Also nobody ever mentions it but we are getting killed at Right back at the moment. Chambers doesn’t look right there and the club will need to sign another right back of quality in the summer in the 26-30 age group. There’s a chance Bellerin may not be the same player.

There just seems problems everywhere

Whoever comes in has a massive job when they arrive

Looking at that team yesterday, Mustafi, Luiz, Chambers, Kolasinac, Xhaka all simply nowhere near good enough

They will inherit the problem of Lacazette and Aubameyang who will clearly be off this summer so new strikers will be needed.

There isn’t an adequate right back at the club.

We still have expensive deadwood like Özil and mhikitaryan on the books

We need an experienced manager, unloading all this stuff on an Arteta or novice won’t work

Thought the same but then after a bit of thoughtful musing I've got the answer

... given the shambolic nature of our defending he wanted to chew up a bit of time so we could cling on for the draw .

Thank God we've got those three tough games out of the way Watford , Southampton and Norwich .... we must be due someone easy ... like Liverpool or Chelsea .

Have we ...... ? care to sprinkle a few names around .

Özil was a world class player. Pépé not yet. New manager like he said in his post match interview giving players chance to prove what they're worth. Özil might train well and if he wants to be can be a genius. Pépé, did well in French league but confidence player full of his own boots with 70m signing.. I can almost guarantee that the young guy, Saka gave a little more of a *%^@ in training.

And, that is what the old Arsenal used to do so why wouldn't Ljunberg see that.

FA Cup 3rd round draw tonight, lots of minnows hoping to get a big team so they can cash in.....or in our case so they can get to the 4th round

That’s all fine it’s just that if your in the toilet and we are in the absolute toilet barely creating chances youth typically doesn’t get you out of it. It’s almost historically proven. Saka looked great away in Germany, good at old Trafford then to be honest since then has looked a little out of his depth. Willock at times has been good but on occasion ineffective. It’s to be expected with kids. You could even say this about Guendouzi who is still young,

Meanwhile there’s this winger sat on the bench who scored 22 times last season and all the big clubs were tracking. What was even odder was that Freddie said the hardest decision he had to make was to leave Reiss Nelson out of the squad as he’s the future of the club. Ok fine mate but what about Pépé

It just feels our decisions at Arsenal seem bonkers

Drop Torreira destroy his confidence

Play Xhaka too much, fans get on his back, destroy confidence.

Play youngsters till they perform badly then sub them at half time, destroy confidence

Got 2 great strikers ? Terrific play them both and unbalance the team

4 at the back, 3 at the back, 2 at the back !

Not blaming Freddie who clearly is just doing this best but for the past 3 years it feels like some Tottenham fan has hacked into the matrix and is deliberately trying to scupper any progress

I get it but it is Emery destroyed their confidence by constantly focussing on what they were not doing as ppossed to what they were. It will take Ljungberg time to turn that mentality around. I had to do it at work multiple times and it takes months. I give Freddie 1 month to show a difference and I honestly believe we'll see some change in that timeframe.

On reflection I was a bit hasty using the word 'Seriously'!
However, I do find it inconceivable that Arsenal is struggling against teams in the relegation zone because the players aren't good enough. I think its primarily having had such a poor manager. I really believe the players below are all more than capable of being moulded into a team that can challenge for trophies/top 4.

Leno
Bellerin
Tierney (based on Celtic form)
Torriera
Aubameyang
Lacazette (admittedly not having a good season so far)
Pépé (stand out player in France last season)

out of the youngsters i'd say these players should have a very bright future in the game:
Guendozi
Willock
Martinelli
Saka
Saliba (clutching at straws here!)

and these players have done well in the past and hopefully the next AFC manager get bring the best out of them otherwise i'd move Özil on and have Holding as a back up.:
Özil
Holding

Players who could be part of a good future Arsenal squad IF they continue developing.
Nelson
Martinez
Smith Rowe

Saka is a strange one imo. He's gone backwards since starting his run. No end product? Hs should concentrate on his assists and leave the goals for the time being.

I think Freddie needs to stick Torreira in at DM and leave him there for a run of games. Give us some sort of protection for the defence. If it means playing more direct football and long balls, so be it. I'd also like him to pair Luiz and Holding and stick with them for a bit or else just make it Sokratis & Luiz and put Holding in for the Europa.

So many players lacking confidence, it will take some time to turn around. Totally agree with TG on Saka. Gifted player but he is very very young. Give Pépé a run and roast him from the sideline if he's not tracking back.

Mustafi......No.

This is my take on the future of the Arsenal squad. I’ve removed those who need to leave, who aren’t good enough or who sadly will leave (Aubameyang + Lacazette) and I think torriera will go back to Italy
Single * is a player who should/could be in the first 11
Double ** is a player who has the potential to be first 11 but they are very young so no guarantee
The rest are squad players
Leno *
Martinez
Bellerin *
Saliba **
Holding
Tierney *
AMN
Guendouzi *
Willock
Smith-Rowe
Pépé *
Saka **
Nelson
Martinelli **
Nketiah

That leaves us requiring the following players to build a good squad capable of winning trophies

Rb
CB x 2
LB
Def Mid
CM x 2
LW
Striker x 2

One of my favorite journalists who I dub the conscious of America, Chris Hedges (his latest book is a must read), said that Trump had broken his oath from day one (keeping businesses that profited off his office) and he Democrats didn't do anything until he went after their own, Joe Biden.

Eerily similar to Nixon. Nixon had violated all manner of laws and his oath, with targeting his enemies with the tax agency, multiple violations in conducting the war in Vietnam (bombing Cambodia, etc.) but it wasn't until his cronies broke into a Democrat party office was there an impeachment.

yeah fair enough Bored ... I did think " seriously " was being a bit liberal with the truth.

We all cling to the hope we will get an old school " tell em how it is " type manager like Ferguson , Shankley , George Graham , Clough who will turn Özil into a Bergkamp / Storey combo .

We have too many gay boy individuals who decide "Oooh I don't feel like getting too sweaty today " and shirk the contest

We need a couple of hard nosed Scots , English , Irish , Welsh who relish a Wednesday night clash at Darlington in the p**ssing rain .

As you rightly say there is the nucleus of a decent side hidden in amongst Arsenal detritus , the problem is finding the right bloke to extract it .

Listen up Decaf ....

I've been on this forum since about 1994 [ I think ] and if you and those other two heartless bully boys Gaz and Socrates keep making an issue of my ocassional rum tipple I'm going to follow Bernard off the forum

.... I've got feelings you know

Home to Leeds Utd in the third round of the FA Cup. Not an easy one. Mind you none of them are this season.

I'd say right now we are second favourites. We should nick Bielsa off them, he strikes me as a man who takes no *%^@ whatsoever, exactly what we need.

Yeah really, really, really sorry. Put your nappy back on and f... harden up.

As a side note I’ve never known how anyone could possibly like rum. Cuba Libre maybe but drinking it straight must be the stuff of insanity.

I am with Kiwi on this. Bundaberg rum & coke the nectar of gods. Downside is you sometimes think you are a god & things get ugly. Fighting nectar.

Ah bundy I’ve always considered that a separate drink in its own right.

Like Guinness not being a beer or stout. Has it’s own category of 1

Bundi now that really is a nice drop .... evokes a few memories .

When I was a nipper ; about 24 ... went to Aussie ... got a job ; barman on South Molle Island ... befriended this old coot who had a fishing boat passing through ... "Ron the Ram " real ladies man .

He was probably in his late 40s ...seemed ancient then .

About six months later I've moved on , got a job driving a forklift down in Mackay .

Buying myself a hamburger one day , this bloke pulls up in a '67 Fairlane .... "Holy smoke it's Ron the Ram " we go for a few beers at some country pub ....... at 10 .30 they close , chuck the blow flies out but Ron knows the publican so we carry on drinking ...

About 1 .30 am about eight of us pile in the Fairlane drive out into the Wop Wops to some rundown donga .... real " Saltbush Bill " outfit .... a few Aboriginals in tow ... they cook up a feed involving octopus .

Jesus it was like trying to eat a couple of Michelin tyres . More booze , sing a bit of Slim Dusty ... then one of my new friends grabs a bottle of Bundaberg Overproof .... says to me " Let's going catch us a couple of Barra " ... we stagger down to a creek ..... he chucks in the line , then upends the bottle takes a hefty guzzle straight .

... " here ya go young fella get this into ya " ..... passes it to me . I don't want to let the side down so I do the same .

Jesus H Christ ...it's like I've ingested about six litres of battery acid . My insides are on fire , hair stands on end , nose running , eyes watering , cough up half a lung

We didn't catch any fish but boy did I get p*ssed .

Anyone who hasn't experienced outback Australia hasn't lived

It's okay. 'Cheeks' is going to save us. Some alarming imagery here from The Guardian's David Squires.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng ... e-sackings

Why does there always have to be a conspiracy theory?

If you believe Trump (I know ...) the Democrats have been after him since before day one. In any case, it is hilarious to suggest that the Democratic "didn't do anything".

A plausible case can be made that the reason why Pelosi decided to proceed this time is that Trump got caught in such a blatant abuse of power that they (the Democrats) were left with no choice. Firstly, Trump is clearly engaged in state capture and an attempt to rig the elections. Secondly, the Democrats would have looked weak if they hadn't gone after him. It seems like a big gamble to impeach when the Republicans hold the Senate, but was there a choice really?

I'm a time-served Grauniad man but I'm afraid I find David Squires the most un-funny cartoonist out there.

This guy on the other hand......

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2019/aug/24/stephen-collins-on-seagulls-cartoon

Trigger warning for Bernard!

Fair enough, DHD, we obviously have a slightly different sense of humour! But don't tell me this Squires cartoon didn't get to you:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng ... er-arsenal

What I was saying the other day

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football ... ochettino/


Kroenke likes a cheap option

And now



According to @David_Ornstein, #Arsenal are unlikely to be able to spend big on a new manager due to financial constraints. As a first port of call, The club are looking for candidates who are available to start immediately.


Exactly what i predicted


#mystic top gun
# I an oracle

The world and his wife was reporting that we hadn't 2 cents to rub together in the summer and we went and smashed our transfer record.

#itsallbullshit

Excellent. Prime Kiwi

It was reported at the time that we gambled on bringing in Pépé by bringing forward a large part of this coming summer's budget assuming we qualified for the CL. The longer we're out of it, the more we will see our ability to spend decrease. Whilst there's no 100% way of knowing the validity of this story, I really wouldn't be surprised if we're going to go for an untested coach due to financial constraints. Hopefully, I'm totally wrong on this. But if we do go for Arteta or similar then, whilst exciting, it may be for more pragmatic reasons.

I think it’s a pretty strong bet that a novice or untested manager comes in.

Rodgers would cost a fortune in compensation and salary
Pochettino similar
Ancellotti under contract
Allegri supposedly expensive but also demanding

They are the 4 that would make sense but I think to get one would be difficult.

The name that keeps cropping up that concerns me is Marcelino from Spain. He looks to be Emery mark 2 after winning a knockout cup, not great with English and managing some middle of the road Spanish sides. I could just see Kroenke doing that and the club concocting a PR story of how he impressed them at interview.

Personally I’d offer Rodgers or Pochettino any amount of money it took. Even if it means selling a player or 2 in January. Sell off smith Rowe or el Nenny to help get cash to fund it.

Raul is running the show it seems though so Arteta and Marcelino must have a good shout because of the Spanish thing.

This season could turn into an absolute disaster, it’s a long time since we have been in free fall like this.

I find the idea that a manager may cost a lot of money a bit strange. Some of these managers were talking about have £12-14m ‘transfer fee’ and would presumably need a yearly wage of £5-10m

A top quality manager is as important if not more so than a top quality striker or centre half. The sums were talking about for managers are tiny compared to what the equivalent quality of player would cost

One failing of our squad and manager was/is that we never seem to be able to obviously adopt a certain game plan. And I mean obvious in a way that is different enough to the norm that it is clearly noticeable to a fan as a chosen tactic rather than a result of what the opponents do.
For instance.
Today we’re going to press them all over the pitch
Today we’re going to sit deep, no full backs over half way, and hit on the counter
Today we’re going to play more direct
Etc etc

Most big teams don’t need to noticeably change their tactics, but we do.

I certainly see lesser teams change tactics against us and it work.

Do we have a bad management team incapable of coaching those tactics, or do we have inherently thick players who are incapable of picking up and sticking to tactical plans, or do we have players who are simply not good enough to carry out those tactics?
A bit from all 3 I’d say

Yes, you've always been something of a delicate flower, lacking in confidence and self-belief. It's one of the reasons why I took you under my wing and encouraged you to post even though I knew they would be the subject of ridicule.

I was hoping against hope that, given time and the benefit of my infinite wisdom, you would eventually begin to make posts that would not be a complete load of bollocks.

Sadly, however, my hopes have been dashed and it is clearly evident that the only time you make any kind of sense is when you are completely sozzled.

Keeps intact your perfect record then ....... .... you've been hopelessly wrong on every other ocassion .

Luiz is another matter, but a player like Sokratis playing as badly as he did against Watford ... most notably suddenly electing to dribble across his penalty area and apparently try to beat a couple of opposing attackers ... I'm sure that is the product of bad coaching blunting what his natural instinct would have been, i.e. to hoof the ball upfield.

Playing in our defense, with highly confusing instructions and sporadic midfield cover, is probably enough to turn all but the most outstanding defenders into gibbering, confused wrecks. And since the decline of Kos we've lacked a leader in the defense.

Its amazing that Leno's confidence has stood up to it so well.