45 minutes of mashing the Spuddies: Ooh to, Ooh to be, Ooh to be A Gooner!

75 thoughts on “45 minutes of mashing the Spuddies: Ooh to, Ooh to be, Ooh to be A Gooner!”

• https://www.caughtoffside.com/2023/01/16/arsenal-keeping-tabs-on-napoli-star-after-missing-out-on-mykhaylo-mudryk/
  That’d be more like it, Edu
  Don’t know if this is worth something, very likely it isn’t, but thinking of the fans tryin’ out songs to his first name/name, is great fun anyway …
  P., congrats for your little Capricorn
  Artemis Barany, what a ring there is to the name, The Bard would have loved it!

• LeG, I just could t relax or sleep, too much going on between my ears, for a change, but how could we lose, we had Smith and Smith Rowe on the bench Mr Anderson…

  Great post Tootal, I bet you enjoyed writing that one…

• Didn’t get much sleep either, as a matter of fact – the frustration of being an “absentee” fan, of never being able to attend at least one concert of Mikel’s youthful Philharmonic, takes it toll.
  The guy French TV dispatched on the pitch yesterday was Florent Sinama-Pongolle, the former Liverpool player. He sounded mesmerized by the lads’ performance: the composure, the pace, the setup, the ease with which they made fun of the Totts’s attempts at high-press in the first 10 minutes, and insisted at pitch-level all of this left him in bewildered awe. Your boy in the stands must be having the time of his life.
  Nothing left to sing after reading your hymn, TA. I particularly agree with your mentions of Oleks-Ben, and Eddie too (you’re definitely right about our CFs’s legs being shaky when an opportunity comes their way as a consequence of the effort they put in)
  What a time to be a Gooner indeed

• Hello, people! 🙂

  Great time to be alive and an Arsenal supporter. We have been playing some mesmerizing football and I can’t say I’ve been this confident about an Arsenal team since early 2004-05. The key is, as TA mentioned it, in our midfield trio that has been second to none this season.

  It’s no wonder our only defeat this season came in a game when Thomas Partey was unavailable as well as his first deputy Mo Elneny. In fact, our last five league defeats had one thing in common – Partey was unavailable for each one of those (Brighton 1-2, Southampton 0-1, Spurs 0-3, Newcastle 0-2, Man U 1-3). That description made by Mr Arsenal himself that Partey is Vieira and Petit rolled into one couldn’t be more precise.

  There are still a lot to play for and at least 23 more games in all competitions for us (20 in the league, at least one in FA Cup and at least two in Europa League).

  I’d like two more players to strengthen the competition. Remember, even Invincibles needed fresh blood in January 2004 (late J.A. Reyes) which eventually turned out to be vital for our invincibility (Reyes scored important goals at the end of the season to preserve our unbeaten record).

• Iam still buzzing, cant wait for the next game. What a win and true Partey is playing at an unbelievable level. His volley would have broken Loris hand if he had managed to reach it. It was one hell of a hit. How far has he come from initial days when his long rangers used to disappear in row Z. You have got to doff your hat to Arteta and his coaching staff, they are doing one hell of a job. To be honest i doubted Arteta’s ability to get the best out of players, but now there is no doubt he is one of the exciting coaches in the world. Great time

• I can’t wait for the next game. It promises to be a belter and a real test for us. Ten Hag has done well and his team provide stern opponents but we will prevail. COYG!

• I’m still buzzing about how we totally dominated Spurs (even the Cockerel on the roof wanted to fly away). Their two pick pockets Son and Kane were almost nullified and our attacking players rang rings around their defense.
  I was particularly impressed with Nicky, he reminds me so much of Oli, he keeps pulling the opposition defense all over the place, leaving space for others to run into, whilst he’s also a constant going back to assist our defense. It’s hard to choose a MOM as they were all outstanding – but I would give it to Nicky for the way he has filled in so admirably for Jesus – who has hardly been missed.

  Now we have to put the Manc’s in their place – and that is looking up at us for the rest of the season!

• I now use FUBO TV to get my games. If any of you can pick it up I highly recommend it.

  They are showing every EPL game and you can pre-record any game/s you choose. I have mine set to record every Arsenal game and it has done so so far without fail, you can also pause a game you are watching. It only costs me $45.00 a quarter and I can cancel at any time. To date I have had no service failures and get superb reception.

  They also have a variety of other entertainment – if it sound like I’m selling it I most certainly am, but not for any personal gain – just so you have the opportunity to guarantee that you will never miss an Arsenal game.

• Enjoyable read, TA. I went through the comments with a huge smile on my face too. We do have the best midfield trio, when all are fit. Hell, we have the best 11 in the league, for sure; the evidence is in the fact we are top of the league (stole your thunder there, Kev), and we haven’t played our half way game yet.

  Hugo Lloris goal post must still be vibrating from that Howitzer by Partey. What a goal it could have been, had it been a fractions lower.

  Happy days, guys!

• GN5, someone did mention that FUBO package to me, mentioning all those features you stated. I shall go for it; it will be like the same package I have in Nigeria now.

• Here are the results from last weekend:-

  1st Stuart with 4/6 plus 3 correct scores and a share of the most correct predictions = 12 points
  2nd Madhu with 4/6 plus 1 correct score and a share of the most correct prediction = 8 points
  3rd OX10 with 3/6 plus 2 correct scores = 7 points
  4th Total with 3/6 plus 1 correct score = 5 points
  5th Eris & Kev with 3/6 and Le Gall with 1/6 plus 1 correct score = 3 points
  8th A very sad and lonely GN5 with a paltry 1/6 – 1 point.

  What a great week for Stuart he was only two correct predictions away from getting the Super Bonus of 10 points and scoring the maximum of 26 points.
  “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
  Here are the season to date standings:-

  1st OX10 – 74.8
  2nd Kev – 68.8
  3rd Madhu – 64.8
  4th Stuart – 62.0
  5th Total – 57.33
  6th Eris – 57.13
  7th GN5 – 48.33
  8th Le Gall – 46.8

  If Stuart had correctly predicted the two games he missed out on he would have taken over the lead with 76.0 points. So there’s still hope for stragglers like GN5 – even though it’s a long shot.

  “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

• Next weekend selections:-

  Liverpool v Chelsea *
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United
  Man City v Wolves *
  Arsenal v Manchester United
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead Eagles *

• To get the ball rolling here are my predictions (with my track record it would be wise not to follow my predictions)

  Liverpool v Chelsea * H (2-0)
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest H
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United D
  Man City v Wolves * H (3-1)
  Arsenal v Manchester United H
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead Eagles * D (1-1)

• Of course I’m smiling with you all as I read the post and comments. What a gift this team has been to us.
  You can have a crappy week, then on the weekends our boys have been lifting us up ever since preseason.

  So fun to watch.. I find that even when we’re not attacking and scoring, I get a lot of excitement and joy just watching us press and smother opponents. I’ve never experienced this before.

  This will sound biased, but… best wingers, yes. But also best midfield, yes, and best back 4,yes.
  The proof is in the results.

• Liverpool 2 Chelsea 1
  AFC Bournemouth Nottingham Forest A
  Crystal Palace Newcastle United D
  Man City 3 Wolves 1
  Arsenal Manchester United HOME
  RKC Waalwijk 2 Go Ahead Eagles 2

• Total,
  I have a question for you or anybody else here..
  Has there ever been an example in football, of a protégé leaving a mentor and directly dethroned them in his first appointment?

  I doubt it, and I think that’s what we could be looking at… and considering the long dominance of Guardiola at Man City.. it’s a pretty big deal if it happens.

  If.

• Very much so, Kevski. Hope you get some kip tonight 😂

• Hi Admir, yes Partey is key and so is Granit.

• A sad example, I know J, but Van Persie was Arsene’s boy, left us and promptly fired his new employers to the title. We weren’t dethroned but, certainly peed off.

  But if you are talking in management? It may not quite fit but I remember when Peter Taylor left Brian Clough for the second time to take up the reins back at Derby County, he led them to a third round FA cup victory over Clough’s Forest team. Way back in the early ’80’s. Not quite a “dethroning” but it would have been more than a wee upset for “Ol big head”.

• Thanks for the update, GN5 ⚽

  Well done Stu, that’s a round by you.

• J of the Big Apple,

  I don’t know anyone. I guess Mikel has done it to Moyes already and could do it to Pep too indeed.

• https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/16/arsenal-declan-rice-top-summer-transfer-target-optimistic-west-ham-chelsea

• Liverpool v Chelsea *. A. 1-2
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest. A
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United. A
  Man City v Wolves * H 2-0
  Arsenal v Manchester United. HOME!!!!
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead Eagles *. A 0-2

• Liverpool v Chelsea * 3-1
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest H
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United H
  Man City v Wolves * 1-1
  Arsenal v Manchester U D
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead EAGLES 2-1

• Thanks GN5. I have the Ox in my sights. Trust in the process and follow Total’s lead on Eredivisie games…

  Liverpool v Chelsea * 1-1
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest A
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United D
  Man City v Wolves * 2-0
  Arsenal v Manchester U H
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead EAGLES 2-1

• Thanks for the report, GN5 and what a performance by Stuart. Well done. 3 correct scores is fantastic, by all standards of fortune telling. You will be a betting company’s worst nightmare.

• He gets tips from ‘upstairs’ it’s not fair….

• Liverpool v Chelsea *. 2-1
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest. H
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United. A
  Man City v Wolves * 3-0
  Arsenal v Manchester United. H
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead Eagles *. 2-0

• The only things that will derail is our thin squad. Especially the forward line who plays all the 90 mins every match. They can get by Jan but after that it would be difficult to sustain with the front line. We need additions and i hope we do get it.

• Divination Fair Play, now!!

• I agree, Madhu. And I think we will get reinforcement this month. Maybe just a loan deal but we need to have cover for injuries to Saka, Eddie and Martinelli.

• Here are my prediction for the weekend’s games:

  Liverpool v Chelsea * A 2-2
  AFC Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest A
  Crystal Palace v Newcastle United A
  Man City v Wolves * H 2-0
  Arsenal v Manchester United H
  RKC Waalwijk v Go Ahead Eagles * D 1-1

• Liverpool v Chelsea * A 2-2

  Away or draw Eris?

• Jeorge Bird
  @jeorgebird
  Arsenal U18s’ FA Youth Cup tie away to Newcastle will be played at St James’ Park rather than Whitley Park. It should be a great experience for Jack Wilshere’s team.
  Newcastle will be showing tonight’s game live on their website, with kick off at 7pm. There will be extra-time and penalties if required.

• Never mind FFP, I want DFP

• When it comes to January transfer window…

  I wanted Mudryk – it didn’t happen.

  I wanted Diaby – it won’t happen, Leverkusen now want even more money and they wanted Mudryk-esque fee last summer.

  I want Mitoma – I have never seen a winger who glides on the pitch in a way this guy does. He is handful and comes from a well-coached team. I reckon Takehiro would take him under his wing if he is about to sign.

  I wouldn’t mind Memphis – he is an experienced forward who can play either as LW or as CF. That would give us another option in the attack.

  I wouldn’t mind Trossard either – the guy may have his issues and his head is obviously turned with all those offers, especially given his contract expires in five months but he’d give us more squad depth for forthcoming fixtures and we’ll have at least 23 games until the end of the season.

  I wouldn’t mind Zaha – he is always inspired when he comes to Emirates and we play the reverse fixture at our ground. We have beaten them away from home which was quite a feat back then. He can play across front three and his contract expires next summer but he is 30 and he may be a player that is not exactly Arteta-sque.

  Any talk of us signing a Napoli player at this stage should be dismissed. They are exactly in the same position as we are – they have 47 points after 18 games, they are playing by far the best football in Italy, they are nine points clear (OK, not exactly the same position as we are) on top, they have beaten all their rivals bar Inter, they have dispatched Juventus putting five past them and there is no bloody way they will sell their Georgian Maradona come January. In the summer – well, who knows. Even then, I’d rather take Osimhen.

  As for central midfielders, if we can get Rice now, it would be a masterstroke but I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until summer. I wouldn’t mind getting Caicedo either – top, top midfielder – and his team-mate Mac Allister with the least Argentinian last name you’ll ever hear is also a top player.

• Busted! But, Kevski, if we look at GN5’s table, you are the one who must hear from The Lord. 🤷‍♂️ Everyone knows, God loves a cabbie.

• Arsenal U18 tonight:
  Cooper
  Rosiak-Walters-Quamina-Sousa
  Ibrahim-LewisSkelly
  CozierDuberry-Gower-Ferdinand
  Benjamin
  Bench: Okonkwo the Younger-Robinson-Brown-Nichols-M’Hand the Younger-Dudziak-Kamara
  Very strong side, even though Nwaneri’s absent. He’ll probably be involved tomorrow with the U21s. The other player I like who’s not there is Quesada-Thorn (same reason as Nwaneri, I guess), but Sousa is very highly rated at the club, so …
  I don’t know Quamina, but he must be impressive, because he’s been picked ahead of Robinson, who has impressed me every time I saw him play (not that often, but …)
  Walters’s physicality is very likely to be the reason why Jack will play him CB – and strong for his age the lad sure is – which means Rosiak will be our RB (he had an outstanding game agaisnt Norwich lately)
  By Robinson’s side on the bench we’ll have Brown, who is the usual captain of the team, as well as Oulad-M’Hand (Ismael, Salah-Eddine’s younger bro, who scored a terrific goal against Norwich) so the subs look like they’ll be up to the job if needed.
  COYYoungGuns

• “I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield
  Listening to gospel music on the colored radio station
  And the preacher said, you know you always have the Lord by your side
  And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran
  Twenty red lights in his honor
  Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord”

• The lads huddled up before the KO, just like the big boys.
  Icy pitch, Newcastle’s RB looks like he’s injured himself tackiling Benkamin.
  Our boys’ high-oress’s been very effective so far, but the following touches were not great, probably because of the pitch.
  Quamina’s left-footed which I wasn’t aware of … very likely to be the reason why Jack’s picked him.

• Ferdinand!!
  Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0
  not exactly a classic, multiple rebounds off ankles and backs in the 6-yard-box but Seb finally whirled like a dervish to put it away. Attaboy.
  (Quamina if an outstanding left-footed CB btw)

• 1-1
  Walters very poor on that one

• Amario!!
  2-1 to The Arsenal
  Terrific 50-yard-run by Lewis-Skelly to tear the Tyneside side (couldn’t resist) open, delightfully weighed pass to Cozier-Duberry who BukayoSakas (or Arlen Robbens) a left-footed curler into the net from the right corner of the box
  It’s up for grabs, lads
  HT

• Balanced game, actually.
  Our boys’ ceiling is higher, I think, but the slippery pitch levels things up.
  They’re good football players, mind you: tall, strong, dsiciplined, very reliable technique … they do love a tackle, too. They threatened us on the break, and Cooper had an excellent half.
  Our midfield (Ibrahim-LewisSkelly-Gower) was outstanding, an obvious penalty was denied to Sousa after a darting run into the box from his left-wing was cut short by a ludicrous block in the corner of the box.
  Our 2 players who haven’t exactly been on a par with the others are Rosiak and Ferdinand -, in spite of his goal – imo.
  It would seem a good idea to me to slide back Walters to RB, take Rosiak off (I know it’s harsh on such a young lad, and he’s not been THAT poor, far from it, but …), and bring on Robinson by Quamina’s side
  COYYoungGuns

• 3-2 to The Arsenal
  Kamara!! … and hats off to Jack, too
  He’d just taken Benjamin off, and brought Kamara on, while playing right-footed Ferdinand on the right, and left-footed Cozier-Duberry on the left
  Right away, Ferdinand, back to his natural position, slalomed his way through two defenders before delivering a delightful cutback to Kamara, whose fresh legs smashed the ball into the back of the net… and here we are, on to Watford in the fifth round.
  What a joy to watch these kids are; Ibrahim is the new PV4, Lewis-Skelly is Edgar Davids’s reincarnation; as for Cozier-Duberry it’s actually quite eery to think that 4 years after Bukayo, our academy has been able to produce … his clone. Bring him on, Mikel, please!
  It was all Arsenal in the 2nd half, after their equalizer: Gower twice, Ferdinand twice, Benjamin (it’d have been the same goal as Kamara, Cozier-Duberry assisting) once, and Gower once could/should have scored (their keeper isn’t what you might call an elf, but he’s very good though)
  Proud of the boys, proud of the club, oooh to be a Gooner indeed

• Great commentary, Legall. A new Edgar David’s… Wow.

• Admir, good summary of our options in the transfer window.

  I’d love to see Memphis join us. Zaha would also be good. Just extra cover and an injection of energy is required this month.

• Fine reporting, Le Gall. Thanks.

  GN5, that would be a Draw, please. I was tempted to give it to Chelsea, originally but thought better of that guess.

• Ah, LG, nothing like a girl with faraway eyes…

• Trust in the Lord and he shall deliver Stu, in this window hopefully…

• Following the fine example of Admir (welcome back, mate):

  I was supporting the Mudryk saga for a while as he seemed exactly like the Arteta/Arsenal blueprint: a young, talented and ambitious player with some convincing performances but far from stardom, who wouldn’t mind sitting on the bench and waiting for his turn to demonstrate his class thus making Mikel’s team selection task as hard as possible. However even our first bid for him was insane, and Shahtar turned down all 3, so I’m really proud of the management for not giving in. Screw those greedy b@$t@rd$ and screw Chelsea!

  I really wanted Gakpo to happen, as he was the proverbial one stone that could intimidate two birds (LW, RW), and he could have even deputized Jesus/Nketiah if needed. We were rumored going for Cody, it’s a big shame that we didn’t even try, and Liverpool could snatch him for a bargain price.

  I don’t want Félix or Diaby, These are players that demand to play every game – and rightfully so – and we don’t want to exile neither Martinelli nor Saka to the bench. Plus both players would cost a record breaking fee plus substantial salaries. Don’t get me wrong, both are excellent players who would make other teams much stronger, but they simply don’t fit the profile we are looking for.

  I don’t want Zaha or Trossard. Hell no! While they would cost a lot less than the previous duo, they are too old for our project. They are good players, but not good enough, especially in that age. I wouldn’t swap Smith-Rowe for either of them, and I guess they wouldn’t want to sit on the bench either (but maybe less reluctant than many).

  I would love to sign Kvaratskhelia. He has my vote for the top 5 league signing of the season. But it won’t happen. Even if Napoli would be interested in selling him it would be the Mudryk case all over again (90M+), and while I believe that the Georgian is an improvement over the Ukrainian, still a no for me if we have to break our transfer records. Plus Napoli is the Italian Arsenal this season (surprisingly leading the league by 9 points with convincing display), but they haven’t won the Scudetto since 1987, so selling their best players could be seen as a suicide move. And rightfully so: would we sell Odegaard or Martinelli for 100M? And for 130M? No, right? OK, Admir wrote almost the same, it is difficult to add much to that.

  Memphis could be an interesting choice. I would rather have him on loan, as he is also quite old, but despite joining Barcelona for free, he doesn’t make as much money as your average free transfer (Rabiot, Ramsey, Alaba, Pogba, Kessie), and he also could play FW and both wings. Plus he could be motivated even for a loan stint as he doesn’t play frequently for Barcelona.

  An interesting choice could be Martin Terrier. He is the second best player in Ligue 1 (after Messi, but ahead of Mbappé and Neymar, based on WhoScored ratings) and while he is 25 he is playing the best season of his life. Unfortunately he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture, and he’ll be out until October, but I’m sure he would be Wenger’s top target, if you catch my drift.

  I’m not keen on Raphinha or Torres per se – the former was disinterested in Arsenal only a few months back and didn’t hit the ground running, while the latter is largely ineffective this season – but if Arteta believes in Ferran I can give him the benefit of the doubt to be the next Jesus (not as a savior, but as a misused and underappreciated player who could thrive at Arsenal). Yet I would go for Ansu Fati, who is also underrated at Barcelona (he played in 25 games this season, but only one of them took 90 minutes). He would be the signature Arsenal signing, as he is only 20, already experienced, but not a complete world class – Odegaard 2:0. He is probably the only player on the list who could worth 70M in my opinion.

  My secret candidate would be Mike Trésor. He is a 23y Belgian assist machine, playing for Genk. I admit Lokonga didn’t prove to be the perfect signing I hoped and expected, but I still believe Sambi’s place being at Arsenal, and Mike is his long-time pal and fellow youth international – the core of the future Belgian team along with Charles De Ketelaere, Lokonga and Onana.

  There is no more space here to discuss the CM/DM candidates – and I doubt anyone would ready my long comment anyway – but I must add that this Fresneda guy has excellent PR team as it makes no sense whatsoever to sign or even being interested in him. The other simply insane rumor is the recent one about Zainolo, as we already have 3 fine AMs worth of 140M, it would be no less than incompetent to buy another #10 irrespective of the price. Unless ESR is being transitioned into LW and Vieira into RW, but even so they would be happily backing Odegaard, and anyway, this case we don’t need a winger at all. So I won’t mind if we sing NO attacking player in January.

• PV4’s Palace did us a huge favour. Casemiro booked and out of Sundays game, and a fabulous equaliser to deny them 2 points.
  He came from Senegal
  He played for Arsenal
  Viera
  Viera

• That was a piece of excellent news, Casemiro out of Sunday Stu, he’s been a major part of their resurgence, possibly as important to them as Partey is ton us.

• Anyone know who the official is for Sunday’s game might not make a difference we always seem to have something go against us vs Utd. We did not have Partey at their place they will have to do without Casemiro at ours although I kind of wanted to see them go head to head but I will not complain about having an advantage. It will still be a real tough game Utd always get up for this game and Ten Hag is doing an amazing job. Unfortunately we will have to deal with McTominay who I am always wary of as he is a very dirty player, cant remember who it was he rugby tackled in the reverse fixture and it could have resulted in a serious injury and was worthy of a red card.

• Anthony Taylor

• Kev, referring to your post at 03.17… I arrived home early from doing some visiting in time to watch the last 25 minutes of the Palace v Manure game. Sat down to a 0-1 score line, and quietly said, “Lord, it would be lovely for Casemiro to get a yellow and for Palace to sneak an equaliser”.

  Like PB I am a bit disappointed with the Mudryk affair. Can’t help but think Shaktar used him as a pawn. I like the lad, he is a fellow Christian but obviously hasn’t worked out yet that God is a Gooner. What do they teach in those Ukrainian churches?! 🧐🤷‍♀️

• I’m half smiling for Casemiro being suspended (getting his 5th card in the 19th round, which count would have been reset if he could have ‘waited’ for 10 more minutes), but I’m also half sad, as there were so much hype around the Brazilian would finally show Thomas Partey who the boss is, that I kind of hoped that our Ghanaian maestro would put the fear of god into Casemiro.

  Since we only played 18 games in the PL season we have 4 players with 4 yellow cards each, and 3 of them face the scare of suspension against Everton if getting booked on Sunday. More about that in the preview.

  Let me come up with an provocative question, though: who do you root for tonight in the Man City vs. Tottenham game?

• A draw for me, PB.

• I’m for a draw too!

• By the time Arsenal play the Hag men, Citeh could have, and probably will, closed the gap to two points, so we don’t want them to beat the Spuds. But we also don’t want the Conte Men to get a moral boosting victory.

• I was going to comment on a transfer story but I shall leave it for now, until he’s across the line…

  Stu, we are the football equivalent of the Chosen People, we are almost halfway to the Promised Land and when we get there I shall give thanks from my usual spot at Highbury Corner as the open top bus sails by resplendent with silver…

• Kev, you are in fine fettle!!! 🤩

• I haven’t said “Amen” often in my life, but this one’s for you, Kev
  I confess: it’s a “once in a lifetime” thing, but a Tiny Totts’ moral-boosting victory tonight wouldn’t get me down …

• Sat down to a 0-1 score line, and quietly said, “Lord, it would be lovely for Casemiro to get a yellow and for Palace to sneak an equaliser”. My goodness Stuart I’m so happy that you are an Arsenal supporter, with that much pull It would be just awful if you supported Spurs.

• I only watched the second half (scrabble with Mrs GN5 came first) and at the end I was rooting for CP to equalize and it gave me a huge lift when they did and saw 2 points disappear. Poor ole United………

• I’m well aware that the Daily Star is not the most reliable source of information, but this article gives me hope that Arteta and Edu will not make compromise by signing players that do not fit the surprisingly effective rebuilding project. Unless a player is undisputedly improving the squad – only to prepare for some unlikely and unforeseen injury streak, or to please those supporters who believe that splashing the cash and competing with other major clubs for the signature of a player (irrespective of the need for reinforcement in the position) – I would oppose any ‘consolation’ transaction to elevate the mood after the Mudryk-saga.
  And since we are a top team leading the strongest league on the planet, we have to accept that only a few player qualify for undisputed and instant improvement of the already strong squad, and many great – hence expensive – player would not fit the profile, albeit possibly being able to improve even our closest competitors.

  https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-risking-january-declan-rice-28991788

• David Ornstein believes that we have reached an agreement with Brighton to sign Leandro Trossard for £27m (Simon Collings says £21m + add-ons). He’s a talented player but, assuming that Ornstein is correct) I’m surprised that we have done this as his attitude is clearly an issue and I can’t see him being happy as a squad player.

  His current issues with Zerbin at Brighton are well-known. On top of this, his agent Josy Comhair says that he signed for Brighton rather than us in 2019 as he wanted to start regularly. Comhair is reported to have said, “I know Leandro: bench him three times and he goes wild.”

• Dear All looks like we have signed Trossard for 21 + 6 addon for a 4 and half yr contract. His wages may not be high as well. Good to have some with PL exp to relieve Martinelli and Sakas workload.

• Well, OX10, I guess Arteta will have discussed this with Trossard prior to signing him. He will get to play as Martinelli will need resting and we will have to play 25ish games or more in just four months.

  I think this is a good signing for us. Leandro will hit the ground running. He has PL experience, scores and assists regularly and, unlike many Belgians, has a bit of presence about him. He is also technically gifted.

• Acinda Ardern to step down as New Zealand prime minister.

  Stuart from afar she appeared to be doing a great job for your country and based on what little I saw of her on TV I really liked her. Especially how quick she was on banning certain types of guns.

• I am happy with this Trossard signing for depth lets see if its yet another Edu/Micky masterstroke. He is a player I always liked.

• Hmm wonder why I showed up as anonymous with the Trossard comment.

• Hmm wonder why I showed up as anonymous with the Trossard comment.

• Lets hope for a Spurs win today or at least a draw. If that happens and we beat United on Sunday it would put us in a fantastic position at the half way point of the season.

• New Post 🙂

Leave a Reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (Address never made public)

Name

Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Δ