A boring couple of weeks since I have nothing to watch in internationals, so what do I do? I open a discussion about the changing scenarios of football transfers. Real Madrid are pursuing Trent from 2 years now and they would finally get him in a couple of months for FREE! There was a year long tussle between the PSG management and Kylian Mbappe and the club had to let go of the best player on the planet for a fee of ZERO EUROS. Erling Haaland transfer to Man City from Dortmund was a fair one but he recently extended his stay at Manchester TILL 2034! On a salary of half a million GBP per week. That’s bonkers but if you don’t tie up your best player, you will eventually end up in the situation which PSG suffered with Mbappe and Liverpool are going to suffer with Mo Salah.
Lets wrap our head around this a bit with an Arsenal player. William Saliba’s contract is set to expire in 2027, 2 years and some change. Real Madrid has been interested in him from some time. A club as big as Madrid has a great pull and if you ask anyone, they would feel privileged to play for them. But, that shouldn’t be on the cost of the club that invested time, money, games, medicos in your development. Saliba can ask the club to pay an exorbitant wages, which we will do eventually or he can run his contract down, and the club who should, in a fair deal pay 100m to us, will wait and give a part of that 100m to the Saliba. That’s win-win for the destination club and the player. The club in loss would be Arsenal. That’s exactly what is happening with Liverpool.
Ok, they mismanaged the contractual situation but I don’t believe that Liverpool didn’t sit on a table with either of Trent or Salah and I would also not believe that they didn’t offer a very good contract. Players know they can force the club to pay them huge sum per week or they walk out free and earn even more somewhere else.
Mbappe had set the trend. PSG is a very powerful club with no need of any money. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi tried his best to sell him, keep him, play him, bench him but he didn’t succeed. Mbappe knew he is too big to be benched, and he ran his contract down on purpose. I am not saying he might have bumped into Madrid’s president on a morning walk and might have a word or two.
–
How to deal with this?
I have no fucking clue! Chelsea’s attempt to tie up players on a 10 years deal looks the best option (although they are doing it for a different reason) but it comes with another problem – a player who is not performing, or is injured, or don’t want to move will visit the club every Friday for his check and play Fortnite for the rest of the week. Remember Mesut Ozil?
I was against these 10 years deal but if Haaland played for Arsenal and after the Mbappe incident, I would have cheered that deal. There’s no other way, not one I can think of.
You got any? Comment section is open for discussion.
Against a*
Arteta just isn’t capable of making changes that aren’t like for like – two wide players off for two wide players on.
Why not move Nwaneri into the middle to add some creativity and bring on the wide players.
Skelly proving why we’ve called for him to get game time since last season. Great 80 meter run from defense to Everton’s pen area and being upended.
Marc
Same shit different day with MA. Never changes.
We’ve got 2 more years of this unless Berta has the cajonas to put MA in his rightful place as coach not manager.
Why doesn’t MA go three at the back when KT came on and push Skelly and Timber to Wingbacks to support Marts and Saka who have been average some coming on?
Tony
Hopefully not (assuming Berta is senior to Arteta). At some point more of the fans have got to come to the conclusion that Arteta has turned them into Spud supporters – always an excuse and next season will be the big one.
I’ve been listening to Spuddie’s peddling that for decades and found it highly amusing – we’ve got opposition fans taunting us with “its happened again” chants. If they can see it at some point so will the bulk of ours.
Marc
Berta is sporting director and MA is a manager so title wise at least Berta is above MA.
How that translates at our club is anyone’s guess. Because we are a multi billion pound club run by a clueless manger who tanks player values and buys yes men keeping them as pets.
Have we got a last minute winner in us?
This ref is taking being fucking useless to new levels.
So back to our dropping 2 points a game even though MA had to play our usual starters who really needing resting for the RM game.
Roll on Tuesday to see how MA is going to line up and beat RM.
So Liverpool need 10 points to win the PL – my guess is 7 or 8 will be more than enough and that’s before we even have to go to Anfield.
Marc
We’ll probably beat champions Pool and the fan boys and MA will say that’s how we’ll win the PL next season. That we are better than Pool.
Nketiah gets a red card for 2 yellows
More absolute bollocks from our clueless manager. How does Everton’s goal change the game? MA saying he had no idea how to win the game at 1:1.
Just more excuses from out tactically myopic manager! MA has various tactical options but he chose to keep to his one style of playing even when brining on our usual starters as Marc said yesterday in like for like subs.
“Arteta said: ‘The referee decides to give a penalty that changes the course of the game. I’m here to give my opinion, and after seeing it 15 times there is no way in my opinion is that a penalty.”
Arteta is trying to build this narrative that PGMOL is wrecking his bid to win Arsenal the title. This narrative is then picked up by his fan base , podcasters and bloggers in their respective forums to further this narrative. It’s not as if this ref issue started after Arteta took reigns. The famous Fergie era had ist own narrative. Does Arteta has the guts to come out and say in open that PGMOL biased against Arsenal and then goes on to get AFC support to lodge a formal complaint? Absolute bollocks.
If Arteta’s squirming then good – he’ll just fuck up even more under the pressure.
Marc
Amen to that!
Madhu
Arteta’s song remains the same and his fan boys will lap it up. Hopefully, some of the ardent plastics are going to see the light and start to ask questions unless under Pedro-Pete’s generational, drivel laden, ass licking rhetoric of our 2nd best, loser manager knows best.
TRVL
I hope Fulham makes Pool work for a win today. Can’t see them losing at Craven Cottage, as they can smell the PL trophy winning aroma, and planning their dreads for the open bus tour.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/manchester-city-kevin-debruyne-replacement-35001989
Of course if my mother had balls she would be my father
Just a possibility. ESR modelled himself after de Bruyne and locally was known as Croydon de Bruyne. If Guardiola had to pick him up and nurture ESR to get the fear out of his system…. would be interesting
Fulham running riot through Liverpool. Substitute goalkeeper doing Flipkyanski act.
Already 3-1. Second by IYobi , then Moniz who did an Auba celebration
Hoopah
Will be interesting to see what changes Slot makes at half time as is his usual way. They need to be more direct so maybe Nunez.
Would be good to see Fulham add to their goals
Fulham holding on to 3-1 although Liverpool have upped their game.
What Marco da Silva has done ,is getting the players to intercept passes before bLiverpool players get the ball .
A far cry from El B who would have folded up and transmitted his complex to players on the field
Drum roll………………………
Arsenal gain an entire point on Liverpool!
watching Pool predictably wobble in the run-up is the exact reason why you make maneuvers in the winter window…their contractual issues were always going to be a cause for concern in the 2nd half of the season and instead of applying the pressure we took our foot off the pedal…I wouldn’t be surprised whatsoever to see Pool struggle for points going forward, but the chances of that mattering are slim to none due to.our gutless and misguided acquisitional practices
to make matters worse, I think Berta’s here to pursue the same sort of budget-friendlier transfer policies of his former club, which wouldn’t be the end of the world if MA had better spent the gobs of money he’s been gifted over the years…right now we need to make big boy moves not count our pennies, especially after we handed the positionless Havertz a king’s ransom in wages and signed a DM for 100+M then promptly converted him into a bang average AM…so anyone who’s hoping that Isak’s on his way to North London, think again, as it’s far more likely that those with half the MVs are sitting atop of our wishlist…fuck me!
New post.