The head scratcher is whether you can name anyone on the forum who has denied that signing Özil was massive.

Would have got the Rwandan sponsorship anyway which was more about the UK government giving theirs a load of cash.

Honestly 2 good seasons. Rest of the time was pretending not to mention rightly or wrongly he alienated the Chinese market.

As you say. It seems highly unlikely, verging on impossible, that anyone did.

Arteta named 'Manager of the Month'.

Bugr.

Well deserved.

Maybe, but we all know what comes next.

Is it the same jinx after winning PL player of the month?

Big question that will be answered is can Leicester get something out of their visit to Old Trafford? Also, can Newcastle get something from their visit to White Hart Lane? Both challenging clubs playing at home makes it unlikley to drop points against either club but as we have seen this season, such clubs have taken points at both venues.

That makes him an even bigger man in my eyes. His concern for the Uighur people in China should be applauded rather than censured. As this interesting article points out Arsenal's response to political comments from its staff was at best inconsistent and at worst craven in the face of the desire for lucre. As the article describes Özil was erased and then shamefully left undefended by the club when his character assassination began.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/spor ... china.html

Thinking about it you must be right. It is obvious Adidas came to Arsenal because we had all those other World Cup winners and galacticos to sell their kits, such as Iwobi, Elneny, Welbeck, Suarez, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, Guendouzi etc.

Oh of course. It had nothing to do with the fame of the club, did it?

I think it did.

So do I.

Old Man .... next Xmas instead of the Little Richards LP s ask Santa for a couple of brain cells ... the Urghur people that everyone wanks on about ... China doesn't do the BLM ; they dont let dipshits burn down Seattle Minneapolis etc ... they go in hard run over a couple with tanks
I'd ask you and Mesut ... how come not ONE Muslim country has condemned China for its actions ...?

Chelsea conceding 3 goals in 10 minutes ...

My guess is much the same reason no Christian majority country cares when Christian Ethiopians are slaughtered.

Authoritarianism sure looks great through a haze of rum in a safe living-room in a solidly liberal country.

Not so good if you are on the receiving end in Yemen, Ukraine, or Western China.

We'd be 5 points behind with a game in hand and still to play them. Could Chelsea get dragged back in to the top 4 race? It would be nice if this 9 point deduction became a thing.....

Another goal for Balogun for Boro today. He's looking good at this level. It will be interesting what we do with him next season. If we're in Europe (CL or Europa) we're going to add a fair few numbers to the squad. If we can add a couple of strikers then a season on loan at a prem club would be ideal for Balogun

Chelsea 1 4 Brentford

Imperious

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=952691335444970

Third place is now in Arsenal’s own hands. If we win every game, including the game in hand and the away match against Chelsea, we finish at least a point ahead of them. Having said that, third place is also in Chelsea’s own hands because if they win all their matches including their home game against Arsenal, they finish third.

If we do it, I suspect we’ll have to come third on points, as despite their heavy defeat today, Chelsea’s goal difference is still way better than Arsenal’s.

McTominey again getting away with a very poor tackle. He's such an average player who every time I see him fails to control games in any way and usually ends up just charging around smashing in to players very clumsily.

Watching Man U, it would be painful and a travesty if we don't finish ahead of them this season. Right now our clubs couldn't be any different. One vibrant and young with a fine young tactical thinking coach, with players who know each others game and generally strong at the back and maintain decent shape all game and have got rid of any bad eggs and high earners/poor performers......the other doesn't have a permanent manager, doesn't know how to play without the ball, can barely string 5 passes together and is choc full of high earning under performing players.

My post above with the perfect timing. Leicester score and lead 1-0. Man U a bit of a mess at the back

More dropped points for united.

Top 4 race is ridiculous. Will go to the last day it feels

Top 2 fighting their own race with no competition is sight.
Top 4 fight will be down to the wire.
And I must state it, getting into ECL is in our own hands

Happy for Brentford, hope they stay up.
The awareness and energy of Mbeumo created most of their goals yesterday. Should we trade Pépé with them?

Barcelona 'want to sign Alexandre Lacazette on a free transfer and reunite him with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang'... but Lyon also remain interested in re-signing the Arsenal striker

Alexandre Lacazette, 30, is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season
Mikel Arteta has said that talks over a new deal will wait until the summer
Barcelona are reportedly ready to take advantage of Lacazette's uncertain future
A Nou Camp move would see him reunite with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... eyang.html

Prefer him to leave. We need an upgrade to challenge for trophies next season. We need to be conscious of our young players' who will want to win trophies, and not simply play for 4th. Need them to want to stay at an ambitious Arsenal.

I wonder what treatment Chelsea will get by the media for this result, considering how they hammered us for losing to Brentford. I am expecting a full blow by blow analysis of how poor Chelsea are defensively when Tuchel doesn’t have the back 5 as protection. Will the media also point out how weak (media favourite) Kante was at protecting his back 4….or does he only look good when he has 5 defenders behind him?
I’m talking tongue in cheek of course but more to highlight the over the top joy most pundits seemed to have when we lost on the first day. I’ve not yet really seen many pundits hold their hands up and say they were wrong about us, wrong about the quality of the signings, they didn’t know who some of the signings were and lazily assumed they weren’t up to it if they hadn’t heard of them….

If only we could all live in China and be spared the bother of worrying with all this human equalities stuff. Not typical Little Richard territory though?

Yes, monumental. Surely the most complete midfielder we have had so far in our history.

Yes, two clubs at different stages of the cycle. Some talk of Ronaldo leaving if no ECL place. If we make it, then for a season or two I'd love to see him as a senior figure at Arsenal.

I’ll be happy to see Lacazette go as well. He’s on £180k a week and the money could be spent better elsewhere. On the 30th June, send him an email politely thanking him for his contribution while a player for us, wish him the best of luck with his future career, and say goodbye.

Not good riddance as that would lack class. But a definite cheerio.

Would you? As a player? Good grief. He’s on £480k a week, nearly £25m a year. A two year contract would equate to around £50m. He’s already 37 for heaven’s sake. Fit for his age, but bloody hell.

Furthermore he had a two year contract at Manchester United so at the end of this season will still have a year left on it. Doesn’t that entitle them to demand a transfer fee? If so, add that to the £50m on his wages. If his transfer fee would be £10m, that would make a two year deal a £60m commitment for a player who will be 38 next season and 39 the season after.

Could we persuade him to bring Martial along?

Kinda bizarre. I'd put blame on the refs but Bayern Munich should have been more honorable.

https://www.givemesport.com/87991433-bayern-munich-could-face-punishment-after-substitution-chaos-freiburg-win?fbclid=IwAR20arB4y2q_EOsI8ffw2mJ7-_-hxq1teQLO_61YAA2_8nW5HktFnKLuIb4

Freiburg sporting director: "That was an extremely bizarre scene that I have never experienced before. Will Freiburg protest? We have to calm down now and think about it."
A substitution mix-up saw Bayern briefly play with 12 men before the game was halted
Reports suggest the win could be taken away from Bayern and they could be hit with a points deduction, too

Exciting times at Arsenal really, with some of the most exciting young players in europe all developing together. I'd love to see Saka, Ode, Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe all in the same team, they all bring different elements to the table, but it's hard to see how we can do it unless we move Martinelli to CF which I don't think he's ready for yet. Infact, his best position may always be as a wide player where he can use his dribbling skills to full effect and still provide a goal threat.

I am not yet confident about top four, there are too many tough games still to play......Chelsea, West Ham, Totts all away and Man U at home to name but four.

If we can manage to win at Palace it would give us a nice cushion over United, though.

Come on Newcastle.

As you imply, isn’t it the referee’s job to check both teams have the right number of players? Bayern had twelve players on the pitch for 10 seconds. Is 10 seconds really enough to take the win away and hit them with a points deduction?

I don’t think it’s a question of Bayern being dishonourable. More a pure balls up, predominately by the referee.

The P and O school of management - that really is classy!