Arsenal and Mikel Arteta get an absolute kicking as Liverpool are praised and there are Man City punishments mooted.
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This is your Stewie warning…
There is an ongoing criminal investigation and therefore, can’t possibly comment on the Thomas Partey charges. What can be done however, is a commentary on the sporting side. And as ever, Arsenal look utterly laughably at sea.
Ever since the rumours surfaced about “a footballer in his 30s” the entire world knew who the person in question was. Now, nobody is suggesting punishing an individual without any evidence of his guilt – but, you are very much allowed to drop the player for “technical reasons”. It’s the equivalent of putting someone on paid leave, pending an investigation. Nothing wrong with that, Arteta did this with Ozil didn’t he? Just dropped him.
The decision to continue playing Partey looks abysmal, given the seriousness of the ensuing charges. Partey is entitled to a fair trial and might well be acquitted: make no mistake though, that sporting decision to play him is ultimately on Fake Basque Pulis, Arteta. The club would have given Arteta the scope to drop Partey but Arteta decided to make him a lynchpin and for what? The annual Arsenal quest to finish trophyless, and the butt of everyone’s jokes? Was it worth playing Partey?
What message does this send to the Arsenal Ladies team? From a PR perspective, this is an absolute sh*tshow. The club can’t seriously claim to have had no knowledge of an open rumour. Could it get worse than this? Well…
Skip to Arsenal’s transfer window! An utter abomination of a window, from overpaid Pep-Zero – he’s signed a DCM in Zubimendi (apparently), another clogger from Brentford, yet another Chelsea reject to add to the growing stockpile of dung (is that keeper number Seven now for Arteta?), bid for another defender in Mosquera…and the crowning glory: having gifted Chelsea £65m for an ashtray, Arteta is actually, seriously, going to bid £55m for a malfunctioning can of air freshener to counter the stench of ash, aka Noni Madueke!!!
To even be linked to Madueke is a sackable offence in itself. Hilarious to see how receptive to this transfer Chelsea are: they’ll never sell Arsenal a top player, only the dross. Willian. Jorginho. Sterling. The Ashtray! Think they’d let Arsenal have Cole Palmer? Lol 😂😂
This Madueke nonsense is reflective of what an uninspiring, boring, mediocre and creativity-defective coach Arteta is: there’s a top young talent right there in Nwaneri, just a year left on his deal, and you’re out here twerking inside Chelsea’s discarded dustbins? Why on earth can’t Arteta coach Nwaneri to be that wide attacker? Answer: he can’t. Arteta is good at spreadsheet coaching, loves a metric, but if you are spontaneous and stray outside his rigid El Pulizon corner-ball, he detests it. That’s fine to be so rigid if your name is Pep Guardiola, not so much when your cv can’t even surpass the Crystal Palace manager who’s been in his job 10 minutes!
Hence creative attacking players aren’t sought by Arteta, and the few ones like Odegaard, regress into terriers, running around excitedly, with absolutely zero idea where they’ll end up. 🙄. The boring, laborious, soporific shite Arteta serves up is a great reflection of his personality.
Remember when Arsenal fans tried to justify Arteta’s January striker inaction by claiming he never signed a striker as “he won’t waste money on a stopgap when he has a main target in mind”. How’s that Sesko deal coming along? Oh wait, is it Gyokeres? 🤔. Yup, solid plan!
More than eight transfer windows after Aubameyang left (curiously, it was his goals that won Arteta his only trophy – Arteta won sod all since he’s had to replace Auba)…Arteta STILL cannot find a striker. It’s “too difficult”. Not so hard to find more keepers, cloggers and overpriced tat from the Chelsea car boot sale eh! 😂😂😂
What an absolute shocker from Arteta. From the arrogant approach to the Partey affair on the pitch, to the obvious refusal to supplant his pet project, the £65m ashtray…it reflects appallingly on Arsenal FC as an institution. Shocking approach on the pitch, shocking approach off it. The club and manager come out of this looking distinctly distasteful to many.
But, much like the MAGA loons, Arsenal fans will conveniently ignore the obvious, unacceptable transgressions of their beloved Dear Leader Arteta, and restart the process of licking the Emirates urinals, whilst telling the rest of us that it’s sweet apple consommé that they’re drinking. 😂🙄
I’m sure the PGMOL Deep State and Hamas are responsible for all this, right?
Stewie Griffin (Liverpool should win the PL at a canter, Arsenal deserve nothing but bad karma for all this)
MORE ARSENAL COVERAGE ON F365…
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Liverpool: Measure twice, cut onceWhen I was in my mid-20s, I moved into a one-bedroom flat above a pub in Walthamstow. A month later, a mate moved into the flat opposite, as he was unfortunately splitting up with his partner at the time.
What followed was eight years of pure silliness; indoor golf, drunken chess, ironing shirts in the microwave (don’t), and a particularly tragic haircutting incident where we spent 30 minutes debating whether glue or dark shoe polish would fix things best.
As we matured, those antics became less frequent. We evolved from drunken tomfoolery to domestic DIY projects, with similarly enforced learning curves. One memorable moment came when we tied a large wood panel to the roof of his car to fix a shed. We were so proud of protecting the paintwork with a blanket that we didn’t realise we’d tied the car doors shut. His missus found this hilarious.
These days, we take the more considered “measure twice, cut once” approach. Which is why I’ve always admired how Liverpool, particularly under the “transfer committee”, have handled recruitment over the past 10 years. They research everything meticulously. They measure many times and then they buy the player they truly want, even if they have to wait.
I recently listened to a podcast featuring Dr. Ian Graham (Liverpool’s former Director of Research), and his insight into the transfer process was fascinating. For any Liverpool fan, the Mo Salah vs. Julian Brandt debate is essential listening. Klopp wanted Brandt, but was won over by the committee’s view and presentation that Salah was more suited to his system, and massively undervalued due to his time at Chelsea.
No transfer is guaranteed, of course. But look at Liverpool’s big recent buys, Virgil van Dijk; world-record fee for a defender at the time, questioned then, a bargain now. Alisson Becker; the choice was between him and Oblak. Alisson may have scored lower in pure shot-stopping, but his all-round ability made him the right fit. Again, a world record at the time. Even the less headline-grabbing signings proved spot on, e.g. Fabinho, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino. Players picked from relegated sides like Gini Wijnaldum, Andy Robertson, and Xherdan Shaqiri all slotted perfectly into the squad, contributing immensely. If there’s one major “transfer committee” signing that didn’t quite deliver on expectations, it’s Naby Keïta. Dr Graham said he was more excited by NK’s raw data than anyone he’d seen before, but it just never quite clicked.
It must be noted that Darwin Núñez was a Klopp-driven purchase. Dr. Graham said that while Núñez is a strong player statistically, he didn’t fit the system and would require the team to change around him to thrive.
Dr. Graham also highlighted two underrated factors in Liverpool’s recruitment strategy, Klopp’s (and now Slots) strict no a**holes policy; player personality matters as much as technical ability and a clear understanding of the 40% Premier League tax.
Which brings me to Manchester United. Their fans have been lamenting both the “Man U tax” and the attitude issues in the squad. That’s why the purchase of Cunha and links with Mbeumo raise eyebrows, as one has been rumoured to have an attitude problem, the other comes with a hefty price tag amplified by both taxes.
This is why I’m genuinely impressed by the recent signings of Wirtz, Frimpong, Kerkez, and Mamardashvili. These deals were done with minimal fuss. The players are young, hungry and grounded. None of them come with the baggage of a Balotelli, the ego of a Ronaldo, or the self-regard of a Neymar. They appear to have come for the team, not themselves.
I wanted to finish with a few words about Diogo Jota. But truthfully, the loss of such a wonderful player, and by all accounts, an even better father, husband, and teammate is still too raw. RIP Diogo. YNWA.
Ian H
**Man City FFP punishments?**With the FFP verdict still pending I decided to fantasize about some creative punishments for Man City and thought the mailbox might like to chime in with their own:
1. The fine one: £10m per infringement for a total of £1.15b (if they can be cheeky with Haaland’s contract, the PL can be cheeky too… Actually this is the theme of the rest) divided to the teams who lost merit payments by position (~£2.5m per position per team over 9 years…) with the rest going to championship and football league teams.
2. The fun one: -1 point per infringement at the start of next season… With any negative points carrying over to their season in championship. This keeps the spirit of competition while also ensuring relegation (max points in a season 114). Assuming they get to 90pts, they’ll start a championship season on -25… Could they get promoted at the first attempt with that handicap? Probably… Would it be entertaining? Certainly.
3. The FAFO one: 1 contract year per infringement. The other premier league teams get to draft Man City’s players on their current contracts. 115 years/19 clubs, each team gets to take on 6 years of a player: do you want Erling Haaland on loan at £800k/w for 6 years? Or do you permanently take Doku and Phillips?
Ziggy
Newcastle’s third kit and PSR
I was taking a look at Newcastle’s new third kit, a blue pinstripe number with tasty orange shoulder stripes, Adidas trademark and sponsor logo, and orange-and-sky-blue highlights at cuffs and blunt vee collar. I might actually like the replica kit more than the official version; it seems a bit less shiny.
Adidas have been doing solid work for us. It’s too bad they’re hampered by the Board’s insistence that one kit every year represent the Saudi flag. Last year’s white number was subtle and classy, and it featured the 70s badge. This year it’ll be our away kit, and the most credible mockup I’ve seen looks like a pitch mowed in rings with white trim. Not terrible, but not for me, Clive.
Anyway, I noted that the price of each shirt ($176 authentic, $125 replica) included a four-quid-and-change donation to The Newcastle United Foundation, a charity supporting community sport and accessibility.
Perhaps a solution for everybody’s PSR frustration would be to allow clubs to buy PSR headroom with donations to legitimate charities benefiting the club’s (or other) communities or the local environment. If an owner really wants to buy success and turbocharge the sports-washing, let him (or it) spend his money. Simply require that it benefit the people of England.
Chris C, Toon Army DC
RIP DiogoI’ve been trying to process how I feel about Diogo and his brother’s passing. Other mailboxers have written beautiful missives and in general the outpouring of love has been reassuring.
But chatting to my dad my on the phone last night, both of us Liverpool fans, the tragedy inevitably came up. Dad said something along the lines of yes of course it’s terrible but horrible things happen round the world every day that we never hear about.
I said that’s true but I don’t know, I just felt connected to Diogo. Never met the guy, probably never would have. But we had something in common, and that, besides basic humanity made it hit hard.
RIP Diogo and André.
Alan
…Just wanted to share this that my little lad wrote in his room…
Diogo Jota was a great person and a great player. I know for a few of you it may not feel like he’s gone, but I don’t think he would want us to sit here sulking. So how about we have a fun and exciting party. Diogo, your skills will forever be remembered, as well as your wonderful smile. Goodbye old friend.
Joseph (11)