Topic: Arsenal

[ScottishGoon]

You would want Ancelotti right?

That said - he probably needs a break again.

As has been mentioned down the page, there's no doubting his achievements through the years, but they've generally been at top clubs, with some top players and really good resources to improve on them. I'm not sure how good he'd be when he has more of a challenge on his hands to rebuild a team. There's talk that he doesn't spend a lot of time coaching the players, & anyone can see we need properly coached. Also, will he have the motivation to get really stuck in & tackle the job that's needed? I have my doubts.

I can't believe I just read a post saying they should've signed Gary Cahill and thought... actually, that's exactly the kind of the player they should've signed.

Them signing Pépé is absolutely criminal management of funds. Not sure how Sanllehi et al can possibly be trusted after that.

I think they should sell Aubameyang for as much as possible and play the young Brazilian lad, then sell him for a buckletload to whichever mega club wants him and keep investing back in their squad with a bit of sense, restore a bit of fight to their team.

We needed to sign a wide player, of that there is no doubt. We were playing the likes of Iwobi & Mkhitaryan there last season (both who arent here anymore), heck we even took Denis Suarez on loan as a temporary solution & look how that turned out.
Now, i'm not saying we signed the right guy, & it certainly shouldn't have been at the expense of improving the defense (& defensive midfield). I think it was a bit of an opportune signing because Lille agreed to longer than usual installments, so we were more content to overpay a bit. Apparently the thinking was by improving the shape of the team, adding more pace to the forward areas, we would become more a threat on the counter and improve on our away results (as the home results were ok last season). Don't think anyone envisaged the collapse we had though.

As for Pepe himself, for me, his success will be mostly down to 1 thing, if he can adjust to the intensity of the league. The pace and skill is there, but is the heart & balls there, to be able to play at pace & do both sides of the game. Monday night was the first time that it looked like he could. If he can keep that up he'll do ok. However if he can't, he'll flop and fall away.

[[new username under construction]]

They did a Spurs with that one. 'Heavily' linked to Liverpool so they have to buy him. He's actually not a bad player. Needs to adjust to the PL. All you have to do is keep him on his right foot and not give away too many free kicks and he'll be kept under wraps.

Pretty much looks like a youth player they just brought through

[oxenstierna]

Highly unlikely, but I can see them getting a draw against City

[Skeeve]

We needed to sign a wide player, of that there is no doubt. We were playing the likes of Iwobi & Mkhitaryan there last season (both who arent here anymore), heck we even took Denis Suarez on loan as a temporary solution & look how that turned out.
Now, i'm not saying we signed the right guy, & it certainly shouldn't have been at the expense of improving the defense (& defensive midfield). I think it was a bit of an opportune signing because Lille agreed to longer than usual installments, so we were more content to overpay a bit. Apparently the thinking was by improving the shape of the team, adding more pace to the forward areas, we would become more a threat on the counter and improve on our away results (as the home results were ok last season). Don't think anyone envisaged the collapse we had though.

You can adjust your formation to minimise the urgency for a wide player though, there's no amount of adjustments that can cover for gaping holes in your defence and to blow £70m in attack while bringing in David Luiz should be negligent enough for whoever okayed those moves to be immediately fired.

[farawayred]

As has been mentioned down the page, there's no doubting his achievements through the years, but they've generally been at top clubs, with some top players and really good resources to improve on them. I'm not sure how good he'd be when he has more of a challenge on his hands to rebuild a team. There's talk that he doesn't spend a lot of time coaching the players, & anyone can see we need properly coached. Also, will he have the motivation to get really stuck in & tackle the job that's needed? I have my doubts.

This is an interesting point of view on Ancelotti. I thought that the situation he inherited at Milan was very much similar to that at Arsenal with the exception that Arsenal hasn't won a title in quite a while. He did rebuild Milan and he made them really good. As you said, Milan is a big team, but so is Arsenal, so I'm curious to where your doubts are coming from? Perhaps he was more motivated then to build a legacy?

[deFacto please, you bastards]

This is an interesting point of view on Ancelotti. I thought that the situation he inherited at Milan was very much similar to that at Arsenal with the exception that Arsenal hasn't won a title in quite a while. He did rebuild Milan and he made them really good. As you said, Milan is a big team, but so is Arsenal, so I'm curious to where your doubts are coming from? Perhaps he was more motivated then to build a legacy?

Milan had quality players, so that type of rebuild is vastly different to the state that Arsenal are in, You can not compare the two.

These are the players that Milan had when Ancelotti took over in 2001

-Abiatti
-Maldini
-Kaladzhe
-Serginho
-Costacurta
-Roque Jr
-Albertini
-Ambrosini
-Gattusso
-Pirlo
-Redondo
-Rui Costa
-Shevchenko
-Inzaghi

Now compare and contrast that to the state of Arsenal at the moment.

[MolbyLovesGravlax]

Seem to recall there was reporting FSG sounded him out at some point (I think maybe that summer when Rodgers barely survived) and he essentially stated he would only be interested if the owners guaranteed they would buy him a whole new spine on day 1.
Not sure what his assessment of Arsenal would be, but I figure they are in no place to spend big again... 

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Seem to recall there was reporting FSG sounded him out at some point (I think maybe that summer when Rodgers barely survived) and he essentially stated he would only be interested if the owners guaranteed they would buy him a whole new spine on day 1.
Not sure what his assessment of Arsenal would be, but I figure they are in no place to spend big again...

It's why at the time I wanted Klopp over Ancelotti. And it would be a mistake for Arsenal to hire him.

[elsewhere]

Ozil is one hypocrite bastard. Genuinely supports Erdogan who has one of the worst records in human rights, then keep talking about human rights issue (just talked against China's treatment of East Turkistan and Arsenal distanced themselves from the topic? He is actually right about China but when Erdogan is the politician who jails most journalists and considering the treatment of Kurds, Ozil becomes more muppet in my eyes for never touching human rights issues in his own yard. just stfu attention whore.

[Red-Soldier]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50799009

Mesut Ozil: Arsenal-Manchester City game removed from schedules by China state TV

China's state broadcaster CCTV has removed Sunday's Arsenal-Manchester City game from its schedule after comments made by Gunners midfielder Mesut Ozil, state media has reported.

Ozil posted on social media about the treatment of Uighur Muslims in China.

Arsenal distanced the club from the German's views, saying it was "always apolitical as an organisation".

The Global Times described Ozil's comments as "false" and claimed he had "disappointed" football authorities.

In addition, the Chinese Football Association said Ozil's comments were "unacceptable" and had "hurt the feelings" of Chinese fans.

CCTV will now show Sunday's game between Tottenham and Wolves, instead of a live broadcast of Arsenal's home match with the reigning Premier League champions.

In his social media post Ozil, who is a Muslim, called Uighurs "warriors who resist persecution" and criticised both China and the silence of Muslims in response.

[dalarr]

I agree. Özil is right in calling out China but he’s a hypocrite of the highest order. He doesn’t come across as the most intelligent guy in the league.

[Commie Bobbie]

I agree. Özil is right in calling out China but he’s a hypocrite of the highest order. He doesn’t come across as the most intelligent guy in the league.

His fawning for Erdogan is particularly reprehensible.

[mallin9]

It's an interesting one for sure, in this era of big money sports washing, that individuals and organizations with the biggest platforms to enact change are also the most financially incentivized to not say a mumbly word.  Take for example LFC this week in Qatar; the smart thing to do is for LFC to ruffle no feathers.  Which potentially means censoring players or staff on social media.....

This world is weird.  Ozil looks such a dick, rightfully, for his repeated nuzzling up to Erdogan from the safety of Germany.....and I applaud him drawing attention to the illegal imprisonment of millions based on their faith/race.

[Lush is the best medicine...]

Ozil is one hypocrite bastard. Genuinely supports Erdogan who has one of the worst records in human rights, then keep talking about human rights issue (just talked against China's treatment of East Turkistan and Arsenal distanced themselves from the topic? He is actually right about China but when Erdogan is the politician who jails most journalists and considering the treatment of Kurds, Ozil becomes more muppet in my eyes for never touching human rights issues in his own yard. just stfu attention whore.

pretty much my opinion on this

[Ray K]

I don't think I'll ever understand Arsenal spending £75million on a wide forward last summer with the central defenders they had. They basically had to play Sokratis, Chambers or Mustafi for the whole season and hope that David Luiz wasn't going to be all David Luizy. Just completely bewildering.

[Caligula?]

There are very, very few managers in the world at present who can take on this project and genuinely improve them over the next couple of years. Julian Nagelsmann immediately springs to mind but he's probably not going to be going anywhere for awhile it seems. Who else? Nuno from Wolves?

[him_15]

Worst Arsenal team in 20 years.

[lukeb1981]

After all Wenger done for them , they made his last few years a misery when his hands where tied because of the stadium .He kept them up around the top 4 year after year. They thought they should be winning the league every season - as a fan base they deserve what they are now getting.

[Caligula?]

Worst Arsenal team in 20 40 years.

[Tobelius]

Worst Arsenal team in 20 years.

Yeah,from the early Wenger teams to this.

Quite a drop..

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

I can't see them finishing in the top4 in the next 5 years.

[TepidT2O]

If they’re waiting to get a new manager at the end of the season, they can’t keep on with Lundeberg.

Why not give it Arsene until the end of the season?

[Zlen]

Ancelotti is available and would probably be happy being a short term fixer. What are they waiting for here?

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

Ancelotti is available and would probably be happy being a short term fixer. What are they waiting for here?

What short term fixer? He arguably had a better team at Napoli and went nine games without a win.

He knows how to work only with creme de la creme, but give him the likes of Sorkratis or Mustafi or Pepe, and he would struggle more than Emery.

[Gerry Attrick]

3-0 down and brings Smith-Rowe and Willock on, leaving Lacazette on the bench. Yeah, he’s wank.

[Zlen]

What short term fixer? He arguably had a better team at Napoli and went nine games without a win.

He knows how to work only with creme de la creme, but give him the likes of Sorkratis or Mustafi or Pepe, and he would struggle more than Emery.

He is a manager at least.
Not a fan like Ljungberg.

[Red-Soldier]

3-0 down and brings Smith-Rowe and Willock on, leaving Lacazette on the bench. Yeah, he’s wank.

Yep. He's no Duncan Ferguson

[sinnermichael]

Hope Keown's on MOTD2. He may internally combust.

[Red Beret]

Ancelotti is available and would probably be happy being a short term fixer. What are they waiting for here?

Big Sam.

[TepidT2O]

They should bring back Wenger until the end of the season...

[elsewhere]

Wenger might be their best manager since they sacked Wenger.

[The G in Gerrard]

They shouldn't have got rid of Wenger.

[LovelyCushionedHeader]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50799009

Mesut Ozil: Arsenal-Manchester City game removed from schedules by China state TV

China's state broadcaster CCTV has removed Sunday's Arsenal-Manchester City game from its schedule after comments made by Gunners midfielder Mesut Ozil, state media has reported.

Ozil posted on social media about the treatment of Uighur Muslims in China.

Arsenal distanced the club from the German's views, saying it was "always apolitical as an organisation".

The Global Times described Ozil's comments as "false" and claimed he had "disappointed" football authorities.

In addition, the Chinese Football Association said Ozil's comments were "unacceptable" and had "hurt the feelings" of Chinese fans.

CCTV will now show Sunday's game between Tottenham and Wolves, instead of a live broadcast of Arsenal's home match with the reigning Premier League champions.

In his social media post Ozil, who is a Muslim, called Uighurs "warriors who resist persecution" and criticised both China and the silence of Muslims in response.

Instead of not airing the game, they could have just fuzzed out the Arsenal players. It wouldnt have been any different to watch!

[deFacto please, you bastards]

They shouldn't have got rid of Wenger.

Nah it was the right decision, they stagnated. They finished 5th in his last two seasons and were terrible away from home. They haven't gotten the right manager to replace him but that doesn't mean that Wenger shouldn't have gone.

[macmanamanaman]

Get me in to manage.
I ll sell Ozil to China (!)
Buy Koulibali
Promote a few young defenders from the u23/u18s.Heck, they may not know how to defend yet these younguns but at least they are not David Luiz.

Play Luiz as DM

Play Gendoozywoozi as AM with license to run abput and pester at will, with no tactical responsibilities to hold shape. Same with Torreira to some extent.

Bin Xhaka to sub.

Play Auba on shoulder of last defender and get ball into channels or over the top every chance, sod tiki taka.





Also, I d SaveGame on FM and replay as needed.

[Dim Glas]

They shouldn't have got rid of Wenger.

they should have eased him out sooner than they did, the rot had long started to set in when he was there. The whole thing got managed really really badly.

[PaulF]

So guys. Which would be worse for you? Us finishing unbeaten, or spurs winning the CL?

[Walshy nMe®]

Stark similarities between us post Rafa and them post Wenger.

The difference between us and them, is that under our old yanks we mobilised and hounded them out of our club.

They just queue up for their 5 mins of fame on AFTV and complain.

[mallin9]

I can't see them finishing in the top4 in the next 5 years.

A ridiculous take, nothing can be predicted that far afield in the league.  Look at United; they turn a corner every week. 

Point being that it's not a crystalized top 4 they're taking on.  This shitty shitty Arsenal team might rattle off enough wins after christmas to make top 4 this season, let alone 4 years from now.

[mickeydocs]

There is a chance they could go down. The West Ham game result flattered them.