The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - Part 49

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[DeadPresident]

Sadly Arsenal are in this position because Wenger refused to get with the times. His hands were tied by Arsenal's move to the Emirates, but all that talk about doing it for better things is apparently a massive lie since the board have refused to do what's necessary to make the club competitive despite fleecing their own fans and making money hand over fist.

Arsenal should've been rivaling the other top clubs for signatures of talented players, but instead Wenger is placing bets on chaff like Elneny or Giroud. They take one step forward with someone like Sanchez and two steps back with Rob Holding and Gabriel Paulista, it's a circus.

 

[Iceman]

Sadly Arsenal are in this position because Wenger refused to get with the times. His hands were tied by Arsenal's move to the Emirates, but all that talk about doing it for better things is apparently a massive lie since the board have refused to do what's necessary to make the club competitive despite fleecing their own fans and making money hand over fist.

Arsenal should've been rivaling the other top clubs for signatures of talented players, but instead Wenger is placing bets on chaff like Elneny or Giroud. They take one step forward with someone like Sanchez and two steps back with Rob Holding and Gabriel Paulista, it's a circus.

It is looking like all those years of the team having to keep ambitions in check after the Emirates move haven't paid any dividends later. And now Arsenal are in danger of falling right at the back of the chasing pack for the top 4.

 

[DeadPresident]

It is looking like all those years of the team having to keep ambitions in check after the Emirates move haven't paid any dividends later. And now Arsenal are in danger of falling right at the back of the chasing pack for the top 4.

Yeah, I truly feel sorry for their fans. They got sold a lie by Kroenke and his lot and now their asceticism for the last decade isn't leading them to the promised land, it's actually leading them to the Europa league. The most galling part is how ridiculous their ticket fees are, they're one of if not the most expensive club in the world in terms of ticket prices. Paying a premium to watch your side get manhandled at home doesn't seem like a tactic conducive to keeping fan loyalty high.

I don't see this story ending well, I think the club will collapse to one degree or another and will need a time-consuming rebuild.

 

[Iceman]

Quite sad for them yes. Everton should have their eye on Arsenal's 6th spot lol.

 

[DeadPresident]

If Everton's board are as sussed as Tottenham's is they could very much replicate the Tottenham model of building slowly but surely until a cohesive and well-drilled team starts challenging the giants. I suspect that's their idea with Ronald Koeman, they appear to be starting their own project there and if this window is anything to go by they've clearly got some kind of vision going forward.

 

[Kaleb]

Yeah, I truly feel sorry for their fans. They got sold a lie by Kroenke and his lot and now their asceticism for the last decade isn't leading them to the promised land, it's actually leading them to the Europa league. The most galling part is how ridiculous their ticket fees are, they're one of if not the most expensive club in the world in terms of ticket prices. Paying a premium to watch your side get manhandled at home doesn't seem like a tactic conducive to keeping fan loyalty high.

I don't see this story ending well, I think the club will collapse to one degree or another and will need a time-consuming rebuild.

My friend is a fan of both Kroenkes teams (LA Rams and Arsenal) sometimes I wonder how he makes it through the day.

 

[Iceman]

If Everton's board are as sussed as Tottenham's is they could very much replicate the Tottenham model of building slowly but surely until a cohesive and well-drilled team starts challenging the giants. I suspect that's their idea with Ronald Koeman, they appear to be starting their own project there and if this window is anything to go by they've clearly got some kind of vision going forward.

Bad times for Arsenal then. City and Chelsea are way ahead. Utd are beginning to find their way. Liverpool are in a better position. And now even teams they thought they were well clear of like Spurs and Everton have superior visions of the mid-term future and are making steady progress.

 

[Iceman]

My friend is a fan of both Kroenkes teams (LA Rams and Arsenal) sometimes I wonder how he makes it through the day.

How are the Rams doing?

 

[Kaleb]

Scouting report on new Spurs signing Juan Foyth

Foyth, who plays for Argentine side Estudiantes de La Plata, is an up-and-coming ball-playing centre-back who is being looked at by top European clubs. Most notably, and with the most traction in terms of rumors, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in the young defender.

Recently, Foyth’s stock rose as he was arguably Argentina’s biggest positive at the 2017 U-20 FIFA World Cup, a tournament in which they couldn’t get out of the group stage. He plays in a four at the back system for both club and country, with the latter sometimes building up the play with a back three. He’s adept at a possession-based style within a number of formations.

The 19-year-old got his start with the Estudiantes first-team after former manager Nelson Vivas liked the youngster’s performances while representing Argentina at the Campeonato Sudamericano. As it happened, he has now become a regular due to his excellent ball-playing abilities.

He’s also a fan favorite given his exciting style – the kid comes with that Latin flare and often likes to dribble into midfield. Foyth’s dribbling exploits might make some managers want to scream, but he’d even make the most pragmatic of tacticians stop and analyze. His passing and composure are that good.

The Estudiantes defender likes to have the ball at his feet and it is clear as day that he loves to get involved in as many build-up phases as he can. Of course, as with any ball-playing CB, he sometimes causes opposition transitions that hurt his side, but overall he’s very responsible.

Foyth’s passing is also very accurate. His vertical balls are perfectly weighted and he’s always looking for attacking midfielders and forwards to drop deep and receive his passes. I’d like to see him try and develop a passing range like Leonardo Bonucci, as too much dribbling without creation is a waste of time, in my opinion. Perhaps at more of a direct team, this would change and Foyth could improve his long-range ability.

Anyhow, let’s move on to arguably the most important part of a CBs responsibilities – defending. In that regard, he reminds me of Sergio Ramos, the kid plays with an edge as he is very mobile, athletic, and aggressive. His ferociousness sometimes hurts him, he can sometimes fall prey to lunges and poor first-tackles against skilled dribblers, but he’s good 1v1, is great at recovering from mistakes due to long legs, and is excellent at covering depth like through balls because of his pace. His tackling is at its best when it requires covering depth for through balls or semi-accurate passes, once a skilled dribbler initiates a 1v1 duel, Foyth’s aggressiveness can hurt him. However, I assume he’ll learn this as he matures.

 

[DeadPresident]

My friend is a fan of both Kroenkes teams (LA Rams and Arsenal) sometimes I wonder how he makes it through the day.

Lots of alcohol I imagine, I hope for his sake Sanchez doesn't jump ship.

Bad times for Arsenal then. City and Chelsea are way ahead. Utd are beginning to find their way. Liverpool are in a better position. And now even teams they thought they were well clear of like Spurs and Everton have superior visions of the mid-term future and are making steady progress.

Yeah, exactly. United have found their groove again somewhat, although I doubt their long-term planning to be honest. If you look at how Liverpool have slipped in and out of relevance since their 70s/80s dominance to becoming a force again more recently I wouldn't be surprised if Arsenal take a similar amount of time to rebuild if they should lose their stars now.

 

[Kaleb]

How are the Rams doing?

About as mediocre as Arsenal,They probably one of the bottom 3 teams in the league,these teams are just an ATM machine for Kroenke.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, exactly. United have found their groove again somewhat, although I doubt their long-term planning to be honest. If you look at how Liverpool have slipped in and out of relevance since their 70s/80s dominance to becoming a force again more recently I wouldn't be surprised if Arsenal take a similar amount of time to rebuild if they should lose their stars now.

A big chunk of all those profits from player sales over the years have probably already been distributed to shareholders! This is a bad time to need to suddenly need to spend while outgoing players have 1 year left on their contracts. Certainly the chances of a big rebuilding job on the cards bit it's gin a be bloody expensive. Look how much Utd have spent in that pursuit over the last few seasons, and most of that before this crazy inflationary season.

 

[Iceman]

About as mediocre as Arsenal,They probably one of the bottom 3 teams in the league,these teams are just an ATM machine for Kroenke.

Oh right. In case any more proof was needed that he's the common problem here.

 

[DeadPresident]

A big chunk of all those profits from player sales over the years have probably already been distributed to shareholders! This is a bad time to need to suddenly need to spend while outgoing players have 1 year left on their contracts. Certainly the chances of a big rebuilding job on the cards bit it's gin a be bloody expensive. Look how much Utd have spent in that pursuit over the last few seasons, and most of that before this crazy inflationary season.

Yeah, to be honest United aren't out of the woods yet, and they make another cautionary tale for why bad succession planning can see a club deteriorate into obscurity quite rapidly. United have had to spend an ungodly fortune on players since Fergie's departure just to remain even vaguely relevant, which may or may not have been successful pending this season's outcome. Even if Mourinho manages to get some trophies this season it's no guarantee of anything, it could all implode in 2018/2019 and we may be up the creek without a paddle again.

This is why a Director of Football is so crucial, there has to be someone making sure all of a club's decisions have some long term vision in mind. Otherwise it's just a lottery of who gets things just right in a perfect storm to win a trophy or two.

 

[Kaleb]

@bbcsport_david
Liverpool have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for £40m

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, to be honest United aren't out of the woods yet, and they make another cautionary tale for why bad succession planning can see a club deteriorate into obscurity quite rapidly. United have had to spend an ungodly fortune on players since Fergie's departure just to remain even vaguely relevant, which may or may not have been successful pending this season's outcome. Even if Mourinho manages to get some trophies this season it's no guarantee of anything, it could all implode in 2018/2019 and we may be up the creek without a paddle again.

This is why a Director of Football is so crucial, there has to be someone making sure all of a club's decisions have some long term vision in mind. Otherwise it's just a lottery of who gets things just right in a perfect storm to win a trophy or two.

Top PL managers nowadays usually have a limited amount of job security until they get past a certain point like Fergie and Wenger and that lends itself to short and mid-term planning only unfortunately. That vision has to be present higher up either in the policies that are encouraged by the board or just in tolerance to give a manager who is capable of structuring his team for the long term the time and means to do so.

 

[DeadPresident]

@bbcsport_david
Liverpool have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for £40m

****ing hell that's ridiculous.

Top PL managers nowadays usually have a limited amount of job security until they get past a certain point like Fergie and Wenger and that lends itself to short and mid-term planning only unfortunately. That vision has to be present higher up either in the policies that are encouraged by the board or just in tolerance to give a manager who is capable of structuring his team for the long term the time and means to do so.

Yeah, very true, the current model doesn't lend itself to trying to build for 10+ years - easier to throw enough money at the problem short term and hope it yields results.

 

[Kaleb]

****ing hell that's ridiculous.

Right!?

 

[Iceman]

@bbcsport_david
Liverpool have agreed a deal with Arsenal to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for £40m

Bloody hell!! Where did that come from. Better price for Arsenal. Wonder if he'll play there. At least more chance than at Chelsea.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, very true, the current model doesn't lend itself to trying to build for 10+ years - easier to throw enough money at the problem short term and hope it yields results.

Fergie did things almost perfectly with the absence of a couple of big young (or otherwise given Utd's cash and status at the time) signings every few years. That extra spending (which wouldn't be as bad when you consider how much they've spent to undo the mistake of not doing it) could have got Utd that step further towards more CL challenges. Yorke and Cole for eg were an excellent partnership but there were far better strikers around back then and any 2 of those ahead (assuming they combined well, but worth the risk IMO) of that crazy midfield would have been picking up more Euro trophies. Aside from that longstanding complaint Fergie planned perfectly for the long term rebuilding multiple times, and it was only on his final exit that he left Utd up **** creek without a paddle lol.

 

[DeadPresident]

Right!?

I suspect since Liverpool failed with Lemar up until now the Ox is their fall back. It's a little odd because the Ox is so similar to players Liverpool already has, he's basically a bit of a copy of Lallana and Wijnaldum, he shares so many attributes with them.

 

[DeadPresident]

Fergie did things almost perfectly with the absence of a couple of big young (or otherwise given Utd's cash and status at the time) signings every few years. That extra spending (which wouldn't be as bad when you consider how much they've spent to undo the mistake of not doing it) could have got Utd that step further towards more CL challenges. Yorke and Cole for eg were an excellent partnership but there were far better strikers around back then and any 2 of those ahead (assuming they combined well, but worth the risk IMO) of that crazy midfield would have been picking up more Euro trophies. Aside from that longstanding complaint Fergie planned perfectly for the long term rebuilding multiple times, and it was only on his final exit that he left Utd up **** creek without a paddle lol.

Hah, it definitely seemed like near the end Fergie just couldn't give a **** anymore. He left the midfield rotting for like a decade and just cobbled something together half the time. It's the Glazers fault in all honesty because they should've known at his age he didn't have much left, and it's absolutely dumbfounding that they wouldn't think to plan for life after Fergie considering the value of the club and how much was at stake.