By Tony Attwood
It was indeed just two months ago, in April 2021, that the story appeared that “Arsenal will look to sell at least four players this summer in a bid to raise funds for new signings, football.london understands.”
So not https://www.connectpcsupport.co.uk/even that we had a budget at all, but instead “a bid” to raise money. Staff were being laid off, even Gunnersauraus got chopped. It all sounded rather bleak.
We were told that Arsenal’s targets were simply getting “Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid on a permanent deal this summer, while the right-back and left-back positions will also look to be strengthened.”
To make the point they added that, “Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and non-executive director Tim Lewis are in regular contact with Arteta, who admitted in March that he is fully aware of the financial constraints Arsenal will be under this summer.”
It was more than bleak, and that point was emphasised last month as the same “source” (Football.London) ran a second story: “Per Mertesacker’s ruthless plan to boost Arsenal’s transfer budget this summer has already begun.”
The sub-heading was that “The Gunners academy will be vital as they seek to source funds when the transfer window reopens next month,” and the statement was clear – Arsenal are going to sell off some of the academy’s promising stars to raise even just a bit of cash.
So it was doubleplus not looking good, and for those who trust Football.London’s commentary it looked even more ungood (another newspeak word FoLo haven’t started using yet, but which suits their “1984” style) when on 8 June Newsbreak wrote
“We gave Arsenal a £50 million transfer budget and this is who they bought.”
And then on 19 June we got “Arsenal news and transfers recap: Kroenke’s £250m decision, Aouar bid, Lacazette replacement”.
The subheading was “All the very latest Arsenal news and transfer rumours from football.london as the Gunners look set to enjoy a busy summer of transfer activity ahead of the 2021/22 campaign”
Now if you have read your classic English literature you will know about this type of journalism, because it was the heart of George Orwell’s 1948 novel “1984”. The news was pumped out day by day only then suddenly to change, without a word of explanation.
Of course in 1984 it wasn’t about football, it was a case of which superpower we were at war with, but the technique is the same. No explanation, no backward glance. One day we are selling the children and the next we have £250m to spend.
There is of course some attempt to hide this lunatic change with gibberish such as, “The Gunners endured an abysmal season that saw them finish 8th in the League and miss out on European football for the first time in close to 30 years,” still being run day after day after day (that from Arsenal true fans who continue. “As a result of that, improvements and changes must happen in the form of new signings and sale of unwanted players”
ArsenalTrueFans tried to cover their tracks by suggesting that “Fans have been left speculating about Arsenal’s exact transfer budget and now 90min.com claim that Mikel Arteta will be given close to £250m to rebuild his squad with at least 5 new signings ahead of the 2021/2022 season.”
So there we are, the world turned upside down in a couple of weeks, but that’s good isn’t it? Well not exactly, if you read the headlines that followed the sudden addition of a “2” in front of the “50” for the number of millions of pounds the club has to spend.
HITC comes up with “Pray he rejects us’: Some Arsenal fans fear ‘Midtable FC’ after hearing who Edu wants now.”
The Mirror dampens spirits further with “Arsenal set to lose young talent after Arteta fails in contract talks.”
And then there is the Express with “Mauricio Pochettino ready to thwart Arsenal transfer plans as PSG plot £50m Ben White bid.”
Plus we are still likely to lose our best youngsters as The Sport Review announces “Arsenal having to fight off interest in 20-year-old starlet”
And “Blow for Arsenal as target urged to stay put by important team-mate” (
And “Arsenal man asks to leave – Has ‘unmissable opportunity’ elsewhere, Gunners set asking price.” (Sport Witness).
So what is going on? One day we were selling the kiddies and then we have quarter of a billion pounds. Are we really asked to believe that Stan Kroenke woke up one morning a changed man?
Or could it be that some typist made a mistake and the “2” slipped in, and everyone else copied? Or how about this…
We have been saying constantly that Arsenal had a brilliant last two thirds to the season and the big money transfers are not needed as the side is very good.
But of course the media don’t care about the truth. All they want to do is keep you reading, and to keep knocking Arsenal all day long.
The Glorious 2021 Revolution
- Why Arsenal absolutely must not “allow the players to play”
- How Arteta gave us a hint of what he was about to do, but we missed it.
- For the last two thirds of last season, Arsenal were a top two club
- The audacious tactical change that sent Arsenal charging up the league table
- Figures from Football Observatory at the end of the season showing Arsenal players dominating the statistics.
The video collection series
- Over 270 individual historic videos And the number is growing daily!
- The video collections – highlights of games against selected teams
For fffffff’s sake give us a break from all this total |”chowder”. We, who have suffered this bilge for years, simply frown, then openly scoff at the rudimentary and childish “cobblers” released on these sites. We may only be Gooners, but not THAT bloody stupid!!
Great article!!! Be careful – if you keep it up, you may need to get a remote start for your car!!!
So, this side is very good?
In the first half of the season when we were dropping like a stone, we played a lot of the top half teams. It was not until the second half that we started to play more weak teams, so in the last 10 games, the only teams that we played that were above us were Liverpool and Everton, and we lost both those games, and the rest were below us and we still did not win them all.
The second half of the season is a mirage, like the first 22 games of Emery’s reign.
As it was, even in the victories, our performances were usually dire.
Unfortunately, many fans clutch at straws and are totally unrealistic.
I used to like this blog, because the writers were realistic and straight-forward.
Now it seems your pathological fear of removing another failing manager has turned you into as much wishful thinkers as so many others.
It is not surprising that I come to this site so rarely and will come even less in the future.
You may say, good riddance, but, whilst you continue to view the continued destruction of our beloved club through rose-tinted glasses, I suspect that there will be more people like me.
Good luck to you all.
Jigsol I don’t say good riddance, at all. But I would point out an error in your calculations.
Counting the traditional five other members of the big six, plus Leicester who have effectively been part of the group for the last few years, that is six teams to play. We played five of those games before Christmas and seven after.
Before Christmas we won one and lost four.
After Christmas we won four, lost two and drew one.
So clearly after Christmas we were not just playing weak teams – most of our games against the rest of the big six and Leicester were after christmas.
Don’t know where you are getting your data from, and no you are always welcome here, but I think our difference is we are using data, not emotion.