Arsenal Banter

12 Jul 2020 12:54:17
Just had a tenner on Luiz to score first goal

With all the abuse sy4 gives him it would be poetic justice if it happens.

11 Jul 2020 15:01:47
You got to be kidding me - our two most error prone defenders. Luiz and Mustafi.

Arteta backed Luiz and for whatever reason extended his contract.

Now. On Mustafi . "That's something the club has to address but he knows my opinion.

"I'm really happy with him as you can see. The way he's playing, how committed he is with everything we're trying to do, the level in his performance ever three or four days, he's been really consistent. " We are looking to extend his contract. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️.

11 Jul 2020 20:25:12
I for one do not believe Mustafi has had a bad game since the restart 🤷🏼‍♂️ Maybe it was all to do with coaching and direction.

Yeah we got turned over by City and slipped up against Brighton, but i don’t remember it being A Mustafi error leading to the goals.

I know he has been bad for us in the past, new coaches/ management means new starts for all players.

Same goes for Xhaka, we looked poor without him, however his return to the side really boosted the performances.

11 Jul 2020 22:00:20
I'm not a Xhaka fan at all but hard to argue with results since his return, we've definitely seen the best Mustafi under Arteta, I've always consided him a shirker of responsibility always looking to blame team mates and officials for his own inadequacies but it's true under Arteta he seems to have had a change of attitude.

11 Jul 2020 22:19:36
He was to blame for Vardy goal - would you bet your house on him not up, does he inspire confidence?

11 Jul 2020 23:29:35
To be fair SY mate every goal ever scored in the history of football has a hero and villain in the plot. If we got rid of every keeper defender or midfielder who cost us a goal and every striker who cost a game with their easy missed chances where would we be mate?
You've got to take an overall view of everyone's recent past under Arteta, not easy to let pre Arteta stuff go I know but I think it's the only way forward.
Even with Xhaka, did I really say that? :-)

12 Jul 2020 09:07:03
If you look at Mustafi since Arteta took ever he's actually been one of our stand out performers! When I think back to everything since he joined its been a complete shambles but lately he's just starting to price us wrong. We'll see what today brings haha.

12 Jul 2020 09:38:17
Very true Gunner but I’d rather remove Luiz, Mustafi and Papa from the starting 11.

I have little confidence in the first 2 in particular.

Our defence needs rebuilding - so let’s do it with players that will be around for a while or we have another rebuild in 2 years.

If Luiz is the one that stays due to his passing and off field communication and medals - so be it but no more please.

What are the guys going to learn from Mustafi?

Let’s get our 4 or 5 youngish center backs and start developing them. Let them play together and form a strong partnership. We have Mavropanos, Saliba and Holding. Don’t waste the wages on Luiz, Mustafi AND Papa. Use it on a decent centrehalf or CDM or Leader or even PEA.

12 Jul 2020 11:08:46
I thought Mustafi was the most improved player under Arteta.

12 Jul 2020 11:17:19
We have to accept what Arteta chooses SY mate and see where that takes us next season while assessing his choices along the way.
Yes some of his choices decisions and methods will confuse us and not all will go well but it's how we feel about Arteta this time next year that will ultimately matter.
I'm happy for Mikel to do what he wants and see what happens until the end result of his choices become unbearable to watch like with Arsene and Emery.
We will never agree with everything any manager does but in the end it's only what his players and team serve up and achieve together that will make us happy or unhappy about Mikel being our manager.

12 Jul 2020 11:26:08
Would you really want to build around him and Luiz and then rebuild?

Not saying he hasn’t improved but is he good enough for us and for how long.

12 Jul 2020 11:59:09
Who says he is building a team around Luiz and Mustafi SY mate? What about if Luis and Mustafi are just part of his short term strategy which he believes will benefit his long term plans. He doesn't have billions to spend and he doesn't have a decade to prove himself either. Top 6 next season with Mustafi Luis would buy our manager the time he needs. Let's see how Arteta"s way works out in the future before judging him or his players on the past.

11 Jul 2020 13:08:33
This is interesting - under Emery

Arsenal star Kieran Tierney was reportedly warned by team-mates to tone down his aggression in his early sessions at the club.

Under Mikel

it is claimed that the arrival of Mikel Arteta has increased intensity in training again and Tierney's attitude has been viewed favourably by the new manager.

Arteta is not the only one to be convinced that Tierney is the long-term answer to their left-back problem.

Hopefully Mikel gets us back to early Wenger era when we were aggressive, addicted to winning all the time ( games and training ) and a joy to watch Vs late Wenger where we made excuses, wrapped players up in cottonwool and moved to a 4th is winning mentality.

Fingers crossed.

11 Jul 2020 17:27:01
Music to my ears SY mate, you can't be ready for a big fight if you only ever shadow box mate.

11 Jul 2020 10:19:55
So I know Goalkeepers save games, and strikers win games, but for me it's the midfield that drives you to titles, and that is where we need to spend some cash, if we have any. I thought our performance against Leicester benefitted from Xhaka and Ceballos (with the latter having perhaps his best game in anArsenal shirt) sticking closer together and complimenting each other's style. That's the point for me, in that your midfields whole should be stronger than the sum of the parts, as it was with Gilberto and Viera. Looking at Man Utd's current resurgence I can't help but feel it's the midfield balance driving it. Each of the 3 add something different, with Matic the base, allowing Pogba and Fernandes to push forward, with the latter virtually a number 10. That's why I would love to see us sign Partey, as matching him up with Torreira and either Ceballos or Ozil Could give us a midfield capable of protecting the defence and supporting the attack.

11 Jul 2020 12:16:46
We need and have needed for years a totally unselfish DM who is happy to sit protect and break up moves with interceptions and tackles who isn't interested in headlines only team achievement.

11 Jul 2020 13:09:38
I think we tend to overly fetishise this mythical DM a little. We bought Torreira for exactly that purpose, remember. How the team is set up matters more.

11 Jul 2020 17:22:37
Torreira was never used as a proper DM as he was encouraged get forward and to join attacks and score goals none of which is in a proper DM remit.
The problem is not many coach's and fans can accept the simple brilliance and value of the out and out DM so try to adapt the role in order to make it a productive part of the team like Emery with Torreira which completely defeats the purpose of having a DM in the first place.
Claude Makilele is the best DM ever in my book and the value he brought to Chelsea and France was immeasurable, no one expected Claude to score or create goals but no one underestimated his value for a minute.

11 Jul 2020 09:02:56
Ed02 is there any chance we could get an updated ins and outs list please? Thank you.

{Ed002's Note - When time allows.}

10 Jul 2020 19:33:06
Well thank you Mr Kronke, that will take the pressure off a little bit 😊.

10 Jul 2020 20:14:38
It's a really positive sign in my opinion Sally, I'm sure some people will come up with really negative fearful sinister reasons behind it, but we are all free to see what we want to see.

10 Jul 2020 20:45:25
What’s he said.

10 Jul 2020 20:55:04
Another positive end to a week although not as good as Gunners news!

The loan will free up the ring fenced 40m cash as the old loan had a covenant

Well done Stan! Thank you.

10 Jul 2020 21:12:19
Thanks SY mate, got my start date of the 20th of July today :-) providing the DBS check is back in time fingers eyes toes ears crossed :-) .
Stans move creates opportunity and it's what we do with that opportunity that matters.
For all his faults the bloke can't keep saying never mind I'll make it ok to our wasteful ways, those who make the decisions on how we spend have to take responsibility for outcomes of their decisions be it brilliant or awful, its the only way forward in my opinion.

10 Jul 2020 13:43:16
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Great Teams Part 5 The Big Goon & Superbrat: Fleming & McEnroe

10 Jul 2020 11:10:06
Was it a penalty?
VAR and Ole Yes
Brendan Rodgers, I didn't see it. (learned that from AW) .
Rest of the world including EPL No penalty.
Fire all the VAR officials, Oh wait a minute.