Morning all.
The World Cup Final takes place on the 19th July. As it stands today, Arsenal’s first pre-season fixture, which is against Girona, kicks off in the Estadi Montilivi Stadium on the 1st August. Four days later, Mikel Arteta and his players will be in Dublin to face Real Betis at the Aviva Stadium before facing Borussia Dortmund back at The Emirates on the 9th.
Players not involved in a summer international tournament usually begin to return around the 5th July so I’d imagine one or two friendly matches will be added yet. Not that many first team players will be back by then but it’s an opportunity for academy players to get involved. Transfer rumours are rife this time of year. Already we’ve been linked to many players, from 16 year old Jeremy Monga to Bruno Guimaraes.
Transfer rumours are rife this time of year. Already we’ve been linked to many players, from 16 year old Jeremy Monga to Bruno Guimaraes. Rumours and truth are two very different things though and we all suspect that player names are just batted around for many reasons other than genuine ones.
Forget names though, after all, we can all play along with fantasy football, let’s think about positions and where you and I think the team/squad needs strengthening.
Personally, I think we need a left winger, a right back and a second striker and that’s before anyone leaves but players will have to leave if we are to strengthen. There’s no room for sentiment if we are to do even better than last season.
Logic suggests Noni Madueke won’t be cast aside after one season, nor will Martin Zubimendi in my opinion and with Myles Lewis-Skelly proving he’s absolutely right for this side, we’re good in midfield I reckon even if Christian Norgaard leaves because we have Mikel Merino.
One of Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard will surely leave this summer. I think the left side is an area of weakness. Both players can be brilliant on their day but those days don’t come often enough. Same applies to Gabriel Jesus who needs to move on for himself as much as anything.
Right back is another problem area in my opinion but the club is kind of hamstrung because of the injury to Ben White. Will another club take a risk on him whilst he’s injured? I don’t know but if he stays and we don’t sign another right back, at least we have Marli Salmon coming through. Assuming he’s not set to go out on loan.
Talking of loans, we have Fabio Vieira and Ethan Nwaneri returning from theirs. Apparently a couple of clubs are interested in Vieira which is good news, Nwaneri too but I still hold hope that his present and future remains with Arsenal.
This coming season should see more minutes given to Max Dowman, Premier League champion at just 16 years old. That goal against Everton, brilliant.
Catch up later.
Morning all.
New post up.
*torment O’Hara
I don’t know if they pass the IQ test, whether or not they’re in Arsenal’s inner-circle, or even how well they’re received by some fans, but Ray Parlour, Perry Groves and Martin Keown all work for TalkSport, Emanuel Petit has become quite a regular contributor, and David Seaman quite often guests for Hawksbee & Jacobs.
Unlike Aunty Beeb where all their pundits refuse to divulge ‘their’ team, TalkSport presenters don’t hide from the team they support.
There’s quite a few Chelsea (Andy Jacobs, Rory Jennings, Cundy, Sam Matterface), Spuds have a few (Hawksbee, O’Hara, Majestic, Max Rushden, Danny Kelly), with the Arsenal trio, Darren Bent is Arsenal, and Laura Woods used to host the Breakfast show until last year (where she always used to orment O’Hara just for being a Spud).
Is that a strong Arsenal representation, or is TalkSport forever doomed and to be frowned upon at all times?
Havertz has made it 1-1.
It was a great half, Limey. Assist to Big Gab and a beautifully executed winning goal for little Gab.
It was a great goal. Neat first touch, then a perfectly placed shot. All done from playing in the middle.
So pleased for Martinelli,he is one of my favourite players. Took his goal beautifully,that has to be the most dramatic moment of this World Cup so far.
I saw earlier that all Arsenal players at the World Cup have made the second round,not a good thing.
Brazil and England are seeded to meet in the quarter finals so at least one of our big players will be coming home.
Also I think Germany and France are due to play each other so either Saliba or Havertz will be out.
No game has really engaged,that 2nd half tonight was brilliant.
Martinelli the hero for Brazil..
Did somebody say, “cricket”? Not me
Arsenal head of sports science and performance Tom Allen is the latest member of the club’s backroom team set to leave the club.
Allen is responsible for first-team performance across sports science, physical output, nutrition and performance support.
The practitioner, who joined from Aston Villa in 2017, joins head of medical Dr Zaf Iqbal and lead performance coach Sam Wilson in leaving the club just weeks after their first Premier League title in 22 years.
Despite their title win, Arsenal suffered with major injury concerns last season with a number of key players missing for long spells.
The departures arrive as part of a review involving external medical expert Joaquin Acedo, who has a relationship with manager Mikel Arteta originating back to when the pair worked together at Everton.
Sources close to the revamp claim that Acedo’s influence on the changes this summer has been significant.
Afternoon Geoff, I hope Viktor stays too. Why start over with a different type of striker. I thought he had a decent season but I know a lot of people might disagree.
He did Kev but as you say, he must have had his reasons..
Did somebody say, “cricket”?
Sorry all, had to crow a little bit.
Tuchel left a few out of the squad Rico who many would have thought were nailed on, but then you have to wonder why?
Tactical perhaps? Personal maybe, players he thought didn’t fit with the group, who might have been disruptive?
Afternoon Rico and all.
I agree with Rico that Xhaka left us at the right time as well, and my guess is he will end up at Chelsea.
I hope we don’t get rid of Gyokores, after all if reports are correct we only paid 55 million pounds and potentially another 10 mill for add On’s which in this day and age is not a lot of money for any top player, and with 21 goals in all competitions, I reckon that’s a good return in his first season, and that does not include the little thinks he did off the ball to draw top defenders away from the goal square.
Agree re the defence. If this really is the best in England then it’s a big worry.
Apparently so Kev. Being controversial must make him feel better.
Tuchel has made some interesting, controversial and brave decisions going into this World Cup, a World Cup that England were always unlikely to win given the lack of quality defenders we have and the quality of France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany who are all technically superior. But that won’t stop the dumb arses in the UK media trying to destroy him when England fail as we’re very likely to.
Really Rico, Scholes said that, what drop him for tactical reasons or to save him for the latter stages?
That guy is a walking, talking, bullshitting click bait merchant. There is a very good reason that he never went into coaching/management at any kind serious level and that’s mainly because he’s an intellectual pigmy, along with the Nevilles and Butt.
But he’s exactly who Talk Sport and Sky Sport employ because he appeals to the lowest common denominator among the fanbase and they sadly lap it up…
Tuchel doesn’t know what he’s on about Cicero. 😜
Scholes reckons Tuchel needs to drop Rice. What a buffoon…
Your positivity seldom shows on here though Dennis, so much so I often wonder if anything the club does these days makes you happy.
Spot on re Xhaka Kev.
I get all that Dennis and we all want to see Arsenal put those clubs to the sword on a match day but does it really mean signing big name players is an absolute necessity? I don’t think so. I’d rather ten Ray Parlour’s than ten Ozil’s. Not the best analogy but I’m sure you get my drift.
Ha ha Kev, I did.
Morning all.
From an interview yesterday.
Tuchel tempered praise of Bellingham with a key point, it is all part of working as a team. If we just play freestyle, no one knows what the other one is thinking, so we want to play more in patterns and more in units, and I feel that we get the understanding better and better. And Jude is part of it.
BBD.
Interesting isn’t it, if Arsenal went for a midfielder of Xhaka’s dotage there would be extremist Arsenal fans losing their minds, but I guess as it’s Chelsea it’ll be viewed as a really smart move.
Typical Chelsea to try and get him on the cheap,transfer fee anyway. Its been reported they have offered, £8.5m initially. If they are selling you think of a number,then quadruple it.
Granit Xhaka has agreed financial terms with Chelsea as he wants to live in London and is keen to play for Xabi Alonso who he worked with at Bayer Leverkusan.
Good morning all.
By the way, Rico, the positivity is always present, I’ve supported Arsenal a long time (not quite as long as Potter and Cicero), and as you well know, we’ve had plenty of fallow years, and it is always a roller-coaster of emotions.
Fever Pitch was on the other week, and the stress leading up to the Liverpool title decider at Anfield brought all the memories flooding back. What an incredible magical night, we defied everyone, and it’s nights like those that make you realise why you love this club.
It’s great that we’ve won our 14th title, but if we’re brutally honest, a lot of it was quite scrappy and ugly. You don’t have to play fine margin football relying heavily on set-pieces to win titles.
George Graham was the consumate defensive pragmatist, but both his First Division titles were more entertaining than this one.
Now and again Rico, it would be really good to send out a message to our rivals.
We were poor against City, Liverpool, United, and Chelsea (who we struggled against at home when they were down to 10). These are clubs who have bloodied our noses with some shameful hammerings over the years, and it would be great to have the feeling that we could do it to them, but we never do.
The 5-1 against City was great, but a one-off and not against the big two, (or despicable Chelsea). The 6-0 still stings, as does the 4-1 Europa Lge final loss, and they taunt us with their two CL trophies.
I want a team capable of destroying United, Liverpool and Chelsea, that would make me very happy, Rico.
Sorry Rico, been busy and missed your question.
I know it’s a little low-brow for some, but yes I was aware of Hugo Ekitike’s potential through TalkSport European correspondents Andy Brassell and Kevin Hatchard.
There’s enough information about these players through all sorts of media outlets.
Liverpool only moved for him after Newcastle had bid, and if Liverpool come calling you aren’t going to Newcastle.
IMO Rico, his price was a little rich for us and we never even considered him as an option. For us it was either Gyokeres or Sesko, until Sesko’s price was raised, then it became about getting Gyokeres over the line. The smarter move financially would have been Ekitike because it is unlikely that Gyokeres’ value will go any higher.
We could make the same comparison with Eze and Cherki at City.
But Gyokeres and Eze are PL winners, and in this moment that’s what matters the most.
Hey Rico, did you see that Chelsea want to buy Xhaka…
I’m sure I read that earlier 😂
I see reports today that Chelsea want to buy Granit Xhaka,I’m sure Sunderland don’t want to sell,but money talks I suppose.
I really hope he doesn’t join that lot.
Did you think about Ekiteke before Liverpool signed him?
Nice to see you’ve maintained your level of enthusiasm and positivity Dennis. Lol
I really thought we should have gone for Cunha from Wolves, and Ekitike, last summer.
That ship has sailed, but if as you say, Arsenal have plenty of money, it all depends on how bold and adventurous the club want to be.
When was the last signing that genuinely excited the fan-base?
It certainly hasn’t been the many many Chelsea rejects that the club can’t seem to stop signing. It’s almost like a drug addiction with Arsenal, and they NEVER move the needle. Plenty of time left to bid for Nicholas Jackson…
I think Xhaka left at the right time.
We should have kept Granit Xhaka to play alongside Rice.
That would have saved us a good few £million.
Hi Dennis
I read we’ve just made a record breaking amount of money/profit this season so I’d imagine we have money. Plus there is likely to be sales.
Re Bellingham, others too, let’s see how they fair against better opponents.
The Alonso attraction I guess Limey. Unless he wants a final big pay out, I doubt he’d want to be a bench warmer.
Hi Rico
Interesting questions posed in your Post.
Do we have the budget that fundamentally changes our style of football, or does the title win mean we lean into even more pragmatism.
If we want to be more dynamic in the final third, it has to be Barcola over Rogers.
Anderson to City isn’t an issue to us we have plenty of metronomic workhorses, what we lack is an X factor.
Wenger’s sides could always break down a low block (or a team defending deep, as it was back then), so perhaps raiding the archives and rewatching some old DVD’s circa 1998-2004 might help.
I don’t think we can go into the new season relying so heavily again on set-piece goals, the PGMOL will be all over us, so we will need goals from another source. As of now, I’m not sure Arsenal have enough options, we are not a free-scoring side who produce goals out of nothing or in any prolonged period during a game, so that is a bit of a concern for me.
Another concern underlying is the fitness and form of Bukayo Saka, because the drop off from him to Madueke is steep.
But at least we can build from a position of strength, fix the roof while the sun is shining etc.
I’m seeing reports Chelsea want to sign Granit Xhaka. Personally I hope he doesn’t go,I’m sure Sunderland want to keep him,money talks I suppose.
So Jude Bellingham gives England the lead and creates the goal to give Harry Kane his WC record in a crucial game to win the Group, but not good enough for Cicero.
Bellingham is an elite player, 22yo, more than holding his own at Real Madrid, playing as a 10 in two games, then playing deeper to cover for Dec against Panama, which shows his versatility, he walks into any PL side.
He roams about because as a midfield player he wants to influence the game in our favour.
It shows his commitment and how seriously he takes his responsibilities.
If England had a team full of the qualities and professionalism that Bellingham brings, this world cup would be in the bag. I’d say Rice is similar in attitude and approach, but we don’t have enough of them.
If Bellingham wasn’t the all-action immersive player for England, he wouldn’t have 2 goals, and in all likelihood, England wouldn’t have won the Group.
Sometimes Cicero, especially in a summer break, you’re allowed to remove your rose-tinted Arsenal glasses.
We won’t be seeing Stokes any more he’s retired from test cricket. As a parting shot he decided that he would open the batting for our second innings. Result? He thrashed thirty runs of twenty balls before being caught off another swipe.
Bethell was out lbw for nought off four balls.
Harry Brook hit 21 off nine balls before going for a six but holing out on the boundary. Now Root is in, I don’t expect any great things from him.
😂
Thought we had sold Odegaard when I saw the captain question
Wonder who the next captain will be..
The new batsman, Blundell has been welcomed by four innocuous balls by Atkinson.
Watching the test it all seems too cosy, too friendly, the bowlers laughing with the batsmen. Only one aggressive ball has been bowled all morning, the one with which Stokes hit Mitchell on the elbow.
Archer is supposedly our shock bowler, unfortunately he seems to be no more than a stock bowler used when one of the others needs a rest.
At last we’ve taken a wicket Ravindra L B W, bowled by Bashir. 180-4
Exactly, how Spence is in there I’ll never know.
We as Arsenal supporters are spoilt by the quality of our back five, we are not used to seeing the chaotic defending endemic in Tuchel’s Keystone Cops style defence.
Cicero, I reckon the first decent side England come up against, they’ll be on their way home. Good job Panama didn’t have a player who knew where the goal was.
Pickford and his defenders have caused havoc..
Good morning ***** author.
Declan certainly, Bellingham not so much, he needs to stop roaming about all over the pitch and concentrate on pressuring the opposition defence.
None of our defenders have impressed me, a rag tag bunch of mediocrity.
Keeper wise, I’d love us to sign James Trafford but I doubt City would even entertain selling him to us.
Morning all.
Other than perhaps Rice and Bellingham, I don’t think anyone has been consistently good for England. Mind you, look how much football they’ve played.
I would keep Kepa as the players / Arteta know what he is like, were as getting another good keeper, who know he will get little game could be very hard unless they are only chasing money in their final years.
If Aston Villa are seriously hoping for a fee in the region of £100m for Rodgers then I hope it isn’t Arsenal paying it…
On dot.com we are listing 23 players out of the allowed 25 . 8 of these have to be homegrown . We also have Setford , Nwaneri and MLS as under age squad members..
If we keep these three , we have room for three additions.as MLS is already in the squad.
However two of the players that we are said to be considering selling are in the homegrown list . White and Martinelli.
If they go they will need replacing with Homegrown players “”expensive “”
If we want a new left winger it makes more sense for Trossard to go , then we would only require one to replace White.
On to the squad
Do we keep Kepa ? Raya is obviously number one but is Kepa good enough in the case of a long injury.?
If White goes we are weak at the back with only 6 defenders as the list only gives us 7 , so can we expect Salmon to step in or do we dip into the market and if so just for a right back or one that can play right across the line.
Why do so many teams play a low block against us?
Because it works, and it requires good fast technical transitions to break it down, and opponents know we don’t have it.
Where was this pretty good attack against City, Liverpool, United or Chelsea (in the PL)? We struggled to beat two relegated sides 1-0 in our run-in, and the two performances home and away against Wolves were dire.
71 goals isn’t even two a game, and we capitalised in a season very low in overall quality.
Apart from a few isolated games where the opposition were naive enough to let us play, Arsenal were unexciting and uninspiring to watch. And if Saka doesn’t bring it, neither do Arsenal.
But yeah, we’re good in attack! 🤣
I don’t think the Arsenal are the only team that have trouble with the low block, and if they attack was so poor then why do so many teams play against us with the low block?
I don’t think our attack is “that” good, certainly not when up against a low block. There were games last season when had we been more efficient in attack, we’d have crowned champions a lot sooner than we were.
Arsenal have built the defence, now I think the club will focus more on attack. At least I hope so.
Arsenal’s attack is pretty good as it is regardless of what we’re constantly being told by the MSM and pundits, Jesus will leave but it’s not as if we’ll miss what we never had. Berta is a master at spinning many plates, talking to several players’ representatives and letting others stew when their financial demands are too high. We don’t have to spend big too soon, the others need to spend fortunes just to narrow the gap, every team will have fitness issues and none of them have a squad as strong as ours. Let’s also see if our fitness record improves with the new additions to the back room staff?
Sell Vieira, Nelson will leave and then focus on some smart deals without spending zillions, the boy from Leicester, the defender from PSG perhaps, the lad from Bournemouth, that’s gone very quiet. We already have a great squad, don’t be too quick to get rid…..
I think that the recruitment team need to bare in mind those players in and around the red zone, namely Declan Rice who is essential to everything we do next season, therefore I’d sign a central midfielder so that we have four quality players we can rotate without the level falling and as we will have injuries that extra cover to me is a priority.
Calafiori has had a nice rest which is critical because he may be needed along with Mosquera to carry the load early doors not least with Big Gabby and Saliba carrying problematic fitness issues that need addressing, right full back should be ok if Ben recovers but I’d be inclined to bring in another defender who can fill in across the back-four. Defence and midfield are our most important depts so we need to keep them strong.
Dowman and Salmon will, I believe, have big seasons with both of them showing physical development and improvement so I’m comfortable with them and what they can bring. Ethan is an unknown quantity, he needs a big pre-season and if he can bring that to the table then who knows he might emulate the strides that Myles has made and reintegrate himself back into the squad as a big player?
Rice rested for tonight’s game. Saka starts as does Rashford. According to reports anyway.
Arsenal.com is wrong then. 😜
That happened to me when writing a post Potter, I did half and pressed save and puff, gone..
btw we do need a centre back because our team on . com only shows 2 right backs. 2 right centre ,one left and 2 left backs
spent about an hour writing a text but for some reason it will not post . I have copied and turned off , restarted again but no luck. It must be on my lap top. ecause if this goes through from my phone it will prove it .
We don’t concede many though Geoff. Personally, I can’t see another CB coming in during this window. I’d rather we concentrated on attacking players. Barring right backs.
Afternoon Cicero, Geoff.
Good point Cicero and thanks, I hope the club go with what and who we need.
It’s far from ideal having two right backs who seem injury prone. As well as Salmon, Madueke is a good option although I hoping to see him and Saliba rotated more this season if it’s possible.
Calafiori is another injury prone player. Havertz and Odegaard too.
Afternoon Rico and all.
I would like to a tall defender come in to help prevent corner goals, and a striker to help Viktor, and I know this will sound weird and hard to explain but maybe a specialist type player to come on with 20 minutes left who can change a game around.
Good afternoon Rico. What we need as opposed to what we want, there’s a lot of leeway there.
We need, and want, another top grade striker. Neither Eze or Havertz are the goal scoring machines we need.
Jesus must go. Either of the two mentioned above could follow him out the door. Trossard probably will leave, Martinelli only if we sign a genuine left winger.
I would play Marli Salmon at every opportunity before the transfer window closes to give him time to demonstrate his ability to fill the second rlght-back spot. If he does the trick we could let Ben White leave. I think Salmon will rapidly overtake Timber in the pecking order if only because of his poor injury record.
Five star again Rico, thanks.
Man United prospect tipped for loan move
Manchester United young prospect Chido Obi looks set to go on loan this summer. According to Football Insider, Obi is in talks to join Bundesliga side FC Koln on loan.
The 18-year-old is highly thought off at Old Trafford, but did not make a single Premier League appearance last season. He has been with the Reds since he left Arsenal in July 2024, before moving to United at the start of October
😂 grass isn’t always greener..
Morning Kev, they are boring.. lol
Morning Gooners, yes Rico, it’s worth repeating, transfer rumours are rife this time of year… 😉