The transfer window is finally picking up some speed. We have made an enquiry for a Italian defender, gave green light to Lokonga’s departure and made our no. 1 goal keeper a permanent and we are going to get some free money.
Most exciting of them all is our pursuit of Riccardo Calafiori. Mikel has approved the transfer, the club has present their long term proposal to the player and he is open to join. But there are couple of complications! Bologna wants a hefty 43m GBP (50m euros). Riccardo is on the younger side (22years of age) and that’s a lot of money for a defender who will sit behind Gabriel and Saliba. He has played only one season of top flight football at Bologna, before which he was at Basel for couple of season. You get a very mature, proven defender for that amount. The other complication is that the player had, in the past, shown interest to join West Ham or Chelsea in the future, and the later is interested in the player as well. I mean, Chelsea are interested in every player being sold in the whole world, but they get what they want even after the Russian left. Mudryk is the case in point.
The positives about the players is that he is on the younger side. He joins a pack who has matured in last 2 seasons and he will learn and adapt like Gabriel and Saliba did. He had a very good season at Bologna, helping them qualify for Champions League after 60 years and was one of the best players in the league. He has played really well in the ongoing Euros and played all the games in group stages. Playing in the Italian team at the Euros level is a confirmation in itself that player is good enough.
Verdict? I think it’s only about the money. I feel we would be paying more for a CB defender who have Gabriel and Saliba ahead of him in pecking order; but, then we had shelled 50 odd millions for a CB earlier who plays at the right back, so yeah.
Sambi never looked promising enough to break into the team. He did get a few games to prove himself and even played couple of good games but that isn’t enough for a team that is fighting and going to fight for the title. He had to leave, Sevilla was interested for which the player gave a green light and the clubs are negotiating on the fees. If Sevilla has a bag full of 15m, take that and run.
This one isn’t particularly exciting, not anymore. Everyone knew David Raya’s loan move would be made permanent, and we have done that finally. We have activated the buy option and Brentford are going to receive 27m GBP.
The club hasn’t announced it yet officially but it’s a done deal. Raya has proved his worth, he kept the most clean sheets in the league even when it was the Ramsdale who played the initial few games for the club. This is just going to make life difficult for the Englishman.
Remember we sold Omari Hutchinson coule years back to Chelsea? Well, they are selling him to Ipswich Town for 22m and we had a sell-on clause in that deal. We would get about 4m from there.
Frankly, I have no idea how Chelsea can sell a player who played half a game for them in 2022-23 season and was on loan for the previous one. On the other hand, we will get half that money for Tavares and Lokonga if we are lucky.
Right, so 27m outgoing for 4m incoming as things stand. If we win the race for Riccardo, we would have to go on a sell spree because we still need to address the midfield and the striker situation. A RB back up as well.
Short one today, let me know in the comments what you think about these.
KP-I would imagine that ten Hag has quite a bit of leverage nowadays due to the manner in which they treated him at season’s end then, after an exhaustive search, decided to run it back…he finagled a substantial raise, plus some more input on personnel decisions, as United would have suffered a PR fucking nightmare of epic proportions if he had rebuffed their renewed interest
I read in the Mirror that ‘Arry Kane’ said he would swap everything he’s done in his career for a win tonight.
Then I asked myself what has the king Spud done/won? All I could think of, as I was I was choking on my morning coffee laughing, was a golden boot and runners up medals maybe.
Our England talisman has won nothing of note in his career playing for a loser club.
I thought that just about sums up Southgate and England football.
Let’s hope we can pull a miracle off tonight but too late for me at 2am ko.
I have only watched some of England’s first half against Xhaka united, but read Spain are the form team.
We have the players, as Arsenal does, it’s the managers that let us down repeatedly.
I hope Southgate gets it right this time……
Anyone have thoughts about the game? I think Spain wins 3:1.
Which probably means with my predictions always going south that England will win……..
Ambarish
Looks like I have to keep adding my details to post even when saved.
Ambarish
Sorry it seems to be ok now. When I looked at earlier comments the details would disappear. Now it looks ok, Thanks.
Tony
Let me put it this way – I’ll be watching more in hope than expectation tonight.
Saka bypassed spinning top Cucurela with a neat pass which Stones could not properly cross.
Saka showing spinning top Cucurela is just a cucumber to be sliced
Sorry Walker, not Stones
Tentative football both sides
looks like Southgate reached out to our little Spanish Skipper to pick his brain, tactically-speaking, which is why the football is so dire…even he realizes how much MA despises his own national side, after all they ghosted him for the entirety of his career
talk about a fortuitous situation for England, as no side is better without Rodri in it
it’s kind of funny that even the Spanish coach chose Zubimendi over our supposed first choice midfield option, Merino
Nico’s a far better option than the now 17 year old wunderkind on the other side of the pitch, at least for the foreseeable future…Shaw made that kid look rather pedestrian for the first 45
England down by a goal.
Notable it came after a slick one touch movement, likely rehearsed in the dressing room. Reason intelligent coaches are a better option than conservatives .
Almost there was another by similar movement.
Morata is a Havertz upgrade…let that sink in
Think it’s almost time for Kane to be subbed…can’t imagine Southgate has the onions to do that this earlier though
Time Kane and Mainoo came off
I think I would replace Mainoo with Palmer, then play him more centrally
looks like someone did grow a pair…maybe MA can take some inspiration from this 60th minute subbing by his managerial doppleganger
Jude Bellingham is class apart
I would make Simon play the ball as much as humanly possible then pressure the shit out of him…there’s mistakes to be had in his wonky boots
Goal by Palmer.
RVL should grumble louder so Southgate can react faster
if I was England I would make a concerted push for a second and not just play for extra time
Hoopah–if only another similarly negative manager would heed my in-match advice lol
with Rodri out of the mix they need to high press the shit out of Spain…if they sit back Spain will find a way through this less than defensively-sound side presently on the pitch
not sure your best bet is to invite pressure from a possession-based side…no time now for chickenshit behaviour
Goal looks offside
by a cunt hair either way…not sure why Pickford was sliding into a position wher no one even existed
where
please take note that they bring in Merino as a defensive sub…hardly the Xhaka replacement we should be looking for…he would only be there to allow Rice to wonder up the pitch…as we just saw, that’s not the best idea
btw what a crazy sequence of events
Watkins is an absolute misfit in the team.
Contributing zilch, but blaming everyone else
that’s when the big hair helps to seal the free kick deal
at least it didn’t go to penalties
I feel for Southgate’s balls, first they were oh so tiny, then they grew to an unheard of size, but when he needed them most they quickly returned back into their preferred state, tiny and tucked up inside his pelvic bone
Just watched the game, and have to say enjoyed it more than I thought for Spain’s football and seeing players I have only seen glimpses of, such as Williams and Lamal.
Great commentary Hoopah & TRVL I just read now.
I predicted Spain winning 3:1 where on reflection that would have been a fair result, as Spain were better all over the pitch, which the game stats back up.
Spain had 5 shots on target to England’s 3.
The bigger picture comes from Spain’s 10 corners to England’s 2 where Spain literally enjoyed 63% of possession. However, the most telling stat for me was that spain had 2 counter attacks scoring from 1.
England had NO counter attacks, which summed up Southgate’s EL B like stubborn and tired tactics that bore out a stalemate of a first half because Arry was captain shit head with lead in his boots.
Seems Arry’s lust for trowfies for England is going to end up like his fantastic Spuds career of sans a winner’s medal. Nasty player experiencing the right karma befitting his dark arts and oscar worthy diving antics.
You guys last night hit the nail on the head when you look at the similarities between the 2 managers. Kane is El B’s Auba or Willian, in as much, as they who must not be dropped, especially for a final.
This was our undoing because we were static up top because Kane is past his sell by date, being more pedestrian, and why he’s in Germany. Spain contained us pretty easily from the get go.
I am so glad I didn’t wait until 2am for the game, but enjoyed it this morning at 7:30am with coffee.
Had we started with Palmer & Watkins or just Watkins instead of Kane, the margins would have been tighter, and where we might have eked out a win.
What now for Southgate? The FA will like that we got to a final although somewhat fortuitously, and bang that drum of “oh so close”. Either way, Southgate will be lorded by the FA who know absolutely FA re appointing the right England manager, if you get my drift.
Will Josh and Daddy learn from the FA’s debacle of choosing managers?
England Gareth Southgate (2016-2024), 101 Matches
England Sam Allardyce (2016), 1 Match
England Roy Hodgson (2012-2016), 56 Matches
England Stuart Pearce (2012), 1 Match
Italy Fabio Capello (2008-2011), 42 Matches
England Steve McClaren (2006-2007), 18 Matches
Sweden Sven-Göran Eriksson (2001-2006), 67 Matches
England Peter Taylor (2000), 1 Match
England Kevin Keegan (1999-2000), 18 Matches
England Howard Wilkinson (1999-2000), 2 Matches
England Glenn Hoddle (1996-1998), 28 Matches
England Terry Venables (1994-1996), 24 Matches
England Graham Taylor (1990-1993), 38 Matches
England Bobby Robson (1982-1990), 95 Matches
England Ron Greenwood (1977-1982), 55 Matches
England Don Revie (1974-1977), 29 Matches
England Joe Mercer (1974), 7 Matches
England Alf Ramsey (1963-1974), 113 Matches
England Walter Winterbottom (1946-1962), 139 Matches
I mean look at Fat Sam and the ‘sheik of Araby’. What an appointment he was. Up and under football tactics from ‘Turnip head’ Graham Taylor and clueless ‘Wally with a Brolly’ MaClaren were wonderful appointments for the press to vent over.
Hoddle was supposedly all mystical bringing in dubious new wave thinking gurus/experts/psychics et al. We won nothing.
Woy was always going to be the nearly man.
Then there was Sven & Ulrika who Sven probably had a better scoring rate with than managing 67 games for us, and only winning 40.
I mean the FA have not managed to find the right manager since Alf Ramsey and 1966. See above; how many you would have chosen?
I would go for Klopp as next England manager. Shake things up with a proven winner.
Who would you guys pick?
For a trip down England managerial memory lane see the link below:
https://www.englandstats.com/man.php
If you want a laugh today, read the so-called ‘honours’ section on lisping Arry’s wiki entry.
As thin as the margin on that Trump miss.
Tony—-simply-put, Southgate, like MA, had a choice to make, either you lean into the skillsets of your best and brightest or you devise a plan that best protects what you deem to be your greatest weakness…it’s clear that Gareth did the latter, as there’s nothing about this particular side, or the previous incarnation for that matter, that would lead anyone with half a brain, a pair of regular old balls and even a modicum of tactical nous, to pursue a predominantly defensive course…no matter what they did the likelihood of them beating the best defensive/balanced sides at their own game was at best unlikely and frankly small-minded…so instead of putting his faith in the most talented players, he did what most guttless fucks do, they adopt a predominantly negative scheme…in my estimation, it’s the personification of a loser’s mentality, especially in a tourney that actually saw some smaller sides exceed expectations by leaning into those tactics that best-suited their top offensively-minded players
any idiot, given the requisite talent, can craft a defensive plan of some merit…now this won’t guarantee you jack squat, except that it likely won’t leave you on the embarassing end of a one-sided loss…this might be enough for some, especially for those who care infinitely more about their own personal journey than the greater good, but for anyone looking to reach the pinnacle, like the greatest managers of our age, they will rarely opt for this negative path…typically they will gear their tactics around their greatest offensive assets, then find those on the backside who can best support these individuals…in fact, in most modern day managerial success stories, the old adage that the best defence is a good offence has generally applied, which is why so many international sides are willing to throw exorbitant sums at Klopp
Hi Vieira
That was a sobering roll call of erstwhile ingerland managers. Only a few (including Howard Wilkinson) deserve any respect. The rest are a bunch of thickos, philanderers, bullshitters and crooks. Fat Sam, Hoddle, Graham T and Dutch Shhteeeve Mclaren. The FA is a fucking shitshow.
Wankers coming home – except HW, Robson, Ramsey, Greenwood, Mercer and WW.
Yma o hyd. 🏴
as to our club, the signings of Merino, Felix, Calfiori, Brobbey and/or Tsyhankov, won’t get it done…these are the who’s who of the bargain bin transfer market…none of whom would end up being a real bargain, as we would still pay well above the projected number, as per usual…now this doesn’t mean that I don’t rate a few of those above, like Calfiori, if used properly, or Brobbey, who’s still quite young and relatively untested, but for this club to ascend to the top of the European footballing charts we need to sign readymade seminal types…now if we were to sign Nico, Osimhen/Sesko and Simons/Kvaratskhelia, that would be a real statement of intent, both for the now and for the future…otherwise we’re just nibbling around the edges and wasting monies on players that will either never play, as we all know how MA conducts his rotational business, or prevent us from properly redressing our positional requirements in the future
“In past summers Arsenal have looked to pick up the transformative figures who can be tentpoles in Arteta’s starting XI…Instead, sources close to Arsenal expect a summer where the profile of new recruits is more akin to Jorginho and Trossard, two more experienced additions who arrived at a later stage of their career then sporting director Edu typically looks to recruit. Both have proven to be shrewd additions even if they arrived with little resale value. They offered Mikel Arteta experience and quality off the bench, according to CBS Sports sources it is a squad deeper in quality that is Arsenal’s immediate priority now”
I can only pray this isn’t the case, as those aforementioned recruits not only did next to nothing when it mattered most, they likewise both benched players with bigger up-sides, like Marts, and hampered our ability to secure truly seminal positional upgrades…so if this is the summer where we have to hear endlesssly about signing players like the supposed world-class sub Mikel Merino, so help us God…not to mention, what happened to all that chatter MA was spewing last year when he said we were two-deep at every position…fuck that shit, we need bona fide starters, especially considering MA’s propensity to rely more heavily on 10 or 11 players than anyone in Europe
“Gunners’ boss believes “Vieira’s best is yet to come” and sees him as an integral part of the team’s future”
just as one might expect MA can’t afford to sell another of his recruiting flops on the cheap, so he’s staying with the club…by this point he must be an absolute beast when it comes to picking slivers out of his ass…at one point I had hope that he might add a little different dimension, as he does have the ability to score from distance, but I’m just not sure he suits the PL
KP
I was thinking of you when I added the managers’ roll call. I was visualizing you cringing and then muttering various expletives, in different languages.
TRVL
Totally agree. I thought a 3 5 2 against Spain would have prevented many of Spain’s crosses, as well as making their press very congested in midfield. Palmer & Watkins up top would have given the Spaniards far more to worry about.
No English counter attacks said it all for me; we had no attacking plan playing to contain where you’d expect to get only 2 shots on target in 95 minutes. How many games last season ended up like that?
Cucurella deserves a seal. What an oscar overacting cnut he is. The new Spanish waiter Manuel would be proud to play.
You would have to think that, on evidence of the Euros and our last season, El B and Southgate are related some way or just share the lack or nous required to win a major trophy.
My question is how did they fool so many people to procure senior football management?
What did they win in their careers?
Answers on a postage stamp please.
The BBC is a nest of the biggest wankers in the UK (apart from the Tory Party, Farage’s bunch of crypto fascists, people connected with THFC to name but a few). They’re covering Southgate’s resignation as if he’d fucking died.
Funny how they don’t do that when the managers of the other UK teams leave their jobs. Pure shit.
Could Tetsy be tempted if the money was right? i. e. Twice what he’s getting from the Kronkycrooks.
Hi Vieira
I know nothing about Brobbey but whenever his name is mentioned these days, my mind inevitably turns to that awful cunt Noel Edmonds and that pink and yellow rubber sidekick of his.
https://youtu.be/Yg5jNjAE5Es?si=4-7DSstr7jer1eRL
Brobbey, Brobbey, Brobbey!
On other matters, I’m sure you’ll all be interested to know that Cardiff has signed our old friend, Callum Chambers. There’s a real AFC – CCFC nexus these days. Chris Willock (Joe’s bruh and another academy starlet of yesteryear), Mark McGuinness and, drumroll… Aaron Rambo.
“Arsenal are plotting a move for Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino, who played a crucial role in Spain’s triumph at Euro 2024”
quite a stretch for a guy who played a total of 177 minutes, which included a full 90 against Albania in a nothing game when the manager started a second string lineup and an appearance where he came on late then the match went into extra time…so if you really look at it he was selected to play a total of 57 meaningful minutes, even after Pedri went out of the tournament due to injury…now he did score against Germany in the quarters, but even a similarly unmarked Havertz might have potted that gimme goal…of course, good on him for getting it done, but I just can’t imagine having to rely on a spine that included Rice, Merino and Havertz, at least not from an offensive perspective…so unless we’re intending on returning to the sideways borefest of a few years back, we simply must add more creativity in the middle of the pitch and clinical finishing up top…I hate to continually slag this player, as he’s certainly not a scrub, but I just don’t see how his inclusion takes us to the next level, especially if our objective is to play expansive and attractive football
KP—I had totally forgotten about Mr. Blobby, so I went down a little rabbit hole to reaquaint myself…God I wish I hadn’t…hard to believe that pink fucker spawned 3 theme parks…from this point forward I won’t be able to hear Brobbey’s name without imagining that bloated waste of space…thanks for that lol
as for Cardiff City, are you pleased by these acquisitions? quite a memory lane pipeline, just not sure if that translates into a more successful campaign or not