Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours 2020/2021

Basil3

Basil3 wrote: »

At the start of the season, I was thinking the fixture list could work in our favour. We were away to 4 of the other 5 'big 6' clubs in the first half of the season, meaning we would have them all at home with crowds in the second half of the season.

How wrong was I, will be shocked if we get any crowds this season.

I was wondering if the lack of crowds had any impact on home/away advantage.
Quick look showed that in the Bundesliga home advantage disappeared once the crowds were gone.
I had a look the other day and there have been more away wins than home wins in the PL this season.

L'prof

j14 wrote: »

Just looked at Villas fixtures:

City A
Arsenal H
Leicester H
Leeds A
Liverpool A
City H
Everton A
Utd H
Spurs A
Chelsea H

Some tricky games in there for them.

Have you had a look at Arsenal’s games by any chance? Same applies

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

I was wondering if the lack of crowds had any impact on home/away advantage.
Quick look showed that in the Bundesliga home advantage disappeared once the crowds were gone.
I had a look the other day and there have been more away wins than home wins in the PL this season.

Yeah, that's why I was thinking that by the time the crowds came back, we would have an advantage for some of the big games. It doesn't look like that will be happening.

I'm hoping we can keep in reasonable form through the next couple of months. Our fixture list for the last 8 or so matches of the season is handy enough.

Basil3

Basil3 wrote: »

Yeah, that's why I was thinking that by the time the crowds came back, we would have an advantage for some of the big games. It doesn't look like that will be happening.

I'm hoping we can keep in reasonable form through the next couple of months. Our fixture list for the last 8 or so matches of the season is handy enough.

We probably should have had the advantage in the away games already though. :pac:

beer enigma

Tierney had work on his calf muscle today, no major issue apparently just lacking strength.

beer enigma

Great photo

https://twitter.com/Lacazest/status/1351366327571800065?s=20

wonski

Chelsea manager might get a text message from the club owner after the game is over, though.

Most teams have 1+ game to be played anyway.

We are nowhere near top 6.

Just because we are getting close to Chelsea we won't get medal for that.

wonski

OmegaGene wrote: »

Who said arsenal are top 6 or getting a medal for getting close to Chelsea ?
This thread has some weird comments lately

Maybe I read your post wrong thinking us getting closer to Chelsea is a good sign.

Weird comments?

I thought that was common thing here.

What I wanted to say was while I agree it's weird season, being closer to Chelsea now is irrelevant

Being reasonable we have terrible season. That's all I wanted to say.

5star02707

2 Southampton away games before the United game.

Ooof, still can win them all

Ol' Donie

5star02707 wrote: »

2 Southampton away games before the United game.

Ooof, still can win them all

One game at a time. All I know is I can't wait for the next match again, and it's lovely to have that feeling back.

Only City have more points than us from the last 5 games.

beer enigma

Last night may have had another benefit, seems there may be ructions between Balogun(ner) and his agent.

ESR is represented by Jordan Wise and getting game time, Folarin is with the much bigger Elite group and not getting as much game time as he prob deserves. Stand off between afc and elite could be the issue and Folarin not happy... Especially with ESR just signing a new 40k a week contract

emmetlego

beer enigma wrote: »

Last night may have had another benefit, seems there may be ructions between Balogun(ner) and his agent.

ESR is represented by Jordan Wise and getting game time, Folarin is with the much bigger Elite group and not getting as much game time as he prob deserves. Stand off between afc and elite could be the issue and Folarin not happy... Especially with ESR just signing a new 40k a week contract

Oooh, fingers crossed!

jonneymendoza

greendom wrote: »

In all of Wenger's time at the club, Arsenal never played such consistently turgid football as Arteta's 11 was producing week after week. I'm absolutely delighted he's turned it around but I don't feel guilty in thinking the club was very close to needing change.

Yes they did with a far superior squad than we had.

We was dire. Always getting beaten easily by any decent side in the league or europe.

We leaked goals for fun and showed no spine at all.

Walcott summed it up recently saying arsenal the club where happy with 4th and so was the majority of the players(who wenger bought)

Wenger also showed no tactical knowledge or adapting at all. Always played the same predictable way.

Half if not most of the problem we have now is down to him overstaying his welcome and instilling medicore attitude to the club .

Half if not more than half the players on the squad are wenger and we all know wenger had A LOT of say in the transfer dealings. Much much more than Arteta or Emery

jonneymendoza

beer enigma wrote: »

Last night may have had another benefit, seems there may be ructions between Balogun(ner) and his agent.

ESR is represented by Jordan Wise and getting game time, Folarin is with the much bigger Elite group and not getting as much game time as he prob deserves. Stand off between afc and elite could be the issue and Folarin not happy... Especially with ESR just signing a new 40k a week contract

Balogun needs to get rid of his agent or tell him he wants to either stay or leave arsenal.

End of the day its Balogun decision. The agent is there just to help tigh the not so to speak.

Its not the agent decision whether Balogun should sign or not, its up to Balogun end of the day.

The thing is, Balogun not getting game time is fine. Who is he gunna play ahead of? an inform laczette and now a inform aubameyang?

Heck i would even put Martineli ahead of Balogun too! thats 3 ahead of him. well for if you count Saka.

Nikheta has more experience than Balogun and he is ahead of him in that regards so possibly 5 players ahead of Balogun.

Balogun has to play as good as lacazette/aubameyang to be on that teamsheet i am afraid

jonneymendoza

wonski wrote: »

Chelsea manager might get a text message from the club owner after the game is over, though.

Most teams have 1+ game to be played anyway.

We are nowhere near top 6.

Just because we are getting close to Chelsea we won't get medal for that.

nowhere year? we are 7 points behind 4th nevermind 6th....


7 points is NOTHING at this stage of the season

Hyzepher

February is going to define our season given the number of games and the opposition. A solid Feb could put us in a much more respectable position

Quazzie

Hyzepher wrote: »

February is going to define our season given the number of games and the opposition. A solid Feb could put us in a much more respectable position

I think there also needs to be some reallistic views about where we are at right now too.

I'd love to see people's predictions/expectations for the upcoming games below. It might serve as a good indicator as the games happen. A lot of people seemed to be calling for Arteta's head when we lost some big games before, when the reality is, due to us rebuilding a new side (club?), a new manager, new focuses etc, we are unlikely to be competitive for at least a year or two. We've seen a lot of positives of late, but the reality is we're beating teams classed as bottom to mid table, so it's not the sign of a second coming, more so that we are perhaps finding a bit more of a shape and fluidity to the team than before.

Southampton (A) FA CUP W
Southampton (A) D
Man United (H) D
Wolves (A) D
Aston Villa (A) W
Leeds United (H) W
Benefica (A) Europa D
Man City (A) L
Benefica (H) Europa W
Leicester City (A) D

That's my optimistic view of how I see February turning out for Arsenal. What's yours?

Jmac24128

Quazzie wrote: »

I think there also needs to be some reallistic views about where we are at right now too.

I'd love to see people's predictions/expectations for the upcoming games below. It might serve as a good indicator as the games happen. A lot of people seemed to be calling for Arteta's head when we lost some big games before, when the reality is, due to us rebuilding a new side (club?), a new manager, new focuses etc, we are unlikely to be competitive for at least a year or two. We've seen a lot of positives of late, but the reality is we're beating teams classed as bottom to mid table, so it's not the sign of a second coming, more so that we are perhaps finding a bit more of a shape and fluidity to the team than before.

Southampton (A) FA CUP W
Southampton (A) D
Man United (H) D
Wolves (A) D
Aston Villa (A) W
Leeds United (H) W
Benefica (A) Europa D
Man City (A) L
Benefica (H) Europa W
Leicester City (A) D

That's my optimistic view of how I see February turning out for Arsenal. What's yours?

Let's give this a stab.


Southampton (A) FA CUP W
Southampton (A) D
Man United (H) L
Wolves (A) W
Aston Villa (A) D
Leeds United (H) W
Benefica (A) Europa L
Man City (A) L
Benefica (H) Europa W
Leicester City (A) W

Ol' Donie

jonneymendoza wrote: »

Yes they did with a far superior squad than we had.

We was dire. Always getting beaten easily by any decent side in the league or europe.

We leaked goals for fun and showed no spine at all.

Walcott summed it up recently saying arsenal the club where happy with 4th and so was the majority of the players(who wenger bought)

Wenger also showed no tactical knowledge or adapting at all. Always played the same predictable way.

Half if not most of the problem we have now is down to him overstaying his welcome and instilling medicore attitude to the club .

Half if not more than half the players on the squad are wenger and we all know wenger had A LOT of say in the transfer dealings. Much much more than Arteta or Emery

It's remarkable that you do that SUPPORT THE CLUB craic in one post, then take every chance you get to bìtch about Wenger (who never once had us in 10th halfway through the season).

emmetlego

Sokratis gone, contract terminated by mutual agreement.

Jmac24128

emmetlego wrote: »

Sokratis gone, contract terminated by mutual agreement.

So much bad business,never seen a club have the need to terminate or run down so many senior player contracts. Who decided on all these extensions and not sticking them up for sale if no contract is after on the summer with 2 years left.

Terrible business

5star02707

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1351877920579596289?s=19

More deadwood gone

Quazzie

I'll actually miss Sokratis. It seems I'm one of the few that liked him. He was old school. Wasn't pacey, sometimes mistimed tackles, but he was decent at marking, and usually just kept it simple. A reflection of an older style of defending that has since been replaced by a more Ramos/VVD style.

Ardennes1944

Quazzie wrote: »

I'll actually miss Sokratis. It seems I'm one of the few that liked him. He was old school. Wasn't pacey, sometimes mistimed tackles, but he was decent at marking, and usually just kept it simple. A reflection of an older style of defending that has since been replaced by a more Ramos/VVD style.

Yeah I think he was fine, I am sure he was probably like Holding is now when he was 25 and that is perfectly fine for a 3/4th choice centre back in my opinion.

Gizmo55

5star02707 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1351877920579596289?s=19

More deadwood gone

Certainly not one of our worst players. Always put an honest shift in and was very passionate. Not good enough though, admittedly.

Irish Aris

Quazzie wrote: »

I'll actually miss Sokratis. It seems I'm one of the few that liked him. He was old school. Wasn't pacey, sometimes mistimed tackles, but he was decent at marking, and usually just kept it simple. A reflection of an older style of defending that has since been replaced by a more Ramos/VVD style.

yes, I am with you on that.
I have been following him from the beginning as he played for my Greek home team, AEK Athens for a couple of years.
I thought his positioning was good as well, and he could generally read the game, but I think Premier League didn't really suit him, especially when he came at 30 years of age.
Best of luck to him, anyways.

Bobby Baccala

Quazzie wrote: »

I'll actually miss Sokratis. It seems I'm one of the few that liked him. He was old school. Wasn't pacey, sometimes mistimed tackles, but he was decent at marking, and usually just kept it simple. A reflection of an older style of defending that has since been replaced by a more Ramos/VVD style.

Never seen a man celebrate a tackle as often as he did. I liked his style as well he was just a no frills sweeper type centre back. We’ve had far worse in the side than him.

Underground

Good pro. Didn't hear a peep out of him even after not being registered in our squads when I wouldn't have begrudged him having a go.

5star02707

So that's 4 non homegrown out

Sokratis - cancelled contract
Ozil - paid remaining contract
Kolasinac - loaned out
Saliba - loaned out

I see us singing atleast 1 or 2 players who might that be? Please an attacking mid

AdamD

I wouldn't be upset if they didn't sign anyone. This season is more than likely a write off anyway so I hope they don't make any more silly signings. On arsecast it was asked if they'd take a rotation option number 10 to swap in and out for ESR, I think that is exactly the move Arsenal need to avoid - Spending transfer money and signing someone to a contract who will never be good enough long term

Quazzie

AdamD wrote: »

I wouldn't be upset if they didn't sign anyone. This season is more than likely a write off anyway so I hope they don't make any more silly signings. On arsecast it was asked if they'd take a rotation option number 10 to swap in and out for ESR, I think that is exactly the move Arsenal need to avoid - Spending transfer money and signing someone to a contract who will never be good enough long term

I'd be hoping that any such solution would be signed on loan.

I liked Sokratis. He was only ever an oldish player signed on a shortish contract. He was never going to extend, nor was he going to bring us in any transfer fee upon leaving.

If he's not going to be playing, then best to save the money on his wages.

5star02707

ESR might be burned out or might get injured. either we wait in the summer for Grealish / Buendia or play what we have now for rotation

Jmac24128

The squad always need to be improved so if the right player becomes available you should always move for them.

Ardennes1944

https://twitter.com/BigWengzStan/status/1351889225772269571?s=09

https://twitter.com/arka_afc/status/1351888925313273861?s=09

emmetlego

Back up goalkeeper is a must! We need one now.

gscully

OmegaGene wrote: »

Charles watts

By the summer Arsenal will have let go Sanchez, Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Sokratis, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan and Welbeck in the past three years

Money spent on fees: £190m
Money received: £0

So hard to build and maintain a competitive squad when business is done like this, especially when you have an owner who doesn't put his own money in.

You have to get buying and selling right, Arsenal get it wrong so often. So much money wasted.

That's a very selective list though. It doesn't include Iwobi, Ox, Martinez, Koscielny or Ospina for example. Between them we recouped around £100m according to Transfermarkt and the only one any us might've kept is a back-up goalkeeper.

DenMan

Fair play to Sokratis, he's terminated his contract six months early. It's a nice gesture. I wish him well for the future. I always liked him and Kolasinac. Two proper warriors! Anybody know where Sokratis is heading? Hopefully not Liverpool, Napoli he's been linked with.

mossie

DenMan wrote: »

Fair play to Sokratis, he's terminated his contract six months early. It's a nice gesture. I wish him well for the future. I always liked him and Kolasinac. Two proper warriors! Anybody know where Sokratis is heading? Hopefully not Liverpool, Napoli he's been linked with.

I remember reading he wanted to play in the USA so maybe he's heading to an MLS club.

tayto lover

5star02707 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1351877920579596289?s=19

More deadwood gone

He wasn’t the worst of them. Just lacked a bit of skill. Didn’t make as many mistakes as some of our other CB’s.
He always tried and that’s all we ask.
Papa was just a few grades below what is required.
Hope he has room in his case for Mustafi.

5star02707

I like Sokratis but he arrived here little too late can't match the pace of PL but reads the game well. Proper defender.

Few more that needs to go out El Neny, Willian and or loan willock, nketiah, maitland Niles, nelson

x PyRo

https://twitter.com/ZRAFC/status/1351960492236038144

This would be class!

2ndcoming

OmegaGene wrote: »

Charles watts

By the summer Arsenal will have let go Sanchez, Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Wilshere, Sokratis, Mustafi, Mkhitaryan and Welbeck in the past three years

Money spent on fees: £190m
Money received: £0

So hard to build and maintain a competitive squad when business is done like this, especially when you have an owner who doesn't put his own money in.

You have to get buying and selling right, Arsenal get it wrong so often. So much money wasted.

Charles Watts writes for Goal, presumably because he can't even get anyone at the English tabloids to pay him to write this rubbish.

Gizmo55

2ndcoming wrote: »

Charles Watts writes for Goal, presumably because he can't even get anyone at the English tabloids to pay him to write this rubbish.

Not entirely sure what's rubbish about it. I find Charles Watts decent.

2ndcoming

Gizmo55 wrote: »

Not entirely sure what's rubbish about it. I find Charles Watts decent.

Handpicking players over a period of over a dozen years to try to make a case is tabloidy at best. There is a case there, it could be argued, over the past 4 or 5 but Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla etc have nothing to do with it. Arguably neither does Ozil, the club chose to give him a long term contract to see him well into his 30s, as we have done with Auba and Willian more recently. You don't do that expecting to get the money back.

At the end of the day the club generates money to pay players as it sees fit. Wilshere cost nothing and served the club well, Ramsey and Cazorla cost pittance and served the club brilliantly. They owe us nothing. We came to fetishize making money on transfers because of Wenger, but that tightness cost us a lot more trophies than just paying for players. Arsenal should be too big a club to have to sell anyone or miss out on targets because of wages or transfer fees.

2ndcoming

His last line - you have to get buying and selling right - clearly he means if you're not Man City / United / Chelsea who are allowed to spunk as much money they want for a decade or more?

Pogue eile

2ndcoming wrote: »

His last line - you have to get buying and selling right - clearly he means if you're not Man City / United / Chelsea who are allowed to spunk as much money they want for a decade or more?

My first reaction on reading it, and selctive nature of it, was that you could just as easily have written it about every single top flight club in Europe.

djan

x PyRo wrote: »

https://twitter.com/ZRAFC/status/1351960492236038144

This would be class!

Would be fantastic to get him for the rest of season as he has a lot to prove and we simply cannot rely on ESR to play every game.

brianregan09

My football manager dreams coming true , He's an exciting player and definitely has a point to prove

beer enigma

ESR goal for the under 23s when he was just 17 himself

https://twitter.com/AFCPW/status/1351068706747645956?s=20