Signed by Man City, pretty much rejected by them too as instead of representing the blue club of Manchester, three loans came Pablo Mari’s way. Girona, NAC and lastly Deportivo La Coruna before a permanent move to Flamengo followed in the summer of 2019. Not that he stayed there long either because Arsenal came calling and off he went again. It can’t be easy upping sticks every six or twelve months, moving not only club, but home too and expecting the family to pack up and start somewhere new again. Life is temporary, unsettled and relatively unknown. Just as a player gets used to his new teammates and manager, off he goes again. To start all over again. The basics of the game don’t change but a different manager, or coach as they seem to be called these days, usually has different ideas. No wonder Pablo Mari wants he and his family to settle. Not sure why he’d choose England when sunnier locations are available but nevertheless, north London and Arsenal is where he wants to be.
I don’t know how much Flamengo are expecting Arsenal to pay for Marí if they decide to take advantage of the ‘option to buy’ clause within the loan deal but I can’t imagine it’s silly money. £5 million is the rough valuation TransferMarket have for him which is peanuts these days. Had the season not been suspended abruptly, I’m sure Mikel Arteta would have made his mind up about the player by now but as it is, it’s anyones guess as to what might happen. Perhaps our head coach has seen enough in training, after all, hard work, discipline, commitment and attitude is half the battle in this game.
Mari played just the one league game for Arsenal, a 1-0 home win against West Ham.
We played well. I have a lot of things to learn but I think my football can be really good with the Arsenal. I hope the club and I can go at the end (of the season) with good things to do the permanent transfer. We will see what happens because at the moment with the virus it is difficult.
He (Arteta) has done really well so far. I’m really happy to work with him. He has helped me with my weaknesses and improved the strengths. I hope I can work with him a lot of years.
Mari is certainly a player who will benefit if this season can be finished behind closed doors. As will Cedri no doubt as by now, he must be desperate to make his debut.
Football kicking off again looks like a long way off. Are you missing it though? If it wasn’t for Highbury House, I’m not sure I’d be giving Arsenal or the game in general much thought really. Sure I’d read the news and sport online each day as usual but Sky Sports news hasn’t appeared on my television screen for weeks. My sports subscriptions were paused at the first opportunity and I’m still pondering over the decision to restart them too. Basically, I’m not missing football at all. It’s like June and July for me but without all the transfer garbage to get unexcited about.
I suppose I feel a bit disappointed with how footballers have reacted to what’s going on. How they’ve kept a tight grip on their millions during this unprecedented pandemic. An expression we hear a lot, because it’s true. No one saw this coming before it arrived. Whilst Captain Tom Moore has been walking around his garden at the grand old age of 99 and with the aid of his much needed walking frame in order to raise money, £25 million I read this morning, for the NHS, footballers, not all, have been squabbling over being asked to take a pay cut.
Perhaps they should take a look over their shoulders at the lower league clubs, the Championship even because some of them are in real trouble. Not even a 12% player pay cut will help some of them. Lower league clubs face real financial problems, so much so, they could fold.
I’m not for one minute suggesting that footballers or club owners should dip into their own pockets and pull out millions to help out but they could do something in other ways. Like holding an online auction. Signed shirts, kits, framed signed photographs, club tours where they get to meet players or go behind the scenes before or after a match. Two seats in the directors box or just behind the dugout, an interview with a favourite player, a chance to travel on the team bus to an away game etc etc – there is so much Premier League clubs could do to help and without the need to dig deep into their own pockets.
All proceeds go to the EFL to help those clubs who are struggling. Ex footballers could get involved too as believe it or not, some are still very popular with fans.
I’ve rambled too long…
To repeat what I’ve said before here. The posts each day are an attempt to spark a debate. To throw stuff out there to see what your opinion is.
Stay safe guys and stay healthy.
Morning Rico, thanks for the post.
Some good ideas there concerning online auctions, I’m sure something like that would be very popular.
I’m still not reading or hearing about pro golfers or racing drivers (tax exiles) or tennis players or jockeys or pop stars or film stars, billionaire investors etc chipping in, maybe they’re doing it quietly but I’d imagine if they were that they’d like us to hear about it, it’s good PR…
Good morning Rico, you won’t find a sunnier place than Norfolk this morning, not a cloud in the sky. 😎
Someone should have a look in the manager’s wardrobe they’d probably find Old Mother Wenger’s zip up duvet coat, it would bring a fortune on Flog It.
Or what about his Tactics Handbook, it could be a star exhibit on The Antiques Roadshow.
Morning Kev.
Thing is with football, it’s in a unique place really as it’s salaried whereas other sports are pay as you play so they’ll always be picked on imo.
But in this particular case, I think football needs to help football better than it is. Or isn’t really.
Morning Cicero, I think you’ll find it’s equally as sunny in west Berkshire with a cloudless blue sky. Lol
Hi All , If they do auction that famous sleeping bag coat I could donate a tube of silicon grease to help that zip to work..
As with all these fund raising ideas the burden always falls on the general public . No end of B list celebs will front things like comic relief or perhaps the “”stars”” of soap operas and Saturday night blockbuster cheap night out talent shows could all band together and sing a song and release a CD or whatever medium they need to get their names across. Then they can wheel out all the super groups to do one last stand on a stage somewhere in Los Angeles fronted by a film star who probably is only charging half of his fee but in the end they all have a bucket and they all want people that are struggling to eat to cough up .
I have long believed that the football pyramid is too unwieldly in this country and there are so many clubs hanging on by their fingernails for survival. I am not talking about the premier league clubs but the lower leagues .
When I was playing in my youth , all those years ago , I was with Finchley there was Hendon then Wingate , Barnet , Southgate , Enfield .Edgware , and Boreham Wood all within a five mile radius .Every one of them had fund raisers and they all competed for the same funds . Amalgamation was the answer then and probably is now.
I am sure this is replicated throughout the country , look at the number of struggling clubs on the M 6 and M 62 around Manchester . There is only so much the fans of these clubs can do and if they all put a fiver in that club has just that a fiver . If the 8 clubs joined they would have £ 40 quid and if at the time the average crowd was around 200 at one club it would allowing for some drop off say 1200 turning up their fiver would turn into 6 grand .
The players that fell by the wayside I.e Me , would still play in Amatuer football possibly with “benefits” for enjoyment but the better players would have better facilities and better coaching .
Football in the lower leagues is too set in their ways . It used to be run by old boys in their de-mob suits and officials with slickback Brylcreem hair now you can bring them up to date in their appearence but the problems are the same.
Yes Rico, football is unique, I totally agree, but that makes it a soft target for politicians, politicians who probably should be focusing more on providing front line staff with PPE, did you hear about the many small companies who offered to make PPE but have been ignored, instead we’re importing it from abroad rather that giving the work to our own people, what’s all that about? And then we hear today that the PPE has been delayed, who made these decisions, shouldn’t they consider their positions?
Maybe we should have had a temporary coalition government so that decisions would be made for the benefit of everyone and not just with political capital in mind?
Talent is pretty thin on the ground in politics, we maybe need ideas from a broader spectrum?
Racing drivers are on contracts, the same as footballers, but they all live in Monte Carlo, jockeys are on contracts, but I guess if you’re famous and wealthy and you go on Facebook or Snapchat and say how wonderful the NHS is that’s ok…
I think the footballers should take a pay cut, but that money should be ring fenced for other staff so that they’re retained.
We’ve have a promise of a 30% pay cut from the executives, but it’s all a bit sketchy, I’ll believe it when it happens.
So the PR blurb goes ‘Stan to pump in millions’ – very good of him, let’s have some details Stan, so far it’s all talk and no action…
Potter/Kev, I agree that across the board there are loads of millionaires who could help, billionaires to but it’s always someone else’s responsibility. In the case of today’s post, I was really talking about how football can help football and came up with one suggestion but yes, the general public will be forking out in most cases if not all.
Re the PPE etc, I’m steering clear of political stuff on here because I’m not sure it’s the right place, for me that is and I opt out purely because I don’t know all the facts but it must be bloody scary for those working without proper PPE and their families.
Things which really pee me off other than the obvious surrounding C-19 is reading that someone like Victoria Beckham with a £350 million family fortune, has furloughed 300 staff.
Hi Rico and All not a bad idea about a auction one of our big Aussie rules club had a auction to raise money for a small charity, the prize was a seat in the coaches box during a Aussie rules match and raised over 100.000 dollars or approximately fifty thousand pound.
We need the smaller clubs as these give the kids who mature late a chance they may not get if we loose the smaller clubs.
I get it Rico and you’re right, no more politics from me – for today… 😉
Victoria Beckham is another easy target, not that what she’s done looks great, I wonder what Richard Branson is up to, he’s gone very low key recently…
Hi Rico, another fine post – is there no end to your talent? 🙂
Interesting to read about Posh deciding to furlough her staff.. haven’t they just bought a penthouse with its own helipad in Miami? Cor it’s a hard life!!
I’m missing the football… big time ☹ Just got home from work – Sky are showing a NLD from 2010..although I think I’ll be turning over soon, as I’m sure it’s one we lose.. why oh why would Sky show us winning a game? 😂
We were talking about Captain Tom at work earlier, about Justgiving profiting from it. There were claims of them banking 2m!! Surely not, they have to waive the fees!!
And surely he has to be recognised for this.. with his Birthday at the end of the month, there’s talk of a Spitfire flypast for him…😊👍
An online auction is an excellent idea! Imagine how much Arsene’s coat would make?! 😂
Captain Tom will be officially opening the latest Nightingale Hospital, in Harrowgate, by video link of course.
There are slimy characters running slimy organisations who are all too ready to get their snouts in any pot big enough. Sue.
Once the Covid-19 epidemic is over there needs to be a reckoning. Why was the NHS so badly prepared. Why was it”s planning for an epidemic so lacking, why weren’t sufficient stocks of PPE in the warehouses. The frontline staff have worked wonders but the top management has been abysmal.
Hi Geoff.
Kev, just today? 😂
I mention Victoria Beckham purely because of the amount of money David made from the game yet here he is, more focused and financially supportive of soccer than the league which rewarded him handsomely.
Hi Sue, thanks. I’m ok at cooking, ish. 😂
Cicero, was any country ready for this pandemic? We can all judge how things have been handled I guess, after all, the media are doing it every day but in reality, the government have only followed advice given to them by ‘experts’ as I doubt anyone in government or opposition had a scooby what to do.
South Korea have done really well, lots of testing.
Germany have done really well, lots of testing.
Taiwan have done really well ( but don’t tell the WHO), lots of testing.
There seems to be a correlation between testing and doing well!
Then there’s the rest…
Kev, we’ve had app. 70 deaths.
We’ve also had a heap of testing but imo, our biggest friends here are the fact our population is spread over such a massive amount of land, and we have a damn good health care system.
The Chinese Government is to blame here,
and blaming politicians for something they’ve never encountered before is something I don’t get, as there is no cut and drier method to handle this.
There is no simple answer, every country is different and comparisons between various countries are irrelevant imo.
We have a lot of people here whinging that’s the Government is being hard and shouldn’t be shutting us down to the extent they have, while others are bitching that they’re not doing enough.
My answer to both groups of these Internet experts is the spread here has slowed dramatically and consistently this past few weeks, so wtf are they on about????
Captain Tom has teamed up with Michael Ball and recorded “You’ll never walk alone”… which looks set to top the charts. Wow, this man is incredible 👏
Well done Michael Ball too for making it happen…
New post up now