Rousseau

Fuck off and go back to kerrydale ya tramp

Ian taking no prisoners!

John Hartson having a go at Neymar for not shaking Ralston's hand after the game.... saying he hated it as a player. He's taking an absolute roasting given his previous for booting team-mates in the face

Didn't the player laugh in Neymar's face during the game? Always the victim.

I said on the Premier League thread that I thought Palace were deserving of more against Burnley - what can you do when Dann misses a header from 2 yards!?

FdB's style of football was always going to be difficult to implement on this group; he needed more time.

His reputation is probably damaged, but the caveat is that both his jobs post Ajax were tricky: Inter were a basket case, and Palace just didn't suit his style and so needed more time.

I'm glad we didn't go for him; I wasn't certain he was as good as his Ajax record suggested.

Both so-called "super sunday" games were won by teams that did not deserve: Crystal Palace and Swansea were by far the better teams.

[tweet]906868824619847681[/tweet]

I'm still drooling over Candeias' back-heel to slide in Morelos for the first; sublime. I didn't catch it when I was watching live.

We were comfortable without being spectacular. It's nice to see us taking our chances, though.

I expect 3 points, but I think it'll be tough: McCann has them playing well and the stats suggest they have been very unlucky with their results thus far - I can see that correcting itself against us...

For me, having better players is only part of it. There has to be a way of playing that is better, and more successful. Using Barca as an example: Real Madrid always tended to have 'better' or more expensive players, but they couldn't get close to Barca when Guardiola was in charge; Barca had a better way of playing that nullified the 'better' Real players. We need to find a way of playing that allows us to become more than the sum of our parts; because, quite frankly, we're not going to be close to Celtic financially for a long time.

We could use him in Left-midfield just now; work on his defensive game with a view to playing him LB later.

That Dortmund stand certainly looks like there are more fans packed in than a seated area would allow; pretty impressive sight -- and that's without all the pyrotechnics.

I was hoping for a deal or two to happen late last night, but I'm not disappointed. I don't think Walker is that great, but would've been an option on the left; we can get him for nothing now anyway.

Our squad has been revamped, and I think most will agree that it is stronger than last season; that's all we could hope for.

Deborah ? Alison ? Phillppa ? Sue ?

I saw that he played 20 times in their Premier League season. I don't know if it means much, because I do recall them being a basket case at the end of that season, but to be trusted to play in the PL at a young age says something, I think.

I do hope these articles put to bed the 'he doesn't have a clue' brigade, because quite clearly he's an intelligent man, who does know what he's doing. It doesn't mean he'll ultimately be successful with us, but he certainly knows what he's doing.

Next month briefly.

 

Draxler linked to Arsenal - that would be a good signing, natural left. I didnt think Mayrez would be a good addition but actually think he would now. Still need an enforcer in the midfield....a lot of work for Wenger to get done.

 

Wilshire to West Ham for a season loan is also looking likely, would have preferred Carvalho but if Wilshire is fit he is class. Upgrade on Noble.

Draxler is a very good player but I don't think he solves any of their problems. It's the same old problems with Arsenal, and it stems from the manager: he just seems incapable of building a balanced side. His best defensive sides of the past were mostly inherited.

Kolasinac was a good signing, but he was benched for the Liverpool game!?

Fair play to Ox.... Was a Liverpool fan growing up. Rejected 180k a week at Arsenal and is going to be on roughly 125k a week at Pool (plus bonuses).

 

Good luck to him, just not against Arsenal

How he can afford to turn down another 60K or so a week I will never understand. How is this boy going to survive. But joking aside nice to see there's at least someone out there who has something other than money on his mind when it comes to playing.

 

Turning down around 3 million extra a year to play for Liverpool can only be for footballing reason. According to his wiki entry "He grew up as an Arsenal supporter"

He turned down Chelsea too, where he'd probably be on more money and have a better chance - going by recent seasons - of winning trophies; all because he wants to play CM.

Yes, fair play.

But this is EXACTLY what Arsenal need. The central two have zero positional discipline. Go watch Liverpool's 1st 2 goals from Sunday. Ramsey was to blame for BOTH (at least partially). He was supposed to be the sitting midfielder and, for the 2nd goal, when play broke down he was on the Liverpool penalty spot

I don't see that as a personnel problem, though. If they want that they have Xhaka, Elneny - both exceptional at those roles with Monchengladbach and Basel - and even Wilshire, Ramsay and Ox could do that job, albeit they're not perfect. The MNF guys on Sky were saying the same thing as you pointed out: Ramsay was getting into the box despite being a sitting midfielder, and I recall in another goal Xhaka was up there too! Even Wenger was saying, 'I wanted Ramsay there so he could make those runs into the box'. I don't see Arsenal's issues changing, unless the manager goes, unfortunately.

Maybe Drinkwater could do a job, but IMO only in certain games, as Arsenal tend to dominate and need creative, short-passers of the ball, which Drinkwater is not.

I'm not sure Ox will flourish at Liverpool. He wants to play CM and I am not convinced he has the awareness for the position. I actually think he "found himself" as a wing back at Arsenal. Liverpool seem to have signed almost a full team of attacking midfielders this window - how are they going to keep them all happy ?

 

Barkley isn't an Arsenal type player IMHO. Though he may be what they need in the middle. They need someone in both the centre of defence and the centre midfield to actually tackle someone and let them know they are there. Arsenal could do a whole lot worse than Van Dijk at Southampton at CB - and someone like Danny Drinkwater at CM.

While I'd agree he perhaps doesn't have the awareness that the best have, I'm not sure it's really needed at Liverpool. They're drilled, using their pace and energy, to press and counter. For me he slots nicely into a CM spot. He can also play as one of the front-three, although he's not at the same level, offensively, as Firmino, Salah, Mane etc. I think Klopp will get the best of him. However, we can only wait and see.

Barkely is not an Arsenal player, I agree -- another pacey, attacking-midfielder that doesn't track back.

Van Dijk would improve any top 4 (or 7 ) side.

I don't think Drinkwater would suit Arsenal. I see him more suited to Chelsea: a team that will counter more, and a team that needs positional discipline from their central two.

It's soul-destroying Rousseau.

 

At least I have Rangers doing well.... wait.

 

At least I have Barca doing well... wait

 

Screw it, I am watching the tennis

Ach... it comes in cycles, doesn't it. You're just perhaps going through a singularly perfect storm with regards to your favourite clubs.

I think to get Ox for £35M is a good deal for everyone; I can see him flourishing at Liverpool, as he's just the right type for Klopp's philosophy.

I think Barkley is similar to Stirling in the sense they're young English talent that have came onto the scene with blistering pace and, in Barkley's case, a good strike on him, but alas, they've not quite got the brains and tactical awareness. It's no coincidence that two of the most tactically astute managers - Koeman and Guardiola - are letting them go, or at least letting the rumours circle.

Watching Arsenal fans in their current predicament like...

I caved in and looked at his stats: 32 goals in 49 games is good, but not spectacular; 17 in the League is poor, though, for someone being punted for that much; 5 goals in 12 CL - not sure if they were all group stage - is good. I'm not seeing the hype.

Liam Boyce hit 23 goals for Ross County; that's more impressive. (I would've liked us to sign Boyce.)

MW has a blueprint, and it'll work up to a certain level the majority of the time. He was a step forward for us, but not the one to take us to the next level.

Ryan Gauld

Ha! I just read that he has been playing LM in a 4-4-2 for a newly promoted Portuguese side on loan. I'd like to think PC knows about him, and I do think he's the type of player we should be targeting, but he's not a Left-winger; he's more a central-attacking-midfielder, like Windass and Kranjcar!