Sanity33:


You: "To explain away their current Igbo language, Ikwerre have chosen to present Ndiigbo in the mould of invaders and rulers who ruled over them and imposed our language on them so much that they lost their imaginary Bini language."

Me:

"History lesson:

1) the eastern region was dominated by the Igbo !
2) Portharcourt was part of the eastern region."


So appart from being ignorant, you are also very slow.

Ndiigbo were never Ezes of Ikwerre, neither did we ever impose Igbolanguage on Ikwerre people.
Willink commission showed that Ndiigbo were fair with all in Eastern region.

So I wonder the link between my post and yours.
There are more than 20 ethnic nationalities in the Eastern region, none were ruled by Ndiigbo. They had their local political reps and traditional rulers.
Eastern region was a democracy not an Empire and Ndiigbo only had real control over the region for 6yrs, between 1960 and 1966.

Sanity33:


History lesson:

1) the eastern region was dominated by the Igbo !
2) Portharcourt was part of the eastern region.

Look the fact they speak a language similar to yours doesn't give you any sort of lordship over them.
You guys are really mentally ill.

What is the link between this your post and my post?
Are you well oriented in person, time and place?

I mean, are you alright?

Bkayyy:

The access to sea ipob is looking for, ikwerre no get
Reasonable human beings, ikwerre no get
Oil, ikwerre no get
Innovative mind them still no get

Ipob dey fall hand seriously.

But what about Ohanaeze Ndiigbo? Those useless lots still have Ikwerrre persons in their midsts holding sensitive positions.
You can imagine an Ikwerre man is currently Ohanaeze Ndiigbo Secretary General.

Thats how useless the organisation is.
We really have a leadership vacuum in Igboland, that's exactly what Ikwerre people are exploiting.

Sanity33:

So either they claim to be Igbo, either they are igbophobic ?
Don't you see how weird you guys are ?
What is your business in the fact they acknowledge they are Benin descendants ?
It just doesn't concern you guys !
You act as if they need your permission, as if they are your property !
Wtf is wrong with you guys ?

Ikwerre claiming Bini is not the problem.

Problem is that once they claim Bini, they will always be left with the arduous task of explaining away their current Igbo language.

This is the nitty gritty. To explain away their current Igbo language, Ikwerre have chosen to present Ndiigbo in the mould of invaders and rulers who ruled over them and imposed our language on them so much that they lost their imaginary Bini language.
The Ikwerre nationalism is built around deep seated Igbophobia and need to hate the Igbo, show hostility to us and never fail to throw dirts at us,all in attempt to prove to their non Igbo neighbors that they are not Igbo.

Ikwerre Bini revisionism cannot stand without Ikwerres first of all distorting the Igbo history to either present us in the mould of demons who ruled and intimidated them before Gowon saved them , or in the mould of Super humans who had the ability to turn a Bini speaking people into Igbo speakers with no iota of Bini in their culture or language to show for such language switch, just by merely interacting with them.

Its in trying to correct this that the Igbo appears to be forcing Ikwerre to be Igbo, when all we are doing is protecting our own history.

Ikwerre have right to claim whatever they want, but a people history don't exist in isolation from their neighbours. Their right to claim Bini, stops where ours to question how we turned them Igbo speakers begins.

I blame Ipob and other Igbos without sense of self worth who go about claiming Ikwerre people for this insult.

The day Wike named a monument after Gowon in PH and opened his mouth and said that Gowon saved his people from Igbo invaders and rulers, was the day I developed Ikwerrephobia as an Igbo man.

Igbos who claim Ikwerre are total disgrace and retarded. The ikwerre people will continue to humiliate Ndiigbo like this , until some people grow brains and call their bluff off by publicly denouncing Ikwerre people and officially expelling Ikwerre sons in Ohanaeze Ndiigbo and then reorientation of our people to know the Ikwerre for real Igbophobic people they are.

Underwhelming season for Arsenal.
Arteta haven't done anything special and I wonder if he is the answer to our problems.

Spurs was 14th when Mourinho was appointed, they have finished above us in 6th while winning us along the way too.
If we don't get rid of the likes of Willock and spend big in an attacking midfielder and hopefully a real explosive left winger and DM we will struggle again next season for sure and will likely finish midtable again.
Arteta is so far not an improvement on Emery, the table doesn't lie, Emery left us in midtable and we still finished midtable. One step back, two step backwards, that's Arsenal for you.

I predict Arteta getting outwitted by Lampard in the FA cup final.

oyatz:
1) Obviously you don't know the Ogori-Mangogos. You can Google them or visit their Facebook page.

2) Awolowo was a great Politician but never the leader of the Yorubas.
Throughout his life, there were great Yoruba politicians who were not in the same political parties with him.

Awolowo had nothing to do with Awori.
He was from Ikenne, a small town in Remoland.

3) Civil War happens all over the world, it's not a pecular thing to Nigeria and don't define or change ethnic identities.

4) Ethnic groups are man-made groupings and are NOT grouped into water tight divisions.

5) Ethnic groups overlap in all parts of the world where people live in close proximity unlike in the desert or thick jungles where people live in isolated communities for long time.

6) Ethnic groups are NOT permanently fixed, they dissolve and evolve with time.

Where are the Biblical Jebbusites, the Hittites, Moabites and the Amonites now?

Where now are the Celts, Saxon, Anglos, the Vikings, the Vandals of Medieval Britain?

In 1256, there were no ethnic groups called Yoruba, Fulanis, Igbos or Hausa.

7) In the long run, ethnic groups are SELF identified groups. We are who we say we are.

Ogori mangogo was never grouped as a Yoruba sub group at any time in history. They always maintained they were distinct. I know Ogori mangogo well, I have even been there.

2. Awolowo was Yoruba political leader when he was alive and his emergence helped nip Ijebu Yoruba denial on the bud.

3. Wars and persecution affect people self esteem leading to self denial. War divided Germany into East and West, the Manchurians started denying their identity with many of them claiming Han after the fall of China to British with the Han Chinese blaming the Manchurians for the fall.
So you are wrong. The persecution that post civil war Nigeria subjected Igbos under is the key driver of identity crisis in hitherto proud Igbo groups outside SE.

4. Ethnic groups might be man made, but common mother language and culture is not man made . Its a natural process.

5. True. Like many Akoko Ondo communities are actually Edoid speakers though claim Yoruba identity and speak Yoruba as a second language.

6. Hmm.

7. I disagree. You are not who you say you are, if not any one can wake up one day and claim to be a lawyer and enter court room to litigate?
Or I can wake up oneday and say that I am now Yoruba, that my ancestors migrated from Ife?

You can't wake up oneday and change your identity, because your identity doesn't exist in isolation, its connected to those around you.

The problem Ndiigbo has with Ikwerre identity is that for it to stand, they have to lie against Ndiigbo, they have to erase our own history by presenting us in the mould of empire builders who colonized them and imposed our language on them, or as supermen who has the powers to make a people to abandon their own mother tongue and take up our own just by merely interacting with them.
They have to toy with our intelligence by telling us they showed up here on Bini language when our ancestors told us they havd always been Igbo speaking.

The normal Igbo don't care about Ikwerre, problem is that Ikwerre identity as independent ethnicity cannot stand without them first of all distorting Igbo history and presenting Ndiigbo in bad light. Ikwerre nationalism is built on Igbophobia which starts with distortion of our ancestors history, and its in trying to challenge these historical distortions of Ikwerres against Ndiigbo that an independent onlooker get the feeling that Ndiigbo is forcing Ikwerre to be Igbo, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

Tranquill:


All this gibberish is because Ikwerre people told you that they are not Igbo. You can not force your identity on a people who know their history, just because of your Biafra agenda. It will not work! If not being Igbo means hating Igbo in your own interpretation, does that not make you stupid?

Ikwerre does not have human resources so tell me, what is your definition of human resources? Is it Doctors, lawyers, engineers, governors, vice chancellors, professors, judges or what that you can't find in Ikwerreland? Ikwerre as small as they are, have produced two National presidents of the Nigerian Bar Association yet they don't human resources? It shows how chronically daft you are. The only human resources I agree with you that the Ikwerre people don't have are drug peddlers to Thailand and Vietnam who later start crying 'I am not proud to be a Nigerian' when they get caught, Ikwerres can't boast of drug rats in the streets of Malaysia and South Africa, 419 etc. Ikwerre people also dont do money rituals so that they can get chieftaincy titles and move about with touts. Just move on with your hate and no one cares!!

Are you an Ikwerre person? Or another Yoruba man living in Ph?

nengibo:

So men like Timipre sylva, Diete Spiff , Edmond Daukoru are not Ijaw, which kind careless capings be that,
Even some persons from Ngwa, Ndoki, Abriba that are within core Igbo states reject the core Igbo

No person from Ngwa or Abriba reject Igbo .

Ndoki is getting toyed with by Ijaw land grabbers.

nengibo:
[b][/b]
Kalabari, Andoni and other Ijaw subgroups in Rivers don't deny being Ijaw, I'm an Ijaw from Rivers state, Bayelsa itself is a recent creation from Rivers state

Some persons from.these groups deny being Ijaw. We know this.

Nembe and Epie/Atissa people also rejected the Ijaw tag.

Yujin:

Oh so you know this yet you still occasionally accord some confused people from certain quarters cook up rubbish about Ukwuani here? All the Igbo clans will be referred to as Igbos by me until a referendum is done and they vote against Igbo consensus. Thereafter their fate will be sealed. Until then, certain elements no matter how influential they be will not make me reject the whole clan. Not to talk of the many serpents here from the Wastelands camouflaging as members of those clans. I won't pay attention to all those.

Yes! Because some of us realized long ago that these groups have nothing really game changing to offer SE in Nigeria and post Nigeria.
We figured out that the more you try to argue these things with them, the more they get a feeling and false sense of importance.

We also figured out that these groups especially the Ikwerre are only going to be a liability to us as far as our long term objectives are concerned. Now I am not going to say why we think so here. But I will let you figure it out yourself.


Let me ask you?

What would Ikwerre accepting they are Igbo do for Ndiigbo?

They don't have quality human resources in Ikwerreland.

Their crude oil is about the least in quantity in Rivers state. Its meagre
They don't have sea access, as you would still need to pass through Ijaw controlled rivers to get to the Atlantic from Ikwerreland. An option we already have at Obuaku Ndoki Abia state.

Ikwerre has only one modern city, PH, which is shaping into another Jerusalem, because they now share this city with Okirika, who are aligned to Izons. Post Nigeria disintegration, PH will burn from clashes between the two if they don't find a common ground.
Ph on its,own is a third world city not better than what we have in.SE which we share with no one.
Do we really what to be involved with Ikwerre mess in PH when we can devote our time and effort at better things?


I see nothing to gain from Ikwerre and other Igbo denials by Ndiigbo. Really nothing.
If I have my way,all Ikwerre persons would all be banned and expelled from all Igbo associations, whether they accept Igbo tag or not. And open hate directed towards them as a retaliation whenever they exhibit Igbophobia, by orientation of our people towards such goal.

oyatz:
You have just buttressed my points.

*There are some clans that aren't ancenstrally related to the Nris but nevertheless accept the Igbo identity because they have the right to do.

*There are groups like Ikwerres and Ekpeyes who speak similar languages like Igbo but aren't ancenstrally related to the Nris and reject the Igbo tag because they have the right to do so.


Issues like this happens all over the world because ethnic groups are man-made creations and it's always difficult to decide where one ethnic group ends and where another one begins. For example,

Mangawa & Kanuri
Ogiri-Mangogo & Yoruba

Akoko-Edo &Edo& Yoruba

Igede & Idoma

This is nonsense write up. Ogori mangogo has Yoruba components just as ethnic groups like Ugep, Okirika, Kalabari, Andoni, etc have Igbo components. But they have evolved independent language mixed with other ethnicities far more in proportion than few things they borrowed from Igbos, so Igbos don't claim them.

No linguist or anthropologist ever grouped the Ogori Mangogo as Yoruboid, let alone Yoruba.
They have never been claimed by the Igbos, not for once.

Stop obfuscating issues this Yoruba man. The Ikwerre Igbo issue in Yoruba land would have been perfectly mirrored by Ijebu vs Yoruba issue, if not for the emergence of Awolowo as Yoruba leader.
And if Yoruba ever fight war against Nigeria, the Ikwerre issue can be repeated with the Aworis as the target group.

somalianprince:
That's not the point. The point is that Oba is not a table land, and there is no much room for future expansion. Umueri is central to the major cities in Anambra, it has expansive and flat land for a project like airport. This is something that Oba lacks. That was why Obi chose this site at Umueri way back in 2009 when the airport approval was gotten. Obiano is merely implementing the plan.

Okay.
Good. I never knew it was Obi brain child.
It's well. At least it's not in an Igala speaking community. Maka adi amama O gwalu O.

IDENNAA:


These guys are fighting very hard to drive division into Anambra political system and we must act fast and aggressively to check them. Ndi Anambra , biko nu stay awake!

I am from Idenmili north and support the airport. Case closed.

Stop being ridiculous.

somalianprince:
Umueri is the center of Anambra, surrounded by major cities of Onitsha, Awka and Nnewi.

The choice of Umueri was chosen by Obi administration in 2009. Obiano is only implementing the airport project.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/youths-threaten-sell-anambra-airport-site/%3famp=1


Oba international airport proposal is as old as old Anambra state (Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra).

That land was mapped out long ago.
Why change it overnight?

chuxyfranklin:


Obiano is from Aguleri and the airport is sited in Umueri.

Get your facts right..

He has a point though.

Politicians in Igboland have been known for siting land consuming projects not in their own towns but in neighboring towns where the neighbors will lose lands to the government for such construction, while their own town keep theirs and still benefit from the project because of the rule of proximity.
Another reason for such behavior is to avoid being accused of being parochial. As you can see that you are already defending Obiano because you believe he sited the project not exactly in his own town but a neighboring one.
Umuleri is next town to Aguleri where Obiano hails from.

For example, Ike Nwachukwu from Isuikwuato was said to have facilitated the building of the then old Imo State University, now Abia State University in Uturu, even though he is actually from a neighboring town of Isuikwuato.

Enugu State University of Science and Technology ESUT stands on a land belonging to neighbouring towns to Agbani. Chimaroke the governor who moved it there is from Agbani.


Since I was small, I always knew this vision of Anambra international airport to have been planned to be established in Oba.
It makes sense too, because Oba being in Anambra central senatorial zone and having boundary with Nnewi in Anambra south zone, is at a very central location to the two major industrial cities of the state, ie Onitsha and Nnewi.
I have nothing against Umuleri, but Obiano used his influence as governor to influence the location of this airport there. They should not feel shortchanged if another governor comes in and decides to return it to its initial and original location in Oba.
And the idea of Oba not having enough land is not true.
Oba has enough land space to accommodate this airport .

I'm a bit disappointed Arnold tackle on Saka was not reviewed by VAR with Arnold being sent off.
Because that tackle was same as Nketiahs that got VAR reviewed and got Nketiah sent off.
Somehow, these minor but important decisions keep going against Arsenal this season and have in culmination worsened our bad season.

Fkhalifa:
Liverpool are so unserious with preseason games, maybe we're still rusty, see how Allison and V.Dj dey do give away like they still in celebrating mood.

This is not true.
Those were forced errors.
We pressed and forced them into committing those errors.
When Liverpool pressed and forced an error on Luiz in the first leg of this fixture through which Salah scored,everyone gave credit to Liverpool, no one remembered that it was an error.
Lacazette still had a lot to do to finish his chance for first goal, and had even more to do to to set up Nelson who had alot to do in terms of composure to find the finish.
This win wasn't all about Liverpool. It was about Arsenal too. We forced the errors and capitalized on them. Also shut the door when we needed and should have won 3-1 if Willock isn't that useless.
Give credit to Lacazette and Nelson for great finishes and to our defenders for keeping Liverpool at bay.
Tierney did an Italian job on Salah, followed him up all game like monitoring spirit. Mane was too good for Cedric but somehow, we survived.

Arteta changes were timely too. Torreira was a walking red card and was withdrawn at the right time.

Jodera:
while you have facts that when pep came to city, he changed the entire backline. While that is true, that is not the way you painted it. Firstly, they've one of the strongest attack in the league with sterling and aguero. He added sane(attack complete). Midfield is already sorted before he came... Who's better than Silva kdb or fernandinho?. Lol, so why should he buy in midfield? And that's why he have to change the defence back line. Or you think if it wasn't sorted(midfield and attack) he would have gone for defence?

Talking about Liverpool, klopp only bought van dijk and Allison wen midfield and attack is sorted. Aside firmino, salah and mane arrived before van dijk (so attack is complete), midfield he bought wijnaldum before van dijk. So midfield was set, before he got van dijk. All these proved my point, midfield and attack are firstly important as long as defence is manageable. Ours is manageable, but attack is insipid and midfield is worse. Where will the goals and assist come from. Why won't opposition have a go at our defence wen they know we can't bite?

In theory we have a good front three. Midfield lacks creativity I agree. But who are the creative players in Liverpool midfield?

When Pep bought Sane, he was but a good prospect not a star player.
Pep bought Nolito but he flopped.

Since we have limited budget, I would say we focus more on defense.

Even Klopp bought Matip his first season.

Roland17:


The truth and reality is that we can't compete for his signature. We can spend, but not to the level of competing against other top teams for a signature. We have so much debt, including salaries that we need to shed, worse still, we recently declared a loss. We would need to find a decent defender that would not cost an arm and a leg.

Then it will be a long time before we are back to competing again.

Maybe we can at least get Marlang on free.

Roland17:


100% in agreement with you about the CB combination, it can not get worse than what we are parading! I am fine with Mari, Saliba, Chambers, Holding, and any decent CB out there we can get to compete for places. Mavro did excellently well with Nurnberg, in the worst case we bring him back if we can't get anything decent in the market.

Why can't we get anything decent on the market?
Upamecano is there for the taking.
We only need to spend.

Roland17:


Let me start by saying welcome to the thread, not sure I have seen this handle before.

Most times, it's not even opponents putting us under pressure. Sometimes our players play into the hands of our opponents, the examples are numerous I have lost count. Do you remember the Watford game where Sokratis had a brain fart? I mean how much worse can it get? That example cost us 3 points! We scored 2 goals, a good defense should be able to see that out but of course, Luiz had to hack a player to make Sokratis's brain fart look easier on the eyes!

Trust me, I have been around but with different monikers. Been here since 2007.

On Sokratis and Luiz brain farts, you have a point.
We are that gift that never stops giving. Constantly shooting ourselves on the foot.

We are definitely going nowhere but downwards with these set of defenders.

Fkhalifa:

The bolded is 75% of Arsenal's problem. Its a pity some of our fans are still hoping hoping and hoping.

The Alaye you did above is good, but not an unambitious club like Arsenal will listen to you until you put a threat to their profit.

Most fans are beginning to see Kroenke for the problem he is.
Since he came to this club, it's been a slow and painful demise for the club to the sorrow of all of us who loves this club.

When Pep came to City, guess what he did?

His first action was to Change the entire City backline including Hart the goal keeper.

Kolarov, Clichy, Sagna, Zabaleta, Hart, were all axed in one swoop.

Because the foundation of every title winning team is the defense, and at Arsenal, we have ignored defense for so long.

Ferguson broke the EPL transfer record to sign Ferdinand from Leeds to make sure he stays ahead of Arsenal, Klopp broke transfer record on Van Djik, Ole Gunner Splashed big on Maguire.
Arsenal and Arteta needs a top level defender to coordinate our backline. Until we do this, buying any midfielder, or striker will be waste of time.

Kolasinac, Mustafi, Holding, Sokratis Chambers need to go.
They are not good enough or not fit enough.

We must prioritize our defense this transfer window.
If we keep the back line solid. In Auba, Pepe, Laca, Saka, Martinelli, we have enough talent to win the likes of Sheffield consistently. And this should be enough to get us into top 4 again.

Roland17:
I don’t care who you put in front as attackers/ midfielders, if the defense is abysmal and comical like ours, you can’t win games. You may have to score 3 or more in many instances to guarantee you a win and that is our situation. Our defense is the butt of joke in the EPL.
We desperately need to overhaul our CB roster, it is a joke to put kindly and has caused us so much pain and points. Also we need to buy players for the role they should be playing and stop cutting corners by converting players and having them take roles they are uncomfortable with. There are pieces in the midfield and attack that can keep us competitive if we have a decent defense.

Defense is our main issue.
Every team have moments of the match where the opposition are on the ascendancy, and hence need their defense to help keep them in the game until they wrestle control of the match back.
No matter how big a club you are, Madrid, Barca, Liverpool, Bayern, City, etc. Opponents will always have that moment they put you under pressure and carve chances.

Big teams have strong defenses to help them weather that storm and then slowly seize control of the game.

At Arsenal, once opponents put us under pressure or have good spells during a game we control, our substandard defenders would have a brain fart. By either gifting opponents cheap back pass, Pks, conceding goals from corners, etc.

We just can't defend. And until we sort that out, we are moving to no where.

Akinbahm:


Yeah, you've really watched the guy true true.

Kronke nah Mad owner, we suppose burnt am alive.

We all knew Kroenke was the problem, but we all also knew that Wenger was fronting for him and shielding him from fan rage by blatant lies (remember when he would tell us Arsenal had 100m transfer budget but that we found no quality player to buy) and getting rewarded by Kroenke by being made to have enormous power in the club and substantial salary.

We needed to get Wenger out to expose Kroenke.
Too bad it took the London fans too long to see that.

Now that Wenger is out, Kroenke is exposed for his lack of commitment in terms of investment on this club. FFP has been relaxed so Kroenke has no excuse not to back Arteta in this transfer market.
He needs to write an interest free loan to Arsenal, so that we can rebuild our backline and get in an attacking midfielder and a DM in the next two to three transfer windows.

If he doesn't do this, and we keep shopping from scraps, our descent to relegation fighting club from current midtable status will be insidious and only a matter of time before fans turn on Kroenke.

Akinbahm:


Sha tell una board and scout to sign Partey, Aouar, Malang Sarr and probably Willian. This should be done even if they no wan spend two of those players is coming free...

Please no more Chelsea aged players.
We can't continue repeating mistakes of yesterdays and expect different outcome.

Chelsea aging players never did us any good. From Gallas to Cech, Luiz

We need better. No one should be mentioning Willian here. He is looking for retirement home. Emirates is not one. Three years contract for an aging midfielder. Totally not worth it. We should and can do better. Rather give the game time to our younger players to improve their craft than buy aging Willian looking for a place of comfort.

We should get Marlang to replace Kolasinac on the Left. Marlang is just 21yrs, can play left CB and LB. His strong point is passing ability and speed. Very ideal for a possession based team that would also play highline when passing up the pitch and hence needs a speedy CB that can rush back to stop counters from opponents when play breaks down.
He is free, if he flops, we can always cut our loses and resale.
If Arsenal were a serious club not run by morons, this is a transfer we would have since concluded.

Serious clubs like Chelsea, Bayern have almost concluded their transfers. Arsenal is waiting for people to finish buying the hot talents, then we go for left over cheap scraps.
This club is cursed,I swear. Damn you Kroenke!

I have always argued that Xhaka is substandard.
Arsenal midfield died the day Carzola got injured in that UCL match against Ludogerets and Xhaka became the mainstay of our midfield play.
His lack of abilities resulted in Coquelin having too much to do, got exposed and deemed not good enough by fans. Yet Coquelin looked a solid player beside Carzola.

Xhaka is a big problem, players look worse than they are playing beside him. But the biggest problem is Kroenke, because we know he can't sanction the kind of money needed to get a better replacement for Xhaka if we sold him. It is clearly obvious that we don't have better midfielder than Xhaka currently, that's how pathetic our situation is. When he is injured, we suffer even more.
The managers at Arsenal who are quick to embrace Xhaka are not doing so because they don't recognize his limitations, but because, they know there is no fund to replace him probably.

Fans have to understand that in Xhaka and Mustafi, Wenger left us with nothing to build with and wasted meagre resources that Kroenke will not replace for us.

Since we only get to have one marquee signing per season, I'd say we manage Xhaka, Torreira and offer Ceballos another loan deal for next season.
Then throw all our budget on a marquee solid CB to marshall our defense. Our entire defence line needs a clean up.
Sokratis, Mustafi, Chambers (average and perpetually injured), Holding (same as Chambers), Kolasinac (not a footballer, more of a wrestler, also injury prone) all have to go.

If Auba will not renew and a decent offer comes in, we should consider selling and reinvesting on transfers.

It's senseless saying we should buy Partey, buy this, buy that, when we know how scarce transfers for Arteta is. We should focus on defense first. Defense is the foundation of all winning teams that Wenger ignored for so long and it wasn't a coincidence that we stopped Wining big trophies since then.
For me, I trust Arteta for now and believe that given adequate time and reasonable funding, he will get us on top in 2 seasons or thereabouts.

Now that the party is down.

This wasn't a bad performance except the result.
For first in a long while, we were able to pass the ball around for long periods in the game. A long period that ended with a glorious chance Auba should have converted for a 2-1 lead.
Kolasinac also practically gifted them the equalizer.

Arteta has got this club playing the Arsenal way again, it's not yet obvious, because he has awful personel to work with currently.

Our entire backline is not EPL standard and we need total clear out come season end. Kolasinac is not a footballer and for a bulky guy, is too injury prone and can't be relied on.
Mustafi is always a second away from a blunder, Martinez (God bless his soul) saved his blushes today many times against Kane.
Luiz is a clown and obviously cannot coordinate a defense. How exactly can Luis be there and Tierney was the one picking up Toby to mark. A better defensive commander would notice the disparity in size right away and assign taller player to mark Alderwereld.

Holding and Chambers are average and worst still, too injury prone. To be serious in this division, you need durable and less injury prone players who can at least play up to 34 league games together. The last time we came close to winning the league, Mertesacker and Koscielny were an ever presence in our backline. You need that stability. Unfortunately, our current backline is full of substandard and worst still injury prone players.
A total clear out is in order. Kolasinac, Mustafi, Chambers,Sokratis and Holding have to go.

Arsenal should forget talks of buying a DM or an attacking midfielder, we should go all out to buy a statement Defender, a coordinator to marshall that defense, Upamecano comes to mind, we should put all our budget into getting him or his type.
Get Marlang Sarr on free from Nice to play that left CB, let him rotate with Mari.


Next season CB options should be like this :

Saliba, Marlang Sarr, Mari, Luiz, Upamecano.

Work on team cohesion next season.

Playing without Europa league distraction next season might yet be a blessing in disguise. Finishing strongly this season could have as well pappered over the cracks and meant that many of the current dead weights are retained in the name of false dawn.

While it's normal to feel bad about how this season turned out, we should not lose focus of the bigger picture.
In Martinez and Leno we have two dependable keepers, we just need to get them good defense in front of them.
Saka came into limelight this season and Ceballos totally bossed that midfield against le celso and Co. Lacazette scored a beauty, hopefully we keep him and Auba for next season.
Pepe already have his first season done with, we hope he understands this league better now and that the good player we know that is in there can come to fore next season. If you want to know how difficult adapting to a new league and team is, look at Hazard in Madrid and Griezmann in Atletico. This is life football and not Football manager.
The skeleton is there, Arteta will just have to work on it from down (defense) up (Attack).
There will be no miracles or quick results here, it's going to be a painful and slow process, more so with Kroenke not being one to help out financially.

Area4Area:
Stop denying the obvious, witnesses aboud and would still tell you about the atrocities by the Biafran forces. At least I still have uncles who were in different fronts during the war and they all gave me their accounts, my late father was a veteran as well

Like they gave their accounts in Willink commission, right?

All those are empty allegations. Biafrans carried out no atrocities in minorities area.
Adekunle black scorpion shot at anything that moves in PH. We know those who were spoiled for ammunitions and could afford to waste them on harmless civilians.

pquaver:
I believe your father and brother where the Holy spirit omnipresent to know what other where doing elsewhere. I am not here to please you whether politically or not. I have told you eyewitness account of what my people saw and the biafrans committed atrocities... I think it was your father and brother that committed the crimes in Abonenma that people like us lose our grand father houses in portharcourt. And what I narrated is exactly what happened.

I know your type.
The self hating type. Who go on telling anyone who cares to listen how stereotypes and lies about your people are true, so as to sound "woke", "detribalized" and "intellectual" and to be in the good books of your non Igbo friends, even though you want them to accept that only you and your family are good Igbos who are free and took no part in the same stereotypes and lies about Ndiigbo you help propagate.

I have no doubt your father was probably like you, that's why he told you a story no one else in Biafra can corroborate.

Ihele megbukwa gi.

pquaver:


Bro it is not true. The Biafra Army committed alot of atrocities even against their own people. My grandfather was a soldier in Biafra army and my father worked in the store house and they told me the ugly side of the biafra struggles too.. Stop acting like we were saints.. The 2 sides committed atrocities..

I don't know who you are, but you come across like the politically correct or compromised type.

Your father isn't the only one who served in the Biafran Army, my father did too.
He went to the war with his elder brother who died in the PH battle front, and what I narrated is exactly what happened.

Unless perhaps, your father in particular was was the Biafran who committed the said atrocities without the knowledge of other Biafrans around. Everything is possible, perhaps he needs to step forward and confess his sins so that the rest of Igboland would denounce him and his actions and hand him over to Hague.