(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread

In other news...

As valeo has pointed out, the italian press are very convinced on the Gazidis thing, they're going further now and talking about the details of his role at Milan. They are saying he will be starting on Sept 1. Still radio silence from Arsenal. 

Talk that Usmanov has had enough and is looking to sell his stake. I don't like Usmanov but he was the one thing keeping Kroenke from completing a full takeover. That might well happen now.

Also, Africa's "richest man", Aliko Dangote, has come out and said he wants to buy Arsenal, and will be "looking at it in 2020". He's made comments before, apparently been after a takeover since 2010. Don't know a lot about him, but if he did buy, I would hope he'd be a bit more involved than Kroenke, and less of a dodgy oligarch than Usmanov...

And it's all lies according to Perez's management company: https://news.arseblog.com/2018/07/agency-dismisses...

Gazidis has apparently given a rousing speech behind closed doors in support of Ozil which left him visibly moved - good to see even if he is heading off he's still putting in a shift.

Even if we do sell Ramsey with Ozil, Mhiki, Torreira, Elneny, AMN, Xhaka all vying for midfield spots I'd rather we put that money into Coman/Dembele.

My concern with Nzonzi is value - he's 29 (30 later this year). I'd rather we went after up and coming talent like Gomes/Meyer given we don't need them to be a rock star straight away.

What's with Lazio, must be the new fodder for agent-generated rumours!

No way would Bayern sell Coman or Barca sell Dembele, two of the biggest talents in the world.

Yea looks like Ribery and Robben are finally coming to the end of their careers, you would think Coman is pretty crucial to Bayern's future plans. And I guess Malcom and Dembele will probably be expected to compete for a starting spot at Barca?

Still, neither will be happy that they are unlikely to command starting berths. Would be a long shot but they could still move. Such highly-rated talent though, you'd think it would be unlikely that they'd come to us. Would we even have the coin?

Incidentally I see Gnabry is still on the books at Bayern, and looks like he's in their first team proper this season. Had a pretty successful year on loan at Hoffenheim last season, and at Bremen the season before that. I'll be interested to see how he does from here. 

Gnabry was the one that got away for me, such a talent and such a shame we didn't give him more chances. He'd be such a good winger to have in the squad right now.

Edit: Lemar is another we f*cked up. Given we almost had him in the bag last summer he would be phenomenal to have on the books and would solve our wide issue big time.

Dembele and Coman are great talents but haven't usurped the established yet.

Comans in a better position to do so with the age profiles of Ribery and Robben as Paulm mentioned, but Suarez, Messi, Coutinho won't be losing their spots any time soon. A high profile loan could almost be a creative solution for both Dembele and the clubs.

Oh yea I forgot about Coutinho at Barca.

What sort of formation do they play these days? Does Coutinho play in the front 3 or in midfield?

Suarez will be gone next season i'd say, i have to say from all the games that i have watched dembele hasnt been that great

Easy to say that, but we were going to blow something like 80m pounds on Lemar; which would've been a ridiuclous overreaction to losing Sanchez. We would also not have gotten Mkhi and Auba, so I think it's worked out OK.

Agree on Gnabry; was unfortunate timing for him when he got injured though.

Yea I'm super super happy to have Auba and Mkhi, with hindsight I am glad we missed on Lemar if these two are the direct result of that. 

Aubameyang clearly looks the goods, and is already backing it up with big numbers, but Mkhi I think is the real hidden gem here. He was totally wasted at ManU, but I think he's got everything in his locker, I can't wait to see how he goes under Emery. 

Smiled when I saw you comment about Mkhi.

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Mkhitaryan-being-trea...

Mkhi has always seemed like a summer player to me - i.e. he performs really well under not much pressure, but finds it tough to consistently string those performances together. He's a bit of a Yossi Benayoun. Solid, not spectacular. Auba on the other hand is genuinely world class.

I'd rather have Lemar than Mhiki, and have sold Sanchez before the season started. We wouldn't have had the season we had, and I'm not sure we still wouldn't have bought Auba. Look at the age profiles of Auba & Mhiki - both 29 while Lemar is 22.

I'm genuinely curious why you use the term 'age profile' (not just in this post) rather than just age?

Lemar has also only had one standout season and was pretty average since. The amounts bandied about for him were ridiculous and over the top. Couldn't see us having much left in the kitty for Auba.

Wasnt it 70m???

Crazy money. Could very easily have flopped. 

Instead we got 2 proven performers/ Mkhi is top quality imo. I hope he hits top form for us. 

6 months apart there valeo! Not to be one of those guys LOL... sorry... but I'll take that as a sign that Mkhi is soon to hit world class form ;)

Hope you are right. I have always liked him but I really think he he gutless. 

I don't have an answer for you - I must have picked it up from reading football blogs without questioning it.

Thanks for pointing it out!

Mikhi is a good solid squad player rather then a starter for me personally 

Perez could be on for a Coquelinesque resurgence to his career. He's featuring in a lot of teams social media picks, seems very included.

I think this year is going to be a really interesting season. Fulham's just snagged Schurle on loan, as well as Sari on a perm. Wolves have landed a number of Portugese stars. West Ham have picked up JW, as well as Fabianski & Anderson from Lazio. Expecting a lift from those beneath us while we're trying to lift ourselves. 

Fair enough, though I think Auba is world class but he hasn't proven it for us under pressure yet; so my point may still stand ;)

Sounds like Dembele is trying to force his way out of Barca now. 

Would competition be high for his signature if he did become available? You would think so. We would have to have some kind of personal connection to have any chance. Didn't our Dortmund guys originally sign him there?

I think us getting him would be very unlikely, even if he did manage to engineer an exit.

I wonder where he would play for us even if we did sign him - on the right wing? He's defensively very lax, though obviously very talented going forward, so would leave Bellerin pretty exposed.

So you may recall my friend in Singapore stalking Wenger and co and going viral with it and ending up getting a personal meeting with Wenger last time. He's having another go:

Nothing interesting at all, except insights into Ramsey, Iwobi, and Gazidi's future plus insight into our transfer market moves being open to more defenders & a wider player LOL!

I don't understand what this is. I mean, lets be realistic, there's no way Steve Bould or anyone else he mentioned actually sat there and told this random guy exactly what our transfer plans are, that Gazidis is 100% gone, and all the rest. 

Is he eavesdropping to get this? Or just making it up?

I'm skeptical of some of it but do trust the guy, can vouch for him being someone I actually know, not some random teenager on Twitter. While last time he stalked them to their hotel and sat nearby in the bar eavesdropping, he now works for a major media company in Singapore (MediaCorp) so I think he has some official access this time which is why he's been able to chat to a few staff and players. Things like Gazidis being gone must be exaggerated, but the rest of is pretty much what any journalist would be told.

It's not like he was told "we are targeting this player"- just general information that I think we all know already. (we're not done yet, but dependent on offloading players)

I also think that most people are convinced Gazidis is gone now, despite the weak statement from Chips.

Thanks ajc that makes sense. 

Yea valeo the statement on gazidis was weak and seems to be confirming what you have been reporting from the italian press. Emery has been equally non-committal when asked. 

1-1 draw with Atletico this morning. Lost on penalties. Arseblog match report suggests we dominated for the most part but struggled to finish. Atletico took the lead against the run of play, apparently a bit of a fart from Holding (haven't seen it), Smith-Rowe scored a stunner after HT to equalise (I have seen that, belter of a goal). The new midfielder Gendouzi (sp) impressed as well. 

PSG in 2 days, before we head back. 

Holding was covering full back and got done for pace, crossed got whipped in and Guendouzi lost his man.

Goal: https://streamable.com/nbbps

Smith-Rowe was indeed superb.

Goal: https://streamable.com/x4j2k

Overnight we've confirmed the permanent departure of The Jeff. Another star that sparkled before being injured and never quite making it.

Watched the game against Atl. Madrid. Overall, we played well and dominated possession - but against AM that doesn't mean much as they sit back most of the game.

Standouts;

Smith Rowe - he looked like a young Aaron Ramsey. Still a lot to learn (he's a got a bit of the Iwobis sometimes - dribbles through 2 and then misses a simple pass), but overall, I was very impressed.

Guendouzi - Played most of the game. Emery left him out there even when he subbed most of the team. He was a metronome at the base of the midfield; quite similar to Elneny, but I think he has a higher ceiling and he prefers to sit deeper. He needs to bulk up some, though, as he gets shouldered off the ball very easily. Not ready for the prem yet.

Concerns:

I still have no faith whatsoever in any of our centre backs. They barely put pressure on us, but the same old issues came to the fore - Holding was completely caught out, and so was Kola on countless occasions. Personally I do not think Kola is good enough for Arsenal and does not suit this pressing style - he gets tired very easily, and gets caught out too often. His offensive contributions aren't enough to make up for that. 

On that same point, I do not think Lacazette suits this pressing style either. He's not athletic enough to press properly and looks laboured while doing so.

If we're going to fall down this season, it's going to be with that centre back pairing. 

I watched a highlight clip of all of Guendouzi's touches and thought the exact same as you valeo. He plays a lot like Elneny, but appears to have a higher ceiling for future improvement. And not only was he easily pushed off it, he seemed to want go to ground quickly to try and get fouls in those situations. He needs to rub that out of his game asap or he'll never make it in the prem. That sh*t just won't fly in England a lot of the time, even if the fouls are legitimate. Ozil is similar but he gets away with it being a more advanced player. It's a huge no-no for a deeper midfielder, he'll have the fans on his back in no time playing that way.

His spacial awareness and passing range was impressive though. And he's got a big frame, he should be able to fix the physicality thing with a bit of attention to it, and some gym work. 

Very concerned about your comments on Kolasinac. I want that guy to break through this season, but if those weaknesses are that apparent then we're going to have serious problems. 

Yeah, for mine, you never want your DM going to ground easily looking for fouls - it will bite you in the ass eventually. If attacking players go down easily, so be it, but defensive players should always be looking to keep on their feet.

I've never really rated Kola, so perhaps that clouds my judgment  I had hope for him in the beginning, though. He's got certain qualities, but those qualities are more suited to a team lower down the league ladder imo. He just doesn't look like a modern fullback for a team with aspirations. 

If Kolasinac doesn't work out that'll be a few full back flops in a row after Debuchy, Jenkinson, and to an extent Gibbs.

Given Monreals age (not saying profile anymore haha!) he's going to need replacing, and Liechtensteiner's only temporary too.