EPL 2017/18 Thread

Let’s just concentrate on Arsenal for now lol

Has Henry even been coaching or has he just been a pundit?

agree with everything you said.

If they were to change managers its going to take the new guy a long time to get rid of the dead wood that is there. Much like Jose after Van Gaal.

I do honestly think the coin is there for him to spend, but he is too stubborn to use it. As he is set on doing it his way. Plus he would been seen as a massive hypocrite after all his complaining about other clubs spending big.

With the prices their fans are paying for tickets, I am honestly surprised they haven’t turned on him more.

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He’s currently assistant Belgium coach but was also youth coach at Arsenal last year but Wenger gave him an ultimatum, coach or be a pundit. Henry left obviously because he was probably getting paid peanuts at Arsenal.

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Anyway Harry scored again.

COYS!

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Missed a lot of opportunities. Some good saves too.

You are allowed to have an opinion of course but perhaps it should be a little more informed. Wenger has broken our transfer record at least 3 times in the last few seasons. Ozil (42.5M)-Lacazette (46M or so)-Aubemayang (50M+), Xhaka was 35ish mill, Skrotum was about 30 mill so to say he has not spend is ludicrous, he has spent more than ever. But yeah the narrative is that he is ultra reluctant to spend, so let’s go with that.

Net transfer spend is the amazing thing, I think in the lead up to the Cup Final yesterday, I saw something staggering like he has had a net spend of about 100M in his 20+ years and Pep had 350 or so in about 18 months. If someone can show me a manager that can do that sort of magic get them into the club ASAP!

Not sure how much dead wood there is, unfortunately I think Santi is cooked. Rambo is injury prone, but at his best he is a pretty handy player ditto Wilshire.

I think we need a clean out at GK, Cech is not finished but I don’t think he is the man for the job that I thought he would be. Ospina is best when playing for his country, not at Arsenal, but I thought he would be a great keeper after the 2014 WC.

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I really like this kind of discussion. I would put the chavs in with the two Manchester clubs, even though it appears the purse strings are pretty tight in west London, the money that has been ploughed into that squad for the years since they became an oil oligarch’s plaything is staggering. It is probably less than at Citeh, but prices have soared and I would assume their spending would be similar if somehow you could compare prices.

In terms of spending now I don’t think littlepool can be in the same sentence as Arsenal. I believe that their spending was purely as a result of big player sales (Suarez, Torres). Littlepool is in danger of being overtaken by Everton, because they are spending but their signings have not gellled yet. If they do they will move up the table.

Arsene’s mantra has been about spending within our means and the fact that we have been so competitve despite selling so many players during the financing of Emirates Stadium is something I will be eternally grateful to him for, because it has basically ensured the survival of Arsenal Football Club for at least my lifetime. The Wenger out brigade seem to dismiss this quickly or completely. They are quite happy to point out the shortfalls (I admit do exist) but brush over the poisitives that I think completely outweigh them, but it is a results based business and if we do continue to splutter then things will probably change and I think that they probably should too.

I am going to put it out there that Spurs will drop off the pace for the next few years (top 4 etc) whilst they are initially paying off their new purchase. I say this for a few reasons:

I don’t think they have the same amount of support that we did at a similar stage (ie immiediately before during and in the roughly 5 years after moving in)

I don’t think the nucleus for a strong side is there that we had in the immediate time after the invincibles. Kane is a huge asset, sell him and they will struggle more than we did after selling Henry. Can they keep Kane happy if they don’t win any major trophies? Some talk that Alderweireld is being pursued by a Premier League rival, Eriksen is class can he be satisfied? Dele would probably command a pretty penny, but I think he is more likely to stay than the others I have mentioned.

Spurs wage bill is pretty modest (and that is to be commended) but the new stadium will help once there is a gap put into repaying it. Still this will probably be a hinderance for keeping players without ultimate success. Arsenal had the afterglow of the invincibles and perhaps optimism for the future because of it, Spurs don’t have that and won’t unless they win the UCL or a disaster hits Etihad Stadium.

Fair call. I appreciate the facts you have shared on how much he has spent too. Didn’t realise it was as much as that.

Ospina is an interesting one, as you say after his World Cup he looked a great get. Just hasn’t been able to replicate that form for his club

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You have officially confirmed yourself as mad! Everton overtaking Liverpool? You clearly haven’t looked at the table or the playing squads . Everton are 23 points behind Liverpool and are relying on a bunch of older players. Take out Milner and none of the regular players at Liverpool are aged 30, with a huge core aged 25 and under, including Salah and Mane.

If you want to compare our sales to fund purchases this season we sold one key player in Continho (2nd highest ever transfer fee) and while they have sold Barkley and Laukaku. Liverpool have brought in much younger players compared with Rooney, Sigurðsson and Walcott.

Also just so you’re aware Everton are closer in points to Arsenal than Arsenal are to Liverpool.

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Everton went down the path we did when we sold Suarez. Instead of replacing that one player, Lukaku in their instance, with the best replacement they could find in that position, they went and bought about 7-8 new players with mixed results at best. Now they have Big Sam as their manager, and that is making the natives restless given his archaic style of play. Was clearly brought in to usher them to safety. I’d be very surprised if he wasn’t sacked at the end of the season. I was impressed with their business in terms of how quickly they got their players in, well before the deadline so they had enough time in pre-season to get some cohesion going, but in isolation when you look at what they bought overall, their squad is so badly balanced. They bought 3 players for the #10 position and no striker until they got Tosun from Besiktas, who looks like being a PL flop.

Not sure I agree with this.

I read somewhere that we always have a token Asian (South East) on our list because it bolsters support in that region and they virtually pay for themselves. You choose the best one available in case they make it but I don’t think they legitimately expect them to make it. Miyachi was the one before him, Park Chu Yong too.

Campbell… Started to play well only for Wenger to banish him and never select him in favour of others. Bizarre.

I read some Southampton youth coach say that he thought despite all the hype over Luke Shaw he thought Chambers was the superior player. Definitely had some talent, not sure why he hasn’t come on so much. Holding is a measly 2 mil purchase. Think he’s ok, we show have another, better CB ahead of him.

And IMO… Xhaka is an absolute plodder. Was so happy when we signed him but fk me. Arrogant FIGJAM who has zero workrate and contributes nothing.

I think our coaching is as fkd as our manager situation. Is Bould any fkn good?

It appears like you do agree with me.

Asano is on our list for revenue.

Chambers and Holding are plodders.

Xhaka is average.

In my opinion the cost of Chambers and Holding and any other player on our list is irrelevant. It’s the clubs policy to not spend big on players so they have to be accountable for that.

To make matters worse Wenger is as stubborn a manager as there is. We clearly get exposed down back and yet he never puts in a defensive midfielder. Kante over Xhaka every day of the week but I doubt Wenger would even have considered him.

I acknowledge the good that he has done but he’s clearly past it just like Sheedy was.

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Wenger surrounds himself with “yes” men and people who will not challenge his authority. He is a dictator in many respects. Kroenke has given him too much power. Any owner with half a brain should have got rid of him, probably even 2-3 years ago to be honest. Anyone listen to his post-match comments? He was complaining about a lack of injury time to like it cost them the game. He seriously is deluded.

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Xhaka for Kante still hurts me.

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I think Everton need a season or so and look out for local dominance. There was huge change at Everton, no club has that much change and moves forward that season, like I say I think Everton will probably surprise you.

Also it is a bit of fun to wind up you Liverpudlians! I didn’t think you would bite back, :wink:

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I’m not a fan of either Liverpool team, but I think you’re talking through your bottom.

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To be fair I don’t suppose you have any idea how good Liverpool are given you have no reason to watch the Champions League and only see a top 4 team in action when they are destroying Arsenal.

Well you would be an authority on that, you seem to do an awful lot of it from your ivory tower!

Was a draw last time we played wasn’t it?