As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Am I misreading you Augie or do you really not want us to sign Rice?
I honestly believe he will surprise quite a few people just how Good he will be for us... Of course I could be Totally Wrong, but I prefer to be "Positive" and see what transpires, than be All moan, moan, doom and gloom and "Negative" a before he's even signed on the dotted line or kicked a ball wearing the Beloved Red & White Arsenal.
Surely you can only make a judgement based upon what you've seen of a player and how you've evaluated his performance?
Myself, Augie and DB (amongst others), have accepted Rice as an ok to good player, but not one worth anywhere near 100 million. As for Havertz, 3 years of underperformance at the chavs...and 3 years is a long time....can only lead one to think that it's a baffling and risky purchase. Personally I wouldn't have been after him at all, but I'm staggered that Arteta has paid 60 million for him. Even those on here that are behind the deal, can only offer "they've played him out of position" and "he might come good at ours, because other flops have come good" (completely ignoring that most flops remain flops). It's an incredibly Micawber-ish mindset.
Once they're in our ranks, I'll be rooting for them to prove me wrong and make a huge positive impact, but to be "positive" when the evidence (as I see it) doesn't justify it, is only self delusion. Bluntly, it's the behaviour of "super fans" and 12 year olds. No offence intended to all of you that are positive about these transfers of course.
Well, one would think so... But the amount of negativity on here towards him - seems out of proportion; I think he is a very good player and will improve oodles.
Those who think Rice will be a success could be wrong - Or maybe turn out to be correct. Time will tell.
However the levels of Negativity on here about nearly everything seems to be the way G2G now is.
It is and always will be about "Opinions".
Sadly I can see why some forum members no longer bother saying anything and avoid the forum; which is sad. It seems that as soon as anyone says something that is either positive or questions the Absolute Negativity of opinions and comments they are seen as being Arteta Fans or whatever.
I guess some people live their lives with their pint glasses half full and some with their pint glasses half empty.
Why do you constantly turn things into a competition/battle between positive and negative ? Cant people express individual opinions without you lumping them into teams against each other ??
For the record, you label rice as very good - I would counter that with the suggestion that a £105m player needs to be better than very good, and should be top quality at the very least. Some like to disregard the price tag as though it doesnt matter, but the reality is that in life you dont pay a la carte prices for McDonalds food, and for me the same logic should apply in every single transfer deal we do. That isnt me dissing rice as such, and I wouldnt have been against signing him if he cost 40m-50m, but again imo the price tag here far exceeds the players ability
Whatever chaps. Not everyone gets excited and positive about everything the club does, or everyone they buy. If you watch and understand the game, you'll have an opinion about players. Opinions may differ, but to set aside your judgement and don a cloak of positivity just because the club have bought a player isn't the approach of either someone who thinks clearly, or even more importantly, someone who wants the best for the club.
I want us to buy the best, something we largely stopped doing about 20years ago. There are plenty of worse players than Declan Rice, but that doesn't make him worth anywhere near 100 m in my opinion. I do, however, expect him to be an improvement on our current shower of centre mids...although that's a very low bar btw.
Havertz is a different kettle of fish. It makes no sense to me to buy a bloke that has failed for 3 years at a club that, last season aside, always outperforms us. It may be that Arteta has seen something that few others have seen, but it's quite telling that Chelsea supporters are delighted to see him go and are pissing themselves that we paid 60 odd million for him. In my opinion, it's a risk we can ill afford and that money would have gone a long way to landing Caicedo, who was the guy we wanted in January.
We'll see how it all plays out and as I keep saying, I'll be absolutely chuffed if both players are a roaring success. I'm fairly relaxed about Rice, I just think we've well overpaid for a guy that is unlikely to raise us to the level required, but I have genuine doubts about Havertz and can't understand how anyone who's seen him these last 3 years doesn't share those doubts.
Arteta has turned a RM flop in Odegaard into one of the best AM's in the PL, he was getting rave reviews from all quarters last season.
Havertz is in a similar position, he was mustard at Leverkusen. Chelski has been a mess for quite a few seasons now, the CL win only really papered over the cracks for me, they haven't come close to winning the league for years. If Arteta thinks he can do a job on Havertz and bring out the potential, then I am all for it. Arteta is earning the right to gain our trust IMO.
And the background work he was doing to sign Rice, who this week was quoted as being absolutely buzzing over joining us, just shows what an attraction our club are becoming once again. Rice will flourish at Arsenal, he is made for us.
Nonsense - he went missing in every single big game we had last season, and that isnt just my opinion either. Second nonsense part of that statement is the suggestion that he was a real madrid flop - he was signed as a kid and as is often the case at the elite clubs, he didnt get a chance to play for madrid and was sent out on loan to other clubs
Whatever chaps. Not everyone gets excited and positive about everything the club does, or everyone they buy. If you watch and understand the game, you'll have an opinion about players. Opinions may differ, but to set aside your judgement and don a cloak of positivity just because the club have bought a player isn't the approach of either someone who thinks clearly, or even more importantly, someone who wants the best for the club.
I want us to buy the best, something we largely stopped doing about 20years ago. There are plenty of worse players than Declan Rice, but that doesn't make him worth anywhere near 100 m in my opinion. I do, however, expect him to be an improvement on our current shower of centre mids...although that's a very low bar btw.
Havertz is a different kettle of fish. It makes no sense to me to buy a bloke that has failed for 3 years at a club that, last season aside, always outperforms us. It may be that Arteta has seen something that few others have seen, but it's quite telling that Chelsea supporters are delighted to see him go and are pissing themselves that we paid 60 odd million for him. In my opinion, it's a risk we can ill afford and that money would have gone a long way to landing Caicedo, who was the guy we wanted in January.
We'll see how it all plays out and as I keep saying, I'll be absolutely chuffed if both players are a roaring success. I'm fairly relaxed about Rice, I just think we've well overpaid for a guy that is unlikely to raise us to the level required, but I have genuine doubts about Havertz and can't understand how anyone who's seen him these last 3 years doesn't share those doubts.
Arteta has turned a RM flop in Odegaard into one of the best AM's in the PL, he was getting rave reviews from all quarters last season.
Havertz is in a similar position, he was mustard at Leverkusen. Chelski has been a mess for quite a few seasons now, the CL win only really papered over the cracks for me, they haven't come close to winning the league for years. If Arteta thinks he can do a job on Havertz and bring out the potential, then I am all for it. Arteta is earning the right to gain our trust IMO.
And the background work he was doing to sign Rice, who this week was quoted as being absolutely buzzing over joining us, just shows what an attraction our club are becoming once again. Rice will flourish at Arsenal, he is made for us.
Nonsense - he went missing in every single big game we had last season, and that isnt just my opinion either. Second nonsense part of that statement is the suggestion that he was a real madrid flop - he was signed as a kid and as is often the case at the elite clubs, he didnt get a chance to play for madrid and was sent out on loan to other clubs
So there's two of you congratulations. You really are the grumpy git of this forum aren't you Augie,
With regards to big games, did you forget Tottenham away when he and Partey were the best players on the pitch? And from memory he also scored a brace against Chelski. I'm not going to bother referencing player of the year, because like Lee Gunner you'll probably go into Arsenal fans know fuck all etc etc etc.
15 goals and 8 assists is a good return for an AM, better than Fernandes last season and probably only Debruyne has better stats in the PL. In fact on checking Debruyne scored 7 goals with 18 assists. Over the coming years Ode is going to get better, perhaps then you won't be so picky, but then again..........
Nutty, for the record I wouldnt take fernandes at AFC if manure offered him to us on a free - he is without doubt THE most over-hyped player in premier league, and has a horrible selfish attitude like his closet compatriot who fcuked off to saudi
De Bruyne is for me the king of big game bottlers - look at his record for club and country in the big games and it is woeful for such a talented player
Am I misreading you Augie or do you really not want us to sign Rice?
I honestly believe he will surprise quite a few people just how Good he will be for us... Of course I could be Totally Wrong, but I prefer to be "Positive" and see what transpires, than be All moan, moan, doom and gloom and "Negative" a before he's even signed on the dotted line or kicked a ball wearing the Beloved Red & White Arsenal.
Surely you can only make a judgement based upon what you've seen of a player and how you've evaluated his performance?
Myself, Augie and DB (amongst others), have accepted Rice as an ok to good player, but not one worth anywhere near 100 million. As for Havertz, 3 years of underperformance at the chavs...and 3 years is a long time....can only lead one to think that it's a baffling and risky purchase. Personally I wouldn't have been after him at all, but I'm staggered that Arteta has paid 60 million for him. Even those on here that are behind the deal, can only offer "they've played him out of position" and "he might come good at ours, because other flops have come good" (completely ignoring that most flops remain flops). It's an incredibly Micawber-ish mindset.
Once they're in our ranks, I'll be rooting for them to prove me wrong and make a huge positive impact, but to be "positive" when the evidence (as I see it) doesn't justify it, is only self delusion. Bluntly, it's the behaviour of "super fans" and 12 year olds. No offence intended to all of you that are positive about these transfers of course.
Well, one would think so... But the amount of negativity on here towards him - seems out of proportion; I think he is a very good player and will improve oodles.
Those who think Rice will be a success could be wrong - Or maybe turn out to be correct. Time will tell.
However the levels of Negativity on here about nearly everything seems to be the way G2G now is.
It is and always will be about "Opinions".
Sadly I can see why some forum members no longer bother saying anything and avoid the forum; which is sad. It seems that as soon as anyone says something that is either positive or questions the Absolute Negativity of opinions and comments they are seen as being Arteta Fans or whatever.
I guess some people live their lives with their pint glasses half full and some with their pint glasses half empty.
Why do you constantly turn things into a competition/battle between positive and negative ? Cant people express individual opinions without you lumping them into teams against each other ??
For the record, you label rice as very good - I would counter that with the suggestion that a £105m player needs to be better than very good, and should be top quality at the very least. Some like to disregard the price tag as though it doesnt matter, but the reality is that in life you dont pay a la carte prices for McDonalds food, and for me the same logic should apply in every single transfer deal we do. That isnt me dissing rice as such, and I wouldnt have been against signing him if he cost 40m-50m, but again imo the price tag here far exceeds the players ability
Competition???
Fine if you want to view it like that... carry on Augie, BUT I have yet to see a post by you where when you criticise; which is always, you don't offer or attempt the Criticism to be Constructive.
and "For The Record" I see Declan Rice as being not only a Very VERY Good player, but I think he has Huge Potential to become one of the Best Midfielders the Prem has seen in may years. I was hoping we would sign Caicedos purely because I see traits of a young PV4 in him and he is younger than Declan Rice.(but having now spent £105 million on Declan Rice I don't see us spending any Large amounts on another Mid-fielder) .
Mind you if Partey does leave maybe we can spend put that money towards Caicedo ??? Fingers Crossed,. Now THAT would be one Awesome Midfield pairing.
You say " That isn't me dissing rice" But I have yet to see you post anything positive or complimentary about him and / or our purchase of him. Which is fine btw, but you just have a very Negative Slant in your posts; which you are perfectly entitled to, but for me I think getting Rice is Brilliant and will prove a Very VERY Wise Buy.
I guess we just have different view points and so opinions etc etc.
West Ham fans claiming Rice only wants a 4 year contract. Surely we don’t buy a player for £100m and risk him talking to teams after 3 years. Grealish signed for 6 years when he went to City. Would think that is par.
