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Post #532761  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:21 am 
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So where do we stand as a squad compared to how we finished last season.

White 'should' be an upgrade on Luiz. Definitely a long term upgrade, has more pace, similar or better range of passing and dribbling and hopefully less propensity to shoot the team in the foot

Lokonga I think is an upgrade on Ceballos. Much better profile for our midfield and the league

Tavares is an upgrade on Kolasinac.

We lost Ryan and currently have no back up GK worth the shirt
We lost Ødegaard and currently haven't bought anyone in to replace him

Currently we've also gained back AMN and Willock to the squad from their loans.

Overall the squad is stronger but not as much of a change as it needs to be and not enough in my view to take us any higher than 6th


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Post #532762  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:34 am 
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Rich wrote:
City are about to wrap up Grealish for maybe £100m. If they get Kane for north of £100m as well it seems pretty impossible anyone will stop them.
Kane, Jesus, Grealish, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling, Silva, Gundogun, Torres, De Bruyne, Rodri, Fernadinho. 12 players for 6 positions in the team

Liverpool have their work cut out for them for sure. Still happier to see Grealish and Kane go to City than any other team - they would benefit Chelsea and Man Utd a lot more in my opinion.


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Post #532763  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:51 am 
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We are not finishing in the top 4 for a long time. The money being spent by clubs ahead of us is astronomical and we can’t offload our deadwood. We are a top 8 side and that’s where we’re staying until we join the craziness of what is becoming a football freak show. Yes, Kroenke could bankroll signings but what’s the point? We’re selling Saka within the next 24 months, I guarantee it.

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Post #532764  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 11:59 am 
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To paraphrase, the gap is getting bigger and it feels like the current top four are pulling away far quicker than we can close the gap.

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Post #532765  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:02 pm 
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Darren wrote:
We are not finishing in the top 4 for a long time. The money being spent by clubs ahead of us is astronomical and we can’t offload our deadwood. We are a top 8 side and that’s where we’re staying until we join the craziness of what is becoming a football freak show. Yes, Kroenke could bankroll signings but what’s the point? We’re selling Saka within the next 24 months, I guarantee it.

Challenging for the league is a long way off, but I don't think top four is as set in stone as it's being made out to be.

Looking at the teams ahead of us, City and Liverpool are obviously miles away. It'll be extremely hard to compete with Chelsea now too, but their somewhat flukey CL win aside, they haven't looked world class under Tuchel yet. Man Utd took advantage of a disastrous Liverpool season to end up 2nd, they need to improve a lot if they want to be close to Liverpool and City again.

Then we have West Ham and Leicester who let's face it are punching above their weight. Tottenham have been trending downards for a while now, and I'm not sure they'll be able to stop that trend even with the money they'll get for Kane.

We need to improve a lot, there's no doubt about that, and I'm far from convinced the signings we've made this summer is enough, or that Arteta is the guy to do it. But I definitely see the top tier of the league - bar City, Liverpool, and maybe Chelsea - as more of an open field than most.


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Post #532766  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:09 pm 
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I hope you’re right Haz, but I think Utd, Chelsea, City and Liverpool are ahead of us. I think we’re EL at best.

Btw, I’m currently in your homeland. Heading back to Stockholm today from Gävle. Staying in Gamla Stan for a couple of nights, was in Södermalm over the weekend. First time to Sweden. I think it’s a great place.

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Post #532767  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:16 pm 
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Darren wrote:
We’re selling Saka within the next 24 months, I guarantee it.

Saka’s current contract expires in 2024, so in three years time. Arsenal will not want to lose him on a free then, considering his financial value. So sadly I don’t think what you said there is impossible.


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Post #532768  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:17 pm 
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Darren wrote:
I hope you’re right Haz, but I think Utd, Chelsea, City and Liverpool are ahead of us. I think we’re EL at best.

Btw, I’m currently in your homeland. Heading back to Stockholm today from Gävle. Staying in Gamla Stan for a couple of nights, was in Södermalm over the weekend. First time to Sweden. I think it’s a great place.

Yeah, they're definitely ahead of us, and I'm not really saying we'll challenge for top 4 this season because I don't think we will. But I watched a lot of Man Utd games last season, and they never really looked that impressive. They have some great attacking players who consistently bailed them out, and they're very good at getting wins against lesser teams (something we need to do a lot better), but they don't look like a title contender to me. There's definitely a good opportunity to move up the table if we make the right improvements.

Stockholm is great in the summer. Weather was a bit better two weeks ago, but you definitely picked the right time of year to visit.


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Post #532769  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:21 pm 
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Darren wrote:
We are not finishing in the top 4 for a long time. The money being spent by clubs ahead of us is astronomical and we can’t offload our deadwood. We are a top 8 side and that’s where we’re staying until we join the craziness of what is becoming a football freak show. Yes, Kroenke could bankroll signings but what’s the point? We’re selling Saka within the next 24 months, I guarantee it.

Well that’s cheered me up (not).

If only it wasn’t true.

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Post #532770  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:25 pm 
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Rich wrote:
So where do we stand as a squad compared to how we finished last season.

White 'should' be an upgrade on Luiz. Definitely a long term upgrade, has more pace, similar or better range of passing and dribbling and hopefully less propensity to shoot the team in the foot

Lokonga I think is an upgrade on Ceballos. Much better profile for our midfield and the league

Tavares is an upgrade on Kolasinac.

We lost Ryan and currently have no back up GK worth the shirt
We lost Ødegaard and currently haven't bought anyone in to replace him

Currently we've also gained back AMN and Willock to the squad from their loans.

Overall the squad is stronger but not as much of a change as it needs to be and not enough in my view to take us any higher than 6th

Willock could be off.

https://newsjust24all.com/newcastle-agr ... L2wp_WOC9s

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Post #532771  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 2:04 pm 
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long time gooner wrote:
Rich wrote:
So where do we stand as a squad compared to how we finished last season.

White 'should' be an upgrade on Luiz. Definitely a long term upgrade, has more pace, similar or better range of passing and dribbling and hopefully less propensity to shoot the team in the foot

Lokonga I think is an upgrade on Ceballos. Much better profile for our midfield and the league

Tavares is an upgrade on Kolasinac.

We lost Ryan and currently have no back up GK worth the shirt
We lost Ødegaard and currently haven't bought anyone in to replace him

Currently we've also gained back AMN and Willock to the squad from their loans.

Overall the squad is stronger but not as much of a change as it needs to be and not enough in my view to take us any higher than 6th

Willock could be off.

https://newsjust24all.com/newcastle-agr ... L2wp_WOC9s

Making a big mistake if we sell Wilock.
He has gone out on loan and shown he can cut it.
Natural next step is to give the boy a chance to see if he can replicate it for us
Not like we have an abundance of goalscoring midfielders!
Just dont understand Arteta.
Most managers would be chomping at the bit to get the kid back , integrate him into the squad and give him minutes. Let's see that elite coaching in practice he is supposedly so good at.
No Arteta happy to sell him.
Depressing.
At least give him a chance to show what he can do.


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Post #532772  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 2:11 pm 
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Darren wrote:
To paraphrase, the gap is getting bigger and it feels like the current top four are pulling away far quicker than we can close the gap.

Darren
I hear what you are saying but for the last 2 seasons Leicester would comfortably have finished top 4 if they hadn't bottled it in the run in.
It's possible to compete if you are properly run.
Not like we haven't been shelling the cash recently.
72 on Pépé.
Ridiculous 'free' purchase of Willian.
50 on White.
We have been managed atrociously.
If Leicester can do it why cant we??


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Post #532773  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 2:20 pm 
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david.d wrote:
Darren wrote:
To paraphrase, the gap is getting bigger and it feels like the current top four are pulling away far quicker than we can close the gap.

Darren
I hear what you are saying but for the last 2 seasons Leicester would comfortably have finished top 4 if they hadn't bottled it in the run in.
It's possible to compete if you are properly run.
Not like we haven't been shelling the cash recently.
72 on Pépé.
Ridiculous 'free' purchase of Willian.
50 on White.
We have been managed atrociously.
If Leicester can do it why cant we??

David you answered your own question. "It's possible to compete if you are properly run". Arsenal hasn't been, for years. And it's left the club where it is now.


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Post #532774  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:05 pm 
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Is it likely we'll be top 4 this season? Not very. Is it likely in the next few years? Hmm...depends on a variety of things but most importantly I think is Mikel's ability to have success with his grand design. Could we use better players? Sure, but I think we have just enough quality to do well if we play with the right tactics. West Ham anyone?

Would we have let in fewer goals had we played Saliba? Who knows. We may not even have had to spend 50 million quid on Ben White if the planets aligned and we played him and he did well. There are a lot of 'what ifs'.
This could be a make or break season for Mikel.

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Post #532775  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:19 pm 
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long time gooner wrote:
Rich wrote:
So where do we stand as a squad compared to how we finished last season.

White 'should' be an upgrade on Luiz. Definitely a long term upgrade, has more pace, similar or better range of passing and dribbling and hopefully less propensity to shoot the team in the foot

Lokonga I think is an upgrade on Ceballos. Much better profile for our midfield and the league

Tavares is an upgrade on Kolasinac.

We lost Ryan and currently have no back up GK worth the shirt
We lost Ødegaard and currently haven't bought anyone in to replace him

Currently we've also gained back AMN and Willock to the squad from their loans.

Overall the squad is stronger but not as much of a change as it needs to be and not enough in my view to take us any higher than 6th

Willock could be off.

https://newsjust24all.com/newcastle-agr ... L2wp_WOC9s


Shocker if so :icon_mrgreen: I think at this point, we have to sell him. If we decide to keep him and use him sparsely, it may be the worst thing.

I have a toon supporting friend who has been saying its done and dusted for a while now and asking why is Arsenal delaying things. And peaks on here once in a while to see if we know something

[I know you are reading this buddy....lol... :12hello-bye: ]

We had 2 very good GKs at one time but had to make a hard choice. Almost like the season we had 3 great defensive/sweeping center mids and after the season lost all of them I think.

Ødegaard we will miss to some extent. We can survive with one quality GK as long as we wrap Leno in bubble wrap. The not so up to snuff back ups can play league cup rounds.

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Post #532776  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:39 pm 
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david.d wrote:
Making a big mistake if we sell Wilock.
He has gone out on loan and shown he can cut it.
Natural next step is to give the boy a chance to see if he can replicate it for us
Not like we have an abundance of goalscoring midfielders!
Just dont understand Arteta.
Most managers would be chomping at the bit to get the kid back , integrate him into the squad and give him minutes. Let's see that elite coaching in practice he is supposedly so good at.
No Arteta happy to sell him.
Depressing.
At least give him a chance to show what he can do.

What formation and position would you play Willock in with the current Arsenal team?
One of the big reasons he thrived at Newcastle is they played him in a position and with a set of tactics that absolutely makes the most of his strengths and masks his weaknesses.
If you play 4-2-3-1 then Willock either plays as one of the 2 central mids, or plays as the most advanced mid
Willock is not suited to being the No.10 position with how we play because we need huge creativity from that position because our wide men are finishers and not creators and our central mids tend to stay deeper and try to dictate play from there.
Then you have to ask can we play Willock alongside Partey with Emile Smith Rowe in front of them both in that formation? Which is effectively a bit like playing........4-3-3...... then Willock can be one of 3 central mids, usually 1 holding and 2 'No. 8' types who are box to box. The role might suit him but does it suit Arsenal to try to set up like Man City? I think we'd be too exposed.

At Newcastle Willock was given licence to break forward from a midfield 3 but didn't have to shoulder the creative burden because Newcastle didn't face packed defences they had to break down. Newcastle were based around counter attacks, crosses, set pieces where Willock could arrive late at the right time and place


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Post #532777  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:44 pm 
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https://www.goal.com/en/news/charlie-pa ... 9641mup68b


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Post #532778  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:05 pm 
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Rich wrote:
https://www.goal.com/en/news/charlie-patino-arsenal-wonderkid-hale-end-best-ever-graduate/q75cubotu5nv1wk9641mup68b

An interesting read.

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Post #532779  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:43 pm 
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david.d wrote:
Darren wrote:
To paraphrase, the gap is getting bigger and it feels like the current top four are pulling away far quicker than we can close the gap.

Darren
I hear what you are saying but for the last 2 seasons Leicester would comfortably have finished top 4 if they hadn't bottled it in the run in.
It's possible to compete if you are properly run.
Not like we haven't been shelling the cash recently.
72 on Pépé.
Ridiculous 'free' purchase of Willian.
50 on White.
We have been managed atrociously.
If Leicester can do it why cant we??


I find the examples of mismanagement used here a little harsh. White ? I mean he’s not kicked a ball yet and highly rated. Pépé whilst expensive is a good player and Willian was a bit of a punt. Admittedly a bad one.

If you want real examples if mis management I refer you to our ridiculous summer of 2016 when we spent 90 million quid on absolutely bog average players. I mean to provide some perspective, mustafi is currently a free agent after his spell at Schalke. People on this forum thought he was great! Complete delusion

You can’t simply sign such crap players. Would any other club offer Kolasinac 100 grand a week. 23 million quid on Torreira? (Will we get even half of that back)


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Post #532780  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:48 pm 
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Rich wrote:
david.d wrote:
Making a big mistake if we sell Wilock.
He has gone out on loan and shown he can cut it.
Natural next step is to give the boy a chance to see if he can replicate it for us
Not like we have an abundance of goalscoring midfielders!
Just dont understand Arteta.
Most managers would be chomping at the bit to get the kid back , integrate him into the squad and give him minutes. Let's see that elite coaching in practice he is supposedly so good at.
No Arteta happy to sell him.
Depressing.
At least give him a chance to show what he can do.

What formation and position would you play Willock in with the current Arsenal team?
One of the big reasons he thrived at Newcastle is they played him in a position and with a set of tactics that absolutely makes the most of his strengths and masks his weaknesses.
If you play 4-2-3-1 then Willock either plays as one of the 2 central mids, or plays as the most advanced mid
Willock is not suited to being the No.10 position with how we play because we need huge creativity from that position because our wide men are finishers and not creators and our central mids tend to stay deeper and try to dictate play from there.
Then you have to ask can we play Willock alongside Partey with Emile Smith Rowe in front of them both in that formation? Which is effectively a bit like playing........4-3-3...... then Willock can be one of 3 central mids, usually 1 holding and 2 'No. 8' types who are box to box. The role might suit him but does it suit Arsenal to try to set up like Man City? I think we'd be too exposed.

At Newcastle Willock was given licence to break forward from a midfield 3 but didn't have to shoulder the creative burden because Newcastle didn't face packed defences they had to break down. Newcastle were based around counter attacks, crosses, set pieces where Willock could arrive late at the right time and place


Hi Rich,

I think Willock is a great player to have in any squad, particularly ours, because he adds something different, namely an energy and a goal threat from central midfield. He's actually a throwback to the days of goalscoring central midfielders like Lampard and Scholes. He's not as good as two obviously but he has that uncanny knack and willingness to arrive in the box and get on the end of things.

A great option to have from the bench when needing a goal or needing to inject some added energy and box-to-box capability.

I'd keep him but it looks like we may have no choice but to sell as he's one of the few players we have who are in demand at a decent fee.


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Post #532781  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:51 pm 
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Lukaku to Chelsea for £100m looks like its going to happen. Wow.

On the bright side, at least it gives us a free run at Haaland :laughing7:


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Post #532782  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:22 pm 
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Darren wrote:
We are not finishing in the top 4 for a long time. The money being spent by clubs ahead of us is astronomical and we can’t offload our deadwood. We are a top 8 side and that’s where we’re staying until we join the craziness of what is becoming a football freak show. Yes, Kroenke could bankroll signings but what’s the point? We’re selling Saka within the next 24 months, I guarantee it.


I wouldn’t be so sure on Saka he strikes me as a grounded type.If the club can show some intent he might stay as a London boy.

Otherwise agree though, I don’t see how we are in a good shape to start the season. We are One injury away from absolute disaster if Leno or Emile Smith Rowe got a long term one. We have so many problems that can’t be fixed.


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Post #532783  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:24 pm 
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socrates wrote:
Hi Rich,

I think Willock is a great player to have in any squad, particularly ours, because he adds something different, namely an energy and a goal threat from central midfield. He's actually a throwback to the days of goalscoring central midfielders like Lampard and Scholes. He's not as good as two obviously but he has that uncanny knack and willingness to arrive in the box and get on the end of things.

A great option to have from the bench when needing a goal or needing to inject some added energy and box-to-box capability.

I'd keep him but it looks like we may have no choice but to sell as he's one of the few players we have who are in demand at a decent fee.

As a player who sits on the bench every game available to come on and add something different and that knack of pinching a goal - I agree he’s a very useful player. But would Willock be satisfied with that? Where does he fit in a starting 11 though?
And can Arsenal have a £25m player sitting on the bench for the Hail Mary opportunity we might have when that £25m could be used on a top class first choice right back for example.
If I had the choice between keeping Willock and our set of right backs or selling Willock and getting a right footed Tierney I’d choose the later


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Post #532784  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:31 pm 
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Ings to Villa for £30m. 29 years old, bad injury history and 1 year left on his deal. Southampton couldn’t refuse that deal. On the flip side Villa get a proven goalscorer in this league.

Villa certainly spending like a team who is just about to sell their captain for £100m, and better to spend first than go after players when teams know you have £100m burning a hole in your pocket.

Buendia £40m, Bailey £30m, ings £30m


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Post #532785  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:33 pm 
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This might have been one of the reasons we managed to get Mesut in the end


“When Özil came to Madrid, he replaced his girlfriend with a model from Milan, until Mourinho told him that that model was f****d by the entire Inter and AC Milan squads, and the technical staffs of both teams as well,” Florentino is quoted as saying.

https://www.football-espana.net/2021/07 ... y-in-milan


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Post #532786  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:34 pm 
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Rich wrote:
socrates wrote:
Hi Rich,

I think Willock is a great player to have in any squad, particularly ours, because he adds something different, namely an energy and a goal threat from central midfield. He's actually a throwback to the days of goalscoring central midfielders like Lampard and Scholes. He's not as good as two obviously but he has that uncanny knack and willingness to arrive in the box and get on the end of things.

A great option to have from the bench when needing a goal or needing to inject some added energy and box-to-box capability.

I'd keep him but it looks like we may have no choice but to sell as he's one of the few players we have who are in demand at a decent fee.

As a player who sits on the bench every game available to come on and add something different and that knack of pinching a goal - I agree he’s a very useful player. But would Willock be satisfied with that? Where does he fit in a starting 11 though?
And can Arsenal have a £25m player sitting on the bench for the Hail Mary opportunity we might have when that £25m could be used on a top class first choice right back for example.
If I had the choice between keeping Willock and our set of right backs or selling Willock and getting a right footed Tierney I’d choose the later


That’s the thing, though, we are selling one of our most promising players simply because we can’t shift the dross we have on high wages.


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Post #532787  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:37 pm 
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If Lukaku goes to Chelsea then presumably Inter keep Martinez.


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Post #532788  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:45 pm 
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Lukaku comes full circle. Chelsea player for about 10 mil or so, but spent a lot of his time on their books out on loan. No one in the EPL wanted after a while, goes to Italy, does well, now coming back to Chelsea for about 10 times what they originally paid for him or thereabouts...amazing.

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Post #532789  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:45 pm 
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Sounds like willock is going, not really happy but the club will have to sell someone. Can’t contemplate starting the season without a backup keeper.

Willock will be this season’s Martínez won’t he. Everytime he scores or does something remotely good we will have the bed wetters moaning he shouldn’t have been sold bloody Arteta blah blah blah


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Post #532790  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:50 pm 
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The conundrum with Willock is that we're just not in a position to keep a valuable asset on the bench seeing how much work is needed with our starting eleven. For a club like Liverpool that has a top class first eleven and only need to add squad depth Willock would be perfect to develop in the squad as a back-up, but I'd be scared we're making the same mistake as we did last summer with Maitland-Niles when we should've taken the money for a player that wouldn't play a big role for us.

We need another central midfielder, a new right back, probably a creative midfielder as well. Then there's the striker situation with Lacazette in all likelihood playing his last season for us, and Aubameyang possibly being in decline. Just too much work to be done for us to say no to 20-25m.


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Post #532791  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:53 pm 
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socrates wrote:
If Lukaku goes to Chelsea then presumably Inter keep Martinez.

That's the sad part, because I think Martinez could've been an excellent signing. But Lukaku for 100m has all the hallmarks of a big mistake - very good player no doubt, but I'm not sure his increased goal rate in Italy is because he's become a better player rather than the league just being easier and better suited for him. In 7 seasons in the PL he's reached 20 goals once, and his average is 15 goals per season. For 100m you want a hell of a lot more than that.


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Post #532792  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:54 pm 
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Rich wrote:
City are about to wrap up Grealish for maybe £100m. If they get Kane for north of £100m as well it seems pretty impossible anyone will stop them.
Kane, Jesus, Grealish, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling, Silva, Gundogun, Torres, De Bruyne, Rodri, Fernadinho. 12 players for 6 positions in the team


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Post #532793  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:34 pm 
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Fofana of Leicester has a suspected leg break in a friendly tonight. Awful tackle from the Villarreal player. It is a pre season friendly!

Not as bad but the tackle on Partey was a bit naughty and it will likely keep him out for the start of the season


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Post #532794  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:17 pm 
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Rich wrote:
Fofana of Leicester has a suspected leg break in a friendly tonight. Awful tackle from the Villarreal player. It is a pre season friendly!

Not as bad but the tackle on Partey was a bit naughty and it will likely keep him out for the start of the season


Oh *%^@ that is just horrible. Only saving grace is he’s young enough to take the time to recover really well and have a long successful career as a CB. Didn’t think anything could make me think we got off lightly with Partey.


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Post #532795  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:42 pm 
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Just for fun, if anyone's seen this. Be excited.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror ... 680096.amp

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Post #532796  Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2021 10:43 pm 
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Hazuki wrote:
Darren wrote:
We are not finishing in the top 4 for a long time. The money being spent by clubs ahead of us is astronomical and we can’t offload our deadwood. We are a top 8 side and that’s where we’re staying until we join the craziness of what is becoming a football freak show. Yes, Kroenke could bankroll signings but what’s the point? We’re selling Saka within the next 24 months, I guarantee it.

Challenging for the league is a long way off, but I don't think top four is as set in stone as it's being made out to be.

Looking at the teams ahead of us, City and Liverpool are obviously miles away. It'll be extremely hard to compete with Chelsea now too, but their somewhat flukey CL win aside, they haven't looked world class under Tuchel yet. Man Utd took advantage of a disastrous Liverpool season to end up 2nd, they need to improve a lot if they want to be close to Liverpool and City again.

Then we have West Ham and Leicester who let's face it are punching above their weight. Tottenham have been trending downards for a while now, and I'm not sure they'll be able to stop that trend even with the money they'll get for Kane.

We need to improve a lot, there's no doubt about that, and I'm far from convinced the signings we've made this summer is enough, or that Arteta is the guy to do it. But I definitely see the top tier of the league - bar City, Liverpool, and maybe Chelsea - as more of an open field than most.

Plus you just never know.

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Post #532797  Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 4:41 am 
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Hazuki wrote:
Rich wrote:
City are about to wrap up Grealish for maybe £100m. If they get Kane for north of £100m as well it seems pretty impossible anyone will stop them.
Kane, Jesus, Grealish, Mahrez, Foden, Sterling, Silva, Gundogun, Torres, De Bruyne, Rodri, Fernadinho. 12 players for 6 positions in the team

Liverpool have their work cut out for them for sure. Still happier to see Grealish and Kane go to City than any other team - they would benefit Chelsea and Man Utd a lot more in my opinion.

I think Grealish is a bit like Willock in that his style of play and positioning does not suit every team. I assume that Pep can mould him to his style. It is a lot of money to pay if he does not immediately play really well. I always think back to that year Man City looked like winning the title and then purchased Rodney Marsh. Kane - just not sure his best is not in the past. No doubt he will now have a brilliant season for Man City. There is no guarantee in football. Willock does not suit how Arteta sets up the team. Last year when he got a chance it appeared that Arteta did not see him in the same role as Newcastle were able to exploit.

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Post #532798  Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:10 am 
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Arsenal are supposedly offering any of Nketiah, AMN, Nelson or Willock to Leicester in a player plus cash deal to try to get Maddison. No surprise that Leicester don't want any players who can't get in a team that finished below them for the past 2 seasons. They want straight cash and it would be £60-70m. I'd walk away from that, the cost is too high.

If City sign Grealish then maybe Arteta could tempt Bernardo Silva away with a bid. I really like him as a player


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Post #532799  Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:15 am 
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Someone made a good point on twitter........the transfer window has been open 57 days are we are yet to receive a single penny in actual transfer fees during what is supposed to be the biggest clear-out in years.

We can't get rid, nobody is able or willing to pay the combination of transfer fees and wages it would take to buy the deadwood we want rid of.

Years of poor recruitment and excessive wages has come back to bite us on the arse big time.

Not sure there is anything Edu can do, he can't magic up buyers where there are none unless he drops the asking prices to absurdly low levels where clubs would be foolish to turn it down.


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Post #532800  Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:17 am 
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long time gooner wrote:
Rich wrote:
https://www.goal.com/en/news/charlie-patino-arsenal-wonderkid-hale-end-best-ever-graduate/q75cubotu5nv1wk9641mup68b

An interesting read.

It’s all about the bitter ex-scout trying to big up his own ability to spot a player - he was the guy that spouted the crap last year about me and others being sacked
Can’t even get the spelling of his boss’s name right
He didn’t even actually spot Charlie - he was sent specifically to watch him, so he was already well known

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