It is not often I go on a rant but if the news from The Athletics David Ornstein is correct then I am nothing short of stunned to my very core.
According to Ornstein Arsenal have extended David Luiz contract by a year and signed Cedric Soares to a four-year contract, I kid you not.
This is Ornstein’s tweet in all it’s glory.
🚨 Hearing Arsenal have signed:
🔴 David Luiz to a 1-year contract
🔴 Cedric Soares to a 4-year contract 🔴 Pablo Mari to a 4-year contract
The defenders will be part of Mikel Arteta’s rebuilding job at #AFC@TheAthleticUK: https://t.co/qDXi0s3GLI— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 23, 2020
Even the Pablo Mari contract is a bit of a joke, a four-year contract for a player that has played just three times and is injured.
A two-year contract would have been more understandable but what has he done really to deserve a four-year contract?
But forget the Mari one, that I can handle but not the Soares one and not the Luiz extension.
It really does not matter what the Brazilian does, he could literally pick the ball up in the Arsenal penalty area and head-butt Leno and he would still be rewarded by the club in some form.
As for Soares, that is nothing but rubbing our noses in it, four years, four bloody years.
He was not wanted by Southampton but he is worth a four-year contract at Arsenal, how the hell is that ambition for a supposedly big club?
This just feels so surreal right now and I can only wish that David Ornstein puts up a tweet in the morning saying he was ill-informed.
But alas, I suspect this is one hundred percent correct and Arsenal now really is Banter FC and remember, this is apparently about Mikel Arteta rebuilding the team.
Aubameyang has just got off the phone to his agent. As soon as he got the news about Luiz and Co. he knew the club were content with future relegation battles! Aubameyang has asked his agent to find a new club!!
Good news, more signing please
Arteta, Edu and Raul out! Completely clueless!
Arteta, Edu and Raul is face….
Real Evil behind is Kroenke…
Is it kroenke that asked for Luiz signing? This is mismanagement. Has no direct connection with kroenke. Kroenke know less about football and has hired those he thinks ‘know better ‘ to manage the affair, but look what they are doing, why is Arteta do fond of Luiz, am so disappointed in him
Well said. Like it or not money has been made available, but poorly spent. I am not a Kroenke fan, but the team management must be held accountable for screw up after screw up.
@kedar
It is too easy to lay the blame on Kroenke.
There is absolutely no evidence, this isn’t a decision made by Arteta/Edu/Sanllehi.
👍 👍 👍 👍 👍
I think it is a sign of the times, BAD TIMES.
If this is true, especially the Luiz news, then is there any point watching Arsenal anymore? It seems nothing has changed! If your’e injured and/or playing rubbish, good old Arsenal will reward you.
Cedric news isn’t too bad I guess, although I would have preferred only a maximum of 3 years for him. He is a big upgrade on Bellerin, so that is a plus.
Mari deal is a poor one, and if Luiz stays then that has to be right up there with the decision to keep Ozil around.
agree on Cedric not being the worst decision. the deal is just too long. What bargaining power does he have to get a four year deal?????
If it’s true, 4 years is ridiculous! Standard move for Arsenal though.
Possibly the same agent as Luiz and Edu
I am surprised that you ‘re not blaming Wenger for those decisions too!
It will come Siamois, it will come.
I completely agree with the fury over the Luiz deal, but we need cover at right back and MA must have seen enough to agree with the decision – the same goes for Mari… at the very least, he might keep Luiz out of the team.
By the way, I thought we were told we had to trust in MA?
At least that’s what I was informed quite recently, when rebuked about a Arteta decision I queried.
Sir Ken, this decision of his, is really against almost all common sense. I like to give coaches enough time, in fact I have given MA the remainder of the season but his performance since the return of EPL and his insistence on Luiz contract extension while keeping mute about AUBA and Saka situations got me thinking.
From what I see, he seems to be priotizing some legacy or tikitaka patern over overall good shape of the team by going for ball playing defenders who most of the time forget their primary job of defending, and this may be his undoing at arsenal.
For me we have too much attack minded players, let’s get 2 no-nonsense defense minded player, we are rumoured to be interested in Aston Villa Ming, that’s EPL tested defender, that’s what we should be buying though, I hope Arteta choice give all of us a big surprise because am so disappointed, if he needs a leader, we can get some from English teams, go to Leicester, westharm, Everton, wolves or Sheffield,
Adajim, it seems that not only MA, but Edu as well, wanted to offer him this one year contract, so I really hope that the “vast majority” of fans have made a mistake and our vision has been clouded!!
There is no doubt whatsoever that we will now have two players who will be used as scapegoats, so at least that burden will be shared 😂
I’ve just read that it seems MA has grown tired of guendozi and is putting him up for transfer… at least that is one “headless chicken” could be on his way, yet another of the new regimes purchases out of the door.
I certainly agree about Mings as well, PL experienced, looks like a leader and affordable, reported salary… that’s what makes the Luiz decision even more baffling.
Welcome to Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey! Arteta is a Clown Manager! Was that poor sod hired to make a Championship team of Asn’l? If so, he’s on his way. I won’t watch a game from now. No more. It would be to painful. This is absolutely ridiculous. Clown Arteta and clown Luiz can XXX each other. Bye, bye Ashburton Grove.
Is it true Gabriel Martinelli has suffered serious knee injury? What is going on at Arsenal 🤦♂️
Out for months!
If this is correct what the hell has happened to our once proud and ambitious club. We used to be contenders not so long ago but now we are where we deserve to be i.e. mid-table below Crystal Palace. I presume that Arteta, as head coach, agreed to it? Sorry, not impressed so far.
Andrew, hope you are well and safe.
I love your observation about title contenders.
Just four years ago we finished second and won the fa Cup the next year, those kind of results would be snapped up today.
horrendous. Just nuke the club and start all over at this point. Embarrasing decision. Wages down the drain. How does Cedric get a FOUR year deal?????? David Luiz decision is easily the WORST. We should be clearing defenders!!
and do we even need to see more of Mari to know he’s bang average? Arsenal CB scouting is criminal, and we all know it.
I want Luiz gone but I think he had to have the cover to get through the season. Cupboard is really bare….hopefully he is only cover and doesn’t show again.
Mari hasn’t looked awesome but I think serviceable – reasonable depth. If (and it is a big if) Holding and Chambers can return to pre-injury form, they can be pretty good players – they did have their moments. Mustafi, is okay, certainly risk but he has had good moments with the right partner.
Is it wonderful, no by any means, they need one if not two centre backs, but even one with some combination from the depth people may be enough.
If there was a good defensive mid, that would definitely make the centre backs better.
Interested on the comments that Soares is better than Bellerin, not sure if that is true or not, I don’t know.
Luiz is reportedly costing us a sweet 120k pounds per week, that’s an awesome deal for someone you regard as cover.
not surprised but amused. This is the arsenal football charity. Garbage collectors of North London. more deadwood to shift after a year. If this news is true then my opinion of Artera being a basement coach was right and asking him to quit was right too. Hope all this news is not true. Dont be surprised we finish 17th this season and save ourselves on the last match due to someone else failing
Of course the news is all true, I said it the Luiz contract extension was going to happen because after the man City game, Arteta (a mistake of a coach) still said he wanted him regardless of what happened in the match. I don’t think Arteta is cut to coach a club of Arsenal’s magnitude. But again what’s Arsenal’s magnitude these days anyway. WE ARE OFFICIALLY A MID-TABLE TEAM. It’s high time our fans come to terms with that and stop fantasising about European qualifications, not until things change miraculously from the owner leaving the club for good. This is who we are now, wake up and smell the coffee. This is reality. Only thing the arsenal fans can do about it is to stop going to games. If you’re so much of a fan that you can’t afford to miss a single game, win lose or draw, then do it at the comfort of your home. Enough of the excuse of being an arsenal fan. I’m a bloody arsenal fan too, I’ve never been to the Emirates but I watch all the games and I can’t begin to tell you the amount of joy I get when we win and the depression that sets in when we lose. I was depressed the whole night after we lost to Brighton on Saturday. But a part of me prepared for that because that’s what being an Arsenal fan is now. Hoping for the best and expecting the worst. Let’s just stop giving our hard earned money to kroenke. The more you go to stadiums (when normalcy returns) the more you keep kroenke and the board and bad coaches and players in office. It’s that simple. They don’t feel the pain we feel. They get paid no matter how they perform with the fans’ money I might add. You don’t get paid as fans when u see mediocrity on the pitch. This Luiz news just puts a nail on the arsenal mediocrity coffin.
Mustafi will get a 4 year deal
lol Thomo
Why not Ozil another 4 years? Why not Xhaka and Elneny. We need expensive players for the Championship following season to bring us back to the EPL, but these players will take us into administration and League 1. Those who support Arteta get up and make some noise. This coach was not promised Man City post when it became available. Arrogant fans never wanted Brendon Rodgers two years back, see where he has taken LC to a top 4! Arrogant fans never wanted Carlo, watch out next year for Everton. They had a good game against Pool. Right now, I am ready to take Big Sam, he will organize us well defensively. The big guy was never given the chance to manage a big club, surely he would not recommend Luiz & Cedric & Marri, the man knows something about defense and club football. Caretaker till the end of season with a one year extension. Then get Pep or Luis Enreque after Dangote takes over after 2021.#ArtetaOut if the above rumors are facts.
Loose cannon I think we should give ozil a pay rise too
And pal Xhaka too.
No sh#t, Sherlock! I and others have pointed out the long term incompetence of the Board and senior executives employed by Kroenke to manage the player and financial assets at this Club. I would always defend the manager/head coach, whether it be Wenger, Emery or Arteta, if they are not supported in the transfer market to bring in the players they believe will lead to success. However, if Arteta has agreed to these contracts, including the duration, he has sown the seeds of his own demise.
It is imperative that Arsenal spend all available funds intelligently to buy players to improve the squad. The rationale behind these signings is incomprehensible, if improvement is the goal. How long before Kroenke becomes aware that these turkeys are wasting his money?
Ozziegunner, you asked for manager support and that is actual thing happening especially in case of Luiz, Arteta wants him to stay and has been back by the board and owner, we have heard report recently how he and d high ups are at loggerheads concerning Luiz renewal. I dont really know what he sees in Luiz, he isnt fighting because of AUBA or Saka but Luiz. This one weak me, and am dissapointed in Arteta on Luiz stay
I saw this coming and my evaluation of Arteta was not far from reality. Others had different opinions then, fine, now we should unite to make Arteta walk, he is the one who proposes and accepts mediocre players (as he was just one of them, only a winner knows what wining is all about and how to go winning) Are there no better defenders in the Championship other than Luiz, Cedric and Mari? What are our academy hopefuls doing?If they cannot graduate to the senior team, disband it and cut the losses. Hope we survive the drop zone this year, next year will not be kind for us considering Leeds and West Brom will be promoted. With Ozil still on board, next season we ARE relegation hopefuls .Time may prove me right again, hope I am wrong.
Loose Cannon, why worry about Ozil being on board?
You wanted him out and what happened?
Didn’t we look like relegation hopefuls?
Were you were proved right yet again, or did you forget this scenario you wished for?
👍 Adajim, yes I want the head coach to be supported by the Board and senior executives to get the players he wants; however my rationale is that only then can the real performance of the head coach be judged, because he has the team he wants. It is an under statement to say that I am disappointed and underwhelmed by Arteta’s choices thus far.
Lol @ “this one weak me”. Luiz should be in a relegation epl team at best!
David ornstein is very rarely wrong so this might be true and if its the case all i will say is MA knows best
And martinelli’s injury is really really frustrating….😑
I like the deals for Mari and Cedric but not for Luiz. Where does Luiz want to play with Saliba, Mari ahead of him.
This season might see us end in 15th position. Martinelli injured in training so sad. Who is going to get us goals apart from Aubameyang..
I don’t see us getting a positive result against Southampton, Wolves, Tottenham and Liverpool, so where does this leave us.
😡
Again with the negativity…haven’t you thought maybe just maybe the manager a mature player in the dressing room and good experience that’s why he has given Luiz the deal. As for Mari and Cedric, if the manager sees them as his type of players then let him sign them. Or are we now supposed to be critical of how he decides to conduct his rebuild. Trust the process man and peddle positivity
As you can imagine on Twitter.. spuds, scousers, mancs and fans of every other team on the planet were loving it!! No wonder we’re seen as Banter FC really, is it??!!
Looks like Arteta came in to oversee our transition into a midtable team.
I’m stunned, QD, I really am!
After watching Luiz screw up time and time again… I I honestly can’t believe he’s here for another year!
Ambition? Rebuilding? Omg it’s laughable! How many more points will he cost us?
I think the Mari and Cedric deals are good going forward. However am of the opinion that Arteta sees Luiz as more than a footballer, maybe he likes he’s leadership in training sessions.
I was going to comment the same thing! Giving him a year’s contract to help integrate all the new CB’s we have turning up, and to be a leader in the dressing room. I won’t be too disappointed with the extension as long as he isn’t in the starting line up come Xmas 2020
Who cares? Not like we extended Auba but a played out player costing us many games.
He ruined game because his contract was not solved yet. Now we give a new one?
Arteta is a catastrophy.
I had a feeling that Luiz would be given another year. Too much was being said by Arteta about his leadership qualities so I am not surprised. We all know that lack of leadership has been an Arsenal problem for ages
I can only hope and pray that this extra year is on a vastly reduced financial reward, that he hardly gets to play and is being groomed for a non playing role behind the scenes instead.
If nothing else, this shows how little money is in the transfer pot
Arsenal are drifting to mediocrity the last ten years. There is no need to elaborate.
This self sustaining model has been ripped to pieces by the likes of Chelsea and MC.Arsenal have failed to last the course when the finishing line was in sight. For good measure many goal leads have been thrown away.
Abu has been the main goal scorer. Martineeli looks a gem but can he be guaranteed to score on a regular basis.
If you wound the clock backwards ,MU have bought Herd,Stapleton and RVP .If Abu goes to OT,it will be difficult to stomach but you have to especially if he can repeat RVP”s feat .
Hopefully Abu can be sold to a Euro club for less money.
James G. the problem isn’t the self sustaining model, it the wasteful misuse of the available funds on the recruitment and retention of physically and mentally weak players of limited ability and character. Once every Arsenal player was virtually a starter for his national team; how many such players do Arsenal have now?
ozziegunner, agree with your sentiments, but when did this start to happen?
Look at the 8 players that accompanied Unai Emery in his first season and it’s only Auba who has shone consistently.
The new regime is to blame for that and kronkie has been allowed to hide behind AW, UE and Now MA.
On a previous article, you asked me if I believed kronkie was involved in the transfers.
Judging from the statement made before Pepe was signed, I do.
Not from the footballing side, but certainly from the monetary side and that is why we are unable to compete anymore – even though we have wasted an enormous amount of what he gave us.
That is why, for the likes of City chelsea it is never a gamble, as they buy from the top table… we are nowhere near that situation and haven’t been since he became a owner.
Ken, why are Wolves, Leicester and Chelsea (with a previous transfer ban) able to buy players at minimal cost and develop them into high value assets? This is something that the Wenger/Dein combination did constantly. Since Dein left there have been more misses than hits.
Mustafi, Xhaka, Pepe and others were not cheap, but have they increases in value? Why have players been bought, who didn’t address obvious defiencies in the squad? Why have players been allowed to run their contracts down without resigning or being sold? Why have young Academy players like Gnabry been sold without buyback on on selling clauses in the selling contracts?
Belo Horizonte, the 8th of July 2014. Brazil 1 Germany 7. The game where Calamity Jane (David Luiz) earned his Master’s Degree in Clownmanship. Now he’s becoming Arteta’s toy boy. Love is a beautiful thing.
Oh on the subject of MU for all their dominance of the epl ,they couldn’t throw their weight in the cl according to one
JM of Liverpool .He has a point.
In the Spurs game ,Mu were given 2 penalties. the second one being voided. On top of that they have been given 23 spot kicks.
When Fergie was boss they were given countless penalties.Thats why they cant dominate in the cl where
penalties are scarce .
In just 6 days, Phil Foden has scored the same amount of goals as the ENTIRE
@Arsenal
midfield have this SEASON! In a combined 126 appearances.
Nice one Sue! That is why I have been criticizing our Midfield for over a year and many scorned me. Sad that I feel I was correct all the while. Nothing to feel good about now. Gutted and if Hart joins us, i’ll just call it quits. We need this joke called Arteta out of the club ASAP. He takes all blame for this shambolic defense he intents to keep for the next season. No sympathy for the man anymore. Hope he goes irrespective of the outcome of this week. Never felt so sick as of this morning reading all these news items.
Sue and LC, the worst Arsenal midfield I have seen; can’t score, can’t assist, can’t win back the ball and can’t defend. I am interested if anyone can name a worse one in the last 58 years?
👍👍
“Sad that I feel I was correct all the while “Looks like you are loving the fact that you think your right ,which you are not BTW .
Arteta has been here less time than COVID 19 and the amount of garbage coMing out of some fans mouths is alittle ,”dare I say “bit childish .
He took over from a manger who left us in our worse state in 25 odd years ,but you expect him to work miracles.
Your love affair for Ozil is Getting a bit much also ,someone who hasn’t been involved for the last 2 games but you keep dragging g his name up .
Just get behind the team for once you never kNow you might actually start to feel like a real supporter .
Dan, either Arteta or Ozil, one is wrong. Either Ozil is not making himself ready for the match despite being the senior most player (leave aside wages) which is a shame or Arteta is not playing him due to some agenda which is a shame too. Either ways, the brand Arsenal is losing its shine due to either one or both. Hope you agree with me on this, cause I want my club to be a title contender, not just a number down the rank. This comes from a fan who has been a die hard gooner for over 24 years.
Loose Cannon,
Getting Arteta out has been a mantra of yours for a while now and it is very disheartening to read such rampant negativity.
I am hardly impressed with what is on offer but to blame him almost daily for the mess the club is in is bordering on hysterical.
Were we ever going to bring Hart in?
At this time of year there are so many speculative reports about this transfer or that one; this loan deal or that one. Arsenal have a very limited budget, as we all know due to our diminishing status in the league and the effects of Covid. How many other clubs out there are able to spend big or at all? Of course there are a few, but only a few.
When Arteta cocks up after he has been given a proper chance, then fine, have a go.
I am in no way ecstatic about the signings, but it is a sign of things to come and these are sanctioned from above with very little spending power to play with.
Let us wait and see what the other clubs with less funds achieve this coming transfer window.
Sue, with all due respect, we need to spend wisely which we are not, so frustration is building up. And after spending, we are not demanding success. If we have to believe the Guendozi rant to Brighton players about his salary, then that is a serious careless attitude issue which stems from the training grounds.As the head coach he needs to toughen up with players having attitude problems. Arteta recommended/sanctioned these players extensions, is this his vision for the future? If yes, then he needs to move because as a pro coach, if he cannot convince better players to join, then he is not for the job. How come Sheff, Wolves even Tot. have better players on a lower transfer fee joining them? The board did sanction costly transfers in the past, so money is not the primary issue to hide behind as an excuse. The coach needs to identify his needs and sanction the transfer of the correct players from the list of players proposed to him. Plain and simple.
Loose Cannon,
You realise from my posts, that I am not impressed by the state the club is in and that includes signings that have not brought the success that we all wanted to see back at Arsenal. So much was invested to get us back into the CL and that failed.
I ‘get’ why Arteta would want a Luiz type person in and around the club, especially when the likes of Guendouzi misbehaves in training and then sledges Maupuy against Brighton. I wouldn’t want Luiz as a player at all, but leadership is something that we need somewhere below manager level. There was a rumour that MG would be sold, due to lack of attitude. Hopefully, this is Arteta flexing some muscles.
I am not optimistic that Arteta has much choice with signings. Even though these signings have been made on his watch, I am convinced that our financial position does not allow more investment to be made. I would love a Partey or Mings, but can the club afford it when our owner expects us to be self sufficient? If players have taken pay cuts then it suggests lean times for a while to come.
There’s no money in the transfer pot. The Auba and Laca transfers didn’t pay their dividends. The club hasn’t achieved a single goal with roughly 100 million pounds paid for the pair. Not to mention a wide range of idiotic moves made by the club. I believe no major transfers will happen in the next couple of seasons.
Wow, Loose Cannon, wow.
I understand the frustration but sacking Arteta when he hasn’t had a proper chance to prove his merit? That’s too harsh.
The least time he should be given is the same time Mr Goodebening got.
The problem at the club is that there’s no drive from the top. Complacency is engrained in the club DNA ever since kranky took over.
True to form.
It`s like going into Tesco`s and buying food and goods which are damaged or the sell buy date is over and they knock 10% off!
I only buy quality undamaged goods and being an above the law bigamist I only marry wifes who are virgins…………..I want to be the first to open a can of beans and the first to batter the beaver!……………………………..Arsenal could learn a lot from me!
Our coffers have run dry and will not be replenished by our absentee owner, who should be aware that the value of his “London investment” is dropping like a stone. By engaging Soares, Mari and Luis ,we have demonstrated professional incompetence of the highest order.How can we hope to become a successful Club again when we shop at Primark whilst others are regulars at Harrods.I hope to wake up soon and find that it’s all a dream,somebody please tell me this is a hoax.If not, in the words of Fraser from Dads Army, “we’re doomed”.
Grandad, why should Kroenke give this group of incompetents more money to waste? He should sack the lot.
I don’t know if this is relevant but Soares, Luiz and Edu share the same agent….
Of course it is……. the agent has hit it big time, he’s found the right mugs……… he probably would be thinking about bringing the remaining (mediocre) players he represents to Arsenal.
Chelsea’s talking about Havertz, after having signed Ziyech and Werner, and what do we do in response, give one of our worst players an extension, along with a bunch of others. Genius, Arsenal, just genius.
👍
Bahahahahahaha. So this club is literally run by merchants and walmart employees. Guys, I just realised. Arsenal has become the equivalent of a 3rd world country with management like this. I have officially accepted that AFC is a midtable football refugee camp.
Edu has got to go then. He thinks this is his playground clearly
The 4th of July will save us. The Second Wave. Halleluja!
words fail me!!! why would any ambitious player consider signing for us? I’m a 72 years old retired goalkeeper maybe i could be back up now Leno is injured, will someone tell the board i’m available? since they don’t have a clue what we need to be successful.
👍👍
What if we see the bright side of this, in my opinion, the defence is not that terrible as a whole lot of us paints it, I think IMO, the main problem is arsenal lacks a Viera kind of midfielder who can break the link in opponent attack, we lack an anchorman. Trust me, our attack/forward is as good as any in the top sir, bar man city, any of Pepe, laca, Auba, would fit in Liverpool attack. So my point is with our attack, and with Cedric, Saliba, Mustafi, Saka/Tierny,, Mari, holding, (maybe subs luiz and sokratis,) and our front line attackers if they can all stay fit, Arteta may be looking to strengthen the midfield cos he may have identified that as the problem and probably looking to sign someone like Thomas Party and someone in the frame of carzola. So I just think IMO, we only need two big signings, a top DM, and a to AM/playmaker.
It may not be as bad as it looks, it may work our perfectly and could eventually be worth it.
Remember, injury prone gnabry now rated top 20 players in the world after he left,, maybe a change in the medical team would do, cos I recall, against city, we were good until Mari left.
The sun will shine on us again
@gooner4life.
From one “mature” supporter to another.
I’m 66 years young, and it’s been crossing my mind of late our club has fallen into such disarray, will this bloody mess be sorted during our lifetime !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙁
Can’t see SAKA or AUBA signing a new contract with this news any decent player we have will bale out as fast as possible
Like for the last few years I’ve been saying it’s not the manager’s fault it is the owners Americans will ruin Arsenal::: Until they sell we will be always in n trouble
Ozziegunner, I share your frustrations but are you suggesting that our Owner is an innocent party or is he also incompetent in that I assume he sanctioned the recruitment of his Executive Directors,Arteta and his support team.Are Arteta’s hands tied and is he obliged to live off scraps in the form of hasbeens and bang average journeymen?
Grandad, that has been my argument all along; if his other business assets are run like the Arsenal under his ownership, I have great difficulty in understanding how they have been successful?
Yes, I have always argued that as a person with negligible football knowledge, Kroenke has been culpable in engaging or retaining the senior executives and Board members, who have bungled the player and financial management of this Club.
Any head coach, including Mikel Arteta, are doomed to failure if scouting, recruitment and player contract management is bungled by others. Arteta should only be held accountable for the decisions he has control of whether that be transfers in and out, selections or tactics.
Brace yourselves for the eternal midtable mediocracy, people. Vikhram and Raul, good job at being more clueless than the kranky family when it comes to “soccer”. The club has spent more money than ever to be where? 10th and not looking like moving significantly further than 10th. There won’t be EL, there won’t be St. Totteringham’s day, there’ll be literally nothing satisfying about this season nor will there be anything to hope for in the future.
I always wonder at our fans’ negative comments! Luiz might sometimes make mistakes but who doesn’t? I remember former Liverpool captain Steve Gerrard on two different occasions gave away wins against Arsenal to first Thierry Henry and then Cesc Fabregas. Did that take away his legendary status? We are dealing with human beings not robots.
What wrong has Mari or Soares committed? Being injured? Why don’t we give our technical team a chance and judge their new signings based on performance and not emotions as is the case now? Mari had started to show his quality before his injury while Soares has been out injured but is now recovering.
We all need to tame our emotions and stop acting in a rash manner towards our coach. He needs time to reorganise the team.
Please note, Gerrard was not a serial goal-gifting machine like Luiz is, yes he cost cost them on important occasions, but the quality and effort he brings to the team, can never be overlooked, can you say the same for Luiz?.
Signing Mari wasn’t really a big deal for most of us. But we have our doubts on Cedric, he was cast aside by S’oton, hasn’t played a game for us, and he’s 30+, a 4 year contract was definitely too long. But the Luiz contract definitely was the most infuriating of all, because if anything, it only shows that we’re eager to reward mediocrity. And that’s what’s left us in 10th position in the first place. Our team should he ruthless with underperforming players, and even more so on those that won’t try. We’re on a steady decline, and it’ll only continue if we keep making these same poor decisions.
David on this occasion I feel the negativity from fans who contribute to this site is entirely justified.To offer a second choice right back at Southampton a 4 year deal at the age of 29 beggars belief as does extending the contract of a 33year old , slow, error prone centre back who has been openly criticised by ex players,pundits,broadcasters and journalists.I pay !little attention to the Media generally, but it must be significant in that I have not seen one member of that fraternity who has come out in support of Luis.Surely we all cannot be wrong?
The problem is the club is now being basically run by agents and mainly Raul’s agent who is giving us all this dross at inflated prices on inflated wages and 4 year contracts too on unproven players. Josh Kroenke needs to wake up to this and get it sorted.
Declan, if George Graham was sent to Coventry for reputedly taking a cut from transfers he sanctioned (something that other managers at other clubs were guilty of at the time), then how much is Raul benefiting?
ozziegunner, who were the other managers you say were on the take, as I can’t recall anyone else being fired and returning the money stolen from their respective clubs?
Sue’s point on the agent is a fair one, but we need to be careful with this and your point regarding Josh Kronkie is spot on – as I believe the monetary side of every one of our transfers/contracts/salaries have to be sanctioned by the kronkie family, no matter who it involves.
Let’s at least give edu a chance, after all he has brought martinelli to the club and it seems he and MA are working closely together.
Is it really a responsible attitude to start calling for either man’s head, when both have had the corona virus interrupting their plans?
No wonder they have no intention of replacing Sir Chips, they want complete control of the purse strings…in my opinion.
Ken, I have to be careful about the libel laws, but at the time the newspapers mentioned it was not uncommon (one very high profile manager comes to mind) and that Arsenal had taken the high ground at the time with GG, whereas other clubs turned a blind eye. It may have been that given GG’s results that season, his profile and what he had previously won with Arsenal, the Club were looking for a reason to move him on.
Raul and Edu have got to go IMMEDIATELY. Arsenal is becoming their plaything now where they think they can just pull off deals for their agent buddies. It’s a JOKE. And Raul konws he’d only get away with it Arsenal and never Barcelona. Get him OUT
There’s an article saying Sven warned us fans about transfer strategy under Raul…and now views us as an ‘absolute mess’
What a loss was Sven.
ozziegunner, probably nearly as bad as the loss of David Dein, when one reflects what has gone on since both departed wouldn’t you say?
Four seasons ago, we finished 2nd in the league and three seasons ago we beat chelsea in a great fa cup final – it seems hard to believe doesn’t it?
Ken, agree 100%
Mari is far worse than Cedric
I’ve read the comments , and I don’t understand the outrage. So what if Mari and Cedric actually shine and only had two year contracts ? What then ? We get backed up into a corner trying to convince them to sign new deals ? Sign a defender is all the rage . We sign two , now it’s bad management . What exactly do arsenal fans want ?