Arsenal 2017-18: Au Revoir, Arsene

mikeford

woolwich!
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Aug 6, 2006
29,517
St John's, NL
Well at least we won a trophy. More than most of England can say.

No Champions League to worry about getting knocked out of by Bayern Munich this year.
Instead we get to travel to lovely places in Bulgaria with ruined pitches to play on Thursdays. A real treat.

Signed a LWB for free.

Bellerin might leave. Alexis might leave. Ozil might leave. Talk of spending a king and queen's ransom on Mbappe.

Probably wont make a signing til the day the window closes because Arsene Wenger rides again. Another 2 years of this. Strap in, I guess.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Jul 2, 2006
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I have no clue what this summer will bring.

It won't make or break anything about the summer more generally but Kolasinac was really good business. I won't pretend to have seen him play much but he made numerous Bundesliga teams of the season, which isn't easy at LB given the presence of Alaba and some other decent players. From what I understand, he has primarily been known as a player that is strong defensively but not particularly dynamic going forward. But he had 12 goal involvements (3 goals, 9 assists) across all competitions this past season, which is a very, very high figure for a fullback or wingback. And the fact that he split time last year at Schalke between playing LB in a 4-2-3-1 and LWB in a 3-5-2 should be helpful in terms of our setup. Finally, the guy is built like a bull and seems to play with a mean streak, which can't hurt in the Premier League.
 

shaggydog2000

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Apr 5, 2007
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I have no clue what this summer will bring.

It won't make or break anything about the summer more generally but Kolasinac was really good business. I won't pretend to have seen him play much but he made numerous Bundesliga teams of the season, which isn't easy at LB given the presence of Alaba and some other decent players. From what I understand, he has primarily been known as a player that is strong defensively but not particularly dynamic going forward. But he had 12 goal involvements (3 goals, 9 assists) across all competitions this past season, which is a very, very high figure for a fullback or wingback. And the fact that he split time last year at Schalke between playing LB in a 4-2-3-1 and LWB in a 3-5-2 should be helpful in terms of our setup. Finally, the guy is built like a bull and seems to play with a mean streak, which can't hurt in the Premier League.
I like the Kolasinac signing too. I know highlight reels are highlight reels and all, but he seems to have some serious skill, and he doesn't seem to be afraid of being physical. I think he'll bring an edge, like Xhaka did, that this team could use. With him, Bellerin (who I doubt is going anywhere with a new 6 year contract) and Holding, Koscielny, and Mustafi the defense/wingbacks look to be a strong group.
 
By the by, I discovered yesterday that The Tuesday Club podcast with Alan Davies did indeed broadcast its one and only episode for the 2016-17 season in mid-April. So of course I had a listen, and while a lot of the content is out-of-date - they thought an upcoming loss to Man City in the FA Cup semifinal would be a mercy killing ahead of a probable blowout against Chelsea, heh - their overall assessments of the club, the players and Wenger are generally spot on as well as typically hilarious. I miss those guys - even two months late, the pod is worth a listen to anyone else (like me) who had given up on them and unsubscribed a long time ago.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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what does everyone make of the rumored agreement of Alexis to City? believable? if true, kinda sucks he stays in EPL...would have rooted for him to win tons of Bundesliga/La Liga trophies
 

InstaFace

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Sep 27, 2016
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You'd rather some money than Alexis Sanchez on your team? He gave the greatest number of fucks of anyone on the squad by the end of the year. He was a fuckin' hero in the FA Cup semifinal. He can play multiple positions, and he's 28, not 35. Why in god's name would you want to throw him overboard, unless for some reason you think you can get Griezmann or someone else in his class?
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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Mar 24, 2008
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You'd rather some money than Alexis Sanchez on your team? He gave the greatest number of fucks of anyone on the squad by the end of the year. He was a fuckin' hero in the FA Cup semifinal. He can play multiple positions, and he's 28, not 35. Why in god's name would you want to throw him overboard, unless for some reason you think you can get Griezmann or someone else in his class?
Calm down, Captain College Confidential.

The conversation was about "If he's going to leave, where do you want to see him play?"
 

lars10

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Jul 31, 2007
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There was no such qualifier in your post, nor was there a thread of the conversation that took that tack. The plain meaning of your post was that you wanted him gone.
The two posts right above his were about Bayern and City.. I took his meaning as he stated it. I think any Arsenal fan obviously wants him back w/o question but most fans are resigned to the fact he's amost certainly gone (especially w/o CL). So if he is gone why not get the most money.
 

fletcherpost

sosh's feckin' poet laureate
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Jul 15, 2005
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The two posts right above his were about Bayern and City.. I took his meaning as he stated it. I think any Arsenal fan obviously wants him back w/o question but most fans are resigned to the fact he's amost certainly gone (especially w/o CL). So if he is gone why not get the most money.
Selling to a rival in the league is not what most fans would want IMO. If he scores against them at the Emirates and makes a show of not celebrating, it will hurt even more if he's in City blue. If he goes to Germany or Italy, there's a years grace.
 

lars10

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Selling to a rival in the league is not what most fans would want IMO. If he scores against them at the Emirates and makes a show of not celebrating, it will hurt even more if he's in City blue. If he goes to Germany or Italy, there's a years grace.
True. I don't want to see him go to any other English side. He won't be easy to replace and seeing him score for Chelsea or City would be very frustrating. Dude deserves to play for a team that wins trophies though, where he's surrounded with talent. Arsene-l just aren't doing that at the moment.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
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Chicago
for how much longer do we expect Alexis to remain at this level? age 29-30? what happens after that: drop back to MF or become a super-sub like Fernando Torres?
RVP's stats seemed to drop off after his first season at United
 

mikeford

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Aug 6, 2006
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I'd way rather sell Alexis out of England for less money than to sell him to one of our chief rivals. Fuck all that. We're already a feeder club for best Europe has to offer, lets try not to do the same thing in our own league anymore.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Well, with the money in the Premier League and the wages the players get, the clubs you can sell a player to outside of England are pretty much limited to Real, Barca, Bayern, and PSG.
 

teddykgb

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Jul 16, 2005
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I'd way rather sell Alexis out of England for less money than to sell him to one of our chief rivals. Fuck all that. We're already a feeder club for best Europe has to offer, lets try not to do the same thing in our own league anymore.
Come on. Live a little.
 

Luis Taint

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Apr 7, 2012
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I've seen enough, give Monaco whatever they want Mbappe. I mean I know it's never going to happen, but it is a joy to watch him play.
 

coremiller

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Jul 14, 2005
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Lyon allegedly want 20m + Giroud for Lacazette

I'm not even sure he's an improvement OVER Giroud
Frankly, that could be a decent deal for Arsenal. Even if you think Giroud and Lacazette are comparable in quality right now, Lacazette is almost five years younger. Is it worth paying 20m to trade Giroud's age 31-33 seasons for Lacazette's age 26-28 seaons? I'd be inclined to pull the trigger on that. The aging curve for strikers on the wrong side of 30 who aren't Zlatan is not good.
 

InstaFace

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Sep 27, 2016
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it's a reasonable price, but:

- If Arsenal keeps Alexis Sanchez, wouldn't we prefer him in a CF role?
- Lacazette seems stylistically like more of an Aubameyang, a lot of speed and quickness, while Giroud has aerial skills that Arsenal would lose. Where does the header game go without him?
- You might do the deal if and only if you get Lacazette to sign an extension
 

mikeford

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Aug 6, 2006
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Why is Arsenal letting Szczesny go to Juventus? I'd bring him back from Roma as our #1 for next year - Cech is nearly done, and Szczesny seems to love Arsenal enough to still want to play for the club. What am I missing?
That Arsenal is run by a senile old man and no one in a position to check him cares?
 

Luis Taint

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Apr 7, 2012
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Its not even July 1st and I already hate this transfer window. If you follow the Adventures of Arsene, we are either signing everyone, or shipping everyone with a pulse out.
 

shaggydog2000

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Apr 5, 2007
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Lacazette is now official:


Alexis is still up in the air, and Giroud and Perez are likely on the way out. I'd like to keep one of the last two, and I still hold out hope on Alexis.
 

mikeford

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Aug 6, 2006
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St John's, NL
Cringeworthy hashtag, IMO
I feel good knowing he absolutely positively will hold these overpaid babies like Ramsey and Theo accountable for shit.
 

the1andonly3003

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Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
Been watching Arsenal's Snapchat channel. Emi looks like he can replace Cech right now!

In all seriousness, the pitch they are training on in Shanghai looks terrible