Smart Business! Very impressed! by Sean O’Hara
Arsenal have been quite surprising in the way they have went about their business in reshaping the whole of the club from top to bottom since the day Arsene left the Gunners hot seat.
The promised change from Ivan kicked off with a suprise to many, in the name of last season’s treble winning manager at big spending PSG… Unai Emery.
We are not used to quick actions from the board & his name went under the radar for most of the speculation period, but was a good appointment to many, especially us Gooners who have now a manager capable of winning big in this era of football.
Treble winning Europa League winner in a row with a team very similar to ours budget-wise, is no small feat whatsoever. That’s the reason he got the big job & plays a high pressing counter attack, again, to which Arsenals DNA matches what he needs. We just need a lot more intensity added to the mix with a few new ideas.
From then we have confirmation of all backroom staff kept, let go & signed ready for the new season. We have not stopped there, as we are recruiting really smart (if you ask me) considering that we are miles off the other big teams in England & Europe. We will not be spending massive amounts on individual players but collectively gathering up a good squad to try to break back into the Top 4 (Which is our target, if we do better then brilliant).
We have lost a few players through different reasons already in Per, Jack, Santi & possible Koss through injury so we needed experienced heads to come in so Lichsteiner on a free from Juve is good for morale & for the experience. It is vital for a rebuild with young guns coming up & transferred in to the club. Sokratis has been announced so he fills Koss’ Role until he is back ,which might not be until new year & has 2 maybe 3 good season’s in him to guide the youth of;
-Chambers
-Mavraponas
-Holding
Now Mustafi is the elephant in the changing room that needs to be addressed. Is he staying or going? As Soyuncu is a young baller ready & wanting to come to start for Arsenal? I wouldn’t argue as Mustafi has been terrible & could still command a fee and help aid Soy’s transfer. He couldn’t be any worse could he? He has age on his side to improve drastically at Arsenal & has massive potential.
Bernd Leno is good business for all the money he cost & at 26 will improve. He will be great for us as we have had enough of poor keepers. Cech was WC but played like he’s finished most part of the season just gone, & Ospina is a liability a lot of the time so good business.
This is smart and if we pull all these deals off (have most already done) we have gathered up guys for now & the immediate future of our defensive line, now add a certain little young Uruguayan pit bull in Lucas Torriera to top it off is quite brilliant.
This young 22yr old kid has impressed me a lot in the last 2 games for Uruguay,as I’m sure he has most of us. He has that bite & set of balls we are & have been missing at Arsenal for so long.
I had only watched him on YouTube before, as we most did, but seeing him at the World Cup has made me believe he will be the signing of the summer for £6m per season for 5 seasons. Not breaking the bank there, shrewd business & scouting by Sven! We have cried out for someone like Lucas.
This is basically where we are at right now at the start of July. While the World Cup is taking place. So Kudos to the men doing the work behind the scenes as we are not done yet & have been really clever in purchases in my opinion. We are not used to this at Arsenal so what a time to start believing again that we can start getting back to the big time again.
I won’t get carried away with these next ‘maybe’ transfers but if we can somehow grab Gelson Martins (will have re-sale value also) & William Carvalho (Just a brute of a man, power is what we need) both on a free, then that leaves a big money signing to come along with the announcement of Ramsey’s new contract & who the next captain of the club is.
We can’t really complain Gooners, so just enjoy the rest of the rumour mill as most part of this article is done already – bar the last paragraph which has a bit of momentum in them also, so who knows.
What I will say is this.. The change has been quite surprising in how we quick we have done everything so far and definitely has lifted my spirits as to what direction we are heading in. It’s a good time to be a Gooner, & to top it off we won’t be in Puma Kits anymore after this season is a massive plus, bring on Adidas.
Our new season is just around the corner, City is the best way to get this new era started.
Sean O’Hara
First
We need to see more transfers happening.Both arrival and departures taking place.We need Torreira .CB and a LB then we will be good to gonow
There is a thread in all the players that are coming in. Lichtenstainer, Papa, Torreira are all “nasty” players. They are all tough on the ball, and will push, claw, kick before loosing it. They are ambitious and wont lie down easily.
This is exactly what we have been missing. The gentle Arsenal is no more. We have players with a bite now, ready to rumble. I am loving it.
For me Ospina, Mustafi, Welbeck, Jenkinson, Campbell, Akpom, Asano, and Perez hava all got to go.
We need a pacy winger like Pavon, maybe Soyuncu and maybe Max Meyer on a free and Nelson and Nketiah to play more games this year with the first team.
All these changes might be too much but maybe not. Doing a wholesale change could help the team in the long run.
Good one!
We really need aggressive players. The more the merrier, our players were basically bullied week in week out for quite a while.
Looking back, we used to be able to win easily with 9 or 10 men. AW din know how to balance aggressiveness and beautiful football. We moved well in the fair play table but we are no where near the top in the league.
I’m really missing those times when we are so aggressive and just lovely to watch.
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Gelson Martins isn’t what we need. An old fashioned touchline hugging left winger is what we need as our options there are deplorable and i wouldn’t call rate our transfer business an A because they are short term fixs apart from Leno and Torreira hopefully
Sometimes a short term fixed is exactly what’s needed. Socratis is a short term fix until one or more of Chambers, Mavraponas, Holding or Bilak are ready. Lichtsteiner is a short term fixed until most of our squad grow a pair…
the way they have went about their business i
Have GONE about their……..
What we see in the world cup doesn’t mean it is what we will see in the league.
However I must admit what we saw of Belgium to night we often see in the league.
A great game but I can’t help but feel sorry for the Japanese team, they didn’t deserve to lose like that.
To night TONIGHT
yah good job from the scouting team
Like I said in the previous post I’m so enjoying this new era.as for the “no joy” gooners I say to you- go get laid or go next door to the white smelly shitspurs they’ll do what you want.
Now to the true blood gunners I say to you get ready for one of our best seasons in a while.
Welcome sokratis.
1.mustafi out soyuncu in
2.sell the dead wood and bring in a quality winger
3.dare 2 dream 4 max meyer
I agree. The recent transfer business has been clever, quick, sensible, and exactly what we need. If we can now successfully complete the signing of Lucas Torreira, the forthcoming season will indeed be something to get extremely excited about. And this is just the beginning!!
It’s great how swiftly so many problem areas appear to have been / are being addressed since the appointment of the new manager, and a great relief that we finally have some leadership with clarity of vision and a relationship with the real world; Something that the Wenger regime seemed to have lost touch with a long time ago.
Although it will undoubtedly take a while for all of these changes to gel, Arsenal will once again be enjoyable to watch in the very near future. I also expect some of our players to improve a lot under the new manager, because I expect him to use them effectively in suitable positions and play to their strengths; Something else that the previous manager seemed to have lost the ability to do a very long time ago.
We still need may more top quality players
We are still behind Liverpool, City, United, Chelsea and Spurs
In my opinion we need to strengthen central midfield, get another top cb and two wingers
Sell Ospina, Perez, Campbell, Akpom, Asano, Jenkinson, Mustafi and Eleny or Xhaka to fund new signings
I’m very happy (still not sold on Lichtsteiner though… sorry!!)
I’m praying we get Torreira…. then we will have some team next season ????
Fully agree about Torreira, maybe Lichtsteiner has been brought in to show Bellerin how to cross a ball?
Yes I reckon you’re right Andrew!
If only he was younger then I wouldn’t be moaning about him ?
exactly what I thought
At the moment our transfer business is no more than OK. If we get Torreira then maybe the team will improve. After losing Santi and Jack we do not have a central midfield magician. If we were to get Ever Banega we could have that position covered for a couple of years. We have no true quality winger and no central midfield controller so there is a way to go before we can talk of good transfer business.
Torreira does look good though and I hope we get him.
Very exciting times for the club!!
Brothers, I am a fellow gunner from Mexico. I am studying abroad in Italy in August and will make a 1 week trip to London to hopefully catch the West Ham game at the emirates.
Can someone give me some insight on the best way to purchase tickets? I found the arsenal page quite confusing with all the membership stuff.
Also any other recommendation on where to stay and how to make the most of my money while in London? thank you and COYG
currently purchases make us as good as any football club to be found in the south-east, however we need a defence that is resiliant and we need greater continuity if our club is to stand up to the threat that comes from the big teams based in the north-west of england. What is certain is that we have a strike-force that commands respect – Im happy to welcome our new manager and his ideas are sure to be a breath of fresh air for the fans. #COYG
Great job so far, so now… some more please, and SELL, Yes, sell some, to the world.
Still need Torriera to become official. And as of now our starting CB’s are Sokratis and either Mustafi/Chambers and we don’t know how that will hold up. Still, we are starting to solve some of our major problems. Still need a top winger very badly though. welbeck and Iwobi won’t do.
For the umpteenth time, if you think Chambers is going to be ahead of Mavropanos in the pecking order, you’re all clueless. (rolls eyes).
I am happy for now. But underwhelming when looked long term. Just seems to be stop gap effort right now. But glad we are addressing our problem areas.
A new broom sweeps clean so no real surprise really.
A couple of 30 year old defenders is nothing to get over excited about. They will hopefully bring in some much needed leadership to the club and didn’t cost us a lot of money so will do the job for the next year or so.
I nope we have a few other singing coming in soon, shaping up to be an interesting season.
Winning the Wenger cup (top 4) would be a reasonble finish to the season.
Yep it’s better than wenger years but football isn’t played in the past but against half a dozen competing teams at home and half a dozen more in Europe … That’s the comparison we should be looking at over the next 6 weeks … So far I would say its a solid B but not more
True story – Sokratis does not use his recycling bin and puts all his plastic and glass in the regular bin
#badass #delinquent
Lol.??
Go gooner!!! go emery!!! go fans,am loving the new season already.
So far so good. Fingers crossed we complete the Torreira deal and Soyuncu for Mustafi all day long, but I don’t agree about Carvalho. He’s not mobile enough for the EPL and I lost count of how many times he passed sideways in the World Cup matches. He was a great prospect a few years ago but maybe injuries have caught up with him now. We already have a potential DM in Maitland-Niles who has all the attributes to become a top player and he has pace to spare. Finally, we need to make Ramsey an offer he can’t refuse and I for one would not complain if he was offered the armband.
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why should we be impressed…we lost a 32 yr old debuchy who’s been playing great since he left and replaced him with a 34 yr old lichtsteiner who has no pl exp….we lost the boss who has been our best defender last 5 yrs and replaced with a average 30 yr old sokratis who was part of a very weak BVB back line…..we lost szczesny an error prone keeper capable of moments of brilliance replacing him with leno who is pretty much the same…..we still have zero DM and zero wingers….our only deep play-maker is xhaka and while i don’t think he’s as bad as ppl think he isn’t great either. At the moment our transfers get a grade C…. if torreira is brought in then a grade B
Sell Ramsey and get Isco! Also a proper left winger and and a WClass CB. I like that we’re getting business done but not too enthralling with the talent so far. Leno was a bad move imo and Sokratis and Lichtsteiner are stop-gap signings. If we get Torreira we’ll be heading in the right direction. So far it’s a million times better than if Wenger was still breathing his kiss of death.
If there is anyone that makes me visit this site, its Kev. I know most people here vilify him but I have so much respect for him. The transfers he get wrong are mainly arsenal negotiating team fault and not Kev’s.
Kev , remember resource and now victoryvictory. One user, so many names
Even I agree with VictoryVictory.
and with the likes and dislikes button gone, KEV does bring some freshness and entertainment too.
By your logic victoryvictory, the transfers that do happen are down to kev. He’s influential or what!
As an Australian my thoughts are with the people in Lancashire and Yorkshire affected by the wildfires on the moors. We know only too well how devastating such fires can be for loss of life, stock and property.
What is beyond believe is that there are sick people in our communities who purposely start such fires. The law unfortunately is too lenient, if and when they are apprehended.
“belief”
???
very impress with the pace of a 30 CB and 34 yo RB
We need to buy a speedy, tricky winger to play on the right or left. Mkhitaryan and Ozil don’t do so well on the flanks.
‘impressed ‘
Not very good business to be exact but not awful either still alot of shedding needed, let’s not forget what happened to Manchester.
If Unai Emery can whip out a disciplined structured team of players that work together. Then I believe we will shock a lot of folks this coming season, Arsenal fans included.
Starting Eleven
GK: Leno
RB: Bellerin
CB: Sokratis
CB: Soyuncu
LB: Monreal
RCM: Ramsey
DM: Torreira
LCM: Xhaka
RAM: Mkhiktaryan
ST: Auba
LAM: Ozil
A large Medequip delivery van was seen at the Emirates delivering some large boxes. Our secret insider managed to sneak in and saw six Zimmer frames for our older footballers. One was for Stephan Lichtsteiner.one for Sokratis, one for Peter Cech, and one for Laurent Koscielny. Rob Holding won the Arsenal award for nervous football, awards that have gone previously to Johan Djourou, Sebastia Squilacci and Philippe Senderos. Arsenal have now been given the ‘care of the elderly’ award for signing Lichtsteiner.
Sean on the basis of what I’ve seen in the World Cup and previous performances for Juventus, even at 34, I’m not worried about Lichtsteiner’s pace. I don’t think he’ll need a zimmer frame.
The players being brought in, will be those acceptable to Unai Emery to play in his system and his future reputation will depend on his ability to forge a winning team. Let’s give everyone a chance before we start denigrating our own.
Lichsteiner was bought for experience and to give cover and competition to Bellerin.Have you seen this players pedigree and looked at what he won at Juve?He won’t play every game but will bring some urgently needed winning mentality to a squad that desperately needed leadership on the pitch and in the dressing room.He cost nothing.He will be at the club for no more than two seasons.He could turn out to be an inspired signing
Of course us Gooners should be impressed. Who wouldn’t be with two 30+ year old defenders and Germany’s 4th choice keeper! Smh.
Sorry not impressed at all, We have bought players no better than we already have, If we get Torreira thats good, For me and my opinion we are going to struggle again, City Liverpool Chelsea Utd they will bring in better players than we already have in our team, Can only see us fighting for 5th place with the spuds. Can only see the board copping a load of flack this season Wenger not there for them.
I think all the Gooners not happy yet want us to go get some 18 olds that need 4-5 years to be ready. We need experience, we need leadership and we steel. A lot of our current players are actually good( sadly not world class) but they lack the above qualities. And can you honestly tell me RIGHT NOW, we can go bid £80million for Allison and he turns down Real Madrid, Liverpool, Roma and say im going Arsenal. If you think so, then you are naive. We will need a season, maybe even two to build the team up again. You really underestimate the damage that Wenger- a one man show- caused the club. His heart was in the right place but time left him behind, sadly together with Arsenal too.
Please get behind the team. I want Salah, Neymar and Mbappe playing for Arsenal- but right now an unrealistic expectation so i will support the attempt to change it about. We disliked Wenger because HE DIDNT change anything. The new team is trying. Whether or not it works, i will respect the fact that they are targeting players, going in and finishing it before PRESEASON!!! When was the last time that happened at Arsenal. Allow Unai his chance to mess up. We gave Wenger 10years. It hadnt even been 3 months guys
?and Diana there hadn’t been a ball kicked yet!
Good to see ‘Greedy Stan Kroenke’ owner of Arsenal put so much money into our trasfer pot. Man City, Man Utd and Liverpool eat your hearts out. Wow we got Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free. How creative and daring. What great transfer activity. Some people say Kroenke is the nightmare owner, but I don’t see supporters protesting so he must a generous philanthropist. To say he is a greedy **** who doesn’t care about the supporters is not fair. He really cares but likes to do it on the cheap. Great too see the supporters accepting this and not protesting. Most intelligent supporters in the world. How lucky Arsenal are not to have supporters that want them to win the league.
Sean let’s save protests to the end of the season please.