Morning all.
I know I’ve said this before but what a fantastic year this is proving to be for Arsenal FC. I know we all felt disappointed at the way our season fizzled out after topping the league table for so long but finishing second is far from being a failure if we compare it with seasons gone by. We haven’t just finished ten points behind a Leicester City side which pretty much relied on one player, but five points a club which has one of the best managers, has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on players and has been for goodness knows how many years now. Not just one, two or three years, but for the last fifteen years!
Signing Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber this summer is great, especially as they’ve come in nice and early on but back in January, snapping up Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho was important too. Perhaps more importantly was the contract extensions signed by our other key players. I say key players but now nearly every player is a key player. When could that last be said?
🚨 @IanWright0 on Declan Rice: “Everyone was saying when I went to the England squad, I was tapping him up – Yes, I f*cking was! I was! I was literally begging him! I don’t work for the club, I’m an Arsenal fan. I said, ‘Look at you & Saka, how cool you lot look together’. It’s… pic.twitter.com/03SrVWlNyy
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 15, 2023
Wrighty is such hoot, a true Arsenal fan who like us, wants the club to succeed again. I reckon he’s still scoring goals for Arsenal in his sleep…
As for Declan Rice, I think every fan knows what he’s capable of as a player and what he’ll bring to the Arsenal first team because we’ve all seen how good he’s played against Arsenal in recent years. His first interview on Arsenal.com is good.
So why did Declan Rice made the move away from West Ham to Arsenal?
I’ve been looking at Arsenal over the last couple of seasons and the trajectory they’ve been going on. Not last season but the season before, they finished fifth but you could see the style of play Mikel was implementing. Last season was an outstanding season, blowing pretty much every team out of the water with the exception of Man City. With Mikel and how he works, the squad, how young everyone is, the energy around the club and also the challenge of getting Arsenal back to where they belong, that means a lot to me. I know the fans really want that. For me as a player, I’ve come here really hungry to have more success and to spend my best years at this great club.
In football, amazing opportunities arise. Big clubs, like Arsenal, have come for me and it’s really hard to turn down. You only ever get one career and I really believe in what Mikel is building here and the squad he’s building. I’m really looking forward to the future with Arsenal.
The Arsenal is back boys and girls, The ‘big club’ Arsenal is back! He’s committed for five years. He’s on a big salary and we beat Man City as well as any other club interested him, to his signature. Why? Because he saw what the club is building and wants to be part of it. As does Havertz and Turrier and any other player the club signs this summer. It’s the same reason younger players already at the club, don’t want to seek pastures new.
Declan’s words are from a footballer looking in at Arsenal from the outside and not some pundit, presenter or ex player who thinks we as a team/club simply bottled the challenge. We didn’t bottle anything just didn’t have the depth in strength to cope with injuries and/or fatigue. Perhaps the two went hand in hand and if so, having a deeper squad should in theory go a long way towards preventing a repeat of both next season. Better, or more frequent rotation will certainly help on both accounts and let’s be honest here, this really is a squad built under the management of Mikel Arteta now so he should have belief in every single player in the squad once the transfer window closes.
By then, then we’re likely to have seen a number of exits. The future for Pepe, Cedric, Runasson, Lokonga, Holding, Tavares and Trusty is likely to be away from Arsenal. Elneny, Marquinhos and Vieira are going to find playing time hard to come by I think so could quite easily find themselves out on loan or sold in Elneny’s case. There’s the goalkeeping department to sort out too. Will Turner stay as our number two or could either Hein or Okonkwo replace him?
Lastly, Thomas Partey is continually linked with a move away from Arsenal and should the club sell him, can 19 year old Patino step up or do the club need to look externally for a replacement – like £50 million 19 year old Lavia who has had one good season with a now relegated Southampton side. In an ideal world we’d be going to places like Anfield, Old Trafford and The Etihad with a central midfield of Partey and Rice but if the player wants to move on, I don’t think Mikel Arteta will stand in his way.
It’s good though knowing Arsenal have done what appears to be getting the key transfer targets through the door nice and early and they’ll get a proper pre-season of training and preparation.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico. The Rice signing is a declaration of intent. Arsenal are heading for the top after Stan and Joss finally loosened the purse strings.
Another bit of good news, our old refereeing nemesis has finally left the building. Yes Mike Dean has hung up his whistle and handed in his red and yellow cards together with his Stockley Park pass. Apparently the PGMOL head, Howard Webb, decided Dean was unsuited to Var Duties. I do hope someone whispered in his ear as he approached the exit the same words that he used to red card recipients “Off you pop”.
As a keen ballroom dancer in his much younger days, he could be heading to Strictly as a contestant or, God forgive, judge. 😉
Morning Cicero, all.
I too think we’ve got a cracking player in Rice. English, PL proved, right age – should be a great addition to the team. I really like the sound of Timber too. I’m on the fence re Havertz but I’m sure I’ll soon be off it. Lol
The Dean exit is good news although whoever is likely to replace him probably won’t be much better.
I fear you are right Rico, but whoever replaces him couldn’t be worse…..could they?
I reckon they could be Cicero…
Just a small note, I don’t think Elneny will be sold. He’s experienced and happy to be a squad player. More importantly, I think Mikel likes him around the squad for his personality and influence. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him on the coaching staff at some point.
Good point Jamie, plus he’s not long signed a new contract I believe
Good day to everyone and a good day to you Rico, do I sense that old Rico mojo returning to the blog, well welcome back because it’s gonna be one hell of a ride.
Man City wanted him, Man Utd wanted him, Liverpool wanted him, Chelsea wanted him and probably Newcastle as well but Declan only wanted Arsenal and it showed when Man City tried to bully the Gunners away from our main target, Edu wasn’t having it, Arsenal pushed the financial boat out, West Ham reluctantly accepted the situation and Man City backed away, its worth repeating Man City backed away. City will say the deal was too expensive but if they thought they could persuade him I’m sure they would have matched Arsenal, butthey realise that Declan wanted Arsenal and only Arsenal and that’s quite a reality check and statement for the Treble Champions to take on board.
Hi Kev, I’ve always been positive 😂
Expectation will be higher this season I think so I might as well be positive whilst I can.. lol
Of course the other major contenders up North will have their excuses ready as to why they didn’t bid or wouldn’t match the figures quoted but don’t tell me that Newcastle couldn’t afford him, they just knew where the land lay and decided to obstain rather than experience rejection and the fans’ criticism. The same applies to Liverpool despite the bluster from Merseyside and nobody does bluster better than the Scousers. Man Utd under Ten ‘screaming skull’ Hag are full of excuses but they also sensed where this would end up as they saw the Kings of Manchester and Guardiola accept the situation, so the Salford underdogs accepted their positions and avoided rejection after a brief enquiry. Chelsea are a mess and nobody is going there of any consequence, it makes you wonder if their golden years are over and a slow return to the status quo and where they really are is inexorably approaching Fulham Broadway.
And then there’s Tottenham???
Nah, only joking….
You push out the positivity boat Rico because we’re all on board. 😉
Morning all
As a dyed in the wool Londoner Kev, would you want to leave one of the best city’s in the world, your family and friends, and all your favourite fings for the wet, miserable, grey, family bereft, black cloud burdened Mancunian misery???
I know I wouldn’t, says he who is still doing valuable missionary work in the East Midlands!
Rice is a Londoner through and through and as such the wrench to leave the capital was never really a goer. Citeh’s interest was not serious they just wanted to push up the price and make Arsenal spend more of their wedge than they really wanted to, but c’est la vie! We won in the end without too much hassle.
I just hope he turns out to be as good his price seems to suggest. I don’t have too many fears on that score. I think he is a class player, too good to fail.
Agree, Rice only seemed to want a move to Arsenal which says a lot really. I read that Lavia wants Arsenal too but £50m?
Hopefully it’s the same in 11 months time Kev..
Good on you Wavy..
Should we now refer to you as Reverend Wavy from now on? 😄
Lots of young players want to get on the Arteta train , but as much as they do their parent clubs see it as a financial jackpot.. City , United and Chelsea have created an inflationary burst which strangely Newcastle haven’t joined in with. YET.
I still believe that we have to resist the assumption that this summers dealings will provide the Utopia that we are hoping for. We are now likely to be stronger .We are able to remain competitive , our squad is improving and we have back up where we did not have before.
However we must temper our expectations , we are not going to win the quadruple but we should be aiming to win trophies coupled with a good run in Europe .
Imo, this will be the last big spending transfer window we’ll see from Arsenal. There will be no need to spend vast amounts of money each year as the squad built is young. Tweaks yes, but the overhaul is near completion imo.
The Saudi’s and their like are doing European clubs a favour by signing up their aging players for silly fees, by doing so the selling clubs are finding they have openings for their younger talents to fill. I hope we can take advantage of the present market situation to unload a few of our unwanted players, Pepe in particular and even, dare I say, Jesus.
God no Kev😀
There’s an extra passenger in the Race Commisar’s car at The Tour de France today, Arsene Wenger.
The Saudi’s are helping clubs get round FFP , not that the big clubs needed much help there. As you say Pepe would be a help for us , Shame they were not around a couple of years ago when we wanted to cull the players that we had to give away.
Cicero, I get the impression you’d like Jesus sold? 😆
US Tour 2023 – travelling squad
1 Aaron Ramsdale
2 William Saliba
3 Kieran Tierney
4 Ben White
6 Gabriel Magalhaes
7 Bukayo Saka
8 Martin Odegaard
9 Gabriel Jesus
11 Gabriel Martinelli
12 Jurrien Timber
13 Alex Runarsson
14 Eddie Nketiah
15 Jakub Kiwior
16 Rob Holding
18 Takehiro Tomiyasu
19 Leandro Trossard
20 Jorginho
21 Fabio Vieira
25 Mohamed Elneny
26 Folarin Balogun
27 Marquinhos
29 Kai Havertz
31 Karl Hein
32 Auston Trusty
35 Oleksandr Zinchenko
41 Declan Rice
45 Amario Cozier-Duberry
We expect Emile Smith Rowe and Thomas Partey to join us next week.
Why on earth has Runasson travelled?
No Pepe, Cedric, Lokonga though, or the younger players who travel Germany.
Is it that obvious? 😉
Wavy, may your God go with you… 😀
That’s a really strong squad.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m a tad disappointed that MLS, Walters and Nwaneri missed the cut.
Kev, “may your God go with you” , Dave Allen?
Yes definitely agree best time to be a Gooner for many years…by the way Leicester were alot more than a one man team their winning season
Great men’s final and fabulous to see a new champion…
Dave Allen, one of the best Cicero
Morning All. I just hope that if Partey does leave, there’s an adequate replacement. As you said, Rico, some games would require Rice and Partey (or proper replacement, I like the link with Andre the Brazilian, beast in the middle). Some people conveniently forgot that Partey was the best CDM in the EPL all year, except for the last 8 games when he was carrying an injury. Actually, both he and Saka and their form dropped. To invest heavily in Rice and let Partey go, imho, is two steps forward and one step back – still in the same position.
By the way, Karl Havertz imho, is a very good acquisition. Do people realize how big Havertz is? At about 6’4″ with that kind of skills. Have we forgotten how big team bully us, especially on set pieces. Look at how City and Rodri bullied us. We needed to get bigger. Additionally, the guy is a baller. It’s not his fault Chelsea didn’t know how to use him. We all need to wait and watch. The idea that we don’t need him is a limited view. We need as many quality players as possible and competition at every position.
Obi, I agree re the two steps forward etc if Partey goes without someone else coming in. It looks like he is going too as he’s not travelled to the USA. Rice will have a target on his back in an Arsenal kit..
Morning Rico and all. staying on the positive side, this is the first transfer season in a while that I have been very happy with all players, we have brought in.
I reckon Pepe will be the hardest to move on.
Morning Geoff, I don’t think Pepe will be difficult to move on at all. He’s a very good player just not right for Arteta. We won’t get anywhere near what we paid for him though and as he’s only one year left on his contract, he might just be loaned out.
New post up