Edu and Arteta took over from Emery and Co more than two and a half years back. We saw some fresh faces coming in, in the hope of winning Champions League in 3 years time – Willian, Cedric, Mari and Partey. That hope crashed like no one imagined. Willian was one of the worst performers of the season even after playing 37 games. Cedric turned out to be okay-ish, Mari was so poor he is on loan to I don’t remember which club and Partey is injured most of the time.
Not so surprisingly, ones who saved Arteta’s career were the hale-enders. ESR broke into the team because of injuries and got him out of that winter misery. Last season when we lost 3 easy games against bottom half teams, Laca’s sickness allowed Eddie some game time and some relief to Arteta and Co.
Soon AFC realised what was done initially was just replacing old dross with new ones. So, someone at the club took a notice of it, decided there won’t be crap signings anymore and we only are going to invest in players with potentials and in the right age-frame. I suspect it’s Edu because of the Brazilian collections we are doing.
We went ahead and brought White, Tomi, Ramsdale, Sambi, Tavares and Odegaard.
How did that turn out? Not that great. Someone, again, at the club realised buying young players doesn’t guarantee success. It should be ‘good’ young players. We are back in the market this transfer window for a Left Back and targeting Lisandro Martinez who has a much better profile and would be an upgrade to Tavares. We are trying to bring in Tielemans because Sambi didn’t turn out to be the next big thing and we already have invested in Vieira who plays the same role Odegaard does – after noticing Odegaard’s little contribution in games when it matters.
We realised, yet again, that hale enders are much better in producing output than veterans we have. Eddie signed a 5 years contract and is given one of the most important numbers of all time #14. I hope he continues it’s legacy and make us forget TH14 with EN14. After letting go Guendouzi, the hottest prospect in world football at some point, we realised our mistake and are now adamant to keep William Saliba.
We also realised the priority. Fixing midfield and CF positions is (and was) more important than buying CBs when we had better than average players in Holding and Gabriel (and Saliba if we had not sent him on loan again).
If you are a ‘glass half full’ person, you are most likely excited for another season noticing all these realisation at Arsenal Football Club. You are happy we are correcting our mistakes and trying to be more competitive.
I’M NOT. I am more than excited for another season of Arsenal, I’m a gooner till I die. What I fail to understand is how can a club this big in history and values, is allowing people to learn on their job, things which are pretty basics for anyone working in the industry!
I guess someone will realise ‘yet again’ that some targets should be set for a manager, failing which there should be consequences. Three years of millions spent and finishing 5th is not a process, making mistakes and correcting it is not a good thing if those mistakes ‘shouldn’t’ have been made in first place.
Short one today, monsoon has arrived in this part of the world. Hope everything is all right for you, thank you for making LiR a better place for Gooners.
Nice piece Ambarish
What seems to be either unseen or just ignored is it doesn’t matter who we buy whether it be proven quality or future diamonds they don’t really improve us. That’s not to say some of the players we’ve bought are bad it’s Arteta is a seriously bad coach. How good would Saka be if he’d been playing under a Klopp or Pep for the last 2 1/2 years?
Our transfer policy shows no plan beyond “oops we fucked up quick make a new plan” is Ben White really a £50 million defender? To my mind for that amount he should be a future VVD. We sell Martinez and then buy another keeper because Leno isn’t the right fit, we give Auba a huge new contract and THEN decide he’s not the type of forward we need and now we’re looking at Jesus who’s not the physical hold the ball up striker we were told Arteta’s game plan needed.
I always refuse to fully judge players until they’ve had a season or so at the club, of course there are exceptions but most players especially those coming from overseas take a while to settle. What is worrying me at the moment is the signing of Vieira I can’t judge his quality I haven’t seen him play but who’s going to miss out because of him? For the 3 positions off the striker we have Saka, ESR, Ode and Martinelli, I appreciate we need extra cover and I’m assuming Pepe will leave but spending £35 odd million to fill the squad out when we have other urgent needs seems daft. Of course I hope he’s a huge success but I worry for ESR who I really like or worst case scenario are we looking at losing someone – Klopp loves Martinelli and there’s a lot of talk about them losing forwards.
Anyway sorry for the long rant! It just all strikes me as someone who’s getting away with it for as long as he can.
Thanks Ambarish for a reasoned post. It is so good to get back with the intelligencia. Skimmed Le Elsewhere and now they have only Raptora left who talks sense. Rest are just chorus repeating the same thing.
SO IT APPEARS LONDON IS RED and the place to start the day. Thank you MB again.
Marc
“Oops we fucked “ has been the Eureka moment at Arsenal, with the only exception that moment is so disconcerting to the naked emperor that he will seek to contrive to buy another player in the position of the Hale Ender so he does not expose the emperor’s idiocity ever again.
One by one
ESR
Saliba
Eddie …you shall see.
Saka fortunately is too good to be discredited by Lo Charlatan who appears to be an Everton Trojan horse in AFC.
Hoopah
“Saka fortunately is too good to be discredited by Lo Charlatan”
That’s the worry how long before he decides he needs to leave to compete? If I were City he’d be on my list as a cracking replacement for Sterling.
There are rumours he’s demanding a buy out clause to extend his contract.
Marc
Thanks for pointing it out, I had forgotten the Martinez one. That guy wanted the #1 shirt after a great run of games which we denied. And then we replaced Leno and gave bought a new no 1 who may or may not be that good.
“Oops we fucked” – would have been a better title of this post lol
Ambarish
It wasn’t a criticism of Ramsdale who I think could be a good keeper it just shows a complete lack of joined up thinking.
Yep. We tried fixing problems which wasn’t there in first place. If Arteta knew Leno is not the answer, there wasn’t any reason no to allow Martinez as no 1.
See everyone here is spot on in a few other areas besides the Echo Douche bags on Le Crock and the imbecile P.R.A.T.S. in the People Responsible for Arsenal’s Transfer Strategy namely what worries are lying ahead for our young stars. The should be concern that other clubs will snatch them unless they feel their skills are enhanced under current leadership so that they will be considered for their country’s squad in major competitions.
I will wait with my assessment of the TW until it closes but just to say the one area we had plenty of coverage was in attacking midfield, so that purchase doesn’t make sense to me and you have to ask yourself is this another great risk to spent 40m Euros on a player that couldn’t break into the starting 11 in the Porterhouse league.
porterhouse / Portuguese
effing auto correct
@Hoopah
Actually there are quite a few on Le Crocked that are still flying the flag of Douche Edu and MIT Tets that get quite often attacked with abusive postings.
just to name a few:
Azed
Andy1886
Dissenter
DUIFG
Jonko
Marko
Siddeeq
Tom
TR7
There are many more but I am not sure if they are binned or just left because of the stench.
Morning lads,hope all well. Nothing to do with football but if you ever feel the need to smile you should have a listen to this
https://youtu.be/DKbQFMOEFTs
Have to say I am totally confused by the pricing of transfers. Gravenberch,one of the most highly rated young midfielders in the world moves to bayern for 18.5 mill,Bissouma to spurs for 25 Mill,Mane 35,Chelsea’s opening bid for Sterling, 21.5. Then as soon as we bid it’s a joke,50 for white,30 for Ramsdale,city want 50 for Jesus. We paid the same for lokonga as bayern paid for Gravenberch. 50 mil for Lacazette for Christ’s sake. Are we bad at this or being ripped off?
Counting chickens before they are hatched
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/man-utd-ready-gazump-arsenal-27279825
So unfortunate since would have been only signing of significance. Man is so versatile….and Pep , thinks wants Tierney who he would get to lay his crosses lower and more intelligently. That’s why we needed Lassandro Martinez
AlumiasnoMore
Regarding Arsenal profligate transfers, agent of Vieira George Mendes reportedly got 3.4 million out of the deal, 10%.
Guess Arteta obduracy as well as his dominating position at AFC is well known, so when Don Quixote puts his foot down the prices jack up.
Hoopah,
The appeal,or lack of, that Arsenal now has for players was a major factor in my thinking also. Project Deadwood and non negotiables cannot make us an appealing destination. Players talk to each other. The irony of describing the club as having a project youth while treating so many young players appallingly seems lost on many Arsenal fans embracing our current management. To get players we must overpay both in fees and wages. Might not be the only factor but it is most definitely a problem.
… And London is supposed to be one of the top social/lifestyle destinations for footballers. One of the many reasons I left! Too much store set by money and the consumption and prioritisation of bling.
Imagine who we’d currently attract if we were based in Burnley…I went to Turf Moor a few years ago and dark and satanic would be understated adjectives to describe it. Good beer though.
The cynic in me used to think a player would go anywhere if the cash was right, but I’m starting to wonder if footballing philosophies and the general image and reputation of clubs and their management now matter a little. If true, we’re well and truly fucked til Tets’s rule of terror is over.
Quiz question – imagine you’re a young pro who is so shit hot all clubs want you. The money on offer is the same in each team. Where do you go in each of the 5 major leagues? You cannot choose AFC for the PL – sorry, I’m a tough quizmaster!
Here are mine.
-Borussia Dortmund. Good philosophy. Not risk averse. Great fans and proper stadium. Some chance of success. Gegenpress (which must be fucking knackering) a distant memory.
– Roma. The eternal city. Passionate supporters. Good pizzas and potential for Bunga-Bunga.
– OM. I bet Guendouzi’s a monster drinker and handy to have around on a pub crawl if there’s verbal bullshit. Nice kit. Full-on fans. ABP (anywhere but Paris) where I lived for 3 years and hated it.
– Villareal. Got a better manager than Arsenal’s right? Lots of European travel and I speak Spanish so would get along with the boss. Buenas noches! 🇪🇸
I’m going to be accused of a lack of ambition here, but Nottingham Forest. Properly historical club, old skool ground and good fans. As a kid, I was once watched by a Forest scout. I saw him getting back in his Ford Cortina 2 minutes into the game but that’s by the by… It must be as thrilling as winning the league to play a full season for a newcomer and help them to flourish and stay up.
Let’s hear your views lads.
Rohit – No time like the present to make your LiR debut! Take the plunge man.
1.Athletico Madrid, beautiful city,get to play for Simeone cos it should always be about winning, get to take down the two biggest monstrosities in pro football( real and barca).
2.Celtic. Passion.Passion.Passion.
3.Fiorentina. Florence,Tuscany,breathtaking, purple shirts, good enough for Batistuta, good enough for me.
4.Newcastle. Trusting that I would be the final part of a title winning jigsaw! Atmosphere, genuine footballing hotbed, got to be pockets of the city that my wealth could secure a nice lifestyle in…..
5. Espanol. Beautiful city, wonderful fans, a club forever in the shadow of its neighbour,but that can change……
Good calls there Almunia. We must have differing views on the top 5 leagues but that’s fair enough. If it was Scotland, my first choice would be the Hibees, but it’d definitely be the bhoys if I was restricted to Glasgow.
And if you do come out of retirement for that mega move to Espanyol in a few years time (!), you and the Almunia family would be welcome to stay with me and Ms K til you get settled in. Christ, I’ll even come and pick you up from the airport with a few beers if you promise some autographed photos!
I’ve got this image of you now rising like a salmon at the back post at the gallowgate end scoring your fifth goal, a power header, past Ramsdale and, finally, consigning Arteta and Steve fucking Round to new careers in the Isthmian league. You’d be a Gooner hero!
Ever read Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse? Or seen the film starring Tom Courtenay? Very funny.
Yeah,I swapped in Scotland for Germany. No point playing for anyone bar bayern and I don’t like them. That said I love the lifestyle in Germany.
Billy Liar has passed me by,will do some research. Billy the fish I do ,however,remember. A cultural icon back in the day…..
Scoring wasn’t my thing,goalkeeper all throughout my playing days, have the wrecked back to prove it!
Your Spanish move edging closer? I know a lad you could give a lift home…..