I have risen from the darkened room to which I have recently retired, in the hope that I can help to resurrect what is turning into a horror show for Arsenal supporters everywhere. You don’t need me to recap the sad events since Project Restart kicked into life. Nor will readers need to be reminded of the importance of Thursday night’s swift return to the south coast.
Present circumstances are unique, but a close analogy might be the start of a season, say last season when we began by losing away to Man¢iti and lost our next game. That season ended with us being justifiably disappointed to finish in 5th place, which this season would, barring a surprising court decision, see us qualify once more for a seat at football’s top table in the shape of the UEFA Champions League.
The analogy isn’t, of course, exact. Last season we were managed by a Spaniard in his first managerial season in England and, following our second defeat, we embarked on a long unbeaten run. This season we are managed by… err… a Spaniard in… um… his first managerial season in England. The major difference is that on 18 August 2018 we had 36 matches left in the season to turn things around, while on 21 June 2020 we have only eight.
We would naturally like not to have to resurrect a season, and if we had to, would probably prefer to do so somewhere other than at St Mary’s, which has not been a happy hunting ground for us since Southampton’s return to the Premier League for season 2012-13. Six away games have seen us garner only five points with the only win three years ago courtesy of goals from now-departed Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud.
The fag end of season 2019-20 has seen the footballing gods continue to be unkind to us, bringing injuries to Granit Xhaka, Pablo Mari and Bernd Leno. This makes it a little easier for a novice previewer to predict the back five, which will surely be:
Martinez
Bellerin – Luiz – Mustafi – Tierney
Ahead of them, who knows? Perhaps
Guendouzi – Ceballos – Pepe
Lacazette – Saka
Aubameyang
Perhaps not. Perhaps Mikel will play Kolasinac rather than Hector. Maybe he’ll want to rest Saka. Maybe… drumroll… he’ll find a place for Ozil. I have, literally, no idea.
The ‘holic pound
Sadly for followers of the ‘holic pound, we don’t really do betting at the Palais Pangloss; Oxonne is philosophically agin it, and I think that if the Arsenal lose I’m sufficiently upset that I don’t want to suffer a financial loss as well, on the other hand when we win, I’m so uplifted that I’d hardly notice the buzz of winning some money. As such, I lack familiarity with the betting sites so can’t tell you where, if anywhere, good value is to be found.
If I were a betting man, then obviously I’d have to back a win for the Arse. 1-0 has a nice familiar ring to it, and Lord knows we need comfort now. Realistically, though, if we manage to start firing there’s a reasonable chance that we’ll run riot, and I can’t believe anyone thinks we’re going to keep a clean sheet any time soon, so maybe the punt should be on 3-1 to the Good Guys.
And finally
Now more than ever is a time to have faith. Believe in the club you support. Believe in the talent within the squad – they will turn this around. Pray that they do so quickly.
Thursday night in Southampton would be a good time.
awakened by dreams of helicopters overhead, to a helicopter flying overhead. at least i get to read your post, pangloss, and a clean, shiny jewel it is. i’ll take 1-0 to the arsenal, and your penultimate paragraph rings so true! well done, sir.
Cheers Pangloss !
Nice job, sir, and a new pyramid formation predicted (?) I see – a 4-3-2-1, and why not ?
It seems today that Martinelli won’t be on the bench, or anywhere else for the rest of the season, due to a serious knee injury picked up in training. Only Arsenal !
“We’re by far the most injured team,
The world has ever seen”.
Good day !
You’re right, Trev. That’s a crazy formation; more credible would bu 4-2-3-1 with Pepe in the 3.
Thanks for the kind words, Scruz and Trev.
COYG
Sharp preview, Pangloss, and an excellent headline. A good mixture of optimism and realism.
We are not betting folk at Castle Ned either, but a quick scan of the odds on offer reveals nines on a 1-0, which the Guv’nor would have considered too thin, but 20s on 3-1, which would have been far more to his liking.
Great preview, Pangloss. A pound saved is a pound earned. 😉 Cheers!
For those of a northern persuasion, Jens has reportedly thrown his hat into the ring for the managerial vacancy at Dundee United
A couple of follow-ups from the late drinks in the previous post: OM, Saliba has been playing on the right for Sainte Etienne of late. I have read reports saying that Mari was the result of a specific search for a left-sided CB. Scruz, my 2-cents would be that we start next season with Luiz and Mustafi as the regular CBS and end it with Mari and Saliba as the intended long-term pairing.
Jordi Osei-Tuti is having a fine run of form at VfL Bochum with four goals and three assists in his past ten games. That has coincided with Bochum deploying him on the right wing rather than at full-back. I don’t know what that means for his Arsenal future, but we seem better stocked with right wingers than we do right backs.
An excellent, well distilled preview Pangloss, capturing nicely the downbeat mood amongst the denizens of this establishment, the need for faith and support and the urgent necessity of a turnaround in our fortunes to sustain those positive emotions.
Luiz will not be in the back four for this match despite his shiny new contract as he will be serving the second game of his two match suspension. I expect Holding to get another run out alongside Mustafi as, barring one miskicked clearance, he performed well against the Seagulls (I have always hated those birds – but they’re more aesthetic looking scavengers than vultures, I suppose) in his first start for ages and ages.
I would be astonished if Kola replaced Hector. He has no right foot whatsoever and while Hector is a mere shadow of his pre-injury self, he remains our best option in that position until Cedric is deemed fit. I think concerns over Hector (whose positional sense has never been good but who was formerly able to compensate with his speed of recovery – alas, no longer) may explain the contract for Cedric though the suggestion that it’s all to do with the relationship between Raul, Edu and Kia may well hold water.
I hear Xhaka may be fit enough to start. Given how abject our midfield has been since the restart, I do expect him to start if fit. I don’t expect him to pull up trees though. The shut-down has allowed us to delude ourselves about how good some of our players are but frogs do not become princes even over a three month lay-off.
I can neither see us either keeping a clean sheet nor scoring three goals. I expect a draw at best either 1-1 or an extravagantly successful 2-2. But who is going to make the bullets for our forwards to fire, I ask. Xhaka? Really?
Prove me wrong Arsenal! Go win!
With a suspicion that Saints’ players must be salivating at the prospect of another visit by a damaged Arsenal team to St Mary’s, I’m finding it difficult to get enthusiastic about the prospect of watching this one. Thunder storms are forecast for my part of the world on Thursday night and it won’t be wise to be waving my one iron (you all know the one iron joke, right?) outdoors, so maybe I’ll have little option other than to suffer, because suffer I fear we will. There. Said it.
I don’t think we’ll qualify for a European spot and that prospect doesn’t trouble me. I’d like to see MA8 pick the players who he has decided 1) can and will play to his recipe for success and 2) will be part of the squad next season. I’d rather see a firm foundation being laid for competitiveness in 2020/21 than see us cobbling together a team of ner’dowells who depart for pastures other at the end of July.
I would love to be proved 100% wrong on the first count and fully expect to be on the second.
Pangloss, remiss of me not to mention that I enjoyed your preview. This morning’s Arseblog column dented my conviction to your “And finally”. I applaud and buy in to your sentiments but fear we may have some wood eating infestation in some of our structural timber. Never a good thing, as a retired sea faring captain walking on one peg would testify were he to be questioned on the subject.
One of the sternest tests is coming up in Mikel Arteta’s brief tenure in terms of getting a response from the players in the face of adversity. As others have said in as many words if not fewer, the rest of the season doesn’t really matter as much as to wins and losses as it does in terms of positivity, progress and passion. Baku be damned, along with all away trips East of the Caucuses or other un identified easterly biomes.
*Retires to a vampirical dark space.*
Suppose that cuts out more than just trans-Caucasus trips, especially seeing as Transylvanian trips are shorter.
Says all that needs to be said,
thanks Pangloss.
I’d like to see us go at them
hard and early. We certainly
owe them at their place.
I expect Kieran and Xhaka to
start but honestly don’t know
how MA will react to the
Brighton game. He was clearly
annoyed after that game so
some may pay the price.
For a novice previewed this is a polished and very well-balanced look forward to Thursday night. It’s interesting that the unbeaten run we embarked on and which raised our hopes so much ended at Southampton where we perished by/at? the head of Charlie Austin.
Charlie is now a Baggie so can’t face what looks a respectable defence. I think Luiz is suspended for two more games , a ridiculous overpunishment after a penalty and having to play with ten men for forty five minutes but there is nothing we can do about it now.
We’ve managed to rack up a whole host of serious injuries with Martinelli now out and Torreira and Sokratis not yet match fit. I think Holding will take Luiz’s place and were it me I’d consider whether playing Lacazette away from home in the PL has any value at all .id go with Nketiah , Auba and possibly Nelson . I might even bring back Ozil but to do so you’d have to reshape the side because of his lack of defensive contribution.
My head tells me we will lose to a side that played very well on Friday and have in Ings a striker who is very underrated. I’m still trying to blot out the defensive catastrophe of the second half of the home fixture when our defending would have disgraced a pub team My heart hopes we can get at least a 1-1 draw. Southampton aren’t as good at home and hopefully the players want to make some amends for Saturday. That would be a respectable result and would set us up for the games with Sheffield United and Norwich that we really need to win.
But a season lacking midweek European games has been beneficial to a number of clubs, not least of them being Chelsea in their Premier League title-winning 2016–17 season after they failed to qualify for any European competition the year before. Not sure we can follow suit but it is certainly possible to benefit in that situation.
BtM: ‘Blog’s piece about the recent transfer dealings in the club was indeed a dispiriting piece, precisely because his concerns are well placed.
I think it is alarming that we haven’t yet been able to get Saka sign on a new contract. If the club fails to do so the current “executive” committee I think will lose any remaining support and patience for them.
We don’t need — and probably can no longer afford — flashy big-money signings but astute acquisitions to provide balance and depth to the squad.
About the match tomorrow – excellent preview. Özil has played in all matches under Arteta before the break, and I am hoping to see him getting reinstated in the line-up tomorrow. We had zero creativity from the midfield in the last couple of games and he will at least provide some decent passes to the frontline.
Dr. F is absolutely correct about the need to avoid ‘ flashy’ signings. Thiago Silva, Willian and other ‘ free signings’ are a very dubious strategy for building a team in this day and age .
Older Holics will recall the excellence of cheap signings of experienced ageing top pros like John Hollins who brought commitment and positivity to the club. Nowadays most of these characters are looking for a last big payday and it is very hard to continue playing in a league like the Premier League which seems to get faster every season , especially if like Lichsteiner , for instance , you have never played in it before .
There is genuine interest in Ryan Fraser but we don’t need someone in his position and I’m put off by a bloke who refuses to play for a club that has given him the platform of Premier League football for several seasons in case he gets injured .
In the past great old pros like Mackay , McLintock and Mullery had Indian summers after being forced out of the clubs where they made their name. But those players were hungrier and cut from a different cloth
I would play Ozil, ahead of a double-six of Xhaka and either Willock or AMN. We have to inject some creativity. Guendouzi could do with coming out of the line of fire for a game. He is there to be wound up and he won’t escape sanction this time if he goes for the chokehold during the match. Nor do I think he pairs well with Xhaka. I’d put Saka to the right, where he started against City, and Auba on the left, with Nketiah up top. The three of them could cause damage if Ozil decides it is a day to play. Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding and Tierney at the back ahead of Martinez, all for lack of alternatives as much as anything.
Today’s results put us in the position of needing to avoid defeat in order to escape our current status as a bottom half club. 🙁
Pepe is a conundrum for Mikel I guess.
Defensively iffy, often uninvolved and
scorer of our only goal in 3 hours of
football.
@6
Ned,
It’s nice to know someone read
all that pony in the last comments!
Thanks for the info.
Saliba on the right is better for
us as we seem to have marginally
weaker options on that side.
Hmmm, very marginally. We still
have hope for Marí mainly because
he hasn’t played much I feel.
Osei-Tutu doing well on loan is
really a win-win for us and him.
Gives both more options for the
future.
Eleventh in the table this morning, 9 points and 17 goals off 5th. It’s not going to happen is it? ECL redemption is not going to inject cash into the club this summer. Moreover why aspire to entry to a competition in which this group of players will be shown up and will be embarrassed by teams of whom you’ve never heard? There may be extra money but the effect on the morale of younge players may be catastrophic. Defeat like victory can become a habit or at least something that doesn’t cause the same intensity of angst after a while.
Even the Europey League may be a stretch. The absence of quality in key areas needs to be addressed before we will qualify for the ECL, let alone compete credibly in it. I recognise that there may be a financial reward for qualifying and taking part in the Europey League but this may be a small reward for the efforts involved in trailing across Europe and west Asia in the Coronavirus age compared to a less onerous schedule where a team capable of competing again domestically can be built.
Tonight’s match pitching our fragile toilers against an on-form Southampton team may prove pivotal to next season’s destiny. Will the opposition’s incentive to leap above us with an 8 goal margin of victory prove greater than our incentive to avoid three defeats on the spin and remain in contention for a Europey spot? Defeat may cement us firmly in mid-table where in truth this team has looked destined to end since this season began.
COYG! Remember what you represent when you wear that shirt.
Upbeat on Emi
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/25/arsenals-emiliano-martinez-out-to-seize-rare-chance-with-both-hands
I’m one to talk about being downbeat but despite a cameo from Mari that did not convince last week it should be remembered that in we have not conceded in 200 minutes of football with him in the side .
Bath speaks , as ever, a lot of sense about European qualification . I’ve always thought it a dubious prospect this season but it does bring in income and attract the better signings . So much depends on us being smarter than the opposition in bringing in new blood and then we have in Arteta a terrific coach . We need to show faith and patience leavened with realism.
The point remains that we are one of England’s premier clubs with a massive fan base and heritage and we will be scraping around the bargain basement because of previous mismanagement and competing with much smaller, less illustrious clubs who will leave us in their slipstream . Btm articulated the reasons for this and the dilemma facing the Kroenkes very well last week. If Stan sticks rigidly to a self-sustaining model, mid-table mediocrity looks to be the order of the day
Good stuff Pangloss. I’m sure Dave would appreciate your succinct yet thorough preview. Nicely done.
I really hope we pull a result out of the bag tonight.
I would worry that abandoning a self-sustaining model would enter us into a financial arms race against an ever-increasing number of owners with far deeper pockets than the Kroenkes. We could end up the poor cousins, still mid-table and in financially rough shape. Abramovich had the field to himself when he arrived to buy the title for Chelsea. Now even City’s Milk Sheiks cannot buy a title, and every country with a couple of sovereign wealth funds to rub together wants to buy a Premiership club. Be careful what you wish for.
Martinez
Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Tierney
Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka
Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang
Martinez, Bellerin, Mustafa, Holding, Tierney, Ceballos, Xhaka, Saka, Pepe, Nketiah, Holding
Ozil on the bench
The Kronkes have pretty deep pockets, Ned. The short arms are a big problem though. 🙂
Bench:
Macey, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Nelson, Ozil, Lacazette, Dennis
Is that Emmanuel Dennis, a under the radar signing from Bruge?
BtM @29.
I used to know a T-Rex like that. We all called him a useless wanker.
I’m glad to see Xhaka back.
And that sentence shows how low we have sunk.
Most likely Matthew Smith as he wears no 57.
BtM@29: The Kroenkes are billionaires, but they are two-a-penny these days. They are not what the rich would consider as Premier-league-club-owning rich. They control shopping malls that are shopping malls, not countries that are shopping malls. Big difference.
Guen not even on the bench,
Eddie for Laca. Pretty much the
expected team, though I wouldn’t
play Dani after the Brighton game.
GSD@32: 🙂
BBC confirms it is 57 Matt Smith on the bench. Club must have mixed him up with Matthew Dennis, one of two youngsters it announced today were leaving at the end of the month.
Btm beat me to reply to you Ned but the other issue is their crappy oversight of the club. It was ‘ leave it to Wenger ‘ which was understandable as even towards the end he was very capable but he should have refreshed his way of working. After that they let Gazidis put the club through the mangle and Sanllehi doesn’t appear to be faring too well either.
No Guendouzi ( with Partey’s agent in London ) suggests he has run out of road with Arteta . No Ozil suggests Arteta doesn’t trust him either. But who will take him off our hands?
I’ve seen Matt Smith live. He is a very good passer and looked classy at youth level
OM@35. If Guendouzi is being taken out of the firing line, for whatever reason, then it makes sense to take him out of it completely. Gives Matt Smith a taste of the bench, and perhaps even a few playing minutes.
TTG@38: Nothing to disagree with there.
Ned @ 39.
Due to social distancing regulations Matt Smith probably won’t get too close to the actual bench!
COYG!
How is that an offside damn great move
C’mon boys three points
Too much power on that one Auba
Shocking yellow card. The conspiracy continues. We play 11 v 12 again.
Come on Ceballos sort it out
Ceballos twat.
we should be up. auba? auba?
Open season on Arsenal players continues but if an Arsenal player breathes on an opponent, he better watch out.
This ref, Scott, has form.
now saka? will this never end?
I like what I am seeing so far. COYG
better from us, showing intent and no small amount of hustle.
What a gift I’ll take that any time 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Nketiah!!!!
Eddie!
Eddie! Finally some luck!!
saka has the best first touch in the team.
Come on new IW8, get a hat trick to match your mentor.
eddie!!! hustle!
That was handy, good lad Eddie
never look a gift keeper in the
mouth
OM @61.
Absolutely not. Our players get carded for that sort of thing.
Is Bellerin fit or just not concentrating at the moment? He’s panicking on the ball a bit
however long it lasts, i’m feeling good watching the arsenal again.
got away with one.
auba looking much more interested today.
that should have been our 3rd.
It’s a real shame we did not take them to cleaners in the first half we had chances to do so.
All in all it’s looking promising but I have to point out they are not putting any real pressure on us.
Good to see the boys putting up some fight and a lead at half time is always welcome. COYG.
I think we will need to score another goal here. And we need to expect and be ready to repel an onslaught in the first 10-15’ of the second half.
Very satisfactory first half after a nervy start. I don’t often say this but Xhaka is giving us a better and more durable shape. The left flank looks very promising with Tierney pushing up. Less enamoured with right flank. Bellerin has been a bit flakey although he made a good saving tackle on Bertrand and Ceballos sadly doesn’t impress . Our front three are giving them a lot of problems
much better today, but profligate. pepe not at the races, but pretty much everyone else is (lower marks for dani and hecate). we really need to sign saka to a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.
bath, you are correct. i think ralph’s hairdryer will be switched on the next quarter hour.
Pepe not at the races Scruz?
Where is the service?
he’s not getting much, but i don’t see him using well what service he’s gotten. and you’re right; hector isn’t shining either.
We’ve defended them quite well
so far, not left too many gaps and
the cover defending is good.
Double sub at half time for them.
Nice to see someone else’s plan
going wrong for a change
god, i hate shane long.
Saka lucky to be on the pitch
I don’t like Long either Scruz
Arthur @78.
What? You think that was a red card?
If anything the control from their rb was a handball
goodness. shoot, auba.
we are cycling our defenders well, i like that.
Asking for trouble as usual
Dropping too deep. Our midfield can’t control a game like this
willock for pepe, saka up front. nope, willock up front. huh.
GSD
I’ve seen them given especially towards our players it didn’t look that bad from another angle.
özil with the umbrella, kind of sad.
Tierney was better today, not
sure about Joe for Pepe
Pepe was on the right wing but Willock is playing centrally which makes our weak right flank weaker.
Tierney injured and is replaced. We definitely look shaky in the second half.
kola on for tierney, cramp or calf pull?
Need score another goal we lost control of the game now.
put joe in the middle and saka up front. better for both.
Just boot it down the field ffs
A second goal would easily
double my happiness just
now
Why won’t he bring Laca on now? Eddie has done well should have passed that ball better to Auba but we could do with some fresh legs up front.
Here we go he must read the blog 😁
emi’s first moment of uncertainty. not bad today!
Good save Martinez defenders fell asleep2
good call, artur!
Great save Martinez.
indeed baff. and gather.
COYG!!
good call ref
come on laca!!
willooooock!!
Getttt iiinnnnnnn
Willock!!!! First league goal for him.
Well done Joe 2-0
GET IN!!!
happy happy
seeing as saka is playing as an extra back, arteta looks to have made a good positional decision with him and willock.
i’ve enjoyed holding’s game today. really good in the air.
3 points, clean sheet.
Well done lads
Emi and Rob both did
well today
Well played lads a happy report at last 😉
be bop a lula a wop sham-bu!
A win and three points feels so good. On to SW.
Three delicious points!
And Sol Campbell. My cup runneth over.
We are in the top half!
so happy, with the win and the performance. soton got very little out of us. eddie or saka motm?
So delighted for Rob Holding and Emi Martinez they were excellent. I hope Rob can have a career with us .He benefited from the outing on Saturday ( not many did) . Saka worked incredibly hard .
Seeing Ozil sitting there with a f…ing umbrella does my head in
Every time (ok, both times) we have played Mustafi and Holding at Southampton we have won and kept a clean sheet.
A win! A palpable win!
Very well played Martinez, Holding, Tierney, Saka, Xhaka, Aubameyang, Willock and Nketiah. Well played the rest though borderline pass only for Ceballos.
A very important result.
Onwards
Three points from a well-organised performance that was kept going right to the end. The Arteta hairdryer last week had its effect. Dropping Guendouzi for disciplinary reasons shows Arteta has mettle.
Mustafi and Holding looked solid and pair well. I liked a lot of what I saw from Tierney. Bellerin had an awful start but improved in the second half. Martinez did all that was asked of him. Xhaka was largely unnoticeable, which is good because when he is noticeable, usually it is because he has made a mistake. As mentioned earlier, he gives us a better shape in midfield. Ceballos was mostly unnoticeable for the wrong reasons. Saka had another excellent game, even though he was playing as an auxiliary left-back at times. Pepe had another enigmatic game, but without a goal to offset the quiet bits. Nketiah showed why Arteta rates him. Poor old Auba cannot buy a goal at the moment.
The other thing we learned today is that Arteta owns at least one piece of light-coloured clothing. Who knew?
Rob Holding
Y’know
He’s won more than Pochettino!
Apart from that – what Bath said.
OK, so I only got the goal difference right. Be honest though did anyone expect a clean sheet?
COYG
Props to Pangloss.
His first preview ..and a comfortable win
Oh. How boss did Arteta look on the sideline? We got so used to Arsenal in his perfectly tailored suits and there is Arteta rocking the chinos and casual shirt.
He looked for all the world like he and the (gorgeous) Mrs Arteta were going a take a leisurely passeggiata through the streets of San Sebastián old town after the game.
0-2 to the Arsenal. Haven’t seen the game but I’ll take it. Arteta passed a big test with this one.
A much needed and well earned win for the Arsenal today.
In the positivity of the win, I have a question for everyone – if we sign Partey and manage to get Auba and Saka to sign new contracts, should that be seen as the club backing Arteta to the hilt and also that Sanllehi & Edu redeem themselves?
In other news Liverpool have finally won the league after 30years. Their achievement shows that backing the proper manager and astute business in the market can turn around a team completely in 3-4 years. Interestingly enough Liverpool were in 10th place in the league 4 and a half years ago when they brought in Jurgen Klopp. I think Arsenal were 10th too when we signed Arteta in December!
It has been 16years already since we last won the league and the next couple of seasons would be critical in determining whether we would be closer to winning it soon or really far from it for many many years.
Yes to the first half of your question, ‘desi, but the jury is out on the second half, and will be for some time.
Careful, C100. On her website, she lists martial arts, guns and archery among her skills.
So far that is four ways that have been enumerated by which Mrs Arteta could kill you. Probably enough, unless someone knows any more. 😉
her skills are probably why we played better today…
Desi,
I think the club are backing MA, they extended
on Luiz when the popular easy decision would
have been to let him go. Whether Partey is
the right choice I don’t know but someone in
CM is necessary plus Dani will leave.
Edu gets more time from me as he has
only recently arrived but as for Sanllehi let’s
see what happens this season until the end
of the winter transfer window. There are
many things still outstanding despite the
news on Soares, Mari and Luiz this week.
Those three were the “easy ones” in a way
and the situations with Saka, the Auba/
Laca decision, Mkhi, Dani’s replacement,
trimming the CBs, Ozil and generally
strengthening the midfield remain
unresolved but must be decided and soon.
I’ll support the decisions even as in Luiz’s
case where they’re 50/50 in my mind but
they must be made soon and shared to
the fan base as much as possible.
bt8,
Some highlights to look forward
to 🙂
One for the purists perhaps but
it was a good team performance.
I’ve seen it said already that Soton
were below par but I think that was
because we didn’t let them play and
mostly kept our concentration.
Emi, Rob, Kieran were all good but
really it was team hustle that saw
us home
just sign saka before anything else. please.
scruz,
The ball is in Saka’s court
according to MA after the game
Does that mean it’s time for a “You can’t be serious!” comment, Matt?
Let’s hope he returns it for a winner and doesn’t hit the net, the umpire or the street outside the stadium :-). We don’t need MA8 with strawberries and cream all over his face at this stage of the proceedings.
I suspect he’s also looking at offers from many of Europe’s top clubs.
Desi,
I think the Auba decision is very difficult. If someone offers silly money ( which in July 2020 is £40 million ) we probably have to sell and bring in a young striker to join Nketiah and Martinelli , Balogun and John- Jules. If the best we can get is £20 m we could keep him , losing him for nothing at the end of next season and take a gamble on CL qualification. I’d sell Lacazette as he is so ineffective away from home and might be a trade of some kind for Partey .
Our challenge is in midfield. My dislike for Xhaka is well-known but he gave us structure yesterday . Maybe with Partey and Szoboszlai we might have the mobility and strength to dominate other midfields next season . Torreira and Guendouzi are both very good players but present other problems and might attract serious fees. Ceballos was, in my view, very disappointing yesterday, he is certainly not worth continuing with.
I can’t comment any further on Ozil . I hope the man has some self- respect and goes somewhere to show off his undoubted talent
Saka’s family are a big influence on him . They are very close to the club and are very grateful for how his career has developed and I believe he is also concerned about going to a club where he won’t play regular first-team football . That’s not a problem with us!
I don’t think Arteta would have been so bullish publicly on Wednesday if he wasn’t close to signing .
All very good points in your post @134 Matt regarding the more difficult issues left to solve for Sanllehi, Edu & co regarding transfers in what will be a condensed window. In general I would like us to take a longer term approach rather than the short termism we embraced thinking that would lead us to the champions league sooner. Tim Stillman wrote a very good article on the theme in his article a couple of days back and the massive squad overhaul we would need one year further down the line. There would be a few deals which look at the shorter term like the Luiz deal. I am seeing media speculation today about us being willing to sell Guendouzi and I hope they are all false reports. He is a player with tremendous potential, a player we bought young at a reasonable price and someone we should be developing into a regular starter. The only reason I would be okay with selling him at this stage would be if he has crossed a line attitude or discipline wise behind the scenes which should be a non-negotiable as Arteta keeps saying.
TTG@ 139, the Auba situation is indeed very difficult. It is exactly the sort of situation which is the real test of executives like Sanllehi and Edu and even the owners. Without the pandemic selling him would have been a rather straightforward decision if he did not want to sign a new contract because he would have fetched us a handsome amount to re-invest into the squad. Now as you say with the downgraded transfer prices – the big question would be – is the 40mil worth it now or should we bank on his goals to get us into the Champions league and make that profit. There is no other player even close to Auba in terms of his goals output in our team. Selling him therefore represents an even bigger risk because we will not be turning into a team that creates loads of chances in just three-four months. We need a striker like Auba who is deadly in front of goal and maximizes the few opportunities we create.
I would like us to push the boat out for him with the new contract offer. We did not succed with that approach in Ozil’s case but Auba is far more influential for the team than Ozil ever was even in his best form for Arsenal. If he still does not sign a very good contract on offer which means he clearly feels better elsewhere then we should sell him and not even entertain the thought of letting him play during the final year of his contract. It just becomes a saga from January onwards and creates unnecessary negativity and media frenzy we should simply avoid. Arteta during his lockdown interview put it very well when he said something like “if a player even has a slight doubt about signing for us then he is just not the player I want to go for…”
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