What are we up to?!

Fabio Vieira is a dead ringer for Daniel Ratcliffe aka A certain diminutive master magician Harry Potter.

Vieira oh oh
Vieira woh oh oh oh
He comes from Portugal
Harry Potter with a ball

I’ll get me coat.

Hahaha, that should be written up on Emirates walls. Hope he turns out to be a magician.

I have a feeling we will get a trusted & experienced midfielder too. I don’t think Arteta is that naive to pin his hopes on a 22 year one season wonder from Portuguese league and Xhaka.

I have no guesses for CF though.

Rohit
Big shout out to you mate from the sunny WC qualified People’s Republic of Wales. 😁Welcome to the Arsenal family. I’d love to say it’ll make you deliriously happy for the rest of your life but that would probably be a massive lie. Looking forward to reading your opinions as you steadily slide into obsessive insanity like those of us already on here. Buckle up and enjoy the ride mate.

Hi Ambarish
Just looked at one of those highlights compilations. His ‘bravery’ level = 5 out of 10 whatever that means. Looking on the bright side, it could mean he’ll only shit himself every second game. 💩

Only 3 out of 10 for being injury prone. That’ll soon be up at 9 or 10 I imagine after he makes Partey’s acquaintance. 🏥

KP

I’m sure no one in their right mind would bank on Vieira making headlines in his first season here. If he does that, that would be sexy.

Also, Arteta is dumb but not that much to not know he will be judged badly this season. Any signings that do not improve us NOW will have detrimental effect on our season and ultimately Arteta will have to answer that.

He can’t get away with a playing XI he had bought. Someone’s coming in that midfield ai have a feeling. I hope I’m not wrong.
A 22-year can turn out to be a Wilshere, or Sambi. We will know.

Regardless, I’m excited though for him. A 22year old attacking midfielder who can assist and score? I will take it anyday.

Ambarish
But like you said earlier, where is our new centre forward coming from? The Vieira signing could be good, but we need a proven big and technical, physical finisher up front. Until that person is secured, I’m still going to be struggling to summon up any kind of enthusiasm.

I know I’m boring everyone with the question but why when we’ve got by most reports severely limited funds are we looking to buy players from the PL the most expensive place to shop in football?

KP
Posted a msg for you in the No Time to Dye. After the satire I promptly watched the flick on Amazon Prime and it is OK, decent acting but I need more complex plots because I am getting the dumbed down one here at the Arsenal TW.

Thought Inception was brilliant acting and plot wise.

Best Fathers Day Ever. (18.06.22 In UK Times)

Super Rugby Payoff Final
08:05 Blues v Crusaders

English Premiership Playoff Final
15:00 Leicester Tigers v Saracens

United Rugby Championship Playoff Final
18:05 Stormers v Blue Bulls

France Top 4 Playoff Final
20:05 Montpellier Herault v Bordeaux Begles

There is a happy life after Arsenal has gone to shits under Arteta.

At this point there are at least 3 other EPL clubs in need of a CF, Chelsea, United and Newcastle. Where will AFC make a showing, no idea. But since every Arsenal fan and anyone else that follows the EPL knows we had 2 senior strikers leave and Eddie has yet to sign, so we are in the worst bargaining position imaginable.

They made an insulting offer for Osimhen which was promptly rejected and all the other prospective players are adopting a wait and see attitude on what other clubs are perhaps interested in my talent. Jesus will not readily commit unless he or his agents are aware of the fact that the other clubs, especially those with CL, are no longer interested. But it will be a shit show for the next 2 months plus.

Hi Killroy

Good stuff mate. It won’t take long to sink in that there is (a better) life after LG. I think a lot of people are rightly questioning whether he’s lost his mind. I no longer recognise him and some of the others as Arsenal fans any more. I had some great fun on there stretching my mind sometimes but it’s jumped the shark now.

That rugby sounds worth dipping into. Do you think the Tigers will beat Sarries?

Film-wise, I’m miles from decent cinemas these days. I think Hollywood at least is dictated to by market forces more than ever now because of dwindling numbers. Data showing audiences are mostly made up of older folk these days so guess what? Pack films with older actors doing old people shit. Helen Mirren, Al Pacino, Judy fucking Dench. All starring in carry on couponing, a crazy caper where a bunch of urbane ex socialites end up living in a trailer park and falling on hard times… til they find a procedure for making meth and De Niro, Samuel L Jackson and Julio Banderas come out of retirement to blast the fuck out of them with antique uzis and 18th century muskets. Hey, I could be into something there….

Talking of old bastards, I’m 58 tomorrow so I’ll be on the down low a bit. If we sign Gnabry and Osimhen by any chance I’m sure I’ll hear about it. It’s Ms Kphobe’s 55th as well. What are the chances of a couple having birthdays on the same day eh? 365 to 1 I suppose. The kids told their teachers we were twins because we shared a birthday! That took some explaining after I’d put my banjo down.

Want the Tigers to win if nothing else as to delay the Saracen’s black star from making an appearance. Even though I like some of their players. I will have life access to two of the games the URC final and the Premiership final. I have P2P access very shortly after the matches conclude. So by the time I wake up US EST the Super Rugby game should be posted on the Across the Tasman tracker. Will watch the other two matches live.

As far as movies is concerned you can tell from the P2P mentioning I am into filthy pirate mode often. Having a Home Theater with a 136″ screen and proper sound equipment, that is where I watch things. Amazon Prime is a steal for me with the prime video content. In the UK Amazon is muscling in to get EPL matches and other live sports events and they stream in 4k.

Haven’t been in a cinema in years. Usually get the aired content like MOTD & MOTD2 30 minutes after the program concludes. The P2P route has one additional advantage, ALL commercials/adverts are edited out. so a 60 minute TV show clocks in at 42-45 minutes in the US. Life is too short to waste nearly 20 minutes where marketing geniuses try to convince me to buy stuff I don’t need with money I don’t have to impress friends I don’t like.

Until later KP

Mb,
You’re spreading the Arsenal love,good man. Have to echo Kroenkephobe though,not sure you’re doing your mates a favour! Raphina,Guendouzi etc is an argument that covers one pretty obvious feature of Arteta’s reign,that being his inability and therefore refusal to handle players with attitude. My own take is that while many footballers are now multi millionaires before they’re even established and hence become arrogant,egotistical shits,the manager’s job is to get the best out of them,ie manage them. You can’t refuse to work with people just because you don’t like them. Half the pricks are pricks BECAUSE they know how good they are. Every top manager in the history of the game has found a way to placate his temperamental stars for the good of the team. The argument about creating a culture is only being put forward by people who never sat in a dressing room and realised the eclectic group of personalities required to form a successful team. As long as Arteta is here I fear we may never have all the tools required to be elite. But he can prove me wrong. God knows he has been given the time and money to do so. Would you back him though?

Kroenkephobe,
Regarding our chat yesterday about punditry and the blessed trinity of Brady,Giles and Dunphy( brilliantly anchored by the wonderful Bill O’Herlihy rip), here is a clip just after Keane was ousted from utd. Can you imagine this on MOTD? Dunphy later acknowledged that he was after having a few. As the saying goes,they just don’t make them like this anymore.
https://youtu.be/Prep4trYNj4

The Real Vieira Lynn,
Thanks. Mb is offering us all a chance to have a chat,groan or joke about Arsenal in the manner that all communication should take place,friendly,logical and at times impassioned. There will always be those who are angry with the world and take it out on others but so long as the blog owner is neither one of them or encouraging them,you’re good! Hope you comment here more often,I enjoyed your contributions on LG before you were red carded for your audacious questioning of the narrative……

Hear hear Almunia. TRVL and Killroy have both been carrying banner for real Arsenal fans over there. But you’re right – the vibe here is altogether better.

That clip was dynamite. I’d say Chippy had probably matched ED pint-for-pint in the green room before going on air, but Dunphy’s a wily and belligerent old bollix isn’t he. It was really weird though to see the normally loquacious Giles unable to get a word in. If I’d been Herlihy (is he an ex player too or just a professional TV presenter?) I’d have spoken to the producers straight after and demanded a doubling of my pay. They’re all really rude to him. Brilliant TV that shits all over MOTD you’re right.

ED doesn’t mention us but I seem to recall Arsenal being serious and credible bidders for Keano as well. I think he and GG would have just about tolerated each other and done well but Wenger would never have coped with him.

I’d love to know at some stage how he’s perceived these days in Ireland. A son of Cork right (?) but I guess he’s widely admired, not least for telling the awful Mick McM to ‘stick it up yer bollocks you English cunt’.

And blithely calling Niall Quinn a creep. Tip top TV.

As controversial as it may sound, I think Liverpool is making a big mistake of letting Mane go instead of Salah.

Mane was a better player for me than Salah.. what do you guys day?

I think it came down to a straight choice between Dalglish’s Blackburn with whom Keane had made an oral agreement and utd. If we were in the running it was as a distant third.
Keane supporters and man utd supporters are inseperable,even during the Saipan affair. Those of us who hated utd tended to hate Keane. Since his retirement many are prepared to acknowledge his brilliance as a player,but considering he is arguably Ireland’s greatest footballer,he will never be loved like Paul McGrath or Brady or Giles. Saipan is and always will be unforgivable for many.
You’d be surprised at just how popular big Mick is over here. Between being ‘captain fantastic’ at Italia 90 and a pretty successful manager also,many Irish people rate him highly. His no nonsense approach on the field and in interviews was very appealing to the Irish mentality!

Hi Ambarish
I don’t think it’s just wishful thinking on my part, but I expect Liverpool to be less of a force this season (meaning more of a one horse race in City’s favour). If one half of a very effective duo (Mane) leaves, it’ll inevitably harm the other half (Salah). That, added to a damp squib end to the season and the unknown quantity and different type of player that is Nunez, I suspect they won’t hit the same heights. I think at this stage the title is as good as City’s.

If you’re looking for a topic, what about the publication of yesterday’s PL fixtures. I think we’ve got a pretty good start, although paranoid Pedro Attwood would surely disagree.

Mane had the better season Mb,no doubt about it. But Salah was far better in the previous two. There are three factors we’re not privy to. The first was contract negotiations, were they willing to sign,how much did they want,for how long etc. Secondly fitness. Do Liverpool feel Mane could soon fall off a cliff ala Torres? Thirdly,personality. Were they getting on with each other,they always seemed close to an argument to me. We’re they getting on with Klopp?

Tell you what though Mb,no one player
is going to produce for Liverpool next season what Mane did last year.

Almunia
Totally agree with your assessment of what has to be in a managers locker. On the ESPN-FC show Craig Burley made this comment that stuck with me.
“In today’s football world a manager has to be part psychologist as he has to figure our what the different players need to be comforted, feeling loved and belonging to the team in order to get the best out of the player.”

This skill is not in Arteta’s toolbox so we are truly screwed as he goes on devaluing players.

Almunia

Fair play mate. I don’t think we’ve ever disagreed about anything. But this about Mick McM.

and a pretty successful manager

Is a tough one to take for a Cardiff fan (although I accept he did at certain places and for the national team before that) . I think taking on the Bluebirds was a job too far. His methods were way out of kilter by the time he got to Wales. 80s football played 35 years later in an even worse and more negative fashion. He lost the players (even beanpole striker Kieffer Moore who got loads, albeit really terrible, service by way of hoofing it from the back into the channel). I also thought he got a rough deal in Saipan – it was just the comedy gold in Keano’s quote and I don’t recall Mick speaking out about it at the time. For Ireland supporters it was probably a nightmare.

Anyway, good luck to the guy. He certainly had honesty as a virtue.

Kroenkephobe,
McCarthy was a perfect international manager for a small nation. It’s all about results. And he got them. But boy the football wouldn’t inspire. As a club manager where people are forking out Big money to watch on a bi weekly basis I’d imagine he was infuriating, unless the sole aim was to survive!

Just my take on Pool’s signing. They are clearly building for the future and the next attacking formation and may forgo next season’s title challenge in order to be a force for years to come.

Nunez, Dias, Jotta are clearly being groomed for the next front line. Smart move to find out when to sell a player, still having value and bringing in a top class talent that will be part of the club for years to come.

This is what AFC is missing having a squad that ONLY needs season in season out tweaking rather than rebuilds. Klopp as one of the best managers in the world is capable of doing just that.

Killroy,
And that’s why I don’t think he’ll make it anywhere with real ambitions because those elite players come with serious egos. Even as I was saying to Mb, can you imagine the work Klopp has had to put in over the years keeping all those attackers happy both as individuals and as partnerships? Now Arteta is young in managerial terms and may learn but a club of our size should never have been his to experiment with.

KP

I feel the same. Mane was doing the dirty work and it’s going to take quite some time for any player to get used to Premier League. We have seen big names failing e.g. Lukaku, Werner, Bruno (minus first season), Sancho etc and there is no guarantee Nunez will have a big impact in his first season.

Almunia

Mane had altercation with Salah and Klopp even, at some point of time. It looks like more of a Ozil/ Sanchez conundrum we had earlier, they can only afford to pay one and thry felt it necessary to keep Salah.

Salah is a bigger brand too, and Klopp simply loves him.

Killroy – that was right on point. Klopp has a very clear philosophy, he is re-doing his team and Arteta could have learnt some things from him.

I think Pep makes it more complicated with strategies and Klopps just stick to his principal..

We even have a term for it in IT..

KISS – keep it simple, stupid! And works often.

I have come with comparative illustration. Managers of football clubs are like grand masters in Chess they know how to move the pieces (players) on the board (pitch). Arteta just played his 3rd game of chess coming from the background of playing Checkers and thinks he is a grand master knowing how the players are needing to be moved about. Delusional!!!

Ambish
Also made my living in the IT world until retirement and enjoying it. Yes KISS is a good principle and Arsenal’s problem is the case of FUBB. Fouled Up Beyond Believe.

Sticking with the rules and laws that work in IT the reason while Arteta will not last, is Murphy’s law and he will never find the solution because no matter where he looks for it, it will always be the last thing and he doesn’t have that kind of time.

So that is the good thing he is under pressure and has to produce. It is amazing that a club like United is having prospective player not wanting to sign with them and since that is the case we are even further down the line of being attractive..

One final thing the Kool Aid kids on LG are missing us as I have read some posts that ask Peds to let the Arteta Nevers back out of the bin. Not me But I will gloat on September 2nd.

much appreciated…just can’t wrap my head around the whole sin-bin initiative, as everyone, visa vie the King of Media, knows full-well, you never choose the braindead choirboys over the dedicated contributor/follower with a differing opinion…whenever I see this dynamic at work, it instantly makes me wonder what’s going on behind the scenes, as it would behoove clubs nowadays to invest in a revamped version of the old radio DJ payola gig with certain blog owners, so as to perpetuate particular club-inspired narratives…regardless, it’s a gutless maneuver, considering his “homophobic” explanation, which certainly shouldn’t be wantonly tossed around considering the new world order…no worries, I never spread myself to thin, as I have established a “presence” on several blogs of interest…unfortunately, my oft-times caustics tone tends to illicit some strong responses, both good and bad, which means I’m always one dick-slapping post away from an Admin-mandated excommunication…got to run, as I simply must prepare for the Fabio Vieira announcement gala, which has justifiably taken North London by storm…WTF

Hi there TRVL
I also didn’t get the reason for the sin binning as I don’t know what he meant by “homophobic posts” but can only imagine the expression of disdain for Arteta and Edu or better known as the Bumbling Brazilian Buffoon and his MIT Manager in Training must have been it.

On the other hand I am glad as there is too much nonsense being posted that is too aggravating and a waste of time to reply. Much is so far from the truth like their jubilation for signing a bench player for 40m euros.

There are a few that still fly the flag and once there is no more passionate chatter but just yes minion nodding and congratulating each other for delusional assumptions, it will be tiring already I get the feeling since the AFBs have no one to argue with, since we are gone, it makes for a boring blog.

Pedro has lost all journalistic credibility as he has turned into an infatuated Arteta lover and totally forgot the saying “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer”. Unless you have critiques you will not grow and advance in live.

Fortunately LIR is a good hangout for banter as it is realistic and truthful. All the best to you. All we need now is Tony to post. He had a lengthy post on LG laying into Pedro for binning us but it was deleted shortly thereafter. September 2nd will be the day of reckoning.

Hi lads,

Pedro slings these slurs around as a distraction. Pay no attention because it’s idiotic. It usually happens when he’s lost the battle on some or other point (a pretty regular event nowadays) . He’s accused me (and I think Almunia) in the past of various ‘isms’ and its just wide of the mark. I think in my case, it was because I suggested he tone down the xenophobia after another assault on Emery (the ‘good ebening’ gambit) , in which he suggestes that UE was a poor manager because he’s too thick to learn languages. Really fucking poor on Pedro’s part. His only excuse was along the lines of, how can I be racist if my gf is from Latin America? He’s really a bit thick, and lacking any self’awareness. Moreover, he tolerates intolerance (ahem) among certain of his acolytes I suppose because they’ve also got naked at the Arteta love-in. And Pedro, you numpty, if you are reading this that’s not homophobia, it’s merely flowery imagery.

TRVL – I think your sense of unease about the transfer window is reasonable. If I can use a culinary metaphor, if Arteta were tasked with going to Tesco’s to buy ingredients to make pre-season pancakes for everyone with 10 quid, he’d come back with fancy sprinkles, 100s & 1000s, lemon juice and sugar. But there’d be no sign of eggs, milk and self-raising flower. Many other cooking analogies exist and are welcome. I’ve never watched it but I’m certain he’d be the first one off the show if there was a great British bake off for football managers! Klopp on the other hands would have some high energy, gegenbiskiits!

Right, better go. The nurse is coming up the corridor with my tablets and a huge syringe. I’d better put the mushrooms away.

Kroenke

Glad I’m not the only one who picked on Pedro’s hypocrisy on what was allowable content. Emery was on the receiving end of blatant racism that Pedro not only allowed but encouraged I got binned for saying it was going to be difficult to raise funds through selling after COVID and clubs not having much money to spend – it wasn’t even an attack on Arteta.

He’s lost the plot to such a degree that he sees any comment “next seasons going to be tough with the World Cup break” for example that isn’t praising Arteta as an attack.

The cooking analogies are a good one – Master Chef has a round where contestants are given a box of ingredients with no prior knowledge and have to make a dish. A good Chef can take basic ingredients and make something decent – it may not be Michelin Star but its good to eat. What’s pushed with Arteta is that he can only perform with “perfect” players well he “upgraded” 3/5ths of the defence last summer and conceded more goals this summer it looks like we’re bringing in attackers.

What odds we score less goals than last season if that’s possible?

Hi Marc
It could depend on how many new defenders he’s allowed to buy. He could get lucky (after all, a broken clock is right at least twice a day…). It seems like eons ago that we had all those central defenders in our squad but it must have only been about two years or so . Maybe we’re returning to that sorry state. Given that Tets is so utterly abject at coaching the (rather important) skills involved in attacking play, I can see him prioritising defence again and starting the season with (only) Eddie up front. Seen to me (and probably the rest of the sane gooners in the world) we have to get in a decent, proven centre forward

Cheers Kroenkephobe

it’s clear that he was destined to find something/anything in order to justify his long-contemplated course of action, regardless of it’s actual merits…Dame Nigel, who’s as thick as a brick and a thirsty Pedro loyalist, was making some ridiculous claims about “discovering” players, so I simply said that he was engaging in so much self-fluffing that I hoped that he had some tissues handy…now unless he’s suffering from a severe case of multiple personality disorder, how could this ever be deemed as homophobic in nature…even more infuriatingly pathetic is the fact that he strategically deletes my rather innocuous post, yet keeps his post, making these rather erroneous claims, in the thread, which means that anyone who saw this would be left to their own demented devices to speculate wildly about what exactly was on offer

as for your culinary-inspired analogy regarding our current MIT’s approach to all things transfer-related, albeit insightful in more than one respect, I would suggest that you’re actually giving him more credit than he deserves(lol)…in much the same vein as what transpired during our former manager latter years, MA so desperately desires wearing the “genius” moniker that he willingly pays above the number for some 5’s dressed up as 9s prospects, in the hopes of receiving a slathering of kudos, and he likewise ignores the obvious by prioritizing “luxury” acquisitions over our most pressing ones…for me personally this TW was all about quality over quantity, unlike last summer, but I’m fairly convinced that the powers that be are thinking otherwise

TRVL
If Le Grove were a mathematical formula these days, it would be…

Pedro = Nigel Tuffnut + Negative Nigel + Positive Pete + Raulishuss multiplied by delusional arrogant wanker (who isn’t really an Arsenal fan).

AFCF, England’sbeast and the awful Zacharse would be lapping it up and admiring the mathematical genius from their vantage point in a cage under Pedro’s desk.

There was an extraordinary exchange on there the other day where someone asked Pedro a direct question. He forgot to switch over and answered the question using his Positive Pete persona. I’ll try and dig out the reference because it was so blatant.

Killroy
Good to see the Tigers won. Sounds like it was a thriller. I also caught the last few minutes of the Blues and Crusaders.