Morning all.
We already know Jurgen Klopp will not be at Liverpool next season but now, they’ll be no David Moyes at West Ham either. Their replacements are rumoured to be Arne Slot and Julen Lopetegui respectively. Slot is Dutch, currently the manager of Feyenoord who will finish the season runners up to PSV and Loperegui’s last job was with Wolves where he managed the club to a respectable 13th place finish. The next change of manager is expected to be at Manchester Utd, although the longer he stays put the better it is in my opinion. His side were thumped 4-0 by Crystal Palace last night and the back pages are full of so called experts calling for change. They’re not experts of course because if they were, they’d be managers themselves instead of sitting on their backsides in a warm and comfy room talking about the game.
Anyway, I hope the Utd players are done with ten Hag and have no desire to put in a miracle performance on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully, they’ll already be thinking about the FA Cup Final against Man City or which brand of suntan lotion they’re going to take with them on holiday. Utd are in a mess, they have been since Fergie left really and from the outside, there seems no long term plan in place or if there is, the wrong manager and/or players are trying to execute it.
But it’s not just about the manager/players because behind each, there has to be a strong back room team who make the right decisions. A club could have one of the best managers in place but if the board doesn’t support his decisions on players etc, he’s doomed. We of all football fans know that. Still, I’m enjoying watching Utd’s struggles and I hope Mikel Arteta and the players can add to them at the weekend. If Paul Scholes and Michael Owen get their way, Steve McClaren could be in charge by the weekend. I know……
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is one of a vast number of players Arsenal has moved on since Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal and there’s an article about him in The Athletic. Having played under Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and Arteta, how does he look back on his time in north London?
I’ll cherish it forever. It’s my boyhood club, I still support them and look out for them. I’m hoping they are going to win the league this year. I’d love to see them do it. I have no envy in my heart at all. It’s a great thing to have grown up in such a great club, the way they taught us to play football and how to read the game over the years.
Even now, I’m looking back at it and thinking about some of the stuff they’ve taught me. I still use it to this day — to prepare myself for games, the way I study our opponents and my own movements on the pitch and reading the game. It stemmed from having those three great managers in the past.
In case you’re interested, he’s doing well with Lyon these days whilst playing at right back. A topic of conversation often held about him related to him saying he was a midfielder and not a left back. Well, he’s cleared that up:
I’ve always played wherever the managers have told me to play, and it kind of got misconstrued in the past. I said I was a midfielder, not a full-back, and at the time I wasn’t. Obviously now I’ve played more games at full-back than I have in the midfield but naturally, I am a midfielder that can play right-back.
A bit like Thomas Partey then… I jest of course and thankfully, Mikel Arteta ditched that idea very soon after he tried it. Perhaps if he’d never thought of it in the first place, we’d have beaten Fulham back in September. Those extra two points would have come in handy. Instead, we’re now hoping Fulham can pull off another draw, or better still a win, on Saturday lunchtime…
Lastly, Kai Havertz received the most fan votes for April’s player of the month award which is no surprise really. 4 goals and 3 assists in 6 matches is pretty good going. Mind you, he could have had more. Arsenal could have scored more.
Catch up in the comments…
Thanks, Rico, for the awesome piece of work, of course this will be my highlight for today, “They’re not experts of course because if they were, they’d be managers themselves instead of sitting on their backsides in a warm and comfy room talking about the game.”-This just sums up my thoughts about a number of the so-called football pundits!
Ha ha Kyalo, I think of Neville at Seville and can only chuckle. They’re all just ex footballers who are given a voice and lots of money to talk garbage..
Morning Rico and all.
If you didn’t know any better and read part of the report then A M N having Wenger, Emery and Arteta sounds like he has been at several different club, hopefully he can find a good club that gives him plenty of game time.
I don’t think Man U will discuss there Manager until the end of the season, when they find out who is available and what players to keep and sell. Who knows maybe Ferguson will take over for one match just to try and stop us from winning.
@Rico, I share the same sentiment; The Neville guy often comes to mind. They are hired to communicate in a specific manner and satisfy their employers.
Reposted from earlier…
Morning Potter
Re your debenture, you need to find a buyer. The easiest way is to use a broker as this is a bit of a niche market. It looks like the prime broker may have already been in touch.
The past few years has seen the price shoot up as many people want a season ticket and this will get you one without being on the waiting list.
Depending on what bond you purchased you could be in for a nice windfall if you do choose to sell. A word of warning: the broker will charge you a fee for their service, so make sure you get them to lay out all of the costs clearly before you go ahead.
I think West Ham might be making a mistake getting rid of Moyes, but who cares really?
I’d happily take Bowen off their hands in the summer.
Mainsley wasted his opportunity at Arsenal.
A talented player with little intelligence and without sensible guidance. There’s plenty in that category.
@Kev
I still enjoy going to the games. I avoid the in house catering and prefer to visit some of the more salubrious pubs/eateries in the vicinity of the ground.
Like you I also miss the trips to Wembley….it’s been 7 years since I was last there when we beat Chelsea as heavy underdogs. How the tables have turned!! But you’d have to pay me to watch England at Wembley.
As a venue (and area) Wembley is somehow still a dump despite the £1 Billion spent on the project. I much preferred the trips to Cardiff in the 2000’s when Arsenal were regular FA Cup finalists. A far better ground, slap bang in the middle of a great city.
Hi Geoff, not really. He played at Arsenal under those three and then went on loan. He seems settled at Lyon though..
Me too Pete, I’m surprised they’re not keeping Moyes. Short memories I think and as Moyes said, finding someone as good as Rice hasn’t been easy. Impossible really.
Agree re AMN too Pete. If he’d have knuckled down he could have made the right back position his own. He’s only himself to blame really for switching off and not working hard enough.
Still the best penalty taker we’ve had in many a year was our Ainsley. You almost had to stop yourself laughing at the casual way he addressed the ball and just passed it into the net. Everyone would be losing their minds and he’d just be chuckling away as if to say ‘what’s all the fuss about’ but that casualness did lead to mistakes.
I guess if you’re as intense at Arteta then it must be thoroughly irritating to see Maitland-Niles being so unaffected by everything. I’m glad he’s doing ok in France, it’s probably the best country for his approach to life and football.
Yes Pete, I don’t partake of the muck they sell inside the stadium, but many want a half-time drink and so you’re buggered. I think that the Camden lager they sell is absolutely pissy, disgusting tripe.
My last two visits to Wembley was vs Man City, the awful Mustafi League Cup final and last summers glorious Charity Shield win on penalties. I didn’t see the FACup final you saw but I did see us beat the same opponents in Cardiff and yes I also loved my days out in the Principality.
I loved him Kev and was sad to see him leave, not many have made me feel that way for a while. As Pete said, shame he didn’t have better advisors around him.
Pleased to see Forests appeal dismissed, I like Forest as a team and Nottingham as a city,but it was just getting ridiculous how sanctions were automatically reduced on appeal. It’s not like that throughout the rest of Football,break the rules and the sanction follows straight away. Even in the National league Southend were deducted 10 points,put in an appeal which was dismissed very quickly.
Good to see Maitland – Niles doing well,I also see that Lacazette scored for Lyon,he must be getting on.
Hopefully another Arteta discard can do us a favour Saturday.
I believe our ground Catering is going vegan only next season on order of Stan Kroenke.
Thanks for the info Pete my son and I have a couple of weeks to decide . The trips to Cardiff were fun, it might have been joining up with others and M4 drive that built the atmosphere . Going to Wembley is a trip on the tube for most , not for me though they are both away matches . The faux Cockney Boys though have always thought that they were bigger than they are and because they were given the Olympic stadium they expect things beyond their position . Moyes has given them a degree of respectability but they will no matter who they get will only ever be an upper mid table team with an occasional cup run .
Me too re Nottingham Forest as the more appeals which get overturned, the more chance there is of City getting away with their 115 charges.
Lacazette is 32, nice that he and AMN are at Lyon together.
I hope Leno grows 6 inches before Saturday and Willian scores a hatrick…
If Forest need to offload some players we should definitely take an interest in Gibbs-White. He has looked very impressive this season.
He’s a bit of a tiddler though, I like the Palace player who started out at Arsenal. Eze…
Michael Olise Is another, he too started at Arsenal..
Afternoon Rico and Company, if anybody is familiar with the Flanders and Swan ditty ‘The Gas Man Come’th’ then that’s been my road for almost a fortnight – and it’s still full of holes, the street that is…
Yes Rico, I didn’t mind Ainsley, it just annoyed me that he never seemed to realise his full potential because he was a bit too laid back. He could have been a regular in the England camp…
What’s all this about Sczcesny returning to Arsenal as back up goalkeeper? Fabianski has also been mentioned. Shades of a veteran John Lukic making a return to his old club.
Hi Kev, I think that was many fans gripe with AMN. Such a shame really..
All reports are saying Ten-Hag will be sacked at the end of the season,hardly surprising but they might get someone worse,Southgate ?
Southgate has been linked before, I’d be hilarious if got the job. I bet Utd fans don’t want him..
What’s the betting they play really well on Sunday?
Or that most of their injured players miraculously recover
Yep, there is that too…
Harry Kane is a Jonah, all the years he played for Spurs they won nothing. All the years he has played for England they won nothing. So he moves to the German team that every year wins trophies at home and abroad and what do Bayern Munich win….nothing. The man is a jinx.
Sczcesny I could accept in fact he might turn out to be better than Raya and from all of his media posts he loves the club. However it’s all conjecture , so as they say until it’s tied and dried I won’t believe it.
Szczesny is 34 years old, there’s no way Arteta/Edu are going to sign any player that age.