Best pic of the day lol

Jose will ***** and moan about the penalty that went against him, but his team was thoroughly outplayed and deserved to lose. Would have been a gift if Kane scored that FK to steal a point

To me that's the best part. Even without Auba we outplayed them pretty convincingly. I shouldn't but I am drinking Arteta's Koolaid. We could be pretty damn strong in a season or two.

Teacher_Ag said:

---

I shouldn't but I am drinking Arteta's Koolaid.

---

Drink up, buddy. Arteta's got a plan and this win was sweet.

BTW did anyone else think those new black and red hoodies/trainers are cool but then remember you won't allow yourself to wear Tech colors? Just me?

Arteta did the right thing in sitting him if this was truly a pattern of showing up late to meetings/practice/games. Can't have your captain do that without punishment or it will trickle to the rest of the team

Apparently its not the first time he's been late either. Good on Arteta to law down the law. No player, regardless of how good, is bigger than the team

Now just beat Burnley for goodness sakes. Do that and we're top six.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

---

Now just beat Burnley for goodness sakes. Do that and we're top six.

---

Yep...we actually play pretty well against teams that come out and play against us, haven't figured out how to beat a bunkered team that has big CBs

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

---

Now just beat Burnley for goodness sakes. Do that and we're top six.

---

If we beat the teams we are supposed to beat and had that record against top 6 teams I'd venture to say we are in top 4 right now. I'm holding out hope that we can win EL this season so we atleast have some CL money to play with this summer so we can escalate the cleanout & rebuild.

Right. Overall, only one team in the league is doing that. The rest are a mess and we should easily be in the top six. That being said, it took the team and Arteta a while to figure it out but since Boxing Day we've been pretty damn good.

If you look at the rest of our schedule, who do you think is an automatic loss? In my opinion, nobody.

No one on the remaining schedule is an automatic loss.

We play the bottom 5 teams, and I'd like to think we can collect at least 13 points (4 wins, 1 draw) out of that bunch.

I'm just kind of trained to think we'll lay an egg against at least one of Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, and West Ham and otherwise probably get stuck playing for draws in most of them. Obviously Liverpool isn't in a good place as a club at the moment.

Crystal Palace, this club ought to be able to beat them when it counts but the Aston Villa, Wolves, etc. matches show this team can still get bogged down in a mediocre mid-table match.


Cautiously optimistic. They beat West Ham in a week and I'll buy that the club can give Top 6 a run.

We still need help from some other teams dropping points, but looking at the remaining schedule there is definitely a decent chance to build a run here

wangus12 said:

---

We still need help from some other teams dropping points, but looking at the remaining schedule there is definitely a decent chance to build a run here

---

Yeah, I'd be surprised if we end up top 6 but the opportunity is there.

It's a real possibility that we could be celebrating St. Totteringham's Day as well!

I wasn't paying much attention the first time he hit the ground, and for a couple of seconds, thought the ref was just ignoring an injured Arsenal player...

BTW, is Cedric one of the most underrated players in the EPL right now?

God I love KT

He has to be our most consistent player this year, right? Steady Eddy.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

---

He has to be our most consistent player this year, right? Steady Eddy.

---

He's outstanding down the left

New kit leak maybe?

I think I like it as long as the white in the sides doesn't bleed into the back too much. The blue stripes and collar look good IMO.
They also say the third kit will be navy blue

This is the rumored color schemes for the away and third kits

Where do I send all my money for that away kit? Whoever or whatever can just take all of it.

I'm already interested to see what the summer business will bring because our core is really starting to come together. This is too much to happen in one window but this is my wish list:

Out:
Guendouzi- 20M
Torreira- 25M
Lacazette- 25M
Willock (permanent to Newcastle)- 25M
Bellerin- 25M
Nketiah- 20M

Total sales of around 140M

In:
Odegaard- 35M
Aouar (or another midfielder of similar quality)- 40M
Edouard- 20M
Right Back TBD- 25M
Backup Left Back TBD- 10M

Purchases of around 130M

Bring back Saliba and Mavropanos from loans. Maybe sell Maitland-Niles unless he wants to commit to being a RB?

Strangely Attractive said:

---

I'm already interested to see what the summer business will bring because our core is really starting to come together. This is too much to happen in one window but this is my wish list:

Out:
Guendouzi- 20M
Torreira- 25M
Lacazette- 25M
Willock (permanent to Newcastle)- 25M
Bellerin- 25M
Nketiah- 20M

Total sales of around 140M

In:
Odegaard- 35M
Aouar (or another midfielder of similar quality)- 40M
Edouard- 20M
Right Back TBD- 25M
Backup Left Back TBD- 10M

Purchases of around 130M

Bring back Saliba and Mavropanos from loans. Maybe sell Maitland-Niles unless he wants to commit to being a RB?

---

Outs...
I've heard that we want 25 for Duezy and 30 each for Laca & Bellerin.

In addition to your list, I think we sell AMN and possibly El Neny & Chambers. I've also heard that a Spanish club may come after Mari.

I think we will loan Willock (not sell) & Nelson somewhere for a full season. I've heard that Willock's current loan has an option to extend for next season. I've not paid enough attention to know if he is getting minutes and playing well. Nelson desperately needs minutes. Think he could be a cheaper HG alternative to Pepe in a year or so.

Really wanna see Saliba given a chance but after some of his childishness on social media I wonder if Arteta will give him a chance or sell. I don't see him being loaned again. Also wonder if he will want to come back as long as Arteta is here given his feelings that he was slighted?

Mavropanos is interesting. Been doing well on loan but I'm not sure Arteta rates him. He is young but not HG so if he isn't in the running to be a starter do you want him taking a non-HG spot? I've read a rumor that we are in for Evan N'Dicka & Ibrahima Konate and a suggestions that we use Mavropanos as make weight for either.

Ins...
Agree on Odegaard and I've heard that we want him to stay and that he may want to as well

I think we snag atleast one CM but I doubt it is Aouar. At this point I think it is more important to either get a legit #6 that will allow Partey to get forward more or get a B2B that can play defense so Partey isn't expected to just be a #6. Only persistent rumor I have heard is Yves Bissouma.

I've heard Edouard may be headed to Leicester to link back up with Rodgers. If so, I think there are several other good young options that fit what we need.

RB names I keep hearing at Tariq Lamptey and Achraf Hakimi. Lamptey just signed a new contract and is HG so the price may be high. On top of that we is very short (5'5") and just went out for the season with a major hamstring injury. Hakimi has been doing very well for Inter but their ownership group got hit hard by COVID and already had to close the doors on a club they own in the Chinese league so many expect them to have to sell a couple players to stay afloat and Hakimi is a solid option due to their organizational depth and the impact of that position on their overall team success with the current manager's scheme.

For LB I've heard that we may go for a free agent. Name that keeps coming up the most is Jordan Amavi. Personally I would prefer to get a young high energy HG option.

Extra note... keep hearing tons of rumors about us targeting young 17-18yos who are up for their first pro contracts at their current club but have not yet signed. I've seen atleast 4-5 different ones mentioned from England as well as a ST from Brazil.

I obviously want us to have the best possible player but can we please sign a young American phenom?

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

---

I obviously want us to have the best possible player but can we please sign a young American phenom?

---

I am of the opinion that we should have gone hard after Weston McKinnie before Juventus got him. Would have been affordable (loan with a cheap buy option to Juventus) and he would fill a huge need we have at CM. Would easily replace El Neny for intensity and work ethic and could very well be on the way to putting Xhaka on the bench for good.

Willock is getting lots of minutes and is playing really well. In fact, I've heard it said that they will be as desperate to sign him as we are for Odegaard. Apparently the fans love him and he's open to signing there. I'd pull the trigger if we get a decent offer, because although he's good, I don't think he'll be at the level we are aspiring to.

I too have seen the Hakimi and Lamptey rumors, and I'd also prefer Hakimi, because I don't want a short RB, but I have admit I haven't seen Lamptey play, and he does have a good pedigree coming from Chelsea.

I agree on a 6, maybe a young left-footed 6 with size, an eventual Xhaka replacement. I would've played Aouar more as an 8 and not a 10, but I agree, that ship has probably already sailed.

Mavro and Saliba's stats have been outstanding. I think Mavro just won young player of the month in the Bundesliga. Kinda hard to believe I'm saying this but I would sign Luiz for another year to help groom the young guys. I really like Mari and want to keep him, maybe sell Holding and Chambers this year or next year. That might cause a problem for our home grown quota though.

You may be right about Edouard, I heard we're also looking at the young striker at Brentford, which I think is an excellent club (that's where Ollie Watkins came from). I wish we could have seen more minutes from Balogun so we could have a more informed opinion of him, but he always seemed to score when he got minutes.

Here's kind of a depth chart I could see in a year or 2:

9: Auba-Martinelli-Edouard type-Balogun
RW: Saka or Pepe
LW: Smith-Rowe or Saka or Martinelli or Pepe
10: degaard or ESR or Saka
8: Partey or TBD
6: Partey or TBD or Xhaka
LB: Tierney-TBD backup-Cedric
RB: Hakimi or Cedric (Cedric has been great IMO)
RCB: Saliba or Mavropanos
LCB: Gabriel or Mari
Keeper: Leno

Pretty salty if you ask me.

Strangely Attractive said:

---

Kinda hard to believe I'm saying this but I would sign Luiz for another year to help groom the young guys.

---

Yes please

I'm not sold on Hakimi. I think he is similar to Bellerin in that his strength is in attacking, not defending.

Also looks like Kieran Gibbs is coming to MLS so I look forward to seeing him play here