Summer transfer joy and happiness

[I am invisible]

I suppose it is all relative though. We went the season unbeaten and haven't won the league since in 15 years. we have the highest priced tickets in the land and don't have a team to match the ticket price.

instead of looking to sign players maybe we just give our youth guys a go. there must be a left back who can do a job as both clichy and cole kinda of came from no where. And if this season we finish 7th and miss out on the Europa but give the players a year to bed in then is that such a bad thing.

I do think fans would get behind the team if they could see a plan to give youth a chance.

All the signs certainly point to this - Freddie’s promotion from the u23s to the first team, the 4 or 5 younger players who look like they’ll be following him, the focus on recruiting prospects like Martinelli and Saliba... looks like we’re definitely planning for a couple of years down the line.

I can get behind it - I just want to go into the next season feeling like there’s a definite plan there that I can follow with a bit of interest, even if it means taking a step back before we can move forward again. More than anything I want us to establish a footballing identity again, on and off the pitch - at the moment I haven’t got a clue what we stand for as a club or what I’m actually supporting?

[I am invisible]

The more I think about it, the more I think we should just spend whatever money we have this summer on the defence.

Wingers / wide forwards / ACMs - we have a group of young players coming through who can give us a boost here. We might not have any one option there who is ready to start every game, but between Nelson, Nketiah, ESR (if he doesn’t head back to Leipzig), Willock, Saka and maybe Martinelli, if even one of them is fired up and in the mood each week, even if it’s coming off the bench, then it’s more than we have now.

Central Midfield - we might have to get creative here, if it comes to it, but there’s still some things we could try, e.g. if we bring all these kids in to cover the wide areas, and gives us the options to play 433, then maybe we could give Iwobi a try as the 3rd man in a 3-man midfield (or we could try ESR or Willock as the 3rd man)? If we bring a RB in then we could move AMN back to midfield? Or we might be able to provide a bit of cover to Torreira with Bielik or Chambers? At the very least it’s something different and gives us more depth and options.

GK - give Martinez a go. That’s an easy one.

Defence - this is the only area where I don’t see internal solutions. The CBs are aging, we need fullbacks who will allow us to play a back 4 (and, by extension, more shapes than just 3412), and we desperately, desperately need to get rid of Mustafi (I actually think that and the shape-change will do as much for our defence as recruiting a good CB).

[dostoy]

Yeah.

Finished outside the top 4 by a point (2 I guess, with the goal difference) and got to the Europa League final.
Definitely getting relegated next season.
Grow up, you child. Honestly, you're acting like a spoilt toddler.

No not getting relegated but Arsenal are miles away from winning the PL and it will be a miracle if they finish in the top 4 or win a trophy.

A lot of that is due to Wenger buying terrible players and letting contracts run down and then paying Ozil crazy money.

I know you always wanted to suck Wenger off but even so.

If you can't see that, you're blind.

[Letters]

I suppose it is all relative though. We went the season unbeaten and haven't won the league since in 15 years.

True, but the glory years from 1998-2004 are the exceptional ones, historically we were never anywhere near that level, the only comparable period was the 30s.
That raised our expectation level to the point where a season where we finish 5th and lost a Cup Final is thought to be a failure. Historically we were never consistently at a top 4 level.
Read Fever Pitch.

And the last 15 years have been very heavily influenced by the billionaires buying up titles, and Fergie's last years. Since he retired Utd have not won a title or gone that close.
The year when Leicester won it was probably Wenger's biggest failing, it was there for the taking that year and it was Spurs who looked more likely to capitalise

we have the highest priced tickets in the land and don't have a team to match the ticket price.

That is certainly true.

[Letters]

No not getting relegated but Arsenal are miles away from winning the PL and it will be a miracle if they finish in the top 4 or win a trophy.

Miles away from the title certainly but last season we were 2 points off a top 4 spot and got to a Cup Final.
Why would it suddenly be a miracle if we do those things this year, we were very close to doing both those things last year.
Wenger clearly needed to go and some of the issues about contract management and signings you mention I agree with.
But you're massively over-stating how terrible he was and the state we're in.
I do fear for the club with the current ownership though.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Looking more and more like the difference is going to have to come from coaching on the training pitch....

[GP]

Edu announced as technical director.

[Letters]

Break a leg.



Too soon?

[GP]

Yes, because that was Eduardo.

[Letters]

Yes, because that was Eduardo.

Letters




I knew it was one of them foreigners whose name started with an E