Reply With QuoteI’m surprised no one has gone for Toney, yeah he likes a bet and is unavailable but he scores goals for fun.
Plus Kane’s over rated, i means he only scored four goals in todays pre season friendly haha.
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Sure but top goal scorers are so hard to find. There's one available about 2 miles down the road who's nailed on to score 30+ goals in our team but I think highly unlikely he'd be allowed to move to the Emirates. That being said we had 18 different goal scorers last year - the highest of any team. But agree, if we got Kane or someone like that then it would be massive - we'd have been 2-0 up today before City scored.Originally Posted by Martylaa
I’m surprised no one has gone for Toney, yeah he likes a bet and is unavailable but he scores goals for fun.
Plus Kane’s over rated, i means he only scored four goals in todays pre season friendly haha.
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Last edited by Martylaa; 6th August 2023 at 19:40.
Time will tell who the better signing is. He's been at Arsenal 3 weeks.
I disagree. Rice will be far more value to Arsenal than Maddison will be to Spurs. Maddison is a top player but even his previous manager at Leicester questions his work rate and effort: I think that’s why Howe didn’t want him.
Rice is a terrific player who was playing in his 3rd match for Arsenal. He's also the likely next England captain with clear leadership attributes which Arsenal have lacked. He'll be fine.
The mocking of Kai Havertz is strange - he did OK today and had more impact than Haaland did. Clearly more time spent training and playing in the side and these players will be able to gel more.
Timber was superb I thought - looks like he's been playing in the team for years.
Some incredibly bitter takes on here re Arsenal. Superb. Exactly like the beginning of last season.
Let's see if you all look like fools again when the dust settles...
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Timber is the real deal, no question
Rice will come good
Havertz is rubbish and will be playing in a lesser league in 2 seasons
Arteta is emotional/embarrassing* delete as appropriate
That’s my take away points from today
Agreed. Arteta is becoming a right whinging PITA. I can’t stand the way he goes on, just like Klopp now.
I couldn’t understand why he wanted Havertz and after today I still don’t. He’s one of those players that has all the skill in the world but can’t apply it in top level football. I thought he was awful today but what actually is he? A 10? 9? I don’t think he’s particularly good in either.
In other news, the current holders of the Saudi Cup are now also Sela Cup Winners. You know what they say, winning is a habit.
Arteta is just embarrassing, it was like we won the CL, not the charity shield!
Havertz is a terrible signing, would rather see Trossard, Smith-Rowe get more game time, we have enough players in that position. Better to spend the 65 mil on a goal scorer, or towards a goal scorer.
Rice was way to expensive, but is a good player, Timber looks quality.
We have a good squad, should get top 4, but still see City winning the PL, but with the money spent is top 4 really enough.
The lowest we'll finish is 2nd IMHO but agree that City are still better. But we are so far ahead of Liverpool and Man Utd that we would really need to implode to finish below them. So I think it's realistically Arsenal vs 115 Charges FC for the title.
Keep an eye on Villa though - I've got a sneaky feeling about them, quality manager and quality signings
Last edited by ryanb741; 7th August 2023 at 09:19.
Agree that Arsenal are well placed and their performance yesterday showed that they can probably mix it with City, although community shield is never a reliable indicator if history is anything to go by.
Man United have made some smart signings, wouldn't rule them out for a second placed finish if all clicks.
Of course, could go horribly wrong if things don't click and a lot of pressure on a 20 year old up front, but this is coming from an optimistic red!
Ryan why do you say this absolute madness ?
Liverpool were ravaged by injuries last year, we basically played without a midfield for months.
We had 11 first team players miss over 10 games each with Diaz, Jota and even Arthur who was brought in on emergency cover missing 25 games.
Last 10 games when we had a full squad we took 25 points. I’m comparison Arsenal took only 15 in the last 10.
Liverpool will be City’s main rivals again this year.
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That's got to be the most inaccurate (no, inane) post I've read on any football related thread.
Spurs have been DESPERATE for a midfield playmaker since Eriksen departed; every critic and pundit has identified it as our major shortcoming since then, yet you think the ridiculously overrated Rice will be of more value to Arsenal? Even more incredible is that you question Maddison's workrate
It's almost worth taking you off ignore to read the tosh you post (but not quite).
Arsenal took 15 from the last 10 when they themselves had their injury issues to vital positions. Anyway looking at the bookies they seem to have Arsenal as 115 Charges FC's main rivals ahead of Liverpool so let's see. I'd rather have Arsenal's team than Liverpool's though, despite the fact Salah remains class.
No, Arsenal took 15 from 10 games because their arses fell out . After swatting you away at your place and embarrassing you at ours , your team literally fell to pieces .
After Ramsdale’s and Rice s cringeworthy interviews yesterday , only the quadruple will do .
Any less and your notoriously fickle fan base will be on Artetas back ( Again )
Or alternatively we lost Saliba and his replacement Rob Holding is a championship player at best. Partey also decided to turn into Calvin Phillips for the last 10 games of the season.
Yes we got battered at the Etihad, the game at the Emirates was much more even but you took your chances and we didn't.
Anyway let's see, quintuple-chasing Arsenal are a much better squad than last year. I still don't think we will win the league though.
Ironically, it’s quite a reliable indicator of who won’t win the league, apparently! Can’t find the tweet now but very few CS winners go on to win the league the same season.
Last edited by David_D; 7th August 2023 at 12:54.
Maddison will be at Spurs for three or four years and win precisely nothing. Rice will be at Arsenal for a decade or more and win several major honours. The price isn't down to him, he can't influence that.
I didn't question Maddison's work rate, Craig Shakespeare did and he was around him for years. No top club wanted him even though his price was fairly low in relative terms. Please bookmark this thread for five years and you'll see that I was right.
If Kane leaves you're absolutely screwed. He's kept Spurs in the top half of the league for years.
Anybody other than Tony disagree?
That's got to be the most inaccurate (no, inane) post I've read on any football related thread.
Spurs have been DESPERATE for a midfield playmaker since Eriksen departed; every critic and pundit has identified it as our major shortcoming since then, yet you think the ridiculously overrated Rice will be of more value to Arsenal? Even more incredible is that you question Maddison's workrate
It's almost worth taking you off ignore to read the tosh you post (but not quite).
He is a good player he does pick up injuries but I agree it was an excellent signing for you. I guess it will be dependant on if Kane stays as to how you do this season.
I'm happy on the path we are on, our squad is much stronger than before and we have a much more resilient mind set than we have had for a long time.
I don't think we should berate players and the manager for celebrating when they win. It genuinely means something to them and the club. I am happier than when we had players who gave very little and didn't care if we lost.
Rice will eventually end up in arsenals back four,when they realize that his skills were suited to west ham, sitting back etc and are not suited to having 65% possession. He's a slightly less gifted John stones, sane reason as McGuire will look great for west ham
Don't fool yourself TTC, Newcastle would have been in for Maddison at that sort of money for an england international, they just didn't get him
The gunners got a very lucky win against a city side without key players.
Liverpool will be worst this year, not by much but enough, fabinio, Henderson and milner were giants for the last 5 years, Macallister couldn't get in Brighton's team 12 months ago, he wasn't in the Argentina team until that first loss
Chelsea will be interesting until they implode
For United, Rashford will play most of the season as a 9, grab 20-30 goals and garnacho will be the star on the left
They will be in the mix for 2-4 positions
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That's correct. Arsenal did have key players out. Zinchenko and Jesus. City had most of their 1st team players including fat Kev who came on but clearly needs to hit the gym.
Re being lucky, unless I'm suffering a crisis of memory there were 2 very clear chances in the 1st half that the keeper saved from Havertz. I thought a draw was about right, both teams still in pre season, City maybe less fit than Arsenal at this stage but for Arsenal breaking the run of defeats is psychologically important. Just like Arsenal don't fear Liverpool any more after finally beating them last year, it may help to take a bit of the edge off facing City also. We will see.
Still think we will finish 2nd but also LOLing hard at the Liverpool fans who think their team is better than ours. Your manager may well be but the players aren't. Pretty sure if Klopp or Pep had the current Arsenal team they would be even better
Gamble nudge time for Kane
Do you let your contract run down and risk a ACL injury or similar finish you both as a player and financially, or do you sign a 400k a week contract with spurs that allows you to break the scoring record and protect your income for the next five years
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TTC - id be more worried if my team was spanking £32m on a 21 year fullback who has had 2 substitute appearances for the relegated team in the last 15 months, who also only plays in the same position as the club captain who always plays
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Liverpool have a much better manager, better back 5, worse midfield and much better forwards than arsenal Ryan.
Agree with most of this, maddison is decent but can't see him having a major impact, if kane leaves then that goes double. Manager totally unproven in the PL, spurs will do well to match last seasons finish.
I'm going to take a positive stance on my lot's chances, and say that - Kane or not - we'll be fighting for top 4. We look superb, having had more than 100 attempts on goal over three pre-season games; we also have a key defensive signing about to complete, which will be a huge improvement and largely mitigate the overall goals against issue from last season. New signings Udogie and Maddison have both looked outstanding, as indeed has Solomon, and Ange's preference for inverted fullbacks already looks like a system that we can adapt to both immediately and successfully. Finally, both Bissouma and Sarr have - alongside Maddison - looked really, really impressive in midfield. A really strong trio, and that's without the injured Bentancur (consistently our best midfielder since his arrival) and the potentially departing Hojbjerg (again, consistently very strong and never has a bad game).
Call me an optimist (or, indeed, a dreamer), but I really am quite confident.
Once again we disagree. Hopefully my forecast this season will be more accurate than last time around
Re the forward line I'm not sure Diaz, Salah and Nunez is a better forward line than Saka, Martinelli and Jesus. Out of a combined starting 3 Salah and Saka walk into the teams, then a shoot out between Diaz and Martinelli for the 3rd slot.
Agree Arsenal's midfield is better
Re the back 5 (including keeper), Liverpool start with Alisson, Trent, Van Dijk, Konate and Robertson. Arsenal start with Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber/Zinchenko as 1st choice. For a combined back 5 Alisson clearly walks into that side as do Van Dijk and Saliba. No question. I think the other positions are more open to debate but yes, given the fact there are more Liverpool players who are the obvious 1st choice in that defensive unit with only Saliba being nailed on from Arsenal I'd have to concede Liverpool have a better back line.
Klopp is a better manager than Arteta for sure however it is moot as with the new rules for touchline behaviour both Klopp and Arteta will spend the majority of next season in the changing room watching the game on TV.
Last edited by ryanb741; 7th August 2023 at 15:51.
Well to be fair last season's Spurs improving to finish Top 4 is no more fanciful than the Arsenal of 2 years ago coming back to finish 2nd last season so no reason why it couldn't happen however you have 2 really tough games to start the season and if you win those it will build a lot of belief and you could gain momentum. Of course the opposite applies if you lose them. Spurs never had momentum last year, the pantomime with the managerial situation killed that.
I'm going to take a positive stance on my lot's chances, and say that - Kane or not - we'll be fighting for top 4. We look superb, having had more than 100 attempts on goal over three pre-season games; we also have a key defensive signing about to complete, which will be a huge improvement and largely mitigate the overall goals against issue from last season. New signings Udogie and Maddison have both looked outstanding, as indeed has Solomon, and Ange's preference for inverted fullbacks already looks like a system that we can adapt to both immediately and successfully. Finally, both Bissouma and Sarr have - alongside Maddison - looked really, really impressive in midfield. A really strong trio, and that's without the injured Bentancur and the potentially departing Hojbjerg.
Call me an optimist (or, indeed, a dreamer), but I really am quite confident.
Once again we disagree. Hopefully my forecast this season will be more accurate than last time around
Some of the posts here really make me giggle. The magic of football is every fan convinces themselves with such rational thought that this season will be different and better.
As they say - it is the hope that kills you
Spurs will be claiming the Premiership when they beat City. But then they will forget the cups get handed out in May not October
Arsenal will convince themselves they have won it because they were on top for 248 days. But they will forget they were not there when it counted in May
Liverpool will think they will win it because they were crap last year and when they improve they are bound to win it. Just like they have won it multiple times in the last 30 years. Oh not - they have wonky memories on Merseyside.
As a City fan all said in gentle jest. I don’t think City will win it this year. KDB is tired and I think Haarland won’t find it so easy. Not sure who will have a good shout - perhaps Chelsea under Poch. Note I refuse to mention that other team.
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Agreed. We were pretty much a rudderless ship, particularly during the latter half of the campaign.
I do think your lot will get top 4, but behind City and Liverpool; the other four sides I see competing for top 4 are Utd, Chelsea, Newcastle and Spurs - three of which could prove to be a surprise package (we also have the advantage of not being distracted by Europe, which could be telling over a long season). Add in the likes of Villa, perhaps Brighton, and it's going to be a hell of a season.
I'd have thought he could get insurance against a career ending injury with an amount of cover that most would view as decent?
I recall Michael Kim being a huge golf talent but getting some kind of injury which paid out big time for ending his career. Now fast forward, his symptoms have subsided but if he chose to try to resume a pro golf career, he might have to pay back more than he could earn!
I look like only one of a few that rates Maddison.
I don’t think he’s work shy at all, In fact I think he was working / trying too hard at the back end of last season if anything.
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I agree we will finish behind City, I can't see us finishing behind Liverpool though, their midfield will get overrun in many games. For me Liverpool won't make top 4 again. Like I said before I fancy Villa to do well and get 5th and that should be enough for CL football under the new rules. I also think Newcastle will remain a tough side to beat. I can see United not doing so well - 2nd season syndrome with the -'New Messiah' manager in place and United have been getting pumped in pre season matches with the one exception of when they completely outplayed Arsenal. I think they may be vulnerable to finish outside the Top 4 as well.
Villa will finish above Newcastle. I think over this season we'll see that Emory is better than Howe, with what are probably comparable squads. Taking over a team Gerrard had dragged down to 17th place and ending the season in seventh, with the bench every week mostly filled with academy players was quite an achievement (and that includes beating Newcastle 3-0, their biggest PL loss last season). Having said that I'm not sure either team will be in the top four.
"A man of little significance"
I think it was a brilliant achievement, Simon, although as you suggest improving on what has been achieved will be a real challenge too. I like Emery's style of football, though - certainly far more than I like Newcastle's (too direct to be a purist's delight, and overly physical). They will have cash to splash whenever they see fit, though, at least within the constraints of FFP.
As an aside, with Emery's track record it'd be worth a few quid to take a punt on Villa winning the Conference League
I’ll be very surprised if this turns out to be the case
Villa's owners are incredibly wealthy too, and haven't been afraid to spend money, for example the deal for Diaby could go to £50million and I can't see us just having one senior striker this season in Watkins. I would imagine they will have a similar level of money to spend as Newcastle. The only downside is Villa can't offer Champions League football. Emory, on the other hand, probably has more of a pull than Howe, just because he's managed (and won with) both Villareal and PSG. Howe did a good job with Bournemouth but it's not quite the same thing. We'll see.
"A man of little significance"
Why did Arsenal sack him then?
On a side note I hope we ditch the chase for Lavia now. Not worth £46 mil, glad it wasn’t accepted
Last edited by Middo; 7th August 2023 at 18:55.
Udogie does look a great buy, let's hope he keeps this form going. Scored a few last season also. Let's hope Van de Ven is as big a hit as the last VDV we brought.
Let hope we get shot of the likes of Roden Sanchez and Perisci to name a few...
I would agree if we had alternative options, but in the absence of that it would be folly not to sign a player for the sake of £4 million.
In my humble opinion, for what it's worth, Liverpool may do ok this season and certainly finish above Arsenal, provided they can get 2 or 3 further players in.
The problem however is that with so many new players in, it would be inevitable that time will be needed for them to understand each other and gel together as a team. For me that would be reason enough to rule us out of any title challenge.
That said I don't believe anybody will challenge City for the title, Arsenal had their best chance last season.
With the added distraction this season of having to play in a competition they have never won and will likely never win in my lifetime, I do not see them reaching the heights of last season.
The celebrations yesterday will most likely be the pinnacle of their season.
Arteta will come under immense pressure very quickly if anything other than a perfect start is achieved, especially given the quite substantial spend. I agree with an earlier comment that it will not take very long for the fans to be on his back given the unrealistic expectations being set in fans minds.
I see United finishing above Arsenal and possibly even Chelsea if they get things right from the get go.
Watched the first half of the Tranmere match on Saturday, they were getting beat so for the second half I switched to the Wrexham game and they got beat. These things come in threes so looking forward to watching Everton v Fulham on Saturday.
I still think the fat ginger one will be one of the first sackings of the new PL season.
Agreed
We need the 20% sell on fee .
I was disappointed to see him leave but it was understandable given the talent in his way . He’d be a good fit at Liverpool . He’s a very good player despite being part of Ryan’s team that got relegated .
I do not know much about him but if the club consider him their main midfield target it baffles me why they would offer £4 million shy of reported asking price and risk starting the season light in midfield. We know well the consequences of lack of depth.
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Either Liverpool have or perhaps Southampton have and they in reality want even more than the £50 million being reported. Time will tell I am sure.
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my brief thoughts on the new season basis transfer business done to date (could all change materially)
Man City - if they are up for it they win the league again, best team and squad in the league, Gundogan and Mahrez are losses but Gvardiol is a great signing and Kovacic a clever one. Only complacency would stop them
Arsenal - Stronger than last year post transfer business, still not convinced on Arteta but they should be fighting for top 3
Man United - As above really, Ten Haag also has a year under his belt, i expect them to improve to be honest and should fight it out for top 3
Newcastle - Tonali is a good signing and maybe more to come, i dont see a top 4 finish again however especially with the CL to play in, howe could be gone before next summer
Liverpool - i look forward in hope more than expectation, surgery on the squad has been more severe than expected, Klopp is a very good manager so that helps, but top 4 is as much as id hope for
Spurs - as i said previously a lot depends on kane, if he stays they will be in the top 6 mix, if he leaves it might not go well, manager unproven also.
Villa - Great manager putting together a decent side, top 6 contenders also.
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