According to Marca, Martin Odegaard is still debating where he’ll play his football next season after growing concerned about his status in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.
The Norway international felt he had a good chance of regular football at the Bernabeu when he returned to Spain following six months on loan at Arsenal but with Casemiro, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Isco, and Federico Valverde ahead of him in the pecking order, he’s starting to worry he may not see much action.
The report claims that Odegaard wants to “feel important” if he’s to play his best football and that Madrid don’t want to keep an unhappy player.
Eager to raise cash this summer (because they still harbour ambitions of signing Kylian Mbappe), Madrid have identified the 22-year-old midfielder and Dani Ceballos as the two best candidates to sell once Raphael Varane completes his move to Manchester United.
It’s no secret that the Gunners came into the summer with Odegaard on the shopping list. Mikel Arteta was impressed by the player’s qualities during his stint at the Emirates and was quick to push for an extension to his loan.
James Maddison and Houseem Aouar are other rumoured targets if a deal for Odegaard proves out of reach.
From playing with modric to playing with xhaka and his brain farts. Tempting surely.
From not playing,despite being around players like Modric, to… being a starter.
There, fixed it for you.
Well, you are right. And to be honest, I’d be over the moon if we signed him. But I find it hard to be positive about our club, these days.
Don’t we all…
But through thick and thin, right? 😕
Sounds like an abusive marriage to be honest.
Except, you know, there’s actually no abuse involved and anyone can leave the relationship whenever they like and no one would notice.
Beastly!
Obviously never heard of the term ‘metaphor’.
I’m familiar. But personally I’d file this under the term ‘bad metaphor’
Fair enough, but you got on your high horse by trying to point out it wasn’t literally accurate, which of course it is not or was not meant to be.
Can I defend Eric for a sec? First, let’s read intention: it was lighthearted. But second, as supporters we hardly feel like we have a choice, do we? No matter how bad things get we lurch along for the ride because we can’t help but tie our emotional life to the team we support. So it IS like a relationship we CAN get out of, but don’t want to or can’t for whatever reason. So it is LIKE an abusive relationship. The key word is “like.” The analogy isn’t perfect, of course, but if it was it wouldn’t be an… Read more »
Swap “abusive” for “exploitative” and I don’t think this debate happens. I get it what is being implied…The club takes advantage of the supporters’ loyalty like a bookie taking advantage of a group of gambling addicts. In theory, the latter party can always leave but it’s more nuanced than that.
why are you trying to explain things on the internet. this place is for insults, petty arguments and conclusion jumping.
We do have a choice, earn and invest into our own team, then we/you can become the decision makers. If not, your next free will choice is….is the glass 1/2 Full OR 1/2 Empty. Each game, each transfer, each team, each season, each competition you/we get to choose our attitude. Some people tend to be 1/2 empty far too often and it kills the vibe, the COYG vibe. Seems to me we have a plan or intended style. We are trying to get matching players. Most players currently like the plan. The plan worked Damn well last 1/2 of last… Read more »
We need to decide quickly and buy what we need for the season before we start catching up with others that have planned well for the season. We need two attacking midfielders in this team
Agreed. Although new signings won’t guarantee that our start will be more successful, having those improvements where we so clearly need them will give some confidence that would carry through the first part of the season which in turn helps with morale and confidence…
…the latter already being in short supply among fans!
I think we’re doing what we always do, which is waiting for the prices to drop as time and pressure become factors in the market. We were smarter than recent years, buying White and Sambi and Tavares with time to integrate them; if Odegaard is the one, at least he doesn’t need time to integrate.
I know we need to play more attacking football this season, and we will, but I would not begrudge Arteta for playing a 343/352 against Chelsea and City.
352 I’d be OK with. Just as we did them with in the FA run up in 2020. AMN could even find his way back into the team.
Jesus, some people are so limited in their thoughts that they can not have any conversation without mourning about Xhaka. Shall we also blame him for climate change and wild fires? Playing Xhaka or playing with Xhaka is not a problem for managers or players. It could not be more obvious that they rate and respect him. Xhaka-Elneny is pretty uninspiring but the main issue is Elneny. Xhaka-Partey was promising last season and it could be even better with mobile players behind and ahead. Our real problem is in the attacking midfield, especially when we try to fit both Auba… Read more »
Well said
Yeah spot on bud, I’m so sick of the lazy Xhaka analysis.
The man has been out best midfielder and probably our most consistent player through the last horrible three seasons but people just continue to hate on him. Our fans can be a little nauseating to be perfectly honest.
His best is definitely good enough, did you see him play vs France? It was an outlier of a performance but if we can get more of that Xhaka it would be a massive benefit to our team.
Our problem is definitely centre mid AND attacking mid.
This! Xhaka is certainly flawed but aren’t most of us? We all Have friends like Xhaka – good men who lose their shit sometimes and do bad shit but we love them Because they have redeeming qualities and they’re not bad people. We want better midfielders and have been unhappy with performance of the team past few seasons but where would we have been with no Xhaka? Ray parlour blossomed in later years but earlier in his career he wasn’t great but we loved him anyway. Let’s get behind Xhaka and show him some love. He’s an annoying lunatic sometimes… Read more »
To be fair, if we didn’t have Xhaka, we’d just have another midfielder in his place. Off-the-field, from what I hear Xhaka is a pretty stand-up guy. He mentors children with disabilities and has looked out for people in his community.
I just don’t think it’s wise to keep a player who himself has wanted out and many fans have wanted out of the club for a long time. Why the club is choosing to continue with a toxic situation is beyond me.
Xhaka is the Giroud of midfielders. Really good at a couple of things, but also has some very obvious flaws. And some fans can only focus on those flaws. Well, until he leaves, then they miss the consistency and what he brings to the team.
I loved watching Odegaard last season and still think he’s a classy player with a high ceiling. But we desperately need an injection of something fresh and new. In which case, given the choice, maybe we need an adrenaline shot like Maddison rather than the slow working penicillin or Odegaard. If you catch my drift. Erm…
I would personally pick Aouar out of those three. Especially if the price is as low as reports suggest.
Why aren’t teams in for Aouar? Especially at his supposed knock down price.
There are apparently rumours about poor attitude.
He said Arsenal were his second choice, so fuck him.
He’s got that Ratboy No Trophies Spud look about him as well. The Spursy weasel.
Yeah, I’ve always really wanted Aouar but there are obviously doubts about him or another club would have snapped him up by now. He had a stinker in Ligue 1 last season, but he did get Covid and then long Covid……£25m does sound like a bargain though
Attitude and last summer when arsenal wanted him he basically told arsenal he wanted bigger clubs now hes paying
If this is accurate, the manager would not go back for him. He wants players that want to be at Arsenal. Move on.
Willian “wants to be at Arsenal”.
If the manager managed to get the team into the Champions League, I can guarantee you you’d hear none of this “bigger club” shit.
We would do well to realize where we are and try to build a club players want to play for rather than posture about our supposed bigness.
Definitely!
Just as we’d finally got Guendouzi out the door, we’d get Guendouzi 2 in. We don’t need any more immature egos stinking out the dressing room.
We missed out on “the one” sure thing for chances created in Buendia. Only Buendia could have been that low risk as he was adapted to the English game. He is amongst the breed of players who don’t need team to facilitate him to perform at his best, he can dropped in a poor team and he could carry it on his own, as he showed at Norwich. Subtracting Willock’s potential transfer fee from Buendia’s, we could have gotten a Championship player of the season for 20M. I will make a negative prediction, Buendia will have a better season than… Read more »
Odegaard is harder working, is smarter… but you’re bemoaning the fact that we didn’t get Buendia.
I’m confused.
The difference is the South American flair, dribbling and unpredictability. Constantly tries through balls and long passes to feed runners. Uses outside of the foot, can go either way under pressure, runs with the ball often, makes tackles. Odegaard didn’t seem like a risk-taker who constantly tries killer balls. Had 91% pass acc for Arsenal. But he can adapt to our needs. Always seemed to dribble onto his left foot only in a predictable manner (Pepe). My personal preference is an arrogant MFer like Bruno Fernandes or Buendia (78% vs 79%) who has no regard for his pass completion %… Read more »
Don’t forget Odegaard was only at the club for half a season.
With no bedding in time, nor pre season and also unlucky with injuries, can’t blame him for playing it safe.
If we get him, I’m excited to see what he can do in a full season.
I would love Odegaard at Arsenal. But I will keep my expectations in check for one season at least. Feels like he will need time to learn to be the sole creative leader of the team. He got signed to RM at 16 yrs of age for a reason.
So provocative. And I absolutely agree😁
Your on a diff planet mate buendia isnt that great, look at his individual stats last time in prem. Nowhere near good enough
Why bother with such a long post for a ship that is no longer at the harbour?
I got too attached to the Buendia idea. I needed to get that rant out. He appeared like the second coming of Cazorla in his body type, attributes and playing style.
But, can’t wait for Odegaard. If Buendia had Cazorla vibes then Odegaard has Fabregas vibes!
Haha. Love the genuine honesty that comes across in your posts.
I really like Odegaard and want us to get him too, but Fabregas vibes? I wish! I’m not sure I’ve seen any player similar to Cesc. There a lot of great key passers, and chance creators, but that ability to consistently find players 40/50yards away with a through pass! That was prime Fabregas for me, and his most defining trait. I really really wish we can get that kind of player again, if any exists in the market.
I think Maddison is better right now, but is he worth £20m more? Maybe…
If we got Odegaard at a good price (£35m plus add ons) and put the difference towards someone exciting like Vlahovic, then i’m cool with that…time is running out though. We could at least be getting the GK sorted this week.
I would go for Odegaard, as he is ‘Arsenal-proven’, 20m cheaper and, most importantly, we know has the right attitude.
But Maddison is a good back-up option in case Odegaard doesn’t work, for we could recruit him late the transfer window and he would still slot in easily, as he doesn’t need time to adapt to the Prem.
We’d also get minimum 10 goals a season from Maddison…..
When did Maddison score at least 10 goals a season?
What makes you think he’ll score more goals here than he did at Leicester?
Newsflash: Leicester scored more goals last season than we did.
If anything, I’d expect him to score fewer goals, not more.
I assume all the thumbs down are for my medical analogy rather than the point about wanting Maddison more.
Well you put into words my exact feelings regarding Ødegaard’s play style so you’ve got my vote 👍. Naturally as he’s already played for the club, many fans have a bond with him and will get defensive if you suggest he’s not what this club needs at this moment in time. He has a fantastic highlight reel from his time here but I’m paying attention to the games where things weren’t so great. Because we’ve been having more games where things aren’t so good than otherwise. In those games, I saw a player, which for whom if plan A wasn’t… Read more »
Wasn’t Odegaard carrying a slight injury for a spell with us? Believe it was the effects of an ankle injury he sustained while on international duty. His form naturally took a bit of a dip then, but when he was fully fit he was fantastic for us. I’d take him over Maddison just because a) I think Odegaard has a higher ceiling, as others have pointed out, and b) I really don’t want to overpay for Maddison and enrich direct rivals…who spend very wisely, by the way. Maddison is an excellent player, though, no doubt. But I was interested to… Read more »
McCheese, I don’t really have a strong preference for either. I just don’t like how desperate the club is coming off for one player. Ødegaard could easily turn out just like Canales, Deulofeu and Bojan. The other La Liga wonderkids who were hyped beyond belief and destined to be world-class. I also agree about not wishing to strengthen a rival though I don’t want us paying £50m for Ødegaard out of desperation. At the start of the window, there were quality alternatives available like Nkunku, Olise, Baumgartner, Hamed Traore, Adli, Kudus besides the usual suspects. I also don’t know where… Read more »
Don’t leave out that Odegaard presses relentlessly. He and ESR at the front are driven.
Did you not watch the West Ham game?
I watched that game. Just as I watched his other standout games against against Spuds, Olympiacos, Brighton, Crystal Palace.
Ode is literally a top top class player, hes done great on loan both times and still not given a chance. Rm will regret this
I think we actually need both, it’s never been either/or for me. Madison is an 8 and MO is a classic 10. We are light in the pants in the midfield. Let’s get them both, why the fuck not.
money is the reason why not
The choice of metaphors are quite undialectical, Teddy…
I loved you guys in the Dialectic of the Enlightenment!
Wake me up on deadline day
What time ? Early morning so you don’t miss anything, throught the day when Harry Redknapp is cruising around in his range rover sport with the window down looking for the press to interview him about any updates on who he might sign or at the very end when arseblog news reports “that’s it folk, Ødegard has gone to Napoli for 6 million more than our 34M bid. Our offer for Madison was accepted by Leicester city after we upped the fee to 90M from the 65M we’ve been stuck on for days but sadly that was at five minutes… Read more »
“Im here outside stamford bridge where arsenal have put in a last minute 80 million pound bid for Willy Caballero
Chelsea are holding out for 90 and arsenal are said to be willing to match that clive”
*Chel$ea embossed sex aid hits reporter in face*
Hahahahahahahahahaha. There goes my tea.
Before or after we go-go?
We really need to make this happen. He’s my three year old son’s favourite player and I haven’t had the heart to explain that he’s not actually an Arsenal player yet.
I do not want to have that conversation. I might as well do the Easter bunny and Santa while I’m at it.
I’m 27 and struggling with the fact that he wasn’t actually our player, so I can empathise with your son.
Same here, Im 41…and norwegian.
He’s the one thats reminded me the most of Santi, and I wanna be reminded of Santi once a week.
That said, we really should be in for Sander Berge. Ive seen this guy in plenty of matches, and he’s a real powerhouse, and very much reminds me of Vieira.
Big, strong, good on the ball, fast.
Him and Ødegaard are close friends too…so lets just get the both of them, both still very young too.
Another good friend of them plays in Dortmund…but unfortunately, we will never be able to afford that one.
Football friends 👍
I know where you’re coming from, I still haven’t told my 73 year old dad DB10 has retired.
Where is the poo-meter? Too amny fake news around that I am starting to rely on it a little bit more than I should
We’ve run out of toilet paper for Odegaard rumours.
It took him 3-4 games to get started, but he then played so well up until his injury setback. I’d be happy to take him back, give him a run of games and see what he can do.
Absolutely, especially if the price is favourable. I’m not getting invested too much in it either way though.
I can see a 433 working in home games with Partey at the base and ESR and Ode ahead of him, Saka and Pepe wide. Xhaka or Albert to come in when more defensive solidity is required. If he does arrive i would say we will only then sign a backup goalie, perhaps a right back if we can shift a couple of other players.
Arteta tried exactly this in the home game against Villareal and it didn’t work. Partey was so isolated and essentially a 1 man midfield. The Villareal midfielders also easily cut out his passing lanes to Emile and Martin. It was just an extreme version of U-shaped football.
I don’t think ESR nor Ø have the positional discipline to play in a midfield 3 (not yet anyway).
You’re right, but I wasn’t thinking about the games against tougher opposition.
So far I like the look of Albert and it seems to me he and Partey would dovetail quite nicely when playing against a higher quality midfield.
Of course, when the African Cup is on we could have quite a problem if we don’t buy ourselves a top quality central midfielder in the next 3 weeks.
Yeah those are very good points. I agree and Icertainly would like to see the more “interesting” midfield combinations in our easier games.
One personal wish of mine is to see Pepe as a CF more regularly. From what I can see, out of all our forwards, he’s the best with his back to goal and is quite good at aerial duels.
The more I read in our pursuit of a creative midfielder, more I feel Maddison is being prioritised. Odegaard doesn’t seem to be a starter for Madrid like Varane, but if they could sell him for raising funds, they would have definitely sold odegaard to us if we were really that interest.
Personally i think Odegaard is Mikel’s guy, other options like Maddison and Aouar seems secondary and i wanted we could complete at the end f the window, following sales of fringe players
I agree, the concern is this flirtation goes on all window long and doesn’t get done and then we’re stuck with what we have. It still seems like an unlikely transfer, but my guess is if we want to meet their demands he could be had. And if it doesn’t happen it will be the same excuses over again.
Agreed. Not really a transfer saga I wanna see go down to the wire but one I think that will.
Any thoughts on whether we’re angling for another loan deal, maybe with an obligation/option to buy, which could be partly why it’s dragging?
You’re probably right, and Madrid want cash rather than cash down the road. I still think these loan obligations to buy are going to come crashing down as soon as some team says “no sorry, we don’t want them anymore, sue us” or “sorry we’re broke, we can’t afford it now”. I’ll be satisfied if we actually manage to bring Marty back, but if we don’t needless to say, notch up another pathetic showing in a long line of pathetic showings that is becoming a trend rather than an aberration. It’s really no coincidence we’re plummeting down the table. Do… Read more »
I guess Tavares, Sambi and White aren’t long term signings in your book? To say MA doesn’t favor young talent is a false narrative. Why else would Saka, ESR, Tierney sign long term extensions? Willock and Nelson unfortunately play positions where they are 3rd choice (I do like them both). Martinelli was coming back from a major injury and was never to be counted on last year as he worked his way back into shape. Emi was a good sale at the time, it mostly paid for Gabriel whom I would much rather have. Saliba was an overpay and we… Read more »
I like the lokonga signing a lot and see that as what our focus should be. Problem is with xhaka staying what is his path to minutes when partey is fit? You know arteta is going to rely on xhaka all season with him around. Tavares looks solid, and hopefully good competition for tierney. A good signing in an area of need. As for white, jury is out. We have a far greater need in attack. We overpaid by about 20m quid. And his signing all but seals Salibas fate. As for Emi, I disagree and always have. We sold… Read more »
You didn’t address my point about why they signed extensions to play under MA, so we will agree to disagree on that point. White was an excellent and needed signing. I have serious doubts Saliba will ever play in England anyway. He chose to play in France this year and it’s a huge red flag for me. Willock thrives in a “Maureen-ball” style system. He is not a player who functions well in a possession style offense. He is no where close to good enough defensively to be a 6 or 8 nor close to good enough to be a… Read more »
It’s nauseating seeing this team plummet down the standings and the manager continue to rely on the same system and same players that have been a huge responsibility in that slide. It’s nauseating to see Arsenal continue to cast aside some of our best prospects only to see them flourish on other teams Gnabry, Emi, Saliba and next is Willock, then who? Martinelli? In favour of mercenaries like Willian, Xhaka, Leno, et al. by using excuses like “not ready”, “season of development”, “we need experience”, “proven performers”. As you like though. It seems you’re pretty happy with the current state… Read more »
None of my comment is related to my happiness of the current state of affairs (I am not). We played 3 different systems last year 3-4-3, 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 so I can’t say it was all system. The truth is our experienced players let us down under 3 managers now. 3 different systems, failure. Years of poor recruitment with the short term view of “this will get us back to Top 4” is why we are here now. That said, not all of our youth are going to make it, some will need moved on. For every Saka and ESR,… Read more »
Sign him up!
A midfield of Partey, Sambi and Odegaard as starters will be a very exciting direction to go into. Midfield is everything.
I would like to add Lautaro Martinez
Not a midfielder, but I’d welcome him too.
It won’t happen. Inter won’t sell Lukaku and him in the same window.
That is, unfortunately, true.
We’re going to have to look elsewhere now for striker targets.
Where’s Edu?? Get on with it !!
On a Bezos ship exploring the upper atmosphere
On a lounger exploring a Pina colada more like 🙄
Camping holiday in Scotland.
I think now would be the right time to ask and answer the most important question.
But what do Edu do?
What WILL Dudu do🤔?
Caribbean cruise this week.
liner at the end of Southend pier
Staycation at the Bognor Regis Butlins
🤣🤣🤣🤣. This one caught me off-guard.
One is almost tempted to say “Where’s Wally….?”
He wore a red and white hat and scarf too…
Gah, Real Madrid player possibly available and the man responsible for transfers at Arsenal is swanning around on his holidays. In Spain.
Fully expecting all summer that the search for a 10 would end with another Odegaard loan. Nothing ever seems to change in the Real Madrid midfield, and we’ve not exactly pushed the boat out in finding alternatives.
Ødegaard would be the ideal signing because he offers something the team don’t have: an özil/ fabregas like ability to increase tempo and pick passes (be the brain.) While more dynamic and a much bigger goal threat, Maddison lacks this quality. It’s what makes David Silva so special.
Maddison is a great player but he plays in a counter attacking team. His higlights reel is dominated by him threading balls into open space for the likes of Vardy to break into. Odegaard’s highlight reel is dominated by him breaking down low blocks with guile and precision passing, drawing players in and making space for others to work. Odegaard is also a leader, just watch the open mic video on the official site to hear him shouting and directing traffic. He’s got those Mesut Ozil big boy pants, he’s played for a big team, he doesn’t mind being in… Read more »
I think Maddison is better right now, but is he worth £20m more? Maybe…
If we got Odegaard at a good price (£35m plus add ons) and put the difference towards someone exciting like Vlahovic, then i’m cool with that…time is running out though. We could at least be getting the GK sorted this week.
Leads the press really well too.
It’s so, so sad that we’ve fallen this far. The start of the season is just THREE DAYS AWAY and we’re still faffing about in the transfer market. Where’s the creative midfielder we desperately need? Where’s the right-back that’s absolutely essential? Where’s the third striker that we desperately need to back up Auba? And why haven’t we had a clear-out of the useless dross that’s still hanging about the club? There’s essentially no difference between this squad and the one that finished eighth last season. We were the third-best defensive team in the PL last season and we’ve spent a… Read more »
Like it or not, we were third best defence with David Luiz, he is now gone and needed replacing which we have done with Ben White so hopefully can maintain that defensive record.
Also the simplicity with which you say things as if it’s that easy to actually do is astounding
Are you insinuating that David Luiz had anything to do with that defensive record?
Not that it isn’t a possibility but I think that record has to do with
(1) the manager’s instructions of keeping six players near or behind the halfway line.
(2) A good zonal set-up when defending set-pieces.
Yes
Alright. Cool
That’s exactly why all the stuff about “our defending was fine, we need more goals” misses the point. The reason we had so few goals was because the team were set up to protect the lack of individual quality in defense. We almost never gave up the classic “naive” counter-attacking goal that Arsenal have been famous for–because we almost never fully committed to attack. I think White is intended to be exactly the sort of player we have been missing (a Vincent Kompany or Koscielny) to allow us to play with more freedom in attack.
By “simplicity” you mean actually going out and buying players we desperately need? We’ve existed for 134 years: how did we ever manage to buy players before?
Edu and Arteta are both out of their depth.
At what point did I say we didn’t need the positions filled that you mention. My point was around that it’s not as easy as you make it out to be. It’s not like walking in to a shop and picking up a brand new player off the shelf
We know we needed a CAM and another RB since December if not from the beginning of last season. How long would it take them to identify and buy a good player? Look at Leicester, they just go out there and get things done. They needed another striker.. They got Dhaka. another midfielder? Soumari. And these are top players too.
A good player, a good player for each position?? This is not chess where each player has no mind and can only move in certain directions.
Could have filled the AM position with Buendia and had it sorted 2 months ago. Instead we played this Spanish Roulette with Madrid all summer because we weren’t ready for a bidding war that early – Villa just played it so unfairly being all proactive and stuff. And IMO he’s better than Odegaard anyway – scores goals and creates as much if not more with one of the best workrates in English football. Oh, but he’s not a #10…except as Villa have recently stated that is exactly how they intend to use him post grealish.
AV could afford to go quickly and aggressively for Buendia because they knew they will have the Grealish money. Arsenal on the other hand were still struggling to resign ESR and offload other midfielders….
Not saying that Arsenal have done well, but you too would be able to splash £38m when you have £100m incoming.
Piss poor excuse. They were just proactive. We’re retroactive; always spending our mopping up spills the kids have made after the fact instead of teaching the children to be more careful and to clean up after themselves.
Buendia was not a priority 4 arteta (he is the arsenal manager btw). As long as there was a chance of signing his no 1 target, odegaard, he was going to wait. People on here seem 2 4get that esr is our creative midfielder. Any signing would be to give competition although they did dovetail well 2getha in our midfield
Well, we better get Odegaard otherwise he’s got no excuses left. And Marty O and ESR showed last season they aren’t competing for the same place as they can play together really well. In fact having two technical attackers like them in the same lineup provides balance for the directness of Tierney and two out of the four of Auba, Saka, Pepe, and Martinelli.
And you can’t say we didn’t have the money because we dropped 50M squids on White who is in a position of strength. Ask yourself, who would you rather Ben White or Emi Buendia for 17M quid less? IMO it’s the latter all-day everyday, particularly when we could have kept Saliba and used this season to integrate him into the team. Ah, the Saliba situation…well done Arsenal.
Chelsea do it, no problem.
City do it, no problem.
So why can’t we?
Kroenke. Apparently “we spend a lot” – until “we can’t afford this” and “we can’t afford that…”
Kroenke and his missus have just as much dough as Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour. They just cannot be fucked to invest in The Arsenal properly.
You’re making excuses for the guys who should be doing their jobs…
True, all i see are just excuses. Edu is not being decisive in the transfer market.
He knows a mean cocktail though when he sees one. 🍹🌴
This was one of your best man baby posts. Congratulations!
He’s got every right to be pissed off – we all have.
This “let’s all cool it and see what happens” patter from the Arteta Brigade is wearing a bit thin now.
I know this much is true.
Based on value for money and not handing rivals cash…
1. Odegaard
2. Aouar
3. Madison
Not handing rivals cash is a fair point
Odegaard is a player I would wait till the last hour of the window for. What’s 3 weeks in a 4+ year stay at Arsenal?
It’s Brentford(a), Chelsea (h), Ciy (a), that’s what it is.
If getting results from those fixtures rely solely on 1 player, we’ve got bigger issues.
well.. if we can get results against Chelsea and City without a player, I guess we don’t really need him that much and can as well manage the entire season (no Europe, just one game in a week) without him.
There is esr btw. Not that that position will b vacant in those games. We beat chelsea without odegaard and partey in dec
it’s about £600k for Willian
9 points
Surprised this warrants its own article, doesn’t seem to be more in this than the Maddison links or even Aouar. If Madrid wanted to sell Ødegaard, why haven’t they done it already? Would be happy to have him but this scores high on the poop meter imo.
My take on it is we want to sign him, but don’t want to seem desperate so as not to drive up his price and drive down the prices of those we want to sell. He would prefer to stay and play for Madrid, but understands that it’s a bit unrealistic and if he wants first team action would accept a move to a club he knows and likes. But he won’t push it while there’s still a chance at Madrid. Real Madrid want to sell him because they have no space for him in their first team and don’t… Read more »
Patience…? PATIENCE.?! 🤣
Thank you, Gary Barlow.
I’d love us to sign Ødegaard, but we need more than that if we want any success this season. And by success, I mean Top 6.
Surely there would be any number of Champions League or Europa clubs interested in him? I genuinely can’t see why he’d be interested in signing a perm contract with us.
Because he already knows he likes it here and gets on well with the manager?
It’s clear to everyone associated with the club that creativity is severely lacking in the team/squad currently and should be the number one priority to be addressed in the transfer market before the window closes. I think all three options – Odegaard, Maddison, Auoar – have pros and cons. I’d favour Maddison out of the three but he will by far the most expensive option and as Arseblog has said several times we’d be handing a rival a significant amount cash to strengthen, they are savvy in the transfer markets, therefore would it weaken them significantly? They coped pretty well… Read more »
Odegaard and Madison are not what we need. We need a central midfielder that can spray passes for fun. Someone in the mould of Santi and Verratti. Let’s try Barnardo Silva. The little I have seen of Sambi also makes me believe he can play with Partey as a double pivot with ESM in front of them. It would drastically improve our tempo and make us less susceptible to counter attacks because we would have two quick central midfielders who can tackle and cover for one another. I would play a 4-3-3 with Sambi, Partey, ESM in midfield, and upfront… Read more »
Bernardo Silva is actually a good shout.
I just don’t see it happening.
Then again, I don’t see anything fucking happening at the moment…🙄
This is a very good breakdown and certainly helps explain more about Hector’s decline. As opposed to the usual – ACL= No more pace.
Like Bellerin, a lot of our players have their weaknesses and played their part in our downfall. However, I’ve been saying the body language of some of these players has been worrying for a while now. I do wonder who is really buying into this project/process or whatever.
Bernaro Silva is one hell of a difficult target. I was even wondering about Nkunku.
Nkunku is a marvel to watch.
I’d actually prefer this to spending £70m on Maddison. Hopefully we can loan him with an obligation to buy like spurs did with Reguilon.
Making room for another big transfer this window.
Given the choice, Odegaard is the best of the three. Maddison is just not worth double, which would leave us short in other areas and Aouar has been in a lower level league.
Aouar has stated that The Arsenal are not his first choice – in other words, he doesn’t really want to play for us. (Let’s face it, would you join the circus if there were jobs with better prospects available to you?) This whole James Maddison thing is beginning to get firmly on my beer moobs – I’ve never really rated the guy that much, he’s a bit Spursy for my liking and, baring a miracle, Kroenke isn’t going to cough up what Leicester want from him and that will probably be more than he’s worth and gives them cash to… Read more »
He had one good game against west ham and did fuck all the rest of the time he was with us. He’s well overrated and trying to jam him into the midfield and shove ESR out wider to accommodate just made ESR worse. Avoid another Madrid reject. Avoid Madison too. Also massively overrated. We need a fkn striker and a goalie before wasting cash on *cough* “creativity”.
Oh yeah? And if we sign another shiny brand new striker, where is the creativity (that you seem to be mocking – how Artetaesque) going to come from through the channels from the midfield to feed said striker if ESR picks up a long term injury…? He’s not going to be able to play every single league game and FA Cup game that’s for sure. We went into this window needing an attacking midfielder as a matter of urgency. We still haven’t signed one and you want us to sign another striker…. You really don’t think these things through, do… Read more »
Can’t recall a season where we wrapped up our transfer targets early and had a good preseason.
I can. 1997/98. Wenger and Dein brought in Marc Overmars, Manu Petit, Gilles Grimandi and Alex Manniger. A world class winger, a good centre half who Wenger then turned into a World class midfielder, a great centre half ‘spoiler’ super sub to shore up the defence late on in the game and a great second choice keeper, who performed brilliantly when called upon to deputise for our first choice. All in fairly early, a great pre season and, of course, we went on famously to piss in Alex Ferguson’s porridge and win the Premiership and FA Cup Double. 🙂 Good… Read more »
Yes, that was a great summer indeed, all our business done nice and early, Anelka and Vieira already in the bank, but maybe that comes to mind so easily because it’s a rarity.
As I think is the case with most clubs because everyone is holding out for a better price or a bargain in the last few days of the window. It’s pretty normal really so I’m a bit surprised everyone gets so strung out about it.
* Manninger.
I forgot Luis Boa Morte.
How could I…..?!! Sorry Luis! 🙂
Inamoto as well if I recall.
Inamoto was loaned during the 2001/02 season.
He left the following summer having not made a single first XI appearance.
Definitely one of Arsene’s more ‘eccentric’ signings…
Been linked with Maddison and Odegaard all summer and we’ll end up with Lingard. Oh to be a gooner, truly.
If we end up with Lingard, I’m egging the Emirates Stadium😂😂😂.
That dude is probably the most disrespectful opposition player (against Arsenal) in recent years. Maybe that’s the senior addition, Mikel has been hinting at😉
Mate, the way things are going, come deadline day we’ll probably be knocking on Chelsea’s door making enquiries about Joe Cole…..
The most Arsenal move ever would be for us to shoot for Odegaard, but settle for Ceballos in the end.
Correction.
The most Arteta move. 😉
Would be great to have him back but holding out for him could backfire badly. We could end up with no one.
This is gonna happen!
Even with odegaard in the team last season we had more wins during the period ESR was the number 10.
Persons this may change with an adjustment to the attack/defence balance but his attacking output we don’t really have anything to base it on.
You could say the same about the def/att balance with ESR but he also had a good output in Germany, championship and youth levels. Plus he has a brilliant understanding with Saka and works his socks off defensively.
I’m just saying Mikel was right to value technical security and positional performance when we were struggling to keep a clean sheet (mainly because we had Luiz and Mustafi in defence and Xhaka as the DM in front of them) But he is trying to change things (not sure how resigning Xhaka comes into that) and press higher up. Nick the first goal and then counterattack teams. We struggle so much against low blocks it’s untrue. And the only real answer to that is not positional play or faster buildup from the back and clever anti pressing traps. But simply… Read more »
I’m just curious why Odegaard would come back to Arsenal. What can we offer him that Liverpool, for example, couldn’t? He’d slot in perfectly there, they just lost Wijnaldum, are losing Henderson, Thiago isn’t exactly young anymore….It just feels like Odegaard wanting to leave doesn’t mean his head hasn’t been turned by a much better team who can offer higher wages and Champion’s League.
Liverpool?! Martin has nowhere near the intensity, positional discipline and endurance levels to play in Liverpool’s midfield. His pressing here looked fine because we’re a side that doesn’t go overboard with coordinating pressing traps like Liverpool.
You are correct though. The latest developments don’t necessarily mean a return to Arsenal. Which is why I hope the club is exploring other options.
Norway is where it’s at at the moment. In the spirit of Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s and above all Karsten Warholm’s achievements in Tokyo – the latter surely the most spectacular moment of the Games – let’s make this happen. Both more realistic and far more sensible than the stupid money Maddison nonsense, which is surely just being pushed by ignoble fake outlets like the Express.