For the first time in this century, we did our business as fast as the situations allowed. We had an agreement in place for Rice and though there were some tussles, it was never off the table. We paid the money West Ham demanded, got our target and that’s done and dusted. Same happened for Havertz, an opportunity arises, Mikel wanted him so we went to Chelsea with a bag full of cash and brought him to the better side of London.
We wanted Ben White’s back up, who can play at LB if the need be and Timber arrived. With Champions League games this season, we needed more of a Ramsdale competition and not a back up. David Raya signs for Arsenal and Brentford agreed to our demands to keep the FFP happy.
Good, right? Not really. We spent some serious money, exactly what the buying clubs wanted and one of those deals include 65m for Kai, who hasn’t really been pulling trees. But when it comes to selling, it feels like we are John Snow – bending the knee and knows nothing.
Yes, my frustration is with Kieren Tierney deal. KT is a brilliant fullback, just because Mikel thinks he can’t do what he wants, doesn’t mean he is a player you have to send out on a loan. Loaning an Arsenal player and Scotland international who is only 26 years of age and has 102 appearances for Celtic and 91 for Arsenal, on loan to Real Sociedad is maddening; even when you don’t consider the Timber injury and we are in a for a LB now who will take time to settle at the club. A readymade player for peanuts, a replacement for the price of a buggati which will need some maintenance to its exhaust system.
Anyone saying a loan deal will improve his price tag is fooling himself. It doesn’t happen when an Arsenal player joins Real Sociedad. It didn’t happen with Pepe, Maitland-Niles, Cedric, Bellerin and it will not happen with Tierney.
Another case is Tavares. We wanted to sell him, Forest wants a loan and an option to buy. The only positive thing about Nuno’s forest move would be that he will get Premier League game time and he has both potential and age in his favor.
Rumours are out there that Chelsea wants ESR. It’s only a rumour, but heck if it turns out to be true, I have a feeling we will agree for 25m, for a player who was priced 80m before injury and is back to fitness after being operated for a permanent fix to his injury concerns. We are so bad at selling, we let go Maitland-Niles for free, after rejecting 20m from Wolves a season back. We sold Leno for less than what we were okay to pay for a reserve keeper in Turner.
Our biggest sale till date is 34m for AOC to Liverpool, ages ago. Sums up everything I guess.
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I understand we are the biggest club in London. And we have several revenue sources, in Season Ticket Sales, advertisements, MatchDay earnings, and Merchandise sales. However, player sales can be an equally good source. Chelsea has been doing it for ages, while competing for titles for years. I’m not asking for a Dortmund/Brighton model, because we have better ambitions but identifying players not needed for the system and generating good sales on them should be a must.
Because, your inefficiency in generating sales will not stop you from buying players. And because the difference will be paid by the public through the ticket prices. I’m sure the 120 bucks I spent on buying just a tshirt contributes to Havertz salary and I’m sure it could have been KT’s 40m added up with 15m for Tavares.
We had/have been poor in selling. Everyone knows that. There’s no attempt to fix that, is what is baffling me. Club don’t need to worry if they take up a stance to stick to their valuations and a deal falls off, because the fans who are supporting Tierney loan and ESR sale to Chelsea will support that too.
the most recent rumours are suggesting that BHA, Newcastle and Villa are interested in signing ESR on a year long loan, which begs the question, why not loan out Vieira and allowing the former to get some actual fucking minutes in our kit…of course, recency bias suggests that Vieira might have finally found his way, but one-half of one-half isn’t a GD sample size…I wonder what could possibly be the deciding factor when it comes to these two individuals lol
Another headline that made me chuckle comes straight from the whorse”s mouth, The Mirror:
“Arsenal chief Edu inserts shrewd clause in Folarin Balogun deal in transfer masterstroke”
damn, if I weren’t wearing these designer diapers, I just might have shit myself for real
Looks like Brentford is our 3rd round Cup opponents…thankfully Toney is still in the sin bin for his Xhaka-like antics or this could have been a much tougher affair…hopefully we’ve got our shoehorning tactics reigned in before facing a countering outfit like that
Away to Brentford in the next round….
Vieira
The only way is up for Runnarson.
KP-or in true Arsenal form, a little bit of up then a shitload of sideways
Morning all
I only mentioned Cucarella as he’s recently new to the Chavs and a decent player who could end up as our back up. I agree with all the don’t buy more from Chavs thinking.
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I agree and never wanted KT sold, but I was trying to fill a huge whole in our left sided defense and channel.
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Brighton away in the Carabaou cup. Should be an interesting one for our bench and youngsters, right?
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Great comments last night all making a lot of sense unlike what comes out of Arteta’s mouth.
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Have a good one LIR
Matt’s 9 season’s negative highlights thus far from LG. Any to add to the list after my 9?
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1. ESR frozen out
2. Gabriel frozen out
3. Partey at right back
4. £65M wasted on a player we didn’t need
5. Reluctance to play non-favourites = shit sales
6. Reluctance to play any young AFC homegrown talent
7. Unnecessary purchase of a new/back-up keeper…
8. Meaning we’ll need to buy another next season
9. Early suggestion of regression versus 22-23
10. Loaning KT to RS with no much needed defensive cover in place
11. Selling Bolagun when Kia is not a 9 or false nine, and Jesus will be injured again
12. Breaking Timber by not recognizing the extent of his injury
13. Acting up on the touchline collecting yellows setting poor examples
14. Possibly getting worse at in-game management if that were even possible
15. Full on galaxy brain selections thus far confusing the squad
16. BS pressers continue with little truth (10 x better…etc) continued delusion
17. No real cover for Saka who will get even rougher treatment from CBs
18. No natural RB only shoe-ins
Hi Tony
Only 18? Wow… Put in such stark terms, it really does suggest the little fella has had a less than optimal start to the season. I wonder when his annual staff appraisal is due? Sunday is going to be fascinating. If he takes a stubborn attitude and loses, he’s fucked. If he goes back to selecting a sensible team, and gets his in game management right (a stopped clock is right at least twice a day right?), he’ll also be exposed for not having done it earlier and actually listened.
I’ll tell you one thing. That rb Partey bullshit is very unlikely to work against big teams with rapid forwards and expert passing. Tick tock.
19. 20. and 21. Buying another Chelsea reject for £65 million and not having no idea where to play him. There’s 3 rolled into one.
22. Selling Balogun to pay for him.
23. Taking attacking players off against 10 Fulham and fucking up. Tactically clueless
24. Conceding after 1 minute AGAIN at home!
25. Being Arteta.
KP
I’m not holding my breath for A&E, as somehow he manages to pull the preverbal rabbit out of his topper or was it after taking out his stopper? I get confused with the shit that comes out of his mouth.
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Anyway, I hope you’re right because losing to the Mancs, at home should see Arteta at least losing one testicle and maybe catch up to Pumpkin the ball-less after the Spud’s at the Emirates.
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I feel Marc will need a LIR akin support group if he has to witness both losses. We’ll be busy being beside ourselves and baying for blood. What interests me most with this nightmarish, but plausible scenario, is how the Arsenal faithful are going to react in the Emirates? It’s one thing losing or drawing away; as various time served excuses can be mounted, but to be humiliated at home once will be really tough to take, but twice and someone should order Arteta a taxi to the airport or Mars would be his better option.
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I can’t wait for the game and I fear it will be an error strewn afternoon for both sides considering our very underwhelming starts and Man’c iffy current form. Problem is the Mac players will be playing for their inclusion in the starting 11, conversely our players are still studying their play books and not really sure about anything, but fearing Arteta’s wrath leaving ESR and looking for a new target to break emotionally.
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No idea how to call it until were see the starting 11. Not something we should be thinking after our A&E dept have been in charge going into their 5th year, sadly we are at least at one with our players in our undivided confusion.
Tony and Art
Very forensic. I think that’s what lawyers might call compelling and incontrovertible evidence, and an open and shut case. ⚖️No further questions your honour.
Mr Arteta. You are a serious scourge on Gooner society. You have committed foul and heinous crimes against professional football at The Arsenal where you have operated dishonestly and persistently as an Everton double agent. I hereby sentence you to going back in a time warp to 1985 and managing the Wombles of Wimbledon for 5 seasons where you will be expected to show as much favouritism to Vinnie Jones and Dennis Wise as you did to your latest accomplice Mr Xhaka. Take him away.
It was either that or obliging him to spend the rest of his career serving apprenticeships under Pulis, Allardyce and Mick McCarthy (sorry Almunia!).
It’s eerily quiet on the transfer front, which by the way officially shutters in some 36 hours…for a team with exceedingly high expectations, who’s been rather unimpressive out of the gates, you would think there would be a plethora of rumours swirling about…minus the odd tidbit about a couple underwhelming Timber replacements, most of whom appear to be more apt options if Gabs departed, and a trickling of pie in the sky Osimhen unsubstantiated claims, the speculative landscape is unusually bereft of possibilities…instead I’m reading headlines involving Eddie’s call-up, the CL draw, Earp rumours and PR-contrived Tierney stories, which have tried desperately to imply that he holds no ill-will towards MA, even though it appears that never even uttered the man’s name but simply stated that “I don’t have any problem with Arsenal”…I digress…so either we’ve gone into full-bore stealth mode or there’s nothing of any import in the works, besides a few outwardly moving pieces…tbf I’ve got mixed feelings about this scenario, on the one hand, I don’t want any 11th hour bargain basement reaches, whereas on the other hand, I worry that if we don’t do something substantive we could struggle mightily to duplicate or better last year’s results, yet somehow, someway our MIT would remain squarely in the catbird seat
PSV
Lens
Seville.
Have little or no faith with this current womble in charge , that we will qualify. He is a Europa Cup conference standard manager, after all.
PSV battered us ,last season and Seville were unlucky against Manchester City recently and have a lot of european experience.
Under the lights, with CL music booming , I expect more egotistical nonsense from Arteta pre and post match.
Seville
PSV
Lens
Pretty favourable draw if you ask me. The Tetty bullshitters will be out in force over the next few days warning anyone who’ll listen that they’ll be tough opposition. Bollocks,
Some pretty easy, non-tiring travel thrown in there too. Seville a 2.5 hour flight. ✈️ The other two do-able by train if we can coax Dennis Bergkamp out of retirement! 🚝
Barcodes on the other hand look fucked! What a shame.
Kronkephobe
Lisbon, Olympiakos looked easy.
PSV away looked easy.
Arteta will find a way of making it as hard as possible.
Of course he will blame the players, when it goes wrong.
Art
I know what you mean, but it couldn’t have been better really. We OUGHT to be taking at least 15 points from this group stage. With a manager that matches the quality of the players….
I agree that he’s going to be even further up himself (ouch!) for the CL games. I think non-English refs will be less likely to tolerate his touchline histrionics.