The new Arsenal Club Thread - *No Spoilers & Read OP Before Posting*

[Somnambulist]

Good candid interview with Cesc by the Arseblog podcast:

- Xabi Alonso really wanted to come to Arsenal that summer (oh what a pairing that could have been) but it seems like the club dithered or didn't push the boat out
- he knew he was leaving for Barca earlier than he wanted to, but the lack of investment, professionalism within the team and weight of being captain wore him out
- he wanted to come back to the Prem and Arsenal but they ignored him completely, ended up w/Chelsea because a) London b) Jose had the best pitch, despite it being Jose
- favourite goal was the one against Spurs he scored almost immediately from their kick-off after conceding

I'd like to have heard what he thought about Arsene's downward spiral, the state of the club over the last few years, the ownership, and what he thinks about how things are right now and his plans for the future but maybe next time.

 

[HangTime]

I get irritated by the treatment he receives from fans. I applaud him, not boo him, there was a brief period about 10 years ago when he was arguably the best midfielder in England (involved in 37 goals I think) or certainly right up there with the usual suspects like Lampard, Gerrard etc.
When I see him speak, the passion in his face at times, I can tell it must be REALLY annoying having people making assumptions about him, oh he's a money grabber, a traitor, blablabla. One of the things that gets me most wound up personally is having my integrity questioned, if people say I've made a decision for reason X when that isn't the case.

Anelka and Cole deserve to get flak but not Cesc. People rarely stay at clubs their entire career any more, get over it.

 

[jokerguv]

I wouldn't boo Fabregas but suggesting fellow players were unprofessional because somebody laughed or thought about going-out seems like a rather nasty thing to say .

 

[jonneymendoza]

worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_cwjfbgWpI

 

[rebel rebel]

Anyone think Kroenke will splurge any of his 300 million virus profits on players?

 

[robfosters]

Anyone think Kroenke will splurge any of his 300 million virus profits on players?

If you believe that, I’ve got a lovely bridge I can sell you

 

[rebel rebel]

If you believe that, I’ve got a lovely bridge I can sell you

Of course I don't believe he will. With all this uncertainty around, now would be the perfect opportunity to invest.

 

[The_One]

With the amount of people ive seen reported to be close to signing at the moment its going to be

Heres who you could have had

 

[rebel rebel]

I watched the Wright Bergkamp interview the other day.

My god what a team we used to have.

 

[robfosters]

Don’t know how true it is, but apparently we beat Charlton 6-0 today in a pre restart friendly.

 

[The_One]

Nketiah hat trick

 

[Somnambulist]

Mari out for the rest of the season after his league debut, and 200+ consecutive games of being available to play for previous clubs. Classic Arsenal eh.

 

[rebel rebel]

Sounds about right.

 

[jonneymendoza]

Mari out for the rest of the season after his league debut, and 200+ consecutive games of being available to play for previous clubs. Classic Arsenal eh.

Bad luck really

 

[The_One]

his loan ends in two weeks anyway and hadn't been extended

same as Ceballos at present loan hasn't been extended

 

[Somnambulist]

Bernd Leno’s injury was confirmed as ligament damage but not cruciate ligament damage, which means he won't be out for months and months.

Gabriel Martinelli out for some considerable time with an injury from training, that's not good.

Deals-wise, Luiz gets another year, Soares has been signed properly as has Mari.

Now we just need to wait for Arteta to cull the players that need to go once the season is over - the house can't be rebuilt properly while there's still squatters inhabiting it - let him have a full pre-season and do something about the midfield because it's toothless.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Surely the 4th paragraph contradicts the one above it with regards to luiz.

 

[robfosters]

Another year for the walking disaster Luiz, and a 4 year deal for a player who hasn’t played one game and was let go by Southampton.

Absolute Banter FC

 

[The_One]

Id like to see luiz moved into a defensive midfield role with his range of passing i think he’d do much better there and wouldnt have to worry so much about his in the box antics

although prior to signing for arsenal he hadnt given away a pen for about 5 years

i think hes given away 4 for us!

he plays best in a back 3 maybe when saliba arrives we can sign another cb and try him in a 3

 

[Somnambulist]

Surely the 4th paragraph contradicts the one above it with regards to luiz.

I was thinking of Ozil, Elneny, Sokratis, Mkhitaryan, Laca, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and probably Auba although that won't be our choice. Torreira is out of favour, I think Arteta isn't keen on Rob Holding (although tbh he's just come back from a double injury lay-off), Kola or Chambers. If he's keeping Luiz maybe that means Mustafi is going too and he's just as calamity prone, so it's a case of picking your poison, perhaps? Atm for central defence it's just a selection of bad apples.

Always likely we were going to keep Luiz though because he's one of the players we really won't be able to get rid due to the dodgy relationship between our higher ups and a particular agent:

Head of Football – Raul Sanllehi, best mates with Kia Joorabchian
Technical Director – Edu (his agent is Kia Joorabchian).
Veteran centre-half – David Luiz (same).
Injured right-back – Cedric Soares (same).
Injured centre-half - Paulo Mari (same)

EDIT - also Guendouzi is supposedly on the list due to being consistently unprofessional.