Thierry Henry is in news for what he said at the Overlap podcast hosted primarily by Gary Neville. Before we talk about it, here’s an excerpts from it that has riled some of the Arsenal fans.
The last three years, we have been in a situation where should at least bring a cup or be in a final. Man Utd played five finals in their last five years – the United that everyone laughs at. In the last three years of building, Arsenal didn’t reach a final. This year we didn’t compete with Liverpool. I don’t know what people think, but we didn’t compete, not once. I’m not saying this season was a disappointment, but it’s normal that people are raising questions now about what the team is doing.
source : TH14 via the Overlap Stick to Football podcast
Well, some of the fans are calling him naïve for it. Some of us feel that Henry said so to please the hosts, got carried away with the propaganda Neville and Carragher spits and that he shouldn’t have questioned the manager of the Arsenal football club who took us back into the Champions League, made it to the semi finals this season, competed for the title thrice in a row and is doing his best to get us to where we belong.
Let me start by pointing out a very big difference between you, me and Thierry Henry. He is a legend, has played for the shirt and won titles for us, arguably the best player in Premier League history, was part of the team under the best manager of that time, has got a fucking statue outside the fucking stadium and is as big a supporter of the club as rest of us. He has lived it, given his blood and sweat, played alongside the greats – Vieira, DB10, Ljungberg and there could not a better fan to speak about the progress of the club.
Now, everyone’s entitled to an opinion and everyone else is entitled to agree or disagree to it. But calling it a blasphemy because a legend of the club feels we could have done better only means that you have got sub-standard expectation in an elite, competitive sport. If you are happy with 2nd place finishes and Champions League semi-finals, go fuck yourself, please.
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Ok, lets put the emotions aside and break up what he said.
He told in his discussions that he understood the first 3 years because any manager that comes in, will need at least 4-5 transfer windows to bring in players to suit his style of play. Sounds good, we won a FA cup as well with a team that we had to de-assemble and let go. We spent heavily and Mikel go the players he needed to start delivering on the promises he made. We reached second in 2022-23 and everyone felt we are couple of signings away from winning the league. Man City were at their best and challenging them for the title was good enough at that point. Last season, we reached second again and it was blamed on the lack of depth on bench and the missing piece of a CF. Mikel did fuck all to address both the cases, we got Havertz and Merino playing up front, neither of them are a full fledged #9. With Gabriel’s injury in defence, we had to switch to Kiwior whom we were trying to sell in the summer window and failed.
So, we spent money but addressed none of the problems. We brought in a LB while our academy product in MLS played 21 of those 38 games this season, and could have played more if we have picked him up early in the season. We spent 65m on Havertz to fix the attacking midfielder problem, shifted him to the striker position and spent some more money to get Merino when it’s Declan Rice playing most of the time in that position. What in the actual fuck did we spent money on then?
Next, Legend wants us to compete and at least reach finals. Finals are nervy, anything can happen and it’s all about who gave their most on that day. It can go either way, so the legend says we should at least make it to the finals which we didn’t do. Anything wrong with that statement? None at all. He sees us finishing 2nd as not competing with Liverpool because we didn’t do. We competed with Man City last season, last 5 games decided who would lift the trophy, but this year, Liverpool were way beyond our reach in what, 30th week of the season? Again, you can call it a great job at competing if you are as mid as a Spud.
He is not saying season is a disappointment – because we still finished 2nd and we made it to Champions League semi-finals. But how many of you believe we could have done better? Every fucking one. We could have at least tried to bridge the gap by getting Watkins on cheap in January, or by trying Martinelli in the middle early on. We didn’t address it because we thought we will do it next year now. We were in the Champions League and either Mikel or the club prioritised the revenue from there.
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With recent revenue sharing stats from Premier League, we saw that finishing 2nd and 6th have about 10m revenue generating differences. That’s not a lot when you buy a player in 35m (Fabio Vieira) and not use him for exactly the position he was brought in. Champions League money increases a lot if you make it to the next round, and we were making that money before we could spend it. Fine if didn’t have some to waste it on Havertz who won’t have a place in the team once we get Sesko or Gyokeres.
I don’t see a tiny bit of wrongs in what Thierry Henry said. It doesn’t matter if he was amongst Gary Neville or Caragher while he was saying that, for all I care is, he is asking that we should have done better, and we should do better. We are not Tottenham for fuck sake.
Right, rant over. If Henry has same managerial aspirations to lead Arsenal at some point and he is spitting venom against Mikel to get him fired, I don’t give a damn because what he said was true. What he said is what we have been saying at London Is Red, and at this stage, after spending 800m and managing the club for 6+ years, if Mikel can’t get us a trophy, it’s perfectly fine to question his method, spendings and everything around him. It’s not entitlement, it’s calling the bullshit and setting a higher standard than finishing 2nd.
See you in the comments.
Meanwhile at Chelmsford Crown Court one of Wengers darlings is starting a 4 year sentence for drug smuggling. JET was paid a small fortune by Wenger whose potential was never realised.
JET story should be told to all the players entering the academy – I remember watching him play for the youth team and he was just on another level to every other player on the pitch. He was so good they couldn’t decide what was his best position and because of his pure talent he didn’t have the necessary work ethic everything had been so easy for him so he never made the step.
If my memory serves me correctly his attitude wasn’t right and he got the boot for throwing his shirt at the bench after being subbed.
What a complete waste.
it was quite the high scoring affair when France met Spain yesterday in the Nations League semi…a couple observations: (1) I get why City covet Cherki, as he scored an absolute stunner within minutes of his first appearance, and (2) Merino showed why he should never be deployed in deeper-lying spaces…he coughed the ball up twice, in a very amateur hour fashion, which should have led to two easy tallies but only cost them one
enjoyable watch for the neutral abserver, well at least in the second half when France mounted a comeback…tbf France was missing some of their starting defenders, most notably Saliba, and they were playing Rabiot and Kone in the midfield, who were predictably pathetic as a duo against a quality Spanish side
I would suspect that Berta is behind the hiring of Tognozzi, as the former is much more of a money man, so he needs somoeone with an eye for talent on his side…he got his balls cut by MA right out of the gate, in their battle over a Striker, so there’s no doubt he feels like he needs influential allies to offset the amount of control our little dictator presently wields over all personnel matters…it will be interesting to see how this pans out…we saw something quite similar a few years back and that was an unmitigated shit show
the following excerpt might be a tad long, but I felt it was necessary to post, as it speaks to the utter cluelessness/apathy/laziness of some footballing pundits nowadays, who are being employed by “reputable” outlets:
“We asked for your questions for BBC Sport pundit Nedum Onuoha on your Premier League club. Daniel asked Nedum – with sporting director Andrea Berta reportedly wanting Viktor Gyokeres and Mikel Arteta wanting Benjamin Sesko – who is the best option for Arsenal?
For me, if all this is true, then I would lean into what Arteta wants. Arteta is the one that has the true vision of how he wants his team to play. From a general club standpoint, I can understand why the sporting director wanting Gyokeres. But, the traits the coach sees are more valid.
I’m not saying one player is better than the other, it’s just a case of the profile Arsenal need and in this moment I would trust Arteta because he will have done his due diligence on both players and how they’ll both fit into the style that he wants to play. Maybe there’s only a marginal difference between the two but sometimes it’s a marginal difference between winning a league title or getting knocked out of a cup competition. I would lean towards the manager’s judgment on this particular one, especially as Berta has only arrived recently.
If Arsenal are picking from these two, I think it is a big moment to back Arteta.
Gyokeres has played in England before, but not for a team that’s trying to win a Premier League title. So, I’m not 100% sold on thinking he would be a guarantee or that he is closer to being a finished article than Sesko right now.
Like I say, I’m a believer in the manager. If he has a liking for Sesko, I’d back him 100% and give him what he wants if the club can afford it. You can try and compare the leagues, compare the records and so on but, in reality, you have to see it in the Premier League.
There will be a sense of anxiety but in Arteta they have a manager who is trusted by the fanbase to develop players. Arsenal overall in the last few years have been a project so I’d expect the fans to not be too concerned by a player who maybe isn’t the absolute best straight away. Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, among others, can play in that nine position while somebody’s still developing as well.”
the last paragraph is the most telling, as it seems to confirm my greatest fear, that MA’s planning to run it back with Havertz as the presumptive starting Striker…which begs the question, why is this so-called reporter treating MA like he’s a first term Wenger or an in-his-prime Fergie, especially when it comes to the recruitment of attacking options…talk about mailing it in…fucking pathetic!!
The “so-called reporter ” in my opinion gave an intelligent response to the question.
Bringing in players who suit the manager’s style of play is the right thing to do or you would have a man utd type situation and we can see how that has transpired.
Just because certain supporters of Arsenal don’t agree with the manager’s style of play or philosophy shouldn’t be an excuse for criticising almost every decision on and off the field , to me it is a very blinkered and uneducated way of analysing the club.
Personally I’m not particularly enamoured with Arteta’s style of football, but I do recognise the importance of the structure and discipline he has brought to the club.
I am in the belief that we will win the league next season though of course we will need a turnaround in our injury situation and poor officiating.
It is also my belief that Odegaard will have his best season as he knows he will be expected to perform in the big games.
Defensively we look superb with great options and a top quality keeper .
Hopefully we will keep Partey and bring in Zubimendi to replace jorghino, a striker and a top quality wide player would be good, plus a lot will depend on the progression of Nwaneri if he is given sufficient opportunities by the manager, though it was worrying that he was ignored at the end of last season….I’m not sure Arteta would be forgiven if he wastes the obvious talent of Nwaneri who may become impatient if starved of opportunities.
Possible players to be sold are
Zinchenko
Martinelli
Jesus
Tomiyasu
Zinchenko – minimal or won’t get a fee.
Jesus – minimal or won’t get a fee.
Tomi – minimal fee.
Martinelli – should get in excess of £80 million – will be lucky to get more than £40.
Arteta’s only ability that registers as “excellence” crashing the value of players.
Sack the CUNT.
Pricksy, don’t be so fucking obtuse…any idiot knows that if you like what’s been on offer thus far you would side with the manager…after all, he’s clearly been in charge of all personnel matters for some time now…for those of us who don’t prescribe to this notion and/or aren’t “enamoured with Arteta’s style of football”, it would make exceedingly more sense to give someone else a kick at the transfer can
what we need more than anything else is players who can produce results in spite of our imposter of a manager…it’s highly unlikely, if left to his own devices, that MA would actually bring in these types of players as their very presence would both force him out of his present defence-first malaise, or face the consequences, and possibly put into question his monopolistic power dynamic, which btw has stifled the development of several of our key players…clearly the whole situation is way too nuanced for your blunt instrument tendencies…it’s like taking candy from a baby
Another window and these cunts still can’t help themselves.
Another long streak of lanky useless Chelsea piss arrives to go through the motions.
Weren’t it these cunts that sold Leno for £3 million and Martinez for £20 million?
But , when most of your support are a bunch of clueless wankers with no fuckin ambition , more defenders, goalkeepers and rejects will keep on coming with no questions asked.
Maybe these cunts including Berta will get around to buy some proper forwards soon.
Morning Art Fraud
Your appropriate term has become the Term to describe whatever is wrong , starting with the Fraud-Teatsa who is an absolute CUNT
Hoopah
The reason why we attract so many useless cunts is because of the owners KSE allow them in positions of power.
Mug supporters have to realise, to those slags , this once great football club is simply an investment. And a vehicle for KSE to make huge amounts of money.
The numbers of rejects we now sign for Chelsea, we might as well simply merge and become Chelsenal.
Ultimately our demise , like Manchester United is because we have ‘supporters’ like the scrote who posts on here is happy in winning fuck all.
Hoopah
The moment you bring a fucking puppy into work and call it Win.
Is the moment , you can call these cunts, CUNTS and no one can accuse of you being wrong.
Arsenal under Arteta in a nutshell (based on today’s storylines):
(1) Zubi reconsiders move as Real make a final push
(2) if Bayern gets Leao then MA can acquuire Sane on a free
(3) another Chelsea throwaway on his way to the Emirates
(4) Arteta snubbed again as it looks as if Gittens is on his way to Chelsea
now none of these are 100% based in reality, but they’re so similar to numerous past storylines that it certainly wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that there exists some truth behind each and every one:
(1) Zubi could still be ours for the taking, but it’s difficult to get too pumped up about a player who clearly would rather be somewhere else
(2) Sane might never come, but wouldn’t it be so typical of MA to let the far superior player, Leao, to go to a longtime CL rival, then pay a boatload in wages for an antiquated version of him
(3) regardless of the fact that, at first blush, getting a Keeper of Kepa’s quality for 5M looks to be a signifcant bargain, let’s not forget about his considerable wages and, most importantly, the whole sloppy seconds Chelsea-based narrative…surely there’s another cheapish option that has no ties to that particular club
(4) who knows if we were ever really in for Gittens, although that has been reported for some time, but the fact that we’ve seen a shitload of headlines where either another side gazzumps us or a player rejects MA’s advances outright, speaks volumes
AF—due to the above information, you’ll be pleased to know that I have awarded MA the COTD trophy for the 978th day running
“(2) Sane might never come, but wouldn’t it be so typical of MA to let the far superior player, Leao, to go to a longtime CL rival, then pay a boatload in wages for an antiquated version of him”
This is the issue – it was frustrating watching Wenger get locked into a refusal to spend (even when money became available after the stadium move) and go for the cheap option but this is worse. We get the second rate option but are paying top dollar for it.
As much as you get what you pay for that doesn’t mean just because you pay a lot of money for something you’re getting value for money.
“gazumps”
btw Kepa makes 170,000/week, so although his transfer fee is quite low, his wages are substantially higher than our present starter…I would imagine Raya will be looking for a substantial raise if he were to come in
it appears as if Chelsea is either entering the Sesko race or trying to prop-up the selling price so as to fuck with our shit…if it’s the former, we’re proper fucked
TRVL
This is where Berta needs to earn his euros and tell Keeper the Kepa that he’ll be facing a pay reduction surely? More like 30k a week tops no?
Again, on Sesko. Take a fucking hard line, ie ‘tell Chelsea to fuck off or you’ll never play for us’. Ooh, I’m feeling so authoritarian today!
“Things we have going for us that other clubs don’t: We’re Arsenal. We might not have first pick, but I’ll tell you this — the best players in the world want to be coached under Arteta because he has a reputation for being a developmental operator people love playing under”
I would bet my left nut that most of you know where I found this gem of a delusional statement…we will never progress until knuckle-dragging Kool-Aid drinking fanboys like Pedro find themselves a new side hustle…I’ll guarantee you this, when the sun finally sets on MA’s time here, not a single one of these slurpy twats will follow him to his next job, which will likely be in Saudi Arabia
as for the above quote, it has no basis in reality…he hasn’t lured a single readymade world-class player to our club since he was properly backed…now some will say Rice, but I would argue that his acquisition had everything to do with the fact that we were the only suitor who would acquiesce to his rather nonsensical top of the pitch wet dream, especially at that price point…if he was so fixated on the notion of playing for MA he would have actually done his part by helping to push his deal over the line…as for the developmental angle, not a single player on this side has maxed out their respective talents as a result of his specific tutelage, except maybe Gabs
btw players like Willian, Sterling or Sane, who were once considered somewhat world-class (varying degrees), wouldn’t fall anywhere near the “best players in the world” category at the time of MA’s approach
KP—you know full-well that we can’t afford to take a hardline when it comes to any potential transfer option…just look at all the fucking assurances MA’s handing out ever since he sent Emi packing…he’s like the fucking Oprah of the PL…on a more positive note, I do like your more chesty approach to posting
Only Captain Fuckwit would consider bringing in a reserve keeper (and if he’s so great why did Chelsea bin him?) who’s on colossal wages – even if he took a 50% cut he’d be on £85k per week.
I sense a promotion in the near future where we can all enjoy Major Fuckwit’s attempts at being a manager.