Listen, I said before the game, this preseason game means EVERYTHING and maximum conclusions SHALL be drawn from the game and they WILL be definitive.
Arsenal. Were. Sensational.
All the rumblings around the training camp are that the new players have adapted, the culture is really starting to sing, and the team is working at a really intense level. Postive vibes are my drug of choice this summer and there’s nothing manufactured, this is all real, and it feels good.
The output of great prep showed against Chelsea. For the first time in many, many years I felt Arsenal were more than a physical match for Tuchel’s boys. We ran harder, our passing was better, there was more variety to our game. We were simply the better side. Arsenal were so good, they made Chelsea look very, very bad.
Beating your rivals 4-0 in preseason means very little to your season if you are Arsenal. But, it means a lot to a team that should have title aspirations to be this far off the pace just two weeks out. It was amusing to listen to Thomas Tuchel canvass for more players after the game by rolling the quality of the talent as well as the commitment. That sort of carry-on usually doesn’t end well. Tuchel is a great manager when things are going well, when they start to dip, he’s not emotionally equipped to handle the adversity. It’ll be interesting to see how long he lasts this season. It’ll also be fascinating to see how Chelsea handle the reality that they’ve made some bad decisions in the transfer market and now they don’t have Roman fuck you money to escape.
But f*ck Chelsea, let’s talk about Arsenal.
The starting 11 we rolled with, pending fresh injuries, will be the side we take to Selhurst Park.
Ben White slotted in a right-back, Saliba and Gabriel were centre-backs, and Zinchenko took the left-back role.
Midfield was Partey, Xhaka and Odegaard.
Our forwards were Martinelli, Jesus, and Saka.
I can’t explain how I felt watching them play, it was a vibe, a sexy feeling, it looked special. There were no real weaknesses. The defence were all comfortable on the ball, Ramsdale found his range with some outrageous passing early on, Saliba and Gabriel looked like old heads, up to the pace and power of the game, and Ben White was superb at right back and looked really happy slotting into midfield.
William Saliba looked sensational. His return to the side makes me laugh. Honestly, the carry-on last season about the doom of the loan is one of the most hilarious turns of this Arsenal fan base. We don’t need to go into the fact he’ll start centre back game one. We don’t need to talk about Arteta saying “I am really pleased to see the way he is playing, the way he has adapted to the team, the maturity that he’s shown at 21, carry on doing it. We will keep developing him. He is already a top player & we have to make him even better. He looked ready to me.” No. What I want to talk about is the benefits of having a 21-year-old centre-back return to Arsenal after 4500 minutes after being coached by a tactic manager that demands crazy levels of dedication. Does anyone think 1200 minutes with us last season would have been better? We have a better player now than we did. He’s going to sign a new deal. He’ll be the youngest starting centre back in the league game one of the season. No harm done. Trust the process, as they say, and remember who catastrophized his loan last season.
The most genius move of the summer is probably going to be signing players from Manchester City. They are extremely well coached, have great character, and they know the expectations. Zinchenko was fantastic, his range of passing is so good, he’s fast, he has great delivery, and he was a massive add down the left side. His ability to build play, invert, and join the attack is going to open a new world for Arsenal this season. The guy is pure security. We now have the best left-back options in the league.
Gabriel Jesus IS a difference-maker. The player has clearly adapted well to being THE man behind the scenes. He’s a total professional, a born winner, and he’s completely changed the dynamic of our team. That one vs one he jumped on after Granit Xhaka one-touched his through ball was a miss with Lacazette. Gabriel dinks a chip over one of the best keepers in the league. Outrageous, but THAT is what quality gets you at the highest level. Interesting to see Scamacca heading to West Ham for £10m short of what we paid for a 4 time Premier League winner. I’m looking forward to watching the Italian develop, he has some talent.
Our midfield looked really tidy as well, Martin Odegaard looks like a man now, he’s zipping around the pitch with purpose, and now he has top-level runners to aim his passes to. It makes such a difference. Thomas Partey looks fit, he’s sharp on the ball, and he is basically irreplaceable in this team. We need to keep him fit. Also, Granit Xhaka gets a lot of pelters, but in a more advanced position, he thrived. He landed an assist and was responsible for the Saka goal after his striker forced a parry from Mendy. People really need to stop making out him being in our starting 11 is some grave danger. It isn’t.
Gabriel Martinelli also showed up. I do love that everyone begs to see young players get games, then they get them, have a dry spell, then all the weirdos come out against the player. Martinelli is top talent, he showed it yesterday on and off the ball, and he was part of a sumptuous Odegaard goal when he fed the Norwegian in for a one vs one that was scored. I love the power he’s added to his game and I like that he’s developing into a creator. Matt and I debated on the podcast what sort of a scorer he’d be… Thierry, Robin, or Anelka like?
There was even a moment for Sambi in the second half, Cedric picked out his back post run, the Belgian headed low and across goal. Do I love badge kissing? Yes. He peeled off, took his shirt off and kissed it in front of the fan. That felt great.
So, a clean sheet (SHUT OUT USA USA USA), a massive win against a top 3 rival, confidence through the roof, no injuries.
Let’s also take a moment for the American fans. 64,000 showed up, paid for a ticket, and made BIG noise all game. I salute you all for sitting in the heat of Florida. You are a credit to the fanbase. The passion for football in the country is outrageous. I can’t wait for the World Cup to be here in 2026, it’ll be wild, and it should ALWAYS go to countries that love the game.
Back to Arsenal.
The hard work is starting to pay off. This time last year, we’d just lost to Chelsea in preseason, and Thomas Partey had gone off injured. We had no signings. Edu was BBQing like a madman. Things were about to get very messy.
This year, we’ve done our business early, there are no massive holes in our squad, everyone knows what the expectations are, and there is an expectation that we’re heading towards greatness.
Everyone knows the system, everyone wants to be a part of it, people at the club are feeling the specialness you are feeling.
I hope there’s no debate that we’re one of the best coached teams in the league now. Just look at the movement off the ball, how we press as a unit, how the combinations are working in the final third, how we have multiple ways out of defence, and how fast that ball is zipping around the pitch. This is Arteta’s year, this squad is his, I can’t wait to see where we take the season.
We’re competing for top 3 this year and at the end of the season, we’ll hopefully be closer to City and Liverpool. The prime of a footballers career is 26-31. Average age of our squad is 23.5. Another year’s worth of good, bad, and ugly experiences will see us jump a level.
My hopes? Less bumpiness. New problems. Better football. More goals. Tighter defence. Same support from an invigorated fan base.
I’m excited. We’re going to have a fun season. This journey we’re on is going to be awesome, so take a moment to enjoy it, football is the best when the hope you feel is grounded in something real.
Finally, we’re going to be working with the awesome creators at Art Of Football this season. They make elite football clobber for the type of fan that wants to look at football without looking ridiculous.
Here’s the first shirt.
This is a limited run, once they’re gone, that’s it. If you want to buy one. Jump on this LINK and type LG10 on purchase to get a 10% discount. I want to look like this cool cat. So I’m gonna get one.
FINALLY: Check out our latest ON THE WHISTLE PODCAST with Pedro and Matt from THE AOP.
xxx
P.S. Sign up to our Patreon. We are gonna be putting lots of fun things there this season. Come join the Thomas Partey.
Lol Pedro.
Believe what you want
Please god let Saliba sign a new deal so we can all speak with one big dick.
Bacary, I’ll take a loss on Short King Summer. I always admit when I’m wrong. But categorically, you have lost on Saliba, unless you think your non-professional opinion about Saliba being ready for the league carries wait against someone that has worked under Pep and manages Arsenal. Probably doesn’t. His loan move to Marseille IS one of the most successful in history. That doesn’t mean 30 games in the League wouldn’t have been better experience, language skills, cultural adaptation. But again, we’re arguing the theories here… what is fact? His loan move helped him mature. He’s back at Arsenal. He’s… Read more »
“Everyone begged for Martinelli to start, they said he was then solution to our goalscoring issues, he wasn’t, and he’s spent the last 2 weeks get roasted online for being average.” Who else other than Pierre has been roasting Martinelli? He’s more than ready and would have been even better by now if he was played more by Arteta when we had Willian stinking up the pitch and if he didn’t get that long injury. It’s ok to admit that Arteta has made mistakes Pedro. Loaning Saliba and rock up to a season with Mustafi, Mari and Kola instead was… Read more »
Nigel nothing is a sure thing, but he’s been a monster at every club he’s been. He didn’t become quality last season. In his previous loan spell wasn’t he in the team of the year after just 6 months in the league or something similarly ridiculous? The guy is prodigious. Saliba isn’t a player who blew up last season. Last season was a logical continuation of what most of us have been saying he is and will be for years. People here were constantly talking about his age as an excuse. Any excuse to justify why Arteta must not be… Read more »
Why would Mustafi have left for a major pay cut?
It’s simple to sniff out clickbait garbage with a little bit of thought.
What about that last minute story that Zinchenko backed out on Arsenal?
Very naive to take poorly reasoned rumours as fact.
Freddie, do you not have Twitter?
Arsenal fans have all the ideas, then when they have to deal with the reality of a young player making mistakes, they turn on them. So glad you said that. So lemme get this straight Saliba needed loans to nice and Marseille to cut out the mistakes and he couldn’t do that at Arsenal no way no how… except that doesn’t explain why we have someone like Gabriel and Xhaka making mistakes playing at Arsenal. Simple fact is that while we were missing out on champions league football from a winning position William Saliba was starring for a team qualifying… Read more »
Pedro
‘But not sure what planet you’re living on where you think it would have been a bad idea for him to get Premier League experience over Ligue 1’
Mmmm, let me think.
-Starting the season playing under Jorge Sampaoli vs Steve Bruce
-European competion experience vs no European competition.
-Serge Gnabry might have preferred a European loan instead of playing under Pulis at West Brom, just one example where it’s not a hard and fast rule that a Premier League loan is the obvious preference to a continental one.
‘Saliba was patently mismanaged and we’ve turned it around this summer brilliantly’ Given two loan spells. Got the most minutes of any 21 yr old centre back in Europe last season. Was so good, his old manager quit when they wouldn’t sign in. Now coming back to be the youngest CB starter in the Premier League. He was managed the way big clubs manage their young stars. Amazing that the biggest critics of Arteta and his ‘novice’ levels are the folk that think he should have been playing a kid at CB last season during a transition. Rockstar manager Thomas… Read more »
China you may very well be right, but we’ll never know so why go on about it?
What you say makes sense but it’s still opinion, just as is Pedro’s stance.
Pedro has a bigger microphone, but it’s still just his opinion. Nobody’s opinion is fact. Just be fair and admit that at least.
I lean towards Pedro’s view a little, but I can only wonder how things might have turned out without the loan.
Not worth too much thought at this point.
Pedro ‘But categorically, you have lost on Saliba, unless you think your non-professional opinion about Saliba being ready for the league carries wait against someone that has worked under Pep and manages Arsenal’ So I lost on Saliba because I thought he was a tremendous talent who we mishandled for much of his first two years with us. I actually supported his loan move to Marseille despite you weirdly claiming he lacked ambition for wanting to play for a team that had qualified for Europe under a well-respected manager. I think Arteta has made many good deicisions and this may… Read more »
Nigel
Arteta’s own words indicate that an extension may have been offered when Mustafi was Baresi-ing it up for us and Arteta was showering him with praise. What we also know is that Mustafi suffered an injury and even if he wanted to sign an extension it wasn’t available for him any more after he struggled to make his way back in the team.
Bacary, he was mishandled for one loan move during a period of tumult for the club and the global game.
After that, mishandled, are you kidding me?
2500 minutes for Nice.
4500 minutes for Marseille.
That is handled.
If only Serge Gnabry was managed that well, he might still be an Arsenal player.
Saliba will definitely make mistakes,just like White and Gabriel last season and every other CB in years gone by. I will be there 100% for him regardless and won’t blame it on bad coaching. Like Pedro, I will be unhappy if we don’t get a quality back-up for Partey because we need that type of player to take pressure off our CBs.
Glad you recognize he was at least mishandled by the club during his time with us. We’re making progress.
What better motivation for us than the Guardian once again predicting us to come 5th?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jul/25/premier-league-2022-23-preview-no-1-arsenal
Bacary, agree, I think we’re running at 3rd this season.
Us vs Spurs.
Not sure what United are going to be like yet. But the business hasn’t been that interesting. No Frenkie, Ronaldo staying as of now, and very little movement out bar Pogba.
haha bacary. newcazstle’s just the example we’re using, if wild bill had been open to a prem loan i do think more than just steve bruce woulda tried. either way i just have never been able to understand the anti arteta bandwagon. the most feared guy in the moyes-everton dressing room comes to arsenal to learn from arsene then goes to work under pep!? honestly the guy has made the biggest moves in ages bringing zinch and jesus this summer. those moves are like lightning in a bottle for the ‘brand’ whatever youd call it. not going to see too… Read more »
guys were finishing 2nd
Pedro
Yeah, I think there’s an even chance we finish 3rd. 4th or 5th so that’s a 66.6% chance of making Top 4. Bookies don’t agree but things feel different his season.
Btw, happy to take a loss on Saliba if he signs an extension. Will be too elated to re-litigate his first 2 seasons with us.
Zacharse
I gave several reasons recently why Arteta deserves major credit from Arsenal fans. Getting the Kroenkes to unleash their spending power is definitely one of them.
The idea that a player can’t leave a club for a pay cut is so patently flawed
What about:
1) recognizing that the writing is on the wall because better players are in your position
2) wanting game time assurances
3) external factors (wife wants a change of scenery, or tired of the weather etc
4) the player not making money the primary factor after several years of already earning great money
I could go on for days. Do you guys think bellerin will earn as much if betis sign him?
To say that tuchel doesn’t handle adversity well is an understatement. He lost his mind in the interview after the game.
Pedro Your entire premise about Saliba reeks of absurdity You just didn’t rate him as much as many others did. You even went as far as labeling some others “Saliba ultras”. You were always dismissive about Saliba fro the get go, wether it was 2020 or 2021. You never thought he was ready, contrast that with many here who thought he was better than what we had. Recently you’ve continued to put him at the lowest end of the totem pole by suggesting that “at least he will play 6 EL games” I find it laughable that you’re arguing that… Read more »
Many things Pedro got right about Arsenal under Arteta, can’t deny that.
However, Saliba belongs to the Saliba ultra
Pedro gets a big “L” there, can’t reduce the argument to some loan.
5th will be good enough for the CL pretty soon
3rd for sure this season. I’m on record saying it last winter…..Just to make it super interesting I’m going take a punt on 2nd… super unlikely, but if something goes wrong with Van dyke or Salah who knows. Even a Haaland injury with no Jesus, Sterling, ….
Gotta aim high.
Dissenter
I think you are right, clearly Arteta and Pedro were not sold on Saliba. Hence Ben White.
Could we have spent that 50m for Ben White on another player? Could Saliba done his minutes of education with us?
Hard to say. End of the day, despite Saliba is likely going to be the starter but at the same time Ben White is still fulfiiling an important role. All ends well fortuitously for us.
Pedro, “Much of a muchness now, he had a great loan deal, and he probably got more minutes in France because the league is easier. But not sure what planet you’re living on where you think it would have been a bad idea for him to get Premier League experience over Ligue 1.” I disagreed with you about Saliba last summer, but I won’t re litigate those discussions. I’d only suggest if faced with the decision of playing for a team in the Northeast of England, coached by Mark Hughes, that only survived relegation the year before on the back… Read more »
Pedro, “Much of a muchness now, he had a great loan deal, and he probably got more minutes in France because the league is easier. But not sure what planet you’re living on where you think it would have been a bad idea for him to get Premier League experience over Ligue 1.” I disagreed with you about Saliba last summer, but I won’t re litigate those discussions. I’d only suggest if faced with the decision of playing for a team in the Northeast of England, coached by Mark Hughes, that only survived relegation the year before on the back… Read more »
Suspect we might see 2 or 3 exits this week. Im all for Tavares going to Atalanta providing he can start at least 50% of their games. That boy is going to be a world beater.
“3rd for sure this season. I’m on record saying it last winter…..Just to make it super interesting I’m going take a punt on 2nd… super unlikely, but if something goes wrong with Van dyke or Salah who knows”
Love this optimism. Years of supporting Arsenal have made me weak minded though, so no predictions from my side. Top 4 obviously the target still
Pedro,
I just want to know how I’m randomly clicking on ads for bras.
I don’t know what you’re hinting at 😂
Nigel, Zacharse
Loving your positivity and ambition. Both the big teams are making adjustments, so who knows? My aims for
Next 3 seasons are 3, 2, 1.
If we can pick up 2/3 more stellar purchases, then we are well on our way to being back at the top table
Wicked willy, I must have missed it. What stellar purchases have we made so far ? We’ve signed a few decent second string players to the best of my knowledge.
thats what im talking about bacary. take the tiny L take big WWWWWWW
bard are you thick? what an incredibly stupid position to take that will surely be set right come the procession of the 22-23 season
I’m surprised that the absolute monster Guendouzi didn’t poison Saliba’s mind against Arsenal forever.
Bard
Didn’t you witness us absolutely run rings around chelsea?
Bard We got excellent players, who are winners and coming into their prime from City, and in positions where we desperately needed them. We got the second highest g/a per 90 in Europe in Fabio, and the prodigious asset that is Bill Saliba is finally ready to show his class in the PL. all indications are we are going to be buying two more players of similar quality. Meanwhile we haven’t lost anyone important, unlike last season’s Top 3. You can continue being a curmudgeonly girl if you want, but hey, I choose a happy life whereby I’m able to… Read more »
Un
Don’t you know? Other clubs always have the best signings.
Who cares if we actually win any games.
*git
Dark hei
The football was the best I’ve seen us play under Arteta
Granted it was just pre season but If that is what we can expect to see moving forward then not a lot of teams are going to live with that
Also with Eddie, ESR and vieira to come off the bench, how can any gooner come on here and complain after such a scintillating attacking performance
Or you could say the reality is we don’t know what might have happened last season had we kept Saliba and invested that 50 million we paid for White into a midfielder or a striker. It depends really what side of the coin you are re Arteta whether you think he’s perfect or whether you think he’s made quite a few blunders Spot on Marko. white is and was never a 50 million player. On another point, pepe is not a shit player as we say he is, emery was playing a counter attacking style football, his playing from the… Read more »
The Gabriel Jesus love is well deserved, make no mistake if we had him for the latter part of last season we would be playing in the champions league this year. The guy is clinical, hungry and on a mission. I listened to the pod and I agree with both you and Matt, he’s very Suarez at Liverpool like with the unrelenting press and hunger for more, but let’s hope that’s where the comparison ends! All in all, the business this summer has been great, really positive. If we can get Saka and Saliba signed up to new deals and… Read more »
Any chance we can live in the present? White, £50 m, Saliba loan. There is no rewriting of history, no parallel universe. Obviously there are discussions to be had but ‘what ifs’ are fairly pointless. Learn from your mistakes for sure but rehashing old suppositions… Since his signing, Saliba has at times been mishandled but if you can’t see that last season was excellent for him then you’re too agenda driven for your own good. He is the cliched ‘ new signing’ that if we’d had to pay for him in this window (assuming we could have fought off the… Read more »
DigitalB, we’re on the same page, wouldn’t change a word of your post.
Thanks BobN16, I’m finding it difficult to be anything but optimistic about the upcoming season, real positive signs so far.
Also in agreement with your take on Saliba, he looks ready now, that’s the most important thing. Winning the young player of the year award in France is nothing to scoff at, it was a positive loan. Was it necessary, well maybe not but this is a young man that’s already had some personal tragedy in his life so maybe staying in a familiar environment for that further year was needed?
Bob & DB
With you both all the way. Maybe last season would have been better with Billy, but he would unlikely be as accomplished as he is without that loan. Maybe if Rennes hadn’t pulled the plug at the last minute on the loan the season before his readiness would have been less ambiguous last year. Maybe, maybe, maybe. No sense in emotionally speculating whilst looking in the rear view mirror.
Sounds like we’re looking at the open road ahead of us and feeling excited, and with good reason too!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11043291/amp/PLAYER-RATINGS-Martin-Odegaard-picks-apart-Chelsea-Conor-Gallagher-struggles-impress.html?ico=amp_articleRelated_with_images A midfield of partey xakha and Odegaard is starting to look stronger and stronger with white and zinchenko dropping in to add more ball players there The defence looks great with big billy in there. I really expect him to be huge. White and Zinchenko looked quality and Gabriel will hopefully cut out the errors with Saliba and Zinchenko either side of him Be interesting to see what Arteta does when Tomiyasu comes back. The front 3 look like hey are going to terrorise defences this season and I can’t wait to see how we look with ESR and… Read more »
He’s already playing at elite levels
If he can add another 10%-20% to his numbers this year he’s be one of the best senior forwards in the world
Not a big fan of judging things by comps but holy moly the Tielemens comp agasint Derby doing rounds on Twitter is absolutely bloody fantastic. Seems much fitter, quicker and those balls. Job interview?
Interesting statement from Edu about Arsenal’s outgoing transfer policy. He stated both Ozil and Aubameyang were killing the club by taking huge wages and underperforming. He went onto say that when he took over 80% of players in the squad were aged 26+ and many like Mustafi, Kolasinac and Socratis were in the same category. Most players are on large wage at the age of 26+ and if they are underperforming it is better to offload them and pay them off ,because they are unsaleable. Obviously it is difficult to explain that policy to the owners and senior management, but… Read more »
Well, there you are: the TRUTH from Edu
The force is not Edu or Arteta or Edu/Arteta, it’s ARSENAL the Club. And the aim? To WIN titles and Trophies, not come 2nd,3rd or 4th.
Exactly – a return to the elite.
And the sooner the whiners on here wise up, the better.
Art of football dude looks absolutely ridiculous in those pyjamas he is sporting lol am I missing what ridiculous looks like or am I old hahahahaa
Stroller
Well we are in a better situation.
Bellerin, Torreria and you can put a case for Leno, certainly weren’t under performing last season.
Mari is likely not on high wages.
We are down to PePe, but even he hasn’t hit the tank yet (relatively speaking). Likely Pe Pe is going to be a good asset if a buyer can get fair value out of him (and if the coach wants him specifically).
Not Pe Pe faults that Emery didn’t call for his profile in the first place.
That Edu interview is a very great read . Insightful . It looks like the club realised the bad influence of Raul Sanlehi and sacked him , albeit not so quickly . Edu has done well without him and with a clear vision and beneficial to the club .
You’re ‘older’ Serge like me, I guess. Pedro wont have it though. Age/style is a mindset i’m told. So is not looking like a twat, maybe?
Chrispy agreed if my 18 year old boy rocked up to go to a match dressed like that he is staying at home lol
How many players in the squad have those characteristics today?’ Edu says. ‘Now, as part of the plan, we create value in our players because I don’t want to face that situation many times more. Now, if someone wants, say, Gabriel — OK, come here. No problem.
‘If we sell Bukayo Saka — that’s not going to happen but it’s just an example — we as a club have to prepare his replacement straight away. Someone has to be in the squad or we have to manage the market well.’
😂 😂
Wouldn’t be too happy if I was Gabriel
Oh dear, I’ve just seen the post and wondered if the Art of Football ad was a joke when I read “for the type of fan that wants took at football without looking ridiculous”
Peds, love your writing but your taste in ‘fashionable’ clothing leads me to wonder whether you heard the laughter and saw the pointing.
Mate, wearing that is a pretty surefire way to pick up a blue light trip to A&E 🤣🤣🤣
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11044127/amp/Big-money-flops-killing-Arsenal-admits-Edu-aims-Champions-League-return.html
Wonder who the Dortmund player was? Reyna? Bellingham?
Not many here complimenting the burned banana outfit 😂
Pedro you wrote and I quote “No. What I want to talk about is the benefits of having a 21-year-old centre-back return to Arsenal after 4500 minutes after being coached by a tactic manager that demands crazy levels of dedication. Does anyone think 1200 minutes with us last season would have been better? We have a better player now than we did.” I think you’re wrong there. Saliba should have been with us last year and played his 4500 minutes with us as our starting centre half. He was good enough and ready enough to do this. White and Gabriel… Read more »
Pedro
It’s positivity all round. .
Your new born has certainly helped on that score and irrespective of our differing opinions on Arsenal related matters in recent times, I sincerely pass on my best wishes and congratulations to you and your wife.
By the way, I want Arteta to get it right this season.
No excuses.
The outfit is reminiscent of the clobber a certain “Bellend “fashionista would have as their attire.Nuff said.😂looks like a carrot cruncher from Norfolk lol!
I echo your words Graham, I want Arteta to get it right this season, no excuses accept maybe a disastrous series of unavoidable injuries to key players!
nice one Pedro, I too remember all the knicker twisting going on regarding Saliba, even now, still… Kinda surreal how normal everyday folk somehow seem to know how to manage a multi million pound asset in elite sport. I wasn’t worried back then and things have turned out how I thought they should. Its been a long time coming but I trust this club again because of Arteta and Edu. At first it was hope but now there is enough evidence to show that we’re on the right path. An elite path, going from one of the worst run clubs… Read more »
On a more serious note.Once again the Melo links don’t seem to be disappearing.Surely,surely not him before Tielemans or savic p.god.Apparently it’s rumoured Leicester have a transfer embargo under ffp & HAVE to sell before they can buy.hence no deals so far.Are Arsenal making them sweat to minimise transfer.?
I would wear that shirt on the beach not with those shorts though or hat.
It’s the hat that really looks ridiculous. You’d almost get away with the shirt although you’d have to suffer some banter
Pete – yeah the Melo rumours very worrying. Can’t imagine a bigger step back to the shite we used to buy than him
It’s the hat that really looks ridiculous. You’d almost get away with the shirt although you’d have to suffer some banter
Someone would wear that hat at a Wireless festival no doubt.
That all outfit looks like something Bellerin or DCL would wear. I wouldn’t wear it. I know people love the Bruised Banana kit but that is where it ends with me and anything yellow. The whole black shorts, long white socks with trainers combo isn’t working for me either. Everyone would roast me if I showed up anywhere like that. Anyway on to football, the Saliba debate is never ending. Arteta has made mistakes. Giving game time for Mustafi when he is a shit CB when a young prodigy was available to you was a mistake. The loans might not… Read more »
Northbanker- the other concern( for want of a better word) is that Manure will turn their attention to Tielemans if they can’t get DE Jong over the line.Bit of a dilemma if we’re playing “ chicken” with Leicester to avoid a bidding war?what do you think?
No better illustration of why it pays to be a bit more focused on the longer rather than the shorter term. That goes for a lot of the comments on here this past 18-months or so. Let’s not forget that, this time last year LG posters had already panned Ramsdale and Ben White and were calling for Edu to be sacked. It’s been clear for some time, that Arteta had a plan, but so many people on here talked and talked about how terrible it all was. Good to see the positivity back by many — exciting times. I think… Read more »
Matt B
I’m sorry but I’m not in agreement.
After nearly 32 months at the helm we still have to see what Arteta is made of.
Yes, we can all be positive about the upcoming season but I think every Arsenal fan knows deep down that these next few months will be critical for Arteta.
Nothings happened yet.
I can only imagine there must be some deliberate red herrings and yes Man U seem determined to buy a CM too although the rumour mill suggests that Tielemans has already turned them down as he wants a move to Arsenal
No idea how much truth in that but I’d like to believe it!
Pedro
The shirt is wearable in certain settings. But the whole combo of black shorts, white socks, sneakers & a hat just looks bad.
Now, I don’t think we’ll get another CM/CDM now that we have Zinch to add to Xhaka, Elneny, Partey & Lokonga.
Graham62 wise comments mate. I understand and support the positivity but we haven’t played a proper game yet. There is no doubt that Arteta is under enormous pressure. As I have posted before if he doesn’t hit the ground running early doors I doubt he’ll be there at the end of the season.
If we signed Melo, it would be on a conviction basis, no different from Ramsdale
Some people would have delved into data and combed the lad’s history to decide to take the plunge. It would be because Melo has unique attributes that are beneficial towards whatever Arteta is trying to do.
It would be similar to the Ramsdale signing.
Edu-Arteta have earned their chops and I wouldn’t make the Ramsdale error twice.
People here don’t rate Melo and I can understand why but for me he has attributes I really look for in a midfielder – directness in play, ability to carry the ball and dribbling. I think he can become a very good midfielder if utilised well.
Dissenter
He’s failed at Barca and Juve. Edu and Arteta are not beyond goofs themselves. He barely even makes the team at Juve.
I’d sooner take Rabiot who is out of contract next year and i don not exactly fancy him heck i’d roll the dice with AMN and El Neny and pray Partey doesn’t break down as much.
Heck El Neny does all Arthur does and then some by adding goals too
Graham: Something he has done though is to reinvigorate a culture that had been eroded by over-paying under-performing stars.
It seems as though he has tried to instil a winning mentally and that he also understand the heritage of Arsenal, something Emery didn’t.
There is also a massive sense of optimism (even you feel it mate)! And the hope we all have, doesn’t seem misplaced…
TR7
Everyone has a player that he rates that is not as good as he thinks , mine was Dani Olmo . You are on Melo xD
Matt B
I take everything you highlight on board.
Let’s hope for a bright future.
Melo or Xhaka??? TR7
Thanks Graham!
It’s going to be a GREAT season for Arsenal and we’re going have a lot of fun along the way.
I honestly can’t wait
Samesong
Melo of course
I hope Arsenal don’t end up, after what is turning out to be a fantastic summer transfer window, being very Arsenal about it all and don’t sign depth for Partey (Tielemens) and tie up Saka and Saliba to new deals. Edu must be itching to fire the bar-bee up but we need to get this done. I understand players now have to flow out to create financial elbow room; at this stage you can’t accuse KSE of not backing MA to the hilt, but we are going to have to take some Ls on a few of these players. Leno… Read more »
Divine
I really rate Dani Olmo too 🙂
I’ve read lots of people saying that Leno is too good for Fulham but we forget that Edwin Van Der Saar once played for Fulham as he rehabbed his career.
Leno needs to cut his losses and move on. We were overpaying him and his wages are adjusting to his abilities.
He’s delaying a move to extract supposedly owed monies from Arsenal…Arsenal aren’t budging.,
I hadn’t heard that, but of course it’s another big Arsenal problem on why we have to accept lower xfer fees than we’d expect – the ludicrously high wages we put these guys on – we haven’t been in the CL for years yet we are still paying out CL wages. Who’s going to give Pepe 140k a week?
Samesong- From what I’ve seen of Melo.It’s Hacker all daylong.Just think he offers a lot more.& the f** k ups seem to getting less & less🤞But the aim is to totally upgrade.That means Tielemans or Savic.
I think Tielemans will happen Its too good a deal to not happen in an area we need to strengthen. A cit-price deal looks mouth watering. Shame that we couldn’t have swooped for Bissouma as welll, yes I know, I know that ship has sailed, he isn’t progressive (which i don’t agree) etc but I have difficulty letting go as he would be a wonderful back up to TP and a great defensive partner for TP when we’re up against the wall. I’ll have to increase my therapy sessions on this one. As for Leno, I’m greatly puzzled by the… Read more »
Graham62
Talking about excuses, you’ve been proven wrong so often when are we gonna hear some genuine ones from you?
All that’s changed is “Arteta is awful…useless….must go, etc, etc’ has become ‘Let’s wait and see’.
I’ll name one major error of yours back in Jan to get you started, your denial that Edu/Arteta had identified players wanted, and would pursue and buy them in summer.
englandbest showing chest and we haven’t even kicked a ball in anger yet. Humble yourself.
englandsbest
Let’s approach the new season with some unity and excitement
Stop being so goddam negative and divisive.
Stand down and suck your chest back in.
That Edu interview corroborated lots of what Pedro has written about.
Three cheers to Pete