I hope Aubameyang plays on Thurs in the Centre Forward position. He will thrive and score goals in that position. Stop playing him in the wings.

Xhaka, who I have slated in the past, has been very good for us this season. Credit where credit is due. Hope he continues his good form. He will still make an error here and there, and now I am less likely to immediately berate him.

Gabriel Martinelli has handed Arsenal a boost ahead of their crunch Europa League game against Slavia Prague later this week.

https://www.justarsenal.com/no-i-am-alr ... tch/278930

Saka is fantastic. I love it when he refuses to be "bullied" out of the ball. So many times he would just bull-doze his way out of a tight marking from 2-3 opposing players. Something to do with his balance and body strength to be able to get past the opposing players. Wish Pépé would learn to do the same. He gets thrown off too easily because of his dribbling style ( me thinks ).

Always had high hopes for AMN. Please come back and do an Emile Smith Rowe

He’s playing better than I thought he could right now, on current form he’d improve our team....but Man U are talking about £30m, he’d already be on very high wages and is 28. We need a different profile for the players we’re signing now

Hi Rich,

He's playing brilliantly. I read somewhere that United were prepared to sell him for around £10m before his loan. Talk about inflation

I agree, though, that his age is an issue. We need mid 20s or younger.

I agree that Lingard isn’t the right profile for new signings we should be looking at this summer, especially not for £30m. I’d like to see him join West Ham myself, the club where he’s turned his career round.

10 million? I'd back that buy. Hose off the Man Utd stench and play him instead of Willian. For sure. He's in great form.

I didn't think his form dropped off too badly even at Man Utd. At least, every time I've seen him play. Anyway. 30 million is too much. If the price is somewhere in the middle but closer to 10 million than 30 million it might be worth the gamble.

I see a number of stories over the last couple of weeks suggesting we are interested in Edouardo from Celtic. He is not my idea of a good signing. He gets about a goal every 2 games but in one of the weakest leagues in Europe. I would not bother allowing him a place in the squad unless he was under 10 mil and took a low wage.

One in 2 isn’t bad for Celtic as they struggled this year.

I don’t know much about the player but if you don’t rate him than he must be very very good. Given your track record on players from Celtic I’m surprised your commenting. I hope we bring him onboard

The benefit he does have is the home grown status. The need for us to target lower age players is mainly born from the fact that the older players are the higher the transfer cost and the higher their wage and the less their resale value. So having said we shouldn't go for players in this age bracket and profile we shouldn't completely discount them if the money works and they fit the squad. I'm not talking about Lingard in particular but take for example Depay, he's on a free transfer this summer, he's 27 and can play across the forward line and has scored a lot of goals for Lyon and still has some good years ahead of him rather than signing a 31 year old on a free - if he was willing to come for a nominal signing on fee and £100k a week it would be a deal worth looking at - of course he would probably command double those wages and teams like Barca want him.

I think he was joking. It made me waste half an hour checking.

If you could buy a second house in the UK anywhere you wished where would you buy? For relaxation primarily

Obviously the London and surrounding Area is ruled out

Devon, Cornwall, Wales I suppose are solid options.

Not sure if anyone has seen the 'open mic' feature Arsenal have been running on their website after some games. Without the fans in you can hear what the players are saying a lot more, the match v Sheff Utd focused on Xhaka. Arsenal are only going to put up positive stuff that shows any player in a positive light but I think it shows that he is a leader in the team and reinforces for me at least that he's going nowhere this summer and it wouldn't surprise me to see him be offered a contract extension.

I'm against second homes in the sorts of areas you mention simply because of the negative effects they have on local communities, the young and public services. Some villages near my Dad's are virtual ghost towns in the winter, as they are something like 60% or higher second homes. Their schools have closed due to lack of pupils. As that happens, shops, doctors surgeries and pubs close and the places become an echo of what they once were.

If you think it's hard for the young to buy in London and SE, the same is true (and exacerbated by the fact that employment opportunities are not as good as in London and the SE) in those areas you mention. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... s-19072423

My own view, fwiw, that the money you intend to spend on a second home could be better used taking hotel rooms, b&bs, campsite places in order to put the money back into those communities.

I myself was on the verge of buying a house in Spain (Lanzarote) some years back, but decided against as you'd then be tied down to the same place everytime.

Why not buy in those places and move there permanently? Become a member of the community? (Obviously if you're able to work from home).

Cheers

Well that would be the idea eventually. Theoretically after the rat race is over for me I have a tranquil place i can grew old before I make bones and until then I can operate on a business level. Looking on the Devonshire and Cornish coast,

I know what you mean about remote communities but I’d say If you don’t buy someone else will? Isn’t it just a general societal issue ? The government should legislate if it’s a problem as asking me to run society is a slight issue

I completely agree Rich. I didn’t see the ‘open mic’ feature you speak of. In fact I’d never heard of it until reading your post. But Xhaka is clearly one of the team’s leaders, to a far greater extent than the formal captain Aubameyang. Xhaka always seems to be one of the first to support teammates in some sort of ruck, encourages young players and, in short, stands up to be counted.

I also think you’re right that he’ll be offered a contract extension. The only impression I ever get is that Arteta loves him.

Without having done any research I'd look at Southend (been there) or Bournemouth as they might actually get some sunshine in the summer. Unlike Belfast. If I was to live in England it would have to be close enough to London.

If it was a house anywhere in Europe, I'd definitely be looking at one of the Spanish islands. Or Valencia if a city as I went there a few years back and really liked it.

And swept the terraces?

Jaywick Sands could work...

Don't underestimate yourself.

Doesn't usually to be fair

Just googled there lol

Do you regret not buying the gaff in Lanzarote, John?

If my partner didn't have MS, we would have bought like a shot and moved there. it would have been about four/five years ago. We were in a good place financially, but with her being on special MS trials and getting excellent treatment from the NHS specialist neurology dept., we felt it was too much of a risk in case her condition worsened. One of the reasons we considered it in the first place is that warmer weather is better for people with MS - and it's warm all year round. (One of the curious things about the disease is that as you get closer to the poles north and south, the incidence of the disease is higher, but no-one yet knows why.)

Then once that decision was made, we considered buying a holiday home there. The MS was still the deciding factor in not going ahead on that basis too; she's been relatively well these last few years (and hopefully the trial treatment she's on will ensure her MS doesn't get past the relapsing remitting stage), so we decided we would try and do a bit of travelling instead. But then came me having to care for my Dad, and also Brexit which complicated matters.

So in hindsight, the right decision for us I think. But I do regret not being able to; we absolutely love the place, specifically Playa Blanca.

I'll wait to see how many of you lot claim to be at this...lol..joking

The only time I heard this music was while watching a Benny Hill skit. Anyway, I had no idea we beat Liverpool in the semi finals.

Wow! We had beaten the Old Lady! Seems like English sides were tough in those days.

Valencia. Always effen Valencia! When I became a fan, it always seemed like Valencia were knocking us out of European cups.

Have you old timers forgiven Graham Rix?

Thanks Hoy the vote of confidence I needed

Thanks

Checked out this video and it looks just what I was looking for

https://youtu.be/-pefKy11xnA

Bet you could buy a few houses there, do them up, and sell them on. Bargains.

So possibly this guy...next

Good idea but the selling part may be the problem

This is the fork in the road our fans seem to want to choose, a perpetual change in manager with someone who has no connection to the club coming aboard every 16 months to get the supporters off kroenkes back and divert attention away from him.

I’d rather give up than appoint that wally.

Well no, but for Stan he wouldn't create a sensation and be on the cheap. Rather if he'd wind up at Spurs.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fBGhaURNrCk
Here’s the selection of ‘open mic’ on Xhaka from the sheff Utd game.

I found this pretty fascinating to be honest. We wouldn’t normally see this but I think it gives some clear insight to why Arteta rated Xhaka, he seems to be our mouthpiece on the pitch. It’s hard not to be impressed by this.

I read that Sarri was being linked to Spurs not us