Some of you contribute to the collective alcoholism of Zambians because you are assholes at work.
There can be no office politics without office politicians.
I’m still young, still learning and unlearning each day. One vital lesson I often pass on to my friends and siblings is to avoid chronic social gatherings and social media when you’re going through something or when life simply requires you to embrace a season of solitude. Where it’s just You Vs You.
The thing about emotion is that it leaks. You’ll either bleed on people who don’t deserve it or leave a trail that, when something tragic eventually happens, suddenly makes everything make sense.
So I urge you: if life isn’t where you need it to be and you’re finding it difficult to compartmentalize, refrain from too many interactions. Keep a close circle, and be honest with yourself about where you are and what needs to be done to get out of that funk, rebuild, and reorganize your life.
The Failed Arsenal Aura Gamble: Reality Check
As an honest fan, I will 100% back my club this season, not so much because of what they’ve done in this window, but mainly because they have, at the very least, exceeded expectations in recent years.
The club needs to understand that just because we won a title after 22 years, players won’t suddenly flock to the Emirates. Like before, we will still need to convince players, not beg, but sell the project while respecting market value. Trying to outsmart a crazy market with no real cap, especially in such a volatile environment, was a massive gamble for a club with one league title in two decades. Harsh, but humbling.
Unless the hierarchy comes out and gives fans an explanation, or Mikel addresses some of these decisions once the dust settles, this window is a complete failure. I’d go as far as saying it’s the biggest failure of our recent windows. Period. But the reason behind that failure is even more alarming because it serves as a reality check for everyone involved with Arsenal.
Simply “trying” will no longer consistently keep Arsenal at the top of the pile.
When news broke that Morgan Rogers was a top target, there was a quoted price that reflected the current market. That isn’t Arsenal’s fault, nor is it Chelsea’s. Chelsea simply decided they would pay or structure a deal that worked for all parties involved. Arsenal failed to do that.
Vini Jr. or even Alvarez always felt like an “attempt” to me rather than a realistic deal, particularly when reports suggested it came from higher up. That has been a worrying trend throughout this window, with top executives seemingly having to step in at every turn. Why? For the champions? With a football director already in charge? It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Sure, Bruno Guimarães was a solid addition, and we paid market value. That’s fine. However, letting Trossard and Martinelli go only to end up with Tzolis, a young player coming from a relatively lower-tier league, is unfair to him first and foremost. You’re effectively setting him up to fill the shoes of two proven Premier League players who were part of a team that took three years to finally win the title.
The same club that made deals for players like Madueke cannot suddenly claim, “We only want level raisers,” after five seasons of failing to address the lack of urgency in attack.
I will support my club throughout this period, but make no mistake: this window is a total failure.
Will Arsenal retain the title or win the UCL? I don’t think so. Maybe they will, but based on history and recent actions, I’m not convinced they wanted this window badly enough.
Will they challenge? Absolutely. The squad is still strong enough, and importantly, we’ve kept the core together.
As before, though, it wouldn’t surprise me if the club is content with one league title for now while recovering from years of buying considerably more than we sell. My intuition tells me this outcome may even have been anticipated internally, while publicly appearing to have “simply tried.”
That protects the hierarchy while insulating them from blame or responsibility for what ultimately looks like pseudo-ambition.
City is still the team to beat. Don’t mistake them for Utd after Fergie. City spine is ok & can buy anyone (not shade, facts). The bottom feeders will feed but I see no changes in usual challengers. Chelsea to push high/lack of UCL. Utd to stay Utd. Liv are lost, could change.
Martin Ødegaard: “We looked good, but there are things we could have done better. We could have scored more & created more. We can be even sharper with the last pass - I had a few where I have to give it better - then we can score more!” 📈🇳🇴 [Sky]