I also think it's not unreasonable to have expected a little more from Emery. We're actually less effective offensively this year and still pretty *%^@ defensively. Not seeing any sign of a so-called tactical masterplan.

We're Europa League level, CL would flatter to deceive on the pitch despite it providing the financial boost we so desperately need. I don't expect us to finish top 4. If we do it'll be a lovely if slightly flattering bonus to an absolute curate's egg of a season.

Things are so unpredictable and with our chief rivals playing each other we might well be in pole position again by the end of the weekend. If united beat chelsea even a draw puts us in 4th.

Its quite possible that the team that eventually stumbles to fourth will have a points tally that is well below what people thought would be necessary.

I do understanding that a tough choice will be have to made in the Leicester game.
However, I would still think that we should just take each game as it comes. A bit of momentum is worth any number of birds in the bush ...

What was the point of Saurez? Imagine we had actually got or promoted a decent winger in January...

I don’t think you can have a masterplan with this squad. You can shuffle your pack and try different combinations but if the winners aren’t there you won’t succeed. The quality just isn’t there.

The defence was always going to be shocking again. Our best defence has 3 over 30s in it and xhaka sitting in front of it usually. Most of the players to come out of this season with credit are the new signings plus the 2 strikers.

Average squad, if you put Klopp in charge of this lot we are still finishing 5th or 6th.

Alexis Sanchez scored the most and assisted the most away goals in the Premier League from 14/15 - 17/18.

Since he left, Arsenal have won 6 out of 25 away games.


Scream at Emery all you want. This stuff matters

I think Emery probably had memories of a player who could beat players and give us width. Unfortunately he was a broken player and it was just a waste of money. i would take a Limpar type player anytime now.

I agree, I don't think it was unreasonable to expect some kind of defensive improvement, given Emery's reputation for thoroughness, irrespective of the personnel.

Instead we are a shambles both individually and collectively. Our defensive organisation appears non-existent, our players seem clueless about how to defend in a professional manner and the amount of comedy goals we concede is actually amazing for a team with top four ambitions.

I genuinely do not know if Emery is any good or not, he likes to make a lot of changes but quite often it seems to be because he got the starting line-up wrong in the first place, which is really not a good sign. The jury is very much still out on him for me.

I think a reasonable assessment of where this team stands is to ask how many of our players would get in City or Liverpool's team.

Aubameyang might be on the fringes but I don't think anyone else comes close.

Socrates, are you prepared to admit that defensively things have got worse without Mertesacker, despite the arrival of Torreira in midfield?

I've advocated playing the younger players since a while back. I am surprised that Emery is so risk averse. And his tactics is sadly too much like his predecessor. I thought we would be spared that droll, but his team is playing it again. Very sad and disappointed.

Alexis had been our most driven player, but sadly, Wenger preferred a "yes" man.

I think anyone who expected any manager to improve on last season and get top 4 was wildly optimistic. Especially given a manager who does not have a strong command of English, new to the club, country and culture. Also no money (not literally but comparatively) when you look at the other 5 clubs with a realistic chances at either the title or top 4 (yes, Tottenham didn't spend but they started with a much better squad). It's a HUGE ask. And I think Arsenal fans who thought that are simply not living in reality and have proven some pundits assessment of the fanbase to be true.

We are in a top 4 fight. Whether we get there or not, just being in competition for it is a HUGE accomplishment. We haven't been close in a while. We are in the semis of the Europa cup in Emery's first season. It's massive given the aforementioned barriers.

Of course I"m disappointed. As a fan you go into every match wanting to win it whether its a long shot or not. We may still end up in top 4. Until we are mathematically unable to we can't assume anything. I will say this. If we do end up back in the CL I don't expect us to stay there. Unless we make substantial changes in a few areas, one of them being the intangible "team belief", we will be back in Europa in a season. It's a catch 22, we need CL money but won't spend to give ourselves a chance to get back in.

The potential is there. Our recent record and effort against the other top 6 sides shows that. At the end of the day our biggest problem is ownership. Just like with being overly critical of Wenger, he had a boss and that boss sucks. Gazidis wasn't the problem as we see some of the board related issues (money, etc.) is still there. The constant and consistent factor has been the owner. He simply doesn't care. That's long and short of it. No owner who cares would have us in this situation adrift without a lifeline. He cares about the Los Angeles Rams. I was in L.A. the last month and a half and you should see the construction going on around the stadium. Its a sports, entertainment, shopping complex on a huge scale. I was more angry than impressed going past it because I know its at our expense. I lived in that area (Inglewood) for a year when I first moved there. Know it well.

It's going to seem like deja vu next season around this time because we are leaderless from the top.

Yes, a big mistake. Prior to Palace we had won three games on the bounce and were looking settled. Should have kept momentum going. especially as you suggest the Wolves game away was always going to be a hard one. We now need a show of character.

I found the first half (or thereabouts) of his last post less convincing, but there was much in the latter bit of American's most recent post that I actually agree with.

Man Utd are going to have a tough time selling Pogba. What club is going to spend that type of money on transfer fees and wages and justify it over someone else in that position? PSG maybe. Would Bayern take the chance? They aren't really known for that type of fee. Would either of the two la liga giants think its worth it?
Domestically City doesn't need him and would Chelsea take a punt?

Kroenke is personally putting 1.6 billion dollars of equity into the LA stadium project for the Rams.

He so far has put zero dollars into arsenal and borrowed all the money to attain it from deutschebank and took 4 million in consultancy fees out of the club. He’s a completely wretched owner I don’t think he even takes any enjoyment from his investment in us

I saw the PFA team of the year that was leaked and then distributed today. Obviously no arsenal players in it and rightly so.

I thought actually if you had to pick a 2nd 11 would there be an arsenal player in it then ? and my conclusion was probably not. Then I thought literally how many iterations of this team before we got a player in it?

We just don’t have the players anymore

Yeah, what the hell, I'd take him if he was willing to come. Won't happen but I would be for it.

http://www.sportbible.com/football/news ... sSEqHje3iY
Real Madrid Are Willing To Loan Out Gareth Bale Like They Did With James Rodríguez

I make you right on this Top Gun. I agree, Kroenke is 'a completely wretched owner'.

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

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.

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!.