Caporegime
Arsenal could still qualify for that Europa Conference thing right?
UEFA Champions & Europa League Football Thread ** spoilers ** [4th - 6th May 2021]
- Thread starter explicit4u
- Start date
Caporegime
Caporegime
Hey they could be eternally remembered as the first team to win it 
Soldato
Arteta's subs were very odd. 10 mins to go, needing 1 goal and he takes Auba off and replaces him for Laca. There is literally only one thing you can do in that situation, and its Laca up top with Auba, in and around the penalty area. So bizarre!
Soldato
Soldato
God i hope so.
Surely no european competition next season plus some players leaving will devalue the club.
Hoping the spotify guy can buy
Soldato
Plus all the money owed for transfers, and the government loan. Pressure is mounting.
Arteta hasnt done well in terms of results and im not defending him here but the club is run so badly and that isnt on him. Thomas Partey has done absolutely nothing for Arsenal...who on earth agreed to not only pay 50 mil for him but to then pay him 3 million a year more then for eg Mo Salah?
Look at the major signings for Arsenal the last few years :
Last season
Partey 45 mil
Gabriel 23.4 mil
Odegaard 2 mil loan
The season before :
Pepe 72 mil
Saliba 27 Mil
Tierney 24 mil
Tierney is clearly a good signing and it isnt Arsenals fault he's been injured but thats 100 mil just wasted.
The season before that:
Torreira 22mil
Sokratis 18mil
Leno 18mil
And finally before that
Aubameyand 58 mil
Lacazette 36 mil
Mikitaryan £30 mil (swap but market value)
Kolosanic 13 mil
What im getting at is...what do you expect? How many of those signings would Arsenal fans say have been a success? Transfer wise Arsenal have been a shambles. They need a complete overhaul...
Look at the major signings for Arsenal the last few years :
Last season
Partey 45 mil
Gabriel 23.4 mil
Odegaard 2 mil loan
The season before :
Pepe 72 mil
Saliba 27 Mil
Tierney 24 mil
Tierney is clearly a good signing and it isnt Arsenals fault he's been injured but thats 100 mil just wasted.
The season before that:
Torreira 22mil
Sokratis 18mil
Leno 18mil
And finally before that
Aubameyand 58 mil
Lacazette 36 mil
Mikitaryan £30 mil (swap but market value)
Kolosanic 13 mil
What im getting at is...what do you expect? How many of those signings would Arsenal fans say have been a success? Transfer wise Arsenal have been a shambles. They need a complete overhaul...
Soldato
Soldato
And this is why Arteta is barely the issue here.
Its the owners and the way they run the club
As far as I remember, many arsenal fans were very happy with the vast majority of the signings you listed. Are they all bad signings or has their progress stalled at Arsenal?
Caporegime
Leno...
Partey and Gabriel I'll reserve judgement on, it's such a bizzare season so it's hard to judge how good they've been. Gabriel has shown glimpses of potential but a few dodgy decisions have cost us already. Partey started strong but desperately needs a stable midfield around him before I can judge.
Pepe 72 mil - Definitely too expensive, another that's hard to judge given the circumstances but I feel nothing but frustration watching him. I want him to be good so badly be he looks devoid of any confidence.
Saliba 27 Mil - Horribly managed, I'd be surprised if he even still wants to play for us given the way he was treated.
Tierney 24 mil - Can do no wrong, injury record since joining us is worrying though.
Torreira 22mil - One of the few signings I've liked, mismanaged under Emery and who knows what the future holds for him, doubt he'll be staying.
Sokratis 18mil - I like him but he wasn't good enough when we signed him and cost us so many times (pretty sure I was happy to sign him at the time
)
Leno 18mil - Kept the wrong keeper, don't care about the financials, he's midtable at best.
Aubameyand 58 mil - Carried our team for a season, can't complain about the signing but we haven't built a team around one of the best goal scorers in the world, baffling. Shouldn't have been made captain.
Lacazette 36 mil - Hit and miss, regularly switches between very good and absolute donkey, not suited to the role he's been asked to play. Will probably be sold this summer.
Mikitaryan £30 mil - Better than nothing, likeable guy and a shame it never really worked out.
Kolosanic 13 mil - Atrocious footballer, waste of money.
Pepe 72 mil - Definitely too expensive, another that's hard to judge given the circumstances but I feel nothing but frustration watching him. I want him to be good so badly be he looks devoid of any confidence.
Saliba 27 Mil - Horribly managed, I'd be surprised if he even still wants to play for us given the way he was treated.
Tierney 24 mil - Can do no wrong, injury record since joining us is worrying though.
Torreira 22mil - One of the few signings I've liked, mismanaged under Emery and who knows what the future holds for him, doubt he'll be staying.
Sokratis 18mil - I like him but he wasn't good enough when we signed him and cost us so many times (pretty sure I was happy to sign him at the time
)Leno 18mil - Kept the wrong keeper, don't care about the financials, he's midtable at best.
Aubameyand 58 mil - Carried our team for a season, can't complain about the signing but we haven't built a team around one of the best goal scorers in the world, baffling. Shouldn't have been made captain.
Lacazette 36 mil - Hit and miss, regularly switches between very good and absolute donkey, not suited to the role he's been asked to play. Will probably be sold this summer.
Mikitaryan £30 mil - Better than nothing, likeable guy and a shame it never really worked out.
Kolosanic 13 mil - Atrocious footballer, waste of money.
Caporegime
The argument is always that the manager should be getting the most out of players. Look at how Chelsea have changed since Lampard left. Look at the bounce United had when Mourinho left. The line between good and bad is shockingly thin in football these days for the top teams. The contrast in performance between the same set of players under 2 different managers in the space of a few months can be ridiculous. To the point where its hard to argue that players aren't simply phoning in their effort levels for the outgoing manager.
I think the problem is that football is such a team sport that it only takes 4-5 dysfunctional players who aren't doing what they need to at a level that they need to in order to completely disrupt and kill a team. A few players stop making runs and suddenly the guy picking out those runs won't play the balls anymore. Now the opposition can play higher up the pitch and suddenly your DM is playing without any space. Your keeper isn't in confident form so maybe your defenders are sitting deeper and inviting pressure onto themselves but the midfield haven't adapted to that and there is now far too much space between the lines.
These are things for managers to fix but if the players aren't putting in the effort and helping the manager there is little they can do.
I agree wholeheartedly that ex-players as managers is just generally an awful idea and I still think Ole is a massive drag factor on United. I think the fact the players seem to really like him is the only thing keeping him in a job right now. If that ever turned I think we will sink like a lead balloon. Arteta hasn't shown anything to suggest he is top class, Lampard was out of his depth and Rooney isn't pulling up trees at Derby. Being a good player or even a good leader in a team doesn't mean you will make a good manager period. Understanding and caring about a club doesn't either and I have no idea why clubs have decided its a good idea. The top managers clearly work really hard and care about their jobs just as much as an ex-player does or they wouldn't be at the top of their game.
Anyway. Moral of the story is, give Arteta a new long term contract, he will come good, just needs time. Rome wasn't built in a day, Ferguson was 1 match away from being fired, Pep Guardiola etc etc.
I guess it depends how you define mid-table, but Arsenal are a massive 11 points ahead of 13th, so I can't see them finishing below 12th which is mid-table in my eyes (even twelfth seems unlikely given Wolves have a much worse goal difference, 7pts adrift and have to play Spurs away, Everton away and Man Utd - meanwhile Arsenal have games like home to West Brom, home to Brighton etc). Villa do have a game in hand but again they've got to play Man Utd, Everton, Spurs, Chelsea etc.
Arguably Arsenal are closer to finishing 5th (9pts behind West Ham) than below mid-table.
Semantics really and debating what counts as mid-table or not just shows how far the mighty have fallen.
Real end of an era this, no European football barring a real freak end to the season. What am I going to do with with my Thursday nights now? Might give up my membership as I'm rarely in London now.
Regarding some of the players listed above:
Pepe - I was flabbergasted at the pricetag and said as much here, in fact I was even more shocked at fans here saying what an amazing piece of business it was?!? Amazing I've just got a brand new BMW for £500 a month - yes I have to pay that for the next 47 months but OMG BEEMER £500!!!! However, I actually think he is an OK player at times if you ignore the pricetag, having someone who can run at players and shoot from outside the box is an advantage. He's like a better version of Iwobi. Inconsistent though, wouldn't trust him to put away chances in the box. Playing him as a false nine the other day was nonsense.
Leno - I think because Martinez was amazing at the end of last season people forget how good Leno was before Covid hit. Our two best players last season were both keepers, I've not got a big issue with him. In fact I'd go so far as to say he's better than the vast majority of the keepers we've had since Seaman.
Lacazette - in and out of the team too much. He's a good box striker.
Torreira - excellent player, should start alongside Partey. I understand he's desperate to move back to South America though.
Pepe - I was flabbergasted at the pricetag and said as much here, in fact I was even more shocked at fans here saying what an amazing piece of business it was?!? Amazing I've just got a brand new BMW for £500 a month - yes I have to pay that for the next 47 months but OMG BEEMER £500!!!! However, I actually think he is an OK player at times if you ignore the pricetag, having someone who can run at players and shoot from outside the box is an advantage. He's like a better version of Iwobi. Inconsistent though, wouldn't trust him to put away chances in the box. Playing him as a false nine the other day was nonsense.
Leno - I think because Martinez was amazing at the end of last season people forget how good Leno was before Covid hit. Our two best players last season were both keepers, I've not got a big issue with him. In fact I'd go so far as to say he's better than the vast majority of the keepers we've had since Seaman.
Lacazette - in and out of the team too much. He's a good box striker.
Torreira - excellent player, should start alongside Partey. I understand he's desperate to move back to South America though.
Soldato
Yea Pepe is a decent player but not 70m worth .
I am not sure he is good enough for a top 4 side though
Leno was our best player last season and even last night he made some crucial saves for us. I think his a top 3 goalkeeper i the league for the past 2 seasons.
You got the likes of Allison who has made more braindead mistakes then Leno ever done and where is chelsea's 50m goalie they signed a few seasons ago?
United's goalkeeper situation is no better either.
Torreira wants to go back to South America for obvious reasons.
Permabanned
Allison was best keeper in the league last year, this year he has gone to pot somewhat.
You look at the teams around you and think who you would want in your team, looking at Arsenal I wouldn't take a single one of the "big" names, probably a couple of the exciting kids at most.
Soldato
Still, bar Allson, the rest of the top clubs(united, chelsea, city) have all had goalkeepers worse or no better than Leno.
The point i am making is Leno has consistently been one of the best GK in the league for the past 2 seasons and the way people rave about Martinez, its as if Leno couldnt even be a starter GK for Fulham.
Martinez has made more forced errors in this season . i read that somewhere