If what I read online about the PFA team of year is correct, Pogba is the only non City or Liverpool player on the team. This reflects the huge financial difference between City and everyone else. They can afford arguably the world's best manager and I'm guessing the most expensive side in the world if not, its damn close. Credit to Klopp and Liverpool. There were initial adjustment issues with Klopp and posts on here about his being overhyped but he's proven himself. Yes, they have spent money but City, Chelsea and Man Utd are richer. We see what happens when Klopp gets 'his team'. Just like in Germany, he is competitive against a giant. The EPL runs the risk of looking like the bundesliga. This may seem over the top with the money Man Utd and Chelsea have (despite Roman's personal issues) but City's money is bottomless and they can withstand any huge flop. Man Utd couldn't just write off Pogba and keep buying but if it happened to City they could. Roman has stopped investing like he did in '04. The FFF is a joke. That won't stop City and hasn't.

Liverpool seems they will always be competitive but they will have bad seasons. City looks like they can get 90 plus points every season. There isn't a club in the league that can get 90 or more points season in, season out. Any club that unseats City will have to have mid 90s points season. Liverpool can't sustain that. You may have Man Utd or Chelsea get there once in a while. It seems like its going to various clubs having a great season (90 plus points) once in a while to challenge.

Furthermore, Liverpool and Chelsea and Man Utd are not so big that they can't lose their best players to either Real Madrid or Barca or to a lesser extent PSG or Bayern. I can't recall City's best players being able to be pried away to either la Liga giants. Maybe there has been but I'm searching my memory as I write and no one comes to mind. I'm sure someone will remind me if there is. City has now transformed itself into the club right below the la Liga giants that players will come to in their prime and not leave until their careers are essentially over. If they win the CL and become as competitive in the CL as the la Liga giants (semis or finals on a consistent level) they will rule the league because the PL is already the world's most popular and their players are becoming iconic.

It was what I (and others) feared the league would devolve into with the Emirates money buying them. As for The Arsenal, the most we can wish for is to be competitive in the league (challenging the leaders within 5 or less points) until spring. We don't have the infrastructure for anything higher than that.

Not only that Top Gun but pick your fantasy league team and how many Arsenal players get in it these days? You are not going to pick a defender as we keep no clean sheets. And unlike the old days where you'd have Henry, Pires and Ljungberg to get you goals, now we only have Aubameyang and he rarely scores away from home.

Just an average side all round but hopefully better than Valencia.

I used to slag off Wiltord but arguably he is a better player than Lacazette who is very overrated.

If we need .money through selling players, I already mentioned him and Bellerin are saleable assets we can improve upon and raise decent cash.

All in all last night was the first time I turned off the Gunners in over 20 years. Absolute disgrace that was.

Aside from Guendozi,Leno and Aubameyang there’s not one player I’d be completely adverse to selling if the right offer came in.

I think Lacazette is a good player but he seems to be missing some pretty big chances in big games at the moment. If someone made us a decent offer that would allow us to get a wide player it should be contemplated.

I saw American asking where Pogba could go. Let me tell you something I bet you he ends up at a big club if he leaves. Why ? Because despite being inconsistent he still turns up 1 out of 2 games and can change a match. I’d take that ! Most of ours turn up even less !

Xhaka 1 in 4 (and when that fourth game comes people lavish praise on him so much they completley forgetting the previous 3)

Özil 1 in 3 (but when It does arrive it looks spectacular)

Iwobi 1 in 5

Mhikitaryan 1 in 4


Etc etc

yes sir I’d take Pogba at arsenal all day.

Sorry Niall, respectfully disagree. I'll give the edge to Lacazette over Wiltord. I think Lacazette would thrive given the same players (Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Freddie) around him. But it's close, a case can be argued either way. Different players in terms of skillset.

And with the huge money in the prem it has meant that teams lower down the league are far more competitive than they ever have been in my opinion. Just look at some of the sums of money being spent by teams below us in the table:
Everton £40m on richarlison and Sigurdsson and £30m on Pickford
Leicester £25m on Maddison, £30m on a failed Slimani
Wolves £35m on jiminez
West Ham £40m on Anderso
Palace £30m on Sakho and benteke
Bournemouth spent £20m for Ake
I know they were rubbish but even Fulham dropped £100m on players

You may argue that not all of these players would get in our side but it is making those teams more competitive. We lost to 4 of them

At Christmas there were silly season rumours about PSG wanting Guendouzi. Many have said on here that he’s one of the last players we should sell. But I don’t think so, if PSG came in with a silly offer of £50m+ I’d bite their hand off. I like Guendouzi, very talented with a skill set not found in many 19 year old CMs but there is no guarantee of his successor improvement. I’m also slightly worried about his lack of pace and power for the prem.
It may be that we sold him and in 4 years he’s worth double what we let him go for, but the bigger picture is we need more investment now and he is an asset that could generate a huge fee. If we were city or Liverpool then I’d say different, but I see it as with that money we could buy 4 more Guendouzi’s and eventually sell them for a profit.

Our model we currently run is unsustainable to get us where we want to go. We went through years of selling (being forced to sell) our best players, and as soon as we got a bit of money we arrogantly and stubbornly refused to entertain the idea because we felt we’d gone through that phase and were now buying the likes of Sanchez and Özil and bidding on Suarez etc. But if a player wants to leave and his contract is running down then we must sell and reinvest. None of the top teams are immune to that. You only have to look at Liverpool’s good selling to see how it can work. Even Barca had to sell one of their jewels

Here’s a thing that frustrates me. Pogba signed for Man U for £90m. It was an inflated fee but not totally out of reality considering what he was doing for Juve. Pogba seems likely to leave this summer and Man U will set the price at a minimum of £90m I’m sure. Pogba has done nothing in his time with Man U to suggest he’s anything more than a £30-40m player even taking in to account that he might pick up his form. I don’t doubt that Man U will get the fee they want.

There are countless examples of this and it isn’t just down to the general market inflation. None of these examples involve arsenal

So Man U beat Chelsea and we snatch a heroic draw against Leicester and all 3 teams will be level on 67 points with two games to go.
If that happened we would likely have a 4 or so lead on Chelsea on goal difference and a fairly healthy lead on Man U.

What a final day shootout it would be if all were on the same points. Sadly with us away to Burnley it is one that I fear we’d fail - that would have drab 1-0 loss to a scrambled set piece written all over it

This summer will probably be like the last one - about 60m to spend.

With that kind of money, we'd probably see Martinez or Macey promoted as 2nd GK; a new left back if Monreal's contract is not renewed; a Ramsey replacement is crucial, a midfielder who will run beyond the strikers to create space for goals (none of Xhaka, Torreira or Guendouzi does this); another forward if Welbeck's contract is not renewed.

The idea that we should sell Guendouzi for £50m is ridiculous. He'll be worth twice that in a few years. He is the jewel in the crown of Arsenal's youngsters. Way better than Maitland-Niles, Nketiah, Willock, Mavropanos, and Nelson. PSG wouldn't go anywhere near £50m for any of them. And Smith-Rowe is West Ham or Everton's level. If we do we sell Guendouzi we might just as well give up and forget about ambition.

I agree that Guendouzi is ahead of our other youngsters, although I do like the look of 17 year old Saka, I'm not sure his skills are best placed in a team like ours. Guendouzi is a sort of metronomic, continuity player, dictating play and tempo - although still lots to learn on this. But as I don't see him as having a natural defensive brain (not tracking players) or a real guile in attack (1 goal and very few assists) he needs the right midfield around him. In a midfield 3 with Torreira and Ramsey - maybe, but that is a lot of responsibility on Guendouzi to dictate play.
I feel that we need to be realistic about the status of the club and that if silly offers come in for our young players then we need to consider them. Liverpool had to sell Sterling, he's worth twice that but it hasn't held Liverpool back.
I'm not saying "sell him he's not good enough", but we do need to be realistic about the fee and what the young players are contributing vs their unknown potential

Rich, I think the club would become a joke if we sold Guendouzi. The only people laughing though, apart from you, are fans of other clubs. I don't like the idea of becoming another Everton or Aston Villa, clubs with rich histories that are miles from getting back to their former levels.

You keep going on about Arsenal losing out in transfer fees, but then you call £50m for Guendouzi a 'silly' offer. The only thing that would make it silly is it being not remotely close to his future value. It would be a gross undersell.

There may be absolutely nothing in this story but if there is any truth to it then I am concerned at what the club is doing.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2019/04/2 ... nai-emery/

The club chasing Vida who is 29yo. Firstly why would we continue to buy players around 30yo, untried in the PL, to solve our defensive problems. secondly I was not as impressed by him as others during the WC and without the other members Croatia team around him what is there that suggests he will sove our problems.

I don't know about Vida but I think it's a good idea to recruit seasoned pro at CB. Sokratis has turned out to be a very good addition. Like Mertesacker before him.

We have way too many players close or over 30. We’ve become spurs when they were the last paycheck for players like Gus Poyet

They get to that age they are more injury prone and are just starting to slow down. I want to see a quality buy in that position and someone around 26-27yo when they are nearing their peak. There is no resale value and sometimes they are really on pre-retirement leave. If there is no one at that age then younger with potential to improve. The owner of our club has plenty of money but is choosing to spend it on another sport. We should not tolerate that.

Freddie was better than both...put together.

Ljungberg was grossly over-rated by you, if you genuinely think that.

Did you see Middlesex beat Surrey at the Oval yesterday?

haha....put together is a bit much, but I agree with the sentiment. We could use him now.

Hi Bernard, fair enough you obviously rate him higher than I do. I just see £50m that could potentially be spent on a match winner. I don’t see Guendouzi as a match winner. I’ll be more than happy to be proven wrong by the way
Big potential, agreed, I like his attitude but we’ve seen before what can happen to talented 19 year old midfielders at our club.

Out of interest would you sell Nelson this summer and for what amount would you accept?

I don't rate Guendouzi as highly as Bernard but I think it would be a mistake to sell him. Sure, he might turn out to be another Renato Sanches but he might just be the real deal too. I wouldn't worry about his lack of goals at all. It's far too early to say that he won't become a goal threat, especially given his dynamism.

I'd much rather get 30-40m for Xhaka than sell Guendouzi for 50m. We need more young players. I'd pay whatever it takes to get Declan Rice this summer.

I’ve seen a few teams linked with Julian Brandt, he was the one positive from germany’s World Cup. Apparently he has a £20m release clause. If so we should definitely go for him. Young, creative, goals, dynamic, versatile, and for £20m. What’s not to like

What a pile of poo football has become.. I hope City win the league 20 years in a row just to stop rival clubs, we clearly have no ambition so we have to rely on them instead.

We are just an 'asset' on KSE books to help finance the LA Rams project, well I for one have no intention of funding that, up to others if they want to or not but that is all you'll be doing, sorry if the truth hurts!.

Bayer got many interesting players - Brandt, Tah, Havertz, Bailey...

Rich, Guendouzi's class is obvious. I don't think I over-rate him at all. But if you would sell him for £50m I think you under-rate him and his future potential. I'll be very surprised if he isn't worth double that in a few years, which as I said earlier makes me question your moans about not getting the money in the transfer market that we could have.

What do you mean by a match winner, as you want to sell Guendouzi to get one? We already have two good goalscorers in Aubameyang and Lacazette. So do you mean a better wide player? If so, you pointed out in another post that Brandt might be available for £20m. I'd be happy with him. But I don't see why we'd have to sell Guendouzi to get him. I'd much rather sell Iwobi. Also, I rate Xhaka but like dec I'd much rather flog him than Guendouzi.

I'll put it this strongjly. Sell Guendouzi for a silly price (and unlike you I'm using the word 'silly' because £50m is ridiculously low) and we could end up another Everton. His long and short passing is excellent, he's competitive and gets stuck in, and he's high energy. The only thing he lacks is experience but more often than not he still makes the right decision, and that will improve anyway.

If by 'match winner' you mean creativity, I think Guendouzi's passing is intelligent and it's more sensible to look at selling and replacing Özil or Mkhitaryan, or both.

I wouldn't sell Nelson at this point. What's the logic in doing so? I'd keep him and if he develops into a top wide player, then great. If he doesn't, he can be moved on later.

I mentioned him earlier but a player who I'd understand being sold is Iwobi. A decent squad player, but it looks like that's his level.

Kroenke's been a wretched owner since he joined the Board in 2008, upped his claim in 2011 and now has full control.

Bayern usually at the front of the queue to hoover these players up

Both Kroenke and Usmanov was Dein's fault.

You keep saying that. It was mainly Fiszman's fault that Kroenke took control of the club. Fiszman made Kroenke the majority shareholder when he died because of Dein's links to Usmanov at that time. Fiszman wanted to keep Dein out the club at all costs, including the cost of making sure that after his death Arsenal ended up under the control of a poisonous owner like Kroenke.

Haven't been to Oval so far this season. Good late order stuff from Middlesex - quite a batting rescue job by the bowlers.

Ironic really, Fiszman put a lot into Arsenal but in the end his squabble with Dein made him make a decision which more than cancelled out anything good he had done for the club.

I see today that Emery is suggesting the dreaded "internal solutions" re the Ramsey situation, hmm sure I've heard that one before, can't think of anyone similar to Ramsey, perhaps Smith-Rowe but he has a long way to go before establishing himself in the team.

Yet again we're being told to be patient, we heard that for over a decade under Wenger, I really think they have used up credit on using that word.. I don't want to be patient, I just want KROENKE OUT!.

Saka superb for the U23 again last night by all accounts. Arsenal led e-0 inside 9 mins. Saka with a goal and 2 assists. He’s done it at England U19 level as well. Pace and dribbling ability as well as an end product in goals and assists (12 each this season) is exactly the attributes I want in our wide attacking players.

He’ll surely go on Arsenal’s preseason tour. Will be interesting to see how he gets on and how much Emery rates him. Emery has been relatively reluctant to use the younger players in the prem this season.

Wilts, you're not going to get any argument from me about Kroenke. In my view, keeping Dein out the club after his death was more important to Fiszman than the well-being of the club. A petty hatred of Dein by Fiszman made him disregard Arsenal's prosperity.

From your post I'm sure you will agree with my view that this should shape Fiszman's reputation and how his long-term influence is perceived. Whatever positive things Fiszman once did for Arsenal and however much of a fan he was, Fiszman's hatred of Dein was way more important to him than the club's future.

Thanks for the concern you bedwetting old pansy .....

recently had about three months of hell healthwise ; visited four doctors before finally being diagnosed with a veratoxin e coli infection ...no cure just wait it out .
Massive stomach pains , didn't eat for a month , no sleep at all for a couple of four day periods , lost 18 kilos in weight , and wasn't that fat in the first place , heart beating all over the joint , no energy and looked like someone exiting a Jap prison camp .
Finally chucked me in hospital hooked up some jumper leads and got my heart back to normal

..... feel okay now but will be a cold day in hell before I drink rum again .

It might upset your sensibilities being steeped in Graveny , Compton , Hutton and May ..... but I found watching "Cricket Fever" on Netflex ..... about the Mumbai Indians in the T20 format ... the colour , crowds , passion and excitement generated made for a really enjoyable watch .

That is not great at all. But I hope your recovery continues well. You were missed on here.
Nothing like your problems which sound dire, but for the last week I had some tropical virus and was as sick as a dog for 4 days. I had the shivers so bad at one stage that I was having trouble not bouncing out of bed. 3 hours later temp thru the roof and so it continued for 4 days. Could not eat anything at all just try and hydrate. Doctors are useless as they simply don't know about a lot of these probelms, so I just don't bother unless I am at deaths door. After the floods here the disease is everywhere and most of them are simply unknown to the medical profession. May be autumn here but 31 most days with high humidity and yet to see any night temps under 22.

Hope you both make full recoveries kiwi and Gaz.

Come on West Ham, keep them out.

We are stuck with the Kroenke family for decades to come through his son when Stan goes. Both Fiszman and Dein put a lot into the club but the fact remains Dein brought Kroenke into the club surreptiously and Dein also brought Usmanov into the club.

We wouldn't have heard of Kroenke or Usmanov were it not for Dein. Dein put his need to control the club via Kroenke and later through Usmanov.

I think Kroenke's son Josh will be a better owner than his father. Not great but he will be better. He has some hands on experience running a club and from what I can gather cares a bit more than his father to win trophies. Not a burning desire but its not all dollars and cents with him.

Hold on West Ham (that will curse the Hammers if my history of cheering clubs on is any indication).

I still think Sperz will end up 3rd even if they lose this match. But its nice to see them lose on their new grounds.

Good to hear from you Kiwi. Would thought a good dose of rum would batter the e coli to death - though maybe one of your toxic herbal concoctions might be even better.
Anyway good to hear you're on the mend - you too Gaz.

1-0 West Ham