In this podcast we look back and forward, hoping to make sense of a strange season and odd expectations for next season.
Pedantic George.
162 comments on “Arsenal 2023: Will Next Year Be Better?”
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Positively Arsenal 
David Ornstein
@David_Ornstein
🚨 EXCL: Besiktas have submitted an offer to sign Rob Holding from Arsenal. Proposal for centre-back worth €2.5m. Far below what #AFC might consider to sell & will be rejected. 27yo has 1yr left on contract + club option to extend by 12mnth @TheAthleticFC
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Well a typical first, real, pre-season friendly some good patches of play, some players turning in better performances than others and a second half that never really got started because of all the interuptions.
Ed, you were right Nwaneri looks much stronger now and I thought all the youngsters done well apart from poor Karl Hein. I have always thought Graczyk was a better keeper but he seems to be out of the picture at the moment.
Once again we seemed to be better balanced with Eddie up top than either Jesus or Balagun.
I see they give Kai a good ARSENAL welcome with a elbow to the face.
Obviously it’s worrying MO being named in the starting eleven and then not playing at all especially as Vieira played so long in the game.
All in all a good work out and good to see the youngsters including Trustey .
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vieira looking like he will flop again his season
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Timber signs for The Arsenal
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Timber will wear the number 12 shirt
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Sam Dean
@SamJDean
·
1h
Jurrien Timber is Arsenal’s 24th signing since Mikel Arteta was appointed in December 2019.
▪️ 4 goalkeepers (£32m)
▪️ 10 defenders (£194m)
▪️ 6 midfielders (£199m)
▪️ 4 forwards (£69m)
Average age of signings: 24.5
Total cost: £494m
so the Declan Rice signing will basically bring it to £600M spent under Arteta
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OK so I changed my mind after viewing some stats on Rice.
Could be a very very good signing, he seems keen and has improved over the years.
Got good defensive numbers and potentially can get good offensively with a bit of coaching and experience.
Can play CM, DM, CB, RB giving us options.
Money is too high but he has potential to make the team better.
Welcome Declan
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Welcome to Declan Rice, always nice to have another Irishman at the club, the £105M fee brings our outlay this summer to over £200M on the three signings so far, and to £600M spent on signings for Arteta, 25 or 26 players in his 3 and half years in charge, including couple of loan signings that were not kept, Ceballos and Ryan. So a full 25 man squad of signings, which brings me nicely on to where we stand with our squad at this point of the summer transfer window.
Senior players only, as in over the age of 21.
GK – Ramsdale, Turner, Runarsson
D – White, Tomiyasu, Cedric, Saliba, Holding, Timber, Gabriel, Kiwior, Trusty, Zinchenko, Tierney, Tavares
M – Rice, Partey, Elneny, Jorginho, Lokonga, Odegaard, Vieira, Smith-Rowe, Havertz
F – Saka, Nelson, Pepe, Martinelli, Trossard, Jesus, Nketiah, Balogun
I make that 32 players over the age of 21, so without us making anymore senior signings 7 of those players can not be included in our 25 man squad for the coming season. The media and ITK etc all say Arsenal intend signing more players this summer, so a massive clearance sale is the next step, but from our recent history on sales it is likely several players leaving will be paid off or let go for a pittance. Of the 7 minimum that will have to leave, some seem very obvious, in that they don’t look to have any way into Arteta’s plans, Runarsson, Cedric, Tavares and Pepe could all be given away or even paid up to leave, serious doubts are there for Holding, Lokonga, Balogun and Elneny. There are lots of rumors that Partey could be sold if the arabs put enough of a bid in. Vieira flopped last season, will he get to stick around, will he be loaned or sold off, what of ESR, will now that his injuries may have been sorted will he hit top form and be the player we all know he can be. Tierney has been the subject of for sale rumors for months now, will Newcastle bid or even the rumored move to man city happen.
Decisions have to be made on some of the older U21 players not on the above list, especially Hein and Okonkwo, both are keepers with massive potential, both need regular football, Okonkwo got a season out on loan, will he be 3rd choice this season to let Hein get a year of play away. Marquinhos is likely to be sent on loan again this season, its reported that Patino wants out for first team football after having a season on loan in the championship, there are others like cotterill who needs to be playing regular first team football at some level.
So guys who do you expect to be on the way out, do you think there will be more coming in. The squad in looking strong at the moment, but is by my reckoning 7 senior players too many, so which 7 do you think can be done without, or who do you think are the 7 most likely to be let go.
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Would think these 7 were most likely to go.
Runarsson, Cedric, Holding,Trusty,Tavares Lokonga, Pepe.
I actually like the look of the remaining squad, lots of options and cover.
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29 players has been named by Arteta to be in the US for the pre-season games.
Arsenal travelling squad: Aaron Ramsdale, William Saliba, Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Jurrien Timber, Alex Runarsson, Eddie Nketiah, Jakub Kiwior, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Fabio Vieira, Mohamed Elneny, Folarin Balogun, Marquinhos, Kai Havertz, Karl Hein, Auston Trusty, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Declan Rice, Amario Cozier-Duberry
Joining the team next week: Thomas Partey, ESR
Senior players not travelling: Nicolas Pepe, Cedric, Albert Sambi Lokongo, Reiss Nelson, Nuno Tavares, Arthur Owonkwo.
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Hi Ed, why is Reiss not traveling, seems strange when he has just signed a new deal last week. Has he got special leave or is he not allowed in the US.
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its suggested Reiss Nelson is injured, and some reports that one of those that is expected to join up later in the week has a bail hearing tomorrow where a decision to process or drop the charges will be made.
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I hear it’s Reiss’s dog that’s in trouble and obviously with the US being so strict on not issuing Visas to those with convictions or court dates pending (Remember big Tone) that would account for it.
With the rumours about Partey it could give an indication of whether it was a load of bollocks or it has been completely dealt with or not.
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Ian it seems Reiss got injured by stepping on a plug, the wound needed stitches
also Partey and ESR have now joined up with the rest of the squad in the USA
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If Nelson’s pre-season has been affected by stepping on a plug safe to say he’s had some poor luck with the injuries especially with Saka needing a bit of a gentle intro into the season after england duties.
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Ed, ah so the dog thing and the rumour Partey was still involved in something are complete bollocks which is good.
On the game we seem to pass the ball around nicely and although it’s difficult to assess the quality of the opposition (not having played as a team) we seem to have done very well
The manure game should give us more indication of where we are.
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Wow those All-Stars put the boot in a bit last night didn’t they? I guess if you’re going to play against a fake team you want them to at least try. Hopefully everyone got out in one piece.
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Steph Catley has just scored for the Aussies another Gooner makes her mark
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I confess I laughed reading the gibberisims of the Xhaka haters (what else do they hate?) as they try to justify their bile over many years as the club spends one hundred million Pogbas to try and fill a Xhaka sized hole in the squad.
Almost as big as the holes in their heads.
If xhaka could not hold the centre circle by himself what happened against the champions in the 2017 cup final? These jokers don’t know Football.
Hopefully the Xhaka Rice swap works out well for all concerned. There is a buzz around the signing, fingers crossed.
Edu almost blew his poker hand however many were super happy to see Saliba re-sign.
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Thinking about xhaka’s game in that 2017 final, that Rice is a more defensive talent:
Is arteta be thinking of Havertz as his Ramsey and Odegaard as his Fabregas?
The resemblances here are uncanny!
Yes. The post Wenger revolution has began.
hallelujah (yes this is sarcasm).
after some wasted years we hope and it looks like Arteta has the team playing consistently propa footy again.
Tough job replacing Xhaka but had to happen sooner or later. Fingers crossed!
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Yes it does provide a real head scratcher how those who profess to be knowledgeable about football cannot understand the real person with dominance and importance.
Those same idiots are saying how wonderful Mikel is because he has replaced Xhaka with a £105 million pound player and this is not something Arsene would of ever done.
Not realizing the dumbfuckpigary of their statement and the fact that players left A: because of the club inability to spend, B: because of better wages elsewhere and C: because of A and B they were more likely to get silverware if they moved on.
Obviously this also meant they were likely to leave earlier and were harder to replace.
The Anti Arsene Arsenal can’t seem to work out that Mikel has a Everest size mountain of an advantage over Arsene.
Arsene could be never afford to be so wasteful in the transfer market and just replace his buys with bigger buys.
Arsene over achieved by finishing position compared with wages and spend in all but one of his seasons I think Mikel by the same judgement has already a worse record.
Don’t get me wrong I am enjoying our current affluence and football but to suggest it’s anywhere near Arsene’s level is mere folly.
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Those who aware will know that both Chelsea and Man city spent over a billion to catchup to the standards set by Arsene.
Arteta has a long long way to go
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didn’t mean to suggest Arteta is to be considered as a potential GOAT just reflecting on how the old gaffer is a bigger influence on Arteta’s game then the Anti-Arsenal will ever acknowledge.
Probably the biggest influence.
Nice summary of Arsene’s tactics 2005-2014
It was reflections on the Champion bashing 2017 cup final 433/343 Late Wenger vintage that made me think that phase could be the biggest influence on Arteta.
There are overlaps with Pep. If I remember correctly (unlikely) it was after his semi final defeat against that team in 2017 or thereabouts when Pep proudly deflected & asked the media “when was the last time you saw Arsene play with three at the back?” Essentially asking them to acknowledge that on this occasion he was not copying the GOAT though I think he was exaggerating I think that’s how AW started out at AFC famously not changing the back line. IBSF.
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seems there is an arsenal piece in the telegraph, behind a paywall, where board member Tim Lewis basically says Wenger did not get the backing he needed financially due to KSE not being full owners at the time
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starting 11 tonight v man utd is
Ramsdale
Timber Saliba Gabriel Tomiyasu
Odegaard Rice Havertz
Saka Nketiah Martinelli
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Just watched the under 18s play Hitchin Town first team in a friendly.
Despite the obvious advantage the opposition had physically the youngsters played really well including some lovely one touch football in patches.
We went in front after a lovely cross from, our Captain, Luis Brown was headed powerfully home.
We went further in front when Daniel Oyetunde beat the Keeper to a through ball in the box and was brought down.
The pen was despatched, I think, by Ayden Heaven and it was 2-0.
Our keeper, Brian Okankwo, was excellent all the way through but was finally beaten from a rebound after he had saved the initial penalty. It was after a period of lots of subs and Hitchin were throwing lots of big men in the box and launching the ball in there.
The ref, who was a bit of a homer, was basically letting the game go on until the home team scored and after another deluge of long balls the ball was scrambled into the ARSENAL net.
2-2 wasn’t a fair reflection on a game our youngsters dominated in truth and it was especially on our keeper who played so well.
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afc lost 2-0 in the game and 5-3 on penalties too, vieira missing his penalty
a forgetable game, mistakes for both goals, and offered little attacking wise,
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thanks for the info ian, glad to hear Brian Okankwo played very well as he barely got a look in last season and for some strange reason there is a little click on the net who have it in for him and run him down all the time, stupid shit like he is only at AFC cos he is Arthur’s brother etc
by the way Jeorge Bird says Harrison Dudziak scored our penalty
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Cheers ED, looking at the team sheet again I can see that’s correct.
I went with my two lads and lots of my youngest boys friends he did his degree with.
So basically they come from all parts of the country and well as Wales and Scotland and all of them were remarking how good (and how tall) our keeper was.
They also were surprised to hear he had an older brother who was also a keeper but further up the scale at ARSENAL.
One of the best things was the style of football. Obviously brothers at senior clubs are rare but are usually outfield players to have over let alone Two is unheard-of.
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The first team game I had to watch on a stream from mutv so it was understandably biased.
Having said that I thought both teams played some really good football for a pre-season friendly and the one touch football and counter attacking counter on there side verses our individual skills and sliderule passing made for a surprisingly good match.
The individual errors were horrendous but maybe that is better than having tactical problems going into a new season.
The game definitely underlined manure will be better this season and I would imagine some of our other rivals will as well. On paper we have a better squad but the season certainly seems like it will be more difficult.
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Thanks for the match reports!
Fingers crossed the new signings work out well.
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If I had an anti arsenal hat to put on or acting like a very reasonable WOB I’d be asking why the club don’t want to spend the moolah on Mbappé surely it’s a sign they don’t want to compete etc. heh!
You don’t have to forgive the awful pun and you’ve been warned but surely it’d be good to see Balogun given a go as a Gunner.
He scored at the same rate as Mbappé last season in the same league.
Won’t push him above Nketiah in Arteta’s thinking. But should it? Tricky one but with the CL games surely Arteta can keep all three strikers happy? His form in not selecting Jorginho especially with rumours around Partey’s fitness last season would suggest what will happen but I’m hoping to see this one change that will only help Arteta as a coach.
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On the basis of goals and threat around the box then it would be Jesus who is third choice.
Obviously it doesn’t work just like that but I agree with the amount of games, and big games at that, we are playing this term all three should be kept happy.
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Zac Awe joining Southampton after turning down a contract extension at Arsenal, there will be a compensation fee to be paid
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As the new season approaches, I wondered if anyone has been successful in the new ticket balloting system. It comes on the back of a season when after November it was impossible to purchase tickets on red and silver memberships.
I am not sure that the new system will make it any easier.
To date I do not know anyone who has applied for the first three home games that have managed to get a ticket.
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I really liked Zac, he certainly seemed to be the best and calmest of our young CBs.
I have heard people say he had a ricket in him but most young CBs do and it’s why CB is a position where players seem to get better with age.
I think we will see more of the youngsters turn down contracts as the squad gets stronger especially as so many have been brought in.
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Tim, Stuart Broad has just announced he is retiring from cricket after the ashes. I’m absolutely flaba fucking garsterd. I heard the noise about Jimmy but just didn’t expect Stu to go.
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ian on zac awe having a rickett in him, I would say that most people who spouted that rarely if ever seen him play, but repeat this cos its something Jeorge Bird has said about him. I see it time and again that the assessment of a youth player by Jeorge is taken as gospel, and the fact is he seldom if ever sees these guys play in person, he goes on what he sees in the highlights or in the odd game streamed, he sees no more of them than any of ourselves, but he has a youth blog, and he used to have some access but that has been shut off somewhat.
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Cheers for that Ed,
I see sky sports are saying we are expressing an interest in Brentford’s David Raya. I don’t know if this is an agreement between ARSENAL and Brentford to drive up the price and make sure Brentford get their money.
If we are serious then Turner or Ramsdale would be moved on and another failed transfer has occurred.
Sky are saying Turner would go to Forrest. They are also saying Lonkonga is going to Burnley. Buying these players giving them great wages then selling them for less cannot be sustainable long term even if the squad is getting better.
If we don’t win something substantial, or even if we do, you wonder how long this can last before it implodes.
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yeah Ian, Ornstein has said Arsenal are in for Raya with Turner likely off to Forest if we get him.
I’ve said it before, the Arteta/Edu way of doing transfers is very very simple, bring in players A, B and C and if any of them don’t make it then just dump them and bring in players D, E and F, rinse and repeat. If we sign Raya it will mean in Arteta’s time in charge he will have signed five goalkeepers, Ramsdale, Turner, Raya, Runarrson ad Ryan(loan), the thing is that this is the brilliant player identification that we keep hearing Arteta has, Sambi Lokonga the next big Arteta signing to be dumped without a single word from the bloggers and twitteratti, no its all praise cos we are throwing money at it over and over. I suppose as long as we improve no one really cares
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Auston Trusty off to Sheffield Utd for £5M, another Arteta signing leaving
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What a fantastic end to probably the best ashes series in my lifetime. I still think those cheating Aussie barstards robbed us but hey still a fantastic end and apart from the rain in Manchester an absolutely brilliant advert for test cricket just when it needed to fight back against the shorter formats of the game.
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Arsenal are expected to confirm an extension to the Emirates partnership in the coming days. The current shirt sponsorship deal, signed in 2018, ends in 2024, while the stadium naming rights, signed in 2012, are under contract until 2028
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Ben Cottrell has joined Slovenian side NS Mura in a permanent transfer
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I see there is a rumour Aaron has a knock and won’t play tonight
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I thought that was a really good game and Monaco well worth their money.
On chances it could of been about 5-5 but that’s friendlies for you.
Everyone played reasonably well, even Vieira although still very lightweight.
Eddie again proving he is a more than adequate replacement for Jesus and if some of his colleagues would have been a little less greedy and better with decision making his good runs would of been rewarded with a hatful of goals.
His approach play was again excellent and proved that unlike Vieira he is difficult to get off the ball.
The other partnerships are beginning to show some fruition all round the pitch and the three new players are doing well the best at the moment being Timber ironically as he joined with less fanfare than the others.
I would say although we seem to have a better all round squad than last year we not as season ready as we were at the same stage.
The first six games of this season look harder as well, so although I don’t imagine us to have quite as good start as last season I do think we will get better as the season progresses and maybe we will finally finish the season with a flourish and not a damp squib like the previous two.
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Sorry I forgot to mention Emile, who produced an excellent display proving his best position is probably number ten and at his best he has the potential to be every bit as good as Odegaard, who has quite a poor game when he came on. That might be a bit unfair because he didn’t get a great deal of time.
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some concerns over how bad an injury Jesus has, he missed tonights game with a knee injury that needs to be assessed
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Auston Trusty is off to Sheffield Utd, and latest reports are that Pepe is off to Besiktas for free
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Arteta on Jesus injury: Unfortunately he had a little procedure this morning. He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues so they had to go in. He’s going to be out for a few weeks.
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Arteta on if Jesus’ injury changes any transfer plans with Folarin Balogun:
The plan with Flo doesn’t change at all, but unfortunately, with Gabby, we not going to have him. We have other options to play with different qualities of players, so we will adapt
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