Morning all.
The 2017/18 season really was all about Arsene Wenger because in the April of 2018, he announced he’d be parting ways with the club at the end of the campaign. Jumped or pushed, it matters not really as the most important thing at the time was Arsenal FC needed change.
Before his departure though, he oversaw a pretty rotten season. It was the first time Arsenal weren’t competing in the Champions League, instead, Thursday Sunday football was slotted into our campaign.
The summer transfer window saw Sead Kolasinac join for free and then a few weeks later, Alexandre Lacazette made the switch from France to north London. That was it until January when Konstantinos Mavropanos and Pierre-Emerick joined the club. The worst January deal the club made was letting Alexis Sanchez go to Man Utd in exchange for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. I do wonder whether Alexis would have left had he known a change of manager was just a few months away.
In addition to Alexis leaving, Yaya Sanogo, Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain departed that summer. Then in January, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud, Francis Coquelin and Mathieu Debuchy moved on to pastures new.
Our domestic form was dreadful. Four away wins all season, 11 defeats and rest were draws. Only a narrow win over Huddersfield on the final day of the season prevented us from not winning a game away from home in 2018. Having recorded 13 defeats and 6 draws in total, we finished in 6th place.
In the FA Cup, we suffered a 4-2 defeat against Nottingham Forest in the third round, the first time that had happened since 1996. We reached the League Cup Final but were battered 3-0 by Man City.
Atletico Madrid ended our Europa Cup run at the semi-final stage.
2018/19 – a new dawn…
For the first time in over twenty years, a few new faces were sat in the Arsenal dugout following the arrival of Unai Emery as head coach.
New players arrived, not all the choice of the new coach if reports at the time are to be believed. Stephan Lichtsteiner joined on a free transfer followed by Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. In January, Denis Suarez joined on loan from Barcelona.
Per Mertesacker retired to become our academy coach and Santi Cazorla left for free.
The season itself was ok in parts, including a 22 game unbeaten run but the football itself left a lot to be desired. Still, it was Emery’s first season so the hope was that things would improve in time. However, they didn’t. A battering by Chelsea in the Europa Cup Final was as awful as it was embarrassing. Especially at Emery was and still is the best when it comes to Europa Cup wins. We ended the season in 5th place, Auba had scored 30+ goals in all competitions but exits in both domestic cups left us trophy less.
I’m not sure many fans out there in the world of Arsenal would have cared if Emery had been moved on at the end of the season. The now sole owner since August, Stan Kroenke, along with the rest of the board at the time, thought differently.
2019/20 – A season of change.
The summer transfer window was quite a busy one as Arsenal completed the signings of Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz and the big one, William Saliba. Dani Ceballos joined on a season long loan. Saliba left on loan for the season too.
There were a large number of departures too as out went Stephan Lichtsteiner, Aaron Ramsey, and Danny Welbeck, sold David Ospina, Takuma Asano, Laurent Koscielny, Carl Jenkinson, Alex Iwobi, and Nacho Monreal. and loaned out Eddie Nketiah, Mohamed Elneny, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Emile Smith Rowe, and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Sections of the Arsenal fanbase were unhappy with our transfer business conducted from owner Stan Kroenke which led to a social media hashtag “#WeCareDoYou”?
How Emery survived until November I don’t know because the start to this season had been pretty dire. After winning our opening two fixtures, we took a beating at Anfield. Then we won just two of our next ten matches, most of which were against what I would call “smaller clubs”. On the 29th of November, the board had seen enough and Unai Emery was sacked with Freddie Ljungberg stepping in as caretaker manager. Even back then I thought it would take a miracle to lift the group of players out of the depths of the doldrums they were in and Freddie wasn’t able to do it. Arsenal needed a strong manager with experience to come in and get this group together again. What did Arsenal do? Appoint Mikel Arteta, an ex player who had never managed a game before in his life. Bonkers I thought, absolutely bonkers! Arteta was not what Arsenal needed regardless of his three years of working with Guardiola. Talking of Guardiola, not long ago he said that during his time with Mikel Arteta at City, not once did Arteta celebrate a victory of his old club.
Somehow though, he managed to turn what looked like a fragmented and fractious group of players into FA Cup winners. Vamos!
Catch up in the comments.
Sounds perfect Stuart. lol
There’s a new post up.
A bottle of wine Stuart. That’s what a man needs more.
Yeh, I’d have Rashford, Cicero. Whether he would want to trade the sun in Spain…
I’m feeling a little better about the cricket. With ‘our’ Ben putting his feet up for your lot, I fancy the Black Caps. See what happens after lunch. We’ve got Warwickshire down here in Somerset today. Balmy conditions, slight breeze, cold beer, warm pastie, leather on willow… what more does a man need?
The rest must be bad Limey, Ospina is 37 now and he was never that good in the first place. Lol
Rashford to Arsenal ? An interesting one,depends on the fee I suppose,he will probably want mega wages too. I don’t think he’s the sort of player Arteta likes but we will see.
Looking at the World Cup line ups I noticed David Ospina was an unused substitute for Colombia.
Just another Utd reject Devil with an ego. Barca and PL are two different situations imo.
Rashford to Arsenal ? An interesting one,depends on the fee I suppose,plus he would expect mega wages. I’m not sure he would be Artetas sort of player but you never know.
Looking at the team line ups for the recent World Cup games,I noticed David Ospina was sub goalkeeper for Colombia.
A definite no no for me would be Barcola. I have the feeling he is Gervinho mark 2. for 25-30 million Rashford would be much better plus he wants to prove himself in the EPL again. Imagine an entire midfield made up of England players. RAshford, Rogers, Saka backed up by MLS and Rice.
Now that would be awesome I feel
But he had a very good season with Barca Rico. Trossard is over 30 now so getting a 28 year old experienced in both APL and abroad might make sense. He even won the Spanish Liga as well Rico so he knows. I agree with your views, but Rashford didnt have just one WC, he was good until Man Utd allowed him to be. Greenwood is another who thrived away from that dump. Santos as well. So its not the players who are the problem. Carrick is part of one. Watch them do well till december then Manure will go back to square one.
Too expensive Dev, plus he’s 28 and you should never buy a player on the back of a World Cup, Carrick isn’t an idiot either and he’s prepared to let him leave!
Why its a no for Rashford Rico??
Morning all.
Rashford? It’s a no from me but I could understand the logic behind a deal if Arsenal went for him.
A question to ponder for everyone.
The Invincibles 2004 and the League champions 2026. Which players would you choose in a combined ultimate 11?
Here’s mine……
Raya
Lauren, Campbell, Gabriel, Cole (I hated putting him at LB)
Viera, Rice
Saka, Bergkamp, Pires
Henry
To this day I still say that in the 2006 CL final it should have been FL08 to be subbed and not BP07.
Good Morning everyone
Yep Cicero. Rashford and Rogers will do for me. Sell Trossard and Martinelli (although I love them both). Both of them are English so that means we are over the quota. Both understand the EPL and both will thrive under Arteta if they behave, put their head down and work hard for the team.
So its a yes from me.
Marcus Rashford anyone? We could probably get him for £30 million.
Gordon was awful.
Saka made a big difference, as did Rashford. But yes, the defending, including the keeper looked like rabbits in headlights.
That England defence is not a World Cup winning defence, maybe we’ve been spoiled by the Arsenal defence?
In the end England should have won 6-2, but you can’t afford to keep on missing all those chances, not with our defence.
And yes, their 2nd goal looked offside.
Barcelona’s cules will be wondering what they have bought in Gordon.
Looked offside to me but then I didn’t think it was a penalty on Madueke.
Pickford is all over the place, as is the defence in general..
Apparently not , but still looks it.
2-2 now , was their second offside ?
England 1-0 up. Kane penalty
Maybe the new pitch might have a bit more give to reduce the injury rate.
Seems that Tuchel is trying his utmost to pepper the Chelsea fans….Madueke begins today. I hope that he has a blinder, scores a hattrick, gives assists to Kane so Tuchel will not drop him and leave Saka on the bench. Rice begins game as well.
Maybe injuries have played a part in that decision
Arsenal Begin Work on New Emirates Stadium Pitch Ahead of 2026/27 Season
Arsenal have started work on installing a brand-new playing surface at Emirates Stadium as preparations continue for the 2026/27 campaign.
Arsenal Fanatics News understands that work is now underway to replace the existing pitch, with the club taking advantage of the off-season break to ensure the surface is in top condition ahead of the players’ return for pre-season.
The annual pitch replacement has become a key part of Arsenal’s summer maintenance programme, helping to provide Mikel Arteta’s squad with one of the best playing surfaces in English football. [ The Carpet ]
Ground staff have earned widespread praise in recent years for maintaining the Emirates pitch to an exceptionally high standard, allowing Arsenal’s possession-based style to flourish throughout the season.
With another Premier League title challenge on the horizon and Champions League football returning to North London, the club are leaving no stone unturned in their preparations.
The pitch upgrade forms part of a wider summer programme at the Emirates, with work continuing behind the scenes while Arsenal’s recruitment team focus on strengthening the squad ahead of the new season.
Arsenal Fanatics News on FB
Evening Devil. Ozil needed a strong team around him to be effective, Auba just didn’t like having his knuckles tapped. He lacked discipline if reports at the time are true.
I would like to know what really went wrong with Ozil, He was a really good player then everything just went downhill very quickly.
Devil it properly smelt like the local tip, with a touch of fresh wind
Odegaard had a stinker yesterday. he vanished for 81 minutes then popped up with a corner assist.he had 55 touches and just 1 key pass. 0 shots on target. no recoveries and no interceptions.
And that was against Iraq.
Good afternoon Rico and all
oh dear. the advent of the mid table mediocre manager who keeps having an axe to grind. the same manager who hasnt yet moved on from Arsenal because he still thinks he should be in Mikel’s seat. Good Abternoon. soon it will be good ebening
I have nothing against AW as well. Still feel he will remain a legend at the club even though he should have realized he needed to go earlier. Then again, if this and if that never met. So we cant really say how it would have ended.
Geoff……’he walked away and did not hang around the club like old red nose did at Man united and keep putting his nose in where it wasn’t needed.’ I wonder what fragrance and how much he smelt with his nose up everyone’s creek.
Guendouzi. I was thrilled when he signed because I had already heard about him. But had never heard about his brain farts and his attitude. Same with PEA, who although handed the fa cup singlehandedly in Arteta’s first season, I still think that AW shouldnt have signed him. Him and Ozil could tear apart any defence and midfield, but only when they felt like it. Some of the games we played with around 8/9 vs 11. Pa always felt that with Ozil in the team we used to be two men short ((When I pointed out that it should be 10 vs 11 he said that with MO it always felt two men short.))
When Emery left I breathed a sigh of relief. Pa stayed silent. And that meant a lot with regards his view on the ebening guy
Morning all,
My personal feeling is Stan wanted to keep Wenger, but Josh wanted him gone to start a new era and Josh won, Yes Wenger stayed too long but I for one will never say a bad word about him. The thing I admire about Wenger is that after he left, he has never rubbished the club or players, and he walked away and did not hang around the club like old red nose did at Man united and keep putting his nose in where it wasn’t needed.
Thanks Kev. Great shame with Guendouzi as you say, he showed great promise but the boy had a chip on his shoulder which has cost him a better career than he’s had. He could have been playing for France had he been more levelheaded. Plonker!
Sokratis had a great mentality but wasn’t always that good, but neither were Arsenal back then.
Great post Rico, Arsenal were a shambles back then, I remember going to Cardiff in Emery’s first season and watching a PL game during that unbeaten run. Unai was trying to change things but his communication skills were a definite issue which I’m sure affected confidence in his processes.
The Cardiff game was all over the place, Arsenal were all over the place, defensively all over the place, but Lacazette came on and helped us to a 4-2 win, I still couldn’t tell you how we won.
Torriera vs Tottenham was a highlight, defeat at Anfield where the Arsenal midfield mirrored the Plains of North America, nothing for miles, was the lowlight. Guendozi promised a lot but ultimately spent more time getting into unnecessary spats with opponents, its good to be reminded of the job Arteta has done in weeding out the many wasters and underachievers we had at that time.
Sunny in Essex, with a slight breeze but the prospect of showers.
Meanwhile it’s funny, but not surprising, how some players always suffer the maximum penalty when transgressing whilst others (Messi) get a free hit. I guess it would take a referee of immensely strong, but rare character to dismiss the darling of FIFA.
After all the Inter Miami and US fans and more importantly those who pay the piper (TV companies) demand the presence of their star man and never mind the laws of the game.
Afternoon Cicero, all change here with the sunshine breaking through. It’s set to be nice now for the next week or so.
A few close misses for NZ this morning..
G’day Rico, Potter. Dry and sunny now with a bit of wind in enchanting Norfolk.
Bright and sunny at the Oval after a slight delay New Zealand, put in to bat, are 19 for 1 after 9 overs.
Wet and windy in the south too..
So many changes indeed and at all levels. I think Emery could have been great but he joined us at the wrong time and with the wrong people around him. As the story goes, players he wanted he didn’t get, so it must have been difficult for him if true.
Whoever dealt with our transfers back then did great to bring Saliba to the club, Martinelli too as I’m not as much as a critic of him as perhaps others are.
As a club, I think once the ownership and board changed, things began to improve.
Morning all from wet and windy Norfolk ,
Turbulent times indeed , to expect a seamless turnover was naive at best. It didn’t happen at United and it didn’t happen here and it will not at Man City either.
The Kroenkes , about whom I was extremely dubious had in retrospect the foresight to choose and then back their man with the realism that it was a time consuming project that would not come clean overnight.
Whilst we concentrate on the the turnover of players , things were changing in the background with many changes in the boardroom , Chips Keswick , Gazidis , Ken Friar , Sanllehi and Lord Harris all left and on the next level Edu and Vinai Venkatesham arrived.
Also Dick Law , Fahmy and Mislintat went as the Americans showed the strength of purpose to strive for progress to the top and demonstrated why they are billionaires being ruthless when they have to be .
The next summation leading to the present will demonstrate that they knew better than most of us how to run a multi million pound business.
I look forward to it.