A magnificent first-half performance from The Arsenal, followed by a more pragmatic second half, was enough to see us do the double over the old enemy for the first time since 2014.
There was just so much to like about today that I hardly know where to start.
Did I mention that we’ve beaten the shower from the wrong end of Seven Sisters Road for the second time in the league this season?
Oh, I did?
Well, fair warning, I’m probably gonna do it again…
The match started at a traditionally fast pace for us but the Tiny Totts also resisted the temptation to start as they usually do – as though they have spent the last 30 minutes listening to Richarlison provide them with a step-by-step guide to his special method for waxing his nether regions and are suffering from all the trauma one might expect such an abomination to provide. The horror, the horror.
Instead, they showed that they were well up for the challenge of playing against the league leaders, at least initially. And make no mistake, playing against this team is one hell of a challenge. It soon took its toll.
After a feisty opening few minutes the Arsenal press forced an error, and a clever flick from Gabi provided Eddie with his first chance of the match. The young man’s left-footed shot was thwarted by a good save from Lloris, and it set the pattern for his failing to make the most of his chances today. What is fantastic to see is that even without a goal our junior striker is putting in far more complete performances than many of us thought possible and proving such a handful for quality defences (and this one today, starring Eric Dier).
Despite this initial save, Lloris had not set a pattern of excellence. On fifteen minutes, Partey played a ball over the top, Saka cut in from the channel and his deflected cross bobbled nicely for the ex-France captain to smother it into his own net. Lovely stuff.
Halfway through a half that we dominated with an absolutely sublime team performance was a moment of sheer class from TP5 that was a couple of inches away from being one of the all-time great derby goals. Chippy would have loved it! Unfortunately, his volley from outside the box crashed into the post. Watch the spin on the ball as it arrowed to the goal. The technique was outstanding and even at this level there are few players capable of hitting a ball like that. It was one moment picked from a fantastic performance from a player who has become perhaps the most irreplaceable cog in Arteta’s machine.
We pressed forward, and Romero finally got a yellow card for about his fourth nasty foul. His deal with the devil has been good for him though, as he managed to shit-kick his way through the rest of the match without receiving his marching orders.
He did however showcase the other side to his game a few minutes later. As well as kicking lumps out of better players, he is also able to turn his back as one of the best players in the league smashes a ball past him and into the corner from 25 yards. Ødegaard wheeled away having done the damage. What a player – he was simply magnificent today. He was a joy to watch, playing the game in a beautiful spirit inversely proportional to the snide, shameful way Romero played.
The Norwegian is growing as a captain, becoming more vocal, and his calm, respectful manner, coupled with a steely determination that should not be underestimated, is an example that his teammates are latching onto. He is playing so, so well. And his class on the pitch is matched off it. What a guy.
The away fans managed a round of “Tottnum Hotspur – You’ll always be shit” that was clearly audible on the telly. Excellent work everyone.
We did give Kane a chance with a header just before half-time, but Ramsdale was having none of it all day, even though Kane is an unfortunately excellent player and had a decent game.
There was a strange kerfuffle when it looked as though Craig Pawson had awarded an undeserved yet crucial penalty against us as the half ended. Strangely, he decided not to do so. I hope the poor chap is okay and recovers swiftly from whatever malady has thrown him so far off his game.
Harry Kane was very confused that he hadn’t been given a chance to score from the spot. Then again, Harry Kane gets very confused by childproof paracetamol bottles. How are you supposed to open them, witchcraft?
The second half was tougher. Saka was quieter. Having run them ragged in the opening 45 (when he wasn’t having the shit kicked out of him, obviously) he joined most of our players in having a less effective second half.
The exception was Rambo, who made a string of saves. If we are going to win the league, we will need days when our keeper steps up and wins us points. He has had a good season but today he stood out and I hope he builds on this performance as he is a player who has a much higher ceiling than we are currently seeing. He won a deserved MOTM today, the LWCs actually managing a decent collection of chances, even if their overall play was not great.
Richarlison came on and reached his usual level of integrity and sporting fair play. After twenty minutes of this, as the match ended, he unnecessarily engaged Ramsdale as he went to get his gloves, and sparked some reaction from the Spurs fans, one of whom stood on an advertising board and kicked out at our keeper. To be fair, this one idiot is not representative of most Spurs fans and I don’t think any of us need to be clutching our pearls. The guy is a moron who should be banned and all proper football fans will agree on that regardless of their allegiance – ’nuff said from me.
We didn’t let it mar a great performance and result. The players went and celebrated a fantastic three points with the faithful.
Apparently, that was the second time we’d beaten them in the league this year. I’m sure I saw that mentioned somewhere.
It also puts us 8 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
I’m looking forward to hearing from all the usual suspects in the Drinks, and I extend a special invitation to any lurkers or first-timers to come and have your say on a great day for the club.
St. Totteringham will be here before we know it!
Cheers scruz! Happy days but don’t invoke the saint too early. 😉
thanks, all i did was post it for GSD, ollie. but cheers, and here’s to GSD and his fine review. one thing i don’t see he mentioned, but we did scum home and away this season!
“ Harry Kane was very confused that he hadn’t been given a chance to score from the spot. Then again, Harry Kane gets very confused by childproof paracetamol bottles. How are you supposed to open them, witchcraft?”.
This is journalistic gold . I fully expect you to at least be nominated for a Pulitzer, Dino!
GSD – can I check ? Did you say that we had beaten the Totts for the second time this season ? Wow, who would have thought it ?
It was a superb performance similar in style and assurance to the game at the Bus Stop . To look that controlled in the intensity of a NLD is very hard . Ramsdale did really well- the best he’s played for ages . But to give him MOTM provides the wrong slant on the game . MOTM for me was Partey just shading Odegaard but frankly everyone was excellent in a performance that saw us beat Tottnumb for the second time this season apparently .
We are looking a terrific side and Arteta’s stature as a coach goes up and up
North London is definitely VERY red tonight
Great report GSD
Cheers GSD!
we’re 8 up on city, 14 up on scum with a game in hand, and 19 on liverpool and chelse, with a game in hand on the latter. if nothing else, halfway through the season that’s astounding.
if we beat united (we should beat united) we’ll be on course for 100 points in a season. not that we won’t have wobbles, but our consistent intensity and control of games is what’s shining through right now, and i can’t see us suddenly reverting to a team like we saw in the second half of last season.
and, ttg, you’re right, i don’t think gsd mentioned we’ve done the double over them cunts this season.
Richarlison should get a 3 game ban for shoving Aaron at the end of the game.
A report worthy of that magnificent performance on the marshdwellers’ turf, GSD. I hear that’s the second time we have beaten that lot this season.
Our dominance in the first half was impressive and we should have scored at least another goal during that period, maybe two!If only that superb blast from TP5 had gone in they could have awarded Goal of the Season today. As ever we did give the opposition a couple of chances in the first half but Ramsdale rose to the occasion as he did again in the second half when we had a nervy first 10-15 minutes.
Like TTG, despite that superb piece of goalkeeping, I thought TP5 shaded MotM but in truth, having awarded a share between two players previously, I thought Rat-face Neville might have made it a shared award between Ramsdale, Partey and Ødegaard. However it’s invidious to ignore the sterling work of Nketiah, Zinchenko, Gabriel, Saliba and White. In truth in that first half it could have gone to all 11. In contrast, the second half, after the first 10-15 minutes of nervy defence, was an exemplary display of organised defending from front to back and, despite not creating multiple chances that we made in the first half, we largely controlled the game and drew their sting. Actually Eddie almost got that third and did deserve a goal for his outstanding work.
Another one down.
By the way, that’s the second time we have beaten that shower of shite this season.
Onward.
Oh! And sort out the signing of Raphina.
Great review, GSD. Only bettered by that first-half performance. I have to commend the superb and diverse quality of writing here, thank you, Trev, Dr F, Bath, 21stCG, GSD TTG, Ned and the rest of you good people who write the previews and reviews.
On to the Red Mancs at home.
Tip-top match report, GSD. That’s the second time we’ve beaten the neighbours this season. Surprised no one mentioned it…
Late appreciation of Dr. F. and his ‘Mikel’s Boléro’.
A true musical masterpiece😜, but no mention of Beck’s Boléro; another musical masterpiece,
I agree with those who would have nominated TP5 as MOTM. He is becoming like Gilberto Silva. The less you notice him, the better he is playing.
Ramsdale played very well. His save from Kane’s header just before the end of the first half was pivotal. It might have been a different game if the neighbours had gone in at half-time just a goal behind.
A very good team performance. I was worried beforehand that the ref would be overly biased towards the home team but he was actually fairly impartial. Odegaard was excellent, as were Partey, Gabriel and Ramsdale.
Too bad Mudryk got such bad advice but maybe it’s for the best given the money involved.
Cheers GSD and may I add, Lovely Jubbly Doubly.
As well as the fee for Mudryk, there is the not inconsiderable matter of his wages, at least £44 million over the eight and a half years by my back of the envelope calculation. A commitment of that size and duration is what US pro sports teams pay for their framchise stars. Hell of a gamble for Chelsea to build their future around a still relatively inexperienced winger, if that is indeed their plan given the last-minute nature of this hi-jacking.
Excellent review GSD, cannot disagree with a single sentence! And written with an enviable alacrity.
We played splendidly in the first half, everyone was excellent, and then well within ourselves in the second half where we managed the game very well and not for a moment let it become the chaotic affair that typically allows lesser teams to make it more competitive. Ramsdale had one of his best matches for us, with impeccable decision making and flawless positioning.
I was really hoping for Eddie to get a goal today. Some of his movements off the ball and the pressing were top class. His technical level has been improving steadily and I think the couple of time his close control was just a bit loose would be something for him to work on.
Kudos to Mikel and his coaching team. They have been patient in inculcating a signature way of playing that is built on sound understanding of both the tactical as well as psychological aspect of the game. What we are seeing is a result of 2+ years of painstaking effort, unwavering belief in the fundamentals, and rigorously precise work on the training ground. There is no shortcut to success, at least the kind of success one can be proud of. Let us just hope that the club hierarchy continue to support this effort to the fullest extent.
Boff@11: Thank you for the kind words. I did allude to Beck’s Bolero, albeit in a somewhat roundabout manner. Please check the last paragraph. 🙂
Tottnumb torn to tatters, twice. Tremendous, thanks GSD.
Too many positives to mention from yesterday so I will just include one.
I drank a bottle of 97 Ornellaia with my wife and it was great 😊
I should add it was her birthday as I’m not rich enough to drink the stuff regularly😂
haha, thanks scruz at 2. Yes, I only went by the >>>> and forgot to check the author.
Blame the beer(not really, work today means I had to be reasonable)/victory euphoria/early dementia.
So cheers GSD. I think you forgot to mention we beat them home and away this season.
I think the number of efforts we had from distance today is very telling. Normally these are very low goal probability events and modern managers tell their players not to take them or at least be very selective. Because Spurs are a) defensively passive and b) have a keeper who has passed his sell-by date, I suspect Arteta and his analytics and coaching team will have changed the instructions. Superb attention to detail.
And in another piece of insight, which I am surprised nobody here has picked up on, we have beaten Sp*rs home and away this season.
All of which sets us up nicely for the second pre-match GHF luncheon engagement next Sunday, ahead of the United match. I was at the stadium artwork exhibition at The Angel on Saturday and they told me that they expect at least some it to be up in time for the game.
Apologies for my inability to write my own moniker correctly in the drink above. In the words of the Pointer Sisters, I’m so excited. And I just can’t hide it. I’m about to lose control and I think I like it.
Heh. CER. At least it was only a character swap…
Cheers, GSD for the matching report with this excellent and well played game. We just beat Tottnumb home and away. I liked that!
TP5 the MoTM for me but the whole team was exceptional.
Speaking about reinforcement I hope Edu&co has something in the hat as they have done really well recently.
COYG
Great report Dino. My favourite line was the one about Harry Kane and child proof medicine bottles. That was so enjoyable yesterday. Great football in the first half, gritty football in the second is a wicked combination. I really can’t separate the players, every man Jack of them was brilliant. I’m now busy reading every newspaper report, every blog, every podcast. Live in the moment. Game by game. Next up United, with a pre match GHF lunch as CER refers to above. I’m just happy, happy, happy this morning. Long may it continue!
I am, as many of you know a simple man but I am confused by the acclaim for Conte as a coach based on his performance yesterday . He was comprehensively outcoached yesterday Going with effectively a 5-2-3 left them hugely outgunned in midfield. We had overloads on both wings every time we had the ball and when those overloads are Saka and Martinelli you have big problems. They missed Bentancur and may not have had the quality we had in midfield but it was child’s play for Odegaard, Partey and Xhaka to pass around them. I would have thought after ten minutes he needed to put someone on Odegaard and match up with Partey and Xhaka as best he could . His teams are so passive in the first half of games they give themselves a mountain to climb almost every time I watch them .
I would add that the addition of Zinchenko in the inverted role on the left is a stroke of genius in games like yesterdays.I expressed a preference for Tierney the other day but I thought Zinchenko was brilliant yesterday. He seems to have so much time on the ball . I’m not sure if Kieran will be happy with life at the minute
Have a great lunch gents, hope the result is the same as last time….
File this under trying it on: Barca reportedly wants 100 million euros for Raphina, a player that cost them barely half that six months ago and who now rarely gets a start for them.
CER@22: Freudian slip?
TTG@27: What was so baffling to me is why Conte didn’t double-team Saka and Martinelli until the second half. But what manager can do anything about a ref who inexplicably doesn’t award Harry Kane his obligatory penalty?
For a bit of Monday afternoon Schadenfreude, have a read of this very depressed Spurs blog.
The Gloom Gathers at the Lane
Truly great stuff, GSD !
Lots of proper laughs and fun always hits the nail most firmly on the head.
Richarlison waxing his bits is a brilliant, if horrifying, depiction of that snide little rat preparing to go out and spoil another sporting contest. A player who has talent but fortunately is far more wrapped up in his own hateful, cheating agenda than applying it.
Arteta, his team and all the players are doing a spectacular job. Remember the fixture at the Armitage Shanks in May and think how quickly this transformation has been achieved. Then consider that this particular bunch of LWCs are actually in the Champions League. Gulp !
Re c100@ 30.
A great find. Particularly enjoyable in that link was this: “I’m proud of being a Spurs fan but there are times when that cast iron loyalty is a dead weight pulling me down. Where to from here? Losing the derby is bad enough, but that despondency is more than just about this match. As I touched on in my last piece, it’s the cumulative effect of years of permanent transition without ever reaching our destination. Hopes raised then dashed again as we discover that we have changes without any club strategy, where the fit between manager, recruitment and finance is always, always found wanting. Of high seat prices with diminishing returns. I am weary with it all, this state of institutional disfunction.”
Can we get a little praise for the ref yesterday?
Following C100’s link @30, I came across Kevin Macdonald’s comment. Writing about the game last May, and the reaction to it, he says “And all of that was fired by a 3-0 home win against a team playing, through injuries, a back four that hadn’t played before, hasn’t played since and in which three of those players haven’t started a League game this season. Those visitors played without their Number 5, the best DM in the League, and without their most potent attacker, whom their coach had had the balls to fire for behavioural reasons. So, hardly a team at their strongest, and they played for much of the game with ten men. Small points of detail I recognise, and none worthy of getting in the way of a Spurs hallelujah chorus rejoicing over a return to greatness. “
Have been away from this bar for a while while managing recoveries from hip and knee replacements and coping with coronary matters. But my most recent body changes — new lenses after cataracts have been removed — have been a wonderful way to view and follow this edition of North London’s only quality football side.
Speaking of the other one: seems as if they haven’t gotten around to getting some outfit to spring for naming rights to the new digs. Guess there aren’t any who want to associate themselves with that shower. OK, maybe Trump would, as his tax returns show him to be a phenomenal money loser. They’d be best off to use a name that would maintain a link to the old place, and continue in perpetuity for what it always will be: SHITE FART LANE.
Damn; premature Enter again, sigh, nothing changes…
The description of the earlier game rings very true with me, and is a world away from the oft-read “Arsenal imploded against Tottenham” with all the implied lack of character / stamina / balls. I’m not surprised that I haven’t read this interpretation of that result very often. I _am_ surprised that I have to go to a Tottenham blog to read it.
COYG
C100, yes, I meant and omitted to say that I thought Craig Pawson had a pretty fair game yesterday. Didn’t fall for the Spurs play acting and that shocking rolling around by Hojyberg, and wasn’t unduly influenced by Kane as far as I can remember.
I did think he was a bit remiss in not going straight to Richarlison and booting him in the nuts for that pathetic behaviour at the final whistle.
Pawson had an excellent game barring the omission identified by Trev @37. Perhaps he was already in the tunnel. One of his linesmen was an eye witness though. I expect retribution. I also expect disappointment.
I’m all for a bit of revisionism but to add some balance in an Arsenal blog re the 3-0 defeat we were very well beaten although I think the pivotal moment was the quite ridiculous penalty .
It was clear from the kick-off that Holding had no clue as to how to handle Son and he was a red card waiting to happen . We began well but Son destroyed us . Ref Tierney was not our friend but when is he ? Pawson yesterday gave a measured and admirable display of refereeing .
Partly because we were down to ten men it was a thrashing. I couldn’t wait for the whistle. Cedric had a nightmare but it should be noted that we had seven of yesterday’s starting eleven in our initial line-up and White on the bench .Saliba , Zinchenko were elsewhere and Partey was injured . S***s were without Romero and had Bentancur playing who would have made a difference yesterday . Our errant striker mentioned had left five months before .
The amazing thing about yesterday is that having been so heavily beaten five months ago we have improved so much, we’re so tactically astute and able to withstand an oppressive atmosphere that appeared to crush us in May .
TTG @ 39 : All correct observations (recall), and we were also very tired. The tiredness seeps into the mind, makes you lose confidence, and your decision making gets tentative. Let’s hope this year a combination of good fortune and astute strengthening will avoid such a possibility
gents above, i also think our energy isn’t being sapped by the auba saga, and we are riding a long wave of winning and excellent play. habits that become ingrained, as they say.
Fortunately last season’s Son is not this season’s Son. Aaron did well of course but Son would’ve have buried that first half chance last season.
And Hello Pangloss! Been a while, hope you are well.
Excellent review GSD and nothing else to add to the comments above, except Ramsdale was my MOTM simply for laughing at and winding up Richarlison, the poo-faced wanker.
Good to see Pangloss and Bayonne Jean in again; Cent, too.
Celebratory glasses on the bar for you all.
Excellent summation, GSD.
Still buzzing in Dallas. Now it’s time to let the Mancs feel the cold steel of the Gunner’s armory.
To the moon!
BMBD
Out of amusement I read the Cartilage Free Captain blog which is one of the main Spud blogs. Like C100 it is a perverse pleasure . There were two basic schools of thought .
– ‘ Woolwich ‘ outplayed us, they are a great team and play great football- we hate them or -it came down to a tale of two goalies . If they’d been reversed we would have won . We hate them .
Interestingly as the second view started to emerge it spawned another debate as some picked it up and ran with it and others pushed back strongly . Most agreed Conte won’t stay and most also identified Levy as their real problem. It’s so glaringly obvious it speaks to the dimness of most of them. Twenty one years , about 15 managers and one League Cup. Go figure
In that time we’ve won two league titles including the Invincibles , six FA Cups and numerous Community Shields .But they do have a stadium with bars where you fill beer glasses upside down . So that’s alright then
TTG @46, I don’t think we needed to learn that C100 is one of your perverse pleasures. Please be more discreet. Think of the boy. He won’t be able to show his face in here for weeks.
Bath @47. Matron!
Great column from Arseblog today.
Another thought provoking analysis from Mike McDonald on Gunners Town
Whoops ! The secret is out 🥶
I love seeing players back up their teammates in a ruck. A clear demonstration of camaraderie.
A great recommendation and, as ever, read, C100 @49. I had, myself, thought that we could have a nibble at Jota though I’m not convivnced he could provide cover for Nketiah as well as he could provide relief on the flanks (careful, TTG).
Well in, TTG. Nketiah-like reflexes being impressive in a man your age who has enjoyed so many luxurious lunches. 😀
Mike McDonald’s magnum opus provides so many thoughts and so many Mudryk alternatives . For those who haven’t read it the Jota that Bath refers to is not our old nemesis at Anfield, Diogo but a player at Sporting Lisbon I believe. I confess I do not know him . Signing Moussa Diaby would be neat as we could play Diaby and Vieira in the same side. We could go on to sign Gaston Pires, Rico Henry and Ralph Lauren . Recreate the Invincibles , what an idea ! OK I know Diaby and Vieira never played together and Diaby wasn’t an Invincible but why spoil a gag with facts?
TTG @54, he’s at Celtic. I’ve seen him in quite a number of televised games. Always impressive, often game changing and sometimes match winning. Celtic need cash flow.
Well in for the half-ton, TTG. Bath’s got your number…
Esso@51: A lot to see and like in that clip: Ødegaard defusing things by leading the team away from the melee to go to the end where our fans were, and Arteta sprinting back to get Xhaka when Xhaka turned to re-enter the ruckus.
Thanks Bath!
I knew I’d seen him wearing green and white stripes ! There seem to be exciting wingers everywhere ! But how many out and out strikers are there ? Nb Fantasy League !
It shows how the game is evolving
Sorry Hoops!
https://i0.wp.com/le-grove.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/FmoutP1XwAIdEPC.jpg?ssl=1
The current Chelsea squad as per Le Grove .They are chasing Caicedo ( £70m!). Nkunku is joining in the summer #Crash and Burn
I have to fight back against TTG’s relentless campaign of misinformation.
At the Spuds stadium they are able to fill pint glasses with beer from the bottom up.
THEY CAN NOT FILL THEM UPSIDE DOWN!
C100@49: Thanks for the Mike McDonald link. An absorbing read, as always. His point that Ramsdale thrives on big games was the point that leapt out to me.
MacJota looks useful and nicely two-footed, which would give the positional flexibility Arteta likes in a player.
TTG@59: Or #Cash and Burn. However, if you scratch out likely summer departures, that squad depth chart looks a bit more threadbare.
GSD
Details ! 😀
Frankly they can’t do much at the Spuds. And most stuff is upside down
Ned,
On their salaries with half of the big clubs broke they are going to have a huge struggle to sell players . It will be loans and the Chavs paying half their wages . Eg,Sterling. Interesting player but he’s on £300k a week and hasn’t been in any sort of form for a while
GSD @60, I think you may be misinformed. TTG is in fact correct.
There is an unusually fluctuant gravitational field at the Armitage Shanks Stadium. The reduced gravitational force in the bar that allows glasses to be filled upside down is a consequence of greatly increased but fluctuant gravitational forces in this location which is most marked in their penalty areas and oscillates between these areas every 45 minutes in the same manner as the earth’s magnetic poles have done over millennia. The effect of chronic exposure to fluctuating gravitational forces upon their players is so profound and unsettling that they also find it extremely difficult to stay upright in away penalty areas where they find it nearly impossible to adjust to a normal gravitational force.
Nice one, bath. Good to read some proper science and not this fact-based nonsense they keep trying to brainwash us with. Kane has to fall over in the penalty area because if he kept going, he would eventually fall off the edge of the Earth.
TTG@63: Thiago Silva, Jorginho, Bettinelli, and Kante are all out of contract in the summer, and Joao Felix and Zakaria have to be returned. Kovacic, Azpilicueta, Aubameyang, Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic and Mount are out of contract in the summer after that. You are right, and as we know from experience, clearing deadwood can’t be done with a single stroke. Sterling will be a problem for them as his contract runs to 2027. At least the Chavs won’t have to splash out on another left-winger for a few years. Oh!…
Ned,
That’s a huge degree of upheaval and I very much doubt they will raise much in the way of transfer fees. One interesting player is Mason Mount . He has seen them sign Chumwuemeka( or whatever?) , Felix and Mudryk. Conor Gallagher is now playing more regularly as is Zakaria and they have Pulisic , Ziyech and Havertz , Loftus – Cheek who all play in the same sort of space ( Ziyech is an example of a player they couldn’t offload in the summer ). They also have signed Santos and Fofana and Sterling is injured. Isn’t it amazing that Omari Hutchinson left us to join them because he couldn’t see a clear pathway at Arsenal ! Does Boehly know you don’t need a 55- man roster in the EPL?
Mount is Declan Rice’s best mate and they have long talked of playing together . Mount is apparently very frustrated with Potter . What a cunning plan to sign Mount and then pounce for Rice in the summer ?!
Lots of great stuff to catch up on in the bar!
Mike McDonald informative and excellent as always, the spud blog hilarious and the Xhaka video full of good signs.
The Chavs squad was interesting as a picture of what not to do in squad building. Very few have actually improved their reputation / value since joining. Potter has an unenviable job especially as Boehly seems to think he can help. Anyway, hopefully Potter gets fired as I think he’s actually quite good and given time might succeed.
Hard to see who we’d want out of that lot but Mason as identified by TTG has potential as does Gallagher I think.
I am still hoping we will sign reinforcements in midfield and out wide this window as we have possibly 32 games to play by the end of May and we will need a lot of luck and inspired squad management to get TP, Bukayo and Gabi M through to the end.
I don’t think we would be in for Mount. He doesn’t have the quality to improve the squad that Arteta wants and he wouldn’t come because he is probably just about intelligent enough to recognise that he would rarely get a start, if ever, at the Arsenal.
I think it won’t be an entirely linear trajectory but I do think Boehly will preside over the decline of the Chavs back under the stone they were living under when Abramovich raised their profile with his Russian mafia roubles.
Bath @64 – 🤣👏🏻👏🏻
Whether it is due to fluctuant gravitational forces at the Armitage, or that the glasses are filled upside down, the more amusing point about the beer is that when the stadium first opened, the bemused Totts fans were soaked in the stuff as they fiddled and fumbled trying to decide how the hell the glasses worked.
TTG@67: Boehly is looking for a clearout and to build a team like Major League Baseball clubs do, around franchise players on long-term contracts (extremely long by English football standards).
Whether such an approach would work in the PL is another matter. It provides a certain stability to a club. However, a couple of mediocre seasons of team building in the MLB is not financially pretty, thanks to revenue sharing and the preponderance of locally generated revenue, which makes the size of a team’s local market a hugely important factor in clubs’ revenues. In the PL, it can be disastrous as European football revenue is so significant to clubs’ P&Ls. Also, there is no risk of relegation in a closed league, and the draft system gives the worst teams each season the first pick of the up-and-coming talent for the next.
Boehly appears to think that many of the ways that US pro-sports operate as businesses could generate much more money for European football, so I am not surprised that he would try to apply one of the basic models at Chelsea.
Re: Ned @71. Maybe that accounts for Chelsea’s poor record this season. Could they be playing for the best draft pick? If so I hope Boehly doesn’t do his reading here because it could illuminate his small brain about the risk of relegation in such a strategy. 🤔
Tanking at the Bus Stop. bt8? 🙂
I took the unusual decision ( for me) of listening to TalkShite this morning.
They were discussing at length the likely destination of Declan Rice . To my surprise Danny Murphy who had spoken to Rice in the last couple of days , suggested that Arsenal are favourites but that should the Chavs qualify for the Champions League this might change .
He was of the opinion that Rice was very impressed by Arsenal on Boxing Day . He wants, ideally , to stay in London .
I still expect him to end up at the Bus Stop
West Ham finished 6th in 2021 and 7th in 2022 but they are are currently level on points for last place, if anybody (Boehly?) is looking for a cautionary tale.
Olise’s dead-pan reaction to scoring a last-minute equaliser for Palace against the Mancs was priceless. He just walked away, looking as if he had just put out the cat for the night and was trying to remember what his next chore was.
Casemiro will miss Sunday’s game after picking up a fifth yellow. It should have been a straight red; he kneecapped Zaha.
I think Olise was in shock Ned 😂
I know I was surprised…
Casemiro will be a loss for them at the weekend, and I suppose it means a Fred / McTominay midfield that will sit back, try to nullify Ode and hope Rashford can hurt us on the break.
i worry about mctominay injuring partey or mø. he’s a clogger.
Lots of discussion around as the how Chelsea can spend all this money and avoid FFP. The best writer on football finances, Swiss Ramble, has done the authoritative blog on it. So now we know.
https://swissramble.substack.com/p/will-chelseas-transfer-spend-break
An interesting if challenging read, C100 @79. Smoke and mirrors, eh? I have an innate suspicion of accountants and accounting practice that this does little to mitigate. Perhaps it’s simply an innate dislike of the Chavs though.
Would we really sign a 28 year old striker who has fallen out with his manager amidst rumours of poor attitude? Doesn’t seem to fit our current modus operandi.
UTA.
I agree Noosa. But presumably there isn’t a great deal of realistic choice and we need some support up top for the 2nd half of the season.
A winning team is a happy team so I don’t see his attitude at Brighton being an issue for us.
C100@79 and bath@80: Accounting is indeed ‘magic darts’.
My takeaways from @SwissRamble’s analysis are that 1) the Chavs have to be as adept at selling players under Boehly as they were under Abramovich; 2) they can’t go more than a season without European football; and 3) both the PL and UEFA’s FFP loopholes, sorry, ‘adjustments’, look tailor-made for the big clubs.
His list of UEFA’s FFP fines is also eye-opening. Offenders are paying money they could all find down the back of a couch. Toothless.
OM@77: 🙂
I agree with Noosa/ SP that Trossard is a surprise as the Plan B as he doesn’t fit our profile (Mitoma does but I can’t imagine Brighton have any intention of letting him go), but if, as the rumour is saying, we plan to sign him on 4-5 year contract then I guess we will be writing off the not unreasonable 20m fee and hoping he can add to squad in the mid-term as well as the rest of this season. He will provide decent, ready-to-go PL experienced cover on the wings and he was having a good season I thought.
Stuivenberg apparently knows him from his time at Genk and I hope he is a good judge of character.
Trossard a done deal according to Ornstein
I don’t know if it’s over the line yet but I think a move for Trossard makes a lot more sense in the present circumstances than a £100m punt on a relatively unproven 22 year old with a handful of games in a farmers’ league. Trossard is versatile, hard working and has an eye for goal. He started this season on fire and though he hasn’t scored recently, has had a bust up with his coach and has apparently been in a major sulk, he has all the basics we need in a back up forward and the PL experience to hit the ground running. Who knows how he might develop with Arteta’s coaching and the service he’ll get from the Arsenal midfield and other forwards. He was always a thorn in our side when he played against us. We need cover especially if the rumour of a Jesus setback is true. Good pivot, Edu!
Rumour has it we’ve been looking at him since he was still in Belgium
There’s a ton here lads. Put your backs into it.
*plays the ball back to the keeper so he feels involved in a multiplayer move*
As has become de rigeur, keeper plays out to the left back
TTG puts his shoulder to the wheel and mixing metaphors moves tye ball swiftly forward by quoting from Swiss Ramble
In stark contrast, Chelsea have generated an impressive £413m profit from player sales in the last five years, including good money from Academy graduates, who represent pure profit. This was by far the highest in the top flight, significantly more than their rivals, e.g. the next highest was Liverpool with £274m.
Without revisiting old battles too closely our player sales must improve . Our purchases look excellent to me and I’m very much supportive of the Trossard deal. Good player with the flexibility we need to provide numerous options
CBA would polish these runs off with ease.
So will I
CBA used to dribble shamelessly with one word drinks .
I could never do that
Actually I could
Strokes a ball forward through the press into the centre circle…
We must improve our sales income and our commercial income…success should boost the latter.
See!
Scramble !
Goalhanger clinches it
Well in TTG!
Well in TTG! 🙂
I read about Saliba’s contract talk on other blogs, which currently goes sideways. Did you hear something about this?
Dubious ton committee must be in session; self-assist and self-pre-assist!
As for the thought of TTG dribbling… 🙂
Trossard seems a reasonable deal for the money, the top end of market value at that price but relatively low-risk. However, he doesn’t strike me as being better than anything we already have, which I thought was now the benchmark for our recruiting. I trust Arteta will be able to get out of him whatever he sees that Brighton did not.
We have been fined £40,000 by the FA for complaining about not being given a penalty in the FA Cup tie against Oxford United. Beggar’s belief.
Double yellow card for TTG. Shameless onanism. Go to the dressing room, sir.
Useless spuds, but on the bright side watching them implode never gets stale.
Well in TTG, a fine individual goal sir 😃
@102 Las
I heard that it was going ok, first offer was refused, which is standard these days and Saliba is very happy. I’d be amazed or even appalled if we didn’t get this done.
Welcome to Leandro Trossard!
I hadn’t realized the spuds had had an offer of 12m for Trossard turned down. We are paying 21m + 5m in later add ons according to the report in The Grauniad.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/19/arsenal-leandro-trossard-brighton-advanced-talks-sign
Trossard looks a better fit for us than the spuds just now. Anyway, a good bit of business for Brighton. They remind of Southampton a few seasons ago, built a decent team and now selling off some of the parts. I hope Trossard does better than Cucurella and Bissouma!
Fine auto-assisting TTG, I didn’t think you had it in you. 😱
@108 I should have said I hope Trossard does as well as Ben White.
The first step will be getting slagged off as useless by the vastly
overrated Neville.
We are apparently close to signing the 22 year old Spezia centre back Jakub Kiwior for about 20m. He is left footed and played for Poland in the World Cup.
We have been short a natural replacement at LCB so it makes sense for the squad.
On inspection, the profile of Trossard’s attacking impact stats (goals v expected goals, shots per 90 mins and so on) is much closer to Saka and Martinelli’s than I would have imagined, marginally inferior but not by so much that Arteta’s coaching and playing for a more attacking team than Brighton won’t close the gaps. We may be pleasantly surprised on the upside.
In transfer news, we’ve made a sale: Harry Clarke to hometown club Ipswich for a reported £1 million.
Trossard has signed
Trossard gets Pépé’s No 19 shirt. Previous occupants include Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Gilberto Silva. Some talent to rub off there.
Bloody Edu has fired up the Barbecue and gone to work !
As OM says we’ve not only signed Trossard we have landed Jakub Kiwior who is officially the greatest left sided centre back/ inverted left back and sometime DM in the world . I’ve known about him for ….hours . I also understand we are close to landing a very exciting right back ( a right-sided Zinchenko ) in Fresneda from Valladolid .
This suggests to me that there is a very clear vision of how we want the club to develop and of the sort of players to build the club around . Some clubs like Brighton and oddly Newcastle have a clear, very strongly-held strategy which is specific to the club but is driven by wisdom and experience . I think we belong to that group . It’s the best I’ve felt about Arsenal since 2004 and that was an incredible high . Exciting times
Of course if these signings bomb I shall deny I ever felt this!
>>>>>>>