Don't want to point fingers but we've been a club at the edge of greatness for 2 seasons now and in normal circumstances, we would have won 2 PL trophies even before the start of this season.
How did that happen? By being one of the most efficient teams on the transfer market.
It's hard not to think about the repercussions our last summer will have on our future. Yes, we won the league, but we brought players who aren't top tier. Selling them already, 12 months after buying them, is probably really unrealistic, so we'll be stuck with them for a while.
Yes, we've accomplished our immediate goal but the aim of everyone at the club is to dominate England and Europe. Bringing 3 offensive players for 170 odd millions, you've got to see their future at the club. Like I love Eze but Rogers existed. The other two are, yeah, not currently at the level and if we had bought them for a fee that would have allowed us to get rid of them at will, say 30-35m each, then we could be making arguments how they aren't going to drag us back in the summers to follow.
As things stand, we're stuck with unupgradeable players and when we already have superior choices - Saka and Kai, numerically we're fine but quality wise we aren't and we're pretty much stuck with keeping things as they are. Then there's Eze, when Rogers was on the market and will be on the market again.
Bottom line is, making a compromise with an incoming transfer, makes it very uncomfortable and weird in terms of squad building.
David Ornstein:
Arsenal are enjoying a strong financial position this summer, and it can even exceed last year's transfer budget without any problems.
Arsenal are looking to sign:
A second striker
A left-winger
A 6-8 midfielder
A right-back
__________________________________________
We need to right the wrongs of last summer and add talent fit to play for a team that wants to dominate England, Europe and the world. No more dumb transfers.
There is no doubt that the results show there is a slow but steady improvement every season. But this game was not. It had so many similarities to the Carabao Cup final and Arteta didn't learn from it that is the painful truth.
With 1 shot on target, an XG of 0.44 Arteta set up a team and game plan who are trying to defend their way to the champions league title. Arteta didn't learn from the mistake he made in the Carabao Cup final.
So here we are 6+ years and are still working to have an effective attack. The striker he bought in the summer for 65 million started the game sitting on the bench that says it all.
Phenomenal effort from the team, tactically spot on and the ref stopped any momentum from us after half time. Saka was poor up top but put in a great defensive shift. Final shout out to MLS - what a performance from a teenager in a major final up against the world’s best. Proud indeed.
The amount of fouls they committed on Havertz, not given, to then have a carbon copy situation but in reverse shirts and with the ref swiftly blowing the whistle. Frustrating.
That was 120mins of the most dreadful type of football. We lacked guts and conviction. Arteta galaxy brained the fuck out of the subs. Proud, but a very bitter taste to finish the season with. Hugely disappointed.
Great summary. Despite their advantages mentioned, Arteta will get us there, we just cannot do it all in one go, it is one stage at a time for an organically run club. PSG are a very decent team but also one who get the roll of the dice to a suspicious level, as they did today, think we know why. We don’t operate like that.
We got there in the end against City, and we will against PSG and others
To beat them in a final, we need defensive ability , which we clearly have, also need luck and fit and firing attacking players, for all the effort, not sure we had fit and firing attackers today, Saka for one did not look right .
Still, an amazing season, the haters can have their wankfest this evening, but we are premier league winners, and only a matter of time before we win the CL as long as we keep Arteta and the board back him.
Big ups to you, Pete. Extremely well said. I could not be more proud of the entire Club. Players, Manager, Staff, Owners, Supporters. We are the best in the world. Love you all.
I think big Gabi was pretty much man of the match. Hincapie also exceptional, Dec too. Integration and enhancement of the forward line needs work. There’s a Giroud interview doing the rounds where he talks about Gyok needing time to integrate. If he were one day able to link play like the dishy Frenchman and get a few choice goals, that would be cool. Maybe we need some out and out pace for the wings just as an extra ingredient. I did come away thinking that Dembele or Kvara could be really disappointing if brought into the prem as they’d have to face solid defences twice a week. Im not sure about superstar signings like Alvarez as much as potential superstars like Kroupi…. Unless there are disgruntled Real players who’d accept a pay cut to play in a PROPER team lol.
I think if it had been Doue or Kvara or Mbappe or Vini or someone famous being brought down instead of Madueke it would have been a foul and penalty, since the ref would be more likely to believe the action would have ended in a goal. That’s the sad facts of life.
Great season. Premier League winners and a UCL final lost on penalties. Your Citys and Uniteds and Chelesas can only dream of such a season these days.
Proud of each and every player. They have played like grown men and warriors and are champions of England. Let's get the parade and lets use tonight's loss as fuel to come back even stronger next year.
Mikel Arteta: "We need to start making some very important decisions if we want to reach another level. And we're going to have to show that ambition. We are more than capable of doing it, but it's going to demand us to be very, very ambitious, very fast and very smart."
That's one thing I'll say about him he ain't afraid to make a signing he loves that shit.
Another thing I observed today (and in some games during the season) is that Saka seems to be playing more for himself than the team.
There were about 2 times when he could have passed to a team mate but instead took shots from difficult positions.
one thing is for sure this squad has potential to grab everything in one season if managed correctly
POTENTIAL
still not satisfied with how the match went from regardless the result of penalties
oh well CL is a bonus anyway for me not expecting Arteta to go all the way but here's hoping next season we're more adventurous in attack
Don't want to point fingers but we've been a club at the edge of greatness for 2 seasons now and in normal circumstances, we would have won 2 PL trophies even before the start of this season.
How did that happen? By being one of the most efficient teams on the transfer market.
It's hard not to think about the repercussions our last summer will have on our future. Yes, we won the league, but we brought players who aren't top tier. Selling them already, 12 months after buying them, is probably really unrealistic, so we'll be stuck with them for a while.
Yes, we've accomplished our immediate goal but the aim of everyone at the club is to dominate England and Europe. Bringing 3 offensive players for 170 odd millions, you've got to see their future at the club. Like I love Eze but Rogers existed. The other two are, yeah, not currently at the level and if we had bought them for a fee that would have allowed us to get rid of them at will, say 30-35m each, then we could be making arguments how they aren't going to drag us back in the summers to follow.
As things stand, we're stuck with unupgradeable players and when we already have superior choices - Saka and Kai, numerically we're fine but quality wise we aren't and we're pretty much stuck with keeping things as they are. Then there's Eze, when Rogers was on the market and will be on the market again.
Bottom line is, making a compromise with an incoming transfer, makes it very uncomfortable and weird in terms of squad building.
David Ornstein:
Arsenal are enjoying a strong financial position this summer, and it can even exceed last year's transfer budget without any problems.
Arsenal are looking to sign:
A second striker
A left-winger
A 6-8 midfielder
A right-back
__________________________________________
We need to right the wrongs of last summer and add talent fit to play for a team that wants to dominate England, Europe and the world. No more dumb transfers.
There is no doubt that the results show there is a slow but steady improvement every season. But this game was not. It had so many similarities to the Carabao Cup final and Arteta didn't learn from it that is the painful truth.
With 1 shot on target, an XG of 0.44 Arteta set up a team and game plan who are trying to defend their way to the champions league title. Arteta didn't learn from the mistake he made in the Carabao Cup final.
So here we are 6+ years and are still working to have an effective attack. The striker he bought in the summer for 65 million started the game sitting on the bench that says it all.
Gabriel MOTM
I said it a few weeks ago that an early goal, whether for us or for PSG, would be bad for us.
If PSG scores early, it will be tough for us to get back into the game.
If we score early, we'd try to defend it, which is tough against a team like PSG.
I believe if the Havertz goal came around 50 or 60 minutes, we'd have a better chance to win the game.
It hurts to lose the game, but it is what it is.
Phenomenal effort from the team, tactically spot on and the ref stopped any momentum from us after half time. Saka was poor up top but put in a great defensive shift. Final shout out to MLS - what a performance from a teenager in a major final up against the world’s best. Proud indeed.
The amount of fouls they committed on Havertz, not given, to then have a carbon copy situation but in reverse shirts and with the ref swiftly blowing the whistle. Frustrating.
That was 120mins of the most dreadful type of football. We lacked guts and conviction. Arteta galaxy brained the fuck out of the subs. Proud, but a very bitter taste to finish the season with. Hugely disappointed.
Great summary. Despite their advantages mentioned, Arteta will get us there, we just cannot do it all in one go, it is one stage at a time for an organically run club. PSG are a very decent team but also one who get the roll of the dice to a suspicious level, as they did today, think we know why. We don’t operate like that.
We got there in the end against City, and we will against PSG and others
To beat them in a final, we need defensive ability , which we clearly have, also need luck and fit and firing attacking players, for all the effort, not sure we had fit and firing attackers today, Saka for one did not look right .
Still, an amazing season, the haters can have their wankfest this evening, but we are premier league winners, and only a matter of time before we win the CL as long as we keep Arteta and the board back him.
Big ups to you, Pete. Extremely well said. I could not be more proud of the entire Club. Players, Manager, Staff, Owners, Supporters. We are the best in the world. Love you all.
I think big Gabi was pretty much man of the match. Hincapie also exceptional, Dec too. Integration and enhancement of the forward line needs work. There’s a Giroud interview doing the rounds where he talks about Gyok needing time to integrate. If he were one day able to link play like the dishy Frenchman and get a few choice goals, that would be cool. Maybe we need some out and out pace for the wings just as an extra ingredient. I did come away thinking that Dembele or Kvara could be really disappointing if brought into the prem as they’d have to face solid defences twice a week. Im not sure about superstar signings like Alvarez as much as potential superstars like Kroupi…. Unless there are disgruntled Real players who’d accept a pay cut to play in a PROPER team lol.
I think if it had been Doue or Kvara or Mbappe or Vini or someone famous being brought down instead of Madueke it would have been a foul and penalty, since the ref would be more likely to believe the action would have ended in a goal. That’s the sad facts of life.
Wish I could be there tomorrow. We own London :-)
Imagine 1 up and a Psg player fell in the exact manner like Madueke, you think the ref wouldn't give a pen? Bet he would...
You are a stalwart Pedro ❤️
Pedro
Thank you for bringing the constant heat this season, always delivered regardless of mood. LG will be here for a UCL trophy hoist.
This one actually hurt physically. Damn it.
Great season. Premier League winners and a UCL final lost on penalties. Your Citys and Uniteds and Chelesas can only dream of such a season these days.
Proud of each and every player. They have played like grown men and warriors and are champions of England. Let's get the parade and lets use tonight's loss as fuel to come back even stronger next year.
Mikel Arteta: "We need to start making some very important decisions if we want to reach another level. And we're going to have to show that ambition. We are more than capable of doing it, but it's going to demand us to be very, very ambitious, very fast and very smart."
That's one thing I'll say about him he ain't afraid to make a signing he loves that shit.
And so do we, gtfi