Hi, everyone.
Here is me and @shotta_gooner looking a a bad defeat and trying to look at what led us here and what can possibly be done to climb out of the hole that just about everyone connected to the club has facilitated, starting with the fans by the way.
Positively Arsenal 
Of the things that have gone wrong, Artetas decision making is top of my list.
How does Mari get ahead of Saliba? The decision to send Saliba on loan looks like it’s going to haunt Arteta.
Why play Kolasinac- especially in such a game??
Chambers as much as I like him is not an Arsenal level player. So is Holding. The least said about Cedric the better. What I am getting at is that Arteta has a collection of journey men and championship level players at the heart of the team. Ability and potential wise the four centre backs we should be having are Ben, Gabriel, saliba and mavropanos.
We need an urgent solution to right back as well. Bellerin according to Arteta is clearly not the answer, and i am inclined to agree with Arteta on this one. I had concerns about Bellerin when he admitted in an interview that he had been drinking a lot. Looks like there are issues there. The only probable solution is Maitland Niles and he doesn’t want to play there.
So overall since getting rid of wenger lots of chickens have come home to roost. And Arteta looks incapable of handling the situation.
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TFL , all our players are definitely above championship level even if things are not going well at the moment.
Although some good players come out of the French league the league itself is well below the PL.
Players look bad under a bad manager and it’s amazing how a new coaching staff can change performances.
To
Big Bob has been our most consistent defender and has been way above Gabriel who is probably benefiting from not playing at the moment concerning people’s opinions.
Can’t see the Hector drink problem being true again that’s sounds media related and he is another Mikel doesn’t like.
Most of the crosses coming in to our area yesterday were reaching head height around the six yard line and so should always be a dominant keepers ball.
The fact we go to a brilliant ball playing side like city and only have one defensive midfielder is very naive, the fact that you try a player you are trying to get rid of as a CB is very naive, the fact that we had two players who have not played for a long time being put in the side is very naive.
Basically the manager is still making lots of mistakes on a regular basis and under such circumstances even good players will not look good and make more mistakes themselves.
The two biggest problems ARSENAL have at the moment on the football side seem to be Edu and Mikel.
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Ian I totally agree with you re Arteta. I just don’t see what he brings to the team. Lots of people say he is a good a coach but the evidence is in stark contrast when you see the team play. You look at what Tuchel has done at Chelsea from the shambles left by Frank to see the mark of a good coach (or a team).
RE Bellerin he did admit in a widely publicised interview that he resorted to drinking when he was out on long term injury.
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I can imagine lots of athletes struggle with mental issues during long term injuries especially in team sports and may turn drink into a habit, I think that is a long way off that then becoming a permanent problem when returning to fitness and return to the rest of the squad. Add to that the that Hector is one of the more intelligent and grounded players in the league means it’s probably more to do with Mikel’s issue with senior players that were at the club before his arrival.
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Why aren’t we playing Maitland-Niles at RB? He is being paid so he should accept the role he is given….it IS a team, be a team player. Kolasinac should be employed in stadium concessions, not on the field.
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philmar the fact of the matter is that AMN has never refused to play in any position he has been selected to play, he just is not selected to play
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is not playing Right Back for Arsenal cos Mikel Arteta does not select him to play Right Back for Arsenal. It really is as simple as that.
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well just what I’ve been saying
David Ornstein
@David_Ornstein
·
10m
Understand Maitland-Niles has stated from start of this season he’d like to play solely as a full-back (the position in which he was selected for England last year) and has never during current campaign asked to operate in midfield @TheAthleticUK
#AFC #EFC
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Well maitland niles issue is taking a bit of a twist. Seems we’ve rejected a bid from Everton who wanted him as a full back. Niles has in turn hit out at arsenal saying they should just let him go.
Another Arteta Edu fiasco unfolding.
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reports from Brazil claim Arsenal will today announce they have released Willian
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reports that Arsenal forward Reiss Nelson is to sign a one year contract extension before joining Feyenoord on season long loan.
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I can see why the club might be prepared to sell AMN, but not want to loan him, if there is no new right back signing on the cards – and if for there to be one funds need to be found.
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If AMN did indeed send out the purported instagram message, it might be best to sell him outright….@ market value though.
If he did not, then he stays, and we’ll just add it to the long list of negative propaganda that’s been bandied around about the club for like forever.
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Whatever the club decides about maitland niles they really need to handle things with more professionalism.
Seems everyone is losing their heads at Arsenal.
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AMN has been up for sale all summer though. No one’s prioritized buying him, just loans. MA’s not sold on him as #1 RB, nor as anything but 3rd option in CM (or LB). His versatility seems to working against him in the mind of our rookie manager….I say we take the hit. Loan out with a mandatory 20M price tag, and move on.
Ballerin’s still here!
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I get it, it’s a tough market with covid and all. And many clubs are struggling to sell or buy. I mean Baba Rahman is still a Chelsea player to date. So it’s no surprise that there will be hiccups in getting players to move on especially on the wages arsenal pay.
But the maitland niles situation really is something else. This was a player who had improved to the point of getting an England call up and was integral in us winning silverware. To go from that to this – I mean how effing crazy is this. If Arteta didn’t want him, he should have sold when his stock was at its highest.
Now, no thanks in large part to Arteta, niles’ value is at its lowest.
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I don’t think we can put 100% of “the blame” on MA.
Ainsley must take a share of it himself. He has been given enough opportunities to prove himself, especially at RB. He just was never consistent enough.
Might have been best if he was sent tout on loan for like 2-4 seasons straight…
RE: Harry Kane, Ben White, etc.
I think transitioning away from the pragmatic decade-long policy of utilising youth post-Emirates has been mishandled without the guidance of AW. That extra layer of grit & guile that only constant playing gives is missing from AMN’s game. He’s absolutely right to seek it wherever he can get it.
Add a first refusal clause and let the player go..
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The way the club is loaning out Daniel Ballard should be the template moving forward.
The player is growing in stature.
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Actually I think the “new” policy is already in effect, considering how many young guns we’ve loaned out over the past few years.
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Joshy frat-bwoy who has never done anything in his life and Vinai his accountant have not got one decision they have made at the club over the last five years correct. I’m being kind, all their decisions have been awful. With a bad smell. No wonder Bellerin and others who know this club and others previously all want out. A: they are signed to the wrong agents and B: this is a
A disaster class.
Or sabotage for reasons we can only speculate on though the pre-Arsenal record of some hirings and their legacy in The Game is not encouraging.
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St. Willian Borges da Silva just gave us the most “lucraycious” leg-up I’ve ever seen.
Walking away from £20M is quite amazing in today’s world. If he wasn’t a Chelski man, I’d be calling for his statue…..
“Thanks and all the best Willian Borges da Silva, bless!”
(People should be talking about this forever).
Now what can Arsenal do with this unexpected cash windfall?
1. Pay off and cancel Kolasinac’s contract.
2. Extend Lacazette an extra 2 years
3. Buy Bissouma*
4. Loan in Aouar
5. Bring back our key scouts
6. Bring back…Gunnersaurus?
7. Find a new home for Runarsson…(Eddie, Ainsley +/- Hector too)
8. Bring in a RB…(Mazraoui will do for me).
Couldn’t come up with anything else….
Oh yeah, good luck to Reiss Nelson on his Feyenoord loan.
*even if it takes £50M
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I know, all of the above in 25 hours!
Knowing Edu, they’ll probably plonk it all on Asensio.
A very good player if he stays fit but not enough to calm our relegation fears
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Give me 1-4 and I’m happy.
With or without Arteta.
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so less than 24 hours of the transfer window left, and so far the only fee AFC have brought in was for Joe Willock.
Many reports in the last couple of days about bids being turned down for Nketiah and Bellerin, and loan moves for AMN, also that AFC not willing to terminate Kolasinac’s contract, but want him gone.
There are very few if any rumors of incomings, and apart from Nelson on loan out, there is little sign of any of those that wanted leaving.
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Arsenal midfielder Miguel Azeez has joined League One side Portsmouth on a season-long loan.
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Arsenal academy coach Ryan Garry is set to leave the club in order to take up a role coaching the England Under-18 side
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Just remembered Marco Asensio ruptured his ACL against us in a friendly in 2019.
https://www.managingmadrid.com/2019/7/24/20726442/marco-asensio-acl-injury-analysis
If he does join us, I hope it’s on a 1 season loan with a purchase option.
Don’t think we should splash out the
cash till he’s been PL-tested.
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Yes Willian has saved us some much needed cash and he certainly didn’t set the world alight in an Arsenal shirt.
He also must have been pretty desperate to leave the mess that is Arsenal at the moment.
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I do really like Asensio though.
Brave, direct, focused, hard working, and very skillful.
Rarely over-elaborates like say Pépé.
Intelligent enough to play in midfield, great in the final 3rd.
Knows what it takes to win the big trophies and still only 25.
Feels like he’d fit right in with Laka, Auba, Saka, ESR & MØ8.
Worth taking a chance on, as do Bissouma & Aouar.
Especially if Hector, Sead, Eddie & Runarsson depart.
Leno – Ramsdale – Okonkwo / Hein
MaitlandNiles – Cedric
Tierney – Tavares
White – Holding – Chambers
Gabriel – Mari
Xhaka – Partey – Lokonga
BISSOUMA – AOUAR – Elneny
SmithRowe – Ødegaard
Pépé – ASENSIO
Saka – Martinelli
Aubameyang – Lacazette – Balogun
F(16), HG(5), U21(6).
Not too shabby a squad.
It’ll be over in 15+ hours
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I have a sneaky feeling that Takehiro Tomiyasu will not be greeted with open arms by many of our super fans and ITKs.
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Aman, stop reading the papers your in absolute Dreamland
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I have never heard of Takehiro Tomiyasu but like the Portuguese lad Nuno Tavares (I’d never heard of him either) he looks like he has some physicality about him. He also appears to be very comfortable on either foot but from YouTube clips looks like he favours his left foot more. I don’t know who good he is or will be but he has solid experience from Serie A so he must have something about him. These kind of signings I like, reminds me of the Wenger days when he unearthed gems like Toure.
A back four of Tomiyasu (I am sure he’s coming as a starter), Ben, Gabriel and Kierny suddenly looks promising, with Sambi and Party in the middle we could have a pretty solid spine.
It all now depends on the coaching.
Now add anither solid creative midfielder like Aouar and suddenly we look very tasty at least on paper.
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It ain’t over till it’s over, Ianspace2014.
Dreams sometimes come true and when they don’t we just keep on keeping on.
Our squad is strong enough as it is.
It’s really now up to the manager.
PS: the Aouar fantasy is humongous. YouTube has got the fans “feening”.
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So confirmed Neslon goes on loan and signs a contract extension.
Tomiyasu seems done and he replaced Bellerin whos gone to Spain on loan.
No moves so far Maitland Niles and Eddie Nkrtia – I thought a loan deal for Nketia similar to Nelson would have been ideal. Perhaps his injury is still a concern.
Possible moves still pending Kolasinac amd Elneny though why folks wait this late is just bizarre but that’s football.
Overall out rebuilding starts this season in earnest. I like the strategy, signing good young players with potential to grow into a solid team. Should have been doing this two years ago.
Also happy that lacazette is staying as he offers us something different upfront and I like his work ethic.
We still need to upgrade on holding/chambers/Mari
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some rumors that Runarsson is joining a Belgium club on loan
its been some clear out of players over the last 12 months or so, and we have brought in a fee for one player last summer, Martinez, and one this summer, Joe Willock,
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so if we sign Tomiyasu how long will it take Sky etc to say things like We got our just desserts, or its a trifling signing
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once we sign Tomiyasu it will mean Arteta will in his 20 man match day squads have to include no more than 3 Wenger players, he will have 10 of his own signings, 4 of Emery’s, Leno, Tierney, Pepe, Martinelli, and three Academy lads, Saka, ESR and Balogun, so leaving only place for 3 Wenger boys, including Arteta’s captain, Aubameyang, so maybe Xhaka and Lacazette, but even if he does this, any bad result and it will still not be his squad, or his players, it will still be Wenger’s fault.
In fact some numbskull today on twitter was actually trying to blame the poor signings of Arteta on Wenger, it seems Wenger may have actually advised his old Captain, Arteta, on which players to buy, and of course that would be only the poor Arteta signings, not the good ones (yeah there are good ones among his 12 signings)
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Runarsson is rumored to be on verge of joining Belgium club OH Leuven
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Edouardo, for me it really doesn’t matter whether it’s players wenger brought or Artetas players. I just can’t get my head around Artetas inability to get the team to get the basics right. Simple uncomplicated basics that teams like Brentford first ever premier league game can execute. How to press, how to beat a press, positional awareness when defending, effective passing under pressure, I mean its no shame to lose to better teams or even to inferior teams when your luck is out and pigmob gang against you. But this team under Arteta for neigh close to 20 months has never gone into a game with the expectation of a win or not to lose. Every game we play is a roll of the dice. You just don’t know what you are going to get. And when we win you feel its because the players let their game flow and stopped playing to Artetas complicated instructions.
The manner of defeat against City is a serious wake up call. It showed everything that was wrong with Arteta coaching or lack of it. And it was painful to watch. Worse than thr 8-2 loss where we at least created chances and could have lost 9-5 or something.
Arteta has September to survive. He has 8 games, he needs to win at least 5 and lose no more than one. If we don’t beat Norwich on the 11th, then I reckon we will lose at Burnley too and after that it will be curtains for him.
I hope he stays though as that means we will be winning
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oh TFL I think you have got the wrong idea about what I meant by it, simply put he now has 17 non Wenger players to pick a 20 man match day squad from, so those making excuses for him along the lines of him needing more of his players to work his magic, have to cop themselves on. The Arsenal squad is now Arteta’s Arsenal squad, not Wenger’s, not Emery’s, its Arteta’s.
And on the topic of Arteta signings, Runarsson and Willian only signed 12 months ago, are both gone already, and Mari, Tavares and Sambi were deemed by Arteta not good enough to play v Man City last game out. Would you back giving him more signings not to play
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Takehiro Tomiyasu signing confirmed by Arsenal
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Bellerin to Betis on loan also confirmed
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Gotcha edouardo
Arteta so far has not shown any thing that makes me believe he can be a long term arsenal manager.
I hope he thoroughly proves me wtong and succeeds but the proof is in the pudding, and so far what he’s served is not remotely palatable
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Takehiro Tomiyasu will wear the no.18 shirt, and by the way he speaks good English
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so our squad for the season – well till the January transfer window – looks like this
GK: Leno, Ramsdale, Okonkwo, Hein
RB: Timiyasu, Chambers, Cedric
LB: Tierney, Tavares, Kolasinac
CB: White, Gabriel, Holding, Mari
CM: Xhaka, Partey, Sambi, Eleney, AMN
F: Saka, Pepe, ESR, Odegaard, Martinelli
S: Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Balogun
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Arsenal’s summer transfers in:
Ben White – £50m
Martin Ødegaard – £30m
Aaron Ramsdale – £24m
Takehiro Tomiyasu – £17m
Sambi Lokonga – £15m
Nuno Tavares – £7m
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Jeorge Bird
@jeorgebird
Arsenal defender Jonathan Dinzeyi joins Carlisle United on loan
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So we now have Lacazette and Nketiah in to the last year of their contracts, Kolasinac too
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PSG were able to turn down a €200M bid from Real Madrid for Mbappe, he is in the last year of his contract so can in January agree a deal for next summer for a Bosman move, its almost as if PSG are working under different financial constraints
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Sept. 2021
HG: 6
Non-HG: 15
U-21: 7+
Feb.2022 (if unchanged)
HG: 7
Non-HG: 16
U-21: 5+
Squad looks alright.
COYG!
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