, they don’t even save it just for the English, they aren’t good to French away fans in general. But the idea that you can have a ticket, turn up to the ground on time, and be told to just fuck off, then get pepper-sprayed should be a scandal of the highest order. It was absolutely horrendous to hear that gangs were picking off fans after and stealing their phones and money. If that happened in England, it would be a global news story, but when it happens in France, it gets brushed under the carpet until the next big event when they do the same thing again.
Dortmund has signed 6 players already.
Why are they so good at getting players in the door early?
Drives me up the wall.
Arsenal needs to shift players this summer regardless of the clear bank of cash that has been made available.
- Lucas Torreira
- Nico Pepe
- Bernd Leno
- Bob Holding
- Hector Bellerin
- Reiss Nelson
- Pablo Mari
- Daniel Ballard
- Alex Runarrson
I would have put Ainsley there, but for me, he should be offered the chance to be our right back again next season. He has the mobility, the power, the technique… he just lacks the right attitude sometimes. He also needs to be given the opportunity to be right back after he refused. Part of good leadership is to always give people a way back if they change.
Benfica is apparently in for Bernd Leno but they are swerving at the £8.5m fee we’re looking for. That is a keeper that cost us £25m, has been a German international and is definitely Premier League standard. Edu really needs to start shifting bodies for actual money this season. The Mavropanos fee was pitiful considering the talent as was agreeing to sell Guendouzi before we saw how good he’d be at Marseille.
Every penny counts, let’s not have a summer of giving away players for nothing.
Still, at least there’s a structure in place at Arsenal and our recruitment, in the main, is about 1000x better than it has been. Everything is mapped to a footballing philosophy and a profile.
United? They hired in Ralf Rangnick, who tanked on the coaching side, but the fear was he’d be allowed to rebuild them… and rebuilding clubs is what he’s good at. Well, he’s out the door. He came in, saw that it was a shitshow, said as much, and that’s that. He’d prefer to manage Austria. United, by far the most reactionary club in the world, has said goodbye.
Like, what are they thinking? I swear their biggest issue has been catering to the Twitter accounts with the little numbers and the Paul Pogba avatars. Who picks up the recruitment? Are they putting it on Ten Haag? Are they bringing Marc Overmars out of his scandalous cancellation? Or are they just going to expensively wing it again?
Whatever their plan is… it doesn’t seem like it’s in place as of now, so that is another challenge they’ll have to overcome.
Bigger issue for them is what they do with Cristiano and Fernandes who don’t really seem like ideal candidates to play the sort of football Ten Haag has been known for.
ANYWAY, why don’t you jump into some content below and sign up for Patreon because we are doing some EXCLUSIVE Patreon content tomorrow about transfers and things.
- We’ll be bringing back Famous Shirt Numbers
- We’ll be going deep on ins and outs
- We’ll be doing a winners and losers
- We’ll also be talking about our rivals
Should be cracker. Thank you to those that have signed up already. You are all amazingly generous. x
MidwestGun
What do you like specifically about Odegaard’s game ?
Lynn At the highest level, for a 4-2-3-1 to work effectively, you need to have two dynamic, physical dominant, great passers of the ball in midfield or world class players further up. Arsenal has neither. Worst our midfield does not provoke the opposition. Against well organised low bloc, we then resort to long distance pot shot to score or to our strikers to create their own opportunities by harassing the defence. People can clamour for a tall striker, but unless he is exceptional in the air and with his back toward goal, we will soon see him getting exasperated by… Read more »
Can’t we try for Lewa?
If he wants a new challenge then the EL is the place to be
Shall we send englandsbest to make a case for Arsenal?
Midwest we’re actually not that far off, opinion-wise, about our offensive woes. as we both agree on our inherent problems involving both Xhaka, as the sideways pivot, and the fact that White has been incredibly underwhelming from a stretch pass capacity, so at least we’ll always have that in common…as for the Ode gig, he tucks to far out wide right, so we lack any real central presence, except when our Strikers come deep and play with their backs to goal, he doesn’t provide the necessary protection for Saka, visa vie overlapping and/or dummy runs, he absolutely disappears against teams… Read more »
Ødegaard becoming Le Groves new Özil, pull it together people the kids quality coming into his peak years. Le Groves big grip with Ø is many feel he/Arteta marginalised ESR by putting him on the flank and opting for the Norwegian. Arteta is definitely guilty for not rotating enough but if were really honest we’ve got two quality options for the 10 role or dualing 8s as they progress. I’ve zero issue with that.
too far
Naija .. I like that Ode can play between the lines on the half turn, is always available and has a range of passes when he is close to the penalty box that can free up players because he has good vision and I like that he doesn’t shirk pressing and defensive duties. He has endless energy as well he will give you his best effort for 90 minutes. Excellent set piece taker, too. And he will get better as he is still young and he is not afraid of the Captain’s armband. What I don’t like is his dribbling… Read more »
I saw it mentioned on here yesterday by the way that Mane is going to Bayern as a Lewandowski replacement, wtf lol?
Lewandowski is a 50 goal a season man, Mane is good for maybe 20-25.
Lewandowski is leaving from the looks of it though. Wants to join Barca apparently. Just shows you the massive pull that they still have.
Kind of funny that Auba gets his dream move to Spain and just 6 months later his eternal Bundesliga rival in Lewy is joining to stick him on the bench.
For those who don’t understand why Liverpool fans exasperated a lot of Paris resident on Saturday.
https://youtu.be/8xAzs1FKcHI
This is supposed to be a family park. I sincerely doubt that many French family felt safe in such environment. When Japanese fans travel, there is never such mess left behind.
Leicester conceded 41 goals in 2018/19 and 50 the following season when they started Fofana at CB, and Legrove went into a frenzied Fofana cost them the CL places mode.
Arsenal conceded 39 last season and 48 with Ben White at CB this season.
Any chance he might’ve cost us the CL places ?
So the Chelsea’s takeover is now complete and they are out of sanctions. Just listening to Sky some of the numbers are quite staggering. 250 enquiries, 100+ personal meetings with individuals and entities, 32 given access to full data, 12 bids , 4 shortlisted down to 3 Bohey and co new owners. It was pretty obvious that they were going to be sold for big numbers but didn’t really think that the way in which on here reacted to snippets of news that were clearly false and treated them as gospel. From an Arsenal perspective it will be interesting and… Read more »
Yes I do agree Odegaard needs to work on his shooting especially from the dribble and on the half volley. but he still shoots better then Ozil ever did. I think a lot of the angst is that he was preferred to ESR by Arteta, really.. I understand that argument a little better then he is shit.
“I understand that argument a little better then he is shit.”
It’s LG Middy, there is no nuance its either black or white within these walls for many.
I think if Pool let Mane go… they screwed up before the season even starts. Just saw Serge Gnabry wants 250k a wk.. man I would love to get him but that seems steep. .
Tom
It is hilarious to be fair that Fofana was deemed a failure of a teenager being a PL CB purely because Leicester conceded 50 (only 39 with him playing) and they go on the very next season without him to concede 59 goals.
And with our £100m new backline/GK we concede 48 PL goals, 9 more than last season. Pedro has been strangely quiet on that contradiction.
Ben White is not a teenager last I checked.
WengerEagle,
This Xavi team does not play like the old Barcelona. There is no tiki-taka. It is play fast on the wings and crosses/cut back in dangerous area for a fox in the box to finish the chances. Aubameyang may be a better fit to that team than Lewandowski.
Lewandowski is the more rounded player, but Aubameyang is more lethal. His quasi-telepathic understanding with Dembele means more goals. Lewandowski may be the one who end up on the bench. He is younger than Aubameyang, so he may have year after the next.
I know Sal.. LG is basically hot – take central at times or making predictions on next season before the transfer window has even got started. Some of them are too Nostradumbass. for my liking. … just sayin.
Valentin agree with the vast majority of your above response, in that our 4-2-3-1 base formation is rather uninventive and unproductive, due to both our manager’s lack of direct intent and the players being regularly deployed in the deeper-lying and midfield positions…now if we were inviting pressure, like Klopp’s Dortmund 4-2-3-1, so as to counter with pace, I’m totally on board…in fact, if we got a Striker who had both a world class first touch and could make the requisite runs required, I think we have the personnel in wider positions to pursue this course of action, but that doesn’t… Read more »
If Mane leaves Liverpool, who in their squad is going to be able to step up to deliver flying elbows to opponents?
I woudn’t pin it all on Ben White…but certainly for me he didn’t move the needle forward nor the ball most games.
If you had to go back and take a redo on this past season’s window it would surely be for many, bring Saliba back and take the Ben White cash and put it into a goal scorer. Was Tammy for me last summer with Laca out the door and we saw White. Agree didn’t move the needle for that cash, let’s hope that changes. Looking into this summer i’m not completely sold on Jesus, I really like him just not sure he’s the one to score the numbers we need. Add Jesus and Gnabry with Pepe out and were in… Read more »
Pedro
No disrespect to you and your writing but have you realized that your strategy or whatever PR you are pushing for Arteta is basically “We will get top 4 because others will fail”?
That’s not the strategy of a generational coach with sauce.
Valentin
Traveling Liverpool fans are shit.
They do know how to use the emotional card though
Go too hard on them and you know what they will pull out, starts with 8th alphabet.
I’m sick of reading the ‘my mate bought s ticket and they told him it was fake’….maybe he mistakenly got swindled and got a sham ticket instead.
That’s a lot of trash to leave behind. I doubt that Glastonbury generates that much in five days.
Marko shouldn’t you be telling me how great Pepe is going to do next season.
Middy Wasn’t the way I intended the point to come across. 1) It is absurd to blame a sole player for a total goal conceded total. To deem Fofana as the main reason as Pedro did was very silly and as we have seen this season, the real weak-link of that backline is Soyuncu who is a poor defender and a bullet dodged for us. 2) For all we pumped into the backline £100m, we only conceded 2 less goals than that shite Leicester defence. If people want to blame it on youth: LB- Tierney 24, Justin 23. RB- Tomiyasu… Read more »
I would have taken whatever Mourinho was offering for Xhaka as well last summer and thrown down on a midfielder, but I fully realize I have an anti-Xhaka agenda ..and admit to it.
I think Ben White was bought before they realized their purse was all but spent Once they spent that humongous sum, there wasn’t enough for a midfielder so they kept Xhaka. By the time Tammy came up, we were running on fumes, they were telling the manager he has two strikers on a combined half-million weekly wages. The Ben White signing was a stratified blunder that will continue to dog us. Brighton didn’t replace the player they sold for £50 [+5] million. Ben White is the reason Saliba coming back may not Warri because Arteta loves to prove himself right.… Read more »
** The Ben White signing was a strategic blunder that will continue to dog us
“It is hilarious to be fair that Fofana was deemed a failure of a teenager being a PL CB purely because Leicester conceded 50 (only 39 with him playing) and they go on the very next season without him to concede 59 goals.”
I had this argument like a million times with a poster who’s name escapes me right now and Pedro also used this same argument against playing Saliba.
I should look for that post and ask Pedro his view on Ben White seeing as our defence was poorer
Eagle- yep I got your point. I do think hindsight obviously helps with opinions.. the arguments for Ben White last summer after the conclusion of our season do seem silly now. He did have moments where I wasn’t mad at him but they were too few and far between and he definitely didn’t impact our attack as promised.
there’s no doubt that we should have embedded Saliba last season and allocated the monies used to purchase White towards more pressing needs, especially considering last year was supposedly year 1 of 3, but getting Jesus isn’t the answer to what ails us…we simply can’t rely on such a diminutive frontline, now that the purple patch kid has re-upped…of course, I’m a huge fan of Gnabry’s and I never wanted him to leave in the first place, but he’s best deployed out wide right, which is where Saka is predominantly played, so I’m not sure that would be the best… Read more »
Valentin
Lewy is older than Auba, by a year. 34 in August would you believe? Doesn’t feel as though he has been on the scene as long as a Benzema despite virtually being as old.
I cannot believe that Barca would bench a 50 goal a season ST in Lewandowski that is far superior to Auba if we are honest. I don’t really understand what you mean about Auba being more ruthless/clinical than Lewandowski, what is that based on? Certainly not conversion rate.
Wenger Eagle
Why can’t Barca play both together; Auba and Lewa?
“Only 11% for us and just 17% for the mighty Liverpool” Naija, Thanks man and no problem. Yeah big chances do contribute towards a very low % of total shots but it’s a different story when it comes to goals scored. For instance, from our 37 big chance created, we scored 27 goals (73%). City scored 54 goals from 87 big chances created (62%). Liverpool scored 70 goals from 97 big chances created (72%). Chelsea scored 44 goals from 73 big chances created (60%) Spurs scored 44 goals from 84 big chances created (52%) Evidently, big chances created are an… Read more »
We.
The way these ITF boys just jump into mainstream tennis and dominate straightaway is ridiculous.”Kid is just turned 19 and won the Boy’s title in 2019 in RG and he looks like a seasoned vet out here.Giving Tsitsipas the run-around and Stefanos is a top 3-5 Clay player.
I refuse to follow next-gen. Just believed if they’re good enough they’ll get to the mainstream eventually. I somehow caught with of Augier and Alcatraz before they became big. This Holger guy totally escaped me and lost me good money.
WengerEagle, Lewandowski being older than Auba is blowing my mind. I was convinced that he had at least 2 years on Auba. I think that in situation that required one touch striking of the ball Auba is better. I consider Lewandowski the better overall player, but Auba better suited to Current Barcelona style of play. I also think that Lewandowski is not as lethal as Auba as shown when played for Poland. I don’t follow Poland close but whenever I have seen them in qualifier or tournament I was never impressed by his contribution. I had the feeling that he… Read more »
Whiff not with
Not a fan of Women’s tennis normally but this is actually a great match, the Chinese girl is playing out of her mind and Swiatek the massive favourite has just lost her first set in over a month of tennis.
Midwest
Yeah and look we have White now so we can only agonize over the Saliba/money wasted thing so much, I get that. White for the record looks a good player, just not as good as we all had hoped for paying top dollar.
Dissenter
Barca aren’t going to play with 2 up top, Xavi isn’t a wingback manager like Conte or Tuchel. He loves his midfield control. Auba will be benched no doubt if Lewandowski comes in.
Swiatek down by a set? She’s been flogging people under 15 games. I was too sure I played her to win under 17.5. I have to pay more attention now.
“That’s why long passes or cut backs by Liverpool fullbacks to the D create big chances for Liverpool. Meanwhile Ødegaard 5 yards lateral passes to Partey or Xhaka does not. Same with Tierney who keep make looping crosses to the opposition defenders.”
LoL. But Valentin…Arteta said “it’s maths, pure maths and it will happen”
I am sure we’ll be seeing the results soon.
Lynn,
I am not really keen on the 4-1-4-1 formation unless we are facing a very low bloc team with one but not two pacy winger.
Arteta tried 4-1-4-1 with Partey against Emery and got his nose blooded. ESR as a false 9 was the cherry on top of a cake of stupidity.
My fear with Arteta is that in a 4-1-4-1 Partey will be required to cover the entire pitch. Arsenal will het overrun and Partey will get an injury.
Valentin It’s a bit moot to take a player’s international performance over their club one considering we are not wondering who should be leading Poland’s attack. Auba doesn’t have a good record for Gabon himself. Then you have guys like Klose and Robbie Keane who were world class internationally and good but not great at club level. Lewandowski was a superior striker at Dortmund and vastly superior at Bayern to Auba. For all of those who say he has had it easy at Bayern, just you watch the massive drop-off they will suffer now when he leaves for scoring goals.… Read more »
WE
Big article in today’s papers about Barca’s financial plight.
Far from being able to sign Lewa it seems they haven’t got anywhere near the finances to sign Christensen from Chelsea.
Lewa isn’t going to Spain he will ship up in the PL
Thorough
This Chinese girl is only 19 too like Rune.
Terraloon
Don’t say that because Tuchel would probably donate his left bollock to have Lewandowski up top for that Chelsea team.
Scary thought.
Terraloon
I believe Barca are happy to have all those half-arsed articles about their financial problems circulate because it strengthens their negotiating power
Players who are drawn to Barca because of their history won’t expect Barca to roll out big money so it helps smoothen out deals.
Lewandowski isn’t moving to Barca to earn the same or more wages than he earned at Bayern.. He won’t expect Barca to match the £350k weekly wages he made at Bayern.
WE.
Thanks. Just heard a little more about her. Seems she just got Swiatek pissed. She could lose the second set 6 love.
Eagle,
Bayern tried but soon realised that financially they could not afford Haaland. Also there was big questions on his real interest in joining Bayern. They won’t pay more than 250kpw for a player who has a release clause if Real Madrid wants to buy him.
I am not so sure that they will miss Lewandowski as much as you think. The way Bayern plays, most of the damage is made on the wings. I suspect they will miss much more Coman and Gnabry.
InsideWrong
Commiserations. You’ve won the award for abusive misuse of the English language
Dissenter
If it were Arsenal, you’ say it WEAKENED their negotiating power.
As you don’t have a leg to stand on and cannot provide any evidence to back your earlier ludicrous assertion, do everyone a favour and grow the fuck up you pathetic lickspittle. Oh, and corrupting my posting name, how very witty of you. You must have pissed your pants at the sheer hilarity of it all. Nip upstairs and tell mummy all about it so she can feel proud of you.
If Odegaard will just safely recycle the ball and not take any risks maybe we need to change things a bit. There is the Liverpool way where the CMs are hard working demons without much to offer in goals and assists. They achieve their balance with their super offensive top class full backs and top class front line. In the last year or two they’ve switched things a bit and have Thiago play in a midfield 3 with Fabinho and one of Henderson/Keita. Still, not many goals or assists come from their midfield. Odegaard could be used in a similar… Read more »
Benfica can’t afford to buy Leno outright for £8.5m. Fiorentina can’t afford to buy Torreira for €12.5m. Are clubs on the continent really that broke?
Fiorentina I have less sympathy with… didn’t they receive £60m plus for Vlahovic in January? Plus if the clubs on the continent are that desperate for money you would have thought they would ask for more reasonable sums for their stars… £60m plus for Kounde. £94m for Osimhen? I think they might be trying to exploit EPL clubs… because they know we are cash rich. It would be interesting to see what kind of prices they are quoting amongst themselves in the respective European leagues…and if they are disparities between what they quote each other and us I have little… Read more »
Raptora, They won’t fix the issue, because Arteta starts on false premisses. Arteta wants to play a controlled way, so he needs players to be in their position. But playing offensively means taking risks and a less controlled way. Pep solved that conundrum by letting attacking players take risks (passes or dribbles) but asking them whenever they lose the ball to go full beast mode for 7 seconds to retrieve the ball and then retreat in defensive position. He also make use of tactical niggling fouls far away from their own half lessening the chance of a yellow card. Under… Read more »
Terraloon ”””250 enquiries, 100+ personal meetings with individuals and entities, 32 given access to full data, 12 bids , 4 shortlisted down to 3 Bohey and co new owners.”””” It really is time for the supporters to put the squeeze on this useless and ambitious KSE regime. (Their ownership /custodianship has been a x 2 decade horror show.) The Chelsea sale shows – there are plenty of potential suitors to take club by the scruff of the neck and get it back to the pinnacle of English soccer- where it should be. Because its going absolute nowhere under Josh Kronk… Read more »
Leeds gunner it’s called the pandemic almost every team is broke
Hence we need to take advantage
The issue is everyone is quoting 100m for players as they know a prem club will pay it
unambitious
IAT
Yeah going by your posted stats, we are faraway behind our so called rivals in big chances created. Funny enough those rivals all finished ahead of us in 1,2,3,4 positions. We are closest to Chelsea in big chances created and they are 35 big chances better than us.
Kinda confirms what the eye-test witnessed all season, our attack needs to improve next season.
It turns out that past behaviors is the best predictor of future behaviors Every one knows we pay our players to go away so why shouldn’t they try to seek a bargain? Just this January, we were he’ll bent in rejuvenating Barca’s season, giving away Aubameyang for free. Just look at the Mavros situation if you’re seeking shock therapy. It’s no wonder Benfica [Leno], Betis [Bellerin], Florientina [Torriera] Honestly call Florientina’s bluff. Torriera was their best player for half the season. We have to draw the line in the sand It’s better to let Torriera leave for free in 2023… Read more »
Also I get the feeling that improving our attack is gonna take more than buying strikers.
…or sell Torriera to any other Serie A club not called Florientina, even if it’s for less.
We have to draw the line in the sand somewhere.
”It turns out that past behaviors is the best predictor of future behaviors”
Which is precisely why it is frustrating to listen to fans blaming injuries to Partey and Tierney on our end of season collapse.
How many mins did both of them play last season? I’ll give you a hint, it was less than this season. And we elected to spend £135m and not bring in a senior CM or reliable LB cover.
Valentin I agree in principle with what you’re saying, except that this is a personnel problem not a tactical one…MA’s perception of being more aggressive is allowing Xhaka to roam into more advanced positions, which provides very little going forward and likewise means that anytime we lose possession and the opposing team counters, we have the human pylon Xhaka trapped up the pitch…whereas if we brought in an actual DM, who can distribute the ball, like we could have had with Kante, then you have Marts, ESR, a new attacking CM and Saka, who in a bit deeper position would… Read more »
on a side note Valentin, really enjoyed your “phases” explanation of Arteta’ s tactically inept approach to football
Lewendowski to PSG or Chelsea maybe then. Probably not Juve after their outlay on Vlahovic. Maybe Inter? Interesting one. I would say Liverpool but he’s not really a pressing CF is he (especially at his age profile)?
Obvious one would be Real Madrid actually.
The Real Vieira LynnMay 30, 2022 17:33:45 there’s no doubt that we should have embedded Saliba last season and allocated the monies used to purchase White towards more pressing needs, ———————————————————— I think this is the only Saliba argument that holds weight. That Arteta should have utilized the resources – both cash and player – better. I’m curious though where we would have bought if we didn’t go for white. CF? We couldn’t shift Auba or Laca so that’s a non starter. I think we would have gone for Tammy if we had been able to shift one of those.… Read more »
The dementors are out in force tonight then
I recall Emery was also an advocate of fast attacks down the flanks with cut backs and Auba scored 30 odd goals.
Like everyone else lots of speculations and wishing and a hoping for the summer TW as it is the key yo CL football next season. Part and parcel of what a Technical Director does is transfer deals and for quite a while now, our selling hasn’t been great. Why can City ask for 55mill without blinking and we are being squeezed for deals with LT & Leno? Is it because of our Bumbling Brazilian buffoon with no European deal experience? On the other hand, Newcastle have swooped in to steal transfer guru Dan Ashworth from Brighton and appointed him as… Read more »
Lynn, Looks like we are on the same page regarding the diagnostics but differ on the origin of the problem. Is Arteta cautious because he wants to protect the team and Xhaka or is Xhaka too limited to execute Arteta’s plan? My take is that if Arteta really wanted to play more adventurous football, he would have ditched Xhaka. The fact that has not indicated that Xhaka is doing exactly what Arteta expects him to do. So the slow, ponderous, deliberate, predictable attack is exactly what he wants. Last summer I said that I wanted Saliba integrated in the first… Read more »
Kilroy
Essentially, Edu’s job is to get Arteta what he wants.
He’s not able to or is unable to do the long term work a good DoF should undertake because Arteta has equal powers to him.
Arteta has become project Arsenal, the untouchable due to his access to the Kroenkes
I’m pretty sure that even Generational can see that our attack will need more than “sign player xxxx” and we’ll go from 55-60 goals to 80 goals. Maybe only Pedro and a couple of other posters are the only ones convinced that we’re one good striker away from fixing our attack. I agree that we’ll see an upturn with someone that knows where the net is unlike poor Laca, but it won’t be a dramatic improvement. What happened when we signed the rolls royce of a defender? We conceded 9 more goals than the season before. What happened when Chavs… Read more »
WE Really looking forward to Djoker- Rafa QF match, going to be an absolute cracker of a game. The way Rafa raised his game by at least two notches in 5th set against Felix who produced the most wonderful display of service game and forehand hitting in a long long time gives me hope that he at his best is still better than any other player especially on clay. Rafa looked down and out against Medvedev too in Aus Open final but again he raised his game when the stakes were high. What I want to say is Rafa’s game… Read more »
Just checked Med is knocked out by Marin Cilic.
Omg tennis chat again so boring
raptora
‘ Can’t say I’ve been mightily impressed with the job done behind the scenes. Managers find solutions, ours creates problems.’
Summed it up perfectly
Just add that his supporter are waiting to offer plaudits when he attempts to solve the problems he created. We used to complain the lack of balance of having either Auba or Laca…then Arteta came on board and nullified BOTH of them.
Just skip over it if it bores you Serge, that is what I do whenever Golf, Rugby or F1 is being talked about.
Incredible bias against our own players on this blog. People who are well paid and respected, like professional scouts rate Ben White. Southgate and Pearce among others like Ben White as a player. Leeds fans had lots of good things to say about him. But come to legrave and it’s money down the toilet and he’s a failure from almost everyone. They use generalized stats that no scout would use, to try and diminish the player. Professionals watch him play, and make their assessments. Legravers know it all though. I’ll keep backing Ben White and the team, the rest of… Read more »
TR7
Yeah think Djoko wins it in 4 but should be a great match.
Medvedev was dreadful tonight, old man Cilic absolutely battered him in straight sets. He’s an elite HC player but do not think that his game carries over well so Clay or Grass and doubt that he ever wins a RG or Wimbledon even though I expect him to win at least 5+ HC Slams.
Regarding criticism of Ben White.
Folks should look at Gabriel and tbf some have on here.
I understand he scores some goals so it seems because of that his defensive lapses are overlooked.
He needs more composure in his defending going forward. It’s all well and good being a physical defender but there should be composure with it.
Van Dijk is a perfect example. Physically imposing but very composed to go along with it.
White is prone to lapses too Ishola. At least with Gabriel he has the freak athleticism to get himself out of those tricky situations much of the time. White was supposed to be this transcendent ball-playing CB that would make a big difference to the tempo and our ball movement, I have yet to see much of an impact from him in that respect, we look just as uninspired through the middle in so many of our matches this season. I would call him good on the ball but far from exceptional which is what we were promised. Because he… Read more »
Weagle
I’m not saying White is better or worse than Gabriel.
What I’m saying is don’t ignore Gabriel either if we are going to look really closely at the defenders.
Not all is rosy with Gabriel defensively. He needs as said before to show that composure when defending more times.
We
I am I just wanted to show my disdain lol
A 34 yo David Luiz was much more impressive with his vision and passes compared to White and that was supposedly why we paid the premium. I’ll stop right there.
I catch some of the tennis when it gets to the quarter final stages in only the grand slam tournaments so I only have a passing interest in it.
Same with golf. Will take a look at the final round in any of the majors and the whole of any ryder cups that come along.
But can’t stand rugby or fornula one either.
None of our defenders are organizers. They are reactive players, who need somebody beside them to control them. It is more visible with Gabriel because he is more physical and more impulsive than Ben White. VVD has physicality, but also composure and organisation skills. That’s why he always make his defensive partners in defense look better than they are. More importantly Ben White is not very good in 1v1 defensive position in a back 4. In a back 3, he can go try to intercept, and provoke the opposition knowing that there is a spare man to cover. In a… Read more »
Nigel
Have you seen any of the £50 million transfer attributes in Ben White?
If so, please tell us.
This was a judgment call that has not paid off yet, same way Pepe is a good player who was never worth the £72 million we paid
Regarding England, Tomori is better than White but didn’t get the early invites due to the Covid protocols for one coming from Italy.
I agree Ishola. Gabriel is far from perfect and has his flaws. I just see more potential there myself. If Saliba wants to come back given the crap way he has been treated by Arteta and is better than Gabriel/White he goes straight in for me. They look similar athletes and I haven’t seen enough of William but I have heard that he is very composed and assured on the ball. It could be an interesting dynamic having Gabriel-Saliba as a pairing. Saliba can take on the ball-playing role and it would give us two supremely gifted CBs athletically. Matip… Read more »
The African Champions League final was a spectacle just for the atmosphere tonight.
Yes it is not the best quality but as long as you see full effort from the players in that sort of atmosphere it is an event. The stands were teeming with people.
Had a bet on this Parguayan game going on atm after catching the first half. Away team were winning 3-0 at HT and fancied them at AH -0.5 at 3.00 price. They are winning 4-0 in the second half so I hope the home team doesn’t score a late goal to spoil the bet.
Valentin
You are much more familiar and finger on the pulse with Ligue 1, is Saliba the organizer type?
We needed a veteran center back along with Saliba last summer. The duo would have cost us no more than £5-10million.
Instead we had a Brazilian who can’t speak to referees without getting a yellow card and a £50 million transfer English man that Brighton didn’t bother to replace. Brighton’s defense wasn’t any worse and they finished stronger that in 2020-2021.
Nigel
It’s not Ben White the man who’s the target, it’s the concept of a player like BW when we have gaping holes everywhere else
Always wondered why we never tried to sigh Tchaikovsky on a free from Burnley
It’s a rhetorical question by the way. We made the big decisions in defense last season that makes it harder to be flexible in subsequent seasons.
Dissenter
“Tchaikovsky on a free from Burnley”
lol the big composer.
Had a litte run in with him years back in London. Fair to say I backed down somewhat.
Big lad.
Just saw that top 5 CB list from Rio Ferdinand on BT, lol he is such a colossal bellend putting himself at no.1 on the list.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a shoo-in for top 5 imo but the best? Nope.
I think that VVD is probably the best CB to have ever played in the PL and John Terry the greatest and yes, the two are different.
Wenger Eagle
It won’t matter whether Saliba is the organizer type or not.
The organizer needs to be close to the manager, i.e, one that speaks for the manager.
It doesn’t have to be.CB. Azpilicueta did it for Chelsea and even he was nullified when Lampard didn’t trust him.
For Arsenal, the defensive organizer is Tierney, if you can get him on the field.
Both excellent organisers Weagle Dijk and Terry as Valentin mentioned in regards Dijk earlier so they are similar in that respect.
Ishola
I meant James Tarkowski from Burnley, was auto completed
I did enjoy your reposte; delicious