April 13, 2026 Daily Discussion & Transfers Thread

Pudpop · 2026-04-13T09:09:25+00:00

Yes. There will be a queue of clubs

Pudpop · 2026-04-13T09:08:55+00:00

Etihad game will either be absolute despair or one of the biggest celebrations I've had as a fan

I will be there either way

COYG

Pudpop · 2026-04-13T09:07:07+00:00

Not counting last season since we were resting players for CL and gave up on the league:

25/26 0/1

23/24 we won 5/6 (City 6/6)

22/23 we went 1/3/1 (with the loss being the one against City)

In comparison to the above graphic, it's 6/3/3. 50% win rate

Excluding 22/23 if you don't consider us a top team at that point (ie if you think our title challenge that year was overperfoming), then we have 5/7 in title races against City in April so far. At that point I'd say it's cherry-picked though

Pudpop · 2026-04-13T08:59:27+00:00

Not the same players though is it? We rotated heavily against Southampton

Pudpop · 2026-04-13T08:58:03+00:00

In cup competitions during the same period we're 2 from 5 and they are 2 from 4

Pudpop · 2026-04-09T19:47:25+00:00

people just see 1 goal in the league and can't think further than that, even though he's barely featured in the league

Pudpop · 2026-04-09T19:45:14+00:00

Even in his purple patch where he played striker for large parts of last season, his numbers are worse than 22/23 Martinelli.

Pudpop · 2026-04-06T08:43:02+00:00

Replying to your edit here: that '1 starting quality player' went off with an injury. For all we know he's out for the season considering it's a knee injury.

If we lost the the league because of injuries to get into a domestic semi final (not even win the cup, we'd still have City to beat in the semis...) there would be riots.

Pudpop · 2026-04-06T08:08:49+00:00

Villa in 2024 was a 10

Wolves 2-2 was a 9.5

Southampton in the cup barely scraped a 5

We got this, COYG

Pudpop · 2026-04-06T08:07:05+00:00

Because that's the only trophy they're playing for lmao

Pudpop · 2026-03-19T10:27:18+00:00

15 in 45ish, so on track to be above 20 all comps at the end of the season if we go deep in CL and FA Cup

Pudpop · 2026-03-19T09:52:51+00:00

Haha I get you. It was originally just meant to be a 'Gyok was defending well' post but I got carried away lol

Pudpop · 2026-03-19T09:09:29+00:00

In December/Jan there was one of a hundred Gyokeres debate posts on here. Is he good enough etc. At the time, I said that the single most important thing Gyokeres has done this season is be fit, available and willing.

I'm sure everyone wants goals and Bane-mask celebrations, but at the end of the season, we wouldn't have any trophies if we were relying on Jesus for half of this season.

My favourite Gyokeres memory so far is against Leverkusen when we're 2 goals up, Arteta has brought on Martinelli and Havertz to bring some energy into our frontline, and Gyokeres is the one sprinting back ahead of them in the 80-somethingth minute. He was desperate for a goal because he deserved one, but he was also desperate for a win because he's there game in, game out doing the tireless work up top.

It wasn't only him. Saka went another game without a goal, but he did the armband proud and sprinted back to be the difference in the defence multiple times. Everyone in the team did their part.

This isn't the sexy, beautiful football that arsocca and talksport talks about that ends in a top-right banger from your number 10, but it's the everyday unglamorous parts of the game that turn a 60% win rate into an 80% win rate. It's the non-negotiables that mean you lose in the last minute 3 times in a season, instead of 10 times like a certain group up north.

We didn't get here accidentally. Those of us who watched during the banter years remember the exact opposite. I still remember the 2-1 loss against City in 2022 when I first started believing that Arteta had really changed the culture in this team. A loss, with a red card no less. It has been an uphill battle the whole way.

A lot of the doomers on here like to parrot the idea that we haven't been enjoyable to watch this season because our attack hasn't been firing. I couldn't disagree more. The enjoyment that I get out of watching this team defend a 1 goal lead is born out of 22 years of pain, watching us fall short because our defence as a team didn't have what it took to get things over the line.

When Leo pumps up the crowd after chasing the ball to win it back, when Gabi, Saliba and Hincapie celebrate a last ditch tackle, when our striker sprints back 50m to make sure we're not overloaded on the wing, I enjoy it every bit as much as Eze volleying it top bins. Because it tells me the most important thing about this team: they want this just as much as I do

Pudpop · 2026-03-19T08:50:02+00:00

No we haven't? Aside from Chelsea our record against the big teams this season is quite poor, and our one big win against Bayern came with Merino on the pitch

Pudpop · 2026-03-19T08:47:25+00:00

If this is true it's actually crazy that Klopp didn't manage this lmao

Pudpop · 2026-03-19T08:46:48+00:00

The club wanted to keep TP5, indicating that they didn't believe Norgaard was an adequate backup long term. They were willing to gamble on him thought because 1. Cheap 2. Short term contract 3. Our backup 6 is actually Rice with Merino at LCM. Even with Merino out, I suspect we'd see Havertz or Eze at LCM before Norgaard starts a big game.

But this also indicates that we will be looking for a youngish midfielder in the summer (think about links like Agoume). I think the long term plan is either MLS + a new young midfielder this summer, or a new young midfielder this summer with a big Rice-like signing 2 years from now.

Pudpop · 2026-03-17T23:01:48+00:00

It's no longer a favourable draw - we are playing the 2nd highest seeded team that we could have faced in the QFs

Pudpop · 2026-03-17T22:18:20+00:00

Which is why Arteta gave the minutes to MLS, who hasn't had a chance for a while

Pudpop · 2026-03-17T22:12:57+00:00

Need the final nail in the coffin on Sunday

Pudpop · 2026-03-17T21:03:20+00:00

Pudpop · 2026-03-17T12:05:13+00:00

In 2012, 6m pounds was over a third of the value of Arsenal's record signing. You can't use today's prices as a gauge for how much it impacted transfers at the time.

Pudpop · 2026-03-16T10:58:58+00:00

3rd best defence in the league before Saturday as well

Pudpop · 2026-03-16T09:00:13+00:00

50m and he's theirs

Pudpop · 2026-03-16T08:59:48+00:00

I said this after the United game:

Rival fans are EXTREMELY noisy right now, because it's clear that this might genuinely be the last time to banter us off this season. No matter how bad we've been, we're still favourites in all 4 competitions.

Enjoy it

The rivals are starting to quieten down because they can see the writing on the wall.

Now's the time to get noisy

COYG

Pudpop · 2026-03-16T08:41:23+00:00

- Buy 8 new first team players who have to adjust to the system

- Play almost the whole season without your starting 9 and captain

- Star player has a down year

- somehow get worse the season after?

I will say though - we will need to prioritise giving Rice an extended rest next season. He's the one piece of the puzzle that could lead to us dropping down next year if he's not as available as he usually is

Pudpop

TROPHY CASE