Morning all.
It seems to be the case in football that if a player doesn’t travel overseas for pre-season fixtures, they’re on their way out of the club. Ronaldo hasn’t travelled with Man Utd, Conte has left four players in England according to the back pages and with Arsenal leaving England for the USA on Wednesday, no doubt all eyes will be on who gets left behind. Bernd Leno seems to be on the verge of joining Fulham so I doubt he’ll travel but the rest, unless a transfer away is imminent, should be on the aeroplane heading for Florida. I assume it’s Florida as that’s where two of our three fixtures are taking place. The other, our first, is in Maryland. Needless to say, I won’t be watching any of them live. Lol
I don’t know what the rules/laws are in the USA but if the country doesn’t permit entry to any person who is under investigation by police in the UK, then IF, and it’s still an IF, it’s an Arsenal player who is currently on bail, then the British media are going to have a field day should either Thomas Partey or Granit Xhaka still be in England on Thursday morning.
Paper Talk from Sky Sports:
From the Mirror:
- Lucas Torreira has revealed he has spoken to AS Roma boss Jose Mourinho about a potential move to the Eternal City but admits it might not be an easy deal to make.
- Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares has been identified as a key summer target for Marseille by their new head coach Igor Tudor.
- Youri Tielemans and Ruben Neves are the alternatives Manchester United will look at if their move for Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong fails.
The Express:
- Arsenal have tabled a £6.4m offer for Benfica left-back Alex Grimaldo with negotiations now underway with the Portuguese club, according to reports.
The Alex Grimaldo story makes sense as Arsenal need a left back.
Youri Tielemans to Man Utd? Well, according to all the journalists, he only wants to join Arsenal so if he does end up in Manchester, I hope the media remember to write about him missing out on his dream move.
Lucas Torreira to Roma, all I can say to that is if it’s true, the player, and/or his wife must be really desperate to get out of England. Nuno Tavares would certainly benefit from a loan but if there’s a signing on fee included in any loan deal, I hope Arsenal make sure it’s a big one. Same applies to any player going out on loan.
Arsenal have already spent a lot of money, money which in one way or another, has to be accounted for. With Juventus still in the headlines regarding Gabriel, I do wonder if the right offer comes in for him, Arsenal will say yes. If not him, someone else. Man City haven’t been afraid to sell Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus and I don’t think Arsenal will be afraid to sell one of its big names either, not if that money can help improve the squad. If Man City really do want Kieran Tierney and make a really good offer for him, I’d fully expect Arsenal to accept it. I love the player but let’s face it, we’re unlikely to see him play for a whole season. Thomas Partey is in a similar boat and as long as there’s a replacement ready and waiting to sign on the dotted line, why not sell him?
I know that any player can suffer a horrid injury which keeps them out of the team for months on end but when a player is breaking down every season, isn’t it smarter to let them be a different clubs worry rather than our own?
See you in the comments.
There’s no way we should sell Gabriel he’s so integral to the team and we have Saliba who can come in and take some pressure off White and Gabriel. Tierney’s injury problems stem from him going in hard on tackles he needs to learn when and how to tackle hard. If he
Tempered his point of impact correctly he would be around a lot more. But we do need a LB as cover for KT and one probably two midfielders two because of the rumours around TP. We need a Pepe replacement to ease the pressure on Saka snd probably another striker. Imsngine if Jesus or Eddie got injured we need back up maybe that’s Balagun? But we are defo not selling Gabriel he’s too important and all these Juventus reports are just reports
nothing else speculation, they need to stop and start reporting on facts not fiction.
Like the Algarve here today.
There’s a lot of tittle tattle about.
I’m enjoying the lack of football. Following the initial suspension of the game for covid it felt like we had 2 solid years of non stop football. There needs to be a break to build up enthusiasm again.
I think Marquinhos is going to be our winger.
Agree Pete, I’m having next month off. 😂
We will get a World Cup rest apart from worrying about our players going down with dehydration and heat exhaustion
Yep, ridiculous.
Pete, try the Women’s Euros if you want to see good competitive football. All available free on the good old beeb.
Two fixtures today again, feel sorry for the 5pm KO players, it’s going to be hot.
We have plenty experience of sick note players and none ever come back the same as before they were seriously injured.
Only unicorn was van Persie and that was thanks to Wenger’s unconventional advice.
Best sick note deal was Chamberlain sold to Liverpool and seconded by Walcott who in my opinion over stayed his time at Arsenal.
On Gabriel, I think stay or go is fine as long as the money is right. We do however need an enforcer with White being on the slight side else we will get bullied again.
Bradley, be honest. What are the chances that we will get decent money for Gabriel – or anybody else for that matter?
The only player sold for a fair price by the Arteta-Edu duo was Willock, and he was on a 7-game scoring spree, which is exactly the likelihood that we receive a reasonable price for a player.
Look at Bellerin, Torreira, Leno (Mavropanos, Guendouzi)… We are not even getting transfer prices negotiated hard by the other party. What we are getting – if any – is somewhere between ridiculous and insulting.
Certainly our sales department seem to have lost a box of noughts , they must have left them in the buying office with the negotiation team.
I’m with you Brad.
Talking of sick notes. 😆
From Arsenal.com
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mehmet Ali and Jack Wilshere as the new Head Coaches of our Under-21 and Under-18 sides, respectively.
Mehmet joined us as our Under-23s assistant coach back in January, and following a positive six months he will now take on the role of Head Coach for our Under-21s as well as our Professional Development Phase lead.
Max Porter will be joining Mehmet’s team as the Under-21s assistant coach, following his promotion where he was previously assistant coach to our Under-18s. Max has been in the game for several years making over 300 appearances at clubs including Barnet, Rushden & Diamonds, Newport County and Chelmsford City. Max joined us in 2019, when he took up a full-time coaching role.
Jack, a former academy graduate who made 197 Arsenal appearances between 2008 and 2018, during which time he won the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015 and the FA Youth Cup in 2009, is back working at the club where he takes on his first role in coaching, as the Head Coach of our Under-18s.
Adam Birchall will join Jack as our new Under-18s assistant coach alongside his new role as Under-17s Head Coach, moving from his previous position as our Under-16s Head Coach. Adam developed through our academy as a player before joining Mansfield Town in 2005. Adam’s playing career spanned 11 years and over 300 appearances at clubs including Mansfield Town, Barnet, Dover Athletic and Gillingham, during which time he also made 12 appearances for Wales Under-21s. In 2016 Adam re-joined us as a coach and has gained valuable experience throughout the age groups.
Talking about his new role, Mehmet said: “It’s a great honour and privilege to be a part of this club and lead our Under-21s. I’ve already had six good months at the club, so I’ve got a sound understanding of the players. I’m now really excited and looking forward to continue working with the group and playing my part in developing strong young Gunners.”
Jack, having spent some time back at London Colney last season working with our young players said: “It’s a huge honour to have this role. It’s no secret that I love this club. I love what we stand for and a big part of my life was spent in this academy, some of the best days of my life. This is a big opportunity for me and I’m ready. I’m hungry and can’t wait to help these young players thrive and be the best they can be on and off the pitch.
“It’s a special feeling to be part of the Arsenal family. It never left me, and even though I moved on for a few years, my heart was always still at Arsenal. I can’t wait to get started and help these young players thrive with a great team around me.”
Academy manager Per Mertesacker added: “This is great news for everyone involved in our academy. We have made a number of really positive changes in the last few weeks and I believe that we have the best possible people here to build on the progress that we’ve made in recent years.
“Everyone knows how passionate Jack is about Arsenal. He understands what we want to achieve here and he really impressed us last year. He knows exactly what it takes to progress through the academy into first-team football. Mehmet also really impressed us in the last six months and we knew that he was the right person to take on the Under-21s role.”
Luke Hobbs, our head of academy coaching said, “Myself and Per had every confidence that Mehmet was able to step in and be our Under-21 Head Coach. His connection with the staff at Colney, his relationship with the players and his attention to detail on the grass has been second to none.
“With Jack, we’ve got somebody who is really enthused to be a coach. Jack has so many great qualities and will also bring his depth of knowledge and high-quality experience in terms of what it takes to be an academy player and transition to play in our first-team.”
Is it Arsenal’s fault that clubs won’t pay what ‘we’ think they should be sold for??
Harsh on Edu and Arteta I think…
What was that about no diving Cicero, Looked debatable to me.
I agree we are a soft target but it boils down to if Arteta announces you’re not needed, why would teams pay fair price if you’re trying to get rid of them.
Gabriel is first team starter so there’s value and we don’t need to sell so the offer needs to be convincing.
England! Wow!
Gabriel is still young too, unlike others we’ve offloaded. We’ll lose money on Pepe for sure but that’s just too bad really.
Eight nil, and it could easily have been ten. Fantastic performance by the whole squad especially our own Beth Mead getting a hat-trick and two assists. Amazing! 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔
It makes no sense to even consider selling Gabriel, he is an accomplished defender and an integral part of a settled back line with crucially important Premiership experience. He is only 24 and can be part of the Arsenal team for years to come.
Replacing him with a totally untried Saliba would be a risk to far.
He does make a lot of errors though Cicero which if it were Xhaka, would be made more of.
Agreeing with Bradley, we
– have next to nothing long-term strategy (this is on the manager/director, not the board), and don’t seem to have a contract-renewal strategy/process in place, leading to players running down their contract to leave on a free (Lacazette, Ramsey, Alexis, Welbeck) or reaching the final year of their contract thus must be sold on a discount
– communicate quite publicly who doesn’t fit into the new concept, who have quarrels and conflicts with other players or the coach, who is a liability, who must leave, thus reducing the marketability of outgoing players (Torreira, Bellerin, Maitland-Niles, Mari)
– have a small but loud core of supporters who extremely critical and hostile towards players after a few below average performances making it harder to overcome their hardships and feel themselves at home (it’s possible that other clubs also have these @$$hole$, I don’t follow their blogs and pundits)
– made a tradition from making rare and irregular high concept favors for the loyal players to join other clubs on a free transfer while they have a living contract with us (Wilshere, Cazorla, Nwakali, Chambers, Rosicky, Monreal) into business as usual (M’khi, Mustafi, Sokratis)
– tend to overpay players that albeit having fine qualities are not attracted by top clubs if/when they fail with us, however the next tier of teams couldn’t afford their wages, so we have to either terminate them for free or sell them on a huge discount (Willian, Kolasinac, Bellerin, Pepe, Rúnarrson)
– have a manager with a huge, Mouringho-esque ego that prefers to make statements by getting rid of top quality, high earning players in the only way possible: paying off the remainder of their contract to get them out of the team (Özil, Auba, Willian)
– have a manager now who is reluctant to rotate, therefore players surplus to requirements don’t have access to playing minutes, and their market value start to deteriorate well before the transfer window approaches (Pepe, Leno)
I think that’s really harsh, brutal even on Arteta and Edu Pbarany.
Three of the four players you listed left before Edu and Arteta arrived.
I’d give Arteta praise for keeping Lacazette interested during his last season and re Aubameyang, what could Arteta do about Aubameyang once the player disrespected the club with his actions. Tell the truth or leave the media to make it up?
I don’t think Arteta has an ego either, I think he just wants the club to be successful and all decisions made are probably in the best interest of Arsenal in his, Edu and the board’s opinion.
Also.
“have a small but loud core of supporters who extremely critical and hostile towards players after a few below average performances making it harder to overcome their hardships and feel themselves at home (it’s possible that other clubs also have these @$$hole$, I don’t follow their blogs and pundits)”
Yet you have just been extremely critical and hostile towards our manager and Edu and that’s acceptable? Nope, not imo.
There are certain sites where the contributors seem to try to be more depressive than the others . They seem to revel in their total doom and despondency and once they have cast their opinion , nothing will shake their minds.
Then there are others that will use every fact to develop a .support culture that seems to see any criticism as heresy.
The big problem is that as a club we seem to attract social media warriors and the mainstream pick up on their negativity it’s a kind of confirmation bias.
A reflection of the general way of life perhaps Potter? We as human beings tend to be glass half full, or half empty and it’s been said by ‘experts’ that our default setting is to be negative.
But there are facts and there is opinion and sometimes in life I think people have an opinion but express it as if it’s the truth yet when one looks closely, there’s absolutely no evidence to support it.
When it comes to the club, unless any of us are privy to what goes on behind closed doors, all we fans have is opinion, as do the media etc.
New post up by the way.
I wasn’t blaming everything on Arteta and Edu, Rico.
Arsenal had the tradition of buying high and selling low well before Arteta was even playing here… But his appointment didn’t help turn things around either.
Yes, Ramsey, Alexis are not on Edu or Arteta, and we are probably better off without Welbeck and Lacazette taking their final year into consideration. But I see some of Mikel’s responsibility in Lacazette’s abysmal season, especially after he was the BEST forward in the league from shot conversion perspective only a year ago.
However the rest of the players mentioned apply. We had some suitors for Sokratis, but instead of selling him for a reasonable fee (I remember 5M but could find this post on 3.5M https://arseblog.news/2020/09/napoli-confirm-interest-in-sokratis/) or even for free Arteta kept him with the team losing further 2.5M on wages and then terminated his contract and possibly paid his remaining wages without him playing 2 games.
We don’t know what is happening in the dressing room and behind doors, so everything is up to interpretation. All we have are the facts, and some pundit perceptions circulating. Here are my arguments on the ego topic, feel free to dispute or challenge them:
– Guendouzi. It probably doesn’t need further explanation, but to be on the safe side, the lad made some teenage mistakes, some hotheaded decisions and despite promising performances on loan forced him to be sold for a ridiculous transfer fee. I think guiding, coaching young players is an inherent part of the managers, and giving a second chance to starlets (independent from their potential, but definitely to a player who is successfully competing with Rabiot, Camavinga and Kante for CM/DM places for France) is not a weakness but would be a show of strength.
– There is an unconfirmed yet popular rumor of Mikel wanting to get rid of Sokratis, Guendouzi, Mavropanos (done already), Pepe, Leno and Torreira (in coming weeks) maybe even Saliba, because they were all Emery players, Emery signings. If this is true (which I seriously hope it isn’t), I doubt that you, Rico – or anybody else for that matter – could explain it without using words like ego or incompetence.
– Saliba could be a separate bullet point here as he was not loaned out on multiple occasions as he was thrown into too deep water hence proven a defensive liability, but he was in fact never tried for a single minute despite of the hype around him, the hefty price Arsenal paid for him and the fact that he was already playing for the French Olympic team.
– Every managers have their fallouts with players, sometimes even with accomplished stars. But in just 2 years Arteta had conflicts with quite an illustrious list of Özil, Guendouzi, Pepe, AMN, Willian, Saliba and Aubameyang.
While ego could be an interpretation as stated above, the excuse that “he just wants the club to be successful and all decisions made are probably in the best interest of” the club could be applied to anybody. I’m sure Mourinho, Ferguson or Hoddle only wanted their clubs to be successful, but that doesn’t contradict them having huge egos.
And coming to the last topic: what could Arteta do about Aubameyang once the player disrespected the club with his actions?
First, I am not aware of significant disrespect to the club. As far as I know “The club captain was punished by his manager Mikel Arteta after being late for a team meeting on the morning of the game, and Parlour says the manager was right to act in the manner that he did.” Yes, being late for a meeting is uncool or arriving late from a family visit, but neither of them says they are bigger than the club. If PEA was late, that didn’t disrespect me at all. Not because I like him, but because it is a jerkwater story. These happen everywhere and there are proper tools for punishment: a week salary, not being considered for selection, training with the U23 team… there are plenty. Being stripped of the captain’s armband might seem a bit overkill, but let’s say it wasn’t his first breach. But terminating the contract of the clubs best player, paying 22M in compensation so he can continue his goal scoring frenzy at Barcelona is the opposite of good management. There are players with bigger ago managed far better: Ibrahimovis, Ronaldo, Neymar – just to name a few. They are all coached properly and kept producing top performances… Mourinho, Santo, Conte made the best out of Kane, while he was communicating that he wanted to leave. That could be perceived as a disrespect to the club, not being late for a meeting…
What could have Arteta done differently?
– renew Auba’s contract back in 2020 so he would be more sensitive to the disciplinary issues (and maybe give him performance-based incentives to avoid making 350k a week independent from playing well or playing at all)
– coaching him properly, keeping his form at the top
– discussing differences in a professional manner
– give him another chance if/after some serious punishment became inevitable