Eze: Page 21 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Eze

Sicario2

TambourineMan ppl have got used to accepting mediocrity. Standards have slipped so much that 21 years without a title is simply ok. Spending close to a billion and having nothing tangible silverware wise to show for it is ok.

Arteta? Oh go another season trophyless, that’s fine, always next year. Another £250m? Yes sure. Consequences? What consequences!

RowJimmy

Sicario2
So I know you think you're Ricky Bobby, but finishing second is not mediocrity. There are three excellent teams in the league and we are one of them. We therefore have a realistic chance to win, and as far as I'm concerned that's what we can ask for.

JazzG

samthegooner But if we end up with no Eze and no LW, I think that’s going to be a big mistake.

That seems to be the current direction of travel! Like you I'd prefer a LW first but I can't see anyone except Rodrygo who seems to have priced himself out and not being very decisive about leaving either.

JazzG

TambourineMan

JazzG this tweet is pure cope.

RowJimmy

JazzG
The issue at the moment in my view is squad size - we need to sell in order to have room in the matchday squad (currently 20 I believe). Even after we've sold Zinchenko, Lokonga, Vieira and Nelson - lot of business to do - and written off Jesus, and renounced integrating Dowman - at least for the first half of the year - a new attacker without further sales pushes a current attacker not to the bench but to the stands.
It's one thing to say we would rather have Eze than Leo (or Martinelli) when we're selling Leo. It's another thing if we're exiling him.

Qwiss

JazzG the thing is if went another £200m now where does that leave us next season and the one after?

TambourineMan

RowJimmy if we keep finishing 2nd, our best players will leave for teams that can get over the line.

RowJimmy

TambourineMan if we keep finishing 2nd, our best players will leave for teams that can get over the line.

In which case we will be bitterly disappointed not to have won a title, and need to rebuild, replacing those players with younger ones. But that won't mean that we were mediocre, and it won't mean that the solution would have been to fire the manager.

JazzG

TambourineMan The part about Eze or about the PSR?

TambourineMan

JazzG about there being a good reason why we've not gone after Eze, implying we have someone else in mind.

JazzG

RowJimmy I think those players in addition to Trossard will probably move this window. Problem with Trossard is he is 30 years old so he'll be looking for that big payday before he moves and that might make it difficult to get a larger fee. Lokonga I'm not sure what is going on because from what I heard he had a decent loan but just can't seem to shift him. Zinchenko and Nelson are on big salaries which makes it harder to shift them. Zinchenko might just want to run his contract down

I think they'll all move but maybe not on transfers so might have to loan them, clubs will be dragging this out until the last few weeks of the window and can we afford to wait that long and potentially miss out on what we need? If Trossard moves we are defo gonna be short and then need to sign someone.

TambourineMan There might be, there can always be a surprise at the end of the window and maybe we are not wanting to commit on Eze because that surprise move might be in play. It is pure speculation, could be Rodrygo or could even be someone like Xavi Simons....

Also shouldn't forget that we need to get Saka and Saliba contracts sorted, that is more important than any signing we could make.

TambourineMan

RowJimmy

This idea of just “rebuilding with younger players” if we fall short is fantasy. Every time you lose a top player, the level drops and the clock resets - you don’t just plug in a replacement and carry on contending. That’s exactly how clubs like Dortmund get stuck in a loop of selling, rebuilding, nearly competing, and never actually winning. So do you want us to be like Dortmund or City/Liverpool/Bayern/Barca/Real?

For Arsenal, finishing 2nd again and again without a title is our version of mediocre - because it’s defined relative to expectations and resources. Pretending we’re immune from that just because there are worse-run clubs below us is folly. If you consistently fall short of your potential, you’re not elite - you're underachieving.

RowJimmy

Mediocre = Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton, Fulham, Man Utd, Tottenham. Teams for whom finishing 8th would be a significant accomplishment.

Sicario2

RowJimmy immaterial. Everything is relative. Do these clubs have the same budget and exceptions as us?

TambourineMan

On top of that, you don’t just finish 2nd into perpetuity. The very quality of player that gets you there doesn’t hang around forever if they never win. If they leave, you can’t bridge the gap to 1st - you drop back down the ladder, spend years rebuilding in a hyper-competitive Premier League, and maybe claw your way back to contention. If you still can’t get over the line, the cycle repeats. And this has been us for 20 years and you want this to continue? Make it make sense please.

Winning is critical because it doesn’t just give you a medal - it locks in your best players, attracts more elite players, and keeps you at the top.

Qwiss

TambourineMan Every time you lose a top player, the level drops and the clock resets - you don’t just plug in a replacement and carry on contending.

So Liverpool losing Trent and Diaz, City losing KDB means they're not going to contend?

awooga83

Different teams have different baselines, getting a team within touching distance of honours but not winning any would be a failure for a team like arsenal. We are historically underachievers of the bigger teams in the modern era but when your time comes around you've got to bank some trophies.

RowJimmy

TambourineMan
We had dropped considerably below this level for much if not most of those 20 years.

Klaus

Our issue right now is available squad places to register players I reckon. I think we're saving up for one more late window madness, whether it's Eze or Rodrygo or even someone like Yildiz.

Qwiss

Klaus it's all down to Trossard I reckon. If he goes we'll sign someone. If he stays we won't.

RowJimmy

I think there's always a difference between the expectation and the goal. The expectation is to compete for the title, the goal is to win it - I'm not saying it's something else. But in a league with 20 teams and one champion, the title is always a reach goal, and you have to evaluate your people based on the expectation, not the goal.

TambourineMan

RowJimmy and if we don't start winning soon we'll descend back to that in a few years. Our best players aren't going to hang around if we continually fail to deliver.

lorddulaarsenal

Difference now is that KSE are taking investment in the club seriously as their ownership isn’t as diluted.

Doc

If he goes to spurs and we don't get him or someone of similar profile/better... It's another major fuck up in transfers/squad building.

Sicario2

Doc This and means the summer window has been a sham

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