The Long Good Saturday
May 22nd, 2016 by 'holic
What a day that was. I had planned to cover the Arsenal Ladies trip to Doncaster yesterday but the great British weather put paid to that idea. The downpours also restricted me to a day in front of two screens, a test match, four cup finals, and a farce of a boxing bout.
One of our own would not have been happy with whatever happened at Hampden so I will gloss over what was probably the most entertaining of the four finals. It finished at around the time that England’s bowlers, and Jimmy Anderson in particular, were clinching a very quick victory over a young and inexperienced Sri Lankan team totally unprepared for Yorkshire conditions.
There followed the strangest of all feelings. The last two FA Cup Finals at Wembley were joyous affairs involving superb pre-match food and a strange mixture of experiences and memories. Of course we won them, in contrasting fashions it’s true, but I cannot help but think they provided more of a spectacle than yesterday’s dour struggle. Indeed future generations will probably only have the Pardew ‘dance’ by which to remember this turgid affair won by a crumbling giant about to dump their dull-as-dishwater manager for his even duller-than-dishwater replacement.
Thank goodness for our German cousins (please note this is neither a pro or anti Brexit reference). Bayern and Dortmund showed how a 0-0 should be played out over two intriguing hours. I was drawn more to this than the stalemate that looked likely in Rome. Alvaro Morata starting on the bench for Juve added to that. Dortmund, having given their all, were untypically German and made a complete hash of the penalty shoot-out presenting Bayern with a second double in three Guardiola years.
As the Bavarians celebrated it was time to focus on a dramatic ending in Rome. Morata was summoned at the death and with his first touch gave the Old Lady the win. I have been sceptical of reports linking us with him on the basis that he does not have the strike rate that warrants such an investment. However I was chatting to Kris at ABW last night and he made the very good point that Morata has largely been a back-up player at both Real and Juve and his record hints at a significant potential for improvement if given more starting opportunities.
The less said about the opponent selected for David Haye, the better. I felt for those who had paid top dollar to be in the O2 to witness that farce.
All of which followed a fascinating Twitter morning with photographs of Granit Xhaka in the new kit at Shenley being leaked. One suspects the club and Puma will have hurried discussions before announcing his arrival and the new kit on Monday. For all that we weren’t meant to know about the deal quite yet the club deserve credit for moving quickly to address one of their vacancies in the close season. Don’t stop there.
Oh, and it is exactly a week since that day. 1-1, I mean 5-1, at Newcastle. Still laughing.
125 Responses to “The Long Good Saturday”
BAM!
Woo-Hoo!
Morning seawarrior. ?
Nice round-up of the weekend Guvna.
I think only our wee maroon pirate and his ilk will lament the Hibees depriving the Huns of silverware. Though perhaps the groundsman who has to repair the turf and the posts will also think it’s just as well the Scallies frae Leith only win silverware every 112 years.
A reptile has been reported to be arriving at the Old Toilet. Who’da guessed? It’ll certainly end in tears.
I quite like rain on summer days where there is a feast of sport on as I can justify not being in the garden and sit around with the remote control flicking from sport to sport. There was also the Premiership Rugby seni- finals yesterday and in truth they were probably the most exciting. Sri Lanka look very inexperienced and while Hibs did well their supporters were a disgrace. Interesting that Anthony Stokes, formerly of this parish was a major force.
Ready to tease a Spuds fan this morning his demeanour told me something was wrong. His son is seriously ill with cancer and all thoughts of glorying last Sunday’s turnaround were gone. Sometimes football doesn’t seem very important.
I saw the Morata goal and my suspicion is that while he might be a potential target the financial terms being bandied around make no sense at all. …So they’re probably true.
Szczesny has bad- mouthed Wenger so one can expect him to leave. I doubt that Wenger would want a wholesale clear-out so maybe we will see Theo, the Ox and Ramsey again, although ideally I would like to replace them al
I read a brief news story about the Scottish Cup, that mentioned this is Hibs first trophy since 1904 but until getting confirmation here I had assumed it must have been a misprint for 2004. Oops!!
Nope, it’s the first time they’ve won the Scottish Cup since 1901-02
Or to put it another way, nobody currently alive in the UK had been born the last time they won it.
Or to put it another way again, only seven people currently living on the entire earth (verified births) had been born the last time they won it.
Or to put it another way yet again, the last time they won it 0% of the population of England cared and this time even less than that did ๐
Not seen cba for a while, he’s probably recovering from the shock of Sandbaggers episode seven. I couldn’t warn him without spoiling it though.
It feels like a bloody long close season and it has only been a week.
Want football back…
I don’t think those photos of Granit Xhaka were “leaked” at all. On the contrary it would be a great way for both the Club and Puma to generate viral PR without doing much at all. No paid adverts, no press releases, just a “leak” and watch it spread. Free publicity with a positive spin and you get days of attention before the official reveal a few days later. Clubs do this all the time, the prime example being the rather ridiculous stunt where ManU were “hiding” De Gea as he was going into a hospital for a medical by holding up a massive white sheet which of course (very deliberately) only attracted more attention and they just “happened” to hold it a bit carelessly so that anyone could see who was behind it.
Anyway, shit result in the FA Cup final yesterday but Palace were bloody awful and really should have been out of the game long before the 90 were up. The much-lauded Cabaye looked downright disinterested for long spells and wasted free kick after free kick.
Still, I suppose yet another good result would have been too much to ask for after the hilarities of the last week. I was at Wembley to watch the Ladies bring home the Cup, and then of course the gloriously brilliant Sunday where we laughed and laughed and laughed… and then laughed some more! The stadium was absolutley rocking for the last 15 or so minutes, and credit to the Villa fans for singing “there’s only one Arsene Wenger” (assuming it wasn’t meant sarcastically of course, but it didn’t seem so to me).
H – massive drama in non league circles. If the FA applies its rules properly and consistently, all the teams involved in a relegation scrap here will be getting points deductions for fielding ineligible players. One team might lose as many as 12 points, which will relegate them (currently safe) and the teams relegated currently might end up fighting over safety. One of those two fielded a player for just two games this season, both of which they won, when the regs state that players can only play in games affecting relegation issues if they have played three previous matches. Six point deduction for them.. possibly.
The other side might lose six points as well.
It’s all SO dramatic.
In another local league, one team is safe from relegation despite finishing 26 points adrift at the bottom, because another team went out of business.
As someone once said, “Football โฆ. bloody farce”
Cynic. 1902 … 1904 …
Aren’t they grouped within a statistical margin of error? ๐
behind the eight ball but
did ye hear
ken dodds dads dog died
peter pipers in pieces
strangely though
some uncaring sorts
seashore seashell selling business
is going from strength to strength
.
.
capitalism , eh ?
seashore fulla seashells
yet some cunt can still get some cunt to pay for ’em
.
.
consumerism , oooh ?
gonna be a lonnngggggggg summer
?
and cynic , yeah
not pleased
always had a bit of a notion on ms keen
?
Another reason to hate the French, cba ๐
Nice, Holic!
Yes, it’ll end in tears, Bath.
Lars, they’re not as clever as you. It was a leak. Honest ๐
See you in September.
Cynic, here’s a couple of non-league teams that could have used some other clubs being deducted points to save them from relegation.
New Mills finished bottom of the Evo-Stik Northern League Division 1 North with three points (23 behind the team above them) and a goal difference of minus 130 having conceded 156 goals in 42 games.
Worst team in the non-league pyramid? No a bit of it.
Bashley finished bottom of the Evo-Stik League Southern League Division 1 South West with two points (a mere 22 behind the next team) and a goal difference of minus 188 having conceded 201 goals in 42 games. That is just shy of an average of five goals conceded a game. They havenโt won a game since September 2014.
And we think we had a bad season.
NBN.
evo-stik? I can only wonder what kind of product that could possibly be.
Which is certainly not to say I would want MY league named after it.
can’t be arsed @16
I read an article about Ken Dodd once. Well 5 minutes ago if I tell you the truth. Tickling stick seemed to be the big thing though the article kept using the word bygone. Just wondering how his dad’s dog is only just dead if the son is 86 years old? It sounds like a miracle of medical science has to be at the center of it. ?
NBN – This team played 42, won 2, drew 2, lost 38 GD -147
The team that folded finished a mere 49 points ahead of them and were 140 goals better off. They didn’t go bust, they just had an elderly board who all retired at once after putting 35-40 years service into the club, each, and nobody wanted to take it over!
Summer solstice celebration less than a month away.
Why not start early?
Manure are welcome to Moaninho, I’d rather have Ken Dodd’s dad’s dead dog managing our pack. But unfortunately the butthead bus-parker’s name could attract bigger names to play in the Old Toilet than van Gargle could, helped along by a rumoured transfer war chest from Ed Woodward many times larger than AW is likely to get (or spend even if he did). Even so I doubt God could transmute the dross that Moaninho will inherit into a proper team even if he played himself (God that is, not Jose).
..and yes, Ned, I know, God* would never play for Manure.
*the other God, not DB10.
Not sure about Manure able to attract big names without CL football on offer whoever the manager is. They may get one by chance like Di Maria but not the the 5-6 they need. Also I doubt Mourinho’s reputation is that stellar among players. Hell even Manure players have misgivings and that’s after two years of Van Gaal:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3603822/Manchester-United-players-voice-misgivings-Jose-Mourinho-appointment.html
Like `Holic I can’t wait for the next season to start. The Euros may make the wait more bearable but they’re not the real deal.
Cynic@29: Who are this mysterious team? They cannot be that bad if they actually won games, unlike New Mills and Bashley whose best results were draws.
Matt@33: Manureโs money may prove magnetic, however. Some big names may be more than happy to sit out a CL season counting their dosh and banking on Mourinhoโs reputation for winning trophies to keep filling their trophy cabinets.
AW has a stadium named after him:
http://metro.co.uk/2016/05/22/arsenal-boss-arsene-wenger-now-has-a-stadium-named-after-him-5898567/
Some news you may have missed…
My local team, Wellington Phoenix, beat Leicester City in a just completed tournament won by, you guessed it, Aston Villa … http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/80257662/Wellington-Phoenix-beat-Leicester-City-but-lose-in-semifinals-at-Hong-Kong-Soccer-Sevens
I see you are “Best of the blogs” on Arsenal.com for your St Tott’s piece. Congrats for that, commiserations for being called Gonnerholic on the site. Gulp.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160517/st-totteringham-s-day
Congratulations Guvna. Well deserved. Moet on ice.
Congratulations Holic,
Must be worth a trophy.
UTA.
They’re bringing the trophy to you now, H
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMrHtwVwTz8
The new kit with the line as a drop down was a bit of a let down but including titi,bobby and freddie along with the ladies was a wonderful gesture. Alexis with number 7 and rumours of Xhaka taking 34.
Talking of transfers, we have expressed interest in Benatia and i for one will be thrilled if it comes through. Manolas is another and if we can offer woj for free as well to get him, so be it.
So lvg sacked and the imminent appointment of the sick one makes me hate united even more. I cannot see mou winning the league but his pedigree of winning a title early in his stint makes me believe it will be carling cup.
England turkey game showed the defensive frailties the english have but honestly it has not been only about frailties. It is about the approach and being defensive over the years. England should know they have a good squad attack wise and should try to play the games with an intent to win than not lose.
Finally Arsene Wenger has a stadium named after him at his native place. Wonder what will happen if we name a stand or even a statue of him at the emirates. The great man certainly does not deserve the abuse, so god forbid if the stand or the statue gets damaged.
I’d like to unofficially welcome Granit Xhaka to the club!
Looks like a starter and a leader on and off of the pitch!
Review of how each of our loaned out players fared over the season
http://www.arsenal.com/news/features/20160520/loan-watch .
Among the youngsters, Gnabry’s spell in WBA was probably the most frustrating. Injuries have really put a brake on his progress. Hopefully a more successful loan to a PL manager who knows what to do with a talented forward player.
Total evidently had the most impressive loan season. To be that consistent (and staying fit for the most part, fingers crossed the injury he suffered towards the end is something easily shaken off) in a league as tough as the Championship is very impressive. And like his buddy Hector he may flourish in our first team if given a chance. And he may be in Arsene’s thoughts to fill in the midfield vacuum: Xhaka and Toral (and Elneny) to replace Flamini-Arteta-Rosicky. But it may also be beneficial to get him out on loan to a PL club where he will get more playing time compared to our midfield.
Akpom and Hayden had solid but unspectacular seasons. Both had however shown enough abilities to fight in PL, and should go for loan spells in lower positioned clubs that however still try to play technical football, say Bournemouth or Watford … or Hull if they get promoted.
Maitland-Niles is only 18, started his season very well, and probably one more season in Championships to find consistency before a PL loan.
The rest — except Szczesny, whose future seems rather murky at this time, I think he should be brought back as the deputy to Cech though Ospina has fared mostly well whenever given a chance — are not likely to find their way to the main team any time soon.
Will be interesting to see where Sanogo plays next season. Ajax found him useless, but he had the full spectrum of footballing displays for Charlton — hat-trick to violent red card.
Cynic, ??
..and we bring you these messages before resuming normal programming..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2C0MPL_q0I
๐
..and where’s Granit? and who’s the latest striker? hmmm!
Glad to see Sanchez moving to No 7. In the shadows of Geordie, Chippy, Rocky and Bobby. One or two decent players there …..
Shame they took the video down.. did you opt for “no publicity”, old bean?
Great work Holic. This is consistently the best of Arsenal blogs. Good to see it recognised!
Watched most of England yesterday. I really struggle to get enthusiastic about a team with five of the Scum in it, and most of them are decidedly average. Very unimpressed with them defensively and can only see tears ahead. Also not sure Jack has grown up judging by his booking. He is as immature as Delle Ali.
can i add my congratulations to the pile ‘holic
for the bitta well deserved recognition from on high
proper fuckin order too !
(shower of johnny come lately slow on the uptake charlies)
.
.
near the end of sandbaggers , cynic
noticed title sequence chopped off later series 3
yer man didn’t write it i’m guessing
bit of a disappointment
cos the shot of the feet walking across the screen
made me chuckle every time
cameraman and foot actor
sent out to capture dynamism
discover a normal spy’s stride is too long
to fit in the frame
so he minces across screen like
he’s in the latter danger stages of touching cloth
.
.
.
anyhoo
dinner had
gonna watch the last few
+
his name was spelled weirdly
earlier series 3
MacKintosh
(nowt happens for no reason in the secret service)
no it fuckin does not !
the fuckin intrigue !
Thanks all. ๐
Heh Cynic. The snapchat videos tend to survive about 24 hours so the rest of the world was spared the sight of an old fool bouncing up and down at 4-1. ๐
Series three is not a patch on the others but you’ve rattled through that lot quickly. If you’ve never seen it, Callan next ๐
remember watching callan
many moons ago
and indeed
that’s next
?
.
up to episode 5 now
if diane keen comes back
as a bikini clad sharpshooting zombie
who am i to argue ?
I thought it was a bigger tragedy when the original secretary left. She was so waspish.
100%
brilliant between her and burnside
and
who the fuck thought marrrrleeeeeeene a replacement
.
.
episode 5 down
pile of shite
repeat
pile of shite
*D.Ops on the Red Circuit*
ep. 6
i’m sending sandbagger cba in
Marleeeeeene as the secretary and Reg Holdsworth’s wife in episode 5.
It was a bit shite but you only have two more to go after that one
*sandbagger cba*
dunno if i can make it , sir
Frank Marker, Public Eye was the godfather of all the loner downbeat investigators; private eye rather than spy but all out of the same mold: ABC in the early ’60s then on Thames. And best TV theme tune ever.
https://youtu.be/Lt6xRqf3TE0
fucks sake , cynic ya bollix
coulda watched the first two series
been happy
nae
evangelical
but the round up was shite
turgid script
ham acting
ADR a spaghetti western would chortle at
an editor who needed kicked in the eyebrow
or who indeed had been kicked in the eyebrow
explain a lot
anyhoo
god bless all here
and
god bless the two oul dears
wheeling ‘hol’s trophy over the road
don’t fancy yours much ?
?
Roy Budd
Sandbaggers
Get Carter
.
cynic ?
LIED to the wrong fella !
“stick to the end , cba”
.
..
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
tune good though
?
yer man ross the cia guy
clearly thought to himself
i know what a yank walks and talks like
i’ve seen the streets of san francisco
i’ll bounce and sashay like michael douglas
indeed
i’ll have my hair the same color as my face
the same color as a bar of caramac
I can do this !
aaaaaahhhh
slartibartfast
?
You had to watch to the end to see the end, cba.
They were going to do a fourth series but when Mackintosh failed to break out of the Russian gulag he’s probably still in, they scrapped the idea because they knew it didn’t work without him.
Another series you might like is Strangers. It takes a while to get going but when Mark McManus comes into it, it gets very Scottish and very good. Him and Don Henderson…
Not on YouTube, sadly
well if it’s not free on youtube
i doubt it’s scottish provenance
take the eye outta yer head
that shower !
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
?
an they wouldn’t swap their dung fer corn bread
me
i’m regularly found
exchanging shit for money
i write for the grauniad
of course i don’t
i’ve lived
?
*big patronising raspberry*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysKhbaLyIFw
I’ve got a great job as an arse scratcher, but am strictly self employed since we let Poland join the EU.
damn this immygration
won’t be long afore
some hoor’ll land n scratch yer arse cheaper
Deserved accolade for the bar from this neutral’s point of view ๐
And a week later it still feels good for some, not so much for others:
“I still don’t get how we had a better season than the Wanderers. They finished second, beat us in the League Cup and they went further in the FA cup. We are clutching at straws if we think we did better. Reality is a bitter pill.”
“I rather have my anger accepted and players and manager just accept it without excuses and other people stop making excuses for that shower.
‘bond between the players and the fans’ is stretched thin and they have fowled everything they had achieved.
POCH/PLAYERS man up you pussies and end forever these 4-5 thrashing we always seem to be on the wrong end of.”
“Having to use every fiber of humility and ounce of calmness to truly accept, then digest, what went wrong. This is how the coverage and enemy is trying to make you feel, and that’s if you’re lucky! Mostly due to the incessant and depraved behaviour aimed at us from scum related peers. Avoiding the bluster and toxicity of bitterness, is challenging to say the least.”
“What ever you think, realistically, we should have finished 10 points ahead of them but we have players that couldn’t give a fuck about playing until the end. Therefore since theirs did give a fuck, it is completely deserved that they finished above us.”
“None of my Gooner mates or work colleagues have been that magnanimous or forgiving with me (and why the f*!K should they – we wouldn`t have been with them)”
And my favorite:
“We fell at the last fence in front of the main stand , then the horse shat on us. What a ride…”
Also I’m 100% positive I have already linked here an article to the same effect a few years back: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10284613/arsenal-would-have-won-the-premier-league-if-shots-against-woodwork-were-goals
Damn posts!
i’ve never worked in me life
i’ve never dug a hole
(i have)
(proper big one too)
(next time yer on the eurostar)
(yup)
(that was me)
.
.
all of course , lies
i dig with my pen !
that’s why me carrots really haven’t taken
and the spuds are mortifying
all of course , lies
don’t own a pen
all of course , lies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEk37t4LWp0
real singing
real playing
trousers miming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMGvQ2v-ZRM
my favourite song
couldn’t trust people
to play it at me funeral though
they’d play the wrong version
an i’d be devastated from the grave
.
honestly
ye had one job !
?
back when people grew beards through laziness
not through the internet
RIP normal beards
18 to the ton
an i’m on the treacle brutalizer
so
as young en vogue said
Cheers H!
I’m with TTG – England Hotspur rah rah rah? Fuck that shit.
It is somewhat amusing, however, that we had to wait until the England manager is reduced to picking players from the likes of Burnley before The Shit’s players are considered good enough to be picked in such numbers.
For Cynic … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ej47kkywM
๐
Yeah, thanks for those 1.9 goals per season they were so vital! :-p
Is there any other kind?
The TV networks showed more Arsenal matches for good reason. Arsenal are generally considered to be more entertaining than any other club. It also helped us in the income department, as you can see:
“The only variables in income from the Premier League are facility fees, which are received each time a team has a match shown live on TV, and merit payments, which are dependent on which league position a team finishes the season in.
Teams receive around ยฃ800,000 per game of theirs which is broadcast live on television.
Paul Gilham/Getty ImagesTV revenue pocketed Arsenal over ยฃ100million this season
With 27 top flight games screened live on TV as opposed to Leicester’s 15, Arsenal scooped almost double the amount of income from that stream.
Arsenal took home ยฃ21.5million in facility fees – a Premier League high – while the Foxes netted just ยฃ12.5million.
However, the inflation next year due to the new TV deal means Arsenal will take home just over ยฃ150million if they have the same amount of their matches shown broadcast live.”
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-top-premier-league-prize-8040426?
Please ignore “Paul Gilham/Getty Images” in the previous.
So they’ve changed the laws of the game, yet again. Just 95 changes this time.
Notable ones include – denial of a goal scoring opportunity is no longer a straight red card if you’re trying to make a tackle, but it still is if you pull, push etc.
Players can be sent off during the warm up if they do something deemed worthy of a red card, but they can only be booked from the start of the match.
Keepers who come off their line early for a penalty kick will be booked.
I’m with Esso?
Can’t the press corps see that the LWCs are supplying five of the team and they crashed and burned to the extent of losing 5-1 to a relegated side with ten men? Now we play the best teams in Europe with a few Scousers and Mancs added in( neither side is in the CL)
We are cruising for a bruising.
Someone got me a ticket to the first game in Marseille and I have sold it on. I will get most satisfaction from the Euros in seeing how the Arsenal players do.
England only have LJW and they will get him injured before we go crashing out.
If this Geezer we are purportedly buying from Munching Glad Bags is any good,why are we not fighting off half a dozen other top clubs to buy him. ?
We still seem to be shopping at Tesco’s instead of Fortnum & Mason.
The last Swiss player we bought,the ponderous lump Senderoff,ended in tears,so let’s hope this one has a happier ending.
I gather he is left footed,and fond of a tackle,so hopefully we might finally have found a replacement for Petit after all these years.
Given the absence of the signing of a central defender,and the defence staying the same as last season,and the expectation that Sanchez and Ozil take 2 other starting spots,that is 8 places ticked in the starting 11.
If fingers crossed,we do buy a proven strike in the summer,that leaves only 2 run on spots up for grabs.
Cannot see us playing 2 defensive midfielders,so assuming Santi lines up alongside the new bloke,we are down to 1 spot left.
Elneny and Coq i think will be back ups next season along with Giroud,Welbeck and Iwobi,so that leaves Rambo and Jack to fight over the final spot.
This is based on the assumption that Arsene has finally accepted Wally and the Ox are so technically deficient,that they won’t be with us next season.
Clive: I would expect the Xhaka (assuming he comes)-Elneny pairing to be the first choice by the time the 2017-18 season comes round. Santi is not getting any younger — he’ll turn 32 during the course of next season — so I think we will see a Mertesacker-like phasing out. All of which, as you note, leaves question marks over Jack and Rambo’s futures. Competition for places will be fierce — not that that is a bad thing. We can’t complain about lack of squad depth and then bitch about players not making the starting XI.
If the squad has ten midfielders as last season, Xhaka would fill one of the gaps created by the retirements of Arteta, Rosicky and Flamini. A couple of the youngsters might well be promoted to fill the other two, Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Vlad Dragomir would be candidates. And then there is Gnabry and Zelalem to come back from loans.
Meanwhile names like Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic are being rumoured for Manure, a club without CL for next season…
Adelaide? Dragomir? Gnabry? Zelalem?
or ADGZ
that is exactly what we need.
Now I can sleep.
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’
I doubt Xhaka will come straight into the first team, AW will surely want to see how he goes in minor games before exposing him. I expect a more attacking formation with Santi and Jack to start the season, and Rambo back on the wing. As for the other three it may depend on what Alexis wants in the next couple of months.
Morning all.
First let me add my congrats to the boss. Very well deserved.
Re transfers, I’m very much with Clive above. It’s a long time since we dined at the top table. Prices are now massively inflated since the influx of all the money into the game. I’d never heard of the lad until he was linked with us. I just hope that the days of accepting mediocrity and hoping beyond all hope that one of our “next best things” actually becomes a next best thing, are finally over.
Next season is already starting to look interesting. I’m sure that there will be massive amounts spent in the Manchester region. I’m sure that the Chavs won’t be shy with the cheque book either. Klopp will start to mould his own team at the Scousers so there could be some interesting times ahead.
As for Sanogo? My guess is that he was punching considerably above his weight at Charlton.
The other rumour gathering dust is the one involving Morata. Some suggest a total package in excess of ยฃ50. His record at Juve is not even 1 in 4. Ollie G’s Aresnal record is 1 in every 2.3 games. Just think how he got slaughtered last year.
Again, I’ve seen very little of Morata but from his stats you have to wonder if he really is out of the top drawer.
It’s all getting very very very tempting…….
Go on then.
It’s a Stevie T wonder strike from 30 yards out.
Top corner…..
And another thing……….
Clive,
I don’t think we can judge players like Xhaka readily without at least giving him the chance of seeing how he adapts and plays in the PL. Ozil arrived with a big reputation and it took 2 years for him to adjust. Conversely, people derided signings like Kos, Elnenny, Vieira etc who were also lesser known players at the time. So I say lets give him a chance and be grateful to see players come in.
I see Xhaka as a player who can provide options that we just didn’t have last year. Remember when we had to play Rambo and Flamini in front of the back four and how utterly futile that proved to be? It is no fluke that Elnenny has played so many times since his arrival in January. I think Xhaka may well be a more physical and tenacious type of player who can also pass and retain possession and I welcome that.
As to where everyone will fit it, well I don’t think even Wenger knows the answer to that question! Rambo and Jack are going to have to prove their fitness and man-up if they want to make a place in this side – and there’s no harm in that at all. Competition is a good thing.
As for a striker, I think Wenger will buy at least one central striker and possibly a wide player too. The top table strikers are all taken and not even money will buy them. Circumstances need to align themselves so the selling club has an adequate replacement which is why you sometimes see deals fall into place with a domino effect. In relation to Morata, I rate him as a player: he is 23, he has quick feet and can kick with both of them, is very good in the air and has good pace too. I think he’s underrated. However Benzema’s future at RM is far from certain given that he’s been dropped from the French team in light of the Valbueno affair. So I wouldn’t be counting any chickens even in relation to Morata. These players are hard to buy especially when someone like Wenger shows an interest, even if you have money to do business.
I’ll take Morata .. have seen his goals.., all he needs is a proper assist provider(Ozil!).
We definitely need to sign a forward.. what being Welbeck out and the uncertainty in form from Giroud over a whole season..!
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http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160523/arsenal-agree-deal-with-granit-xhaka
Rumoured at ยฃ35m!… hope he has as big an impact as Alexis!
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Now a proper striker please….
Now go sign Higuain, please.
But… but …. Yaya Sanogoals is still waiting to get his chance! We can’t kill a young player, bath.
We can’t kill him but we can give him away to Dagenham & Redbridge. ๐
We signed someone!
Anyone know who he is? Where does he play? Is he any good?
Is there an actual danger of us buying players, in a timely manner, who are better than the ones we have? Or getting rid of some of the driftwood?
Great start Arsenal, assuming the lad is a decent player at least. This is usually followed by months of signing no one. Please don’t stop. Buy some top players. We all know we need a striker who scores 25 league goals, so just make it happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksEKloncNTs
A fate worse than death, bath.
For Dagenham.
I hope we signed him not only based on that video link above ๐
Anyone know who he is? Where does he play? Is he any good?
Yes.
London.
Not if we’ve signed him.
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Ha, Cynic.
You’ve said it all there, really. ?
Proper summer thunderstorm. Even the chickens knew it was time to go inside.
Cynic: the change regarding denial of goal-scoring opportunity is only for fouls inside the penalty area. A very good change if you ask me. I’ve read through the changes and I think they are all very good changes apart from the inexplicable one where you can be flagged off for offside for standing inside the goal. Do not understand one that at all.
Oh, and I also don’t quite get why you will now be allowed to change the goalie at any time during a penalty shootout.
The plethora of midfielders has a new addition and the name is Xhaka, welcome to the home of football, welcome to the greatest team the world has ever seen.
Striker and Cb up next and i would gladly take a chicharito or a morata, fleet footed and willing runners, both. if we do not get any, i know this maybe moot but a last minute bid for defoe maybe? the spurs connection apart, he is good enough aint he? will score for sure, fitness maybe the issue.
Xhaka could mean the end of the road for whom/ Coq, santi,ramsey? names mentioned would not want to sit on the bench for long and if you have paid the kind of money said for granit, he plays.
Apparently the only reason ManU has not announced Moaninho yet is because of his image/naming rights that belong to the chavs..
..sincerely did not know anyone could trademark “C*nt!”ยฎ
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Defoe? Defoe?
Vinay, are you alright? What is he good enough for? You would find many Gooners who would happily agree that he is not good enough for a public flogging.
‘Moot’ is not the word I would use. Four letters and ends with an ‘t’ sounds about right though.
Yeah. You read me right.
I am calling him a twit.
Seriously? Jermaine Defoe?
*shakes head in sheer bewilderment*
I’m paying no attention to footy. I happened to tune in a little bit today, on a whim, and it appears I checked out .com within an hour of the signing confirmation. I knew my spidey sense was tingling.
But after the fun of signing some bloke I’ve never heard of and then brushing up on who he is (ta Cynic!) I’ve just been reminded of all that summers bring. Silly season will send me back into hibernation very soon.
We will not be bidding for Jermaine Defoe. So I fully expect it to appear in the papers any day now.
Along with the return of Niklas Bendtner, Yaya Sanogo’s resurrection (did we actually kill him yet?) and John Hartson’s big comeback as no-one else is available. All of them are, of course, players I would pick ahead of Jermaine Defoe.
Y’know how sometimes you give someone a rude middle name as a nickname. Like Louis ‘bitey’ Suarez? Or John ‘racist’ Terry? I just can’t think of a thing to put between ‘Jermaine’ and ‘Defoe’ that makes that worse.
It seems somewhat redundant to refer to him as Jermaine ‘Jermaine Defoe’ Defoe.
Jermaine Defoe, that is really REALLY funny! Well done Vinay.
Given a choice of striker, I’d go hammer and tongs for Griezmann. I think that lad is a real player in the making.
The ยฃ33.75m we are paying for Xhaka turns a tidy profit for B.MG who paid Basel ยฃ13.5m for him in 2012.
And if you are wondering how to pronounce his name, he says it for you here: https://youtu.be/OHcufEcz48w, although the interview is stupid.
Clive: Xhaka is like a taller, stronger and more durable Jack Wilshere. Both left-footed, tenacious playmakers capable of putting the boot in when necessary, with Xhaka probably the more technically gifted. Some shrewd European managers rate him highly. Once he settles to the Premiership, I think we’ll have a player. Here’s hoping.
Xhaka and win a tee >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>