Good Morning all.
In today’s podcast @shotta_gooner and me talk about the great 3 points we got from Chelsea and wonder if it will be the start of a change or if we will revert to previous when the “old guard” become available again?
You can also listen to and download this podcast over on uncensoredarsenal.com .
Have a good holiday
Pedantic George.( @arseblagger )
Positively Arsenal 
full time – 1-0 to the arsenal
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Saka was our best player today, but Atkinson allowed him to be kicked and hacked down all game.
elneny and aubameyang were both off their game
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Well, Brighton didn’t clatter us quite as much as they did the last time we were down there, but they still got away with a lot which if nothing else will have been a good learning experience for a couple of the youngsters.
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wba up next, big sam will have his players get stuck in if the pgmol game manager allows it.
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Tried to post a link to an enjoyable review of the Chelsea match by Arsenal Column. Less painting by numbers of late.
Saka found his range after a skittish first half. First the inside out run to set up Auba, then later the burst on the outside to set up the goal. What a player. Hope he gets a rest for a game or two.
Playing better with a ten/player who can pass and move on the pitch, ESR with a very good performance so soon after the last game.
Holding with another brave pass to help set up a goal, he’s not been as good as Chambers with his passing and this is an encouraging development.
Some of the sloppy passing today would’ve been punished by better opponents, hopefully Partey will return to this formation or similar. Hopefully Willian will return to the bench.
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the media reporting that Arsenal are trying to sign Real Madrid’s attacking midfielder Isco on a six month loan deal. Have we not learnt our lesson with Ceballos, maybe a better deal if we can send Ceballos back to them
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3 points will do in these desperate times. I feel that Auba may benefit from Partey’s return and dynamics will change.
However at the moment I don’t see Auba putting the effort in, lots of stray passing and he wasn’t the only one. Laca actually looks more motivated under Arteta.
If you ask me the way forward I still haven’t a clue where we are heading especially with players returning that on performance shouldn’t really get their places back.
Watch this space but the points on the board are desperately appreciated.
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man utd have taken the lead v wolves in the 94th minute
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arsenal now 9pts off both 4th spot and a relegation spot
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Mikel Arteta was a happy man on Tuesday evening – and rightly so.
Our manager had just watched his side produce a battling display to break down a resolute Brighton & Hove Albion, thanks to a well-crafted goal by Alex Lacazette.
Arteta was asked about our No 9, Bukayo Saka, transfers and more after the game. Here’s what he had to say:
on securing back to back victories…
I said last week that the best medicine against any illness in football is to win football matches. We’ve done it with two in a row in a really different way because they are two very different opponents, but I think we did it today in a convincing way.
on Bukayo Saka’s injury…
He was limping. He took a strong challenge but hopefully he will be okay.
on whether he would be in favour of a two-week break from football due to COVID…
Well, I will be in favour of protecting the welfare of the players, the staff and everybody in the industry. Whatever the decision that the government takes, we will support it because whatever decision is made is to protect everybody. We will follow the advice that we’re given.
on Lacazette scoring after 21 seconds…
I think this is what all the managers dream of, to bring people off the bench and they win you the game like he’s done tonight! I think he’s been in really good form over the last few weeks and he’s been scoring goals. He’s full of confidence and today he had a sore back, so he couldn’t start the game, but he came on and won the game for us, which is massively important.
on Lacazette’s composure…
It was a great move from Bukayo first to create the action that he did, but then I think apart from the finish, it was his movement, the counter move that he made to create the space for himself. With the touch and the finish, I think it was a brilliant goal.
on Saka’s maturity on the field…
Today he had a difficult game in the first half because we weren’t using certain moments to generate advantages for him and other attacking players in the right way, so the game became really difficult back to goal against a back five in a really low block. In the second half, the moment we started to play different was an attack in a different way where they found more space and capacity to unlock the situations and their block. We created four or five big chances and he was involved in most of the them.
on whether this result will give us more confidence…
Absolutely, especially in this Christmas period as well. We know how much we needed the wins. We had a really tough week and it wasn’t that much about our performances, it was about our results, but you need the results to establish that confidence, and now with two wins, I think everyone is in a much better mood. We have managed through this period to maintain our team spirit and cohesion, and sometimes that isn’t easy to do because obviously the frustration that comes out with defeat is normally an effect on the team, so hopefully now we can go on a run of games and be even more positive.
on how Lacazette has stepped up…
We need big players and the senior players to step up in these difficult moments, and he’s doing that for sure. Front players need their team-mates to support them and put them in situations like he had today, as often as possible. At the same time, they have to step up and create these opportunities themselves. I think Laca has been working really hard. Since I’ve been here, his work has never been an issue. His goalscoring record could improve but it’s improving because he’s so willing to do it for us.
on why Lacazette didn’t start…
Yes [he had a sore back] but he finished the game against Chelsea with some pain. We had the opportunity to refresh that and use him as well in other moments. We knew Auba could last for 90 minutes, we knew that Gabi wasn’t going to last for 90 minutes for sure, so we had a substitution there and someone with a goal threat that we believed was going to be needed.
on what he said to his team at half-time…
We had two issues in the first half. First of all, the balls that we gave away were simple balls in our own half when we were open and under no real pressure. That’s where they generated one or two half-chances. The second one was the way we attacked against that block. We weren’t efficient enough, we didn’t have purpose and we didn’t have the right intentions with the players around the ball, the movement and situations we wanted to create. We talked about it and straight away we were much better.
on transfer window plans and links with Isco…
The last few results won’t change our approach to the window. We cannot talk about individual players.
on younger players taking more responsibility…
The youth is great but you need the senior people and the senior players around them to guide them, to control them and to give them support as well. We’ve been playing with young players since I arrived here. We have given opportunities to many of those and now they are maybe becoming more highlighted because of the results we had in previous weeks, and now the results we are having with them a little bit more involved. But as well, I would like to really respect the senior players and the work they’ve done for us through the year.
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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Although he has had bits and pieces before, by my reckoning that was ESR’s second proper start in the PL. I mean in the sense where he has actually been trusted to do something. I like what I see. Brighton doubled up on Saka to start with (and as Eduardo pointe out, tried to do a number on him too) and it took a while for the team to work their way round that. Martinelli ran himself into the ground on Boxing Day so no surpieses that he failed to shine today, but he had another good chance that he will be annoyed to have missed. As well as the goal, Lacazette gave a focal point to the attack and it is useful to have himback on the score sheet. It was a long way from dizzyingly impressive but more than a few grounds for cautious optimism.
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Only good thing about Atkinson reffing us is that you know it won’t be him next game, except this time it is.
Think that’s the last of the norms Riley has dispensed with now.
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Best positive in some time seeing how Saka and Smith Rowe played first 20-25 mins second half. Don’t know why or how exactly but we escaped the stultifying defence from the opposition we face so much and there was glorious space to work in, and they both looked excellent in it.
Probably my biggest hope for some years now is that we can get, say, 3-5 from youth teams fully making it, bringing with them the football from our youth teams at their best, heavy on individual skill and high level link play. In that way we could not only hope to overcome the financial disadvantage to the richest but find a style better suited to breaking down tough deep defences, as well as being superb on the counter.
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It hinges on my belief that there’ll be a good deal of more than sum of their parts if you can get enough of them playing together.
Very much in balance, as while Saka is there, and Smith-Rowe looks like he can be, too, if stays fit and given chance, the other three current contenders- Reiss, Eddie, and Joe- haven’t quite shown enough so far to make me think it will happen with them.
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Newcastle 0-0 Liverpool
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reports in Germany are that Kolasinac is joining Schalke 04 in the next few days, he is taking a pay cut, but also Arsenal will be paying some of his wages
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reports in Spain that Ceballos is looking to leave Arsenal in January, as he is not getting enough starts.
some suggestion that Ceballos might cancel the loan and then loan us Isco. Caballos would it seems join a team in Italy on loan
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that should be Real Madrid will cancel the Ceballos loan and then loan us Isco
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it seems we have Martin Atkinson again in the WBA game cos he only stepped in for Craig Pawson for the Brighton game
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I said after the chelski game we needed to carry that on with selection, tempo and attitude.
Selection was almost the same the one change being Auba and if he was a fringe player you would say he didn’t take his chance. If he doesn’t score he gives the team little although his movement is still good and he finds holes and pulls defenders apart that’s it and in my opinion does not warrant a starting place when all players are 100% fit.
Hector and Xhaka were the true captains and organised throughout and although Saka was given MOTM for his decisive runs he actually struggled first half and Hector was our most consistent over the 90 minutes.
The tempo and attitude in the first half were missing and we were over cautious reverting to the failing playing style that had seen us struggle for much of the season with only flashes of the previous games positivity.
I think we now know the younger players and Hector, Xhaka, Mo, Rob and Marian be the bases of a squad going forward.
One of the biggest problems is what happens when the youngsters need to be rested.
I still think we made a massive mistake not keeping Martinez and selling Leno but now we have done that we need to make sure we don’t repeat the mistake by buying players that will be played in front of our own core of real ARSENAL players.
We know Atkinson and fat Sam will provide a tough and rough test at the end of a hard week but we must be positive attacking the flanks crossing early, filling the box and not relying on the CBs to be the creators and taking the ball off them early. There is certainly no reason why we can’t grind out another win with a few flashes of brilliance.
Going forward Edu and Mikel need to realize the players and style that achieved this squad some of the worse records for decades and the players and style that have started to turn it around if not we will return to a very bad place.
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WTF are we geeting Twatkinson again for? Bloke is a nightmare. I fear for the health of our flair players I really do.
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Unfortunately Edu and Mikel thought that Kia’s donkey Willian could replace Ozil when he is not even as good a footballer as ESR, Martinelli or Saka. Or Nelson.
When you think about it all you can say is:
Blimey.
Not as good a player as the hale end graduates or the players the great scouts found, scouts that are famous in the game, scouts who once used to work for this once great club.
Willian never was that good but then Football is not Kia’s game his game is in flogging a donkey like Willian around the superclubs for a decade, working with a player like Luiz who has more loyalty to his Master then to any football club.
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It’s not Edu and Mikel we need to worry about. Vinai and Josh signed off on £100M of signings that after one and a half seasons can’t make the pitch.
It’s a disaster make no mistake. What was the word/meme the club’s PR team came up with along with their partners the shitting blaggers when attacking the greatest coach in the history of the club?
“A Shambles!”
The Kronke’s have been a shambles and are adisaster for this football club. In any other business Vinai and Josh would be picking up their P45s. But there’s something that’s been going on with all these super agents and this alternative (failing) model they adopted after binning the previous successful model that suits the Kronke’s very well. Never mind the football.
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Mikel Arteta was back on a Zoom call with the media for the final time in 2020 on Thursday as he looked ahead to our match at West Bromwich Albion.
Our manager discussed the upcoming transfer window, the latest team news, Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson, and more.
This is what he said:
on the latest team news…
We will see today, some players had to come in yesterday to get assessed after the game, we had a couple of knocks. Then we had players that have been through all the Covid regulations with different individuals which I think we will recover for the game against West Brom, but it will be between today and tomorrow to see who is available, who is fit and how everybody is feeling.
on Bukayo Saka’s fitness…
I hope he is available, we will see today if he is training or not. He has played a lot of minutes as well. I am confident he will be okay for the game.
on what back-to-back wins has done for confidence…
We needed those results, that’s for sure, but we need a much longer run than that. There are things we have done much better to get the results in the last two games, but there are things that still we have to do better and improve. Confidence-wise it is a completely different scenario when you are winning football matches, everybody plays with more freedom, more belief, the pressure gets released a little bit and that is always a positive thing towards performances.
on West Brom’s two matches under Sam Allardyce…
Two very different matches, the first one against Liverpool where they had a really clear plan and they executed it really good. Even going 1-0 down they didn’t really change anything at all, they knew they would have their moments, they grew and got into the game and were much more efficient in the second half and put Liverpool in trouble. Sam is very efficient about what he does, he has a very clear philosophy of playing, he always picks up results, he always makes it really difficult for you and he is not going to be different. His teams are always really well organised and know exactly what to do, so it will be a tough test again.
on the release of pressure on him personally…
I think it has lifted on everyone, but honestly there is certain pressure of course we understand, but most of that pressure on wanting to do so well and disappointing people more than anything else – and trying to find ways to improve the situation as much as possible. Sometimes in this game it is difficult to explain the reasons why you are losing football games and doing much better than the opponent you lose it, and sometimes when you don’t deserve it that much you still win football games. It is what it is, but what was clear was that we had to win football games to release the pressure on everybody, we have done that but there is still a long way to go.
on whether Bukayo Saka is always desperate to learn more…
Yes, but that should be a given by any player, that they are always trying to earn and get better. ~for me the biggest thing he has done in the last few months is the personality he plays with and the responsibility he takes in the decision he is willing to take when things are not going well, and the impact he has had for the team to get results. At that age, it is not common at all. But that is his nature, and he wants to evolve that – you could see that his team-mates trust him and want to give him that responsibility, and that’s great because then you don’t have one or two players, you have more players. He is a great example as well, for any young player to play with that commitment, that passion, and that courage, when you play for a big team.
on whether he understands the calls for a break in the Premier League…
Absolutely, we are all concerned with our own health and what is going on around us. But at the same time, with all the protocols we have in place, everything we do around the training ground, around football matches, the fact that we play our sport outdoors, it minimises the risks a lot. If you see the records since we began to test, it is incredibly positive and I think as long as we can, we have to keep on doing that. Obviously we can’t put anybody at risk but I think we have shown that the system is working, okay in the last week or so something has happened and I think we will have more restrictions and more tests to try to be as efficient as we were before but I think it can work and I think we can carry on doing it.
on Sead Kolasinac…
I cannot confirm anything yet. We are working on a couple of things and obviously the window is going to bring a lot of news. Some are true, some are not. Whenever we have something to say, we will announce it.
on whether there is any truth in the reports linking Sead with a return to Schalke…
We’ve had some conversations around a few players and whether we can find some loans because the numbers we have in the squad at the moment are really big. Again, we cannot confirm anything yet.
on whether he thinks it’s good for mental health for football to continue…
Well, the importance of football in this society is massive I think. When you ask and you talk to people and discuss what it means to have football games in this difficult period for everybody where there is not so much to do, I think it’s really, really important and what we have to do is just try to do it in a safe way, as we have been doing recently. I think there are many, many positives.
on him being a different man to speak to this week after two wins…
I am the same man! I am obviously happier and more relieved but results in this industry change everything and the perception is completely different when you win matches. We all know that. I am happier.
on whether he thought talk of a relegation battle was over the top…
But when you lose the games that we did and you are in the position that we were in in the table, at the end it is what it is and you have to accept that. There is nothing worse for me than trying to run away from that reality. For me, the worrying thing for me was the way that we were losing football matches and why we were losing them. That obviously brings a sense of fear that ‘wow, with them doing nothing they can still beat you’ but we’ve broken that tendency now and we’re in a more positive run. But again, there is a lot to do.
on how important it is for him that our young players kick on in 2021…
We know that our club has a history of bringing players through the academy and it’s in our DNA. We want to keep doing it and I think I’ve done it since the day I came through that door. But they need the right process, they need the right players around them and you have to respect the timing of their development. There is nothing worse than rushing those players when they are not ready. If they are ready and they respond, then keep doing it. You don’t have to hold them back because you know their energy, their passion and what they want to do. They can run and sprint and do whatever they want, but they need [experienced players] as well. Eleven kids is impossible. When you have the right mixture then these kids start to become more senior players and they start to have a little bit more experience and they are in a good development phase, let’s go for it. But you have to be cautious as well.
on what represents a successful season…
I never got that far [to publicly setting end of season targets]. For me, the important thing is the next match and how we do that and if we can get a result there and how we get that result. What is our performance, how are we evolving. And when you don’t [get the results], okay, we look at the things that we have to improve and see how we react when things are not going well because it’s a real assessment for your squad, for your staff, for the players and as a club. We’ve been through a lot in the last few months. Some really positive things that we have been able to change, some things that we didn’t expect to have and as well, a lot of disappointments recently in terms of results. For me to plan – especially in this world – what is going to happen at the end of the season and what is good or bad, it’s impossible to say. We know the aims for this football club and that’s to win every competition that we are involved in and it has to be nothing less than that. But as well, we have to understand the context that we are in and respect that but always have the mentality to change it as quickly as possible.
on whether he can see any similarities between last season and this season…
Well, it’s different because I’ve already been here a year and I’ve got a much better understanding of what is going on, what is working, what has to be changed and how we can do that. But the challenge is not very different. I think we know better how to deal with it.
on whether he has a New Year’s resolution…
For me, it’s honestly that the people around me are healthy and safe. That’s all I can ask for. I’m privileged to do what I do and I’m happy to do what I do, so I cannot ask for much more from myself.
on Reiss Nelson’s absence…
Yeah, he had a little niggle and he’s not been feeling 100 per cent. He had a muscular issue and he’s been in and out of training. He’s not 100 per cent and it’s a shame because I felt like he was getting into his performance levels and he was starting to have some really good games. He was starting to build that momentum and this little injury has set him back a little bit, but I think this week has been much better. It was my mistake to not verify the situation with what’s been happening, but he’s not been 100 per cent fit and that’s the reason why he’s been out.
on the need to trim our squad in the January transfer window…
Well, we have a large squad, we knew that and a lot of things we wanted to do in the summer, we couldn’t accomplish for different reasons. There are some players that are going to go on loan, they are going to leave, and that’s the priority at the moment. We cannot sustain the numbers that we have in terms of substitutions. We are looking to do that and then we will see if we have the right opportunities in the positions that we need some more help. We are working with the club to find that.
on whether a loan deal is more likely than a permanent deal…
We need to be careful with that (stifling the development of a youngster), but obviously financially, it’s only only us, it’s every club in the Premier League who has been hit with big numbers. We know that this is not going to change from the last year or so and we are going to have to add some of how we want to improve the team in different ways financially. We will decide whether it’s a loan or buying players in relation to the opportunity that we have in the market.
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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Sead Kolasinac has agreed to join Bundesliga side Schalke on loan for the remainder of the season.
The Bosnia & Herzegovina international will be returning to the club he joined as a youth player and spent five years in their first team before signing for us in June 2017.
Sead has made 113 appearances for us and his fine performances on our way to the 2019 Europa League final were recognised when he was named in the 2018/19 Uefa Europa League squad of the season. Sead was also part of our FA Cup-winning squad against Chelsea last August.
Technical director Edu said: “Sead needs to be playing regularly, so we have decided together that a move back to Germany with Schalke will benefit him at this moment. We will be keeping in close contact with Sead, and wish him huge success for the remainder of the season with Schalke.”
The loan move is subject to the completion of legal and regulatory processes and is effective from January 4.
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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so with Kolasinac gone, that means we can register either Ozil or Sokratis in our EPL squad now
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Here’s our latest team news update ahead of Saturday’s match against West Bromwich Albion:
Gabriel
Currently isolating according to UK Government and Premier League protocols following testing positive for COVID-19. Gabriel is currently feeling well and we are continuing to monitor and support him. Pending the completion of all the necessary protocols and ongoing health checks, we are hoping that he will return to training next week.
Thomas Partey
Left thigh. Thomas has progressed well since the injury on December 6. He has started to train outside and will continue with his daily assessments and monitoring. We are hoping that Thomas will return to full training with the squad next week.
David Luiz
Now back in full training following illness.
Bukayo Saka
Sustained heavy impact to his left leg during Tuesday’s match against Brighton, but has been in training since and available for selection.
Willian
Now back in full training following illness.
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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former Arsenal defender Tommy Docherty has died aged 92, many will remember him from his time as manager of Man Utd 72-77
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Real shame about Sead, as a personality he was one of my favourites and always gave 100% but was never a great defender and needed to go for his and ARSENALs sake. Hook luck to him
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reports from Turkey that Fenerbahçe have reached an agreement to sign Sokratis on a free
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an interesting read about our Academy
https://trainingground.guru/articles/dan-micciche-how-arsenal-create-strong-young-gunners
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HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone
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Happy New Year, lets hope 2021 is better to us all than 2020.
The news we’ve been waiting for, David Luiz and Willian are available for selection in the WBA game. Is that good or bad news, it might tell us just how keen Arteta is on the young players.
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Happy new year, you guys are the best xxx
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From my post at Uncensored
Shotta agreed Wenger has to go someday but he still had a couple of years to give to Arsenal.
I blame the idiot fans and the biased media accounts for forcing our greatest manager out a bit too early.
Now these fans and idiot bloggers cannot hide after their hatred agenda has failed miserably.
Atleast we at Postively Uncensored Untold Arsenal can say that we were on the correct side of things.
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Happy new Year On and All…
Trust 2021 to be much better for us all as individuals and also for the team we love.
God Bless you all
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@Rosicky I really think AW would have eft if he was not capable of carrying on.. he was that honest and clear eyed in his dealings.. he did have a few more years in me.
Fans just wanted arsenal to join the big spending teams which was not AWs way… he would rather get them young and build them up! We can see the result of that approach from some of those coming out of our academy – Saka, ESR, Willock, AMN, etc
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@Rosicky I really think AW would have eft if he was not capable of carrying on.. he was that honest and clear eyed in his dealings.. he did have a few more years in me.
Fans just wanted arsenal to join the big spending teams which was not AWs way… he would rather get them young and build them up! We can see the result of that approach from some of those coming out of our academy – Saka, ESR, Willock, AMN, Reiss, Nketiah, etc
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west ham scored a late goal to win away at Everton
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reports in Scotland say Arsenal are interested in Celtic’s 25 year old attacking midfielder, Ryan Christie,
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we are more likely to trim the squad and buy younger players I think… do we really lack a regular attaching midfielder.. our team needs to be more fluent in passing… more and faster forward passing…does that really need a new player? except maybe Ozil?
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utd get a penalty to go 2-1 up v Aston Villa
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man utd have scored 15 or 16 penalties in a season and a half of EPL football, by the way Arsenal have scored 6 in that time, wouldn’t life be so much easier if you were to have this sort of help from the PGMOL game managers
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man utd are now 2nd, level on points with leaders liverpool, both have played 16 games.
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so guys are you expecting any changes to the starting 11 tomorrow, or the 20 man squad.
will Willian and/or david luiz make the team or squad. we don’t play again for a week after this game, so can we push most of the same starters again tomorrow. Will Lacazette come back in.
Will Arteta stick with Emile Smith-Rowe, or does Willian or even Lacazette take his place.
For me the upturn in performance and results with ESR playing in the no.10 role has shown the pure folly of leaving Ozil out of the team/squad all season. Smith-Rowe actually did not do very much in the two games, he played it simple, took up good positions, kept the ball moving, and moving mostly forward, all things Ozil is good at, in fact very good at, and suddenly we look like we want to attack.
We should have even tried Willian in that role once we did not want to pick Ozil, but the whole “football reasons” bullshit led to not only Ozil not playing in the no.10 role, but in fact Arteta’s tactics seen us avoid that area of the pitch like the plague, no one was to be in that pocket, that would after all probably show the folly of leaving Ozil out. It took the hint of relegation to firstly see us use Lacazette there, and now ESR, I do expect Willian to get some game time there now too, but it will never be admitted by Arteta or Edu that their exclusion of Ozil was an act of self harm.
the second error they made on Ozil was not paying him off to leave, cos as long as he is here they have had to perform contortions to try and justify it, and picked wrong tactics to try and hide their error to make it look like we could not squeeze in a No.10 in Arteta’s preferred tactics.
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Orbinho
@Orbinho
· 59m
Since Solskjaer was appointed, just two years ago, Man Utd have won 27 penalties in the Premier League.
In all competitions, it’s 42.
That’s 42 penalties in two years!
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Jack Wilshere turned 29 today
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Arsenal’s January transfer dealings hold key to Ozil’s future, says Arteta
Charles Watts
The Gunners midfielder was left out of the Premier League squad but could be brought back in, depending on what deals take place this month
Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to act swiftly in the January transfer window and says Mesut Ozil’s future will depend on what business the club get done.
Ozil was left out of Arsenal’s 25-man squad for the first half of the Premier League season but Arteta has hinted that the German could still play a part in the second half of the campaign, depending on what happens in the transfer market in the coming weeks.
Sead Kolasinac has already left, joining Schalke on loan, and more could follow him out the door, with Arteta admitting that moving players on is the club’s priority this month.
Should they be successful, then there’s a possibility that Ozil – who is out of contract in the summer – could be included in Arsenal’s 25-man Premier League squad for the second half of the season.
“We will see what happens in the transfer window and we will assess that at the end,” Arteta said, when asked about Ozil’s potential return.
There have been suggestions that Arsenal would be open to paying up the remainder of Ozil’s contact and allowing him to leave on a free this month.
Ozil has always insisted, however, that he will see out the remainder of his deal before leaving north London in the summer.
And Arteta says a player is well within his rights to stay put, even if he knows he is not going to play.
“You have to respect the player’s contract,” said the Arsenal boss. “What you can do is try to be open with them and tell them your intentions, the role they have in the team and why that is.
“At the end, they are entitled to make the decision in their lives because they have a contract here.
“Some would like to move because they are not playing, and some would like to stay. At the end that is something we cannot decide.”
Arteta is keen on adding a creative player to his squad during the transfer window, but knows that will depend on what business the club can do in terms of outgoings.
Real Madrid star Isco is a loan target and Arteta is hopeful that the club can do their business quickly this month to give any new recruits extra time to settle.
“The quicker you do the business the better, because you are buying some time,” said the Gunners boss.
“There are really key things to consider before making any steps to bring anyone in in January.
“Every player is going to need time to adapt. It’s which qualities this player is bringing, what is the past of that player, where has he been, has he been in a different country, does he speak the language, is he familiar to a certain style of playing.
“There are a lot of conditions that in my opinion affect whether that player can have an immediate impact or not in a team.”
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Telegraph Sport understands that Ozil has continued to demonstrate his technical quality in training, with one source saying he is often one of the best performers behind closed doors. [@SamJDean
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A meeting between Arsenal & William Saliba last week saw both parties agree to be open to accepting both permanent & loan departure opportunities this month, according to L’Équipe.
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