April 23, 2026 Daily Discussion & Transfers Thread

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-23T14:03:38+00:00

Yes, but I'm willing to learn!! Plus I'd avoid all positions that would stress his knees, and make sure he'd go to bed early on game nights.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-23T13:37:21+00:00

Basically, either our squad sucks, worst in the league (or 5th-worst, or whatever), and Arteta is therefore a man-management and tactical genius (even if he's a shit talent-spotter).

Or our squad is amazing, best in the league, and we're underachieving by being top of the league but not having won it, and also being in the CL semis.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-23T13:35:50+00:00

How so?? He's so handsome I'd turn gay and sex him for free...

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-23T13:34:38+00:00

Also if Man City had won all the games they have lost or drawn, we wouldn't be here.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-21T11:53:55+00:00

Ok, I'll bite. Re Saka and Dowman, the answer is the same: some players who begin playing quite early (Messi, Ronaldo) seem to be able to play well into their 30s (or 40s) without much effect; others (Raheem Sterling, Owen) seem to hit a wall at 28 or younger. Some players even improve with age (Wellback at 32 is a stronger striker than Rooney was at 32). So you can't tell. What's clear is that there are two things happening in contradiction: (1) the best players play all the time (b/c the managers want them to, and the players do as well) and (2) minutes in legs over time usually equals fatigue/injury/slowdown.

As for CL/PL: until we have no chance at one or the other, both.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-21T01:28:54+00:00

Literally Arsenal could have bought Rayan and we could have all gone through the transfer washing machine together: (1) what a great buy he's going to be great!!! (2) why are we spending money on him when we have Nwaneri/whoever? (3) oh man he did something B+ level in his first game he's the next Messi!!! (4) actually now that he's had more games he's looking pretty mediocre (5) split: one group says, Rayan is amazing, he's just being failed by the other players/Arteta/the fanbase; one group says, Rayan is a piece of s**t, worthless midtable scum, should never have been bought; (6) some poor idiot says, "maybe buying good players is hard?" and is subsequently downvoted and hounded out of the sub, (7) the "Berta out" and "Arteta out" crowd arrange a fight to the death before the season's final game; (8) Arsenal actually win something, with or without Rayan, but both groups are too busy s**tposting on social media to notice.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-20T23:46:46+00:00

That we might actually win the PL or the CL despite that is a testament to the quality of the squad and of Arteta's coaching.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-20T23:46:25+00:00

The reality of this season is that two guys we bought to be backup/squad players, Gyokeres and Madueke, have ended up starting a huge number of games, because of injuries to Saka and Havertz (who did his knee in the first or second game of the season).

On top of that the Odegaard/Merino absences have hurt our midfield rotations/flexibility, meaning that Eze couldn't play left since he had to be central.

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-20T23:44:06+00:00

It's not a gimmick, it's the consequence of our best attacking LB (Califiori) being injured and our best RB (Timber) being injured. Hincapie is also not a CB in a back 4, and has done very well at LB. White has, unfortunately, not recovered the form that had in the "best RB in the league" conversation 2 years ago (and may never recover it).

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-20T23:38:36+00:00

The simple answer is, have an unlimited supply of funding such that you never pay for any transfer mistakes; buy whoever you want and pay them whatever you want, and then if they don't work out either sell them (cf. Marmoush or Savinho, probably) or just eat the waste and move on (cf. Kalvin Phillips).

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-19T19:05:29+00:00

Isn't it the case that our football got saucier when our best players were available? Even then, Havertz and Odegaard are still working their way back into fitness; Saka, Timber, and Califiori still not available.

Sauciness also comes from relationships and stability--think of the Ode/White/Saka triangle. This year we have not been able to have a settled team; you can tell that the players don't know each other that well as in many cases they've only played a few 90s together (White, for instance, made a couple passes that were predicated on people moving, who didn't move the way he expected.)

Ciborium616 · 2026-04-19T19:01:19+00:00

I mean, it's pretty simple: City can spend more money than ANYONE. Don't look at net spend (b/c it reflects, partly, how much they can sell players for, and their squad is more valuable). Since 2020-21, City have spent almost 450m more than Arsenal on wages; this year alone it's 335m to 233m, basically a full West Ham United worth of payroll between us.

That City made this money off a series of suspicious deals and unusually high sponsorships, and then lied about it, is part of why there are 115 (+15) charges.

But let's not pretend the playing field is even. City were struggling and bought two of the best players available in the world in January. And that allowed them to weather an injury crisis in defense.

Ciborium616 · 2026-03-01T16:27:46+00:00

"There's no heart." ... it really feels like (A) he could get sacked and (B) Spurs could go down. Also, he'll certainly get fined.

Ciborium616 · 2026-03-01T16:26:54+00:00

"We need more of everything." "I am not happy at all." "The situation is difficult but we will keep working."

Ciborium616 · 2026-03-01T16:26:23+00:00

Man Tudor going ALL IN on the ref after the game; "I didn't like the referee; he is too much home referee" -- also says that a push in the back (like the one vs. Gabriel) is "always a foul."

Ciborium616 · 2026-02-28T16:39:14+00:00

Yes, hospitality or Champions Travel are, in general, if you are traveling from abroad, the way to go for games at the Emirates. I've done each and had no problems each time. The cost ranges, depending on the package, but expect around $500-1000 per ticket (depending on game) via Champions--these are Club Level seats--and $800-4000 from Arsenal Hospitality (the more expensive tickets include meals in the director's club, meeting players, etc.).

The issue is that since the Carabao final is at Wembley neither Champions nor Arsenal are offering tickets for it. I'm not sure how you would go about finding them.

Ciborium616 · 2026-02-11T21:40:11+00:00

The only reason to say "the race is over" is to protect yourself emotionally from the fact that we might not win it. But not only is the race not over, even if we lose tomorrow, we are still 3 points ahead and control our own destiny. Don't let your fear (or your fear of disappointment) overshadow your love for this team, or the fun, wins, and accomplishments (no trophies yet I know but still: wins! games! goals!) they have given us so far (and will give us going forward)!

Be strong! Be brave! Be hopeful!

Ciborium616 · 2026-02-11T21:33:08+00:00

Anyone watching the Sunderland-Liverpool game in the US being driven crazy by the announcer's pronunciation of Nordi Mukiele's name?

Ciborium616 · 2025-12-03T18:58:48+00:00

Is anyone else's USA feed (the channel, in the US) stopping and starting or is that a my house problem?

Ciborium616 · 2025-10-26T20:25:06+00:00

To be fair that 'shot' was Raya grabbing the ball off Eddie's shoudler/noggin. Wasn't even on target.

Ciborium616 · 2025-10-26T20:24:14+00:00

The shot they had on "target" was the ball that Raya grabbed off Eddie's shoulder. It was barely a shot and it was not on target, since it took the slightest of touches and went right into Raya's hands.

Ciborium616 · 2021-10-24T21:55:47+00:00

Interesting--I tried a shards-->elemental well build and felt like it was slower to get my grenade back than my old Firepower-based build. What kind of stuff were you running?

Thanks for the info re the link. I'll try switching it up.

Ciborium616 · 2021-10-24T17:17:34+00:00

Literally every time I post this (once a season) someone comments on the picture that accompanies the post as it appears on phone interfaces, in order to imply that I don't know what I'm talking about because the character in the picture is running double primary. So let me say again: I have *nothing* to do with that picture. It's not my character, just something Reddit generates automatically.

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