Morning all.
No, I’m not referring to Alisher Usmanov and his so far failed attempt to buy Stan Kroenke shares, I’m talking about Liverpool beating Boro. Saying that, if they put up the kind of fight they did when they turned up at The Emirates early this season, they might just sneak a draw and I wouldn’t bet against that happening. However, with another one of Arsene Wengers ‘can’t beat’ managers turning up at The Emirates later on, whose to say we won’t draw too. Or even lose, imagine that eh.
Anyway, I’m expecting Europa football next season and have been for a while. No doubt most Arsenal fans have too and apart from the money and a few extra matches, I can’t see it makes an awful lot of difference to the club, or us.
There’s a lot made of not being able to attract the best footballers without Champions League football but I disagree, especially when it comes to a club like Arsenal. Everyone knows our club is sitting on a pot of gold so all it takes is the fight transfer fee, the right wages and we could pretty much sign anyone, well, I think we can forget the likes of Messi but I think you get my point.
Looking at the club from the outside, agents of players who are trying to secure their clients a big money move to a club ready to win big things, Arsenal FC might not be top of their list but I think Alisher Usmanov has put the cat amongst the pigeons, regardless of whether he is the one to buy Kroenkes shares or not. There’s rumours going around which suggest Kroenke isn’t selling at any price as he wants to oversea Arsenal become champions in England and Europe which if true, is laughable. If he’d have wanted that kind of success, he’d have done his bit long before now. I honestly believe he’ll sell up for the right price as who wouldn’t? He has no allegiance with the club. For him it’s financial and nothing else imo and what better and easier way is there for him to make a vast amount of money by selling his shares? The kind of money you and I can only dream of.
Back to attracting players. Agents will see what’s going on and they’ll know that if any takeover talk at Arsenal gathers pace over the next few weeks, months, or Kroenke even hints that he’d sell to the right person for the right price, if that buyer is mega mega rich, their players will not give a toot about not being in the Champions League, certainly not for one season only. Footballers these days are mostly about money and if a club pays the right salary, they’ll stay ‘loyal’. Not all I know as there are still some who put football first, wages second and it’s fair to say Alexis Sanchez is one of them. Of course he’d want somewhere near the going rate for a footballer of his quality but if he had players around him who worked and tried as hard as he does, I don’t think he’d hesitate to sign a new contact.
Then again, if he had then we’d probably not be worrying about being in Europa, in fact we might be playing our last league fixture knowing three points would clinch us the league title…
Whatever happens today, or next Saturday at Wembley, the summer ahead could be a very interesting one. An exciting one even and we may end up thanking Alisher Usmanov for that….
I’ve no idea what to expect later from the team or the fans, but I hope Wenger can finally beat Koeman and Alexis scores enough goals to win the golden boot.
Morining all and thanks Rico.
Need to change Liverpool playing Watford for Middlesborough !……………………lucky I proof read for you ! 😀
You can take my comment off so know one knows it happened ! 😆
Hot and Sunny here !
Board meeting after Cup Final………………..not long to know Wengers future .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39973276
Morning Lc and all.
Someone else got there before you Lc, I think I’m going mad as I thought Boro and typed Watford… 😳
It still says London club rico when referring to boro, but good post anyway.
IMO, it’s the fans who should be given the ‘well done’, they got the ball rolling with change. But I’m ready & waiting to praise the Uzbek fella if he takes over?
Not now it doesn’t GG… 😉
Taking our eye`s off the ball………………….Mansour City could lose at Watford and a big win for us would see us get CL !……………..5 goal diff` at the moment !……………Rico, you can put Watford back in the post !. 🙂
Maybe Bindippers and Manc Lite will both lose and we win and no qualifying game !…………………………..I feel delusional this morning hahaha
Ha ha Lc, now that would be good but I can’t see either Watford or Boro getting anything from their matches.
In any case, we don’t deserve to be anywhere near the top four… imo of course..
You`re right Rico, we dont deserve eff all and my head still say`s we need to be out of Europe to have a better chance of EPL title ala Chavs and Leicester……….and to stir the board and management up with some sackings etc`……..has to get worse before it gets better………………..unless Kroenke sells to Uzzy, then win all round imo…………………one can dream ! 🙂
Telegraph:
Monaco reject world record £103 million bid for Kylian Mbappe from Real Madrid…
Staggering if true..
That rules us out then !…….
I wish the Europa didn’t offer a CL place next summer Lc because then AW, if he’s still manager, might treat it like the League Cup – like you, I’d rather he went all out for the PL and then FA Cup and forget Europe.
However, we could see a lot of change over the summer so who knows what manager we’ll have and what kind of squad, especially with a few going into their final year of contract.
£50 million would have ruled us out… 😉
My thoughts echo yours Rico re Europa ………………………………………..
https://twitter.com/NOT_MOTD/status/866219297106001920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Farsenalarsenal.net%2F2017%2F05%2F21%2Feverton-a-chance-to-say-goodbye%2F
😆
I refuse to click on that link Lc… 🙂
Catch up at game time…
Afternoon, top post as usual Rico,
I might not be popular on here but top 4 gives A.W to much leverage in negotiations so i,m against it today, I,m afraid to say
Also
I,m on the fence about this Usmanov guy, a guy I deemed for a long time to be too good to be true, Recently I have found myself looking at him with great scepticism, his recent comments, suggesting A.W should be allowed to choose his own successor, I found strange, followed by an Usmanov 40 second clip interview I,ve seen recently, in that he states
“Mr Wenger is one of the best managers in the world but hasn’t had the support from the Arsenal board, he has had so much difficulty, not so much today but the last 5 years”, then goes on to say, “he has not had so much support in transfer sources or keeping players etc”,
to me , rightly or wrongly, in that interview, he,s not actually laying the blame at Wenger,s door, again I find it strange narrative. But more at the board, admittedly that is to be accepted if your edging towards a takeover bid, but it,s the backing of A.W and the Arsenal model as it stands that worries me,
so if Usmanov truly believes this, reading between the lines, and I may be reading too much into it, Usmanov is not for me either. If he still believes in Arsene Wenger, I think we have two sides of the fence that the grass is clearly not greener,
I just couldn,t tolerate a new owner who in my view could still back the current manager, for all the money he could throw at the club, means nothing if he doesn,t make changes where I feel it is essential for the great and good of the club going forward, maybe I,m wrong, maybe it would be his initial agenda to get rid, but from what little narratives I,ve heard or seen coming from him, I havn,t seen or heard anything yet, that fills me with any confidence.
Rico
I know I don’t comment much but thanks for your daily labour of love throughout the season.Hopefully we go out at least with an attractive entertaining win.
Kroenke and Wenger are a match made in heaven regardless what happens today.Kroenke hasn’t got the balls to sack Wenger and wouldn’t know a good manager if he saw one and must be great to work for with absolutely no pressure put on AW by him.AW on the other hand still thinks he has the knowledge and forsight and energy he had 20 years ago but the fact is he hasn’t and any decent manager would resign after the Cup Final. The only thing that worries me is that there is absolutely no one at the club who knows the type of manager that would work the Kroenke way. I hope usmanove keeps up his persuit and I and am sure others don’t mind a season or two out of the top four (which to me has never really meant anything if you finish 20+ points behind the Champions.) 3 years ago was the optimum time for AW to step down,it didn’t happen and this” I will let you know if I am staying or not” shoudn’t even come from him, which shows the disturbing hold he has at the club..
The way I see it Dublin………….. is Uzzy is mates with Abramovitch and we all know how we act with mates in competition, if he did take over, he would imo be trying to get one over his mate and spend spend spend and I dont think he is stupid enough to give Wenger years to win trophies !………..a season at the most, no trophy…..pack your bags !
Chavs working model of as many Managers as trophies is successfull, just a bit more agressive than Sir Alcoholic Fergusons changing coaches on a regular basis to keep things fresh.
One manager for over 20 years was never going to work with all the money clubs, new ideas etc`………..it went stale !.
Kroenke Out !
Uzzy In !
Afternoon Rico and all….
Although as much as I would love Uzzy to buy out Kroenke, I just dont think it will happen and I`m now of the opinion after watching my earlier link of Wenger`s press conferance, that he is going now where !……………….that`s what`s rotten at our club…………the two most important people there will not do what is right for the clubs future !
I beleive Wenger truly loves the club and hid heart is ruling his head on what`s best for Arsenal, but Kroenke has no feeling for the club, no ties and is just a stubborn bastard !………his life needs extinguishing !…….never have I had such hatred to one individual……well since Jeff Blockley……!
Team news !………………
https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/866277408365842432
https://twitter.com/GiroudoIogy/status/864541274157834241
I see no Gibbs on bench, but Mertesacker is there !………………if Monreal gets injured, will Merts play wing back ? 🙂
Arsenal: Cech, Holding, Koscielny, Gabriel, Bellerin, Ramsey, Xhaka, Monreal, Alexis, Ozil, Welbeck
Subs: Ospina, Mertesacker, Coquelin, Elneny, Iwobi, Walcott, Giroud
The blog is being smothered by poxy William Hill ?
Thank God it’s buggered off ?
Mustaffi injury?
Leipzig could not be to the The Champions League.
Are you working Kev?
Hi BT, no mate, I was going to but the lure of the settee won the day. ?
Good man Kev, i can’t wait for the season to end, the excitement is killing me..
Ha ha ha…
Yeah, bring on the cricket and tennis
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/top-scorers
Poxy William Hill is back, so I’m off.
Afternoon Bt and all. Thanks Kelsey, Dublin.
Kev, not sure why you are getting that as I’m not… ?
1-0 Bellerin.
City 1 up
Kev howmdidmyou,splay the wildly hill ad? It’s driving me mad! Well madder!
How did you slay……etc
Kosser off
Misses final then?
Sent off??
Straight red
Bad one then… Silly bugger.
Kos sent off. Miss the final? Aren’t different competitions?
we are now completely out of the game…
City doing the biz
Barkley on
Is it all Everton now?
No not really Rico
Everton now having plenty of chances
Thanks Bt, need halftime for a magical Wenger talk…. 🙂
2-0…
Dippers 1 up?
yes
for me, Coqulin in Ozil off
Ozil is playing well but it’s more important the score now.
If Koz wasn’t sent off we were played well
Yep, Dippers 1-0.
Rather Elneny that Coq, just get the ball and pass them to death.
Me too.
Perhaps Chambers will nick an equaliser in the 92 minute from a corner… lol
Gabby down not looking good
Dippers 2
BFG on
Seeing again today how bent football is. Kos harshly sent off and Lovren gets away with a clear foul which would have been a penalty and red card. Martin Atkinson an his ever expanding Swiss Bank Account
2-0 Dippers so that’ll be that….
3 dippers
I detest that man Bob.
Pen everton
2-1
Who gave away the pen Bt?
Cow on Granite off
Coq on …lol
Holding I think..Rico
Just read it Bt handball.
Will we have a defence next Saturday…
Holding could be sent off
Sanchez out
Don’t the 4th placed team have to pre qualify in order to join the CL pool of teams?
I would love it, just love it if the 4th placed team fail having given up half their summer holiday to attempt to get to the next phase! It would amuse me no end?
Very harsh penalty apparently. What a surprise! Oliver will send another off before FT
Williams should have been off shouldn’t he?
As would I Wavy, I’d laugh no end…
“Judge me in May”
According to Arseblog several Everton players should have two yellows but Oliver is letting them off whilst booking our players for similar fouls
Would love to see Arsene finish his career by knocking out that arrogant cheating bastard Koeman
The BBC reckon we’ve kicked the Everton players all over the pitch…
3=1
nice goal|
BBC probably Garth Crooks who reminds me of Eddie Murphy in that film where he ballooned up!
Jeff Stelling can’t hide his delight at us finishing fifth. I really hope Hartlepool go out of business to wipe the smug grin off his smarmy face
Funny how these pundits now see top four as a fantastic achievement… idiots!
Bloody spuds hit 7..
Mertesaker, Holding, Mustafi at Wembley…
Wavy, it comes and goes, it’s a bloody nuisance, takes over everything and I don’t even do the lottery so it’s totally wasted on me…
I noticed that Wenger didn’t join in the lap of ‘honour’…
A wise move!
If Merts plays against Chelsea, we are stuffed. Mind you, I think we are anyway…
Then maybe we should go with a back four, Mustafi and Holding?
Would make more sense imo
Sanchez injured too!
Get out of our club Stanley Kroenke get out of our club and we want Kroenke out throughout the second half.
Well Rico, the defence has looked better without him this season, I mean we conceded 36 EPL goals in 2014/15 and 2015/16 and that’s improved in spades as we’ve only conceded 44 this season…
And look how well we did against Bayern…
Kev. It’s just his speed. If you are referring to Merts.
If the players further up the pitch were more disciplined, it wouldn’t be such an issue…
how many Arsenal players have been sent off in League games?
Surely this has got to be worth a trophy !
https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/866325711082184707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmetro.co.uk%2F2017%2F05%2F21%2Fstat-reveals-arsenal-have-been-incredibly-unlucky-to-miss-out-on-champions-league-6651605%2F
Too many Jm.
Night guys…
“A wallflower is someone with an introverted personality type (or in more extreme cases, social anxiety) who will attend parties and social gatherings, but will usually distance themselves from the crowd and actively avoid being in the limelight”.
Its time for The Arsenal to be cut loose of the American wallflower who married into Walmart!
Just because Stan the wallflower married well, doesn’t mean he knows anything about football. He certainly doesn’t have any comprehension about fan expectation, in fact I don’t think he ever gave a toss about
1. His cash cows (the fans); &
2. Winning Titles
Yet now, after his little mateys report back to him that his bottom $ is being threatened by fan unrest, he decrees “he wants to guide Arsene Wenger’s men towards major honours instead of settling for mediocrity”. Talk about bullshit on the run!!!!!
I’ll say this to every Arsenal fan who has pointed the finger @ the current manager to leave, you could have been more effective if everyone took aim @ the American Wallflower from the start. Maybe things would have been sorted 5 years ago instead of in 2 years time!!!
Anyway, that’s where i stand on the situation. We all get frustrated & pissed off, etc & I’m no different. I’d like to thank you all, especially you rico, for letting me feel apart of the Greatest team the world has ever seen family. I’ll be keeping an eye on the off season & no doubt will have my say now & then.
I’m looking forward to when the new fixture list is released. Then I’ll know which game(s) I’ll get to see when i’m there.
COYRRR
GG, if Wenger had ‘walked’ some years ago then Cronky would not have the cash cow he has had for so long. Wenger has perpetuated his reign. So, who is to blame? The Arsenal loving Wenger or the leech Kronke?
Should add, it’s seems to have taken a very long time for the the Arsenal fans to see that the penny has dropped. Kronke is really the evil genius here. The fact that Wenger lost his mojo some time ago pales into insignificance. It’s not pertinent! They were a match made half way to heaven but they were never the real deal. All they equate to were a cash cow with little ambition. End of…….
Maybe am missing the point but the 2 to 6 million that Stan takes out of the club is peanuts relative to the investment needed by Arsenal and the fees of the quality players that we required are going for.
Arsenal is currently valued at a little under £1.1b, hence Stan owns about 700m, if he’s sells to Usamnov, he gets a profit of about 300m. However Stan’s new project of building a stadium for the LA Rams is about $2b. About half of it will be finance. Therein is the value of Arsenal. With his American franchises, the Board of Govenors in each league must approve the finance/ the collateral to be used for the loans. This makes it hard to use any of the frachises. However the EPL has no such rules; hence, Arsenal is good as “cash” for Stan since he can use that asset to guarantee his financing of the Rams project. And people should not even consider the pending lawsuit against him because that could take years on multiple appeals.
The outlook for Arsenal, I think is bleak, unless someone comes in with an offer much above £2b.
Morning all.
New post up now.