Too often we judge players on moments rather than momentum.

Wasn’t expecting it but the thing I love most about Gyokeres’ game is his ~final action decision making.

The @scoutedftbl.com 50 is here. I voted in part with my heart and in part with my access to elite level scouting algos. Sub to Scouted. It makes sense.

Honoured to have been asked to be part of SCOUTED50 again. Tom told me to go with my heart this year, so I did.

Anyways, Port Vale: Setford* White**, Mosquera, Hincapié, Myles Ethan, Nørgaard, Eze/MM Max, Martinelli, Trossard Sub Eze, Max and White by ‘60. Give Annous his debut. *ik it’ll be Kepa **start Nichols if BW isn’t ready

uhhh is it too late to un-give up on Martinelli?

Yeah, so Arteta is really using his squad this season and looking to reward form. Exactly what we’ve been asking for for years, can’t hate on it

Side note: Wirtz really came alive around the same time Curtis Jones came on. Could well be circumstantial but I think there’s something in that, particularly as a ‘counter balancer’/‘counter tempo’ to the rest of the team. He could be key to extracting the most from Wirtz this season.

Agreed. Ode/Eze ten minutes sooner when it was clear that we were no longer controlling the game. By 55 mins we no longer pressed. Free kick 2 inches to the right and it is saved. 2 inches to the left and it bounces off the post & back into play (maybe off Raya, though). A truly worthy game winner.

Øde + Eze subs were late, but otherwise I’m not taking issue with today’s performance. Missing key players (Kai, Saka, Ø from the start), lost Saliba early, outplayed them on their patch for periods, ultimately beaten by a brilliant free-kick. Loads of positives, we go again.

Let’s bully this midfield and score the most disgusting goals. Calafiori son you have the 10 on your back (metaphorical) #coyg

Our squad depth, btw. Been said a ton already but bears repeating. After Leeds there was chatter over whether Merino was already fading from the first team picture, and now he starts one of our biggest fixtures of the season. We have options!

Oh, it’s going to be one of *those* games.

Martín Zubimendi by the way, fantastic player

#LateNightRewatch Went under the radar but that Rice performance vs Man Utd is by far the worst defensive showing I’ve ever seen from him. Like… truly wretched. Our weakest player OOP, multiple mistakes leading to oppo shots on goal and Ødegaard had to bail him out on multiple occasions.

There was something poetic about the Arsenal experience yesterday. Opened by Eberechi Eze's joyful disbelief to walk out in years after being released aged 13, ended by Max Dowman soaking up the wonder of the crowd at the end aged 15. Very different paths. Next week they could be sharing a pitch.

Love that Auba remains such a dangerous striker at 36 years old. Throughout his prime the focus was always on pace as his key asset. In reality, his greatest qualities have always been his 1) movement (esp in settled play!), and 2) ability to set his body optimally before the ball arrived to him.

Heard fantastic things about Victor Ozhianvuna from people in the game who know him well. Exciting stuff

This Lyon squad looks like a team you come across two seasons into an FM save and kinda I love it. Bargain wonderkids in Moreira and Karabec, a #10 signed after two 20-goal seasons for Viktoria Plzen. AMN in a new position every game, Tyler Morton as our star midfielder for some reason. Amazing.

Must have been an incredible game to be in the stadium for. Eze unveiling, followed by a 5-0 thumping in which Gyökeres scored his first goals for the club and Max Dowman announced himself to the Premier League at 15 years of age. Mosquera looking good on his debut too. What a day.

Seems White is injured again (pain) but I nevertheless rate the change of Timber at RB, especially in context of us leaning into a more direct approach. Adds necessary balance to the team with Calafiori on the other flank and will upgrade our transition control significantly.

If Arsenal had any appreciation for the vibes we’d walk Eze out onto the pitch ahead of the match but I already know Arteta & Co have (yes, probably correctly) squashed that idea, citing it as too much of a distraction 😪

I think many were too low on the state of our squad even before Eze… • Zubi, Noni, Gyökeres, Mosquera, Kepa all improvements on equivalent squad positions last season • Ethan and Myles continued dev, Dowman in the mix • Ødegaard recovering from injury • Biggest loss (value wise) has been KT? Lol

We got our maverick.

Posted this before links to either but seems like it’s going to be one of these two as the “LW” signing. Honestly, I’ll be pretty happy. Not *the* answer to our needs out wide, but an option certainly, and in different ways each provides us with valuable solutions to central issues we face.

It’s a bit late… but man this is really worth listening to. You couldn’t ask for better snapshot analysis of a player than how Rimedi covered Mosquera — a player I now feel I have a great idea of even though I’ve only watched him for Arsenal! Well worth checking out 👇🏼

Nice cameo for Andre Annous. No major highlights but made himself a nuisance through his movement and use of his frame. And led the line well in the press. Hopefully one the coaching staff have a clear development plan for. Mouldable skillset with many of the fundamentals Arteta favours in his CF.

Have a feeling this is going to be my favourite Tyler album since IGOR

Was thinking about this (or similar) yesterday. How in the PL the top clubs have opportunities to rebuild very strongly (and “smartly”) when they’re not in contention for league/UCL silverware (‘win now’) that they wouldn’t be able to afford to do if they were at that stage in the project…

I rate the player enormously and think he’ll be a fantastic fit at Liverpool but €90-95m for Ekitiké is kind of nuts lol. Funny cos of how quickly he was forgotten about by the big clubs after that flop move to PSG. Newcastle wanted him for €50m at the time only to not have a sniff again until now.

Newcastle spending more on Elanga than we did on Madueke is strange. Strengthens my suspicions that it was some PSR tomfoolery with Forest but still think their recruitment should have surely been gunning for Noni instead — he’s made for that system. Perhaps he wasn’t interested (London boy)?

Miss this king www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

Posted this before links to either but seems like it’s going to be one of these two as the “LW” signing. Honestly, I’ll be pretty happy. Not *the* answer to our needs out wide, but an option certainly, and in different ways each provides us with valuable solutions to central issues we face.

Copley a surprising one, I guess he’s the beneficiary of the U21 clear out + Dan Casey’s future being up in the air. Dowman’s been talked about to death but tbh Marli Salmon’s inclusion is probably even more insane? A 15yo CB going on tour with the seniors ahead of the likes of Maldini.

@alexcollings.bsky.social forgot how long a snapshot was meant to be, so you get a wonderful hour-long deep dive into Noni Madueke to tuck into on a Friday evening. Enjoy!

💥MEGA MADUEKE DEEP DIVE💥 Snapshots: Noni Madueke (feat. CFC Central) 🎙: @alexcollings.bsky.social @cfccentral.bsky.social 🔵 Noni's development at Chelsea 🟡 Standout strengths & weaknesses ⚪️ Attitude & defensive work rate 🔴 Right vs left wing Listen 👇 pod.fo/e/2fe629

So here's part 2 of my appearance on @potshot.bsky.social with @alexcollings.bsky.social and @setpiecesicko.bsky.social where we talk a ton about Gyokeres and Sesko as potential targets for Arsenal. Hope y'all enjoy!

Zubimendi, Šeško, Rodrygo = a great summer + very positive from a recruitment process pov. In terms of: landing long term targets; bringing in profiles who suit/enhance our game model; balancing prospects with arriving into the ‘win now’ phase of our project; and simply adding high quality players.

What's fun about the idea: in the same way Rice/Havertz was the most extreme way to expel the 4-0 v City demons, Kudus is the most extreme way to expel the slowness-against-the-midtable demons

Kudus is a dream signing for me. Has that X-Factor + those gamebreaking qualities we’ve spoken about being missing from this team since going out to Bayern in the UCL in 22/23. Funnily enough however, I’m most excited about him in midfield rather than as a winger signing. Elite wing depth though

The order keeps changing but here’s where I stand on LW options at current: 1️⃣ Barcola 2️⃣ Rodrygo 3️⃣ Rafael Leão 4️⃣ Eze* 5️⃣ Nico Williams 6️⃣ Xavi Simons* 7️⃣ Lookman 8️⃣ Semenyo 9️⃣ Leroy Sané 1️⃣0️⃣ Gordon I’d be ecstatic with any of 1-3, happy with 4-6, while 7-8 are nice alternatives. 9-10 a tad underwhelming.

*Depending on wages* this is good, great even. Very low fee for a capable player coming off a strong season as a PL starter, decent fit for our style of play, and at an age where he’s still in his ~peak years but won’t get in the way of the young GK talents we have coming through.

Sigh

There we go.

Please ask us questions! Especially if you have any thoughts relating to: — this season, and what questions it has raised for you — Martinelli — Ødegaard — Zubimendi — Gyökeres — thoughts ahead of next season, both in terms of recruitment or tactically

He’s finding his shooting boots again… ankle is recovering. ØdeNation we will be back 👍

One for next season, Mikel: make sure our tactics get Martinelli into central areas *far* more regularly

Increasingly of the opinion selling Trossard and Kiwior while stocks are respectable/high is the most obvious slam dunk business we could do this summer.

Okay I lied but now I’m good for real for real