Agreed but it looks like this could be legitimate interest on our part.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
We need to change the profile of player we go for, hope Arteta makes that clear so he gets the players that suit him and his system.
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Agreed but it looks like this could be legitimate interest on our part.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
We need to change the profile of player we go for, hope Arteta makes that clear so he gets the players that suit him and his system.
Hope these Boateng rumours are nonsense, we don't want to waste any of our money on ageing over the hill CBs we'll need to spend to replace in a year, just like we did with Sokratis, you'd hope the club would learn it's lesson, though you never know with this club.
Also worryingly, this sounds very similar to something Wenger might have said, if worded slightly differently:
https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/05/bayer...teta-12004322/Quote:
Asked about Arsenal’s transfer plans for January, Arteta said last week:
‘Obviously we have a bad injury with Calum a few days ago that will change our plans at the back. ‘The reality is we will not be able to do much. I’m more concerned about getting players back from injury and try to improve the players I have here, get everybody on board and understanding what we’re trying to do.
'And if something extra comes up and we think it is the right opportunity to improve what we have, then let’s do it.’Asked about Arsenal’s transfer plans for January, Arteta said last week: ‘Obviously we have a bad injury with Calum a few days ago that will change our plans at the back. ‘The reality is we will not be able to do much. I’m more concerned about getting players back from injury and try to improve the players I have here, get everybody on board and understanding what we’re trying to do.
The players coming back will be like new signings :coffee:
I don’t often take the owners’ side, but if I were Stan or Josh I’d be livid, if I heard the club was looking at this kind of player again - that combo of high wages and no resale value is everything we should be avoiding right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
If the interest is genuine then it needs to be a 5 month loan only, with nothing in there about buying at the end of it...
That is some reaching.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Expected really - he’s only had this group of players for a couple of weeks, so he’ll want some time to see what they can do for him before he starts drawing up a shopping list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Moreover he sounds like he’s just being realistic / pragmatic about the situation: we’re low on funds and January tends to be a restricted, expensive window at the best of times. Odds are nothing much will happen, so best to concentrate on the parts of the job that you can affect, while you wait to see what Edu and co can find.
CB is at least an obvious one that doesn’t need much assessment and can’t really be ignored - we’re down to two older, less athletic / energetic options (who haven’t had a break over Christmas) and Holding, who hasn’t played for a year, and could be blighted with minor setbacks for a while to come. Don’t know what exactly has gone wrong with Mavropanos, but if he hasn’t played by now then I’m not sure he ever will. This one definitely needs an addition...
Are you suggesting that injured players should be disregarded in our planning?Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Tierney and Holding have been major losses, also MartinellI
it's definitely going to strengthen us a lot to get them back
Right. And we can't go around spending lots of money to replace players who will be back in 6 months, although we should be looking at opportunities to strengthen the squad to mitigate the impact of injuries to key players.
You've forgotten the Emirates favourite, Mustafi.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Mustastrophe must never play again!Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
To be honest, I personally wouldn't expect that, anyone that watches English football can tell you which players can't cut it, Mustafi, Xhaka, Sokratis Luiz (at CB), Kolasinac, they don't need to spend months assessing these guys, they just aren't good enough point blank.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
It worries me considerably that Arteta wanted Man City to sign Xhaka and that he's been so complimentary about him to be honest, the guys just isn't up to it and if someone who has seen him play can't come to that conclusion I can only think there is something wrong with their eyesight.
The facts are there, we've struggled this season and for good reason, we had a manager who didn't know what he was doing and some absolute calamities in defence, those are the facts, what we need is better quality players, the last thing we need is another manager who insists on using these guys moving forward, they need to be in the past, they aren't part of the future, not if we want to achieve anything anyway.
Not all of them, maybe Chambers who IMO is going to struggle to get back and isn't much of a defender IMO and maybe Bellerin who is hugely overrated and maybe we should consider cashing in on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
I'm not convinced about Holding, he seems to have become a better defender in many peoples' eyes whilst he's been injured, I think he's an OK defender but nothing special IMO, we can do better than him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
We don't really have many outstanding young players to be honest and we have none in defence, it's seem Mavropanos was a waste of money as well, when he's not injured he's not getting game time.
I think you're looking a little too far ahead here, mate - the kind of mass-culling that you're talking about is something that you tackle in the summer, when you've got time to disappear off somewhere for a couple of months to knit a new team together.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
For now, I'm not really looking beyond what we might be able to do in January, and that doesn't sound like it's going to be much. You raised concerns yourself the other day that we've already committed a significant chunk of next summer's budget to financing the Pepe deal, so I'm not really sure what your expectations are here? Personally speaking, I think we'll be doing well if we can even find a decent CB to come in and cover the loss of Chambers, and, reading Arteta's comments, it doesn't sound like he's pinning any hopes on it either.
Hence the comments about him assessing the players he has and trying to figure out a way to make them useful (as he already has with several of them) - if we can make one or two deals happen then I'm sure he'd welcome them, but I also think / hope he's smart enough to realise that he could be stuck with this group of players until at least May, and needs to keep every player on side, confident and motivated. If you're going to ditch a player then you do it quick and clean, with no warning and with the deal for a replacement already done - however, right up until the very moment before they leave, they're still your player and you might still have to rely on them, so you keep your mouth shut. If you want an example of how not to do it, just look at last summer when we very publicly tried to force out Mustafi and Özil, couldn't find buyers, and then ended up with two fucked off players in the camp who we eventually had to recall and ask to do a job for us! Hearing Mustafi being told to find another club might have sounded great to us fans, but practically speaking it was disastrous management. I really hope Arteta is wiser than that.
If it makes you feel any better, I think the manager's opinion may almost be irrelevant when it comes to moving certain players on in the summer - unless we get back into the CL pronto (or the senior players are all prepared to take pay cuts) then the numbers will probably make the decision for us.
We got it wrong on Ozil for sure and i actually blame Emery partly for that, he tried the same thing with Neymar but he again ended up being the one to go.
As for Mustafi though he can be told to do one IMO, i don't care how pissed off he is, the more the better in fact, we just don't need him, every time he gets played he shows how he's the biggest waste of £34m ever
Again, I think you need to do it quick and clean, if you're going to do it - if there's even a chance that you might end up having to recall the player to the starting XI (as we've had to do several times this season) then you keep any plans to move them on quiet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
Believe me, I get it - as fans, we desperately want to see some kind of sign that the club are on the same page as us, and are seeing what we're seeing. Ultimately though, it's counter-productive to play these things our in public - sounds good for 5 minutes, but then we're stuck with a miserable player, dragging down morale. Even if he doesn't have a single friend in the group, the other players will still look at him and think 'Will that be me if I hit a bad patch?'
Bored - announce someone.
Mustafi's a unique case IMO, it's rare one player makes so many goal-conceding mistakes and then compounds it by blaming the nearest teammate.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
tbh i'm amazed they haven't all given him a group kicking by now.
it beggars belief that i've heard him, Kola and Ozil are some kind of clique - wtf is the most talented ball-player in the squad doing with someone who makes Gunnersaurus look like Pele?
It must be a religious connection. Mustafi is awful on every level. worse even than the lanky donkey he replaced in our squad Mertesaker. At least he didint actively make goal conceding mistakes 4 times each game. Merts was simply slow and unathletic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
I keep saying to those who love Maureen that he too was very public of his praise for Xhaka.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Xhaka has played under 4 Arsenal managers now and they have all picked him consistantly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
Well they all speak German (and in 2 cases are German) and are muslim, which might not seem a lot to many, but is a big deal when you are in another country.
Holding is exactly the sort of player we shouldn't be selling. He cost peanuts and still has plenty of time to improve. In 2-3 years time we would still be able to make a profit on him.
I would actually still really love a player like Dunk. Good age at 27, the right player type (imo) and has a good amount of experience which would help someone like Saliba if he's playing next to him.
I'm not the guys biggest fans but this version of him I have a lot less issue with. If Arteta thinks he is useful for now, that will do for me for now. On his head be it....Quote:
Originally Posted by GP
Hell I even saw Xhaka skip past a few opposition players against Leeds which up until now has been a very dormant skill in his repertoire.....albeit he failed to deliver a few very simple passes at the end.
Well even the worst players occasionally get something right, but ultimately he's a banter player IMO and if we're truly gonna be competitive, people like him need to be left behind.
The thing with players like Xhaka is they have a very specific way of playing the game. In the right team he could easily look like a world beater because despite whatever you think of him, his long range passing is at times extremely good. But in our team where short, sideways passing is often the go-to, then players like him will always be exposed.
Arteta's probably not getting any cash this window so he has to make do with what he's got. Given the injury list it's all hands on deck, including Xhaka, including Mustafi. We'll probably need everyone come the end of the season, certainly if we manage to progress in the FA Cup and EL and assuming we want to finish competently in the PL. Unless we're going into the transfer market, I doubt we can afford to lose anyone.
Xhaka is definitely a problem that can wait until the summer - hopefully his stock will have risen a little by then, and we'll be able to demand more than Hertha's €20m (or whatever they were offering)...
I'm happy for him to stay until the end of the season. But I don't see how we can move forward if he's still a starter for us after that. We need to get rid of the weak links.
I know he is yet to come back from his untimely death but I had no idea Sane's deal expires in 2021.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51069360
Sign him up, for a knockdown price. :pray:
The universe does owe us a German winger after Gnabry
Poldi to come back. :bow:
Sounds like Mustafi to Galatasaray is a done deal.
How has Arteta pulled that off?
Blackmail.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
:pray:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Told him they were going to Disneyland.Quote:
Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...
Spuds signing Gedson Fernandes on loan.
https://www.skysports.com/football/n...ica-midfielder
Man Utd in talks to sign Bruno Fernandes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51093854
Mustafi looking like he is on his way out, Mavrapanos out on loan, Chambers out for the season. I sure hope we have some defenders lined up.
Bit of talk that we’re considering a loan move for John Stones.
Squadron Musfafi about to touch down in Istanbul. Yippee!Quote:
Originally Posted by Thierrymon