Morning all.
Who better to ask if things are good at Arsenal since Mikel Arteta arrived than Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? Arsenal are on their third manager since he joined the club, four if one counts Freddie’s short spell. Despite the struggles all four might have suffered, one thing remained the same, Aubameyang scored goals. Does he think things are finally better at Arsenal?
For sure. We knew since the beginning that we had to trust the process. Mikel is bringing something very nice and everyone wants to follow him.
Admittedly, his words were spoken after the win at Old Trafford but surely he and his teammates aren’t shallow enough to turn their back on their manager just because of one really bad afternoon. The process, whatever that might be remains the same. Just because you or I can’t finish a crossword it doesn’t mean we stop trying because the answer, or solution is out there somewhere, even if it means looking it up. We find the answer because we want to finish what we started.
The Arteta process is only just up and running, he’s working with tools he perhaps wouldn’t have chose but has to make do with and that can’t be easy. But the players believe in him, according to our captain. Not all I’m sure as those who aren’t playing are probably concentrating on their next move rather than being ready for the day they might be called upon.
So how far off are we from being the team Mikel Arteta wants it to be?
We’re a long way, I’m afraid. It’s part of a process. The results have to be immediate, and the challenge we have with the club we are representing is that we have to win as quickly as possible every game in every competition. So far we have played 14 games in all competitions this season, we won 10 and lost four and the four of them have been in the Premier League, so it is a little bit imbalanced.
There are a lot of things to do, short term and medium term, we have seen a lot of changes not only on the pitch but structurally as a club as well, it’s been difficult, it’s been a challenging time in the last three or four months, a lot of things have happened. We have to settle and everyone has to realise where we are now, but I see the future as really bright.
I am a really positive person and I tend to learn much more when things don’t go well and we have a defeat like we had the other day that really hurt after the performance we had at Old Trafford. We have to understand why it happened, be really critical first of all with myself and try to understand the players better, and give them more solutions to win more football matches.
There it is again, that word solution. Finding the solution to our tepid attacking play, to the lack of shots on target, the lack of chances created and our lack of goals scored. Mikel Arteta has to find a way to get more out of the likes of Pepe, Willian, Lacazette and Aubameyang. Saka too although to be critical of him would be unfair of me. Mikel said he learns more from a defeat than he does victory which makes sense but what about his players? Do they learn more about themselves too? They certainly need to I think. They have to realise that halfhearted performances are not acceptable, that simply staying in the position they start in all game, is not effective, to not be in the right place when the ball arrives in the box won’t get goals. Does a player responsible for taking set-pieces really need to be told to clear the wall or the first defender with his cross? It’s not rocket science is it?
Tactics, team selection, substitutes etc all comes from Mikel but he can’t make a footballer grown a backbone. Nor can he inject an extra few miles an hour into their speed. He can’t make them be proud of the shirt they wear if all they care about is their salary either. The passion, commitment and desire to win football matches or any other sport for that matter, has to come from within and those who don’t have it, Mikel Arteta and Arsenal could do without.
I’m not trying to absolve Mikel Arteta from the struggles Arsenal are expiring right now but as I’ve said before I’m sure, you can’t sand a piece of wood with a hammer.
Finally, it looks like Mikel Arteta will be without Mo Elneny for the next few games after he tested positive for Covid-19 whilst on international duty. The team will miss him but it hands a opportunity to someone else. Probably Ceballos, but perhaps Joe Willock.
See you in the comments.
Morning all.
Apparently Ballard had a cracking game v Austria-a 9/10 rating.
I hope he goes on with it.
Rico, I hope Auba is being genuine.
This will take time whether we fans like it or not.
Morning super spreaders 😄, morning Rico.
Yeah, Limey is the only one to mention the astonishing news about Barcelona wanting Mustafi, I guess that’s because it seems so unlikely that most of us have dismissed it out of hand.
But imagine if they, the mighty Barca put in a cheeky bid in January, what kind of fee would we give them to take him? 😉
Morning all and Rico.
Mustafi, I saw Barca wanted him! Amazing! The Catalan club finds itself in something of a financial dip, a bit like us over the last 10 or 12 years, so they are having to buy the goodish players rather than the top drawer elite players they could afford in the past. Mustafi, for all his faults probably scrapes into the quote good category! God bless Barca if they take him off our hands and pay a good fee for him, €20m would do me.
The “project” goes on………..presently we are in transition, or at least I hope we are. We’ll win some, we’ll lose some and even draw a few! C’est la vie.
Ever onwards. Just don’t let the hope kill you😀
Rico, that’s a good question regarding the players, I mean ‘Do they learn about themselves?’…
Do they analyse where things go wrong in a defeat and work on them, or do they just go home and forget about it until training the next day? You have to wonder how motivated the average millionaire can be?
Despite what they say in ‘chicken in a basket’ interviews, I’m not sure that they think about it too deeply, it’s just a job, a means to their privileged lifestyle, a stepping stone to the next contract.
Maybe that’s deeply cynical of me…
Ok, you’re an Arsenal player and you’re in a team that has lost 4 league games already, a team with one of the best defensive records in the Premier League and one of the worst scoring rates, I mean a Mourinho coached Tottenham have scored over twice as many goals!
Morning Kev, Wavy and all.
Mustafi to Barcelona? Good luck to both… lol
Then you look at the table and you see that your team is 4 points off of top four and that’s not insurmountable and 6 points off of the top itself and that’s easily within reach also, but not if you can’t score goals and we can’t score goals…
I mean what do the players think? Have they mentally given up on the league already, I mean according to all the experts it’s Liverpool’s to lose? You kinda get a feeling about team as a fan, you kinda know if they’re seriously in the mix or not and I’m sure the players do as well. So do you think we’re in the mix? Mathematically it’s nowhere near done but you kinda know and I know we’re not anywhere near clinical enough in attack to challenge for the league in this most strange and open of seasons.
Have the players given up on top four, are they wavering on that in their heads? Hmm probably not yet but winning half of your fixtures whilst losing half will not get you top four I’d suggest.
Many of us are pinning our hopes on the return of a fallow Brazilian youth, but he’s not gonna be back up to speed until next season, for me he should be used off of the bench during his period of recovery.
Is Nketiah the answer? I’m not too sure on that one, Eddie can score, that’s a given but he is fairly ineffective without service and the fact that Arteta has stuck with Lacazette during this period tells you he really thinks about our young English striker.
Do we need to sign a new striker ( I think we do) someone like the Celtic guy, he seems to fit the bill but is he just a younger version of Lacazette? Money is tight so maybe Edu can unearth some uncut diamond, buying Auour would be great but if the guys you have up front are not up to it then does that just mean we’ll be missing a lot more chances?
I’m not sure your cynicism is misplaced Kev. One only has to watch the players to see who cares. What they are like when we concede or after yet another chance to score is missed. The defensive unit have clearly taken on board what Mikel is trying to do but after them, it’s anyones guess.
I hope Edu and Arteta continue to look at South America/African for signings, for players who have had it tough and know how to fight for what they want. That’s why I loved Alexis.
Yes Rico, I also loved Alexis and I think he knew what a mistake he made shortly after leaving Arsenal if the reports are correct.
I like South American strikers but even then it’s a bit of a gamble, remember The Beast…
I’ve just stopped painting to have a cuppa and I’ve learnt that the rumour going around is that William Saliba has lost both of his parents.
His Mum was from Cameroon and his Dad was from Lebanon.
If it’s true then it’s no surprise that focusing on football isn’t his priority atm.
You have to listen to Mikel, we’re still a long way from the finished product and there will be set backs and outstanding moments along the way so we must learn to be patient and give Mikel the time necessary to build the finished product.
I was thinking more Suarez Kev.. lol
If that’s true re Saliba, my heart breaks for him.
It’s been the chat for a few days.A Spanish reporter Kike Marin reported this last week. However getting confirmation appears to be sketchy and every report goes back to him. If it’s true then his lack of readiness is totally understandable.
The subject of our squad ,our finances , contract lengths is complicated but a quick scan shows an imbalance between players that we have bought in to those from Hale End .It seems that we have showered money at the transfer market Players whilst Keeping our youngsters on minimum wage and letting their contracts run down leaving them open to offers from other clubs .
I.E Nketiah is on £15 grand a week, Bamford at Leeds gets £45 grand I believe he is on loan from Chelsea if they call him back and came for Eddie they could be tempting .
There are other examples Holding on £25 grand , AMN on £35 .We will be saving a lot when the out of contract ones go . Some of that cash needs to be spread to our young players to protect our assets .
Those salary details are a shock, I wonder what Saka is earning as he’s the latest academy player to sign a new contract.
Before he signed this new deal, Saka,18, was earning £3kpw, a handsome salary for us mere mortals but this has now, reportedly, been increased x 10 to £30kpw. How much do Arsenal players earn?
Mesut Ozil M 32 £18,200,000 £350,000
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang F 31 £13,000,000 £250,000
Thomas Partey M 27 £13,000,000 £250,000
Willian da Silva F 32 £10,000,000 £192,308
Alexandre Lacazette F 29 £9,467,273 £182,063
Hector Bellerin D 25 £5,720,000 £110,000
David Luiz D 33 £5,250,000 £100,962
Sead Kolasinac D 27 £5,200,000 £100,000
Bernd Leno GK 28 £5,200,000 £100,000
Nicolas Pepe F 25 £5,200,000 £100,000
Granit Xhaka M 28 £5,200,000 £100,000
Sokratis Papastathopoulos D 32 £4,784,000 £92,000
Gabriel Martinelli F 19 £4,680,000 £90,000
Shkodran Mustafi D 28 £4,680,000 £90,000
Kieran Tierney D 23 £4,200,000 £80,769
Dani Ceballos M 24 £2,700,000 £51,923
Calum Chambers D 25 £2,600,000 £50,000
Mohamed Elneny M 28 £2,600,000 £50,000
Gabriel Magalhães D 22 £2,600,000 £50,000
William Saliba D 19 £2,080,000 £40,000
Ainsley Maitland-Niles M 0 £1,820,000 £35,000
Rob Holding D 25 £1,300,000 £25,000
Joe Willock M 21 £1,040,000 £20,000
Reiss Nelson F 20 £780,000 £15,000
Matt Macey GK 26 £520,000 £10,000
The first figure is annual the second weekly. From Sportrac Payroll roster.
Although these figures may not be to the final decimal point Should the following go
Lacazette , Xhaka , Sokratis , Mustafi ,Ceballos ,
and of course Ozil it would free the best part of £ 900,000 a week .
Maybe you could also say Potter that the Hale End boys are on realistic wages whilst the imported superstars are on stupid wages?
I mean what brain cell at Arsenal thought that Sokratis is worth £92,000 per week.
Whoever is responsible for that one should be sacked – hold on, Raul and Mislintat are gone!
Mind you Willian at £192,000 isn’t so smart is it, was that Raul’s goodbye gift to us?
Willian’s wages stand out for the wrong reasons but I guess we saved a few pounds by signing him for free. We’d have been better off not bothering although I didn’t think that at the time.
Ridiculous when Holding is on £25k Kev.
You could say that their wages are more realistic but that doesn’t count in the world of entitled millionaires. As I said earlier if Nketiah is on £15 grand and someone offers to double that do you think he will hang around? I doubt that I would as much as I love the Arsenal .Afterall Martinez didn’t and I don’t think our boys will either.
Neither do I. Clichy, Adebayor, Sagna and Nasri etc – they all followed the money imo.
Yes Rico, I was also pleased when we signed Willian, but he’s been bang average for what he’s being paid. Yes Holding’s wage look paltry when set against Willians but maybe Holding is on a sensible wage and Willian is on a crackpot wage?
Maybe that explains why the contracts guy has got his P45..?
Yes, on the face of it they’ll follow the money, but who in this Covid environment has any money? Good luck if you can find someone to double your wages.
Willian will have to produce a negative test after he broke the government’s Covid travel rules by flying to Dubai during the interlull.
International travel from England is restricted except in limited circumstances such as work or education.
The arrogance of a player ignoring the laws of the country is breathtaking.
Definitely Willian on a ridiculously high salary Kev. I wish we hadn’t bothered. Hindsight eh..
I read that too Cicero, what a plonker. Unless of course he had permission to travel.
Well Cicero, if Willian broke the rules and cannot play, then he has unilaterally made himself unavailable and should therefore be fined his wages.
Morning Rico, if Willian can’t play vs Leeds and Pepe is unavailable the play Reiss Nelson, sorted…
Morning Kev, what’s up with Pepe? I wouldn’t complain if both are ruled out lol
New post up now