Well good morning to you ALL! Or afternoon. Maybe early evening? Who cares.
The Youri Tielemans deal has taken an Aaron Ramsdale-ish turn. Arsenal, is reportedly happy to wait a year for the midfielder and get him on a free.
I DOUBT IT FAM
Leicester think they are dealing with United here. That we’ll just spew £32m for a player who only wants Arsenal. Not this Arsenal. We’re playing games with a club that can’t afford to exit this summer with Youri on their books. The fans get ants in their pants, but simple facts are this: We don’t need Youri right this second, so we can take our sweet time until there’s a horrible karma injury at the weekend. JUST JOKES.
We’re not leaving this window without a midfielder. No chance. I think there is a VERY high chance that midfielder is YT.
The wide forward? I’m not sure. Nico Pepe doesn’t seem close to any club. Galtier at PSG hasn’t moved on him. AC Milan haven’t made a move. Sevilla are waiting there with a ‘PLEASE LET US JUST HAVE HIM FOR NOTHING’ shaped begging bowl. It’s pretty bleak, because Arteta has no interest in the boy and at 26, he has his best years ahead of him. He has to take a move. Sitting on your ass for a year ain’t it.
There have been some links with Tonali of AC Milan. Chatter of £55m leads me to believe that the Italian club just need to whip up a market for a player no one is talking about. I just don’t see us signing an expensive DM this window. If money were no object, certainly, but personally, I think finding the next Xhaka is more imperative this season. Why? The position is easier to upgrade than the Partey one. Cheaper as well.
Hector Bellerin was spotted at an airport. His agents are in town to negotiate a very low fee. I don’t care what he goes for as long as we put a chunky sell-on clause into his deal so we don’t get flipped like fancy Chatham two up two down after Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has had his way with it on Changing Rooms.
You lot were lying to me.
‘Oh, we don’t like high fashion things on Le Grove, give me some Khaki shorts and an ‘I’m with stoopid’ t-shirt’
Well, I’ve been told a lot of you bought one of these fancy shirts.
If you want to enter the conversation like JC, jump on this LINK and type LG10 on purchase to get a 10% discount. Word on the street is Art of Football are going to partner with us on some special clobber.
The big supporter news is that the Government has authorised Licensed Standing. The terraces are BACK baby. In America, they call them supporter sections, cheaper seats, noisier fans, a great gateway ticket for the next generation of fans.
Arsenal data seems to indicate that 16,000 season ticketholders responded to a survey, 70% of them were in favor of standing sections (11,200), and 40% wanted to transfer to that section (4,480). That’s a great number to create a bit of noise, it’s about 10% of home season tickets. Get some drums, some flags, maybe a cheeky tifo, and you are ROLLING. The additional noise would be welcome! I also like standing more than sitting.
I’d love to know what the deal is… if you remove 3,000 seats, is that 6,000 standing, or do you have to keep the capacity the same? One for the safe-standing nerds. Might need to get Tim Payton on the podcast to help us navigate.
Man United watch is becoming a fun pass time. They have pulled out of a deal for Arnautovic, not because he’s bang average, but because United fans got upset. They are going full steam into Adrien Rabiot to make their drab midfield slightly more drab. I didn’t realise they added Tom Huddlestone and Steve McClaren to the backroom team. Honestly, EtH seems to be going two-footed into creating the least inspiring United experience and I am here for it! Funny thing is when people warn me off slandering EtH. I get the same with Tuchel. I get the same with Conte. Look, they can’t all bang, I’m going to be right at least 66% of the time here.
Right, short one today, thank you for reading. I put up a technology chat podcast on the app if you’re into Web3 tings. It went up first on the Patreon, which is where the cool kids hang out, so go there if you want a piece of the action. ALSO remember to listen to the On The Whistle. It hit #11 for football in England and #13 for soccerball in the states. Thank you for listening. x
You can’t give up on Sambi yet….blimey
If it meant nabbing a better player we sure can
Pierre It’s much easier to forgive minor indiscretions, or the odd indiscretions here + there, as long as they’re punished, than it is to tolerate a consistent lack of commitment. It’s easier to forgive players who aren’t good enough, or inexperienced, than it is to forgive senior players who demonstrate on a daily basis, that they don’t give a fu*k. Whatever anyone thinks of Xhaka, he’s a model professional who’s emotions on occasions have got the best of him Give me a player who cares too much, over a player who doesn’t care enough, every day of the week, even… Read more »
They sold Fati, Gavi, Pedri and Araujo? Their future is in tact. They need to get it right now. That’s why they are buying up proven ready-to-bang players.
Barcelona and Arsenal have different projects and are in different leagues with different strengths and make up.
Their only competition also is Madrid so they are top top. Even if they finish 9th twice in a row, they will still attract the best players cos their way back to the top is only ever blocked by Madrid.
Barca are a team that need to be successful. Their reality is different to ours when after 8th and 8th we just go on with our 3-5 year plan to just come back in top 4. Barca want to win trophies and the players they bought are strong players. I’m not even going to bother comparing the players they got for 150m to the ones we got 1 by 1 but it’s obvious that they’ve bought better players. Kounde 23, Kessie 25, Christensen 26, Raphinha 25 have a decent chance to play for Barca in the next 4-5 seasons. All… Read more »
Santi Cazorla: “When i came to Arsenal, i did not speak the language, Mikel and his family helped me a lot. If I am giving the opportunity and he believes I can help him, it’s something i would not mind.” ❤❤❤
Would be the best signing of the window! I love that little man. How cool to see him back.
Who is better than Lewandowski in the Premier league even at 34? Not talking about price but footballing ability.
Halaand possibly Ronaldo?? Can’t think of anyone else?
We should of been all in for Paulista from Portugal that guy would of been great next to Partey or as backup 20 Mill Look how he played against Liverpool.
Kane unfortunately. The twat that he is.
Raptora,
Do you really think Emi I’s a better goalie than Ramsdale?
Samesong… agreed. but Matheus Nunes is regarded as the better player in Portugal. No links with him.
I said this about Barcelona’s Summer window: “The only questions that should matter are: Is this summer better than the ones before? I’d say yes. Do the players improve their team? Absolutely by a huge amount imo.” I’ll say the exact same for us this window. Zinchenko and Jesus are 2 absolute beasts that are already winning games for us and will keep doing so as they have instantly joined the likes of Partey, Saka, Martinelli and Saliba as players good enough for what I expect and wish Arsenal to become – a consistent top 4 team that challenges for… Read more »
^ You are an embarrassment.
Auba left every club he’s been at under a cloud yet some people are still saying he did nothing wrong and Arteta just wanted him out as he didn’t like him. Some people’s agendas are laughable
Jayjay….. need to be binned for that. What a silly boy
Comparing Barcelona to Arsenal isn’t a fair comparison. They have a monopoly with Real Madrid for broadcasting revenue in Spain, and have still ended up over a billion in the red…. The PL distribute the money more evenly, which is the right way to do it. We’ve had to deal with City, United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and also the Spuds who’ve spent similar money We’ll now have to deal with Newcastle as well, the PL and the race for the top and European places is much more competitive. Barcelona + Real Madrid are pretty much guaranteed to get top 4 each… Read more »
“If kept at Leicester he sees out his deal and walks on a Bosman, Leicester earn nothing and by next May is only 26 he will have plenty of offers.”
While true, the player also runs the injury risk which is huge; he gets a bad one any time after Xmas then it will turn out that hand of cards he’s holding is worthless … risky … best to compromise, make the move happen and get one 4-5 year earner …
Pierre “Zinchenko, a superb first half when he wasn’t put under pressure defensively , struggled a bit 2nd half against a physical Ayew who can be a handful, the ball over the top was a problem. I’d like to see him in midfield as he is superb on the ball in tight spaces, a good crisp passer of the ball, an intelligent footballer. Playing in midfield will take out the negative aspect of his game , which is one on one defending.” Totally agree Pierre. I was questioning his defending one on ones after the match against Crystal Palace and… Read more »
Arsenal have said introducing safe standing at the Emirates would mean a reduced capacity.
Tony Adams ro join Strictly Come Dancing!
We should send all our underperforming/not ready players out on loan to Marseille.
After one season in the farmers league they’d come back the world beaters.
I’ve only watched the 1st two episodes of the Amazon doc. Pretty dull fare to be honest. Usual tropes and banter, nothing remotely insightful. I dont have a problem with Arteta getting rid of Auba. If you’re on
huge wages and you are the club capt turning up on time is the minimum requirement. I doubt if he had to be at the club at 5am more like 10am.
Jayjay straight in the bin
Johnny has more class in his little finger than you have in your whole body
“I doubt if he had to be at the club at 5am more like 10am”
Less traffic at 5am though…..not to mention a 2 million quid Ferrari tends to create more traffic at 10 am.
.
Rap how can you say Sambi was money down the drain but concede he might come good. He was something like 17m. Hardly some expensive money thrown at an old overrated crock or whatever He was one of the best players in the Belgian league and a team captain at a crazy young age with glowing reviews from his peers and manager, good attributes on paper. Low risk high reward at that price. He also had some pretty good games last season as well as some poor ones. Considering his age and price I’d say he was a clever buy.… Read more »
Don’t know if Tonali is any good? Positionally it’s might make sense, he can apparently play as a single pivot, and as a No8. Would give us fluidity + versatility in midfield, he’d get minutes when we rest Partey, and he’d get minutes playing ahead of him as well. AC Milan apparently want €55 million, Tielemans seems like the safer bet in terms of adaption time + experience, and would likely be cheaper. Tielemans has played the deeper role, but I’m not convinced of him there, he’s more of a No8 I think we’ll sign a midfielder, there’s finally a… Read more »
Barcelona and Real Madrid get protected by UEFA and FIFA.
I guarantee that if we had two teams in this country that were run along the lines of these two clubs, especially Barcelona, they’d be banned from all European competitions and penalised heavily.
Barcelona should be held accountable for their mismanagement of the club but because they are UEFA’s baby, they get away with things.
“Auba left every club he’s been at under a cloud yet some people are still saying he did nothing wrong and Arteta just wanted him out as he didn’t like him. Some people’s agendas are laughable?
.. not long after he persuaded the board to approve a 3 year 350k weekly deral for the said player.
Let’s not pretend Arteta was spotless in all this
Like you wrote, Auba’s behaviors were well known.
If Haaland stays fit, he’ll get 40+ goals this season.
Pep won’t play him in all the games either.
Guarantee he’ll score at least 3 against Bournemouth.
Jesus and Eddie will cause havoc this season.
Rich
“Tielemans has played the deeper role, but I’m not convinced of him there, he’s more of a No8”
Thank you.
That’s what I have been saying all along about him.
People having to find an extra £2000 this winter to stay alive and a 20 yr old is demanding 100 k per week, sickening.
Diss Does beg the question why we sanctioned a 3yr mega contract to a 31yr old, and kept him on as captain for so long, if his professionalism was in question?… Maybe it’s easier to tolerate when he’s scoring 20+ a season, and winning us games on a consistent basis But when he’s no longer influencing games on a consistently, it’s a much tougher pill to swallow. Either that or he fell into the comfort zone after securing his new contract, he won’t be the first or the last player, who’s standards + effort drop once the ink has dried… Read more »
What Haaland will do is create another problem for clubs who used to high press City in the past.
He probably would’ve scored five against Bielsa’s Leeds who played a suicidal high line most times.
Haaland gives City another dimension they didn’t have before.
Still, he’s ugly as hell, and I hope he flops.
China, Sambi is money down the drain unless he becomes a 50m player in the next couple of seasons for us. The likes of Anguissa 15m and Bissouma 30m are 26 yo players. Sambi is gonna be 23 yo in a couple of months. They would have provided us with much better quality for either cheaper (Anguissa) or for a bit more money (Bissouma). To make it clear, Sambi started 3 games in the EPL from December to May, that’s 3 games out of 26. Home draw with Burnley and 2 losses to Brighton and Southampton. It’s far too simplistic… Read more »
Rich: “Tielemans has played the deeper role, but I’m not convinced of him there, he’s more of a No8”
Yup. Reminds me of a certain Sambi that forced us to play Elneny.
Tielemans solves nothing in DM.
Whenever people resort to personal attacks on here…. I fear for society. Another poster to ignore is Tom^ The most beautiful vagina.
Jayjay you Buffon we don’t tolerate racism here jog on with your shit
Song was 21 yo when he played 48 games for us. Sambi 22 ended the season behind Xhaka and Elneny.
Rich It was widely reported that Wenger was not comfortable with the Auba deal. He was on the way out so the club duid it anyways Aubameyang’s bling-bling lifestyle and his tardiness in training were well known within football. Wenger famously declined a change to sign him when he was in St Etienne, back then we used to have the first denial of most of the prospects the French scene Had Arsenal asked every manager who managed Auba they would have told us what we eventually ditched him for after giving him a mega contract. The Athletic said we had… Read more »
Raptora
Nice that you like Jesus and Zinchenko, but putting the most negative spin possible on almost everything else. I like Richs response.
You’re too harsh on our current players. A downer to read today.
The way you talk about our guys, you must be betting on a disappointing season? I’m expecting the opposite.
Look can we stop the Youri Tielemann talk. Leicester will want big money the closer it gets to the end of the window. We clearly aren’t interested or we would’ve gotten him already. Ya’ll need to stop wanking and crying over him and look elsewhere. At this rate I’ll take a player from abroad.
So everyone has decided Sambi is a No.8 because he hasn’t convinced as DM.
Well when he was playing in the Belgian League the main criticism of him was that he needed to improve towards the opposition goal past the halfway line.
“Whenever people resort to personal attacks on here…. I fear for society.
Another poster to ignore is Tom^ The most beautiful vagina.”
Priceless
The danger of this playing the long game on Tielemans is if Manure lose out on DeJong which appears to be the case is that they’ll turn their attentions to Tielemans & give Leicester the silly money they want.Which I’ve a sneaky feeling this is Leicesters gamble.Chelsea will pay silly money for Fofana cos their desperate.( hope psg nick him)Both clubs have a history of paying way over the odds.They couldn’t care less.
Izzy.I believe the term is jizzing.Thankyou.
Glad you agree tom. Get ya sweet vagina on twitter. This ain’t the place for your obnoxious smell. GG
Crimson, your lack of self awareness is delicious.
Positive Pete, I have no doubt that Tielemans either doesn’t want United, or just much prefers Arsenal. So he could refuse to go regardless of the fee Leicester prefers. But I still worry that United might offer him a much larger wage package, which could sway him. Also, if Chelsea gets involved somehow.. that’s champions league ball and more salary. There are risks .. We are assuming Leicester asked around 35 mil, and we’re holding out for a good deal near 25. They might have asked for 50. We just can’t know…. but what an upgrade on Xhaka he would… Read more »
69 thoughts in the sunshine…..its me not you!
“Still, he’s ugly as hell, and I hope he flops.”
🙃
Sambi is 23, he might need a loan. Playing as a single pivot in the PL usually requires experience, it’s a position that rarely has young players occupying that role. The idea Sambi was going to play + deliver consistent performances in the PL straight off the bat, was always unlikely, he was always going to be a medium term punt, the club have briefed that on a few occasions, and Sambi himself said he played more than expected. Partey was out on loan for 2 seasons in his early 20s, and it took him a couple of seasons after… Read more »
Rich with another addition in his miniseries “where were they at 22 yo ?”….…
Honest question Rich, you keep saying Arteta needs to deliver this year or face the scrutiny.
What’s his absolute minimum, and what’s the price for not making the mark.
My belief is so long Arsenal field the youngest squad in the Prem , which they will do, he gets another pass.
Good points re Sambi ,Tavares,Saliba( think he’s about to bang & big time).But if decent money was put on the table for Sambi now,would you take it?
Rich
Great elucidation of transfer strategy and age profiles. Thanks so much man.
I doubt Chelsea would go in for Tielemans.
They are over-stacked in central midfield.
Kovacic, Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, Gilmour, Chukweumeka, .
I mean how many more do they want.
Tom,
What’s so wrong about the facts Rich presented? You don’t have to agree with him about everything, but those details give a bit of colour to the subject.
It irritates you so much that he points out the difficulty in adapting in the PL, and the fact that successive loans helped some players development?
What’s wrong with that?
Tom “ Where were other players at that age + experience”, Argument, is a good one, it adds vital context. Particularly when you take into account for positions, style of player, and where in the current team cycle we are as a club. Regarding this season, I’ll wait until Sept 1st to see where we land, and what type of business others do first, there’s still a lot of moving parts. If Arteta is backed with another 2-3 top players? And I think he will be, then he has to finish top 4, get much closer to the top 2,… Read more »
I’m close to Richs view on expectations, but I phrase it as…. I expect 3rd place with points taken off City and Pool in those games.
If we’re far off that, I’ll reevaluate on the manager. I’m totally backing him and Edu at the moment. We now see what they’re trying trying to do, and I’m thankful the owners have bought in.
Rich
“I’m certainly not expecting anywhere near 13 PL defeats this season, and a significant increase on the 69 points we got last season.”
That should be a demand really with the money spent and that’s not even with two other additional signings.
And if a team or two have great seasons themselves which means no top four again then that would be excusable.
Rich.Indeed.v.Impt to ignore the bedwetters.
Ish I was always accused of being pro-Arteta + pro-Emery. I’ve been indifferent towards both, I just didn’t think either were our biggest problems, we had much bigger issues, and they were often being blamed for things that weren’t their fault. The idea that if we sacked either, that we were suddenly going to become this attractive team, who played excellent football, and swept all before them, just by changing the manager, was so far detached from our reality… Whereas if we sacked Arteta tomorrow, any half decent manager should be able to get a tune out of this team,… Read more »
Fair points Rich. Just a word of warning to others though and deep down they probably know this anyway. Spurs despite being able to shoot themselves in the foot at any given time look to have a good playing system now and Chelsea despite the question marks about them which everyone recognises still have a deep squad so they will still be probably close to fourth come the end of the season. It’s going to be a battle still to get fourth but a battle that The Arsenal look like they may be up to. Nothing given though or taken… Read more »
Ish I agree, I expect whoever finishes 4th, will need more than the 71 points Spurs got last season. That lot up the road have got plenty of goals + aggression in their forward line, we were apparently looking at Kulusevski in January, which is very frustrating. If Ten Hag gets top 4, he should be up for manager of the season, United should have enough quality to get results, but I’m least threatened by them, particularly if Ronaldo stays. It should be two between 3rd + 5th, out of Arsenal, Chelsea + Spuds who get top 4. We’ve got… Read more »
Lot of talk—rightly so—about how we’d go about replacing Partey as a single pivot. Ben White has some Seagull experience as a 6 IIRC. Can anyone here comment on how he performed? My guess is without Partey for any length of time, our formation would of necessity change.
Chelsea seems to be making moves on Barca players with the latest rumours linking them to De Jong. As said by other the rave for 3rd to 5th will be fascinating to watch. My expectation is that we get closer to 80 points and win a cup preferably UEFA cup. If we get close to 80 points we should be finishing with top 4 and even if we don’t it shows a significant improvement from last season. A UEFA cup win will cement our champions league dreams
Was there somebody lying on a stretcher next to one of the dugouts?