I realize due to the pandemic, circumstances are different.
However, I wonder how many points Arsenal has lost at the beginning of the season due to trying to drive a hard bargain/get a lower transfer fee on a player.
Season where they finished 1 point out of the CL comes to mind. Seems the extra CL $ would have more than made up for a higher transfer fee. Penny wise and pound foolish springs to mind.
Tough fixtures to start the season…
Interestingly, I think getting Ceballos early would have smoothed things out.
Even with the tough fixtures I feel like Mikel and his team are on a good form and have gelled up nicely. Keeping the players that performed in the end last season will be key. This is the very reason I think Chelsea will have a tough time early on.
Too many changes to the core. Granted, sorting out all of them early was brilliant work from them and that’s all down to Roman just passing money around with no care.
The Mark Schwarzer transfer comes to mind. Didn’t we wimp out on the fee and end up sticking with Almunia?
There was the derisory bid we made for Gary Cahill.
And didn’t we fuck up the Higuain transfer too?
I just worry about the midfield being a weak link again to start the season—especially if Ceballos is gone.
I feel like the game tomorrow will be a great indicator even though the Community Shield doesn’t get taken seriously. Hopefully I don’t jinx it but I reckon Xhaka and Elneny may form a good enough pivot for a short while. Even if they do though, we need something better if we want to really challenge next season.
Fair enough if you want Grealish over Aouar. But Ligue 1 has been an excellent feeder League for the PL (just signed three players from that League ourselves…) and he has ~150 games for Lyon. Hardly an unknown just because we are not bothered to watch Lyon.
In all comps;
Szoboszlai posted (albeit in a lesser league) 11G / 1A
Aouar posted 6G / 4A
Seeing as we’re not Chelsea and we need to be realistic towards signings, I think we need to look for cheaper options if we are to sign an AM. I’m sure there’s other comparable players for this position which can be obtained for attractive sums but I’m going off what we’ve been rumoured with so far.
We have been linked to both. Szoboszlai is 3 years younger than Aouar iirc. They both occupy similar spaces on the pitch; left-sided and central positions higher up near the strikers.
Lyon will probably want 60-70 euros for Aouar which is astronomical. Szoboszlai has a release clause of £23M (according to some reports) and if that’s bs, fees so far are only being quoted around £26M.
Taking into consideration Barthy might actually be someone we seriously want to pursue, we’re potentially looking at a big fee for him.
I meant he’s an unknown quantity for the Prem, as in we don’t know if he’ll be a success here, bit of a gamble. I am sure he’s a good player though.
I’d take Grealish over most players right now tbh. Nothing personal with Aouar.
In the way that there is absolutely no chance that everyone who voted for him in the poll have seen him play. I don’t understand why people need to lie. I haven’t got a clue about the dude. Seen him like twice, so I’m not voting in a poll between a player I’ve seen loads and one I’ve barely seen.
The new Ligue 1 season has already started, yet the thread hasn’t been bumped. Weird that, given we apparently have so many fans of the league.
I think you underestimate how much football people watch.
So you think everyone watches Ligue 1 yeah? Fair enough. I’ll apologise then.
Nah I agree with her, those who watched him in the champions league finals this year will have seen him 2 times more than most online Arsenal fans championing for his signature.
He just made it to the Champions League semi final, totally feasible that everyone who voted for him has seen him play.
I probably watched two or three Villa matches last season. Twice when we played them, perhaps I watched another match of theirs, though I’m not sure I did tbh. Also feasible that the same is true for others, and that people who follow the CL more than the worst teams in the league have watched Lyon about as much as they’ve watched Villa, meaning they’ve seen about as much of Aouar as Grealish
If I was forced to pick one I’d rather Grealish tbh.
I think he could be an an English Santi for us.
Ok I’ll rephrase, there is no way everyone has watched him regularly. You know what I meant.
Grealish will be more familiar to most people than Aouar. But carry on being awkward.
As I just explained, I’ve watched matches of both sides about as much as each other, no reason the same couldn’t be true of others. Plenty of people don’t give a shit about watching Aston Villa but do watch the CL.
Even if someone has seen more of Grealish than Aouar, so what? I could watch one player fifteen times, not be hugely impressed, and watch another play in five matches and be very impressed, and then vote for them in a poll about who I’d rather sign. I might also do so on the basis of that player having a skill set or playing style that better suits Arsenal’s needs compared to the other player.
Call me awkward all you want but you’re the one who for some reason is calling out other people for how they voted and accusing them of basically being full of shit and lying just because you disagree with them lol
I’m gonna be completely honest I’ve barely watched either of them.
Just voted Aouar for the fuck of it tbh
I’ve mainly watched them on youtube. Aouar seems a bit flimsy and basic for my liking. Grealish is a better athlete and has less potential to be knocked off the ball.
I don’t think we get either
Transfers I am not too keen on if we’re supposedly skint:
I think you might be overestimating how much people on here would have seen Grealish playing.
Last year they were in the championship, and even this season how many games would you choose to watch involving Aston Villa?
I think most people would have watched Aouar as many times in the champions league as they watched Grealish in the league.