Our contemporary neuroscientific insights into how we experience reality echo those rare but memorable poets, philosophers, and madmen who in moments of piercing clarity glimpsed that we create our own reality rather than perceive it. The world, as we experience it, is not something that happens to us, but it is the continuous story we narrate to ourselves to make sense of the predictions generated by our mind from just a bucketful of sensory signals drawn from the ocean of events in which we are immersed.
Had we not won the Premier League last season – after a twenty-two year long circuitous journey through a timescape full of the sublime, the ridiculous and everything in between – I wonder how we would have responded to our stodgy, uninspired and uninspiring performance in only the second match of the season where the team for large parts of the match looked to have forgotten the very skills that they had so masterfully demonstrated in the season opener just ten days ago. Even with the same result – a narrow but deserved victory away at a reasonably good side who for some inexplicable reason under their current manager play with a cup final intensity every time we meet them – I think we would have been much less calm about the forthcoming season. With just one more day remaining in the transfer window, and the reinvigoration of the forward line – especially given the departure of a cult hero and a full-fledged fan favorite – somewhat incomplete, the reactions would most likely have spread across the entire spectrum of anxiety, from the mild worries of the philosophically inclined and/or experientially rich at one end – which is where we ‘Holics tend to find ourselves, thankfully – to the doomsday predictions of the deranged at the other. I am sure there remains that mad streak in our fanbase, as it ever was, but for the most part I think we have learned to move quickly on to the next match, after marking this down as a necessary job done without much fuss.
I suppose this is what a well-deserved, hard earned, honestly obtained measure of success can do. It makes us more willing to acknowledge the difficulty of that success, the privilege of earning it, and the willingness to suffer to defend it.
Arsenal started their first away match of the season with the same eleven that had dispatched the newly promoted Coventry with a pleasing fluency in the season opener. The bench looked more or less similar, with Ezri Konsa and Bruno Guimarães added in place of Academy graduates Nwaneri and Max Downman. Can Max be called an Academy graduate or is he still technically an Academy student? One hears through the grapevine that Ethan is off to Dortmund on a season long loan. Dortmund and Bundesliga should suit him perfectly to get the minutes and experiences he needs at this stage of his career, if he were not to get either of these in Arsenal for this season.
Raya
White-Mosquera-Gabriel-Calafiori
Ødegaard-Rice-MLS
Saka-Havertz-Tzolis
I do not pay much attention to the transfer ins-and-outs for any club that is not Arsenal – this is simply a matter of priority about how I spend my time – and don’t really keep track of which player is playing where, unless of course someone is playing for us, naturally. The Aston Villa first eleven and squad looked unfamiliar and familiar at the same time; that is, not the players that were playing there over the last few seasons but, at the same time, players that I have seen playing for other clubs.
I might have exaggerated my detachment in the previous paragraph, but no exaggeration can do justice to how uninterested I am about all the “subtext” narratives chewed and regurgitated by the inanities masquerading as punditry. I didn’t see or feel any subtexts. I just saw a bunch of players in claret-and-blue playing with a manic intensity, noticeable individual abilities, but little organization or craft. Arsenal circa 2026 may not melt your heart with jogo bonito, but it will melt the opposition’s collective attacking spear, however sharpened it might be, to a puddle of mud. Having started supporting Arsenal in the early days of Arsène Wenger, I never thought I would be so proud of our collective ability to defend: the organization, the structural discipline, the positional awareness, the individual nous, the sheer bloody-minded willingness of players in all positions not to give even the ghost of a chance to the opponents is just marvellous to experience.
While the defending part was very good – hope Mosquera walking off comfortably is an indication that his substitution allowing Konsa to make his Arsenal debut at his previous club was precautionary rather than a full-blown hamstring tear – the attack for the most part didn’t click, and the midfield was functional enough without being effective in unlocking chances. Havertz had one of those inexplicably off days when the very things at which he is exceptional all seem to have deserted him. But he kept working hard, as did the entire team, there were glimpses of chances now and then, and eventually the match-winning goal came in the second half following the introduction of Eze.
The second half was indeed an improvement from the first, where other than Saka on the right wing and Calafiori on the left side of the field – Ricky is rapidly becoming one of my new favorites in this team – the rest of the team found it difficult not just to move the ball faster but at times even to keep the ball under control. Tzolis had a difficult time with Villa noticeably targeting him physically, and while the winger kept trying to find solutions, the somewhat unfortunate early yellow also limited him. He has been excellent until now, and this won’t be the first time when he will find it difficult in this season, especially at an away ground.
Eze’s introduction at the break livened up the proceedings just a bit. Martin had an okay enough first half being the glue without getting closer to replicating the orchestrating brilliance of the last couple of performances. The Saka-White-Ødegaard connections mostly failed to work, despite the odd moments of creativity. In the second half he tried to raise the tempo, some movements off the ball were excellent on both flanks, and eventually the goal came from a moment of brilliance.
Gabriel’s cross was headed down by Havertz on the edge of the box, Eze kept control of it under pressure from two defenders, spun around and recycled possession to Gabriel who passed it to Mosquera as the entire team squeezed up near Villa’s penalty box, Mosquera found Eze who spotted Ricky’s darting run to the byline, the weight on Eze’s pass was perfect as was Ricky’s cutback to Saka who slotted in from a close range.
Aston Villa 0 – Arsenal 1 (Saka 59’)
This was Saka’s second goal in two matches, and Ricky’s second assist in two matches.
Guimarães’s debut was a positive one, with a couple of signature defense-splitting passes and the even more signature physicality in the midfield. Merino – after replacing the captain – always impresses with the ball at his feet and his ability to spin away from challenges in tight spaces. There was a chance when Suzuki in Villa’s goal spilled a goal-bound shot, exactly the kind of opportunity Merino had scored from in his recent world cup success, but he hesitated for a moment and the chance was gone.
The match ended with that inevitable bit of fracas where some of the Villa players went a bit mad at the unfairness of it all. I guess they had expected the Arsenal defense to make some mistakes in their favor.
Going back to reality being a cohesive narrative constructed by our neurones to make sense of their own predictions: will we win the league again this season if we play like this in every match? No. But, more importantly, will we play like this every match? No.
I guess I could have kept my review limited to just that paragraph.
Herbert Chapman, relatively young at 56, passed away suddenly from pneumonia in the middle of the 1933-34 season. He had won the league in 1930-31 and 1932-33, but missed out on consecutive title wins. His trusted deputy Joe Shaw guided Arsenal to our third league title in 1933-34 as the caretaker manager. In the next season the journalist-turned-manager George Allison – Arsenal’s second longest serving manager – guided Arsenal to their fourth league title.
That was the first and the last time we had defended a league title successfully. Neither Tom Whittaker, nor George Graham, nor Arsène Wenger – all legendary and long-serving managers – had managed this feat.
This has not been a bad start to 2026-27. Let us leave it at that.
Thanks for your report Dr. F. I only watched the recorded game after dinner last night Minnesota time but it does seem that we took an underestimated three points, continued to gel as a team, and scored a lovely goal while allowing the Villains absolutely ZERO chances so there is not a lot not to like. Now, to enjoy reading your report. 🤫
Thanks for offering some light at the end of the tunnel of what was a grinding-out-the-win performance yesterday. Still, three points, and as you say, we move on. Two down; 36 to go.
TTG@the previous drinks: You are right that it was Cash, not the departed Digne, who threw Tzolis to the ground. My bad.
Predictathon players: the latest leaderboard has been posted. We have a new early front-runner. You know where to find it…
Dr F
Thankyou for some interesting and creative thoughts on the game last night .
It was on one hand a masterly performance of control and patience and a rather flat attacking display . I’ve seen and heard shouts for Berta to be sacked because we are weaker in an attacking sense and we really could do with an injection of left-sided flair. Our left- sided flair tends to come from Calafiori who is a superb left sided maverick .We were expertly organised and it was a good time to play Villa but I’d love not to go through the wringer every time we try to hold on to a 1-0 lead . But overall I was happy
Jesus and Vieira departures confirmed, both for a reported €10m (£8.6m).
https://www.arsenal.com/news/gabriel-jesus-joins-fc-barcelona-aIweE9b0CIaV
https://www.arsenal.com/news/fabio-vieira-joins-hamburger-sv-in-permanent-deal-a8WYl8s7ALgc
Excellent entertaining and thought provoking summary, Dr F. That was an excellent result achieved by a solid but less than excellent performance. I thought Cala and Rice played really well and that Bruno and Konsa made encouraging debuts. I wonder if we may see Cala play on the left wing with Hincapie behind him sometime – left sided potency with a vengeance.
Thanks Dr F, I can but agree with the various positives you have taken from our performance and your conclusion that we haven’t made a bad start to the season.
Cheers Dr F. The win was a grind as I expected, though I regret not having stuck to my (internal) initial prediction of the actual score, thinking we might score a late second, in a wave of optimism fuelled by others. Either way, job done. It wasn’t beautiful, but at the same time, Villa never really threatened so it was fairly comfortable.
Sunday will be a good time for a proper statement win.
Will there be a shiny new attacker when I wake up tomorrow morning?
I’m guessing no
But happy that we got some things done both coming and going.
I was delighted to come away with a win from Villa Park, one of my favourite grounds. Though it was a bit strange to find ourselves, in the lower away section, next to a building site policed by men in safety helmets and high vis tops. The away fans were in fine voice, frequently reminding the Brummies that we were the Champions of England. In the last five minutes we were telling the locals “you’ve seen the Champions, now fuck off home”.
Slightly curious game in that we only won 1-0 and were hardly battering the door down, but it felt comfortable as Villa huffed and puffed but were seldom allowed into our penalty area. Our goal was a thing of beauty. Mosquera drilled a vertical ball to Eze who neatly slipped into the path of the marauding Calafiori (when I watched the replay back Jamie Carragher described him as the best left back in the Premier league). He slipped a lovely ball into the path of an onrushing Saka who scored a centre forward’s goal. Delicious and high quality.
That was on the hour but but Villa never laid a glove on us in the 40 additional minutes played. We should have had a penalty when Bruno was hacked down but not given.
Some thoughts. Compared to the previous two weekends I thought Tzolis, Ben, Kai and Odegaard were slightly off it. Declan, Cala, Myles and Gabriel were good. Saka saw a lot of the ball. Eze changed the game. I would select him on the left v Chelsea. The quality of the subs was off the scale. . Eze, Bruno, Zubi, Merino and Konsa are some quintet to have on the bench. Strange Gyokeres didn’t come on for the second game running. Naturally, taking their cue from West Ham, the Villa fans booed Konsa from the minute he came on to the final whistle. They also booed Saka the whole game. Go figure, as the colonials say.
Jarrod Gillet was egregiously bad and performatively officious. I had to correct a young man behind me who was screaming that he was a wanker. I corrected him by saying he actually was an Aussie, Liverpool supporting wanker. All around me seem to agree that this was a good point, well made.
Marty Cash and especially John McGinn took advantage to rough up our players and referee the game. How McGinn didn’t get a second yellow for flattening Gabriel I do not know.
A good first away day. A happy drive back down the M6.
What a nice report from C100
Watching on tv I was amazed to receive texts from many Gooners complaining about Tzolis . He was admittedly disappointing but the poor Aussie Liverpool supporting wanker in charge let Cash batter him and then booked Tzolis for his first, very soft foul. I think he found it a tough away baptism . But he didn’t deserve the welter of criticism especially as in the first half Saka made little impact on the other side
But in Saka fashion he did in the second half and Eze interacted very effectively with Calafiori
I had a couple of seasons playing left back at a decent level and all I remember is the centre back on my side yelling and cursing me every time I went near the halfway line ! I wonder what he would have said to our Riccy ?! He has reinvented full back play in a way I was never remotely able to . Hincapie is a super player but he doesn’t bring the attacking flair that Riccy does to the role . In fact no full back I’ve ever seen does !
A different purchase on deadline day
Stan Kroenke is buying the Los Angeles Angels baseball team
I am sure our American friends will be able to
outline the significance of this but I think it gives KSE ownership of a leading team in all the major American sports and of course the best team in English football
Thanks Dr F – an interestingly framed account.
Disappointing after the games against City and Coventry that we couldn’t get the game to flow last night. That was mostly due to the level of aggression displayed by Villa – especially in the direction of Tzolis who was clearly targeted by Cash and McGinn who were aided and abetted by the Aussie, Liverpool supporting wanker.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen Rice and MLS take so long to move the ball as they did last night. Cash, Maatsen and Buendia very lucky not to get cards and then there is the rabid nutter that is John McGinn. Most of the TV coverage seemed to be close ups of him moaning. God knows what about. Should have gone off. Still moaning at the ref after the final whistle – a ref who was extremely lenient with Villa too. What was Tzolis’ card for ?
Think we must have got Adebeyor in for “offside training” last week too.
How many times …?
Still, a win is a win.
I never see Villa play against anyone else quite like they do against us. Goes right back to the full blooded boot McGinn took at Saka’s calf at the Emirates some years ago now. Is it now Emery doing a Pulis on us …?
£855.4m (€998.3m) & counting spent by City since January 2025, Iliman Ndiaye would take that beyond £900m & €1 billion.
115 charges pending – and apparently a guilty verdict t achieved some 18+ months ago – and now three players signed for £100m+ in one summer.
What a complete joke this is allowed to carry on.
FFP, PSR, SCR – what is the point of any of them. They are ignored with impunity by the very richest and implemented swiftly and harshly against the lines of Everton and Nottm Forest. Either treat everyone equally or scrap all the rules completely. They are currently a meaningless farce.
TTG@10: With the Los Angeles Angels, KSE is buying a club at its nadir. The Angels have not won a post-season playoff round since 2009, longer than any other team in the league. They haven’t even made the playoffs for more than a decade and have lost more games than they have won in every season since 2015.
Angels fans have long urged the owners, the Moreno family, to sell up and go. 80-year-old patriarch Art bought the club from Disney for $180m in 2003.
KSE’s purchase price is unknown. The Athletic reports that KSE is paying $4 billion.
Which would both be a record for an MLB club and a lot for a club Forbes valued at $2.8 billion in March, given Stan has an eye for undervalued assets he can grow (Exhibits A: his LA Rams and us).
The deal won’t close until next year. At the moment, Major League Baseball is heading fast towards (another) strike when its collective bargaining agreement between the players’ union and the owners expires on December 1. At this point, the two sides are far apart.
The Angels will join the KSE US sports portfolio comprising the Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL) and Colorado Rapids (MLS), plus SoFi Stadium on the other side of LA from where the Angels play in Anaheim.
Apropos of nothing, the Angels have the best-named club president in the MLB: Molly Jolly.
It would be sheer folly to name someone Molly Jolly. You’d have to be off your trolley.
Golly Trev, that’s quite the volley of ollys.
There’d be lots of lolly in a movie about her, in Bollywood.
Golly.
As ecg said so eloquently before me.
I got nothing. I don’t want repeat anyone else like my parrot Polly,
she’s a right wally.
Great away day report thanks C100, like you I found it fairly stress free
compared to the end of last season, and thought McGinn should have gone.
Maatsen too if we’d been given the obvious penalty near the end.
I’d stick with Tzolis next game but it’ll be interesting to see if Mikel goes
horses for courses against the Chavs, we have had a good record against
them recently and I’d like to keep our boot on their pulse.
Cheers for the away day report, C100. Excellent educating of the youngsters about Gillett.
Now what’s all this talk about ‘ollies’ (surely this is the correct plural)?
Thanks for an entertaining match report Dr F. A wounded Villa worked hard to frustrate us but offered little positive themselves apart from repeated fouling and whining. Our goal was a finely crafted feat of lock-picking but we were far from our most elegant. Nonetheless three points bagged. It’s what champions do.
I really hope that Ricardo can stay fit.
No last minute rabbits out of the hat. Hey-ho!
Onward.
Thanks Doc, an excellent report
Some random thoughts:
Villa have some nasty little shits and Gillet, who has always been shit, previously in Australia as well, did let them get away with it.
Eze made a big difference.
In what type of game will we ever see big Vik again?
The offside law should be outlawed. There would be goals galore.
Will Mudryk make the Spuds cock a hoop again?
UTA
C100@8: Delightful awayday report. Your on the spot reportage is one of the highlights of this fine establishment.
This young lad from Gibraltar we’ve signed, James Scanlon, looks promising.
Of course I’m disappointed we didn’t sign a superstar left winger. But the over the top criticism of Berta is ridiculous. Personally I’m looking forward to Eze and Tzolis time sharing on the left wing. I’m looking forward to seeing Dowman on the right and Bruno in midfield. Will Konsa replace Mosquera as the Saliba temporary replacement? When will Timber be back? When will big Vik get a game?
As I’ve said before, the only area where an injury would be catastrophic is in goal. Pray for Raya.
But this is a strong, strong squad. Five internationals (and two World Cup winners) came off the bench on Monday.
What Trev said @12.
I know football finance stuff bores some of you, so apologies. But this is an excellent piece by the always excellent Miguel Delaney. It echoes the points in the recent debate between Ned and myself about the twin threats of debt and cash flow.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league-transfers-news-deadline-day-scr-rules-b3043423.html
C100@24 – so many questions. I thought at first it was the intro to an episode of “Soap”. Ask your grandad, kids….
Now off to read the finance article….
C100 @26, that’s an interesting and rather alarming piece. It sounds like football as well as indebted western democracies is teetering on the cliff edge. For years I have expected the PL bubble to burst. Clearly we should enjoy football while we still can! Carpe Diem! The deluge is coming.
Bath@28 – UK Gilt yields now higher than the Liz Truss “calamity”. Makes you wonder.
Carpe diem – translated into idiomatic English as “seize the day”. The Latin verb “Carpere” generally has the meaning “To pluck” as in a cithara or classical lyre. A rather pretty image, I think. But even prettier, to pluck as in a peach or plum from a tree.
C100@26: Thanks for that link. I have a lot of time for Delaney. He has been very sound on Infantino.
He conflates private credit, private equity and conventional bank credit a bit loosely (they are different beasts) but his underlying argument is spot on and should be waving a sea of red flags, especially when money of all stripes is getting more expensive. I was particularly alarmed to read of 0% down transfer deals. Most big transfers are done on the never-never these days but I thought FIFA required some initial payment when the deal was struck. Zero percent down lending is worryingly redolent of the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
Oh to have access to FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) where all transfer deals are documented in standard form, including instalment terms, add-ons and release clauses. Only FIFA member national associations and the league clubs are allowed accounts.
Partly because we weren’t involved and partly because a lot of the deals were utter stupidity , I didn’t take any interest in the deadline day shows .
I’m afraid I find the approach of Sky Sports and TalkShite and a lot of the tabloids to be woefully ignorant and pandering to people who have not got the slightest idea of how to run a business believing there is a magic money tree in the boardroom of every Premier League football team.
I’m not sure quite how we ended up letting three front men go and signing one and it was a miscalculation but it is clear that we need people who can run in behind defences and if you want to do that on the left you need fast left footers like Saka, Madueke and Dowman Playing inverted wingers means they cut in thus cramping the forwards you have already deployed and playing in front of the defence
If Tzolis had played well on Monday we’d be praising Berta to the hilt . He’s helped build the strongest squad Arsenal have ever had. Let’s have some positivity now rather than this craven acceptance of what a set of radio idiots are claiming.Every team in the league would die to have our squad
People can’t have it both ways, complaining that we sell badly and then complaining when we sell a player for who isn’t a nailed on starter and has only a year left on his contract for £60 million.
Ned,
I think one problem is exactly that many people would like to have it both ways and have no ability to see they are stupid.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5yd4065nlwo
Some available free agents courtesy of the beeb……any possibles in there?
@32 TTG
I read through the Grauniad’s deadline day blog as I woke up just as it was all finishing.
I wished I had followed your course and ignored it all – they had printed an email from a
Gooner claiming the window was a disaster etc etc and that concluded “Berta out”
It annoyed me that the Grauniad would try to pass off such complete nonsense as representative of the views of Arsenal supporters but that’s my own fault I suppose as it’s called ‘rage bait’ after all 😃 Anyway, I will read no more deadline day blogs except Arseblog’s I think.
I am not borrowing TTG’s moniker – it is me but I want to say that a fee of €70m for Gabi M is reasonable especially as it’s all paid upfront . We are all sad at losing him – he would run through a brick wall for Arsenal and I hope his career flourishes from hereon in . I think this is the time to move him on
The Nwaneri loan carries a recall clause and I suspect we might be taking advantage of it if referees allow the likes of Cash unbridled licence to kick our players indiscriminately. There is no option for BVB to buy him which suggests this is about fast track development. CER and I are watching another crucial game today at the Oval
– Surrey v Yorkshire with the scent of relegation in the air
Ned @33, there are many people who, throughout their lives, try to ‘have it both ways’, and succeed through an amoral and schizophrenic approach involving a public image that belies a very different private persona. For a start, pick a politician, almost any politician….
Enjoy the cricket, gents…if you see any, between the showers! And we thought our Mediterranean climate would never end!
Matthew Syed on Manchester City and Chelsea, pleasingly inclusive of Dickensian references.
Successful window? Saga of Man City charges casting shadow over top flight
https://www.thetimes.com/article/43601b41-dcf8-44bc-bba8-50696dd2e6e0?shareToken=e4d1403fa6b260322b67fb9abb29d8d6
It is a nonsense to describe this window as a disaster for us, disaster being hyperbole which, as Kipling instructed, should be treated as the impostor it is.
@39 thanks for the link C100, it’s a good piece and well worth a read.
And good luck to Surrey, this season must have been a nasty shock.
I just saw Surrey were all out for 83😱
Perhaps they are going to need more than my good luck wishes
C100@39: Thanks for that link. Syed underlines the nub of the problem. Everything City has achieved rests on fraudulent foundations.
Perhaps we have found a wonder left-winger after all: Andria Bartishvili, a 17-year-old Georgian said to be the next Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He is now in the process of signing for the club. He will see out a loan to Iberia 1999, a club in Tbilisi, and come to London when he turns 18 next March.
We’ve also recently acquired another left winger, James Scanlon, who is 19 and already has 24 senior international caps, albeit for Gibraltar. He has looked promising with the U-21s. One to watch if he starts training with the first-team squad.
And from our Where-are-they-now Dept., Reiss Nelson is joining Feyenoord.
That is an extraordinary article, C100@39. Many thanks for posting the link. It’s nice to see that what we’ve all, well me certainly, been thinking has some currency and others are thinking long the same lines.
I can understand that journos may be reluctant to get up in a Man Cheaty press conference to ask about progress in The Case since we can be confident that accreditation would be withdrawn instantly, if not sooner, but why is any PL press conference allowed to pass with the question being asked? Can it be that the fearless defenders of truth that are the UK press corps are asleep at their posts? Is Matthew Syed the only reporter who harbours concerns?
Pangloss @46. Syed is by no means alone. Inter alia, Barney Ronay, Matt Scott, Jonathan Liew and Miguel Delaney are also writing along the same lines.
No showers at the Oval . Mediterranean sunshine!
Surrey were out for 83 but Yorkshire were then out for 82
I’m similarly grateful to C100 for attaching that brilliant and brave article from
Syed who is one of the most intelligent and honest sports writers in Fleet Street . The Times and Guardian lead the way in this respect with Martin Ziegler likely to win
multiple awards for his expose of Infantino’s perfidy .
There is massive distortion in a competition where some clubs receive instant retribution whilst C130y kick the punishment can down the road with a strong suggestion that Abu Dhabi are using diplomatic pressure to force the PL
to back down from extreme sanction . I strongly suspect that C130y have a massive case to answer and anything they achieve without answering it renders any achievements meaningless
A gentle push through the vacant extra cover brings a languid single. Doffs cap.
Well in for the half-ton, C100. Nonchalant but controlled.
Here is an eye-popping list from a site that tracks transfers: the 11 transactions this window in which the buying club overpaid by at least €40 million on fair market value, called ETV for estimated transfer value in the list.
Re: c100 @39. Matthew Syed is spot on with his criticism of the injustice of delayed and/or denied prosecution of Man City and Chelsea. The Premier League stinks to high heaven because of it.
Well batted, C100!
Consummate timing C100 , well played
No one was in long enough at the Oval to approach fifty!
A fine knock C100 👏👏
An interesting list, thanks Ned. I think the ETVs look somewhat
understated in the current market but several of the actual fees
do seem ridiculous at first glance. The Spuds and C130y are the
most obvious offenders, covering half the list, though I’d be pushed
to find a worst piece of business than Diomande at that price.
We have failed to sell out an away game with away credits for the first time in 10 years. We left 585 tickets on the table due to very short notice, a fear of rapid Naples fans and police and very expensive flights. There will still be 1,652 Arsenal fans in Naples including 654 Red Members.
Rabid Napoli fans, not rapid ( they may be both!).
I was dismayed to see that Aaron Ramsdale once of this parish has no place in the current Southampton squad and is their fourth choice keeper ! I think I’d prefer him to Kepa as back up to Raya . What a strange turn his career has taken
In better news he became a Dad for the second time this week
For those who care Surrey beat Yorkshire by one wicket in a very low- scoring game
That was handy for Surrey, a relegation battle.
It’s very odd about Rammy, I think he is better than
several current PL goalkeepers but I guess his reputation
has taken a hit or his wage expectations are too high, who
knows, but he can be a babysitter now as I don’t suppose
he is too short of cash!
Oddly enough Nick Pope, his rival at the barcodes last season,
can’t find a club either.
Jeez. Three consecutive pieces about the transfer window, not actually saying “Berta Out”. Thank heavens there will be a match tomorrow to distract Blogs.
It is what it is.
COYG
Well Martinelli certainly not happy about having to leave, goes out of his way to thank everybody except Arteta, when you mention the chefs but not the manager, something broke down there.
Really sad for Rammy as well.
Hi DG @62. Good to see you in. I’m sorry that Gabi is upset because he didn’t want to leave but from the evidence of my own eyes I agree with Arteta. In the last three years he would give us two or three magic moments per season but provide many, many more examples of wasting opportunities by not playing with his head up. He was not at the level we aspire to be. I’m grateful for the magic moments he gave us and wish him well in his future career. That’s football at the top of the sport.
It’s going to be an interesting season for Eze. He’s another “moments” player and he had a number of them last season. He now has a league champions medal. I think he’ll get many more opportunities this season to raise his game to a more consistent level . I hope he starts tomorrow and continues to shoot from the edge of the box.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>