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Any of you chaps catch the Chelsea match? Our high press was very ineffective - often leaving just Holding or Mari alone which gave Chelsea multiple opportunities on the counter. If we're going to play this way we can't commit that many bodies to the press.
Results aside Nketiah and Willock looked very impressive. Nketiah's energy & decision making seemed to have improved/matured - helping his cause to stay or increasing his for sale price. Willock scored a lovely cut back that wasn't given, and looked OK in a pretty fluid midfield.
Partey looked solid, until he got injured and could now be out for a spell.
On the transfer front I see the Martinez rumours are getting air time, and that Odegaard is now up for sale from Madrid. Either/both of those would feel like Mesut Ozil/Sanchez type coups. 
Most concerning is the lack of rumours for players like Willian, Kolasinac, Soares, Bellerin, Runarson, AMN, Nelson, Nketiah, Lacazette, Elneny.
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I think Bellerin and Xhaka are staying now. As part of the Martinez rumours I've heard that laca or eddie have been linked as part of cash plus player deals.
Sounds like crystal palace are interested in neilson and Newcastle are still keen for wilock
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So the chat is that Xhaka will now stay and sign a new contract? I did not see that coming but am very happy about it. 
Personally I would make him captain as well, if it could be done in an amicable way so that Aubameyang doesn't feel he is being stripped of it. Xhaka is clearly the natural leader in this team, and any team he plays in really. He just has that about him, and we should be utilising it. I think he's more than done his penance for that incident now, it was a long time ago. 
Of course the news of him possibly staying also came with a chelsea player hacking and injuring Partey, so naturally we are back to the same position with our midfield in that we look light on numbers to start the season. 
I only saw highlights but looked like we were playing a higher defensive line against Chelsea and struggling with it. Having said that we clearly equalised but it wasn't given and there was no goal line tech to right the mistake. 
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I'm content with Xhaka if we're upgrading the players around him. A lot of his worst moments come when he's put in situations where he's shark - i.e. can't sprint/turn quickly enough and both full backs + a CB are ahead of him - i.e. the high pressing game that was terrifying against Chelsea on the weekend.

I'm not sure I'd give him captain, Auba's a confidence player and Xhaka's ability to lead the team and be that guy isn't defined by a piece of cloth around his arm. Maybe back into the leadership group?
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Lots of noise offering cash plus 'pick a player' offer for Madison. Given his price tag and the fact that we're competing with them I'm unsure why we're going down this road and not jumping back in for Odegaard who will be cheaper given his contract and Madrid's finances, or Aouar who is down to about £25m given Lyon's finances.
I mean, if we've got the cash/will to go for Maddison, it's good to know there are alternatives when we eventually realise we can't make it work!
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 I don't get the Madison noises either. I mean he's a good player in all, but even if we could afford his pricetag I'm not sure he's worth it considering we could get auor and Odergard for the same price(reportly)
LG
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kwlap
 I don't get the Madison noises either. I mean he's a good player in all, but even if we could afford his pricetag I'm not sure he's worth it considering we could get auor and Odergard for the same price(reportly)

Perhaps the club actually want an Englishman at the club for once in a long time.
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(Sarcasm alert)Yea totally.  It's like there are no English players at arsenal. Well, as long as you don't count White, EMS, amn, wilock, chambers, holding and saka. and we should probably not include KT either as he is kinda close. 
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Or Nelson, nketiah or balogun. 

Yawn. 
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Possibly that we're starting to see the value in bringing in players from within the league who are already settled etc when it can often take 2 years to get a lot out of players coming from other leagues. It's something we've not done enough of in the last 2 decades.
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100% agree AJC - looked down our noses far too often at Championship or EPL players - even though we did the same thing but from France with Koscielny & Giroud 🤦🏻‍♂️
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I'd say then if that is our approach, Odergaard would still be ahead of him as he has exp in the league and knows the club... and he's cheaper. 

the striker noises have gone a bit quiet. I imagine Lukaku going to Chelsea makes the Martinez deal more unlikely, and I haven't heard anything about Tammy recently. 

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I reckon Tammy chatter will ramp up. Chelsea need to free up space as badly as us, and they’re now not in need of decent coin ie much easier to do a deal.

Seems like we’re being linked with plenty of alternatives.

Most terrifying is the lack of movement of a back up GK - Leno is one injury away from us choosing between Onkonkwo & Runarson 😭
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And Ive heard runarson has a loan moved lined up. 
Looks like wilock is gone. 25mil to Newcastle. Good move for everyone I think. Hope he kicks on. 
Looks like we are out of the race for Martinez as spurs have offered the cash they are after for him. 
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Lonegunmen
kwlap
 I don't get the Madison noises either. I mean he's a good player in all, but even if we could afford his pricetag I'm not sure he's worth it considering we could get auor and Odergard for the same price(reportly)

Perhaps the club actually want an Englishman at the club for once in a long time.

Lonegunman partying like its 1999
Gimme a turn in that time machine!
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Underwhelming preseason but as we know this stuff never ends up mattering. 
It's a little disconcerting that Arteta is still fumbling about with the age old "can auba and laca play together?" conundrum. 
It's never been a no, but it's never been a yes. I think that means it's time to give up on it. 
Seems like we could buy a striker if Laca goes, but there seems to be no chat at all around him, or others that were supposedly on the way out. Bellerin was supposed to go too but it's all gone quiet there. We may struggle to bring any in if we can't get any out. 
I could see us waiting until deadline day and then taking Odegaard on another loan. Wouldn't be the worst I guess. 

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so doing some more reading on the Maddison rumours and saw an interesting idea by David Ornstein on the transfer of English players and Brexit. apparently, EPL clubs are under the understanding that once Brexit is finalised or comes into effect, that there will be significant reductions in the number of foreign players a team can have. So the English players or players who have come up through academies become more valuable for a club. I wonder if that is at least some of the thinking behind transfers of Grelish, White, Maddison, Lukaku -  who would count for Chelsea as was there before he was 18(or something like that), Kane to City, and Ive just seen us linked with Tripper. Teams are trying to stock up on current top English players whereas in the past they would have had a larger market to choose from. I wonder if this idea will come true or not, but it doesn't look unreasonable from the dealings so far this window. 
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Underwhelming preseason but as we know this stuff never ends up mattering. 
It's a little disconcerting that Arteta is still fumbling about with the age old "can auba and laca play together?" conundrum. 
It's never been a no, but it's never been a yes. I think that means it's time to give up on it. 
Seems like we could buy a striker if Laca goes, but there seems to be no chat at all around him, or others that were supposedly on the way out. Bellerin was supposed to go too but it's all gone quiet there. We may struggle to bring any in if we can't get any out. 
I could see us waiting until deadline day and then taking Odegaard on another loan. Wouldn't be the worst I guess. 


It’s an interesting one isn’t it, the idea of replacing Laca because Laca/Auba don’t work together. I think ultimately you’re kicking the can down the road a bit sadly.

Neither striker is perfect for Arteta’s system and surely if you invest in a Martinez/Abraham you’re still pushing Auba wide.

I’d be content if Laca runs his deal down given the wages he is on and we replaced him next summer, especially if we sorted out an attacking midfielder and a proper GK replacement.
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kwlap
so doing some more reading on the Maddison rumours and saw an interesting idea by David Ornstein on the transfer of English players and Brexit. apparently, EPL clubs are under the understanding that once Brexit is finalised or comes into effect, that there will be significant reductions in the number of foreign players a team can have. So the English players or players who have come up through academies become more valuable for a club. I wonder if that is at least some of the thinking behind transfers of Grelish, White, Maddison, Lukaku -  who would count for Chelsea as was there before he was 18(or something like that), Kane to City, and Ive just seen us linked with Tripper. Teams are trying to stock up on current top English players whereas in the past they would have had a larger market to choose from. I wonder if this idea will come true or not, but it doesn't look unreasonable from the dealings so far this window. 

Well this is very interesting. Makes sense.
In that respect we are quite well placed considering the number of young english players we have breaking into our first team squad. 
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It's been a while since we were in the 2nd round of the League Cup. Away to West Brom on the 25th of August. 
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Aaron Ramsdale deal is off, we wouldn't go anywhere near their £35m price tag.
Common sense has prevailed.
But we really need to see someone else in this position ASAP, as we're one Maupuy bump away from seeing Runarson/Okonkwo make their PL debut...
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Great write up in the Athletic from James about the rest of the window. Priority 1 is back up GK & 2 is Attacking Mid. Both can happen without selling.

RB & Striker are interesting, we want upgrades but need to shift Bellerin/Laca first.

I could see Hector staying, while the rumours of Laca to Roma so we have a clean run at Abraham feels similar to the Auba/Giroud/Batshuyai merry go round a few years ago.

If the top 2 on that list come off I’d be very happy with the window, anything beyond that would be a solid bonus.
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Apparently we put in an offer for B Silva which was accepted by city but rejected by the player becaus  he wants to goto barca (which is a laugh because they have no money to buy him or pay his wages). Interesting in how quick that happened compared to the Maddison saga. 
Agree we need a backup gk. No sure who else we are looking at though. 
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brumbys
Aaron Ramsdale deal is off, we wouldn't go anywhere near their £35m price tag.
Common sense has prevailed.
But we really need to see someone else in this position ASAP, as we're one Maupuy bump away from seeing Runarson/Okonkwo make their PL debut...
Whatever the feelings are regarding the particular player, it's utterly shambolic to have chased him all summer then pull out on the eve of the season so that we go into the first game without a backup keeper. It's within keeping how this club is run.
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Im not too fussed about the goalkeeper situation. 
Happy to wait until deadline day to pick up a loan if we need to. If it's not going to be an upgrade on Leno then take the risk I reckon. 
I thought signing Ryan permanently would've been a good idea myself. I think he went and got injured so we got lucky anyway, but I liked him, he liked Arsenal, a solid back-up at this level. 

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Im not too fussed about the goalkeeper situation. 
Happy to wait until deadline day to pick up a loan if we need to. If it's not going to be an upgrade on Leno then take the risk I reckon. 
I thought signing Ryan permanently would've been a good idea myself. I think he went and got injured so we got lucky anyway, but I liked him, he liked Arsenal, a solid back-up at this level. 


What happened to Ryan? Didn't he goto spain or something? 
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Signed for real sociedad 
Make your picks kwlap!
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well that was god awful. The bees well deserved winners.
Tierney our most dangerous player on the field. No Auba or Laca and we looked toothless up front.
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Only caught the first half. Bees made us look like a newly promoted side. Some nice play at times but a lack of movement for options and yea no end product what so ever.  Also unsettling that we were easily cut open by direct play time and time again. 
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Going to be a long season isn't it? Thankfully we only have to go through having our souls ripped from our bodies once a week this season.

When the lineup came out you knew 0-0 was the best we could have hoped for with no centre forward or notable goal threat even in the match day squad. Difficult to see where the first point might come from looking at the upcoming fixtures. How is it 2021 and we still can't defend a throw in?
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Unfortunately, we could be rock bottom after three games. It will be struggle to even make the top 10 this season.
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It's highly likely we'll be on zero points with a goal difference of possibly -8 or even worse after the first 3 games. Perhaps the last hope for the season is that after the mauling by Man City there will be a desperate deadline day shopping spree like 10 years ago after the 8-2.
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I think we’ll have a flourish to the end of the window. Regardless to what happens to Arteta if we get in a GK, CAM, and a younger senior striker whomever is leading the charge will have a much younger squad to mould in their image.

I’m surprised at the rumours of Auba & Laca going to Barca - but if that might result in Dembele coming our way it could open the door to Martinez too…
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So many issues to write about LOL
But one I'm wondering about... perhaps the Ramsdale pursuit was never about a back-up, and was actually about a new no.1???
Leno looked really bad on the weekend, really bad. Yes we had some issues in defence but both goals should probably not have been let in. A near post concession, and then a hopeless command of the area for the 2nd. Some will argue Leno was fouled but they were both holding each other, Leno never seriously attempted to get away from that defender. 
Meanwhile, Raya at the other end was very commanding on the set pieces, and he made what was a more difficult save from Pepe than the near-post one Leno let in. That ended up being  difference right there. Swap Raya for Leno and we may well have won 1-0. I guess its no surprise we nearly got Raya last year and only went with Runarsson after we were knocked back. 
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bit of a round up from various sauces on movements:
Looks like Bellerin is now agitating for a move after the Inter deal fell through due to them being broke. Talk of taking pay cuts to help make him more attractive to buying clubs and swap deals with someone at Barca or Trippier at Athleti. Keen if the Trippier move comes off but I doubt it. Pretty sad way for Bellerin to exit. He is/was a  player who I thought for the longest time was going to be a world-beater and be with us forever. Pity things haven't worked out for him with the club. 

Also, not sure about this one, but apparently Arteta isn't that secure in his job. The agent for Antonio Conte has come out saying that Arsenal has enquired about what his plans are. I mean ffs, it was one game! I know it wasn't great, but it was still only one game. 

News of backup GKs has also gone a bit cold. We've been linked with Neto, the Barca #2 and some up and coming gun from Ligue 1 but nothing more than that. 

Odegaard was left out of the RM squad for the opening game so that is positive. Oh and if it wasn't already clear, there was no way Maddison is coming. both player and agent have come out now and distanced themselves. We've also been linked with a young french CAM who is like 6"2 or 6"4. I forget his name though. 

and a tease to end this with. Apparently, Edu has been telling people he has some master tactical moves left to pull in this transfer window to make the rest of the window incredibly successful. I've no idea who he is referencing in terms of players though. Fingers crossed he isn't just shooting his mouth off. 
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I can totally understand why Arteta's job is on shaky ground (if the story is true). The team underperformed last season, and looked really poor for the first game - there can be no excuses for losing to a newly promoted team. Especially after a preseason with the buildup the manager wanted. The first loss is made worse by the next two games looking like we want get anything from.
Next up is Chelsea, then City, Norwich and Burnley. Normally I'd say we would get wins from the last two games but not if they watched how Brentford bossed us off the ball and punished our weak defense.
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Well yeah, it was a full season of going backwards not just one game and the indications from pre-season and the opening game are that it's going to be a continuing backwards slide. It appears to have been too big a job for a first management job. Now that crowds are back, if say we lose 3-0 to Chelsea and 5-0 to City, does he still survive?
Edu also appears to be woefully out of depth in his role. In fact, still not clear what he actually does other than partying on yachts, going on holiday and hosting BBQs. It's a shame it's gone this way for 2 well liked and respected former players.

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On the other side of the coin Patrick Viera seems to be loving his time at Palace. If we are gonna go down the road of ex-players as a manager maybe he'd be keen?
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But if he is under pressure after 1 game, why wasn't he replaced during the offseason? stick with him for a set amount of time, say at least a third of the season, or hook him before it starts. This kinda shark further adds to the perpetual meme that the club is becoming. It is poor management of the management. 
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But if he is under pressure after 1 game, why wasn't he replaced during the offseason? stick with him for a set amount of time, say at least a third of the season, or hook him before it starts. This kinda shark further adds to the perpetual meme that the club is becoming. It is poor management of the management. 

I’m 100% with you on this. If it takes one bad result for a guy to be in the “to be” sacked column he should have been dropped end of last season and the window built around a new managers plans.

I think the idea of dropping him before the window shuts is absolutely absurd. 

Friday night was shark, but given we managed to get results against the big sides last year I’m not sure we’ve got 2 x guaranteed losses coming up.

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