Morning guys.
Arsenal’s Champions League fixtures are tough.
Real Madrid (H)
Bayern Munich (A)
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Real Betis (A)
Lille (H)
Napoli (A)
Sabah (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Once we get Mourniho’s lot and Bayern out of the way, things look a little easier but even then, no club can be taken lightly. Either side of the Real tie we’re at home against Chelsea and then we travel to Sunderland. The away game against Bayern is sandwiched between a home fixture against Leeds Utd and an away match against Nottingham Forest.
I find it quite staggering that no club has been interested in signing 26 year old Reiss Nelson for a fee. West Ham were reported to be keen on signing him but a deal never materialised but I strongly suspect that now he’s a free agent, he’ll have no problem finding a new club. He might not be up to Mikel Arteta’s standards but mid to low table Premier League clubs could soon snap him up. I hope so for his sake. It’s hard to believe he’s been at Arsenal for 18 years until yesterday when the player and club agreed to end his contract.
We’re down to five days now. Five days of waiting to see if the sulky Alvarez can agree to join Arsenal. From the outside it seems this is the player Arteta is desperate to sign. The all singing and dancing 26 year old who is reportedly desperate to switch Spanish clubs.
Obviously Arteta wouldn’t talk about him during his pre Aston Villa pre Aston Villa press conference and rightly so but he did waffle on about other things. Ezri Konsa will be in the squad for Monday night’s game and Bruno Guimaraes could be too. William Saliba and Jurrien Timber remain absent of course.
When asked about Gabriel Jesus not being in training he said something about having personal issues. Something similar was behind Gabriel Martinelli leaving the session early too. I hung on to every word, honest! Tactics, exposure and something about fitness was the reason he gave for not switching Kai Havertz for Viktor Gyokeres against Coventry. I’d be more concerned about Havertz fitness if he’s to be our main striker this season, not Gyokeres’. No news about Ethan Nwaneri he said and I personally hope it stays that way because in a long and hard season coupled with our history of injuries, we will probably need him.
The last thing he said related to our forwards and signings:
I think it’s a natural reaction [to look for new signings] because we always want more, it looks like, if we sign somebody else. But we already have a lot of great players here in the building. We’re always looking to strengthen and be better and have qualities that we don’t have in the squad. But the main aim, as I said, is to focus on the ones that we have, they are so good.
Lastly, Alvarez hasn’t turned up for training with Real Madrid for a third day running. Now where are those grapes which need crushing….
Catch up in the comments.
Signing new players isn’t an exact science as Arsene Wenger proved time after time when Player A was set to join Arsenal and invariably went elsewhere, the Player B would do likewise.
Arsenal have tried to sign forwards but haven’t had a lot of luck, of course we got the boys from Lille for £75m and that was a disaster, the Serbian guy from Napoli (if I recall) choose Juventus, Vini Junior decided to stay in Spain and I’m sure there’s a lot more, Mudryk, there’s another!
Josh Kroenke:
“Champions don’t stand still; they evolve and keep moving forward.”
How true is above statement?
We had strengthened Defence and Midfield by buying Konsa and Guimares respectively. Plus, an emerging MLS is up there with them.
Attack?
Tzolis replaced Trossard.
Who is going to replace Martinelli?
Or Arteta pivots to Eze and Madueke as backup LW, giving Dowman and Nwaneri more playing time at right flank?
Goodnight guys.
They are great aren’t they Stuart.
A touch of Eden, Rico. Sounds lovely. We have wild pigs in our bush a little north of us.
It’s the Cherki and Harland show at Selhurst.
Just hope Ben White can stay fit for a season Stuart.
It’s turned a bit chilly now, gusty winds but when the sun shines, it’s still nice. Horses, ponies, donkeys, many of them. Next comes the piglets for the acorns, my favourite.
Still hot over there, Rico? Still got those wild ponies in the New Forest? I recall seeing them some years back. Bit taller than the Exmoor ponies we see in Somerset.
Hurt us too, Rico. But then Super Benny Blanco came to the rescue. Lovely to see him back in form and fitness, too.
Me too Stuart, I thought he was a super player. Injuries really hurt him.
Lovely to see Tomi back in action. Always admired him during his time with us.
Palace need a coach to teach headers. That’s three very presentable chances they have spurned in the first half. Grumble…grumble…
Thanks for the post, Rico.
Exactly Cicero..
He’ll need to Rico, he’s only 5ft 6 ins. 🙄
Villa are reported to have struck a deal for Ibrahim Mbaye. Less than £50m. Why weren’t we looking at him I wonder….
We’ve signed a striker… 😂
Arsenal have confirmed the signing of teenage forward Igor Tyjon from Blackburn in a permanent transfer.
The 18-year-old has been a long-term target for the Gunners.
I hope he’s still growing….
So might Jackson I guess if the deal gets done in time.
Agree, I thought they might come out swinging but I think we’ve seen the end of those days. To be fair, the ball is doing a lot under the clouds.
I see Emery is saying Leon Goretzka might play for Villa on Monday.
Gay worries me, he never seems to be comfortable at the crease.
We have a lead of 210, 8 wickets in hand with three days to play so why are both Root and Gay scrabbling around for risky singles.
Oops, not the 200 lead required..
110 all out..
Follow on?
Archer is unlucky to have just the two wickets..
He’s making us for the long legs of Havertz 😜
Make that 3 for Archer..
Most visiting Test teams don’t bat properly anymore,it depends how long England bat but I wouldn’t bet on this game lasting into day 4 (weather permitting)
Has Arteta got a problem with forwards taller than him Endrick 5 foot 8 , Alvarez 5 foot 7
, ,,
Trouble is we might be losing one, two even…
At least he is a forward, not another winger. Twenty Year old five feet eight, another Brazilian to add to our collection.
Arsenal are reportedly exploring a deal to sign Real Madrid starlet Endrick.
Hi Geoff, there’s always a chance.. lol
Thanks Cicero. I think England will soon skittle Pakistan out..
Morning Rico and all,
looking at the champions League draw above, we have a chance,
Yes Cicero, you don’t do spliffs at your country fayres do you and more power to you for keeping standards high…
As for the Metropolitan Police I gave up on those prats years ago, a shambles run by cowards…
More drugs than booze at the Notting Hill Carnival nowadays. The police need to show some professionalism, no rainbow badges an no police dad dancing to Caribbean music.
The Norfolk equivalent on Monday, The Aylsham Show, somewhat more agricultural than Carnival.😉
26 quid a ticket but with the uncertain weather forecast we’ll probably give it a miss.
Good afternoon all.
Another good un, Rico thanks.
I just can’t see Alvarez signing for us, he knows how hard the Premiership can be and he’d have an easier time in Spain.
England all out for 290. Game on.
The weather should make the Test at Lords a tough call to make, is 290 a good score? Will the sun coming out favour the batting side or the bowlers? Archer needs to come to the party for England…
Notting Hill Carnaval this bank holiday weekend, I usually find something else to do but this year I’ll be working, always an interesting occasion with lots of tourists and lots of narcotics. 😁
Morning Kev, thank you.
I’m not convinced by Martinez so much these days but he’s definitely better than Sanchez. Alonso has certainly done a lot of wheeling and dealing this summer but time will tell if he can get his players to gel.
Mourinho might upset a few of his players, he usually does. 😂
Morning Rico, good post, I commented to my sons during the preseason that I’d like another crack at Dortmund and Betis with our 1st team after losing to both and listening to the furore it caused among a few, not on here though…
Mourinho will make Real Madrid a much tougher nut to crack and Bayern will be looking for some revenge after we smacked them up last year so it’s going to be a tough start to the Champions League, as fans we’ve just gotta keep our heads, just in case….
Martinez to Chelsea is a worry because Emi is good and definitely better than Sanchez, that makes the Chavs stronger and a major threat to our hopes of retaining our beloved Holy Grail.
Morning Limey, all.
I don’t know what it is about our players not going for the kind of money others do. Jackson is going to Villa for more than we’re going to get for Martinelli apparently which doesn’t make sense considering what both achieved last season.
I reckon Martinez is on a downward journey, fingers crossed he is anyway..
Morning Rico/everyone
I hope that’s what happens with Alvarez,I’ve heard someone say we should do a Clive Allen type deal and sell him straightaway to Barcelona.
With those Champions league fixtures,at least Chelsea/Spurs fans can’t say Arsenal have had an easy draw. Anyway I think the other teams need to worry about us.
It’s unbelievable that we didn’t even get one penny out of Reiss Nelson,in fact it probably cost us money to terminate his contract.
At least he gave us one of the greatest Emirates moments,that late winner against Bournemouth was unforgettable.
I see Emi Martinez has gone to Chelsea,a great signing,possibly the 2nd best goalkeeper in the Premier league. It’s ridiculous with all the money spent in the last few years,they never signed a decent keeper until now.
Still 5 days of the Transfer Window left,yawn, the Media just won’t let go of the Alvarez thing.
I have a feeling that the closer we get to deadline day, Atletico will buckle and sell Alvarez to Barcelona. From the outside, it appears he doesn’t want to return to England and Atletico won’t want to end up keeping a sulky player who the fans are clearly annoyed with.
Perhaps the Martinelli move is on hold until the outcome of Alvarez is known.