The Last Dance

Killroy
May 28th 4.45 – the answer is there.

Norg, thanks for the tip I have no idea how I missed that as I was looking for it.

KP
Thanks for the explanation of El B and it fits as in El Barstado or El B as in the B manager, 2nd rate.

I was in Argentina Dec 2019. From the US I made the trip to Montevideo going to the stadium and museum were the first WC was played in 1930. Then to Buenos Aires and after that I traveled to Ushuaia took a 4 night trip through the Magellan straight and landed in Punta Arenas, Chile then up the country to Santiago and back to the US east coast just in time in 2020 before the lockdown started, it was fabulous.

Didn’t learn any Spanisch as that was the wife’s job using Duo Lingo 😅

KP
How is the old DB5 going? Are you tempted to use the ejector switch when motoring along the M4? You could invite El B to take a ride – we could then see if his hair is real or just a piece of lego.

Having spent several lengthy periods abroad do you have a strong command of languages?

“According to the report, all of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Fulham want to sign Nketiah.
However, the biggest stumbling block could be Arsenal’s £50m price tag”

Can you even imagine a club actually offering anything remotely close to this absolutely bonkers evaluation, especially considering his wages??? I can only hope this was a misprint

£50 million for Nketiah?

That at least explains the weather being chilly and damp its not the 1st June on Saturday its the 1st April.

TRVL

Add to that list Ipswich Town if McKenna stays. It is now likely he will chance his arm with a massively inferior squad in the Premiership. He sees Eddie fitting into his squad – £50M – I doubt there will be any takers – Ipswich will be hoping for a loan deal. Mckenna reckons Eddie is a £70K per week player at the top end. Who runs our contract set up – Garlick.

Busy today but saw this as I did my cursory glance at the click bait.

What’s your thoughts now, TVRL?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13477129/Benjamin-Sesko-says-yes-Arsenal-transfer-summer-Gunners-line-45m-RB-Leipzig-striker.html

For the uninitiated like me here’s his reel;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOQ_dHg-S4M

News of the day

(1) Sesko—its looking more and more like if we move for a Striker it appears that the 20 yr old, 6’4 Slovenian international is at the top of our list…at somewhere near the 55M mark, there will be plenty of well-placed suitors, but if the reports are to be believed, we’ve been forging a relationship with his camp for some time now…grain of salt aside, there’s no doubting we’ve physically scouted Leipzig and his agent has been spotted at the Emirates on more than one occasion…of course, this could be a case of jumping to the wrong conclusions, but when you consider MA’s MO, he does fit the present profile

Havertz has become MA’s most recent pet project and another hill he’s seemingly willing to die on, even though he appears impervious to the kind of recruitment criticisms his predecessors have faced…since there’s little chance that Havertz is returning to his earlier role in the midfield, as that was largely a failure, I just can’t imagine anyone supplanting him up top, much to my chagrin…as such, it would make sense if we targeted a more youthful, potential high ceiling option, who would be one for the future while still providing some depth and positional competition

even though I like what this player could bring to the equation, as he’s quite pacey considering his length and he appears much more clinical in front of goal than any of our present options, I would much rather we went in a more readymade direction…that said, this checks our long-term plans box, but maybe doesn’t move our title aspirations needle for next season, especially if he’s stapled to the bench behind MA’s gangly bestie

(2) Zinchenko appears to be on Kompany’s wishlist for his new gig at Bayern…not exactly the kind of flashy first move one might expect for the German giants, but there’s no doubting he’s incredibly familiar with the player, due to their longtime City connections, so it could have some validity…with Davies and Kimmich apparently on the move, this year or next, I can see how Zinchenko could fit in as either an inverted LB or a DM in a two-pivot system…with Tomi re-upped and Timber likely set to be shoehorned at RB, this might make some sense, with the right monetary motivation…that said, he might be the kind of depth piece you keep if you’re trying to be taken seriously as a future top-top club…this decision could be further complicated by that fact that we might be contemplating the possibility of letting Kiwior return to the Serie A, as Milan appears very interested

(3) Youssouf Fofana, the French International midfielder from Monaco…a bit of an unexpected target until you take into account his price tag, 20+M, and his rather vast admirers…with this in mind, I just don’t understand his valuation, considering his relatively youthful age, 25, and what he brings ot the table as a progressive passing, deeper-lying midfielder, who can physically impose himself on a match without sacrificing his offensive contributions…I guess maybe the fact that he has only 1 year left on his contract could be impacting his present valuation, but one wonders if this might be a good time to not look a gift horse in the mouth

maybe we’re looking to return to our former double-pivot selves, when Xhaka and Partey combined forces…this might allow our backers and Rice to get forward more often, as Fofana could provide ample defensive cover, while likewise enabling us to be much more direct on the counter, unlike in the past…once again not a needle moving hire, but it has all the makings of the sort of hidden gem acquisition that MA would clearly crave, at least from a managerial CV perspective…it will be interesting to see how this develops in the coming days and weeks

Maybe this will explain the El B moniker

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/pierre-aubameyang-arsenal-mikel-arteta-32922289

Looks a likely scenario since Auba is not trying to ingratiated anyone here.

First Auba saved his credibility by the almost single handed only Trophy FA Cup
ESR saved the club hurtling towards relegation battle.

Typical El Bastardo, sem duvida .

Here’s one for you all something different and KP I know you’s be supporting if in your next of the woods.

With all the shit with City and cheating this is a breath of fresh air.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5113010/

Haven’t got to the above comments yet.

Ambarish
Every time I log in I have to re-enter my details, is this something you can can do your end? I add save each time

Tony-I didn’t even realize that you had posted that Sesko link and subsequent question until this morning…you must gave posted yours while I was writing mine…Cheers

“Arsenal want to tie down Mikel Arteta to a new long-term contract before accelerating their summer player recruitment plans”

really??? if this is true, shame on both parties involved for putting the team’s best interests on hold until MA stuffs his pockets to the fucking brim and beyond…hopefully this isn’t actually the case, but with rumours about Peps potential exit next summer and the managerial musical chairs presently in the PL, maybe it’s more of an exercise in due diligence…imagine how much of a dick you would have to be in order to leave a club that has given you far more than you ever deserved and/or earned, prior to last season that is

tbh I wouldn’t be upset if we were to sign Sesko, Fofana, Bakayoko and one of the two LBs, Hartman or Kadioglu, as all appear to be highly skilled players at their respective positions, but I don’t know if they get us over the line here or abroad next season…now if we can get rid of several periphery pieces, tweak our tactics so that we add considerably more directness and properly rotate, so that players like Sesko are given a real opportunity to usurp Havertz up top, I think this could put us in really good stead both now and in the coming years…just not sure if any of these aforementioned 3 things are realistically in the cards considering MA’s history…not to mention, at some point we have to make a real concerted push, especially whilst many of our closest competitors are still in transition, or we might find ourselves in a similar predicament as during Wenger’s latter reign when we missed our window by prioritizing the future to the detriment of the now…simply put we can’t keep punching that gift horse in the mouth

KP/Norg/Marc
One for you guys and where I started my music biz days. Dingwalls Camden lock was cool. Albert Hall and the Electric ballroom all in one street I think.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28772111/

Tony
Just playing a Terry Reid track – I saw him at Dingwalls – must have been 73 / 74.

KP

Did you ever get posted to the Balkans?

If Bayern want Zinchenko that could be a major result – we’ll get a fee, maybe not much but better than paying his very high wages whilst he doesn’t play much and then goes on a free.

Not sure how Arteta will cope with a player leaving without paying off his contract though? I mean it doesn’t count unless you pay them to leave.

TRVL
No problem I just popped in with a headline and link, much prefer reading your thinking. I added it because we’d talked before where you added options.

Zubimendi has turned El B down so unpolished gems it is. The elite don’t want El B they want to win trophies. Being a professional elite footballer, winning is everything for them.

El B prefers 2nd and getting a pay rise. Josh and Stan haven’t quite got the being “winner” part right yet.

If it had been the gillette & Braun owners from Pool, they call it a close shave…. Ok I’ll get my coat….

Norg
I thought Dingwalls and Camden would be fond memories for you, too. The series looks good

Marc
I did wonder if Company had what it too for Bayern? Now he want’s Zinchenko it makes me wonder even more? Let’s hope he tanks Bayern by taking Zinchenko, Jesus and Havertz.

Now, that would be an excellent window. We could buy Roy Obinson and improve with those 3 gone.

Eddie and Ries easy to find new homes.

I see Manure want Branthwaite.

Terry Reid now that’s a blast from the past Norg.

“His scoring form picked up towards the end of the season, having initially struggled with just two goals in his first 15 league games for Leipzig, before his end-of-season form saw him find the net in each of his last seven games”

I would be lying if I said this doesn’t worry me a bit…now he still might be worth the squeeze, but for consistency’s sake I can’t completely ignore the fact that his late season tale wasn’t too dissimilar from our own purple patch kid, Havertz, which I didn’t feel was near impressive enough to stick with him as the primary option up top…now there are some key differences that should be noted, like Sesko is quite a bit younger, decidely pacier, far more likely to finish in a clincal fashion and played 1100+ minutes less than his German counterpart yet scored 4 more goals, but tbh I would have preferred it if his goal distribution was more evenly dispersed…that said, he has likewise accounted himself well on the international circuit, scoring11 times in 28 appearances, whereas Havertz has potted 15 in 44 matches

from the all important eye test perspective though, Sesko is the clear winner…I’ve watched him at Salzburg a half dozen times, another handful or so for Leipzig and twice for Slovenia, so I have a fairly decent sample size to work with…he’s got some work to do when it comes to certain aspects of that position, like being more proficient from a link-up play capacity and when it comes to some of his off-the-ball movement, but that’s certainly not an uncommon refrain for a player of his age profile and experience…luckily for him he has the physical traits and ball skills required to rectify those situations in relatively short order, with the proper coaching

he actually piqued my interest a few years back when some were quick to annoint him as the next Haaland, which at first seemed like a somewhat superficial comparison, due to their imposing statures and obvious Salzburg connection, but the more I watched him the more I realized it was more nuanced than that…he could be something special, if given the right tactical script, just not sure if he’ll ever be Haaland special, but I’ll take 80% of that goalscoring beast any day of the week…all that said, I’m still not convinced that MA knows how to get the best out of that position regardless of the player in question

Hi NORG
Languages were my thing at school (French and latterly Spanish). The Foreign Office seemed the right way to go. I was lucky to spend so much time working in Latin America (Mexico, Belize, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina) and visited most of the other ones. I really threw myself into learning their individual variations and cultures and I think a lot of it has stuck thanks to the thoroughness I have it.

My last proper posting was Paris which is known as a graveyard for many people’s careers and so it proved with mine. Late 40s, running out of steam and trying to manage a regional job (Europe AND the near East) while helping Ms KP bring up the kids.

We used to go for immersion training back in the day. Get to a certain standard (between A level and a degree) then spend a month living with a family speaking no English whatsoever and having 1 on 1 tuition for about 5 hours a day. Cuernavaca in Mexico and Rennes in France.

Apart from that trip to Yugoslavia (mostly in what’s now known as Bosnia and Croatia) I had little actual experience in the Balkans. But I was working as a desk officer in the early 90s for those countries. It was a hard unforgiving job dealing with arguably worse terrors than we see in Ukraine at the moment. But good friends, GG and the lads and the London club scene kept me on the level. I’ve got various places I want to visit in the next few years. Back to Uruguay, Argentina, Nicaragua and a drinking trip around Mexico chief among them.

KP
I am trying to get a grip on the politics in Bosnia – who can we deal with and who is a no go. It appears it is split into to two groups – one will deal with the Serbs (not approved by the US) and the other will deal with Croatia.

KP
I have absolutely no language skills. Being a lazy Brit and hoping everybody speaks English has been OK in Europe. When we started taking our holidays in France in the mid eighties my wife used her A level French which was pretty good as her mother taught French and was fluent in Italian, Spanish & German.

Tony

If Kompany lasts a season at Bayern I’ll be amazed. I get the feeling its an act of pure desperation as they haven’t been able to attract any of the managers they wanted.

I mean how bad is it to tell a manager mid season he’s finished and will be gone at the end of the season and then come end of the season when no one else wants the job ask them if they’d like to stay on?

Hi NORG

You might try ‘The Fall of Yugoslavia’ by Misha Glenny – ex BBC and a pretty thorough balanced writer. I read it at the time and, combined with the masses of cables, reports, newspaper articles and listening to the likes of David Owen helped to offer some historical and actual perspective of that awful conflict. Three national ‘armies’ backed by different proxies each fighting insurgencies against ethnic enclaves (Bosnian serbs/Bosnian coats etc.) and each other, the religious dimension (orthodox Christians, catholics and Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania, wider regional interest and sanctions busting, the middle East and other populous Islamic nations eg Indonesia and Malaysia wanting their say, historic tensions from the battle of Kosovo Polye through to horrendous abuses in WW2 and some bitter deeply nasty violence going on everywhere with no regard to the Geneva Convention.

Try the Glenny. It’s much shorter that the other story about ‘War and Peace’!

I’ll tell you some day about my dealings with the Serb and Croat communities in West Yorkshire in the 90s after they got hold of my direct phone number. I think it’s fair to say the only person linked to that part of the world from W Yorkshire that I admire is a certain John Lukic.

NORG
As an accomplished French speaker, Mrs NORG would find it relatively straightforward to branch into the other Latin based languages. I’m learning Catalan which is an interesting hybrid of Spanish, French and Italian and I hope will stand me in good stead when we move to NE Spain.

You might suggest that she learns them all and then your travel interpretation needs are sorted!

“Arteta’s total transfer dealings since he became manager has shown a loss of €638.34…he has spent around £650m more on players than the player sales have brought in”

these are some rather astonishing facts…this is undoubtedly the reason why our valuations appear so ridiculously high…I just don’t get the point of this “strategy”, as it’s likely to both scare away some potential suitors and negatively impact future sales, if and when we sell anyone for considerably less the original ask…it’s one thing to do this with the likes of Saka, Marts or Saliba, but it’s another thing altogether to do it for players who’ve lost their respective places to players who are marginally better…of course it’s not unusual for teams experiencing some success to overvalue even periphery pieces, under the guise that the player in question has been part of a supposed “winning culture” and that this should have a quantitative value, but generally speaking you have to actual win things for this to be the case…as it stands, it appears that other organizations aren’t willing to pony-up when it comes to MA’s handpicked projects

TRVL

If the valuation of Nketiah is genuine someone at the club needs their medication adjusting (not sure whether up or down though!) – Chelsea paid £40 million for Palmer with £2.5 million of add ons. He’s looking an absolute bargain and as a young player will only improve.

Nketiah is 25 and managed just over a thousand minutes in the PL scoring 5 goals when we had no striker for much of the season.

If we get £25 million I’d be surprised.

KP
Move to NE Spain? Anywhere near St. Ciprian?

Marc

Eddie’s wage will put off most interested clubs. A loan deal with AFC paying part of the wage is probably what will happen.

Arsenal’s strategy appears to be one of calculated financial prudence rather than lavish expenditure. The club is keen to balance ambition with economic sustainability, a balancing act that could shape their approach to the summer transfer window”

now no one is suggesting that we should spend recklessly, but the boat has sailed on the whole “financical prudence” gig when we paid well-above the number for a mess of ill-suited and/or half-measure types…if our goal is to actually become a top 2 side in Europe, adopting a more frugal approach wont get it done…its big boy pants time, so if we believe that there’s a monumental difference between the hiring of Osimhen over Sesko, we had better not choose the latter simply based on the financials…of course, that doesn’t mean we should fork over 170+M to Newcastle for Isak, even if we believe him to be our best option, as common sense should prevail, but we should be willing to pay at least as much as we did for a DM on a world-class front man…let’s face it, under MA we’re likely never going to be a high rotational side, so we should spare no reasonable expensive on those who could improve our starting 11, then scout our asses off to find depth pieces on the cheap…fuck, they’ll never see the pitch anyways

Hi NORG

I couldn’t track down a St Ciprian in the NE although there seems to be one in France and in the NW corner in Galicia.

No, we’re thinking about Catalunya in the NE corner of the Iberian Peninsula, somewhere close to Girona where one of my mates from school lives. Not too far from the French border, the Pyrenees and the Costa Brava. Going to rent somewhere most likely in order to be fully flexible and not spend the rest of my life doing even more housing maintenance. It also puts Italy in reach where I really hope to spend more time, waving my arms around gesticulating, eating food full of gluten and driving like a maniac looking at beautiful art and architecture (oh and maybe some football).

Good afternoon all

Silly season is out in force, but my premature concern of not getting business done seems wrong. Click bait says we’ve bid £45m for Sesko a Smithy with pace but very raw as as TRVL says is a concern. Will he be another Lakonga?

Havertz has said he wants to wear the 9 shirt next season because he seems to think he’s done enough to warrant a start.I would beg to differ of course. Now, when El B gets his new shiny pet, I don’t think Havertz realises that his ‘petness’ doesn’t have much legs now, and a seat by the vacated ESR is his next starting position.

Will the lanky one put pressure on El B? Hope so as it’ll be fun to watch.

I want to say this about Havertz and they seem to me to be incontrovertible facts. Up for debate though.

– He improved radically as the season wore on.

– His production figures also went up as he found his way within the system.

– The team scored plenty of goals and were generally solid defensively.

– It appears that the other players like and respect him.

Tets is a complicated motherfucker who additionally enjoys complicating his football strategies. Coming from laissez faire and chaotic Chelsea into an environment as professional but also upright as Arsenal’s would have been a serious shock that would have knocked most good players off kilter. He adapted right? And with some success.

– And finally the old chestnut. The club chose him, his style of play and his personality. Arsenal offered him the kind of wages no one would turn down.

– He ain’t the second coming of Podolski but nor is he Ozil nor Willian.

In essence, I struggled to see the point of Havertz til that post Dubai period and the team started scoring for fun. I have a fairly positive attitude towards him now and would not begrudge giving him the number 9 Jersey (not least because it’ll prevent it being given to Eddie Unket who I like as a human being but not as an Arsenal player).

Kroenke

Havertz improved over the course of the season but is he going to score 20 plus PL goals next season?

If we’d have spent £60 million with huge wages on a striker who had previous PL experience (it took Henry half a season to adapt coming from overseas) we’d have expected a minimum of 20 PL this last season.

Personally I have a feeling we’re going to buy a striker and then either shorn horn Havertz into the wide left position or make him the more advanced member of midfield over Ode back alongside Rice.

I can’t see either of those options working very well.

KP/Marc
Agree with both of you but my arguments is more about Havertz conversion rates aerially and from his boots. At a guess I’d say 1/4. Jesus similar, so when both played they needed a lot of service to score.

My thinking is next season is going to be very tight for chances. We need a 1/2.5 striker at worst.

Havertz played 8, 9 and false 9 last season. 8 and false 9 last season saw him doing more defensive duties than linking up with Marts on the left. When Havertz plays he reduces marts effectiveness even work with Zinchenko in the way.

I think Tross and Marts on the LW gives us different attacking options, but Marts needs support from the 8 or LB, like Saka does from Ode and Ben White.

The center is our while elephant as is 8 unless Rice plays there, but Rice isn’t an 8 either.

If Sesko comes what does Havertz do? Where does he start? With Rice when Partey is busy collecting his pension or on the treatment table?

Sesko will be the new pet and if he hits the ground running then what for Havertz? January Loan?

I see a fall out here.

marts effectiveness and even worse with Zinchenko in the way.*

To be honest and maybe TRVL has names but I still feel we need a specialist 8. Not Rice, an uprated CD and elite 6. Someone as creative as Ode with his work rate Ode 2.0 naturally left pegged, but equally good with both.

I’d try Havertz at 9 next season and let El B die on that hill as Marc said the other day. If it works, we win the title, then I am happy with the win win.

Wasn’t Robby P our last real specialist 8? I ask because I can’t remember?

Anyway, LB and 8 and we are good to go on the left. Timber/ White with Ode on the right and let’s see what Havertz can do at 9 and not buy a rookie or buy him, but loan him to palace to Bournemouth or where De Zerbi goes.

That would be my best plan for this TW.