Here is where we are in a nutshell ………
Ox is off to Liverpool
Gibbs has gone to West Brom
Mustafi is still here ……. Milan have given up wanting him
Today will be about whether Dick Law’s team actually know what they’re doing and can earn their wages.
Rumour has it, talks are ongoing to get Sanchez to Man City but we won’t allow the deal to happen unless we bring someone in. Sounds fair to me, only that could have happened a month ago …………. thanks Alexis.
My hope is for Draxler, he and Ozil know how to play together but Mahrez is on the horizon too.
Lots of talk of ‘no money’ out there ……. again no money!!!! To say this window is a mess is so far from an understatement it’s now comical.
But gooner friends, it does give us a large dollop of excitement for the final hours. Will our inept backstage team get a player over the line so that our Chilean can move on ………. 15 hours to go, buckle up we’re almost there.
Written by peachesgooner
Arsenal News 24/7
The no money stuff came from David Ornstein (or whatever he’s called) and is just bullshit to whip the Arsenal fans into a frenzy. They know how to get clicks out of them, that’s for sure!
Rasp,
Another season of poor defending awaits unless Wenger does something drastic on the training ground. We need to think defence for once, but that won’t happen today.
Keeping Mustafi – by default I think – is a plus though surely
I thought the window closes tomorrow. Oh shit, it is going to be exciting.
Maybe not 🙂 thanks P
Thanks peaches ….. a day of nervously checking the media ahead for sure. Unfortunately I get the impression that Dick Laws’ first name is more appropriate than his surname 😂
Silly me, I’m having lunch with a Pool supporter today ……… I think I’ll just wish her good luck with the ox.
Definitely Peaches. I think we should hijack the William Carvalho to West Ham deal and give West Ham Wilshere on loan for the season. If ever we needed a type of player it’s him. Wether he’s the standard is another question, but all transfers are gambles, so why not take the risk?
Bad mood gone then Eddie 🙂
FGG
Much as it pains me to say this, based on last season and the few games of this, strengthening the defensive side of our game is a priority
If Sanchez goes, I think we lose both goals and one of the few fighters in the team, but it’s now at the point where his flu/sulking would be worse for the dressing room. Very bad news.
Perez is the natural in-house replacement.
Aha …. an epiphany Micky? …. let’s all concentrate and send Arsene mind waves so he can see the light too 🙄
I wonder what names – if any – AW had on his list.
I do hope that Merts amazing FA cup appearance didn’t put him near the top of AW’s list of dependable defenders. He must’ve had a CB in mind to have sold Gabriel.
Peaches
Thanks for the post.
This is how good I am. Said that maybe this season would be Gabriel’s breakthrough 🙂
Here we go again…same old same deadline day stories
It’s taken until last day of the window again to realise we need defensive reinforcement! Crazy.
I hope to God we don’t pay the £30m for Evans. £30m!? Surely not.
We just have to hope the Liverpool performance was down to TW disruption and we can tighten things up once we get back from international duty and players go into their natural positions with Sanchez getting his head down and playing his socks off for the team knowing he can leave at the end of the season (if he’s still here). Not a ridiculous notion, but not easy to achieve either.
Oooooh forgot to mention Perez in the post 😳
Mahrez checked into London hotel last night according to Sky. Us or Chelsea then.
Fog – you reckon the Alexis deal won’t get done? Or wishful thinking?
Oops predictive text turned you into fog again 😳
No Money ? Yet again we are in profit through a transfer window even before Sanchez leaves. there was talk of a £200million war chest before Mr Clueness signed for 2more years. Can only pray that we can get someone to by the club from that blood sucking yank, sack the board and Wenger, fed up of our famous club being a laughing stock
I just think we might reject offers. Wenger can’t afford him to leave after saying all summer he wants him to stay. Makes him look weak at a time when he needs some strength. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I just have a feeling he’s staying. Hope I’m right. It could be he’s just driving up the price of course.
FGG
Arsene will know the state of the dressing room atmosphere regarding the Sanchez dramas. If he’s created a stink, Arsene will rightly offload him
FGG, Arsene always categorically denies we are going to sell our star player …. so far we’ve sold every time. I think we should sell him and spend the money where we need it.
I agree Micky, but it’s all rumour and guesswork isn’t it. Easy story for the press to say it’s Sanchez causing problems, but doesn’t mean it’s fact. Lots of easy stories around Arsenal at the moment, including:Kroenke wants money for a new Rams stadium, suddenly Arsenal have no money. Hmmmmm….. it’s all bullshit.
Rasp,
A month ago, I would’ve agreed with you. VVD, Lemar, Mahrez, perfect window. Now though, Mahrez and …..Evans? No thanks!
Agreed Micky, in some ways it would show weakness to keep Sanchez ….. let’s just hope we’ve been very busy behind the scenes
I’m not as anti Evans as everyone …. he’s a solid defender …. but 30m is just plain ridiculous …. at his peak he may have been worth 15!!!!
I suppose it’s not our money, but £30m is ludicrous. If someone said now that selling Sanchez means we get Mahrez and VVD I’d go all Suarez and bite their arm off!
We’d be a laughingstock (more than we are now) if we paid that for Evans
No new bids for Mahrez but he’s obviously praying a deal gets done so he’s made himself available for medicals etc
Mahrez at airport
Mahrez at London hotel
Mahrez Travelodge Islington
What’s not to like about rumours
That’s the thing, we have become a laughing stock …. I just want to see us pull off a massive coup and shut everyone up ….
I hear Mahrez has borrowed LB’s bike and is en route to me for coffee
He may call it coffee 🙂
Rasp
Have to say I don’t this this laughing stock thing. We ended 5th and Cup winners which is hardly a disaster
The window itself will be judged at 11pm, with Lacazette and Kolasinac looking like excellent signings
It’s simply the Sanchez drama and whether we can strengthen the defence
Rasp, happy to offer you my extra ticket for Bournemouth if you are still interested.
Micky, genuinely never had a kebab (I remember too well how they were made in the old days in “eating establishments” near me).
Chas, nothing like good curry for clearing out anything dodgy in the system.
Peaches, thanks for the post and happy Thursday/Transfer Deadline day.
IT’S NOT RAINING
feck Mehrez
We don’t need him anyway
come on dogs, walkies
Luckily for you Micky, you’re cocooned away down there in glorious Devon, in North London there is no escaping the snide comments from opposition supporters 😳 but I agree, we have made 2 very good signings … why the *^+% didn’t we play them against pool???
To hell i no longer support this bullshit cheap club….
Mustafi isn’t going anywhere. I doubt Alexis is either, unless we get a huge bid.
We’re actually going to make a profit this window in terms of fees paid out and in.
Is Wenger really being so parsimonious or has Kroenke put a block on spending? It’s just too bizarre for words.
We clearly need a CM and now Mahrez is off somewhere else as well.
It’s a sad, sad time to be an Arsenal fan. And the start of the window promised so much with interest in Mbappe and Lemar.
Always I’ve been a pro Wenger man. I’ve defended his position in many a row. The other day someone asked me, ‘If you had a gun put to your temple and had to choose right there and then whether you wanted Wenger or Big Sam – no other choices – a manager with immediate effect, which one would it be.’ I can’t believe what I answered. Now hanging my head in shame – what a mess we are in.
Rasp
I do understand how ghastly it must be to work close to the Totnum ghetto. Really, I do, but still they won nothing in our worst season, while we bagged the FAC.
Morning Mike, I’ve noted that you’ve ‘liked’ many posts over recent years ….. it’s great you have chosen to comment today …. I guess the situation is getting to us all …. keep your chin up …. you never know ….
Cor blimey Lads, let’s wait till 11
One other thing. It seems as if Wenger believed Ox would stay till the end, hence why he played him at right back, which forced Bellerin to play out of position and shunted Kolasinac off the pitch altogether.
Surely, surely now we will see a back line with either Monreal or Kolasinac on the left, Mertesacker with Koscielny and Bellerin on the right. Mertesacker is the CAPTAIN. He should be on the pitch. God knows this Arsenal team lacks leaders.
Leicester fans wondering if Mahrez, Drinkwater and Vardy leave today. They must be sweating!
Wenger has far too much faith in people in general by the sounds of it. Surely he must e known Ox wanted out after he rejected the £180k. Why play him at Liverpool? Why not just revert back to the correct positions for that game. Seems crazy. Oh well, onwards and upwards.
Rasp
Did you see the LBG offer. I’m ready to pounce, so beware
Very true nj, once the window closes, we will see which AW considers make his strongest team …. and how many are played out of position …. none I would hope since we have a strong player for every position
I said after the Leicester game it was a huge win as we can’t afford to have a bad start to the season as it will become poisonous within a few games. It seems it’s starting already! If Sanchez stays then I don’t see it as a bad window. It would be a good one if we got a defender in aswell. A lot will depend on Sanche and if he’s replaced.
No, I didn’t see that Micky …. explain please
LBG
Of course I remember the old kebab shops. I was a victim many times in the wee small hours, but we’re talking Yildiz.
It is miles from the FFB though. Best I found so far is coming out of Finsbury Park, turn left to head up to FFB and within 20yds before the bridge on the left, there is a superb shish on offer.
Not the 5 Star Gourmet Restaurant experience of Yildiz though 🙂
Offered you a ticket for the Bournemouth game, Rasp.
Rasp 8:43
Lots of Draxler rumours around. Good player.
Wenger have been a huge disappointed. Why would he all of a sudden do something in the transfer market. Wenger will be full of excuses and stories. Why can other clubs sign players but we can’t. Or we are interested in a player. The other club don’t want to sell. Another club comes along and sign the player. Let’s face it. Wenger got no clue what he is doing. The only reason managers want him to stay is because they know how predictable he is. Another sad sad year for Arsenal
There is a very good Turkish restaurant on the way to the FFB, peaches and I have been there a couple of times
Looks like everyone’s leaving. Massive clear out.
I’ll be on break if things continue the way they are
– Gibbs out and Ox out – confirmed
– Sanchez probably out
– Wilshere talks are on-going with West Ham and Real Betis but a move is doubtful and he will most likely get renewed
– Mustafi to stay put unless Evans or Van Dijk joins us
– Rumours for in:
-> Evans, Van Dijk – unlikely for VD and Evans only possible if Mustafi leaves
-> No rumours for DM or CM
-> Mahrez, Draxler – Mahrez most likely joining Chelsea or Man Utd and Draxler staying put at PSG
Most likely outcome by end of the transfer window:
– Gibbs, Ox, Sanchez sold
– Mustafi and Lucas Perez staying
– No arrivals
micky – do you know the story about the farmer and his neighbour?
here it is:
George the farmer has a problem, his tractor is broken and won’t be back from repairs until the end of the month. George decides to try and borrow the tractor of his neighbour across the fields.
So George sets off across the fields to talk to his neigbour. He starts out thinking, “I’m sure it will be fine, he’ll be happy to lend it to me”
After a few strides, it occurs to him “Of course, I’ll offer to pay for the fuel…”
A few strides more and he thinks, “I’m sure it will be ok.. though some poeple can be a bit funny about lending things”
A few strides more…”Hmmm, I haven’t talked to him much lately… I hope he’s not upset with me…”
Later… “Well, he did give me that funny look in the village store last month… I don’t know what that was about”
Later… “Oh, I hope he’s not going to give me a hard time about this… I’m only asking, after all”
You get the picture, as he strides along, he runs over all the pitfalls that could await him.
Anyway, eventually George reaches his neighbour’s farmhouse and taps a little awkwardly at the door.
As soon as his neighbour opens the door, Georges says to him, “You can keep your blasted tractor you miserable git. I never wanted it in the first place!!”
That’s how some fans (moi) feel about this transfer window. Why wait till 11pm, it is obvious is going to be bad news, init?
Here are some leads to explore:
– > Diego Costa, Batshuayi from Chelsea as strikers
– > Dembele from Celtic as winger
– > Di Maria from PSG as playmaker
As one with Arsenal in his DNA I always read your fine blog. I can truthfully say this is the lowest ebb. I shall live in hope.
Thanks Peaches
i find this whole transfer business distasteful. There’s nothing wrong with the Club. If players want to leave then good riddance.
When a women leaves me or does something I don’t like its over, no second chances. As you can imagine, with that kind of attitude I have a very barren love life and consume plenty of ready made meals. indeed, my idea of a threesome is a Sainsburys two for one offer on Chicken Jalfrezi.
I am not bothered about players coming, for me that is not the answer. Look at our dear neighbours Totnumb. They have not forked out super big and as a result they have gone from obscurity to medicority. For that they must be congratulated.
its time to give our young players a chance.
The Ghosts of the Thirties are Stirring.
Ooops, what am I like?? …. thanks LBG … yes … I’d love to have your spare ticket … I feel the need to support our boys more than ever … and whatever happens today.
I worry there is some truth in the “no money” line, and that apparently is due to wage rules in PL, with regard to maximum permissible increase for clubs without CL funds. So it may not be there is no money for signings but that there is no money for wages.
This is probably the reason that players are being shipped, i’d love to know how this will be audited though as no club publicly declares players wages, they only declare numbers of staff and a total wage bill, the only split is directors wages. Do they only include the 25 man PL squad or do they include youth players that may be called upon, or those that don’t require naming (Nelson, Maitland-Niles etc)
All that makes it possible for the media to bandy about astronomical figures without any fact checking.
The report that Ox was offered £180k a week to stay but is accepting £120k a week fits the media agenda to paint the club in chaos, how does anyone other than players agent/player and Arsenal know what we offered, has there been a direct quote from anyone in relation to the matter?
I’m not bothered by Ox’s departure, even £120k a week is too much for a player who has failed to deliver consistently.
I am more disheartened by Gibbs departure as he says in his tweet he had played for his team and thanked the club for the opportunity, which is why despite his shortcomings in certain aspects (although to me they weren’t massive) he never failed to be committed on the pitch. And I’d rather have 11 Gibbs on the pitch than a disparate bunch of financial mercenaries looking for the biggest payday or the best team to boost their commercial rights.
“Thanked the club for the opportunity to represent them” – no expectation to play, no expectation that he should play with other stars, just appreciated the opportunity to pull on the red and white jersey representing the club he loved, and be even more grateful he got paid to do it. We’d probably all do it for free it at least for no massive financial improvement in our lifestyle. That’s the kind of players we want.
I am taking the believe it when I see it route, I think the signing of Lacazette and Kolasniac may be our only significant business, cutting Gabriel, Gibbs, Ox and other fringe wages may allow us to pick someone up especially if Alexis goes. We will see.
Morning All,
Some of the reaction is laughable.
Allardyce??? Corruptible and sacked by WHU. Just the chap for Arsenal.
Stop supporting? Fine, you are not a supporter anyway if 3 games after we win the FA Cup you can even think like that
Laughing stock? Get a grip.
30m for Evans. If he improves the squad, who cares?
Terry. You are a shining light in a sea of darkness and despair 😀
GIE. Agree about both Gibbs and Ox. Not about the money.
AW stated some time ago that the squad was too big and some players had to leave. Why are we surprised that he keeps his word? 40m for Ox in his last season is brilliant business.
Someone commented on twitter yesterday that if we have a profit from the transfer window serious questions need to be asked.
Surely it’s not just me and Terry that think we played better football when we consistently sold more than we spent in transfer windows? Also expectation was lower since we’ve spent money we have failed to improve, if not gone backwards, once we were a fairly consistent starting XI, our squad has grown massively due to players wage demands and then sitting on their fat contracts when not playing. Footballers want to play football, again back to Gibbs that’s why he has left (well rugby with Pulis but you know what I mean).
Let’s get back to basics, let’s make superstars not buy them, let’s enjoy giving our youth system wings in league cup rather than putting out the rather we weren’t there reserves who don’t make the first XI, and let’s start enjoying our football again.
Santi by the way will be this seasons like a new signing, as will Jack.
Here here GiE … the bit about the youngsters and enjoying the football
I started to read something very lengthy last night about a club’s management of an increase in wages, I gave up sadly but I’ll see if I can find it.
It’s the sort of thing Zee would have at his fingertips.
It was presented as an explanation of our problem to take on players and pay them what they want in order to compete.
Hear Hear GIE and Rasp
Terry and Raddy you are both shining lights in a maelstrom of media dog mess
Sky saying that Arsenal are happy with the business they’ve done and are not minded to sell Sanchez as no time to find a replacement of the same quality. Makes sense really. We’ve just got £40m for Ox so suddenly the £60m loss on Sanchez has been softened. Also, we’ve signed 2 quality players and got rid of a load of fringe players who were adding very little to our results. I’d like a CB but if we stick with what we have right now then I don’t have an issue with it.
Come on mobile phone users
I demand sightings at airports.
Snap away I say at any men in poncey clothes and pathetic hair. The Yves St Laurent man bag will be the cue to snap
You post and we’ll identify and create the story
Just did some quick maths:
Wages per 2016 Accounts £172,000,000
Divide by 52 weeks = £3,303,000
Divide by 25 players (PL squad) = £132k per week.
That would be an average, and would mean that the other 626 employees plus the 835 temp matchday staff get paid zero. So £132k a week for the 25 man squad is unlikely.
So any talk of wages players are offered or on need to be considered with this in mind.
I’ll do it another way, let’s assume the average wage for full time staff of £40k (that’s grounds man, coaches, directors, youth team, PR, ticket office etc etc and for purposes of the excercise I’ll assume the 835 temp matchday staff earn £100 per game at 24 home games (guess).
I’ll put Arsene down for his cool £8m often repeated
Temp staff £2m
Arsene £8m
Other full timers £25m
25 players £119m
Average weekly per player £91k per week which feels more reasonable.
I’ll leave it to someone else to add up all the supposed weekly wages and see if it fits in the £119m above.
Hear, hear, GIE
Oh I see, now you’re all trying to be grown up and mature 🙂
Here you go Micky
😁😁😁
Its GIE’s influence but we all know he’s a big kid really …….. just with an accountants head 😁
Luton airport earlier
West Ham Bob is at Stansted. Must mean Jack is on his way to the Hammers
Oh Exile
How very disappointing. An outdoor gas cooker is not a bbq. Not at all. Oh dear, oh dear.
You so need to move to the west country 🙂
Thank you Peaches. 🙂
What exciting conversation. Have we bought any new toy yet? Anyone other than Joel Campbell, that is! My arms have that strange itching feeling.
Chas
Now we’re talking. Proper action photos. Fantastic.
Another one
GIE. Fine work on the wages
Chas
Spend your day posting pictures of young men at airports on arsenal twitter sites and see where it goes
“Look who just landed at London City”
Pic of complete stranger
Micky I disagree if the people who do the most outdoor cooking use gas it’s good enough for me, add in box of smoking chippings or wood planks and doesn’t get better.
Plus no food poisoning or hot spots, and controlled flare ups.
Blackstock Road chippy10 minutes ago
top top comments, Zee. 🙂
Guess who just flew in to Southend airport
Arnie 😡 where was that comment supposed to go 😂
Blackstock Road? That looks like domestic kitchen in Notts! 🙂
Exile
I bloody knew you’d throw in a line about adding wood chips for that authentic bbq flavour 😉
Chas
Don’t stop
ha ha ha 11:05
Peaches. I saw someone (I think you) calling GiE Zee, and I liked the idea. 🙂
chas. Nail. Head. Thank you
What a terrific day this is. Raining, so no temptation to leave the laptop.
Got to work. On my return I expect us to have signed Neymar after his loan spell at PSG
On my return, I expect Shitty to have offered Draxler and Sterling in exchange for the serpent. 🙂
£25m profit, got rid of some fringe players, and brought in 2 starters. Sounds ok to me but I’d prefer if we spend some more cash and got another starter.
I had Harry Kane in our car park this week with his Lamborghini if anyone wants to start a rumour about that 😞
Ox confirmed.
Rasp enough about your sexual exploits 🙂
😂😂 GiE
Here we go. New Sanchez bid is in. No idea of fee though.
£55m + £5m add on according to Balague. He reckons deal is close but we’ve asked for time to go sign Lemar which apparently we are confident we can do. Sounds like rubbish given we had given up on Lemar.
Guillem Balague
@GuillemBalague
Alexis close to sign for City for £55 + £5. Arsenal asked for few hours to sign Thomas Lemar, which they confident they are going to do
Run with the goss. FGG
Perfect lunchtime filler 🙂
Love this too
VAN DIJK ON THE MOVE…
Virgil Van Dijk has left the Southampton training ground in the back of a blacked out car.
Where’s he off to?
We are making a profit. Awesome, just the thing to lift us to first place on the table! With FFP starting soon we are shoe in!
Oz,
Business first, football second. The quicker we all get on board the happier we will all be! 😂
VVD is off to see his brother Dick
I just put those three up for Micky. 🙂
Part of me wants Sanchez to stay, the other part though is thinking that we are going to have to replace him next season anyway, so why not let City pay for his replacement for us. If £60m gets us someone like Lemar for the next 5 years then it’s probably a good deal for us.
@ FGG
Hey I was all over that during the stadium build but the days of celebrating Arsenal finishing on top of the balance sheet table are long gone. I want players that fight tooth and nail. Plus some results would be nice too. Saving money only lines silent stan’s pockets.
3 what? Surely not shiny new football players!?
Chas
The fact that Virgil is in a blacked out limo is really doing my head in
Where’s he going? Is it good news for Gunners? Is he meeting Arsene at Junction 7 of the M3? What the hell is going down? Can they do the medical on forecourt. 5 press-ups, a star jump thing, and sign him up?
Crazy times. On edge me.
3 kebabs? Nice. 🙂
Sanches deal complete.
“Few hours”…doesn’t it close in 8 hours? Plenty of time. Fill up the fax with a ream of paper that has Arsenal letter heads.
FGG
This one?
ha ha ha
crazy amounts. head says, no way, heart says, maybe, then so be it!
Ox tweeted a good message about Arsenal, Arsene and the fans – I have no idea how to add the tweet to AA. Need Chas…………..
“Chas
The fact that Virgil is in a blacked out limo is really doing my head in
Where’s he going?”
Off to a car park in Hertfordshire to meet a couple in a Lamborghini
he he he
Right now I’m being eyeballed by a dog, three cats and a peacock
Answers is what they’re demanding
It was the Renato variety, but it seems the Alexis one is close to leaving too 😩
Exile
you’re clever at maths
If I buy at .0003 and sell at .007, what’s the % increase
Haven’t got my calculator
Isn’t it about 2300%
2300
Ooooo nice
That divided by that times 100 🙂
Birmingham potentially ending the window with Wilshere and Song in midfield! WTF! Harry strikes again.
Damn I’m having a thick day
What’s with the Trump cap
Morning everyone
Ooo another twist
14:52
SANCHEZ STAYING?
Read into this what you will, but Alexis Sanchez has ‘liked’ a tweet saying he is staying at Arsenal
I have two best Ox memories
One was travelling up to see him make his debut in the league cup against Shrewsbury (and sitting with Eddie and Peaches)
The other was being in Munich to see his dash from the half way line and taking on the germans single handed
Any one else heard Gunnersarrus is going to be sold
I was there, great memory Micky …… not in Munich obviously that was BR
Gunersaurus is apparently the father of Ray Parlour’s brother’s wife …. at least that’s what razors said on TS this morning 🙂
Nein, ze BR was in Dortmund for the epic win
Horrible thought. What if the day fizzles out to a damp squib with no more black limo sightings 😦
what! no more sliders for the rest of the day? disaster!! 🙂
Thomas Lemar @92m.
According to Sky we’ve bid £92m for Lemar! That’s €100m. He’s playing for France tonight I think so that will be difficult to pull off. No way do we sign him unless Sanchez leaves.
I’m back.
Have we signed Bale? He is the man we need.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/the-latest-transfer-deadline-day-in-many-european-leagues/2017/08/31/5bc956d8-8e0c-11e7-9c53-6a169beb0953_story.html?utm_term=.e02295e7c48e
Really? 92m? crazy
If it’s £200m for Neymar, 180m for Mbappe and £150m for Coutinho then I guess it’s the going rate. Its £30m for Evans ffs! 😂 If we sell Sanchez and get Lemar I’m happy with the window. Still want a CB though! 😂
Really ?????!! £92m for Lemar, can it be true???? Who says we have??
Ok pausing for breath 😂
I don’t want pictures of Ox smiling at me in a Liverpool shirt on my twitter feed, how do I get rid of him?
Not really back yet but it all sounds very exciting 😁😁😁
This Lemar story is rubbish. 92m … yeah right 🙄 … (read this in a sarcastic tone 🙂 ) apparently we would sign him but he’s about to play for France and there isn’t time!
We were interested in him 2 months ago, if we wanted him we wouldn’t allow ourselves to run out of time surely …. otherwise heads should roll.
The 90m for Lemar comes out of the same stable as 100m for M’Bappe and 40m+1 for Suarez
That’s an ice bucket full Rasp 💦💦💦
Que? … am i being thick? 😳
No, that’s my ting for today 🙂
Think I’m over it now, not that my maths problem from earlier makes any sense at all, and I still haven’t grasped the cap thing
Sanchez owes us a hell of a final season if turning down £60m and missing out on Lemar. Big risk by the club if that is the outcome tonight.
Spot on FGG
The key to our season, if Sanchez stays, will be his attitude.
Hard to predict as on the one hand he’s a real grafter that simply loves playing football, then we have the slightly dramatic pretendy sulky flu type.
The best solution would be for the crowd to really get behind him at the Bournemouth game
Don’t care what happens once I never see Welbeck start another game
Micky have you decided to come to the Bournemouth game?
Hi P
Not definitely, but pretty sure
Not too worried about tickets as there’s always some on exchange
Also unsure whether coming alone or with 1 other
Ohh Fred
That’s harsh. Danny (yes, needs to practice shooting) is one of my favourite players.
Afternoon all. Many great posts from GN5, Micky and Peaches with great comments and tactical discussion. I had so much to say but haven’t had time (Chas breaths a sigh of relief 🙂 ).
Anyway I always feel truths are somewhere in the middle of many views. The board and Wenger have been horribly amateurish in doing what was needed to take the club onto the next level after getting Sanchez those few seasons back and it has resulted in (F.A cups aside) a stagnation in the teams development and a downturn in the clubs image (as an ambitious top club intent on challenging for top honours). Top players don’t see us as the club on the up like we were a few seasons back. That is bad management.
Having said that LB is also right that how can a player be forced into signing a new contract, but then again I arrive back at the point that the clubs lack of foresight and activity before now led to the point where players had us over a barrel.
We are where we are though and I am at the point where the finger pointing is irrelevant and we need to do what is best for the club. That likely means using this as a transition season. The project that started with Ozils purchase followed by Sanchez, (but was unnecessarily stopped in its track by the club and manager), has now failed. It is time to hold our hands up, (as oppose to trying to convince otherwise with nonsense about how it is ideal to have players in the final years of their contract and that it will become the norm so that is just fine and dandy), and now press the reset button.
I would prefer any player holding out with 1 year left to know that if they are still with us tomorrow without a new contract signed that they will become a lesser priority than players who are committed to the club, no matter how good they are (Sanchez). I would also let him know that we will not just accept any old deal in desperation. He has either signed and is committed to the club, has gone but in a deal which prioritises our needs over his, or he is here without a new contract signed and becomes a lesser priority at the club on the playing side.
Playing a player in a world cup year and in his final year who has half a mind on not getting injured for the world cup and his new prospective employers and new deal next season will undermine us. We would be better off playing a player not yet at that level but who is committed. I would rather see Nelson and Iwobi deployed behind Lacazette than Ozil and Sanchez who are looking to get out at the end of the season.
In a transitional season I would go for the development of our promising but committed players for the clubs future benefit over world class non-committed ones. Obviously it would be more ideal to have other top players come in (Lemars and Draxlers maybe) and the contract rebels to move on, but I would still at this point get shot of them and promote from within if we can’t get new deals over the line.
By the way the deal that suits us with Man City is a swap with Aguero. That or it doesn’t happen with them and Sanchez stays but drops down the priority rank for 1st team action.
“I arrive back at the point that the clubs lack of foresight and activity before now led to the point where players had us over a barrel.”
Prey tell how that could have been avoided, you obviously have a view or you wouldn’t have made the accusation. I am genuinely fascinated as to how the club could have avoided this? Your rationale will of course apply to Neymar and Barcelona and Coutinho and Liverpool. How, how?
Nice – “Arsenal have tabled a £92million bid for Monaco ace Thomas Lemar but the Frenchman would rather join Liverpool”
as if Wenger would pay £90+mil for a player 🙂 🙂 the whole squad maybe.
LB – make him a captain? that worked for a while in the past.
So the excitement has died down 😦
On others in the transfer window ………… What’s going on with Drinkwater and Mahrez? They both seem to think someone wants them but no one has shown their hand 🤔
GoonerB – what’s the bloody point in keeping them (Sanchez, Ozil) if we can’t play them?????????
How are you by the way, haven’t seen you for ages.
Imagine if Danny would be scored the chance at pool, we probably still got licks but instead wasted or only good chance
What about scoring one of his million chances at stoke
So micky so sympathy, i really don’t want him to start ever again
listen fred – it is not up to you. do you think anyone cares if you want Welbeck to start or not? Well, I do 🙂
peaches – why can’t we play sanchez or Ozil?
GoonerB says so ……
cant you tell me? his comments are too long for me
Gooner B says so………………..
Doh, of course 🙂
Shame, I really wanted to know, I thought I really was missing something important.
Where the hell is that blacked out limo?
They blacked out the front window aswell and got lost. Bloody typical Arsenal. Thick as shit!
Up a dark alley Micky.
Crikey, the mood around here has stiffened up a little
Loosen up chaps
I’m going to the garage to buy chocolate
fatgingergooner says: Bloody typical Arsenal. Thick as shit!
Well I think that’s a lot of crap………………….
GB’s response is perfectly understandable. Sanchez will have to bide his time and rebuild his relationship with the fans.
Whats the point of keeping them if they want out? Not giving them away to opponents.
so 3 done now. I mean kebabs. glass of wine ready. onwards.
aye, right! I wish Wrighty’s mouth were half as good as his feet. he is losing my respect. very fast
Nice assist by giroud
92m for Lemar?? A 21 y.o. Crazy. And good right to hold onto Sanchez.
Still would like a CB/DM
What the latest on Sanchez he in or out
“in” is the verdict so far, Fred
Hope it stays that way
Now for the defensive side.
Beginning to think I’d accept the blacked out limo with or without the contents. Could always just park the bloody thing up on the edge of the box
Plus, we could rent it out to slappers on Saturday nights
LB, I do have a view of course.
Barcelona received £198m for Neymar…..are we about to get the same for Sanchez? If we were I am pretty sure that most Arsenal fans would view this as excellent business from the club (provided it is re-invested). So is it really a good idea to compare us to Barcelona as if we are managing this situation as well as they did with Neymar.
Liverpool managed to get Coutinho on a 5 year deal with no buyout clause earlier this year (unless I have got that wrong) which puts them very much in the driving seat with any transfer involving him. Are we in that same strong position to control this situation as we see fit?
Further Liverpool have already secured attacking midfielders that cover what he offers, putting them in an even stronger negotiating position. Have we signed any players that cover what Sanchez offers? Again I feel to suggest that we are in the same dire position as them requires quite a large distortion of reality.
Where I would agree with you LB is in saying that in recent months the club could do very little. What I was actually saying was that although we can’t do much about it now that is because of how the board and manager have managed things from as much as 2-3 years ago. This situation is the result of a longer period of, basically, just not getting it right.
Sanchez obviously came to us because there was an image that the club meant business in pushing this club back to the top level, and was likely even verbally sold this vision by AW himself. The best way to keep top players at a club are obviously financial but also that they feel they are at a club that is really on the up. The latter we have failed with through poor club management from 2-3 years ago and I think Sanchez has held out from that point to see if we would push onwards.
Well we haven’t and he has remained unconvinced, and unsigned, until we have got to this point where you are right in asking what can the club do about it? Well very little now, but quite a lot further back. I don’t believe for one minute that Sanchez decided 2-3 years back that he didn’t want to be here, and that he made a conscious decision then to wind down his contract. Are we really saying that if Sanchez had been offered the wages we have recently offered him, and the club had been progressing to one one that could challenge seriously for the big prizes, that he wouldn’t have signed before now?
I am very well peaches, thanks for asking 🙂 Hope to see you for a game soon
dont get the reasoning there, GB. If Sanchez were sold the dream 2 years back, and he got on board, and that dream has not been realised, does he not bear part responsibility for it? and so he should try and fight even hard this year to help deliver on it, no? that is, if he has any mettle. hmmm.
There’s the worry Arnie
“if” he has any mettle
Hi GB
Hope holiday good
Financial fair play at its best…PSG sign two players for 400 million in 1 transfer window. Feck me!
your way too cynical, Micky. 🙂
ha ha, Oz. right!
Arnie. Of course all players can be considered as having to share responsibility for any team failings but it is fair to say that he has carried us recently so I am not so sure that when analysing our failings that he will be a key contributor in this. I am not to sure that he has dropped below an acceptable level to suggest that he just needs to fight harder and if he had things would have turned out so much better for us.
Also this is not a unique and first situation that our (mainly) key player has wanted out citing a lack of confidence in the way the club behave in being able to challenge at the top end.
To be honest though Arnie we may still pull it out of the bag, who knows. Things may yet happen. I am just making the point that the clubs attitude and behaviour in the last few years (in a modern football sense whether we like it or not) has hampered us seriously.
Micky, good holiday thanks mate. Finished off by watching a certain football game on Sunday 🙂
Just been onto sky and it all looks dead
No Lemar, so Sanchez stays and the black limo went back to Southampton with Virgil still on board
What a goal by Lemar
Sanchez has more mettle (and steel) than the rest of the team put together.
And that’s the problem he can’t do it by himself can he. And that’s why he wants to go somewhere else, where there is a commitment to getting better. Where he’s not the only one busting a gut, getting it done.
Another from Lemar
Kos seems to be limping
Sorry guys it may sound a bit mad but I still feel that if the club has hit a low point (which it looks like we have) we may as well look to the future and prioritise opportunities to the players who have the ability to become top ones and are committed to being a part of our future.
I look at what Monaco have done with both Mbappe and Lemar and my feeling is that their precocious talent was allowed to blossom into the real thing because the club invested in playing time in the 1st 11. Even a top player like Sanchez with what they can offer under most circumstances, if unhappy, can undermine a club and dressing room.
Is there a Lamar or Mbappe in young Nelson, for instance, I would still rather see more invested in him rather than Sanchez this season. I think we could have a difficult season even if Sanchez plays every game so why not take a chance on something that can bear us fruit beyond this season.
What a forward line France have.
Joel Campbell out on loan to Real Betis.
Should have sold sanchez and left the money for the next manager to build a team we can truly get behind, to buy proper players, to build the right culture.
Fair point, GB.
if we held for 70m from Shitty, no complaints.
What a different day it might have been with your views, GoonerB early this morning
.”Invest” in players who want to play for for the Club and die for the Club, not for the money, not even for the trophies, but because being an Arsenal player means something to them.
How are you LBG?
To be honest I think I would have preferred that the contract rebels were replaced with ready made top internationals, but in the absence of this why not take that slight risk for a potential greater long term reward with these youngsters.
Players like Nelson, Nwekali, Jeff, Maitland Niles, Iwobi could be important aspects of our future but when and how will they get their chance? If fate has left us where we are now then maybe we just need to adapt and change tack. We might have nothing to lose because I am not so sure we will get top quality and committed performances from Sanchez and Ozil this season anyway.
I wouldn’t suggest we chuck them all in at the same time but 2 at a time should be fine, and my casualties would be those that will not be with us after this season no matter how good they are.
Teams are too organised these days.The last couple of hours were the best of the transfer window. Now no one has fax issues or scrambles late.
It looks likely nothing will happen now. Clearly we would have sold Sanchez if Lemar had been interested in signing for us. It seems our negotiating team forgot to find out if Lemar actually wanted to play for us ….
“Are we really saying that if Sanchez had been offered the wages we have recently offered him, and the club had been progressing to one one that could challenge seriously for the big prizes, that he wouldn’t have signed before now?”
And if my auntie………………………….
GB
I would give both the league cup and the Europe thingy to the young guns
Plenty of games, all working together
I agree we only want players who want to play for us in the squad … equally we only want to sign players who want to play for us rather than use us as a stepping stone. I think our aim should be to make Arsenal a club that top players want to join, and that requires us to demonstrate our commitment to winning on the pitch.
Players ‘caring for the club’ is a lovely idea, but it doesn’t exist any more. Players want to go where they can win trophies and earn money. Simple as that. A lot of them care more about the culture of the city they are in than the culture within the club.
We tried investing in players who cared about the club and building a core of players. Remember Wilshere, Gibbs, Szscesny, Jenkinson etc? They all ‘cared’ about the club, but the problem with investing in these players is that a) they don’t all turn out to be superstars, and b) fans don’t have the patience to wait for youngsters to flourish and would rather buy the multi million pound mercenaries.
Would the fans be happy if we’d let Sanchez go and Wenger said the reason he let him go was because we had Nelson? Yeah, I’m sure that would’ve gone down a storm!
That’s what I would do Micky, although I think we should try to win the Europa League and pick teams that are capable of that to include as many youngsters as appropriate
I agree FGG …. that’s why I said we have to make Arsenal the kind of club players want to go to by demonstrating our hunger to win the big prizes on the pitch
Apparently Lemar wanted Liverpool …. like the Ox (took lower wages) and VVD …. there’s a theme here …. pool are showing more ambition than us on the pitch and in the transfer market
How does a club demonstrate that hunger though Rasp? How do we appeal to the big players bearing in mind we aren’t the biggest spenders and we aren’t winning the big trophies?
Ox and Barkley have just turned down last years champions! What is it exactly these players want?
“I’m praying Wenger is outside waiting to put Lemar in the back of his van”
lol
FGG
They all know each other whether through Internationals or simply through mates who move between clubs
It might simply be they hear better things about the atmosphere around the club at Pool rather than Chelsea
An 18 year old has had one good season at Monaco and now he’s joined their direct rivals on loan with £160m+ deal at the end of it! What hope is there if that is deemed normal? Football is a total mess ruined by stupid amounts of money.
@ FGG
I wonder how much of it has got to do with Arsenal’s and Chelsea’s handling of Sanchez and Costa. Players and their managers like to think they’ll call the shots. Teams digging their heels in wouldn’t reflect too kindly in my opinion.
Fair point FGG. I agree I don’t think that the fans would be happy if it was publicly stated that Nelson was Sanchez replacement, and I agree it is not really the most ideal situation and it is ideally better to integrate him more gently. But on the other hand look at what Mbappe is doing at his age because he was given the opportunity. It is difficult to see what is the right or wrong way to proceed, but as always I respect your opinions all the same, and mostly concur with them…..which leads me to :
Ahh…LB….the old your just speculating and spouting unsubstantiated and spurious opinions line. Well how about this from the last post. You need to imagine it in condescending and patronising inverted commas for full effect :
I think it would be a fair guess that Mustafi has asked to leave but with so many years left on his contract I feel again that it is a fair guess that he has been told that he was going no where and benched for his insubordination. If we are able to sign VVD then I can see Mustafi being granted his wish but otherwise he will remain on the bench until he tows the party line again. It’s all gone very quiet with VVD, this is all very Arsenal, its possible that Mustafi has heard about his arrival and has asked to move for that reason. it’s possible that that one was in the bag before Gabriel moved.
Sanchez and OC are doing the same as every other player who has only one year left on his contract, and let’s just stop and realise for a moment what that means, the player will be out of a job in a year’s time, no club, no income, no football and as such no player need to ask to leave any more. Today it is simply understood by everyone that such a player will be open to either moving to another club or resigning but in either case he will only do so when he knows what the best deal available which usually means who will pay him the most money.
So full of substantiated facts then LB? No hint of personal opinion or speculation in sight? Glass houses and all that…
Forgive me but I thought that was what blogging was about, to discuss each others points of view and opinion, even if you disagree with it.
FGG
Although a freak outcome, the Leicester league title win shows what spirit and togetherness can overcome ie cash
Yes PSG pay ridiculous prices and very high wages …. but pool and totnum pay a lot less than us but manage to attract and keep top players …. in this instance it is about he culture and vibe of the club …. they are a more exciting prospect for an ambitious player
Barkley has spoken about his desire to work with the Spurs boss, and Ox spoke about wanting to play CM. So it would seem that the philosophy of a manger can be enough to get a player to sign (Özil is a good example), but sometimes it can be something as simple as the location (Sanchez chose us over Liverpool), or being played in the right position (Ox). Money is probably high on the list aswell for a lot of players.
My main problem with this TW is that we clearly need a CB and DM …. and it appears we didn’t even try to recruit in those areas
Do we need a CB?
We have arguably the best one in the league – Koscielny
Mustafi as his partner.
Mertesacker as backup. Monreal and Kosa can play there.
Chambers (who had a great season) and Holding as youth reserves.
Elneny as a last ditch. Bielik can be recalled if every player is miraculously struck down.
Bringing in more centre backs impacts the development of Chambers and Holding.
Rasp,
How many windows in the last 10 years has that been the case? I can only point the finger at the manager for that as he obviously feels the way he plays football is the answer, even though everyone around him can see that having a solid base is important.
Talking about philosophy and culture, ours comes from Arsene and unfortunately it just doesn’t seem like the right one. How he cannot see that we need more strength and better defensive qualities is beyond me.
The polite thing would have been for Arsenal to put up the “CLOSED” sign this morning and given everyone the day off 🙂
To hell with defending
Disrespect the opposition and charge it is then 🙂
nite all
Koscielny has a chronic problem and plays through the pain, Mustafi has gone backwards since joining us, Mertesacker has his own injury problems and is in the last year of his playing career, Chambers is not good enough, Holding is a good prospect but his confidence is shot after recent games …. so yes, we do need a top class, strong and commanding CB
FGG, I’ve been using that phrase … the football culture and possession based style of play is the problem. We are very poor when not in possession. We don’t press as a team and that is what frustrates Sanchez …. and yes, the problem lies on the training ground
how many times have pool and totnum won trophies? how many times have they qualified for CL in the past 16 years? we do some things well. but we fans are greedy for me, which is good. the grass on the other side …
*more. bloody spellcheck
I still think we might be back in for Lemar in January and City back in for Sanchez. I am not so sure that Lemar is against joining us but we met with Monaco’s accepted figure today, late on, when that player is on international duty for a world cup qualifier, not a friendly. Why leave it till then?
maybe we fans too need to learn afresh how to appreciate our club. a look at the banner above may help, for starters
Goodbye cruel world
Goodbye goodbye goodbye
Arrrghhh
Just disappointed
Oh well
Up the arsenal👍
Rasp,
The problem isn’t just on the training ground though, it’s in the whole ethos of what Wenger wants to do. This idea that we don’t worry about the opposition and we play our game is great against 80% of the teams, but what about when we go to Old Trafford or Anfield etc. Nobody is asking him to change his philosophy, but he does need to be willing to put it to one side for the odd 90 minutes where playing a defensive way might give us a better chance of a result. SAF loved to play attacking 442 football, but he always turned up at Highbury/Emirates with 5 in midfield. Why can’t we do that?
Also, it’s not just on the field, it’s the attitude that ‘don’t worry about the opposition’ gives the players. It’s too laid back. We should want the players thinking about the opposition and how they can dominate their counterparts and how they can embarrass them on the pitch. If they aren’t thinking about who they are playing against then they aren’t focused enough.
Obviously it’s a lot more complex than what I’ve written, and I’m sure the manager and players do considerable homework, but there is definitely an issue with the mentality of the players and I believe that stems from the manager and his philosophy.
IMO, the bigger problem is us fans, FGG. We love to bask in self pity! ha ha ha
RA,
You’ve definitely got a point about the fan perspective, but it’s so difficult to keep a level head these days when all you hear from the media is crap about the football club and how it’s constantly doing something wrong with its fans or it’s players. There is so much negativity that some of it is bound to rub off.
True, FGG
Come on arnie, don’t fall back on that ridiculous ‘it’s the fans fault’ argument …. you’re better than that .. there is absolutely no logic to it. We are a business …. name me one other business that blames its customers for its failings.
Rasp. Wrong. I think we are moderately successful, we are certainly not failing, but we are struggling at the moment to become the best in everything. Not a disaster, IMO, and neither a great shame.
All true arnie, and none of that is down to the supporters.
The handling of the attempted Lamar signing with a large offer put in at the last minute was very poor …. either we hadnt done our homework … or like the 100m for M’bappe, it was just posturing.
FGG, Lemar will probably be 120m inJanuary
Gosh, well that was exciting for a while but ultimately it fell flat.
Good that we still have Sanchez, worrying that we need him to show commitment to the cause even though he doesn’t want to play for us.
Be interesting to see how AW manages that one.
Agree that we should have signed a strong CB even though we have a few CB’s too many of them are iffy sadly.
We have no reliable partnership for either three or four at the back.
True, Rasp, but the persistent complaints that the grass is greener on the other side, is our own doing, But that is only human nature.
Indeed, Peaches.
Erm Sanchez could go to Spain tomorrow…….window still open.
Thanks arnie, I think we need to differentiate between the things that annoy fellow supporters with opposing opinions …. and the things that supporters do that could affect the team. Supporters played no part in the club’s transfer dealings.
Rasp. 🙂 to be continued.
For the moment, I am just happy that the silly season is over. 🙂
Me too arnie…. hope to see you at a game some time
Ok apart from that negative thought, I want to address the “play for the badge” player discussion.
No one is saying they should all be starters, no one is saying there shouldn’t be signings of stars.
But let’s look at ManUre and SAF after the golden boys period of Becks, Scholes, Neville etc, even when the only remaining player from that generation was Giggs they still won things, this was a squad that regularly relied on O’Shea, Brown, Evans to bolster their back line, or Fletcher to fill in in midfield. These players haven’t gone to better clubs when they left, they went to lesser clubs who thought they’d be amazing for them but got them relegated in some instances. But what they had was `United in their heart so when they were needed they literally put body on the line.
We have made too many average squad signings at the expense of homegrown talent, and I go back to my point about spending money to fulfil promises made by the PR chief `Ivan Gazidis. Sanchez and Ozil were no brainier signings, Elneny, Perez and others I am not sure Wenger wanted them or was told he had to buy someone. Game time would suggest the latter.
Final point on the atmosphere surrounding the club, if we didn’t rise to the media bait and we weren’t so critical of the team ourselves then maybe just maybe players would want to stay. When you see some of the abuse meted out to players post a defeat or even post a win you appreciate the kind of tough skin they’d have to develop not to be affected, Nasri and Arshavin both commented on the fans on their departure, we called them names as a result because we were hurt, but the reason it hurt is we all know there is some truth in it.
Bad businesses don’t blame customers? Klopp did, when he lambasted them for giving up on the team and leaving Anfield early, and to their credit Liverpool fans took a look at themselves and started staying the 90 and the next game got rewarded. If you want to know why Klopp took the Liverpool job when he could have waited for bigger clubs I would guess the similarities of the city to Dortmund was a factor.
If you can’t go to football believing this time we might be different you need to stop going, other teams score occasionally, it happens it’s not one sided. It’s how the team and fans deal with it that makes a difference. I think it may have been a Swansea player when asked what the secret of winning at Emirates was, said we know that if we could keep it at 0-0 long enough the fans would start to turn on the team, and then nick a goal when it starts affecting them. Look at the noise in the Britannia when they were luckily 1-0 up, they didn’t moan and whinge or scream like a girl (sorry `Peaches, Eddie) when we kept creating chances they got louder in their support.
It’s not a new phenomenon, there have always been moaning bastards at games, unfortunately now they get to read it every minute between turning up to games so are even more riled when they get there. Some I swear hate winning.
Finally
https://goo.gl/images/4rgLUR
Wenger as victim? Players inflicted upon him? The cognitive dissonance is astounding.
This is the guy that laughed off the mere notion of having to work with a director of football.
Wenger the victim. Pffffffffffffffftttttttt!
Ferguson got the most out of his players, even the squad players. Not the badge.
hands up if you don’t think we are the club in crisis.
but hey, Wenger is a genius, we have £35mil more in the kitty 🙂
I have my hand up again.
“If you can’t go to football believing this time we might be different you need to stop going”
My favourite sentence of the post.
“Elneny, Perez and others I am not sure Wenger wanted them or was told he had to buy someone. Game time would suggest the latter.”
Do you really believe that there is someone at the club who has the authority to tell Wenger to buy players GIE? I find it very hard to believe.
I think history will be very kind to The Ox’ agent. Played a blinder of a window 🙂
Did Chelsea get Drinkwater in the end?
LB – you need 2 more seasons of Wenger
ok, we are going to the new season. Not a good start, but early days, we can catch up. But can we?
There is some unrest in the squad, hell knows what is going on there, but it is self-evident that something is brewing.
We sold Ox, and failed to replace him.
We kept Sanchez, missed out on £50mil which could go into purchasing a replacement and we have a key player who doesn’t want to play for us
Give me the positives please, because I cannot see many. Another long season with zero chances of winning a major trophy
Danny Drinkwater — 35 mil to Chelsea. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Chelsea being made to look financial minnows is very funny.
Bugger, they did. 35m looks a bargain
“If you can’t go to football believing this time we might be different you need to stop going” (GIE)
I cannot better this.
looks like a bargain? I must be missing something.
I have to put on lycra and meet men in a park, latter.
lb – I’ve stopped going last season. This season I forgot to renew the silver card so the club have cancelled my membership. I wrote to them telling them to stick it up ****. I don’t want to go to games anyway.
This is not the Club I had fallen in love with. The ambitious, proud, successful, ferocious; the hard earned joys are not there anymore.
The Ross Barkley story was amazing AND The Ox turned them down
Back to Exile’s point about the Spanish window being open, can Athletico do any kind of “arrangements”
stop it micky, don’t do it to yourself. The club failed to buy new players in what, 2-3 months, they are not going to do it now. Relax and wait till January
No Eddie, I wasn’t thinking about us, more about Costa to Athletico who have a ban. Just wondered if there was wiggle room for them to secure a player who technically moves in January
Then there’s Coutinho to Barca
And Özil to Barca if they fail to gets Coutinho.
City are said to be furious at Arsenal for not selling them Sanchez, a player we have under contract. How dare we! Disgusting behaviour by Arsenal. 😂
Both City and Arsenal played the game, both arguably lost. At least we have Sanchez for the season, but wether that’s a blessing or a curse is yet to be seen. I reckon I’d feel much happier if we had Lemar this morning. Shame. Still, I think the squad is actually stronger than last season given that we now have a prolific goal scorer and a much better left sided player. With Merts, Chambers and Wilshere returning we are not really any worse off in defence or midfield, and even though I think we need to strengthen those areas, I don’t think they are worse than last season. The loss of Ox sees us weaken the right side a little, but I didn’t think he was that good for us anyway.
Drinkwater to Chelsea. Hmmm, remember when Scott Parker played for Chelsea? No, me neither!
“And Özil to Barca”
Oh no, don’t say those things. Yikes, hadn’t thought about that
Morning All,
At least we tried to spend some money and we did sign two fine players.
At no time were we linked with a DM. Does AW believe we are strong enough in that area with Elneny and Le Coq. Or are we going gung-ho?
I hope so.
Trying to spend money is certainly the highlight of the window for me BR! 😂
If someone had said Lacazette Kolasinac IN Gabriel, Ox, Szscesny, Gibbs OUT Özil and Sanchez REMAIN at the beginning of the window, most of us would’ve been delighted I think, but somehow we’ve managed to conduct it in such an amateurish way that it leaves a bit of an odd taste at the back of the mouth. Maybe that’s just last nights curry!
Greizmann to AFC?
At least we tried to spend some money
Stop it Erik, it’s not clever and it’s not funny 🙂
Morning
FGG. Well said
Micky. It’s the Viking Way
BR,
Wenger has zero interest in the traditional DM. It goes against his football philosophy. It’s a wasted player as far as he’s concerned. Even the one he bought (Xhaka) is a footballer with a wand of a left foot who he managed to tame into a soft arse within 6 months! If he wanted one, Coquelin would be playing week in week out already.
We can’t buy players now, but Spanish clubs can up until midnight tonight.
FGG
The only thing that matters is what the players think
We lost at Pool because most of our players jogged back
If somehow that attitude has changed, we’ll be fine, if not, forget top six
LB, on the authority to buy thing, I would just love to know, we probably will never know the truth unless Arsene writes a book, the Wenger controls everything at the club line has been repeated so many times it has become fact, but has any of it come from a trustworthy source?
When Arsene wants a player, they arrive and they play, Arteta, BFG, Santi, Podolski (first season or two) etc. Unless they are the 16-21 age group and brought in for future.
Do I believe Gazidis? No he is the arch PR manipulator that puts it all on Arsene’s shoulders.
It just seemed to me that he was pressured to spend money because the club kept saying we could.
FGG, your 7.56am is spot on. We still have an excellent squad. I think that the Liverpool game was a mix of too much uncertainty in the squad with the TW still open and getting the line up and tactics horribly wrong. As long as AW gets a team balance we have a 1st 11 as strong as any.
only thing that might derail us is if we notice a less than committed Sanchez. If so he needs to be removed to the reserves ASAP and then look at the options to move him on and bring in Lemar in Jan. Hopefully by then we will have played our way into contention and look a good option for top players again.
I agree Micky. I said after the Pool game that these same players were immense against City and Chelsea in the cup last season. That’s the defensive attitude we need in every game regardless of personnel. There were definitely off-field issues against Liverpool that effected the performance. It’s not right, but hopefully the players can move on.
GiE,
It’s only really the Mustafi signing and potential offloading that rings alarm bells. Perez has been mentioned aswell, but with him it always seemed to be that when we could’ve used him he was injured. It just didn’t quite work out. There were rumours that Mustafi upset Wenger in some way, so it could just be something like that. I do agree though that from the outside it looks odd and makes you wonder who’s buying the players.
How do we know that Mustafi was offered on loan?
Just because Inter or AC wanted him does not mean that AFC were interested in the deal.
That said, it seems strange that AW chose not to play him at Anfield
All will be revealed against Bournemouth
True.
What would be your chosen 11?
hear hear GiE. 🙂
Paul Merson! Oh dear! His assessment of our transfer business was that ‘we’ve bought a striker when we already had one’. Is he serious? All I’ve heard for the last 5 years is him rattle on about how we need a goal scorer! The media coverage of our club is hilarious.
Rasp, will go to a game, soon. Dont know when though. Could be early December.
Cech
Chambers Mustafi Koscielny
Bellerin Ramsey Xhaka Kolasinac
Özil Lacazette Sanchez
I think Chambers was good for Boro last year and has more experience than Holding. I’m not sure Merts has the legs anymore and should be used as back up. Monreal is a decent player but is he a CB? I’m not convinced. If we get the back line sorted and get Kol and Bellerin a little more disciplined then I think the Ramsey Xhaka partnership can still be the answer, but we have to communicate as a team so that we know when Ramsey has vacated midfield we don’t all follow him up front. Also, if Ramsey does step out, then we should still have enough men with the 3 CB’s, Xhaka and possibly a WB being behind the ball. We have to stop this gung-ho attitude. Up front picks itself if Sanchez is giving 100%.
I think playing Chambers instead of Monreal or Merts is a prime example of us finding a balance between development and superstars i.e. What GB was talking about yesterday.
Chambers (or Holding) is no worse than Monreal and it makes sense to play the young, developing player rather than a 30 year old who isn’t going to get any better.
Sort of.
The problem is that Mertasacker, Chambers, Holding, Mustafi and importantly Koscielny are all right footed.
Monreal, as you know, is left footed.
Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal.
Rumour Barca in for ozil
Arsenal are said to want 55 million
Source metro
Do we really believe that City even made a bid for Sanchez?
50mil?
Why wouldn’t Arsenal accept such an offer?
If this did happen, Sanchez would have almost certainly been offered a higher wage so could have insisted on moving.
I am not sure I believe this even happened.
‘Source: Metro’ 😂 2 words that kill any transfer rumour stone dead!
LB,
Normally I would agree with the idea of Monreal being left footed therefore vital to our balance, however, Koscielny is very much a left sided CB and plays very well on that side, so in this instance I don’t think Monreal is a must-play.
Morning anyone that’s around ………
I think defending is not only necessary but also quite brilliant when executed well. Our history of having amazing centre-backs that judge so carefully when to take out the ball. Sometimes it doesn’t come off but when it does it’s a thing of beauty.
Saying that I do love it when we score goals 😁 and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
Defending is over rated, for wimps really.
I’m hoping Barca sign Ozil today, so we can have 11 men on the pitch again in matches 😉
Oh LB I can’t see if your tongue is firmly planted in your cheek 😳
That is a top comment, Peaches. 🙂 IMO.
and a top response, LB. 🙂
I too think your 7.56 FGG was exactly how I see it. The Liverpool game had, I believe, many behind the scenes “disputes” going on both leading up to yesterday and possibly in terms of tactics. If we are to continue playing three at the back,( and I say if because I am concerned that Arsene sees that as two wing backs on half way line or forward of it. Whereas I believe if one attacks the other holds back) I want Bellerin to be worked on with regard to his defensive technique, body shape, when to commit to intercept, when to hold back, how to tackle, how to put your body in the way to stop crosses. My suggestion is Lee Dixon or Nigel to be detailed with job until he is word perfect. For this reason I would not make him a shoe in for selection. My team for Bournemouth would be
Cech
Mustafi. Kos. Kola
Chambers. Ramsey Dhaka. Monreal
Ozil
Lacazette. Sanchez
I understand the reason for your doubt, I don’t usually do humour but my tongue was firmly in my cheek 🙂
I think that I was reflecting on our last game at the time and it was the only light hearted thing I could think of.
LBG – Chambers??? as wing back he’s worse than Bellerin ther.
Chambers went downhill after Wenger played him as a leftback against Swansea away & he got continually roasted by Montegu.
Bryan, opinion of course ……..and I would play him on the right and with the restrictions I mentioned. I believe he is a better “defender” than Bellerin, has gained more experience from his loan, and for that matter must be a better crosser than the Spaniard!
Agreed, the liverpool game was a one off.
Except for Watford, CP, Bournemouth, WBA, Bayern, Bayern again, Chelsea, Liverpool…..
“If you can’t go to football believing this time we might be different you need to stop going” (GiE)
Ok this is how I see the back three/five working.
Hector….Mustafi….Monreal…..Kozzer…..Kolasniac
Why Monreal? Because in a three he can sweep when the other goes to attack the ball.
The problem we have in a four is when one goes to attack and misses his mate is left one on one with normally a winger breaking in and our wing backs nowhere to be seen.
The only question is where does Alexis fit in if this is our starting back 5?
He is guaranteed a start. But I’m not sure how you shoehorn them all in, he is not going to play the wingback role, we can’t afford him and Ozil in the centre of midfield, and playing him up top as part of a two doesn’t really work either assuming the other player up top has to be Lacazette?
Maybe we play Kolasniac on left and Alexis on right? No more ineffective defensively than Hector
Alexis at right back?
Have you been sniffing too much of that bbq gas of yours? 🙂
ps you’re trying to shoehorn Ollie in aren’t you? 🙂
I’ve been thinking as well 🙂
Question, first: is Coquelin our fastest DM?
Warning: I’m about to do some shoehorning of my own, and it involves Iwobi
And I’m not going to drop Mesut, Alexis or Laca either
Love a bit of shoehorning
You all think we just stay with the back 3 or revert to the 4231 we played before
You all think we just stay with the back 3 or revert to the 4231 we played before especially since we short on CB
A bit of bootstrapping might also help, tieing the shoelaces from the left to the one from the right, so that the defenders do not venture too far forward! 😆
What are you going to do about Ramsey? I don’t want to see him dithering in the box hoping to toe poke the ball into the back of the net ……… we’ve got Welbeck, Lacazette. Alexis, Ozil, Iwobi to do that.
I don’t mind him going on a lung busting run to get on the end of a dinked ball though 😁
Not asking too much ……. he might need to shout Tally ho when he goes though so someone knows to cover his position.
Can I be Frank Fred
I do think we’re overdoing this defending business. I mean 3 cb’s, then one of the wingbacks holding back, then we expect a dm as well.
I mean crikey, not surprising we’re shipping goals as we’re more or less saying attack us cos we ain’t got enough attackers to attack you anyway
Peaches
Ramsey? So simple. With Ollie, they’re dynamite as impact subs
……………Laca
…..Sanch Mesut Iwobi
Kal Coq Bell
…….Kos Per Hold
Bastard, that didn’t space nicely
………………Lac
…….Sanch Mesut Iwobi
Kal…………..Coq…………..Bell
………Kos Per Hold
Yes, that’s better
And do what LBG said, ie one wingback stays behind one the other flank attacks
LBG at 3:12 pm
Sorry I meant right back.
Yep opinion indeed…….but he is no RB whatever, is much better in the middle of defence…….or even better sold 🙂
Good try Micky but I think we get slaughtered down our right with Holding, Bellerin and Iwobi.
D’you want another go, I won’t tell 😉
Ramsey as impact sub with Ollie works for me
I like that Team mickydidit89 but surely we should be playing our LB at RB & vice versa & then put Laca on the bench for Welbeck 😛
Nice Brian. Good to see you agree with Our Leader
No new Post? Cant say I blame you.
Its nothing short of a complete disaster of a Transfer window.
If it wasnt for pure luck….we would have only signed a free left back all summer.
Epic levels of trolling and banter
Peaches you made me chuckle when suggesting welbeck has the capacity to put the ball in the net
yes, sure. I saw him doing that in the training ground
We just need Rasp special: did the earth move for you in the transfer window or did it not? Vote below.
Fred – I made myself chuckle when I wrote it …….. it might happen
If Kolasinac doesn’t play LB/LWB and Bellerin RB/RWB with Lacazette ST then shoot me now.
Well that was an interesting puff of a TW
Great comments these last few days, it was a great consistent news feed that oscillated from calm to panic to somewhere in between. I wish I could’ve joined in but work has become all consuming.
I like
………………Lac
…….Sanch Mesut Giroud
Kal…………..Xhaka…………..Bell
………Kos Per Mustafi
I think throwing Giroud in with Lac and Chez, all together, would create an intensity upfront that would flow down the spine
On the flip side (from fourfourtwo)
Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal believes reports linking Alexis Sanchez with a move from Arsenal to Manchester City were “made up”.
Reports in Britain had suggested Sanchez had signed a contract with City on transfer deadline day on Thursday, with Arsenal moving for Monaco winger Thomas Lemar as his replacement, only for both deals to fall through.
But Bayern Munich midfielder Vidal suggested that was not the case and he also denied claims Sanchez had informed his international colleagues of an impending move.
“To whom? No, no, to nobody,” Vidal told reporters after the match. “Not to me. I don’t think so.
“I think it was all made up because he was very focused on today’s game.”
I am looking forward to watching Ainsley, Chuba and Jeff playing.
Will Debuchy ever play again?
Arsenal.com First Team (*=Home grown)
Goalkeepers –
Cech, Petr
Ospina, David
Defenders –
Mertesacker, Per
Mustafi, Shkodran
Monreal, Ignacio
Holding, Robert Samuel*
Bellerin, Hector*
Chambers, Calum*
Koscielny, Laurent
Kolasinac, Sead
Debuchy, Mathieu
Midfielders –
Elneny, Mohamed Naser Elsayed
Coquelin, Francis*
Ozil, Mesut
Ramsey, Aaron James*
Wilshere, Jack Andrew*
Xhaka, Granit
Maitland-Niles, Ainsley
Cazorla, Santi
Reine-Adelaide, Jeff
Forwards –
Lacazette, Alexandre
Akpom, Chuba*
Giroud, Olivier
Iwobi, Alex
Sanchez, Alexis
Walcott, Theo James*
Welbeck, Daniel*
What about removing ozil entirely from you squad VP, I remembered a pre-season game we played iwobi girl Theo and we looked really good
Fred I like combo deals
Balkan Ozil, Xhaka Kal & Mustafi (bit of German Per to bind them)
French Lac, Giro & Kos
Latin Sanchez Bell
I call it the BFL burger
Lol 🙂
Mornin’
A rabbit walks into a bar and says to the barman ” got any carrots?” The barman say ” this is a bar, we don’t sell carrots” The rabbit leaves. the next day, the rabbit walks into the bar and says ” got any carrots?” the barman says ” I told you yesterday that this is a bar and we don’t sell carrot” the rabbit leaves. every day for a week the duck comes in and asks if they sell carrots. The barman is getting more and more fed up with the rabbit and finally says to him ” If you come in here again and ask if we sell bloody carrots, I will nail your bloody feet to the floor.” The rabbit leaves. Two days later the rabbit walks into the bar and says to the barman ” Got any nails?” the barman says ” No” so the rabbit says ” Got any carrots then?” 🙂 🙂
Blimey Peaches
What you be doing at this hour?
It’s a classic Eddie and even better with throwing a duck into the equation 🙂
it was a copy and paste joke, don’t know how the duck got into it
there is not much football related to talk about is there?
I listened to TalkSport radio yesterday (painting the ceilings – 12 coats of paint so far) and there was this dude promoting his club. He said they are the 2nd choice team for Arsenal, Chelsea, Totts and all other London clubs. They are playing today and invited all other clubs’ season ticket holders to come to the game for £5 per ticket Who are they?? Is it Wimbledon? they are not my second favourite
micky – my final part of the summer shenanigans is about painters.
I wasn’t going to paint the house yet, but while at Wickes I was stopped by a very polite Romanian offering his building services. I had fallen for it, bought the paint and he started the following day. We agreed the price, duration, etc. He splashed the paint everywhere, tonnes of masking tape went on, sent me to B&Q to buy more paint. When I came back he demanded £600 up front. I refused, he became very abusive, I managed to pay him for 1/2 day and got rid of him.
Second painter was a polish man. He was good, but worked only every 3 days – took daily pay and disappeared to 2 days. I told him not to bother.
Third came from Worthing, lived in the house and stayed for 1 week. Destroyed my walls the bastard. He was a gambler and at about noon he was shacking gagging to go to the bookies. Horror. Thank god he went away for a weekend and I forbid him coming back.
And then I swore I won’t have another man working in my house. Never, even if it is to fall apart. Maybe except 2 guys that I really trust.
I am paining it myself, struggle, but love it 🙂 And it has to be perfect so I am spending weeks on each wall,, ceiling, border. Highly recommend it to all, very therapeutic
12 coats!!!! 🙂 🙂
Barnet? Brentford? Real Madrid?
Wow, but whatever rocks your boat Eddie, just wow
I thought it was QPR, apparently very friendly, everybody loves the club, mixes with the staff and players…strange if you ask me
12 coats, yes, and I am tempted to put more 🙂 It has to be right or I failed
micky – I’d rather do some gardening, but there is no way on this earth that I will let any more cretins into my house, pay them, watch them destroying the walls because they are too lazy to sand down imperfections and fill in little holes. And listen to their fecking radios, making them coffees and cleaning toilets after them. NO, I’d rather paint my own walls.
Eddie,
I think there’s a charity match for Grenfell Tower today at QPR.
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Koscielny Kolasinac
Ramsey Elneny Xhaka
Özil Sanchez
Lacazette
Eddie
I can’t help thinking that if you put any more coats of paint on those walls, the rooms will start to get smaller
Motning Micky, Chas, Eddie, FGG, and anyone else bothered to get out of bed. 🙂
Chas 🙂
Eddie in top form! 🙂 love the batner, Micky. 🙂 FGG. No Ponce? Rubbish team then. 🙂
POST sent
Well, a clean page anyway
I like this
fatgingergooner says:
September 2, 2017 at 8:31 am
Cech
Bellerin Mustafi Koscielny Kolasinac
Ramsey Elneny Xhaka
Özil Sanchez
Lacazette
NEW POST