Guardiola 'to leave' Man City this season for one reason amid new Arsenal 'weak link'; Potter sack 'certain'

Before the Alexander Isak talk, Sunday’s Mailbox features hot takes on Pep Guardiola leaving Man City and Mikel Arteta being Arsenal’s new ‘weak link’.

Send your mails to theeditor@football365.com…

A worthy bet on Pep…

60 minutes into Spurs vs Manchester City and City just do not look good at all. On the flip side spurs look excellent in all the ways they didn’t under Ange.

Here’s a bet I think it’s worth placing – Pep Guardiola to leave before the season end. Not sacked but I think he’ll leave. Because I don’t think he really knows how to fix city. The stress will get to him again like last season when he tried to fight a Liverpool fan in the street and then he’ll announce that he’s leaving.

It’s a long shot obviously but I think it’s genuinely worth a bet.

I know they usually lose to spurs (how weird is it that almost every single spurs manager beats city?) but they don’t usually get schooled the way they are today. There’s a massive gulf in tactics, motivation, and organisation.

Lee

READ: James Trafford mistake inevitable amid Ederson succession botched by Man City

The new ‘weak link’ at Arsenal…

With the the goons buying Eze, I wonder if Arteta realises that he is now the weak link. One wonders if he has worked on trying to improve his coaching skills over the Summer to the point where he can add at least one alternative to his current one dimensional approach. Penny for Nwaneri’s thoughts too. We are led to believe he hesitated on signing his new deal because of concerns about his minutes. Fair to assume then that he received assurances, because sign he did. Ten minutes later Eze struts in.

RHT/TS x

Potter in trouble…

Just gonna call it as I see it, no shame losing to Chelsea.. 5-1 does raise plenty of questions particularly after a 3-0 to Sunderland.. They are bang in trouble.. looking at the fixtures don’t see them picking up a single point until late Oct (8/9 games in) Potter certain to be gone by then and West Ham in relegation flight this year for sure unless there is massive turnaround.

Chris (Broken Hammers)

Arsenal = The Crazy Gang

Arsenal get a lot of hate in these here pages, but I for one enjoy the atavistic stylings they bring to the table. There’s something incredible about spending almost a BILLION pounds in order to bring Graham Taylor and Charles Reep’s dreams to the modern world.

The Premier League of today is missing the antic energy, the pure fun of those lovable upstarts, the late 80s/early 90’s Wimbledon teams. Antagonistic manager, unlikable owner Sam/Stan, ball in the mixer, hilarious disciplinary record, scoring loads of scrappy goals from corners. I love that Arteta has attempted to recreate that style and bring fun and joy back to our sterile football world. He truly is a student of the game.

Eze is the final piece. The cheeky chappy Dennis Wise figure who might even end up with a handful of England caps. He’s going to need to look out for the midfield Martins (a very 90’s British name) cutting his suit in half though! Or that big lump up front who scores four goals a season Big Victor Fashanu setting fire to his pants! How about ole David Raya/Beasant, ready to punch any one, any time the ball comes near him! Look out! And don’t mess about with this lot or Vinnie Rice will be right in with a reducer early doors!

The brilliance of Arteta is to realize that the key to winning is not your fancy creativity in the final third of your Cities or you Liverpool’s, or your Wenger’s, no sir. What you need is to get the ball in the box high and early for the big man. He wins a corner or a long throw, then your other big lads crash the box and bundle it in! It’s the Arsenal way!

I can hear Arsenal fans protesting right now. No! We pass the ball sometimes! Wimbledon never almost won the league! It’s all about marginal gains! (which I think is what you get by spending marginally less than a billion quid?) but I say why protest? You’re living the dream! Watching Arsenal every week is not a torturous slog akin to a five hour documentary on making paint, in Romanian, with no subtitles, no! It is pure, golden nostalgia. A throwback to a simpler time.

Plus at the end of the day, you can taste other fans tears of jealousy with that ultimate measure of success ̶w̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶f̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶d̶o̶w̶ trophies! Just like the original Crazy Gang*, this Arsenal team have, in total, one whole FA Cup triumph to savor. Who could want or expect more than that in almost six years? The endless grind was all worth it! I can hear the Emirates quietly singing now; “One trophy… to the Arsenal! One Trophy!’

Drew, LA. (*to be fair to Wimbledon, they also achieved 3 promotions as well as the FA Cup triumph in the same time frame as Arteta has had, don’t want to cause any controversy with this missive.)

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Spurs ‘look mightily decent’ despite ‘Levy absolutely Levy’ing this transfer window

I said it earlier this week in the mailbox and I’ll say it again now – after what was a calm and fuss-free performance from Spurs – but having your players play in their actual position with the correct set up is an understated element.

Of course, conceding a record 497 goals and finishing one place above the relegation zone will always have the ‘your defence is sh*t’ line thrown at you. Negative. It was always the set up. These are very good players and, despite my reservations of Vic as a truly elite goalie, this back 5 has genuine potential to be very miserly indeed.

Hard to get too excited after beating ‘just’ Burnley. And some may even argue that Spurs v City doesn’t count much either, because we have some curse over Pep, but I’m getting semi-excited. Not a semi though, don’t worry.

It’s been a horrible week for Spurs on the old internet. This whole Eze thing has got the fanbase evoking Sol Campbell emotions. Which is weird. Eze, an Arsenal fan and once at their academy, decides to sign for *check notes*, oh, Arsenal. Hardly a f***ing surprise is it.

Let me give you some advice, stay off socials and just watch the footy. It might leave you feeling happier and lighter.

Anyway, despite Levy absolutely Levy’ing this transfer window – no MGW, Eze, Rodrygo, Rogers, Paz or the million others we’ve been linked with – we’ve got Frank coaching the team to play as a team and making us look mightily decent, even without key creative players in Madders and Kulu. He’s even got Richy looking like an actual football player, which he has very rarely done in a Lilywhite top.

I’m not sure we get anyone else in. If we do, it’s probably underwhelming. The challenge will be when we are playing multiple games per week. For now, though, we look like a very decent prospect. I expect the top 4 to be Pool, City, Ars*nal and Ch*lsea. 5th? Who knows. Could we? Maybe. Qualification for a European comp would definitely represent success this season. That plus the CL and FA Cup. F*** it, and the league cup.

I do know this though: we won’t finish as low as 17th and Djed > Udogie. Destiny is gonna have one hell of a time trying to get back into that 11.

Glen, Stratford Spur

So it turns out that Tottenham might just go on to be the title winners after all and Arsenal will finish second as always while Man U will get relegated.

Jamo, Nairobi ( the timing of the runs in to the box by that Johnson guy are a work of art)

READ: Why James Trafford avoided a red card in Man City defeat to Tottenham

A Man Utd fan who missed Ed Woodward…

Are y’all seriously fawning over paying 70M+ for a Madrid reject and asking him to bring the trophy home, despite buckets of evidence that Madrid don’t sell their best players?

And then Liverpool paying 120M+ for Isak, after spending 110M on wirtz. Good players but not anywhere box office enough for that money.

For the most part, English clubs pay Gucci prices for Uniqlo players. And the media happily plays along saying we can’t compete with the Reals, Barcas and PSGs. Sometimes I miss Woodward, at least he had the courage to go after Galacticos. And he brought over Zlatan, Pogba and Ronaldo to EPL. If only the others could aim higher.

Gaurav MUFC Amsterdam

Isak, Coutinho debate

So Dave AFC thinks that because Liverpool sold a player for a large fee that didn’t work out for the buying club, Liverpool fans should not be at all concerned about paying a large fee for a player that… might not work out for the buying club.

Logic not your strong point, I guess.

Also, ftr, there is no comparison between Coutinho whilst playing for Liverpool and Isak in present day. Coutinho was far better – the conversation of the time was whether he or Hazard was better… and then they both went to Spain and flopped. Often, players don’t perform as well out of the environment that made them stars. Doesn’t mean they weren’t utterly fabulous for those clubs in the Premier League in a way that Isak can’t claim to be after just one season or so of superb football. If he can do it for, say, 5 years in a row, then sure.

Also worth remembering that Newcastle are demanding 150% of the current British transfer record, and Liverpool are offering as an opening offer 110% of it. It’s not as if anyone is being stingy here.

Jon, Bridgwater.

Isak, promises and perspectives…

On Isak. People keep pointing at the Coutinho deal like it somehow makes £150m for Isak reasonable. Come on. The Coutinho fee was Barca losing their minds after PSG nicked Neymar. Liverpool didn’t set a trend, they just cashed in and we’ve been laughing about it ever since. That doesn’t suddenly mean Isak is “worth” £150m.

Newcastle can value him however they like, but let’s not pretend Isak agrees with them. I’d be stunned if he wasn’t told something along the lines of “if a big bid comes in, we’ll look at it.” A record bid did come in and Newcastle basically said “jog on.” No wonder the lad’s annoyed. Liverpool have already tested the water with £120m talk, and he can see it. If you were him, wouldn’t you feel stitched up?

As for this “Liverpool don’t need another attacker” argument – nonsense. We’ve lost players, spaces need filling. This isn’t disruption, it’s evolution. You refresh a title-winning side or you fall behind. The new signings are bedding in fine, and another attacker doesn’t change that. The whole point is to set the squad up for the long term, not just this season.

And Newcastle “acting like a big club” by clinging on? Please. Real big clubs know when to cash in, reinvest, and come back stronger. Newcastle look terrified of life without Isak because they know they can’t find anyone close. That’s not Liverpool’s problem, it’s theirs.

And while I’m here, my last mail about the racist abuse of Semenyo and the disgraceful comments that followed never got published. Felt like a cop-out. The abuse was vile, but instead of focusing on supporting Semenyo, too many people in your comments used it as another excuse to bash Liverpool. That isn’t rivalry, it’s just bitter nonsense, and it lets the actual racist off the hook.

So, back to football. £150m is silly money, Isak feels let down, Liverpool are evolving, Newcastle are clinging on, and this whole saga is dragging on longer than Odemwingie in a car park. At some point, they’ll either take the cash or they’ll end up with a striker who magically develops calf injuries every other week.

LJ DUB – LFC stranded in Salford

It’s going to be a long season for Peterborough United…

The traditional pattern of Peterborough United’s season unfolds as follows –

Starts with a series of wins, culminating in a player/manager of the month award. Posh look unbeatable, scoring freely and prompting play-off hopes.

The pre-Xmas slump starts. This usually runs from October to late March/early April. A series of debilitating losses and appalling performances litter the spiritual home of football, London Road.

Towards the end of the season, performances improve, goals flow and Posh look unbeatable; this leads, in turn, to play-off hopes for the following season.

Most of the first team squad is then sold (nothing new here, Posh have always been a selling club and many alumni have gone on to bigger and better things, with the good wishes of the fans); to give you an idea, 78 goal involvements in the shapes of Poku, Mothersille and Jones went this season.

There have been a couple of possible bright lights – Lolos, Kehla and Lisbie (yes, son of Kevin) look promising and possibly destined for better things, but a relegation battle is incoming and I fear for this season,

Dan

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