Morning all.
Two positives today. The Arsenal women won 4-0 and Joe Willock came off the bench to score for Newcastle against the Toots, a goal to snatch a much needed point for his team. AMN seems to be fairing pretty well under Big Sam and he and his West Brom teammates gave Chelsea a good hiding. Admittedly, Chelsea were playing with ten men for an hour but regardless, a win is a win and theirs was comprehensive.
It was only a matter of time before a headline appeared on NN suggesting Arsenal may need to sell Bukayo Saka in order to fund a rebuild. The Times have done just that. TransferMarket have him valued at £54 million which I think is way off. At 19 years of age and on a long term contract, I think that price should be doubled at least. Personally, I think he, Tierney, Martinelli and ESR are the players Mikel Arteta, or whoever manages Arsenal in the future, need to build a team around, not sell them to another club. I think Arsenal need to sell the big names on the big wages. The fees might not be as much but they all add up.
I don’t expect Arsenal to be playing in Europe next season, not unless a miracle happens or Lady Luck jumps on board the club today and stays there until the end of the season.
If that does prove to be the case and there is no European football next season Mikel Arteta won’t need such a big squad. The kids and squad players can play in the Cups, promoting anyone who excels along the way and then the first team players can concentrate on returning to the top four.
Ideally of course, we’ll win the Europa Cup this year and use the money it pays out to strengthen the squad this summer but I have little to no faith in this squad full of misfits and players who don’t seem to care about the club or it’s fans.
Arsenal are now down to tenth in the League although our run in of fixtures look kind on paper but then an out of form Liverpool looked a kind fixture on paper too. We’ve still to play against teams fighting for Premier League survival so no fixture will be easy. On Sunday we play bottom of the League Sheffield Utd at Bramall Lane. They have managed to win just 14 points so far this season but I’m far from confident that we’ll go there and take maximum points from the game. Not if Saturday’s appalling performance is anything to go by.
I’m struggling to understand why Mikel Arteta continually plays the players who are letting him and the team down. Thankfully Xhaka should be back for Thursday’s fixture which should mean Ceballos returns to the bench. If Arteta wants to win the Europa Cup, relying on his captain might prove to be a mistake.
See you in the comments.
Good Morning Rico and all.
All the way with what you said in the post Rico. I enjoyed reading it.
Currently am compiling the Auba/Laca stats together, Auba alone or Laca alone. Some results are already surprising.
Do you want them as comments or do you want them as a post??
Good morning Rico.
Certainly good news about the Arsenal Women. Yesterday’s win moved them up into the CL qualification spot above Man. U. on a vastly better goal difference but still with a game in hand.
Elsewhere on the Arsenal front there’s not much to cheer about. Tierney injured, Saka and ESR also in the treatment room and our illustrious captain away on his own planet where he can stay as far as I’m concerned.
We’ve had some hail, some sleet and a little light snow this morning, but the sun is out now although the wind is bloody freezing.
Got the e-mail today ,
In response to Devil yesterday :- cover for KT because once he went off on Saturday, the dippers targeted Soares and Gabriel.
All part of the plan , Milner knew exactly what he was doing , it was one of those connections that referees and commentators always miss , rather like Rashford on Holding. Go in fast and take the player as well as the ball.
I posted the full squad the other day including those on loan 32 in all .
From my perspective I would say that 11 players could go and would except in a couple of cases not be missed but then I am not the money man who will have the last say because to do the purge that I see , it will cost the club a major loss on some of them.
I don’t see too many of our players as bad players but I do believe that the attitude problem has not been purged. I would rather see players that want to play to be here rather than just play because they happen to be here on good wages.
Somebody once said “” Remember who you are, what you are and who you represent!!! . .””
That should be on every contract every player signs when joining.
Morning Devil, Cicero, all.
I’ll use them in a post please Devil.
Snow Cicero? Gosh
I really don’t know what’s happened with Aubameyang but whatever it is, he doesn’t deserve to be in the first team imo.
Potter, I think my number was around 17 from your list but we all know that not every player can go. I agree re the contract inclusion but a few words to an overseas player who just wants to earn mega riches won’t mean a toss for them.
What happened to self pride with some of these blokes?
Up till the first season and a half, whenever they played together the win ratio was approximately 59%, Whenever Laca began (and Auba was sub or not in squad) the win percentage is 66%. But the most interesting is when Auba begins (and Laca is sub or not in squad) the percentage drops to 50%.
I still have to do season 2019/20 and this season. So end results may vary.
When LAca begins (auba sub) we concede 1 goal per game.
When they are together we concede 1.1 per game
When Auba (Laca sub) begins we concede 1.7 per game
Once again that is the first season and a half.
Now I need to rest as am getting cross eyed seeing all the line ups. 😂😂😂😂
If we sell Saka I will have serious questions about the Arteta/Edu partnership. That to me will be the club accepting that we are mid table mediocrity and have no ambition to get back into the top 4. Especially if the thought process is to buy Odegaard, who whilst he has had a few decent performances recently, isn’t as talented as ESR.
Morning all.
Imagine what the likes of Rocky would think of Auba right now?
The money he’s making, the effort he is putting in-it’s a vast disparity.
Is it him taking the easy option after a big pay day, or is it a player refusing to accept the responsibilities his manager is putting on him?
I’d say it’s option B-he isn’t disciplined enough to play for Arteta.
Strip him if the captaincy, give it to a long term option, no matter how young that player is.
Devil, remember when we saw the stats on Arteta playing/not playing for the Arsenal?
It was massively lopsided in favour of him playing yet he was constantly a target of fans.
Go figure.
Scott…..George Graham did it before. We had Sansom as captain (if I recall correctly). Then GG came and he gave the captaincy to Adams in season 87/88 when Adams was only 21 while Sansom was 30 and had been at the club for 8 years.
So it does happen.
Arteta has a choice to make……either keep Auba as captain and play him and risk games with a player less.. Or strip him of the captaincy, put him on the bench and risk a revolt like Emery had when he began keeping Ozil out of the team. And maybe lose those players who side with Auba.
Auba needs to go in the summer. And I am sure that Arteta feels that way. But does he have enough balls to drop him now?? We wait and see
Morning Rico et al.
The PEA debate rumbles on, I see. Thanks for the stats (so far) Devil. Interesting, but they seem so well connected, from a friendship point of view. Always really pleased when one or other of them scores especially so if if one of them is the provider for the goal scored.
I have to agree that Lacazette has far more of a contribution to the team effort than PEA but Auba has or rather had a far better eye for goal and a much greater conversion rate, apart from this season!
I’ve watched his demise with horror and sadness. He was my new ‘nearly TH14’ but not now. He’s gone, he’s had it, he’s yesterday’s hero! But why???
I’ve watched his woeful display, game after game and, sort of noted things that aren’t happening anymore. He’s a bit like a golfer who has developed the yops. He knows what he wants to do but he just can’t seem to do it. He remembers how, he remembers when, he remembers what’s it he just can’t get ‘the run of the ball’ or his hair style is not quite right. I actually think his life is all a bit tipsy turvy and he can’t get his head round stuff. (No evidence, apart from time keeping, rushing home to his mum, swapping his car! Etc.)
His performances have been frail., to say the least. But why? Has MA changed the style of play so much that it has curbed PEA’s natural style, eg push a ball over the top of the defenders for him to run on to and then pick his spot a la the Cup Final and once sometime this season. He scores a few tap ins but not so many as Lacazette. He’s not really a Johnny on the spot! Also he has lost at least a yard of pace, perhaps more. I’ve noticed him being outpaced. Y fairly pedestrian defenders and what’s more ‘giving up’ attempting to even try to catch up, formerly he would just have pushed and run on, way quicker than the chasing players. You have to wonder what has altered, is it age, is it lack of ambition, is he carrying a long term injury, has he just lost motivation or is just not interested anymore???
Did he catch Covid? Is he suffering the dreadful after effects of the deadly disease? I could ask the same question of Gabriel whose performances have been unpredictable lately. Just putting that out there!
Auba’s demise I think is more about his general well being, perhaps psychological perhaps physical than we or even he knows about. Whatever it is that’s ailing him he needs time away from football, time to get some proper r and r and then come back sorted and refreshed to pick up his failing career, reborn and ready to go…….again.
Hope I’ve touched upon something here that makes some sense and goes a little way to ‘explaining’ Pierre Emerick’s woeful lack of form and his loss of his star status.
It doesn’t surprise me those stats from Devil, It also makes sense to me why when I look at the team and if Laca is starting and Auba not I feel we play with much more fluidity and flare. I’ve said it a few times this season, Laca is a great linkup player he holds the ball well, he fights hard to win and keep the ball, and he’s always scanning to see where the youngsters are especially ESR, Saka and Martinelli, Pepe and Xhaka as well. The team just seems more balanced with more desire.
It’d be interesting to know what Auba’s teammates think about him. I know we’ll never find out but if it were me working hard each game, I wouldn’t be happy to see my captain playing so halfheartedly.
You’re right though Devil, and perhaps that’s what Arteta fears but he shouldn’t, in fact I think it would say more about those who might sulk should Auba be dropped.
Morning Wavy, if what you suggest is in fact quite near reality, and it makes sense imo, you’d think Arteta would take him out of the firing line because if he is struggling, playing is doing more harm than good.
Yips not yops! Ffs this is the third time I’ve corrected it!!
Cardshark, welcome. I don’t think we need to generate funds by selling players like Saka, ESR, Martinelli etc, not when we have Torreira, Guendouzi and a few others who could be sold. But if a team like PSG, City etc come in with a huge offer, £150m plus, I’m sure most clubs would find it hard to turn down.
April Fool!!!
Hold on, that was Thursday…
Gary Jacobs who wrote the piece, a piece I did not read as the title was preposterous enough, is a serial Arsenal hater and click bait specialist. I never read anything that that wanker writes and if you want some advice you should do the same.
The Times are looking for clicks and it’s no surprise the the Mirror and a couple more clickers went with the non story. It’s all about the ads in fact the whole sodding Internet is all about the ads these days…
Rico I hope you missed out the “not” in your 11.23. 😉
Devil, the problem is the money involved these days.
30 years ago, you could bench a player and the financial aide of things weren’t really a factor.
Auba is on 250k a week, so not playing him isn’t just a waste of wages, a potential transfer is a consideration.
Scott we did it with Ozil on 350Kpw for practically a whole season. So 9 games is not going to make much of a difference. The deciding factor is whether or not Arteta decides to do it.
If he does it and we continue to fail….or fare worse….the knives will be out.
But if does it and we win the damned Europa league then he will be seen as a good manager.
With Auba as he is we are destined to fail.
Without him its 50% chance we win the cup.
Atm its a lose lose situation for Arteta with regards Auba. He does know what is going on with Auba. He knows much more than us put together….we can only comment what we see during games. He knows what types of forwards he needs for his tactics to work and is trying to make the team work with what he has. Maybe he has already decided that Auba will be gone by the summer and the latter knows it as well. Maybe that is why he is not giving a damn. Because he knows that next year either he or LAca has to leave. He knows that the flanks are earmarked for ESR and Saka especially if Odegaard stays. So its either him or Laca up top.
What I would love is that at least once this season we get to see Martinelli up front and behind him its ESR, Odegaard and Saka with Xhaka and Partey in DM.
That would be a clear indicator.
I’ve been thinking long and hard about this…and we are in a right state.
IMO it all falls back on recruitment and a lack of a direction spread over several years.
Arteta is a dogmatic manager. He wants to play a certain way. The problem is only a handful of our players can play that way.
We either get him the right players or get a pragmatic manager in.
That manager would look at what we have and play to their strengths.
IMO in the short term the pragmatic manager would be more effective, and may get us back into the Uefa Cup next season, but whether or not they could do enough to get us into the Top 4 is uncertain. For true success we need a dogmatic manager and he needs time.
Having said this, I’m still not sure if Arteta is the right dogmatic manager.
I certainly did Cicero, thank you.
Hobart, good points. I think Wenger was similar in a way as he didn’t seem to play the game which was more likely to suit the players. We had a big strong striker in Giroud but did he set the team up to get the best out of him? I don’t think so.
I kind of felt sorry for Emery though as his choice of signings were allegedly ignored in favour of Raul’s choices.
I always felt that any manager coming In was going to struggle and understand that time is needed to clear the decks but in the here and now, somehow Arteta has to get more out of who he has.
SAF had over three years to stabilize Utd. Look what happened after. He was on the verge of being sacked. Arteta inherited a shambles. If we sack him and employ another manager the process will repeat itself. And the beat goes on
It’s all very well saying we need more Arteta players – the worst performers out of a team of non performers were probably Gabriel(shocker) and Partey.
Also the players we missed the most were all on the books before Mikel took over,Xhaka,Saka, Smith Rowe,add Tierney too.
I hope Arteta gets another season but he is lucky no fans are there,many more nights like Saturday don’t bear thinking about.
I’m actually not bothered where we finish in the league,a Europa League win would be nice !
The higher up the table we finish though, the more money the club will earn.
Arteta certainly needs a good summer and a good start to next season because the Emirates faithful will soon turn.
That’s how I feel Devil about Arteta although I do question my own opinion though. Lol
The covid theory has been attriuted to Gabriel who we know suffered from it but Aubameyang .Was it his mum that was ill ? and what happened in Gabon ?. Has he been touched by it because long covid is something we are only just getting to grips with.
We can only assume that the club are doing performance stats and they would know if they are being affected.
In commentary it was discussed that he was gasping for air after 20 minutes and attributed that to chasing their superstar Alexander Arnold but timings and monitoring should be obvious after a session of shuttle runs and if he has had the disease and his stats are down he needs a complete break and as a professional club we should be enforcing that .
Looking at the league table we are 10th/11th & 7 points away from 5th .8 games to go. To get there 6 teams have to completely mess up and three of them have games in hand and although our fixtures are mainly against teams below us ,nothing is a given with our lot and although we may creep up a little I think European football next season is doubtful at best.
This probably means no big signings ( which in my opinion is a good thing ) and probably will spring a desire for certain players to leave.
Luiz , Ceballos have no value . Kolasinac we couldn’t give away , Torriera and Guendouzi will come back pre season , the former has stated that he wants to go back to poverty stricken South America . So don’t expect much there.
The French hothead shows talent but no self discipline and has managed to fall out with 5 managers so I can’t see a queue down Gillespie road for him at a decent price.
That leaves Bellerin , Xhaka , Willian , Aubameyang or Lacazette with Pepe to to garner funds for the positions we need to fill.
The keepers are interesting , I want to see more of Ryan who could come as a freebie . if he makes the grade then Runarsson is surplus by has no value as we can bring a third keeper out of the under 23 team .
Matland Niles , Nketiah , Nelson and Willock are not saleable if we want a useful home grown part of the squad and Saliba and Mavropolus one of whom might make something once we have decided which one to keep .
We need a left back , as willing as Cedric is , he is a right back and if Bellerin goes should be aiming for that slot permanently and a central midfielder to replace Xhaka someone more mobile and forward looking . Guendouzi or Maitland Niles could be that man if the former sorts his brains out and the latter listens a bit more to Allardyce ( never thought that I would say that ).
We have to accept that we will not be an attractive side to players that want instant European football and some may want to leave but with what we have and a little supplementation we should have a squad to play a season that has little distraction and go for the top again .
My thoughts for what they are worth . Feel free to disagree and shout me down . But I want the club to go forward and to do that we have to start at the basics . We have spent the last Wenger years and since tweaking things when that’s really not enough.
Limey, that’s a bit harsh on Partey when you consider that he was partnered with Ceballos, a player who can’t tackle, can’t pick a pass to his own team-mates and can’t resist giving the ball away at every opportunity.
Our final league position is immaterial. We will not make sixth let alone top four. We are tenth on a goal difference of +5, every team below us has a minus goal difference, Everton are the only top ten team with a worse goal difference +3, but are four points better off with two games in hand. Villa are two points better off with one game in hand. West Ham are seven points better of with a game in hand, while Liverpool are also seven points better off on the same number of games played as us.
Our remaining games are:- Sheffield United away: Fulham home; Everton home; Newcastle away; West Brom home; Chelsea away; Palace away: Brighton home. That’s eight games, twenty-four possible points, I doubt if we’ll get twelve and we’ll be lucky to finish ninth.
Arteta needs to forget about the Premiership and pick the players who will fight for a win in the Europa League. Keep Aubameyang, Willian, Ceballos, Gabriel and maybe Leno too out of the Europa squad and let them scrap it out for the last eight Premiership games.
Surely, if any of our players are going through something which is effecting their fitness both physically or mentally, the medical people would advise Arteta accordingly and they’d be left out of the team and given time to recover.
I’m not fussed about big names or expensive signings either, not if they come with baggage or don’t have the right attitude towards hard work.
Like you Potter, I’d love to see Ryan get minutes, Iliev too but unless Arteta takes a totally different approach in the league games now, I can’t see him dropping Leno.
Bit harsh on Partey perhaps Cierco,I just thought he faded badly after a good start,it happens a lot which suggests there is a fitness issue.Also it’s a mystery to me how 6 months ago Ceballos was a really important player,and now he’s a liability.
As I said earlier…..the knives are getting sharpened for Auba.
Just read the comments that Carragher, Keown and Neville have said about him. They all gave a damning verdict.
Now what they usually say I take it with a pinch of salt. However this time I feel they are spot on. Especially when saying that he is fast becoming lazy with Ozilesque proportions.
We all saw how fast he sprinted with the Gabon national team. Its been a long time we saw that sprint in our team. I read somewhere that due to his age his speed goes down. Well where was his age with the national team?? It didnt show imo.
I just wish that in the next games Martinelli, Nelson and may be Balogun get a few chances. maybe even begin a game.
Limey, it might be a question of fitness or injury with PArtey. However I feel it is more of an issue with who is beside him. Xhaka plays deeper and sits back allowing PArtey to dictate and make runs. Partey feels secure with Xhaka behind him. But he does not feel so much with Elneny let alone Ceballos.
Ceballos used to play in a more advanced role. now that PArtey is there…..its Partey who is the strongest of the two plus TP is also our own. Ceballos is not and is the most likely to get to play in a position which is not his. I dont expect PArtey to be the one who sits back.
Was Xhaka really sick?? Or was he saved till Thursday?
Were ESR and Saka really injured or are they saved for Thursday?
We all know (if I am correct) that if a player pulls out injured from the national team and then plays immediately the club will have to answer (I stand to be corrected on this). So there is a chance that they were withdrawn on purpose. Next Thursday will tell us a lot of answers.
I don’t think Partey has been the same since his injury. For what it’s worth. Lol
ESR played for the England under 21’s though didn’t he Devil?
Yes but I think he was withdrawn as well and came home earlier and did not play in the last game of the under 21.
Evening Rico and the House.
Sell Saka no way.
To be honest I could put up a case wher Arteta should not sell any
Arsenal trained players.
But not tonight I am going to watch Gently
The England medics would have checked him over before he came back then, at least I’d have thought so.
Evening Rick, all of them?
Rico, I always had some sympathy for Emery. His style of play was completely different to the way the squad was used to playing and he didn’t really get any of the signings he wanted.
He lost the fans and the dressing room followed.
I get the impression that Arteta has the backing of the management, but that COVID and the ongoing contract sagas have limited his purchases dramatically.
Rico
I agree with what Potter(3.18pm) has said about AMN Eddy Reiss and Joe
they are not saleable.
To maintain a balanced 25man squad when we sell a club trained player we should
promote someone who has come through our system.
We have not been doing this and we could find ourselves in trouble if we sellthose 4players.
Ramsey, JW. The Ox, Theo, Iwobi Jenks (theres more) have all left and
have not been replced by H/G plyers.
As a result we are left with Bellerin and AMN (club trained) and Chambers and Holding home produced, as outfield players.
Now they are saying Bellerin is leaving and we are trying to bring in a
non english player Hakam, If we do want to sign Hakam we must sell a non english player
At the moment Eddy Reiss and Joe are U21 and are not in the 25 squade but will be nexr season.
There are others who will be in the same position next season but will they be cnsidered able to play in the p/l by Arteta.
This is just my opion so please do not send the men in white coats down to kent.
By the way any mistakes are down to me not autocorrect.
Good Night Gooners
One of the best days comments ever on the House.
Well done guys.
I just read that this season, when ESR and Saka start, we are 7 wins from 10 and without, 5 from 20.
This is why I’m not too concerned about the odd shocker of a game.
They’re still babies so need to be brought along slowly, and that’s what Arteta is doing.
There is not a lot to be gained right now in the League by playing them week in, week out but I’m sure we will see them in the remaining Europa League games for obvious reasons.
These kids, along with Martinelli, Tierney and a few others are our future and must be protected, imo.
Good Morning everyone.
Scott…..it is of paramount importance that the Academy begins producing more players on a regular basis.
The first step to that is to employ coaches with Uefa A licence….even with the under 8. The second step is to ensure that no group is larger than 12 including two goalkeepers. That is the way in Spain. In Italy it is Uefa B coaches from under 8 to under 11. Otherwise it is Uefa A. And believe me….Italian coaching licences from Coverciano are very hard to acquire plus very costly.
With regards your stat…ESR+Saka is equivalent to 70% wins. Arteta played them in all games bar when they needed a rest or were injured. In their place I would rather have seen Nelson at least…..but then as you pointed out yesterday…..can Arteta justify dropping Auba when he is on such a big wage?? Can he justify dropping Willian or PEpe for NElson when they are on big wages as well? I would love that to come to pass but dont know why he doesnt do it.
Ideally it would be ESR and Saka on the flanks with Martinelli and Nelson as their understudy. Where that would leave Pepe, Auba, Willian is anybody’s guess. But how much are the latter contributing to the cause?
Can we find a buyer for Willian?? If I were the club I would sell him for just 10-13million….as that would cover his wages for the year he spent with us.
Devil, we will be a different side on Thursday 🙂
Hobart, ditto re Emery. How can a manager implement his ideas if he doesn’t have a say on transfers.
Rick, to be fair, I don’t want to see them all go in any case. I really believe AMN is better than the options we have in midfield other than Partey. AMN has the pace Xhaka lacks too. I know he’s laid back but that’s doesn’t necessarily means he’s not trying. I always think Saka looks laid back too.
Morning all.
New post up now
https://highbury-house.com/2021/04/06/do-arsenal-really-have-a-big-problem/
I have a sneaky feeling that either ESR or Saka OR both will be available for Thursday. We will have all the answers then.
Its a pity Tierney might not be fit though.