True. But I’m not convinced that a just failed manager is going to be the right fit for that role.

We don't get marmite here, let alone marmite flavoured crisps, any more. Very sad.

I see Jon Miss has signed off his refereeing career in style in the richest game in football the Championship play off. Paul Tierney on VAR playing his part as well - we still have to suffer him next season

Forest in the prem for next year. Glad they came up instead of Huddersfield for the only reason that it’s been ages since they were in the league and I like it when it’s mixed up a bit.

What’s the betting we are away to Forest on a Friday night for the first game of the new season?

Congrats to Ceballos, ECL and La Liga winner since leaving Arsenal

The new "Brentford" next season?

This article was online about Leno
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... -Leno.html

So we are asking 8.5mil and are having trouble getting that.

One of the newly promoted teams could do much worse than signing him up as their #1.

Must admit I’m not pleased at all that Forest came up instead of Huddersfield. I’ve made the trek to Nottingham loads of times to see us play them and seen us lose quite a few of them, if not ‘lots’ of them. I didn’t go to the FA Cup game this season (I suppose it’s now ‘last’ season), but it cost us one of the two semi-realistic chances we had of lifting a trophy.

What reason would an Arsenal fan have to dislike Huddersfield? They beat us at their ground in the 1970/71 season, but we still won the title so who cares? Indeed, had we not lost at Huddersfield perhaps the title clincher at White Hart Lane would not have been so dramatic? I don’t recall losing a game to Huddersfield that I now see as particularly important.

Huddersfield are close neighbours (in a different but nearby location sort of way like Newcastle and Sunderland) to Leeds and since I’ve been following football have always been deeply in their shadow. Their fans will no doubt dislike Leeds, and that makes them okay by me. So do I. Indeed, I’d have much preferred Leeds to go down than Burnley. I still remember seeing Don Revie’s brilliant but violent Leeds side beat us in two cup finals (the 1968 League Cup and 1972 FA Cup). Huddersfield again being Yorkshire’s representative in the Premier League rather than Leeds would have amused me.

I’d go way further than saying one of the newly promoted clubs. If I was listing the best Arsenal keepers I’ve seen, Leno would be closer to the top than Fabianski who is West Ham’s first choice.

There is two markets for selling players, selling them abroad and selling them to a Prem club. Our best recent sales have all been to Prem clubs. Willock, Iwobi, Even Walcott and Ox were good sales.

Yes but convincing a German that he may be better off in the UK may be a tough sell.

It also feels like there is another market especially for Arsenal.

Any player that we want to buy seems to inflate in price, and any player that we want to sell has a price reduction.

Apparently Gnabry has turned down a 19m euro a year deal from Bayern - that is over £300k a week. I don't think we can or should go there at all if that is the kind of money he wants

https://breakingthelines.com/data-analy ... el-arteta/

A good read if you're in to stats analysis

This whole thing screams to me of a player negotiating his final large contract with existing club. Expect an announcement he’s signed a new contract and wants to end his career in Germany shortly.

On the 300k thing I’m not sure what the answer is. If you want top players they will ask for big wages. What’s the alternative ? You opt out ? Well then you will never compete.

I think because we’ve been burned by ozils contract we are too wary.

On Leno if a club can’t afford 8.5 million for him then don’t sell him. Selling him for less is lunacy.

Benfica can’t afford 8 million for Leno when we paid them the same amount for Tavares. Literally hang up the phone. Go away and don’t come back

It does seem quite remarkable in today’s football finances that no clubs fancy picking him up at that price. He looks like a real bargain.

He’s a steal at 15 million never mind half that. Easily got another 5 years for a keeper

We signed Peter Čech for 10 million and he was 3 years older.

I’m surprised a club like Southampton haven’t bitten. They have a load of bad keepers. Would be a no brainier of a transfer

Painful memory of the Southampton keeper Fraser Forster playing out of his skin against us last month.

I agree top players get top contracts but no one at Liverpool is on £300k a week, and that's even after all the success they've had. We're really not a club who can afford £300k a week before success. We need to grow players in to £300k a week players not buy them at that wage.

Yeah Watch this space on that. Apparently Mané is leaving because of his wages and no way will they let salah go in the same window and he’s on 200.

If we are selling players left right and centre we can afford to have a couple of players on big money in the right part of the pitch.

I also doubt we are going to sign a gamechanging striker this summer and probably won’t end up paying him over 200k. It’s going to be a big contract.

I guess it means that if the ball deflects off a defender it doesn't count, as with an accidental backpass to the keeper.

One can see the reasoning with a backpass. It would be silly to say a keeper cannot attempt to save a deflected shot, so it is worth having a rule that requires a judgement about the intent of the player.

But in the offside case it does just seem to be introducing unnecessary complexity. What is the point of the rule?

Ben White withdraws from the England squad due to injury. That's good news as long as it isn't a long term injury, White played a lot of football and was carrying an injury at the end of the season - the last thing we need is him being used in 4 England friendlies.

Now if Saka could do the same that would be great

A number of reports in Italy suggest we've made a 25m euro bid (£21m) for Aaron Hickey from Bologna. Quotes saying a 'farewell' is likely.

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/uefa-ch ... ague-final

A good explanation of the rules here. It is one of the few occasions an offside decision requires a subjective opinion.

Probably an excuse and they actually dropped him because of his poor passing.

I remember everyone naturally wanting to leave asap after the final whistle and finding exit doors locked. Just to add to the chaos police lobbed in some tear gas. I still can’t work out why. Cloud of the stuff was drifting around and I got my first and last ( I hope) whiff of it - truly horrible stuff.

I just don't see the point of it, and the need for such fine distinctions (the distinction between a 'deliberate block' and an involuntary deflection), and consequently 5 minute delays while var grapples with issues that make general relatively theory seem simple.

Why not just say that you can't be offside if an the opposition player is the last to have touched the ball?

Indeed - and wasn't that how it used to be?

A table of GKs ranked by 1v1's and the expected goals they've saved in those duels. Alison a long way in front - but also look at the amount of 1v1's Liverpool expose Alison to vs how many we expose Ramsdale to for example.

Naturally teams who defend very deep will expose their GK to fewer 1v1's but our numbers are in line with Chelsea, Spurs and City. Perhaps Liverpool's high line isn't actually that good in terms of defending, they are just being bailed out by a phenomenal GK

This story shows no sign of going away and probably won’t until Saka renews his contract. If he doesn’t, it’ll start getting mega annoying.

Another reason for detesting Liverpool.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sports ... senal-star

The shortlist of six candidates given on Arsenal.com for the player of the year are: Ramsdale, White, Xhaka, Smith Rowe, Ødegaard, Saka.

Why are White and Xhaka on the list? I think Gabriel did better than White.

There was more respectable press saying he was in talks to sign a new contract a few weeks back. This time with a release clause of over 100 million. The release clause thing was discussed here about saka before. A blessing and curse as you keep the player but know at some point a club is going to try it with the release clause. It would be the first time Arsenal would have agreed one if it happens

Yes this is it. Was crazy , just nuts.

In talks to sign a new contract, with or without a release clause, is not the same as Saka signing one yet. There is nothing to suggest he has and until he has, the threat from Liverpool taking him will be there.

Que sera sera

For what it’s worth I don’t think he’s leaving. This summer anyway

Mine would be in order

Saka
Ramsdale
Gabriel
White
Ødegaard

Not sure how you can put Smithers on the list but not Gabriel

His contract expires in 2023, only a year away. If he doesn’t sign a new contract this summer, now is surely the logical time to sell? Otherwise the club is risking losing its most valuable player for zero in a year at the end of his contract.

I realise Nketiah is apparently signing a new deal when his contract was on the point of expiring (or has he already?). But the financial risk of losing him for nothing was minuscule compared to Saka, simply because of the difference in their transfer values.

If Saka does sign a new longish term deal at Arsenal, I think he’ll stay for longer than next season. But if he doesn’t, as I say now is the logical time to sell. Until he does and it’s confirmed on Arsenal.com, I’m going to feel nervous.