I wanted Manolas a couple of seasons ago not sure of his availability. But VVD is the one we should go for. Fair enough he might want Champions League and choose Liverpool over us but we should try our best anyway and definitely can't use money as an excuse when we've supposedly reached a financial position where we can lose £50m assets for free.

Thank God for that, eh?

Hi Jonathan. I loved your dad's posts and had the pleasure of emailing him a few times on various matters. His sense of humour was right up my street, and I respected his input on many other subjects as well as football. I was off the forum for some months during which time he passed away, and was most deflated to hear the sad news when I returned. Best wishes to you.

Measure for measure methinks the Frenchman won the day.

It'll soon be November and we all know what happens in November, possibly sooner.............

City go top.

It's actually Huddersfield who are top. City are currently second.

https://www.arsenal.com/fixtures/tables

Without commenting on van Dijk's quality, I also accept that he may possibly fancy a move to Liverpool more for the Champions League. But regardless of that, if Wenger would like him at Arsenal I fully agree we can't use Sothampton's allegedly grossly inflated asking price as an excuse for not going for him. For the reason you say. If we keep Sanchez, it's removed that as an excuse.

Gun laws? I'm sorry but members of the general public should not be allowed to carry guns full stop. Your country's gun laws are insane. It must be terrifying to be there right now.

Chelsea - thanks for brightening up my afternoon. That was hilarious.

So disappointing - We've been top of the league all season until now - Wenger Out !

Thought exactly the same .... typical Arsenal go top , fill us full of hope ...maybe just maybe this is the year .

Then that inevitable slide begins ... when Spurs and Man U play tomorrow I expect us to be fifth .

Might as well write this season off . Oh so depressing

I know you haven't got the gonads to answer and you probably wont see this ; but I can't resist .

"A case can be made for a gun in the home " .......Tell that to the Japanese exchange student who decided to take part in Halloween ...... door knocked with a mask and got half his head blown off .

Neo Nazi , KKK and all these other irresponsible looneys .... ???

.. an Australian woman got shot dead last week by the COPS .... AND SHE WAS THE ONE WHO PHONED IN THE DISTRESS CALL .

" Police training " ..... shoot anything that moves .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUesbTObC9A

" I love you Oxo cube ,
With your love so rare and true
Oh Oxo ..... my Oxo cube ,
Well I love you now ,
I love my Oxo cube .......

Okay out in the shed to revamp the engine stand .

Nice day ; a balmy 9 degrees at the moment , a predicted tropical high of 14 . Dispense with the jersey

Four boys in Green on the Burnley side....yeöoooooo give it a lash

Matic probably wanted to be with Mourinho much more than being with Chelsea. But I agree, crazy to let him go so easily, and to a top opponent.

Highlight of athletics for me was Sally Pearson's hurdles win - what joy in victory. A nod to the great Betty Cuthbert.

Disappointing that we don't seem to be able to concentrate on BOTH incoming and outgoing players. Any news towards transfers in is just dead. 2 players in, both look good additions, but once again Wenger has taken a squad that failed and believes he can make them 20 points better with just a couple of tweaks.

Right now Wenger is talking about having a squad that is too big, and it is, there are 4-5 players that should be trimmed BUT just because you have the right numbers doesn't mean you have the right quality. Central midfield is absolutely screaming out for another player. I also think a player who can play behind Lacazette is required.
On the CB we certainly have plenty of them but I'd love to have VVD and move on two lesser players. However, CB is probably the last position Wenger will be strengthening this summer

Does just having players on the books mean they have to be included in the squad? I wouldn't have thought so. So if Wenger desperately wants to trim the squad, can't he just tell certain players he won't be including them in the squad for this season? Moreover, I would have thought those players would have an added incentive to agree to moves elsewhere, even if the destination clubs aren't willing to meet the wages they got at Arsenal.

Of course, whether they're in the squad or not players will all be legally entitled to continue receiving wages in accordance with the terms of their existing contracts with Arsenal, up until the point they do leave. And if they don't leave, up until the point their contract at Arsenal expires. I also suspect it's likely other clubs would be unwilling to pay so much in transfer fees for players they know aren't being included in the Arsenal's first team squad. But if Arsenal are willing to give up the £50m they could sell a player for now when they expect to him to leave for free in a year (and that's how I'm reading Wenger's 'not super optimistic' comment), is that really such a big deal?

I agree with you on the Sanchez issue. In these situations there has to be a tipping point for the fee that means it makes more sense to sell than keep.
With regards to our squad players, they could be told they won't be registered but we should just be dropping the asking price of these players. If for example Debuchy, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Wilshere are on an average of £50k per week each (I expect it is more) then even just giving them all a free transfer saves £10m this season. You won't get much for Debuchy but we should be able to get £3m for Jenkinson, £7m for Gibbs and £10m for Wilshere which are absolute knock down prices. Fees and wages comes to £30m.

What has happened to Joel Campbell?

Saw some 'ball in play' stats from the first day. The matches range from 49 to 59 minutes of actual ball in play. I think there is a good argument for 60 minutes games where the clock is stopped when the ball is dead. Time-keeping can be controlled by someone other than the ref who via a mic can call "time on, time off" as he requires similar to Rugby

Morning Rich,

The talk this morning is that Wenger has now given up on Lemar and that we are unlikely to make any further signings.

Quelle suprise!

The ambulance taking Wenger for his personality transplant must have broken down on the way to the hospital.

Or make them play 90 minutes ball in play and see how quickly opposition goalies suddenly want to kick off.

Personally not too fussed about Lemar. Looked like a skinny weakling and not really what Arsenal need.

Shelvey is an idiot. Very unsubtle stamp on Ali, straight red and pretty much gifting the 3 points to spurs. It annoys me when teams do that against our top 6 rivals

Kane should should have been shown a straight red for that scissor tackle earlier in the match.

With the ref two yards away, looking right at them. What a stupid thing to do. Newcastle were hanging in there pretty well up until that.

Rumours persisting of sanchez in paris negotiating with psg.
We really need to call the shots if this comes off and should be demanding 2 of their players plus cash from the trio of matuidi , rabiot and draxler.
I reckon there is a good chance psg would happliy give up these players to get sanchez and either of them would greatly improve our team.
Lets be aggressive and get something that benefits us , not just cash.
If sanchez really wants out then to psg is perfect.

I'd take Rabiot and Draxler in a heartbeat. I'd prefer a happy and vomited Sanchez to sign a new contract but if he won't sign then sell him to PSG and take some of their players as you've mentioned.
Rabiot may be getable I doubt draxler is, they might be willing to lose Lucas moura

Rich, you'd "prefer a happy and vomited Sanchez"? With c next to v on a qwerty keyboard I wondered at first if you meant happy and committed, but I'm not sure if committed is close enough to vomited with the extra m and t. So maybe you want him to be jovial after throwing up?

At first glance United now look a big powerful side with plenty of pace in Lukaku, Rashford, Martial etc.

Matic looks a perfect fit. A big strong unit with plenty of composure on the ball who gives Pogba the licence to roam. Seems crazy for Chelsea to let him go to a rival.

Haha, typed on an iPhone which has a tendency to autocorrect even the most simple words to something completely different. Rest assured I do not have a desire to see the contents of Sanchez's stomach!

Jose typical signings all 6ft + and makes sure players get in the gym. Good template for the league but won't suit Europe.

Both Manchester clubs should absolutely be right up there for the title given the money they have both spent in the last 4 years. It's roughly a combined £1.3 billion!

The player who could make a difference for them this year is Mykitarian. Has a history of not settling quickly but improves vastly in his second season. He's a class act and can be the creative hub for their team if Jose lets him and allows him some slack for his lack of defensive awareness

It just feels like we had the opportunity to bring in 3 or 4 top quality players this summer but will probably have to settle for 2.

We paid £50m for Lacazette and Kolasinac was free. We got £10m for Chesney and will probably sell a couple more fringe players for a combined £20m or so. Our net spend could be around £20m which is not exactly the spend of a club with massive ambition.

I understand wages have to be taken into account but its not like we have tied down Alexis, Özil or Ox to new contracts either.

I may be wrong but it feels like another underwhelming transfer window.

I could be wrong here but are you implying we may, yet again, be the infamous "1 or 2 (or 3!) players short".

No DoF
No new AM
No new senior coaches
No change in transfer strategy
Best player wants to leave

Catalyst for change?. Wenger will never change and Wenger will never win a major trophy but with the full backing of our unambitious owner this will continue indefinitely until both are gone, wake me up at that point please.

It's mad Wilts. Our biggest shareholders are two of the richest men in the world, one who doesn't want to put his hand in his pocket and the other who does but can't.

And one of the highest paid managers in the world does exactly what he pleases and routinely leaves us short of what is required.

Don't even communicate with the ref .... have some adjudicator in the stand . He stops the clock when ball is out of play and restarts it when the goal kick or throw in has been taken . No -one but he knows how much time is left , don't put up a board saying extra time .
When time is up ...... blow a siren . That would help eliminate the time wasting , dodgy subs , prolonged goal kicks .

Rugby is far from perfect , the clock keeps ticking when scrums collapse , re set collapse , and for periods during injury breaks .

Time rattled on while both teams waited while , some plank sat on his arse to put his boot back on last week .

Rugby has a dopey rule ... play carries on after the siren until the ball goes out or the team in possession of the ball makes a mistake

Stop the clock when the ball isn't in play, but why not make the buggers play for an hour and a half anyway? They get paid enough, after all, and we pay enough to watch games.