Summer transfer joy and happiness

[Power n Glory]

It's a bit of a gamble though.

You have to look at Unai, Sven and Raul's track record when it comes to signing players and development. They have a track record of taking risks. I don't expect us to do what Liverpool did and sign a defender for £75m.

[selassie]

I'm not happy and, to be honest, very disappointed that we are signing old players, don't care if they're on a free or not, they still require wages. If we want to get 'back up there' we need to be signing younger, proven players. These old players will be out with long term- injuries be fore you can blink twice. Where is the ambition???

I am not entirely happy either but I do understand the logic behind it. We are trying to stabilise the team with experience and make a push for top 4 / Europa league win before going down the route of spending larger amounts on top quality young talent.

Right now we don't have the pull of a Liverpool or any of the other CL clubs in PL, we have been out of CL for 2 seasons now and are going through quite a big transition. Going to a CL club such as Liverpool or dare I say even Spurs is a far safer bet for a player right now, especially a younger one with bundles of potential.

It will take a few seasons and a marked improvement before we are going to be in the mix for the likes of your "Keita" and "Fabinho". We don't have that pull right now.

[Cripps]

For years people wanted solid experienced players and now we're signing them they're moaning and want young unproven players

[Niall_Quinn]

Seems to me Wenger left us in a lot more trouble than we thought. The away form became a bit of a joke because we'd long given up the season, but for a supposedly competitive sports team it should be a deafening alarm.

Wenger kept trying to write it off as bad luck - "We dominated, we had possession, we don't know how we lost that game, lacked little bit sharpness in final third..." But what it really was is a lack of spine, a failure of courage under fire, fear and collapse at the slightest pressure. Wenger transformed us slowly but surely and with the determination of a deranged zealot into the gun shy gunners.

This squad is weak. The individuals are weak. Coddled. Cosseted. Lied to about the failings and deficiencies. Our star player can't be bothered to turn up - where else would that be tolerated? Our wingers can't cross. Our defenders can't clear a ball. Our midfielders have no discipline. All of them are afraid to shoot at goal. None of them learn from their mistakes because Wenger never accepted the ongoing calamity as a mistake.

So what do you do when your foot soldiers are soft as hell and can be overrun and flee the battle when the enemy says BOO? You get real fighters in to kick their arses. Drill sergeants who are more frightening than the enemy. This is surely what we are doing. Taking the first steps in halting the terrible decline in the competitive spirit of the club.

Wenger used to go on all the time about spirit. Such bullshit. He didn't mean fighting spirit, he meant happy and cuddly (we all get along famously) spirit. Big words and promises of big deeds before and after the battles, and an arse kicking on the battlefield. We saw it time and time again, Wenger prattling on about the best spirit ever and spokesmen emerging after each embarrassment to assure us how different it would be in the future. I called Wenger the worst manager in football, because he was. Look at our squad of millionaires if you want the proof.

It was often said, at the height of Wenger's nonsense, it wouldn't make any difference if we signed Messi. And in the early days of this new regime the same remains true. It was often said the squad lacked even the basic requirements to be competitive. True. Emery has to start at the very beginning. From scratch. He has to rebuild every player that Wenger ruined. He has to reverse the happy families mentality and instil the competitive bastard in every player and then into the squad as a whole. And then his biggest challenge is to build a team from a collection of wet lettuce individuals.

So we see old heads arriving rather than Messi. It was inevitable. The squad can't be refined or improved at this stage, it needs to be created.

I'd say Emery and the team have one of the toughest challenges in football. I'm going to give them plenty of leeway and a fair amount of time to make a go of it. And I think they will. I'm not worried by any of this because I know with absolute certainty nothing could be worse than one more season under Wenger. He would have absolutely destroyed us had he managed to cling on. Now there are people who know what they are doing in charge. That can only make a huge difference for the better.

[selassie]

Seems to me Wenger left us in a lot more trouble than we thought. The away form became a bit of a joke because we'd long given up the season, but for a supposedly competitive sports team it should be a deafening alarm.

Wenger kept trying to write it off as bad luck - "We dominated, we had possession, we don't know how we lost that game, lacked little bit sharpness in final third..." But what it really was is a lack of spine, a failure of courage under fire, fear and collapse at the slightest pressure. Wenger transformed us slowly but surely and with the determination of a deranged zealot into the gun shy gunners.

This squad is weak. The individuals are weak. Coddled. Cosseted. Lied to about the failings and deficiencies. Our star player can't be bothered to turn up - where else would that be tolerated? Our wingers can't cross. Our defenders can't clear a ball. Our midfielders have no discipline. All of them are afraid to shoot at goal. None of them learn from their mistakes because Wenger never accepted the ongoing calamity as a mistake.

So what do you do when your foot soldiers are soft as hell and can be overrun and flee the battle when the enemy says BOO? You get real fighters in to kick their arses. Drill sergeants who are more frightening than the enemy. This is surely what we are doing. Taking the first steps in halting the terrible decline in the competitive spirit of the club.

Wenger used to go on all the time about spirit. Such bullshit. He didn't mean fighting spirit, he meant happy and cuddly (we all get along famously) spirit. Big words and promises of big deeds before and after the battles, and an arse kicking on the battlefield. We saw it time and time again, Wenger prattling on about the best spirit ever and spokesmen emerging after each embarrassment to assure us how different it would be in the future. I called Wenger the worst manager in football, because he was. Look at our squad of millionaires if you want the proof.

It was often said, at the height of Wenger's nonsense, it wouldn't make any difference if we signed Messi. And in the early days of this new regime the same remains true. It was often said the squad lacked even the basic requirements to be competitive. True. Emery has to start at the very beginning. From scratch. He has to rebuild every player that Wenger ruined. He has to reverse the happy families mentality and instil the competitive bastard in every player and then into the squad as a whole. And then his biggest challenge is to build a team from a collection of wet lettuce individuals.

So we see old heads arriving rather than Messi. It was inevitable. The squad can't be refined or improved at this stage, it needs to be created.

I'd say Emery and the team have one of the toughest challenges in football. I'm going to give them plenty of leeway and a fair amount of time to make a go of it. And I think they will. I'm not worried by any of this because I know with absolute certainty nothing could be worse than one more season under Wenger. He would have absolutely destroyed us had he managed to cling on. Now there are people who know what they are doing in charge. That can only make a huge difference for the better.

[selassie]

So we are signing a defender who played on one of the worse defensive units in a league with really terrible defending

To be fair it was only last season that Sokratis's performance dipped a bit, Dortmund as a whole struggled defensively. Prior to that, Sokratis had a rep as one of the best CB's in Bundesliga.

I personally would have preferred someone younger but I am more than satisfied with this signing.

He is a no nonsense experienced defender, he has played at the highest level and won stuff, he is no slouch either and will come and organise our defence.

He is absolutely an upgrade on what we have with exception of Kos, assuming Kos isn't clapped out after all his injuries and his poor form last season.

That experienced Swiss full back from Juve who we are signing on a free will also bring much needed experience and a will to win.

I have faith that these guys will come in and help with organising the defensive side of our team, right now it is a complete mess.

[hobson's choice]

I'm not happy and, to be honest, very disappointed that we are signing old players, don't care if they're on a free or not, they still require wages. If we want to get 'back up there' we need to be signing younger, proven players. These old players will be out with long term- injuries be fore you can blink twice. Where is the ambition???

There is no ambition, Emery is our manager. That should be all you need to know bout our ambition.

[GP]

Dortmund fans opinion of Socrates

https://www.reddit.com/r/borussiador...ulos/?sort=top

[Mac76]

Koscielny needs to be let go. He is not half the player he used to be and that isnt even world class to start with. Mustafi is a lost cause so lets get what we can for him. I would keep Chambers and Holding. They may be redeemable under a manager who actually knows how to coach. That gives us 3 young CBs with the kid just signed. Lets get 2 wise heads like Chiellini and Lichstensteiner to show them the nuances of defending. Dont know why we after the other 2 Greek guys unless we are dumping both Chambers and Holding.

I had my doubts about signing older players, but what you're saying does make some sense as long as we can be reasonably certain that whoever we do sign is in as good shape as possible

i agree Holding and Chambers are worth trying to develop

I actually do think Kos could have been world class, because despite playing under Wenger, he showed great awareness, and timing, though the old goat broke him down in the end

[I am invisible]

...This squad is weak. The individuals are weak. Coddled. Cosseted. Lied to about the failings and deficiencies. Our star player can't be bothered to turn up - where else would that be tolerated? Our wingers can't cross. Our defenders can't clear a ball. Our midfielders have no discipline. All of them are afraid to shoot at goal. None of them learn from their mistakes because Wenger never accepted the ongoing calamity as a mistake.

So what do you do when your foot soldiers are soft as hell and can be overrun and flee the battle when the enemy says BOO? You get real fighters in to kick their arses. Drill sergeants who are more frightening than the enemy. This is surely what we are doing. Taking the first steps in halting the terrible decline in the competitive spirit of the club...

I think this is a problem that goes right back to the fabric of the club, and its need for everyone involved to feel like they're part of the Arsenal 'family'. I mean, I get what they're going for - they want a culture where everyone is more than just work colleagues, and will go that extra mile for each other - but unfortunately the family vibe is all wrong for a competitive environment. All it really does is create and comfortable, cozy atmosphere, where everyone knows that they can fuck up as many times as they like and the 'family' will always forgive them, welcome them back with open arm and shield them from criticism. The family is their safe place.

The vibe we should be aiming for is more like that of a group of soldiers - you still get that sense of brotherhood and comradery, and you know the guy next to you will always have your back if you get in trouble. But the key difference is, if you keep getting in trouble - if you become a constant liability - then the rest of the group will drum you out of the unit (for your own good as much as everyone else's).

As you say, hopefully the moves for guys like Sokratis and Lichtsteiner mark the first steps in that kind of switch in thinking - get a couple of drill sergeants in to help change the culture at the club (as well as do a job on the pitch).