Afternoon all.
England beat Croatia 4-2 last night in their opening World Cup fixture. The second half was certainly better than the first when defensively England looked all at sea. Suddenly, goals scored from corners are a good thing which is laughable. Declan Rice, despite being substituted, said after the game that he’s fine. Time will tell I guess.
Anyway, back to review of our time at The Emirates which today is 2020/21 & 2021/22.
I’m not going to be a hypocrite. I was against the appointment of Mikel Arteta from day one because of his lack of experience and just because he once played for us, my opinion wasn’t about to change. Of course, winning the FA Cup after just a few months in the job was brilliant for fans but was he the man to take us back to the top? I didn’t think so…
2020/21
Mikel Arteta’s first full season as Arsenal’s head coach/manager. Edu had returned to the club as technical director, welcomed by Raul Sanllehi but just a month later, the latter left the club. Thank goodness.
The transfer window saw the arrival of Thomas Partey, Gabriel and Willian on permanent deals. Dani Cebellos rejoined on a season long loan while both Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares, who’d joined on loan in January, had their deals made permanent. Alex Runarsson joined too. William Saliba went back out on loan. Martin Odegaard joined us on loan in January.
Other players went out on loan too, a few who were never be seen in an Arsenal kit again in Kolasinac, Guendouzi and Torreira. I can’t stand the player now but I was dreadfully disappointed to see Martinez sold to Aston Villa. Sokratis, Mustafi and Ozil were let go for free. No tears shed there.
The season started late this year because of the impact COVID had on the previous campaign but for Arsenal, it began with a Community Shield trophy thanks to winning a penalty shootout against Liverpool at Wembley. It was downhill from there, just as it was for Aubameyang’s Arsenal career after signing a new contract in September. We lost too many games as the weeks and months passed by and against clubs who we really should have been doing better against. Everton, Leicester City, Totts, Burnley, Wolves, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Leeds and West Ham took points off us throughout the season. A season in which we only managed to win 13 Premier League games.
Southampton knocked us out of the FA Cup in the fourth round while Man City knocked us out of the League Cup at the quarter-final stage. As for the Europa League, a semi-final defeat at the hands of Villarreal ended any hope of winning that.
We ended the season in 8th place meaning we would go into the next campaign without European football.
2021/22
It’s tempting to skip this season as it wasn’t brilliant but then we’d had worse. Much worse. The transfer window was a busy one again with Martin Odegaard making his loan deal permanent, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Sambi Lokonga, Auston Trusty (January) and Nuno Tavares all moving to the club.
Disappointingly, William Saliba went out on loan yet again but he was still just 20 years old. Joe Willock was sold to Newcastle Utd. Willian, Luiz, Chambers, Kolasinac and Aubameyang left for free, the latter after clearly cheesing Mikel Arteta off.
Our opening three games were dreadful. What with players testing positive for COVID and others injured, an under strength side lost at Brentford. A 2-0 defeat against Chelsea at The Emirates followed before Man City thumped us 5-0 at The Etihad. Talk of relegation was already doing the rounds. Ridiculous as that might sound. A mini unbeaten run of eight matches saw us climb the table but then we’ve suffered another hefty defeat, this time at Anfield. The season saw us lose 13 matches again and against clubs who we really should have been good enough to beat.
We ended the campaign in 5th place. The FA Cup hope was ended in the third round by Nottingham Forest whilst the League Cup run lasted until the semi-final when Liverpool sent us packing.
Catch up in the comments.
I don’t think Stokes should be sacked either Dennis, but I can see him stepping down sooner rather than later.
Re Brook, it depends on whether England want one captain or two, if it’s the latter, Brook won’t captain England in test cricket all the time he captains the short game fixtures.
Yes Rico, he and Gus Atkinson.
I’m sure it will all blow over, Harry Brookes got into a bit of hot water during The Ashes last winter, which has largely been forgiven.
As I understand it Rico, Brookes is seen as a potential future England captain, but is not yet ready to take over from Stokes. At present it seems there’s no-one else capable of replacing him, so as long as he behaves himself, Ben Stokes will be captain for as long as he wants it.
Had a great hour this morning as a workman who was helping us out was born and bred in Marylebone. Yep, a Gooner so at least I know two now. He was a ST holder at Highbury and still goes to the Emirates when he can but he’s lived down south for the last 20 years..
Stokes is in the England naughty corner Dennis.
Alexis tried to cancel the deal and go back to Arsenal apparently, true or not I’ve no idea.
I don’t follow the Cricket like you all, but from the last Post, no rest for England captain Ben Stokes. Missing the Second Test means he can play for his County and has been selected to play for Durham against Northants in the County Championship match
Hi all
Gareth Bale was part of the same academy at Southampton when Wenger signed Walcott.
Real Madrid’s decision to sign Bale in the summer of 2013 meant there was no place for Ozil.
Arsenal meanwhile had spent most of that summer looking for a much-needed striker, and failing.
Two days after our PL opener – an insipid home defeat against Villa – Wenger unveiled Ozil like the second-coming.
He was undoubtedly talented, but he was lazy and entitled, chose when to play, and pulled out of games he didn’t fancy.
He was a drain on the wage-bill, and worse still, before Wenger left, he rewarded Ozil with an outrageously generous contract which the club had to pay off to get rid of him.
Alexis Sanchez was a good signing, but I think certain promises were made to convince him to sign, once he realised those promises couldn’t be met and Arsenal weren’t realistically challenging for the PL & CL, he made it clear he wanted to leave.
At least he had the good grace to leave for another struggling club 😂
Sarf or Norf, Potter?
Either apply Potter..
Fick or Thick Rico or is it just my London accent
Thanks Devil.
Fickle old lot Potter..
I read he’d already signed for us Devil..
Set piece again ole ole . As you said funny how attitudes change
Good summary of those seasons Rico. The history articles were quite enjoyable, although with the beautiful we had to taste the sour as well. Some experiences, like mentioning Mustaphi, Sir-No-Goals, Silvester the Cat and some others were quite stomach upsetting to remember. Thankfully they are behind us and fingers crossed we dont get anything like them again.
All in all enjoyable, especially as most of them gave me quite some beautiful moments which I shared with Pa. Bitter-Sweetly beautiful moments they are now.
Stuart….besides the wine I suggested in the previous post I should add also A Post by Rico. Would be lovely with all that you suggested
Rico…..I also read that Elijah Upson (Matty’s son) is not going to renew his contract and he will be coming to us although other clubs are in the frame.
I read that about Jeremy Monga….he is fast with the ball. Still young but looks very very promising. He is a different type of talent to Ethan Nwaneri. Nwaneri is more of a creator and goalscoring midfielder, whereas Monga is a direct winger whose biggest strengths are pace and dribbling. At 16, Monga is still quite raw, but his ceiling is considered extremely high
abrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
🚨🔴⚪️ EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal sent official bid to Leicester City to get Jeremy Monga deal done.
16 year old winger keen on joining #AFC and deal moving quickly now with optimism to sign #LCFC talent, seen as huge prospect for the future.
Afternoon Cicero.
Ozil too. But yep, Auba was just a bad apple by the end.
G’day Rico.
Getting rid of Aubameyang was the wisest thing Arteta could do. The striker had been virtually on strike from the time the ink had dried on his new contract. Others saw that the writing was on the wall, perform or walk!
It was from that moment that I started to see the logic behind the recruitment of Arteta. During his time at City he had been able to study other Premiership clubs, their playing styles and their squads. He, no doubt, talked over what he learnt with his mentor Pep and was thereof able to assess the Arsenal squad when he arrived at The Emirates.
From then on the rest is history.