@Pwnziillaaaa bayern wanted a loan with an obligation obviously Arsenal didn't. Certainly not 50mil for an 18 year old Bayern squad player. Everyone was a great idea in hindsight, unfortunately decisions have to be made in the here and now.
Can’t play around with Sod’s Law, this was always going to happen. Now in a position where we need people back and pushing them to come back early causes more problems! I really hope in the summer we about to see a 300m spend window
Its absolutely ridiculous the way the Arsenal hierarchy has handled this transfer window. It’s a dereliction of duty. And the excuse that no one was available that could improve the squad is balderdash. Apart from Saka, none of our other attacking wingers are better than Semenyo for example. Despite having Doku, Grealish, Foden, Silva, City still went all out for Marmoush. I’m livid.
Semenyo and all the other Bournemouth players could possibly be rubbish outside of their system. Justin kluivert for example hardly looked like a professional player at all the other stations of his career
Its not FPL, you can't just pick and choose whichever players you want and incur a 4 point penalty. Bournmouth were never going to let players leave in january given what they are trying to achieve. Best plan is not to use up PL loans in the summer so that you have them available for January if needed
Yeah we never expected the winger who we expect to track back to the point he is essentially playing full back at times to pull a hamstring after getting virtually no rest...
If the title race and our Champions League campaign were over it'd be easier to justify the club wanting to keep their powder dry until the Summer but both are still a (real?) possibility and the board/hierarchy sitting on their hands is just negligent. It just makes you question how serious they are about winning things...
Title race is pretty much over, yes. Not worth investing resources to increase your chances from 5% to 10%. CL anything can happen but another Sterling is unlikely to increase our chances of beating hypothetical Real Madrid somewhere in the quaterfinals.
Hello Charles, Changing the formation should be a serious conversation now imo. Playing an attacker less should be something Arteta thinks about with the amount of players available to him. Something like this: Raya Timber - Saliba - Gabriel White - Partey - Rice - MLS/Cala/Tierney Odegaard Trossard/Nwaneri - Havertz Playing wing backs could give us the width we would lack without wingers. White and Tierney especially are so good on the overlap. It would be a completely different formation, so I don't think it will happen but I wouldn't mind trying something different given the circumstances.
Charles, I think we all have to accept that the club are happy with top 4. Winning the trophy is just a bonus and not the main aim. As fans , we have to decide of this is what we want as well.
Martinelli hasn't been as impactful this season but he still had some solid games, but we're down to 4 again. And we're only going to ruin them by playing them into the ground. Losing Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Nelson and Fabio Vieira was the most ridiculous move ever without replacing them. No wonder Edu left, Arteta hasn't got much if any support this season.
Kai is dropping next ..."we could be in the quarter final of the UCL with Butler as our no nine" Absolute negligence from the board, Asensio at Villa on loan could have played a part in our season. Don't want to hear "just any body" excuse .
Charles , surely the answer to the lack of forwards is we need to change the formation so that we dont use 3 forwards at the start of the game so use nwaneri as a spearhead and then swap him out for havertz or the other way round
Hi Charles. This is Edu & the lack of investment up front before january window, getting neto & sterling in last min then jumping ship mid way through the season. He's done some great stuff but has left us in a mess in the forward positions.
Its an absoloute shit show from the owners we know there a problem . But the manager who should never ever had been employed. Who employs a novice to manage a big club. You dont employ a novice to build your house. Disgusting and its getting tiring now
With Martinelli injured, and with all his tracking back and defensive work he does, is it crazy to think using Tierney on the left wing. Though his fitness wouldn't be 90mins ready yet and of course could get injured which would be a tragedy for him.
We should blame the board. At the same time i think arteta could have put his foot down and demanded signs, but was swayed with the promise of a strong summer window. This is gross negligence from the club on a whole.
Hi Charles, could we see MLS moving into the left side of attack to help with our shortage up front? We have good options at left back now (Cal, Timber, KT).
We need to be honest about this. Saying that we’re “trying to chase down Liverpool” is not true. The board clearly decided that they weren’t going to try to chase them down, and they need to own that decision.
Tomiyasu hasn't got an Arsenal future and KSE are negligent not bringing in reinforcements in January when they were clearly out there and the players, manager and fans had begged them to act.
Hi Charles dun from Kenya,great show as always,I think it tym arsenal took the next step so we can win a trophy,if it means going big for isak then we should,the process is working bt for the last seasons we have been stagnant at second we need to make a big decision to take the next step n be First, great show as always
This is crazy. I as one seemingly coming back. Another one goes down. If Arsenal are not kicking themselves about the summer transfer window. I simply don't know what to say. Also as we all know that Havertz does miss his chances. But he is actually the glue that has the front line together. If HE goes down for any period of time. It would definitely be over 100%. Protect HIM at ALLLLLL costs. I hope Martinelli heals well🙏🏾
The lack of ambition from the owners is so apparent. There’s a reason we have never won the champions league and it comes down to desire to buy the best. We’ve been shafted yet again.
Agree. Very hard to say the club have top top ambitions when they constantly leave the squad short in in certain areas. I have little confidence that in the summer they will address all problems either.
I really dont get people's anger. This season is gone, 99% we won't win anything regardless of having one more attacker or not. Why hurt our chances to win trophies next season trying to salvage this one? A body on loan would have been nice to reduce the load but thats about it.
Is there a little more than meets the eye with the Tomiyasu situation? As you said, Arsenal having shrouded his _injury_ in mystery is unusual and almost suggests another underlying issue? It's a real shame as he showed such great potential.
Noone knows for sure but I could also imagine that theres some other issue than an injury ... maybe he's going through some personal issues or difficult times and the club is trying to protect him - but I'm also only guessing
Formation change needed. Let's lean into our defensive solidity and Declan Rice's box-to-box qualities. Especially with Ben White back in full training and Calafiori fit again too. For example, against Forest (because I don't think you should play a back 5 against Leicester or West Ham); Raya Timber Saliba Gabriel White Rice Partey Myles Ødegaard Trossard Havertz
Hi Charles - a longer comment than normal (sorry!) but really interested in your thoughts given some of the negativity around the fanbase in recent weeks. If I had to summarise my thoughts on the club right now I would say: - Being 2nd in the League, finishing 3rd in UCL league reaching EFL cup Semis is objectively positive. Other clubs (yes, even "big clubs") would kill to be in our position. - Injuries have really hampered us this season, and they would have even if we'd had a successful Summer window. Being where we are despite that is objectively impressive. - Our Summer window was underwhelming and our January window was non-existent. I think we need more pragmatism with our transfers, as much as I praise our approach if looking for the "right fit" player. I think we will struggle in future seasons if we don't get this right. If we fall short this season because of injuries / lack of finishing and goals, the club has to take responsibility for that. - Arteta is an excellent manager who has delivered big results and measurable progress, he is 110% passionate about the club and he has been invested in our identity as much as securing honours. I'm not apologising for any poor and AVOIDABLE results / decisions under his leadership - he still needs to be held accountable - but you cannot say he isn't a top quality manager and I genuinely don't understand what other alternatives there are out there. - I want us to kick on and win things but I just don't understand some of the outrage. If football were that simple anyone with a basic knowledge of Championship Manager would be winning titles every year. And are they? No. - I do think this year's Summer window is going to be massive and needs to be a 9/10 minimum, otherwise I think Arteta and the club hierarchy will find themselves at the most risk / pressure since Arteta arrived. - Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine is that some fans have lost their heads. This isn't end of Wenger / end of Emery-era vibes. There is a way to hold the club accountable and demand more whilst still being positive and supportive FANS. By all means criticise and critique but right now I just feel some people are devolving into red-mist-driven, sensationalist nonsense.
It is what it is, Charles. I wouldn't be surprised if Tierney and Zinny are training in Dubai in attacking roles to just share the mins for the rest of the season. Zinny has done the false 9 for Pep before so he can come on for Havertz with 20 mins to go and KT on the wings. It's nowhere near ideal, but it's all we got, and to be honest, between Zinny, KT, and Jorgie, they have bags of experience and should play more in the run in now.
6:00 we have to be playing butler odeyeji in that scenario. Great for him, gives him a shot to contribute to the team (who knows, surely he’s better than Sterling), and rests Kai. It just has to be done at this point there is no option
Hi Charles I think I’d like to slightly push back on the “Arsenal can’t pay that type of money” debate…I just don’t buy the fact that London clubs can’t afford big wages. Arsenal are arguably the most popular club in London and our wage structure is very very low compared to how good we are. The reason city’s and Liverpool’s is so high is because they have won things. You have to pay those wages to retain the level of your top top players. It’s just a fact. The penny pinching will only be to the team’s detriment. (Recent example of what penny pinching did to the club. Ashley Cole. The first domino that led to the clubs mediocrity for many years) For example look at Tottenhams wage structure. One of the best. The quality of player that’s they can keep and can buy is partly the reason as to why they don’t ever win anything.
We might need to change our formation to accommodate less forwards so less chance of injury to them so perhaps something like a 4222 with two strikers and the 2 behind the forwards are odegaard and merino. Otherwise, what happens if anyone else gets injured 😮
Hi Charls, do you think Arsenal needs to change the shape of the formation and tactics to get through the period while waiting for attacking players to come back from the injury? We have a depth now when it comes to defence
Despite what Arteta is saying in public the hierarchy has decided that the premier league is over and they will leave it until the summer to try and sign some quality players
The worrying thing is we saw this coming when the window closed in the summer and then in January yet they couldn’t predict what was bloody obvious. Season is done anyway. Pathetic from the board. Charles I’m sorry but you’re naive if you think this club are hunting down Liverpool if anything the January window showed us they believe it’s done and focus shifts to next season.
Yeah it seems fans are smarter and can predict things better than 15 mill a year Arteta even a child would have predicted Jesus gets injured that what he does 🤣
@@leonbell5141 ah so because he earns apparently 15m a year which you are guessing (not quite sure what that has to do with anything) we can't critique him. Oh and this the same manager that admitted we were light in the summer and 6-2 = 4 which again he highlighted in jan that we are even weaker so yes its on the club for ignoring what was clearly obvious with player load. 😃
Getting Elite DOF has never been more important if they hire ayto after this jan window that'll be indication of our ambition as a club which will top 4 at max 😊
It is really disappointing that we didn’t get the forward to help the team. Muani would have made a lot of sense as he could play across the forward line. The board did the fan base dirty.
Charles can you ask these questions of negligence at your next press attendance. These issues need to be answered not the generic answer from MA "I trust my players"
I think Arteta is going to have to tap the young player pool again when the team return from their not-holiday. Butler-Oyedeji (7 goals 6 assists in 10 games!) could be subbed in against Leicester and West ham to replace Havertz, then if he performs well, he could be in for minutes against Forest and Man U. He can also play across the front 3 places too, so there's an option to put him left and put Trossard through the middle, or put him right and put Nwaneri through the middle. Surely Arteta should try him against Leicester for 30 minutes?
It’s not really a desperate situation .. We have descent players on the bench we can rotate at left wing (KT, Calafiori, Zinny). Our coach is just sometimes not brave enough to trust bringing on when our team has comfortable lead. Saliba not really playing well this season not sure if he has some injury .
I think Mikel has made our team super competitive however this lack of support from the board makes me question the board's support to win the major trophy. Do they care ? Edu saw through them and left, its only a matter of time before Mikel sees the truth
Q. Charles, is there anything in the rules that allows Arsenal to ask for special permission from PL to bring in a loan signing or use academy players?
The thing is Charles if they were beinging anyone in at all in January it would have been a central striker so even had that happened we'd still be in the same position as we are now.
@leonbell5141 I'd really love to know how not wasting money on players the club doesn't want equates to "lack of ambition" for fucks sake they paid 105mil for a player just over a year ago, you can't do that every window. Some people have no idea.
What is the point in discussing Kolo Muani..It's possible he didn't want to come to Arsenal..The Club didn't go in for him for whatever reasons .. It's tough .Arteta has to take it on the chin. That is it and we have to move on .
In a world where Chido Obi-Martin stayed at Arsenal this season, do you think he would have been an option for striker minutes to back up Havertz right now? Or would he have likely still been too far down the academy ladder for senior team minutes? I wonder if he regrets leaving Arsenal now.
*FYI - William Saliba's best friend is Kylian Mbappe.* No guesses as to where Mbappe is playing! However... It wouldn't be a surprise if Saliba went to Real Madrid as it looks like his head's already been turned in that direction from some of the _on pitch_ performances recently. He doesn't look quite as switched on as he did in the last two seasons. *#COYGsince66*
It’s actually a disgrace really that Arsenal one of the world’s biggest teams can’t in all honesty muster a proper forward line . It’s not just this window it’s the last window too , we simply haven’t given ourselves a chance to be a force and to win anything . I don’t know whose fault this is the owners , the manager ..But it’s bloody naive and pathetic and supporters deserve better
we still have Zenchenko and Tierney, if you play one of them left back or Calafiorii,.Kivwior and move MLS to where Martinelli plays at least till he's back and hopefully Tomiyasu, and white be back soon them give Gabi and Salibia a breather and have Nwaneri on the right till Saka is back, we got options just to get through the next few weeks at least. like most have said its a failure of the management team identifying and securing players in the summer.
We cannot attack the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup with a squad this size. Mr. Arteta and Mr. Wenger are two of the most brilliant men I have ever heard speak about football, but they have been undone by their ambition over and over again. The League Cup is consistently a waste of club resources, but no one seems to be able to accept it. At least Mr. Wenger would play a couple more kids in the first couple rounds.
Dear Charles keeping our powder dry for the summer is assuming we would make top 4 I don't want to put a downer it is clear the club has decided its not worth it chasing liverpool and overspending but at the moment we can not be certain of top 4 and that is a bigger disaster
We have been saying this since the summer transfer window closed, luck has nothing to do with it, its all about very poor planning and building no resilience into the squad.
I am shocked at the lack of critical thinking with the Tomiyasu situation. It was obvious from the 1st season that Arsenal had to try and recoup the money invested. He is a professional NHS patient that occasionally plays football. This kind of transfer stinks of Wenger's arrogance and stubborness to persist with some favorite players for reasons unknown. now we simply wait for the contract to run down or sell him for 5mln in the summer.
Prioritized actions for Arsenal now and in summer 2025 needs to be GK - Neto's loan will expire. Loan again / loan someone else. DEF - Let Tierney expire. - Offer proper contract to Lewis Skelly as backfill. - No other movement needed. MID - Offer Partey a new contract, let Jorginho expire. - Sign a midfielder in summer 2025 window. - Offer proper contract to Nwaneri when he turns 18 in march 2025. FW - Sterling's loan expires. Sign a new winger in summer 2025. Realistic number of signings in summer - GK on loan. - Contract to Lewis Skelly. - Proper Mid signing + contract to Nwaneri. - 1 offensive winger.
Why does Arteta have this youngsters on the bench without giving them some opportunity even if it is 5-10mins sub appearances especially for the attackers. What is the worst that can happen?
I agree with the comment saying that the club is going nowhere and is not an overreaction I just think you didnt understand the point, yes the club is in a very good position but from last summer it seems like the Kroeke are back at their old self, champions league qualifications, when it was the time to push for the league (like we were thinking last summer) they dont act (summer we took only cech), how many times they let us short, how many times we feel we miss 2/3 players, by the club is going nowhere its simply that the club uis back to that cycle that win nothing but is satisfied to be in Europe, and yeah for a players like saliba who is a generational talent this is going nowhere and it will leave for a club that is desperate to win and do the maximum for it not letting themselves short all the time, and people believing the "this summer will be the biggest blablabla" again we heard this narrative few years ago we had that but nothing happened but I dont know why people want to believe it this time after what they showed us this january and last summer I will believe them when it does happen (I know it wont), the money is back in, revenue level increase, the Kroenke are good, champions league almost guarantee, they good!!!
Negligence is what it is - shambles of Jan Window. People’s heads should roll for that, instead it’ll be promotions and high fives. Brings back memories of that time they celebrated getting rid of Auba.
If they couldn’t recruit , they shouldn’t have sent Reiss and Viera on loan …. Cannot understand such terrible planning . Can we recall Viera and Reiss …?
If only the entire fanbase predicted this exact thing would happen....
😂😂😂
The thing is if they were bringing anyone in it would have been a central player so we would still be in the same position right now
@@martinharvey2390that’s why you get Tel who plays both
@Pwnziillaaaa bayern wanted a loan with an obligation obviously Arsenal didn't. Certainly not 50mil for an 18 year old Bayern squad player. Everyone was a great idea in hindsight, unfortunately decisions have to be made in the here and now.
some didn’t they will literally catch their wives cheating and still say “let’s look at the positives” 😅
Can’t play around with Sod’s Law, this was always going to happen. Now in a position where we need people back and pushing them to come back early causes more problems! I really hope in the summer we about to see a 300m spend window
Its absolutely ridiculous the way the Arsenal hierarchy has handled this transfer window. It’s a dereliction of duty. And the excuse that no one was available that could improve the squad is balderdash. Apart from Saka, none of our other attacking wingers are better than Semenyo for example.
Despite having Doku, Grealish, Foden, Silva, City still went all out for Marmoush. I’m livid.
Semenyo and all the other Bournemouth players could possibly be rubbish outside of their system. Justin kluivert for example hardly looked like a professional player at all the other stations of his career
Its not FPL, you can't just pick and choose whichever players you want and incur a 4 point penalty. Bournmouth were never going to let players leave in january given what they are trying to achieve. Best plan is not to use up PL loans in the summer so that you have them available for January if needed
Yeah we never expected the winger who we expect to track back to the point he is essentially playing full back at times to pull a hamstring after getting virtually no rest...
If the title race and our Champions League campaign were over it'd be easier to justify the club wanting to keep their powder dry until the Summer but both are still a (real?) possibility and the board/hierarchy sitting on their hands is just negligent. It just makes you question how serious they are about winning things...
Title race is pretty much over, yes. Not worth investing resources to increase your chances from 5% to 10%. CL anything can happen but another Sterling is unlikely to increase our chances of beating hypothetical Real Madrid somewhere in the quaterfinals.
Cherles your right...the club is going no were
Hello Charles,
Changing the formation should be a serious conversation now imo. Playing an attacker less should be something Arteta thinks about with the amount of players available to him. Something like this:
Raya
Timber - Saliba - Gabriel
White - Partey - Rice - MLS/Cala/Tierney
Odegaard
Trossard/Nwaneri - Havertz
Playing wing backs could give us the width we would lack without wingers. White and Tierney especially are so good on the overlap. It would be a completely different formation, so I don't think it will happen but I wouldn't mind trying something different given the circumstances.
Charles, I think we all have to accept that the club are happy with top 4. Winning the trophy is just a bonus and not the main aim. As fans , we have to decide of this is what we want as well.
We need to be happy to compete winning is not a priority it’s a bonus top 4 was always the goal for the owners 🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️🤷🏽♂️
@leonbell5141 I can't agree with that. Winning should always be the aim. Otherwise, what's the point.
Martinelli hasn't been as impactful this season but he still had some solid games, but we're down to 4 again. And we're only going to ruin them by playing them into the ground.
Losing Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Nelson and Fabio Vieira was the most ridiculous move ever without replacing them.
No wonder Edu left, Arteta hasn't got much if any support this season.
Kai is dropping next ..."we could be in the quarter final of the UCL with Butler as our no nine" Absolute negligence from the board, Asensio at Villa on loan could have played a part in our season. Don't want to hear "just any body" excuse .
People keep 👄 🗣 he's rubbish. Fatigue 😩 makes you week and automatically garbage job.
@ArsenalN5 It will be a case of you never know what you have until it's gone
Agree Kai next
Charles , surely the answer to the lack of forwards is we need to change the formation so that we dont use 3 forwards at the start of the game so use nwaneri as a spearhead and then swap him out for havertz or the other way round
Hi Charles. This is Edu & the lack of investment up front before january window, getting neto & sterling in last min then jumping ship mid way through the season. He's done some great stuff but has left us in a mess in the forward positions.
Our attack options reminds me of the song
"Three wheels on my wagon
And I'm still rolling along"
Feels like we've already lost 3 wheels. _Not long before those Cherokees will be circling us and whooping it up._
*#COYGsince66*
The amount of running Martinelli has been doing, it was bound to happen. This is entirely on the management that we are in this crisis.
Its an absoloute shit show from the owners we know there a problem . But the manager who should never ever had been employed. Who employs a novice to manage a big club. You dont employ a novice to build your house. Disgusting and its getting tiring now
The prem is done and dusted now, along with the CL. At least we as fans can relax earlier this season.
Good assessment 👏 😂🤨😭🤦🤷♂️🙇🤡😡😠🤬
True let’s hope next season they sort it out…won’t hold my breath 🤣
Tell that to the season ticket holders!
With Martinelli injured, and with all his tracking back and defensive work he does, is it crazy to think using Tierney on the left wing.
Though his fitness wouldn't be 90mins ready yet and of course could get injured which would be a tragedy for him.
We should blame the board. At the same time i think arteta could have put his foot down and demanded signs, but was swayed with the promise of a strong summer window. This is gross negligence from the club on a whole.
He can't do shite. The only thing he can do is threaten to leave
@faudjama6956 then he should have threatened to leave. You know how toxic this club will be by the end of the season.
It wouldn't surprise me if Arteta is not interested in extending his contract.
At this rate all those academy players who rushed to leave are regretting their decision
Exactly
Not really. Cause united strikers are shite soo obi may get a chance. Heaven may get a chance due to the Martinez acl
Chido left because of money. The same problem we are in now with these vile, putrid owners
You just have to admit the club have given up this season as it hasn't worked out as they anticipated. They are just happy to finish top 4 now!
We'll be lucky to finish in the top 4...
Arteta should innovate and play Michel Merino and Kiwior as our strikers . Wingers from bench will be Tierney and Zinchenko .
That tackle he received early by Dan Burn was a heavy tackle. And the guy received no yellow card
Hi Charles, could we see MLS moving into the left side of attack to help with our shortage up front? We have good options at left back now (Cal, Timber, KT).
Are there no stricker options in the accademy and under 21?
We need to be honest about this. Saying that we’re “trying to chase down Liverpool” is not true. The board clearly decided that they weren’t going to try to chase them down, and they need to own that decision.
Yep top 4 all the way 🙌🏾
Tomiyasu hasn't got an Arsenal future and KSE are negligent not bringing in reinforcements in January when they were clearly out there and the players, manager and fans had begged them to act.
Hi Charles dun from Kenya,great show as always,I think it tym arsenal took the next step so we can win a trophy,if it means going big for isak then we should,the process is working bt for the last seasons we have been stagnant at second we need to make a big decision to take the next step n be First, great show as always
Don't worry. We can get cover in the winter transfer window.......
Hi Charles in light of the current injury crisis is it possible to recall Marquinhos as an extra body ?!? Cheers
Negligence is the only word to describe the board considering our situation right now
"Be excited guys".
This is crazy. I as one seemingly coming back. Another one goes down. If Arsenal are not kicking themselves about the summer transfer window. I simply don't know what to say. Also as we all know that Havertz does miss his chances. But he is actually the glue that has the front line together. If HE goes down for any period of time. It would definitely be over 100%. Protect HIM at ALLLLLL costs. I hope Martinelli heals well🙏🏾
Arsenal incompetence at its highest. We will never lift a trophy while these executives are "in office." So disappointed with my club.
The lack of ambition from the owners is so apparent. There’s a reason we have never won the champions league and it comes down to desire to buy the best. We’ve been shafted yet again.
Agree. Very hard to say the club have top top ambitions when they constantly leave the squad short in in certain areas. I have little confidence that in the summer they will address all problems either.
I really dont get people's anger. This season is gone, 99% we won't win anything regardless of having one more attacker or not. Why hurt our chances to win trophies next season trying to salvage this one? A body on loan would have been nice to reduce the load but thats about it.
We're in the 'you can't hurt me I'm already dead' zone
It's also called Murphy's law.
Is there a little more than meets the eye with the Tomiyasu situation? As you said, Arsenal having shrouded his _injury_ in mystery is unusual and almost suggests another underlying issue? It's a real shame as he showed such great potential.
Noone knows for sure but I could also imagine that theres some other issue than an injury ... maybe he's going through some personal issues or difficult times and the club is trying to protect him - but I'm also only guessing
Reminds me of the Rosicky cocaine addiction @@Cengert1979
We played Man City after they signed 3 players in Jan… Turns out signings aren’t some kind of magic, they got beat up 5-1…
Formation change needed. Let's lean into our defensive solidity and Declan Rice's box-to-box qualities. Especially with Ben White back in full training and Calafiori fit again too.
For example, against Forest (because I don't think you should play a back 5 against Leicester or West Ham);
Raya
Timber Saliba Gabriel
White Rice Partey Myles
Ødegaard
Trossard Havertz
Hi Charles - a longer comment than normal (sorry!) but really interested in your thoughts given some of the negativity around the fanbase in recent weeks.
If I had to summarise my thoughts on the club right now I would say:
- Being 2nd in the League, finishing 3rd in UCL league reaching EFL cup Semis is objectively positive. Other clubs (yes, even "big clubs") would kill to be in our position.
- Injuries have really hampered us this season, and they would have even if we'd had a successful Summer window. Being where we are despite that is objectively impressive.
- Our Summer window was underwhelming and our January window was non-existent. I think we need more pragmatism with our transfers, as much as I praise our approach if looking for the "right fit" player. I think we will struggle in future seasons if we don't get this right. If we fall short this season because of injuries / lack of finishing and goals, the club has to take responsibility for that.
- Arteta is an excellent manager who has delivered big results and measurable progress, he is 110% passionate about the club and he has been invested in our identity as much as securing honours. I'm not apologising for any poor and AVOIDABLE results / decisions under his leadership - he still needs to be held accountable - but you cannot say he isn't a top quality manager and I genuinely don't understand what other alternatives there are out there.
- I want us to kick on and win things but I just don't understand some of the outrage. If football were that simple anyone with a basic knowledge of Championship Manager would be winning titles every year. And are they? No.
- I do think this year's Summer window is going to be massive and needs to be a 9/10 minimum, otherwise I think Arteta and the club hierarchy will find themselves at the most risk / pressure since Arteta arrived.
- Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Mine is that some fans have lost their heads. This isn't end of Wenger / end of Emery-era vibes. There is a way to hold the club accountable and demand more whilst still being positive and supportive FANS. By all means criticise and critique but right now I just feel some people are devolving into red-mist-driven, sensationalist nonsense.
This has to motivate Sterling. This is moment to get his career back on track.
At least we were active in the transfer window and got cover for the forwards……….
It is what it is, Charles. I wouldn't be surprised if Tierney and Zinny are training in Dubai in attacking roles to just share the mins for the rest of the season. Zinny has done the false 9 for Pep before so he can come on for Havertz with 20 mins to go and KT on the wings. It's nowhere near ideal, but it's all we got, and to be honest, between Zinny, KT, and Jorgie, they have bags of experience and should play more in the run in now.
6:00 we have to be playing butler odeyeji in that scenario. Great for him, gives him a shot to contribute to the team (who knows, surely he’s better than Sterling), and rests Kai. It just has to be done at this point there is no option
Hi Charles I think I’d like to slightly push back on the “Arsenal can’t pay that type of money” debate…I just don’t buy the fact that London clubs can’t afford big wages. Arsenal are arguably the most popular club in London and our wage structure is very very low compared to how good we are. The reason city’s and Liverpool’s is so high is because they have won things. You have to pay those wages to retain the level of your top top players. It’s just a fact. The penny pinching will only be to the team’s detriment. (Recent example of what penny pinching did to the club. Ashley Cole. The first domino that led to the clubs mediocrity for many years)
For example look at Tottenhams wage structure. One of the best. The quality of player that’s they can keep and can buy is partly the reason as to why they don’t ever win anything.
Tierney would be better on the wing than Sterling honestly.
You would play better than sterling tbh
No cause for alarm Josh, we've got Raheem the dream. Who needs reinforcements?
We might need to change our formation to accommodate less forwards so less chance of injury to them so perhaps something like a 4222 with two strikers and the 2 behind the forwards are odegaard and merino. Otherwise, what happens if anyone else gets injured 😮
It feels like Tomiyasu has just been on an extended work experience at Arsenal.
Probably start a career as a physio now
Who’s tomiyasu? He’s career is over tbh he’s only here for the Asians markets as he’s very popular there even tho he never plays 😂
Is there any out of contract players we could bring in?
Not that will come in to be managed under inexperienced Arteta
Hi Charls, do you think Arsenal needs to change the shape of the formation and tactics to get through the period while waiting for attacking players to come back from the injury?
We have a depth now when it comes to defence
Despite what Arteta is saying in public the hierarchy has decided that the premier league is over and they will leave it until the summer to try and sign some quality players
But how are we doing it? we are 2nd on Epl, thrashed man city, 3rd in ucl with the squad depth we have.
The worrying thing is we saw this coming when the window closed in the summer and then in January yet they couldn’t predict what was bloody obvious. Season is done anyway. Pathetic from the board. Charles I’m sorry but you’re naive if you think this club are hunting down Liverpool if anything the January window showed us they believe it’s done and focus shifts to next season.
Yeah it seems fans are smarter and can predict things better than 15 mill a year Arteta even a child would have predicted Jesus gets injured that what he does 🤣
@@leonbell5141 ah so because he earns apparently 15m a year which you are guessing (not quite sure what that has to do with anything) we can't critique him. Oh and this the same manager that admitted we were light in the summer and 6-2 = 4 which again he highlighted in jan that we are even weaker so yes its on the club for ignoring what was clearly obvious with player load. 😃
Getting Elite DOF has never been more important if they hire ayto after this jan window that'll be indication of our ambition as a club which will top 4 at max 😊
It is really disappointing that we didn’t get the forward to help the team. Muani would have made a lot of sense as he could play across the forward line.
The board did the fan base dirty.
A winger being out is the least of the problems. Martinelli has been hot and cold this season. Time for Nwaneri and Trossard to come to the fore.
haa because trossard had been super all season maybe?? its exactly the same with trossard
Charles can you ask these questions of negligence at your next press attendance. These issues need to be answered not the generic answer from MA "I trust my players"
He can’t ask those questions or else Arteta will ban him and won’t be allowed back FACTS
Charles can’t
I think Arteta is going to have to tap the young player pool again when the team return from their not-holiday.
Butler-Oyedeji (7 goals 6 assists in 10 games!) could be subbed in against Leicester and West ham to replace Havertz, then if he performs well, he could be in for minutes against Forest and Man U. He can also play across the front 3 places too, so there's an option to put him left and put Trossard through the middle, or put him right and put Nwaneri through the middle. Surely Arteta should try him against Leicester for 30 minutes?
It never rains but it pours …… arsenal and injuries 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
It’s not really a desperate situation .. We have descent players on the bench we can rotate at left wing (KT, Calafiori, Zinny). Our coach is just sometimes not brave enough to trust bringing on when our team has comfortable lead. Saliba not really playing well this season not sure if he has some injury .
I think Mikel has made our team super competitive however this lack of support from the board makes me question the board's support to win the major trophy. Do they care ? Edu saw through them and left, its only a matter of time before Mikel sees the truth
Hopefully Arsenal are having all next season's injuries this season too. Next season, go through without injury. Here's hoping. COYG.
It’s the hope that kills you 🤣
probably going to have to start playing defenders up front at this stage!
Bro!😂 you make me 😆😁😍
Wasnt this expected? Whos gonna be out next?
Q. Charles, is there anything in the rules that allows Arsenal to ask for special permission from PL to bring in a loan signing or use academy players?
Ownership let the players, Mikel, fans, etc down
In a way we deserve all the bad luck we get!!
The thing is Charles if they were beinging anyone in at all in January it would have been a central striker so even had that happened we'd still be in the same position as we are now.
Still shows a lack of ambition
@leonbell5141 I'd really love to know how not wasting money on players the club doesn't want equates to "lack of ambition" for fucks sake they paid 105mil for a player just over a year ago, you can't do that every window. Some people have no idea.
Serves us right for being so negative in transfers.
What is the point in discussing Kolo Muani..It's possible he didn't want to come to Arsenal..The Club didn't go in for him for whatever reasons ..
It's tough .Arteta has to take it on the chin. That is it and we have to move on .
Exactly. People act like they just didn’t bother. We have no idea who they spoke to. The only one we heard about was Watkins.
Could Lewis-Skelly play further up on the wing? Not ideal, I know...
In a world where Chido Obi-Martin stayed at Arsenal this season, do you think he would have been an option for striker minutes to back up Havertz right now?
Or would he have likely still been too far down the academy ladder for senior team minutes?
I wonder if he regrets leaving Arsenal now.
I do think edu leaving like he did has caused a bit of a mess behind the scenes, But still poor planning from the rest.
Agree 100%.
*FYI - William Saliba's best friend is Kylian Mbappe.* No guesses as to where Mbappe is playing!
However...
It wouldn't be a surprise if Saliba went to Real Madrid as it looks like his head's already been turned in that direction from some of the _on pitch_ performances recently. He doesn't look quite as switched on as he did in the last two seasons.
*#COYGsince66*
Martinelli is only 23?
It’s actually a disgrace really that Arsenal one of the world’s biggest teams can’t in all honesty muster a proper forward line .
It’s not just this window it’s the last window too , we simply haven’t given ourselves a chance to be a force and to win anything .
I don’t know whose fault this is the owners , the manager ..But it’s bloody naive and pathetic and supporters deserve better
Have we seriously got nothing in the acadamy striker wise? If we haven't that's also shocking
We let Chido Obi Martin go to Man Utd.
@ he was a long long way from ready
@ Absolutely, but he could've been "a body" to allow Havertz a rest in the closing stages of a game, in a way Khayon Edwards can't be.
we still have Zenchenko and Tierney, if you play one of them left back or Calafiorii,.Kivwior and move MLS to where Martinelli plays at least till he's back and hopefully Tomiyasu, and white be back soon them give Gabi and Salibia a breather and have Nwaneri on the right till Saka is back, we got options just to get through the next few weeks at least.
like most have said its a failure of the management team identifying and securing players in the summer.
I'd rather see a lb replace Martinilli then play sterling personally, he offers nothing to the team.
Now nwaneri can have a run of games
We cannot attack the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup with a squad this size. Mr. Arteta and Mr. Wenger are two of the most brilliant men I have ever heard speak about football, but they have been undone by their ambition over and over again. The League Cup is consistently a waste of club resources, but no one seems to be able to accept it. At least Mr. Wenger would play a couple more kids in the first couple rounds.
That’s my thinking too. That carabao match we obviously knocked ourselves out. I know arteta and the boys would have played better if they wanted to
Dear Charles keeping our powder dry for the summer is assuming we would make top 4 I don't want to put a downer it is clear the club has decided its not worth it chasing liverpool and overspending but at the moment we can not be certain of top 4 and that is a bigger disaster
We have been saying this since the summer transfer window closed, luck has nothing to do with it, its all about very poor planning and building no resilience into the squad.
Wow who would have predicted more injuries….
I am shocked at the lack of critical thinking with the Tomiyasu situation. It was obvious from the 1st season that Arsenal had to try and recoup the money invested. He is a professional NHS patient that occasionally plays football. This kind of transfer stinks of Wenger's arrogance and stubborness to persist with some favorite players for reasons unknown.
now we simply wait for the contract to run down or sell him for 5mln in the summer.
Prioritized actions for Arsenal now and in summer 2025 needs to be
GK
- Neto's loan will expire. Loan again / loan someone else.
DEF
- Let Tierney expire.
- Offer proper contract to Lewis Skelly as backfill.
- No other movement needed.
MID
- Offer Partey a new contract, let Jorginho expire.
- Sign a midfielder in summer 2025 window.
- Offer proper contract to Nwaneri when he turns 18 in march 2025.
FW
- Sterling's loan expires. Sign a new winger in summer 2025.
Realistic number of signings in summer
- GK on loan.
- Contract to Lewis Skelly.
- Proper Mid signing + contract to Nwaneri.
- 1 offensive winger.
Gross negligence, sackable offence. That sporting director getting applauded for not spending in January is a bozo
442 diamond formation. With partey , rice merino and odeggaard in midfield . Trossard and kai upfront .
Arsenal have to accept that they only have the resources to compete seriously in two competitions.
To be fair it was a difficult window. Chelsea are all out of players they don't want!
Why does Arteta have this youngsters on the bench without giving them some opportunity even if it is 5-10mins sub appearances especially for the attackers. What is the worst that can happen?
Tierney better be ready for loads of minutes as an LW! Odegaard false nine anyone? Recall Fabio Vieira?! Ring Auba?!?!
We'll be playing mls in the left forward position id imagine
How on earth have we not recalled Fabio Viera or Reiss Nelson?
We’re desperate for help right now and we’ve just left them on loan?!?
Those players aren’t good enough 🤷🏽♂️
@ I agree but surely some cover for the front line is better than no one with all the games we have coming up?!?
Whaaaaat? We're short up front. Whaaaaaat?
IS saliba not part of the present team. do they not have responsibility for some of the goals we coceded
Havertz had his feet up for the first hour along with the rest of the team.
Criminal - the only year city slip up Arsenal go missing and fully sick mode. P
I agree with the comment saying that the club is going nowhere and is not an overreaction I just think you didnt understand the point, yes the club is in a very good position but from last summer it seems like the Kroeke are back at their old self, champions league qualifications, when it was the time to push for the league (like we were thinking last summer) they dont act (summer we took only cech), how many times they let us short, how many times we feel we miss 2/3 players, by the club is going nowhere its simply that the club uis back to that cycle that win nothing but is satisfied to be in Europe, and yeah for a players like saliba who is a generational talent this is going nowhere and it will leave for a club that is desperate to win and do the maximum for it not letting themselves short all the time, and people believing the "this summer will be the biggest blablabla" again we heard this narrative few years ago we had that but nothing happened but I dont know why people want to believe it this time after what they showed us this january and last summer I will believe them when it does happen (I know it wont), the money is back in, revenue level increase, the Kroenke are good, champions league almost guarantee, they good!!!
Negligence is what it is - shambles of Jan Window. People’s heads should roll for that, instead it’ll be promotions and high fives. Brings back memories of that time they celebrated getting rid of Auba.
If they couldn’t recruit , they shouldn’t have sent Reiss and Viera on loan …. Cannot understand such terrible planning . Can we recall Viera and Reiss …?