Arsenal

[TheChosenOne]

I was pretty miffed about this. How the heck were they allowed to get away with that

They do it in every game they play - they go in hard and dirty then make out they have been injured.

 

[spanishspur]

Honestly that little crab dance he done to put Kulu off is one of the most unprofessional things i have seen a manager do (outside of aggression etc)

can't believe more hasn't been made of that by the pundits, i have been stewing on it and i really want to give him a one inch punch to the windpipe.

little spunk muffin.

He gets away with it every match. I end up looking out for his antics on the touch line rather than watching the game. Along with shouting at the officials why they are not stopping it.
Makes my blood boil, but when they lose it’s very enjoyable

 

[HobbitSpur]

Pretty sure they'll need to sell first. They've been on the edge regarding FFP already and there was a reason they had to take Raya on loan.

Sounds like Rice was a perfect purchase then

 

[chas vs dave]

Was having a heated disagreement with a aussie gooner on social media. He got very bent out of shape because Arsenal were labelled legends.

He was using the term spursy to deflect. I hate that term, it's a lazy label

The fact is that spursy means to fail to live up to expectations, whilst bottling is:

to throw away a lead or a good chance of winning when you've been on the front foot.

Like arsenal did on Sunday and last season.

Google bottling in sport and the first image you get:

 

[Styopa]

They’re obviously a good team and have invested a lot of money and time in getting to where they are now.

But I’m a bit surprised about how good some people think they are. Not just Arsenal fans either.

They had a really good season last year before their collapse. But as recently as the season before that, we finished above them. And we started that season with Nuno in charge!

We even finished above them under Mason and Mourinho.

In fact the only time we haven’t finished above them in the last seven or eight seasons was last season. And last season was our worst season in about fourteen or fifteen years and Arsenal’s best in seven or eight years.

So maybe they are the real deal and last season was a sign of things to come. But some of the hyperbole from their fans and friends in the media is unwarranted at this stage imo. At this point we’re still taking about one good season.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I'm not convinced by Rice - he's good at what he does, but I think he's quite limited and he looks good because of his technique.......he's a £105m Scott Parker!

 

[DJS]

If they were to bring in Raya then they needed to get Ramsdale out in the same window. I know we didnt move lloris on but it isnt really the same scenario. I think it is bad form to have both of them there. Hopefully it rots the dressing room from the inside.

It’s an odd one as lego head only bought Ramsdale a couple of summers ago for big money as well.

He’s wasting a lot of money for them with Havertz as well.

 

[Mr Pink]

I'm not convinced by Rice - he's good at what he does, but I think he's quite limited and he looks good because of his technique.......he's a £105m Scott Parker!

I'm absolutely at a loss trying to understand why he's rated so highly.

Bissouma is miles the better player imo.

 

[DJS]

I'm not convinced by Rice - he's good at what he does, but I think he's quite limited and he looks good because of his technique.......he's a £105m Scott Parker!

Scott Parker was awesome.

In his first season for us he sat back and did all the defensive work pretty much himself, allowing all our attacking players to do their thing.

He was also superb for the spammers and Charlton, being their main driving force.

 

[robbiedee]

He gets away with it every match. I end up looking out for his antics on the touch line rather than watching the game. Along with shouting at the officials why they are not stopping it.
Makes my blood boil, but when they lose it’s very enjoyable

On this - serious question... Are the technical areas at the Emirates closer to the pitch than usual? It seemed that the edge of the technical area was only 30cm from the pitch so that the Pep-Pretender could perform his antics?

 

[Wig]

I'm absolutely at a loss trying to understand why he's rated so highly.

Bissouma is miles the better player imo.

Rice is a very good player. I'm not trying to overrate when I say that, nor to compare him as better or worse than others.

His transfer price was nuts though, I suppose that's how crazy the market is for homegrown top talent. He was West Ham's best player and they had every right to fleece Arsenal.

 

[Marty]

Rice is a very good player. I'm not trying to overrate when I say that, nor to compare him as better or worse than others.

His transfer price was nuts though, I suppose that's how crazy the market is for homegrown top talent. He was West Ham's best player and they had every right to fleece Arsenal.

Yeah you can easily agree with Rice being overpriced (although he looks much better value than e.g. Caicedo right now) without doing down his quality as a footballer. He's a superb player.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

Scott Parker was awesome.

In his first season for us he sat back and did all the defensive work pretty much himself, allowing all our attacking players to do their thing.

He was also superb for the spammers and Charlton, being their main driving force.

Not denying the quality of Scott Parker - he was fabulous at what he did and had great technique........but was quite limited and I just can't imagine paying £105m for him!

I also think that Partey is a better fit than Rice, as well as being more versatile.

 

[Graham Minshall]

Not denying the quality of Scott Parker - he was fabulous at what he did and had great technique........but was quite limited and I just can't imagine paying £105m for him!

I also think that Partey is a better fit than Rice, as well as being more versatile.

Parker was football writers player of the year at West Ham.

 

[aussiespursguy]

What is Havertz's position? He is a decent footballer but he does not seem to have a position from what I have seen.

Think Dele.
That's the closest i can think of. It is where he excelled at Leverkusen

 

[Guernman]

I think it's rather amusing that they have spent hundreds of millions backing Arteta for a few years now, we lose Kane without replacing him and yet we still somehow have the better striker options. Both teams will look to improve in this area, but Jesus and Nketiah are nowhere near what they need and not in the same class as Son or Richarlison. In the meantime, while I really do rate Rice and Odegaard, we have suddenly found ourselves with the better midfield with the reborn Bissouma and Bentancur to return. Saka is a wonderful player, but so is Madders. Our CBs are now on a par, while we are the ones with the really promising younger players like Sarr and Udogie.

I don't know whether we finish above them this season, I think we might, depending on injuries. I'm willing to bet we finish a lot closer to Arsenal than they will finish to City though. It shows that we had a really good transfer window, while they pretty much spent a fortune to tread water. Rice is a great player but doesn't improve them enough to justify the 100+ million, we on the other hand have transformed our starting 11.

Most importantly our manager is a thoroughly decent bloke, while theirs is, well...not so much. When things start going against them, Arteta doesn't handle it well, and ultimately you won't keep the dressing room through difficult times if you behave like a *****

This is going to be a much harder season for Arsenal, with CL on top of the fact that they simply can't have the luck they had last season. They expect to be challenging again, but they're not in City's league, and will be hard pushed to better us and Liverpool.

 

[CantSmileWithoutYou]

Not denying the quality of Scott Parker - he was fabulous at what he did and had great technique........but was quite limited and I just can't imagine paying £105m for him!

I also think that Partey is a better fit than Rice, as well as being more versatile.

You can't put parker and rice in the same sentence. Rice is a far far better player.

The same way as you can't put rice and Dembele in the same sentence.

Dembele was a God. Rice is very much mortal. £105m not sure, but it's what the scum needed, and they got £25m back on that twat Xhaka, so not a bad deal.

Although bissouma is looking even more the bargain than what I thought last year. Still surprised we got a fairly clear run at him. Oh and there's the Madison/winks deal...Levy should get done for armed robbery

 

[Mr Pink]

Rice is a very good player. I'm not trying to overrate when I say that, nor to compare him as better or worse than others.

His transfer price was nuts though, I suppose that's how crazy the market is for homegrown top talent. He was West Ham's best player and they had every right to fleece Arsenal.

I'd argue Bowen is their best player.

Yeah completely different players of course, but imo Bowen was their best player.

 

[Styopa]

Maybe I am missing something here but I just don’t see Rice as being in a “different class” to Parker.

When Parker joined us he was nearly 31 and by the time he left he was going on 33. Arguably his best years were already behind him. Age was a bigger factor a decade ago than it is now. It’s probably like Rice joining Arsenal at age 33 rather than 24.

I think Parker is probably a bit underrated because he spent his peak years at Newcastle and West Ham. And he never really established himself in an England team which was dominated at the time by Gerrard and Lampard. Even Beckham was still around. (Incidentally Carrick couldn’t really establish himself in the England first team either. )

 

[Japhet]

They’re obviously a good team and have invested a lot of money and time in getting to where they are now.

But I’m a bit surprised about how good some people think they are. Not just Arsenal fans either.

They had a really good season last year before their collapse. But as recently as the season before that, we finished above them. And we started that season with Nuno in charge!

We even finished above them under Mason and Mourinho.

In fact the only time we haven’t finished above them in the last seven or eight seasons was last season. And last season was our worst season in about fourteen or fifteen years and Arsenal’s best in seven or eight years.

So maybe they are the real deal and last season was a sign of things to come. But some of the hyperbole from their fans and friends in the media is unwarranted at this stage imo. At this point we’re still taking about one good season.

The worst Gooner fans seem to have an ability to delete 7 years as if it never happened and then crow about what they were doing last season and 8 years ago with nothing in between.