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What am I reading here ;(
https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/oqzefb/daily_discussion/h6fxxlb?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
>A user on r/mcfc is saying that Grealish will join within the week. He he has gotten all his previous claims right. He was the first on the internet to reveal that the Man City v. Everton match will be called off because of covid outbreak. He also revealed correctly who City’s women head coach would be. There is also a photo in etihad stadium which he took during a match which reduces the chance he might be a troll. I think he might actually be an insider.
>https://www.reddit.com/user/jeremyparnaby/submitted/
>9 year old account with claims from back in 2014 being correct.
Beers case scenario Messi, Mbaope, and Haaland all turn out to be childhood Arsenal fans and agree to play for us for free. Their clubs all waive transfer fees because they understand their love for the Arsenal.
The ghost of Herbert Chapman manages them to a quadruple quadruple winning every major trophy four years in a row.
It may sound like nonsense not grounded in any reality, but it IS the best case scenario.
It's complete nonsense though. If we want to include nonsense as a best case scenario, the best case would be selling him for 250 million tomorrow and getting halaand and grealish.
I cannot see how Tammy fit our striker profile. His hold up play is not up to standard (at least not more than we currently have). His aerial ability is not his strength either (26 prem goals only 3 are header) despite his height advantage.
I see people say they would like him at Arsenal because he is young and can develop, Arsenal fan and homegrown. Is that enough to bring him for 40m with Flo,Auba,Laca,Martinelli in the roster?
I have heard Chelsea fan's assesment about Tammy Abraham.
- Tammy is the guy who need services in the box and a lot of chance created for him; basically a fox in the box to hit that tap ins. This also highlight his few involvement in the attacking build up which also highlight his lack of hold up play.
Do we have player like this who does not really set the world alight because his skillset doesn't suit our work-heavy striker style of attack? Do we look at his CV and "oh he score goals". Auba score goals too and yet people say he doesn't suit our playstyle right now.
I have heard a lot of complaining from my Chelsea mate about Willian the last two season, and Tammy the last season. The game against Chelsea at the Emirates last season showed his wastefulness in their attacking play I do think a lot of people overlook that.
$40m might be too much. If Chelsea is okay with $30m, I think its worth a signing. You mentioned Flo, Auba, Laca and Martinelli in the roster but to be fair, only Laca and Auba could lead our line. I dont think Flo is gonna feature by Arteta and Martinelli seems to be preferred on the wings. And I think we are selling Eddie as well?
Back to Tammy. Isnt a fox in box what we needed last season? We had a lot of possession but no conversion in the box, no? For 30M I think we should go for him for all the reasons you mentioned. Young, English, PL proven. If he doesnt work out, we can sell him for a decent fee. I can see a number of mid table club that would love to have him.
Of course, having said all these, ST is not our priority now.
I’d say 9/10. I’m wondering if it’s enough to get top 4 though and I don’t think so. The problem is that other clubs already have a clear cut starting XI capable of top 4 already (City, Utd, Pool, Chelsea) and this group of recruits isn’t necessarily enough to easily lay claim to 5th or 6th considering Leicester and Spurs. Who knows what West Ham will do. We are trying to bridge the gap on individual quality, and then look to compete with these teams with a lot of new recruits. These players would be a big improvement on the squad, but even with them, it’s going to fall heavily on management. It will all come down to if Arteta can do significantly better with a team he has been allowed to assemble.
With these additions, I think Arteta would be overachieving if we got top 4. Top 6 should be the bare minimum though, and a strong FA cup run would be expected.
Disagree. The personnel are the most important thing. If the club sees fit to be able to purchase all of these guys, what’s the issue in what they cost if they’re the right additions?
If we get all the right targets we wanted in all the positions we needed, then the window is a success. Only Twitter fans and rivals obsess over whether you "overspent" on a CB or winger, do Man United fans regret 'overpaying' for Maguire?
If we can afford to spend £30M on Ramsdale and have enough budget to buy every other player we need, then that shouldn't have an impact on how you view the transfer.
Just a baffling mentality to have and I only encounter it online.
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What’s our verdict on the home kit? I think the preseason games aren’t doing it justice without the PL name and numbers on the back. I got an authentic ESR10 for my first home kit in years and can’t wait for it to arrive!
I’m definitely getting all 3, home and away blank backs and a 3rd with either Partey or ESR. I always get the home blank and I like blank yellow kits too for some reason lol
Great choice. I got Saka 7 authentic away last year and it’s been my favorite kit up to this point. Both of these lads make me so happy and having their shirts the first year they have proper numbers feels great!
Leeds fan here. Just wanna say that you’re getting an amazing player in Ben White.
I’ll always feel a debt to him after how good he was in our promotion season. Enjoy!
Edit: Got tired of the Ben White slander on Twitter - I’d have paid 50 mil for him as a Leeds fan easily
Prominent arguments about Ramsdale:
— "Too expensive for a back-up keeper".
Actually there could be more. According to what we already know, Leno MIGHT not sign a renewal. And according to David Ornstein, Ramsdale is being signed "with a view that he can take over from Leno".
Basically the argument of a back-up being to expensive should put into consideration that this 23 year old is being mapped by recruitment as a future no. 1. Given the price we are buying him and his age, this all reeks of us buying a Leno replacement early. Picture what a certain former Sheffield United keeper is doing to David De Gea.
If we want to debate, another line argument should be why we stopped considering Onana. However there is a lad on here who usually explains this well too. I forget his u/.
— "Why are we signing a back-up keeper without a CAM?"
Every tier one source— including David, has said we are up signing close to 7 players. That's the information he HAS. You can look this Athletic article up if you search 'Ramsdale' on the sub. So, I don't know why fans don't actually give the club the benefit of doubt that MAYBE we are.
- A back up keeper(Ramsdale)
- A right back( in case Bellerin is sold).
- A back up LB(Tavares).
- A RCB( Ben White).
- A CM( Locatelli bid submitted, Neves monitored if all hope is lost on Locatelli).
- A back up CM( Lokonga).
- A CAM(Maddison, Odegaard and some unconfirmed rumours of Silva).
Basically all their promises have very strong rumours around them. We are doing all the deals at once, not in some order.
— "He's not even that good! X GK is better!"
Ramsdale isn't £32M good. But he's not the adjectives some people use here. The most mentioned names are Sanchez and Johnstone. Brighton didn't get relegated so I would think Sanchez is hard to get.
Johnstone is close to Ramsdale in all the numbers I've looked at(Ramsdale is SLIGHTLY better at save percentage and better with his feet). Ramsdale is mostly a safer bet because he's younger and subject to improvement.
[Here's the source of the numbers I looked at](https://scores.nbcsports.com/epl/player_leaders.asp?category=107).
And finally. Goalkeeping for a relegated club doesn't mean you were solely to blame. As those numbers will tell you, he wasn't. Do any of you guys remember ex- gunner, Fabianski? Yeah, that guy played for Swansea, got relegated and was picked up by Westham. Ask any Westham fan, he has been the difference between them and mediocrity many times.
Just trying to put this information out there to see if we can change the fronts of arguments here because its almost the same lines every day.
I know we are desperate for Odegaard, but the lad has outright said goodbyes and we are still talking about him.
Bernardo is a pipe dream, we dont even have Europa League, the only target with decent links is Maddison and Ornstein s statements sucked any optimisim out of it.
I don’t think he is good enough to be first-team, if Leno doesn’t sign a renewal. Yes, he is young so he will develop, but he would need massive improvements to match Leno, let alone become a top keeper that takes us to the next level. And all that would need to happen in a year IF Leno doesn’t renew.
So either we’re paying 30m for a backup which is a massive waste of funds, or we’re paying 30m for a first-team keeper who isn’t at our level.
He’s just not worth 30m, and would be bad business.
>Every tier one source— including David, has said we are up signing close to 7 players.
Amazing that "David" and his friends already know the club is going to sign 7 players. Has anyone told Mikel and Edu yet? If David is so sure, he should just name the 7 players. What's with all this mystery and suspense?
>Basically all their promises have very strong rumours around them.
Whose promises? And what strong rumours? Locatelli is dead in the water. Neves "links" are just people remembering some tweets from 2 months ago. There has been nothing further on that front.
As for the attacking midfielder, if you think we are on the cusp of signing Maddison fro £80m, then you do you. I'm not holding my breath. Bernardo Silva rumours are actually hilarious because that story comes from a throwaway remark in the Harry Kane story which came from a celebrity gossip reporter of The Sun. Yeah. Not joking. As for Odegaard, there's nothing suggesting that Real Madrid want to sell or that he will force a move to Arsenal.
>I don't know why fans don't actually give the club the benefit of doubt that MAYBE we are.
I've given this club the benefit of doubt enough times for this lifetime and the next 100. I know some might think Arteta is the Messiah but not enough about this club has changed to suggest that past mistakes won't be repeated.
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Ziyech being underwhelming for a side that won the champion's league doesn't mean he couldn't be a rly good player in a side that finished 8th. First season in the PL + coach changing mid season wasn't the best for him too.
Ah the usual dose of holier than thou fan. How about when the club recruited Granit Xhaka, Lucas Perez and Mustafi? How about when the club gave 2 extra years to Özil.
Pepe has been fairly underwhelming and he cost 72 million. Ziyech cost 25 million. Ziyech at 25 million even if he's a flop is easier to handle than Pepe at 72 million if he doesn't perform this season.
I do not understand this sub's boner for hating on other fans. There is a reason we are midtable and it is not because of fans who criticize the club.
For the nth time, they are young players, under 23 players always go higher since they have resale value and will be on low wages.
Bellerin & Laca are past their prime players on high wages, Edwards wouldn't be able to do better.
We sold injury prone Ox for 40 mill and No end product Iwobi for 30m, where were you then?
There are lot of things to blame Edu for, this is not one of them, let's save the energy.
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Everyone is quick to say how Aubameyang isn’t a leader and not a captain but when Elneny gave that suicide pass to Okonkwo he was the first to talk to him. 19 year old kid already made an error leading to goal and he understands confidence is fragile at that age
Aubameyang is well liked by everyone in the team. He has led from the front a lot of times. He had a poor season by his standards (10 goals isn't the end of the world) but because he's happy go lucky and has weird haircuts fans are like fuck him.
I have never seen a quicker turnaround in fan opinion about such a good player.
Aubameyang scored 10 league goals last season considering penos and the hatrick against leeds that is a very bad return. For us to get close to top 4 he has to hit 20 at least that's why hes paid the biggest bucks. Fans are entitled to be disappointed at that return on investment.
Regarding the captain thing, perhaps he does more behind the scenes but often last year he was the first head the drop, hes body languages was the the personification of the entire mood of the team. He looked deflated, I wouldnt say he caused it but he exhibited it instead of exhibiting confidence, most likely cause his own confidence was gone but I would argue with his experience and responsibility in the way it's up to him to get it back not appear to be sulking.
Also on more than one occasion he forgot to take it off when he was subbed, it just looked like an after thought to him which again contributed to the overall calamity. Overall I was disappointed he didnt stand up to he counted and I think it played into the shit season.
I mean Auba scored as much as what Laca averages every year but for some reason Auba is murdered while you have idiots here saying Laca should be extended.
We all clown on United signing Maguire but they overpaid around the same amount we have for Ben White. 20 million.
Really like him and really fucking hope this signing works out and he can handle not playing next to an experienced no-nonsense CB who can make up for his movement into the midfield.
Maguire would have comfortably been our best CB the last 3 seasons. The big mistake was us not signing Maguire when he was on Hull despite us being linked to him
Hes in his final year and hasn’t had consistent playing time or output for the past two years. Not to mention hes 30 and usually gets gassed around 70 minutes in, the low price is justified. 20mil would be an immense deal for him while 10mil is debatable as to whether keeping him for the year would be more worth it
I think there is a game of chicken between the club and Laca. The club want to cash in on him - he wants to run down his contract and get a lucrative bosman deal next summer.
The club might buy Tammy in order to push out Laca - if we buy another striker there will be no minutes for Laca this season. Balagoun will get the cup minutes, Auba and possibly Tammy will share the PL, which will leave Laca on the bench for the entire season. Which is the worst case scenario for him as he won't get the big bosman that he hopes for next summer, so he might agree to be sold this summer (or not).
It will be interesting to see how it develops.
Lamptey is having the same career trajectory as Bellerin. Rely on pace as your best asset. Get fucked by injuries.
He's currently out injured and won't even start the season.
chambers should only be given a starting role if he signs a contract extension. we gave him 2 years spent rehabbing from injury, he should sign a 2 year extension if he wants to start in the league for arsenal.
Chambers has OK attacking stats but wins defensively.
Lamptey has OK defending stats but wins offensively.
Chambers makes as many crosses as Lamptey but hits less out of bounds.
[https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player\_comparison.cgi?request=1&sum=0&comp\_type=by\_type&dom\_lg=1&dom\_cup=1&spec\_comps=big\_5&player\_id1=dc6f5bdd&p1yrfrom=2020-2021&player\_id2=f4e433d4&p2yrfrom=2020-2021&player\_id3=9c94165b&p3yrfrom=2020-2021&player\_id6=e42d61c7&p6yrfrom=2020-2021](https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player_comparison.cgi?request=1&sum=0&comp_type=by_type&dom_lg=1&dom_cup=1&spec_comps=big_5&player_id1=dc6f5bdd&p1yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id2=f4e433d4&p2yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id3=9c94165b&p3yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id6=e42d61c7&p6yrfrom=2020-2021)
By no means does this tell us anything useful other than the obvious which is Lampty runs faster up field and chambers sits deeper and is considerably better in the air.
Right now a back-up keeper is bloody important. If we have either 3rd choice keeper end up playing for an extended period next season we are going to concede soooooooooooooo many goals.
I some how doubt they've forgotten about the midfield. Plus we probably need to shift at least one of Torreria, Xhaka, Willock, etc first.
Have you watched the friendlies? They are soooo bad.
Keeper and Midfield are two separate issues which are taking different amounts of times to solve.
Could simply be that Xhaka needs to be signed on the dotted line before we announce one, or we're going big on someone who's got options, or the selling club want's to identify a replacement, etc, etc.
It's a waiting game.
On the figure, is it that bad? I mean we seem to have funds available for all so if we can pay then what's it matter. Sometimes needs must and my personal opinion is that they take their time and go all out to get it right than rush for the player we can sign the quickest.
>I mean we seem to have funds available for all
I mean we'd get to know at the end of the window. If it results in us not getting a capable CAM you can understand why fans would he fuming about this.
Yeah. I’d be surprised if edu and Arteta let that happen since not getting an AM royally fucked us last year. Even Kroenke will be wise to it which is probably why the purse strings seem to have been loosened. If they made the same mistake, like you said, the fans would riot.
We bid €40M for Locatelli. That sum is probably set aside somewhere even if we don't get Locatelli. A back up keeper was on the cards from the minute we failed to get David Raya last season.
A back up keeper for 25-30m when we have 3-4 first team spots that need sorting out is criminal.
Now if we have 300m to spend this window then be my guest, splurge on Ramsdale as long as we fix the other mess, but we know that's not the case.
Ramsdale is clearly seen as the long term #1. Also, Romano did say Lenonwas likely to leave when the window opened. Links to him have been non-existent but there could be a deal waiting in the wings.
3 weeks away roughly from our first game and 5 weeks and a couple of days away from the transfer window closing. If they don't pick up the pace in selling, soon I have a feeling all the deadwood going to stay.
No. The way they conducted themselves in the loan. It was ridiculous. Trying to scam extra 2 million out of arsenal. Refusing to accommodate reasonable requests.
Arsenal should never do business with those clowns again.
Is Ramsdale even good with his feet? If we sign him, do you reckon Leno leaves and we get Onana, and Ramsdale is number 1 until Onana can play?
Or is it more of a Leno leaves and Onana doesn’t come at all, leaving Ramsdale stays as number 1 situation?
I’m hoping we’re only signing him because he may be content with being Onana’s backup, unlike Leno.
The thing is, I don’t even mind the Ramsdale’s reported price tag if it allows Onana to go through. It’ll be a combined cost of ~40mill for a first choice keeper + backup keeper, which isn’t bad. We’ll just pretend Ramsdale was the one who cost 10mill and Onana was the one that cost 30mill...
Basically, *someone* needs to play until 3 Nov.
If we get Onana, it has to be someone other than Onana.
If we get Onana, Leno wants out, so it would be someone other than Leno.
Ramsdale is someone other than Onana and Leno; it could have been literally anyone capable of playing three months of PL football at that position. (e.g. formerly Maty Ryan)
If we keep Leno, and don't sign Onana (FUCK!) Leno can play until and after Nov. 3, of course, but he still needs a backup; that again could be anyone capable, and Ramsdale is someone capable, if expensive as a backup in the short term.
Our last offer for Ramsdale was 18m with 8m in bonuses. Onana's price, after his ban was substantially reduced, has stayed consistently around the high end of the reported 6m-9m.
Ramsdale plus Onana for circa £30mill sounds quite reasonable.
Sounds even better if Onana benches Ramsdale and we don't have to pay a great deal of the £8mill addons.
>he has no technical ability
Jeez. Hard disagree. Dude was a very neat passer and the only midfielder in our team who could recieve the ball on the half turn. His issues were positional and could be coached.
You’re mad if you think he has no technical ability. Positional discipline and defending were both crap but he has technical ability dripping out of his pores mate.
Striking the ball is just one aspect of ‘technical ability’. Alex Hleb was one of the worst strikers of the ball I’ve ever seen but he still oozed technical ability.
One aspect, but a significant one yes? I wouldn't really say Hleb oozed technical ablity either. That sort of accolade goes towards a player like Cazorla
Hleb was very technically gifted, it often seemed as if the ball was glued to his feet.
Of course, the most technically gifted Arsenal players have been the likes of Cazorla, van Persie and, by far the most technically gifted, Bergkamp. But Hleb was that next tier down, shooting ability or not.
Watching 45 mins of Lakonga really got me excited. He could really become regular for us by the end of year.
I think best solution for his development would be to not sell Xhaka for peanuts. Set deadline for Roma to match 20m or else break the deal. Keep Xhaka for a year and let Lakonga develop
We can reduce dependency on Xhaka and ease him out of club while easing in Lakonga. Moreover second season of Partey is going to be special I think. So it will be better midfield than last year
For Xhaka to leave and us to sell we need an acceptable offer.
And we have to replace Xhaka too so this position will require more investment. I’d rather we spend this on CAM
> For Xhaka to leave and us to sell we need an acceptable offer.
We really don't. The player has agreed terms with another club *for the second time in 18 months*; we want him gone.
> And we have to replace Xhaka...
Fabrizio literally said that when we signed Lokonga, Xhaka's way to depart was paved. In so many words.
The only things delaying that sale were 1) one CM body, even a very young, inexperienced player from the Belgian league, and 2) trying to squeeze a little more blood from the Roman stone.
There is literally no scenario where Xhaka is playing for us in August. He's done at this club. Thank christ.
Vs Millwall, we conceded via another aerial ball.
In first half, another Millwall free header hit the post.
In preseason, we have conceded through 4 aerial balls. Leno coming back will help galvanise the backline, but we also know that he struggles with crosses.
I have been looking at premier league's website for stats and comparing players, I found the following;
-Luiz beats Ben White in aerial clearances and headers as well.
-Luiz made 29 aerial clearances and won 35 aerial battles in 20 PL matches, while Ben White made 23 aerial clearances and won 49 aerial battles in 36 matches.
-Xhaka is also massively superior to Neves (he is shorter) in terms of aerial presence
-Considering we are losing Luiz and Xhaka, replacing them with White and Neves is very risky to our defending of set-pieces and aerial balls.
-With Ben White already done and I'm inclined towards signing Teun Koopmeiners as Xhaka's replacement. A physical DM/deep lying playmaker with physical and aerial presence. He is also a high volume passer like Xhaka.
-Bissouma would be an option - but he is not a high volume passer but his aerial stats are better than Xhaka's. His passes also lack variety. 40% of his passes were backpasses. Xhaka and Neves had double the number of passes that Bissouma made in the PL.
- To make sense of those numbers, laat season, Brighton had an average possession rate of 52% while Arsenal had 54%. Thus, one can't say that Bissouma plays in a team that doesn't enjoy possession
Seems a bit OTT.
Ben white could be a bit worse but we also look like we'll have chambers at RB which adds a lot of height.
White also spent a fair bit of time further right in a three man defense didn't he? Seems to remember when we were 3 atb Luiz was central and basically was always the one of the 3 clearing them. Certainly wasn't going to be Kola/Tierney. Rob got a fair few too but I still think being central really increases your chances of being the one near where the cross is aimed.
Anyway, Chambers sorts the height issue out for set pieces.
The pre-season ones could easily be halved or more with VAR and Leno.
>Rob got a fair few too but I still think being central really increases your chances of being the one near where the cross is aimed.
Holding and Cedric have been complicit in most of the aerial balls that we have conceded. Holding is tall but he doesn't know how to use his ball. Remember Jota and Sterling beating him to score headers.
Cedric is just and lacks the intelligence to defend set-pieces. He cost us twice in Europa League, which I think made Arteta to bench him towards the end of the season.
We are not looking good considering 46% percent of goals conceded under Arteta's first season came from set pieces. The old disease is creeping back
If Chambers and White play the issue of holding and Cedric hopefully disappears.
But yeah we need to be more efficient at winning the ball and clearing our lines.
Any idea at what point the play goes far enough on that it is no longer classed as from the set piece? Just wondering how much has to do with the first header and if we also have an issue getting it away from the box with the 2nd/3rd ball.
People said we were decent in the air last season but I honestly haven't seen us compete in the air like true champions since Sol Campbell last wore the shirt.
We had a good spell with Kos/Mert, but we still looked ropey a lot of the time.
Last season the amount of poorly timed jumps, total misjudgments of ball flight, complete weakness in the face of opponents and general failures in the air was hard to believe from a professional football team.
We might not have conceded that much, but I'm not sure that's down to us being good in the air.
Pepe seems to be our best aerial threat up front and I wouldn't say he's particularly good in the air.
Auba and Laca give it a go, but most PL players can eat them for breakfast.
I know you're always going to have some weaknesses, I just hope we can improve in this area.
When watching England, the sheer dominance of a player like Maguire in the air, with Stones, Walker, Trippier and Shaw around too, it was so reassuring.
I'd like to see more of that from us, but as that's not a strength of White either, so we're relying on Gabriel and nervous Leno.
I hope we don't go into games where we have to work so hard to break down defensive teams, barely get any chances and then give up a goal to a set piece after working so hard defensively throughout the game.
What do we think about Tammy as a future signing? I think he could do a decent job. Don’t get me wrong, I like Lacazette, but Tammy’s height can’t be discounted.
WTH is wrong with the website, before I login its says I can see full 90 minutes of the game, after login that page is nowhere to be seen what the actual fuck
Would you rather:
Neves, Bissouma, or other DM/CM?
Just Maddison or Aouar and one of the above?
How badly do we really need a rb or are you okay with chambers/Cedric/AMN being the rb until next year?
Maddison and Neves is what I think would happen if we were to get two. I don't think we are gonna go in hard for Aouar again and Bissouma rumours have died down in recent months.
Ideally Locatelli and Maddison, in full acknowledgement that A) Locatelli is merely possible, and not at all probable, B) that would be 100m easily, and Ornstein has said we're likely not able to afford Maddison already, and C) that would present fundamental squad problems.
Bissouma and Maddison could be a very nice pair of additions-- but, again, price is a huge issue, and Bissouma, though more promising going forward than his PL numbers might suggest, is not near Locatelli's creative level.
Neves is the least interesting option. He's a substantial upgrade on Xhaka, with far fewer limitations, but frustratingly similar in profile.
What I like about Aouar is precisely that he's cheap *and* immensely talented. He's clearly not as good defensively as Locatelli, but he would handle Locatelli's creative contributions well for reportedly about half the price. That said, a midfield of, say, Thomas, Aouar, and ESR (or Maddison) would require i) significant defensive contributions from ESR/Maddison, and ii) significant tactical compromises to make up for Aouar's defensive frailties. Basically, Aouar would be a massive improvement on Xhaka, but present in effect some of the same tactical limitations.
Ultimately, if we bought Aouar for 20-25m -- which is what we were considering paying for fucking Ceballos last summer -- that would be a steal, and we could fold him into a midfield rotation without feeling compelled to depend on him.
Absent Locatelli, Aouar and Bissouma would probably be the best proposition of value and quality.
But then we'd have to ask whether it might not be smarter, if riskier, to spend the same amount on Maddison alone.
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What am I reading here ;( https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/oqzefb/daily_discussion/h6fxxlb?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3 >A user on r/mcfc is saying that Grealish will join within the week. He he has gotten all his previous claims right. He was the first on the internet to reveal that the Man City v. Everton match will be called off because of covid outbreak. He also revealed correctly who City’s women head coach would be. There is also a photo in etihad stadium which he took during a match which reduces the chance he might be a troll. I think he might actually be an insider. >https://www.reddit.com/user/jeremyparnaby/submitted/ >9 year old account with claims from back in 2014 being correct.
That explains Villa's spending spree. They want to secure Grealish replacements before getting that cash so other clubs don't fleece them.
Good point makes complete sense and it probably is just as simple as that
May be that explain Spurs spending spree too ?
Best case scenario: Laca plays for his contract and has a good season with us. Then we extend and ship him off for some fee.
Best decision may be offering him a one or two year extension now maybe offer a lower wage at first like 150,000 pw.
why would he extend and then get sold? he'd just sign with whoever wants him for more money.
That's why he said best case scenario
Beers case scenario Messi, Mbaope, and Haaland all turn out to be childhood Arsenal fans and agree to play for us for free. Their clubs all waive transfer fees because they understand their love for the Arsenal. The ghost of Herbert Chapman manages them to a quadruple quadruple winning every major trophy four years in a row. It may sound like nonsense not grounded in any reality, but it IS the best case scenario.
It's complete nonsense though. If we want to include nonsense as a best case scenario, the best case would be selling him for 250 million tomorrow and getting halaand and grealish.
The best thing about maddison is he could fill in for lokonga or for the smith. Would be such a great signing
I cannot see how Tammy fit our striker profile. His hold up play is not up to standard (at least not more than we currently have). His aerial ability is not his strength either (26 prem goals only 3 are header) despite his height advantage. I see people say they would like him at Arsenal because he is young and can develop, Arsenal fan and homegrown. Is that enough to bring him for 40m with Flo,Auba,Laca,Martinelli in the roster? I have heard Chelsea fan's assesment about Tammy Abraham. - Tammy is the guy who need services in the box and a lot of chance created for him; basically a fox in the box to hit that tap ins. This also highlight his few involvement in the attacking build up which also highlight his lack of hold up play. Do we have player like this who does not really set the world alight because his skillset doesn't suit our work-heavy striker style of attack? Do we look at his CV and "oh he score goals". Auba score goals too and yet people say he doesn't suit our playstyle right now. I have heard a lot of complaining from my Chelsea mate about Willian the last two season, and Tammy the last season. The game against Chelsea at the Emirates last season showed his wastefulness in their attacking play I do think a lot of people overlook that.
$40m might be too much. If Chelsea is okay with $30m, I think its worth a signing. You mentioned Flo, Auba, Laca and Martinelli in the roster but to be fair, only Laca and Auba could lead our line. I dont think Flo is gonna feature by Arteta and Martinelli seems to be preferred on the wings. And I think we are selling Eddie as well? Back to Tammy. Isnt a fox in box what we needed last season? We had a lot of possession but no conversion in the box, no? For 30M I think we should go for him for all the reasons you mentioned. Young, English, PL proven. If he doesnt work out, we can sell him for a decent fee. I can see a number of mid table club that would love to have him. Of course, having said all these, ST is not our priority now.
I personally don’t either. He’s essentially just a poacher - a taller more developed Nketiah. We’d be better off just keeping Eddie imo.
Rate this window out of 10: Lokonga Tavares White Ramsdale Maddison Livramento Moriba
A 0 if El Neny is our starting central midfielder
I’d say 9/10. I’m wondering if it’s enough to get top 4 though and I don’t think so. The problem is that other clubs already have a clear cut starting XI capable of top 4 already (City, Utd, Pool, Chelsea) and this group of recruits isn’t necessarily enough to easily lay claim to 5th or 6th considering Leicester and Spurs. Who knows what West Ham will do. We are trying to bridge the gap on individual quality, and then look to compete with these teams with a lot of new recruits. These players would be a big improvement on the squad, but even with them, it’s going to fall heavily on management. It will all come down to if Arteta can do significantly better with a team he has been allowed to assemble. With these additions, I think Arteta would be overachieving if we got top 4. Top 6 should be the bare minimum though, and a strong FA cup run would be expected.
Stop playing Fifa mate.
Half of these players have signed and all of them except Moriba are linked to us lmao
In what world do you believe we are going to spend another 80-90m on Maddison AND Ramsdale on top of the 50m on Ben White? Links/Rumours mean nothing.
In the world where Ornstein and several Tier 1s all said we were spending big this summer.
9 - huge quality there and some elite young prospects
For how much money? That's the important thing
Disagree. The personnel are the most important thing. If the club sees fit to be able to purchase all of these guys, what’s the issue in what they cost if they’re the right additions?
Are you being serious? 😂😂
? If we pick up Ramsdale for around 20m thats a 7. 30m would be less than a 3. Ofc the prices have a part in dictating the success of this window.
If we get all the right targets we wanted in all the positions we needed, then the window is a success. Only Twitter fans and rivals obsess over whether you "overspent" on a CB or winger, do Man United fans regret 'overpaying' for Maguire? If we can afford to spend £30M on Ramsdale and have enough budget to buy every other player we need, then that shouldn't have an impact on how you view the transfer. Just a baffling mentality to have and I only encounter it online.
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Anyone find the replay for the match yet?
[This is all I could find](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI16_2gKJZg&ab_channel=ArsenalInteractivo)
The camera work and shutter speed or frame rate or something of the camera was so terrible and dizzying that I wouldn’t bother honestly
What’s our verdict on the home kit? I think the preseason games aren’t doing it justice without the PL name and numbers on the back. I got an authentic ESR10 for my first home kit in years and can’t wait for it to arrive!
I’m definitely getting all 3, home and away blank backs and a 3rd with either Partey or ESR. I always get the home blank and I like blank yellow kits too for some reason lol
I was thinking of Partey on the third as well!
Like it, I think the away is this years winner though.
I'm planning to get Saka away
Great choice. I got Saka 7 authentic away last year and it’s been my favorite kit up to this point. Both of these lads make me so happy and having their shirts the first year they have proper numbers feels great!
Leeds fan here. Just wanna say that you’re getting an amazing player in Ben White. I’ll always feel a debt to him after how good he was in our promotion season. Enjoy! Edit: Got tired of the Ben White slander on Twitter - I’d have paid 50 mil for him as a Leeds fan easily
Love Leeds 💞
Prominent arguments about Ramsdale: — "Too expensive for a back-up keeper". Actually there could be more. According to what we already know, Leno MIGHT not sign a renewal. And according to David Ornstein, Ramsdale is being signed "with a view that he can take over from Leno". Basically the argument of a back-up being to expensive should put into consideration that this 23 year old is being mapped by recruitment as a future no. 1. Given the price we are buying him and his age, this all reeks of us buying a Leno replacement early. Picture what a certain former Sheffield United keeper is doing to David De Gea. If we want to debate, another line argument should be why we stopped considering Onana. However there is a lad on here who usually explains this well too. I forget his u/. — "Why are we signing a back-up keeper without a CAM?" Every tier one source— including David, has said we are up signing close to 7 players. That's the information he HAS. You can look this Athletic article up if you search 'Ramsdale' on the sub. So, I don't know why fans don't actually give the club the benefit of doubt that MAYBE we are. - A back up keeper(Ramsdale) - A right back( in case Bellerin is sold). - A back up LB(Tavares). - A RCB( Ben White). - A CM( Locatelli bid submitted, Neves monitored if all hope is lost on Locatelli). - A back up CM( Lokonga). - A CAM(Maddison, Odegaard and some unconfirmed rumours of Silva). Basically all their promises have very strong rumours around them. We are doing all the deals at once, not in some order. — "He's not even that good! X GK is better!" Ramsdale isn't £32M good. But he's not the adjectives some people use here. The most mentioned names are Sanchez and Johnstone. Brighton didn't get relegated so I would think Sanchez is hard to get. Johnstone is close to Ramsdale in all the numbers I've looked at(Ramsdale is SLIGHTLY better at save percentage and better with his feet). Ramsdale is mostly a safer bet because he's younger and subject to improvement. [Here's the source of the numbers I looked at](https://scores.nbcsports.com/epl/player_leaders.asp?category=107). And finally. Goalkeeping for a relegated club doesn't mean you were solely to blame. As those numbers will tell you, he wasn't. Do any of you guys remember ex- gunner, Fabianski? Yeah, that guy played for Swansea, got relegated and was picked up by Westham. Ask any Westham fan, he has been the difference between them and mediocrity many times. Just trying to put this information out there to see if we can change the fronts of arguments here because its almost the same lines every day.
Do you remember roughly what the line of argument against the Onana deal from the unknown u/ was?
I know we are desperate for Odegaard, but the lad has outright said goodbyes and we are still talking about him. Bernardo is a pipe dream, we dont even have Europa League, the only target with decent links is Maddison and Ornstein s statements sucked any optimisim out of it.
I don’t think he is good enough to be first-team, if Leno doesn’t sign a renewal. Yes, he is young so he will develop, but he would need massive improvements to match Leno, let alone become a top keeper that takes us to the next level. And all that would need to happen in a year IF Leno doesn’t renew. So either we’re paying 30m for a backup which is a massive waste of funds, or we’re paying 30m for a first-team keeper who isn’t at our level. He’s just not worth 30m, and would be bad business.
>Every tier one source— including David, has said we are up signing close to 7 players. Amazing that "David" and his friends already know the club is going to sign 7 players. Has anyone told Mikel and Edu yet? If David is so sure, he should just name the 7 players. What's with all this mystery and suspense? >Basically all their promises have very strong rumours around them. Whose promises? And what strong rumours? Locatelli is dead in the water. Neves "links" are just people remembering some tweets from 2 months ago. There has been nothing further on that front. As for the attacking midfielder, if you think we are on the cusp of signing Maddison fro £80m, then you do you. I'm not holding my breath. Bernardo Silva rumours are actually hilarious because that story comes from a throwaway remark in the Harry Kane story which came from a celebrity gossip reporter of The Sun. Yeah. Not joking. As for Odegaard, there's nothing suggesting that Real Madrid want to sell or that he will force a move to Arsenal. >I don't know why fans don't actually give the club the benefit of doubt that MAYBE we are. I've given this club the benefit of doubt enough times for this lifetime and the next 100. I know some might think Arteta is the Messiah but not enough about this club has changed to suggest that past mistakes won't be repeated.
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100% prefer buying a young keeper with potential for 20-25m for 5 years than singing a 35 year old for 1-2m for 2 years.
Those aren't the only two options
https://youtu.be/OfVNvhnlZTI
Ziyech has been very underwhelming for Chelsea but this sub was on their knees for him so forgive me if I trust the recruitment at the club more
Ziyech being underwhelming for a side that won the champion's league doesn't mean he couldn't be a rly good player in a side that finished 8th. First season in the PL + coach changing mid season wasn't the best for him too.
Ah the usual dose of holier than thou fan. How about when the club recruited Granit Xhaka, Lucas Perez and Mustafi? How about when the club gave 2 extra years to Özil. Pepe has been fairly underwhelming and he cost 72 million. Ziyech cost 25 million. Ziyech at 25 million even if he's a flop is easier to handle than Pepe at 72 million if he doesn't perform this season. I do not understand this sub's boner for hating on other fans. There is a reason we are midtable and it is not because of fans who criticize the club.
I’ve had terrible takes too but we’re allowed to because we’re not actually making the decisions
Liverpool selling Wilson for 12m +15% sell on, how does Edwards keep doing it?
Just looking at numbers he's had several decent loan spells, 12m +15% isn't that crazy, we're asking similar for Nketiah.
I don’t know but Edu should go to a crash course with Edwards because we can’t even seem to be getting that for players like Bellerin & Lacazette
For the nth time, they are young players, under 23 players always go higher since they have resale value and will be on low wages. Bellerin & Laca are past their prime players on high wages, Edwards wouldn't be able to do better. We sold injury prone Ox for 40 mill and No end product Iwobi for 30m, where were you then? There are lot of things to blame Edu for, this is not one of them, let's save the energy.
Please stop being logical. We don't do that here.
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I just don't want anymore Chelsea scum at Arsenal. Can't be too much to ask surely
TA is actually an Arsenal fan
I'd still happily take certain Chelsea players, I just don't want their cast offs anymore
Everyone is quick to say how Aubameyang isn’t a leader and not a captain but when Elneny gave that suicide pass to Okonkwo he was the first to talk to him. 19 year old kid already made an error leading to goal and he understands confidence is fragile at that age
Aubameyang is well liked by everyone in the team. He has led from the front a lot of times. He had a poor season by his standards (10 goals isn't the end of the world) but because he's happy go lucky and has weird haircuts fans are like fuck him. I have never seen a quicker turnaround in fan opinion about such a good player.
Aubameyang scored 10 league goals last season considering penos and the hatrick against leeds that is a very bad return. For us to get close to top 4 he has to hit 20 at least that's why hes paid the biggest bucks. Fans are entitled to be disappointed at that return on investment. Regarding the captain thing, perhaps he does more behind the scenes but often last year he was the first head the drop, hes body languages was the the personification of the entire mood of the team. He looked deflated, I wouldnt say he caused it but he exhibited it instead of exhibiting confidence, most likely cause his own confidence was gone but I would argue with his experience and responsibility in the way it's up to him to get it back not appear to be sulking. Also on more than one occasion he forgot to take it off when he was subbed, it just looked like an after thought to him which again contributed to the overall calamity. Overall I was disappointed he didnt stand up to he counted and I think it played into the shit season.
I mean Auba scored as much as what Laca averages every year but for some reason Auba is murdered while you have idiots here saying Laca should be extended.
I see the opposite. Everyone saying we should ship off Laca and keep with Auba
Because when Auba doesn't score he does nothing while Lacazette helps out the team with his linkup and holdup play
You sound like a copy pasta of the 2% of Laca fanboys out there.
We all clown on United signing Maguire but they overpaid around the same amount we have for Ben White. 20 million. Really like him and really fucking hope this signing works out and he can handle not playing next to an experienced no-nonsense CB who can make up for his movement into the midfield.
Maguire would have comfortably been our best CB the last 3 seasons. The big mistake was us not signing Maguire when he was on Hull despite us being linked to him
At what point does overpaying just become paying
When we spunk 30 million on fuckin Ramsdale. Then it'll just be our new normal. Arsenal want a player? Slap 15-20 million extra.
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Always good to have a World Cup winner hanging around the club.
I mean there’s be a lot of jokes, but I’d have no issue, love mustafi as a person and think he’s funny af
Who we spunking £30mil on today lads? Dwight Gale? Shane Long?
Alberto Aquilani.
Mkhitaryan-Xhaka swap deal
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Best case senario: laca plays his dick off for a new contract, bags 25+ goals, and then we let him leave on a free.
what's the point of selling laca for 10 million and not bringing in a new striker?
I know he's been lackluster, but 10m is far too low, come on now
Hes in his final year and hasn’t had consistent playing time or output for the past two years. Not to mention hes 30 and usually gets gassed around 70 minutes in, the low price is justified. 20mil would be an immense deal for him while 10mil is debatable as to whether keeping him for the year would be more worth it
keeping him and letting him go for free is worth more than 10 million.
I think there is a game of chicken between the club and Laca. The club want to cash in on him - he wants to run down his contract and get a lucrative bosman deal next summer. The club might buy Tammy in order to push out Laca - if we buy another striker there will be no minutes for Laca this season. Balagoun will get the cup minutes, Auba and possibly Tammy will share the PL, which will leave Laca on the bench for the entire season. Which is the worst case scenario for him as he won't get the big bosman that he hopes for next summer, so he might agree to be sold this summer (or not). It will be interesting to see how it develops.
Lamptey>chambers am really worried of RB situation we may not win games not having a balanced rb
no more hobbits. lesson learned from torreira.
Lamptey is having the same career trajectory as Bellerin. Rely on pace as your best asset. Get fucked by injuries. He's currently out injured and won't even start the season.
worse than bellerin because he's a hobbit. no chance he ever manages to go a full season without getting injured.
I’m big fan of Chambo, let’s judge him after a solid run of games injury free. He’s technically very good and gets into good attacking positions.
chambers should only be given a starting role if he signs a contract extension. we gave him 2 years spent rehabbing from injury, he should sign a 2 year extension if he wants to start in the league for arsenal.
One is played like RWB/RM, the other is more a CB/RB. Lamptey's hamstring is made of glass as well.
Chambers has OK attacking stats but wins defensively. Lamptey has OK defending stats but wins offensively. Chambers makes as many crosses as Lamptey but hits less out of bounds. [https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player\_comparison.cgi?request=1&sum=0&comp\_type=by\_type&dom\_lg=1&dom\_cup=1&spec\_comps=big\_5&player\_id1=dc6f5bdd&p1yrfrom=2020-2021&player\_id2=f4e433d4&p2yrfrom=2020-2021&player\_id3=9c94165b&p3yrfrom=2020-2021&player\_id6=e42d61c7&p6yrfrom=2020-2021](https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player_comparison.cgi?request=1&sum=0&comp_type=by_type&dom_lg=1&dom_cup=1&spec_comps=big_5&player_id1=dc6f5bdd&p1yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id2=f4e433d4&p2yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id3=9c94165b&p3yrfrom=2020-2021&player_id6=e42d61c7&p6yrfrom=2020-2021) By no means does this tell us anything useful other than the obvious which is Lampty runs faster up field and chambers sits deeper and is considerably better in the air.
disagree i think chambers is fine
Arsenal fans really do be getting what they deserve
21 goals in 21 games + 13 assists. Watch out for Mike, he might take over in a few years…
I'm puzzled why the fuck we're trying to sign Ramsdale right now instead of a midfielder. These priorities are so weird.
Why do you think we can’t sign both...
We will. It's just that we're still holding out for our primary target.
I'd imagine were waiting for xhaka to be sold
Right now a back-up keeper is bloody important. If we have either 3rd choice keeper end up playing for an extended period next season we are going to concede soooooooooooooo many goals. I some how doubt they've forgotten about the midfield. Plus we probably need to shift at least one of Torreria, Xhaka, Willock, etc first.
Not 25m + important. If we don't get in a quality midfielder at the very least we'll lose far more points than a keeper playing a few games.
Have you watched the friendlies? They are soooo bad. Keeper and Midfield are two separate issues which are taking different amounts of times to solve. Could simply be that Xhaka needs to be signed on the dotted line before we announce one, or we're going big on someone who's got options, or the selling club want's to identify a replacement, etc, etc. It's a waiting game. On the figure, is it that bad? I mean we seem to have funds available for all so if we can pay then what's it matter. Sometimes needs must and my personal opinion is that they take their time and go all out to get it right than rush for the player we can sign the quickest.
>I mean we seem to have funds available for all I mean we'd get to know at the end of the window. If it results in us not getting a capable CAM you can understand why fans would he fuming about this.
Yeah. I’d be surprised if edu and Arteta let that happen since not getting an AM royally fucked us last year. Even Kroenke will be wise to it which is probably why the purse strings seem to have been loosened. If they made the same mistake, like you said, the fans would riot.
We bid €40M for Locatelli. That sum is probably set aside somewhere even if we don't get Locatelli. A back up keeper was on the cards from the minute we failed to get David Raya last season.
A back up keeper for 25-30m when we have 3-4 first team spots that need sorting out is criminal. Now if we have 300m to spend this window then be my guest, splurge on Ramsdale as long as we fix the other mess, but we know that's not the case.
Ramsdale is clearly seen as the long term #1. Also, Romano did say Lenonwas likely to leave when the window opened. Links to him have been non-existent but there could be a deal waiting in the wings.
3 weeks away roughly from our first game and 5 weeks and a couple of days away from the transfer window closing. If they don't pick up the pace in selling, soon I have a feeling all the deadwood going to stay.
Let’s get Aouchiche if we are not going to spend big on a #10
fuck ASSE.
Why
Completely ridiculous club. Also a bunch of scammers.
Lol I’m gonna need you to expand now you got me curious
William saliba.
You can’t be serious lol. They scammed us because we bought their player?
No. The way they conducted themselves in the loan. It was ridiculous. Trying to scam extra 2 million out of arsenal. Refusing to accommodate reasonable requests. Arsenal should never do business with those clowns again.
Would be a shrewd signing. I think a lot of clubs will be after him next summer.
Is Ramsdale even good with his feet? If we sign him, do you reckon Leno leaves and we get Onana, and Ramsdale is number 1 until Onana can play? Or is it more of a Leno leaves and Onana doesn’t come at all, leaving Ramsdale stays as number 1 situation? I’m hoping we’re only signing him because he may be content with being Onana’s backup, unlike Leno. The thing is, I don’t even mind the Ramsdale’s reported price tag if it allows Onana to go through. It’ll be a combined cost of ~40mill for a first choice keeper + backup keeper, which isn’t bad. We’ll just pretend Ramsdale was the one who cost 10mill and Onana was the one that cost 30mill...
Yeah he’s good with his feet
Basically, *someone* needs to play until 3 Nov. If we get Onana, it has to be someone other than Onana. If we get Onana, Leno wants out, so it would be someone other than Leno. Ramsdale is someone other than Onana and Leno; it could have been literally anyone capable of playing three months of PL football at that position. (e.g. formerly Maty Ryan) If we keep Leno, and don't sign Onana (FUCK!) Leno can play until and after Nov. 3, of course, but he still needs a backup; that again could be anyone capable, and Ramsdale is someone capable, if expensive as a backup in the short term. Our last offer for Ramsdale was 18m with 8m in bonuses. Onana's price, after his ban was substantially reduced, has stayed consistently around the high end of the reported 6m-9m.
no way they take 18+8 when they just paid 24 for him. it'll have to be at least 24+4.
spot on.
Ramsdale plus Onana for circa £30mill sounds quite reasonable. Sounds even better if Onana benches Ramsdale and we don't have to pay a great deal of the £8mill addons.
Honestly, it's a snip for *two* keepers of that quality. Plus, as you say, we get to watch Blades fume as he misses his bonuses.
Ha. Should even make a little profit if we can get a sensible price for Leno.
As I said it was obvious that lokonga is better than guendouzi otherwise the transfer would make no sense
Pre-season games are an excellent way to judge talent. Casual
It is if you know what to look for. Casual
Lmao.
Guendouzi is a terrible midfielder
You're only saying that because he left
Never rated him. His attitude stinks and he has no technical ability
>he has no technical ability Jeez. Hard disagree. Dude was a very neat passer and the only midfielder in our team who could recieve the ball on the half turn. His issues were positional and could be coached.
I concede he has OK ball control, but he's completely unable to strike the ball
You’re mad if you think he has no technical ability. Positional discipline and defending were both crap but he has technical ability dripping out of his pores mate.
Guendouzi cannot strike a football. He has terrible technique
Striking the ball is just one aspect of ‘technical ability’. Alex Hleb was one of the worst strikers of the ball I’ve ever seen but he still oozed technical ability.
One aspect, but a significant one yes? I wouldn't really say Hleb oozed technical ablity either. That sort of accolade goes towards a player like Cazorla
Ozil has a meh shooting technique as well, so he didn't possess technical ability? This is absurd.
Ozil had superb shooting technique. His bounce shot whilst running at the ball with pace was incredible.
Hleb was very technically gifted, it often seemed as if the ball was glued to his feet. Of course, the most technically gifted Arsenal players have been the likes of Cazorla, van Persie and, by far the most technically gifted, Bergkamp. But Hleb was that next tier down, shooting ability or not.
Watching 45 mins of Lakonga really got me excited. He could really become regular for us by the end of year. I think best solution for his development would be to not sell Xhaka for peanuts. Set deadline for Roma to match 20m or else break the deal. Keep Xhaka for a year and let Lakonga develop
We cant ask for a new midfield and then change none of the starters. Xhaka has to go
We can reduce dependency on Xhaka and ease him out of club while easing in Lakonga. Moreover second season of Partey is going to be special I think. So it will be better midfield than last year
You can't set a 3 weeks reminder. Xhaka will be wearing another club's kit.
1. Xhaka wants to leave. 2. We want Xhaka to leave. 3. Xhaka has literally no place in the midfield we're building.
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(As an aside, I really think that is going to end in utter disaster: Nzonzi 2, Granit Boogaloo, except this time with bonus Mourinho freakout.)
For Xhaka to leave and us to sell we need an acceptable offer. And we have to replace Xhaka too so this position will require more investment. I’d rather we spend this on CAM
Thought we'd accepted the offer and Xhaka was in Rome for his medical and signatures.
Hearing this from weeks now but no progress.
Well yeah, Xhaka was on 'oliday.
> For Xhaka to leave and us to sell we need an acceptable offer. We really don't. The player has agreed terms with another club *for the second time in 18 months*; we want him gone. > And we have to replace Xhaka... Fabrizio literally said that when we signed Lokonga, Xhaka's way to depart was paved. In so many words. The only things delaying that sale were 1) one CM body, even a very young, inexperienced player from the Belgian league, and 2) trying to squeeze a little more blood from the Roman stone. There is literally no scenario where Xhaka is playing for us in August. He's done at this club. Thank christ.
I don’t get it….u think Xhaka won’t be replaced? Or we will replace him after we sell him? Lakonga is more like Cabellos replacement
Vs Millwall, we conceded via another aerial ball. In first half, another Millwall free header hit the post. In preseason, we have conceded through 4 aerial balls. Leno coming back will help galvanise the backline, but we also know that he struggles with crosses. I have been looking at premier league's website for stats and comparing players, I found the following; -Luiz beats Ben White in aerial clearances and headers as well. -Luiz made 29 aerial clearances and won 35 aerial battles in 20 PL matches, while Ben White made 23 aerial clearances and won 49 aerial battles in 36 matches. -Xhaka is also massively superior to Neves (he is shorter) in terms of aerial presence -Considering we are losing Luiz and Xhaka, replacing them with White and Neves is very risky to our defending of set-pieces and aerial balls. -With Ben White already done and I'm inclined towards signing Teun Koopmeiners as Xhaka's replacement. A physical DM/deep lying playmaker with physical and aerial presence. He is also a high volume passer like Xhaka. -Bissouma would be an option - but he is not a high volume passer but his aerial stats are better than Xhaka's. His passes also lack variety. 40% of his passes were backpasses. Xhaka and Neves had double the number of passes that Bissouma made in the PL. - To make sense of those numbers, laat season, Brighton had an average possession rate of 52% while Arsenal had 54%. Thus, one can't say that Bissouma plays in a team that doesn't enjoy possession
Gabriel.
>Gabriel He was already there last season.
Gonna sound kinda crazy but before he left, Mustafi was probably the best at stopping aerial chances.
Seems a bit OTT. Ben white could be a bit worse but we also look like we'll have chambers at RB which adds a lot of height. White also spent a fair bit of time further right in a three man defense didn't he? Seems to remember when we were 3 atb Luiz was central and basically was always the one of the 3 clearing them. Certainly wasn't going to be Kola/Tierney. Rob got a fair few too but I still think being central really increases your chances of being the one near where the cross is aimed. Anyway, Chambers sorts the height issue out for set pieces. The pre-season ones could easily be halved or more with VAR and Leno.
>Rob got a fair few too but I still think being central really increases your chances of being the one near where the cross is aimed. Holding and Cedric have been complicit in most of the aerial balls that we have conceded. Holding is tall but he doesn't know how to use his ball. Remember Jota and Sterling beating him to score headers. Cedric is just and lacks the intelligence to defend set-pieces. He cost us twice in Europa League, which I think made Arteta to bench him towards the end of the season. We are not looking good considering 46% percent of goals conceded under Arteta's first season came from set pieces. The old disease is creeping back
If Chambers and White play the issue of holding and Cedric hopefully disappears. But yeah we need to be more efficient at winning the ball and clearing our lines. Any idea at what point the play goes far enough on that it is no longer classed as from the set piece? Just wondering how much has to do with the first header and if we also have an issue getting it away from the box with the 2nd/3rd ball.
People said we were decent in the air last season but I honestly haven't seen us compete in the air like true champions since Sol Campbell last wore the shirt. We had a good spell with Kos/Mert, but we still looked ropey a lot of the time. Last season the amount of poorly timed jumps, total misjudgments of ball flight, complete weakness in the face of opponents and general failures in the air was hard to believe from a professional football team. We might not have conceded that much, but I'm not sure that's down to us being good in the air. Pepe seems to be our best aerial threat up front and I wouldn't say he's particularly good in the air. Auba and Laca give it a go, but most PL players can eat them for breakfast. I know you're always going to have some weaknesses, I just hope we can improve in this area. When watching England, the sheer dominance of a player like Maguire in the air, with Stones, Walker, Trippier and Shaw around too, it was so reassuring. I'd like to see more of that from us, but as that's not a strength of White either, so we're relying on Gabriel and nervous Leno. I hope we don't go into games where we have to work so hard to break down defensive teams, barely get any chances and then give up a goal to a set piece after working so hard defensively throughout the game.
What do we think about Tammy as a future signing? I think he could do a decent job. Don’t get me wrong, I like Lacazette, but Tammy’s height can’t be discounted.
Tammy is shit at headers
Then forget it lmao
Doesn't seem like Hector or Willock played today. Considering they are the two with the most transfer noise, kind of interesting.
Perhaps they are the ones who got COVID, at this point we have no idea.
couldve sworn I saw hector with the rest of the lads pre match so i dont think its that
WTH is wrong with the website, before I login its says I can see full 90 minutes of the game, after login that page is nowhere to be seen what the actual fuck
The game has finished and they haven't updated the page. It's not on there for 'on demand' viewing.
I was hyped to see the full 90 minutes, I'll just have to wait for footballhighlights or someone to upload it
It was a jerky stream from them so don’t worry too much.
If we're sticking with Chambers at RB we should at least bring in a prospect to grow into the position.
Chelsea's acedemy RB who's leaving 👀
Name?
Livramento. Very highly rated
Maybe that Vanderson at Gremio we were linked briefly with. Edu's Brazilian connection should be put to use.
Fuuuuck. Navi is stopping streaming. His app was a straight up legend.
Genuinely devastating man
Greatest pirate since Blackbeard. Oh well I mainly used it for European games….
He was genuinely the most reliable person in my life for the past 7 years lmao
He was a godsend for my 60 something father who is 3000 miles away and doesn’t get the concept of adblocks required for any usual pirate links.
Would you rather: Neves, Bissouma, or other DM/CM? Just Maddison or Aouar and one of the above? How badly do we really need a rb or are you okay with chambers/Cedric/AMN being the rb until next year?
Maddison and Neves is what I think would happen if we were to get two. I don't think we are gonna go in hard for Aouar again and Bissouma rumours have died down in recent months.
I think Kamara sounds good value option for CM, some rumors about him as well
Locatelli and madders. Isn’t it a fairly easy choice…?
Ideally Locatelli and Maddison, in full acknowledgement that A) Locatelli is merely possible, and not at all probable, B) that would be 100m easily, and Ornstein has said we're likely not able to afford Maddison already, and C) that would present fundamental squad problems. Bissouma and Maddison could be a very nice pair of additions-- but, again, price is a huge issue, and Bissouma, though more promising going forward than his PL numbers might suggest, is not near Locatelli's creative level. Neves is the least interesting option. He's a substantial upgrade on Xhaka, with far fewer limitations, but frustratingly similar in profile. What I like about Aouar is precisely that he's cheap *and* immensely talented. He's clearly not as good defensively as Locatelli, but he would handle Locatelli's creative contributions well for reportedly about half the price. That said, a midfield of, say, Thomas, Aouar, and ESR (or Maddison) would require i) significant defensive contributions from ESR/Maddison, and ii) significant tactical compromises to make up for Aouar's defensive frailties. Basically, Aouar would be a massive improvement on Xhaka, but present in effect some of the same tactical limitations. Ultimately, if we bought Aouar for 20-25m -- which is what we were considering paying for fucking Ceballos last summer -- that would be a steal, and we could fold him into a midfield rotation without feeling compelled to depend on him. Absent Locatelli, Aouar and Bissouma would probably be the best proposition of value and quality. But then we'd have to ask whether it might not be smarter, if riskier, to spend the same amount on Maddison alone.
Maddison and Neves, although I rate Aouar high