Daily Bits and Bobs

Confirmed – Five on the move. Alexis drops a clanger.

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

For once I sat and watched some football on a Sunday afternoon/evening. Totts beat a Newcastle side who were down to ten men early in the game, Utd followed that match with 4-0 battering of West Ham but at 2-0, I switched over to watch Monaco just to see what Tomas Lemar was like and to be honest, he was barely involved in the game which was so one sided, it was boring. Mbappe, who’s clearly on his way out of the club, didn’t feature. Then came the big one, Barcelona v Real Madrid so I tuned into that one, switching occasionally to Psg but by the time I realised Neymar was making his debut, there wasn’t much of the game left and in any case, it was all but over as Psg had it easy. I didn’t think much of the clash between the two Spanish giants, so much so I turned it off. Then I found out that Ronaldo had scored a cracker, celebrated like only he does which earned him a booking and then later, a second yellow came his way and off he went. To top it off, he gave the fear a bit of a shove which could and should land him in even more trouble… A third goal from Asensio made sure Madrid will head into the second leg of this final pre-season battle being favourites to lift what is essentially a Charity Shield Trophy. We don’t seem to take it seriously here in England but apparently in Spain they do.

Darn, why did Poldark have to come to an end.

Anyway, it was a good weekend for all the new strikers. Rooney scored Everton’s only goal, Lukaku grabbed two for Utd, Neymar one for Psg, Morata at Chelsea and our very own Lacazette headed home his first ever league goal in Arsenal colours. But who I wonder will end up being the one who made a big difference to his club. I certainly hope it’s our man.

Whilst all the weekend football was being played out, Alexis Sanchez managed to steal yet another headline but this time is was all of his own doing. An alleged Tweet from France gave the Press what they’d been hoping for, a juicy Sanchez to Psg story. Although I think that move is highly likely you’d have thought the Chilean would have had more sense than to leak his trip to France. Perhaps he just popped over the English Channel for some shopping or to purchase one of France’s finest Clarets to give to his manager…. No, I don’t think so either! Alexis has since deleted his tweet but it’s too late, it’s out. By the way, wasn’t it funny how the cameras on Friday panned to him each time we conceded a goal on Friday?

As much as the thought of losing Alexis pains me, the positive we can take from Friday night is that we scored four goals without him. We may have scored more with him in team but then again, we may have scored less and that’s something we’ll never know. Ideally, we’d soon be watching on as he, Lacazette and Welbeck or Perez formed our front three with Ozil pulling the strings behind them and of course that might yet be the case, but somehow I doubt it. If Psg or any other club offer the reported £80 million, Arsenal will snap their hands off. Of that I’m convinced. The same if any big offers come in for Ox and Ozil.

Does Wenger have a plan in place if that happens? Could he for once be strong and tell Psg they can have Alexis, but we want X or Y as part of the deal, or both? I don’t mean like a Gallas/Cole swap as that was dreadful for us but secure one of their better players in the deal. And one/two we need, not just big names. Surely that’s the only way to go this late in the season?

I’ll be glad when the transfer window shuts, it should already be shut. Open it on June 1st and close it a week before the season kicks off..

Talking of kick off, five of ours have been changed to suit Sky and BT Sports.

Watford v Arsenal
Saturday, October 14
Kick-off: 5.30pm (originally 3pm)
BT Sport
Everton v Arsenal
Sunday, October 22 (originally TBC)
Kick-off: 1.30pm
Sky SportsManchester City v Arsenal
Sunday, November 5
Kick-off: 2.15pm (originally TBC)
Sky SportsArsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
Sunday, November 19 (originally Saturday, November 18)
Kick-off: 1.30pm
Sky SportsThis game will revert to Saturday, November 18, kick off 12.30pm in the event Tottenham Hotspur are participating in the Champions League on Tuesday, November 21.

Burnley v Arsenal
Sunday, November 26
Kick-off: 2pm (originally TBC)
Sky Sports

Good old Thursday/Sunday football eh….

rico

93 thoughts on “Confirmed – Five on the move. Alexis drops a clanger.”

  2. gnarleygeorge9 says:

    Oh, & rico, Poldark is on in the background as I write. Something about the French invading Cornwall. That’s nothing compared to the Tasmanian invasion in a month?

  3. Essien says:

    Well Rico. Please help get the words across to Arsene to stop pushing all the wrong buttons! Nature herself is trying to make these things real easy for us but wenger is NOT seeing it! I agree with you totally on Lemar. He is the reason why I ditched a goal fest – promising Man united match to watch Monaco but… Mehn was he uninterested or what? I say wenger should keep his powder dry, go all out for Greizman next summer to naturally take up Sanchez’s no. 7 shirt! The fans would be soooo ecstatic they can’t whine about Sanchez leaving on a free! Even Sanchez might feel a bit jilted then (A bit like the Ibra – Man United situation) . See what I mean by nature herelf trying to help out?

  5. Essien says:

    And if he (Greizman) would rather go to Man united then, well there’s no way they can Keep Greizman, Rashford and martial happy fighting for one spot in one season. So on the back of what I saw from Rashford and Martial yester-eve, They take Greizman, We go for Martial. All in all, it’s a win – win!

  6. ScottfromOz says:

    Morning all.
    I’m sure nobody thinks Arsene should openly tell the football world Alexis is for sale, because stating he’s not means any club wanting him must pay decent money.
    We all know the answer, so we really cant condemn him for that.
    Of course, we all agree the contract shouldn’t have been allowed to run down to its last season, but that’s another subject.

  8. Wavy says:

    I think Wenger is in denial over Sanchez. He’s talked himself into believing that Alexis cannot survive without him! Missing the point totally. Wenger is the reason why AS wants to leave, will leave and no amount ot of Wenger pleading will placate the ambitious Chilean.

    Morning all. Cloudy here but quite warm. Annual hedge cutting about to begin!

  9. Essien says:

    Yes Rico you are so right. but Atletico transfer ban means Antoinne ain’t going anywhere this summer. The player himself said it when he unspectacularly rejected Man United’s overtures very early on this summer. So Greizman has ruled himself out of a transfer this summer, Wenger has repeated ruled Sanchez out of any transfer this summer… Though using Sanchez as bait would be wiser, there’s just too many “ruling outs” it all just seems set for next summer

  10. potter says:

    I reckon both Ozil and Sanchez were waiting to see what Wenger did before they either signed or didn’t . Now he is staying they can see the inertia in the way things are done and appear to want to leave. Which as we, at least most of us appear to believe the identity of the elephant in the room is coming clearer.

  13. Adam says:

    Perhaps they believed that Wenger was going all out in the market to add ze top, top quality he has been banging on about since the turn of the century.

  14. gnarleygeorge9 says:

    Scott,

    Arsene Wenger has stated Alexis is going no where. There is no loop hole in his choice of words regarding Alexis as far as I’m concerned. So if Alexis is allowed to leave, I will not believe anything Arsene Wenger says again.

  15. ScottfromOz says:

    GG, a loophole would give other clubs a sniff at getting him cheap.
    I could be wrong, but whatever the truth, him saying Alexis isn’t for sale makes sense, imo.
    There’s little wonder why Alexis hasn’t spoken.
    He’s getting very little criticism because of the situation and tension surrounding Wenger, and is using it very well to suit himself, if he really is angling for an exit.
    Saying nothing keeps people thinking that he may actually want to stay, putting all the attention squarely on Wenger.
    Not a decent thing to do, if he is leaving.

  19. Meerkat says:

    Morning all. Good opener as per usual rico.
    All managers say that. Kloppy knows Barca will get Coutinho, but he still insists he’s not leaving. The difference now though, is he has actually submitted a transfer request, only a few months after signing a five year contract deal.
    As far as I’m aware Sanchez hasn’t. But he will go I still reckon.
    Why does everyone here seem to think it’s because of Wenger?

  21. ScottfromOz says:

    Meerkat, because it is always Arsenes fault bahahahahahaha
    Arsene will pull a surprise signing out of thin air, mark my words, guys 🙂

  22. Le Coq Monster says:

    Thank`s Rico again.

    I`m with GG……………..if Alexis is sold, I wont believe another thing that comes out of Wenger`s mouth !

    Rico, Have you watched a series called Outlander ?……………………I`ve only just started and aparrently there`s 3 series, costume drama sci-fi, Nurse in the 1940`s goes back to the 1700`s through a mystical stone in Scotland……………………….. much better than Poldark with a hunkier hunk ! hahaha

  23. Adam says:

    Morning Meerkat. I guess that might be because of the iron grip Wenger has over every aspect of the club. From the outside it seems as though Sanchez is one of those restless guys who wants it all. I can’t blame him for that, but keeping a player if he really doesn’t want to stay still seems counter-productive to me, despite all the nuances involved. Surely one the much touted ‘changes’ must be a different attitude to player’s contracts in the future.

  25. ScottfromOz says:

    Rico, reading the comments here for years now, it’s pretty clear that plenty really do blame him for every single thing wrong at the club.
    Alexis has the perfect foil, and plenty are falling for his ploy, imo.
    He knows saying nothing is an easy win because so many will naturally blame Arsene.

  29. ScottfromOz says:

    Just watching ESPN and they’re tearing into Klopp, saying he doesn’t know how to coach defending.
    Someone said it a few years ago when Klopp was still at Dortmund-he’s a clone of Arsene.
    Seems that was correct 🙂

  31. rico says:

    I doubt any fan believes there are others at the club who are letting it down. Kroenke, the board etc etc but ultimately, Wenger buys the players, sells the players, plays them his way, does with them what he chooses and that’s what’s frustrating because like Liverpool, we can’t defend. And if he isn’t going to sign a big beast or two who can defend in a zonal fashion, ditch it..

  32. ScottfromOz says:

    Agreed on zonal defending.
    So Many say it doesn’t work, but that’s just wrong.
    It works brilliantly when the individuals do their job-too often, our guys don’t.

  37. Le Coq Monster says:

    Yes GG !…………love Ray Donovan !……………………………did you ever watch a series called…Banshee, another good `un !.

  38. Obi says:

    Hi All:
    I hate to say this, but people are not objective when it comes to AW at all. Who among us here that doesn’t change his/ her mind about a situation or make adjustments when they have/ get better information?

    Perhaps Alexis’s people have made it adamant to AW that they want to leave which they never openly articulated before or perhaps they are playing the injury card, which have caused AW to change his mind. Am for keeping Sanchez, even if he doesn’t sign a new deal; as I have said many times, it’s not my money and am not sure that AW will reinvest it. But to say he can not adjust his position is totally unfair in today’s football. Isn’t that all we be desiring, for AW to be more flexible and less stringent? LOL.

  39. Le Coq Monster says:

    Good point Obi……………………….I change my mind all the time and will read/listen to peoples opinion and take them on board !….after all, most opinions or advice are free and not to be casually ignored…………………however, for Wenger to repeatably say Alexis will see out his contract and not say something other than that will only cause distrust if he does the complete opposite .

  40. Le Coq Monster says:

    I must add that I believe Arsene and Alexis will stay !…………………………………….to be sold at this stage of the TW would be catastropic with no better replacement !……………………..and who realistically would be a better replacement in our price range ?……………………. 0

  41. kelsey says:

    Morning all.

    I am sorry I don’t understand the rearranged fixtures some say Sky Sports some say Sky Sports Live and Watford v Arsenal is confusing as it runs into the next game Everton v Arsenal .Sorry to ask I find it confusing.

  42. kelsey says:

    Best outcome both Ozil and Sanchz stay, Walcott,Gabriel, Gibbs,Debuchy, Wilshere and The Ox (unfortunately) and Campbell are sold and Wenger walks out next weekend 🙂

  45. Le Coq Monster says:

    Lots on newsnow about Ox going to Chavs for £35M !…………..dont they understand Ornsteinology ?…………….plus I was the first person in the whole wide world to advocate Ox as a LWB………..long before Arsene read about it on HH ..hahaha

  46. Le Coq Monster says:

    Rico !………………..you haven`t answered my question about Outlander !………………………………..or are you just ignoring me becuase I blasphemed and said there was someone more hunkier than Poldark ! hahaha

  50. frednerk says:

    Afternoon Rico and All

    One game in and none of us know what going on.

    Is it…
    The Syrups fault,now we have had this shake up?

    This has the look of the control freak written all
    over it.
    Saying Sanchez is staying to the fans maybe true
    but if true will he be100% on the ball.

    Had a butchers at Lemar yesterday.
    Talk about stroll around,played like his
    mind was somewhere else.

    I would get rid of Ozil off the wage bill and play
    Ramsey in the free roll/10

  52. Bradster says:

    Hi all,
    Newcastle need players on the cheap but can pay wages. Be nice to loan the excess if we can’t sell them. Debuchy can go back.
    It’s very late to find an equivalent to Sanchez.
    On Ronaldo, 4 extra match ban for pushing the ref.

  53. Bradster says:

    I would just love it if Hoffenheim beat Liverpool tonight and overall. All the big talk from Liverpool fans and they don’t make it

  54. frednerk says:

    Anything could happen with the amount of players on
    last year contracts.
    What happens if no one leaves,can you imagine
    January all these players sorting out what clubs to join
    for free.
    Will The Arsenal have a team giving 100%?

  57. Rick says:

    Evening Rico and the House

    Like the new set up Rico
    The U23 ‘s are away to Derby tonight and the team is as follows
    Huddart ,Niles, Bielik, Bramall, Nelson, Coqielin,Wilshere,Gibbs,Jeff,Willock Nketiah
    More Latter

  59. Rick says:

    No its not Rico but it is live on the Derby Web site.
    You can watch there if you sign up to the Derby site

  60. Le Coq Monster says:

    Only tweets on twitter as far as I know !……………………incidently, Little Spuds only have a fifth of followers compared to Arsenal have on twitter, but obviously they are as big as us ! hahaha

  62. Le Coq Monster says:

    Debauchery and Perez not even on the bench, so where the fcuk are they ?………………dont they need some kind of game time ?

  65. Rick says:

    H/T 1 -0

    We have had chances to be in the lead wasted by Jeff and Willick
    I think our full backs NILES and Bramhall and Beilick have spent too much time watching the first team they are making stupid mistakes

  71. Rick says:

    We won 3-2
    Nelson was outstanding in 2nd half played as a no10 which I think is his best position.
    I think we were very lucky to win/ Defending was shocking Beilick and Bramall very poor
    Jeff also had a poor game. Good work out for Gibbs Jack and Coq just a bit rusty.
    Just my opinion.
    Night all

  74. allezkev says:

    Seems that a majority of EPL want to change the transfer window deadline to prior to the season beginning, maybe July 32st rather than August 31st.

    This will also affect foreign clubs who have come to rely on selling players to English clubs for inflated fees. So even if their transfer deadline remains as it is now, the change in England will impact on everyone.

    Personally I think that’ll be good for the EPL…

  75. Lee says:

    Scandalous that we are this unprepared for a long gruelling season isn’t it? Who would of thought it hey?
    Getting later and later to find replacements if we do lose our best player by a country mile and one of our most improved players…
    Another supermarket sweep by le washed one perhaps?
    It seems the plan is the usual one of ineptitude and leaving the squad two players light to really compete….it’s like le fraud is sticking two fingers up to everybody saying I’ll do it my way! Same outcome as the last 13yrs I fancy… are the 2yrs over yet???

  76. Adam says:

    Morning Rico, Lee and all. Seems as though quite a few clubs are struggling during this transfer window. The good old “Fail to plan. Plan to fail” scenario perhaps.
    I see nothing new or novel in our transfer situation unless Arsene is going to pull a few out of the hat. Despite the enormous amounts of money flowing through the game, the top players still have the power it seems and Arsenal haven’t been anywhere near proactive enough when it comes to either contracts or transfers. By his own admittance, Wenger has been preoccupied with his own contract situation.
    Dear oh dear.

  77. frednerk says:

    Morning Rico and All

    Seems like a year as gone by since we signed
    Hackney Gazette and the freebee .
    Is that enough to change our fortunes.
    Ozil,Ox,and Sanchez are more or less thinking
    about which estate agents to contact next.

  80. Adam says:

    Rico. If that happened I can barely imagine the mood within the fan base. It’s easy for us on the outside to put forward plans I know, but we have the money. Whether Wenger has the ambition of the inclination is another matter though.

  83. rico says:

    Exactly Adam, we have the money so there’s no excuse. All this ‘we need to trim the squad’ is all well and good but why dither around in between times.

    Agree Fred, that will rock our season big time.. If it hasn’t been by then already..

  85. Adam says:

    Rico. Yes, it smacks of incompetent planning all round doesn’t it? I just watched a clip of Thierry talking about the team on Sky. Couldn’t agree more. I have been banging on about the defence for ages, yet we concede 3 at home on the first game of the season because our defenders are either suspended, injured or not fit because they have been given extra time off. WTF? Seventy days to plan and we are already making do? This is absolute nonsense from a club that are apparently ‘changing’ in order to address their obvious shortcomings. Our CB situation is frightening. To me anyway.

  86. rico says:

    It certainly does Adam.

    We’ve been saying we need a midfield rock for yonks and still we don’t have one, a beat in defence, still don’t have one but at least we have signed a striker at last…. After how many years of asking?

    I haven’t seen the Henry clip, but I can imagine what he said..

    Our defenders seems soft and toothless to me, or certainly that’s what they’ve turned into.. Where is their aggression going for the ball, the commitment to be first to it. Just why I’d love Wenger to go for Virgil or someone in his mould.

  87. Adam says:

    There is a dearth of top defenders these days Rico. All the more reason to go for someone like Virgil. How many games is Merts going to play? Will Kos’ muscles hold out for a season? Holding will need to be bedded in and I am still unsure about Mustafi myself. There’s always Nacho! I am just not seeing it myself.
    If you don’t concede then you won’t lose many games.

  88. rico says:

    Keane is another we could have gone for Adam but I’m sure if our scouts looked hard enough they’d find one. Holding came from the Championship, why not look there again for the next one and let him and Holding both learn from Merts.

    I like Mustafi when he first arrived, however…. Same with Gabriel.

    I’m sure a different coach who knew about defending would do better with who we have…

  91. ScottfromOz says:

    Morning all.
    We definitely need new defenders, and hopefully, guys who don’t forget how to defend a few months after signing for us 🙂
    I agree, and I’ve always said this, Wenger doesn’t do defence, and isn’t great at tactics, but some of our guys make errors that have nothing to do with coaching, imo.
    Watch any game these days at the highest level, and you’re every chance of seeing defensive clangers.
    Look at City, UTD, Liverpool and even Chelski on occasions last year, and the biggest weakness was defending.
    Back to the individuals, though, why is it I have little concern that Kolasinac will be guilty of forgetting his duties?

  92. rico says:

    Everyone makes errors in life Scott, but our defending is shambolic at times… Not through errors though but through lack of organisation imo…

    New post up now..

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