Sounds like a rugby score. Wouldn’t be a football score.

Lallana is a free agent in the summer, he’s 31, fits the bill of the sort of creative, ball playing attacking midfielder we need. He has the high work rate and press from working with Klopp. If we need to push money in to other positions in the team he could be an ok short term free transfer

Fabregas is "only" 32.

If we're looking at a try before you buy with Cédric, because he's a free transfer the summer then we should also be looking at Meuiner, he's spent a fair amount of time at PSG and in the Belgian national team, right-back, 28 and on paper better than Cédric

In an effort to sort out contracts and stop us having valuable players run them down and leave for free, the new hierarchy at the cub said a decision would be made on each player with only 2 years left on his deal (the decision presumably being to sell or give a new contract) the only exception were players running in towards retirement where their value to us as a player was more than any value we get from selling them for a pitance

So players with only 12 months left in the summer are:
Aubamayang
Özil
Sokratis
Luiz
Mustafi

Players who will have 2 years left in the summer are:
Lacazette
Guendouzi
Kolasinac
Chambers
Ntekiah
Martinez

How many of those 11 would you give a new deal to?

Read that, I have to say it seems a bit tenuous. Her sister said it was a big actor so everyone assumes it’s always been him. Really not enough to vilify him but if he did he’s a b****** nevertheless.

Everyone was far more rapey and noncey from the 50s to the 90s pretty much weren’t they ?

I watched the Netflix documentary “tell me who I am” the other night, it’s a Difficult watch but eye opening and at the end of it your left despairing for humanity

I’d blow our entire budget on a creative midfielder player. Maybe an Isco or similar.

We need somebody who can get the ball down and get the team playing even if it means sacrificing the purchase of a centre half

I think so too. We have *%^@ all goals from midfield too. It wasn't that long ago we had players of the calibre of Cazorla, Ramsey, Rosicky etc. Players who would regularly chip in with goals. We have nothing like that and no one to help unlock teams.

And Peter has appointed himself ref and scorer. Var needs to check all of those.

But it was an open secret that much of the casting-couch stuff was not voluntary. Top holywood dogs got away with it.

If it’s the same refs who do All Blacks games he has open slather

I’m not joking when I say this is the worst midfield I’ve ever seen in my Arsenal supporting life. Unable to form any pattern of play what so ever, retain or distribute the ball.

A fit Jack Wilshere or the ox look like gods compared to what we have currently.

The problem we have though is we are trying to still play a passing possession based game when we don’t have the players. We’d be better off trying to hit Lacazette direct. Lacazette has gone from playing on the shoulder of his centre back to dropping so deep he’s literally a false 9 midfield player. This is because he knows our players don’t have the distribution so he drops back to get involved.

How many years have you been a fan Top Gun? Because Hillier, Selley, Jensen and Morrow get my vote. I think our current midfield is miles better than those four, all of whom I see as candidates for my worst ever Arsenal team (Jensen doesn’t get in my worst ever team, but he is a candidate). I see the other three as stronger candidates and probably would be in the side.

The only other issue worth mentioning is Morrow’s position in the team. He played in midfield and at left back, equally bad in both. But apart from him I am struggling to think of another terrible left back. So I would probably have Morrow at left back, rather in midfield. However, for the purpose of naming my worst ever midfield from those who would have played together as midfielders, as Morrow did I’m naming him as one of my selections for the worst midfield.

In my view none of our contemporary midfielders get in my worst ever team.

I was around for hiller and Selley but they played more intermittently.

I’d definitely take the 1991 hillier over Xhaka by the way.

I’ve never witnessed a midfield or team like our current one who simply struggle to get the football up into the final third like we do. You can compare individual players but it’s more the output they are delivering if you get what I’m saying.

This was the period when GG froze out Davis and Limpar. Incredible when you look at the above names. Put Davis and Limpar together with Jensen and the young Romford Pele and we'd have had a decent midfield.

I can’t agree with you over Hillier and Xhaka. For me Xhaka is comfortably better. I understand what you mean by the output of our current midfield. But we currently have a collection of central midfielders comprising, in alphabetical order, Ceballos, Guendouzi, Maitland-Niles (though I accept he has mainly played at right back), Özil, Torreira, Willock and Xhaka.

As a group they include creativity, ball winning, work rate, passing ability and energy. If a more than decent, balanced midfield cannot be created out of that mob, then perhaps Arteta isn’t doing quite as good a job as many (including me) appear to think?

I wouldn’t argue with you point Tom. He froze out Williams too. But whatever the reason the four I mentioned became our midfield and in my view they were worse than the current mob, collectively and individually.

You think they bring passing and creativity ? Really that’s nonsense Bernard

Whats the stat ? 4 assists and 1 goal for our 3 main midfielders this season? That’s appalling.

I just don’t think they are as good as you or many others think. Really I don’t.

Özil isn’t Özil anymore
Xhaka is still Xhaka that’s the problem
Ceballos is an odd one, a decent start but he seems something of a headless chicken
Guendouzi only plays well in cup games
Then you Have the hardworking Torreira and a couple of youngsters

Özil and Ceballos should bring passing and creativity. That is not nonsense. Xhaka can pass too.

1 goal and 4 assists. They can’t

Games are won and lost in midfield.

And I wouldn't argue with yours either Bern! You can throw Jimmy Carter and McGoldrick in the mix too. They were getting games ahead of Limpar. I seem to remember being at Highbury and seeing us take on the then all conquering Man Utd with a midfield 4 of Carter, Selley, Morrow, McGoldrick. I think we got a draw out of it too, amazingly.

Surely we have to giver Arteta a bit longer than 6 weeks to judge what kind of job he's doing, good or bad?

George was hysterical with Anders Limpar.

I attended that game at the dell where Limpar set up all 4 goals with Wright getting 3 and Campbell getting one.

One was an exquisite chip for wright to volley home if i recall. A real beauty.

Next game. DROPPED

Limpar was one of the most under rated players in football I think. Outside of arsenal and Everton he never seemed to get many plaudits. He was superb

Ceballos and Özil are creative midfielders. That is what they are. They should be doing more. The point that they’re not is, I suspect, mainly a negative reflection on them. But the central midfield looks on paper a well balanced outfit. That it’s not performing as it should is presumably a reflection on the players or coach.

I would agree with that, and have posted the same before. It is too early to make one’s mind up about him, one way or the other, positive or negative. But we have a decent group of midfielders, at least on paper. If they’re not performing, at this point I’m willing to lay the primary blame on the players. Yet there will come a point when it may be legitimate to ask questions of Arteta too? He picks them, he coaches them, he tells them how he wants them to play, or at least should do.

Not sure if the press is making more than necessary of Mbappe touchline flare up about being substituted. I remember years ago an English player exchanging words about being substituted and the then manager said he hopes players don't want to be substituted. He took it in stride, didn't make more of it than it was. Players are hungry for minutes on the pitch. If it happens consistently then okay, but this incident by itself doesn't seem to be a big deal in the scope of things.

Again can't argue with that. Hopefully Arteta is getting into them during this training camp in Dubai. Ceballos has got to be worth a run now he is fit again. He could provide the creative spark we need.

It really isnt

You can pick any 2 from Xhaka, Torreira and Guendouzi and it doesn’t work. The speed of distribution and control and just isn’t there with any combination of those 3.

We’re 10th,

We we’ve only scored 32 goals in 25 games. So nevermind scoring 3 were struggling to score 2 in most games.

Our midfield is at the heart of the failure yet people are harping on about the defence all the time.

I see Brentford is 5th in the Championship and hoping they get promoted. I was introduced to them on this forum by Hodd so I have a soft spot for them.
Only 6 points from the top.

Talk to Xhaka all you want won’t make a blind bit of difference, too slow, doesn’t read the game, can’t smell danger.... above all else he’s just a wee bit dim. Guendouzi is young and comes from the french lower division, prepared to give him a pass for now. Özil has all but retired. Torreira is too lightweight.

I agree with that. George went a bit mad after Benfica hammered us which culminated a few years later with that atrocious midfield. I'm no fan of Xhaka but he's far better than any of that 4.

In fairness to Arteta, he has improved the defence. I think the midfield is the bigger issue also. As you say, Özil is finished and without Ramsey (who was consistently derided) we have no threat from midfield. Pépé needs to up his game. It is still early in his Arsenal career, and feck knows what Emery was doing with him, but he needs to start delivering.

I’m not saying he’s a world beater but Xhaka isn’t as bad as some make out. I agree Özil is just sitting out his contract for £350k a week, but with him and Ceballos we should have some creativity even with the former’s attitude. They and Xhaka mean we have passing ability in midfield.

We have a ball winner in Torreira even though I agree he does seem a bit lightweight. Guendouzi and Willock give us energy and work rate. Along with AMN there should be a balanced and decent midfield in there somewhere and to claim it’s worse than Hillier, Selley, Jensen and Morrow is ridiculous (and I know it wasn’t you who said that).

On paper it is not as bad a midfield made up by simply poor players as some want to make out. They are underperforming. At present I primarily blame the players. But players are coachable, they can be organised, they can be advised, they are routinely capable of receiving explanations on what to do in games. Whatever their level of intelligence, and from hearing Xhaka speak I have no reason to see him as intellectually dim.

If AW ever gets around to writing his book that is. Whether or not any Board suggestion was even made to Arteta, let alone from the Kroenke's has to be seen as just a suggestion. Just because Arteta played for Wenger certainly isn't an automatic indication it will happen obviously. Yet, it would be an interference move with what Arteta's strategies and team building he's trying to establish. My opinion. But, over at MU, Fergie's input to OGS most likely happens on occasion. Therefore Arteta may or may not have in passing suggested it. You'd have to be a fly on the wall to really know anyway.

Spot on here

To say Xhaka is underperforming is a joke.

He’s underperformed for 3 different managers and in over 100 games eh. Comparing him to selley who only played about half that amount of games is nonsense.

The thing is though Bernard that wasn’t the midfield. They were bit part players. El Nenny has played more times for arsenal than Ian selley. We had Davis, merse and parlour around that time too look at the picture of the winning Copenhagen side. Your still talking about individuals rather output of the midfield.

Name me a manager who doesn’t rate him then? They all seem to love him, and Arteta shows no sign of thinking any differently. Do you reckon they know less about him than you? Look, I’m not a fan of Xhaka and won’t be bothered if he leaves. But he’s nowhere near as bad as you pretend.

Selley played 60 games. Can I also remind you were saying our current midfield was the worst you’ve seen. There have been worse overall midfields like Hillier, Selley, Jensen and Morrow. Elneny played some more games than Selley but I wouldn’t put him in the collective of the worst midfield. I think Elneny was significantly better than Selley anyway.

Our current midfield is the worst in my arsenal supporting lifetime

What you are saying is that our midfield at that time which contained Paul Davis, a young parlour and Merson and only a few months later Stefan Schwarz is worse than our current one which clearly isn’t the case.

Name me a manager who doesn’t rate him then? [quote]

I don’t believe they rate him they are stuck with him and make due and put up a facade*





*Also applies to Mustafi and Özil