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Gunny's rumours posts with other poster's replies to Gunny's rumours posts
10 Sep 2020 11:53:42
Hi Ed’s any legs to the PSG Draxler for Guendouzi swap rumour? Thanks.
{Ed002's Note - Draxler has been offered around as he is in the last year of his contract - so it makes sense for PSG but not for Arsenal. The player wants a new contract.}
1.) 10 Sep 2020 14:02:19
Could he not be an alternative to Aouar, he has shown himself in the past to be a class act on the ball. Do you see the problem with Arsenal going for the deal one related to high wages, too many wingers or his loss of form? He has in the past said his preferred position is central attacking midfielder in behind the striker. I known at PSG he hasn’t been sparkling but a new club with less pressure to match players like Mbappe and Neymar could allow him under Arteta to rediscover his best form. At 26 and a regular German international he could still have his best years ahead of him.
{Ed002's Note - Of course but he is not a player Arsenal want and he doesn't want to move to Arsenal.}
22 Aug 2014 12:23:49
Hi Eds,
Anything on Juan Fernando Quintero, I know the prices quoted earlier in the summer were way too low and Wenger denied interest (but when does that mean anything during the transfer window).
From what I have seen of him he looks fantastic, can play CM CAM LW CF, is quick, has silky skills, great vision for a pass, likes to score wonder goals and can take a free kick like Ronaldo. As he is 5' 6" he also fits the Arsenal height demographic.
He appears to be the number 10 we need to make the most of Olly's hold up play or as LW with Alexis as RW, Theo as CF and Ozil in the hole, now that's an attack with pace to burn.
{Ed002's Note - Nothing involving Arsenal right now.}
1.) He reminds me of Cazorla. Maybe a future replacement?
15 Aug 2014 09:58:32
If Real have dropped the price of Khedira to €10m it would be just plain rude not to buy him.
1.) I reckon he will join bayern, now that martinez is out until way past new years
05 Jul 2014 11:18:10
After some early rumours linking us with Ospina everything seems to have gone very quiet on that front, which is a shame as he has looked quality for Columbia. Any chance Eds?
{Ed002's Note - Ospina has effectively left Nice already and is looking for a new contract. I understand that he is interested in a move to Atletico but they have shown no interest in him. There was talk in January of Club Atlas being interested in him.}
Gunny's banter posts with other poster's replies to Gunny's banter posts
26 Oct 2020 14:32:05
Well that was an entirely predictable result, the match report could have been written and filed days before the match.
‘Leicester defend with all players behind the ball for 60 minutes absorb pressure from an Arsenal team only capable of moving the ball laterally and then mug them with a goal on the breakâ€
Ceballos was woeful, he has no pace, failed to beat the press every time and as for the number of times he gave the ball away, it was ridiculous, but it was the manner of doing it that was astonishing, the opposition less intercepted the ball than had it passed to them, over and over again.
Xhaka again left me bemused as to what he brings to the team other than the highest stats for backwards passes. Forwards kept making runs but he didn’t once make the pass, he hesitates wants too long on the ball and gets closed down (most of the time that happens you think he’ll lose the ball) .
Mustafi why, just why? Every fan new what was likely to happen as soon as he came on the pitch. Either a penalty or free kick in a dangerous area or he would stand on or near the halfway line, allow the striker he is marking to get goal side of him and jog back into the box during a breakaway goal blaming everyone else.
Top teams beat a congested centre by playing overlaps to the bye line then peppering the box with “good†crosses, by playing driving one two’s into the box and in so doing they either score or draw a foul or a penalty or by a creative midfielder picking a pass that splits the defence.
Our crosses were largely poor or blocked, we played little or no one two’s and had no one with the vision to pick a pass.
We need a creative midfielder in the Fabregas / Carzolla mould. Ceballos isn’t it, all you can say about him is he’s normally better than Xhaka.
Arteta has done well but showed his naivety in that match, when Luiz had to go off we should have reverted to three at the back with Xhaka (needs must) dropping in to replace him, Gabriel moving to the centre and Tierny on the left of the three, then brought on Maitland-Niles as wing back.
It was obvious that Vardy was going to come on at some point and they would revert to form and play ball after ball over the top. Gabriel could mark him with Tierny helping whilst Maitland-Niles covered the left with pace. But no we bring on a player who hasn’t played in month’s, was largely rubbish when he did and we tried hard to offload in the transfer window.
Whatever Saliba’s adjustment issues are he has got to be better than Mustafi. Hell, a cardboard cutout of Tony Adams would be better than Mustafi.
Now to the elephant in the room, Ozil. Does he bust a gut to get back and help the defence? No. Is he a luxury player? Yes. Is he the sort of player you want when you’re trying to break down 10 or 11 behind the ball? Yes. Is he one of the most skilful, quality players Arsenal have had playing for them in years?
Yes. Can he pick a pass? Yes. Is he a quality finisher? Yes. Can he orchestrate one two’s and drive into the box? Yes. Is he one of the best providers of assists in world football? Yes. Is he being paid 350k a week to twiddle his thumbs, Yes. Are we losing games we could have won with him playing? Almost certainly yes. If you pick what opposition you play him against would he be a massive improvement to the team? Yes. Are the Arsenal management cutting off their nose to spite their face? YES.
Whatever has gone on behind the scenes Arsenal have badly mismanaged the Ozil affair and robbed the team of one of their key assets.
1.) 26 Oct 2020 20:25:44
Nice post - I can’t do the 👠for whatever reason.
I’ve no idea why other teams integrate players quicker and more effectively than we do but that’s the same for our managers. We have too much patience and too little expectation.
Saliba should be getting game time in epl abd cup games.
17 Aug 2020 12:15:40
It just doesn’t seem like an Arsenal transfer window without a will he, won’t he saga involving HiguaÃn or Benzema.
Maybe I’ll just have to wait for the highly implausible Messi to Arsenal story to emerge, now there are suggestions he wants to leave Barca, in order to get my fill of incredulous Arsenal transfer stories this window.
14 Aug 2020 15:24:49
Hi Ed002, I know you said Malang Sarr was talking to another club a month ago but hasn’t signed yet, any chance of Arsenal interest as Gabriel Magalhaes looks likely to go elsewhere. If we can sell Chambers, Sokratis (& maybe Mustafi in January) it would leave us with 2 CB parings of Holding-Mari and a possible Saliba-Sarr with Luiz as a DM/ sweeper/ back 3 option.
{Ed002's Note - Arsenal are overrun with CBs.}
24 Jun 2020 09:36:51
Hi Ed’s, after 2 signings, 2 year long contract extensions and a short term loan extension is there actually any good news related to the transfer window for Arsenal fans to take some comfort in?
{Ed002's Note - The weather will be nice today.}
1.) 24 Jun 2020 09:56:24
I'll take that Ed002 :-)
2.) 24 Jun 2020 10:17:42
So we’ll lose a couple of players to “freak†heatstroke injuries 😉.
3.) 24 Jun 2020 10:32:32
But what about all the vitamin D Gunny?
Up the Arsenal.
26 Jun 2018 13:33:02
Hi Ed’s a friend who supports Watford has been complaining to me that Arsenal are in for Doucouré, do we have any interest at the moment? Thanks.
{Ed002's Note - I am not aware of anything changing recently.}
10 Sep 2020 14:02:19
Could he not be an alternative to Aouar, he has shown himself in the past to be a class act on the ball. Do you see the problem with Arsenal going for the deal one related to high wages, too many wingers or his loss of form? He has in the past said his preferred position is central attacking midfielder in behind the striker. I known at PSG he hasn’t been sparkling but a new club with less pressure to match players like Mbappe and Neymar could allow him under Arteta to rediscover his best form. At 26 and a regular German international he could still have his best years ahead of him.
{Ed002's Note - Of course but he is not a player Arsenal want and he doesn't want to move to Arsenal.}
16 Jun 2017 13:32:55
Awful as it is to say it 50 million doesn't buy you much in today's market. You certainly wouldn't get a player of Sanchez quality, experience, and proven Premier League ability.
Last year we made about 46 million from The Champions League, now allowing for the fact that we are in the Europa league, we will still in all likelihood make 30 million less than the previous year.
If keeping Sanchez allows us to get back into the Champions League and end up higher up the Premier League table, the earnings from this would surely offset the loss if he transferred out on a 'free' at the end of the season .
If we spend all our transfer money buying real quality to add to the players we already have and only lose from the fringes of the squad we may find that the season is good enough for Sanchez to decide to sign a new contract before its end.
The real key is in spending the money necessary to get the absolutely top-flight players who will allow us to be competitive in all competitions. This is the big 'if' here, if we spend the money the market demands for proven quality, then we can be successful, if however we scrimp and try to buy from the bargain bucket we will not improve and the gamble will have failed.
If we add five quality players for fringe players plus replace any players (excluding Sanchez and Ozil) such as Bellarin/ Ospina with similar quality if we get an offer that is just too good to ignore or if the player wants to leave and is not critical to the team, we can be a real threat again. However everything relies on the manager being bold and spending as if he wants to win the champions league not the most frugal manager of the year award.
Ultimately the cost of a player is dictated by market forces, supply and demand.
The value a buying club places on a particular player may be less but they also have to include the broader losses that the club may incur if they fail to buy in players of sufficient quality in any cost calculation.
Slipping down the League, failing to progress in cup comps, missing Champions League all cost the club, whether from participation funding, becoming less attractive to TV schedulers and losing out on sponsorships.
Losing the profile of a "Big" team reduces worldwide supporters and the revenue generated from merchandise.
All these things have to be taken into consideration.
Does a team want to compete with the best, win trophys and reap the rewards of success which vastly outweigh the inflated costs of star players or do they want to pat themselves on the back for being shrewd and not paying what an algorithm has calculated is over the odds for any player and slip quietly into insignifance?
I assume Williams is to cover for Verm as Kos is right sided but can play both. When all fit Mert/Kos right Verm/Williams left. Kos also started life as a RB so could provide cover for this position as Verm does at LB.
I think your physio friend is talking rubbish. The team are conditioned by some of the best in the world. Football is a contact sport, impact injuries are inevitable.
Non impact injuries are always likely in athletes pushing their bodies to the max. Look how many times in the Olympics athletes pick up injuries when they are at the peak of their conditioning, just from pushing their bodies too far.
10 Sep 2020 12:12:54
Xhaka’s an odd one, without seeming to do much exceptional or even memorable (except for the mistakes) in a match he seems to bring a balance to the team that means overall they play better with him on the pitch. If we could find an exponential player (Partey? ) who also brought the same balance I think it could move Arsenal a lot closer to contending for the title.
16 Aug 2020 09:38:42
Isn’t sort out the board that what Tim Lewis has been parachuted in to do?
{Ed002's Note - The problem is the management structure.}
24 Jun 2020 10:17:42
So we’ll lose a couple of players to “freak†heatstroke injuries 😉.
16 Jun 2015 13:50:00
Coq has not suddenly become good at winning the ball in midfield tackles or making interceptions, he has always done this from his first spell in the team before he was loaned out.
The major change is that before he would try to play like Jack or Rambo and dribble or make an incisive pass after he won the ball and would lose it again quickly and would often be out of position leaving a gap for the opposition to exploit.
Since his return he has followed Wengers advice and stuck to what he is good at, which is winning the ball, his passes are normally short to one of the more creative midfielders or wide men to start an attack, he then gets back to his defensive position. This has worked well and has greatly improved our defensive stability but does slow down the play when the ball is won in midfield because his first ball is often square.
However the very best defensive midfielders win the ball and then convert defence to attack quickly either by taking the ball round a layer of the oppositions defensive midfield line and laying it off or by a quick long ball pass into the path of an attacker. This speeds up the play and can make the most of a ball won when the opposition players are pushing up in attack.
I think if we really want to compete for the EPL or in Europe we need one of the best type of DM to take us to the next level and make the most of whichever world class striker Wenger brings in.
Coq is still needed as a more defensive mid and would be great cover, the lad has done well and deserves a place in the First Team squad, but sentimentality aside if we want to compete with the Chelsea's and the Barcelona's we need the best we can get in every position on the park and there are more accomplished DM's than him out there with more strings to their bows. E.g. Goals, driving runs, switching play, defense cover in set plays, clearing headers etc.
21 May 2015 09:07:50
This is what you get when you play 4 central attacking midfielders in the same team, wherever they are meant to play they all drift to the middleand tack up each other's space. No real width and far too slow to move the ball.
When teams defend deep, we make it easy for them by trying to play imposible one twos through a packed box and never seem to learn, we just keep doing the same thing all match, as long as a team is disciplined and keeps enough bodies in the way the threat is totally nullified.
When we move the ball from side to side it is in 3 or 4 stages with each intervening player having a few touches giving the opposition plenty of time to readjust.
When we try a shot it is often after a number of touches and a telegraphed wind up that means the shot is blocked within inches.
We press up so close to a defending team that there is no space in behind, we never drop back and try to draw them out. We don't move the ball quickly from side to side and then whip a ball in to a runner trying to exploit the space we just keep on with no imagination.
I think Einstein defined insanity as "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."