August 7th – Optimism for the season and pessimistic fans

And I’m back. Welcome to a new season. Consider this article as part of this websites pre-season. This is where I’m trying out new formations, words and generally tuning up for the upcoming season. Though truth be told the content will be full of the usual drivel and crap. In the background I’ll continue to work on new signings. There are rumors of new blood being added out of Spain but, with Brexit and currency movements this one now fills like a long shot. Anyway, I think we have enough left sided contributors already (if you know what I mean, wink wink). Adding yet another prima-donnas could provide an overload of gayness for this site.

Apologizes for the lack of wrap up on last season. I’m sure that ruined many a fine summer break as people were so desperate to hear my thoughts and insights. I’ve heard rumours that Arteta was severely impacted by my lack of guidance and advice as he moved into this crucial period of his tenure. So let me help him out with a quick summary. Fuck Willian. Fuck Leno. Love Saka. Love ESR. Good-bye David Luiz. Get me a few more players and you’ll be fine. That’s it. With that feedback I think Arteta can exhale and relax now. All will be good.

It’s funny (in a not funny way) how last season is being re-cast. All the mainstream media repeat ad nauseam cliches about how the season was a failure, a tragic disappointment, a disaster. Really? A disaster? For me a disaster is having a moron in the White House. A disaster is having right wing dictators running too many major countries. A disaster is seeing society devastated by a pandemic. A disaster is Partey being injured yet again. But failing to qualify for Europe by a point (care of Leno v Everton) does not equal a disaster. Try watching Arsenal in the late 70s’ post Brady. Try watching an Arsenal team in the ‘80s with Stewart Robson. Or any Arsenal team with Cygan. Last season should be assessed pre-Chelski and post-Chelski – where we smashed them at home in December. The pre-Chelski team were dour, drab and lacking identity. Post-Chelski we discovered our rhythm and finesse. Sure, there were still some crummy results. But the trajectory for this team changed. Consider the points gained, goals scored and the solidity of the defense. We ended up as a possible top 4 team. The overall position was more or less in-line with expectations. Missing out on the EvenWorseThanNoHopaConferenceLeague is a blessing. Both Chelski and Liverpool spent seasons out of Europe. It’s not the end of the world. And it’s not a disaster.

Most importantly, last season was Artetas first full season even if that was disrupted by the cloud of COVID. When you hire a promising but young, inexperienced coach you need to give them leeway to make mistakes, evolve and develop. And for this season we need to give him time. None of this retarded Arteta out shit. Wait. Be patient. Don’t let our club mimic ManU that continued to precipitously chase out decent managers – and end up with one who is barely decent. Irrespective of where we are mid-season, or even after 10 games, we have to stick with Arteta. Maybe not having fans helped Arteta last year. But it also gave more air to the morons on twitter and Instagram. This year, with fans, will hopefully help Arteta. He is our future. And we all need to support him. I’m all-in on Arteta and won’t reconsider until this new season is done and dusted.

So far we’ve managed to tie down ESR – an under appreciated move given the obvious cash that Aston Villa knew they’d have at their disposal because of Grealish. And then our new signings also speak to the concerns about how little Kroneke invests in this team. Another bogus narrative. They have always put their hands in their pockets. How did we get Aubameyang? CIgarette, Partey, Tierney? Did we pay in luncheon vouchers or with an IOU? I think not. And now with White we’ve put down sizable money to re-enforce the style of our play. Hopefully White can become our John Stones (without the gaffs).

More fan hypocrisy was evident with Xhaka. Everyone complains that we don’t sell our players for what they are worth. So here we decided not to cave into Roma and Darth Vader because they wanted Xhaka on the cheap. How would it help us to sell him for £20m and then have to pay £40m to replace him (if we could find someone). Until we can complete 2 summer transfer windows, we can’t afford to lose Xhaka. We need depth and experience. Do I want him as my main midfielder – no, but  I’d keep him for the squad.

We need to step back and look at the squad overhaul that we’re in the midst of. And it’s not finished. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring in an Odergaard replacement and one more midfield player. And of course we’ll lose some players. Kolinsac has to go. Please leave him outside the stadium in a trash can. And Hector needs a chance elsewhere. Hopefully with Lukaku returning to Chelski – another fine financial transaction sell him for £80m and buy him back at £115m) – that money will allow Inter to make some Hector signings. Cedric is another one who should be moved on. And obviously Willian. Maybe we can send him to Inter?

My biggest worry is Leno. As good a shot-stopper that he is I fear he is not suited to our direction of travel. He is not suited to playing out from the back. There is nothing more scary than when the ball is at his feet. I know the Chelski game last weekend was just a pre-season game and his first one back but his distribution was atrocious. He can’t make decisions under pressure. He repeats the same mistakes. It was like watching him put Xhaka under pressure away at Burnley. Leno can’t help himself. The game has changed and he can’t. The decision made to shift Martinez to Aston Villa was, at the time, the right decision. Given the knowledge we had at the time keeping Leno was the right choice. And if I could go back in time I’d still make that same decision. But it was the wrong one. But we can’t get Emilo back. But we can’t stick with Leno. He can’t play out from the back and he will put our players in tight, pressurized situations. The only question I have is how can our GK staff have had Martinez at the club for 10 years and not know what a talent he was? They saw him every day in training. That is the only place I’d be looking at to better understand how we sold the wrong goalie. And then whilst we’re looking at that someone should also look into the Runnerson deal as well. And now we’ve lost Ryan we must have an adequate backup. Paying £30m for Ramsdale seems like a bad piece of business – selling Martinez for £20m and buying back Ramsdale for £30m – but Kroneke has demonstrated his willingness to support this team so hopefully we’ll get someone worthy.

Aubameyang better not score tomorrow. I’d like his drought to continue for one more game. Nothing matters tomorrow (aside from staying injury free). He is a natural goalscorer and he will find his touch. Let him find it when it matters – against Brentford. It’s a shame Eddie is injured now. He was looking better in pre-season and now we can’t sell him. And we have to decide what to do with Willock and AMN. I want to keep AMN but only if he is prepared to be a squad player. His versatility could be invaluable for us. Arguably we missed him last year when our full backs got injured. But I don’t really see the rationale for chasing various Italian forwards. I can’t think of one that has worked out in the premier league. But give me another midfield player. Preferably a defensive one to give us cover for Partey. And not just for now but also for when he goes off to the ANC in January.

For this season, I expect us to be more competitive. We won’t win the league – Man City will have that. But we should be pushing towards the top 4 but will likely end up in the top 6 with re-entry to the NoHoppaCup. We’ll benefit from Everton losing their manager. Villa will be more threatening. And Leicester will be a threat. But, as we re-build our squad, we will continue to improve. We will give away stupid points and we will have to listen to our own moronic, juvenile, ADHD supporters bleat about every little thing. Those same fans that claimed that the Great and Imperious Wenger could only get us into the top 4 and top 4 was not a trophy are the same retards that are complaining that Arteta is not good enough for our club. Whereas, it’s exactly the opposite. These fans are not good enough for our club. Arteta is not the problem – they are. They look for any opportunity to complain and moan. They are not even glass is half-empty. They can’t even see the glass.

I though remain optimistic. I see numerous positive developments. And I believe in Arteta. From the changes to the U18 and U23 coaching staff, to the signing of younger players through to Kroenke spending bundles of money we are a better club than we were in the last 5 years. No more Gazidis. No more accountant. No more Mustafa nor Ozil. In another 12 months we will have a truly competitive team and a deep squad with balance and two players in each position. In three years we’ll be competing for the title. But then I’m an optimist.

Watch out for VAR this season. It was interesting to see how it was used during the Euros. No drama. No uproars. Funny that. Seems like the technology works right? So how comes it was such an abortion in the EPL? Just listen to Mike Riley and you’ll pretty quickly know. Their latest Einsteinne idea is to no longer show the fans (in the stadium or on TV) the lines they use to decide on offside. Really? Remove any transparency to their decisions? That’s their solution? Guaranteed they will have to walk this one back before Christmas. No question. I’ve always believed it would take them time to get VAR right. But the Euros proves it’s possible. It’s the people that are the problem not the technology. It’s how you use it. And when you have Riley and PGMOL making the decisions then you know you’re fucked. Shame about England though. They were so desperate not to lose that they forgot to win. Southgate – a smart man and a definitive improvement over previous managers – forgot to use the talent on the bench. He was too conservative and wasted a chance to win a trophy for the first time in a generation or two. Let’s see whether in WC22 he plays to win. Semi finals in last WC then losing in the final of the Euros sets up expectations for WC22.

And, to wrap up, the last word goes to our North London rivals. Wankers. Complete wankers (ok, that’s two). Talking about having no strategy and vision. How can you fire Darth Vader in-season and not hire a manager for 3 months – and then after everyone has turned you down. Then when it’s clear to even a blind man that you big-nosed, big-chinned skipper wants to bail you refuse to cash in but hold out for a few extra pounds. The result is a unstable team and the likely influx of the transfer money coming in too late to sign new players. So, it will be either an unhappy skipper or an inflated bank balance. And we think we’ve got problems.

Phew, that was a lot that I needed to get off my chest. I feel suitably warmed up now. Fingers are fully flexed, righteous indignation nicely coming to the boil and looking forward to an injury free game tomorrow. And more to come from me before the Brentford game.

-LB7

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