Tag Archives: She Wore

Premier League TV fixtures announced…and Arsenal fans lose out again

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Every year i have this rant.

Actually that is a lie. It is a couple of times a year I have it.

The latest round of TV games have been announced and once again the TV companies have stuck 2 fingers up at Arsenal fans.

The first 10 league games have been announced and Arsenal have just 2 on a Saturday, and none at 3pm. We have 2 Monday kick offs.

Some will reply “that is because we are in the Europa League” yet just 3 of the fixtures occur after the Europa League.

My issue is that SKY & BT would have known that those 3 games would be on a Sunday, so could have scheduled them for TV. But instead none of the 3 games after the Europa League will be on TV.

Arsenal’s fixtures against Newcastle, Burnley, Watford & Sheffield United have all been selected for TV.

Meanwhile fixtures against Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace have not been selected; but have been moved to Sunday for the Europa League.

Would it have been that hard for the TV companies to select Aston Villa rather than Sheffield United, Crystal Palace rather than Watford and Bournemouth over Newcastle?

This would have moved 3 of the fixtures back to 3pm on Saturday.

But that is too much common sense.

Clubs sell their soul to TV companies for billions. It is about time someone stepped in and ensured TV companies care more about match going fans.

Keenos

Less than 30 left…

Arsenal can only sign ONE more foreign player

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In June I analysed the state of the Arsenal squad.

The theory behind it was to evaluate what exactly Arsenal currently has in the squad, in terms of players that must be registered with the Premier League (Players born on or after 1 January 1998 do not need to be register) and of those registered players, who is home grown (HG) and non-home grown (NHG).

At the time of previous blog, Arsenal had 22 players over the age of 21, 15 of whom had to be registered. This left Arsenal with 3 senior spots, 2 of which could be filled by a NHG player if desired.

Since that blog, Arsenal have signed Dani Ceballos, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba, with Nicolas Pepe on the cusp of joining (at the time of writing). David Ospina has been sold.

This leaves Arsenal’s squad looking at follows:

The signings of Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe, with David Ospina leaving puts Arsenal in a position where they can sign 2 more senior players – enough room for a central defender and left back.

This leaves Arsenal with just 1 space for a non home grown player.

Scottish players are considered NHG under Premier League rules. This means that were Arsenal to sign Kieran Tierney at left back, they would have reached the maximum amount of NHG players.

Things can change quickly in football, however.

Laurent Koscielny is likely to return to France, with Edu having recently met with his counterpart at Rennes.

If a new central defender joins, it will most likely mean the end for Shkodran Mustafi. Either Saed Kolasinac or Nacho Monreal will surely make way for Tierney.

Losing Koscielny, Mustafi and a left back will free up 3 more NHG places, taking us down to just 14 – and 21 registered players in total.

That would leave us the places to add someone like Samuel Umtiti or Daniele Rugani – both of whom we have been linked with. It would also give us a bit of breathing room if we wanted to make a late bid for another central midfielder like Sami Khedira.

With the likes of Mohammed Elneny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan set to be on the fringes of the squad, Arsenal could free up further space if needed.

We are closing in on the maximum registered squad number (25) and maximum amount of non home grown players (17), but there is nothing to worry about. Yet.

Keenos

Nicolas Pepe signing shows that playing for The Arsenal is a bigger draw than playing in the Champions League

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“Arsenal will struggle to sign anyone with no Champions League football” fans of Tottenham have cried over the last year.

The signing of Nicolas Pepe shows what I have known all along, players do not care about the Champions League.

Players want to win trophies, they want to earn a lot of money, and they want to play for the best teams, those teams they supported growing up.

So playing for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus delivers all 4. Trophies, money and playing for a top team.

Whilst Man City, Chelsea and PSG have offered the trophies and the money.

Prior to last season the likes of Liverpool could offer the historic club and the money. As can AC Milan and Inter Milan.

In recent years, Manchester United and The Arsenal have bought big despite not being in the Champions League.

They were able to offer the money, at times the trophies, and their biggest draw was they are both amongst the biggest names in world football.

The likes of Nicolas Pepe would have grown up supporting Arsenal, with their numerous French African stars.

Raul Sanllehi recently said “when Arsenal knock on a player’s door, it’s a different knock than other clubs” .

And Sanllehi is absolutely spot on.

Regardless of 3 finishes outside the top 4 in the last 3 years, The Arsenal have still been able to compete and sign some fantastic players.

Nicolas Pepe
William Saliba
Dani Ceballas
Bernd Leno
Sokratis
Matteo Guendouzi
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Lucas Torreira
Saed Kolasinac
Alexandre Lacazette
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The fact is that as long as The Arsenal can compete financially, pay the salaries, we are still a bigger draw than someone like Tottenham who can offer the Champions League but not the salaries, success or playing for top club.

A lot of the players mentioned above have also joined from sides in the Champions League from Europe, highlighting just how big a draw it is to play for The Arsenal over the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Lille and Lyon.

It is not just The Arsenal that has this kind of pulling power.

Manchester United were able to sign the likes of Paul Pogba, despite no Champions League football. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and AC Milan could compete for any player in the world no matter if they finished 1st or 8th.

Money is king.

Champions League football generates a lot of wealth for clubs, allowing them to spend a lot more on wages. But the top clubs already have that money so do not require Champions League football to pay the top wages.

Regardless of what competition The Arsenal play in, they will always be a bigger draw for players than the likes of Tottenham.

Saliba and Ceballas picked Arsenal over Spurs, and they could only dream of signing a player like Nicolas Pepe.

Playing for The Arsenal is bigger than playing in the Champions League

Keenos