I’m certain that Arteta wouldn’t be happy if players made up things about their relationship with him. So I’m pretty damn sure Xhaka will be telling the truth about Arteta being responsible for keeping him at the club.

You’ve never had to be amiable to a boss, manager or Person of authority you didn’t actually like. Interesting we are learning more and more here

Yes you did miss them.

Arteta keeps picking Xhaka game after game after game. Hence it’s pretty damn obvious Arteta rates Xhaka highly so I’d suggest it’s highly likely Xhaka was telling the truth about Arteta being responsible for keeping him at the club.

Arteta needed to sign 3 new midfielders but only had enough money for 1. Not difficult to comprehend why we didn’t sign a Xhaka replacement and subsequently we’ve had to loan in 2 players to fill desperate holes

In your opinion. Has Arteta himself ever said how many midfielders he needed to sign? I would expect Arteta to keep Xhaka whether he had a generous budget or not, because he obviously rates him.

I've definitely posted lots of times in defence of Leno and advocating the sale of Martinez on the basis it was a difficult but correct decision for where we want the squad to be in the immediate and long term. No point having 2 x £20m GK in the squad when you desperately need a CM.

I don’t think he does. As you said yesterday he probably doesn’t have a replacement of any quality that’s why he gets games.

Look at the evidence. 60k fans booed him off the pitch they all think he’s bad clearly, all the sky pundits Redknapp, souness and Evra have said they don’t rate him or he’s a liability and their ex pros, Thierry Henry doesn’t rate him and can’t watch us when he plays and I myself can reel of the top of my head tons of midfielders for us we’ve had better than this guy.

I can’t see Arteta thinking different so there’s a need to play nice till new blood can be brought in

Haaland looks tailor made for the Premier League as well. He's a big guy at 6ft 4 but has pace to burn as well, he's very strong - certainly won't be bullied by the traditional plodding English centre-half and his finishing is extraordinary. I agree, technically he's not on Messi or Ronaldo's level, not even on Mbappe or Neymar's level but he just has this brute force to destroy defences. He'll move this summer for sure I think. Next year he has a release clause that kicks in of around £65m, so this summer is a bidding war, none of the really rich clubs are going to sit it out hoping he stays at Dortmund and they can activate his release clause next year - they want him now and Dortmund would be mad not to sell this summer for £100m+ knowing they'd only get £75m for him in a year.

Were you at that game? It was nothing like 60k. It was a vociferous but very small minority. Also check the praise Xhaka has now been getting from fans on social media. Henry is the best Arsenal player I’ve seen but failed as a manager. A few Sky pundits don’t rate him? Who cares? Ian Wright has praised him and I think that’s irrelevant too, albeit perhaps not as irrelevant as Redknapp, Souness and Evra, none of whom have any affinity with the club. I think it’s blatantly obvious Arteta rates Xhaka.

Whenever he has a game where a calamitous mistake doesn’t occur he gets praised for some reason.

Take a look at what the regulars on the online gooner Forum think on Xhaka and you will see I’m positively measured in comparison to their dislike of the guy.

So many people can’t be wrong on the issue.

My take on Xhaka has oscillated over time. I used to get so frustrated when he just kept going to ground when tackling with the resultant cards. He has finally seemed to limit his tendency to do that so that is a massive plus as he was previously a disaster waiting to happen.

Now he is bang average with occasional good bits and occasional horrible bits. His lack of pace is always going to be an issue. He is now reliable except when he isn’t if you see what I mean. And he is a good team player.

But he wouldn’t get anywhere near any of our decent midfields over the past quarter of a century. Not his fault. That’s where we are right now.

I think this is a decent summary, like you if I pick some random midfielders we’ve had in the recent past not necessarily the best ..... say... Michael Thomas, Kevin Richardson and say Paul Davis. I’d take all of them in a heartbeat instead of the Toberlone kid and all of those players divided opinion.

To be honest I think this is an accurate summary of where we are with this and like Davies I agree I’m boring on the matter. https://youtu.be/RZoNaFcB7fo

... therefore like Davies I will now make a concerted effort to not mention this guy forward here with immediate effect. Let’s see how long this lasts !

Gotta start playing nice on here some of you. Cause the boys have itchy fingers.

The forum appears to be going through a very repetitive and very boring period with the head troll being as objectionable as ever. If Steve were here I have ne doubt that he would have cut the troll short and allowed us to enjoy what once was a very interesting and informative forum which has now turned into being boring and repetitive.
Strange how AG always vanishes when TG (the Troll) is having a spat with forum regulars. If this were Twitter I have no doubt he would have have been Trumped by now, oh what a wonderful idea, I would love to see less of his rantings and loony ravings. I've not read an original AG post for a very very long time and have not missed him and I am beginning to think that if the Mods won't drag the troll out and put him up against a metaphorical wall I will just have to block him as well.
Once again happy easter to one and all so Friday off and Monday too. See you around.

Why am I a troll ? Because I thought your covid denial e petition was in bad taste and gross ? Because Bernard and I disagree on Xhaka ? Because it irks me people slating our best players.

Hardly, you’d have banned cannon, Harlow and even daz maybe long ago for such crimes.

BTW AG blocked me and many others on here years ago you know

Just scroll past if you don't like. Or mute. I've done that with one poster and it is great. The temptation to respond to what you find inexplicably wrong on all points, or merely pointless and excruciating boring, is removed.

RIP this guy. David "Rocky" Rocastle. 20 years ago today.

Tierney got a hat trick of assists for Scotland tonight, playing on the left side of a back 3

RIP.
Chipping that p...k Schmeicel at OT. Taking us to Wembley after scoring at WHL in the League Cup Semi Final
Part of an Arsenal team full of local (ish) lads.
My 67 year old memory is a bit suspect and I’m sure forumites can add some great Rocky memories.
What a player. He’d definitely get in my favorite Arsenal team with the likes of Peter Storey, Santi, Tomas Rosicky and of course Chippy.
Somehow I’d have to squeeze him I’m my best ever AFC team.
Man 20 years. Tempus fugit is right.
Rest In Peace Rock.

I’ve never blocked a poster and I’ve no intention of ever doing so. I was delighted to see Top Gun say he’ll stop his obsessive moaning about Xhaka as not only do I think it hypocritical when he claims to stand up for other players when they receive criticism, but it is very boring and to be fair to him I think that point by bubblechris is correct. Seriously, how often can you attack a single player before it becomes ultra-repetitive?

Passing (and Xhaka’s passing is mostly good)? Work rate (Xhaka’s is very good)? Tackling ability (Xhaka can give away free kicks but at least he tries to win the ball which is better than a player not trying to)? Lack of pace (completely fair criticism of Xhaka)? Decision making (Xhaka’s isn’t great but isn’t terrible either, a sort of mix combining bad errors with intelligent play)? Heading ability (Xhaka probably doesn’t play in a position that requires an awful lot of heading in the modern game but is another quality I’d describe as middling with him)? Attitude (one thing Xhaka can’t be criticised for with his support of teammates making him a good team man; also I think his reaction to the vociferous but small number of fools giving him such hurtful stick when substituted in that game was largely justified as I always feel embarrassed about our fans giving stick to our own players, just as I did with Sammels over half a century ago)? Creativity (he certainly isn’t Brady or Hudson but can put dangerous balls through).

So from the above, he isn’t great but he isn’t useless either. Everything has been debated time and time again. What’s new to be said? So credit to Top Gun for saying he’s going to stop going on and on about Xhaka. I hope he keeps to it.

Rocastle definitely would be the right midfielder in my best ever Arsenal team. Ultra skilful and one hell of a ball winner. He had everything. Sadly, apart from good health in the long-term.

Thanks Andy for the Rocastle post. I regret not able to have seen him play.

Let me save you the wait. Leno has made mistakes, despite you asserting to the contrary. Your failure to acknowledge any errors by him is just plain silly. So I will point out any errors he makes and no doubt you will fail to acknowledge them.

So you agree with Davies. Then you must agree with his opinion that we kept the wrong keeper. Or are you selective in what you accept. I am sure you will no doubt make some silly comment in reply. Your acceptance of mediocrity at the club is staggering.

Leno has made about 4 mistakes that have led to goals in his time with us I consider. Missed a cross againest chelsea, ridiculous kick passing to an opponent, daft passing out from the back the other week and one more.

That’s it. 4, so he’s been with us 4 years that’s about a mistake a year and Seaman made more than that. I’m not saying he’s a better keeper than Seaman but you are searching for errors in his play desperately it’s ridiculous and someone needs to call you out on it.

He’s spot on about Xhaka but wrong about Leno and Arteta (at the moment on Arteta )

Done a quick search on player x being referenced in my posts excluding yesterday when you wanted to discuss it. It’s not as many as you would think so it tells me your comments here are about you disagreeing on player X rather than the repetitiveness of it. Anymore of this and I’ll lift the ban which would be a shame

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56598023
Nice read on Tierney's performance last night

For a start you’ve no idea how many times I think you’ve droned on about him, so that point in your post is an utter irrelevance. But do you think if other people say anything remotely positive above him you have to lift your self-imposed ban? Isn’t that obsessive? He’s a mainstay of our team. He’s going to be discussed. If me or anyone else wants to discuss him, ignore it if you genuinely want to avoid going on about him. Simple!

Like I just said I do I just checked !

I’m addressing your point saying I’m repetitive. I’m not after checking on my posts on him. That’s it, I’m not saying I will post when others are discussing the individual.

Actually you know what BAN Lifted, I’ll discuss what I want thanks and if It’s a problem then block me as Decaf suggested.

As I said to Decaf I’ve no intention of blocking anyone. I haven’t even blocked someone from across the Atlantic. I see blocking other posters as a weakness, even if I find them repetitive and boring because of that. Also I think when you discuss other issues your points can be worth reading.

Of course it is up to you what you discuss. I couldn’t agree more, even if you have nothing new to say on a topic. But good luck on keeping to your self-imposed ban, as that’s all it is and in my view that’s all it should be.

I think Aguero was a better scorer but Henry a more complete player.

https://www.arsenal.com/news/arteta-aguero-unique-hes-one-best?fbclid=IwAR10wf0aaj03ZkaUh9r1vAihCaqJ6tE_YkxAa-4gEp2e16E1jRsMHah6X8c

The rocket at Anfield in the Littlewoods Cup in '88. What a screamer.




15:06 in the video

Aguero is definitely among the very top strikers in the Premier League era, he's been remarkably consistent through the years. Henry declined faster, he was already showing signs of it when he was 29, and at 30 he went to Barcelona as was no longer the same player. At 30 Aguero scored 21 Premier League goals.

That being said, between the two it's no contest for me - Henry actually has a slightly better goal average through his Premier League career, and add in the fact that he was such a complete threat, providing loads of assists and scoring wonder goals from nothing against the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool and he's clearly ahead of Aguero for me. At his peak, Henry was (at least) a top 3-5 player in the world through a period of about five years, not sure that was ever the case with Aguero for even a single season.

I love David Rocastle dearly but he’s not getting in my best ever Arsenal 11. Your dropping World Cup winners or seriously talented wingers to slot him in.

All personal preference understood though

Agree, Ljungberg has to be on the right hand side.