Things have been going pretty well for us this transfer window. We have managed to sign Declan Rice, a right profile 24-year old with loads of experience and hungry to achieve more. I don’t know if Rice would be able to fix the problem Thomas had last season, but we have tried to address it. We have got Timber, which allows us the flexibility to use White as CB if and when needed. Last season, we ran out of ideas and bodies when both Tomiyasu and Saliba were out, injured. We had to play Holding because White couldn’t be shifted to CB, and Kiwior is still raw to adapt to the style of play Arsenal does. We have also addressed Xhaka’s immobility with Kai Havertz. Despite his Chelsea’s performances, I am hopeful on this. Kai will prove to be a much better player for us, and will certainly have more runs in him than Xhaka.
We have stop gaps in other places, Tierney is a very decent defender if Zinchenko get injured (again), Nelson/Jesus can cover for Saka at RW, Trossard provides a cover for Martinelli and can play up top too. We have ESR in the mix this season, who can cover for Odegaard. We have a solid, young team who just finished 2nd and is going to fight till death to improve it. They are going to play at the grandest of the stages in Champions League and I’m sure players who fought to get the #10 and #7 shirts at Arsenal would want to prove they deserved it.
So, what is this reality check?
First, we are playing in one of the toughest leagues in the world. Second, last season was a transitional/poor season for most of the top 6 and they are aggressively fixing their problems. Third, it’s not a one-game-a-week for us and Mikel is not very good at rotation I’m afraid. Lets get into the details.
First point is evident. It doesn’t matter if you are Manchester City, Liverpool or Arsenals of the world, you are not guaranteed to win against the likes of Brentford, Brighton or Wolves. Even a newly promoted side like Forests can restrict City to share points. We didn’t make it last season not because we lost to Man City or Liverpool, but because Everton beat us, Brentford restricted us to a draw at home and we couldn’t get past the Southampton defence twice. There’s no guarantee in March 2024 that a team which sits on top can easily beat a team fighting for relegation. This is what makes Premier League exciting and is something you can’t do much about, than to concentrate on your game and improve as much.
Second point is concerning.
- Liverpool – Last season Liverpool fell of the cliff after Mane left. They had a very old and tired midfield too. They have let go Firmino, Milner, Keita and Chamberlain while strengthening their midfield by getting deals done for Szoboszlai and Mac Allister. Again, the same philosophy as ours, bring in young legs but experienced. I’m sure Klopp would be serious to get back into the mix after having missed the Champions League spot.
- Man City – Well, Man City have only brought in Kovacic as of now and half of their title winning team is off to Saudi. That’s a good news till you check that Pep is still there and he can build a team from scratch whenever he wants. All the money that is coming in, he will use it to fix what’s getting broken. They have unlimited money and one of the best managers in the world.
- Chelsea – The best transfer for Chelsea has been their manager. They have brought in Pochetino, who is great in building a solid team playing a definitive football. All the talents in the world and they were poor because there wasn’t anyone to manage them. Now, they have one and they have let go of the players that weren’t performing in their system. Mason Mount, Havertz Pulisic, Koulibaly, Kovacic, Mendy are all gone and it’s the last transfer window that will help them. The likes of Mudryk from last season are going to improve, and there recruitment is still going on. I personally think they will be the ones to watch out for, and are going to make life tough for everyone around.
- Man United – Well, Ten Hag is doing what Arteta has done at Arsenal. He is another non-emotional manager, has let go of De Gea and replaced him with Onana. Maguire has already been stripped of captaincy and he has brought in Mason Mount from Chelsea to strengthen his midfield. United are in Champions League, they have added motivation to invest and ETH is a very capable manager in building a team which can fight. They are going to be a pain in the arse, as always for us Arsenal.
- Newcastle United – They are the new addition in top 6. David Howe has gotten them the Champions League spot, after bringing the likes of Guimaraes. They are yet again in the market trying to improve on their 4th place finish, and has already brought in Sandro Tonali from AC Milan. Another oil money club to fight against, with virtually unlimited money and a manager who has done pretty well after taking over a relegation fighting Newcastle a year and half back.
- Tottenham – Well, they are going to be sh*t always, so nothing to worry about them.
It’s not going to be easier this season, that’s for sure.
Coming to the last point – we are all aware of Arteta’s stubbornness in playing a fixed starting XI, with last 10 minutes subs. It has it’s Pros and Cons. When these players play together regularly, they develop a chemistry and understanding about each other’s game. Also, a winning team is very high in confidence and any changes to it likely causes a small disruption. However, not all players are built like Saka or White, and playing them week-in, week-out can cause them fatigue and injuries. We have seen Partey broken, we have seen Saka not playing to his best, and we have also seen what happens when a player not rotated enough comes back in the fold when one of such cases happens (with Holding).
I’m in the favor of sticking to a playing XI but not that rigidly. It’s as simple as subbing out Saka a little bit earlier if we are 2-0 up against Forest. Showing a little bit of confidence for the bench players against the bottom half teams can keep these players fresh for the important games.
This season is going to test Arteta on his rotational skill. We are going to play twice a week and it’s not like no one would care this time. He will have to manage players in a way that they do not get injured, do not get stale, do not feel dejected; all while keeping them motivated for every minute they play.
As I said the last time, it’s going to be a tough season for the Manager, having to manage the team in two important competitions while improving on the last season’s performance; players after staying on top of the table for around 30 weeks and not winning; fans because we have seen improvement and the frustration and anger has changed to hope.
Right, see you in the comments.
It’s infuriating Marc. Call a spade, spade and no one gives a f.
There is nothing wrong in treating money as your biggest motivation.
Tony-it appears as if some on here only read what they want to read and as such it emboldens them to once again lean into their cut and paste narrative which suggests that anyone who doesn’t kiss the fucking ring can’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of their respective faces…if some people had read what I had actually wrote they would know that I acknowledged the obvious positives but, in doing so, I didn’t have to whore myself out by buying into a load of contrived bullshit hook, line and sinker…say hey to Bob for me…Cheers
TVRL .hahahahaha
Bob-thought you might enjoy that…I even made sure to include a run-on sentence, without the requisite punctuation, in the hopes of triggering you even more…have a good one?
Knew you had a sense of humour under that disguise of pomposity.
ditto, I guess…although the jury’s still out on the sense of humour front
to no one’s surprise, I’m going to be incredibly disappointed if Caicedo ends up at Chelsea…looks like Poch is going to run with a smaller squad in the hopes of reinventing their organizational wheel in just 1 season, which could be feasible considering their lack of European football…of course, whenever someone shortens their bench and has some success doing so, every Artetite will mistakenly claim that our manager showed them the way…much like the AKBers, Artetites tend not to watch a wide array of matches that don’t involve Arsenal, so they tend to lack the requisite amount of context/nuance required to properly evaluate such matters…obviously I don’t want Chelsea to succeed, but if they do acquire Caicedo, they will have a whole host of players who I had hoped would land here, which always sucks shit, especially knowing that it wasn’t like in the past when such players would have been well outside our financial comfort zone
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jul/22/arsenal-will-not-sell-partey-despite-rices-arrival-insists-arteta
Good news if true. It’s on record at least.
Hi Bob
Thanks for that piece about Clapton. I’m fascinated by political/religious/cultural links with clubs. It makes it much easier to follow a football team if you’re aligned with their values. That’s why Marc loves Arsenal! 😊
I think I always realised Arsenal was a proper blue-rinse Thatcherite club when I started thinking about Denis and then Peter H-W and the board. Sir Chips, Lady Nina B-S (Bracewell Smith, not bullshit although the cap fits), and then some of the more money – grubbing nouveau riche characters like the Kroenkes, Usmanov all the way down to corporate Tory arselickers like Vinai (a useless technocrat). And I just feel it in my water that despite his basque/catalan legacy, Arteta would vote VOX. I was hooked by the time Arsenal revealed themselves as being run by stuffy, solipsistic moneyed Tories of course.
Right wing nastiness also manifests itself on LG. Cunts like politically dense Pedro, Racist Un (yuck! – a fucking stain who Pedro enables) sad, thick AFCF and the execrable book phobic (nouveau) Rich.
County don’t share Clapton’s credentials but some clubs in the main leagues are certainly more socialist inclined than others e.g. Liverpool, Leeds, Celtic and Cardiff and some others abroad e.g. St Pauli, Marseille, Rayo Vallecano and Atalanta.
Look out for County’s result in the Faroes next Thursday. Yes, I’ve looked into flights but it won’t happen… It’ll end in tears but I’m enjoying the ride at the moment, not least because it’s a welcome distraction from the TW.
I hope you all enjoy the women’s WC. The England team seem like really good eggs. No Harry Kane, Pickford, Kyle Walker equivalents!
Kroenke, will look out for County result. All supporters to varying degrees, get that sense of belonging. Recommend this supporter’s story.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/what-our-stateside-tour-means-us-supporters
Nice one Bob, thanks for sharing that because I seldom, if ever, frequent the dot.com. I should look there more often.
Placide’s story about listening to reports on radio and relying on scraps from newspapers sounds familiar. Ambarish – Placide sounds like exactly the type of fan we should try to get on here.
Kroenke
Pedro is no where near a traditional Tory – he’s the type who would’ve gone full scale Bliar.
It should also be noted that PHW’s go to newspaper (I use the term loosely) was the Mirror or Star (can’t remember which).
Unless I’ve missed it – I’m actually enjoying having a summer off from fanatically following transfer rumours and gossip – we don’t seem to be moving any bodies out. If players like Partey and Tierney are leaving I’d like to see it got done so squad replacements (not expecting multimillion players to come in to replace them) can be brought in and settle.
Next seasons going to be a dogfight and we can’t decide to start the season in mid September.
Hi Marc
It’s a confusing world. You probably regard him as a dangerous Trotskyite, but ‘TBliar’ (I like what you did there…) WAS and IS a Tory. In 1997, every Tory should have been delighted that he was there to continue the project of choking workers and fellating big business leaders. That illegal needless war in Iraq came from wanting to please his political stablemates in the republican party and desperately trying to satisfy his small dick energy by being a footnote in British Military History. Starmer genuinely was left at one point (a Pabloite no less) but by the time I knew him he was a Blair devotee and we had discussions like this about New Labour.
We’ve discussed PHW and his taste in newspapers. It’s amusing to think if him wiping his arse on Robert Maxwell’s ‘output’ but the old bastard would not have time for the Mirror after getting through the DT, Times and the FT every morning. I sometimes read the RW press just to remind myself why I’m a revolutionary socialist at heart. Maybe Old Peter Hates-Workers did it for the opposite reasons?
See that article I posted above (from that Marxist Leninist arse-rag, aka the Guardian. It suggests TP is staying. Tea-bagtastic.
Kroenke
I regard Bliar as the closet thing to the anti Christ we’ll ever see.
KP-regardless of all the chatter from yesterday, Partey’s pending stay has far more to do with him not wanting to go to the Saudi League than MA viewing him as a vital asset…even at the best of times, Juve aren’t in the business of paying top dollar for players, so expecting anything different, esepcially when it comes to someone with his particular age profile, is an unrealistic ask…of course, this is likely MA’s not-so-slick way of driving Partey’s value up to a more reasonable level by attempting to flip the “on the outs” script that’s been bandied about since before the window officially opened…amateur hour parlour trick
as you know, I’ve always been a proponent of keeping Partey for another season, especially if we employed some serious load management and shipped Jorginho…just don’t see how this can work with all 3, as Rice will always be first on the sheet and MA’s high-press, single pivot tactics requires a more advanced 8…now I guess it might make sense against the big boys to deploy a Rice/Partey combo pack or at times we could deploy Rice in the 8 and Partey as the sole DM, but the former is only required in a handful of matches and, as to the latter, MA is certainly not known for his tactical wizardry…furthermore, the very fact that Jorginho appeared to have a plausible out, with Lazio, yet declined, makes me feel like he was told that Partey was on the outs and he was the clear number 2 behind Rice…Cheers
Just to make clear when I talk about Partey leaving that’s not because I want to sell him its what I think is going to happen.
Marc
Here’s my first eleven of British political antichrists. For the sake of balance, I’ve included some absolute bastards that have represented the three main Ingerlish parties. It wasn’t difficult.
Peter greed-Is-good Mandelson
Nick shagging-bastard Clegg
Anne huge-bristols Widdecombe
Neil sellout Kinnock
Paddy hanging-out-the-back Ashdown
Bojo (of course. The Granit Xhaka of the team)
Liz lettuce Truss
Tony middle east peace
envoy Blair
Thatch (another ever present – the Saka of the team)
Cecil the impregnator Parkinson
Norman Adolf Tebbitt
I’d even want Spurs to beat that corrupt shower of shite.
Vieira
I should tell Partey about my qualification in Saudi law generally, and the specific codes on corporal punishment. In brief, teabagging is not illegal.
I get your twist on the Tet statement. Like you, I trust him about as far as I could throw him. But even someone as duplicitous as him would not renege on the statement about not selling him in this window. If I’m proven wrong, I’ll change my name to Kroenkephile!
2:30 in the night here, but football love is bigger. Declan starts, Timber is at RB and Eddie in place of Jesus…
Bruno is such a cu*t.
Ambarish
That’s unfair to cunts.
They don’t deserve to be lumped in with that complete and utter vile piece of filth.
As much as I hate Utd. Nothing seems to have changed. ETH has Bumteta figured out and it looks like the squad hasn’t prepared for this game at all. It is going to be a fun or frustrating season, guess which way I am leaning. If this is the way Havertz will play we will have a new manager sooner than later.
KP-just like when he pretended that Xhaka was never going anywhere when our wantaway former captain was openly flirting with Jose during the Euros…in both cases, the stumbling block was primarily financial in nature, which could be remedied if someone were to offer up a sizeable fee…in fact, if it wasn’t for Jorginho’s piss-poor performance today I might have suggested that you contemplate a bit of a namesake change rethink, but our “what have you done for me lately” manager might have already reached out to Lazio regarding our diminutive DM
now I generally don’t get too carried away when it comes to preseason fixtures, especially when you’re playing some team that you have little to no real connection with and you’re starting a handful or so of periphery pieces, but you should never get blanked by United when you’ve got 8+ regular starters are on the pitch at kick-off
it’s one thing to have the tactics right but the players simply fail to execute, as that’s a correctable set of circumstances, but when the tactics are lacking and you have to rely too often on the players to carve out results, in spite of the manager’s obvious deficiencies, you’re bound to struggle when it matters most…now that’s chequebook managing 101…not the version that some claim Pep to be, as he’s got more tactical nous in his pinkie than MA has in his entire body…I’m talking about when a manager prefers to solve his tactical issues in the boardroom instead of on the training grounds
just to clarify, I’m not suggesting whatsoever that we shouldn’t have been a highly active participant in the window, but if the tactics remain the same, especially against the ‘better’ managers, we needed to target the kind of players who can create their own chances when the manager’s plan and a half tactical limitations aren’t enough to get the job done
now maybe just maybe Havertz will find his way back to his Bayer form and maybe Rice will either unleash his yet to be seen offensive self or be so dominate in the middle of the park that it will allow us to commit more players in and around the box, but these are some serious coin toss propositions in light of the astronomical price paid…so much like our manager I guess I’ll just cross my fingers and hope for the best
Didn’t see the match but losing a friendly to “Someone Else Utd” is part of pre season losing to a team you’re going to be competing directly with is really not a good thing.
Of course the excuses will be made even though with the money spent this summer and the fact it will be Arteta’s 4th season in charge (that’s when Klopp won the PL) there were going to be no more excuses.
Ambarish – you should run a competition on here. Who can come up with the most pathetic excuse that then actually gets used by a fanboy.
TRVL
Good managers with tactical know how can take the players they have and make a team that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
Arteta takes a squad that he’s spent £600,000,000 plus having Saka, Martinelli, Gabriel, Tierney etc and makes it look like a lower table team having a half decent season.
Been busy working; a novel concept for me, but there you are, it happens to the best of us. I’m goggle eyed and brain dead as I’m not used to 10 hours online. I knew we were playing Manure but no chance to see the game and only just found out the score here with it now 18:10. Wish I hadn’t looked now.
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All I’ve read so far is that a MUFC reporter called Havertz rubbish. I’ll read more later when my eyes are focussing better.
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Ah well it’s only pre season and Barca and Monaco up next, shouldn’t be a problem, should it?
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If it’s any con solution City is not having it all their own way in Japan.
TRVL
A superb analysis.. including Bumteta moniker
Cheers Hoopah…some Artetites will be quick to scoff at my supposed broken record-like assessments, whereas I would insist that I’m simply reacting to the broken record tactics of our manager-in-training…as far as I’m concerned there’s no chicken and the egg debate to be had here
How’s it going lads? Was off on holidays with the family,stayed in Ireland,good craic though. Might have over indulged with d aul pints but to be honest I’m past caring really, once I’m able to fully function the next day I don’t mind(although that isn’t always d case). That’s what switching off means,right?
Brutal way for the 4th test to end. Feel really sorry for England. If they win the fifth they won’t regain d ashes but it will be a moral victory of sorts(I’ve experienced many of them,being irish,they’re a bit overrated!). Still,I’m very grateful for the cricket this summer,kept me sane.
The golf was disappointing, thought the weather would provide entertainment but it didn’t. No offence to Harmon,he deserved his win,but the whole tournament lacked that bit of spark.
Transfer window is passing by like a Friday afternoon detention. Wish the season would start soon. I didn’t bother with that friendly last night. Problem with arsenal friendlies is you have to wait until after the result to find out if the game was meaningful or not….win and it is another step on our road to world domination, lose and it was all just a marketing gimmick. Personally I never heeded pre season results, but I can understand the hunger to see what Arteta has planned with the new players.
I see Haverfordwest did the business. Hopefully they can squeeze a run out of it and generate some cash,though you have to get to d group stages for that to happen. I’d be going to the away leg if I were you KP,sounds like it would be great fun.
Did anyone see the glentoran game that went to pens? The keeper thought he had pulled off d winning save…..hilarious. I’ll find it and post it in a minute.
Mbappe v PSG is a fascinating one. Two sets of pricks. No sympathy for either. I will say this though. In general players have too much power now(and far too much money at the elite level). They get too rich too quickly and feel the game owes them,not the other way around. Although it would never happen,I’d love to see PSG send him to the reserves for the whole season(and on the bench at that) if he refuses to extend or be sold. They are one club who could afford to put manners on him,although like shite parents, they were also the ones who created d monster. Like I said,no time for either really.
When you see the hurlers playing the All Ireland final today,total amateurs with the fitness and dedication of professionals it reminds us of how rotten football has become really. I know,I’m heading into the “it wasn’t like this in our day” speech,I’ll shut up. But when Liam Brady says he has fallen out of love with the game,it resonates with me. People should listen to him but of course they won’t. It’s a business, end of.
Well,I hope all you lads are well and topping up on your tans. Like running a marathon,the last few miles are the worst so hold on to your sanity for the next couple of weeks…….nearly there!
Penalty I was telling you about. Watch the keeper celebrating,then look at the ball….some funny.
https://youtu.be/LKU_siorq04
Hi Almunia
Glad you all enjoyed the holiday. I’ve seen a few of those rebounding/spinning penalty kicks in recent years. That one is the most agonising! Usually they go in after crashing off the bar and spinning insanely but I feel sorry for the keeper in that case because his original save was terrific. I guess you’ve taken part in a few penalty shoot outs in your time. It’s like I say to the kids, when a shoot out is looming – the team with the best GK usually wins. Seaman against Sampdoria or that Euro 96 game against Spain. The Haverfordwest GK is brilliant at them – they’ve won their last three thanks to his derring do (whatever that means).
Your point about friendlies is spot on. Some of the characters on LG blow any way the wind takes them on the results. Like Marc said, it’s not nothing to lose to a major rival in a pre-season game. And this year’s community shield will be significant, whatever happens.
The Faroe Islands… Look delightful and blissfully isolated but I fear not. Still I reckon I’ll get a County season ticket this year to intersperse my away trips with Cardiff.
The cricket endly sadly I agree. Bairstow finally came good I style but in vain too. Paradoxically, it was the only test so far where one team was dominant. Who’d have thought in any major sport that an English team would be the ones to watch for entertainment value. That won’t be the case when the rugby WC kicks off.
The England women’s team were shite by comparison in the WC but I think they’ll get better. I’m hoping the same for Ireland because McCabe in one of my favourite Arsenal players.
Is there a link somewhere to what Brady said? I’d love to know the context but I can imagine it’s all wrapped up in money, tossers like Mbappe, Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandez and meaningless superleagues in Saudi and Europe. Every season it seems to get worse – County’s recent fortunes have thankfully bucked the trend for now at least in my mind.
Great clip Almunia.
I should say that Liam Brady was my boyhood hero but when a friend of mine, who was in charge of setting up the Arsenal Museum, approached Brady for an item to feature, he was the only ex player who was unwilling to donate anything. I’m not saying categorically that he’s a miserable git as he could have already given all his memorabilia away but that wasn’t the impression my friend got!
That said, I understand why someone might be disillusioned by the state of football.
Agree about the cricket, let’s blame it on Manchester.
And the golf… needs to be closer to be a classic, like last week’s tennis.
There’s always a spin around friendlies, take the positives out of a win and if you lose ‘it’s only a fitness/training exercise’. I have not watched ‘the highlights’ but I understand United went in hard, closed down for 45 mins and then changed 10 players at half time. We gave some players 70 mins.
That said it has checked my raging optimism just a little, in spite of attempting to spin and rationalise away!
Bairstow great player to watch when in full flow, always look like he’s got the best bat around in the way he times it. Chippy Yorkie mind!
Good to see you here Almunia. You know I was saying to Mrs T we haven’t been on holiday for 5 years, which generally is 4/5 nights somewhere. In 20 years we’ve never had a 2-week holiday because of building our company. Obviously, it’s paid off handsomely, so can’t complain. We were looking for a place to retire and I looked at southern Ireland and was only put off by the weather.
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Great penalty Almunia, one to savor.
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I have no idea as to how the season is going to go. Already Pedro is writing off the title to set the excuse of taking time too gell. Next season, it will be another asinine excuse and wash, rinse repeat. Pedro and his many monikers.
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The Manure game was 2 out of 3 now for a poor showing from Havertz; basically, similar to his Chav’s performances. Since buying Trossard we said the #8 should be Trossard, and what does Arteta do? Spend £65+m on a ST/9 to shoehorn into an 8. Mikel never fails to put square pegs in round holes. It’s a wonder he ever had children.
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Sorry, Bob, that was uncalled for even if true. 🙂
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Where was I Almunia? Ah yes, Arteta. I’m reading this morning that he feels Rice might take time to settle into our way of playing. Now Partey fitted in straight away coming from Spain, but Rice out elite purchase is going to take time. I’d have rather bought Caicedo, but there you go. I see the left as our continued weakness. All talk of pivots single or double are mute until Rice can learn the Arteta way.
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What does this tell us fans? Not much really and that Arteta is as confusing as he has always been; always back tracking wishing he hadn’t said the things he’d said before. Last one was a pearler: “Havertz can play 5 roles” when he wanted to buy, and I don’t know what Havertz’s best role is yet, but it could be a striker because of his height and pace?
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A smart bullshitter at least. Sorry, Bob blaspheming again. 🙂 Mikel said 5 roles and we all said no thanks, he’s a poor striker at best. Now Mikel thinks Havertz is possibly a ST.
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Meanwhile looking at our back four we have the bodies although Zinchenco can’t defend, so lucky KT is still here. Kiwior is still acclimatizing, but has potential and as I mentioned above I see too many goals coming down our left and forcing the at times hapless Gabby M into rash mistakes.
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The current optics look bleak, but we can only get better and need to find our form characterized by the first 70% of last season’s performances and better as we have better players.
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I have no idea, Almunia how this season is going to play out. I don’t have the confidence in Mikel others have. However, I’ll give him 10 to 15 games and see where we are, but I’ll post his good and bad moves equally in real time – game by game.
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Seems to be the fairest way. Be well and the family Almunia. Enjoy the beers and don’t feel guilty. If you do, it’s why it’s called a guilty pleasure. 🙂
Bob
Tough being a Gooner because every time we think we’ve got most of it right we put out a performance like the Manure one. Rice looking so out of place was concerning.
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Did you see the game? If you did, what did you think, I’ve only read the reports.
Tony, didn’t see it. Not going to lose my shit over a pre season game. Last year we had a really positive pre season which helped us with a fast start. We have three more matches before Forest and as long as we don’t see a repeat of the United game then we should start the season with confidence, with some generous early season fixtures giving us some momentum.
I’d like to emphasise, Arteta is NOT above criticism. I think LiR is the home of an unrepresentative anti Arteta voice, disillusioned and marginalised from LG. I am not suggesting that that voice should not be heard, far from it, I just abhor a lack of balance.
It’s a little like being a Daily Mail reader, reading a report from the BBC about migrants or environmental policy- from their perspective, the BBC’s report might appear far to the left. I have mixed feelings about Arteta but I recognise in him some real qualities, that doesn’t make me an apologist for him.
I suspect that there are others like me who read LiR but would not feel comfortable about posting any suggestion of praise towards Arteta. I’m just an argumentative sod but I find this ‘if your not with me, you’re against me’ line of thinking extremely limiting. I know this isn’t you Tony!
In his role as an ersatz fluffer and Arteta devotee, intellectual midget Pedro and his even more diminutive boss, Arteta, have just issued a joint press statement playing down Arsenal’s prospects this season. Here’s their 5 point cowardly excuse making, sorry, expectation managing communique.
1. We had to sell the club’s best ever player to Bayer and replace him with three new ball bags who may or may not have some proven international experience. We didn’t bother scouting them. Netted off, we paid about 175 million extra but with Xhaka no longer in the team, we have to expect we’ll get absolutely fucked just like we did against Manure at the weekend.
2. Since we got Win from Battersea dog’s home (no, not another Chelsea reject) 6 months ago, he’s actually aged 3.5 dog years thus raising our average squad age to unacceptable levels. We’re thinking of breaking the club’s transfer record to bring in a cockapoo foetus from Ligue 1 to replace him. It should mean the Everton carpet in my office doesn’t need so much shake’n’vac.
3. According to a club insider (!) some miserable, insignificant former player from the 70s (Liam someone or other?) refused to donate some of his old memorabilia to Arsenal, a club he absolutely loves and who is regarded by fans as an idol. This has resulted in a fall in museum revenue which means we can only pay Havertz 350 grand a week this leaving him unmotivated. (topical or what eh Bob?)
4. Steve Round is a footballing intellectual heavyweight (just like my ‘special friend’ Rich on Le Grove…). We deeply regret firing him, er, his resignation and it means we’ll be tactically bereft.
5. Although Southampton and Leicester have been relegated (two teams, against which we’ve sometimes struggled) we’re shitting ourselves about facing The Blades, Burnley and Luton and expect to drop several points, although that won’t be Tets’s fault, naturally.
Absolute wankers. Pedro, I fear, is probably a Spurs fan. He never manages to convince that he ever wants Arsenal to actually, gulp, win trophies.
Surprised Pedro is so prominent in your thoughts Kroenke.
I’d advise you to…….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKxr2PJ06Y4
You’re right, Bob, there does need more balance here, but also Arteta needs to help us achieve that balance by getting the results; it’s that simple. Last season we were happy for the most part, but we all knew deep down what was coming.
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I sense some here feel the same way again – deep in the Arteta volcanic emotions with eruptions every now and then. My gut is uneasy about this season because I wish Arteta would just shut up and talk to the press when he needs to and say things are going well. Regurgitate the lip service and we fans would be better for it.
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A simple “we want to fulfill last season’s effort and win the title this season” will suffice.
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Various versions can follow – not the retractions and silly statements where he makes it hard for himself not to look foolish. Arteta hunting season has started with Gooners watching his every step and statement.
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My assessment of Arteta is he is a good coach and a very poor manager. He is a cauldron of emotions that get lost all too easy causing rash judgements, especially during games.
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Not what I want to say, but that’s what I see.