ARSENAL ROUND-UP
Dearest Le Grovers, how are we today? How about a little bit of a bulletin blitz this morning? Oh go on then…
Thomas Partey
The biggest upgrade we’re not talking about this summer is the 6 position. Zubimendi has been a locked deal since the Merino transfer last summer. Without doubt, he’s the best number 6 not at a major club. Matt Kandela likened him to Xabi Alonso when he was driving down to join Arsenal. A sensational get, no doubt.
But… Thomas Partey was the unexpected package of this season. I think the plan last summer was Merino in at left 8, with Declan dropping deep… no one had Thomas down for more than 1,000 minutes while finding the absolute form of his life. This is where the situ stands according to David Ornstein:
“It’s something Thomas Partey is very keen on himself. He’s happy at Arsenal, his family are enjoying living in London, and as I understand it, he would be open to a new two-year contract, or a one-year contract with an option to extend by 12 months. He would like to have improved terms as well.
If an agreement is not struck, Thomas Partey does have alternative options and he will look to pursue them.”
The club has to reward that fitness and give him a new deal. No way the player wants to go to Saudi if there’s a chance to stay in London, so I suspect we’ll have him on our books for at least one more summer. That’ll be very good for squad depth next season.
Ian Wright Slander
I don’t want to hang on this one for too long, but Ian Wright was slandered by a quite average female pundit for taking the best roles in women’s football. In 2020, there might have been a different reaction. Today, people are calling it what it is… utter nonsense.
Ian Wright is one of the most charismatic and authentic ambassadors for the women’s game. He’s not there for a job, the money, the virtue… he’s there because he believes in the bright future the women’s game has promised for so long, and he’s putting his most valuable asset there: his passion. Calling him out in that way landed badly with women, men, and apparently ITV—who are considering dropping her.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion in 2025… and everyone else listening to it is entitled to call out an average pundit making excuses for their averageness by making excuses. Extremely misjudged comments that have backfired in the most spectacular fashion.
Tifo-gate
There was another blow-up between Ashburton Army and Arsenal online… again. This time, because Arsenal didn’t approve their TIFO, which they raised £10,000 to produce.
I don’t know the background to this, but what I do know is the club cannot respond to angry posts from supporter groups… so the club is getting hammered by fans saying Arsenal are trying to kill the atmosphere and clip the wings of an up-and-coming supporter group. A bit outrageous in my opinion.
There are 100 reasons Arsenal might not have approved the work. The design is probably the last of them… SGs should be able to make what they like, independent of the club, as long as it hits certain parameters (don’t say f*ck or SCUM). But we don’t know what the club has planned. We don’t know the cut-off time for these sorts of things (In the US, supporter groups are planning these months in advance so they can get the right fire safe materials, organize printing, get volunteers to paint, and have somewhere to dry the work). We don’t know if they asked for something to be rigged, which might not be technically possible, or maybe the club didn’t have the staff to handle rigging at short notice.
My suspicion is that the designs came too late—especially if they wanted something rigged (which tends to cost $30,000+ and requires a lot of planning). Whatever it was… trying to embarrass the team you work with is no way to be successful in the long term.
Headloss Post Draw
It is so funny watching some of the pundits try and create content after a totally meaningless draw. David Raya has been savaged for his positioning despite being incredible this year. Martin Keown has offered advice to William Saliba on concentration. Theo Walcott thinks Martin Ødegaard is too comfortable.
Where are all the ex-pros who can just step in and say… PSG is the biggest game of the season. Arsenal have nothing to play for in the league outside the symbolism of 2nd. Maybe the players are dreaming of brighter days next week?
We’ve literally seen first-hand what caring too much about pointless games can do to a team. Saka shouldn’t have been involved in League Cup games. Arteta shouldn’t have taken first-choice squads to all the away Champions League games. The FA Cup extra-time game against United was a waste of time and added to the fatigue. Don’t even get me started on going back in time to Europa League games that have cost us titles.
No one will remember Crystal Palace in five years, but whatever the outcome of PSG, the memory will be seared into your head like Giroud’s massive misses against Monaco or Leroy Sané ruining Arsenal last season.
If you spent yesterday complaining about the focus against Palace, I don’t know what to tell you apart from this: Grow up. Get your act together. Think of the bigger picture.
“Oh, but you said the symbolism of 2nd would be nice.”
Yes, I did. I still think 2nd three years running would be lovely. But finishing top 4 for 100 years in a row under Wenger was also supposed to be a massive achievement—and I don’t look back on those moments with fondness.
Silverware is what I want now. The Champions League is our best chance. Anything else is a distraction.
Clever
Listen, I thought this was clever from Carl J.
No more analysis needed.
Ok, that’s ur bulletin. See you in the comments. Sign up to the Membership and get all the writing and podcasts for a very good price.