Shotta and Blackburn George express. their disappointment at the points dropped at home by Arsenal in their draw with Fulham. The duo explore what is lacking in the team’s performance highlighting an unsettled defense with Partey playing an unusual right-back role and Gabriel, last year’s top defender, not being used. George was particularly concerned that Haavertz is not living up to expectations and how his big price tag might weigh on Arteta’s team selection going forward. But there were some bright spots especially the brilliant job by Nketiah and Fabio Vieira with the latter our Man of the Match (MOTM)
56 comments on “Arsenal Vs Fulham – A disappointing Draw”
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Positively Arsenal 
Podcast up
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Arsenal U21 team v Nottingham Forest u21: Game is live on Arsenal.com
Ejeheri, Walters, Foran, Ibrahim, Sousa, Lewis-Skelly, Gower, Nwaneri, Cozier-Duberry, Edwards, Sagoe Jr.
Subs: Hillson, Monlouis, Flores, Rosiak, Butler-Oyedeji.
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some reports and rumors that if Arsenal do not bring in £100M from the sales of the unwanted this week, including the £35M for Balogun, for the likes of Okonkwo, Cedric, Holding, Tavares, Elneny, Lokonga and Pepe that we will accept a bid in the region of £50M for either Gabriel or Smith-Rowe, maybe even both.
If we do manage to move on those that are unwanted we may bring in another defender
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That’s slightly worrying Ed, if after several windows of being the top spenders we suddenly are sailing close to the wind again.
If that’s the case we would be better selling star names like Jesus and keeping potential like Balogun. Just Like the Martinez scenario we would get more for Jesus and reduce the wage bill that everyone was so pleased about at one time.
This season will be very tight for the top four so we haven’t got much room for manoeuvre.
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well Ian can we get £65M or so from Okonkwo, Cedric, Holding, Tavares, Elneny, Lokonga and Pepe, I don’t see it as we would only get fees of more than £10M for Lokonga and Tavares, so don’t be surprised to see ESR or Gabriel gone by Friday, or even worse, go to Saudi in the next 3 weeks after our window has closed and we can’t bring in anyone.
AFC being linked with a loan move for Eric Garcia. Well a loan move would be suitable if we are short of funds
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the U21’s fell to a disappointing defeat at Forest, after dominating the first half and coming close to scoring a few times, AFC were behind early in the second half and never looked like getting level, and let in an avoidable second late in the game.
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Just when you think you need to look over your shoulder because the spuds are making a comeback they serve us up another comical result.
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Balogun off to Monaco and we are loaning Tavares to Forest for £1M with a £12M buy option
Several clubs in for Holding, again loan or small fee, English and Spanish clubs
Chelsea inquired for ESR, and are offering player part exchange
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If Holding leaves it will mean that Pepe(and AFC want him gone too) is the last of the starting 11 who won the FA Cup in 2020 still at the club, and only Nketiah of the subs who came on that day.
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reports that arsenal working on deals to get cedric and pepe gone
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former Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi is a transfer target for Fulham
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Arteta’s got the open chequebook.
Ignoring the “Mates” all from the same area who are “managing” the league lol some of the only things holding him back are is his own ego. And the inexperience in managing fitness/injuries, the person who signed off on the rookie coach managing fitness and letting the Lewins go is: not qualified for the job.
George is bang on about the value of a top level CB pairing. If the blagging Experts couldn’t acknowledge the quality & status in the game of the last pairing that got the club to second (BFG & LK) i guess that it’s a big ask to ask them to comment on the Football.
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TBH Havertz was not my first choice. If you are asking haha!
Come on Venga pull your finger out and sign Bellingham. And Mbappe. No more scrooging around I demand it! And what I want is the most important thing in this interwebby blagging & blustering world. ?
Failing that what about Old Bwoy Eze? No??
Emile Smith Rowe has been a joy to watch when fit. Unless his doctors card reads like the surgeons notes for a 19 year old Wilshere* and Ramsey why is he not playing?
*the leading Specilaist who was his surgeon wrote that JW would be lucky to walk properly. He played on for several seasons! Yes: Professional athletes are nutcases. Bless ‘em. This all came out in JW’s talksport shows recently.
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fins I can tell you why ESR is not playing, going on the reasons why any player is frozen out by Arteta
he is a poor trainer
he has a bad attitude
he is not talented enough
he is not suited to the genius tactics employed by Arteta
his position in the team is no longer part of modern football
he is of bad character
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50 hours of the summer transfer window left, Arsenal confirm the sale of Balogun and the loan departure of Tierney. Reports this evening suggest Tavares on loan to Forest will be confirmed tomorrow. Arsenal said to be in talks with clubs for deals to get Okonkwo, Cedric, Holding, Lokonga and Pepe out of the club, loan or permanent.
A whole host of youths are also available for moves, again both permanent or on loan.
Very little rumor about any incoming transfer, main rumors Eric Garcia from Barcelona, and a right back from Benfica have been mentioned but no serious news yet.
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Connor Humm
@TikiTakaConnor
·
10m
Brentford vs. Arsenal in the Carabao Cup Third Round.
The tie will take place the week commencing 25 September.
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brighton have bid for Emile Smith-Rowe
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I really won’t be happy if we sell ESR
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Eddie gets his full England call up, a goal at this level will mean he has scored at every level.
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Yep can see why the club who following the Red Bull/ AW ‘05-‘13 model want to sign ESR to play alongside that incredible talent who became a global star for Japan at the World Cup.
Letting Martinez go and now bringing in Reya some calls have confused many in the Game but at least it is better then Runnarson ahahaha a signing that must have made GG piss his pants.
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I’m pissing my pants as the club lets two LBs go after losing one to an avoidable injury. all have seen that you don’t want Zinchenko defending opposite Havertz let alone a PL striker. Makes about as much sense as paying footballers 100k p/w not to play football. What could go wrong?
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A pretty decent draw for the CL,
Sevilla
PSV
Lens
It certainly could of been a lot worse.
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As predicted the club is struggling to replace Xhaka a player the arse blaggers spent years trying to hound out the club. It’s not like the club played like a mid table midfield whenever he was not playing in the midfield? The same people who spent years hounding the best coach they will ever watch.
These blaggers know how to get some clicks:
but to be more then fair they do not know Football.
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Plenty of opportunities to try out some rotations in this CL group!
And not start Saka every single game when Rodgers was playing Sterling for half the minutes at the same age
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I used to get really down when youngsters were sold but because of the ambivalence to youth by our current management it makes you think for the sake of players careers and sanity it for the best.
Mikel obviously doesn’t like the former academy players and as much as I like ESR I think I might be able to enjoy him elsewhere if he’s not going to be included much here.
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Yes. sad to see Balogun go before he gets a run but he’ll struggle to play ahead of Nketiah this season now he is in the England squad.
Can look forward to seeing how he gets on.
Chuba Akpom is now playing for Ajax!
Eze would probably be more expensive to sign from Palace then Havertz. Havertz if he will make it will need time. There will be injuries and rotations all over the place so fingers crossed Arteta can learn how to ride the CL waves and storms. I don’t critique him too much on rotations as we’ve all seen that is something that even Ancellotti and Wenger mastered later on with greater experience.
With the CL it would be good to see more youth team players given a run out especially in the league cup but with Brentford I’d bet with the bookies hat should’ve been banned in the 19thC (in fact they were before some “progressives” allowed them back in the Game…): he’ll go for a senior selection from the main squad.
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3 hours of the transfer window to go
Tavares has joined Forest on season loan with option to biu
Holding is set to join Crystal Palace for £4M
Lokonga is set to join Luton on season loan
Arthur Okonkwo has joined Wrexham on a season loan, its an odd one as he drops down a division or level from his previous loans which he excelled at, so it has to be a money thing, be it wages or fee AFC are getting
Brian Okonkwo, Arthur’s younger brother has joined Leatherhead on loan till January
Nathan Butler-Oyedeji has joined League One side, Cheltenham Town on a season-long loan
Henry Jeffcott has joined League One side, Derby County as part of their U-21 squad
Still have moves to sort out for Cedric and Pepe, rumor has it AFC will give Pepe a free transfer
Several youth transfers to sort out too
Arteta said earlier today that he did not expect any incomings at AFC today
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Fleetwood town and Crewe Alexandra have both made loan move for Arsenal striker Khayon Edwards
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Arsenal’s Charlie Patino and Brooke Norton-Cuffy both receive their first England U21 call-ups
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Omar Rekik has joined League One side, Wigan Athletic on a loan deal until January
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Luca Bendoni
@LucaBendoni
·
1h
After his move to Portugal wasn’t 100% agreed, Kido Taylor-Hart will leave Arsenal and join Bromley Football Club on a half-season loan in order to get minutes
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lokonga loan moved confirmed
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David Ornstein
@David_Ornstein
·
7m
🚨 Rob Holding has joined Crystal Palace from Arsenal in permanent deal. #CPFC paying #AFC £1m + £2.5m add-ons. 27yo centre-back has signed 3yr contract & is eligible for selection against Wolves at Selhurst Park on Sunday @TheAthleticFC
#DeadlineDay #WWFC
one fucking million, ha ha ha
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with holding gone it means pepe is the only remaining starter from our fa cup winning side of 2020, and Nketiah the only sub who played that day still here too, saka and nelson were unused subs in that final.
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so transfer window shut, although some other leagues windows still open so more sales can happen in coming weeks, there has been a whole host of changes to our first team squad this summer
players in
Raya
Timber
Rice
Harvertz
players out
Turner
Okonkwo – loan
Runarsson – loan
Holding
Mari
Trusty
Tierney – loan
Xhaka
Lokonga – loan
Maitland-Niles
Balogun
Marquinhos – loan
six of the out goings this summer are players signed by Arteta, 3 of them are out on loan but Runarsson and Lokonga not expected back
I’m not sure we are much if any better off, especially with Timber likely out for the season.
We still have the unwanted Cedric and Pepe, and along with the injured Timber, we have the injured Elneny.
With the out goings we currently have 26 players aged 22 or over, but with Timber injured long term we can register the other 25 if we want, even if Cedric and Pepe are clearly not wanted by Arteta or the club.
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senior players – 25 of this 26 can be registered in our EPL squad, Timber out long term might make it easy to pick the odd one out
Ramsdale, Raya, Hein
White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Tomiyasu, Cedric, Timber
Partey, Rice, Jorginho, Harvertz, ESR, Odegaard, Elneny, Vieira
Saka, Nelson, Trossard, Martinelli, Pepe
Jesus, Nketiah
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Tim Akinola, Ryan Alebiosu and James Hillson are all age wise classified as senior players, and to play for the first team would have to be included in the 25 man EPL squad, I don’t see any of them being included at the expense of an older player, unless said older player is to be fully excluded, which could happen as Pepe and co were not allowed train with first team during the summer while I know Alebiousu and Hillson have been involved, not sure about Akinola
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just a reminder that Partey, Tomiyasu and Elneny could all be missing a chunk of the season in the new year as both the AFCON and Asia Cup take place
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just been informed that Karl Hein is still classified as U21 so does not need to be included in first team 25
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I did think that our squad was stronger this season but now Timber, the player that had integrated the best, is not available it’s now looking a little threadbare.
We may see that Mikel’s aversion to the younger players may suddenly change.
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Tomorrow both teams will be under a shed load of crap if they lose, even though neither are Newcastle.
It is difficult to imagine a crisis after four games but that’s how the media will sell it.
Manure are at their best when in transition, that used to be called counter attacking in my day but heh.
Going on the end of last season and the start of this, a fast counter attacking team is our worst opponent right now.
However at our best we are very good going forward and manure have a few holes at the back.
I will be annoyed if Jesus starts over Eddie but I think we need to expect it going on previous history.
The dilemma at the back is Zinchenko gives the team more balance and is a fantastic forward passser to push the team forward but gets skinned by any fast winger he faces. On the other hand can Mikel risk carrying on the Partey experiment.
Other options with Gabriel coming back in and Partey providing cover for Zinc with maybe Kai missing out.
Obviously whatever the selection the officials will side with their favourite team and we will have to contend with that as well.
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We can only hope that with Partey injured the experiment is put on hold or cancelled altogether.
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problem is that the partey injury might stop the experiment of him at right back, but it leaves us another player down in defense and of what we have Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are very injury prone, so it might not be long till we are down to the bare bones and we will be hearing Arteta say we had no other option but to play same players over and over even if they are off form or tired out.
add in that we have several other players in the squad too that have poor injury records and don’t forget we have CL games this year unlike last year when we were midweek free and couldn’t cope with the schedule, makes it even more annoying that we got rid of Xhaka who was always available.
we can only hope for good luck in regards injuries and hope the squad can cope, we might even see the greatest climbdown ever from Arteta and see Pepe play for the first team again
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I see former Arsenal player Paul Merson telling liverpool to sell Salah for the £200M and then bid £150M for Saka in January, the fuckwit must be back on the drugs, but on a serious note, why do so many former Arsenal players piss on the club, oh for good old frank mclintock or bob wilson, they knew how to represent Arsenal in the media
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Eduardo “ we can only hope for good luck in regards injuries”
That is hoping against hope with Arsenal, and has been for a long time, or at least that is my perception. We got away with it a bit at the start of last season, but got hit badly in the latter stages. And we all know how our ref unprotected players got hit by injuries in the Wenger era.
Pepe should be an option, he has his faults but he isn’t that bad a player unless there is something we don’t know.
As for Merson, if he said that, very poor punditry, Saka is worth far more than that figure in todays market
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Merse is a big chelusa supporter as is all his family, Dixon is from Manchester and is a city supporter and Smith a massive boyhood Leicester fan his hometown.
I have no excuse for Ian Wright he is just a knob.
None of them bought into Arsene’s era almost getting a chip on their shoulders for devaluing their previous endeavours.
The fact that Arsene got Wright his only league medal and prolonged Dixon’s career seems to go totally unnoticed.
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While you never want to see players injured Mikel has previously stumbled upon different success when having to switch the team around.
Rice may have to play his natural position, the one where he was leading all the stats in the division last season and that in turn may allow Kai a more free role around the box which again may suit his style.
The back five will be the same as last season and rice will cover Zinny.
This will also allow the successful Saka, Odegaard, White triangle to join up again.
Jorginio is the extra midfielder waiting to come in and that may be an option to reduce the upheaval.
All the top sides have already played a big game and this is our first and our first measure of how we are.
As usual who gives a shit about the noise this is manure and just taking the three points off them will be enough COYG.
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The Utd coach hoped Eriksen would get the chance to recreate his assists from the Away game last season and he struck gold there today yet just moments later Eriksen was a fraction late/slow to the danger from MO. Who’d be a coach?
White a little bit slow to challenge on the goal and with players not used to the line up their game is not as fluid today but we saw a great spell of football for the goal and afterwards.
Will be very happy with a late winner not least as there’ll be less time to tilt. COYG.
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What an effing pass by Vieira!
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Looks like Man U pushed the boat out for the Danish Grant Holt.
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Two late winners!!
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