The architecture of footballing success is a less definitive and structured endeavor than what the aftermath of success deludes us to believe. There is no one grand plan where everything comes together by their logical inevitability, but a series of steps executed with different degrees of convictions, often arriving at the right combination of things through trial-and-error, and eventually a somewhat fortunate confluence of factors working together to propel a team to levels higher.
That makes the granularity of the timescale by which a definitive progress can be measured an extremely important choice to make, one that is fraught with too many uncertainties. The (fascinating to the neutral, nerve-wracking to the fans, mirthful with schadenfreude to the enemies) footballing project called “Arsenal after Arsène” has now entered a pivotal stage where judging that timescale correctly will decide the future of the club for many years to come.
If we in the Arsenal community had thought after the FA Cup and Community Shield victories this season will surely be a steady upward curve of performance and results, culminating in a top four position at the end of the season and hopefully a trophy or two along the way, the last few weeks had already shattered that illusion. We were at 11th position in the league after 9 matches played, with a negative goal difference, consecutive home losses, and not scoring a goal from open play for 5 matches now.
So we approached our home game against the Wolverhampton Wanderers with exactly the kind of anxiety that we had hoped at the beginning of the season we left behind for good. Not just the ordinary anxiety about the match, but a feeling of deep uncertainty about the season and worst of all, a growing sense of doubt about the team and the manager.
Arteta set out the team in a 4-3-3 formation. Leno protected by a four-man defense of Hector, Luiz, Gabriel and Tierney. Partey’s injury and Elneny returning just days back from quarantine meant the old pairing of Xhaka-Ceballos in the engine room. There was an attacking and positive choice in Joe Willock as the midfield in the most advanced position. Willian and Saka providing the width for the captain. This is the most barren run of matches in all of Aubameyang’s career and it was now evident from his body language and movements that this has started to impact him psychologically.
We started the match at a pedestrian pace, backing off Wolves as they moved the ball crisply towards our goal and created a bit of pressure. In the third minute we moved down our left side with a competent counterattack involving Joe, Saka and Auba but the watchful Wolves defense handled the threat easily.
On the 6th minute David Luiz – trying to head in a Willian corner – collided head-to-head with Raul Jimenez and both landed on the floor unconscious. It looked to be a bad injury for both of them. Luiz eventually got up after prolonged treatment on his bloodied head, but Jimenez looked to be in a far serious trouble as he had to be stretchered off the field. We later learned that he had to undergo a surgery on fractured skull. Wishing Jimenez a fast recovery and return to the team. He was replaced by the youngster Fabio Silva, another addition to Nuno’s Portuguese project.
For some inexplicable reason the Arsenal medical team decided that despite such a collision and all the consequent risks of concussions it was wiser to keep Luiz on the pitch with a bandaged head through which blood was seeping out. Football continues to be reckless about head injuries and I think a quick and effective solution can be easily achieved by involving (a) a neutral medical body that attend every game and only they can make the decision about whether a player can continue or not after any trauma to the head and (b) allowing teams extra substitution to replace players after such injuries.
The game resumed after 10-odd minutes of delay and as often happens with this type of breaks fell into a lull where both teams were slow on the ball and in movements. We were noticeably the slower of the two. Luiz and Gabriel attempted long and aimless passes into the attacking third that drifted out harmlessly. Then Wolves picked up their speed of movement and passing and we fell apart.
Adama Traore ran rings around (an otherwise solid) Tierney with his speed and trickery, put in a delicious cross that Dendoncker was equal to but his header ricocheted off the bar. Our entire defense moved sluggishly – none more so than a bandaged and bleeding David Luiz – as Neto was the fastest to respond and his crisp goalbound shot bounced off Gabriel into the net.
Arsenal 0 – Wolves 1 (Neto 27’)
The goal did inspire an immediate response from the team as Tierney moved forward quickly but his cross was cleared by Coady. A minute later Willian put in an excellent cross in the box (a rare moment of quality from a highly experienced player who has massively underwhelmed thus far in Arsenal colors) that Gabriel attacked — using his strength very well to fend off multiple Wolves defenders – into the top left corner of Wolves goal. Rui Patricio had no chance. Finally a goal from open play!
Arsenal 1 (Gabriel 29’) – Wolves 1 (Neto 27’)
Instead of creating a spark of commitment and creativity as can be hoped for the equalizer put us back again into some kind of lethargic funk which was personified by our midfield duo Xhaka and Ceballos. This was a wretched performance by both of them, devoid of discipline, tactical understanding and any impetus whatsoever. Xhaka committed himself in a duel with Traore who quite easily got the better of him and put in a lovely through pass straight down the middle of the pitch that we had no one covering for. Our entire defensive line backed up and backed up, allowing a shot that changed direction deflecting off Bellerin; Leno was wrong-footed, but that alone doesn’t fully absolve him pushing it back in the middle of the box. Our defenders were again sluggish to respond to the danger as Podence was the first to attack the ball and then finishing neatly for their second goal.
Arsenal 1 (Gabriel 29’) – Wolves 1 (Neto 27’, Podence 42’)
The goal conceded didn’t improve the tempo of our game. Only Willock and Saka in tandem with Tierney looked to be genuinely bothered to force the issue. And when we earned a free-kick outside the penalty box it was David Luiz who stepped up to take it. At some point of time in a mythical past Luiz had scored from a few long-distance free-kicks; he tried quite a few playing for us and each of those were abysmally poor. I winder at the wisdom of continuing to allow him to take free-kicks when we have Auba, Xhaka and Pépé (when he is playing) all of whom have scored goals from free-kicks for us and at least more often than not hit the target. Luiz’s extravagant attempt flew over. I hope this is the last time we see a David Luiz free-kick in Arsenal colors.
We tried a few moves, Auba got a tame shot away at the Patricio around 45th minute. And just a few minutes later our defense was again shredded to pieces as they moved the ball with precision and pace through an empty midfield and a right side where Bellerin was being provided little support by Willian and Luiz who was still visibly feeling the effect of the collision.
We did put the ball in their penalty box one more time before the half ended. Dani got an inadvertent elbow his face in the melee. If a penalty were given it would have probably been harsh on Wolves.
The first half ended with us trailing at home, again.
The team emerged from the tunnel for the second half with Luiz replaced by Holding. Sanity prevailed eventually, even though 40 minutes too late.
There was a bit more determination and intent in our game in the second half. But after that abysmal first half that was not very hard to do. Xhaka and Ceballos were still losing a lot of the 50-50 challenges. Every time an Arsenal attack threatened to form the slow and ponderous passing from the midfield would inevitably dampen the promise.
Traore made another of his trademark runs that Gabriel barely managed to handle. The mightily built Spanish winger threw himself to the ground as if the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave away and earned a well-deserved (and unprotested) yellow card for such thespian excellence.
If the match report until now hasn’t mentioned Aubameyang much that is because our talismanic captain was neither given the service he needs nor was he making things for himself with pressing or intelligent movement between the lines. The one time he pressed hungrily he forced an error off Rui Patricio and took the ball off his feet. From a position like that Aubameyang in full flow was guaranteed to score. But this time he hesitated a bit longer between going towards his left or attempt a curler with his right foot. He chose the second option but his shot was tame and cleared by Coady who, unlike our senior most defender, read the situation perfectly and was alert to the danger.
We had a few more of these types of chances that we must show more composure and quality to finish if we are to turn around our wretched run of results. There was a free-kick from a promising position, the kind from which Auba had scored goals for us, and Willian wasted it by failing to test the keeper. Saka – along with Joe and Tierney our liveliest – put in an excellent chip in the box from byline and Holding tamely headed that over. Saka himself failed to make best use of a good delivery from Bellerin, a diving header was better suited to the heigh of the delivery than the attempted volley. There was another high quality cross from Bellerin that Auba attacked without any conviction and headed over. He has both time and space to attack the cross and put the ball in the net.
In between Reiss came in for Willian around 65th minute and with 10 minutes to go Lacazette replaced Xhaka. Nelson too missed a very presentable chance when he volleyed over hurriedly just a few meters away from the goal even though he had all the time in the world to bring the ball under control and shoot.
These chances or half-chances were too few and far between. We didn’t put in as much pressure as we should, we didn’t create enough opportunities, we didn’t attempt shots on target, the team never raised the intensity of the game to a level where a flurry of chances was created. Willock played well and demonstrated that when you support skill with tenacity and intensity you can crack the most resolute of defenses. Xhaka and Ceballos put in one of the worst midfield performances I have ever seen for Arsenal, both individually and collectively, both offensively and defensively. In modern football with such absence of quality in the middle of the pitch cannot be overcome by other parts of the game. The club has been too slow to recognize and react to this glaring hole in the middle of the pitch. Partey’s acquisition goes only halfway towards solving that problem and it is absolutely vital that we reinforce the midfield with players of much higher quality than what we have.
Wolves defended deep for the rest of the match, not overly troubled by any of our attacks. And the ease with which they saw out their lead was a stark reminder about how predictable our attack has become, lacking any edge or imagination.
The club leadership with be severely tested in the coming months. And this doesn’t just mean Arteta, though much of the accountability rests with him. Leadership includes the decision makers at the executive level who will have to push themselves beyond their comfort zone to strengthen the team and support Arteta in all possible ways. Leadership also includes the senior members of the team who have to come together, find solutions to the problems on the pitch, drive and inspire the highly talented group of younger players we have. Aubameyang, Luiz, Willian, Lacazette, Xhaka, Bellerin – this is also their time to step up and be counted as true leaders.
We are in a difficult situation, but not an irrecoverably difficult one. A club with Arsenal’s stature, wealth, support base must have to find a way out of it. We supporters should be patient, but we also should see signs that the leadership at all levels are as invested in the success of the club as much as we the supporters, we who make their lives successful.
Very fair report, Dr F., and one of the best opening paragraphs.
Thanks Dr F. Difficult match to
watch yet alone write about so
I’m grateful for your measured
account.
Dr.F,
Thankyou for making sense of another awful evening. How I am growing to dread late Sunday evening kick-offs ! I think your conclusions are very fair. Everyone who reads this blog regularly knows how unimpressed I am with Xhaka. He is fundamentally unsuited to Premier League football. He would be a whizz in the walking football that some of my friends play and which I will take up when I am a bit older ( I’m 69). Sadly the likes of Traore and Neto ran us ragged and few emerged with any credit . Gabriel did decently, Tierney never gives less than 100% Leno was ok and while Saka was way below his best he does engender optimism when he gets the ball. The rest were awful .
We can’t pla6 at home against a low block , there is zero improvisation and the ball movement is pedestrian.
Any chance of Champions League qualification, while not impossible , looks most unlikely. Our current league position is an accurate reflection of our form . Arteta needs a Monchi or a Rangnick, not an Edu, to help him .
If there is a more cerebral intro to a football report any where on the planet than yours I will be very interested to read it Dr F. You are a real asset and a credit to this blog.
A very fair, accurate and well considered appraisal of the game and the current Arsenal situation. There was little that was good about Arsenal last night and you picked the bones of the positives out the carcass well in your report.
I’d forgotten Auba’s inability to convert after nipping the ball off Patricio’s toes. I hadn’t forgotten MA8’s agonised grimaces after Holding, then Saka, then Auba, then Nelson failed to convert chances that you have to imagine Podence would have converted. One for a draw. Two for a win. There are no pictures on a scorecard. It’s the theme of the season.
I said all I wanted to say on our midfield in my season review. I wanted Partey and Arsenal duly obliged. Our team will be stronger when he’s available as our constant first pick on the team sheet. Neither Xhaka nor Ceballos have futures at the club.
We’ve drawn Newcastle at home in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.
DR F
What my esteemed colleague BTM said @4 .
If only our team could play with the same smooth rhythm and style of your prose, we would be top of the table. !!
Alas we are playing more like the disjointed rambling contributions of a journeyed drunken hack in the last chance saloon at a local rag in downtown Hartlepool.
Maureen must be rubbing his hands with glee at the thought of giving the Snobby lot from Arsenal another seeing to at the Lane on Sunday.
A very thoughtful post Dr F after another performance I would rather expunge from my memory bank ( with advancing age that becomes a little easier 😉 ). TTG is on the money in that Gabriel was the only one in the team to have played a good game, Tierney gave 100% honest performance but struggled at times against Traore and the rest were somewhat lacking.Ironically Willian improved over recent performances but only to match the mediocrity around him.
Not only are the results poor but it’s also very hard on the eye – there’s not much pleasure in watching our beloved team at the moment.I hope Mikel can get the bandwagon rolling again but with so much deadwood on board it’s a very hard slog.
Going back to a previous theme regarding how this season home teams appear to have lost the normal large advantage that entails, currently there have been 36 home wins and 43 away wins in the EPL. I think not only is it due to no home supporters urging / cheering their teams on. Away teams are soaking up pressure with a deep press and countering with lightning attacks, many converting into goals. This certainly is one of the reasons for our recent poor home form & Mikel has to find an answer to this. Next weeks NLD is looming large.
Nice stuff Dr F. Not an easy task.
As others have highlighted, there are some deep set problems with our club. People ask why they likes of Xhaka, Mustafi and many others are still at the club? I would happily ask, why were they signed in the first place. I don’t see any leadership at the club. If you appoint a young, and complete rookie of a manager then you need to ensure there is a support network in place. I don’t see it.
I fully accept that the manager needs time to get the squad he wants. But how do we bring players of quality in when we are 14th?
The really worrying thing for me is that I’m not really sure if there is a plan anymore. We seem to have run out of ideas. Do we play a back 4? Or a back 5? What is the best formation? What is his best line up? The team that has taken the field recently seems as if they have no idea what is expected of them. Are they playing for the manager????
Our midfield is as woeful as I can remember. No fight, no passion and even less ability. I tried to see where Xhaka and Dani were when either we pushed forward, or Wolves broke. In fairness, Ceballos did feature in some of the footage. Xhaka, virtually none. I just do not know what he brings to this team. I really shudder to think what the atmosphere would have been like as he trudged off and had there been a full house???
Arteta deserves time to try and get this right. But being the man who is a sticker for discipline is one thing. Ostracising players snd flexing your muscles is not be thing. Actually getting those left to play in a system and in a team is something totally different.
I can accept that we are in transition. What I can’t accept is a clueless, lacklustre, rudderless performance from a side totally devoid of any backbone. Tactics and attitudes need to change, and they need to change now.
Steve T,
We had a discussion last week about organisational dysfunction and whether it was an issue at Arsenal. I very much took the view that it was and since then I’ve reflected on the move of Arteta to Manager ( the very issue that we felt cursed us in the last days of Wenger- a manager with too much power) , the effective demotion of Edu which may be a deflection that he is out of his depth and the oversight by Tim Lewis the attack dog stationed in Highbury House by KSE) . I think with a rookie coach you need an experienced and supportive Director of Football and their relationship must be collegiate . I am hearing that is increasingly not the case .
The lesson from Wenger’s book was that he was at his most effective with David Dein beside him . They complemented each other . I think Arteta needs help and he needs it quickly if the positives of the last year aren’t going to drain away .
TTG
I’ve lost count of how many times over the many years in this great bar that I suggested that the loss of David Dein was massive loss. I’ve also lost count of how many people in here slaughtered me for it.
The problem starts at the very top with Stan. Until that changes, the attitude will stay the same.
An excellent report of an execrable performance with one of the best beginnings in any football blog at any time, Dr F.
There is indeed no grand plan for our manager to follow nor a useful manual explaining how to build a successful team in 10 steps. As you eloquently observe, progress is made by a series of judgements and decisions and no-one, least of all a rookie coach in his first season, gets these all correct. Serendipity and trial and error do indeed play a huge, if not the major part.
I do hope that Mikel Arteta is a lucky manager.
Top rate reporting and reflecting on our current situation, Doctor F. Arteta’s last month hasn’t been his best but I trust he has the stuff to turn things in a better direction. The January transfer window must be a productive one.
Mikel Arteta is a very good number two with a poor squad. That’s it really.
Cheers Dr F!
Cheers Doc. Another stinker to write up, yet you did a great job..
Two months ago I could see the shape in our team and what we were doing and trying to do. Right now I cannot, and it is that step backwards that worries me most.
Apart from Xhaka, obviously. Nothing worries me more than Granit ‘crisp pass twenty yards backwards’ Xhaka.
Ceballos has no consistency. When he has an effective game then it helps but even then he cannot carry his midfield partner. And he has at least two bad games for every good one. Xhaka does not suffer such inconsistency by dint of being always poor. (I was going to write ‘under par’ but the concept of a par performance for Xhaka has lost meaning in the context of Premier League football). Together they are a terrible duo in midfield.
Better structure would protect them more (although they will never be at the required level no matter what we do). Alternatively, better central midfielders would compensate for a lack of organisation. If I let myself dream for a moment I might consider having both of those things, and what could be done with a well organised midfield comprising excellent players! But watching our midfield at the moment is like being handed a stick with two shitty ends. Our shape is poor, our players don’t seem to know what they are supposed to be doing, and they aren’t good enough anyway. Come on Mikel, sort it out.
I hope we do the most Arsenal thing in the world at this stage and beat the scum 2 or 3 nil.
And as Blogs pointed out this morning… November is over!
Thanks everyone for the kind words.
I am glad I wrote it after a night’s sleep, which might have helped to not drown in the wave of immediate pessimism.
All is not lost. Last year around this time Man United was in a very similar position if I remember and they did eventually manage just enough to get to top 4. It is still not beyond reach. But we do need a quick turaround in results and we absolutely need midfield reinforcements in January.
Steve
‘ I’ve lost count of how many times over the many years in this great bar that I suggested that the loss of David Dein was massive loss. I’ve also lost count of how many people in here slaughtered me for it.’
Steve,
You won’t get slaughtered by me . He was the man who found Wenger and when I met him he was very close to George Graham. It must have hurt him to be involved in the decision to fire George . It’s no exaggeration to say that he with Wenger was the architect of the modern Arsenal and Wenger wouldn’t have been anywhere near as effective without him ( as events proved) . Dein’s ‘ crime’ was to make a lot of money for selling his shares although he did introduce Kroenke and Usmanov to the club. He was deeply concerned that we wouldn’t be able to compete with Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour,
Since C100 mentioned he had an Arsenal mask that he had in his membership pack I’ve been waiting for mine to arrive. It came today and I’ve worked out what the mask is for. You put it over your eyes when the team is playing .
Lighten up, TTG old chap.:-)
You were spoiled by twenty consecutive years of automatic Top 4s and a multitude of trophies under Arsene.
A few lows heighten the appreciation of the highs which so many newbies took for granted. Mikel Arteta and his team will come very good – but like all good things it will take some time and some patience.
That pizza lunch is just around the corner now. Feeling better already? Couple of bottles of a very fine red??
One step beyond watching from behind the sofa, TTG ?
🤣🤣🤣
Btm
You are a tonic for the soul.
You bet I’m on for that meal …but only two bottles ?
Steve.
I have often agreed with you and others that we lost a lot of know how and effectiveness when Dein left. I never liked that he sold Usmanov his shares but that is another matter. I doubt he would do it again if he could rewind the clock. I reckon he’d sell to a billionaire who was gonna take full control and pump money in like Abramovich did. And if that had happened we would have won a lot more.
By now it is pretty much impossible to claim the club stands for the values of yesteryear when modern football has become so pervasively money driven at the cost of all else.
We held off for a few years under Arsene. Some of us were proud of that, some hated it. And so it caused divisions in a fanbase whose motto calls for harmony. But we did not necessarily gain much when all we could do was hold back for a while a tide that was guaranteed to wash over us at some point. And when it did we were a long way behind clubs we used to brush off, and we will continue to be behind them for a long time to come.
Perhaps I am just in a cynical mood, but maybe Dein’s greatest crime, given his arch nature when it came to wheeling and dealing, his ability to see which way the wind was blowing before his (our) rivals had a sniff, was that he introduced two warring billionaires into the club, instead of making sure he had his man and engineering that buyer a 50%+ takeover coup?
If Dein had been as efficient as he usually was and got us our own Abramovich, as he certainly intended to do, then things would have been very different.
I am willing to give Arteta more leeway than some because I think he really gets what the club is about and although that history is being forgotten it is worth holding onto for as long as we can (not that our long and successful history is for a moment incompatible with having a better team that regularly wins stuff).
I think it is nice to have a manager who behaves in a way I admire and stands up for stuff I think is important. Also one who wins, so keep working on that Mikel!
GSD@15: My 2-cents is that it is not the structure but the squad that is the problem. Artetaball seems similar to Pepball at Man Citeh: positional play to spread width and create overloads and perhaps half a dozen or more pre-determined ways to get through or behind opposing defences, which the Man City attackers choose according to the moment. But once the choice has been made, the rest of the team know exactly what to do.
I saw a clip of de Breuyne exchanging short passes on the right-wing that ended with him, without even looking up, swinging a long cross beyond the far post. But as soon as de Breuyne shifted his weight to swing in the deep cross, Sterling sprinted away from the right-back marking him, headed for the space he knew de Breuyne would be aiming the ball. Sterling gets to the ball unchallenged and scores with a header across the keeper.
This all works for City because they have attacking midfielders of the highest quality in de Breuyne and Silva who are both fleet of foot and of thought, who get into the spaces between the channels in the opponent’s final third. Also, everyone else in the team knows what they are meant to be doing at any particular moment and more importantly, whence they should be moving to be in space or to pull defenders out of position. Because this is all well-rehearsed, it can be done at speed.
There were glimpses at Molde of how Arteta wants the team to play, passing around and through the home team’s backline with Saka, Pepe and Willock making the runs. But it is one thing to do it against a team not of PL standard and ready to engage in an open game of football. It is another to do it against a PL defence that will rotationally foul and can erect a well-drilled low block.
We don’t have the midfielders of the required quality on the ball or off it to play that way in the PL. Nor is the team confident enough in its positional play either to play at the required speed or with the movement necessary. The games are coming so thick and fast, there isn’t the opportunity on the training ground to correct it. Unless Willock can be coached up a level or ESR turn out to be the second coming of de Breunye, we will have to buy, and sooner rather than later. Regardless of what the question is, Xhaka and Ceballos is not the answer.
Good stuff Ned.
I suppose it depends on whether you change the structure to fit the players or not? It does seem that we are setting up quite differently to how we were last season, or at the start of this. Our press has gone out the window. Recently I haven’t seen any recognisable plan. I think you are right that our players are not the right ones for the job Arteta wants them to do. So he will have to balance his future plans with what is currently possible. Not an easy position when, as you say, coaching options are limited.
Would it be worth playing more of the youngsters (who are coachable) and leaving out the old hands who we need to get rid off and who are not currently providing the steadiness of experience we might hope they would offer?
Although you are wrong about one thing…
Name a poorly matched midfield duo that are not good enough to achieve Arsenal’s stated ambitions…
Xhaka and Ceballos!
With Partey out for the next few games at the least, Mikel has to sort the midfield out.
Both D and G are too slow, in thought and deed, and as soon as the oppo bypass them, the defence is stuffed, with attackers running at them unopposed.
it makes it impossible to defend, and we have to resolve it.
That has been our achilles heel for years.
I do not understand what AMN has done wrong, but he has hardly played for the first team in recent weeks, and seems to be the forgotten man.
He is big/strong and quick, and can hardly do any any worse than the current midfield duo, and central midfield is his best position, so why not give him a run. ??
If we play the same lne up in midfield at the Lane on Sunday, Kane and Son will think Christmas has come early.
FUCK THE COPYRIGHT
https://youtu.be/54W8kktFE_o
Remember we were young?
Another one for CBA
https://youtu.be/yPfB3eRX130
I’ll shut now. Love you all. xxx
GSD@25: I’d give Nelson a run starting. He is closer to what Arteta needs than the Willian we have, if not necessarily the Willian Chelsea had.
~@26: 🙂
Esso@28: True genius.
Thanks Esso! 😃😃
Some great stuff Esso, Cheers – particular @ 28.
we won 2-0 at Wolves in July
with Dani/ Xhaka in midfield.
We’ve beaten lots of other sides
with them too.
Until our forwards start booting
the ball in the net we won’t win
games. I am not having a go at
them – shit happens – but we are
over reliant on Auba scoring.
Nelson and Joe W as well as Auba
needed to finish and didn’t so we
lost.
New rules are being introduced with effect 1st jan 2021 replacing the free movement of footballers into UK who are EU nationals. With the transition agreement between UK & EU ending on 31/12/20, European footballers will no longer have freedom of movement into the UK and work permits will be required. The UK govt, FA & clubs have agreed to implement a points system based on various factors such as international caps and the quality of the leagues / clubs the player currently enjoys.
Clubs will need to be on the ball to ensure they are endeavouring to sign players only likely to have enough points. However there will be an appeal panel for clubs requesting special exemption to sign players who do not qualify under the new system. Also clubs will not be allowed to sign overseas players below the age of 18 in the future.
Currently, with the departure of our “Contracts Manager” Huss Fahmy, it concerns me that our currently weak executive structure will be further inhibited with complex transfer negotiations – someth8ng we seem to struggle with already. We urgently need squad improvements at the beginning of January and I hope we will not drag our feet until the end of the window and fall foul of the new rules. We really need to be up to speed with this.
Good points, Uply. The new transfer rules for EU players are biased against signing younger, up-and-coming players, which also seems bad news for us.
OM@40: We also played Mustafi and Kola against Wolves in July. Maybe that’s the key. 🙂
But to your bigger point, of our two goalscorers that day, Laca hasn’t scored since September 28th and Saka since October 4th.
Some fascinating stuff in The Athetic today (sorry £££) about the difficulties facing Premier League clubs as they renegotiate player contracts.
https://theathletic.com/2232297/2020/12/01/premier-league-contracts-expiring/
And this piece by Tim Stillman on Arseblog rang a lot of bells with me.
C100
Tim’s piece is very relevant to many of us but especially relevant to someone who supports Arsenal away like you . I’ve found increasingly that my nervousness has increased during the game and I’ve often decamped to the garden during tense moments and I don’t look forward to games on TV like I do the experience of going to the match . I don’t even know all our games in December although Layth has asked me to write some pieces on our forthcoming opponents . I can’t even remember who I covered!
I took a decision not to renew this season but the events of the summer rekindled my enthusiasm .Though this season so far is as much fun as last season was at this stage ! But I’m very keen to get back to watching live and very keen for a Goonerholic reunion .
I guess we might now be looking at football with full crowds that oldies like me can attend in April? That can’t come fast enough for me.
faustus, top report of a tough game. i thought we played poorly, xhaka and hecate looked to be running in treacle. poor auba, no service, no confidence, no power…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>