Morning all.
I read two ridiculous headlines on NewsNow yesterday. The first being how Arsenal’s transfer window is on the verge of being a disaster, the second about how Emi Martinez said his move to Aston Villa was a step up. Wrong! What he’s said is that a move to Villa is a step up for his career because he’ll no longer be a number two goalkeeper which is all he’s wanted. His aim is to be number one for his country and to achieve that, he needs to be playing regularly. Totally understandable.
Arsenal have secured Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s services for another three years so he either stays at the club, or should he choose to leave next summer, he’ll do so for a transfer fee and not for free. Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares have had their loan deals made permanent, Gabriel Magalhaes has joined the club on a long term deal and is already looking like the real deal and Willian’s arrival has brought experience and quality to the squad. Of course we all have our wish list but if anyone truly believes Arsenal can go out and spend £100 million on two midfielders just like that then I think they’re being overly optimistic.
This is a Coronavirus hit transfer window, Arsenal are a club without Champions League football and the riches it brings with it.
Arsenal are being crippled by wages. We have too many players who the club seem to be struggling to either sell or loan out. Mikel Arteta knows the squad is lacking in certain areas but he’s hamstrung. Or at least that’s how I see it. With Lucas Torreira moving to Atletico Madrid, it’s likely we’ll see a replacement signed but it might not be who you or I would like to see at the club but then we’re not the one’s who are responsible for building the best squad possible with the financial resources available. Playing Football Manager might be fun but it’s not real.
We simply have to put our faith in Edu and Arteta right now and trust the latter to get the best out of the players he has come midnight tomorrow.
Anyway, with that little moan out the way, it’s match day. Chris Wilder and his Sheffield Utd team arrive at The Emirates without a point or goal to their name. Arsenal need to send them packing in the same position they arrived. Pointless.
As touched on yesterday, Mikel Arteta wants his players to make a The Emirates a fortress and while some of the performances might not have been the most convincing, we haven’t lost a home fixture in 2020. (W8, D2)
There are all sorts of statistics out there in the big wide web which suggest this game should favour the home team but football isn’t based on history. It’s based on the here and now and who wants to win more. Which group of players want to walk off the pitch at the end knowing they left every last ounce of energy and passion on the pitch.
I don’t think the Arsenal players level of commitment can be questioned these days, it’s just that things aren’t quite clicking yet. The playing out from the back is a bit heart in mouth at times but once Mikel Arteta has a settled back line, hopefully that’ll improve.
There’s something missing in midfield too which hopefully the club will resolve by way of a signing. A player with a touch of creative magic. Jorginho is back in the headlines. Doesn’t mean we’ll sign him though.
Arsenal have been unlucky too. Better officiating could well have seen us play a ten man Liverpool team for most of the game on Monday. We might well have been beaten anyway but regardless, our own mistakes cost us in the end. When the scoring opportunities came our way, Arsenal crumbled and no team can afford to do that against the best in England.
At some stage, Sheffield Utd’s fortune is likely to change. Unless last season was nothing more than a fluke. Either way, the Arsenal players will need to be on their toes today. It’s wet and raining hard, making the conditions pretty unpleasant but it’s the same for both sides so no excuses.
Whilst the media like to harp on about our history against top four sides, which funny enough has now extended to the top six, mid and lower table clubs can often cause us problems. Especially when they defend deep in a way we do against the so called better teams.
It’s up to Mikel Arteta and his players to find a way around, through, or over the top of a strong defensive setup because we cannot expect Chris Wilder to let us play our way. Whatever way that might be.
We’re the home team so it’s up to us to set the tone from the start. Don’t let Sheffield Utd settle, work hard on and off the ball and make our passes count. Create more scoring opportunities and take them.
That’s my pre-match waffle done.
Enjoy the game guys.
I believe we would see a resounding win today from the boys! It’s long due!
The midfield has to be fixed as we are in dire need need a 6 and a 8.. I hope jorginho doesn’t sign… We could do better. If we can’t get Aouar or Partey,we should have back up plans better than Jorginho!!
Morning campers, I’m thinking of building an Ark…
Great news about Balogun, but I’ll feel a lot better about it when he signs although I’m more hopeful in that regard.
Geoff how on Earth can you possibly compare where Liverpool are after 5 years of Klopp and Man City after 4 years of Guardiola with where Arsenal are after less than a year under Arteta and during a pandemic? What Arteata alluded to was where he eventually wanted Arsenal to be but he didn’t suggest that we should be at that level now or even in a year or twos time?
Hi Rico and all Some say I got out of the wrong side of bed or it’s being locked in doors for over 2 months with no fresh air due to virus restrictions.
Their is no way Martinez would rubbish any club to me this guy just loves playing the game and is proud of his heritage and the reporter is after a cheap rubbish story headline.
Morning Rico, I agree with the post completely, if you analyse many of those antagonistic pieces on NewsNow it’s usually some idiot whose lifted a couple of tweets from some nut jobs on Twitter and turned it into something that sounds like the fans are in uproar when it’s just the musings of some 14 year olds and the piece itself is written by a 15 year old.
It’s all fake news…
Exactly Geoff, it’s muck raking, Martinez wasn’t being disrespectful to Arsenal at all.
Fake news
Martinez is an easy story for a lazy hack. Lorry load of salt needed.
I see that Başakşehir Turkey’s champions last year and fledgling club supported in many ways by Ozil’s best man President Erdogan,are lying bottom of their league with 1 point from 4 games .
If the plan is to go there when his contract with us ends , perhaps it’s time to get his skates on now. No doubt that they have offered him him a giant signing on fee when he is a free agent , maybe we should just vut him loose and save his wages so that he can go now as a free agent.
Morning Kev, Geoff and all.
The gap between us and Liverpool is huge as far as squads go and progress but you’re right Kev, they are five years ahead of us under Klopp.
It seems to me that a certain section of fans and media expect one summer transfer window to solve everything. If it was that easy, every club in the PL would be challenging for the title. Time, money, the right manager, tactics etc etc doesn’t come overnight.
Welcome Prince. Perhaps Arsenal do have a different backup plan. Trouble is we don’t know. What we think we need is probably similar to what the club think to but getting players in the door is easier said than done I think.
If Arsenal have made a £30+ million offer for Aouar as suggested in the media, that’s enough money to find a serious talent somewhere surely. He doesn’t have to be a big name, just a big performer.
Kev Arteta keeps talking about us being competitive with Liverpool and man city yet he keeps looking at players we can not afford I’m happy to give him to the end of this season but if we don’t get a midfielder in I don’t think we will make top 5
Only because they set the bar in England Geoff. What do want him to say, we’re hoping to compete with Brighton, West Ham and Fulham?
Plus, is it a case of Arsenal not affording players or they’re just not prepared to be ripped off?
Well Geoff there’s a thin line between players you seemingly can’t afford and being ripped off and we’ve been well and truly ripped off in recent transferwindows.
I’m actually quite happy to give Arteta 3 years before I start to worry Geoff, I’ve every confidence that Arteta will bring home a trophy or two over the next three years…
Rico, I’m sure that Arsenal will/would do business if the prices are realistic and the repayment terms, ie Atletico wanting €50m in a lump up front for Partey.
Absolutely agree Kev. I think with Arteta it’s more about the improvements than time. If that makes sense. The club are never going to just sign any player by throwing money at clubs because we can, because we can’t. The time is needed to sell players or their contracts run out like Ozil and Mustafi etc. Until then, and without CL football, we’ll have to be frugal I think.
Ozil, Guendouzi, Kolasinac, Mustafi, Chambers, Sokratis, Torreira – just a few names who are possibly on the for sale/loan list.
That’s getting on for a million pounds a weeks worth of wages.
Morning Rico. When is the asking price for any player fair? It surely depends on how much you need him. Both clubs involved will know this I think. We are quite lightweight in midfield and need power and creativity. We’re not in the business of buying players we don’t need like Man Utd or so that other clubs can’t sign them, like Chelsea. Our needs are real and we need Stan to step up and make things happen. Jorginho would give us creativity because he’s a great passer and Partey would give us some of that and real power too.
The fact that everything Arsenal do or don’t do has always been news just piles the pressure on.
Morning all.
CL football used to be a given and most of us took it for granted.
The downside to not having it for a few seasons has been massive.
The U.K has been known in Europe as Treasure Island and not just politically but most definitely in football. The TV contracts in this country are not duplicated throughout European leagues . Certainly Real Madrid and Barcelona get a greater share of the Spanish tv money and so clubs like Atletico believe that Arsenal as a leading Premier club are awash with cash and see Kroenke as a money box.
We of course know this is not the case but they and clubs like Sevilla , Valencia and Villareal are in financial straits , biggish names but poor clubs financially . . They look on us as a get out of jail free card.
Morning Adam, that’s true re a players value but I still think other clubs around the world see us as pushover in the transfer market.
We should be aiming high If Edu is so good at his job then why can’t he find a good midfielder that we can afford, I keep hearing people say that the players we want to buy are over priced but at the same time I don’t see many clubs agreeing with the price we put on our players. buying a player is like buying a car at an auction if no one wants it the value is cheap if you get into a bidding war then you pay over the top prices maybe I look at things differently to other fans but what I see is us looking like a wonky ladder that will fall apart if we don’t fix our midfield that’s why I say we should sell some of our fringe players cheap just to get them of our books
Question no one wanted to give Emery a chance but yet we are happy to give Arteta 3 or 4 years. So if Arteta was not an ex Arsenal player would you be willing to give him 3 or 4 years then I don’t think so after all Arteta replaced Emery who fans claim Failed but Emery had the harder job because he had to replace Wenger and a lot of fans wanted top 4 straight away from Emery
William and Ceballos at the same time in the line up….
Does not work… we willl see
Geoff, I’ll answer your question with a question.
Why do you refuse to give Arteta any leeway at all?
You don’t want him for the job and that’s fine, we all have our opinions, but you stick the boot in every chance you get.
Most supported Emery until it became obvious he just wasn’t up for the job.
If that happens to Arteta then I’m sure fans will turn, but we’ve won an FA cup and seen a pretty clear change for the better in the squads attitude since Arteta took over so why wouldn’t we be prepared to give him time?
It has absolutely nothing to do with him being an ex player.
It has everything to do with him showing nothing but positives so far.
Geoff, fans giving Arteta time has absolutely nothing to do with him being an ex player.
Using that logic, Freddie would’ve been given the job.
No Xhaka though , shuffling the pack ?
Well I hope Mikel has some performance raising words to deliver at halftime because that was painful.
Geoff, that’s not quite true. Emery was given a chance. Most of us on here said he needed several transfer windows to improve the squad but, the players downed tools, results and performances were getting worse each week. The board were left with no choice.
I wonder if Souness was as passionate about Mane getting away with a sending off offence as he is today about Luiz. I’ve hunch he wasn’t..
Rico. It was a shocking, unmotivated half of really horrible football from us.
You didn’t enjoy it either then Adam? Lol
Hope Auba okay he looks like he is still limping a bit
Similar to West Ham home game. Nothing much happening. Come on, want a win before International break.
Yess!
What a goal Pepe.
Yess again! Time for Pepe, lovely finish
2 nice goals let’s hope that goal gives Pepe more confidence
Amount of times they leave a foot in after ball has gone!
And they still put us through it!
When the referee blow his whistle to end the match I thought he was going to give a free kick nice win
He had to stop it Auba was 2 yards in front of the keeper approaching the half way line . He blew dead on the 4 minutes . I bet if they had had an attack going he would have played it out.
My thoughts exactly Potter
Rico. It wasn’t very good was it? A couple good moments and two superb goals.
Having spent the best part of half time calling fior VAR to rerun Luiz’ pull back . Not a word about Baldock’s elbow on Aubameyang and whether that warranted a second look .
No Torreira, Kolasinac and Ghendouzi at the bench. Rnd of line for them,
Poor performance.
Some pride that could have cost us dearly.
Fortunately Pepa came in and revolutionized the game.
It wasn’t Adam, but we won so that’s good.
The elbow on Elneny was deliberate, the tackle on Aubameyang, reckless imo.
Your comments went straight to the bin again Scott, sorry. I’m looking into why that keeps happening.
Man Utd are taking a hammering at OT.
Afternoon Rico and All
Gooners…Micky is doing a great job
Mickymousers are shit scared of
playing us..Wake up whood have
thought that. Kev’s Right.
Can he keep it going.. who knows.
Centre Mid box to box is a must.
I hope we give Chambers a chance
when fit.
Watching the Mancks V Spuds is a
bitter sweet experience for an
Arsenal fan.
Hi Fred.
Funny going’s on at Villa Park 😆
Best club side in the world..Funny old game.
Well today was hard to watch but at least we won.Pleased for both goalscorers,Saka was fouled so many times it was a joke.The Liverpool result has cheered me right up.
I hear Arsenal are in talks with Hertha Berlin over a loan move for Guendouzi,no loan fee but they pay his wages.
Here Geoff, one for you:
Kicker report that with Karim Rekik leaving Hertha for Sevilla, his younger brother Omar could be on the way to Arsenal. They claim the 18-year-old is busy with a quick transfer, as the Gunners make a request to sign him.
Rekik wouldn’t be a first-team signing, to be clear. He was playing for Hertha BSC II (their B team) this season, though he did make the bench for the first team a few times in June. Kicker write that Arsenal are planning the signing for their own u23 team.
The player’s family want him to move to England, where his older brother Karim previously played for Manchester City. Karim only made three appearances for City, though, also spending time on a couple of loans with Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers.
The Arsenal u23s were already pretty set at the back, but there have been some departures this summer. They released Tobi Omole as a free agent, before loaning Mark McGuinness and Zech Medley.
Daniel Ballard may also be on the verge of a loan, and he missed the u23 match against Chelsea on Sunday. Konstantinos Mavropanos went on loan again, after making quite a few u23 appearances in the first half of last season.
So a signing wouldn’t leave them overstocked, by any means. It’s just more likely this would be a transfer based on an admiration for the talent of the player, rather than filling a spot.
The move may have a knock-on effect as well. If the Rekik brothers both leave for a fee, that could allow Hertha to sign Wendell from Leverkusen. In turn, Leverkusen would be free to sign Sead Kolasinac
United hit for 6 ,so Klopp has to go one better. Is it crowd less stadiums?
Funny results so far this season.
For Geoff:
With the transfer window deadline bearing down upon us all, Matteo Guendouzi has realised that he has to leave Arsenal in order to play football.
After previously turning down a move to Hertha Berlin a few months ago, it seems he has reassessed his options, which appear very limited, and accepted the German’s offer.
There is no option to buy in Guendouzi’s loan deal, a condition said to be crucial to his camp before they agreed to the move. The youngster seems to still have his eyes fixed on a glory club rather than repairing his reputation.
He should, perhaps, ask himself why it is he’s off to Hertha and not somewhere more glamorous.
Guendouzi hasn’t played for Arsenal since he mouthed off at Neal Maupay. Although given a chance by Mikel Arteta to redeem himself in the same way Granit Xhaka turned things around, Guendouzi reportedly wouldn’t even apologise and that’s how we ended up here.
On the flip side, Arsenal are said to be looking at signing Hertha’s young centreback, Omar Rekik.
For Geoff again:
Kicker (via GGFN) correctly reported that Sead Kolasinac would miss out on the Arsenal squad on Sunday, with Bayer Leverkusen showing interest in the player.
The Bundesliga club need to sell to buy – seemingly like everyone else – with the same outlet linking 27-year-old defender Wendell with an exit to Hertha BSC.
In terms of the actual deal, things seem pretty far along. Fabrizio Romano claimed it’s likely to happen for a fee of €11m plus add ons, with neither club pushing for significantly more or less.
Romano also recently reported Kolasinac was discussing personal terms with Leverkusen, but it didn’t look like they were going to cause any issues. So there’s not much left to agree in negotiations. It’s just whether Leverkusen pull the trigger on the deal.
For a while, this looked like a crucial piece of the puzzle for Arsenal’s potential incomings. The club needed to get Kolasinac’s wages off the books and bring in a decent fee so they could move for Thomas Partey or Houssem Aouar.
Right now, that doesn’t look quite so vital, because the chances of either of those deals are fading away. But it would still be nice to finalise Kolasinac’s exit now to have the money in the bank for later
LTArsenal™
@ltarsenal
Klopp after the game: “Not to sound like a Gooner, but these are the effects of facing a Mikel Arteta side twice in the same week.”
😄
Get French Football News
@GFFN
Arsenal have accepted a loan without option to buy offer from Hertha Berlin for Mattéo Guendouzi – 21-year-old rejected the German side 2 months ago, but it became clear in recent days that opportunities for him at AFC would be limited. Loan fee is €0.
Is that because they’re picking up all his wages?
an Critchlow
@afcDW
·3h
We’ve scouted him and he was offered to us this summer. Partey or Soumaré, please. We have just over a day left, get one in.
Get French Football News
@GFFN
· 4h
Boubakary Soumaré was not involved at all in Lille’s squad today during their 3-0 win over Strasbourg – still a player who could move before tomorrow’s deadline.
Arsenal have a good relationship with Lille
Ok, my thoughts on the game and I know a lot of you fellas out there were underwhelmed, but think about it, we’ve just come through two titanic matches with Liverpool and just look how it has effected them!
Some of our guys must have been running on empty so to get the three points was fantastic.
Cheers Fred, I love what Arteta is doing, he’s bringing some pride back to our club.
Another one Geoff, West Ham are linked to Calum Chambers but I’m not sure if a loan or a permanent transfer, I hope it’s a loan.
Kev even if all the loans and transfer go through were is a good quality midfielder we need we were lucky last night if they were a good mid ladder team we could have been in a bit of trouble
https://mobile.twitter.com/FootyHumour/status/1312852346565799943
Yesterday was fantastic!! We love you, Villa!! The dippers really aren’t in a position to banter us anymore!! I’m looking forward to a very quiet week 🤣
Glad to see Liverpool and Man U get a thumbing Only down side was Man U was by Tottenham
Gunnersaurus has been axed 😳
Morning all.
Sheffield Utd were unbeaten in their last 9
Visits to London.
We ended that.
Morning all.
New post up now
Poor Gunnersaurus…. lol
Scott I don’t all ways lay the boots into Arteta but at the end of the day he is the manager and coach so the buck stops with him, he has said himself that we need to strengthen our midfield but so far nothing all the transfer market we have been trying to get 2 players we can not afford why waste time on them we should be looking for players we can afford