Michael K - Think Tank

Registered Civil Engineer (R. Eng.) & Project Management Professional (PMP)
Engineering Construction & Consultancy
Arsenal FC
Continuous search for improvement

[sirkhris @Cris10_chukwu]

@sholard_mancity YOU THINK AFRICANS HATE THEIR FELLOW AFRICANS???

Wait until Senegal, Ghana, Ivory cost, Cape Verde plays and you will see the massive support from Africans.

[Troll Football @TrollFootball]

South America and Africa today

[Michael K - Think Tank @MikeSK85]

@EBL2017 Not all of them. I can't say the same for Willian, Madueke, and Havertz.

[Big Willy @Salibasexual02]

The sign of a good Sporting Director is not to go out and spend 150m on the big thing, it’s about finding someone who can be a big thing before he becomes the big thing.

Napoli didn’t buy PSG’s Kvara, they made him that.

He looks dangerous.

[HandofArsenal @HandofArsenal]

Arsenal are in direct contact with Club Brugge to sign Christos Tzolis. As I reported earlier, player is very keen but the fee will be key. Data team at Arsenal highly impressed for a while with Greek winger.

Market opportunity which wont affect main target or Monga deal.

[Victory @VictoryOwai]

I will choose Christos Tzolis over Barcola without thinking twice.

According to @handofarsenal, Arsenal have made serious checks on the Greek winger and I can't lie, that news got me more excited than most of the Barcola links I've seen recently.

I've spent some time watching Tzolis comps and the first thing that stood out to me was how suited he looks for the Premier League. Direct, aggressive, constantly looking to attack defenders and not afraid of physical battles. For me, that's exactly the type of winger that adapts quickly to English football.

What makes it even more interesting is the price. You're talking about a player who would cost significantly less than Barcola while potentially giving you a very similar output. In today's market where every decent player suddenly costs £70m-£100m, that's something Arsenal should seriously consider.

Maybe it's just me, but this whole situation is giving me flashbacks to when Arsenal were linked with Trossard back in Belgium. A lot of people weren't paying attention then, but some players just have that profile where you can see the talent before everyone else catches on. Trossard ended up proving his quality at the highest level and Tzolis gives me a similar feeling.

As for Princess Barcola, he's obviously talented, but I'm still not fully convinced he's worth the kind of money being talked about. The hype around him seems to be running ahead of the actual need.

The funny thing is that if Tzolis keeps developing at this rate, Premier League clubs are going to be all over him very soon.

If Arsenal are genuinely doing their homework on him, then that's one transfer rumour I'm paying very close attention to.

[Loyal Tips @LoyalTipsters02]

World Cup Matchday 1🌍🏆

🇲🇽 Mexico 2-0 South Africa 🇿🇦 ✅️✅️
🇰🇷 South Korea 2-1 Czech R. 🇨🇿 ✅️✅️
🇨🇦 Canada 2-1 Bosnia 🇧🇦
🇺🇸 USA 2-0 Paraguay 🇵🇾
🇶🇦 Qatar 1-2 Switzerland 🇨🇭
🇧🇷 Brazil 2-1 Morocco 🇲🇦
🇭🇹 Haiti 0-4 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
🇦🇺 Australia 1-1 Turkey 🇹🇷
🇩🇪 Germany 7-0 Curaçao 🇨🇼
🇳🇱 Netherlands 2-1 Japan 🇯🇵
🇨🇮 Ivory Coast 1-0 Ecuador 🇪🇨
🇸🇪 Sweden 2-0 Tunisia 🇹🇳
🇪🇸 Spain 4-0 Cape Verde 🇨🇻
🇧🇪 Belgium 2-1 Egypt 🇪🇬
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 0-2 Uruguay 🇺🇾
🇮🇷 Iran 1-1 New Zealand 🇳🇿
🇫🇷 France 3-1 Senegal 🇸🇳
🇮🇶 Iraq 0-3 Norway 🇳🇴
🇦🇷 Argentina 2-0 Algeria 🇩🇿
🇦🇹 Austria 1-1 Jordan 🇯🇴
🇵🇹 Portugal 3-0 DR Congo 🇨🇩
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 2-1 Croatia 🇭🇷
🇬🇭 Ghana 2-1 Panama 🇵🇦
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan 0-2 Colombia 🇨🇴

[Victory @VictoryOwai]

I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND ARSENAL FANS NOW- Van Persie Deserves treatment Arsenal fans give to him.

I used to wonder why Arsenal fans hated Robin van Persie so much. I genuinely thought it was just football rivalry and that some supporters were being overly emotional about a player who decided to move on.

Then I actually looked into what happened.

This was a club that stood by him through countless injury setbacks. Season after season, Arsenal showed patience when he spent more time in the treatment room than on the pitch. The club believed in him, protected him, gave him opportunities, made him captain, and continued backing him when many would have moved on.

The moment he finally became fit, reached his peak, and started delivering consistently, what did he do? He left.

Not only did he leave, but he joined Manchester United, one of Arsenal's biggest rivals, and helped them win the league. That alone was enough to leave a bitter taste.

But what makes it worse for me is the statement he made years later:

"For me, only Manchester United is home."

Home?

After everything Arsenal did for him?

After the faith, patience, support, and opportunities Arsenal gave him when his career was constantly interrupted by injuries?

I'm sorry, but I completely understand Arsenal fans now.

Football fans can forgive transfers. They can forgive players seeking trophies. What they struggle to forgive is when a player appears to erase the club that stood by him during the hardest periods of his career.

So yes, after learning the full story, my opinion changed.

Van Persie, you deserve the treatment Arsenal fans give to you.

Not because you left.

Because of how you left, where you went, and the way you chose to speak about Arsenal afterwards.

Some players leave a club and remain legends.

Others leave and become villains.

Robin van Persie chose the second path.

[Anything Arsenal🇬🇧 @AnythingArs_]

Following the UCL finals where Arsenal lost to PSG on 4-3 penalty shootout. A lot of fans have poured their frustration and anger on Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka for their average performances.

I would say in my own opinion that Martin Odegaard has always been found wanting during the big games. He has not really influenced matches whenever Arsenal comes up with the big teams which was noticeable in that final match, where he constantly lost possession on so many times.

Bukayo Saka on my own opinion was affected by his defensive abilities. He was helping Cristhian Mosquera to track down Nuno Mendes and Kvaratskhelia on that right side.

Saka spent much of the game tracking back to support his full-back, heavily limiting PSG's attacking threats down their left flank.

While his offensive output was restricted, he created defensive value before being subbed off in the 83rd minute.

[🇸🇪 @SwedeStats]

It's funny to me how Arsenal fans consistently blame their players whether it is Gyökeres, Ödegaard or any other attacking player. But when you look from the outside how are these attacking or creative players going to perform in that setup? When do you blame the manager and the coaching staff that are putting these players in those situations?

Yesterday they had 25% possession and Arsenals best attacking player, Bukayo Saka, had 26 touches. Ödegaard had 12. The players with the most touches in that game for Arsenal were Rice (60), Raya (51), Gabriel (51), Hincapie (47) and Saliba (37). Their defensive midfielder, goalkeeper and three defenders.

How are the attacking players going to perform when they don't get the ball?

[D @EideballHater99]

1 shot on target against PSG today and 2 shots on target against City in the Carabao cup final.

Thats a grand total of 3 shots on target in over 200 minutes of football in finals.

The league title is nice but Arteta has some learning to do if this relationship is to continue.

[UpYourArsenal🔴⚪🔴⚪♥️ @UPYOURARSENAL04]

Myles Lewis Skelly, your future is Bright♥️

[EBL @EBL2017]

Shouldn’t have been taking one in the first place, even if his character meant that he would want to step up.

I’d be asking why the other and more technical players didn’t want to step up in his place.

That’s the real issue.

Not Gabriel’s miss.

[The Football Era @Footballera0]

Odegaard that was totally disgraceful. Embarrassing performance from the captain.

[Glen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇭 @SilverSaltire]

Peak Arteta that, doesn't trust Eze to start or even come on until late, then makes him take a penalty. End of the day his stubbornness got the better of him as we all feared it would. He's a good manager, but don't ever insult out intelligence by calling him elite.

[Suga Shaun @shaunypizzle]

Noni Madueke is a pussy. He argued for days to take pens off Cole Palmer and made Gabriel take one ahead of him?

[Mark Goldbridge @markgoldbridge]

Horrible way to lose a final but I suspect Arteta will think that 25% possession and one shot on goal wasn't really the way to approach that final.

[ᜰ 🇦🇷 @markklfc]

Ian Wright on Gabriel Magalhães missing his penalty in the UCL final:

🗣️ “I have to be honest, I’m struggling to understand what I just saw from Gabriel Magalhães.

This is a Champions League final. This is the moment every player dreams about — not just playing in it, but deciding it. And when you step up for a penalty like that, there has to be composure, there has to be quality, there has to be belief.

But that… that looked like panic.

How can you approach the ball in a final and strike it like you’re trying to just get it out of the area? It’s like you’re trying to clear danger, not score a goal. At that level, you don’t get away with that.

Goalkeepers are not even being asked a real question with that kind of finish. That’s what makes it even more frustrating. In a moment where your team needs you to show personality, to show courage, you have to do better.

And I don’t say this lightly, because penalties are pressure moments, I understand that. But this is the UCL final — there is no bigger stage in club football. You step up there, you own it, or the moment owns you.

Arsenal had worked so hard to get into that position, to be in control of the game, to have a chance to swing it their way. And then one kick… one moment… completely changes the feeling in the stadium.

That’s what hurts the most. Not just the miss, but how it was missed.

At this level, margins are everything. And unfortunately for Gabriel and for Arsenal, that margin wasn’t even close.”

[The Fútbol Zone | FZ @TheFutbolZoneX]

🚨 Mesut Özil Slams Referee After Arsenal's Controversial Champions League Final Defeat

🗣️: "I have watched football for many years, and I understand that referees can make mistakes. Nobody expects perfection. But tonight, it genuinely felt like Arsenal were fighting against more than just PSG.

The incident involving Madueke was a clear penalty for me. In any other game, anywhere else on the pitch, that contact is given as a foul immediately. I struggle to understand how the referee saw it and decided there was nothing there. Even more surprising was the lack of intervention. Moments like that can completely change a final.

What frustrated me most was the consistency. Every important decision seemed to go against Arsenal. Small fouls were given one way but not the other. Challenges that deserved bookings were ignored. Every 50-50 call appeared to favour PSG. As a player, that is incredibly difficult because you begin to feel that no matter what you do, the decisions are not going your way.

A Champions League final should be decided by the players, the coaches and the football itself, not by controversial refereeing decisions. Arsenal may not have played their best game, but they still deserved a fair opportunity to compete. When such a clear penalty is not awarded, people are always going to ask questions.

I feel sorry for the players because they worked all season to reach this stage. You can accept losing when the better team wins fairly, but it is much harder to accept when major decisions leave a cloud over the result. For me, Arsenal deserved that penalty on Madueke, and they deserved much better from the officials tonight."

[Hassan @SomaliaNGooner1]

It's Arsenal against the world.

Bring it on.