Arsenal and Their Title Competitors Analysis Part One

TotalArsenal

Squad analysis and chance prediction for the Premier League’s 2023/24 season – part I. 

Before the campaign kicks off, let’s quickly go through the top 8 teams (no offense, Brighton and Brentford, but it’s going to be two long posts anyway). I will take a look at the expected line-up in a Defense – Midfield – Attack structure using the TransferMarkt values as baselines, sum up their recent transfer activity (up to the time of the first round), and predict their final standing at the end of the season. The sequence will follow the total squad value in descending order. 

Obviously, there is plenty of time to conduct further business, sign or lose key players, so please take it within this context. There is a good chance that the second part will be posted after the first second has been played. Final disclaimer: I will look for the most valuable players in each position. However, that might not be in the case when teams prefer old but proven players to start, and when they use players out of position to cover. 

Manchester City – 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 

My “official” back 5: Ederson – Gomez, Dias, Gvardiol, Cancelo – €260M 

The expected back 5: Ederson – Aké, Dias, Gvardiol, Walker – €250M 

Despite having the 2 most valuable CBs of the world at the same club, I give the defense only 4.5/5 stars, due to the full back issues. Cancelo is expected to leave in the next few weeks, Walker might sign a new deal – but we know that it is usually followed by a serious dip in form – and neither Aké, nor Gomez is a world-class solution at LB. 

Midfield: Rodri, Kovacic, de Bruyne – €200M 

I think that midfield trio will be a rare sight. Guardiola might experiment with 2 attacking midfielders (especially as Alvarez is often moved there) making a sizeable favor to Arteta who also considers 2 AMs in the same line-up. To be fair: de Bruyne, Phoden, Silva and Alvarez are too good to have 2 on the bench (even if one of them plays winger). I give the midfield 4.5/5 stars, as I’m not a fan of Kovacic, but I may be too harsh as Rodri and KdB are the very best players at their respective position. 

Attack: Phoden, Haaland, Silva – €370M 

There is strong competition at LW (Grealish), but no real RW there (since Mahrez’ departure), as Silva used to play mostly AM in his early Manchester City years. Nevertheless this is a crazy strong trio, rating them 5/5 stars is a massive understatement.  

Their summer was a calm one. They did break the bank for Gvardiol, and they got an unfair cash injection for Mahrez, but that’s the usual water under the bridge. They lost Gündogan on a free transfer, though, which must have been a real blow. 

Sensitive/deficient first team position: LB 

Strengths:  

  • Moral high ground after winning the treble last season. 
  • Guardiola is probably the best tactician of the era beyond the massive wealth of the club. 
  • Strong squad with many quality players at almost all position to rotate properly. 

Weaknesses, disadvantages: 

  • Despite the unprecedented success in recent years and the generous wages many players abandon ship (Jesus, Zinch, Sterling, Mahrez, Gündogan, Cancelo) implying that Pep might be a more difficult person than we imagine. 
  • Introducing academy lads to the team is always a risky investment, and the recent bunch of Lewis, McAtee, THB might not be as good as Phoden or Palmer. 
  • City is the team with the most stars playing out of position: Aké & Akanji as LB, Stones as DM, Silva as RW, Alvarez as AM – that should backfire at some point. 
  • Can they still maintain their hunger for further silverware? Can Haaland have a similarly insane campaign? Does Guardiola have anywhere to improve? I’m not sure… 

With many clubs timing their peak performance to encumber the majestic treble-winners. predicted position at the end of the PL-campaign: 2. 

Arsenal FC – 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 

Defense: Ramsdale – Timber/Zinchenko, Gabriel, Saliba, White – €257M 

While there are plenty of options at both full back positions, there are not really proper substitutes for the center back pair. Which might not be a terrible thing, as we don’t need a third 70M CB sitting on the bench, especially as many defenders have the versatility to play in multiple positions. Many of us thought that Zinchenko and White will be must start when fit, but we just started seeing what Timber brings to the table (unfortunately now injured)… Well if Mikel manages to handle the starting spots fairly and keep all players motivated, then it’s a 5 star defense, that will be extremely hard to penetrate if everybody is fit and individual errors are reduced. 

Midfield: 

Defense-focused: Rice, Partey, Odegaard – €215M 

Attack-minded: Rice, Havertz, Odegaard – €235M 

That will be a constant dilemma throughout the year. The former setup will limit the attempts on goal, and the latter could leave the defense exposed. Yet, with Havertz being the third most expensive signing and the top earner at the club, we might be seeing him more often paired with Martin than expected, regardless of them playing CMs in a 4-3-3 or AMs in a 4-1-4-1. We could even see all four of them if RB position is covered by Partey or if Havertz plays ST (neither of them are necessary wise choices, though). Arsenal needs time to practice and experiment nevertheless, but the 5/5 stars is undisputed. 

Attack: Martinelli, Jesus, Saka – €275M 

This is a no-brainer. The PL’s youngest winger-pair featuring a striker who divides every community whether he is under- or over-appreciated. I think we will see more from Gabby this season; I think I’m being fair by rating our attack at 4.5/5 stars.  

Sensitive/deficient first team position: NONE 

Strengths:  

  • Young, balanced and success-hungry squad who is already a year more mature than last season. 
  • High profile reinforcements from the early weeks of the summer. 
  • Versatile players providing plenty of tactical options and in-game changes. 
  • Victory at the Community Shield over our recent nemesis and main competitor Manchester City should give the squad plenty of confidence. 

Weaknesses, disadvantages: 

  • The squad size is unacceptably large: even Mikel said that it is unsustainable. We should cut the team by 8-10, and there are only a few possible – permanent or loan – transfers even in the ‘rumour stage’. Focus should be on full backs (Soares, Tavares), midfielders (Jorginho, Elneny, Vieira) and RWs (Pepe, Marquinhos). 
  • Apart from Elneny and Holding no player has CL experience in an Arsenal shirt, this new challenge could have an impact on the PL performance as well, as Arteta has to invent his rotation skills. 
  • Currently we are not known of being a team of real competition for starting places. Always picking the ‘first choice’ players poses significant risks in the injury, morale, fatigue and predictability departments. 

With introducing proper rotation, plus smartly experimenting with formations and tactics, predicted position at the end of the PL-campaign: 1. 

Chelsea FC – 4-2-4 

I’m glad I chose the market values as startup-deciding factor, because I have no idea what should be the best setup for Chelsea, nor what would Pochettino pick. 

Defense: Sanchez – Chilwell, Fofana, Badiashile, James – €215M 

With Tiago Silva – still kicking despite turning 39 next month – and Disasi around the defense could look completely different. It (just like all other areas of Chelsea) looks like a random patchwork without any concept or strategy whatsoever. They have decent defenders there from the individual level, but only time will tell if my 3.5-star rating were too harsh or generous. 

Midfield: Fernandez, Caicedo – €155M 

Remember, at the time of writing the post Chelsea hasn’t played their opening game, and Caicedo seems to be joining them albeit Liverpool is willing to play more for the midfielder. It will make a significant difference where Moises will eventually sign, but I give them benefit of the doubt that they will unveil the Ecuadorian soon. While I’m sure that both of them were incredibly overpriced – making the Declan Rice deal look like a steal – they are fine players nevertheless, so a 4.5-star rating is sanctioned. 

Attack: Mudryk, Nkunku, Madueke, Jackson – €210M 

With no attacking midfielders in the squad, I predict Pochettino using Nkunku as a secondary striker – something Bergkamp did alongside a hardcore striker like Wright, Anelka, Kanu or Henry. Apart from Christopher the rest of the attackers are decent at best (demonstrated by the fact that the 4 players of Chelsea worth about 75% of Arsenal’s attacking trio). Mudryk will struggle with living up to his price tag, but Jackson could proce to be a shrewd deal as he had La Liga’s best “goals–xG” statistic last season. Still, that is a 3.5/5 attack. 

Sensitive/deficient first team position: CB, RW 

Strengths:  

  • Plenty of young talents at Pochettino’s disposal. 
  • Most of the deadwood has been cleared in recent transfer windows; if Silva, Ziyech and Lukaku leaves Chlesea could cement itself as the youngest team in the PL for many years. 

Weaknesses, disadvantages: 

  • Kudos to Chelsea for bringing academy players into the team, but Colwill, Chalobah, Hall, Gallagher, Hudson-Odoi or Broja are not Mount- or James-level generational talents. 
  • Almost Arsenal-esque unsustainably large squad with 7 CBs and 4 LBs – without international competition – even after selling 8 and releasing 4 players.  
  • The new owners are not skimpy when it comes to transfers, but either laymen or morons as no long-term strategy or concept can be found behind the recent signings. 
  • Overpriced and overpaid players will be difficult to sell, unless the Saudi clubs keep bailing them out. 
  • The jury is still out whether Pochettino is a tactical genius or a complete fraud who only won silverware with a club so standing out of its league that any of us could have done the same.  
  • Even if he stands somewhere in between it will be an uphill task to fully rebuild the team and design a sustainable playing style and identity.  

Even with Caicedo joining it will be a time-consuming puzzle to transform Chelsea a functioning team from individual young talents; a vastly different challenge than the one Pochettino faced – and failed – at PSG. Predicted position at the end of the campaign: 7 (which is a huge step over last year’s 12th). 

35,35,281,291.920776

Manchester United – 4-2-3-1 

Defense: Onana – Shaw, Martinez, Varane, Dalot – €202M 

Despite this back-5 worth €13M less than Chelsea’s (on paper), I give them half a star more (4/5), because on one hand they really worth in that ballpark (while Chelsea traditionally overpaying its players, that reflects in their inflated, unreliable value), and also as they already have chemistry/synergies among them. Their CB pair is not the same level as their City rival’s or Arsenals, but that’s a needlessly high bar.  

Midfield: Casemiro, Mount, Fernandes – €175M 

Ten Hag likes to play attacking football, so I suspect we’ll see 1 DM + 2 AM engines in the other side of Manchester, too. The Brazilian had a strong debut season, and at 31 still not on the decline, making their midfield the strongest area. Time will tell whether Mason and Bruno will be able to contribute defensively, but for the time being I grant them 5/5 stars. 

Attack: Rashford, Hojlund, Anthony – €185 

United got themselves a tall striker, but it’s too early to tell if Rasmus Højlund is a one-off sensation or indeed a top striker. Anthony didn’t have an enthralling season, so I expect the Mancs to found wanting in this department, despite playing €170M for the pair. I rate their attack 3.5/5, and only because Rashford is indeed world class – yet with his new contract he might be less lethal than last year. 

Manchester United is famous for mistaking high profile signing with actually vital reinforcements. When the PL was not full of gas and oil money it was fine to overpay transfer fees and salaries to show how big of a club they are, but now they can’t stop spending money that would have been better to be invested elsewhere. That did make them the 4th most valuable club in the PL (and #7 in the world), but I don’t think it would determine their PL-campaign, although I expect my prediction (a little below) being divisive. 

Sensitive/deficient first team position: ST 

Strengths:  

  • Plenty of quality player for every position. 
  • The League Cup trophy and their season finish could equip them with confidence. 
  • Erik ten Hag is a master tactician. 

Weaknesses, disadvantages: 

  • A crazy big squad (60% larger than Liverpool) that is a ticking bomb. Even have 3 more players than Arsenal, and our 32-heads are well beyond sustainable. 
  • Erik ten Hag is a MU-level megalomaniac when it comes to transfers. Without a strategist in the scouting department this is only money spent, but the word “well” is always missing. 
  • Last season they have conceded 7 against Liverpool, 6 vs. Man City, 4 at Brentford and 3 against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Sevilla – so they lack consistency, especially in the back. 
  • They have a brand new goalkeeper and striker (applies to Chelsea and Tottenham, too), they have major change in midfield, that takes time to optimize. 

I’ve seen pundits foreseeing them becoming champions and many more guessed they finish ahead of us, but they haven’t seen Tropic Thunder. Predicted position at the end of the campaign: 5. 

Who will finish at positions, 3, 4, 6 and 8? Stay with us as it will be revealed later this week. 

Did you agree with the assessment? What did you find the most outrageous?  

By Peter Barany

61 thoughts on “Arsenal and Their Title Competitors Analysis Part One”

  • Thank you, Peter Thorough Barany.

    Yes Thorough should be your middle name. Much to agree with in terms of strength/weaknesses analysis. It will be a very long season and so many factors will play a role, including, as you mention too, injuries, impact of the CL campaign and just luck and quality of refereeing.

    I think Chelsea will finish higher than you predicted. The new manager and all the signings will have some positive impact. Manure seem to have the same old problem of not having a manager who can really connect with the squad. Players are okay with some gems but too many are cheque collectors and dont have a real association with that club. Man City remain the ones to beat, and as yesterday’s game showed, they are hard to break down and create chances against and have the sort of players to always score at least ones. They remain the team to beat in terms of overall quality and the only way we can do it is to keep believing and fight for every point, game by game. With the CL games to be played too, I think it is a big ask of this clearly developing team of ours. But just like you, I am very hopeful this season.

  • Phorget Fill Phoden, phor he phrequently phucks-up.
    Phavour Fillips – phar phiner😄😄

  • Given the way Spurs beat United I don’t see how the Manchester club can be considered a title challenger, I’m not convinced they will even get top four. Spurs are likely to be the joker in the pack this season, big wins interspersed with big losses. But Postecoglu’s record is once he’s got his ideas across his teams improve a lot. So, given how they have started, they could even be top four challengers themselves.

  • Fantastic post Peter. Man U looked really week against Spurs. Chelsea is an enigma and will probably grow into the season. Man C and Arsenal looks to be the most settled teams and should fight for the title. Brighton looks incredibly attractive amazing that they have lost the complete midfield but still being able to cope. They are going to the surprise team.

  • Thanks Peter. Engaging stuff, I shall have a good read after I recover from my late night.
    Spain were so very good, astonishing (like Brighton, Madhu) that they could field such a team after being decimated by the protests of last year. England underperformed, missed Mead, Kirby and Williamson, but were out passed, out pressed and out played.

    Looks like we are playing Palace at a good time, with Zaha gone and three of their first choice players out.

  • After Chelsea’s performance yesterday it’s not surprising to note that only Man C and Brighton have won both thier matches. We should win ours. Looks like only Man C and Arsenal have a stable squad. Rest of the top contenders are wobbly. Brighton is an interesting team and breath of fresh air in the PL along with probably Brentford. We win tomorrow and then we can start opening a gap with our last seasons top 4 rivals. We have to beat City this time to have any chance of challenging for the title otherwise I am afraid it will be an easy ride for City. It’s hard to see who can beat City based on the two rounds so far. We may have to defend our Invincibles record ourselves this season.

  • Thanks for the replies, guys.

    I think this season there will be 3 clubs well ahead the rest. And even though I only listed only 2 so far, there is a good chance that you will identify my third guess easily.

    TA, Chelsea is a soup of quality ingredients, but a mess of experiments so far. If they finish higher than 7th – which they very well may – then which of the top 7 will finish lower then them?

    Rob, this was not the first time I got tricked by Fil Phoden. I’m sure he picked his name for this reason. 🙂

    Jod, I agree with you, fair observations. But I cannot go into further details not to spoil(er) the second part of the analysis, which was made a couple of days before the campaign has started.

    Madhu – and everybody – who do you think will get to the 8th place? Or not necessarily #8, but which ‘outsider’ team will finish the highest (beyond the top 6 and Newcastle)? Will it be Brighton? Or West Ham? Brentford? I made my nomination (see it in a week), but I can be wrong.

    Stuart, the advantage of the home turf will be stronger this year than before, I think. I hope that Crystal Palace will be a weaker fort than last season, or at least not stronger, as the performance at away games will determine the winner of this PL campaign.

  • A very comprehensive analysis so far PB. I agree with TA. We cannot judge where any team will finish on the basis of these early matches, eg I expect Manure to improve.

  • I agree, OX10. And I’m not judging the teams at all.
    The underlying post was written on the 10th of August, so no results were taken into consideration.
    TA is my witness, he received it on the weekend. He inserted the remark on Timber injury himself.

    I base my prediction on the strength/quality of the strongest (or most valuable) starting XI, and the time they had to integrate the new transfers and tactics. And maybe on my subjective assessment of the manager, which might be even more biased than the player evaluation. What I disregard are the last season results and the depth of the squad. Which may be completely counter-intuitive, as injuries and last minute transfers might overwrite my analysis entirely (I couldn’t take Raya into consideration), but I had to draw the line somewhere.

    And this is merely a prediction. Feel free to challenge any of the “conclusions” on the final standings. The sooner you do, the closer we remain to the informational symmetry.

  • Good morning all, sorry PB I have not had tome to read your post yet.

    Here are the competition results for the last weekend.

    1st. PB, Eris & Kev with 3/6 and share of most correct predictions = 4.33 points.
    4th. Total, Madhu & OX10 with 2/6 = 2 points.
    7th. GN5 with 1/6 = 1 point.
    8th. Stuart with 0/6 = 0 points.
    “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””
    Season to date results.

    1st. Stuart with 14.0
    2nd. PB with 9.33
    3rd. OX10 with 7.0
    4th. Kev with 6.33
    5th. Madhu with 6.0
    6th. Eris with 5.33
    7th. Total & GN5 with 3.0
    “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

  • Next weekends selections.

    AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur *
    Arsenal v Fulham *
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest *
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United *
    Newcastle United v Liverpool *
    Villarreal v Barcelona *
    “””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

  • Total that was one of the lowest scoring rounds we have had which was very unusual. No correct scores and max three correct predictions. You and I are in our normal positions at the bottom!

  • I am struggling with Kev’s taxi, getting confused between accelerator and brake….

    Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Saliba, White, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah. Subs: Raya, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Trossard, Jorginho, Vieira, Nelson, Zinchenko.

    Come on Tomi…

  • Team sheet:

    Crystal Palace XI: Johnstone; Ward, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell; Lerma, Doucoure; Ayew, Eze, Schlupp; Edouard

    Subs: Matthews, Tomkins, Richards, Clyne, Riedewald, Ahamada, Rak-Sakyi, Gordon

    Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; Partey, White, Saliba, Tomiyasu; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli

    Subs: Raya, Zinchenko, Gabriel, Kiwior, Jorginho, Smith-Rowe, Nelson, Vieira, Trossard

  • Arteta may be trying to ruffle feathers there. Big Gab must be wondering what he’s done wrong to deserve a place on the bench after a stable performance last season.

    The other forwards have to work hard for Nketiah to get a sniff amongst the Palace defenders….

    COYG!!!

  • It’s good to have 6 point from 2 games, even though we seem to have already given up on the goal difference as a deciding factor when points are level.
    Yes, it way to early to jump to any conclusions, so let’s hope that in the next 5 games we will improve on that department as well.

  • We cannot underestimate what an important win that was. It looked a real derby and I thought the hosts gave it a good go and showed no fear for us when they came forward. In the end, we had to grind out the win.

    Arteta surprised a few when he left on Havertz after taking off some of our known forward men, for defensive introductions. One would have thought leaving a speed star like Martinelli, or a fighter like Nketiah on may have served us better, but what do I know? With Roy Hodgson, Palace will give most visitors to their home ground a game.

  • They are never easy Eris.. Eddie did his job. Almost got a spectacular goal .. but off the post… he did earn the penalty well enough.
    Predicting lineups is going to be hard for us this season. This is great news! That means opponents will find it even harder to prepare for us.

    Nice post PB!

  • By the time I’ve finished with your taxi, Kev, it will have red and white racing stripes, A “follow Jesus and Arsenal” sticker on the back, parking tickets aplenty under the wipers and more than a few dings in the body work…

    Palace proved a hard team to break down, but the quick thinking displayed by Gab and Eddie found a chink in their armour. It looked like a training ground move, so credit to our coaching staff, too.
    I thought Mikel left Kai on for two reasons: his hold up play is better than Eddie’s, and his height may well have been needed if Palace bombed us with high balls as they chased the game.
    Tomi was very unlucky. He only held the ball for 8 seconds before his first yellow, and his second was most certainly not a foul. Hopefully the club will appeal.

  • AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur * 1-2
    Arsenal v Fulham * 2-0
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest * 2-0
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United * 3-1
    Newcastle United v Liverpool * 1-1
    Villarreal v Barcelona * 0-2

  • Regarding Tomis send off I think it’s best to have timers for throw ins and goal kicks two areas that refrees hand out yellow cards for time wasting. Today it’s refrees discretion and there is no consistency. Take that out of refrees hands. Keep a timer as in basket ball and a buzzer. Players will then know they will get a card and hence will stop wasting time.

  • PB, thanks for the post; that was some painstaking effort and I have only just been able to conclude going through it. There is very little to contest on your submissions, especially the strengths and weaknesses department of the clubs analyses in this first part of the series.

    While I have had the luxury of seeing the first two games for all the clubs (which you had not before taking a punt at this), plus seeing as the winter transfer window would offer opportunity for corrective action in the market (including the bump inherent from the managers’ Sack race), I feel Chelsea would finish higher to take 4th, behind City, Arsenal and ‘Pool. The likes of Newcastle, Spurs, Brighton and West ham look good enough to push down this Man United side to 9th position, if they continue on their current trajectory and form; okay, I don’t like them much (I agree). On the other hand, no other side has the power of purposeful recovery than the Man U juggernaut; not this time, I hope though.

    There are some wild card considerations as Brentford and even Crystal Palace to watch out for in the quest for European places, which would make the league a very keenly fought one this season. I would agree that only Man City, Arsenal and maybe, Newcastle have stable squads hence 1st and 2nd place would be amongst the first two while Newcastle may find it a tad harder going this time.

    Finally, your allusion to a new contract slowing Rashford down this season is rather curious because, as far as I can recall, that bug only affects Arsenal. Lol. Rashford does look disillusioned in recent games but it only takes him nicking a goal or two, to get going.

  • Thanks for the report, GN5. The inclusion of the correct score points will make things more exciting; I imagine Stuart and Kev will be flying highest in that department since very few of us can have the luxury of taking over Kev’s cab, after all.😜

  • PB based on last two games I think Man C and Arsenal with a settled squad is in a seperate zone. The next category will be teams like Man U, Liverpool, New Castle and Brighton. The final category will be teams like Spurs, Villa, Chelsea and Brentford. Spurs may move into second category but based on last two games it’s difficult to predict. Brighton might fall down a category when Europa games starts.

  • Total, if you have LeGall’s private e mail addi, do give him a rev up, tell him we are missing his Proustian tones and that I need to have some banter with him about the opening game of the rugby World Cup.

  • Stu, he goes on Jorge Birds Arsenal Youth occasionally, so have a peek at that blog.

  • Stu, LeG is a free spirit, and he will be back when he feels like it. No doubt he is also disgruntled with Mikel for not developing his puppies enough. 😉

  • A touch of Tommy Cooper for you.

    I knocked on the door of a B&B and a lady stuck her head out of the window.
    She said what do you want, I replied – I want to stay here.
    She said well stay there and shut the window.

  • Ah, telle est la vie. Le vent souffle où il veut, et vous entendez son bruit, mais vous ne savez pas d’où il vient ni où il va.

    Thanks for the TC, GN5.

  • Thanks for that, Eris. I enjoyed watching Kai in the Palace game. He has a good temperament, is clever and experienced, employs a great skill set including some of the dark arts. His contribution is certainly understated.

  • B’mouth vs Tottenham 2-3
    Arsenal vs Fulham……….3-0
    Man U vs Nottm Forest 3-1
    Brighton vs West Ham…3-1
    Newcastle vs Liverpool 2-1
    Villarreal vs Barcelona..0-3

  • 9 days to go before the window closes, I’d imagine that there’s a lot of deals in the works but it seems that despite all of his best intentions that Edu can’t persuade any of our surplus players to leave.

    It’s even been rumoured that Pepe may well be re-integrated as we can’t shift him and we can’t bring anyone in with nobody leaving.

    Cedric Soares is like a limpet, he simply won’t be moved. Tavares turned down a decent move to Nottm Forest! I mean who does he think is going to come in for him, Real Madrid?

    Lokonga doesn’t seem to carry any value for anyone!

    Holding could do a decent job for many a Premier League club, is he any worse than some of the guys we see playing for Everton or Sheff Utd or Brentford or Luton?

    It doesn’t make any sense?

  • Yes Kev, a big job for Edu and Co. We may see a few contracts being terminated by mutual consent next month.

    Was it Mislintat who got us Pepe?

    Rob, yeah agreed. Time to give him some time on a pitch somewhere.

  • AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur * 1-2
    Arsenal v Fulham * 3-0
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest * 3-1
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United * 1-1
    Newcastle United v Liverpool * 1-2
    Villarreal v Barcelona * 1-2

  • Bournemouth v Tottenham 1-2
    Arsenal v Fulham 3-0
    Man U v Notts Forest 2-0
    Brighton vs West Ham…3-1
    Newcastle vs Liverpool 2-1
    Villarreal vs Barcelona 1-1

  • I thought that Raul was the main instigator in the arrival of Pepe and that’s why Lewis quickly got rid of him when he arrived on site TA

  • Mislintat was the main mover in the arrivals of Mavropanos, Aubameyang, Leichsteiner, Sokratis, all that crowd from the Bundesliga

  • AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur * A (1-3)
    Arsenal v Fulham * H (2-1)
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest * H (2-0)
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United * H (2-0)
    Newcastle United v Liverpool * H (2-1)
    Villarreal v Barcelona * A (1-2)

  • Thanks for the prompt GN5 and for the Tommy Cooper joke. We were in Caerphilly on Monday admiring his statue.

    AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur A 0-2
    Arsenal v Fulham * H 2-0
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest * D 1-1
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United * H 2-1
    Newcastle United v Liverpool * H 3-1
    Villarreal v Barcelona * A 0-2

  • More Tommy Cooper one liners.

    Went to the paper shop – it had blown away.

    I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn’t find any.

    I bought some HP sauce the other day. It’s costing me 6p a month for the next 2 years.

    Last night I dreamed I ate a ten-pound marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.

  • Hilarious one liners, GN5.

    Like Kev said, it was Raul Sanllehi who brought in Pepe. Clearly, not well thought out and even looked shady. Hence, he and the little crowd with him were eased out and he hasn’t really got another gig of note going since.

  • Here goes, GN5 …

    AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur * 2-2
    Arsenal v Fulham * 3-1
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest * 2-0
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United * 3-1
    Newcastle United v Liverpool * 1-2
    Villarreal v Barcelona * 1-2

  • The problem is with outgoings someone like cedric is in his 30s and we gave him a wage in excess of 100K which makes it impossible to move him on unless his contract is paid off. I think we have to start looking at wages more carefully and have some kind of bands set. Otherwise we get into the trap quite often. We are now in a strong position to be able to negotiate on players wages as well. Pepe is on 140 apparently and there are only few clubs who can afford such wages and they are not in for him. Only hope is for a Saudi club.

  • AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur * 0-2 (A)
    Arsenal v Fulham * 1-0 (H)
    Manchester United v Nottingham Forest * 4-0 (H)
    Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United * 1-2 (A)
    Newcastle United v Liverpool * 1-3 (A)
    Villarreal v Barcelona * 2-2 (D)

  • I fully agree with Madhu on the importance of salaries, apart from Cedric is ‘only’ at 75k.

    There is a catch though. As for the players who are fairly or even underpaid there is a certain demand. At least that’s why I think the rumors for Juventus and Real Madrid are interested in Gabriel, as he makes 50k (despite signing his new contract last October), while there are plenty of fine players generating little to no attention on the market.

    When we sign players from top clubs and therefore give a raise on their already high salary it will make it near impossible to ever sell them again. Which might not be a problem if they perform above expectation, but I don’t see Jesus, Havertz or Partey moving on after joining from City, Chelsea or Atletico and making 330k, 260k and 200k a week respectively.

    The same applies for players a club publicly and desperately wants to sign: Ben White (120k) or Declan Rice (250k) makes too much money to be attractive to other clubs, even European giants.

  • Eris, thank you for the link that was a very interesting article, Granit used to face similar criticism but the critics were not seeing what the managers and coaches were seeing from the player’s performance.

  • All predictions are in and recorded. I hope to scrape myself off of the bottom, you guy’s are getting far too heavy to hold up.

  • It may mean nothing but our stats under the referee of the day is something to ponder. According to the club website, ……

    We are looking to record our first win under the watchful eye of Paul Tierney since February 2021, having lost five and drawn one since then – that point coming after surrendering a 2-0 lead at Liverpool back in April.

    Last season saw us also beaten by Manchester United and exiting the FA Cup at Manchester City with Tierney in the middle, meaning we have won just six of 16 games he has taken charge of. The Cottagers meanwhile have won just three out of his 15 appointments, none of which have been in the Premier League.

    Referee: Paul Tierney
    Assistants: Neil Davies, Scott Ledger
    Fourth official: Thomas Bramall
    VAR: Darren England
    Assistant VAR: Dan Cook
    Recent visits from Fulham

    COPIED http://www.Arsenal.com

  • PB I may say so to a large extent it’s Artetas fault to make no one wanting someone like Pepe. You don’t devalue your asset so much and expect someone to buy them at a price. He needs to learn to ensure that asset value doesn’t go down too much so publicly. Cedric is a bad buy but Pepe not getting a decent fee is to an extent Artetas fault and offcourse Pepes as well

  • Arteta did not buy Pepe and he is a one-trick pony, Madhu. Nothing can be done about it. but if you need to blame there are always people to aim at.

    New Post 🙂

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