Mikel Arteta was bursting with pride after watching his young Arsenal side beat Sp*rs 2-0 away from home.
The win, secured by a first half own goal by Hugo Lloris and Martin Odegaard’s strike, opens up an eight-point gap at the top of the Premier League table before Manchester United visit the Emirates next Sunday.
Here’s what the boss had to say when he faced the Sky Sports cameras…
On what he liked most about the win…
Everything. I loved the way we played and the courage we showed to come here and play. Doing our job we can make a lot of people happy, and I’m sure we’ve made Arsenal fans very happy. It is not for me. Everything we ask, they are so willing to try and do. They are a terrific group of players. I think today we went another step. We won last season in big stadiums, but the way we won today was really pleasing to watch.
On the character of his side…
It shows not only determination and courage, which is great, but then you need to have the belief and the quality to do against this team what we have done today. That’s down absolutely to the players.
On being aggressive…
We were really aggressive, we were really intense in our high press, we were winning so many balls, so many duels, we managed those balls after that really good. They had a couple of moments, they are going to create chances and openings and they are a very dangerous team but overall, we did a lot of good things today.
On losing Mudryk to Chelsea…
I’m very proud to have the players that we have. We always want to improve the squad. The club is the first one that is trying to do everything we can to find the players but as well, we have to have some discipline and we have to be very consistent in the targets we want but as well [consider] what we are able to do in each moment. We can get those [existing] players better, so let’s focus on that.
On whether he has enough players to see out the season…
Obviously we have some injuries and some long-term injuries that are not helpful but we can focus on tomorrow, train tomorrow, train better, review the game and go day by day. The window is open, we will try to improve the team but there are a few parties that are always involved [in transfers]. The club is willing, they have my support and I have their support and we’ll try to do it together.
89m better spent elsewhere!
Winning today was so important in light of losing Mudryk. It just doesn’t feel so bad and you can believe that there are better ways to spend the money much more easily. I’m not sure I’d even buy a winger. I’d buy a striker and a Partey replacement. If Eddie gets injured or Partey or Xhaka. We are in trouble.
I have a feeling we may have dodged a bullet with mudryk. The way he uses social media is worrying if he was with us. He was at Chelsea game and every time camera went on him he was on his phone not watching the game. Saka is unbelievable.
He was probably speaking/texting his agent “I’m at the wrong stadium, WTF!?”
“Mum I’m lost, I thought London was red.”
The guy just signed a massive contract that set him up for life, every person he’s ever met is probably texting him or @ing him on his socials. I think this is probably pretty normal for any 20 something in today’s social media environment.
COme to think of it, if i played only 20+ professional games and someone came up to me with a shit ton of $ for 7 years to secure,my future, i’d probably take it too, considering gunners didnt push the boat out decisively frm the start eith transfer $. A serious injury could scupper all the potential and he’d end up playing sunday league for pie.
The player wasn’t worth more than the club’s first bid. I’m glad the club didn’t overpay for a hyped up youngster from a farmers league. COYG!
There was something a bit off about him posing on the Stamford Bridge pitch with a Ukrainian flag, knowing that the transfer was facilitated by a Putin crony writing off all debts to the club.
Ah well, not our problem anymore.
I’m sure he’ll receive a villain’s welcome when Chelsea come to the Emirates in April.
HUGE fking win. You can see the headlines along with the Mudryk BS if we didn’t do the job today. 8 points clear COYFG!!!!! Anyone still talking about the top 4 needs to get their head read. We need to be focussed on fighting for this title! This sort of opportunity doesn’t just pop automatically next year because we had a good season this year. We need to get it done and push this across the line. For sure we need a little help to do that – we’re thin at forward and midfield. I hope Venky’s plan included some… Read more »
Yes, a powerhouse CM who can play both destroyee and creator is needed to push us over the line.
I don’t know why, but somehow he just never looked like an Arsenal player to me, never did. I’m all for tattoos, but his are ridiculous, and speak to a certain immaturity imo. I honestly just couldn’t see him in the shirt.
And the less said about his instagram behaviour the better. Embarrassing. Enjoy your FC Chelski 2001 ‘project’ founded on Russian money mate. Enjoy and see you in 2030.
– issues with coaches in the past
– unprofessional on social media (look, I know it was us but if one of our players did it we’d be raging)
-idolises twat Ronaldo
3 red flags
Even though I was excited by his fantastic you tube clips where he’s scored 12 goals, I definately, definately had my reservations about how a tattoo necked, IG wind-up merchant would synergise with a coach like Mikel Arteta.
His character gives a little bit of Guendouzi, I have to be honest I’m not sure how well he would’ve fit in.
I have to say the highlights of him against Scotland had me excited. Then I realised, it was Scotland.
Honestly I think the kid really wanted to come but basically Chelsea promised Shaktar a shit ton of money and they conspired between them to make it happen. Hence Shaktar’s unreasonable demands from the outset. You don’t often see a team trying to forced a player to sign who wants to go elsewhere like that. Or bidding massively over the odds for everybody else’s targets. Or handing out 7-8 year contracts. At best it’s classless. Hopefully they will find out the hard way why others do not behave this way. Boehly seems like a bit of a pound shop Elon… Read more »
It’s just a ridiculous contract, done without thinking. I don’t care how much the Chelsea guy has, he’ll go broke with this reckless behaviour.
It breaks down to 6 million per year, which puts him somewhere around the 80th highest paid player in the premier league. The length is risky for sure, For a club that makes about 500 million in revenue, 6 million is a drop in the bucket. They can certainly afford to buy him out of that deal if they need to, the total dollar value of the contract is only slightly smaller than the reported add ones. The wages are a non-factor for a club of that size, really. If we were close to paying 60-70 million for the kid,… Read more »
£2 million over 8 years is……
……
….. £16 million. That’s on top of a hefty fee. It’s a gamble not many clubs would make. Chelsea are either panicking or stupid. Maybe both.
Player and club deserve each other
2 million per year is about 0.4% of Chelsea’s last reported annual revenue, which was from the covid season with basically no match day revenue. For us it’s probably 0.5%. By year 8, that’s probably less than a quarter of a percent. It’s a drop in the bucket for a club of either of our sizes. If you trust your scouting, that amount of money should never be a dealbreaker.
Will be more like 6mil a year to my understanding, so 48mil in total wages in addition to 70mil base fee plus 40mil add ons, all in all a crazy sum. And with those sort of wages he’d be impossible to move if he doesn’t pan out, gets a serious injury, or turns out to be a dick, all of which aren’t completely unlikely
His Chelsea salary is 6 million per year, the reported difference between what they’re paying him and what we offered is the 2 million (and 2-3 years).
Chelsea know they’re going to get banned from the market for a while by the ffp, hence the lengthy contracts for when they can’t buy.
Could get 15 Martinellis for that
He looks super happy to have joined CFC.
Will we boo him when he plays at Emirates?? He clearly loves Arsenal.
We will boo him lustily.
I hope the boos are preposterously loud.
He loves money more than Arsenal. Or he wouldn’t have agreed (greed being the operative word) to join Chelsea.
Yep, I hope the boos are fucking deafening.
This is going to sound like sour grapes, but I honestly thought that if he came to Arsenal, our system and coaching would really help him meet his potential, but Chelsea’s jumbled roster and coach under severe pressure will not be good for his development.
He’s obviously really talented but that just looks like a bad situation for him to be entering.
As a fan, I will be rooting hard against him.
Adding him may kill Omari Hutchinson’s career at Chelsea as well. Another talented young player that chose poorly.
It’s not sour grapes – it’s showing disgust at the greed of a kid who clearly neither understands or cares about the politics surrounding his new employers and the genocide of his fellow countrymen.
Fuck him, the little worm.
That’s a thin-veiled rebuke to the club over mudryk. Hope we learn from it! A hallmark of a big club is to identify a top target and bring it home.
I don’t read it that way at all. That’s a lot of money put down on a potentially tremendous player. We can’t afford that gamble
A hallmark of a badly run team is not recognising how squad dynamics work. Look at our past with ozil and auba on £300k and the effect it had on team spirit – look at ronaldo at United on £400k and the effect it had on team spirit. How do our young team feel if we go toe to toe with Chelsea and offer mudryk what Chelsea were willing to pay him? How does ESR on £25k a week feel? How does Martinelli on £50k and Saka on £60k feel? Chelsea pay Chukwuemeka as much per week as ESR Martinelli… Read more »
Chelsea pay who?
FWIW, Martinelli is on 90k per week and Saka is on 70k. Both of those two will have two years remaining on their deals after this, so both are due pretty significant raises soon.
The figures are wrong but the concept is right. Why would we want to upset the wage structure and renewal deals for some who would have start most of this season on the bench !!!
I think he said the opposite of that. “we have to have some discipline … in the targets we want” I’m pretty sure can be translated from Spanish as we need to have some limits and self control in how much we’re prepared to spend on a player.
A hallmark of a big club is to not overpay for potential and act like a smart club off and on the pitch. Our direction of travel is clear. We’ve got Super Mik Arteta.
Mate, it has to be a mix of developing home grown talent with the additional big signing.
You can’t form a sustainable top team without both.
Fuck Sp*rs.
Fuck Mudryk.
Fuck Spudryk.
Good name for a band
Sounds like an 80’s punk band!! 😂
Srna had to accompany Mudryk to Stamford Bridge to ensure he didn’t bail from the transfer. He made Mudryk go out with the Ukrainian flag on the Chelsea pitch, posed in photos with Srna, he literally looked like Srna’s hostage. Shakhtar and Chelsea have no class, they’re a match made in heaven.
As for Mudryk, no point in crying over spilt milk. We have a great opportunity to finish the season in a special way. Let’s seize this opportunity. I’m sure this Derby win will infuse even more desire to not let the transfer window pass us by.
Blame those filthy Blue fks all you want, they basically started this whole path into insanity 2 decades ago. Them and £ity broke football. However, well played Shaktar. They negotiated hard and won the prize.
Just hope we had some backup plans because we need an addition or two to help push over-the-top and win this freaking title! Carn Arsenal!!!!
I’m convinced Arsenal would have won the Champions League in 2004 and the league again in 2004/05 if Abramovich never bought Chelsea the year before.
Srna had to accompany Mudryk to Stamford Bridge to ensure he didn’t bail from the transfer. He made Mudryk go out with the Ukrainian flag on the Chelsea pitch, posed in photos with Srna, he literally looked like Srna’s prisoner. Shakhtar and Chelsea have no class, they’re a match made in heaven.
As for Mudryk, no point in crying over spilt milk. We have a great opportunity to finish the season in a special way. Let’s seize this opportunity. I’m sure this Derby win will infuse even more desire to not let the transfer window pass us by.
I wonder if we’d have been so fired up if we’d signed mudryk before the game. Players may have been feeling insecure about making mistakes and losing their spot. Instead I can imagine Arteta telling them “let’s show him what he has missed out on by joining Chelsea”.
Personally I think we have done the right thing by protecting the status quo rather than upsetting it with big money moves – and I’d rather see us continue on the path we are on – young players who earn similar wages and have a great team spirit as a result
Ya good point, personally I think Thuram fits the bill better, the good points of Ade25whore about him but yet flexible to play wing also .
Seems to be a determined and genuine team player
Thuram seems a good option, but given the situation we’re in and the need for someone to hit the ground running, I’d rather see us go for ferran Torres – arteta knows him and he has PL experience, 22 years old, won’t break the bank on fee or wages and proven pedigree at top level out wide and potential down the middle
Torres won’t have the transfer fee that Mudryk did, but we’re going to have to give him at least a token raise to get him to agree a move. He’ll cost at least as much as Mudryk in terms of wages albeit on a shorter deal (he’s on 80k currently).
A shorter deal? You mean we won’t offer him a nine-year contract?
Ya either of them good just Thurams physicality might give us a plan B
It’s an unpopular thought, but I’d love Saha. Proven PL quality, can play anywhere along front line, would be available for a fraction of his worth as his contract is nearly up. Would give him a 2 year contract with an option for a 3rd based on performance.
Thuram a really interesting one , but a gamble. Too many unknowns at this stage of the season.
I’d also be happy with Saha on a shortish contract. For the Mudryk money we could realistically get 2 in.
Torres could be enough alone, Or Saha plus Thuram.
We never should’ve been strung along for so long 2 bids max and then pull out. He’s a 30-40million player. I feel like we need some terms of engagement. Personally I’d like to see clubs be saying to agents and clubs leak our interest and it is a deal breaker. So business can be conducted without mass hysteria. All this in the know nonsense is so sleazy
Regarding Mudryk: I think I speak for many fans that yes, on one hand I am disappointed, but on the other hand, I am also proud of the club.
We will not be held ransom by anyone. This is one of the many reasons that I love this club – because we operate within our own means and conduct ourselves with class and common sense in the transfer market.
I agree. I’m proud that we stuck to our principles. You have to establish how much a player is worth and then stick to your guns. We were not taken advantage of. Also, pretty much all of our best players were purchased at a fair and reasonable price. Expensive rarely means incredible.
The majority of deals over £70m aren’t successful. We have to make smart decisions, this was a smart decision to walk away. We also want smart players, choosing Chelsea over Arsenal isn’t smart.
We know Shaktar’s game now. Greedy and untrustworthy. Let’s not do business with them again.
The war has them absolutely hemorrhaging money…if there’s any club on the planet that needs to hold out for every last euro, it’s them. Hard to knock them for taking as much as they can get, it might be years before they have match day revenue again.
I despise them and Mudryk for taking money from Chelsea considering its affiliations with the terrorist regime that has ruined their country. It’s not like we were offering them peanuts, it’s that their greed is so pathological they have no qualms selling themselves to a club that still sings songs about one of Putin’s premier fixers.
It’s fucking shameful!
Sorry mate, war or no war, they’ve behaved like a bunch of greedy cunts. End of.
I love Arsenal
One of my comments got downvoted the other day for suggesting Mudryk was just too much money, I’m glad the club have seen sense on it!
I’ve just read they’ve given MM an 8 1/2 year contract. Surely that’s wrong? That is insane.
Maybe it’s exactly the punishment he deserves for being greedy. Stuck at Oligarlactico FC for his entire career.
Spot on. 👏🍺
It’s a contract length to avoid/spread out costs to avoid FFP.
Still crazy, especially from the players perspective. He will be hard to sell and still tied down for many years if he doesn’t make it to the required level (or the level for that money, look at Pepe) at that club.
Rather go cheaper and avoid that situation in Arsenal, yes.
It doesnt work that way. I keep seeing people saying it’s to spread out the transfer fee… If they pay the transfer upfront rahter than over time it makes no difference if he’s on a 1 year or 10 year contract.
Even if he’s on a 1 year contract they can pay for it in 10 installments over 10 years…
That’s incorrect. When FFP was introduced, clubs had several options on how to do their accounting to UEFA, and every one of the major clubs in Europe amortizes their transfer fees over the life of the contract. If the player signs a 5-year deal, the transfer fee is amortized over the five years. If that player then signs a new deal after three seasons, the remaining amortized funds are then re-amortized over the length of the new contract (so the 40% of the fee remaining would be spread over the life of the new contract, and the new wage would… Read more »
To follow up on that, Chelsea will have the opportunity to change their reporting the next time they qualify for Europe due to the ownership change should they choose to, but given the spending spree they’ve been on this year, there’s no way they’re planning to do that. They can sell some of the deadweight that has been there for a few years (Pulisic, Ziyech, Mendy, etc) and they’ll be compliant in the short term just due to the fact that they have so little of those transfer fees left to account for. They’ve complied in the past by selling… Read more »
”The next time they qualify for Europe….”
😂
6 years of loan out
Exactly.
When you take a step back and see it for what it is, it’s professional suicide.
Under Arteta, he would have been given time to find his feet in a high flying side and an absolute unit of a team.
As it is, he needs to live up to the hype from the get go, when in reality he’s just another expensive toy at Chelsea – a strand of tinsel on a Harrods Window Box Christmas tree being constantly redecorated by a series of street drunks who haven’t got a fucking clue what they’re doing.
It’s a tactic to avoid Financial Fair Play sanctions.
Just think how many managers he’ll get through.
Hundreds.
In my mind, Mudryk is sat in his hotel room feeling instant regret thinking ‘my new team just scraped past Palace at home and are still 10th, and the team I should have signed for just comprehensively beat their fierce rivals in their own back yard going 8 points clear’. But then again, I have enjoyed several beers and am giddy at smashing the Sp*ds, so maybe not thinking straight.
He’ll be kicking himself sooner rather than later, if not now.
I hope he kicks himself to death.
This was beautiful to read from one of sp*ds apologists…. Remember Arsenal’s first game back after the World Cup? West Ham at home. Everyone’s wondering whether they still have it. Whether the break will kill their flow. They go a goal down. And the noise that rises around them is a godly thing: a howl of defiance and conviction, a storm to scream down the storm. The players still remember it fondly. Martin Ødegaard mentioned it last week. It was their fortifying moment. Here Tottenham went a goal down. Nothing. Just the hiss of leaking air, a numbness, a dumbness.… Read more »
Conte’s refusal to commit to Spurs (or anyone, throughout his managerial career) has always presented a problem for his team. He demands serious backing in the transfer market, but his system requires the sort of specialised players who may be unsuited for the next’s manager’s ideas. So, spend a fortune and hope he stays to build a winner? I am glad that Spurs did not hire Howe, Potter, or Frank. I’m hoping their next manager is Lampard.
I have actually heard some Spuds calling for Allardyce. Was that for real, or was it sarcasm on a grand scale? I can’t tell.
Probably for real.
Your average Spud is as thick as pig shit.
They support Tottenham for a start…
Conte is just Mourinho in a toupee.
Definitely stings not to get Mudryk, but in the end is probably a bonus for us that we showed intent bidding a large amount for him and losing him for a ridiculous amount of money is not the worst thing to happen. We bought Jesus and Zinchenko combined (two established PL players that consistent starters and contributors for us now) for less than Chelsea paid for Mudryk. We certainly need to get a couple of players (even if on loan for the season to provide depth in case of injurieis) and if we don’t get anyone in it will be… Read more »
In terms of a transfer fee, this is true, but it’s definitely not that cut and dried. Mudryk’s transfer fee and wages spread over that 8.5 year deal (which is how FFP is amortized) come out to almost exactly what Jesus makes in wages annually. Clubs can afford somewhat ridiculous fees on these young kids making smaller wages, because the total value of the package is still smaller, and the lower wage makes it easier to move on from. Personally I like this contract from Chelsea’s perspective (more so than the fee, for sure). 8.5 years locks this kid up… Read more »
I down voted your comment because you make the deal sound rational. Can we not just call them a bunch of money slinging cunts and all move on?
I up voted you based on the phrase “money slinging cunts and all move on” as that’s how this works.
They are, I just happen to like this deal for them. The Felix loan is ridiculous though…what will they possibly get from that? A spot in Europa? There’s no upside, it’s literally just lighting money on fire.
Well said.
The only thing more nauseous than the penny pinchers in this whole debacle – who’ve got what they wanted – is the idiots now attempting to defend the greed of Shakhtar and Mudryk himself.
Bollocks to them. I hope they choke on their fucking money.
Thrilled with the performance today, disappointed to see Mudryk sign with Chelsea though. I have a feeling that one will hurt in a few years.
Wait until Gabriel M kicks him up in the air …. the beast will devour Mudraker. top top qualitee
On a brighter, note, how good was that? Partey misplaced 4 passes and then hit the post with a rocket … need quality cover, top, top qualiteee ….. for him.
Martin O is fucking good. Bring on United
🇺🇦 Mudryk has just joined the club that got power due to the 🇷🇺 money and whose supporters still worship its previous owner while the war is still going on… I kind of don’t like it and hope Chelsea choke up on that transfer
I can’t begrudge Mudryk or Shakhtar. Mudryk is now set for life and got out of a war zone. Shakhtar are really suffering financially, it’s honestly criminal that EUFA is allowing players in that league to cancel contracts without giving those clubs any restitution. That’s not even factoring in their loss of match day revenue. All that said, when’s the last time we felt this good about the club not going the distance for a signing. I’m so proud of the club. Yes we have to do everything we can to win the league this year but let’s not do… Read more »
I can begrudge both Shakhtar and Mudryk as much as I begrudge Chelsea.
I hope they all rot.
Slowly. Forever.
Fuck Mudryk
I kinda feel for Mudryk. He was obviously shepherded into signing for Chelshit then tied down to a career stunting 8.5yrs. I have a feeling he was threatened with ruin if he backed out.
The boy was clearly unhappy even during his introduction. That c*nt Srna chaperoned him throughout the process.
Just watching Mudryk being ‘paraded’ in front of the Stamford Bridge morons before their rare win.
He had the face (and haircut) of a 90’s bloke in a town centre nightclub at 3,00am when the house lights come on and he realises that the ‘older woman’ he’s been plying with drinks and tongue wrestling all night is, in fact, an old minging granny caked in Max Factor.
Bollocks to him. You’ve just joined a shit club, sunshine, with a crap stadium, crap fans who sing, funnily enough, crap chants and wear a crap kit.
Enjoy 10th place, you mug.
I typically don’t pay attention to transfer news , just enjoying the games instead. why should I suffer the pain of rejection/will he-won’t he etc when there is a transfer team at Arsenal that get paid to do it ! But apparently from the posts here this guy’s transfer was a big deal/widely expected..
Having seen the arguments , it looks like he chose money over beauty , which is what many of us would do.
Let’s hope Arsenal find the next Saka/Martinelli hybrid. 😀
Amen to that. 👍