I’m often called negative so yet again will give Arsenal the chance to prove me wrong.
If we sign Jesus and Gnabry this window I will be delighted and will say the Kroenke Family have shown ambition.
Yet anyone who follows the Gunners transfer policy over the years knows how things normally turn out.
We negotiate with a target all summer haggling over the odd few million.
Enough time for Adidas shirts to be sold because customers listen to the rumours.
As we are indecisive, the moment a Chelsea or Liverpool are linked with a player, the very next day a deal is confirmed.
When we miss out on our first-choice targets because another team is willing to pay the asking price, we have zero plan B.
We start the season not prepared and spend the last few hours of August panic buying.
This isn’t okay.
Edu gets paid a lot of money to recruit and improve our squad.
He’s known since January that Balogun would be our only striker under contract come June.
That’s months for him and Arteta to make a shortlist.
That’s their job.
Make zero mistake, neither hesitated when it came to their own pay rise.
Why I so want to be proven wrong is that I truly think Jesus and Gnabry would be perfect for us.
Both meet the profile of player we should be investing in.
In 2022, we don’t have one single world class player at the club.
That’s how far we have regressed.
While the club made a conscious decision to build around youth, calling 5th progress, and hoping we might develop a star, wasn’t what we were promised when we left Highbury.
So, if our owners are serious about us returning to being title contenders (January proves they are not) then they should recognise that the likes of Saka and Smith Rowe now need help.
The current version of us can’t compete for the very best, but we can be creative.
Jesus and Gnabry are not world class but are still at an age where they could be.
Jesus hasn’t looked out of place at the Etihad but how would he react if he were suddenly the main man, every week?
Both would instantly make our first 11 better and they seem captures that are realistic.
Arteta is thought of highly at Man City, Guardiola is his mentor and friend and not a character who would stand in a player’s way if they truly wanted to move.
In other words, the Champions are open to selling and 40-50 million is reasonable.
In Germany, we know Gnabry has told Bayern he doesn’t want to extend his contract and he’s on a salary we can match.
For 100 million you can get both.
A chance to live in London, to be the face of a famous club with a huge fan base and a proud history …. you can make Arsenal an exciting proposition.
The danger of waiting too long is other suitors could come along.
That could be happening already with Chelsea and Real Madrid sniffing around Jesus.
Two clubs who can offer perks that we can’t.
So come on Arsenal, prove me wrong….
Dan Smith
Learn more about Arsenal’s proud history – Decade by Decade CLICK HERE to visit our new Arsenal History section
WATCH THE TRANSFER SHOW – HOW WILL JESUS AND TIELEMANS FIT INTO THE ARSENAL TEAM?
I’m not sure we can fit both in the same team. If we can get gnabry, we should, but it doesn’t seem likely (we should know already if there’s any possibility), if not, jesus is a really good forward who would improve us.
I think we should focus on GM and Saka as our starting wide forwards, they are both top quality but need to improve their consistency. A top class CF will help a lot in that regard imo
Martinelli is not good enough. Even Nketiah is better than him but he’s had less consistent minutes as a starter. We have academy players that will soon surpass him too. Saka is the chance creating type whereas Martinelli is the goalscoring type. He is not a natural born goalscorer or a world class finisher. Gnabry as a youngster was even better yet had less hype.
My eyes started bleeding when i read that Nketiah is better than Martinelli.
Martinelli is very good but overrated. Nketiah is superior in every way but has played less consistently. Martinelli can’t even play as a striker the way Nketiah can despite being of a similar size.
can you explain the superior in every way comment.. because i dont think he is superior in anything..neither speed, dribbling, passing..you could argue finishing, but he still hasnt proven himself in that.
He’s better in all those things you list. Martinelli is not a better dribbler than Nketiah and isn’t faster. Go watch how they both get past players. Nketiah running with the ball and on the turn is better. Don’t jump on bandwagons. Martinelli is overrated and not the player man people think he is.
Martinelli is LITERALLY the best player at the club imo. Skill, talent AND application. There’s a reason Klopp sings his praise. Arteta I’m afraid cannot unlock everything that lad has (hopefully he does inspire of him)
Nketiah is just a hard runner with little close control. What are you on about????
Nketiah is a championship player at best, he isn’t the answer, good backup striker, that’s it, Martinelli will get better and better. Nketiah isn’t the player you need when we need goals
kev, talk about being a lone wolf , with THAT bizarre opinion. Good luck with trying to get even ONE GOONER TO AGREE WITH YOU.
YOU WILL NEED IT!
I like to be fair to every player and detest sentimental views. I do not jump onto cheap bandwagons and only judge players from the eye test. On that basis, Nketiah has the superior individual qualities but is judged based on his past where he was not even a starter.
Perhaps because Nketiah has never been good enough to start. Championship poacher and shown little else.
Even Arteta is looking for a starting striker, don’t see Arteta looking to replace Martinelli on the wing.
But hey march to your own drum my guy, deluded but consistent.
You must be deluded to say Nketiah has never been good enough to start and he’s far better than the Championship and more than just a poacher because he can play ball. Auba was a true poacher yet scored many goals because of his pace and positioning. Infact when Nketiah came to the team he was competing with Auba and Laca for a starting place. Martinelli would’ve never been a starter if he was competing with Auba and Laca of the past years for a starting place. Last season Nketiah proved if given the chance he’s better than Martinelli. Martinelli has more hype than Gnabry yet Gnabry as a youngster was better.
When Martinelli first came into the team many was saying he was a striker. Martinelli can never ever play as a striker the way Nketiah did it last season. He can’t hold-up the ball and be in those physical tussles. Arteta cant trust Nketiah to start next season because he only saw what he could do last season after being given a chance after many years.
Disagree with this – martinelli would have to adapt, but he comes out on top of plenty of physical tussles already, so I do think he’s capable. Just think his pace is better utilised from the wing. It’s only this season that Eddie has shown any ability to hold the ball up – much to his credit, he has worked hard to improve.
I think klopp likes him because he’s a klopp-type of forward, a bit like Luis Diaz or mane in style, and I believe he could develop into that level of player.
He can’t be in those physical tussles consistently with them CB’s. Emeryball produced situations where he didn’t have to but under Arteta it wouldn’t suit him. Nketiah had it in him to do all those things you mentioned from a young age. Diaz I am not sure of yet. If a player is not showing something from his youth I can’t expect him to show it when older. I do not see Martinelli being an effective goalscorer. He will need so many chances to put up great numbers.
Kev, I saw your Nketiah – martinelli debate on another article. You do have a point that martinelli may be a bit overrated currently, but he has demonstrated that he’s a very good dribbler, good at linking up in tight spaces, and can finish different kinds of chances very well – the problem is consistency. I don’t think gnabry was better at the same age and at PL level, although he didn’t get so many chances, and it isn’t the case that someone who’s very good at 20 always goes on to become world class, – it’s different for different players. I always remember Song’s first appearances and wondering if he was even a footballer, but he turned out to be pretty good in the end. Conversely, Carlos vela is an example of an immensely talented player who never reached his potentially imo.
On the other hand, I actually think Eddie’s goalscoring abilities have been vastly overstated thus far, going only on what he’s done at PL level. His last couple of goals this season were very good, but generally he’s been heavily reliant on tackling defenders in front of the goal and scrambling it in, so far. I’ve not seen him score in a one vs one situation in the PL to date, whereas martinelli has scored that type of goal.
Having said all that, you could be right in the long run – martinelli has some issues to overcome, and while I’m confident he will, there’s no guarantees, and Nketiah could just as easily overcome his own weaknesses as a player, and he very well could become a top class striker if so (I’m less sure about him, but not to the extent that I’d be willing to bet against him). Hopefully both fulfil their respective potentials and become arsenal greats, but we’ll have to wait and see (assuming Eddie is staying on).
I thank you for the response. I disagree that Gnabry wasn’t better at the same age. If we brought that old Gnabry to this current team he’d be doing better. His chances were fewer but on a talent level he was clear. Nketiah at youth level was never a world class finisher. What made him score many goals was his pace, positioning and poaching. Players like that are natural born goalscorers. They score many bogus goals and nice goals. Auba had that thing too. Martinelli is also not a world class finisher and nothing about him screams a goalscorer. His strength is in dribbling but even there Nketiah is better if you actually look at how they both get past players and the use of their pace. He has shown better dribbling against better defenders too.
Yeah I still disagree, but do see where you’re coming from. Nketiah does have a lot more skill and ability link the play than he gets credit for, and while I don’t think Eddie has shown the level of finishing he is credited for *at the top level*, I do think he has that in his locker, and it’s very possibly just a question of time. There were big signs of improvement at the end of the season just passed. (I’ll also say we all have our own biases, and I’ve formed a less than positive view of Nketiah’s playing ability in the past, so it takes time to be convinced away from that)
I just think you’re underrating martinelli in both his dribbling and finishing abilities. I think he’s on the cusp, and has often missed out in many respects (i.e missed shots, just not been sharp enough when running past someone – things like that) by very fine margins, which I expect him to overcome in the future. Could well be the case for both players
Nketiah is never a world class finisher and I don’t expect him to be because he didn’t show it at youth level but I don’t expect Martinelli to be either. World class finishing is talent and from a young age. You can’t learn it. Nunez has many flaws but look at his finishing. It is instinctive. What Nketiah has is a natural goalscoring ability to always be at the right place to finish similar to Auba. He would’ve finished as our highest goalscorer last season if he begun from the start but are people ready for that conversation?? Nah they will cheaply jump on Martinelli hype train and refer to Nketiah’s past stats where he wasn’t even a starter. In a free chance creating team Nketiah will score loads. Why? its his style of play. Current past it Auba will tear it up at City. Why? Its his style of play. The style is just goal bound hahaha.
“Nketiah has is a natural goalscoring ability to always be at the right place to finish” agreed – good clarification
“He would’ve finished as our highest goalscorer last season if he begun from the start but are people ready for that conversation??”
I don’t see why not. I think there’s a good case for that but we don’t know how he would have done if he’d been starting over a longer period. There was a time before where he was being picked as a starter (shortly after his return from Leeds? I’m probably forgetting something important lol), and he scored a few goals over a short run and then just went quiet until he lost his place. Now, I do believe he’s come on a lot since then (as has the team in general), but it’s just to highlight that his good recent form wouldn’t necessarily have continued over a full season. Willock is another example – scored loads for Newcastle second half of last season but not this year, after the dust had settled.
Yes and that positional ability is what saw him be one of our best scorers at youth level and England’s U21 all time scorer. I am not speaking out of the blue because from preseason he looked the most impressive attacker with the ball and even in his cameos in the league. His Carabao Cup goals were also ignored but it showed that he was going to have a great season and no wonder he started scoring more once Laca was benched. On Willock, I don’t think this is his level yet. He has proven himself to be a goalscorer at youth and even top level so there is a case to be made that he has it inside him to have another great season statistically. His form may have dropped but I expect his name to pop up in future because that goalscoring talent is naturally there so its more of a massive form drop which may be due to many factors.
Fully agree Jesus and Gnarby would fit in perfectly and would take Arsenal to another level.
I seriously doubt Gnarby would accept to join Arsenal though. He’s a star at Bayern, only ManCity or Real Mardid can get him I would think. Let’s hope I’m wrong!
Gabriel is massively overrated. With such signings it will be difficult for Arsenal to compete with City and Liverpool over a period. If we really want to challenge next season we can but the types of signings we make delays our progress by seasons.
I agree with Kev on Gabriel Jesus. He looks good in that City team when he plays but who hasn’t? £50m for a super sub! £50m for White! Paying way Iver the odds for good players, not great to which we need.
The only thing I disagree with is the Martinelli – Nketiah debate! Martinelli when down the wings takes players on successfully, gets innthe box and gets a cross or shot in. Yes they don’t all work but the signs from him out in that LE position is great, he will be a different animal next season now with a season under his belt plus is 2years younger in a different country. Eddie is also a very good player and again could end up being a little Ian Wright, in time just like Gabi. They are 20 & 22 years of age I’m a struggling Arsenal team in a rebuild though Eddie is English and been here years. I want both to stay & play but they need help, what if one or both get injured?
We need to add another winger & striker to help Gabi & Eddie. Laca & Pepe will be gone so replace them just not with Jesus or Gnabry who only would’ve came back if we were in UCL.
I’d rather have great ST with Gabi & Saka on each wing rotating with a new winger & Eddie who will more than likely start the season up top to give new ST time to settle. We need a squad not just a 1st 11.
If Xhaka leaves which is also a big possibility then go and get Bissouma & Teilimans. We need to take a gamble and sign 4 or 5 players this summer and spend money or we are going to stay where we are in 5th/6th position
KEV as you have already posted MANY times on this thread and ALL of them giving your almost lone wolf opinion on MARTINELLI, what screams out to me is thatt you have a firm agenda against him.
Otherwise you would have not kept REPEATING AND STRESSING your opinion on the same thread.
THAT TELLS ME AN AGENDA ,NOT MERELY AN OPINION, IS BEHIND YOUR POSTS
HOW people use words, AND WHY, is so very revealing to those of us tho can see properly and fully
Still need solid CM as well
We don’t “need” either of them. We missed CL football by 3 goals not 30. We already have 72million Pepe, Nketiah Martinelli Marquinos Biereth Azeez and Balogun who between them can easily score an extra 25 goals to get us 3rd place at least and cost 120 million less in transfer fees and salaries. Jesus for 15m or less and 50k p/w max. Gnabry for free and 30k p/w max otherwise no. Our top goal scorers last year were ESR and Saka who both cost less than a litre of milk. Stop throwing money at it. Use the academy players only.
So we were three points away from what should be the minimum requirement and your happy with that
Plus where evidence is they can all easily score 25 goals ?
If Pepe/Martinelli/Nketiah start 30 PL games they will score 9 goals each minimum. Marquinos Balogun Biereth if they start/sub 12-20 times will add 12 goals between them. Thats actually another 39 goals. Can’t do any worse than 60m Aubameyang and 50m Lacazette.
Says who ?
Gnabry, Jesus, Tielemans can make us a threat to any opponent and we go out there to get the immediate and strong back up for our left and right footed defenders to support Tienie and Tomiyasu then we would be good to go come August. I feel disgusted by people Who waste a lot of time talking without action. Edu and Kroekes please 🙏🥺 react.
We need action!
It all comes down to our style of play, Jesus will never convert the 2 million crosses we put in. Hes just not physically the guy we need.
Where does Serge play rw? Lw? Cf? Same issue he had all those years ago, our current options in those positions are more likely to play over him.
Please Arteta or Edu, sign game changers, people who will make a diff in tight games where space is at a premium. Not mates, not unhappy players.
I’m convinced that if we were to sign gnabry, part of the reason he’d join would be to play CF,and he’d be our main cf. Only issue with that could be keeping him fit.
Man City got the 21-year-old towering Haaland for £51.2m. So Jesus should cost £35m maximum, especially since he just got one year left on his contract and we’ve got similar CF in Nketiah/ Balogun
All teams above us have got or been signing tall CFs as their main men:
– Man City : Haaland
– Liverpool : Nunez
– Chelsea : Havertz and Lukaku
– Spurs : Kane and Kulusevski
Man City and Liverpool just had a quite successful season without that CF type, yet they’re still diversifying their attacks. If Arsenal would like to prove their ambition, they should’ve chased someone like Havertz
It’s like as a fanbase we are just being naive or plain blind to see what actually works in this league.
There are soo many physically imposing strikers we can get but the Jesus train is on full pelt. We have flo, we have eddie, time for due diligence and get what the team doesnt have. Every team above has this option.
Yeah, we should only sign Jesus if he’s available cheaply
Like I have said earlier, how ambitious the Kroenkes are would be determined by this season signings. Teams above us are already signing players while Arsenal are delaying in buying players.
We’ve signed Marquinhos, but he isn’t a marquee signing
With Arsenal board sluggish attitude to signing players that is needed for Arteta’s team, I am getting less optimistic about next season. Rival clubs already taking things seriously ie M. City, Liverpool, Spuds etc.. Kroenke must make money available for Arteta soon as possible. According to a Daily Mail post yesterday Arteta already getting frustrated the board/ Edu delaying in Richardson deal. Any maquee signing must be done in time to enable them train well with thier mates before season starts.
G.Jesus I mean not Richardson.
For me Jesus + Tielemans are the first signings I want to see. Another striker / forward is still needed but I’m not sure Gnabry is the right one.
So the window is now officially open so we have plenty of time to get things right … but has the club learnt from the failure to secure a top 4 position in the easiest season to do that in several years … i have my doubts … the failure is not difficult to explain Spurs brought in a top flight manager and made a couple of quality signings … while we got rid of our one quality striker entered a futile chase for a replacement and then watched a novice manager fail to navigate the last 20 games of season with a consistently wining formula … so far we have spent time securing a third rate striker on ridiculous wages which will make him impossible to get rid of and possibly deter others from coming and taken a punt on another youthful Brazilian … meanwhile man utd have put in bids for Frankie de jong and Nunez the kind of quality players we desperately need … xhaka is still in the squad as is Pepe … so 2 months to go rumors are flying .. as is always the case with Arsenal … but no clear idea what we are trying to do
No matter how tough situation mighty be, but we should never consider our x players back, let’s move on from them and gnabry won’t change anything at arsenal. We know where we need to fix.
A few days ago some folks were poking jibes and fun at our gaffer for being linked to GJ. When Tuchel throws his hat in the ring, overnight GJ is a must have. Even the wind balloon will not change its direction so fast. As for the transfers, Stan was always there and will remain committed to our cause and I fully trust Mikel and his process to make us great once again.
So Dan, it seems “you are often called negative”! I wonder why that is!! Perhaps you can tell us all!!
Because I didn’t say the grass would be greener after Mr Wenger left
Therefore I don’t have to pretend that 8th , 8tj and 5th is progression
I think the players we are linked with are reasonable, though I doubt Gnabry incoming but we need a LW, or we get Jesus and another striker. However, a summer that will cause me excited would have the following incoming
Tieleman/Savic of Lazio
Bissouma
Zichencko /any other of similar quality
Jesus
Scamacca/Calvert-lewis
We don’t need both end of story. I really like the look of Scamacca. Get one of Gnabry or Jesus and add the big man up top and get a proper midfielder like Savic and we can compete. A back up cm lb wouldn’t be a bad idea either, or just get zinchenko.
Ramsdale
Tomi saliba Gabriel Tierney
Partey Savic
Ode
Saka Scammaca Jesus
Nkietah,Martinelli, Xhaka, Zinchenko and White are not exactly bad back ups either.
I was reading that Spurs are in talks with Djed Spence and could get him for around £20 million. Hope it’s only a rumour as we’d probably live to regret letting them sneak in for arguably the best young right wing back currently available.
Re Jesus & Gnabry, it would be a good day work if we could get the pair and for less than £100 million but it appears that Arteta is rather upset at the lack of urgency displayed by the Kroenkes re our transfer targets.
Djed is now a spuds player,jax.
Wish they would show some ambition and sign Nunez Jesus Onana just to start and show others we mean business
The delusional are out in force…😂😂😂😂
Have to defend the 8 million dollar man you see.
Blame fixture list, blame covid, blame injuries we set ourselves up for back in January.
Checkbook manager in full effect, guess he learned that working under Pep. Odd how it’s constantly about money, but rarely if ever maximizing the talent at his disposal.
Let’s see how much improvement there is next year on top of the complete control and over £250 million he’s already spent.
Will 350 million or 400 million after this Summer be enough to be competitive? Will top 4 make or break Arteta? Or will the excuses continue?
@Durand
Is there any EPL manager or any manager that is not a chequebook manager?
Is there any?
There are quite a few that sell, Brighton didn’t have the luxury of big spending.
Don’t assume everyone is like City, Utd, Chelsea, and Arsenal the last couple years.
I wouldn’t call PV at Palace a checkbook manager. Marseille wasn’t checkbook and finished in CL spot. Naggelsmann at Leipzig or before Bayern move wasn’t a checkbook manager.
Money doesn’t guarantee success, spuds for years, and us the last couple Summers. But it can be done with solid coaching, Ten Hag, Naggelsmann, he’ll even Emery in Spanish league over achieved.
Which manager is able to work with players they have. Every big club spend.
Viera spent in cpalace and if he come to big 6, he would spend.
Either you agree or not the players we had are average, and even now we had good not top players, though most have potential but none is a top wc player.
You can compare our individual players against other top 6 teams , highest rating would be 4th or 5th which is a reflection of where we are.
Even at that these crop are better than what MA met, or maybe the players he met would have been too old by now because all of them should be in their 30 by now
Marseille of ligue 1? LOL,even our arsenal will challenge PSG for the league if that’s where we participate.c’mon give a better example durand.
@So where would those managers finish in the EPL if they don’t spend?
Lets see how your Ten Hag, Naggelsmann do at the top clubs they are now at. Lets see how they will not spend and keep their jobs..
If you want to be or remain in the Top 4 / 6 you have to spend. Those days of wenger where we had only United, Chelsea and sometimes Liverpool are long gone. Now we have City, Liverpool, Chelsea, United, Spurs and even Leicester to contend with. Back then it used to just be a poor all over the place Spurs that we had to contend with for that Top 4 on a more consistent basis. Now they are even more stronger than us, on top of that you have Liverpool that got their act together under Klopp. City crushed the party about 10 years ago. United and Chelsea are established, I don’t have to say more than that..
Football has gotten more competitive nowadays. No serious fan can delude themselves into thinking that you can sustain Top 4 using the old Wenger ways. Those days are over, hence why Wenger himself got to a stage where everything went wrong for him, Finished 5th and 6th consecutively before bowing to the pressures and resigned..
It’s delusional or a myth to try to convince anyone that Arteta is a chequebook manager in the EPL when some of his other Top 6 competitors have squads worth double his..
Conte has already started spending at Spurs even if Spurs have had a more settled / consistent Top 4 / 6 squad for some time now..
City (Pep) has already signed £50 million Halaand.
United (Tan Hag) already going for De Jong and Antony (both in the £60 million bracket.)
Liverpool (Klopp) already signed Luis diaz for about £40 million in January). He is now going for £80 million Nunez.
But but Arteta is a chequebook manager.. since Klopp or Pep have been at their club haven’t they got completely different teams to what they found there?
We are not Palace that are olay finishing 13th in the league and deem that an amazing season.
We are not these one team / club leagues where you have non existent competition, those managers can overindulge themselves in those weak league and still finish Top or near Top with cheap players. The EPL is a different animal, you have a serious Top 6 now.. On any given day Liverpool, City, Chelsea, United, Spurs and Arsenal can take points off each other. The pressure at any Top 6 club in the EPL is immense.. No manager can delude themselves that they just sign cheap players and expect to stay in there consistently.
Sometimes it gets cringeworthy reading bottom of the barrel comments like that from the same crew. Always manufacturing negative narratives in order to afford themselves more opportunities to have a little whinge, to be negative and outrage towards Arteta..
@Durand
And the hits just keep on coming. Spot on…👍🏾
@Durand
I am not making excuses. Some of us are trying to be as patient and mature headed as possible.
I for one tried to do the same with Emery, tried to be patient and afford Emery as much time as possible. But like it is now, we were told we had lowered our expectations / Ambitions. The same narrative was spewed out “You are making excuses for Emery blah blah”..
We had to accept that most Arsenal fans had made up their minds regarding Emery. They were praising some players for disrespecting the guy, the same fans kept making fun of him, making degrading slurs about him etc..
I also did the same with Wenger. People really started to call for him to be sacked from 2007 or 2008. But I tried to be as patient with him as possible. I was always on the defensive trying to afford wenger as much time and space to get us and himself back to the former glory. But the same “You are making excuses for Wenger” catchphrase was thrown at some of us so caller AKB’s (Arsene Knows Best) crew..
I stood behind wenger until 2015 when he only signed Cech. I gave up trying to delude myself that he was ever going to change or take us back to his old glory days.. I stopped defending him.. That is about 10 years of me standing by wenger even if we were still languishing in the 4th / 3rd consistently..
I am doing the same with Arteta. I am being patient with him. Want to give him as much time, leeway and benefit of the doubt as possible. This chopping and changing business is not my cup of tea. Would rather give as much time to a manager..
I am not a sensationalist like many of you seem to be. I try to be as charitable and mature as possible.
I’m not anti-Arteta, I’m anti mediocrity and lowering standards.
Personally I was done believing and excusing Wenger in 2015 when he only signed Cech.
He tried to convince everyone that Ramsey, Wilshere, Walcott, and that lot of crocked players was enough to challenge for the title.
Felt like he put his personal feelings for those players before the club. Likely I’m wrong, but everyone knew that squad would never challenge for a title when they struggled after group stages in CL.
Emery started well, said “rather win 5-4 than 1-0” was his famous quote. Had 22 games unbeaten also.
But his negative football, 7 defensive players in his starting 11, and tactics turned me away after 18 months in charge.
Arteta started well, but his ego got my attention right away.
Who guarantees CL trophy in 3 years? No experience managing or building anything, yet had such an arrogant chip on his shoulder.
His stubbornness with “Artetaball” when it clearly doesn’t work, and blaming refs, VAR, and the double standard he gets turned me cold.
Club lowered standards for him rather than him raising his standards. First 8th he just took over. Second 8th place finish and out of European football many hardly batted an eye, and excuses flowed.
“Process” and “progress” people chanted, and cited ethereal things like attitude, spirit, and team, while we are just as mentally weak and fragile as under Wenger’s final years.
5th and top 6 is cheered and rewarded with 8 million a year extension?
5th, 6th, and 5th finishes got two managers sacked, but Arteta is rewarded.
Sorry, but I maintain top 4 or warned, fail again and you are out. It’s not a sense of entitlement, but rather pride and responsibility.
Arsenal is one of the most prestigious clubs in PL. Hold more FA Cups than anyone, tradition abounds, Wenger changed the English game even!
If Kroenke, Edu, Vinai,, and Arteta can’t handle that standard, then go to a lesser club, please don’t lessen us for their comfort.
If mediocrity is tolerated, then it becomes habit and accepted. My stance remains the same, whether Wenger, Emery, or Arteta manages.
Preach!!
SPOT ON!
👌
@Durand
Tell us how you really feel…Lol
Durand having digested your point of view, I d like to ask WHEN you began supporting? Not your personal age but the year you began.
I ask because I BELIEVE THAT HAS BEARING ON HOW YOU CHOOSE TO LOOK AT THINGS.
I BEGAN SUPORTING AROUND 1956 AND GOING SINCE 1958 . I experienced constant mid table finishes and NO silverware at all for TWELVE years after going to games in 1958.
That shaped my views on realistic expectations ever since, including this era. So do please tell us when!?
No doubt NYG…firstly, although I agree that both the proposed targets are top-notch, they don’t best remedy what ails us…now if we were talking about Nkunku and Nunez or Oshimen, then that would show the proper intent and directly redress our most pressing needs…of course, I realize that any combo of the above players would cost more than the two players being suggested, but these are the kind of moves we should have made last season when the money was made available…that didn’t happen because our manager deviated from the plan in his first summer, thereby setting the “process” back 2 years, so instead we adopted a quantity over quality recruitment strategy
secondly, we have those on here whom have exerted considerable time and energy trying to somehow convince anyone and everyone that Eddie is a more “skilled” player than Marts and that Auba is more of a “poacher” than our purple patch kid…all I can say is thank f’ing God that this person is nowhere near our scouting room, which is saying a lot considering their rather pedestrian track record
thirdly, and maybe the worst of the lot, we have our resident Kroenke sympathizer blabbering on about how our club, as currently constructed, doesn’t require any new editions from an offensive capacity…this is some straight-up Blinders nonsense…funny thing is that I predicted he would make these very nonsensical claims way back in August when everyone said there was no way he would every say such things(lol)
If Edu/Arteta know who they want/need, why don’t they just go out and get them. Proactive rather than always missing the bulls eye? Do rather than wait.
That’s why arteta and edu need to be replaced, now.
No problem Jon, it’s a fair question. You didn’t ask my age but I will tell you anyway, I’m 49.
Here in the States European football wasn’t televised regularly until early 2000’s. I was well aware of the leagues throughout Europe before then, and even followed it nationally here, though it was not promoted at all.
I started regularly watching the Premier League around 2002-2003 when it was televised in the States.
I watched the entire season before choosing which club to support. My best friend chose Utd, another Liverpool, and I chose Arsenal for their style of play.
I learned the history of the club that off-season, their rivals, and the traditions associated with the club.
I’m not entitled to anything, but strongly believe a storied club like Arsenal is owed more than an inexperienced manager, lowered standards, financial excuses, and questionable upper management.
KSE is the 2nd largest sports Empire in the world, 10.7 billion valuation. Liberty media is 1st with 17.2 billion, according to Forbes. Liverpool ownership is far far below, yet are far better stewards of their club.
Rams have less glory and tradition, yet receive the vast majority of attention, support, and investment from Kroenke.
Kroenke’s involvement saddened me, and very early on I expressed what he would do to the club, based on his ownership here in the States.
I’ve been through mostly high points with Arsenal; when I began following the club.
It’s not “entitlement” as I said, but responsibility. Tv revenue alone is astronomical for Arsenal, not to mention comparing investment in Rams to Arsenal.
Rams stadium 5.5 billion, of which 1.6 billion from Kroenke himself. 298 acre complex, 25 acre park, and 6 acre man-made lake.
Compared to Emirates costing around 350 million I believe?
2 Rams player contracts are QB 34 yr old with 4 year 160 million contract, and just recently signed Aaron D. To 3 yr 95 million contract.
Meanwhile Arsenal must be self sufficient, live within club’s means. Undergoing “youth movement” yet no other KSE franchise is subjected to this “youth process” or self sustained model.
Top 4 Rams players (of 62 players) have contracts more than our entire transfer budget last Summer.
Again, not entitlement but a responsibility of good stewardship. Kroenke failed in assuring proper upper management, had no plan post Wenger, and even said he didn’t “get involved to win titles.”
Kroenke has no problem assuring Rams remain among the best, so why should I settle for less from Arsenal?
22 years in top 4, but now we should accept a return to results like the 60’s and 70’s? That is acceptable?
Arsenal and Wenger led the revolution of English football, were ahead of the curve for 2 decades.
Now poof, it’s gone? NFL is EXTREMELY competitive league, billions and billions at stake, though I’m no fan.
So Rams can be among the best, but Arsenal settle for less? My point being I will not lower standards because ownership is not doing their best, they are not fulfilling their responsibilities.
Well said my man
I hope you understand my meaning. Utd wasn’t always primo, should their fans embrace the results of 50 years ago?
Should City accept midtable results or top 6 after Pep eventually leaves?
Yet we should? Just acquiesce because the myth we can’t compete with City or pool?
I don’t buy into it, not one bit. Youth project I’m not against, then why not experienced head to lead? Ten Hag at Ajax has done that for couple years now, on a fraction of our budget.
Naggelsmann is a young coach with good CV, developed players, great tactician, and limited budget with both clubs before his Bayern move.
We should be competing for top 4, the club was woefully unprepared for life after Wenger, panicked and tried Sven, Raul, and I believe Emery was always a transitional sacrificial lamb.
No one is telling Rams, “hey, be prepared for results like the 70’s and 80’s.” No, only Arsenal and lower our standards.
Imagine Kroenke and Rams coach telling Los Angeles, hey we missed the playoffs again, but look at our progress. Sorry we choked at the end of the season, 3 years out of playoffs, but hey trust the process.
Rams went to Superbowl, Colorado Avalanche on verge of Stanley Cup finals, Arsenal is “trust the process.”
That’s what I mean by duty and responsibility, please understand it’s not entitlement I feel.
Yeah I understand it all and agree with it all. I feel it’s massively hypocritical that we have to be told what we are and then see what is going on at the rams. It’s so frustrating