Pablo Mari is close to joining Monza in Italy. The only thing I've read on the fee is they will pay 5m euros if they manage to stay up this season. I don't know if that means it is a loan with obligation if they stay up, or if it is effectively a free transfer with a fee to follow if they stay up?

Either way I wasn't expecting much from Mari, good to get him off the books

edit: Just seen it is a loan with obligation to buy if they stay up

We're only allowed 17 non home grown players. (note: Saliba and Martinelli count as U21 players this year and will count as home grown from next season) Also Torreira is not on the list below having just been sold

Homegrown players (10): Bellerin, Holding, Nketiah, Ramsdale, White, Maitland-Niles, Smith Rowe, Nelson, M. Smith, Olayinka

Non-Homegrown (17): Runarsson, Turner, Tierney, Gabriel, Cédric, Tomiyasu, Mari, Zinchenko, Partey, Ødegaard, Vieira, Lokonga, Elneny, Xhaka, Jesus, Pépé, Lewis

Under-21s: Saliba, Saka, Martinelli, Hein, Marquinhos, Sousa, Walters, and the rest of the academy

you can have 25 senior players for the prem league squad with no more than 17 non-home grown players, you can have as many U21's as you want.

So we need to lose 2 players from the top two lists. I'd say that's pretty easy considering Bellerin, M.Smith, Olayinka, Runarsson, Mari, Lewis are all on those lists

Wonder if we will loan out Lokonga to free up space for non home grown players.

I just did a quick exercise looking at the strength of the benches of the top 6, based on everyone being fit and who I see as not in the first 11.

Arsenal
Turner, Holding, White, Tierney, Elneny, Lokonga, Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe, Nketiah
Spurs
Forster, Sanchez, Doherty, Lenglet, Sessegnon, Spence, Hojberg, Moura, Richarlison
Liverpool
Adrian, Konate, Gomez, Tsimikas, Milner, Elliot, Keita, Firminho, Jota
City
Ortega, Stones, Ake, Phillips, Gundogun, Mahrez, Alvarez, Palmer, Delap
Man U
Heaton, Malacia, Varane, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka, Van der Beek, Elanga, Martial, Eriksen
Chelsea
Arrizabalaga, Chalobah, Cucurella, Pulisic, Jorginho, Ziyech, Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek, Broja

Considering the bench was hugely weak for us at the back end of last season we've made big improvements there.

City have the smallest squad before they're calling up genuine youngsters.

Runarsson is on £780k a year and his contract expires in 2024. Paying that off and giving him a free transfer would only cost around £1.5m. That’s little over a month of Özil’s salary at Arsenal. Why not do it unless we can send him on loan? Mari will surely be leaving soon, as you’ve said.

It all looks very manageable to me and I’m not sure it stands up as a reason for not signing Tielemans, or whoever else. Lewis? Surely he can be sent on loan or, if he’s not expected to reach the top, pay him off too?

Apparently Corinthians are ready too offload Willian. He's only scored one goal in 44 appearances for the club. He was left out of a recent Copa Libratadores match against Flamengo, claiming a mysterious injury. Supposedly Fulham are interested in having him back in the PL.

There is strong talk that he’s off to Turkey on a permanent deal

How the mighty are fallen. Tony Adams, now 55, is to appear on Strictly Come Dancing.

I prefer to remember his goal against Everton when we cliched the title in 1998.

I’ve seen talk about it being a loan too. Whether it’s a loan or permanent deal, it gets Runarsson off the non-home grown numbers. With Mari going too, doesn’t that enable two more non-home grown signings even without paying off their contracts?

I just can’t see getting people out the day first being the explanation for delaying new signings.

It’s a programme I’ve never watched. I presume I must have been in the room when it’s been on, but I doubt that counts as watching it.

Me neither. Nor am I going to start now.

Buzz seems to be building around Yeremi Pino - jinky winger as far as I can see.

Just what we need.

New all or nothing out.

Wow there’s a lot there in these 3. It depicts the aubameyang saga warts and all. Richard garlick comes across very well as a mover and shaker guiding Edu. The club had no choice and were utterly screwed.

I thought Ben white came across well in his piece.

Arsenal set to confirm loan departure of Pablo Marí to Monza this morning. obligation to buy included within agreement, based on defender’s appearances in Italy & Monza staying in Serie A. Deal worth up to €7m (£5.9m).

So we’re all huge Monza fans now right?

Just finished watching the fourth one (first of the latest three).

We really did get robbed in that New Years Day game didn’t we? Outrageous.

Absolute robbery,

They totally manipulated the ref into changing the result because they were getting nowhere

I liked Xhakas despondency in the dressing room after the game. He said something like “we can’t change the result in disbelief” which mirrored how I and the fans felt really. He was visibly hacked off.

I forgot that referee's name but notice how he tells Lehmann not to move across his own line. Totally legal to do, he knows it, but you know he wants Man Utd to win it.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=47903 ... aggr_v_ids[0]=479036250715473&notif_id=1660231495377495&notif_t=watch_follower_video&ref=notif

One bit I liked in the documentary was when Arteta was away with covid he came back and told the squad he'd watched all 21 training sessions whilst he was away and on one of them if he was there 4 players would have been sent in after 15 minutes for not taking the session seriously enough.

https://www.sportbible.com/football/ant ... t-20220811

Arteta made Aubameyang train away from the main group due to multiple disciplinary breaches. Conte makes players train away from the main group if he wants to sell them.

I'm convinced Conte is on a win now strategy, and for me there are only two ways that goes.
1) they do win something, his star rises again and he moves on to a bigger club
2) they don't win something and Conte moves on because he doesn't want a proper rebuild

Clearly Conte has something about him and it is working at Spurs but I don't think there is a longer term plan for him or the club.
Don't forget Conte only signed an 18 month deal, who does that if you're truly committed, so he's in the last year of his deal now, and in the lowest moments of last year after particularly demoralising defeats Conte was very quick to talk about how he might move on if there was no improvement. Maybe he has changed his mind and will sign a new deal, i don't know. But I'm not yet convinced

I agree. But I am worried about the short run and Spurs actually winning something this season. As Keynes' said "In the long run we're all dead".

The bloke just comes across as tough but fair minded and utterly mature.

Really admirable.

Hi Decaf. Interesting that you mention John Maynard Keynes’ comment. I’ve heard it described as a ‘grab the moment’ philosophy. I’m with you that Tottenham actually winning something under Conte this season concerns me. I think it’s entirely feasible.

Maybe not the Premiership though I do believe that rather than write it off as a fight for third behind City and Liverpool, England’s other biggest clubs (by which I mean currently Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and I hate to say it but most of all Manchester United) should not write City and Liverpool as non-catchable.

Football changes. I remember Leeds being brilliant. I remember Aston Villa winning the European Cup (the Champions League). I recall Everton being a huge club. Of course they are still big clubs. But they show the fragility of football status or club size.

I look on things a bit differently to Rich, whose opinions I may not always agree with but do respect (even when he goes nutty about referees). I try to see the worst case scenario in things because it hopefully won’t be as bad. I still blame Swindon for that. They were a third tier team and my dad told me we should win the 1969 League Cup final.

Anyone who knows anything about Arsenal’s history will know what happened. I still dislike Swindon Town to this day. Without following their fortunes if I hear on talkSPORT that they’ve been relegated, I’m delighted.

Tottenham winning something this season, Conte staying and building on to further success? I’d like to think it may be unlikely but it most certainly isn’t impossible.

The incomparable Brian Moore saying “ and that is that “ as Don Rogers slots in Swindon’s third goal and dagger in our heart unfortunately stays with me over 50 years later. F the ‘Horse of the Year Show”. Gooners of my generation will get it!!

Just watched the fifth episode. I had quite forgotten the astounding double yellow card thing for Martinelli at Wolves. Another outrageous and unprecedented decision.

I suppose to counter my own argument the biggest risk is as you say above and that Conte may be convinced that managing in the Prem is really where it’s at and decided to stay at a smaller club here that go back to Inter or Juve.

Spurs have a great chance of one of the domestic cups is they go all out for it. They’ve shown they can beat the best teams in one off games, but if they rest players in the early rounds they could get a surprise.

I think to play against spurs you have to do one of two things.
1) go for the deep block and invite them to break you down. They don’t have naturally creative players in tight spaces and they struggled with that last year
2) take them on with a high press but you have to go man for man on their back 3, so playing a proper front 3 otherwise they have the spare man and two quick passes to lane and then Son and they’re through your high line you had to push to support your press.

A post by a jealous envious crusty old clag who doesn't know the difference between a waltz , foxtrot and the limbo .

As it happens I really don’t, apart from the limbo I suppose.

I've watched a few things on Arsenal's tactics and there have been gradual shifts in Arteta's time. Right now when we have the ball he is developing a 2-3-5 formation, where the CB are always the back 2 and the 2 full backs tuck inside to support Partey to make a midfield 3 block. Then you have the 2 No.8's joint he front 3 spread across the pitch making it as wide as possible. It is very, very attacking but allows for overloads against defences, or overloads on one side of the pitch before a quick switch to the winger on the opposite side (who stays wide) and has a 1 v 1. The 3 in midfield become important if we lose the ball as you aren't exposed right through the centre of the pitch, your opponents have to filter it wide wish is far less dangerous on the counter. All very interesting (to me at least)

Seen a rumour out of the blue about Man City trying to sign Tierney. Seems very odd.

There is no way we should sell him to them unless, a) they offer silly money (like £70-80m) and b) we have a replacement lined up

Spurs are potentially a really big club, with an attractive brand, just enough history, London home, etc. There is a very real danger that short term success might stick.

I think Keynes was saying something similar.

Whenever it's rumoured that Man City are after one of ours, I always assume it's Saka. I'm sure it will happen one day. I wondered when they sold Sterling.

After the disaster of losing to shitbag Leeds the year before, when Madeley and Charlton flattened Furnell so Cooper could score into an empty net, Swindon looked to be a breeze. Made the loss to them all the more painful.

Not sure we ever expected to beat Leeds but we - I - was utterly convinced we'd stuff Swindon. Easy. That was a hard lesson to learn, but it certainly prepared me for a lifetime supporting the Arse.

The Leeds one in 1968 was my first cup final. Disappointing to lose but like you I never expected us to win it.

I actually attended dancing classes . The Bosa Nova was the latest rave .

Decades later my mother pestered me to have a dance with her at some function ; three minutes in she delivered the verdict ... ""You cant dance ""

to which I replied ....... "Well you asked me ....... I was quite happy drinking beer talking sh***ght with my mates "

Only cup final I attended was versus West Ham . I did expect us to win , on paper I thought we had a far superior team yet I'd say on the day we were out thought , outplayed all over the pitch .

They played one lone striker David Cross , there was confusion we had O Leary Young Nelson and Rice across the back marking one bloke .

With Stuart Pearson withdrawn into midfield they stifled Brady

I really didn't rate Terry Neill's tactical nous and I think it showed that day . We got smashed against Ipswich and nearly threw the Man U final away by Terry's decision to give Steve Walford an appearance .

I was in the West Ham End as well ... although the Kiwi accent ensured I didn't get beaten up .

Very interesting.

I’m rather like you in that respect then. I did go to dancing classes at Uni but with the sole intention of getting to know one of the girls on my maths course rather better.

As it turned out I got to know her rather more than I did anything about dancing.

That dance used to be called 'The Quaker', LTG.

Twice around the floor then outside for yer oats.

Hi Decaf,
The actual odds of Spurs making it to both CL semis and the final appear more enhanced now with Conte. Mainly as Conte's more determined to prove it can be done where other managers failed. Naturally, hopeful Spurs get knocked out in the earlier stages of the CL, but won't be surprised if they're not either.

Saturday's match has Darren England as ref, with Mike Dean on VAR.