Timothy

Be Better Than You Were Yesterday 💪 Your best years are the years you got left.

[EBL @EBL2017]

Every coach can’t get what they want all the time, but oftentimes the alternatives in the market for Arsenal were cut-price deals like Trossard (who ended up being long-term solutions) or simply signing nobody at all.

Arsenal didn’t sign a forward for 4 straight transfer windows after Gabriel Jesus joined (aside from Sterling on loan). He had to convert Havertz and Merino into #9’s.

Arteta has a year left on his deal. I’ve talked about his connections with Barca and PSG many times. Despite having a summer final where he finally got what he deserved which saw him win the Premier League title, lose out on the Champions League on penalties in the final, and get to a domestic cup final, Arteta has been left underwhelmed in the market by Arsenal’s board on several occasions.

Mainly good windows (21/22, 22/23, 23/24 and 25/26), sure, and some understandable situations where the club couldn’t invest much because of errors in the past under Emery, but also some windows where the club didn’t go the extra mile, all of which happened all the way up until 25/26 when the club realised Arteta was right and the squad needed two top players for EVERY position.

Plus, throughout that time period, Arteta often had to face internal battles to sign players HE wanted and not guys like Emerson Royal who the club wanted. Make no mistake about it, HE is the guy who understands what Arsenal need in the market more than anybody else. HE is the catalyst behind EVERYTHING good at Arsenal. NOBODY else.

After transforming the club from top to bottom and delivering several seasons which the club have never seen in their entire history DESPITE competing with resources that don’t come close to City, Chelsea and the like, the LEAST an ambitious football club can do at this point is back him significantly with a major signing that he believes elevates the team to continue to win major titles.

Morgan Rogers was that guy.

The club didn’t get it done. That’s the reality. They faffed around all summer and didn’t act with speed or conviction, just like Arteta demanded in his final press conference of the 25/26 season.

Arsenal’s owners are the ones to blame because they pay the fee. Not Berta or anyone else. They are responsible.

@Arsenal, deliver in the market for Mikel OR risk losing him, getting some success despite him leaving in the immediate aftermath because of the foundations that he left, but ultimately regress over a medium-long period of time because he is a once in a lifetime coach that cannot be replaced, like Klopp at Liverpool.

There is still time to make up for it, but Arteta will be furious and rightly so. People talk about the fee, but Arsenal only initiated true contact in the last week. What were they doing for the last month?! They could have negotiated more intentionally… 😤

No wonder there has been silence on Arteta’s contract renewal. Why renew when he has given everything and more but the club cannot give him what he deserves to help the team keep winning over a consistent period of time?

That is why I mentioned PSG and Barcelona earlier. Heck, even Real Madrid or Manchester City. You name the club, they’d want Mikel Arteta in charge.

Respect him or lose him.

Help him evolve the team. To solve the attacking issues of yesteryear with the ‘individuality’ he has claimed the club have needed for many a year.

Part of it is on Arteta to sign the right players and to improve the level by evolving the team with guys like Ødegaard being moved out of the #10 and into a deeper role, for example, but at least give him the tools to be able to do that and evolve the team.

Let’s give the club time to make up for the error of their ways, but this hurts because Rogers was PERFECT for Arsenal…

🙏

[MICHELLE. @Chefdoo195]

💣🚨BREAKING: Captain Odegaard Has Refused To Blame Sorloth For The Incident Between Him and Haaland.

In his post match interview, he said…

Interviewer: Martin, a heartbreaking way to go out in the quarter-finals. How are you and the team feeling?

🗣️Ødegaard: Obviously disappointed. We showed a lot of character and led 1-0 for a long time. England are a strong side and they found a way in extra time. Credit to them, but it stings for us.

Interviewer: There were several big talking points – the ball hitting the camera cable on England’s equaliser, and the VAR decision to disallow your goal after the incident with Haaland. Your thoughts?

🗣️Ødegaard: The cable one is strange. Everyone saw the ball change direction. It’s one of those things you don’t see often, and it affected the game. As for our goal… the referee and VAR made their decision. Erling made a small contact, and they called it. We have to accept it and move on. Frustrating in the moment, but that’s football.

Interviewer: Late in the game there was a big chance with the 2v1 involving Sørloth. Fans noticed he didn’t pass to Haaland. What did you see from your position?

🗣️Ødegaard: I saw it. In those moments, decisions happen fast. Alexander thought he had a shot. Erling was calling for it, but it’s easy to criticise afterwards. We’ve all been in situations where you go for goal. We’ll talk about it internally as a team – that’s how we improve.

Interviewer: You captained the side with real heart tonight. What’s your message to the Norwegian fans?

Ødegaard: Thank you for your incredible support – it means everything to us. This group has come so far, and I’m proud of every player. We gave it our all. This defeat hurts, but it will fuel us for the future. We’ll come back stronger. Norway till the end.

Interviewer: Any final reflections?

Ødegaard: England deserved to progress tonight. They showed quality when it mattered. For us, it’s about learning from these big moments. The journey continues.
#NORENG

[Arsenal News @ArsenalNews_Hub]

��� David Raya shares what Mikel Merino told him before his winning goal. 😂

“I was sitting on the bench with Mikel, and he turned to me and said, ‘You know, I feel like going on there and doing one of those late-goal moments we always have at Arsenal.’

After the match I asked him, ‘Did you actually mean it when you said that?’ He just laughed and replied, ‘Come on, David… we do this every day at Arsenal. I could feel the club’s mentality running through me.’

I just smiled because that’s the confidence we have. We always believe until the final whistle.” ❤️🤍

🔴⚪️ #Arsenal #DavidRaya #MikelMerino #Spain #WorldCup #COYG

[Ajoje⚽⚖️ @israel_ajoje]

Arsenal bought Leandro Trossard from Brighton in January 2023 for an initial £20 million, with add-ons taking the headline figure to £27 million. He signed a four and a half year deal running to the summer of 2027.

Three and a half years later, Besiktas have agreed €20 million, roughly £17 million, to take him off Arsenal's hands with one year left on that contract.

Let's talk about what this actually means for lay men and for a club financially, because the number looks underwhelming until you understand how football accounting works.

When a club signs a player, the transfer fee is not recorded as an immediate expense. It is spread evenly across the length of the contract, a process called amortization. I have written about this before.

Arsenal paid £20 million guaranteed and spread that over 4.5 years. By July 2026, approximately 3.5 years have elapsed, meaning roughly 78% of that cost has already been written off the books. The remaining book value sitting on Arsenal's balance sheet is somewhere around £4.4 to £6 million depending on which fee figure you use.

So when Besiktas pay £17 million for a player whose book value is roughly £5 million, Arsenal are booking a profit of somewhere between £11 and £12 million on a player entering the final year of his deal.

That is actually quite smart business. A 32 year old with one year left on his contract and a player who, whatever his contributions, was never going to be a first team starter.

Getting £17 million for him rather than watching him walk away for nothing next summer is exactly the kind of decision that keeps clubs on the right side of PSR.

I think Arsenal have done well. What do you think?

My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.

[Ororo😎 @McFlybowy]

You have to credit Lionel Scaloni honestly for how he’s platformed Lionel Messi here, and how he’s making him function at an output level that actually matches his instincts instead of fighting them.

What Scaloni did differently wasn’t some overly complex tactical revolution, it was clarity. He stripped away the burden of Messi having to be the system and instead built a system that constantly feeds Messi into the most valuable zones with minimal defensive and physical waste. In 2010 and even 2014–2018 at times, Messi was often dropping too deep, forced into progression, creation, and finishing all at once. That’s where Argentina looked heavy and disjointed.

From 2021 onwards, especially into the World Cup cycle, Scaloni solved that by giving Messi structural freedom but role discipline around him. You’ve got runners like Alvarez stretching and dragging defenders, midfielders like Enzo and Mac Allister giving balance and progression, and wide players like Di María and now De Paul and Almada providing direct threat so defenses can’t just collapse on Messi. That balance is what keeps him fresh in decisive moments.

The key shift is Messi’s positioning. He’s not constantly initiating anymore he’s arriving. Right half-space, between lines, or drifting into pockets after Argentina have already destabilized the opponent. That’s why his output looks so efficient: fewer wasted touches, higher-quality touches. He’s essentially been turned from system creator into final-phase decider without removing his influence.

And that’s where Scaloni deserves credit. A lot of coaches try to use Messi, but Scaloni actually designed around him in a way that respects both his limitations with age and his still-elite decision-making in the final third. The result is Argentina don’t just depend on Messi anymore, they amplify him.

[Football Tweet ⚽ @Footballtweet]

🇪🇸🗣️ Lamine Yamal:

"Today, football needs players like Ronaldinho, Neymar, Isco, Vinícius Jr, Benzema and Cherki." 🤩

"I never saw Thierry Henry play live, for example, but from the videos I've watched, I liked him a lot too."

"The problem I see with young players today is that from the age of four, they enter an academy.

And there they tell you: 'The full-back must receive and pass to the winger, the winger must pass to the midfielder, and everyone must defend and attack.'"

"But when I played in the street, the rule was simple: whoever scored two goals won, and the loser was out. There was fun and there was creativity.

I regret that people don't enjoy watching football as much anymore. Before, I used to watch a lot more matches." ⚽️

🚨 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥: He's still 18-years old.

[nyra @nyrapriv5]

jude seeing 5 teammates chase the ball after losing it must’ve felt like a fever dream

[natalee🍒🌸 ✪ @Justwandyy]

My friend blocked me after this conversation. 😭

[Troll Touchline @TrollTouchline]

🚨🗣️ | Pep Guardiola Shocked on Arsenal fans Reaction towards Gabriel Magalhaes after missing the Penalty: 🤯

“I have to say something because I saw this and, honestly, it blew my mind. It blew my mind. We know how this business works. Usually, in a Champions League final, a player misses a crucial penalty against a top, top team like PSG, and the next day... it is a disaster for him. The social media, the media, it can be very, very cruel. Very ugly. You expect the anger, the threats, the terrible words. We see it all the time.

But what the Arsenal fans did for Gabriel? Wow. It is something else. Truly. To see a player fail in the most painful moment, and the response from the stadium, from the people, is just... pure love? I am told his shirt sales went up by three hundred and fifty percent in a few days. Three hundred and fifty percent! This is incredible. I have been in football a long, long time, as a player and a manager, and I have never seen anything like it. Never.

You know, you open Facebook, you open Instagram or Twitter, and the narrative is always the same. 'Arsenal fans are insufferable. They are the worst fanbase, they are annoying.' You hear this tag all the time. But I look at this gesture and I think, 'How?' How do they have this tag? If a fanbase can wrap their arms around a player like that, in the darkest moment of the club's history a trophy they have been dying to win for decades then everything we are told online is a lie. It is a massive misconception. They have been judged so harshly.
This shows me who they really are. It shows their class, their humanity, and their loyalty. To behave like this? It is not annoying, it is not insufferable. It is beautiful. They deserve incredible praise for this, because this is what football should be about”

[Amara Nwankpa @Nwankpa_A]

The idea that Arsenal became a cultural phenomenon because it signed Black players is too simplistic.

Like much of London, Arsenal positioned itself as a club that extended belonging towards the margins. Not racial margins alone, but the margins of football's imagination.

Kanu arrived after heart surgery that could have ended his career. Bergkamp arrived carrying the weight of a disappointing spell at Inter. Henry arrived as a talented but unsettled player still searching for his place. Kolo Touré was potential before proof. Arteta arrived as a midfielder many thought was entering decline, only to be entrusted with the captaincy. Wenger himself was a foreign manager challenging the assumptions of English football.

The pattern was not diversity for its own sake. It was recognition before validation.

Arsenal repeatedly seemed willing to see people not simply as they were, but as they could become. It trusted before consensus arrived. It built a reputation for offering a second chance, a fresh start, or a path to fulfilment where others saw limitation, uncertainty, or decline.

That is why former players, injured players, and out-of-contract players so often found their way back to Arsenal. The club developed a reputation for treating people as more than their immediate utility.

Representation matters. But recognition creates loyalty.

People did not just see players who looked like them. They saw an institution that appeared willing to enlarge its definition of who belonged.

[Ororo😎 @McFlybowy]

Arsenal should allow Rice rest next season, he’s played 50 games straight for the past 4 seasons, he’s on course for 70 games this season, with the energy he plays with, and just about to enter his proper prime, they must protect him too.

The way Rice plays is physically demanding. He covers massive spaces, presses aggressively, wins duels, recovers transitions and still carries the ball forward constantly. That kind of role burns energy quickly over a long season.

You don’t wait until a player breaks down before managing his minutes. The best-run clubs rotate early to extend peaks, especially for midfielders that do so much off the ball.

Arsenal need enough depth so they can rest him without the whole structure collapsing. Because if Rice ever misses a long stretch, you immediately feel the balance, intensity and defensive security drop.

[Arsenal Reveled @Arsenalreveals]

🚨📰Mourinho speaks on who he thinks will win the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE tonight.

🗣️ “Everyone knows my history. I’ve never been Arsenal’s biggest supporter that’s no secret. But I’m a football man first, and when you truly understand football, you have to respect what you’re seeing.

This is not the old Arsenal people used to mock. Not the soft Arsenal from years ago. This team is different.

What they’ve achieved over the last few seasons has been extraordinary. They didn’t just win the Premier League they went head-to-head with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and came out on top. To overcome a machine like that across 38 games takes something truly special.

And still, I see people doubting them. That’s dangerous. In football, the moment you underestimate a top team, they punish you.

I don’t even want to say too much about how good they are… I prefer not to. But honestly, I believe they can become champions tonight. They have the chance to make history and finally end this curse around European trophies.

People can disagree, they can say, ‘José, you’re crazy,’ but this is simply what I feel when I watch them. On the biggest stage, under the brightest lights, they have the quality, the mentality, and the character to deliver.

And let me be clear — this is no disrespect to PSG at all.”

[Gabriel Martinelli @gabimartinelli]

After almost seven years at this club, it’s hard to put into words what this moment means to me.

I arrived at this club when I was 18 years old. Far from home, barely speaking the language, trying to adapt to a completely new culture, new life and chasing a dream that felt so big at the time.

I didn’t know exactly what the future would hold, but I knew I wanted to give everything for this club.

We didn’t just build a team, we built a family, an identity, and something the fans could believe in again. To see this club back where it belongs is one of the proudest moments of my career.

I want to thank my family, thank everyone at the club, the staff, my teammates, and every person working behind the scenes. Most importantly, thank you to the fans. Your support, patience and love throughout these years never went unnoticed. You stayed with us through the difficult moments, and this title belongs to you as much as anyone.

This club changed my life. I will always be grateful for the privilege of wearing this shirt.

PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 🏆

[Arsenal News @ArsenalNews_Hub]

🎙️❤️ Roy Keane on the global celebrations after Arsenal F.C. won the Premier League:

🗣️ “I saw how Arsenal fans celebrated and thought… what have other teams been doing when they win the league?” 😳🏆

Keane admitted Arsenal’s celebrations felt completely different from anything he had seen before 🌍🔴⚪️

🗣️ “This felt special. Everyone around the world knew Arsenal had won the title — even people who don’t watch football.”

🗣️ “The celebrations worldwide were mental.” 🔥

He even joked that if trophy celebrations always looked like this, he would rather see Arsenal keep winning trophies than anyone else 😂���

🗣️ “Because they give the true meaning of celebrations.

[Lethabo @CheetahPlains]

Our girl Anne Hathaway. Arsenal has the streets of Los Angeles under control

[Football on TNT Sports @footballontnt]

Ebere Eze reacts to the Man City bottle-fan 😅

He shared the picture to his Instagram story after Arsenal won the league on Tuesday 📲

[Mazi Olisaemeka C. ™ @OlisaOsega]

Lmao when Haaland scored, Saliba was like “Yo, I’m getting ready to play Palace on Sunday”🤣🤣

[now.arsenal @now_arsenaI]

🚨The days after the 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth were probably the worst of the campaign, all the more so because it was before that huge trip to Manchester City that had been weighing over the team for months; the great nemesis that had to be overcome.

A growing problem at that point was not just psychological, though. It was physical. Arsenal’s players looked and felt exhausted.

That was partly because of the schedule, but also Arteta’s own training demands. The Basque’s response to any setback was to work even harder on the training ground. It was an ethic that could be construed as admirable in other circumstances, but not with finely tuned athletes. The effects could be seen in the injury crises endured every April.

So, Eberechi Eze, one of the newer players who was also among the most laid-back, went up to his boss.

In so many words, he told Arteta, we can do this, but we need a bit of space.

The manager listened.

Days off were increased. The intensity of training sessions was lightened. In the week before they claimed the title, he gave them three days off followed by a barbecue.

It all worked out.

[@MiguelDelaney]