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And as of yet.... we still haven't.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Not only are we deciding between Sesko or Gyokores but now today's rumors are we are looking at Barcola from PSG and Watkins again.
That would suggest the dithering is back and the thing with Watkins is, we didn't buy him in January as he wasn't our main target so if we are indeed looking at him again, then why didn't we just buy him when we were so desperately in need ffs :banghead:
Or it could suggest newspapers are simply generating stories or are in hoc with agents to put a clients name out there to generate interestQuote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Well yes there is that - or we could actually be looking at them.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
We could but even if so given Barcola is a winger, that doesn’t suggest necessarily dithering over a StrikerQuote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Listen it feels to me like your passing everything through the most negative filter and not completely unfairly, the last two windows were a gigantic shit fest. It’s not that I trust the club to do what it needs to do, it’s just for me too early to be doom mungering over what we haven’t yet done….if you want to get in early and say I told you so a month or so down the line, you go for it. But ultimately I find that “expect the worst and you won’t be disappointed” generally never works like that, so if you require validation, there are others on here to do that better than I can.
If the club doesn’t set its transfer timetable to the whims of pensive fans then I’m not going to get too upset by that. I don’t need the instant gratification of a signing, I more want to know that a player has been signed that will improve us and if that takes time and haggling so be it.
The only choice we are really left with as fans is to give the club and the manager enough rope to hang themselves, the last time I got so wound up when something wasn’t happening was when Abdulbaset Al-Megrahi was released to go home to Libya on compassionate grounds (a lot more compassion than was shown to the poor bastards on that Pan-Am flight or on the ground in Lockerbie). He was expected to die within three months and the bastard went on living for three years. So every month I posted in frustration that he was still alive.
it was interesting that Arteta also expressed some frustration about that which tells me it's not his fault, or certainly not entirely on him.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
On the subject of people that are still alive, and makes me angry. Sidney Cooke….what keeps that rancid fucker going. At the age of 98, does he will himself to keep going in the hope of getting out so he can start abusing children again.
Would there really be an inquiry if a prison officer “accidentally” pushed the evil old cunt down a stair well
Or he could be deflecting blame from himself?Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
He’s been given plenty of money to spend one way or the other and in 11 transfer windows, he’s continuously neglected to strengthen us in attacking areas. So he’s not singularly responsible, but neither is he free from responsibility
AW thinks we should sign Isak.
I think I can safely assume that Arteta will never go for him as long as he breathes seeing whom the recommendation is coming from.
Though it is a bit funny to see AW reinventing himself from a penny pincher to a realist when it comes to obtaining quality. Took him a while, but he got there.
BTW as much as I love the idea of Isak, I repeat I'd rather use the money needed to complete the deal to get 2 strikers. He's a great player, but not a god.
https://goonernews.com/blog/arsenal-...lexander-isak/
Is there enmity from Arteta towards Wenger that I’m unaware of?
Let’s be fair, Wenger was only frugal when he had to be. Last five years of his time he spent a fair bit of money (about 375 million odd)
It's not like I'm aware of anything either but basing my assumption on Arteta's character...I mean, ain't no way he'll take advice from someone he's hoping to eclipse someday.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
https://youtu.be/k5tWZHJkjec?si=2tWp2TJd_2q_e3t4
Seems HCZ opened his own youtube channel and didn't mention it :lol:
Seriously though, an interesting look back bringing up a few names one has forgotten about.
Wait? You mean I’m not the only one to notice how players from the Portuguese league don’t always fair well elsewhere?. Knock me down with a feather :lol:
Day 4 of the transfer window:
No. of signings - 0
Players likely to leave - 1
Also Zubimendi has been stirring things up behind the scenes. It was reported that he was in London at the start of the week for his medical with us - to which he responded by uploading photos of himself on the beach.
He then also stated that his future was uncertain and then spoke about Alonso being his idol and he wouldn't rule out joining up with him again.
Not a great start from a supposed 'done deal' signing.
I'm not so sure, I think Arteta idolises Wenger based on his time at the club as a player.Quote:
Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
I'm sure I read somewhere that Wenger said Arteta was always spending time with him asking about coaching, tactics, etc.
And thenQuote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
He uploaded those photos to demonstrate what a load of bollox the press report. So why did you believe it was a done deal?Quote:
Not a great start from a supposed 'done deal' signing.
There's obviously something going on there, I try not to pay too much attention to press chatter as 90% of it is made up or at best speculative.
Because by all accounts he was set to be signing for us - but his latest comments suggest he is angling for a move to RM.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
I mean, I know media talk bollox in the transfer window, but this was reported everywhere since January as happening :shrug:
My default is to ignore the media chatter but there has been a lot about this so it would be annoying if it doesn't happen.
Time will tell I guess.
Dont forget.....Jesus, Gabriel, Tommy and Havertz will be like new signings when they return!Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
We aint signing anyone of note Guys. Deep down, we all know it. :rose:
This encapulates fans' frustrations (that of course will differ from reality), but all we have to go on are the reports.Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
There could be 2 ways of looking at the Gyokeres/Sesko situation. The first is that no sensible club will be seen to go 'all in' on a single player, because this invites the selling club simply to name its price. The second is that despite Sesko reportedly being Arteta/the club's main target for a year, Arsenal are dithering with alternate choices. I suspect the reality is that we are seeing a bit of both. Under ordinary circumstances this would be understadable - after all you have to approach transfer business with B; C and probably D options. But such is the glaring and damaging need for a striker at Arsenal; and such is our track record of indecisiveness in the market, that being seen to be considering so many different alternatives at this stage does not instill confidence...
I'd be surprised if that's true and disappointed if it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
There surely has to be recognition in the club that we are light up front and that needs addressing if we are serious about challenging next year.
With the CL run we should have the money to splash out.
I think my observation is that there is a chasm of difference between going out of your way to piss off and alienate fans and pandering to the whims of fans. If you were the coach or the director of football, you wouldn’t give a fuck who the fans think you should buy and when you should get a transfer completed by, because you have your own internal considerations.
Arteta is a stubborn fuck, but I think there’s no question that he is prepared to do everything to win the big prizes (whether he’s capable of delivering remains to be seen), I have my many differences with him but I think there’s absolutely no doubting his ambition. KSE? I’m not sure I can say the same, although of course they’ve had success with superbowl wins for the Rams franchise, as well as other sports….but too often it feels like they are satisfied with champions league qualification as an ends in of itself because the club is part of their asset portfolio.
If it appears we dither, a) it’s partly because spend more time looking at what we do as a club relative to other clubs b) KSE care more about overheads than success.
If that is the case, there’s not a lot we can do about it….they are never going to sell up because solid assets will always be more valuable to people who have that much wealth than liquid assets.
This is not to say we won’t get the players we need to win the titles we want, it’s just there’s less guarantee of that because it isn’t the first priority of the ownership.
Oh we will sign players (and some of note) whether it will be enough signings and whether they will be in areas we need enough to get us where we need to be, that remains to be seenQuote:
Originally Posted by Letters
This is all sadly very true.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
We also had reports yesterday I think, that we are the most well run club in the PL and could spend £200m without worrying about PSR.
I don't think we need to go crazy. We weren't far away last year. Only Liverpool were better than us and we've talked about how a few things went for them and against us. Had that gone a different way the gap would have been smaller IMO. In Europe, semi-finals isn't to be sniffed at and we dominated PSG for enough of the 2 legs to suggest that with more up front we could have beaten them.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
We need a proper striker and just generally need a bit more depth. But I don't think we have much to do in order to challenge next year.
I have faith that our summer will be a good one. The faith is because I think it’s likely that Arteta could be sacked next year if this team can’t push on again or even worse, struggle to qualify for the CL. So I think the club will give it everything this summer to try and make next season a success. Can’t be any excuses next season.
I don’t know if we need to “go crazy” but the squad is already quite thin and is likely to get thinnerQuote:
Originally Posted by Letters
I think we need a minimum of one striker, a player that can play anywhere amongst the front three and a creative midfielder at bare minimum.
We also need to make sure no money is spent on this Goldilocks left back position, we’ve got MLS and we’ve got Calafiori as a backup that’s better than most sides have. We also shouldn’t be fannying about trying to bring in a reserve goalkeeper and turning that into another Goldilocks position, we don’t need to be eating money that needs to be spent primarily
Really I don’t think we need Zubimendi unless we sell Partey , I’d like to sign him but I think it should then trigger us letting go of Merino.
Everything needs to be geared towards creating more chances and scoring more goals
:gp:Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
This line above is really everything, and TBH, if you look at our rivals, we actually have the easiest job to do because we are certain all we need to resolve is this, and this alone. Plus we've known this for a year, so our headstart should give us another solid advantage.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Anyway, let's see how it goes, but I tell you for free that I've got my fingers crossed this summer.
I don't think creating chances is necessarily the issue - we created loads this season, we just didn't have anyone to finish them.
I do think adding creativity will help to an extent, but two goal scorers is the big one.
Saw this posted by someone around the interweb:
That's where I think I fall on the subject.Quote:
People can say 'it's only been a few days' all they want but people need to understand...many of us have seen the way this club has operated, and failed, in windows for the last 20 years. We know the telltale signs. We have a healthy level of cynicism. And already, those signs are there.
on that note:
Day 5 of the transfer window:
No. of signings - 0
Players likely to leave - 1
Players leaving - 4
I disagree strongly. I think creativity is almost a bigger issue than a goalscorer (clearly we need that as well)Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
You look at most analysis of our game, we generate few chances inside the box because the defence is packed and we don’t do enough in build up play to commit defenders and breach defensive lines.
We have lots of shots, that’s not the same as creating lots of chances…most of these shots come from areas that have low likelihood of becoming goals, and either go wide or are blocked
In the 23/24 season we created a total of 503 chances.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
This season we created a total of 427 chances
Whilst we have dropped in terms of chances created this year, it was the same players creating those chances last season.
So our style of play has hindered our attacking ability but in terms of personnel, they are not strictly the issue.
But that tells you nothing about the type of chances created
Our average XG this season was 1.97
Compare that to Liverpool who were at 2.45
There’s no doubt we need a goalscorer to put away chances, but our XG is not massively in excess of the goals scored. I would imagine last season, that we outperformed our XG
Last season can best be split into two, the first half of the season where we scored 38 goals in 20 games, and the second half where we scored 53 in 18.
Much of that 18 game period we opened the scoring from set pieces, and we scored relatively early on in the game…thus opening up the game
I think what’s changed this season is a) teams did better at neutralising our set piece routines and b) I think teams felt like they could be patient at one goal down and hit us on the break if we overcommitted looking for a second goal to kill things off.
Surely the pressure will also be in Andrea Berta Bassett if we fail on transfers? He is meant to be one of the best in business.Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Mind you, we have the capability to ruin good players, maybe we will do the same with a Director of Football <_<
Is 53 a typo?Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
If you really want to get your doom juices ( :sick: ) going, I saw something this morning about 20 players leaving.Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
I suspect that includes a load of academy players who didn't make the grade.
No it’s a miscountQuote:
Originally Posted by Letters
It should be 37 in the first 20 games, and 54 in the last 18
Oh hang on. By last season do you mean 23/24? Cos the season is finished so I thought you were taking about the one just gone.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn