A lot of things were wrong from Mikel’s press conference before the Liverpool game. When asked about not signing a CF in January, here’s what he had to say.
If we win on Sunday and score a lot of goals? I think like this. I love my players and I think that on Sunday we’re going to score goals and they’re going to be top and they fully deserve all our credit because of the way they are.
source:arsenal.com
Well, we aren’t really scoring, are we? We are not great in front of the nets, and we have had some games with great xG but no conversions. It’s a game of fine margin and at times you would have hardly 5 shots and when 2 of them gives you goal, you win. Jesus has been poor, so poor that he was not on the scoresheet when we scored 5 against Palace. Eddie is not going to win you games on his own. Even if you win on Sunday and score 5 like Palace, it would be 2 lucky goals from your defender, and 2 extra minute goals. On a not so good day, you are not getting those.
Plus, why don’t you answer the question? Tell us that you didn’t want a CF. Or you didn’t have the fund. Or the management decided against it.
on Partey not being able to stay fit:
source:arsenal.com
It’s a big concern because he’s such an important player for us and he was getting some momentum at the start of the season and then we lost him for a while. Now it’s been a long time without him and he gives us something very different that no other player can give us in the squad. He’s been a real miss.
No, he wasn’t getting any momentum at the start of the season because the last I checked, he was defensive midfielder and you played him at RB because you were not willing to bench one of the two players you spent huge money on – Declan Rice and Kai Havertz. And he’s been a real miss throughout your managerial career because you pushed him on the pitch when he was on sideline injured and then played him at RB which shouldn’t have happened.
on the willingness to give young players a chance:
source:arsenal.com
We certainly want to do that. First of all we need to produce those talents and they have to earn it and secondly they have to be in the positions that we need fulfilling. Everything has to come together and we are working on that. We have a few prospects which are not far away, but the reality is we want more. Today, to give the opportunities to play in the first team at the level required, we are a bit short.
No, you don’t. I don’t know how can you decide whether a 17/18year old are talented enough unless you play them. I’m not sure Unai Emery was aware that Saka, Nelson or ESR will go on to become a part of the Arsenal squad when he gave them chances. Saka played at LB because well no one knew if he can play at Wings. Someone tried it out, and it worked. You don’t try, you never know.
No, you don’t. Because I have seen Saliba not registered for 6 months while Mustafi was getting games. I remember Willian playing for 37 matches with no real output when Martinelli, Nelson could have got those minutes. I remember your brought Runarsson when any one of the academy graduates would have done a better job.
Cut the crap.
Arteta is becoming Wenger Mk II fast. Wenger however did play youngsters especially in the League cup and CL fixtures that had no bearing on the table.
They are both set in their ways which slowly but surely is dragging down the club. It took years for Wenger to drop out of his coveted 4th place – Arteta will achieve that much sooner – it could even be this season.
That’s some pretty incoherent shit. It helped to remind me why press conferences are not worth the listen. It’s nothing more than a word salad of management bullshit. That said, thanks Ambarish for reproducing it on here.
Given the way the bin dippers play, I think we’ll look better on Sunday than we looked against Palace and Forest, but that’s no guarantee of a win of course. I’m predicting a 1-1 leaving both teams dissatisfied. Every game is a big one at thus stage, but I think Sunday really is critical for the direction that the rest of the season will take. I bet his plucked, uptight culo is squeaking like nobody’s business right now.
(Norg-not sure if you saw my response to your post on the previous thread, so here it is again…Cheers)
for some time I’ve suggested that there’s something fishy going on with the whole Partey situation…it likely had something to do with the big money Rice purchase and his subsequent shoehorning in as an inverted RB
as for our absentee landlord, when he’s believed in one of his clubs, and more specifically the manager/coach in charge, he’s dipped into his own pocket to secure the chip…he did it for McVay, with the Rams, then with Malone and the Nuggets, but it’s clear that he’s not buying what MA et al are selling…it’s important to remember that our summer spending spree cost Kroenke nothing, as that was already in the coffers…not to mention, Kroenke saw a rather significant rise in the market value of the club, so he was once again playing with “found” money
Killroy
Hi man. Just watching the start of the 6 nations and wondering if you’re tuning in. It’s a bit closer to call this year by the looks of it.
Good thinking to wet everyone’s whistle with a new post before Sunday’s affair Ambarish
not exactly sure what one can glean from this particular affair, especially knowing that Pool will still be missing a couple key cogs, but if we lose and/or struggle mightily again in front of goal things could get rather messy for Arteta online…in their most recent showings Klopp has had to rely upon a couple kids for results, but I would suspect that he will be leaning on his most experienced lineup come Sunday…I would likewise imagine that his tactics will be quite similar to last time, weather the early push, keep things tight in the first half, then he’ll start to commit more players on the counter in the second-half…as for Arteta, you just never know what that tactical genius will dial up LOL
in regards to giving players a chance, I still can’t figure out why we haven’t crafted a much more savvy academy approach…to me, we should be scouring the globe for young players in those “spine” positions, from Keeper to midfield to Striker, especially considering that the latter two tend to be the most expensive to acquire in the open market…when was the last time we’ve unveiled a seminal player, playing in one the aforementioned positions, who was groomed specifically by our academy…think about it, it took almost a decade for us to give Emi a shot, then he got shipped and went on to be voted as best Keeper in the world…just saying
TRVL
You’re over thinking the Partey situation – break it down and its obvious.
1) There’s an ongoing investigation into a PL player for a serious sexual offence.
2) The list of possible players has been narrowed down to about 1 name.
3) A club cannot be seen to be playing someone who they knew were being investigated for a serious crime for PR reasons, they also cannot sack the player because if charges weren’t pressed or the player was found not guilty the player would sue the club for a fortune.
4) Partey was making amazing progress whilst the window was open the day after it closes he has a major set back so will be unavailable (I’ll bet you a cold beer on a sunny day it’ll be the rest of the season) for some time.
5) If the criminal case out there is suddenly shut down Partey will be available within days.
Of course I’m making no allegations about Partey what so ever.
Marc-he’s played on numerous occasions since the time that investigation began, which was during the previous season…so although I’m not suggesting you’re incorrect with your assumptions, I think you might be fishing off the wrong pier…btw the club wouldn’t be in trouble, from a litigious perspective, unless it could be proven that the club sacked the player for those specific reasons, which would be difficult to prove considering his injury record…that said, you could be right and they’re just following the new “unwritten” organizational protocols which were established on the heels of other similar situations, like Mason Greenwood
Covering up my absence 😀 New post!