A Guest post by Eduardo (stolen from the comments) I have no shame.
Since the upturn in form in the second half of the season the thought has occurred to me many times, and was only reinforced by the outstanding performance in the FA Cup Final, that this summers transfer window will probably be Arsene Wenger’s most difficult. yes more difficult than when the rats Cesc and Nasri jumped ship, much more difficult than when the skunk ran off to ManUre.
You may say in those years we were handicapped by both a lack of money and of not having the sex appeal to make us desirable to world class players, not to mention that we had to contend with Man U, Man City, Chelsea in England who could all pay bigger fees and much bigger wages, and then we had Real, Barca, PSG and Bayern who could do the same across Europe.
But the reality was that we were only battling with them in the transfer market in one way, and that was in our attempts to keep our best players, which we were unable to manage, we certainly were not battling with them for new signings, we just could not compete with them, and in truth we really still can not.
Back then the players we were after and could afford did not interest any of those mega rich clubs, Arteta, Per, Gervinho, Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski etc were not given a second thought by any of those clubs. Those players were not expensive enough, they were not big enough names to gain interest from the sugardaddy clubs. They were the next level of player, but they were exactly what we needed and what we could afford. With the disloyal scampering all over the place to get away from Arsenal, we needed good pros who wanted to be at Arsenal, who knew we were a step up from where they were, and who would give their all for the chance to play for us. This made convincing said players to join us a fairly easy job, it was a bigger job to convince their clubs to sell them to us, and in some cases it took the intervention of the players themselves to force the transfer through.
I think some of you will have already spotted my trend of thought as to why this summer will be Wenger’s most difficult. Simply put, Man U, Man City, Chelsea, Real, Barca, PSG and Bayern are still all able to spend more, pay bigger wages and offer what looks like a better chance of success to the world class players, and that is the core problem, cos we now are at the level where to improve on what we have, we will be competing for players that will be of interest to some, most or all of those clubs.
We are told Arsenal need a young David Seaman in goal, a young Tony Adams to lead the team from CB, a young Patrick Vieira to drive us on from CM and a Thierry Henry in his prime to shoot us to the titles and CL’s we all want. Now no one has yet explained the three big things here,
1. who are these clones that we should get,
2. why are their clubs willing to sell them to us,
3. why would these clones join us over the mega rich clubs
For me Arsenal are very close to having the best squad we ever had, but getting those few extra players of real quality to make it so, has never been harder to pull off.
On Saturday Arteta, Debuchy, Chambers, Rosicky, Diaby, Podolski, Campbell, Sanogo, Jenkinson, Welbeck Hayden, Akpom and Martinez, were not even in the 18, and Gibbs, Gabriel, Flamini and Ospina did not get any game time and I would contend that in those couple of seasons of deserters we often fielded a match day squad worse than that lot
Ospina
Debuchy, Chambers, Gabriel, Gibbs
Arteta, Flamini
Campbell, Rosicky, Podolski,
Welbeck
subs: Martinez, Hayden, Diaby, Jenkinson, Sanogo, Akpom
So I suggest that we have real squad depth, and to improve it will mean bringing in real top quality, the sort of top quality that all the other big clubs will be after too.
Having said that, I fully expect the likes of diaby, Podolski and Campbell to leave Arsenal this summer, others likely to go too, I will not be surprised if its announced that Arteta is joining the club on the coaching side, maybe a player coach, some of the young lads need loan deals and Jenkinson is likely to at best get another loan deal, so there is room for us to bring in one or two who are not world class, a la James Milner, but this sort will not on their own bring us to the next level, another Ozil/alexis type quality signing will help more, but who ?
And that is why for me this summer is likely to be Arsene Wenger’s most difficult transfer window, but for all the right reasons, and not cos of money grabbing traitors, rats and skunks
Positively Arsenal 
I’m honored george
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This is so true, but so few accept it (The article I mean)
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We’ll done eddy.
A nice bit of editing there too from mr. Blackburn.
Arsenal will still have to shop smart – we won’t be offering anyone £200k tax free wage packages, we won’t be announcing talks with agents just so that thy can do a public auction around the big clubs for their players. We won’t do business with agents we can’t trust , i.e. The fellow who represents Jose Mourinho.
A few side bar deals at the Copa America might be in Wenger’s thinking. I think he has a few deals done already. I’m only really expecting upgrades for departing squad players, but as the boss said – if genuine world class players become available, Arsenal will be interested – but not at stupid prices.
The problem is our rivals in England and Europe are more than ready to pay stupid prices – especially with money they never earned properly in the first place.
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Very good piece eddy -and I fear that this will be a transfer window in which the lessons that clubs have learned over the past few seasons, learned hard in the case of the two Manchester clubs and the Scousers , mean that any players of top, top quality will be pursued with unrelenting purpose.
Clubs are more savvy, more cash from the TV contracts and bigger sponsorship pie rolling in, agents shrewder and more cunning ( other than Sterling’s), FFP is slowly but surely shaping in the one hand, but also bending with the landscape.
The only thing that does not alter is the shortage of quality players who would genuinely add to the Arsenal squad.
Also be interesting to see who might come in to add to the backroom expertise. Another Shad Forsythe anyone ?
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Nice one, Eduardo (and George for posting it lol).
I think you are wrong, though.
This transfer window will be easy.
Arsene will make it easy.
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the post today like many other days shows that posts on PA arent just great but the comment section is quality as well. kudos to you edu, george and all posters on PA.
well, talking about addition, some pundits seem to think khedira is an improvement on coq. they must also think drogba is an upgrade on giroud.
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floating all over the grass …er i mean pitch
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Ed, good expression of your feelings about the transfer window. i think hunter, like sunday, will try and rain on your parade. i suggest you, like sunday, just enjoy it anyway.
oh and as in all these posts about the depth of our squad it is impossible to write without leaving someone out, many have tried and all failed, poor old serge has been forgoten and if Theo continues up front he with the Ox could be more and more important on the right
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the squad should be left alone to continue its growth… it can surely only improve in mentality and overall output..
Come on squad..you can do it!
But for players like Poldi and Campbell that may leave we ought not to have much in the transfer window except to sign maybe Messi? Anyone to be signed surely must improve the squad.. For example, Cech and castillas – great rep and all, but getting on in years, do not and am happy WS1 chose to stay on and fight for his place competition always produced better sportsmen!
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I think you do understand.
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This is absolutely true – this will be a very very, difficult transfer window. The advantages we have are that 1) we are the most attractive we’ve looked for years – the manager, the star names we already have, the style of play and the ethos of the club and now two trophies on the bounce, and 2) there will always be one or two players who are not the main men at their clubs, but would be seen like that almost anywhere else, and they will be interested in joining us. Both Ozil and Sanchez fall into this category – they were pushed out to make way for a supposedly brighter star. Players like that will push very hard to join us rather than some of the money clubs.
I hope!
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lol..no i dont george, but im sure you will explain like all the other times…..
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within only 3 mins so you dont get tired looking back and forth……
sunday 31st may
cannon13May 31, 2015 at 10:33 am
think they should rename wembley …its our summer home….we own it…or at least our name above the dressing room entrance
fins ..bellerin…poor debouchy…
anicoll..the 5 amigos at the end? haha… brilliant.
cannon13May 31, 2015 at 11:42 am
Was watching a documentary on sharks one day and it showed how when they eat and eat and stuff themselves they reach an orgasmic nirvana trance kind of state and just float around hallucinating , flapping/moving slow and aimlessly.
cannon13May 31, 2015 at 12:16 pm
mou will need to park the uss nimitz against us.
so which of the above didnt you like? heh….
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Right Hunter, lets derail another thread and make it all about you. Again !
I’m sure everyone else will love that?
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I think Arsene has already pretty much told us what the plan is now, with all his recent talk of ‘team cohesion’. He has almost all of the players he needs, the next step is to find the ideal way to assemble them and allow the group to improve organically. And to not disrupt that growing chemistry by buying unnecessarily. Only special players truly worth blending into the mix need apply. Unless another opportunity like Ozil or Alexis presents itself, which it very well might, the suggestion is there will be few additions.
Five players were brought in last summer and Arsene has said many times he doesn’t like to add more than 2 or 3. That many new faces might have also been a factor in our shaky start. No world cup, no CL qualifiers, no injuries (we hope) and no influx of players to bed in should make for a much stronger start
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wait were we linked to pastore? now we hear he has snubbed us, pool, chelsea, etc to sign back on i PSG… there agents eh?
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Fun Gunner! been a while!
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Eddy, remember?
Fixing The Arsenal, 5th June 2012.
Quote
“Arsenal can win under a model of financial self-sustainability. It just needs to refocus its efforts in other areas to make sure it can. If it does that we can all be glad as the silverware starts to come in again.
“FYI – Special thanks to Darren (@DarrenArsenal1) Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) and Phil (@AngryofN5) for their help in discussing certain components of this piece. The information on Arsenal’s commercial dealings can be found in fuller detail in this piece on Swiss Ramble”.
I will not comment on your sources!
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Eddie is unto something there. Apart from Wenger’s emphasis on stability and his reluctance to buy more than 2 or 3 in any window (last year’s purchases were a major aberration), it will be very difficult finding any player of quality that will improve our squad. And I reject the notion that Cech represents an improvement over Ospina or Szechny; he was responsible for Chelsea letting in 41 goals in 2014, a flood by their standards, as much as Wojciech btw. I cannot see Real Mad and Barca repeating the same madness of 2013 and 2014 letting go of Ozil and Sanchez respectively. No wonder the boss is discouraging all this transfer task. Some of us need to get used to it.
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are you mad or something ? i just asked what i did on sunday since some of you are complaining again…. apparently didnt do much ….so how am i making the thread about me ? by asking ?
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Most pundits and many fans have already forgotten that we signed Gabriel in January and Chambers last July, but if those two don’t turn out to be outstanding then I shall be disappointed and surprised. Likewise with Gnabry and also the Ox as AoB says. I have long thought that Theo is the top quality striker we are after and a front three of Alexis, Theo and Gnabry has the potential to be at the very least a reasonable imitation of the SSS which so nearly won the league for Liverpool last year.
There will be players out there who are at least as good as our own, but I certainly don’t know who they are, and like many who Arsene has signed before they will disappoint and seem underwhelming to those who crave bragging rights. But if they turn out as good as Kos or Monreal have then it will be very much business as usual.
Much has been made of Mourinho’s signing of Fabregas and Costa, and they certainly played their part in their League success – but I think the real architects were players brought back from loan – or who had been sold and then bought again. And Hazard, of course, who has taken a while to blossom into the outstanding talent he now is. So even at cash-rich Chelsea success doesn’t happen immediately, and I just wish more could enjoy the slow but certain progress Wenger’s side is making too.
But seeing as how many of the fans I saw watching the Cup Final were more pissed than Wilshere was on Sunday morning, it is hardly surprising that the most convenient narrative to believe is the one that promises instant gratification. And that is fine as long as people don’t take things too seriously. Especially me.
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as for the thread itself its a ridiculous one written by an even more ridiculous person at the most ridiculous of times…after a historic triumph and record broken…who one week basically calls us cunts and the next week talks about the one or two who wenger might purchase to improve the squad……. thats called insanity, but anyway…
even more so when you have cech at your doorstep , aged 32-33 . close to perfect age for goalkeepers, wants to stay in london, was wenger’s target before ranieri stuck his nose in and with regards to negotiations it is apparently forgotten that mou counts for shit as its super agent marina handling those, plus excluding the funny head gear this is professional who has never provoked, always performs and a figure from which both woijech and opsina can learn from
the possibility of above player was scorned at, shat upon ridiculed and used as a cheap ammunition to question peoples knowledge, support and credentials…so respectfully fdont tell me about ‘derailing of threads’ ……
end of the day i never turned and said ‘ if you dont want cech, or X then youre a moron who doesnt know football ‘ like others say in here…imagine that.
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Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
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@ Hunter the thread is not saying we definitely need one or two or three players without which we cannot challenge.. There is nothing wrong with this present squad…. there is no transfer law that says we must buy every year… do players not stay on for 4 or 5 years contract and all, if they are still good enough the contracts are renewed which is always priority over getting shining new players…
Is benzana better than what we have now? i would say no… opinions differ, and happily it is not my call… if AW thinks he would improve the squad, he would gt him, and we will support him.
some plyers were being pedaled around as the next batch of saviors which many strongly say are not really better than what we have… which means if we do find better than what we have, why not… what our manager calls top top quality!
But picking on WS1 for example and insisting Cech is better than him were the kind of stuff being reacted to and not the concept of any player in the universe being bought!
if they do come along which is simply quoting the manager… if a sanchez or Ozil or messi comes along for any reason, why not?
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If Cech is better than Wojo because he has won more, perhaps we should have pushed the boat out and gone for Víctor Valdés, he must be the best of all ?
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Nice post, Eddy, and I think it makes a lot of sense. I will wait, as I always do, to see what happens. I will welcome whoever joins us. And mourn whoever leaves.
Hunter, my goodness. Do you have any idea how to debate without antagonizing people? It’s really very unbecoming. And I actually think you’re smarter than that.
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Interesting p.o.v. but I think I might take a leaf out of steww’s book as I don’t relish 6 weeks of transfer speculation and arguing. I’ll wait and see if the manager decides to do anything in the market and support whoever is wearing an Arsenal shirt come the start of next season.
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Valdez and cech is a bit like putting together clichy with carlos. Only those who chose djourous over hummels and luizs would say such crazy things….
cech is better cause he is more mature and experienced AND he has been integral in his teams successes
Valdez is barcelona proving you can win it with almunia provided you have puyols xavis and messis in front of you…
so without getting pedantic your example was horrible……..goodnight, im bored.
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Ah right. The logic only goes so far. I see,
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Hunter, lighten up I didn’t and have never complained about you, I merely used a metaphor about rain and parades but I think your well aware of that.
While I agree basking in the glory is what we should be prioritising right a little self gratification about our squad doesn’t hurt and remember this was a comment originally and not a post so its a little unfortunate that ed has the hunters target on his back right now.
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There is a reason why his club dropped him for a younger keeper.. why should we then drop our own younger keeper for him when they were joint golden glove winners last season… means ours is improving and can only get better!
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don’t feed the troll, ignore him, it is clear what he is up to and what he wants.
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It seems to be taken as read by the punditry that the present Arsenal squad cannot compete with the present Chelsea squad. This certainty appeared to be true on Nov 24 2014, when after 12 matches played. we were 15 points behind Chelsea.
However, on May 24 2015, after 38 matches played, we were 12 points behind Chelsea.
So, if over the last 6 months and 26 league matches we have won 3 more points than Chelsea, can this still be a reasonable claim?
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No my friend the logic goes that – whatever escaped puyol would usually register as goal…. thus valdez not so great. While whatever escaped carvalho teryy and cahill (three worse defenders than puyol+pique, four if i add your favourite luiz) would not register cause cech was there to save with intelligent reading, positioning, strong hands etc….but nevermind keep pretending you dont get the difference. Two, casillas was always first choice in national team, so again valdez is in a disadvantage in front of a cech. Just for the sake of logic.
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And after all these new signings, players and coaches, the next thing I have to get totally frantic about for the next 73 days is which referees will Arsene be bringing in in the close season. Obviously, and as results since Christmas prove, we have a decent nucleus of officials, but I reckon if we are going to really press for the PL that one or two top top quality whistlers need to be brought in, to cover for the inevitable injuries.
Jose knows the conspiracy has just begun.
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live football streaming coming to an end
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/live-football-streams-banned-rojadirecta-livetv-drakulastream-10289865.html
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@Hunter dont end up trying to make out as if Cech is being declared a bad keeper… he is great but in decline… that is the nucleus of the argument.. you feel he still has 2 or 3 top years in him we should take advantage of… many do not agree that the risk is worth losing our present crop of first choice keepers for. herein is the argument…
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TS 9:53pm
I totally agree.
Cech has made quite enough cock-ups in recent years at Chelsea if anybody’s been watching. They called back their young goalie who was getting good experience in Spain to repair the damage.
Bradford City put 4 past him, Woj only let 1 in against that team.
His other games in the League Cup this season had very few clean sheets, despite playing against some very easy teams, and he was dropped when Jose was genuinely scared Chelsea would actually have to play in a competitive game.
Bring him to AFC by all means, but only in a coaching role, on a free transfer and at groundskeeper’s wages.
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Anicoll
I’m rather partial to a spot of Clattenberg from time to time, we don’t get as much as we used too.
Perhaps if Ivan or Arsene could have kind words with the purveyors?
They do seem to respond well to wealthy patronage.
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Arsenal can’t compete with Chelsea’s squad, eh?
So That was the reason Jose was so terrified of our team he parked the bus, dug a 8′ trench and up put up barded wire around it at the Ems to stop us.
That, plus them adding-in a bit of extra thuggish kicking into the mix back at the Bridge for good measure.
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Agree, so many talented players, so few places. How do you keep em all happy and then sign the four mythical players the media and recruitkent director piers Morgan demand? Especially when our injury situation…at least…fingers crossed…seems to be improving, and will hopefully continue to do so without a World Cup of fraud, and a champs league qualifier. As for Arteta, have a strong feeling he will be part of the fabric of the clubs future should he wish to be
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All this without a DOF who has a bunch of sleazy agents on speed-dial?
How have Arsenal coped and not fallen so far behind such lumenaries as City, Liverpool, Utd and Spurs.
TibiDabo, as they say in Barcelona. Luke 4:6
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Theo out for a year because of Clattenburg. He saw the stamp on Walcott’s achilles and totally ignored it. That stamp was neither accidental nor acknowledged. Danny Rose finished the job. Clatters sees everything, and he can keep up with play. I’ve not seen him go through an Arsenal match without allowing at least one very dangerous tackle on our players, followed by a smile/grin.
On the other hand, he got a very nice hair transplant, so he’s not all bad.
Did anyone notice Agbonlawhore deliberately smash into young Hector? I saw it, but only when I watched that section in slow motion. The shoulder or forearm into the neck or face of a player facing away from the thug is a move I first saw from Jordn Henderson at Klanfield. Artetta stretchered off, if I remember correctly. You can time it so the ref has his back or side to the play, and JH done exactly that, leaving (the ref who overcame cancer) with no idea why Mikel was lying down, and of course none of this was noticed by officials or plundits.
And now – to entirely discredit myself on the transfer front – I have a strong desire for Sanogo to come back into the team (next season or the one after) and cause absolute CHAOS to our opposition. If Cahill tries to take his shirt off the ex Bolton man may find himself with a broken back, except it’ll be more subtle than Gary’s attempt to break Alexis’s ankle (and the next time Maureen rushes at Wenger, it’ll be ho-says eye that’ll be taken out.)
Sleep tight.
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He’s a bit raw, but I also like Sanogo.
RE: Petr Cech – I vote Bob Wilson – http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/562539/Bob-Wilson-Arsenal-Petr-Cech-Wojciech-Szczesny
I really don’t know if Cech is coming. If he does, then fair play to Arsene. If he doesn’t, so be it. But I am sure that wherever he goes next he will prove to be a great keeper, as I suspect reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. One of very few players on that despicable team I do not despise. Saved them for years. Bastard.
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Ta for the link, Sav.
That Bob Wilson, eh, always supporting the players, manager and club. Tut.
He set up the Willow foundation. He’s so un Uzmanoff!
Forgive me, but was it Fins who pointed out the lack of a congratulatory message from our major minor shareholder? Thanks to whoever it was.
I love WS1’s message – my home, my friends, I’ll work hard. Many years, etc.
That’ll do me. DW23 is the only person with experience I’ve really admired – from an “entitled” club. Dat Guy ist gud, cos he came to us knowing arsenal aren’t entitled like wot his team wos. Innit?
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Ranty: Dat Guy will be an Arsenal great. Wouldn’t altogether surprise me to see Usmanov sell up his stake and move on somewhere else now. Aston Villa maybe?
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Open your diaries;
17th June PL fixtures announced
1st August Community Shield
7th August CL play off fixtures announced – for those anticipating Manyoo’ s early exit
27th August CL group draw
8th August First Saturday of PL
28 Feb Capital One Cup final
15 May FA Cup final
28th May CL final at the San Siro
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Mandy mentions the unmentionable for the hack dwarves and experts in football management out there:
Forget about any more transfers how in the blazing saddles do you keep the existing squad happy? Some of you will have read my thoughts on cazrorla-Ramsey-Walcott juggle that might have been going on of late. Others will have mis-read those thoughts but hopefully those of you paying attention to the words could understand.
And it appears that AW has played another blinder. Can’t see WS or TW instructing their agents to help them engineer a move now, I didn’t before. Was more worried about my man Santi Cazorla but a long stint at CM has probably convinced him to stay for a bit longer. Which will mean less Rosicky.
Somehow AW has managed to convince Arteta and Rozza to stay on as pseudo player-coaches. Clearly Coquelin playing golf with the skipper – 100% with his long range passing in the final? There’s more to come from him.
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