Up the Arse! Goons Thread

[glenferry23]

I think it's poor management to be honest, a teenager shouldn't be taking the 5th penalty kick in a cup final at home. Hopefully it doesn't mentally break him too much and he can bounce back for us next season.

I tend to agree, it shouldn’t have been him 5th. The alternative view is that reflects the faith and confidence Southgate has in him. However watching a 19 year old breaking down like that, very very difficult viewing.

No doubt that’s going to affect him for a little while (on a human level), hopefully he has quality support around him.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Chin up Bukayo, at least you had the balls to stand up and take the 5th penalty.

 

[charcoalchicken]

Saka had a great tournament overall, he’ll be in that England side for the rest of his career.
If anything that miss (which wasn’t a bad penalty btw) can help spur him on to become a better player, little obstacles like that will usually only make you stronger.
I think every arsenal supporter is proud of him as is the majority of England (besides some racist numpty’s are backing him 100%)
Onto the next season.

 

[glenferry23]

First pre season game is tonight, vs Hibernian. Wow it came around very quickly. And one month to the day until the first league match vs Brentford.

Need to get a few more transactions going in and out of the squad.

 

[Northalives]

I tend to agree, it shouldn’t have been him 5th. The alternative view is that reflects the faith and confidence Southgate has in him. However watching a 19 year old breaking down like that, very very difficult viewing.

No doubt that’s going to affect him for a little while (on a human level), hopefully he has quality support around him.

It's astonishing that a young player like that was allowed to take a penalty in a Cup final let alone the last one. It doesn't matter if he was really eager to take it, he should not have been allowed to take it.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Pre season starts with a loss to Hibs and kola and Willian seeing action.

 

[Cruyff14]

Pre season starts with a loss to Hibs and kola and Willian seeing action.

Any stuff on this? Many senior players play? Did we play awful or it was more about match fitness?

 

[glenferry23]

 

[onthehill24]

Pre season starts with a loss to Hibs and kola and Willian seeing action.

Here we go again
Eddie also played
Already looking fwd to the new season

 

[bok_party]

The goals we conceded were horrible. One was a young mistake from the keeper. Not much you can do but people put too much weight into friendlier.

 

[glenferry23]

The goals we conceded were horrible. One was a young mistake from the keeper. Not much you can do but people put too much weight into friendlier.

Yes Okonkwo was clearly nervous. He spilled an earlier cross as well, hopefully that’s all down to his first senior appearance etc. Not for the first time though, it was a poor back pass from Cedric.

As an aside, there were so many players in that line up that potentially won’t be at the club at the end of the window. Kolasinac, Nketiah, Willian, AMN, Nelson, Bellerin. Add to that Torreira and Xhaka. Perhaps Willock too.

So much still to do and quite likely not all of it will be done.

 

[onthehill24]

Yes Okonkwo was clearly nervous. He spilled an earlier cross as well, hopefully that’s all down to his first senior appearance etc. Not for the first time though, it was a poor back pass from Cedric.

As an aside, there were so many players in that line up that potentially won’t be at the club at the end of the window. Kolasinac, Nketiah, Willian, AMN, Nelson, Bellerin. Add to that Torreira and Xhaka. Perhaps Willock too.

So much still to do and quite likely not all of it will be done.

We can only hope they will be gone

 

[Planet14]

Basically a retread of this:



Preferred the older kit, the blue and lack of red collar take away from the new version.

 

[glenferry23]

We can only hope they will be gone

In all likelihood many of those transactions won’t get done this window. Arsenal’s reputation at selling really is hindering the ability to get these deals done, Xhaka is worth way more than the measly €12m that Roma has stalled on.

Inter reportedly interested in Bellerin however can only imagine the terms. A loan first and then an option to buy for €15m or something. These will likely drag on until very late in the window it seems.

And not sure Willian is going anywhere either, certainly not in condition he appeared to be in that Hibs game.

 

[glenferry23]

Also, this was an excellent piece on Saka. Very well written.

Bukayo Saka: Hero | Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog

It’s a long time ago, but I’m trying to remember what I was like at 19. I was in college, ‘studying’ broadcasting and journalism. I didn’t make the most of the hair I had back then. I drank. I smoked. I spent countless hours in second hand record shops delving through their racks of vinyl […]

arseblog.com

 

[Northalives]

Also, this was an excellent piece on Saka. Very well written.

Bukayo Saka: Hero | Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog

It’s a long time ago, but I’m trying to remember what I was like at 19. I was in college, ‘studying’ broadcasting and journalism. I didn’t make the most of the hair I had back then. I drank. I smoked. I spent countless hours in second hand record shops delving through their racks of vinyl […]

arseblog.com

He's a magnificent young man! He's also been nominated for The Freedom of Ealing Borough by Ealing Council, the youngest-ever person to be granted the honour.

I'm proud of that young man as I am of Rashford as well actually. You know that because of Rashford's activities and lobbying, he has been responsible for feeding over 1.2 million underprivileged kids; white kids, black kids, brindle kids, kids of all colours and religions during the covid crisis in England and received an MBE for his efforts and yet English morons abused and racially vilified him also.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Here we go again
Eddie also played
Already looking fwd to the new season

Eddie, El Neny, Willian, Willock, Kolasinac plus a few others should all be binned, ASAP.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Ben White for 50 million seems like a huge amount of money, we'd want to hope White ? Gabriel is the CB pairing that takes us back to CL football.

 

[Cruyff14]

If we are dumping that much on White, you'd hope we pump more money into other areas of the squad with as much zeal that need reinforcing.

 

[glenferry23]

Eddie, El Neny, Willian, Willock, Kolasinac plus a few others should all be binned, ASAP.

Elneny will stay I feel. Decent squad depth. Kolasinac will surely be off somewhere. No one is going near Willian it seems.

Reports emerging of another loan for Willock to Newcastle, I’d be really surprised if the club did that.

White for £50m does seem excessive however the real priority remains - a midfield partner for Partey. Probably need to get the Xhaka sale finalised before hearing more of that, but surely the club has the right target lined up (well hopefully anyway).

He's a magnificent young man! He's also been nominated for The Freedom of Ealing Borough by Ealing Council, the youngest-ever person to be granted the honour.

I'm proud of that young man as I am of Rashford as well actually. You know that because of Rashford's activities and lobbying, he has been responsible for feeding over 1.2 million underprivileged kids; white kids, black kids, brindle kids, kids of all colours and religions during the covid crisis in England and received an MBE for his efforts and yet English morons abused and racially vilified him also.

It was a fantastic statement given by Saka and heartwarming the response he has received from the majority of fans. And Rashford is a very very special human being, what he has achieved already at a very young age is incredible.

 

[Northalives]

If we are dumping that much on White, you'd hope we pump more money into other areas of the squad with as much zeal that need reinforcing.

White is worth every penny. He is a step ahead of the game and that makes him a very special player.

 

[dirty2]

Never really paid much attention to white....some people do rate him quite highly. My only thought is that it's alot of money for a CB.... When a CM is what we need.. Neves I think could do quite well next to partey.

i wouldn't mind something a bit different up top... A tall heading threat... A good target man that saka.. Pepe... Aubameyang can play off.. but that's just me...

 

[Northalives]

Never really paid much attention to white....some people do rate him quite highly. My only thought is that it's alot of money for a CB.... When a CM is what we need.. Neves I think could do quite well next to partey.

i wouldn't mind something a bit different up top... A tall heading threat... A good target man that saka.. Pepe... Aubameyang can play off.. but that's just me...

Yeah, I know what you mean. White is rather unobtrusive and that's why he flies under the radar, so to speak, but if you can, go back and have a look at him play at BHA and you'll see why the great Bielsa was desperate to get him to Leeds permanently.

White not only knows where his players are and where he will play the ball when he gets it, he actually gets the ball! He is a very good defensive player but what sets him apart is that in a game style like Arsenals where there isn't huge gaps between the lines, his first touch is usually a pass to one of his players in front of him whether that be by head or foot but that doesn't mean he can't play long balls, he's really good at that too.

He is calm and assured. If you want to compare him to anyone, the closest comparison I can make is that he's like Mertesaker. Six inches shorter but far quicker and very flexible. He has great balance and even though he prefers his right foot, he is very comfortable with his left, his starting position is imaculate, his vision and ability to know what is going on is superb. Because of his pace and ability to recover the ball as well as his skill, this will allow our fullbacks to play higher up the pitch to really force the issue and limit greatly the danger of being caught on the counter.

He is going to be a first choice England center half, no fear, and for a player of his quality, 50 mill is more than fair. When you consider that Man. Utd paid 80 mill for Maguire, who is decent enough, Maguire is more of an "old fashioned", negating center half; White is in a different league to Maguire and for us, given we have the left footers Gabriel, who's a top young player and Mari (who would be brilliant with White given his great ability to man mark and his heading prowess) and the right footed Holding, with White, it will give us enormous flexibility at the back and we could play 3 at the back when needed as well as the traditional 4.

Make no mistake, this is a huge, huge signing for The Arsenal, that is, if we do get him in.

PS. Nearly forgot Neves. He and Partey in the heart of midfield would be absolutely magnificent! Neves was the driving force in Wolves winning the Championship Titles, he was the driving force when Wolves finished 7th in their first season back in the Premiership and 7th again the next season and last season, it was Neves who kept them out of a relegation battle.

He is hard as nails, runs all day,his defensive qualities are excellent, has exquisite passing ability, not afraid to put his foot in and is very, very classy and for a 24 year old, his best years are in front of him. I really do hope we sign this player because he too will make a massive difference to our side - massive!

 

[glenferry23]

Have only seen the highlights, that new set piece coach working wonders

Lots of chances missed again, and Tavares starting and scoring was a nice touch. Not much else you can take out of these games otherwise. Interestingly that Arteta said some new faces would arrive soon, I’m guessing that refers to Lokonga and White.

 

[RickSanchez]

I love seeing arsenal fans melt on social media about a game no one cares about.