why? signings made early in the season have done the job required, sure we've dropped out all other comps, but we are sitting 6th (2 points off 4th with a game or two in hand). Yeah we are running a small squad right now, but Arteta clearly has a plan and is leaning on younger signings. Auba going for $0 seems not to make sense but maybe that's the only way we get him out of the club? Chambers going makes sense for the player, signings from the MLS may well just be squad fillers for now with hopefully some bigger names at the end of the day. Keep the faith man - given where we were last season this is progress and positive.
Seeing quite a few sauces from the club saying that there is no business being done today. But many are trying to paint the Auba leaving for free as some great victory as we will save 25m in wages... I'd only be feeling a sense of victory if we strengthen the club, rather than saved it money which might cost us points which will cost us money...
Suspect the MLS players are just some Kroenke accounting as a way to get around the MLS salary cap by having them on our books. The way this club is run gets more bizarre by the day. So many fringe players we decided we weren't going to play given we only really had the league like AMN, Chambers, Mari, Nketiah etc yet turned down bids in the summer for them only to let most leave in January for free while the squad remains woefully short. We crocked Tomiyasu in the league cup game when he was already carrying injury with the reason he started given by Arteta as "we had no other right backs" while AMN literally started at right back for Roma on the same night. Top 4 was within reach with a little strengthening in this window. Top 6 would look like a miracle from here now.
The shredding of the wage bill feels like preparing for life outside of European competition when getting back in looked very realistic.
I think all the frustration is magnified by a sharkty January on the pitch and now a long international window. While I have my doubts about this approach I am impressed by the commitment to their recruitment process - ie not taking on sharkty short term signings and waiting to get the lads they want.
We’ll only really be able to judge if this has worked in the summer.
FWIW those Auba savings are significant when you consider an Isak etc would be on half max of his deal. Lose Laca’s big salary too and we will have plenty of room in FFP to do some good deals in the summer - irrespective of where we finish in the table.
Obviously we wanted a striker this window but weren't able to get one over the line. I'd rather Auba gone than with our squad for that reason - he would only be negative, he knows his time is up, and we are a better side without him now. I imagine Martinelli will be third choice in the event of injuries. I don't have a problem with any of that. We have Smith-Rowe who is perfect on the left should that happen. We also have Pepe coming back very shortly, and he can cover for Saka on the right if needed, freeing Saka up to move across the forward line - he's our most versatile player in that respect. I think we're absolutely fine with our forwards for the next 17 games (that's all we have left). I was very worried about midfield but we skated through Jan by the skin of our teeth, and are now probably fine, with the suspensions all done and no injuries having popped up. I am very much enjoying the panic-free decision making. If a signing isn't right for us for the long term, we don't make it, end of story. The players who have been cleared out all needed to go, those were all moves with the long-term in mind - if they aren't in our future, or they aren't contributing now, no need to have them in the dressing room or on the wage book. I would have liked a signing, but I'm fine with the window and the trimmed down squad to get through our final matches. January is a notoriously bad time to sign long termers, I'm happy to keep that powder dry for the off-season. A big striker (or two) and a big midfielder and this squad is basically set for the foreseeable future.
I guess the issue is, if we finish outside the European places for a third season in a row, what big strikers and midfielders are going to want to come? And how long do you suggest the likes of Saka, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli will want to stay once Man City, Liverpool etc start coming for them with their mates from their national teams showing off all their medals and tapping them up too?
depends on if these young guns are as loyal to the club as they seem to be. You can't be a club legend without going through some tough times somewhere along your career. You'd hope the likes of Saka and Smith-Rowe see the potential and want to be part of the re-build and future success. They've already achieved call ups to the national team so the only reason to move to a winning team is $$ and maybe winners medals the following season, which, if they stick to the plan we have a solid chance of competing for next season too.
I guess the issue is, if we finish outside the European places for a third season in a row, what big strikers and midfielders are going to want to come? And how long do you suggest the likes of Saka, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli will want to stay once Man City, Liverpool etc start coming for them with their mates from their national teams showing off all their medals and tapping them up too?
I guess it depends if you think; 1) we cant make top four without signings in jan 2) there were players we couldve *feasibly* signed in jan that wouldve made that difference And also 3) those players that wouldve signed for non-european football arsenal in january, will not be keen in the off season if we are without european football for another season. I dont believe any of those things, which is why im not fussed really. We wanted the fiorentina fella but we werent prepared to go to a second option when we missed. This leads me to believe that we werent signing him for an instant impact to make the top four. Hes younger than Nketiah and i would expect there to be a settling in period. I think we went for him in jan because thats when he was moving, we wanted him for the long term, so we went for him and missed. So instead we stopped Nketiahs switch to Newcastle so we have enough numbers, and we go again for our next no.1 striker target in June. I am all for long term thinking. We all bashed our club consistently over poor transfer decisions over the past few years. Resignings were in desperation and cost us a lot of money. New signings were rushed and often went badly. This year, weve got it right. The preseason window, we got a raft of excellent signings. And then thru that window and this one, we finally got the rest of the dead weight out the door. We have a trimmed squad that has overall been playing very well, and are definitely capable of navigating the last 17 games and getting a top four spot. And more importantly, every decision is being made with the clubs long term future in mind.
It’s all ifs, buts, and maybes at the moment. I suspect we’ll all be better off when the team is back playing and we can argue about our next stupid red card.
The next few months are going to be a hell of a drag being out of the cups. We’ll sometimes being going 10 days between matches and that’s without an international window…hopefully all that time gives Arteta the head space needed to get the team firing, and time to recover from injuries etc.
Yes. I think that probably plays into the thinking behind a trimmed squad as well. Lots of recovery time, only 17 games, lots of preparation time. Everything is in our hands. Lets see what the lads can do.
Looking at the yellows that were dished out we really haven’t mastered tactical fouling. We need to be doing it in the Wolves half and from our forwards not our defenders and CB our side of halfway.
While they are both arguably yellows in their own right when has the precedent been set that referees would do that? Every team in the PL would expect that to be a single yellow and a talking too. Bizarre from the Oliver.theprof
and that demonstrates exactly what you're saying. WTF martenelli block the throw, play on advantage and then shove in the back both yellow worthy.
While they are both arguably yellows in their own right when has the precedent been set that referees would do that? Every team in the PL would expect that to be a single yellow and a talking too. Bizarre from the Oliver.theprof
and that demonstrates exactly what you're saying. WTF martenelli block the throw, play on advantage and then shove in the back both yellow worthy.
it's happened before, essentially he played the advantage for the throw interference and held the yellow for that, waiting for the next stop in play - unfortunately the next stop was a second foul by Martenelli - which was yellow worthy too.
That right there is why we shouldn’t extend his contract.theprof
Lacazette - come on man! this is ridiculous, we have the lead - lets control our head and close it out.
right now he is the best up front that we have, Nketiah hasnt done enough to be a starter - Martenelli has, so I guess we wait till the end of the season and buy in a star striker and a back up?
While they are both arguably yellows in their own right when has the precedent been set that referees would do that? Every team in the PL would expect that to be a single yellow and a talking too. Bizarre from the Oliver.theprof
and that demonstrates exactly what you're saying. WTF martenelli block the throw, play on advantage and then shove in the back both yellow worthy.
it's happened before, essentially he played the advantage for the throw interference and held the yellow for that, waiting for the next stop in play - unfortunately the next stop was a second foul by Martenelli - which was yellow worthy too.
While they are both arguably yellows in their own right when has the precedent been set that referees would do that? Every team in the PL would expect that to be a single yellow and a talking too. Bizarre from the Oliver.theprof
and that demonstrates exactly what you're saying. WTF martenelli block the throw, play on advantage and then shove in the back both yellow worthy.
it's happened before, essentially he played the advantage for the throw interference and held the yellow for that, waiting for the next stop in play - unfortunately the next stop was a second foul by Martenelli - which was yellow worthy too.
I wrote this after the Burnley draw, and we saw it again this morning; "We really needed someone to make the difference in one of those moments against Burnley. That's really the only area for me where Laca falls down, and is why he's not quite at that elite level of striker, even though he does possess all the skills. When it comes to that one moment that we desperately need him to finish, in a difficult game where we need the 3 points, he often doesn't deliver it. There was another moment where we had a very promising move and he criminally underhit the pass. It's really gutting because I love the guy, I feel he has the right attributes for our team, and he's been an excellent captain, leading by example. But we just need that little extra edge of composure in that role, which he hasn't been able to give us in the crucial moments." The team covered for him today and got us the three points. The defensive effort was phenomenal. Did we win every single first header on all those corners? Just about. Our set piece systems are really good, particularly defensively. Laca should've scored in the first half, and should've put it away after the Martinelli red. We need a striker who will do that. Auba had that skill, but nothing else, couldn't do all the things that Laca does. Just gotta find the right guy this off season, and add a new mid, and this squad is set. Top 4 is all up to us. Every game is a final to the end.
That video won’t load but from the description but the player was given a yellow for a foul and then dicked around in front of the ball earning a second. The clear difference being that he was on a yellow when he did something reckless. That, for me, is what is absolutely absurd about last night. The player has no chance to adapt his behaviour due to being on a yellow. Given how many times players on yellows get away with one, it was pathetic from the referee. Arteta rightly described it as being very willing to give a red. theprof
brumbys
When was the last time you saw it?theprof
brumbys
While they are both arguably yellows in their own right when has the precedent been set that referees would do that? Every team in the PL would expect that to be a single yellow and a talking too. Bizarre from the Oliver.theprof
and that demonstrates exactly what you're saying. WTF martenelli block the throw, play on advantage and then shove in the back both yellow worthy.
it's happened before, essentially he played the advantage for the throw interference and held the yellow for that, waiting for the next stop in play - unfortunately the next stop was a second foul by Martenelli - which was yellow worthy too.
Arseblog reporting Holdinf had 9 clearances in 19 minutes (plus stoppage time). The upside of all these red cards is we’ve gotten very good at defending a lead up against it.
That video won’t load but from the description but the player was given a yellow for a foul and then dicked around in front of the ball earning a second. The clear difference being that he was on a yellow when he did something reckless. That, for me, is what is absolutely absurd about last night. The player has no chance to adapt his behaviour due to being on a yellow. Given how many times players on yellows get away with one, it was pathetic from the referee. Arteta rightly described it as being very willing to give a red. theprof
brumbys
When was the last time you saw it?theprof
brumbys
While they are both arguably yellows in their own right when has the precedent been set that referees would do that? Every team in the PL would expect that to be a single yellow and a talking too. Bizarre from the Oliver.theprof
and that demonstrates exactly what you're saying. WTF martenelli block the throw, play on advantage and then shove in the back both yellow worthy.
it's happened before, essentially he played the advantage for the throw interference and held the yellow for that, waiting for the next stop in play - unfortunately the next stop was a second foul by Martenelli - which was yellow worthy too.
that's fair, I do recall a double yellow -> red occurring in an NZ game a year or two ago, similar scenario as Martenelli, one bad tackle, advantage okayed and then a follow up tackle both yellow worthy.
Awesome results for us. Spurs and ManU not in form at all. Also shows how good that win against Wolves was. They are playing very well, absolutely battered Spurs at Spurs this morning, we did amazingly to get a clean sheet at their ground. This particular period of games has suddenly become the most critical for us, in my opinion, because of the other results. We need to win these matches and build a gap NOW. Spurs and ManU will improve, and we have some hard games left, this is the chance we needed to seize the initiative. If we could get 9 points from those three then we could afford to lose the big games. Not a good mindset to have obviously, but we could really take some pressure off ourselves with some good results here.
For the record, our remaining games in order (vs = home, at = away): vs Brentford vs Wolves at Watford vs Leicester at Aston Villa at Crystal Palace vs Brighton at Southampton vs ManU at West Ham vs Leeds at Newcastle vs Everton Plus postponed games to be re-scheduled in amongst the above; at Chelsea vs Liverpool at Tottenham
