A lot has happened since I last wrote, only 4 days back. We have announced Calafiori, and he has joined the players in pre-season already. ESR has successfully completed medical at Fulham and joined their squad in Portugal for the pre-season. Sad to see him go, hopefully he shines there (except of course, against Arsenal).
The news of the morning is that Mikel is hell bent on getting Mikel Merino from Sociedad. There is already an agreement between the club and the player, and it’s only about Sociedad agreeing on the fees. It’s expected to be in the range of £26m – sounds good to me, we recovered almost same amount from ESR’s sale and we will be selling a few more deadwoods in coming days.
No, Merino is not an interesting case as some Twitter journos are trying to paint. He is from Spain, Arteta knows Spanish players. He is 28 year old, midfield always require experience. We can argue that Declan Rice is a better player than Thomas Partey, but we have seen what a fully fit Thomas does to the opposition. He is calm, he can counter press in even a single pivot, his passes are accurate, he has got vision and his between the line passing is out of the world. Think of it like this way, his recent form dropped due to injuries and age, and we went out in market, spent more than twice the amount we spent on him and Rice still has a season or two before he can match his expertise. Experience matters in the midfield.
Two interesting facts about Merino – he has played almost all games in last 3 seasons for Real Sociedad and he is involved in goals/assists (5 goals, 6 assists in 32 games last season). Does that sounds like a player we had and who plays for Bayer Leverkusen these days? Arteta is just bringing in another Xhaka. I hated Xhaka for a good 4 years but his last season with us was fantastic. I don’t mind this move, another reason being I have no faith in either Havertz or Vieira to cover that midfield along side Partey/Rice.
It’s almost a done deal.
By the way, did you read the news about Conor Gallagher? He is going to Atletico for a meagre 30m GBP. I am shocked no Premier League team’s are IN for him (Aston villa was, but the player rejected that move in June). 24 year old, scored 5 goals in 37 appearances for Chelsea last season, I would have not mind if we placed in a cheeky bid for a box to box midfielder, the type we needed after Xhaka left.
Right, that’s all for the day. There would some more movement and it’s only 16 days left since our first game of the season. I’m excited for the new season. Are you?
NORG
Veni vidi vici. SPQR. I saw that too. For Romans then, read English tourists these days. I’ve taken to going round with some paper and a sharpie calling people selfish cunts when they park in daft places. I’m convinced it’ll make a difference!
Hi Tony
I think I will try to get nearer to my 92 grounds (long way to go yet) by watching Cardiff.
Plymouth, Pompey, Blackburn, Oxford United are on this year’s list and now junior and his mates have smoothly graduated to motorway driving, now might be the time to take a back seat with a hip flask!
I’ll let you know how that cup game goes tomorrow – it’s the nearest thing to a derby in this neck of the woods although County are in the higher division.
Welsh teams got fucking embarrassed in Europe this week. The Welsh champions – who actually play in Ingerland boo! – lost 11 – nil on aggregate to Legia Warsaw. Imagine if that happened in N5.
Marvellous race the Romans.
“I’m sad that Emile is leaving us, but excited for him to take this new opportunity at this stage of his career, when he needs to be starting matches and playing regularly,” What a steamng pile of horse shit by a manager that has rarely, if ever, spoken a truthful word in a public setting…maybe if he gave the same opportunity to ESR that he’s gifted to other less worthy options, he might be a regular starter by now…it will be interesting to see how he handles the rigours of the PL next season, as it will speak volumes about what truly transpired here since the time in which he saved Arteta’s ass a few years back…like I said before, it gives me cause for pause knowing that Fulham have made him their highest ever transfer acquisition
if the newest rumours are to believed it appears as if BHA’s Joao Pedro has just entered MA’s top 100 list of favourite Strikers…I don’t have anything really negative to say about the player, albeit I wasn’t really impressed whenever I watched him play last season…he has decent height, above average pace and he fits our old age profile, that is before MA started to go bargain hunting a couple winters ago, but this move appears to be far more about frugality than finding the best available option…with him onboard it will still enable Havertz to fumble his way into a starting gig up top on most nights…he actually looks to be more of a Jesus replacement, as he likewise can be deployed out wide…what we really needed is someone of consequence to come in and quickly show why starting Havertz can no longer be justified/tolerated
just to add one thing, it’s difficult to argue with most things BHA do, when it comes to recrutiment, so that bodes well, but we’ve struggled at times when dealing with this club and the player in question was their highest ever transfer purchase just a season ago, so chances are things could quite easily go pear-shaped during the negotiation process or, even worse, we’ll get fleeced again
TRVL
Buying players from the PL carries a premium – players who can be classed as good value are few and far between unless they’re really left field.
Brighton will not sell him on the cheap – they’ll want £50 million plus.
Marc-I agree, that’s why I said what I said…I wouldn’t be surprised if they demanded even more, considering his age profile and the fact he potted 20 goals in all competitions…shit, they made us pay 50M, some 4 years ago, for their 3rd best defender…the only thing that could help our cause is if the player involved themselves in the process by requesting a move
“A contract was agreed with the club but Obi-Martin wanted to move on because he had doubts over his potential pathway into the first-team and the club’s project…He feels his career development is best served somewhere else”
This was Obi’s response to questions surrounding his supposed financially-motivated exodus…once again it appears as if our PR department has tried to influence the fanbase by intentionally “leaking” fabricated stories…from what I can gather, this particular practice/tactic was first deployed during Sanchez’s last season, when unsubstantiated stories involving his supposed negative locker room presence and diva-like demands not so coincidentally emerged…this was clearly an attempt to sully his relationship with the fanbase, thereby making it easier to move on from him
now I get why one might want to pursue this course, as the potential benefits can be too tantilizing for some…unfortunately when you intentionally fabricate stories so as to avoid/shift blame, the potential costs can be devastating…lies generally beget more lies and when this becomes systemic in nature, which I believe could be the case here in relatively shortorder, the organization could take a massive long-term hit…if this were to be exposed, it could both irreputably damage the relationship between the club and it’s fans and/or ferment massive divisions from within the fanbase itself, as we know all-too-well…not to mention, it will undoubtedly impact our ability to recruit the best and brightest
there’s a reason why our number one targets have said thanks but no fucking thanks, as the players know far better than the fans at large about what’s truly going on within each and every club…simply-put, you reap what you sow and it’s clear that players of higher quality, with ample options, neither trust his word nor see him as the kind of tactician or motivator that’s difficult to refuse…he’s more fiction than fact, at least thus far, and these sorts of cult of personality lightweights tend to have much shorter shelf lives…unfortunately we’re far more susceptible to these types, due to our Wenger-inspired Stockholm Syndrome, albeit commonsense might suggest that our past should make us an impossible nut to crack for a second time in such a short span of time
TRVL
An absolutely brilliant precise of our current situation with El B.
Marc
Seem to remember that being your leading line re Calafiori a short while ago.
KP
Hip flask love it. It’s good when your kids grow up you get to enjoy privileges.
I’ll help you with some music for the drives if you need…….
Marc
“Mikel Arteta has spent £240MILLION on 11 defenders since he took over as Arsenal boss, with £42m signing Riccardo Calafiori the latest… so how have the others fared at the Emirates?”
Forgot to add.
Worth a read because TRVL was spot on with his early Slott heads up from last year, I believe. He looks the real deal where the Bin Dippers love him already.
Klopp who? Seems to be the attitude as Slott continues to impress players and fans alike. Pool fans only in the now moment lol.
We have City and Pool to beat to win the PL with a horrible run in.
We need better incoming.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13696353/Arne-Slot-Harvey-Elliott-Arsenal-Liverpool-SIX-THINGS-LEARNED.html
Something else to think of when we are losing our best talent to rivals, is why isn’t Josh and Stan asking questions?
The lack of questioning makes me wonder if they really understand how things work in football at a professional club.
The club is being run by El B an average footballer at best. After 5 years what qualifies him to stay as our manager? 88522? Do we call capitulating 3 seasons in a row progress?
Probably the biggest question is would Manure, Pool and Chavs still keep their winless manager in similar circumstance?
I think not.
New post.