Do you remember when every Gooner around the world were both sad and optimistic; sad because Arsene was leaving the building and optimistic because we needed a change. The club thought of a quick fix, appointed Unai Emery which didn’t turned out as expected. There were a lot of things to fix, and Emery was neither given the tools nor the time. I’m not sure what could have been had he got the favors from the owners but he surely lacked the diplomacy to buy himself some more time. The club thought to take a completely different path, build things from scratch and the first step to it was appointing Mikel Arteta as the manager.
Edu and Mikel fixed a lot of things. The culture is much better at the club, we have got a very cohesive team with players fighting for each other, players are tied down before they can do a Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil and the best part is that we have young system. Having young players comes with a caveat that they are inexperienced and they learn as they go – we saw our inexperience against Bayern in Champions League – but they die for the shirt. You can’t expect Saka, Martinelli or the Gabriel(s) and Saliba not giving their 100% and fighting for everything every single game. They haven’t achieved anything (yet), and they have a career to build; it can only be done if they play and play well. If Saliba thinks he is the best CB in the world, there’s always a Harry Maguire who has a League title under his belt.
So, it’s been roughly 4 and a half years since Mikel took over. A lot of things are very positive at the club, and I like it personally. The only thing missing of this puzzle is the trophies! People praising the potential we have will soon forget about it if we win nothing. Winning a FA cup is no big feet, Arsene used to do it even with fringe players in his gone times. We have spent more than half a billion as a club. The fans have been with the team through thick and thins, and not-english fans contribute by spending 80 GBP on a tshirt which is a month’s expenditure. We need much more than that, much more than a FA cup or second place finishes.
Hence, the title. This is going to be a very crucial season for Mikel Arteta and the players. We have missed the title by points that can be counted on one hand, and with some of those ‘ifs and buts’, we could have made it. But we didn’t. And the reasons can become a characteristic if we fall again. I’m sure Mikel realises 5 years is a lot of time in football with more than half a billion dollar spent in building a complete new playing XI and bench, and not showing a trophy in return.
Don’t care about the ‘Pep is the best manager in the world’ bullshit. Klopp beat him, we were close twice and he has some disadvantages this season. Ederson is leaving, who wins him couple of games on his own every season. That’s 6 points, exactly what we need to win. We are in a much better situation than last season with Timber in the fold, Calafiori signed up if one of the CBs are out of form and every other player is fully fit. We would most probably not get a CF but hey, Mikel thinks it’s not important so he takes the blame of it. If we win without a CF, he gets the praise as well!
Right, we have missed football and it’s almost back. 3 more sleepless nights before we take on Wolves at home on Saturday afternoon British time. See you in the comments.
Marc
Different websites have differing amounts – only the club reps, player, players agents and any external legal assistance know exactly what is earned. Havertz is likely to have add ons to the figures quoted as is Saka.
Partey earns what is reported – no add ons. I expect Gabriel will depart at some stage in the next 12months – probably January.
Reiss & Eddie could end up being de-registered but still earn £100K per week.
Norg
Both Reiss and Nketiah were recently given new contracts by shit for brains, Arteta seems to live in the same world as the our new Government – who gives a fuck when its not your money!
Marc
In 1997 the gullible electorate took years to realise the spin doctors were spouting empty rhetoric. This time round it has taken weeks.
Nigel must be rubbing his hands because the tories are weak and he has a ‘wide boy’ charm that life time long, working class labour supporters will take to.
Quite a few pundits think it is Arsenals season but most cannot see beyond another City League win come the end of the season.
Ambarish
Namaskar 🙏🏽
Reading the erudite comments on your site ,now do not have withdrawal symptoms after 7am Kickoff signed off.
Kroenke, Tony, RVL, Norg , Marc
You guys are so multi – faceted and knowledgeable you’ll give me a complex.
LiR is a Victory against what we all moved in here for, and let us stay on together.
Obrigadíssimo
If anyone hasn’t joined yet, here’s our this year Fantasy League
https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/lyibk0
Hoopah—much-appreciated bud…take care
as per usual one must find a way to endure another seemingly rehearsed and wholly disingenuous presser on the eve of a new season…now I won’t bore you with a line-by-line accounting, even though I would normally relish just such an opportunity, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one particular line that sums things up for me, “We have great strikers already.”
the fact that he could make such an erroneous claim, seemingly without care or concern for the vast majority of us who think otherwise, isn’t what makes this statement so infuriating…it’s the very fact that we know full-well, based on his early window Striker recruitment failures, he likewise doesn’t believe a single fucking word that comes out of his own mouth…much like his former boss here, at least during his latter years, he doesn’t seem to give a flying fuck about the fanbase, except for those who have mistakenly placed him on the highest of pedestals…as such, his time here has nothing to do with truly changing the culture…in fact, it’s far more about reviving the same sort of dangerously self-absorbed, manager-centric culture that failed rather miserably, especially if it’s titles that you’re seeking…it’s as if no one else really matters, which is why we should have never handed over the keys to another manager with clear and obvious egomaniacal tendencies, at least not without the proper checks and balances in place
aside from all that nonsense, from a pure footballing standpoint, it’s certainly not all doom and gloom…far from it in fact, as we do have a talented collection of players, who, with a key acquisition or two, could definitely compete for championships on multiple fronts…unfortunately, I still believe that until we get in the kind of players up top and in the midfield, who can find a way to get shit done in those crucial fine margin matches, in spite of our weakest link manager, we will continue to come up short…that said, I love what Saliba, Saka, Ode, Rice, Marts, Calafiori and even a healthy Timber can bring to the equation, so long as their playing in their respective best positions and the tactics are right
Norg
I really think the pundits are deluded – we’re weaker for all the reasons discussed here over the last couple of days. What I’d completely forgotten in all that chat is Villa appointed Monchi last summer whilst I don’t think Villa will challenge this season they’re going to continue to get stronger and will be a thorn to a lot of teams they play.
Of course the other big factor is City’s impending trial – if the PL (and I don’t think the big clubs will allow it to happen) let City off with a slap on the wrist it’ll destroy the concept of FFP.
Arteta’s really left himself open to the fans getting pissed off if we struggle to score goals and my guess if he’ll try to blame those round him.
A “leader” who dumps blame on those round him quickly loses support – I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Et tu, Brute? moment.
TRVL
“so long as their playing in their respective best positions and the tactics are right”
It was all going so well till then!
So, are you supporting Fulham or Fulham?
ManUre vs Fulham starting.
Fulham with 25% ex-Arsenal players
Making it little easier for the Ambarish Quizz
Too late in the night for beers here
Hoopah
Haha, yeah too late but you should have stocked up. Anyways, the real game is tomorrow.
It’s always good to see Leno.
Have a few Goa craft beers . But will not watch the whole thing ,since have to be up early
Man U seems improved from last year and Bruno Fernandes up on top .
Hi Hoopah
You made the right choice mate. The game is dire. Enjoy those craft beers. Cheers!
KP—agree with your dire comment, although things opened up a bit in the latter stages…the only redeeming quality was the deft touch by Zirkzee, which resulted in the winning tally…United largely ignored his presence, likely due to the fact that he didn’t play in the preseason, but he looks to have a better left and right foot than Havertz, who could have only scored that goal by mistake…United still need to shore up their backline and without a proper DM they will struggle to stop better sides, but it’s difficult to draw too many conclusions after one match
by the sounds of things, Zinchenko could actually be our starting LB for the opener, which seems almost unthinkable with both Timber and Calafiori fit…I guess you should never use logic when trying to predict what the world’s most expensive manager-in-training will do when it comes to the selection process…luckily we’re playing a side that we should quite easily handle
here we go…there’s a mere 8 hours left before the start of the new season…I’m still rather perplexed by our off-season thus far, but I’m still holding out hope that our business is far from done…it’s looking more and more likely that Merino with be brought into the fold, which raises some serious selection and tactical questions
when MA actively targeted Zubimendi common sense would suggest that he was coming in to be deployed as a deeper-lying 6, thereby enabling Rice to pursue his 8-hole dreams…following another very publicized rejection, MA turned his attentions to Merino, Zubimendi’s teammate, who’s typically deployed as an 8 by both his current club and country…so does this mean Rice is now going to be deployed as our primary deeper-lying 6, or will this duo be given license to take turns pushing forward, much like he did with Soucek during his last half-season with the Hammers? to complicate matters further, Havertz has played in the 8 during our most recent affairs, with Jesus up top, so does this mean he’s returning to the midfield and Merino is simply a midfield depth piece…if this were the case, maybe we’re actually acquiring another Striker, if Eddie leaves, so MA’s simply preparing Kai for that possibility, as we know full-well that he will be in the starting 11 regardless of the circumstances…
obviously you get my point? this is some messy amateur hour shit that shouldn’t be happening at a top-top club looking to compete for things…not to mention, this is happening all over the pitch, I simply used this as one of the more glaring examples…fuck, I could have spoken for hours about our 17 LBs and 22 Keepers
all that said, I hope we come out flying and win in a decisive fashion…regardless of the outcome, we still have some fairly major sorting out to do…time to crash…chat soon
New post!