Morning all.
Arsenal have appointed Jonas Eidevall as the women’s new head coach. Eidevall is 38 years old and last season, led Malmo-based club Rosengard to last season’s Women’s Champions League quarter-finals; he spent a brief spell as Henrik Larsson’s assistant at Helsingborgs.
Arsenal have a rich history, more successful than any other women’s team in England. I want to add to these honours. It’s super important that we win, and we will be very ambitious about that, but it’s even more important that we live the values and defend the club badge on a day-to-day basis. I cannot wait to do that at Arsenal.
Good luck Jonas.
There was a time when both the men’s and women’s team were the best in London, best in England too. In recent years, it’s been the women who’ve managed to win the League whilst for the men’s team, it’s been all about the FA Cup. Not to be sniffed at I know but I’m sure Arsenal fans are desperate to see the club back in the Champions League first and foremost and then be real contenders for the League.
Honestly, I don’t think Arsenal will get a better chance at returning to the top four than this coming season. Even with the squad Mikel Arteta had last season, a top four finish would surely be expected? Any signings the club make between now and deadline day should in theory make the squad much stronger. Our defending was very good during the second half of the season, certainly according to the stats, although there were plenty of times things got a bit tricky at the back. But that’s the nature of the game. Not conceding during those moments is what matters. Football matches aren’t won by creating goal scoring opportunities regardless of how good those chances were, only goals win points. Hitting the woodwork looks great for a split second, but a striker might as well as hit the corner flag because both have the same outcome.
Whilst Arsenal’s defensive improvement is to be recognised, the lack of goals scored is a real problem for Mikel Arteta to solve. Lacazette and Aubameyang are a year older than at the start of last season. They’re not going to get any quicker, nor are they likely to be sharper than last season. Yes, we have Martinelli, Balogun and Pepe, Nketiah too at the moment but going into a new season hoping this will be a good one for our two main strikers would be foolhardy.
I quite like Patrik Schick, he looks good in red and Arsenal have not signed a Czech for far too long. Didn’t Tomas Rosicky sign for us whilst he was on international duty at the Euros?
See you in the comments.
Excellent title Rico. That will surely have a lot who click on it. Tsk Tsk Tsk 😂😂😂
This is a good loan imo. But why not with Blackpool again?? Maybe so that Daniel Ballard gets different coaching experience?? https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-arsenal-defender-ballard-set-for-millwall-medical-this-week-as-deal-finalised/
Good morning Rico and all
Morning Devil, I thought once this summer wouldn’t harm. 😂
Seriously though, I don’t give a toot re clicks, there’s been enough silly rumours in the newspapers etc to have a field day but no one gains anything.
When Arsenal start the new season?
When the ref blows his first whistle JM 😂😂😂
just pulling your leg JM
1st friendly is on July 13th against Hibernian
1st EPL game is on Friday August 13th against Brentford.
Belotti is the 10,001 player to be mentioned as a transfer target.
I like Belotti….but I feel that DCL would be a better option. More like Henry whereas Belotti is more like Lacazette and is not much faster. DCL is way more faster and ticks all the boxes. DCL would cost £50-55M while Belotti would cost £29-30M. I still would go for DCL
On Football Manager, the ratings of Willock, ESR, Saka, Martinelli, Ballard, Holding, Gabriel have all gone up. Leno, Auba, Lacazette, Bellerin, Xhaka, Willian, Soares have all gone down.
Pepe has to be one of the most unpleasant footballers at the Euros, well he’s not there anymore but he’s still a massive snide.
Dont know why my comments are not appearing Rico.
Can you kindly check?
Nuno Tavares is close to being signed (????) a Portuguese left back. This is a surprise. No one saw it coming if its true
Any thoughts on him JM??
https://fresharsenal.com/report-arsenal-reach-agreement-in-principle-to-sign-21-year-old-defender-on-5-year-contract/
Do I like it? yes because no one saw this coming. And he is relatively unknown. So not much pressure on him. But I still would have preferred Josh Doig (as I have seen games in which he played and he is similar to KT03)
Well finally it appeared. Can you Kindly delete the other comments now Rico? Thanks
It seems that if I post two sites reporting the same situation my comments does not appear. So I deleted one of them
https://dailycannon.com/2021/06/albert-sambi-lokonga-anderlecht-pre-season/
Sambi Lokonga is left out of Anderlecht pre-season training.
So he is near Arsenal now.
I guess his transfer and that of Xhaka are connected in the sense that Arsenal are trying to break even with regards the fees. So expect Arsenal to hold out on the same fee either way. And with Lokonga’s salary being far less than Xhaka’s while he is younger and more mobile it does seem that its a good piece of business.
Morning Rico and all
I recon Lokonga will fit in well if not this season next season for sure
I will pass comment on the new signings around about November.
Afternoon Geoff.
Devil, if that Portuguese left back is as theatrical as the international team was last night every time a opponent gets near him, he can jolly well stay where he is.
Don’t know much about him Rico. Usually I know a good amount of U21 players but this one has always slipped under the radar. He is a bit of a mystery to me…. although I saw some YouTube clips of him. He is fast though. And has a good technical level.
Rico. Agreed.
But is he a cheat Devil? Lol
Awful play acting last night Adam, I’m glad they’re gone.
Me too, what a stain on the game that bloke Pepe is.
Isn’t he just. Ghastly footballer.
I’m quite pleased that we haven’t signed Neves, he can stay where he is.
I don’t know if he is a cheat or not Rico. As YouTube does not say that. But we can always ask JM as he is from there.
There’s still time Kev.
I know Devil, just kidding.
There is Rico, I just hope that Wolves continue to ask an unrealistic price for him, then he can go to Spurs with the Eolves manager
I don’t think Arsenal are after him Kev. Just can’t see why the club would want one slow coach to replace another.
Spain are nearly as bad as Portugal with their theatrics..
Morata should get an Oscar.
He’s embarrassing Adam.
And he scores
Yep. So much talent but such a cheat.
Guess that’ll be that then. Shame really.
If we get Sambi Lokonga I don’t think that Neves will be needed anyway.
I was smart hat we were in for him anyway DG, that’s if we were?
What, smart hat? 🙄
I wasn’t sure we were in for him etc…
Nice to see France losing.
Xhaka schooling Pogba
Now France have upped the pace and Xhaka is nowhere to be seen
yes Potter. They are attacking from the flanks and that makes it hard for Xhaka. they are putting the ball behind the wingback where there are enough spaces. That is why France have upped the pace and Xhaka is nowhere to be seen. Up till the missed penalty Swiss were sucking the French towards the middle. That is why Xhaka was better as the ball was played to his feet. Now that France scored two the wingbacks have to come up….leaving space behind to be exploited. And Xhaka has gone from hero to zero
Oh well….Budapest is nearer to Rome than it is nearer to London. And if Xhaka wants to take in the scenery he can get the train….the trip will be superb. Especially the Swiss Alps where he can hop off for a rendezvous with the family before going to Fortezza in the Dolomites. Then a direct train to Rome were Mourinho will be waiting for him to turn him into the best CDM in the world by sucking the life out of the Italian league.
3-2 now
I have a feeling that the Swiss might get the draw
there you are….10 seconds of normal time and its 3-3
you can take the keeper out of Tottenham…but you cant take Tottenham out of the keeper.
Just like Pocchettino who managed to come 2nd in a one team league.
Go Xhaka and Switzerland!!!
Morning all.
What a game!!!
Then after half hour of nothing plays some lovely long balls
Anne Robinson…..the Siss make it to the qf.
France, you end up with nothing. Goodbye
Best game of the tournament, goals missed penalties, last minute equaliser, penalty shoot out decided by the last pen. Brilliant!
The commentators were praising Xhaka to the heavens, for a fantastic series of long passes. We should renegotiate his transfer fee, it should be upped by £10million.😉
Xhaka – 30 millions at least !
Played like superman as he walks out the door.
Mourinho and Roma fans have seen his best game for 3 years.
Amazing when the supporters are behind a player how he lifts 🙂
Good morning everyone.
It was not only when the supporters are behind the players. ITs also when the coach and the players around him that he lifts.
Xhaka is a very good player…..but only when the team around him plays in a 3-4-3/3-4-2-1/3-4-1-2 system. With three behind him, a man beside him and two flanks manned by players who sit back Xhaka appears to be a superstar. Infact, when Arsenal played that way, with three at the back, Xhaka gave very good performances. It was only when we went 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 (to a lesser extent) that his level dropped.
And in international football, were they dont get paid astronomical salaries, but play for their country, there are no primadonnas waiting for their next cheque. So its all 11 playing for each other mainly. and in the Swiss camp there are no divisions between players, but pride and a sense of playing for each other and for their country.
So that is why Xhaka appeared to be such a great player. What amazes me is that when Xhaka was at Borussia M they used to play with 3 at the back, but AW saw fit to put him in 4-2-3-1 system when he was slow. Now Xhaka is an upgrade on Flamini and Song with regards match reading, skill and dictating the tempo…..but he is slow whereas Flamini and Song were not. and he needs to be surrounded by players who suck the ball towards the centre….where it falls to his feet so he can dictate the game. With us he was always exposed.
Rico….your next click bait headline…..Superstar is allowed to leave Arsenal
Then proceed to tell everyone what a super game Xhaka had. And how Arsenal were kind enough to let him leave for a lower fee than Roma should be expected to pay.
The Swiss will find it tough against Spain without Xhaka..
That was some performance from him last night!
Devil, I’ll stand by comment, though.
He always give everything, but was offered bugger all support by fans.
That’s a fact
I’m with you Devil, Xhaka’s performances would have been better I think had he had a better midfield partner through his years at Arsenal. He’s not quick, strong or disciplined enough to play the role of DM which imo is why last season he improved. Partey.
If anyone is to blame for Xhaka struggling it’s been the coach/manager of Arsenal. After all, we’ve all known about his international performances for years.
Think I’ll swerve that headline though, I can’t lie… lol
I disagree Scott. Yes there was that horrid stuff online but the suggestion he was offered ‘bugger all’ by the fans is a bit steep. All football fans have their favourites, some even support a manager/coach regardless of how badly their team plays, or they deflect the blame on someone other than who coaches/selects the team. It’s the way of the world.
But, I think if you looked far and wide, a lot of fans support Xhaka. Your suggestion is surely opinion rather than ‘fact’.
Is he injured or banned Sue? Spain would get him sent off the way they fall about.
Possibly, Rico, but they remain the silent ones though that’s often the case.
He always played his best, and always played for the team which is more than we can say for some of our past and present players imo
He should get a respectful departure form the club and I’m sure he will.
I don’t think you can suggest that though Scott, unless you mean here on HH only. I’ve had many a conversation about Xhaka away from here and recognise his strengths but that’s not to say he’s perfect for the PL.
They did last season Scott because the stadiums were empty. Perhaps you’re too keen to criticise fellow Arsenal fans who hold differing views to your own. That’s not a dig, just an observation.
In my family my Pa and two of my uncles who support Arsenal were always critical of Xhaka. They always said he was the weakest link. And everything bad that happened was always his fault.
I had a tough time trying to convince them that he was a great player but because of the formation used and the midfield partners he had he always looked the bad one. And infact I lambasted them everytime we won the FA Cup recently when I just showed them that whenever we won, especially the last one, we always played in the system favoured by Xhaka.
But they never listened. With Pa it was worse……as he always believed that with Xhaka and Ozil we played with two players less. had the manager played in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with Xhaka supported well by a DM and Ozil played in the number 10 role behind Lacazette and Aubameyang we would surely have done differently even in the league.
But 3-4-1-2 etc are considered as a step backward in the coaching world. And are used only by coaches who rely on defence not the vibrancy which the 4-3-3 provides in attack
During season 2004-05 season, at the youth set up I was coaching the Under19s. And when I got the team I immediately realized that the team (of which 80% were on the small side but very technical) could only play in a 3-4-2-1 formation. So I set it up that way.
but I had a torrid time trying to explain and persuade the head coach that if we play the way he wanted, 4-3-3 with wingers, we would be murdered each game. And he always told me that I was a defensive person, never progressive etc. I prefer to adapt to the players, rather than the other way round. But the headcoach wanted them to play that way. It was only when he saw that we were getting results that he shut up. we finished 4th in a 16 team league….and that was very good placing. But I was always bearing the brunt of snide comments from him.
I agree with your father Devil. Both Ozil and Xhaka are imo, only as good as they can be if they have the right players around them and in some ways, it’s possibly the same for so many footballers.
He was booked last night, Rico.. so suspended
yes you are right Rico. but why buy them in the first place if they are not suited to the formation a team plays?? or why give a player, Ozil in this case, a mammoth salary if he is not suited?
Rico, I’m always happy to criticise fans who do nothing but criticise our players, manger and club in general.
They’re not supporters at all, by definition.
There’s a very good mix of supporters in this group but it’s a small part of social media, and not really representative of what happens elsewhere, which is a good thing.
Plenty of groups never have a positive thing to say about the club.
Devil, you know why Ozil was upgraded.
We’d lost a few big players and for appearances alone, we had to keep him.
The club backed themselves into a corner-we shouldn’t blame the player EVER for the wage they receive, imo.
We can blame them if they make little attempt to earn it.
He must be gutted Sue. He’ll definitely be missed.
Morning Rico. The Xhaka thing has two sides. Armchair supporters have a view and it’s very easy to criticise and cite any number of bizarre theories and stats. I watched all of his home performances live, except for the last couple of seasons when I gave up my season ticket. He made high profile mistakes and was often confrontational and quite stroppy, but he did a lot of good things too. but his game became much shorter and less progressive and ambitious I think.
His problem is that he became emblematic of the club/team’s decline but he was as good as he could be. Who knows if he was being played in the wrong formation? I don’t. I have respect for him for sure but it is time that he moved on. It’s what comes next that is the most important.
This season is going to be make or break for Mikel and Edu.
Exactly Devil, Arsenal have signed some quality players but imo, the squad as a whole was overlooked. Every player needs the right partner imo and every great team needs the right units and then a coach just has to get all the departments singing off the same hymn sheet.
The game itself is simple I think, it’s the coaches who complicate the game. Especially Mikel Arteta with his micro managing. I’m sure if he gave them more freedom, in a way Wenger did during his early days, the team would play with more freedom too.
When I read comments from Arsenal “fans” hoping Xhaka’s week old daughter would die of cancer, hoping she would get raped etc etc I defended his actions when he stormed off and threw the armband down, as I believe any man would do the same thing.
We forget these men are not only players, but husbands and dads, brothers and sons.
He copped it on and off the pitch and again, always gave his all and let’s not pretend they don’t know what’s being said.
Him leaving is great for both parties, no question at all, he’s definitely better suited in Italy rather than England (imo) and I’ve said that often, and yes, we really should have no problem finding a more suitable player for our club right now.
Time to move on.
But surely Scott, if you wish to criticise fans for criticising the club etc, do so wherever it might be such comments are left? Otherwise what’s the point?
But they are supporters by the way, just different to you or/and I.
The one thing the world has no shortage of is idiots and evil bastards and social media has given them a voice. Social media will eventually destroy much, much more than it creates. Why sink to that level?
Avoid it.
Rico, I do.
Have you ever known me to be silent with an opinion?
Have I ever passed judgement here without naming those I am directing comment to?
No, so in my defence, if I make a broad comment, why would anyone here take offence to it????
I say what I think and stand by it, but I don’t make weak comments directed at anyone in particular without using names.
Adam, it’s a fair call, but he was a first time dad, and these evil comments would’ve hit home with anyone in that position, I believe.
Then the frustration of some poor performances and being replaced as captain, it was a perfect storm.
He’s only human.
Maybe social media platforms ought to concentrate more and banning scum that make such comments, but that’s another topic.
Thing is Adam, social media can do a lot of good too. Especially when it comes to spreading the right word.
Because often Scott, your comment is written in a way to sound like your having a dig at people on here. I know you think I’m always singling you out, which isn’t true by the way, it’s not what one says/writes, it’s how.
I detest online bullying full stop and agree Scott, there should be a much firmer monitoring of comments but as you say, that’s another story.
Scott. I never saw those comments because I don’t do Social Media. If we allow those things into our heads and in doing so, give them some sort of credence, what sort of people are we?
If you tell me that they exist I wouldn’t doubt it. The world is full of sickos. In fact I would be surprised if they didn’t exist. Recently I noticed a court case where a serial troll who had spent years abusing people on social media and wishing the most disgusting things upon them and their children, was finally convicted. I think he was a respected civil servant or something and not some knuckle dragging, drooling sicko These creatures say much more about themselves than their targets. But they are, it seems, a fact of life and they now have a voice. But it doesn’t mean we have to sink to the bottom with them.
Rico. I accept that, sort of. 😀
Adam, it needs to happen more, imo.
Celebrities and athletes and even us, the public, shouldn’t be protected from any and all criticism, but when it becomes so damn nasty, more should be done.
Rico, we have had this discussion before and I have said I’m guilty of making general comments NOT necessarily about HH members, and have tried to be a little more clear when it happens and I believe I have.
I don’t hide behind that.
Any comment I make directed at someone here will mention their name.
Onto the big game.
Can England win tonight?
Southgate must get everything right and every player must show up, but I reckon you guys can do it.
Onto the big game.
Can England win tonight?
Southgate must get everything right and every player must show up, but I reckon you guys can do it.
****Rico, please delete the comment in moderation****
Scott. I believe there is an ongoing debate worldwide about this stuff and it’s just the tip of the iceberg as there are issues such as privacy and individual freedoms involved too. I, as you know, am no expert on Social Media and I accept Rico’s point that there might be some good to come out of it. But, we should be less adversarial when dealing with fellow Arsenal supporters. We should perhaps cherish what unites us rather than concentrate on the words of the relatively few who should be in institutions where they they can vent their hatred to the walls.
Words of wisdom, Adam!!!
Beautifully said and to be fair, I’m using social media a lot less these days for such reasons.
The things that were posted online to Xhaka were disgusting and those posters should have been banned, but the Social Media companies are very selective in who they ban.
If you post that you hope that Xhaka’s daughter dies of cancer it’s ok to Twitter and Facebook, if you’re a conservative you get banned.
Adam, stolen animal details spread so quickly and because of social media, more are being recovered. I’ll come back to you with other positive examples. Lol
Good on ya Scott. 😃
Am I being shadow banned?
Rico. As an animal lover, I’m all for that.
Adam, I stick to Instagram (very, very rarely post anything or comment).
FB-I’ve stayed out of all but one Arsenal groups, which is very good for my headaches lol
I knew you would be Adam, it’s one of the main reasons I go on social media, and to read all the deals Arsenal are going to secure of course. Lol
Ricky Gervais is my hero.
Never Kev.
New post up now.
https://highbury-house.com/2021/06/29/three-swift-deals-for-arsenal/