Hello everyone.
On this post cast the 3 amigos talk about the Chelsea game and discuss the transfers then the future.
Pedantic George.
73 comments on “Chelsea, Transfers and The Future.”
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Positively Arsenal 
Without Laca, Partey, and Auba (+ Willian & Gabriel), it might be too much of a task for our young squad to beat Chelsea. Having just played them in The Mind series 3 weeks ago (a 2-2 draw cause Willock’s goal was a goal), fear shouldn’t be a factor and anything is possible.
I actually don’t think we were that bad against Brentford and I agree 100% with PG, there’s really no need yet for ANY doom & gloom. Losing our first 3 could actually be a good thing, if MA can take a cue from the AW playbook and mute out all the noise. The concentrated negativity can be motivation for a team innocent enough to be motivated by it. Its another chance to step up for the gaffer.
Give it to Kroenke, he is spending. Edu and Arteta are to be applauded for their transfer work so far. It is time for fans to support the team. No matter what happens this month.
I’d play:
Leno
Bellerin – White – Mari – Tierney
Lokonga – Xhaka
Pépé – ESR – Saka
Martinelli
+ Ramsdale, Chambers, Holding, Cedric, Tavares, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Balogun.
To rephrase your outro Shotta, “hopefully Arsenal can play well against Chelsea and give us something to enjoy”.
Carmon you gooners…support your team ffs!!!
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Oh and,
“FREE AUBA, MAKE XHAKA CAPTAIN again!”
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Chelski is a completely different style of game , it should fit with Mikel’s most successful games of sit and counter. With ltd centre forward options we may even go with a back 5 without the ball and 3 with.
It’s obviously going to be a really difficult game but definitely winnable COYG.
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Great podcast thank you!
Good the see the Norwegian return as everyone saw him play well after a settling in spell before his injury. He should be fresh now but probably needs a week at least before being ready for the PL?
Good players in the squad, the squad is decent, but will they play decent football?
Lots of defensive coaches in the league. Bruce played Hayden alongside Willock today ahead of a five player defence and we remember Hayden as a CB!
Nevermind Chelsea. Will Arteta be able to set his team up to beat such line ups?
At Utd appointing someone who understood the boot room at the club who is a top level coach with connections to the club has saved Ole’s job. Who is Arteta’s no.2? Did this new goalkeeping coach scare Leno as much as he did me after the Runoffquicklynowson signing? To conclude: Good luck to the new keeper!
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Albert looks like he’ll enjoy the contest tomorrow &
Auba returning should help the prospect of seeing a goal.
as said on the podcast the team needs balance & combinations for individual players to prosper. Fingers crossed.
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Hayden played everywhere for the reserves including striker and emergency keeper.
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it seems Sead Kolasinac is edging closer to joining Fenerbache
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Aubameyang was back in training today, but some rumors that Ben White is out with Covid
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The Kroenke’s have a statement in the programme tomorrow, and they imply more signings to come, and they confirm Xhaka has signed a new contract.
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Another season with no expectations on the card again.With almost a new set of players it will take some time to gel.
The idiot fans who wanted Wenger out are in for a bumpy ride for the 4th year now. Will they admit now that they were wrong for all those years criticizing Arsene Wenger?
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Thanks Ian!
Hayden was always a good player, another credit to the academy and yet another former young player who made his break through with the club playing in the PL.
Might have been during Bellerin’s home debut in the league cup where we saw a CB pairing of Hayden and Chambers against a full strength then very good Southampton team (think that line up had Van Dyke and Mane in it though my memory may be muddled), and they both played well.
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Good morning Positivistas,
Hope we are ready for the rumble with Sugarman’s Chelski @ the Emirates today?
Can’t wait to feel the Emirates rocking again (thru the TV). Its been too long.
If Ben White is out with COVID, Holding must play right? Or is it Chambers that partners Pablo Mari? Either way, Xhaka becomes the 4th option in case of emergency.
Who starts @ RB? Cedric, Hector or Ainsley?
Hector in a “4”, Ainsley in a “3” for me.
They’re both usually up for derbies so either one works.
I hope Auba’s good to go, otherwise I’d expect young Martinelli upfront.
With Saka and Pepe on the wings
I expect:
Leno
Chambers – Mari – Tierney
AMN – Lokonga – Xhaka – Saka
Pepe – Martinelli – ESR
+ Ramsdale, Cedric, Bellerin, Tavares, Holding, Elneny, Nelson, Balogun, Aubameyang.
On another note, Ramsdale’s first interview was mighty impressive. The young ma seems well-grounded, full of character and clarity about what lies ahead. Very proud and excited to be a Gunner. “Best of luck and welcome to ya AR32.”
Not to sound like a broken record, but based on yesterday’s viewing, Bissouma will be a 60M player by January. Now is the time to get him, even at 40M.
It would really hurt if he were to end up @Spurs, Anfield, Bayern, or with Pep.
Same goes for Aouar.
Back to the matter at hand
Its Chelsea @ The Emirates
CARMON YOU GUNNERS!!!!!!!!!!
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The best spells for any CB at Arsenal in the last three years has been from Chambers. not surprising as during that time we saw Koscielny play on one leg before he got pissed off with the management, a semi-retired Luiz play well on occasion but being semi retired and often barely fit it was difficult for the vet to put a run together in the PL, then we saw a raw rookie come in from Brazil and lauded as being ready for the PL ahead of Saliba (he wasn’t, he isn’t…)
I’d like to see Chambers given a go at CB even LCB I feel he is a better footballer and centre back then Mari. Gabriel needs a few years. It’s shame that Saliba fella Varane’s heir (he’s better then Lenglet!) as they call him in France is unavailable to play…But today I’ll try to ignore the horrific off field shenanigans.
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If Ben White has tested postive for Corona this week I wonder if he was feeling a bit un der the weather last Friday?
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Arsenal Team: Leno, Soares, Holding, Mari, Tierney, Lokonga, Xhaka, Pepe, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Saka
Subs: Ramsdale, Aubameyang, Maitland-Niles, Tavares, Chambers, Nelson, Elneny, Balogun, Kolasinac
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Chelsea.: Mendy, Christensen, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, James, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso, Mount, Havertz, Lukaku
Subs: Kepa, Silva, Kante, Werner, Chalobah, Zouma, Hudson-Odoi, Chilwell, Ziyech
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Most likely White was not 100%, Auba’s makes the bench and is also probably only good for run out later in the game today.
Other wiser heads here have discussed seeing Pepe at CF, interesting to see how he gets on.
Would like to see Saka and Martinelli closer together on the pitch but i think that attack can find space against Chelsea with Kante also not fit enough to start today.
my hope is Lukaku is also not fully fit or settled, suits Mari and brings him out of the poor form we’ve seen from him. COYG
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missing due to Covid – Lacazette, White, Willian and Runarsson
missing due to injury – Gabriel, Partey, Nketiah and Bellerin
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captain Xhaka down after blocking shot with his head
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a deliberate foul by Alonso on ESR but no booking of course
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Yep some tilting on other calls too.
–
Looks like Pepe is on the right, which does allow for combos between Saka and Gabriel.
Arsenal’s early moves and half chances coming from Tierney. They’ll need a bit of variety & a call or two in their favour. Home crowd should be a plus on this special occasion.
Decent start from the Gunners.
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lukaku scores, looked offside but must not have been, it was way too easy for them, Mari was brushed aside by him in the build up too.
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There goes the good start. Saka a little rusty tbh so far as expected, no one covering the left, Mari loses Lukaku.
Chelsea get a tap in.
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Mari booked for a needless foul on Lukaku in the CFC half, stupid stuff
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2-0, reiss james, we are getting torn apart on our left side, Saka way too far upfield, and tierney going inside to try and help mari all the time, leaving acres of space for them to open us up
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Not looking good on our Left side. I noticed within 5 minutes tha5 Saka was labouring.
Don’t know how much Auba’s got in the tank but he might have to come in for Bukayo.
Or maybe Ainsley?
Chambers too might be needed with both Holding and Mari on yellows.
CARMON ARSENAL!
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booed off at half time and then chants of you don’t know what you are doing when Aubameyang is brought on for Saka, welcome to fans in the stadium Mikel Arteta
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tavares on for tierney
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15 minutes to go, 2-0 down, and we still don’t bring on another striker, why not throw on Balogun for the rest of the game, and go two up front, what is Arteta afraid of, losing, ha ha ha
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leno with a fine save from a header by lukaku
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FT: Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea
Torn apart down the left where both goals came from, and Arteta is so rigid he sticks to the same game plan all game, i’ve said it before, he accepts defeat, he does not risk a bigger beating by trying to get back into a game. Its a small club mentality. How many games is that now where we lose or draw once we are behind at half time, not a single comeback under Arteta, tells the story of his paint by numbers football. Always like for like subs, never tries to overload in attack.
Our next two games are WBA in the CC away on Wednesday, then Man City away in the league, if we lose these two games we actually might see Arteta gone in the International break that follows the city game.
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we sit 19th with no points and no goals scored after 2 games.
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We gave it a go but … too much manpower missing.
This looks to be a character-building month.
Our young guns will learn.
Hope Martinelli’s injury isn’t serious
We’ve got West Brom in a few days.
8 more days to go till the window shuts.
MA has got till Xmas I reckon.
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“we gave it a go”, what game where you watching, we accepted defeat.
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Let’s be real, it’s too early to fire Arteta.
To clear out this many overpaid players on a budget and to keep winning at the same time is really asking for too much.
I’d even give him till after the January window.
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We are not a top 4 team.
Top 6 at best.
And I’m ok with that as long as we play better and fight better.
Our rookie coach must learn and improve tactically or else.
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“Enjoy the journey by tempering expectations”.
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Aman he is here nearly 2 years and there is no sign of playing better, what we see is his tactics, this is Artetaball, its paint by numbers football with no room for inventiveness from the players, no off the cuff play, that is why our attacking play is so slow and laboured, its why AMN and Nelson don’t get game time, its why Ozil and Guendouzi were shoved out the door, its why Pepe now seldom takes on a defender, its why Xhaka plays most of his passes to Tierney, its why Tierney hits in crosses even when no one there, its all under instruction and if they don’t do as told they are not selected.
11 permanent signings made by Arteta so far, add to that the best crop of young players we have had in a decade, and we are more akin to Burnley than City or Liverpool in style of play.
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We looked weak, physically, mentally, compared to Chelsea. Worst of all we seem not to have any coherent plan either defensively or offensively. When they press we didnt have any idea to play out from the back. By contrast when we pressed they sliced through us time and again. You could see exactly where they would play the ball. Our back line was flat and immediately the front players pushed up they stayed deep allowing them to pass easily into the midfield.
I hear Artetas strength is in coaching, if thats the case then he ain’t cutting the mustard.
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60 EPL games under Arteta, 20 defeats
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Football Tweet
@Football__Tweet
·
20m
Mikel Arteta has lost more matches at the Emirates stadium in 20 months than Arséne Wenger did in his final 6 years.
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Osman 🎗
@OsmanZtheGooner
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42m
Arsenal have lost their first 2 league games without scoring for the first time in their history
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Aman. With respect, Arteta’s job is to put together a team of players capable of winning games.
His job is not to get rid of players he does not like.
That is Edu’s job.
I watched the game in the knowledge that what I was seeing was not likely to be a good performance by our players, who tried their best but are not able to do any better based on the strict instructions given to them by Arteta.
Please also do not point to the players missing because of Covid.
Firstly, only 2 of them might have played, White and Lacazette, and secondly what sort of management does this club have that allows its players to place themselves in a position that they can contract Covid?
Bearing in mind we are dealing with a team managed by a control freak, what happened to his control in ensuring that his very highly paid players took care about where they went and who they mixed with.
And I am not saying anything about the deliberately misleading statement about the players being “unwell”, misleading because it hid the most important fact that they had, most likely, carelessly, contracted a virus that has most of the world on its knees.
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Arteta says Ben White likely to miss the Man City game next weekend too
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jjgsol there is the possibility that the players contracted Covid at training at London Colney, one player picks it up at home etc and brings it in to the group training session
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Are they not tested every day?
That excuse might apply to one, maybe 2. But 5? sorry, it is negligence by the players and by the club.
Did I see the suggestion that some of the 5 players had not been vaccinated?
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Covid control is tough when the rules have been relaxed all over England.
All stadia have returned to full capacity. Do ALL the fans get tested? No.
Many more teams will suffer player loss due to this virus throughout the season.
I won’t be surprised to see games called off, clubs fined, and possible chaos in the near future. Its wrong to use this stick to beat the club with.
My rose-colored glasses fell off once AW left. Emery’s energy was not Arsenal energy. Arteta is a tad better and is at least being allowed to restock personnel as he sees fit. His ultimate legacy might be that he oversaw the massive & positive clear-out (bar Özil +/- Saliba) that set the stage for the next chapter.
We all agree the Kroenkes are not football people but at last they are attempting to improve things. Until it dawns on them that they need to respectfully involve the most valuable living resource Arsenal has/had, Arsene Wenger, is still alive and coherent, we should be prepared for cycles of trial and error like the one MA is steering presently.
Once the window shuts, with all signings in place, MA’s get-out-of-jail card gets withdrawn swiftly. Especially with Chelski & Man City out of the way AND no European football.
I have 9 days.
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Why should players, who receive enormous amounts of money every week from the club be absolved from taking responsibility for their own behaviour, even in their private lives insofar as it affects the club?
The club has a responsibility to itself, its owners and the fans to take the utmost care in what it and its employees do.
Therefore, how is it possible that within a period of a few days, 5 of its highly paid players can catch covid, which may affect their continued ability to perform their contractual obligations, in the short term or even in the long term?
The way the players are managed in this way is symptomatic of the way its players are managed to play the games they are paid to play in.
Shambolic and unprofessional is the simplest way to describe their conduct and, as fans, the longer we give them excuses and give them time and our patience, the more they will abuse it and the worse the shambolic and unprofessional conduct will continue.
Arteta and Edu have been allowed to play with our club for 20 months or so and have made such an awful mess of it, it may now take years to recover, if at all.
The powers that be need to take control now failing which the downward spiral may not be possible to arrest.
Why should the few people like myself, who are prepared to say their mind, feel like we are whistling in the dark so that Arteta can fiddle whilst Arsenal burns.
I do not dispute that the players today gave their very all, but they are so badly coached, with such vacuous tactics and almost imperceptible creativity, that not only did it look like men against boys, but men against blocks of wood.
Aman, I agree with you, the club needs help desperately and that the one person to give that help, albeit on a short term basis, only, is Wenger.
The bully boy Wenger out brigade have been found to have made a disastrous mistake.
The question is whether the powers that be are brave enough to accept that or would they prefer to see the club disintegrate in order to save face.
Are we going to see more money squandered on reserves, has-beens and never-will-be’s?
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very simply jjgsol the 5 players can catch it from one infected person, that is why its actually most likely that it was actually caught at training at London Colney, its the very nature of the virus. Add in that most carrying Covid have no symptoms at all, or can have none for days before showing, means its very easy for a group of players to catch it.
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so Arteta says 9 players were out today, Covid and or injuries, and that having them bak will improve us a lot, so of those missing today how many will be first choice when fit, White, Gabriel, Partey, Odegaard look certain starters, Lacazette a certain squad man, so would that transform the team and performance
Leno
Chambers, White, Gabriel, Tierney
Xhaka, Partey
Saka, ESR, Odegaard
Aubameyang
or how many more signings will Arteta need to transform us into the top side he says he can see coming. Its been fed to the journos that Arteta wants a new first choice right back, Trippier seems to be the target, he would be the most experienced of our defense if he joins, soon turns 31, which might be the right age with the good right back prospects we have in the U23’s and U18’s currently.
What else is needed, a new target man striker maybe, someone like Dominic Calvert-Lewin maybe, now that would be a very costly signing if we could make it happen, but he aint really prolific, but maybe with the amount of crosses we put in he would be.
Many want Bissoume or Aouar signed, either would probably mean a change of formation, so assume we somehow manage to sign 3 of them as starters and have the rest back would they be good enough to have us as challengers
Leno
Trippier, White, Gabriel, Tierney
Bissoume
Saka, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard
Calvert-Lewin
I don’t see that as feasible, not least cos I’m not sure what formation would work with them, and how it would leave the likes of ESR out of the team, and of course our captain Aubameyang.
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