Why would Haaland come here instead of RM, City etc? It's not about whether Isak is as good as Haaland, which he obviously isn't, but about Isak being a player who might actually want to come here. And he's still a very good player.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Why would Haaland come here instead of RM, City etc? It's not about whether Isak is as good as Haaland, which he obviously isn't, but about Isak being a player who might actually want to come here. And he's still a very good player.

Oh I don't think we will even ask the question without being in the top4/UCL, which is why IMO we're missing a trick by not achieving a spine fit for purpose even if it cost 200m+ and meant we didn't register players if we didn't give them away.

As well as Haaland I'd also be making contact with Mbappe if he hasn't signed a new deal with PSG by Jan = you'll never know if you don't ask the questions.

That said as well as the issue re UCL I also think Arteta lacks the profile in terms of success or style to make such opportunities even a remote possibility, and I still think the club has it's priorities wrong in terms of taking advantage of the situation.  That may or may not be the direct consequence of the last 5 years of shit decisions, but for mind we've spent double our transfer spend off the pitch in the last 12 months in regards to our operating costs, but the result has done little more than maintaining the status quo with no real decisive strategy to improve our revenue generation via the football operations.

Why are you so convinced we don't have a 'spine fit for purpose'? You can argue your opinion of the quality, but I think we have exactly the squad we hoped to have.

Have you asked Beyoncé to marry you yet Anzac?

flobaba wrote:

Have you asked Beyoncé to marry you yet Anzac?

That question is irrelevant as we are both already married.

?!?!?!?

I knew Jay-Z was an Arsenal fan but...

😆

Anzac wrote:
flobaba wrote:

Have you asked Beyoncé to marry you yet Anzac?

That question is irrelevant as we are both already married.

Captain wrote:

Why are you so convinced we don't have a 'spine fit for purpose'? You can argue your opinion of the quality, but I think we have exactly the squad we hoped to have.

Based primarily upon what we saw last season, Arteta's comments about wanting to play 433, and our starting midfield and forward options have not changed.

I cannot believe we have the squad we want with those same players involved, as Xhaka is not suited to the attack and visa versa, let alone the midfield does not provide goals and the primary goal scorers do not create for themselves, and Pepe is wildly inconsistent.

Another player I'd add to that list is Gnabry, as like Mbappe his contract also ends this season.

Anzac wrote:
Captain wrote:

Why are you so convinced we don't have a 'spine fit for purpose'? You can argue your opinion of the quality, but I think we have exactly the squad we hoped to have.

Based primarily upon what we saw last season, Arteta's comments about wanting to play 433, and our starting midfield and forward options have not changed.

I cannot believe we have the squad we want with those same players involved, as Xhaka is not suited to the attack and visa versa, let alone the midfield does not provide goals and the primary goal scorers do not create for themselves, and Pepe is wildly inconsistent.

okay, but everything ive read in the last month has said that all of these recruitments and new signings were arteta's idea and these are the guys he wanted. so....why are we buying these players if they arent allowing him to play the system he wants? if we want to play a 4-3-3, why did we spend £50m on ben white and not spend that on a CM and keep saliba here to play CB? i know the people who still cling to hope with arteta have billed this as a 10 year project where he will need an exactly perfect squad of players to execute his incredibly brilliant vision. but that is fantasyland stuff. we spent a shitload of money, and devoted £75m of it on a CB, when we already had one of the best CB prospects in europe on our books, and a backup goalkeeper. if ramsdale was bought to be the #1, then keeping leno on the books and letting his value further deteriorate was just stupid planning.

our summer business was peculiar. i see some bright spots, and some decent business, and also see a bunch of extremely questionable decisions. and arteta's fingerprints (his whole hand, really) was all over every move we made. this is his team and his squad. he wanted to keep xhaka. he wanted to buy ben white and ramsdale. this is his team

mdgoonah41 wrote:
Anzac wrote:

Based primarily upon what we saw last season, Arteta's comments about wanting to play 433, and our starting midfield and forward options have not changed.

I cannot believe we have the squad we want with those same players involved, as Xhaka is not suited to the attack and visa versa, let alone the midfield does not provide goals and the primary goal scorers do not create for themselves, and Pepe is wildly inconsistent.

okay, but everything ive read in the last month has said that all of these recruitments and new signings were arteta's idea and these are the guys he wanted. so....why are we buying these players if they arent allowing him to play the system he wants? if we want to play a 4-3-3, why did we spend £50m on ben white and not spend that on a CM and keep saliba here to play CB? i know the people who still cling to hope with arteta have billed this as a 10 year project where he will need an exactly perfect squad of players to execute his incredibly brilliant vision. but that is fantasyland stuff. we spent a shitload of money, and devoted £75m of it on a CB, when we already had one of the best CB prospects in europe on our books, and a backup goalkeeper. if ramsdale was bought to be the #1, then keeping leno on the books and letting his value further deteriorate was just stupid planning.

our summer business was peculiar. i see some bright spots, and some decent business, and also see a bunch of extremely questionable decisions. and arteta's fingerprints (his whole hand, really) was all over every move we made. this is his team and his squad. he wanted to keep xhaka. he wanted to buy ben white and ramsdale. this is his team

I agree that this is his team, but we have already seen comments where both he and Edu have supposedly prioritised CM and CF as priorities for the next transfers.  Coming so soon after the close of the summer transfer window, and that we had made failed approaches in both areas during the transfer window, indicates for me that they did not complete the business in the summer.  Ultimately this makes the summer a failure in they did not sign the players they wanted to complete the new spine as being 'fit for purpose'.

Just to be clear my saying the team/spine is not yet fit for purpose does not excuse either Arteta or Edu, and if anything it's a further reason as to why both should be replaced sooner rather than later.  Further to this IMO we would have more likely got the business done if we had experience and credibility in either of those 2 positions/roles.
We talk about wastage in player sales and wages from previous structures, and IMO there is a concern we have probably done the same this summer if we don't regain UEFA this season, yet none of the talk thus far is about putting any such intent or objective for the season.

Coombs wrote:

?!?!?!?

I knew Jay-Z was an Arsenal fan but...

😆

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

Gnabry yes please!

He's still very fond of us, with all the fuckery going on at Bayern I could actually see him tempted to become the main man for us if we pay him what he's worth. He's won the a triple there already, still without CL there's no chance in hell he'll consider us

Ditch Arteta in October, get Conte Gattuso or even Potter in and I can still see us going places. Not overly impressed with any of the big teams

Yep, he's a managerial wizard!

Jones - what's happened to Marco Rose? I was a huge fan when he was at RBS as well as BMG, but his start at Dortmund seems to have been nothing short of utter disaster.