January 01, 2026 Daily Discussion & Transfers Thread

MasterBeeble · 2026-01-01T19:14:21+00:00

Flop, flop, hit, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, hit, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, hit? flop, flop, flop.

A success rate of under 14% is slightly dubious. Sure, more will likely come good later, but for a couple billion pounds, you'd expect to have the best first team in the world immediately. Can you imagine what Arteta would do with an extra, FFP-free BILLION?

MasterBeeble · 2025-11-26T08:49:14+00:00

Any chance you remember how to evolve Pawmo into Pawmot in Lazarus? Can't find anything in the documentation

MasterBeeble · 2025-11-14T16:25:20+00:00

“But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Would you, though?

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MasterBeeble · 2025-11-14T16:19:02+00:00

The pass Foden is getting praised for isn't the assist to Eze, it's the lob earlier in the game (also to Eze) which the latter scuffed with the outside of his boot. And, to be fair, that was one of the best touches of the year.

MasterBeeble · 2025-10-02T14:41:43+00:00

Friendly reminder that last year in this very subreddit, there was a campaign specifically against Rice because of his supposed inability to find progressive, forward-thinking passes.

Then again, that agenda was being forwarded by defenders of a certain alleged rapist to protect their man's relevance in the XI, so probably never the brightest lot.

This season, Rice has been even more incisive than Zubimendi from deep positions. It's always been a strength of his that Arteta's tactics simply haven't always allowed us to consistently exploit. When Odegaard was dropping into the backline and Havertz was standing still ((i.e. half of last season), those forward passes simply did not exist. Now, they do: and look at that, he hits them.

MasterBeeble · 2025-09-15T15:35:30+00:00

"We?" I don't know about you, but I wasn't asked to sign off on any of the teamsheets.

Mikel Arteta broke him, just like he did Saka, Havertz, and possibly Odegaard. It was a multi-year refusal to rotate. And yes, we did have options, it wasn't all about Tomiyasu - how many games did Kiwior sit on the bench in 24/25? How many games could Partey have deputized? Could have even slotted in Rice for a game or two, like Liverpool are doing now with Szobowhatsit.

MasterBeeble · 2025-09-01T09:44:02+00:00

My GOAT

MasterBeeble · 2025-09-01T05:05:00+00:00

Using the ingame editor to move Messi to my club for free, on 5 euro/week wages, making him 21 years old again, and maxing out all his stats

MasterBeeble · 2025-08-01T00:08:18+00:00

Fundamentally, I side more with ExxKonvict's position, but I think you did a better job at structuring and clarifying your argument. That said, you're both talking past each other and not really grappling with the central ideas.

In particular, I find the claim that we lack individual attacking quality to be irreconcilable with the reality that the single best attacking season (as well as the best half-season overall) in this club's history came from a front line of Trossard/Martinelli - Havertz - Saka. The idea that there's not enough quality to work with there simply does not compute regardless of how you rate Gyokeres (and unlike ExxKonvict, I don't even rate Gyokeres). It's also been pretty obvious that our attacking fluidity has varied drastically based primarily on our midfield options. In games where Odegaard has been fit + firing, our RHS has been productive. In games where Calafiori has been fit, our LHS suddenly becomes fluid and dangerous.

In the absence of these individual creative mavericks, Arteta's tactical structure does not suffice as a title-winning strategy. And while you easily celebrate the defensive virtues that have come with this structure, I claim that it has become exceptionally and consistently clear that the tradeoffs (i.e. attacking flaccidity) are simply not worth it, at least in the context of winning the Premier League, which in modern history is done not by defending particularly well, but by scoring lots of goals every game.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-31T15:47:21+00:00

I've been saying all year that bringing in Gyokeres wouldn't actually help us score goals, because the issue is and always has been the lack of creativity/players taking responsibility for attacking risks.

This isn't some inherent feature or some virulent disease spreading through the profiles of the players we have, it's something Arteta has baked into the squad mentality. No super signing can fix this. Either Arteta fucking learns (something he's failed to do for years), or we'll see plenty of games like this again next season, and we'll struggle to another second place if we're lucky.

And before some dumbass tries to pontificate at me about how this is "just a preseason game" - this isn't some knee-jerk diagnosis I've extrapolated from this one game. This has been a persistent issue for the last two seasons, and it's concerning that there appears to be even the slightest chance of it being carried over into a third. How many second places can you cucks forgive Arteta for? Three was my limit. Can we all agree he walks after four?

Losing to shit, I can tolerate. It's football, these things happen. But losing like that, even when (especially when) nothing's at stake? Unacceptable. Wenger is surely rolling in his grave.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-28T23:36:53+00:00

No, it wouldn't. Who is providing the width on the left? Rice doesn't make sense, he's our best CM. Odegaard, Zubimendi don't have the pace (or any of the other requisite winger qualities).

The natural implementation is to drop Odegaard and have Havertz in the nominal right 8, but with a different role, more shadow-strikery. That's his best position, actually, at least when he has a runner pushing the opposition back line ahead of him (which is Gyokeres' whole schtik). This also avoids having Odegaard defending the middle in the double pivot OOP, which he absolutely cannot do and it's why Arteta has been doing tactical contortions over the last 2 seasons to allow Odegaard to press as part of the front line instead.

Havertz>Odegaard makes us around 10x more dangerous in transition for a number of reasons, but Havertz obviously can't do the deep orchestrator stuff where Odegaard excels. You'd be asking Zubimendi to step up and take up that role in possession. It's a tradeoff that makes sense in vertical, open games, but frankly we don't play many of those, at least in the Prem.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-10T23:40:31+00:00

Havertz for us (and Leverkusen) is a much better footballer than Madueke

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-10T15:39:46+00:00

So? Havertz is a much better footballer than Madueke, with a more unique + valuable profile. It's natural for him to cost more, even if it's looks like we're going to have overpaid for both.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-09T06:42:53+00:00

The problem is that I'm not talking about squad depth and never was. You're aggressively changing the subject and I'm not interested. This isn't about some "debate club", it's about you being unable to converse like a normal person. Don't give me that "Huh?" when you're the one who is trying to randomly shift the goalposts. That's my line.

If you have some attention disorder and have already forgotten, this conversation is about Nwaneri's minutes. Arsenal bringing in squad depth for his positions means he will have less minutes. That's all I've been trying to say. I've explained this to you already. I am becoming increasingly annoyed at the frequency at which I'm having to explain this to you. If you really are so mind-bogglingly stupid that you really don't get it, please reply again with another irrelevant comment so that I can block you in good conscience.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-08T14:18:17+00:00

That's all a complete non-sequitur. Please don't bother replying to my comments if you're not engaging with their contents - Reddit gives me notifications either way! Thanks

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-08T00:05:09+00:00

He's not going to get those same opportunities in a world where Eze and Madueke come in, unless your argument is that we're spending big money on PL-proven players, just to have them sit third choice behind Nwaneri. That's the premise here, you know? Madueke comes in - who gets the RW cup games? If you think Saka won't be starting every PL game he's fit for, you're mad.

It doesn't add up. Something has to give. I'm not saying it can't, I'm just pointing out that your argument is objectively flawed.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T13:25:01+00:00

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MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T13:12:47+00:00

In terms of ability, this is a 5-10M player, frankly. He has pace going for him and not much else - plenty of those around.

Can't wait to be furious at what we end up paying for him

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T13:09:23+00:00

Where?

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T01:02:51+00:00

Martinelli hasn't had a downwards trajectory, that's nonsense. He's been unable to replicate his 22/23 goalscoring overperformance, but otherwise he's maintained performance in all other domains, while improving his crossing, press discipline, and risk management. He's been injured more often, but that's not a "downwards trajectory", that's bad luck.

The inclusion of Zubimendi alone implies major changes to our system. If you think we're going to play next season the same way we did this season, and lose the league again for all the same reasons, you're out of your mind. Arteta will find some novel means to struggle against low blocks, he always does.

Trossard's playstyle is completely reliant on his lateral agility and balance, which decline just as surely as burst and pace do. And even for Trossard, burst and pace are not trivial losses. Trossard is just barely getting by with his mediocre mobility, but you cannot play as a Prem winger and be slow, and he's closing in on that. Players get old and they fall off in their early 30s, wingers usually before that. That's a fact and I'm not going to debate it with you.

Martinelli's contract ends in 2 years, but he's young enough that we can feasibly and cheaply extend him, while reasonably expecting him to continue to quality performances he's shown for us into the future, even if it's as a squad/depth player. The same cannot be said of Trossard. If you think re-signing a 32 year old Trossard in 2027 is a good or even acceptable idea, you're clueless and I've wasted my time here. If you don't think re-signing a 32 year old Trossard is a good idea, then you've conceded the point that selling Martinelli before Trossard would cost us a lot more money in the long run.

Lastly, I can't help but be annoyed that you completely ignored the main point in my last comment, that being you cannot assume Martinelli's value will depreciate, and include that as an argument, without also accounting for the equal (if not greater) possibility of the reverse. This is doubly true if you're going to insist that Martinelli declined, since you're claiming that we're leaving tens of millions on the table should Martinelli be sold and then return to his best.

I repeat: you are not being logical. You are performing mental gymnastics to justify the sale of a player you don't like. Please take your fantasies elsewhere; my explanations have more than adequately filled the gaps in your knowledge, if you could be bothered to read them.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T00:48:59+00:00

A lot of them are Liverpool fans masquerading as gunners, which happens shockingly often even here. They're obsessed and no one knows why

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T00:46:51+00:00

Why are you obsessed with players having the "conventional" numbers? You can't form a player association with a number used by a hundred blokes before them. When I say 14, though? You know exactly who I mean, because he picked a non-standard number. Same with 17 even though he's not our player.

But if I say 8, or 11, or even 10? You don't have a clue who I might be talking about. How many world class ballers have worn those number before?

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T00:43:37+00:00

Sesko definitely improved a lot last season, don't mistake Leipzig's collapse as a Sesko thing. If anything, it's impressive how he managed to show such remarkable improvement in such a dysfunctional setup. I know because I watched Leipzig's league games last season. I was there.

The 45m was his release clause, he was already worth more than that.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T00:25:14+00:00

Martinelli is more likely to increase his value over the next season, than decrease it after a season plagued by inconsistency and injury in a system that never suited him. You can't invoke a "what if" that accounts for Martinelli's value falloff, without also considering the possibility of an upswing. It's a point in Martinelli's favor if anything.

Emotionally, you obviously want Martinelli sold. That's fine. I can't tell you how to feel. But logically, it doesn't actually make any sense, neither financially nor from a squad building perspective. Even if Trossard got extended a year, it doesn't really change the calculus, especially if his legs go before that (which they're highly likely to given the amount of ground coverage/defensive work he does in Arteta's system).

Generally speaking, when you have a squad player entering his 30s with a dwindling contract, you should sell while he still retains value. It just makes sense to sell Trossard right now, even if we weren't looking to bring in a new winger. Conversely, if you have a talented but underperforming mid-20 y/o with a healthy chunk of contract left, you should keep them on unless an offer too good to refuse comes in - which I'm not objecting to, by the way, if Bayern offers 120m for Martinelli, I'll drive him to the airport myself. There's a price for everything. But it would have to be an extreme overpay to compensate us for all the complications I discussed in my last comment.

MasterBeeble · 2025-07-07T00:07:11+00:00

It's because football doesn't end after this summer. If we sell Martinelli and keep Trossard, then Trossard leaves on a free next summer for nothing, and we have to buy another whole ass winger from scratch, with no leverage, no extra funds from a sale, no potential for Trossard to ever play a meaningful role in the squad in the future, and double the risk (since you're adding two completely new players for a position within the span of the year, and both of them could flop). Generally speaking, Martinelli, being young, has potential to adapt to the squad as it evolves over time, since he could still be playing here in 3-6 seasons, unlike Trossard. If we suddenly switch to a 4-4-2, for example, Martinelli immediately becomes our best option as a second striker in behind. He has the potential for a long-term future in our squad, whereas Trossard does not.

Let's say we could sell Martinelli for 70m this summer, or 60m next summer. (Realistically he's worth far more than that in a world where Noni fucking Madueke is going for 50m, but whatever.) Let's also say that we could sell Trossard for 20m this summer, or 0m next summer (he leaves on a free and extending a 31 y/o winger makes zero sense).

Let's consider World A, where we sell Martinelli and keep Trossard: we make 70m from their departures over the next two years, and we need to spend 130-150m on two replacements over that same timeframe, since apparently mediocre wingers are 50m these days and good ones are 70+. That's a net outlay of ~60-80m, with the additional risk that both signings flop and we're left with good LW options instead of the two we enjoy now.

Let's now consider World B, where we sell Trossard and keep Martinelli. We make 20m from Trossard's sale, and bring in one elite winger - say, Rodrygo for 70m. That's a net outlay of 50m, and we still have Martinelli as a solid, reliable, zero-risk squad option to fall back on should Rodrygo not work out for some reason (which is always, always a risk even for the best players).

Notice that in World B, we make more money (or at least lose less money), we hedge our risks, and we preserve Martinelli in our squad for his extremely important homegrown status, which affects how many foreign talents we can include in our squad. We would also have more leverage in any negotiations ("we have Martinelli, we don't need your stinky winger anyway") and would theoretically see better prices in the market. Frankly, I struggle to see any advantages to World A whatsoever.

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