Up the Arse! Goons Thread

[Cruyff14]

Good to grab a win. Not seen the goals, but I can see MLS is getting huge wraps everywhere. Good to have another academy kid coming through.

 

[dirty2]

Everton tonight come on the gunners!

 

[glenferry23]

Everton tonight come on the gunners!

The matches are coming in thick and fast now. 3 points needed here, the margins of error are getting finer and finer.

Seems that Gabriel is a likely in, Calafiori not. Would like to see MLS given more minutes at LB, his mid week performance certainly puts him in contention and he seems ready to me. Timber just isn’t at his best on the left, I am hoping Arteta corrects that soon.

 

[Cruyff14]

Should really be beating at Everton at home, no questions asked.

 

[glenferry23]

Should really be beating at Everton at home, no questions asked.

They’re a bit of a bogey team at Goodison recently. However at The Emirates we should absolutely be gunning for the 3 points. It’s points accumulation mode now in the league.

 

[Cruyff14]

Yep, absolutely.

 

[andana]

Everton would be well rested. Haven't played for a while.
Like these early starts.

 

[dirty2]

Was planning on staying up... But I'm bloody tired... I'll watch in the morning

 

[Judd2Sewell]

What a pathetic waste of a season

 

[glenferry23]

Hmmm. Damn.

 

[charcoalchicken]

That’s a bad draw, could have gained on liverpool as well

 

[Planet14]

What a pathetic waste of a season

Lost it in the summer. That we ended the transfer window weaker from an attacking point of view is unfathomable. The Sterling signing was clearly a poor decision at the time, but even so it shocking how little interest Arteta has in using him.

 

[beside the seaside]

Awful to watch. So slow, no attacking threat at all. Season looks cooked at this point.

 

[dirty2]

****ing frustrating. Incredible disappointed in that.

Even in the last 15m there was no urgency.

 

[windyhill]

Fair play Everton, Arse not good enough.

 

[glenferry23]

Lost it in the summer. That we ended the transfer window weaker from an attacking point of view is unfathomable. The Sterling signing was clearly a poor decision at the time, but even so it shocking how little interest Arteta has in using him.

I have some thoughts on this topic that tie back to this comment regarding the most recent summer window.

First, that was a tough match to sit through. I always can’t help but check the overnight results first before I watch. However results like this make for tough viewing and I always do it regardless because of my love of the game and Arsenal. Whilst it wasn’t completely toothless like the abomination of a performance at Newcastle last month, it was within that realm.

Arteta got the substitutions wrong imo. Merino should’ve been off well earlier. I understand Rice was injury related, however this second was crying out for a Nwaneri/Odegaard combo as 8s and get much more direct. Anyway, the less said about this particular match the better. I know it’s softened somewhat by Liverpools draw however the reality is dropping points at home to Everton is the kind of thing to look back on at the end of the season and point to as the difference in winning the title or not. Much like it was the 1 point from 12 again Fulham and Villa last season that was the killer.

Back to your point. And I’m sorry for the long post here. I feel it extends far beyond the most recent window.

Arsenal need a killer. An absolutely game changing killer, that can summon something out of nothing. Whilst Saka is a match winner, it cannot always be left to him.

Genuine championship winning teams have multiple class players in that attacking third to unpick the lock when others are curtailed. Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Ljungberg for example. They all did their thing when and as needed. Mane, Salah, Firmino. The list goes on.

Martinelli and Saka were almost on similar trajectories a few years ago, there’s no comparison now. Unfortunately, we just haven’t seen Martinelli develop into that genuine class threat on the left that we’d hoped for. Jesus the same, his future lies elsewhere. Sterling was a panic signing that is emblematic of our glaring failure in recent transfer windows.

I’ll preface this part by saying Arsenal’s transfer activity over the last 3 years or so has been an overwhelming success. Sure there’s been a few that haven’t worked out, Lokonga and Tavares for example. Relatively low outlays and that can be recouped somewhat and these things happen. Fabio Vieira at £35m is probably the main one you can point to and question. However overall, the recruitment process, in player profile and characteristics, has underpinned why Arsenal are now back in the position we are.

With that said, clearly the flaw remains in the attacking third. And this is where it’s going to continue to haunt as Arsenal try to navigate that final hurdle to make the difference between a really good team that is up there in a few competitions, versus a genuine championship team that wins the major honours.

I look at the transactions over the last few years. There was Diaby to Villa. Kudus to West Ham. Pedro Neto to Chelsea (more on him in a moment). Tried and failed with Raphinha. Sesko would’ve been a very interesting profile to acquire. Clearly, the club is aware and has tried but ultimately come up short in getting that much needed firepower.

The reasons are varied. Firstly, PSR issues have impacted across the board. Clubs are cautious as seen with the lack of money spent recently. Also, KSE have invested very heavily and understandably want to see that spending managed accordingly. That was evident when Arteta pushed hard for Calafiori, another £40m spent on a defender despite the significant investment in that area already, and had pushback to recoup value with other players first.

Hence, Nketiah, ESR, Ramsdale etc were sold. Vieira loaned out. Nelson too. At some point, can keep tanking players value if you’re not going to utilise them. You must recoup and move them on for all parties. The AMN leaving on a free debacle for example, that was poor squad management really and geez how handy would that £20m have been for a club with a poor reputation in the market as sellers.

Arsenal have not been able to nail down good transfer fees that come back to offset spending and raise additional revenue to reinvest in the squad. What happens is areas in the squad get overlooked as Arteta prioritises elsewhere. No more better example than goalkeeper. Whilst Raya is absolutely brilliant and the decision is more than vindicated, you look at the level of resources allocated to that position and at some point it needs to stop. I’m glad Edu stepped in and signed Neto on a loan, for Arteta and Inaki Cana wanted to pay the release clause of €25m for Garcia last summer.

Whilst Merino might end up being an absolute game changing signing, especially when we see more of the Rice, Merino, Odegaard midfield, at the moment I understand the questions on signing that profile of player whilst exiting 4 players in the forward group. Time will tell on that one.

However, back to Pedro Neto. That’s the Neto Arsenal needed. And sought for sometime, Ornstein had reported on that numerous times in recent years. Yes there’s a question mark over injuries. However he’s absolutely the profile needed, cover across both flanks. And if not him, that’s fine, however someone like him was required across the market. Had Arsenal managed resources better, recouped proper fair market value for players, then that could’ve been all the difference between signing Sterling on deadline day or being able to push the boat out for that genuine class forward that can complement the attacking group.

Sorry for the long and perhaps incoherent post. Glen is frustrated this morning.

 

[dirty2]

Don't worry about the length I Like reading your comments glenferry23

 

[bok_party]

Pickford having his usual good game against us

 

[Planet14]

Great post GF23, clearly articulates the key gap in the squad and the need for a high quality attacker.

With that said, which defensive position do you expect Arteta to spend money on in January?

 

[Cruyff14]

And we're done.

 

[bok_party]

And we're done.

Liverpool will drop more points. So long to go.

 

[dirty2]

Our room for error is... Incredible low now... Yes Liverpool... Will drop point's... But we can't afford to now.

 

[RickSanchez]

Seems kinda the same a couple seasons back, could somewhat argue last season too....
January approaching. Need a goal scorer. Clubs dont wanna sell (rightly tbf), we don't want to overpay (which I do understand to a degree). Leave it to be addressed for next season. Never really address the issue in the next window. Repeat.

Not too sure what to think about Martinelli - would he benefit from better competition? would he benefit if we had an actual scoring striker (assists etc) Is he just not good enough? Genuinely don't know, and I guess it makes no sense to even think about moving him on (unless massive bid) when we are in need of forwards coming in, not going out.

Very unfortunate to take advantage of recent results.

Hope the club is very much looking at improving the forwards because we're obviously gonna fall short once again, even with this abnormal form from City.

 

[Clark G]

I understand that Rice had an injury concern, but why was Odegaard removed with the match up for grabs?

 

[giantroo]

We dodged one hell of a bullet with Mudryk.

Chelsea star fails drugs test and could face four-year doping ban

Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk could be facing a lengthy suspension from football as reports in his native Ukraine claim a failed doping test is behind his current absence

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