Hello the remaining inhabitants of Positively Arsenal. I hope you are all well and coping with the stress of the transfer window, a trauma that appears to be dwarfing that insignificant little virus knocking about. Our poor fanbase is worrying itself to death about possible comings and goings, but the end is nigh, thank fook.
Anyway, to matters more pressing, at 2 pm on Sunday we take on Sheffield United at the home of football.
Now Arsenal are in either great shape or in a right old state, depending on which extreme side of the fence you have jumped down on. Results , of late ,have been decent although performances have been unspectacular. We are at the stage where this is about all we can hope for.
We played well against Fulham, although everyone does, but the games against West Ham and Liverpool were solid at best. I expect “solid” again on Sunday afternoon.
Sheffield have yet to score aa goal, let alone win a point, so we really should be winning this one. However, despite their lack of goals and points, they haven’t played half bad, we only overtook them in the table on the final day of the season, so on results over the distance, the teams are evenly matched. A bit of a worry is that we only managed one point against them last season.
As for our selection, your guess is s good as mine, but my best guess is Leno, Hector, Holding , Luiz, Tierney, AMN, Xhaka, Ceballos, Willian, Aubameyang and Lacazette.
Sheffield also play 3 at the back so I think it will be a rather dour affair, but if we get the points, that will sweeten it enough for now.
Enjoy the game and stay safe and well.
Pedantic George.
Positively Arsenal 
Very worrying still having players over the top, it seems very unprofessional and classless.
While I’m trying to think positively about the improvement on the field you have to wonder when the clowns off it will truly fuck everything up.
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well tens days of the English transfer window still to go, we can buy from, sell to or loan to or from, Championship and league clubs, but not trade with EPL teams.
is it possible we will do a 3 month loan out of whoever the two players we will not register in our EPL 25 man squad.
I see Jack Wilshere is a free agent, after he and WHU agreed to terminate his contract. He claims to have been fully fit for 8 months now, but just not been given game time.
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Following along with the Saliba failed loan deal, it seems we signed Omar Rekik from Hertha Berlin, but did not complete the deal in time for him to play for our youth teams till january when we will complete the deal and register him
some bad work done by our admin guys it seems
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Arsenal have confirmed the signings of Swedish striker Nikolaj Moller(18) from Malmo and Dutch winger Joel Ideho(17) from Ajax
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Marcelo Flores has signed his first professional contract.
The 17-year-old first joined us as a Scholar from Ipswich in July 2019. Known for his agility, pace and creativity, Marcelo is a versatile attacking player.
A Mexican Youth international, Marcelo already featured in our U18 Premier League side last season, as well as two appearances in the FA Youth Cup.
He has since played consistently for our U18s, and last weekend scored twice in our 3-2 win over Crystal Palace.
We congratulate Marcelo on his first pro contract and look forward to supporting him with his continued development.
Copyright 2020 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
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George and Shotts,
I hope you note that Cédric and Mari Raul’s last signings (or Kia’s first???) at the club are the ones not included in the squad.
And Ozil is.
I remain optimistic that the plan i speculated upon last season, to play out his last season as a veteran steward of the squad, this plan still holds true. Obviously not being allowed to play him before the window closed whilst hinting at not selecting him in the squad was there for someone to see, but that someone was not us!
Next league cup game, a few europa games, then he’ll have a pre-season, then we’ll see. That was always my expectation at best. We shall see.
Fascinating to see him in the squad after the comments from Kia and his pal Edu.
We know the BFG bought into the club values. And Arteta’s got him by his side.
Very, very interesting shenanigans.
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Mesut Özil
@MesutOzil1088
·
2h
I was so sad that Jerry Quy aka our famous & loyal mascot @Gunnersaurus
and integral part of our club was being made redundant after 27 years. As such, I’m offering to reimburse @Arsenal with the full salary of our big green guy as long as I will be an Arsenal player. so Jerry can continue his job that he loves so much.
Red heart
Folded hands
#JusticeForGunnersaurus #M1Ö #YaGunnersYa
“as long as I will be an Arsenal player”
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fins has our 25 man squad been named yet, not seen any word of it on the web yet
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I think after today it’s going to be very messy and we may relent and pay him to leave early at some point.
Absurd situation. Can’t get my head around what could happen behind scenes to justify cutting off possibility of such a talent making any contribution in a season, but it looks like that’s where we probably are, to be rubber-stamped when squad submitted.
Epic fuckup. Did hierarchy become obsessed with the wage and how much they would rather he left- having reached conclusion goodness knows how that would be best- and, after them taking various steps to try push him out, bank on him doing so?
Someone commented on it being curious a while back Mesut’s team weren’t saying anything. Keeping powder dry, I think.
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Danny Welbeck now a free agent after Watford agree to terminate his contract. Both he and Wilshere are free to join EPL clubs if any want them.
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https://www.premierleague.com/clubs/1/Arsenal/squad
Arsenal squad 20/21.
OZIL IS IN THE SQUAD.
The real story not getting any clicks is not whether Ozil is in the squad or not (of course he is as predicted IBSF) but the two RECENT January signings who were NOT included in the squad.
*opens popcorn*
Out the PL squad, alongside the player who was bizarrely promoted over not Ramsey but Elneny. There’s a book to be written about the weirdness of that call from on high at the club. But fortunately that nightmare is now over and Elneny is back in the squad over Guendouzi! Strange how none of the blaggers ever managed this simple observation I can only conclude that many of them were friends with the players agent? quote: “I really like Raul”
There’s a story there for the super sleuths out there.
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well fins Mari is still out injured, and might be out for a couple of months yet, as he is only expected to start training at end of the month
anyway is that the official list, I thought till after the window shuts on the 16th we can change the squad as often as we like
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have to laugh at these ozil haters, yesterday when the mascot news broke we had them saying “why can’t ozil pay for his wages to keep the guy in a job”, now today when ozil says he will pay for the guys wages as long as he is an AFC player, we have the same knobs saying “ozil is a disgrace for making this public and showing the club in a bad light, that its all just PR from Ozil”
it really is amazing that these clowns will twist themselves into knots to contradict themselves, just to have a go at Ozil.
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Sky Sports Statto
@SkySportsStatto
Most appearances for @Arsenal
since start of 2018-19;
1️⃣
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (100)
2️⃣
Alexandre Lacazette (92)
3️⃣
Lucas Torreira (89)
4️⃣
Granit Xhaka (87)
5️⃣
MATTEO GUENDOUZI (82)
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it’s in the FA website that’s as official as you can get!
You don’t have to believe me.
I had passed on the well wishes to Gunnersauros via a friend from this blog (& some kiddies!) but I see Mesut has smoothly moved into the empty space and played a blinder from that position. No need.
Seriously if anyone out there ever needs to outwit and outfox a bunch of reprobate see you next Tuesday vulture-capital cultists then the Good Doctor is your man/PR rep.
Even though he only does the job part time he has been making monkeys out of some of the most powerful nasty super agent/bullies/gangsters for two years now.
How can anyone not admire that?
There is still some class left at the club in Ozil.
And I suspect and hope in others too.
After all. The Don Revie famously had his old boys.
Heh.
Were Don Raul and hopefully Kinky Kia shown up and dismissed by another manager’s old gang?
Watch this space as this story is not over yet.
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fins I’m not doubting you that he is listed, all I’m saying is that as far as I know the squad can be changed right up till the domestic transfer window shuts in ten days time.
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It would make more sence to loan out Saliba to a championship club and then we can use Cedric.
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Daft by the club, clever by Ozil. If they are not going to play him then at least put him in charge of PR. Please don’t get me wrong here, but the PR team are fixated with appealing to 14 – 22 year olds with their tortuous puns and teenvanile announcement videos. Yes – its an important demographic but not the only one. Gunnersaurus represented innocence and decency and also a strange but essential vulnerability. Values that many chose to associate with the club. Lose them at your peril and don’t get upset if someone you have waged war against chooses to remind you.
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Thanks Eds, I’ll pause the hope for another ten days!
The hope is that like many of us surely some of the Arsenal coaches will sometimes think that Thomas is an ideal CM to play behind a veteran Ozil. Heh.
In my mind there is no doubt that this will be considered by a coach who switched it up in the forward lines and midfield like he did second half on Sunday. Surely Ozil is not perfect but if we don’t see him play at all it cannot be a call made from the dugout imo.
Top breakdown from Clarke highlighting Elneny replicating Xhaka’s role with the LB, Bellerin having a great game. There’s progress out there on the pitch imo. Flickers of attacks through the centre such as the first goal. Not Emeryball.
it’ll be hard to integrate a new player with no training after the international games. Tough games too. I suspect that we’ll see more attacking variations more frequently after these difficult upcoming fixtures.
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surely AFC will not go for Aouar again in Jan or next summer, seeing as Arteta has said many times that he does not want any player who has to be convinced to join or play for Arsenal. And seeing as Aouar has taken credit for turning AFC down, then that should be the last of links with him.
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Ok. Do you want me to make peas & more fries in case what is in oven now is not edible?
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Sorry folks. Domestic text by mistake.
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Ed, you’d think that would be case, especially if much of the talk about him having preferences for other clubs but supposedly settling for us is accurate.
But who knows, also claims it was scuppered by his brother demanding outrageous money. Someone reckoned 30 mill, which is same amount lineker, with bee in bonnet about agents last few days, claims he knows for a fact some agents wanted for deal which collapsed as result of demands this window. Again, though, who the hell knows what’s true and what isn’t among all the talk?
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More concerned about Saliba myself. If that Fulham link was right- how’s that helping guy settle and looking after him because of personal issues?
Now, again if true, presumably he’s more disaffected than before if a loan back to St Ettienne which he really wanted fell through at last moment.
We’ll see, and of course the nature of personal issue could be main factor, but I’ve a strong feeling at moment it won’t happen for him here.
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fins it seems the cut off point for announcing the 25 man squad is after our next game, (Man City on the 17th), that squads need to be named no later than Oct 20th
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rich its now being reported that Arsenal want to loan Saliba to a Championship club in London or near to London, so that the lad settles into London life, and is easily monitored. Brentford is being linked/
just a thought but wouldn’t Watford be ideal, seeing as their training ground is right next to Arsenal’s
Anyway Brentford, Milwall, QPR, Watford, maybe luton, and I’ve seen Norwich mentioned too
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Ed. One weird bit in interview with his mate who’s just joined Leicester, Fofana, was he mentioned manager (of Arsenal) not being one who signed Saliba when discussing him not playing.
Could be nothing but that’s something normally only said when a manager doesn’t fancy a player. Maybe our masses of cb’s are a big factor in it, but what better place to monitor how a player’s settling in London life than your own club, especially as expectations have already been reset now?
Times past, it feels a player of similar profile (though really it’s a unique one- with price, the loan, etc) would be in line for league cup, Europa and go from there. To date, though, Arteta pretty much goes for it with strong lineup for every game in every comp.
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Ed- see Wilshere being strongly linked to Rangers.
Even now I think he still doesn’t get it, and has that idea of being like the midfielders who are prob his heroes, like Gerrard- get stuck in, always go in for 50:50, or worse, types.
I was trying to think of a place he could play where won’t be required to do any real sprinting, certainly not back towards own goal, where players are clean in comparison to what he’s known, and refs good. Could only think of America, or just maybe Spain or Italy if team set up to do running for him. Scotland would be worse than here I think. Some loon on every team eager to smash him.
Interestingly, a player with some similarities, though probably a body in better shape joints etc wise, Goetze, seems to have made a very smart choice in PSV.
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the thing is rich that Saliba needs regular game time, he is clearly not going to get that at AFC this season, so that is why we want to loan him out
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