Last season following the opening 2 games Arsenal went on that unbeaten incredible. Yet it always seems as if we were there for the taking as our defense was all over the place, but thankfully Auba and Lacazette were in good nick and truly spared our blushes. This was also the time where Özil and Ramsey were being “used sparingly”.
In the middle part of the season, following a few poor results Özil and Ramsey got drafted back in. We immediately got our season back on track, beating both Valencia and Napoli handsomely in Europa. For a time there we went 7 or 8 games conceding just one goal. Then after we lost Ramsey old habits crept back in with our defense once again having to carry more of the workload.
Now I know it’s fancy to say our defense are poor and that Mustafi is the cause of all that. If you point out his high defensive numbers, they say it’s because he’s “a busy player”.
Now when Özil and Ramsey was together in midfield our defense weren’t that busy. Which brings me to this.
Didn’t the high turnover of possession in midfield contribute to to us constantly playing on the back foot… and there’s only so much our defense can do. I mean, do we really expect Mustafi to put in 10 successful tackles per game, 10 interceptions per game or 10 blocks per game when the likes of VVD, Laporte or English treasure Harry Maguire averages around 6 or 7?
So for me, if we fix the problems in midfield and make possession a priority, jealously protecting the ball to not needlessly giving it away, it will take a lot of the burden off our defense and maybe then we could see what an attack boasting Auba, Lacazette and Pépé can do if we keep them on the front foot.
I know our defense are not the best in the world but I also don’t agree that they are rubbish. Last season they were over burdened and that needs to end.
Positively Arsenal 
yeah Mills its impossible for a player to play his best when his own fans are on his back, its ok if the opposing fans are on at you, but not your own fans. I remember interviews Niall Quinn and Martin Hayes gave where they talked about the pressure they felt from the Arsenal fans, Hayes mentioned how his confidence was drained when, despite being top scorer at the time, his every miscontrol, or stray pass or less than perfect shot was greeted with moans and groans, even his name being read out pre game was met with groans, and when subbed off how the sub on got a great reception. But that Charlie Nicolas for example could have a stinker and yet the fans would chant his name, sing his songs etc etc.
Niall Quinn said basically the same, but did add that what really did for him was when he scored the winner in a couple of games, for it to be met with shouts of “about fucking time you did something right” or like.
Eboue was destroyed by Arsenal fans, and sadly Mustafi has gone the same way, it really will be better for him to leave AFC.
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our preseason is done and last season’s captain has not played a single minute of football, not for the first team, and not even for the u23’s, where Rob Holding played over the weekend.
Koscielnly is not even training with the first team, so I really can’t see any other outcome than him leaving before the end of the month. Maybe even in the coming days.
With Mustafi’s confidence seeming to be shot, and Mavropanos still injured, and still untried, it really looks like we have to bring in a CB before 5pm on Thursday, anyone confident we will
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Defending has been an issue for a while,especially away in recent seasons.
As soon as it appears solved- eg Coqzorla in front of Per and Kos, injuries come along and things revert to type.
I am sure there are any number of reasons, finances, tactics, managerial philosophies, confidence, the type and qualities of players chosen ie intelligent attack minded players rather than Chris Samba, fullbacks bombing forward at the same time, injuries, possession stats.
Also, the PGMOL, just take a look at the red cards picked up by some of our players, including those MFs tasked with shielding the defence, compare and contrast with what the likes of say Dier , Delph getaway with. Would add that we seem to have more penalties given against us than rivals,must make defenders jittery, especially with certain refs against certain teams.
This issue is definitely not down to is individual players, it has been going on way to long for that, so would help if some of our fans laid off certain players, not their fault.
No sign of it going away for the time being either, which I suspect will not help Emery if he wants a long tenure at the club.
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well fuck me the wecaremorethanyou gobshites are still at it, gunnersblog has an open letter (but behind a pay wall) to Josh Kroenke, whinging again, the pay wall bit goes to show us what most of us already knew, this whole campaign is for the benefit of the bloggers and big twitter accounts, it has nothing at all to do with a love for Arsenal, I would go as far as to say that the Kroenke’s have more love for Arsenal than any of these self serving attention seeking cunts
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An open letter behind a paywall, thats a new one!
Take it another thinly veiled request for the owners to spend a shed load of money on their self sustaining club?
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Maybe Guendouzi just simply has the right agent for the head of Football Relations?
Fuck it we should be building him not one but two statues for being so good at Fooball Relations.
Just don’t mention the GA column to the Raul famboyz!!!!!!!!!!!
Especially not to grizzled & knowledgable veterans who saw world class defenders finish sixth or fifth when playing behind Hillier as Davis rotted in the reserves at his prime.
These ****s certainly have got their Arsenal back. One that matches up to the midfield of Morrow and Hillier (I liked them both, one reason why was because I thought I was the better player! They gave me hope…).
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#wecaredoyou
#youspendwespend
#spendspendspend
#theonlywayisChelsea
#ibelieveinfreespeechandfreedomofchoicesoyoudbettermaketherightchoiceorelseillcallmemam
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i see the 2 barca players we have been linked with, Umitti and Coutinho have traveled to the USA with the Barcelona squad, highly unlikely we are in for either of them.
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ha ha ha, just seen a bit of the Open Letter (behind a pay wall, yeah really,its an oxymoron, similar to the person who wrote it) and it begins with the writer claiming that he has invested more into Arsenal than KSE, and there you have the clear lack of logic these attention seekers have. This gobshite has given Arsenal no money, not one penny, he has paid Arsenal for purchases he may have made, such as tickets, refreshments and maybe even a shirt or two, but he has not invested any money in Arsenal, which by the way KSE has invested 100’s of £M’s in buying Arsenal. An amount no Arsenal fan will ever spend on Arsenal in their entire lifetime.
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Tyreece John-Jules has signed a new contract with Arsenal
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I enjoy this conversation my waaay after midnight rant has sparked.
Fins (1:35pm)… you crack me up. Hahaha.
Thought that crossed my mind is how Thierry Henry would always say from his pundit chair and repeated ad nauseam on twatter:
“If that Arsenal shirt is too heavy for you then you gotta go”. Or something like that.
As a player he never faced the kind of abuse many of current players ever enduring – he was good at what he did though. The moment when under a bit of pressure at Monaco as a coach he felt so small that his employers had to spare him. Did he completely gave up on his dream of someday coaching the Arsenal?
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I enjoy this conversation my waaay after midnight rant has sparked.
Fins (1:35pm)… you crack me up. Hahaha.
Thought that crossed my mind is how Thierry Henry would always say from his pundit chair and repeated ad nauseam on twatter:
“If that Arsenal shirt is too heavy for you then you gotta go”. Or something like that.
As a player he never faced the kind of abuse many of current players ever enduring – he was good at what he did though. The moment when under a bit of pressure at Monaco as a coach he felt so small that his employers had to spare him. Did he completely gave up on his dream of someday coaching the Arsenal?
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Ed-re the bloke who says hes invested: what a fuckin tool. Paying to see a spectator sport, and then buying some grub and booze in the stadium isnt investing. When I think back over the thousands I spent I didnt ever once think I was investing. Duh! Duh Duh! Bah ! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Thing is this maybe just the tip of the iceberg with their potty ideas?
fins @ 2.00pm your take on these peoples attitude keeps getting better!
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Reality says it’d be suicidal to sell Mustafi along with Kos days before the season starts.
So, it’s up to UE & the PR dept. to flood goonersphere with confidence boosting declarations about his love/trust for our defense. There’s enough in preseason shuffling to suggest and advocate that fans cut Shkodran some slack and get behind the team enmasse.
Now that the Kroenke’s have spent some real dough, defensive frailty is being setup by the media as the running theme of our impending season. We have a duty to fight back with positivity for the next 4 months at least.
I’m so tired of the negativity..
#I❤️Mustafi!
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the problem is Mills that the web is full of people who actually agree with that blogger, they think like him, that the money they spend on Arsenal is them investing, while the million times more money KSE spent acquiring Arsenal is not investment. They actually think Arsenal owes them something.
What I always find odd about these people is that everything they say suggests they want a sugar daddy owner of AFC, but for some unknown reason they will not own up to this. Its like the original letter, they claim its not about KSE funding AFC, yet its exactly what they are calling for, and is certainly what this latest one is looking for, but they dare not admit it.
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report from Germany says Leipzig have rejected a £55M bid from Arsenal for CB, Upamecano
just 3 days left in the window now, tick tock, oh feck that sounds like I’m one of those wecaremorethanyouotherfans types, but I swear I don’t want a sugar daddy owner of AFC
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I wonder could we interest Leipzig in taking Mustafi as part of a deal for Upamecano,
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Does buying a Bowie album over the weekend count as investing in him?
and if so, suppose that gives me some sort of rights or influence over his estate and back catalog
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I wonder what the captain’s armband could do for Mustafi’s confidence?
He’d be a target for naysayers but could it bring forth his inner spartan…🤔…??
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but Mandy you are forgetting their get out of jail free card – spending money going to football is not the same as spending money on anything else – which of course they are right about, as no one who spends money going to a band’s concert think they are investing in the band.
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PGMOL starting as they mean to go on, we’ve got Martin Atkinson for the season opener on Sunday v Newcastle
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yes, they truly are different, special cases, who MUST be listened to, with all their open letters, aircraft banners, UTube meltdowns.
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it seems Edu’s 15 year old son Luigi Gasper has joined our Hale End Academy
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EBNw9IXX4AEDrvO?format=jpg&name=900×900
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EBNw9IQXUAIdQUO?format=jpg&name=900×900
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I love how all those who were only days ago going on about how great Holding is and how he will be the savior of the AFC defense, are now clamoring for Upamecano to be the savior of our defense, this only a couple of weeks since Saliba was to be the savior of the Arsenal defense.
I said it last week when Pepe was signed for a club record fee, when I was told this would silence the attention seeking twats in the fan base, that eaten cake is soon forgotten, and that it would only take days for these people to demand the next major signing, and if we are not storming the league by Christmas they will demand major signings in January, in fact even if we are, they will demand signings to “guarantee” our success
but oddly enough the same people were creaming themselves about Freddie being promoted to first team coaching duties so that more youth could be promoted to the first team.
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Pure spec: I was wondering if a real big hands on ambitious sugar daddy-o-oligarch came in that they wouldnt tolerate any of the big gobs? Imagine the hoo-har if the club started banning many of the parasites!?
Weng leaving seems miles away now, and that last speech laden full of what might be…sometimes it feels like we’re in the Arsenal twilight zone-certainly since the EL final. The final that didnt seem a final.
Sometimes I wonder how this is all for Emery, did he know what he was in for?
Is it true that they are thinking about putting up some statues of the people at aftv outside the ground? Whoops, thats in the future!
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the Mirror are reporting that Koscielny has refused peace talks with the club with Emery wanting him to stay for the season, but kos is determined to leave with several French clubs interested in him. Kos upset at how the club has treated him in contract talks, while the French clubs are offering him a 3 year contract, compared to Arsenals pay as you play deal
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I bet the big gobs all like David Ike.
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They really should just let Kos go and see out his playing career in France for so many reasons
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just seen this said on twitter
“If something is going to happen, we must hear it no later than tomorrow!”
that about sums up our fan base, “we must hear it”, why must we, surely only the people in the club working on transfers need to hear, not fans, not journos, not bloggers and certainly not self important pricks on twitter
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Eds @6.55
I’d never have guessed that we live in a land where obesity is a health problem!
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the misinformation towards Mustafi is unreal, just seen a guy on twitter with over 18K followers claim Mustafi “was the same at Everton”, no reply to my tweet that Mustafi played only 15 minutes of first team football for EFC, when he came on as a sub in a Europa league game when he was just 17. Mustafi left EFC before he turned 20, and in the last 7 seasons, he has played 197 league games, Serie A, La Liga and BPL, 245 games in all competitions,
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I am sorry to be so boring, yet I have repeatedly asked the same question on a number of blogs and no one has, so far, given me an answer.
What is it the Guendouzzi actually does that makes him so special?
Now, I know I do not go to live games, and can only comment on what I have seen on Sky, but I simply do not see it.
Have there been defence-splitting passes that led to goals? No.
Goals? No.
Assists? No.
Great tackles? No.
Great dribbles? No.
Anything at all that justifies, firstly the hype and secondly the fact that he played so many games last season? No.
Oh yes, he runs around a lot. Great.
I daresay he may have potential, but when does potential score or make goals?
If we are going to rely on potential, then let us use a player or players who have real skill as well as real potential, not just an ability to run around a lot.
I fear that he will be the mainstay of our defensive midfield, because he does what he is told, ie run around a lot.
Call me a cynic, but, in truth, what is wrong with being a cynic, when you may be right?
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the Guardian are reporting that Carl Jenkinson is in talks with Nottingham Forrest
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jigsol I’ve been asking that for six months about Guendouzi, and the most anyone has come up with is “he is great for a 19 year old”, well now its “he is great for a 20 year old”, I can’t wait till he is “great for a 21 year old”
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Mesut says Matteo is the best young player at the club. I have to think if anyone recognises talent, it would be Mesut.
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george I wish someone would ask Mesut what it is that Matteo actually is good at, or excels at.
by the way, being the best youth at the club, tells us little, cos it all depends on just how good the other youths are.
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You might be right Eddy, perhaps Ozil thinks running a lot is what makes a good player? I hadn’t considered that.
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“yes, they truly are different, special cases, who MUST be listened to, with all their open letters, aircraft banners, UTube meltdowns.”
The trouble is the club have effectively ‘jumped the shark’ by caving in to the malcontents with the departure of AW and the ongoing attempts to curry favour with them ever since. They need to realise that these people will never be satisfied. Like junkies, whatever they are given, they are always looking for the next fix. The best way to get rid of the leeches is to cut off their access, starve them of attention and they will wither and die. This current strategy of appeasement is clearly not working as they are feeling more and more emboldened and poisoning the minds of the easily led.
Re Guendouzi, the difference is that Arsenal ‘spent some f..kin’ money’ to acquire him, so that automatically makes him better than any academy product we might have, until they get sold on to another team after getting a chance to play elsewhere, then it’s all lamentations about how we missed out of a great prospect yada, yada, yada!
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AH@LehmannsTerms_
·
4h
“PL Proven” is just code for “I have actually watched this player & therefore know who he is”
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Get French Football News@GFFN
Breaking | Bordeaux have agreed a deal with Arsenal for Laurent Koscielny. More follows tomorrow.
And I see loads of Arsenal fans celebrating this, I always find it odd when fans are joyous about one of our best players, and certainly our best central defender, leaving.
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Does anyone fancy doing a blog about the rise of the super fans and the commercialisation of being a fan? Or do I have a go myself?
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I think it has to be you, shard or labo, for that job george, or maybe a combined effort from all 3 of you
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reports from France say Koscielny is in Bordeaux already and will undergo his medical on Tuesday
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reports suggest that the fee for Koscielny is €8M
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If it is true about Kos and Bordeaux, worth celebrating a wonderful and loyal player who got caught between regimes but is hopefully now got what he wants and deserves, but certainly not to be celebrated for any other reason.
As it stands, we look short in defence, especially when injuries/suspensions strike, and if reports are true that the club would offload Mustafi.
Maybe a grizzled Italian veteran on loan or someone very expensive I have never previously heard of from Germany can help, but they will take time to bed into the nature of this league , and those who referee it. They might not yet realise what happens when you go near Harry Kane or Son in the area, highly coached, sorry reflex reactions of a dangling foot, the least instinctive falls you will ever see, but lapped up by the media/PGMOL, deemed “clever, intelligent “ by the pundits
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Mandy, we just might need to solve our defensive needs locally then. I’d grab Mason Holgate from Everton for 10m. He plays both CB & RB, is only 22, and clearly Silva/Moshiri don’t value him enough. At 19 under Martinez, I thought he looked good. CBS usually take a while to blossom. Worth the risk methinks.
Otherwise, take a 12-month risk on Mangala????
Or Ben Gibson if Dyche would allow it?
Why loan in Rugani if we cannot buy? Upamecano is too pricey at the moment. Though his contract with Leipzig is up in 2021, competition will be fierce, and others will be available so I’d leave that one alone.
If we went for a proper CB wouldn’t we still need a RB? Or are either Mustafi or Chambers capable back-ups?
If not Cedric Soares is available for cheap?
Only 48 hrs remain.
We wait and we wonder…
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Still think that in current market Xhaka’s Swiss teammate, Akanji, is one we really should have gone for when he was available for 15 mill. Looks top notch physically, fast, aggressive and just a generally sound centre back.
I figure the scouting should be geared towards paying extra attention to the small pool of players who come to prominence, and look like they can reach top, in leagues or at clubs where the fee won’t be too high.
Anyway, he’s gone, and he’s the only cb I can remember from last couple of years from that sort of category. Though I did like a German cb, Stark maybe, a year or two back from one of their more gettable clubs. Really liked German defender Klosterman at Olympics as well, but he’s at leipzig, primarily full back, though a big lad, may have broken into German senior team and so is probably expensive.
The club of course could know others, but I haven’t a clue.
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Can’t imagine any deal happening for a centre back unless an awful lot of work has taken place already. Suppose selling clubs in Europe have time to find replacements but still see no way you could get a deal done for someone like Upamecano in much less than a week from start to finish.
Nobody seems by far most likely at this stage.
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I saw the post of the so called investor fan on the Atheltic, they somehow decided he would be a regular contributor…anyways what a load of rubbish, self importance, tiny Tim Peyton and spend spend spend….
I guess I could coy paste it to hear if anyone is interested…
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