Well good day to you all! Especially the fathers in the room. For mothers day, it’s all emotions and feelings… when it comes to the dads, it’s a phone call to berate them for ruining your taste palete with Ribena milkshakes, and some casual c*nting down the phone. If you have a dad, I hope you are treating him well, if you don’t, I hope you are ok today.
The biggest gift my dad gave me was indoctrination to THE ARSENAL. These modern hippy parents that give their kids choice, what’s with that? I was threatened with a zero present Christmas if I didn’t conform, so I conformed and it was the best decision of my damn life.
Also, for my American friends, Happy Juneteenth, the day when all of America was truly given their freedom in 1865. I think most people are still working out how you celebrate this one, but my team over here are hitting the BBQ and celebrating the culture. Have a cracking day whatever you are doing.
ONTO THE ARSENAL.
This Lisandro Martinez signing, if it happens, might prove to be one of the shrewdest moves of the window. He’s a very versatile player that can operate in a Xhaka role, can play on the left side of defence, and he can also drop in as a centre back. He’s a build-up player. By signing him, you don’t have to have someone like Granit drop deep to start the play. This thread does a very good job of explaining all the bits he can do.
Martinez’ ability to turn so fluidly makes him near impossible to press when he dribbles. He makes incredibly high risk and high skilled actions look easy. This is incredibly valuable because when building out from the back he can turn fluidly and with ease to evade pressure. pic.twitter.com/B2mRphe6qb
— EBL (@EBL2017) June 18, 2022
One of the things the club will like about him is the bravery piece. That Newcastle game at the end of the season was probably the worst moment in our season. We didn’t show up. Our defenders really shit the bed. Our keeper lost his nerve. So we couldn’t break the press. Arteta can’t have that be a problem next season, so he needs to make sure the players he’s bringing in are bold and brave.
Fabio Vieira is the captain of the Portugues U21s, his whole game is about brave passing and clinical accuracy.
Lisandro was the Ajax player of the season, he’ll probably slip into the Argentina first team for the world cup, his game is built around supreme confidence and bravery.
Gabriel Jesus is an extremely trophied 25-year-old, he is brave.
Tielemans plays for the 3rd best international team in the world, I have no doubts that he will not shy away in our midfield next season.
I riled up Spurs Twitter yesterday calling out some truths about how we’re approaching things.
Now, I know things aren’t done yet, but as with last season, you are starting to see some shape to what we’re doing. There’s a nice counterpoint to how Spurs are trying to get some success.
We are building in an innovative and exciting way. There’s a clear style of play we’re going after and we are getting very creative with how we are covering our weaknesses. Some of it is so creative, Arsenal fans are not even sure what is going on, which shows how much tactical flexibility we are adding to the system.
Arsenal are building like City. Our moves have 5 years in mind, not just next season. We’re looking for the next KDB before he’s a big name, so we’ve signed Fabio Vieira. Creative, a goal threat, relentless off the ball, and utterly decisive. We have a power and pace machine at left-back in Kieran Tierney, he needs cover, so instead of replacing like for like, we’re finding a player that can offer something different, so we’re targetting a build up left-back that can play in midfield and as a center-back. A Cancelo-like move. Every decision we make has a deeper story than just the position, it all feels considered, and very thougtful. Some will say ‘we shouldn’t be copying the City model’, my response would be, why not? It seems to be pretty dominant in the Premier League.
Spurs are building like Manchester United. They are building for the now. There’s not a lot of creativity in what they are doing. They need someone on the left, they scan Transfermarkt and see that 33-year-old Perisic can do a job. They need a backup keeper, Forster makes some good saves, he’ll do. Need a midfielder? Go for the one everyone on Twitter thinks is electric, even if he has some serious baggage. Need a striker? How about the whiner that nearly took Everton down?
Both of these systems can offer success, but one feels more sustainable than the other. I’d also say the way Arsenal are doing things is more exciting for the fans, not that it matters, but be real, who is talking about the Spurs window this week? No one. I’d also say that the way Spurs are building it’s absolutely clear they have not moved on from being totally dependent on the output of two players in their late twenties delivering game after game. Arsenal already showed they could do a job without either fullback or Thomas Partey. After this summer, we’ll be even better equipped and in no way will we be classed as a one or two-man team.
What we’re doing has absolute clarity, all the issues are being fixed, there’s balance, and there’s loads of flex in the system for any eventuality. The players we’re chasing would mean we could absorb injuries, we can offer a nightmare to any team whether it’s a deep block or a fancy side coming to play, and nearly all the character flaws we started with last season will have been washed away.
The best bit? The players we’re signing will still keep the average age of our squad lower than 25. Below is the list of players we’ll likely use this season.
The average age of those 30 players is 22.46. If you take out the Europa kids and Balogun, the average age of the squad sits at 23.6. I know it riles up some that I talk about this, but in football, age matters, and this team still has 3 years to get to where City is right now. The average age of Liverpool’s starting 11 was 29.
The types of talent we’re bringing in are so good, the only way is up. Saka will be battle-hardened, Odegaard will start stronger than he did last season, Ben White and Gabriel now know each other better, and players like Saliba and Turner will join the squad knowing there’s a chance for them to stake a claim.
There will be missteps with the players we sign. There always are. Arsene had a mad splash in 2001. He signed Richard Wright, Gio Van Bronckhorst, Juan, Tavlaridis, Edu, Toure and Sol Campbell. Not all of them made it, but the thing with a splash like that is it energizes the fans, the players, and the coaching staff.
During the latter Wenger years, I always said one of the biggest issues he had is he never regenerated the squad. That impacted the players because they knew we weren’t serious. That impacted the fans, because we knew we weren’t in it to win. It impacted the season, because we were never good enough.
That’s all different now. You can disagree with the players we’re targeting, but can anyone honestly say the club isn’t showing ambition? Can anyone say they think Arteta is just going for top 4?
If you are Bukayo Saka right now, do you feel like Arsenal aren’t doing all they can to make you a success at the club you love?
We are trying to get back to the top. That’s good for everyone. Especially those that sit in the stands.
Let’s see what happens this week, hopefully it’s a big one!
Yeah Guimares would’ve got us CL football
My Newcastle supporting mate said he’s the best Newcastle midfielder he’s ever seen if the performances since he’s joined are a true reflection of his level
Nigel Tufnell.
“I badly want us to upgrade on Xhaka, but I’m not going to be a miserable (and deluded) curmudgeon about it either way. I try hard in life to avoid displaying such a cretinous attitude.”
Maybe you didn’t try hard enough as the only ill tempered and angry person on here is you….
My advice to you is to not get so angry at people who have different opinions to you.
Bruno G is a far bigger loss than bisouma we are crying out for a player like that
What a mistake not getting him in the winter
WengerEagle Vlahovic isn’t slow. He is quick in full flow too. He hasn’t go that burst of acceleration over short distances but when he starts running it is hard to stop him. What he has is elite ball striking ability and composure. His shots almost always find the target like a top forward. Plus he has superb heading ability. And when he gets chances he is ridiculously composed. I have seen a lot of body feints at a crucial moment that lead to him scoring.. All these traits make him a deadly striker. He isn’t better than Jesus at pressing… Read more »
I just read that Pape Bouba Diop, aka the wardrobe just died, aged 42 years
ESPN are reporting that cause of death is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neurone disease.
He was one of the strongest footballers, in his time in the premier league, for Fulham. He was 6’ 5”, everyone just bounced off him.
It’s strange to know that we pain just about the same sum for Fabio Vierra that Newcastle paid for Bruno Guimares in January.
”I just read that Pape Bouba Diop, aka the wardrobe just died, aged 42 years
ESPN are reporting that cause of death is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or motor neurone disease.”
He died in November 2020 Dissenter. Are ESPN really just reporting on it now?
Habesha He hasn’t been great at Juventus and I know that he has only been there since January and that they have been a bit of a shitshow of an operation so it is perhaps harsh to judge him on that basis. He could be one of those strikers that cannot hang at an elite club and not being the nucleus to every attack though. Looking up his goal-reel for Fiorentina and a lot of his goals were close range finishes that showed little more than him being an excellent poacher ala Aubameyang in his pomp. Jonathan David was the… Read more »
If Jesus opts for the spuds that will be a kick in the teeth and a wake up call to how far we have fallen .
Pierre,
When you stop sh1tting on Ødegaard because of your Ozil/Willock fetish, then, I’ll stop calling you out. I’m afraid you’re not likely to change your personality though. The cycle continues, unfortunately.
Mr Serge,
I heard great scouting reports about Guimares in January from Tom Canton, the gooner talk guy. I was very interested… but there was never any reliable source that said Arsenal was interested in the player, just nebulous clickbait links because fans and podcasters were mentioning him.
We may have missed out on a good one.
We need someone like him.
Weagle
“Haven’t heard you talk about the Bissouma Spurs move, know you were a big fan. £25m a missed opportunity.”
Very disappointing , i would have lovedvhim at Arsenal along with Eriksen , Olise and a new keeper.
I’d better leave it there as mr angry will have steam coming out of his ears for daring to wish that we should replace Ramsdale, Odegaard and xhaka with better quality players.
Wenger Eagle, I’m not gonna cry because Arsenal didn’t want to buy a Partey downgrade, and a player that doesn’t fit into our system. Those here saying he was the answer after Partey is done are wrong, and have no taste in football. A one dimensional player is not what I want starting in our future midfield playing with Ødegaard, Martinelli, Saka and hopefully Vieira. As someone stupidly said the other day, he can shield the back 4 and the guys in front can be free to attack. The best teams don’t work that way anymore. You know that.. it’s… Read more »
Tom had to repeat this as I just spat coffee across the table at my missus while reading it 😂
“EB, my views of Arteta are as substantial as his PL achievements then”
Those last paragraph peds,
For me it’s if xhaka is still starting games by the end of the window then we haven’t done enough.
Also weagle, definitely agree, didn’t see much in those videos, but I guess yay, we may be bringing in a CB who can turn with the ball faster than Chaka.
Nah I’m definitely all for Martinez. Just those videos were hilarious
Thanks Dis for alluding to my post. During my early years of youth when I was exploring what clicks in life i was encouraged one of my closest friends who was training to become a motivational speaker to attend a session of his master. It was a 3 day session and the first think he said in the first day workshop was that if you want to achive say something in cricket then pick a legend like Tendulkar and blindly follow him. I immediately switched off and started chasing girls in the workshop. It’s ok to look at Man City… Read more »
Goober, the most limited and boring view going is that Xhaka has anything to do with whether our window is good or bad.
‘It’s strange to know that we pain just about the same sum for Fabio Vierra that Newcastle paid for Bruno Guimares in January’
So, so you these days, Diss.
You didn’t know who he was two days ago and you’re already resigned to him not being as good as Bruno.
What a misery guts.
Raptora, I wasn’t wrong, was I?
WE was out here asking us to sign N’Zogbia and Wout… but for me, if you can’t get the best, don’t bother.
Because we held off signing a dud, we have a spare squad space, more money, and better options.
Also, Diss… let’s be honest here, if you can get to 69 points with the youngest team in the league with no striker and injuries to key players… you can probably keep doing what you are doing.
Not sure anyone is coing into to Arsenal to say, woah, stop, this plan is a crazy thing.
Jesus better not waste his chance of ever winning any trophies of any kind by going to Spurs were he won’t displace Kane or Son. If there ever was a wrong fit it would be there. Can we just wrap up his signing already and move to other targets. I hate this long drawn out transfers. My transfer wish is for a miracle with Xhaka to leave. That would make this the best transfer window in the history of the club. Who are these troll journos linking Morata??? Busted flush and wouldn’t dare return to the league. might as well… Read more »
Pedro, I rarely disagree with you, and I like Xhaka, and think he had his best season last year….. but… as someone else said,…… This team is crying out for a CM #8 who can make runs into the box and take quick shots… Ødegaard needs this as much as, or more than a big CF. Assuming we get Gab Jesus though. As we are, we’re too predictable for parked buses and the best clubs…and it’s not fair to Øde, Saka, Marti, ESR…. even Eddie. They’re being held back. Maybe Arteta wants to do a mini Man City and use… Read more »
Lol Pedro
Almost as boring as EL group stage away games against teams from pub leagues?
Even if you genuinely believe that Arsenal will be able to complete all those transfers, and once those transfers are completed, Arsenal will have a squad competitive for champions league…..with Jesus as our main striker and Eddie as backup …..?!?
At the very least, for a competitive squad, shouldn’t we have a better backup
Also Pedro it’s very you to twist dissenters point into something it’s clearly not
Bruno was available in Jan for the price we paid for an AM 6 months later. We missed CL football in no small part because our midfield was not good enough.
But by all means let’s celebrate missing out on CL football. I mean as you said the EL is preferable right 😂😂
Lots of reports today about us bidding for morata
It has to be clickbait…
Surely
Watching videos of Lisandro… those long balls remind me of Xhaka Germany pre-Arsenal.
They don’t work in the premier league. I’d much rather have fast combination play from Zinchenko. Fits our playing style much better. Pepteta ball.
Just an opinion based on youtubes. I hope I’m wrong if we get him, and his admirers turn out to be right.
Nigel I hear you, and was firmly on the Zinchenko bus. But, Firstly I think it can work in the Prem as VVD has proved, and secondly, this guy has WAY more mobility and press resistance than Xhaka (caveat, it’s the Eredivisie). He looks to me to be an exceptional signing. But I wouldn’t kick Zinchenko out of bed until the deal completes. Indeed, I’m interested to know if we want him primarily as LCB or LB. Because if we want to shit hot players in every position, then if budget allowed (which it probably won’t) both would be good.… Read more »
It’s click bait China1. We are not interested in Morata.
Spurs are definitely a for now club. They sign players and see who fits in. The approach however has been successful for them. Years of dominance over Arsenal have been the result of their mad dash. One unseen hand in their success has been Arsenal. Several of their better players wanted to play for Arsenal. Most of these players were attracted to the bright light of Arsenal later to settle on Spurs .Years of inaction , burying their heads in the sand really, cost the squad. Good to see a new chapter at Arsenal with a bit more pragmatism. The… Read more »
Nigeĺ tufnell
“As someone stupidly said the other day, he can shield the back 4 and the guys in front can be free to attack
The best teams don’t work that way anymore. You know that.. it’s simplistic and doesn’t work anymore”
Liverpool have fabinho.
City have Rodri.
Their main job is to shield the back 4 and what an excellent job they do in shielding the back 4 …essential to the success of 2 of the best teams in world football.
But you keep believing that “the best teams don’t work that way anymore” …
Nigel
“This team is crying out for a CM #8 who can make runs into the box and take quick shots”
We sold him to Newcastle , you are right , the team are crying out for a centre mid/no.8 who can find the back of the net .
Willock’s 10 goals for newcastle are substantially more than the WHOLE of our centre mid put together over the same period..
Let’s hope Arteta heeds your suggestion and finds a goalscoring midfielder like Willock..
Pierre
I don’t think he’s saying we shouldn’t have a DM. Christ, the reason why this is important is because we all realise how outrageously important Partey is to us.
I’m pretty sure what Nigel is saying is that he doesn’t believe Bissouma has the technical quality necessary to support the offensive phases in the way we would need him to.
I haven’t watched him enough to comment.
Nigel, apologies if I have misinterpreted the thrust of your commentary.
Wicked willy
“I’m pretty sure what Nigel is saying is that he doesn’t believe Bissouma has the technical quality necessary to support the offensive phases in the way we would need him to.”
And he is wrong, .
Pierre,
You’re showing desperation now, and I love it.
Comparing Rodri and Fabinho (quality footballers who combine with front and back)— to Spurs Bissouma/ Buffouna.
DM destroyers are out. Sorry to tell you. Someone described Bissouma as “controlling games”.
Having a laugh.
You’ll now name teams that still use them…. but they’re not what we’re aspiring to, we’re going for excellence.
Lol he isn’t. There’s a reason he’s at totenham. He ain’t coming to bench partey and he can’t even play cm to xhaka level so you’re wrong. Sit this one out old man you ain’t got a clue when it comes to midfielders. Ozil,willock,bissouma? LOL
Wicked Willy,
You understood me perfectly.
Bissouma is a lousy passer. Average at best. Period. I don’t care what stats fanboys dig up. Simple and sideways passes are not the quality Arteta is seeking.
If he’s not good enough to play for Pep or Klopp, I don’t want him. As it is, he wouldn’t even displace McTominay.
Spurs are his level.
Pierre likes players of Newcastle level, apparently. Willock will soon be phased out as they sign much better players.
Pierre will be watching Willock toiling in the championship and Ozil playing video games.
It’s a bit of a stretch to imply that Fabinho is some sort of complete midfielder.
His main job for Liverpool is to destroy and disrupt the opposition. Most of his best work is done off the ball.
His on the ball stuff is nowhere as good as his off the ball.
So fixating on just on the ball when talking about DMs is not really seeing the picture is it.
Can he pass the ball nicely? Great stick him in at DM.
This sort of thinking is why we have been stuck with Xhaka for so many years despite his obvious weaknesses off the ball.
Bit dodgy Xhaka off the ball ain’t he? Yeah but have you seen his left peg on occasions. Beautiful sight.
Nigel I’m sure if Arsenal had bought Bissouma you would be applauding Arteta for his superb judgement as he is obviously a very good footballer who can tackle , pass , dribble and protect the defence and is press resistent, just about everything that Xhaka isn’t. I will compare Bissouma to rodri and fabinho because he is that good and for Arsenal to not look to sign a player of this calibre is for me as an Arsenal supporter, hugely disappointing… If you think wanting a player like Bissouma at the club is “desperate ” i disagree as he is… Read more »
“WE was out here asking us to sign N’Zogbia and Wout… but for me, if you can’t get the best, don’t bother.”
Lol, is it 2012 or something? Pretty sure I was not calling for us to sign Charles N’Zogbia who was ok about 12 years ago and is 7 years retired from football or Weghorst who I have called a lamp post many a time on here.
Can only assume you’re trolling Pedders.
Raulishuss
” he(Bissouma) can’t even play cm to xhaka level so you’re wrong”
We have dumb and dumber on here now …
Unfortunately you’re the dumbest
“DM destroyers are out.”
Real Madrid have won 4 CL titles out of the last 7 available with Casemiro as the CDM, a destroyer. So they are definitely not out.
Lets congratulate ourselves that we have the youngest squad in the league again while Spurs are a now club ok I get it but football is a results business. It took Conte 6 months to get CL football while MA is 3 years and waiting sometimes I quite like the idea of being a now club.
John Jenson was more press resistant and was a better all round footballer that xhaka. Surely but surely peoples credibility on the line if he is still seen as first choice next season. Wrap sheet as follows, mistake after mistake, flipping off the fans, like Mustafi absolutely no accountability or sense of irony about other players failures vs his own (mouthing off about other people not to the standard, surely its a cultural thing?). Finally caught up in dodgy betting scandal anfd its so blatant what was going on from the video I dont know how anyone can question it.… Read more »
And anyone who has watched.Brighton in recent years knows that they play very good football and they tend to dominate games in midfield for the most part outside the top 6 clubs.
It’s because they have no goalscorers that they haven’t achieved higher finishes in the table. To call Bissouma basic is silly though, I watched him man-handle us at the Emirates only a few months ago.
Spurs’ success is them down to lucking out on two genuinely top forwards. They will try and replace Kane and Son but it will be hard work. Kulusevski has been a great signing for them and he will do bits. But I am not expecting him to be as much a success individually as Son has been. There is barely any top CFs around. We are going for Jesus because he is better than the rest. We haven’t had a genuine top class CF who has it all since Robin Van Persie. Auba came close but he was hardly a… Read more »
Well said Sotongunner.
Xhaka is a virus that we need rid of if we are to truly be a serious club once again. He has been a mainstay in our midfield since 2016 and surprise surprise, after 2 decades of top 4 finishes we have yet to finish there once with Xhaka in the XI.
All those points notwitstanding (the fans thing alone should have ended his spell here) he simply isn’t good enough.
Casemiro is the utimate destroyer DM who lives to just defend.
So this puts to bed old fashioned talk surely.
Funnily enough Csemiro as a youth was very handy as an attacking midfielder.
Soton
“Anyone saying otherwise clearly hasnt been watching since this player was at the club. They also forget players we have had in the past and how key this position of central midfield is. I refuse to support a player who has failed time and time again in that position and we can easily, easily upgrade on.”
Tell it like it is brother.
Pedro only bats for Xhaka because he wants to give the notion that Arteta can do no wrong in his judgement of players.
Wengereagle. honestly never has a player been such a mystery to me. Even Lord Bendtner had more reeeming features and he was another arrogant nob who overated himself far beyond his actual ability. We have had so many chances to upgrade and now really will be the final chance for Arteta as he will die on xhaka hill as well if he doesnt make the correct decision. Teams wanting to get in the champions league (let alone win the PL) simply do not keep picking players who lose you points through pure unadulterated stupidity 3-4 times a season.
Real also paid €80m for Tchouaméni, those types of players are needed.
We already have Ode, ESR and Vieira that can play at 8/10, but only Partey that can play at 6 to any decent level, we’re leaving ourselves short if we don’t address that.
2.5 points per game with Partey and 0.8 without is a pretty big difference…
Sangare or Nunes should be top priority but Tielemans will do just to get rid of Xhaka.
Comparing Xhaka to Bissouma is just daft. We were openly trying to sell him for 15 mil and nobody came in for him with 2 years left on his deal. I think Arteta still will sell him if a decent offer comes eventhough he praises him every two minutes. He like the professionalism but he knows Xhaka hasn’t got enough quality. He tried to offload him to Roma. And he will sell him if someone is coming in for him this summer too. Bissouma just went to spurs for 25 mil eventhough he had a court case and he had… Read more »
Ishola
Casemiro is their modern day Makelele.
Not stylish or elegant in any way and certainly not a sexy Galactico from the Florentino Perez playbook but bloody effective and gives their midfield that stablisation and lets Modric and Kroos do their thing offensively and take more risks.
I thought that they were fortunate to beat Atletico Madrid in the CL Final in 2014 bu it had little to do with luck their three-peat from 2016-2018 and Casemiro was the unsung hero and missing piece.
Habesha
“in another topic pierre has mentioned willock as the answer to our midfield problems again”
Actually i didn’t and i dont , Nigella said we need a no.8 who can score, shoot, get his shot away or something like that , something which willock has done pretty well throughout his career so far.
If nigella wants a centre mid who can score then i doubt if there is a central midfielder who has scored as many goals as willock in the league in the past 18 months…
Just keep reminding Pedro of Xhaka hill. He knows it deep down. I just want Arteta to make good decisions based on ability and putting the best possible team out not on who brown noses him most in the locker room and reminds him of himself as a player as that is what is happening here. No mercy for this c*nt and I dont mean Arteta.
oh and leeds video proves beyond doubt that “professionalism” and xhaka arent in the same galaxy otherwise wtf was he doing and why did he get a yellow card? Someone please explain that to me.
Weagle
Remember watching Casemiro in the Brazil U20 squad in their South American youth tournament which they won and Casemiro was voted player of the tournament.
He was given more free rein to attack then as a youngster from central midfield and he could play alright but it was his physicality that really stood out. He was visibly bullying opponents of his own age group back then.
So in that sense that he was moulded and developed into a more pure DM was not a surprise.
It’s funny. For all the bashing of Bissouma and ‘destroyer’ CMs, Xhaka is next to useless at constructing play or shifting gears in CM outside of occasionally useful long-raking passes QB style (maybe it’s an American thing with some that appreciate him?). Crab passes and turning like a Oil Tanker doesn’t get it done in the modern PL. Alex Song was bitched about when at Arsenal for being bone-headed and prone to silly fouls but he was vastly better than Granit Xhaka. Barcelona wouldn’t have touched Xhaka with a bargepole even if Song didn’t exactly thrive there. Watching Xhaka running… Read more »
Xhaka is still a far better passer than bissouma. Xhaka was bought for 30mil ffs now you’re using price tags? Let’s see how much Southampton will buy him at 29 yes?
The snobbery some Arsenal fans have about midfielders and that’s what it is tbf only really started during Wenger’s tiki-taki period.
Wasn’t like that before.
Arsenal used to win matches in Wenger’s first period of management by powerhousing the midfield. Bullying opponents in midfield.
And you know what? It was great to watch that bullying and physicality that used to see the opponents wilt.
Let’s see how much Southampton will buy **bissouma ** at 29 yes?
It is snobbery.
Gilberto Silva was as close as you will get to our own Casemiro and he was a vital cog for many years and some of these fans wouldn’t look twice at him nowadays.
I’m ok with Xhaka as backup 8 for one more season, but it’s a glaring upgrade opportunity that nobody denies. Maybe he babysits until Parino is ready, maybe we sell him next summer to add true JdP depth to the position. We all know his limitations, but let’s not forget we schooled City in January with him in the team, and if he continued his form from last season, there’s no harm in him keep the shirt warm until the next transfer window. We are we are. We need to put our best foot forward, and that’s my suggested approach.… Read more »
Ishola Viera and petit could play alright. Gilberto silva was the casemeiro of his time. How many are there in the world now? We have one of the best dm already but we’re still struggling with technical security. Bissouma would have been a back up for us till partey gets injured but we need an upgrade on xhaka and an odegard alternative most urgently. Last season when we needed to control the game we were subbing in Nicolas pepe, etc. We need more attacking cm than dm
Same with CBs imo. For all of the praise that Bonucci gets he has had Chiellini holding his hand for the best part of a decade and making him look a much better player than he really is. He went to Milan for a season and was a disaster. Chiellini has been the rock for Juventus and he has always been far more basic with the ball at his feet than Bonucci. We’re getting to the point now with this obsession for every player on the pitch to be great with the ball at their feet that it is superseding… Read more »
Xhaka passes the ball in volumes for sure. He has some qualities. But his deficiencies aren’t negligible. He is next to useless in a team that wants to press, tackle and win the ball high up the pitch. He is ranked in low 20s or below in pressure, tackling and anything that has to do with highline CM contributions. He almost never dribbles to get away from a press (although there has been some surprising moments). He doesn’t make a lot of contribution to score goals either. What he offers is control. I have never seen such a vague player.… Read more »
Bissouma is a double pivot player. So he would have been best wit xhaka among all our midfield options atm . As a single pivot he isn’t even in parteys league and he can’t orchestrate our game from there to a world class level (partey can) it’s better to develope sambI as to play like partey Bissouma will need to be developed in that way too and will serve mostly as a bench player if we buy him now. An upgrade on xhaka(a pure 8) is more pressing imo
Bissouma is like the lesser version of ndidi who needs to play in a pivot (one of the reasons why lc had an indifferent season with Brenda trying to move to 433 )
Last summer Arsenal recruited Lokonga from Anderlecht. At the time he was highly rated in Belgium both by Martinez the National Manager and Vincent Kompany the Manager at Anderlecht who recommended him to Arteta. Martinez did indeed promote the player to the Belgium Señior Team where he played 1 game. One assumes that his role last season was to be understudy for both Partey and Xhaka if they did not play and that was the case certainly in the first two thirds of the season. However, following three poor games where we lost to Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton he… Read more »
People are too harsh on Sambi. A lot of players took time to get used to the league after coming in from a lower league. Heck even Fabinho took 6 months. Ndidi was very poor in his first season.
I think Sambi is going to step up this coming season.
Pierre Your view is skewed by Arsene idolatry GG transformed a team that hadn’t done much for years into the top side in England, with the best defence in Europe. And given the cash he would have added the top players worldwide. BoD wouldn’t comply so he added overpriced second-raters and took backhanders. Not forgiving him, but understandable since managers taking taking bribes was commonplace. Compare with Arsene: He inherited the best defence in Europe inc Adams, O’Leary, ,safe hands, plus outstanding players like Dennis, Wrighty, Merson… And what did he leave bbehind? A bunch of uncommitted misfits, a total… Read more »
I don’t think it’s being harsh so much as it is speaking the truth Habesha. Nobody wants Sambi to fail here but being honest he has looked well out of his depth so far, to me at least. What’s his position? Because we have too many CAMs for that to be the area he makes it in. He sure is no CDM, he ranked in literally worst the 1% of all players on that FBREF site for Pressures and in the 24 Percentile for tackles. Also confused on the difference between a ‘progressive carry’ and a dribble completed? Because he… Read more »
Let’s hope Lisandro Martinez is viewed by Arteta and Edu as a player who can play CDM. If he can deputise for both Partey and Tierney as and when required then I think he will become the most important signing of this window.
We have enough CBs already, so not really interested if he is being looked at as a first choice CB or a back up CB.
Partey, Lisandro, Tielemans and Elneny as options for filling up two midfield positions will be terrific.
The problem with getting one player as backup to both Tierney and Partey is there is a very high probability of both being injured at the same time.
Think it’s more likely he’s being brought in as first choice LB (after adjusting and Tierney breaking down for the first time).
Would enable us to save Tierneys ankles and keep him fresh as a rotational player and bring him in when Lisandro needs a rest or is needed in another position.
That’s what I think at least.
The post was going well up until Peds couldn’t resist talking about Conte…..typical
Nevertheless, Anguisa for me if Tielemans fails to come.
WE
“We’re getting to the point now with this obsession for every player on the pitch to be great with the ball at their feet that it is superseding their most important role in their position.”
100% facts
Raphina rumours really gaining momentum today. That’s the kind of player Arsenal needs, not Martinez. Martinez comes across as a jack of all master of none type. We need specialists. Wenger literally stopped buying speedy wingers. At least Arteta seems.to be getting that part right.
Habesha Gooner
Ref: Sambi Lokonga
I tend to agree with you and I hope we are right and the player will make an impact this season.
Personally I think that Lokonga is a better prospect than Tavares. It is just a question of
whether he will be given the time to make an impact at Arsenal.
Arsenal show a lot more patience with young players than most other clubs.
The problem that I have with Sambi is that we paid around £18m for him in the same summer where Anguissa went on loan + option to buy for a total of £14m and was a core player of a Napoli team that finished 3rd in Serie A. Do you think that Sambi makes such an impact if he went to Napoli? Do you think that if we had Anguissa, he would have dropped behind Elneny in the picking order? Then this summer Bissouma goes for £25m. Bottom line is – why would we buy a 22 yo player, who… Read more »
Sambi Lokonga: who bought him? Emery…did he?
Raphina looks like he wants to go to the first team that bids on him. I’ll take him.
Raphinha, Moussa Diaby and Sterling are the 3 best known quality wingers on the market imo.
I rate each of them quite high. They are very expensive though. We’re talking £50m plus.
In an ideal world we need a quality winger but do we have the funds to do it.. no clue.
Sterling is still stupidly underrated and is easily the best of that trio.
He looks Chav bound though and the under 26 crew would lose their shit us paying £50m for a 27 year old Sterling.
Raphinha is a very good player and an obvious upgrade on Pepe. My only concern is if we’re putting down 50m here we’ll have spent 84m without touching any of our teams 3 critical weaknesses (CM, CF and LB) We absolutely must not be going into next season saying it’s a shame we ran out of money to fix our glaring weaknesses whilst we are spoilt for choice in other positions Like if we sign raphinha both Martinelli and esr are taking a hit. Vieira can play AM and the wings. Raph is a winger. Saka has to play. Ode… Read more »
WE
I don’t think they’d lose their shit if that 27 year old was Gnabry 😉
WW
2022 for you mate.
27 and it’s time for the Rocking chair, cigar and slippers!
Englandsbest I hear what you’re saying, but your narrative doesn’t strictly conform with facts. In the season before GG arrived we finished 7th. In the 92/93 season we finished 10th. In George Graham’s last season we finished 12th and mired in scandal. In the season before AW arrived, we finished 5th. In his final season we finsihed 6th and with a new stadium magically built and almost completely paid for. I loved both, and am deeply grateful for what they did. Wenger stayed 2/3 years longer than necessary. But for me, it is but a mere blemish on an excellent… Read more »
WE,
Quite undeserved too knowing that Pep likes to rotate his players a lot and he’s still a 15+ goals and 10+ assists player for them just in the EPL, and 25+ goals per season in all competitions.
We’re talking about a player that has been a main part of the best team in the last 5 years in England, someone with a very good end product.
Rap He is 27 and he has scored 106 PL goals from open play from the wing and has 56 assists to go with that. Literally has averaged 1 G/A involvement for every 2 PL matches in over 300 apps since he was a 17 year old. He is possibly the most underrated player in the PL considering a lot of people don’t even consider him one of City’s best widemen and surplus to requirements. City from 2017-2019 were at their very best with him and Leroy Sane. More potent than their current team imo, put up 198 PL points… Read more »
Sterling is brilliant, brilliant for City and Theo Walcott for England lol
I always wonder how a player who is so good can so often look like a headless chicken in an England shirt
At club level he is awesome tho
Same as so many players really. International football may as well be a different sport.
It’s why players like Xavi and Iniesta can never be rated high enough considering they truly dominated for both club and country. In a way that nobody else has in the modern game.
2008-2012 was pure dominance for Barca and Spain.
RP7
What cunt behaviour? I always found it strange how Sterling got this rep for himself. Son is a far bigger cunt than Sterling is, same goes for Kane and Dele Alli.
And I’d be interested to see where those stats came from? Mahrez has 65 non-penalty PL goals to 106 for Sterling.
Lots of Rumors about us negotiating with Leeds for Raphinha. Fabrizio is saying the fee is around 65/75 mil euros. I like the player very much. And I want him signed. But I am still nervous that Arteta is thinking he doesn’t need a CM. If we spend 70 to 80 mil on Viera and Raphinha before a CM then I will lose my shit. Rolling in to the new season with Xhaka as a starter will be the most idiotic thing we will do. We can get away with signing a cheaper alternative to Saka for 20 to 30… Read more »
Also what’s the opinion on the following: Is it better to be a player who is always dangerous and creates or ends up in fantastic positions to score but misses half of them? Or a player who isn’t as dangerous or ends up in fantastic positions to score as often but is a better finisher? Honestly it’s the same shit imo. It goes to who scores more as a whole and then to the other stats in a player like creativity, overall game, defensive capability etc. Sterling has 60/29 goals/assists in the last 4 EPL seasons vs Mahrez’ 38/27. Sterling… Read more »
Wtf, 65-75m for Raphinha?
He a quality player but that is seriously overpaying.
Englandsbest
“Pedro, Arteta puts me more in mind of the Arsenal of GG and DD than Man C and Pep G. They applied the same forward planning, discipline, attention to detail, etc, but without the need for open purse strings”
Just had to repeat this. EB you’re a proper crack up.
Negative nigel
“This is why I don’t let the haters prevent me from reading comments here. Good analysis from a balanced poster”
“I try hard in life to avoid displaying such a cretinous attitude”
Hahahahahahaha. Just some brilliant reading