The Last Dance

“Sesko would not join Arsenal as a guaranteed starter and that Kai Havertz would remain as the first-choice central attacker for the beginning of the season…that plan seems like somewhat of a risk and that’s because if this news filters through to Sesko, he’ll certainly have reservations about a move to Arsenal and may instead prefer to join another side who are eager to make him their talisman”

this speaks to some of my concerns regarding MA’s missteps in the open market and his tendency to fall in love wth his little pet projects, even when they don’t make sense from a greater good standpoint…he clearly overspent on Havertz, regardless of what transpired in the second-half of the season, as the primary objectives of last summer’s window was to sign Rice and find a considerable upgrade for the departing Xhaka…in that latter capacity, Havertz failed rather miserably, which was quite disappointing considering the relatively low bar…the fact that we didn’t have a clinical Striker in our employ, thanks to some other poor managerial decisions, enabled MA to gift Havertz a positional promotion of sorts, even though it certainly wasn’t earned

tbh I can’t help but think that even if Jesus had showed any signs of life in front of goal just prior, Havertz was going to be shoehorned up top, as MA could ill-afford another WIllian-like scenario…this is why he continually spoke of patience and took every opportunity to spin things in a positive light, even when it didn’t match the reality of the situation…to be fair this was a better positional fit, but this had far more to do with his bang average midifeld play and our lack of other viable up-top options than him actually proving himself, from a clinical-sense, in front of goal…so then comes this off-season and instead of making a logical assessment about how a Havertz-led frontline might look moving forward, MA seems to want to lean into what I believe to be an underwhelming first option…as such, no Striker of any consequence will sign on here, especially knowing that MA has serious rotational issues…I pray that I’m wrong in my assessment of the situation

TRVL
Havertz remains to be the elephant in the room. Not an 8 and needing too many chances as a 9 who also defends. Will the elephant be El B’s undoing.

LIR
Read this morning that we want Bruno Guimares for £100m? Seriously? My vacation is £50m at best.

Any thoughts on his price and being bought to play 8 I assume? Good player but is he as good as Ode because he, for me, is the benchmark for a LAM.

England losing to Iceland is why I don’t watch the Euros; RIP England you have no chance, as always.

Southgate what a manager, eh? Hope he goes to the Chavs or Manure next.

And now for something completely different

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKsqXyJfxWg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYXenjpefNU

One more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxdn1x2a8dI

Tony-I think it’s important to reiterate that I don’t think Havertz, or even Tross for that matter, are total shite, regardless of my typically caustic comments when it comes to the former…in fact, I’ve been a fan of each at certain points in their respective careers, but neither player moves our championship quest needle, yet their mere presence makes it exceedingly unlikely that we’ll recruit a far more logical positional option…in my estimation, it’s subtraction by addition…so if we really want to join the battle for football supremacy, which I’m still not totally convinced is our chief objective, these hiring practices won’t get it done

just look at what transpired at the tail end of the season…Marts gets relegated to the bench, after being given little to no help out wide, and Tross, who tends to play closer to goal, became the presumptive starter…this was done in large part to take some pressure off the clinically-challenged Havertz and to further enable Rice to pursue final thrid ambitions, which is why both Tomi and Kiwior were being deployed primarily as inverted backs, even though neither have the requisite skills that position required…so it begs the question, does any of this really make us a better team long-term?…I would strongly suggest not

in a way, I get it though, as we were in a title chase, so the short-term was prioritized…but at what cost, considering that we didn’t win shit…so even though I can understand how MA came to make those decisions, I can’t accept the notion of them dictating our future actions, especially when things logically reset at season’s end…with this in mind,, if MA were to mistakenly sees this as a way forward, Marts could be sacrificed in favour of the smaller, slower Tross, who’s a nice little player but not a real difference maker against top sides…not to mention, if we then decided to sell Marts come next summer his MV could easily take a decisive hit if his role was significantly reduced…likewise with Havertz, in that he’s not the answer up top, but so long as he’s seen as the first option, why would any Striker of consequence choose us over anyone who were willing to offer him assurances…so in the end, we likely lose on the pitch and in the boardroom

as for the whole Bruno gig, he’s certainly not worth the value of his 123M release clause, which is likely what it will take to pry him away from Newcastle, but I understand why we might be intrigued by the possibility of him in our midfield…I still think it’s more likely that we will target a defensively-minded option, knowing full-well that Rice wants to play further up the pitch…I kind of think Enzo Fernandez’s piss-poor tenure at Chelsea has negatively impacted the midfielder market, especially when it comes to those with 100+M price tags…Cheers

TRVL

Trossard for £25 million was a great buy – PL proven, can play in a couple of roles and has goals in him.

Havertz isn’t a bad player but he’s not worth £60 million and I still don’t know what his best position is.

TRVL
You’re preaching to the converted; I agree with all you say. Marts was woefully shat on by El B’s atrocious tactics that required what you explained.

It’s why I want Eze so bad. It forces El B to the right tactics play or we will drop points that leaves us 2nd or worse next season. Until we get a LAM 8 we will continue to the be the almost but not quite club under El B.

Eze unlocks all the doors for our players to play to their best in their best positions. I love Ric but let him play 8 in meaningless cup games and for rotation.

Marc
Totally agree with your assessment, too. Havertz at £40 at best.

Marc-my argument has nothing to do with the price we paid, which was quite reasonable, or the fact that he has goals in his boots, even though the only team of real consequence he scored against was a very banged up Pool side, it’s the fact that he’s not really a winger, as he’s not pacey enough, he’s a stumbling block when it comes to Mart’s progression, which should matter infinitely more long-term, and the fact that his presence likely means that we won’t acquire a readymade wide side forward, who would properly replace Marts should he fail to progress to the level required…Cheers

TRVL

You misunderstood my point – Martinelli should be first choice and I’ve talked before about not having an overlapping full back on the left side since shit for brains got rid of Tierney.

Trossard is a good option from the bench purely because he has a goal in him and he’s different to Martinelli.

As always if there’s an obvious way of doing something Arteta will try and be clever and over complicate things. There’s talk about us going for a left back – if that’s the case where does Timber fit in?

Most of Arteta’s transfers seem to exist somewhere between the attention span of a goldfish and zero impulse control.

frankly, this pre-window has me a bit baffled…typically there’s a plethora of rumours about a shit-ton of players that tend to ruminate for several days or even a week or more, but since the end of the season the only one with any legs is those linking us with Sesko…even rumours about Zirkzee, which dominated the latter stages of the season, have fallen to the wayside…now I’m still not convinced that the acquisition of a Striker is anywhere near the top of MA’s wishlist, as he’s proven time and time again that he can’t see the forest through the trees, so I’m deeply concerned that he’s going to get this window all wrong…the fact that there’s been little substantive chatter about Jesus being sold on and Havertz appears to be on a club-sanctioned media tour about his supposed claims over the Striker position moving forward, doesn’t fill me with the utmost confidence, as it seems highly unlikely that we would pursue Sesko simply to replace Eddie

as for our other positional transfer rumours, I’ve noticed a steady trend in the wrong direction, in that early on the names being bandied about had more cachet and considerable price tags, whereas more recently more economical options have been all the rage…now price doesn’t always equate to future success, but when have these two blunt instruments in charge ever gone way off the board and plucked a hidden gem of sorts…not Jesus, Zinchenko, Rice, Ode, Lokonga, Vieira, Ramsdale, Jorginho, Tross, Havertz, Raya etc…maybe some might claim Tomi, but he’s an oft-injured cover piece at best…the best possibility was Nuno, but he needed more coaching up than MA was willing or able to supply…ultimately Timber might become his first real somewhat out of the box hire, but he lasted all of 70 minutes before being lost for the season…furthermore, it appears as if he was brought in to be shoehorned in on the left even though all the evidence available would seem to suggest otherwise…fuck I’m worried

TRVL

I really think one of the issues we’re going to face with buying a striker is being able to unload Jesus (weekly wage £265k) and Eddie (£100k per week) for any sort of decent fee.

Marc-in a way we’re in agreement…I likewise think Marts should get the starting nod, but if the end of last season is in anyway a predictor of MA’s future plans, Tross looks to be the starter…therein lies the problem, as he simply isn’t everday starter material for anyone hoping to compete at the highest levels…now my mindset would be significantly different, if instead of Tross we had acquired the likes of Xavi Simons, as a 20 year old speed merchant, with a 25M price tag, which btw is a 1/3rd of his present MV…that way if Marts failed to live up to expectations we had a another blue chip prospect waiting in the wings…in the meantime, he could provide some healthy competiton and be deployed as a cover piece on either wide side or up the middle

of course there were numerous other options who likewise better fit both the positional script and the supposed age/high ceiling profile, but I was just using this particular example to highlight how MA’s somewhat haphazard and short-sighted recruitment practices could actually derail our long-term plans…in many ways it isn’t too dissimilar from when MA opted for Willian over Marts several years prior, albeit Tross’s time here as been far more positive

don’t get me wrong I understand how we landed on Tross, as he kind of fell right into our frugal laps when we couldn’t seem to manufacture a much more substantial deal over the line and there was no way MA could repeat the mistakes of the previous winter, when he brought no reinforcements in and it might have cost us a CL invite…so when we came up short, we should have hit the positional reset button and made a tidy sum in the process on what should have been treated like a 6 month loan arrangement..simply-put, when you lose that width on the left, with Tross tucked inside more and our LB inverted, we become too left-side dependent in attack…now we can get away with this unbalanced setup against lesser sides, but when we face top sides, with better managers to boot, like City and Bayern, our predictibility oft-times becomes our undoing

Jens Lehmann ‘unsure’ about Mikel Arteta

‘Mikel Arteta has done really well bringing Arsenal up but if he is the right man for Arsenal now… I am not sure,’ he told The Telegraph.

‘Look at the personality of the coach. Is he a winner or is he a nice guy who brings you to a certain level and then it is over?’

thanks Jens for being a voice of reason at a time when most former players have simply kowtowed to the whims of the new AKB army…not sure about the whole “nice guy” gig, but our concerns about MA’s managerial limitations are clearly aligned

TRVL
Always loved Jens for the warrior he is: very Germainc, where as our “safe hands” David Seaman I saw as a bit of a blowhard at times. Don’t know if you noticed but before Seaman had the rib injury he was somewhat fearless at throwing his considerable body around.

After the rib injury he was always slower to the ground and used his arm to protect his rib area. I can’t take credit for noticing this, I think it came from another retired player who I cannot recall now thanks to venty.

Our Jens is well and truly spectrum based and I loved him as a player and favourite crackpot because I could identify with him. I think you probably did, too for the same reasons as me.

I feel for Ramsdale as he’s also spectrum based. A really nice guy with an over caring dad, but if it were junior so would I be. Actually, I would have got face to face with Arteta had it been junior, so I can commiserate with Ramsdale senior.

Ramsdale needs love and games. He gets neither yet he is always supporting Raya and loves our club.

Raya made a howler and when he came off El B was all love smiles and arm round the shoulder of Raya before he got off the pitch. Had it been Ramsdale? Well I don’t have to explain. It does explain, however, why El B is so singing seal worthy so often.

Jens is basically saying what we have been preaching season after season.

Marc
Jesus wages were lost on me until you highlighted it above. I never wanted Eddie to stay let alone give him £100k a week. Whoever comes in will get the same if he’s a pet.

KP
Read our little Santi is in talks with El B. If El B had brought Santi with him as an assistant coach, and back up 8 five years ago, I would have seen that as a very smart and non rookie move.

El B was and still is, error wise, a rookie. Winning a title will rid El B of his ‘Rookie’ mantle, wouldn’t it?

Hope junior is doing well with his cricket. Will you be doing the smoked salmon and cucumber sarnies and quaffing champers watching in deck chairs?

I think not! lol

Sorry, but for me Solanke doesn’t take us to the next level…great season on his part, when he potted 19, but that’s the first time he’s ever produced at this level and he will be 27 come September…so if today’s rumours are to be believed, we’re looking to offload Eddie, ESR, Nelson and Ramsdale, then pay some 50M for Douglas Luiz and another 65+M for the Bournemouth Striker…if you can possibly imagine this being the off-season plans for a top-top club wanting to vie for things, then I’ve got some swamp land in Florida with your name on it

now, don’t get me wrong, I like what Luiz can bring to the equation in the final third, but if our plans, rightly or wrongly, are to have Rice spend considerable time in and around the box, this makes little to no sense…Luiz simply isn’t a good enough DM to play him as such, which is why Villa brought in Kamara the season prior…of course, if our intentions are to lean into the whole Hammer-like rotating DM/CAM gig, then I’m less concerned by the proposition, but I would much rather that we found a way to be much more direct in our attack through the recruitment of a world-class midfielder who can unlock defences and score from distance on occasion…problem is, with Havertz and Tross as two of our starting 3 up top, what are the chances of that sort of directness being in the fucking cards…I get that, more often than not, we’ll face an overabundance of low block/bus sitters, which might provide us with very limited chances to counter, but against the best sides, like City and Bayern, our lack of directness on the counter cost us dearly

not to mention, who the fuck wants to pay a fucking PL/homegrown fee bump for the likes of Solanke, who’s current MV is a more reasonable 40M, which is vastly lower than the 65+M being put out there, especially if he’s going to sit behind our underwhleming first choice Striker…on top of it all, it’s looking more and more likely that Jesus’s sorry ass will still be here, which negatively impacts our prospects at a couple different positions…simply put, it’s my belief that if we don’t vastly upgrade our starting Striker position, get a “proper” wide side cover piece, buy a world-class CAM, so Rice can concentrate primarily on his best position, then acquire another LB/RB with pace, so we don’t have to rely on Tomi/Kiwior if another injury should occur, we’re never going to move this little bride’s maid project forward

“The report adds that Vieira ‘intends to leave’ Arsenal to boost his playing time. However, Porto would – in all likelihood – have to sign their former player on loan given they are unable to meet the Gunners’ £25.5m asking price…It’s claimed Arsenal would also have to fund part of Vieira’s salary for a loan agreement to be reached”

“Tierney is in exactly the same boat,” said Sutton about Celtic struggling to buy him because of his possible transfer fee and wages. I suspect he will be back at the club one day but unless it’s some kind of loan deal where Arsenal are feeling generous, then it’s not going to be any time soon”

“They want a guarantee fee of at least £40m with another £10m in the form of add-ons” for Ramsdale

just a few reasons why we will have a difficult time getting rid of all our periphery pieces, most of whom were brought in by our current manager…with this in mind, Eddie, Jesus and Zinchenko will also be difficult to offload due to their vastly inflated valuations and unjustifiable wages…I fear this could be an incredibly frustrating window

TRVL
Edu, Lewes & Garlick what a winning deal combo? The are the one’s responsible for all our deals over the past 5 years with El B stamping his feet making his demands, of course.

There have been mummers Zinchenko is wanted at Bayern – maybe Jesus too. A lesser league for lesser players, so maybe it would work and I hope we get them in the CL next season. Not sure what to make of Company? Burnley didn’t give many answers re his management potential.

How do the supreme transfer impresarios of the trifecta of the brain drain in understanding then TW market. The Chavs have signed a priority signing already.

Slot has said who he wants but we are doing the same wash rinse repeat we aways do and will overpay as we did with Rice. What an utter fiasco every summer TW.

Ramsdale has been busted by El B. I feel sorry for him Raya will be next to go then same way.

Tanked his value, as El B always does, and now wants top money while telling everyone that Ramsdale insult good enough for The Arsenal. Edu, Lewes and Garlick seem to be El B’s bitches.

El B, with all his strutting aloofness and believing his shit doesn’t stink in football, still in 5 years has won nothing of note.

Someone should have the balls to tell El B his shit really does stink really bad. You can smell it in Thailand…….

Kompany even

“The City hierarchy are already considering who the best replacement for Guardiola and it is claimed that they ‘unanimously agree that Alonso is the ideal successor’ and ‘believe he can continue his compatriot’s legacy at the club…A major bonus’ in landing Alonso is that City ‘believe it will help them sign both Bayer’s Florian Writz and Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi’…Alonso – who is ‘the only candidate that City are “seriously considering” to replace Guardiola’ – has done an outstanding job at Leverkusen, leading them to a Bundesliga and DfB Pokal double…They only lost one match all term – the Europa League final to Atalanta – and completed an unbeaten domestic campaign…Alonso was being chased by Liverpool and Bayern Munich before committing his future to Leverkusen…he is expected to leave Bayer at the end of 2024/25 though, with Real Madrid poised to join the race”

This will be a big blow for those of us in the fanbase who believe that MA’s incapable of leading us to the promised land, and likewise for MA himself, as they were best buds in their Barca academy days and ever since that time our little manager has lived in his shadow…I can only hope that maybe City’s disciplinary woes might deter Xavi, thus leaving the door open for MA to jump ship…who knows, maybe this will encourage Xavi to replace MA here so he once again gazump his former bestie by taking us to the top of the footballing charts

on a side note, for those simpletons who were quick to scoff at my suggestion that Gasperini was a much better bench boss than MA, please keep in mind that he was the only manager to beat Xavi this season, which btw occurred in the Eurpoa final

.

TRVL
Gasperini has been at Bergamo for quite a while now. He has built a team to play entertaining football and of course employs 3 – 4 -3. There is a very good chance we will draw Atalanta in our group for the CL. There are no rumours about his departure from Atalanta – their supporters would be devastated.

Norg-time and time again this tactical savant has found a way to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear with a limited budget and even less fanfare…so whether it was a 3-4-3 or my other preferred 4-1-4-1 formation, I think this Geppetto of a man would turn this little 7 phase puppet show into a real world-class contender in no time…I do agree that it would take a lot of convincing to pry him away; not because of the Atalanta supporters, but due to his hesitiation to manage outside the Serie A…the difference here is that we might be the only “big” club in Europe who could offer him both carte blanche, due to our absentee landlord approach, and an unprecedented level of backing, which has sadly placed a cap on his European potential…that said, I fully realize that the chances of him coming here are slim to none

I cant reiterate enough how ridiculous it would be if we brought in Solanke for 65+M…if that were the case, it would mean that MA had spent 200M, not including wages, on 3 second choice Strikers, none of whom have the capacity to take us forward…that’s why I would always prefer that we spent 120M on a proven commodity than 200+M on 3 coin toss propositions…Jesus can’t hit the broad side of a barn, Havertz had one clinical finish the whole of last season and Solanke, who’s 26 going on 27, has had one season of consequence in the PL, when he was the clear target man, which he won’t be in MA’s Striker-stunted system, and no one else on that Bouremouth squad hit double digits across all competitions…this is why I’m always harping on the long-term ramifications of short-sighted decisions…maybe MA has the same “diva” fears as his former boss here, so he leans towards reclamation projects and those who will gladly kiss the ring

Seems we’ve been made chumps of by Sesko’s agent, as he staying at RBL with an improved deal: shocker.

Tony

He didnt want to play second fiddle to Havertz.

Looking around the Arsenal landscape there’s a couple points of interest in today’s news:

(1) Obi-Martin looks to be considering a move to Munich after potting 43 goals in 42 outings this season…WTF are we doing here??? maybe MA should learn how to properly incorporate the odd academy piece, so that our blue chippers don’t walk away before they ever get a chance to perform on a PL pitch

(2) MA’s short-sighted “bestie” nonsense looks to have cost us any chance in bringing in Sesko…who in their right mind would want to come here just to find themselves sitting behind the uninspiring and clinically-challenged Havertz…this will undoubtedly lead to another underwhelming hire up top or, even worse, MA running it back with the same lame trio from last season

(3) Douglas Luiz’s camp appears to be in deep discussions with Juve, as they have a few midfielders of interest to Villa, which could lead to a swap deal of sorts…I can see why Villa might rather make a deal with someone outside the PL, but it will be interesting to see how the player himself reacts if Arsenal throw their hat in the ring…still not convinced we’re seen as an attractive landing spot by most, even though every Artetite under the sun would strongly suggest otherwise…all one has to do is look at the undeserved wages and assurances being offered to some of our new recruits, as that tells you everything you need to know

Do we actually have a scouting department and how much does it cost the club because I can’t remember the last signing that doesn’t come across as “saw his highlights on youtube / MOTD”.

As was expected, finding a Striker who actually wants to come here and play under Arteta is becoming a bit of a task…it appears as if Osimhen, Sesko, Isak, Toney and Gyokeres are no-goes, plus I doubt we’re going to get into a bidding war for Zrikzee, so now we’re starting to look at those who didn’t even make our original list of candidates, like Santiago Gimenez, from Feyenoord, and the aforementioned Solanke…hardly inspiring stuff for a team that continues to tell anyone who will listen that we’re the best project out there…I’ll tell you this, there’s no way those first Strikers mentioned aren’t having their respective heads turned if the manager in charge was considered to be a top shelf boss of a club on the precipice…this has all the feels of the good old days when Wenger used to pretend to care about recruiting top players, only for us to exit the window with a couple of half-measure additions…maybe Timber will play up top, after all he’ll be like a new signing

If I had to hazard a guess, I would suggest that all of this Striker talk is simply a not so clever ruse, one that MA learned under the tutelage of our former longtime boss…by feigning interest he appears to be doing his due diligence, while in reality he never had any intention of pursuing a world-class Striker…just look at the facts, there hasn’t been any real chatter about Jesus beng on his way out and Havertz, who was functionally a mute was the entirety of the season, can’t stop making his public case for him being given the starting nod for the foreseeable future…not to mention, there’s no guarantees that the overpaid Eddie will be sold off, especially with the supposed asking price…as such, there’s no way I can envision MA, who holds a peculiar disdain for the traditional Striker, shelling out a boatload of coin for a 3rd or 4th Striker…this is just some amateur hour shell game nonsense

There’s a new candidate entering the fray,, Albert Gudmundsson, a 26 year old Icelandic Striker, who potted 14 in 35 appearances for Genoa last season…of course his cheap price tag of 30M and the fact that he fits the positionally versatile narrative that MA’s always spewing will undoubtedly be lapped up by all the usual suspects, but in the real world he’s an undersized forward who, minus last year, hasn’t potted more than 10 goals in a top division since 2016-17, during his 2nd campaign in the Jupiter League…hardly the kind of player who’s taking us somewhere we haven’t already been…Next!

btw I didn’t include Evan Ferguson in any of my lists because I just can’t imagine anyone, at least not at this juncture, ponying up 100M for someone who’s scored only 12 times in 46 PL appearances and has missed 130 days due to ankle and knee injuries

If we’re going to take a more shot in the dark approach when it comes to our Striker hunt, why is no one talking about Girona’s somehwat late bloomer, Artem Dovbyk…btw at the time of the below article he had only potted 14 of his eventual 24 goals, which means he scored 10 more times in his remaining 17 matches to help secure Girona their first ever CL invite…according to transfermarkt his present MV is 35M, which makes him a bang for your buck wet dream

“Delving into the statistics, Dovbyk’s expected goals (xG) of 10.9 and non-penalty xG (npxG) of 8.5 highlight his efficiency in converting scoring opportunities. These numbers underscore his ability to outperform the expected metrics consistently. Dovbyk’s influence is not limited to the attacking third; he actively contributes defensively as well. With an expected assists (xAG) statistic of 3.4, he plays a role in creating goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates, showcasing a well-rounded approach to the game.

In terms of overall involvement, Dovbyk participated in 28 shot-creating actions (SCA) and contributed to seven goal-creating actions (GCA). These numbers emphasize his active role in both the build-up and execution of offensive plays. Artem Dovbyk’s performance in La Liga for the 2023-2024 season positions him as a dynamic and impactful player. His ability to score, create opportunities, and contribute defensively makes him a well-rounded asset for his team”

maybe all the rumours surrounding his far less impressive teammate and fellow Ukranian, Viktor Tsyhankov, was just a smokescreen

were just

TRVL
Interestingly the academy players that AFC want to keep all seem to be keen to follow others through the exit door. They will have talked to players from other teams and then realise they need to make a move to obtain first team playing time.