The Premier League - 2021-2022

Usually one of the forum’s most optimistic members, but admit to not feeling that confident YET about next season. Stress yet, because obviously there’s still lots of time for us to boost our squad.

My early worry is we will be plucky and win plaudits, but not win many matches because we won’t score enough goals. A bit like Fulham this year.

We are also going to need one, maybe even two established PL clubs to do what us and Muff did last season (and Stoke and West Brom before that) and go from being perennial safe survivors to having a mare of a season where little seems to go right.

 

Nice one Nat.

Stuff 'em!

 

Yeah, I’m with you on this. Unfortunately the mismanagement of previous seasons has left us with a squad that still contains far too much deadwood that won’t provide value in respect to outlay.

If we’re able to secure some of our valuable assets on longer deals, shift the players you mention (plus Penaranda), and pick up some talented young players with upside, I’d consider it a relatively successful season, even if it ends in relegation.

Short-term that would be a disappointing, but I think it gives us a much better chance of building for sustained success over the next few years, without risking our financial future again. Of course, I say success, but for us, really that just means not going down and maybe a cup run. How depressing is football?

 

If we could snag a cup that would be insane, but the extent of my ambitions for watching Watford is to see us win the Championship and not do a Sunderland really

 

Arteta will be sacked soon after their failure to beat a weak Villarreal side tonight.

 

HMS Survival sounds a bit better.

 

Many people seem not interested in this competition, but I'd really like us to try to win the League Cup for once, apart from getting to the semis in 2004/05, I don't think we've ever got further than the last 8?

Of course survival is priority, but newly promoted Wigan got to the final in 2005/06, though it helped they had an insanely good start and were all but safe by November...

 

I think Man City now permanently own the league cup unfortunately

 

Arsenal played the game as if they were ahead in the tie. Very strange performance lacking any intensity, getting the ball to the flanks only to run out of ideas.

 

There was always talk that Pep over complicated champions league games (and hence why they’ve only just reached a final) Arteta has clearly inherited that approach.

Bizarre team selection and formation, bizarre approach and then towards the end taking Auba off and no attempt to just ‘get it in the mixer’.

The keeper was also clearly very poor, but they made no attempt to capitalise on it.

Arteta seems far too wed to his principles and unable to adapt to the circumstances.

 

Arteta reminds me of Solskjaer, a manager appointed more for his status as a player than his managerial credentials, and in that both managers took over underachieving sides, the difference being that after a shaky year and a bit, Solskjaer improved his side to the extent they could be challenging next season (they haven't lost away for over a year), whereas Arsenal don't seem to have improved under Arteta at all, if anything they've gone backwards.

 

Rumours are that the players don't want to put any effort in for Arteta.
Sounds a bit like our lot and Ivic.

 

Arsenal haven't been known for "putting in effort" for many years.

 

I have zero idea for next season but if GP has indeed learned lessons we won't be paying out huge fees or wages for any player, nor long term 80k p/wk wages.?
Ideally we need to bring in 5 decent youngish guys that want a chance and then if they have a good season they get a better contract. OK I guess that won't be possible but maybe we'll get a couple of big club loanees or something that saves the club spending big this summer.?
Someone on here recently said that it's good strikers that make the real difference and I'm inclined to agree.... If we only make 4 chances per game it helps if your striker can bag two of them, (unlike our current strikers) - so I think our main focus should be on a quick/strong central striker.
Right now I have no clue - but hopefully somewhere between 12th and 16th..?

 

The League Cup is a weird one, for a start, the bigger clubs with deeper squads are better able to withstand a gruelling league and cup campaign, but also it's earlier in the season so sometimes you even get your moderately sized clubs prioritise the League Cup over the FA Cup if they go on a run, so it won't be any easier for us to do well in it

 

Troy?

 

Not rubbishing you at all, but even in that comparison to be fair to Solksjaer, not only was he a far bigger legend for the club in question, but he did have an almost ten-year track record of being a manager when Utd appointed him - it wasn't always exactly glowing, but he was literally a relatively seasoned coach. Arteta literally got the job for being a known character at Arsenal, being Pep's assistant, and this mythology that sprang up around him from somewhere that he was half the reason Pep was so good at City and was secretly actually responsible for a lot of their tactics and results.

It was perfectly possible that he would have semi-magically turned out to be the new Pep, but it's amazing how badly he's failed at pretty much every aspect of his job, including not talking pure ***** post-game claiming you were the best side over two legs when you not only lost but did so meekly and pathetically with barely a whimper!

 

It has been hilarious to see the push to get Wenger out of the door for years because finishing in the top 4 wasn't enough for fans used to competing for the title. With the players they have bought over the last 10 years, Auba excepted, it was clear that Wenger was performing miracles and they were destined to become a mid table side.

 

I'm sure we always "try to win it", but do you really want us to play our first team in this competition ?

 

Yes.

 

I know things move on, and we’ve have oligarchs and state backed teams distorting the landscape for while, but I’m sure Arsenal never used to spend that much money when they were successful?

They scouted the majority of their title winning team for not a lot of money (relatively speaking) they had a policy of never giving contracts to players over 30, selling them on for big money and reinvesting.

That policy seemed to serve them very well, then I guess with the new owners and Wenger leaving it all changed. Suddenly they’re giving stupid contracts to the likes of Luiz, Ozil and Auba etc. Players at or past the peak of their career.

 

Season 78-79, semi-final whilst in division 3.

 

Just watching fellow relegation rivals Newcastle tearing Leicester apart. They may lose but they look fantastic. They would trounce our current 11.

 

Ok I guess if you accept we’ll be relegated anyway you might as well prioritise this little cup.

 

Yes but no team used to spend ridiculous money which made it a fairly level playing field and they had a superb coach. Arsenal used to have many in their 11 that would walk into other top teams. Adams, Seaman, Henry, Pires, Viera, Overmars, etc. Then Chelsea, city, Man U, Liverpool started to spend big. How many of their current 11 would get into another top 6 team ? Any at all.

 

Feckers did against us though. Feckers

 

We ve now gone from thinking that every good Championship team is sh1te because we’ve just come down from EPL, to now thinking every sh1t team in the EPL is amazing because we ve been in the Champiomship .

 

Yep.

If we’re smart in the transfer window then there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to finish mid table. Obviously if you offered me 17th right now, I would take it.

Norwich
The play off winner
Burnley
Brighton
Southampton
Palace
Newcastle
Villa
Leeds
Wolves

Are not that much ahead of us, if ahead at all. This window is crucial and the signings have make our starting 11 stronger. If Gino gets it right, we should be able to pick up 10 wins from that lot somewhere. Then of course you always have the odd draw/win against a top 6 side. Those are the teams when we play them, we have to be looking at 3 points.

 

All those teams other than Norwich and the play off winner have far stronger teams

people seem to forget how much weaker we are - have we forgotten Capoue, Doucoure, Delefeou, pererya amongst others.

we were relegated with them and they would all be assets to the squad

 

I think Villa and Leeds are way ahead of us.

Relying on Burnley to get relegated seems optimistic... Every season you can make a case they should go down, and then they don't.

 

Assuming that none of those clubs strengthen in the summer, and of course they are more likely to spend £ms to strengthen than we are.
AV, Leeds, Wolves are miles ahead of where we will be after strengthening, even before their summer spending.
I think you need a sense of realism. We will not be signing all/any of the players you research on the suggestions thread, interesting a read though that is ....
We will be one of the favourites for relegation and will have to work wonders to avoid that.

 

I don’t know if we’ve ever had a better squad than most of those teams. There is no way that squad in our first season was really any better than our squad as it is now. We were just fortunate Iggy scored his goals and appointing QSF was very astute in terms of what we needed to survive and how it could be achieved with that group of players. There was some absolute garbage in that squad though.

We only really sustained ourselves by picking up players on the cheap that had a question mark next to their name, but who a manager could get a tune out of long enough to get enough points. Put players like Capoue, Peyrera and Gerri together and the hope is they perform well enough often enough. Then when the manager stops getting a tune out of them get a new one in and repeat the process.

 

You sure?

we had a fitter 5 year younger Deeney and Ighalo.

I would take that over a 5 year older heavier Deeney and Gray and Success tbh.

I thinkour Defence may be better but far weaker uptop

 

The other day I was composing a post which in the end I didn’t submit that suggested Xisco’s job could be under threat because it doesn’t look like there will be any really weak teams in the Prem next season, apart from maybe the play-off winner and/or Newcastle. After last night’s result, I’m really not sure even about the latter!