Buckle up people, Adam Rae Voge (@AdamVoge) is back with a bang.
If you follow Arsenal with any degree of closeness, you’ve heard the talking point by now:
“After Boxing Day, when Arsenal pulled off its infamous 3-1 upset of Chelsea, the club played top-four football.”
Boxing Day brought the season debut of Emile Smith-Rowe, who quickly endeared himself to supporters and the manager alike becoming a permanent fixture in the starting 11.
The basic statistics make the club’s improvement after Boxing Day easy to see. Arsenal recorded 14 points in its first 14 matches, a pace that over a full season gives you Burnley, 17th place, and relegation fodder. In the 24 matches including and after Smith Rowe’s introduction, Arsenal minted nearly two points per match, which over a season gives you Manchester United, 2nd place and Champions League glory. The club scored 12 goals in the first 14 matches, and 43 (1.79 per game) after. Arsenal conceded 18 goals in those first 14 outings, and only 21 in the 24 matches to follow.
All that considered, you’d expect it to be apparent from match-by-match statistics just how much Arsenal improved once it made the change. Having spent a few weeks wandering that forest, I’m here to tell you it’s not so simple.
Some of the more basic statistics show marked improvement after Boxing Day, even if it’s not earth-shattering. Arsenal averaged about a shot on target better in its final 24 matches, about half an expected goal scored, and completed about two percent more of its passes. The club won about two more tackles and successfully pressured the ball six times more each match.
Some key statistics actually got worse after ESR’s introduction, such as shooting percentage, ball recoveries, and progressive passes per 90 minutes.
In what proved to be some of their most substantial areas of improvement, the Gunners committed around four additional shot-creating actions per match after Boxing Day, and nearly two goals creating-actions. That’s significant – two GCA/90 is also roughly the difference between United and Burnley.
But does any of that make the club almost literally twice as good, in terms of results? It’s hard to say. What’s even harder to say is whether some of those improvements could actually be tied to Smith Rowe, who ranked fourth at the club in GCA/90 and sixth in SCA, behind the likes of Willian and Dani Ceballos.
Smith Rowe is not a statistical darling. He doesn’t score a ton of goals, and his key passes are in the slightly-above-average range among Premier Leaguers. He’s not a Xhaka-level progressive passer, statistically speaking, and he didn’t have eye-popping pressing numbers like some attacking midfielders. (Giovanni Lo Celso pressures the ball about twice as often as Smith Rowe, and with a significantly higher rate of success.)
So where does Smith Rowe, Aston Villa’s dream target, really make his mark on this club? It’s all about the buildup play, and improving the play of Arsenal’s key attackers. And after searching at length, I finally found the data to back it up.
Emile Smith Rowe contributed to Arsenal about 0.59 xgChain every 90 minutes after being introduced, according to Understat. If you’re unfamiliar, xgChain is the cumulative value of every possession a player is involved in. So basically, possessions involving ESR were worth 0.59 goals per 90 minutes.
That rank puts Smith Rowe 49th among midfielders and forwards in the Premier League with at least 1,000 minutes played last season, and third among Arsenal players after Saka and Lacazette.
Another key metric from Understat, xgBuildup, puts Smith Rowe 29th in the Premier League, with 0.35 xgBuildup per 90 minutes. xgBuildup is similar to xgChain, but it doesn’t count your key passes or shots. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen in football to what’s commonly referred to as a “hockey assist.”
Smith Rowe’s xgBuildup was third among Arsenal players with more than 1,000 minutes (Martin Odegaard scored a 0.42 xgBuildup/90 in just over 800 minutes.) Again, that may not blow anyone out of the water, but the combination of the two is interesting. At left, you can see the two charted against each other. Smith Rowe’s plot is among Arsenal’s best, showing his quality contributing directly to goal-scoring opportunities as well as contributing to the build-up play that leads to those opportunities.
Even more interesting, though, is the statistical change in Arsenal’s other leaders once ESR took the pitch. [I know what you are thinking on the graph, grow up]
Statistically, it’s hard to find an Arsenal outfield player who looked to benefit more from Smith Rowe’s introduction than Bukayo Saka. The ⭐Starboy⭐ recorded half a key pass more per 90 minutes after Boxing Day, a.k.a. the difference between Allan Saint-Maximin and Son Heung-Min. His xgBuildup rose from 0.25 (on par with Sander Berge) to 0.37 (Christian Pulisic). And his xgChain rose from 0.49 to 0.72, a difference comparable to going from Granit Xhaka to Jack Grealish.
Four of Saka’s five goals came after Boxing Day, as did all three of his assists.
Another player whose numbers grew significantly was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Pre-Boxing Day, Auba was in the midst of a major slump. Auba had four goal involvements in the first 13 matches of the season, and his buildup numbers weren’t any better. Auba was putting up 1 key pass, 0.35 xgChain and 0.1 xgBuildup per 90 minutes. Perspective: Jarrod Bowen averaged 1 key pass, Daniel Podence has the same xgChain rank and that xgBuildup over a full season would put Auba in the bottom 20 percent among attackers and midfielders in the Premier League.
After Boxing Day? It was a different story. Auba’s numbers shot up, to 0.84 xgChain (comparable to Mo Salah) and 0.22 xgBuildup, still an unremarkable but vastly improved number. Nine of Auba’s 13 goal involvements came after Boxing Day.
Other Arsenal regulars such as Alexandre Lacazette, Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney improved their play after Boxing Day, but one who stands out as one worth mentioning is the club’s 72-million-pound man, Nicolas Pepe.
Pepe had scored two goals headed into Boxing Day, one from a penalty. His passing was dismal, with 0.31 key passes per 90 minutes, a rate more suited to West Brom’s attack than Arsenal’s. And he was doing next to nothing to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates, with 0.14 xgChain/90 and 0.06 xgBuildup/90 (again, both comparable to West Brom’s attacking output).
Pepe didn’t start on Boxing Day, but his performance improvement after that point was perhaps the club’s most significant.
Pepe after that day was a different player:
- His key passes/90 rose to 0.7, still a low number but a statistical moonshot from his earlier performance.
- His xgChain rose to 0.56, roughly the statistical equivalent of replacing Karlan Grant with 2020-2021 Paul Pogba.
- His xgBuildup remained low at 0.27, but again was a vast statistical improvement, putting him in the company of Marcus Rashford and Gabriel Jesus, rather than Rhian Brewster or Willian Jose.
That’s right, even Nicolas Pepe did more to help in the build-up! It’s also worth noting that eight of his 10 Premier League goals and his lone assist came after Boxing Day.
So there you have it: Arsenal’s build-up play improved significantly starting on Boxing Day, and its stars performed substantially better. Of course, it is impossible to say precisely how much of that was as a direct result of Emile Smith Rowe’s introduction. Tactics will not have remained exactly the same, and the Chelsea match happened shortly after the switch to the 4-2-3-1. Martin Odegaard’s introduction was also some help. But no matter which way you slice it, ESR’s first start of the season was a major turning point for Arsenal, and likely helped cement him as a starting 11 fixture for the foreseeable future (sorry, Villa!)
Give Adam a follow @AdamVoge and thank him for this immense piece of work. Sambi Lokonga just did! #WelcomeSambi
Podcast records tomorrow, we’ll be live streaming, so put some time aside in the evening to come say hi. 7pm GMT. (TWITCH HOME IS HERE)
So bloody hot today
1st
I’m just here for my tr4phy then gotta leave my office before I melt
lol nearly
tr4phy!!! ha
Ach couldn’t even get that. Well done curse. I’m off to die 🥵🥵🥵🥵
lol cheers DM. good luck with the heat. pretty nuts.
It’s extremely weird that we’re not all over Aouar since the transfer window started. Same Aouar who was the centerpiece of Arteta’s wet dreams last Summer and because of whom we almost didn’t sign a marquee CM in Partey. The rumours at the time was that after months of negotiating with Lyon, we reached the point where the player had to say if he wanted to join us or not, and Aouar said no, because we had no UCL football. Well we had Europa League football at the time, and we don’t even have that at the moment. I see… Read more »
How effing tall is this lad?
We’re height elitists on here. Will be very upset if he is a 5”8 midget as he is listed on Whoscored rather than his Transfermarkt/Wiki listed 6 foot tall height.
Is Leno Staying?
Is Xhaka gone yet…? Windows soon closing
happy about the new guy, but is he any good?
Answers would be appreciated
So White is obviously next, I’d take an Aouar and Maddison and be relatively satisfied with that
Most people complaining about 5`8″ midgets are likely shorter than that themselves. To me the only positions where height is imperative in the Keeper and CBs….all of which should be 6` at a minimum. All other positions should be talent led
Is anybody familiar with Lokonga?
Global
Was being facetious because of the White height debate.
I agree that CBs and GKs are the only two positions where height is really important.
WE,
This shows he isn’t 173 cm. But he might be 200 cm unless he photoshopped himself on the picture.
https://www.teamtalk.com/news/talks-well-advanced-thierry-henry-arsenal-helping-hand-17-2m-lokonga-transfer
Supposedly Tielemans is 176 cm, Henry 188 cm, Lukaku 190 cm,
Lokonga probably a replacement for Ceballos.
Ozy
He’s able to morph between being 1.73m and 1.83m tall on command as per online sources which is pretty impressive.
183 cm sounds like a reasonable height. Kid’s got the height covered.
Wenger Eagle
So if Kante or Veratti came knocking would you say… “Begone you midgets!!!” 😂😂😂
On a serious note, how tall is Locatelli? His height didn’t particularly stand out…
According to the profile on Arseblog… he sounds like a Xhaka replacement because of his impressive passing ability and range…
Nice breakdown Adam, if only we could add JM10 numbers to that, we would be in the running for top four provided Auba stays healthy.
Welcome SAMBI!!!
no more Danny the fanny or GwenDozy! 🙏
Reading comments of China and WE I think earlier about Aouar supposedly being CM – he may be able to play a no 8 role but from what I saw of him last year he was mostly in an attacking role, whatever number you end up with. Bottom line – we don’t need both him AND Maddison. Bissouma or worse case Neves would be a better and cheaper option.
Locatelli is 186 cm. Tavares 183 cm. Xhaka 185 cm. Aouar 175 cm.
raptora
If you take Xhaka’s ego into account I’m sure he’s at least 7m! 😂
WE
183 according to this interesting article
https://www.arsenal.com/news/what-lokonga-will-bring-arsenal
Leeds,
If you ask him he’ll tell you he’s leaving cause they don’t want to build him a 7m statue next to Bergkamp, Henry, Adams and Chapman.
looked like aouar wanted a move to atleti earlier but they bought the argentine playmaker, forget the name. came from italy (udinese?)
seems like a smart decision to see if you can go to a CL team, but its looking like us or spurs for him and lyon have been trying to cash in on him for a while. he’s going to go somewhere but his contract is til ’23 so maybe not. still only saw him in a few CL matches 2 years ago.
Welcome Sambi! Good age, decent price. Kompany and TH raves about him so can’t be bad. Young hungry players that want to improve. A very slow process but slowly edu is doing stuff. Our new number 23.
ESR has the potential to be a class act. I am slightly worried about his robustness. He is quite a thick set lad, but rather than this add to his robustness, I actually think it could make him more susceptible to injury. Maybe it’s just me, but I think he could benefit from trimming a few pounds to ease the burden on his own body.
Nope. Appreciate the effort but these data posts are not for me.
W.E
Cheers for the clarification.
Raptora: the main thing that’s clear in that picture is that Lukaku weighs as much as all the other 3 combined. I may be exaggerating a tiny bit tho
Good omens with Lokonga.
He shares the same birthday with A. Wenger.
Mind ,he better not do ‘ a Saliba’ and not perform in his first few training sessions though – otherwise Mikel will have him back on loan in Belgium before no time.
Anyway, plenty of AFC supporters will be doing the conga when A & E get the boot.
Crimson
Let’s hope he enjoys a career like Sol Campbell and Ray Parlour over Danny Welbeck, Andrei Arshavin or Niklas Bendtner.
Enjoyed reading the blog Not surprised we improved with final third technicians, before Smith-Rowe + Odegaard we lacked a link between central midfield and attack, going into the season without a fit or registered attacking midfielder, cost us big Last season Tierney was our most creative player, Xhaka would drop into cover, and Tierney would create the overload to try and get 5 players into the attacking third, the drop off down our left was massive without him Tavares is an elite athlete, who’s strengths are attacking, hopefully we can iron out creases in his game quickly, there’s a good… Read more »
Mikel will have him back on loan in Belgium
———–
Mikel didn’t sign Saliba so therefore he doesn’t care.
‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics’. Apparently Disraeli came up with that a hundred odd years ago. It’s truer now than ever.
I have every respect for the endeavour and intention, but I’m pretty sure that the same statistics can be used to arrive at a totally contradictory opinion Of ESR.
Left testicle
“Are Lokonga and Tavares any further ahead in their development than Saliba?”
Nope, but try not to push the question too hard.
“Are Lokonga and Tavares any further ahead in their development than Saliba?”
Unsure… except in one very crucial aspect. They are Arteta signings and not Emery’s so… in Arteta’s mind yes.
https://twitter.com/GoonerG__/status/1415795889646485505
Since the Chelsea game we have changed how we recover the ball , more interceptions , more pressing as a unit and less tackling which brought about less yellow cards allowing players to play their natural game for 90 minutes .
Arteta changed how we played due to how we were treated by referees look at yellow cards we received before and after the Chelsea game at Christmas .
I wonder if Brighton would take Holding or Mari as a replacement for Ben White if we get that deal over the line.
Both players were bought for modest amounts so anything around £15m to £20m would be a win financially.
“Are Lokonga and Tavares any further ahead in their development than Saliba?”
Lokonga has been called up to the number 1 team in the world at international level, been approved by Thierry and Kompany, and played 80 games. Seems he’s ready.
Tavares is coming to sit on the bench.
Saliba is so ready, he went back to France for minutes, no one bigger than Newcastle offered him a loan.
Mad that the first place you want to go on a signing day is a dig at the club. Pick it up people
Gunnerblog talking to Arseblog today heard Arsenal scouting last season had issues with Aouar both on and off the pitch. He didn’t know details but this was supposedly why we haven’t been all over him. Odegaard was also mentioned as a possibility but although RM are unpredictable, seemed a long shot.
What about Coutinho on a one year loan? I gather that if he plays 10 more matches for Barca then another £17 m goes to Liverpool. A decent stop gap?
Some Arsenal fans love having a dig. And will never be happy. It’s laughable.
Mad that it took 2.5 preseason games for Arteta to simply stop giving a fuck about a 27m pound club asset.
Same preseason games that people now say that don’t matter a jot (and I agree with that).
Surely even Pedro would agree how mad that is.
No matter how frustrated I am with ownership and the manager, it looks like we’ll have spent close to 75m on three players (White, Lokonga and Tavares) after a deeply disappointing season where we also lost a massive amount of money due to Covid. I have no idea if these players will succeed but it is a statement of intent from the club. My best guess is that Kroenke gave Arteta and Edu an initial budget to invest in strengthening the team and that we’ll not focus on offloading several players before further acquisitions. If our net spend is 75m,… Read more »
*now focus
Bob N16
Definitely no to Coutinho, he’s a quality player, but was injured for the vast majority of last season
20/2 Rupture of Outer Meniscus Dec 30, 2020-Jul 12, 2021 194 days
20/21 Hamstring Injury Oct 25, 2020-Nov 20, 2020 26 days
I’m absolutely done with loans and overpaid casts offs from other clubs in the twilight of their career
Let’s go and invest in a quality final third technician in the 22-25 age range, someone who we can build around for the medium to longer term
Inter pull out of the Arsenal game in Florida. Hard to believe teams are travelling to Florida in the current Covid climate with the regular season approaching
This national team call up is such a cop out.
Adros Townsend has 13 caps.
Ben White 0.
So what if he was called up. So were a bunch of average players.
Steve, have you been reading ‘Untold’? If we’ve received fewer cards because we’ve changed the way we press then great, but I doubt it has anything to do with being unfairly treated.
Welcome Sambi, hopefully one of those smart signings that we used to make regularly a decade or more back.
Wind your neck in raporta it’s a broken record mate
I said this earlier: “I’m glad that the profile of players we’ve been approaching this Summer is of the right age. We could have been after the likes of Coutinho, Giroud, Nainggolan, Immobile, Reus, Higuain. That’s a positive as long as we don’t get any Willian type of surprise by the end of this window.”
I think we’ve had enough of the old players coming for 1 last payday. It has brought us nowhere. It has to stop.
Time to pay up Roma… even at £25m they are getting a great deal. I have a feeling Xhaka will look amazing in Serie A. Due to the slower pace of the league as a whole Xhaka will not look as slow or clumsy, thereby exposed, in Italy.
Serge,
I didn’t bring it up but as long as it’s brought up, I’ll speak my mind. You mind your own business, k? Thanks.
Mr Serge, agree!
Rich – fair points but if all our other purchases are 21-25 then a fit Coutinho, one year no obligation to buy still could be a sound option if a better option doesn’t present itself.
I love The Smith. I don’t think any Arsenal fans need any numbers to understand ESR’s importance to our attacking play. His introduction changed our fortunes. In no time he became the heart of the team and literally undroppable. Saka was our POTY and is a world class player in the making, ahead of the Smith in his development but it was ESR who was making the team tick. Our attacking play suffered when he was being rested. Albert Sambi. Endorsed by Henry and Kompany. 78 senior games for Anderlecht at 21. Dubbed by Anderlecht academy coach to have the… Read more »
Quick arsenal need a game in florida.
Let’s go grovers! 442
Pedro
Rich Marc Mark Raptora
Dissenter CG Leeds China
TR7 Pierre
Sid is banned for discipline
Saka, ESR and Martinelli are Arsenal’s future. We need to speed their involvement in the team as they can reach a level no one else in the team can. A level that could give us a realistic chance of competing against the top clubs for trophies. They can be as good as 70-120m players. We don’t need to spend any money, just give them this season to prove themselves. If you want a backup AM either keep Willock if we receive no good offer for him, or get a CM like Aouar who could deputize for ESR but will be… Read more »
Bob, he has hints of Nasri about him. Bloated entourage, bit meek, superb talent
Bob N16 Even as a last resort I wouldn’t want us going anywhere near him Our way back to the very top is assembling a team of elite young talent over the next couple of seasons, we’ve done the experienced players on extortionate wages, and it’s a project that’s failed miserably I’d much rather fall slightly short with a team of young and hungry players who are still improving, than go with a 29yr old with injuries, who’s regressing The age profile for Arsenal this summer is 22-25, we need to put in the foundations for a team over the… Read more »
Rich, I think they might go there if they can’t get senior targets… they want someone to shepherd ESR and Saka.
raptora and left Testicle asks a fair enough question…. why is it a “dig” at the club even to pose a perfectly legitimate question based on the facts? If you want to defeat the question, answer it! Rather than just sneering at people for asking questions… that’s howe debate works!
One has lost the argument already if you are afraid of difficult questions being even asked.
So much for Le Grove where you can have an opinion, not just get one if you can’t even dare to ask a perfectly legitimate question…
Ask away raptora ask away!
*that’s how
Given Barca’s financial plight, we should definitely be looking to take advantage. I wouldn’t be against a one year Coutinho loan. Prem proven world class player. Good option to have to dovetail at LW and AM. Good replacement for Odegaard.
Anything costing us lower than 7 million and I’m happily taking that option.
“0.59 xgChain every 90 minutes”
I can tell CG hadn’t read the post yet based on the fact he has yet to pass comment on this!
Given Barca’s plight I would be making a cheeky bid for Sergio Dest. Fantastic prospect at RB. £20m to £25m should do it.
Edu is doing a great job with the signings
Leedsgunner, it’s no a difficult question, we’ve been over it a thousand times. It’s a boring one. If the best club he can get an offer from in the league is Newcastle, maybe, just maybe, it’s you that doesn’t understand the game or where Saliba is at in his career.
I think Coutinho is coming. Edu big signing this summer
Edu chatting with Kia at Kia’s 50th!
Leedsgunner
We’ve been linked with Dest + Aarons today, both around the £25 mill mark
Fabrizio Romano saying Dest doesn’t want to leave though
Buying another right back without selling 3 of Bellerin, Niles. Soares, Chambers
Seems a bit bonkers to me, we need to get some out, before we get 1 in
Leeds because raporta says the same crap everyday it’s the same question and it’s been answered but not to his liking
It’s boring
Loan deals don’t really add much value. Players take some time to get used to a new system and by the time they have settled a bit, the loan period is over. A lot of effort goes in to something which yields little return.
We made 3 signings already at least another 3 will come and people still bleat
Well will those people apologies if Arteta proves he knows what he is doing ?
Because I will gladly admit I am wrong if he cocks it up with his signings and will shout Arteta out at the top of my voice in the stadium.
Serge,
what has been answered?
That it was perfectly correct to play a leaving Mustafi ahead of a 27m top CB prospect Saliba vs the likes of Dundalk, Molde and Rapid Wien when he had already played vs PSG, OM, Lyon and in Europa for Saint-Etienne?
I don’t even want you to give me reasons. Just say yes or no.
Following that line of reasoning Emiliano Martinez signed for Aston Villa who finished 17th in the EPL
Can’t agree more Serge.
Raporta it was not answered today it was answered when you first asked it
No we should not have played shit mustafi over him in those games that’s just stupidity from MA
The new shirts definitely looks better on our black players……………need to work on my tan.
Mr Serge
You don’t KNOW that another 3 will come. Let’s hope they do because we need it and probably more.
I am sure that the Arteta doubters would love to be proved wrong. Is an apology needed if that happens? Has an apology come from his supporters after our 8th place finish?
Sid they finished 11th or 12 th not 17th bud
It is much better for Diet Pep to prove his doubters wrong than to prove them right, for the good od Arsenal
Im telling you for free!
Raptora, it was wrong, we all know that. Any chance of moving on?
If it’s boring skip the post. I don’t recall anyone on the other side of the debate telling contributors that they can’t post.
Not sure that either Saka or ESR need any guiding, in fact they seemed to be the ones guiding more senior players last year, by example at least. No to Coutinho who really wouldn’t give a crap about playing for Arsenal. Hungry young players on the way up only IMO.
Matt an apology needed to come for our shit show last season as soon as the donkeys decided to keep MA then we back him
If he screws up first ten games he is gone
All this talk about height.Ridiculous.So long as you have a big Willy.!
Elmo
“”””can tell CG hadn’t read the post yet based on the fact he has yet to pass comment on this!””””
You have to admire Adams dilligence and his eye for detail but he aint got a clue what he is talking about.
Keep it simple for simpletons like me.
Mr Serge
So you back him because the club backed him, even though I get the sense you don’t think he is up to the job?
the only signing really left is the CAM and RB now.
Come on Edu
TR7, Willock has gone from a £5m player to a £25m one.
Hoffenheim made Reiss a £20m player, a year on the bench has made him a £10m player at best.
Tomori is valued at what, £40m after his loan?
Pedro, Part of the stats interpretation is correct, but some part are completely erroneous. Injury to our left back was the deciding factor to Pepe’s statical improvement. Until Tierney’s injury most of our attacks were built from the left. Once Tierney got injured, Arteta realised that he had nobody to run forward from the left back position and create a threat (until he decided to use Saka instead of a static Xhaka) . So Arteta transferred the animation from the left to the right. Chambers and Bellerin suddenly being instructed to overlap and deliver cutback instead of crosses to the… Read more »
Mr SergeJuly 19, 2021 17:23:33
Sid they finished 11th or 12 th not 17th bud
They signed Martinez when they finished 17th
“Well will those people apologies if Arteta proves he knows what he is doing ?” Yep. I will… because at the end of the day I want Arsenal to succeed. But considering Arteta’s led our club to the lowest league position in decades I think he will be apologising to us before we will be apologising to him. He is a rookie manager who has bought into his own hype. He has no one in his backroom staff that can offer him a challenging view or an alternative when the going gets tough. He’ll end up making the same mistakes.… Read more »
Matt I don’t know if he is up to it because he has had to get rid of a lot of shut and until at least 75perxent of the first 11 are his players we don’t actually know what will happen
Positives
Much better at the back
Fa cup win first season
Beat the big teams away for the first time in forever
It’s make of break I am hoping he pulls it out of the bag because starting again is not what we need right now
Pedro,
I assume TR7 is talking about bringing players in to Arsenal. Like Coutinho. I’m against that idea as well. Loans haven’t done us good. Last good loanee was who? Benayoun?
Raptora
Apparently we had a deal lined up for Saliba to go to Rennes in October, but they pulled out, and we didn’t have the time to get him back to St Ettiene
We had 8 centre half’s on our books, and when you have to manage people, seniority can be an important factor
Since we’d likely made the decision to send Saliba out in January as soon as the window opened, we decided to register the senior player who we thought would be with us for the whole season
That’s seems like the most likely scenario to me
Serge and Bob,
Glad we are in agreement.
I have high hopes for Lokonga.
Mr Serge
It seems you come around here just to tell other posters to shut up and fall in line
Then when pressed you’ll admit you too wanted Mikel gone last November
I like our signings so far we still need a Rb a cam and another cm for me
Then we worry if we need a replacement for lacca and Leno