Yesterday’s horror show at Anfield has brought out all the usual media clichés, memes and tropes about Arsenal Football Club. No fight, no leadership, no spirit, no heart, etc.
As readers are familiar, conventional ideas based on feelings and opinions have no appeal to me. There is need to identify the real objective reasons for this sub-standard performance and support real solutions rather than engage in hyperbole and vitriol. That is if we truly care for the club, rather than our own egos.
Arsene Wenger in the post game presser expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance:
“I think from the first to the last minute we were not at the level requested for such a game and not physically, not technically, not mentally were we at the level and we were punished and that’s basically it. You can of course analyse the chances we gave away, but I just think overall that the performance was not at the requested level.”
But he was careful not to offer his opinion as to why it was substandard:
“That’s a question that is very difficult to answer straight away after the game and there are some reasons, but I don’t think I have too much to come out on that now.”
We as fans are entitled to our own opinion. Many have been quick to suggest there was lack of commitment by want-away players prior to the close of the transfer window. Those of us who witnessed a very lackadaisical performance by Samir Nasri in his final game for the club prior to his Manchester City transfer have good reason to believe it is déjà vu all over again.
Outplayed in midfield
While there may be truth about lack of commitment by some team members, I am more concerned about how easily we were outplayed in midfield. Possession statistics are very misleading having Liverpool and Arsenal at 49% and 51% respectively. While Arsenal apparently had superiority, most telling was AFC’s inability to turn possession into goal-scoring opportunities. The data makes horrible reading. Liverpool had 18 shots on goal with 8 on target. In comparison Arsenal had 10 shots on goal, nearly 50% less, but zero on target. Watching the game it was obvious Arsenal’s midfielders were easily pressured and did not have the ability to retain possession or make forward passes into dangerous areas where the forwards could make good shots thus forcing the clearly skittish Kaius to make saves.
Whoscored.com summarized Liverpool’s strengths as the following:
- Created a high number of chances relative to their possession
- Stole the ball often from the opposition
- Were effective at creating goalscoring opportunities from the flanks
- Were effective at creating goalscoring opportunities from counter attacks
- Were strong at finishing
In contrast they concluded Arsenal had “no strengths.” (Brutal.)
Compare this to the similar fixture last year, Sunday, August 14th, at the Emirates when Arsenal lost 3:4 and the same analytics indicated Arsenal’s strengths as:
- Were effective at creating goalscoring opportunities through individual skill
- Were strong at finishing
Those with vibrant memories will recall Arsenal was playing poorly that day. The club was down 1:3 at the 61st minute mark when a certain little Spanish magician entered the fray and from his deep-lying midfield position helped retrieve some honor from a bleak position. It even worsened to 1:4 but Santi helped to stem the tide and bring it to a respectable 3:4 final score.
With Santi starting every game from then onward to October, when he finally succumbed to his current long term injury, Arsenal was an unbeatable force. I have kept banging the point since then. Arsenal’s midfield has a big giant hole, and needs a deep-lying playmaker to make the system work. This is a technically based team that needs technically accomplished players, especially in midfield, to play according to its DNA.
Arsenal’s midfielders are collectively inferior to main rivals
Based on EPL data, the brutal fact is, collectively Arsenal’s current crop of midfielders are arguably of inferior standard when compared to its main EPL rivals. I used data from Whoscored to compare like with like. For midfielders returning to their current teams I compared their 2016-17 data for Goals, Assists and overall Average Rating. By the way Whoscored classifies players like Alexis and Walcott as midfielders when in my opinion they are primarily wide forwards. In these cases and for similar players from other clubs they are excluded from the analysis. Similarly players classified as defenders but who played primarily as defensive midfielders, e.g. Emre Can, I include them in the analysis.
| Club | Goals | Assists | Avg Rating |
| Liverpool | 43 | 30 | 7.27 |
| Manchester City | 24 | 35 | 7.22 |
| Chelsea | 26 | 26 | 7.10 |
| Manchester United | 18 | 16 | 7.09 |
| Tottenham | 34 | 27 | 7.00 |
| Arsenal | 16 | 25 | 6.92 |
The data makes somber reading for all gooners. Among the top-6, of the returning midfielders from 2016-17 Arsenal is dead last in goals-scored and second from last in assists. Top of the list is Liverpool and hopefully the data should shut up the screaming imbeciles who think they are chopped liver.
What most concerns me is that although Wenger has bought quality players in Lacazette and Kolosinac to improve the forward-line and defense repectively, unlike his main rivals he has been unable to sign a top-top midfielder. Liverpool has brought Salah as an AM and he was rated 7.48 in the Scudetto, United has bought Matic who had a 7.01 overall rating at Chelsea last year, City has bought Silva who had a 7.29 rating in Ligue Une and Chelsea bought Bakayoko who brings a 7.27 overall rating from Monaco.
I am not arguing that any of these new players will suddenly become world class at their new clubs but they are clearly making an effort to strengthen with at least 7/10 players. Apart from Ozil, all other midfielders at Arsenal were less than 7/10 last year. This I would suggest is the root of Arsenal’s current midfield woes.
In my last blog I argued Arsenal will challenge based on the consistency of the club and its manager over the past 21 years and the evident efforts to strengthen the squad this season. The emotional outpouring of wailing and gnashing of teeth after the Liverpool defeat strengthens my contrarian conviction. There was a similar outpouring last year and the margin of defeat was far less. The data leads me to the conclusion that the manager knows where the weakness lie and will use the last days of the transfer window to try find a fix.
PS: I must take a temporary leave of absence from blogging to take care of some pressing issues. Hoping to return after the international break.
Positively Arsenal 
anyone listen to Lee Dixon after the game yesterday, he said something the WOB won’t like or will misquote. He said that in his playing days at Arsenal there were times that the players would (have to) ignore the game plan, or tactics, and not wait for changes to be made on instruction from the sideline, but make the changes themselves, change tactics, change formation, whatever, — the bit that the WOB won’t like is that he said this was done not only under Arsene Wenger, but under George Graham too.
He said that of course players have to do this, they have to spot what is happening in a game, and react, that by time a coach/manager can get his instructions to the players its often too late, so players must take responsibility.
He said it was his feeling that the Arsenal players are abdicating this responsibility and are taking the easy way out. He says making these changes is what he calls leadership on the field. the manager can only lead from the sideline, players must lead on the pitch.
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Eddie: Blog before the last, I made it clear we don’t defend very well. Part of it is down to defenders but imo it is also due to our midfielders lack of sufficient technical nous. Attack is our best form of defense and imo we don’t attack very well against pressing and counter attacking teams.
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Ah yes, out of purgatory.
Basically, I want AW to get a couple more of the sort of players he likes: Clever, mobile midfield technicians that can show for the ball and keep it under pressure. Then everything will be fixed.
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A5 we have always conceded goals and that has been the reason we always fall short in title chase every season. but every club are setting up to make it difficult for us to score goals and we wont always score. it is also true that the seasons we won the title and for every title winning teams of other clubs, keeping it tight at the back has always been the key.
i remember after our game against palace last season, we changed formation not to score more but to concede less. so to say you dont care if we concede goals is like thinking we play laliga and not epl. i said it earlier before the start of the season that we are not prepare defensively and that we paid too much attention on the attack than the defence.
talking about scoring goals, i think the starting line up yesterday in the attack pointed to the fact that we were more likely to be wasteful than taking our chances. apart from sanchez upfront, only ramsey can reasonably be seen as likely to score goals. welbz will as usual work hard but wont get you goals. so the decision not to play lacazette in a game like that as well as giroud is strange expecially when we play with defence having only kos as the only experienced and recognised CB.
a few times in the game we had chances to counter attack but each time it get to welbz it was over.
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Been slow on the uptake but I’ve only just realised why Ox such a good bet for Chelsea. I thought of him only in terms of the wing-back or centre mid positions for them. Wing back, all the way. No chance he gets centre mid. Silly Ox if that’s his hope.
Somehow I managed to forget they also play with two off the striker, think it’s normally between Hazard, Willian and Pedro. Quite obviously he’ll be a good extra option for them there.
Anyway, I think it’s a great bet for them. Reasonable price in this market, versatile player with lots of experience, big potential, hints of being ready to step up. If it doesn’t work out, if he doesn’t kick on now, still a handy player, and they are well versed anyway in moving on quite quickly if a player doesn’t satisfy them.
For us, I think most likely we have done little or nothing wrong. No stupidity, no rotten decisions. Reasonable thinking all the way which, unfortunately, has not been rewarded as we hoped.
Even if he goes on to be a tremendous success, that won’t alter the truth that we have possibly or probably done nothing remotely wrong.
Unfortunate. Bad luck. Whatever. If we’re taking the cash and off he goes, that’s that, let’s move on and not look back.
As for whether I’ll want him to fulfil his potential…that’s far too much to ask from likes of me, such generosity. I’ll wish the guy a happy enough life, but no, I can’t wish for him to make good on all the talent and become a superstar player. Nope.
If his agent wants to reinvest his windfall in trying to attract a bunch of new talents/ hosts; I sincerely hope we avoid like the plague any of his players, no matter how talented they are.
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IMO it’s time to let anyone go who doesn’t want to stay, incomings or no. I don’t wish them ill, I’d just rather go for it with the ones who want to stay.
I’m also willing to let go of any supporters who are still pining after Friday for players we don’t have, instead of supporting the ones we do. I’m optimistic none of the good people here at PA will be in that group.
I’m backing the boys to recover after the break. No one was surprised when Chelsea did it last season after losing 3-0 at our place. (Well, maybe their supporters were jumping off bridges? I don’t know, I don’t follow any, thank god.) Up the Arsenal.
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lots of reports that Arsenal have accepted a £35M bid from Chelsea for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
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Chelsea agree fee with Arsenal to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Dominic Fifield@domfifield
Monday 28 August 2017 17.12 BST
Last modified on Monday 28 August 2017 17.37 BST
Chelsea have kickstarted a frantic scramble for reinforcements in the final week of the summer transfer window by agreeing a fee with Arsenal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with the player potentially the first of three England internationals destined for Stamford Bridge before the cut-off on Thursday.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract, had been offered new and improved terms to commit his future to Arsenal but made clear towards the end of last week that his preference was to seek a new challenge. Arsenal are not prepared to lose all of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez under freedom of contract next summer and, given the lack of suitors for the German and the hierarchy’s intransigence over the prospect of selling Sánchez this summer, that always left the Englishman as the likeliest to depart.
Football Weekly – The Guardian Familiar scenes for Arsenal fans as Sánchez walks alone – Football Weekly
Max Rushden’s back with some more apologies for anyone he’s recently offended, and he’s brought along Barry Glendenning, Paul MacInnes and Jonathan Wilson to bear witness and review the most recent footballing action
Listen
Liverpool had also been interested in Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had been secured from Southampton in 2011, but the 24-year-old’s preference was always to remain in the capital. Personal terms are unlikely to prove an issue, with Antonio Conte hoping a versatile player will challenge Victor Moses at right wing-back and bolster his midfield options with a Champions League campaign ahead. A fee of around £35m had been mooted.
Oxlade-Chamberlain could yet be joined at Stamford Bridge by Leicester City’s Danny Drinkwater, with talks ongoing between the clubs. There is interest, too, in Ross Barkley at Everton – the attacking midfielder is in rehabilitation from a torn hamstring and will not be available until the new year – and Swansea City are braced for a bid for the Spain forward Fernando Llorente.
Chelsea’s young forward Jeremie Boga has signed a new three-year contract and become the 28th player to be loaned out by the club this summer, joining Birmingham City in the Championship for the remainder of the season.
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I have to admit that I’m worried that AW may be having brain problems. His selections for the past two games seem to bear out my worry.
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Some people want to throw the baby.rubber duck , soap and the sponge out with the bathwater. Get a grip.
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george I just want the players who don’t want to play for Arsenal thrown out
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I will also say that if this transfer of ox to cfc was on the cards before yesterday then it was madness to select him ahead of Kolasinac
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Eddie: It is obvious Arsene wanted to fight to the end for The Ox. The boy would have seen non-selection as a justifiable pretext for leaving the club. Now he has absolutely none, not even close to Ashley Cole’s who argued that Arsenal nickel and dimed him over £5k per week, causing him to almost rn off the road (LMAO over that one).
We have lost a huge homegrown talent who has the potential to become a top-top player but in return the club has £35 million to acquire a 7/10 midfielder who will immediately do a better job than the Ox.
PS: I wouldn’t be surprised if Mahrez is signed as a right-sided AM. Certainly a much better attacker than the Ox and about the same defensively.
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if the sale of ox goes through AFC would be about £10M in transfer profit this summer
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maybe ox’s like of a wengerout rant by AFTV last season was no accident after all
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I’m not sure that the Ox will be such a big loss. He remains inconsistent and has little end product 9 times out of 10. His biggest selling point for chelski is that he is a homegrown player and they need some to fill their quota. I expect he will see a lot of the bench if he does move to CFC.
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Should just fit nicely in Stans wallet – tidy round sum
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Shotta
Agree with all parts of your last post. My guess is Leicester would be very unlikely to part with Mahrez,though.
Don’t see attraction for them unless they know his character and think his performances will plummet if they block a move. Think they’d figure good chance they can get about same or more as whatever we’re willing to pay -40 mill?- in a year’s time.
Prob pushing it for any big deal if we are starting almost from scratch. Chance much better if lots of groundwork already done.
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rich, lcfc are in for andros townsend
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reports saying alexis has tendered a transfer request. if its true than no reason to keep on. and we need to move quickly ahead of liverpool for lemar and maybe draxler. it seems liverpool will sell coutinho before the deadline.
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Are all the rats leaving the sinking ship then?
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Also Shotta, if playing Ox was a last stand move, and then true that deal sanctioned today…i’d say that alone counts for a fair amount of internal drama, tension and upheaval (today for sure but almost certainly before) to be contended with.
If there’s another one of two like that behind scenes, then that’s a hell of a lot of drama and stress to be dealing with while negotiating a big game. Without even thinking of even bigger issues behind that, i.e. this rumour of the ground shifting beneath Wenger thanks to Stan actions.
Doesn’t make yesterday’s result easier to take nor absolve from blame whatever created it, but it could explain some of the difficulties on the day, and it also points quite clearly to their being at least one big issue- Ox’s future- which was not resolved as late as yesterday but now is, or nearly.
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Ed
Townsend? Jeez. I actually heard that a few days ago- 27 mill!- and forgot instantly.
27 mill! Townsend, Andros. My word. Again, though, how would they value Mahrez in comparison?
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some reports that Mahrez has not turned up for international duty with Algeria as he is completing a transfer
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more than having positive results to lift the spirit in and around the club, i think we need one or two big signings to make statement and assure all that we are still ambitious. wenger did said that we need to keep the core of the team and add two or three players. but now we losing the core players and there cant be any tenable excuse apart from lack of fund or change in priority from fighting for title to making profit. gab, mustafi, ox, perez and maybe sanchez. no, this cant be hapening!
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there is a rumor from Germany that with the sale of Dembele to Barcelona, Dortmund have come in for Ozil
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I wonder how those fans are feeling that said – hope we finish outside top 4 so the board will be forced to splash the cash
as things stand we are heading for a transfer profit and having also slashed our wage bill.
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Limpar33 @Limpar33 1h1 hour ago
Have Chelsea sorted out the Ox’s loan move to Vitesse Arnhem yet?
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just a thought on ox, maybe just maybe the decision to sell him was taken due to how poor he was yesterday, maybe it showed Wenger that the lad would not put in the effort if we refused to let him go.
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I love a bit of panic – you can smell it on the evening breeze
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Odd really – the Ox was good against Leicester and Stoke – a half arsed display at Anfield and it’s all sell sell sell
Like a pair of flip flops in a tumble dryer
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maybe arsenal are trying to clear and clean the table to start all over again. it may take time but that might be a good way to build. just confused.
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Or it may just be that the media, with no actual news to report at the end of the transfer window, are just trying to whip up a bit of hysteria among the ever gullible Arsenal faithful !?
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anicoll, if we’re still talking Ox, it’s true I haven’t even tried to apply the scepticism media reports deserve.
Probably because it fits completely with my belief from last week- and there was a pretty lengthy debate on here about it- that ultimately we may have little choice but to sell, and it is probably the right thing for us.
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afcstuff @afcstuff 4h4 hours ago
Granit Xhaka was forced to disable comments on his latest Instagram post after receiving death threats & abusive language towards him. #afc
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It just seems to have gone a bit NUTS Rich
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Xhaka my man; your welcome to Arsenal is complete.
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anicol
No disputing that.
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The Xhaka stuff. These uber fans, these real fans, don’t half give the players a nice easy out if ever they should want to justify leaving.
Is there anyone in the squad who hasn’t received at least some abuse of a strong enough level that they couldn’t point to it and say, ‘loyalty, to those with these c*nts and freaks among their number? Yeah, right.’
Logically, all fanbases must have countless morons and scumbags, and any seriously mature, intelligent and honest player would know that and account for it, but still… as well as being so immensely shitty in itself, the vile abuse, a real fan would never risk harming the club by giving players that easy justification.
Plus, you can’t go counting on all players, existing inside football’s strange world since their early teens most of them, to be seriously mature, intelligent and honest now can you.
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In these days of Kremlinbots and whatnot this lack of accountability won’t last. People’s relationship with the internet and social media is going to change at some point.So hopefully this sort of thing will come to an end sooner rather than later. Well, it will happen long before people learn to stop being wankers. So there
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I say OUT with the disloyal, IN with some new energy…I say we need a right overhaul @ The Arse.
Bye Shkodran..hello Ben Gibson. Home-grown, young, strong, full of focus & grit. Seeing as the van Dijk saga is neither here nor there, with 73 hrs to go, we just can’t wait around. If the Saints do opt to give him up, I’d say take it for no more than £50m.
If not wait till next summer or January and try again.
I think the decision to play Ox was double-sided. To give him a chance to say farewell to the fans and to show us what we’ll be missing. He essentially ticked both boxes polarity-wise. Good riddance and good luck AOC.
I’d take a chance on Seri. He plays with the right mix of self motivation, defensive discipline, force, and “fillet o’ dark arts”. At 26 he’s in his prime, wants to play for a big team and has a lot to prove. We need this lil’ general more than ever. Other options would be the constantly-linked N’zonzi or Carvalho though in hindsight, I would have sold off Alexis to PSG (pre-Mbappe) for my fave DM/CM..Adrien Rabiot…but hey.
Post Mbappe, Draxler is available. This is very good news but we must act swiftly. I sense Mourinhoe’s set to add another wide forward and its between young Julian & Riyad Mahrez. Personally I would love nothing more than for us to sign both of them. This can only happen if we..(wait for it)…set Alexis free. Yes, I said it, SELL ALEXIS Sanchez to the highest bidder. If its to be to Etihad City, so be it. We have way bigger issues at the moment than to try to appease this Chilean ball of explosive/disruptive energy for another 7 months. Alexis DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY FOR ARSENAL ANYMORE! £70 million would be more than enough plus the gift wrap. Let him go be Pep’s problem I say.
The piece de resistance after all this would be to snag Leon Goretzka just because he’s
young, talented, a German, CM/AM/RW, tall, strong, sturdy, and full of stamina. What’s not to like? An immediate upgrade on Rambo, a challenge for Jack & Granit.
Wouldn’t cost more than £40 and can be tied down till 2024.
We still need new homes for Lucas, Debuchy, Gibbs, Akpom & Campbell.
If AW can pull these transfers off, we just might have to start placing release clauses on all our players. Enough with the sloppiness already.
It’s time to fight. Time to regain respect. ARSENAL.
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birdkamp: Who is being non-accountable? The most non-accountable entity in football is the media, tweeters, bloggers and podcasters. They hide behind internet anonymity. We have no idea who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a confederate or mouthpiece of an agent, a promoter of a commercial blog/website/youtubeTV, etc?
Arsenal is the only top-6 club which is self financed depending on no outside money. It refuses to bend over to agents who are draining money from football by inflating transfers and wages as well as their fees. Don’t you think Mendes or Raiola et al and the scores wannabes hanging around the Arsenal Football Club badly hope they have the chance to plunder Arsenal as they have done United, City, Chelsea, Livepool etc? The biggest obstacle in their way is One Arsene Wenger. No wonder in the mainstream media and other formats there so much anti-Wenger hyperbole and vitriol after every defeat.
They may fool some people some of the time but not all the people all the time.
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Shotta
Believe Birdkamp was referring to general populace internet users and abusers and their current lack of accountability, thanks largely to anonymity.
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That’s it Rich. Sorry, SG it was a bit cryptic.
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Rennes have received more money (€26.2m) from Ousmane Dembélé’s’s transfer from BVB to Barcelona than they got from selling him (€15m)
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Rich and birdkamp: Are you at all concerned about those anonymous media and internet characters who seem allied to agents and betting companies? They in my opinion are dying to feast on Arsenal.
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Shotta, I’ve little doubt many agents, including most of the big hitters, nurture serious animosity towards us and, most likely, take any opportunity they have to try harm us.
With most I suspect it is nothing that couldn’t be overcome at the right price; with others it is more complicated as, quite clearly, the relationship they have with clubs and in some cases with the managers of said clubs is so deep it extends far beyond any individual player. Though this too can be overcome at the right price, and perhaps with the right attitude to go with it.
These people would indeed ,I think, be very pleased to see Wenger go and will wait with eagerness to see what happens next and whether we are willing to play their game, so long as it doesn’t interfere with any special relationships they have.
I think it goes beyond mere business,too. Bad guys are pretty much guaranteed to dislike or loathe good guys, and more often conceive extreme hatred for them. Even if they convince themselves, perhaps correctly, that the world doesn’t acknowledge that the other party is in the right. Even if they feel sure they are winning their game. Etc, etc. It still rankles away. On some level it is still causing discomfort to them. Fueling further attacks.
Shits don’t appreciate people pointing out their shitty ways, even if it is only done indirectly, even if the world in general is treating them nicely and they are getting much of what they want.
For me, it quite possibly explains Ferguson’s real attitude to Wenger and a host of other managers with him. Maybe refs too, though i suspect they simply reflect wider attitudes. Sky- absolutely, and they are immensely powerful. Their values and ways fairly closely reflect those of their owner. A revolting shitbag. Journalists. Fans. Where they are able to think truly for themselves. Whole shebang.
I have as little doubt as it is possible to have about someone you don’t know personally, that Wenger is an extremely decent man, a good man, with sound principles and no observable talent for hypocrisy. To me that puts him wildly at odds with the sport he works in and, sadly, much of society on the whole.
With my not overly positive views on the way people work, shits especially, it makes it an inevitability that he has been under heavy attack from the worst elements in the game from the very beginning.
You can be a good guy in football and not be slammed for it, and perhaps even receive some praise… so long as you stay at a low level and do not get in any big dogs way or make them look bad, in compettiton or just to themselves.
Again, not a saint, but, i believe, a very decent man
Anyway, ha, you asked.
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Shame on you all! Thought you read my blog critically. I made an error with the possession stats and instead used passing percentages. Anyway the possession stats reinforced my analysis. How could you do that to me?
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Soon I will be accused of “Fake News.” Lololol.
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monaco are said to have rejected two bids from liverool for lemar. they might be telling wenger the truth unlike when they told him matial is not for sale only to sell him to united weeks later. we have two days to find out.
arsenal havE rejected the claim alexis has asked to leave. why not just let this guy go to city and maybe ask for two of their players on loan sane and toure.
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