Morning all.
Despite having one of the best transfer windows in years, I feel disappointed this morning. Arsenal tried to sign Douglas Luiz yesterday but Aston Villa kept rejecting the offers made. Having been linked with Youri Tielemans all summer, he didn’t arrive either. As the saying goes, it is what it is….
Deadline day did see Hector Bellerin leave the club permanently in a free move to Barcelona and AMN was confirmed to be a Southampton, albeit for just one year on loan. If he has a good season on the south coast, there’s a chance he could stay as an option to sign agreement is included in the deal.
It’s taken two and a half years, but now Mikel Arteta really does have a squad of players which are his choice. When one thinks of how Arsenal as a club have done transfer business pre this current board and manager, the rebuild to where we are now has been pretty rapid. Factor in Covid and the impact it had on the financial side of the game, it’s quite remarkable really that so much has been achieved in a relatively short period of time. Yes, the club has spent an awful lot of money but look around and see how other clubs have behaved this summer and it’s mind boggling. Nottingham Forest seem to have signed everyone and anyone they could but should they end up back in the Championship, they’ll be in trouble.
Chelsea have spent to most though, a staggering £278.4m which is more than they’ve ever spent in one transfer window. Manchester United have been throwing their money around too with £227.4m spent, West Ham £179.2m, Tottenham £172m and Nottingham Forest £157.3m. Manchester City have spent £128.8m, Newcastle £123m and The Arsenal £121.5m.
Spending vast amounts of money guarantees nothing but a deeper squad but who that money is spent on is what counts. Obviously, Man City getting Erling Haaland has to be the signing of the summer, possibly closely followed by Liverpool signing Darwin Nunez, but I think Arsenal securing Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko comes close in terms of what they add to their respective clubs. Marquinhos and Pablo Vieira are yet to be tested in the Premier League but if both have the kind of impact on the team which the other have had, then it’ll be great.
We’re heading to Old Trafford on Sunday and in similar fashion to last season, they’re struggling. The signing of Ajax winger Anthony will no doubt lift the team but I’m hoping he soon finds out that playing in the Eredivisie League is very different to the Premier League.
36 players have left Arsenal this summer. Admittedly, 20 of them are loans but that’s still a big number of permanent departures. Most are young players but 6 are senior players and I very much doubt we’ll see Pepe or AMN return from their loan deals. It’s disappointing that such little money has exchanged hands for many of the departures but if another club doesn’t want to pay much for one of our players, there’s little Arsenal can do about it. It’s not like there was ever a bidding war for the likes of Bellerin, Torreira, Guendouzi etc etc.
Hopefully their departures are the end of a bad era of transfer deals. There’s bound to be transfer deals in the future which don’t work out for one reason or another, but the managing of contracts will hopefully be much better than it used to be and vast financial losses on players will finally be a thing of the past. Barring one or two older players, ever single player now has a sell on value which should make a big difference going forward.
Also, the players we now have, seem to have the right work ethic and attitude which in turn, is why the Arsenal fans, both home and away, are in full voice on a match day. Whether they’re are 19, 20 or 30 years old, they’re giving everything for the team, the fans and the club.
We’re going to drop points, I think that’s inevitable but it’s how we drop them which matters and as long as we go down fighting, so be it.
See you in the comments.
Morning all.
I am not disappointed at all. I am proud to be a supporter of the team with the smallest squad (joint by Manchester City and Real Madrid) and the youngest team in the Premier League by a clear margin. I’m also happy that we didn’t compete with Chelsea and Manchester United for signing old and/or overrated players well beyond their reasonable market value. Spending the 12th highest this window seems just fine, especially as we got 5 players for that, while Chelsea got 8, West Ham 9 and Nottingham 18. We are well ahead of them in squad building and team identity.
We avoided panic-buying, and we seem to have at least 2 quality players for each position. We might have only 4 CBs in the squad, but we can rely on Tomi and Tierney playing RCB/LCB respectively, so I don’t envy Manchester United for having 7 CBs and 4 wingers on both sides. This seems like a strong and young squad, deep enough despite its size. We will see in the next new weeks whether the risk at midfield is a liability, but as we have only 5 games in September I’m not worried.
Morning Gunners and Rico, yes Peter I share your views, I’m a little disappointed we couldn’t get the Luiz deal over the line but glad that Edu stuck to his guns, he made 3 fair offers for a Villa squad player but they thought we’d buckle at the last minute and now it’s going to cost them millions in lost revenue.
I’d imagine that Edu did a lot of prep work for January and next summer, players we can’t get in yet but who’ll be available in 5 or 10 months time. Importantly Edu has moved on pretty much the last remnants of those guys who are just going through the motions and picking up a nice wad whilst living the dream in the best parts of London.
My focus is now on who we have and how best to utilise them, when will we see Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos and what kind of impact will they have, does Arteta have a plan for Matt Smith and will he be able to save the club a transfer fee?
Is there anyone else in the academy who can step up, Walters perhaps or Hein maybe Cirjan even?
All the officials for Old Toilet this weekend come from the Greater Manchester area so I’ll leave you to come to your own conclusions on that?
Don’t have nightmares.
Kev, I share your schadenfreude that we didn’t lose playing chicken with Villa, and despite us being generous with Martinez and Chambers they were way too greedy and are expected to regret it in 10 months.
Regarding the academy players I think losing Hutchinson and loaning Patino, Flores, Salah, Norton-Cuffy and Azeez is a clear indicator that the academy is not in Arteta’s plans. However I’m not trying to avoid the question. I guess Smith, Cottrell and Hein have the most chances to sit on the bench, but I see only Smith playing a (very) few minutes. Jeorge Bird holds Taylor-Hart and Henry-Frances on the highest regard, but that won’t move Arteta.
There are 2 players (besides Hein) currently at Arsenal that could make a career under Arteta (apart from Balogun, Patino, Azeez, Flores and Norton-Cuffy who are all on loan), the 2 full-backs: Walters and Sousa. But at the moment neither of them are ready to step up, and the RB position is awfully packed anyway. Maybe in 2 years, but to be honest I still don’t see the path from the academy to the first team.
We are short in the middle of midfield but given a fair wind we should be able to get over it. However don’t make any mistake that certain teams will see it as a weakness that can be taken advantage of .
I fully expect Lokonga to be targetted on Sunday . I expect to see McTominay et al clattering him until the ref whoever that might be tells him to stop . Apparently it’s Tierney running around with Mason having his feet up with a pie and a pint at Stockley.
I can’t see much help there .
One more injury in the middle and we are in trouble , I see that Matt Smith is being promoted , he is now 21 so “” Good enough = Old enough “”, we might get to see him and especially as Patino , Azeez have gone on loan he might get a few minutes in Europe .
The squad is now settled until new year and the world cup . I fear for our squad then as so many will be playing in electrolyte sapping conditions and we are susceptible to muscle injuries ,I think we may have to be busy again in the interim window.
Still it is what it is .
Gerrard is claiming that Luiz understands why Villa didn’t sell him , you can’t help wondering whether had we gone earlier he might have joined but there is every chance that it could backfire for Villa if a dispirited player hangs around and we know the affect that can have.
Afternoon All
On the whole it’s been a good transfer season, we have managed to buy a couple of very good players and on top of that sell some players not needed and place a few out on Loan. It would have been nice to pick up another DM but it will give more younger players a chance to prove them self.
Morning Kev, Pb.
I’m disappointed we didn’t get a midfielder deal done but not disappointed we didn’t pay silly money to get one. What concerns me is the lateness in realising we need a midfielder.
I reckon the lateness was caused by the injuries to Partey , Zinchenko and Elneny all coming at once. As I suggested earlier if Lokonga or Xhaka get crocked then the proverbial will hit the fan but nothing can be done now.
That’s my point though, imo we needed a midfielder before the injuries came.
I was expecting a medium. As I posted yesterday, we are missing a midfielder and it seems to me that someone who can play left-back without being a bad fit. With Elheny and Partney injured and not playing often, with Xhaxa suspended within 3 more games, who plays in midfield?
Yes, we could do with some who can see into the future.
‘av a butchers in moderation please Rico, I’ve lost a comment.
someone
You know my thoughts on the midfield , I have always thought that it’s our Achilles heel , Command the middle and you command the match. It’s always needed to be stronger
I wonder if Edu might look into the players under free agents to find a DM
Nothing there Cicero, it’s obviously gone to the same place a few of mine have recently..
Same as mine I suspect Potter.
Geoff, don’t think there are any available.
Peter, regarding Omari Hutchinson and ‘schadenfreude’ I wonder how he and his agents/advisers feel at this moment on the back of his new club Chelsea spending over £270m on new players?
The grass isn’t always greener…
Potter@ 1:19, you are right. The midfield is the engine room, games are won or lost there. I think Arsenal did very well. All the players that were brought in are game changers or potential game changers. Regarding the midfield, I don’t think there’s a crisis when you consider White, ESR and Tomiyasu can be deployed there. Judging from the last game, Lokanga will be more than adequate and will also improved with playing time. Missing out on Luiz is a godsend. When everyone is fit he’s not making the team; hence, you will have 25m bench warmer. Waiting till January for additional reinforcement is not a bad move.
I would rather not have to play defenders as shirt fillers , the days of ” he can do a job ” are long gone.ESR could find himself replacing Odegaard if the Norwegian is carrying an injury . If we were buying a midfielder it was for Partey’s position and the midfield come wingers that we were linked with were not that.
The lost comment:-
As far as the transfer window goes I’ll give it 8 out of ten. Two very good signings, Jesus and Zinchenko, the rehabilitation of Saliba was an act of genius. The other two outfield players Vieria and Marquinos we will have to wait and see. Our back-up ‘keeper, Matt Turner, should eventually earn his corn.
I agree wholeheartedly with you Rico, we should have worked harder to get a defensive midfielder in. Having said that, Edu was right to call the deal off when the third offer was refused.
I agree re Omari Hutchinson. I bet he doesn’t stick around for too long and I strongly suspect he’s already regretting his decision. I get him wanting to go and play but at least go to a club where he will.
That position would have been one of the first on the to do list if it was me Cicero. I personally think it was as important, crucial even as getting a left back and striker.
I don’t know much about the Academy players who are being moved out nor do I know the reasons why they are going, could it be that Arteta doesn’t see them fitting in to his preferred style of play, could it be that he perceives them as not being good enough to progress into the first team squad, or perhaps Edu is leading the clear out of non Brazilians. just joking…
I think it’s because Arteta doesn’t rate them enough. He’s keeping those who he thinks have a chance, or at least that’s how it appears. Reading his press conference comments though, it would seem a few more are likely to leave in the future.
Afternoon rico, all. Share the concern of some that we should have brought in a DM even before the recent injuries. What with Partey’s injury record and other concern, I really thought we would. Especially as Edu and Arteta had been vocal on further squad building till the end. I fear not going to 30m for Luis will come back to bite us in the foot, but obviously hope I’m wrong.
Afternoon Andrew, like you I think the talking and action didn’t quite meet after the early signings. Right up until deadline day the message was that we were likely to make another signing.
I also think not signing a midfielder will bite us hard. Might sound dramatic but it’s something like the situation we’re now in which could cost us top four in May.
By leaving the bid for Luiz so late we became seen as desperate and as such Villa decided to bleed us for as much as they could get.
It may well be that we had eyes on someone else that went to another club and got caught between two stools .
Miguel Ângelo da Silva Rocha (born 10 November 1994), known as Xeka is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is currently a free agent.
Formed at Braga, he spent several years at Lille in Ligue 1, making 145 appearances and winning the league in 2020–21.
We could have Xhaka and Xeka 😆
I hope we don’t do Villa any more favours like we did selling them Martinez and Chambers on the cheap.
We weren’t interested in Danilo from Palmeiras?
We were rumoured to be interested Jm, but not sure if the interest was real.
Kev, you are spot on re Hutchinson.
Yet he might still have a chance to play for Chelsea at some point – see Gallagher, Broja, Chalobah and co – while the path from the Hale End academy to Arsenal’s first team seems to be closed or destroyed since Arteta’s arrival.
Which might be something we are less proud of, but if you ask people on this very blog (or anywhere else) if they would rather have signed a high profile player in his early 20s to the midfield (Tielemans, Danilo, Luiz) and the right wing (Neto, Gakpo, Lang, Mudryk) making the academy players (Azeez, Patino, Flores, ‘Hutchinson’) fifth/sixth choice of their preferred position, or we keep a thinner squad and involve the youngsters at some point maybe this season or in the next, the overwhelming majority would prefer (demand) the former scenario.
Just looking at some young free agents and found 1 that might be ok.
Dan-Axel Zagadou age 23 height 6ft 5″country France played for PSG and then moved to Dortmund position DF / Centre back has also played in the European cup round and played for the French under 16 and 21.
I have only read about this player but have not seen him play
I’m quite sure Peter that the route from Hale End hasn’t actually been destroyed by Arteta, I mean that’s really a bit dramatic mate don’t you think and what do you think Arteta should do anyway, play Matt Smith at Old Trafford or Kido Taylor Hart?
At this time we have Reiss Nelson injured, Reuell Walters is injured, Ben Cottrell is injured, Catalin Cirjan has just come back from a year out with injury, all the others are 18 or younger, Sousa is 17, Henry-Francis 18, our best lads are out learning their trade just like William Saliba and if one or two come back next year at his level then I reckon that’s job done and Arteta will use them, he’s not an idiot. 😉
Ross Barkley is available, he’s English, an international and only 28…
He’s also probably looking for a four year deal on £200k per week!
Ah well, back to the drawing board…
According to Arteta Elneny is out for months, Partey for weeks or maybe less and Zinchenko is not yet able to train with the squad. Odegaard and Ramsdale are “being assessed”. It doesn’t look good so early in the season.
I think the majority on here would rather see an Arsenal boy make it into the first team but, I’m quietly confident that a football manager, or at least most of them, who train with them every day, know more about their ability than we here do. Arteta will play younger players as and when they are ready I’m sure.
It’s easy for us to suggest player x, y and z should be played instead of making a signing but it’s not our future which rests on such decisions.
We on here, don’t make ‘demands’ Pb, we just have opinions and let’s be honest here, we as a team/club wouldn’t be where we are today had Arteta not made the signings he and the club has.
Ha ha Kev. Re Barkley.
Cicero, it could only happen at Arsenal.
Rico, I think it’s a huge and unnecessary oversimplification implying that the manager knows (almost) everything, therefore the decisions he makes are – ipso facto – the correct ones. At least I don’t see the ‘involving academy players’ topic a binary question. There are managers who tend to favor the youngsters, and there are others who prefer experienced players and external hires. Wenger was a huge advocate of the academy, Emery was on par with him, and Arteta is a different kind of manager from the other side of the scale, that’s difficult to dispute. However this is part of his style which doesn’t make him better or worse. Relying on academy players is a double-edged sword: it can compromise the performance to some extent on the short run, but could (however not always does) improve the results and save millions on the long run. And there are several factors behind preferring the academy: some managers are calculating future profits, some are father figures for the teenagers, while others don’t even have the luxury of possessing 2 quality adult players for each position.
So I was not saying at all if a high money purchase or an academy promotion is the objectively better decision. My point was not about Arteta. My point was about the fans, who have both a deadline day marquee singing and ‘see an Arsenal boy make it into the first team’ among their priorities; but the predominant majority don’t realize these two being in strong contradiction. And when supporters are disappointed for Arsenal not buying a 3rd holding midfielder or a 4th right winger, then the introduction of some academy players in the domestic cup is clearly their lower priority, even unconsciously.
Kev, you are half right.
The word destroying was indeed overly dramatic, but it was not intentional. English is not my mother tongue, and the word I had in mind (after looking up in the dictionary) is windup or eliminated. Sorry for the miscommunication, I see no malign intent in blocking the path. And I don’t know if it was decided by Mikel, Edu, or the executive team changed the Arsenal paradigm, but the proofs are overwhelming.
Teams like Aston Villa, Norwich, Tottehnam, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea gave a handful of games and dozens of minutes in the Premier League, the Europa League, the FA and Carabao Cup to young academy players like Tim Iroegbunam, Dane Scarlett, Aaron Ramsey, James McAtee, Tyler Morton or Liam Delap, and I wasn’t even mentioning Carney Chukwuemeka. I might be biased, but I see none of them superior to Flores, Azeez, Petion or Biereth, making the decision a matter of determination, not an obvious necessity.
At this very specific point of time I wouldn’t play academy players in the first team, as only Smith would be ready to step up, and him being 21 doesn’t seem to be on a trajectory any more to reach the quality expected of a first team player. But if you have asked the same question a month ago, there would have been a vastly different answer. Our best players going on loan – especially to second tier foreign clubs – doesn’t exactly reassure the management’s confidence in the academy… but you know the story more than I do…
I suppose the premise is to get them playing time and to look good as we all know very few will make it to first team level and apart from boosting confidence it should grow interest when we finally move them on.
The practice of signing up every kid that shows promise has long been the policy of clubs since the academy system was created. Clubs pick them up and spit them out. My nephews 12 year old has just been let go by Norwich as his 9 year old got signed up. The problem is that they need to play and at the academies they only get about 20 minutes competitive football a week and they are prevented from playing for their schools or local teams as we all did in our younger years.
As for Arsenal’s academy boys if they cut it at their respective levels they will go on but if not they will be passed over . It’s how blanket signing goes..
I wasn’t implying as such Pb, I’m just suggesting Arteta knows more about the players than you or I.
I agree Potter. I’m a big fan of the academy and want all of them to succeed at the club but the reality is, very few will or do.
The perception that Wenger and/or Emery used more academy players is false imo, certainly in the PL.
He might have played them in the the early stages of competitions but how many truly made it to the very top with Arsenal? Ashley Cole is the only one I can think of.
Fair point Peter, tbh I’m not really sure who has the final say on where a young player goes on loan or why? Is it Edu, the coaching staff, the Loans Manager, the player, his agent or a combination of many, if it’s the latter then it’s a decision that has to critiqued across all of those decision makers.
Arsenal sent Azeez to Portsmouth a year ago because of the good work Danny Cowley had done with our youngsters in the past, it didn’t go as well as we had hoped but Cowley said some very positive things about Miguel recently, kind of hinting that he had to come out of his comfort zone so maybe sending him abroad is behind that, could be that local Ibiza resident Bobby Pires will take an interest?
I don’t think loans to Dutch clubs have been a rip-roaring success or Spanish clubs which given their high technical level is odd, but loans to French clubs have been very successful so that’s an area we should probably focus on more.
I can’t really comment on how other clubs bring through youngsters from their academies but I’ll try, I still only see one home made player in the Man City team, Man United are full of signings from other clubs, Liverpool bring a few through but the majority of their squad is still big signings, Chelsea were forced by a transfer ban to bring some youngsters through under Lampard but that’s now stopped and as for Tottenham I don’t really care. All these clubs might play some youngsters in the League Cup but the majority still leave for lower clubs.
Good debate
If Odegard can’t play, it’s time “to cast” Fábio Vieira.
Danilo may have a chance in January after the World Cup.
Arsenal will have to start thinking about adopting a player for DM. Are there any juniors available for this position?
At the moment, Palmeiras is 1st in the Brazilian Championship (14 rounds to go) and is in on Libertadores. It would hardly release the pillar of his midfield now. Let’s wait..
Liverpool drop two more points and it could have been all three as Everton’s goal ruled out by a very very close offside decision.
Rico, we have no disagreements on Arteta knowing more about the players than you or I. It would be weird if we had.
However the perception that Wenger and/or Emery used more academy players is a fact, and not really subject to opinions. I’ll be happy to provide detailed statistics about it, but only upon request, as my past comparisons and statistics have poor history of being reflected or even being read to be honest.
You have a point though on questioning whether academy players made stellar careers at Arsenal, as in the post-Fabregas era neither Wilshere, Iwobi, Bellerin, Willock nor AMN did reach the proverbial top. However we still have Nelson and Nketiah from the Wenger-boys, as well as Saka and Smith-Rowe who were discovered and promoted by Emery with the team, so the jury is still out.
Kev, you are perfectly right on the Dutch and Spanish 2nd tier loans, and I share your optimism regarding our French connections. I’m afraid it only applies to first team players though, as it seems that there are different units in charge of senior and academy loan deals. But I do wish we could have sent some of our top Hale End talents to the Ligue 1…
Indeed, City has only a single home made star (but Sancho is a made man on his own merit with a citizen background). United has more success though: apart from the recently departed Lingard they have Rashford, McTominay and the rotten apple Greenwood (let’s not forget Dean Henderson), but I’m willing to agree that Axel Tuanzebe and Brandon Williams are only Willock/AMN level players who we shouldn’t envy. Liverpool is doing fine with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliot (and they nurtured Sterling), but probably Chelsea tops the chart with Reece James, Mason Mount, Gallagher and Broja, while they made significantly more money from Tomori and Abraham than we could from Chambers, AMN, Nelson and Nketiah. And they still have Chalobah, Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi for future currency.
However the real competitor on the rise is Aston Villa. They nurture talents like Jacob Ramsey, Cameron Archer and Carney Chukwuemeka (whom they managed to sell for 16M at the age of 18), and manage to attract talents like Rory Wilson. I understand the both our U18 and U21 were extremely crowded, but there were gossips of several high profile academy signings, and none of them materialized. So let’s wait for a year and see if the Arsenal academy is still as attractive destination as it was under Wenger’s reign…
Arsenal might seem to be full of English players, but only 4 of them came through the academy, most fans would immediately get rid of Nelson and Nketiah, leaving us with Saka and Smith-Rowe who are indeed exceptional talents, but both were promoted 4 years ago. The last year and a half saw us signing the exciting Mika Biereth and losing Sam Greenwood, Omari Hutchinson, Daniel Ballard and Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand.
I did say PL Pb.
By the way, Nketiah, Saka, ESR, Willock etc were too young for Wenger to use in the PL imo. I was thinking more of the Gibbs, Lansbury, Randall, Muamba etc etc. They might have had a few matches but as Kev said, had to move to different clubs to truly find their feet.
If we’d have not signed the players we have and instead, brought through the academy players, like Sam Greenwood, Omari Hutchinson, Daniel Ballard and Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand, we’d very likely, imo, be where Villa are now in the league.
Back in the mists of time, during Wenger’s first two or three seasons, I don’t recall him using many youth team players, we didn’t have an academy then, nor did he use reserve team players unless forced to through injury or suspensions. He brought in from all over the Europe, and the wider World, players who could work within his preferred style of play. Indeed, he was widely condemned in the English media for fielding the first ever Arsenal team without an England qualified player in it.
Emery had no time to experiment with academy players, he was employed to “sort out” the squad and try to hold onto a top six position in the league. He had little choice in the players available to him and was forced to promote from within.
Arteta was in a better position to bring in players who could fit the Guardiola playing style he wanted to use while at the same time cementing his own position. I have no doubt, that had there been academy players available to play like Odegaard, White, Martinelli, Gabriel and etc then he would have promoted them to the first team squad.
I can imagine the howls of protest had we been left without the product from those players he and Edu brought in while we wallowed in the bottom half of the table.
If the academy can’t produce suitable candidates for the first team, Arteta can’t pick them.
Sorry for the long winded comment, but I feel it had to be made.
That’s not long winded, we’re on the same hymn sheet.
Odegaard was training today..
Ramsdale too.
Any sign of Tomiyasu training? Rico.
Yes Cicero, he’s training too. Matt Smith too I think.
Zane Monlouis and Catalin Cirjan trained with the first team yesterday. Monlouis is a regular starter for the U21s at centre-back but didn’t play today. – jeorge bird.
Ben White injured.
Peter the Sterling point is stretching it and wasn’t Broja signed from abroad, when everyone is fit at Liverpool Elliott and Jones don’t play so Liverpool’s strongest XI has one academy boy, Man City’s has one academy boy, Chelsea have two, it’s fairly relative with Arsenal, we have Saka.
Next season we might, just might mind, have Charlie Patino eventually at the base of our midfield in place of Partey
Anyone that’s going better take their boots . Is there anybody left ? After today’s results we could do with something from this game to maintain the gaps we have on the chasing pack.
But along with the PGMOL’s Manchester stitch up now our players are dropping like flies. and it seems like the axe of the coup de grace is about 20 hours away.
It’s almost like it’s been planned.
A bit pessimistic there Potter?
What greater incentive for our team than to put the brakes on United’s resurgence by beating them on their own turf.
All the other teams in The Premiership have dropped points, Arteta’s boys have shown strength, resilience, togetherness and a hunger to win which has been sadly missing for much too long. Victoria Crescit Concordia.
Unfortunately Cicero it’s the way I see it. I fully expect further injuries tomorrow
, It reminds me somewhat of game 49 and I can’t see Paul Tierney the referee that lives in Manchester being overseen by John Moss who lives about 4 miles away from him under the guise of Riley doing us any favours.
As many have long suspected Mike Riley has an affiliation with United and his appointment barely conceals his disdain for The Arsenal . I hope that I am wrong but I don’t think that it will end well.
I’M not a big lover of the academy for kids under 15, I would get rid of it and get clubs to nominate any player at 13 to the premier league and then clubs can monitor the kids and at 15 invite them to try out.
I might sound harsh, but Arteta and Edu had plenty of time to make sure we had back up player to cover injured players during the season.
We need to hold Man u to a draw at the least, and depending on who the ref is it will be hard with Sir Alex and their fans breathing down the neck of the ref’s.
Morning all.
New post up.