Bad news on the injury front. Ironman Granit Xhaka is out for 3 months. Whatever you think about him, that is a massive issue for Arsenal because it depletes us of reliable experience and it means we’re a little closer to a 3 month Mo Elneny residency in our midfield.
It’s a killer as well because the injury was a total freak. How much bad luck do we consistently get these days? It’s always something.
This could be an opportunity.
No.
It has to be an opportunity for some of the younger players to make moves.
AMN is going to land minutes. He has to grab them. He has to stay focused, up his intensity, and find the midfield version of whatever he did in the FA Cup run.
Sambi Lokonga is regarded as a future superstar of European football. But he’s still a little lightweight for the league. He has to find a bit of bite to his game and continue to impress in the middle with his already up-to-speed passing and movement.
There might be a crack in the blinds for Charlie Patino. Look, he’s very young, he’s super green, but he has something about his game. Could he earn himself some minutes? You’d imagine he will in the League Cup.
There’s also a bit of chatter about Jack Wilshere. I love the player, he’s homegrown, and it’d be sexy to see him back at The Arsenal, but I’m not sure we can register him and he’s probably a way off Premier League full-fitness. But it’s a sexy idea, if not a little naive.
Matt from the podcast said yesterday that we might be about to feel the Gilberto-effect of losing Granit. If you don’t know what that means, back in the day, Gilberto was a bit of a mystery to people. The Brazilian midfielder was incredibly technical, but not as bang bang as our other players, so people didn’t understand what he did. Then he got injured, and we felt the pain of his absence. Closing down spaces, covering the back 4, using his movement to do clever things. Granit has his issues, his very visible HORROR moments cloud that he’s pretty reliable in the main. This is not great news for us, so let’s hope some players can step up in his absence.
One player who might have stepped into Granit’s shoes would have been Matteo. The Frenchman has performed pretty well for Marseille this season, but we’re barely out of September and French journo Romain Canuti is reporting this:
“There are a few players at Marseille who are struggling with Guendouzi. His way of working, when he always blames others for things, when he falls to his knees in training to implore God because a touch isn’t good enough, it grates”
I love this.
When everyone was beating the club over the head for being sh*t, this was the story that people kept coming back to: MATTEO WAS MISMANAGED.
Well, here we are, in September, and his teammates are leaking against him.
Did you see any of the above type behaviour at the weekend? Did you see any of the petulance, even when we were losing? No. You don’t want it. Being a d*ckhead is not ‘caring too much’, it’s a waste of energy. When players are gossiping about dickheads, it wastes time. When coaches have to worry about how hard to discipline a good player, it shifts focus from the helping people that want to behave. He is going to struggle if he continues to disrupt like this… but it’s clearly not a management issue, it’s a Matteo problem.
This week has given clarity to a lot of things, one of them, is culture. When you are making changes, things always get worse before they get better. We’ve moved on 30 players in 2 years. We’ve cut big players that didn’t have the character or behaviour we desired, and at times, it felt counter-productive. But now, we can see that actually, those moves look good. All the new players we signed seemed to have been vetted for good egg/bad egg vibes. Notable that a huge chunk of the fanbase wanted Aouar, but we passed, like the rest of Europe, because the backroom team wouldn’t punt on a talented guy that floats in and out of interest.
You can’t just sign in good eggs. They need to have talent. Martin Odegaard is a good egg, that everyone loved around the club, who boasted an incredibly high ceiling. More of those types as we move forward.
Also worth noting this: Arsenal fans threw a shit fit about our signings. Why? Because the system was not to be trusted. This summer needed to be 100%. We signed 6 players that basically no one really knew much about. If I’m going to be blunt, this summer was like a typical Arsene Wenger summer.
Robert Pires? All we knew is he was good in Champ Man.
Thierry Henry? Failed right wing back.
Patrick Vieira? Couldn’t make it at Milan.
Marc Overmars? Busted flush.
Nik Anelka? Wtf?
We had no idea, but after a while, we trusted his talent ID, even when players looked hopeless. I remember Wenger telling us Robert Pires would be like Zidane. No one could see it, but Wenger could, and it happened.
This summers deals, so far, has made the doubters looks silly. Those ‘THE NEEDLE DIDN’T MOVE’ folk will happily chew down some of that humble pie, because they didn’t want to be right. Good analysts and scouts are supposed to find value where others can’t see it. If things carry on this way… we’ll trust January. Then we’ll trust the summer. We’ll finally get a bit of trust back in a system that let us down very badly over the past decade.
Finally, before I go. How good are we all feeling today? Nothing feels as good as a NLD win. To think, only a few weeks ago, a serious conversation was whether it was ok for Arteta to use the word ‘project.’ Can you imagine being that petty? In all honesty, I can, but come on people… getting riled by the word ‘project.’ Take a walk.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments… but before you go there, watch the video or listen to the podcast.
1st
Lokonga lacks bite? Not sure about that, he looks intelligent, athletic and composed!
Arteta is working
Third
Yo
?
Great opportunity for AMN.
Missed out
!
Pedro “Did you see any of the above type behaviour at the weekend? Did you see any of the petulance, even when we were losing” I did see a player a couple of weeks ago get sent off when we were losing , so It appears that you would prefer a player (xhaka)who goes into a 2 footed tackle away to city than a player (Guendouzi)who is not afraid to call out one of his team mates if they are not doing their job … You can’t criticise Guendouzi for basically nothing except bullshit rumours , whilst at the same… Read more »
Bob
“Lokonga lacks bite? Not sure about that, he looks intelligent, athletic and composed!”
Exactly…what we have is a xhaka charm offensive from pedro which is slightly embarrassing..
For the record, xhaka played in the first 3 games that we lost and didn’t play in the next 3 games that we won, so we will cope quite adequately without him .
Lakonga and Partey is a partnership that i am really looking forward to see play together.
Both technically very good , both good users of the ball , both positionally aware , both physically strong…
The needle might’ve been moved……….how much will depend on your particular views.
But that will be hard to quantify when the dial has been replaced with some vague scribble.
Pierre
That’s what this blog has become.
The defence of the indefensible.
Nigel Tufnel I didn’t directly compare Willock + Gnabry I made the point that even some of the worlds best players, had to take backwards steps in their career, in order to progress Not sure too many fans were upset when Gnabry left the club, or would have predicted his career trajectory Willock is 22, at the start of his career, and is yet to play a whole season of consistent football Newcastle was a good move for him, and with 2 seasons under his belt, he’ll become a much more refined player You wrote: “Willock is an athletic guy… Read more »
Tom
Where do you expect us to finish this season?
Where do you think we’ll finish in comparison to your expectation?
How many points do you think we’ll get?
The idea that Guendouzi was a passionate player who gave us bite in the midfield is utter bullshit. He was great on the ball, good distributor, but defensively horrible. He was spiky during mass confrontations so he scores well in twitter clips and highlights, and appears to “care” more than someone like Ozil. But from a defensive standpoint, he was very weak. Falling over and giving the ball away and never really interested in tracking back. This is peak Guendouzi from a defensive side – much much more of liability than even Aaron “Hollywood” Ramsey, famously only interested in scoring… Read more »
We’ve won four games against Norwich, Burnley, Wimbledon and Spuds and suddenly everything in the garden is rosey.
Just so everyone knows, we won’t miss GX.
In fact, I would go as far as to say his absence will be an added bonus.
Pierre you can do better than that defense of guen or are you also into your own agenda? As it seem you can see the similarity with ozil
The Xhaka injury has forced Arteta’s hand,kinda like when Willian was ‘ill’ and we.brought in ESR.
Lokonga looks a great player, composed, always looking to pass forward when he can. No qualms about dropping him in instead of Xhaka tbh. I reckon he’ll do well.
Xhaka didn’t perform that great against Spurs, almost cost us our 2nd goal and was lucky to have not picked up a booking.
It’s Sambi time !
In some ways we”ll miss Xhaka – his leadership, his commitment – and in some ways we won’t – his reckless tackles, red cards – but we have a host of alternatives. I’d add Chambers to those others have named, and maybe Ben White, Mari and on and on…
Have no fear, the future is here
And guen isn’t in a million years better than xhaka. He’s in the same league with sambi and i knw who i’ll pick. For years you spoke about others agenda on this blog turns out you just had your fav, and as soon as they were gone you started your own agenda. Or is it a windup? Im sure it is
Nigel each to theirs but willock is going to have a very good career. He’s a superb two way player with massive physical and athletic abilities only probably matched by pogba and adama in the league imo plus he’s still growing.
I have been really impressed by niles this season. There’s just this maturity about his game this season, i won’t be suprised if he becomes 1st choice partner for partey soon.
Xhaka ffs. He’s the best we’ve got for the time, but this isn’t the same as saying he’s magic. The world apparently agrees as he only fetched a single and pretty skinny bid from Roma. This was after his epic euros. If the Aouar transfer desert means anything, this fact has to as well. And Matteo? Really? Why am I reading about a petulant French kid we already shitcanned? Sambi looks better. Niles looks as good. We’ve options. Situation wasn’t exactly handled with aplomb, and the manner of sending him off wasn’t really a master stroke either. Pretty basic stuff.… Read more »
Someone say something about Ozil. Pierre is talking sense again.
He’s not wrong about asking for parity when discussing ‘unprofessionalism’. If Guen is unprofessional for his alleged antics on loan, so too is Xhaka for constantly picking up red cards and making bone-headed fouls.
Great post Pedro. I have to say I agree to everything. Sambi could do with more physical presence. And people need to give credit where it is due. Without Xhaka, Tottenham would have been a very different match. Just imagine ramsdale’s hospital pass for our second goal was to sambi or any other player in our squad for that matter. I don’t think we have anyone less that could do that challenge on holjberg. That could have been 1-1. And I tell you it would have been a very different game. A lot of people would be sending curses to… Read more »
Rich, 6th, 6th, 65 points
Graham 62, I’m far from being Xhaka’s biggest fan but not being able to pick him for three months will be an issue, particularly if Sambi and Partey are also unavailable for a number of games. That said, I’m really looking forward to Lokonga and Partey forming a partnership.
As to your comment about everything now being rosy, can you not see the possibilities of Sunday’s performance being regularly repeated. Much will depend on keeping the first 11 fit but things are certainly looking rosier. A defeat to Brighton will effect our outlook!
I don’t agree with the Xhaka/Gilberto comparison at all, that seems to be a comparison for comparisons sake.
Hal played his part well against Spurs, no doubt, but you always know there is a red card or brain fart around the corner. I can’t recall many individual errors from Gilberto. And he also chipped in with the odd goal too.
Basically I’m not worried about losing Xhaka to injury, as it gives us an ample and interesting look into our future such as a Lokonga/Partey partnership.
Pedro
While we all hope the summer signings work out, it’s not really fair to re-brand our transfer activity as some small-ball, modest budget operation extracting hidden value out of nowhere: we were the highest gross spenders in world football. We’re top 3 for net spend in the PL over the past 5 years.
Could we buy 5 Grealishes? No, but at the same time within the current context of football we’re a very big spending club on both transfers and wages.
We’re spending a lot, showing some ambition, and hopefully generating momentum: good.
As for Guendouzi, it’s quite apparent that he’s a wrong un. No loss at all.
The loan player I am concerned about is Saliba, also given that he is at the same club as Guendouzi. His situation we have handled eh poorly but I just hope he comes back wanting to play for us still.
Rich, First you deny that you compared Willock to Gnabry, which you obviously did in yesterday’s Comments. Then you go on with this quote just now : “What were Gnabry, De Bruyne, Grealish, Salah, Mane, Aubameyang, Bruno Fernandes, Son, Firminio, Mahrez, Van Dijk,, Vardy, Son” To even mention Joe Willock with those players is like football blasphemy. Now, or in the future. You’re the only one who doesn’t see it that way, and it’s laughable. I could understand if you were his mom and you want to have outrageous dreams like that. I hope he does well, but it will… Read more »
Guendozy was over-rated because he was youthful and ran around a lot, which was rare at Arsenal at that time. He always made me think of a headless chicken, rushing hither and thither to no avail, and bound to end up in the soup.
Now, of course, we have a squad packed with youngsters, all of them far better players than him.
“I hope he does well, …”after calling him brainless got needle on my bs detector spinning.
That’s the type of needle movement Arteta could use.
Elmo, we signed 6 players that a big chunk of fans, particularly on here, said were poor signings. 6 players for an avg price of 25m, even in this market, is good going.
Just because we spent the most doesn’t mean we didn’t sign value.
Nigel has sunk his talons into poor Rich, just because he rates Willocks and he doesn’t.
I don’t understand the angst against a kid who at least made the club good money last summer.
Tom
A reminder. You scoffed (rudely) when someone asked me some time ago my expectation of where Arsenal would end the season, and I said in the top 6.
Let’s hope we are both right.
Pedro,
Not to mention the very reasonable prices we paid for starters Gabriel and Tierney.
It’s so good,, that if you average it out, it even makes up for the overpaying for Pepe.
Pedro, I don’t think that’s accurate.
Ode, Sambi and Nuno were considered good signings by most.
Tomiyasu was a complete unknown to most but barring a few posters there wasn’t much opinion pro or against him that I recall.
The two sticking points were Ramsdale and White for £80m , which should’ve raised anyone’s eyebrows.
Hard to argue that spending £80m plus VAT on Ben White represents value just yet..
We already had the 3rd best defensive record in the league (I think?) last season, so he’s going to have to contribute massively for us to better that record in the coming seasons and ‘repay’ some of the outlay.
Pedro how dare you mention Gilberto and xhaka in the same sentence. Everyone notices the mistakes xhaka makes in midfield and everyone knew the importance of Gilberto. You seem to be insinuating the Arsenal fans are all a bit dim recently and not seeing the bigger picture. I appreciate the blog and your point of view but you seem to be taking I’m the cleverest man in the room approach a lot recently to back up anything Arteta does.
Englandsbest,
I don’t remember doing that….. seems perfectly reasonable expectations.
Good vibes in general but the only name I care about in Marseille is saliba who is a complete beast .
Good luck to him in his future career
I wanted Edu in for Gilberto.Very soon i learnt that was a big mistake.
Umar
“. Many people also seem to forget how we struggled without him (xhaka)at the end of last season when he got injured. We couldn’t control matches, we get overrun in midfield.”
What are you talking about
Xhaka was injured and without him we beat chelsea and palace away and beat WBA at home and drew with Villarreal.
How is that struggling without him and the midfield getting over run .
The home game v Villarreal was a struggle in midfield because Arteta in his wisdom decided to play Partey as the only centreal midfielder.
Dissenter, Most people here were very pleased with the money we got for Willock, like me. There were a few complaining loudly that we sold the wrong guy, and also crying every day about the new players we were bringing in like White and Ramsdale. I got sick of reading them, and it’s a joke they still maintain he’s going to be a superstar. Look at the list he compared Joe Willock to, more than a fantasy. Even if we kept him, who would he be replacing in this team? Odegaard?, Partey?, Lokonga?,(who is a real talent). Definitely not Saka… Read more »
“You can’t criticise Guendouzi for basically nothing except bullshit rumours , whilst at the same time praise xhaka who let the team down a couple of weeks ago. It reeks of an agenda purely to defend any decision that Arteta makes , which is ridiculous in the extreme.” Pierre tells it as it is. Guen has started every match thus far. If manager doesn’t start him their next match, Pedro has a point. If the manager starts him once more, even after his “antics”, then Pedro should be mature enough to eat some humble pie. Plus all the rest of… Read more »
Xhaka is not a leader – only when we play well do people credit his leadership. The team needed no added motivation against spurs.
Let’s see him make a difference when things are going against us. In those situations he tends to do nothing or lose his head.
I vote Gabriel as player of the month for September.
Xhaka barely played in the midfield last season anyhow.. He was busy deputizing at Left back so Tierney could get forward … he even was the furthest back on defense a lot of matches. Credit whre credit is due.. He was good last match only because of the tireless effort but he also tackled like a maniac and another referee could have sent him off easily. For me his liabilities always outweigh his positives and therefore I think he can readily be replaced. Will we better or worse as a team? Not sure but we will be differnt and I… Read more »
Nigel
Did someone lace your evening tea with PCP or something?
You’re usually not this boorish
What’s with the “tell your mom” comments?.. I’m assuming you’re not a gum-chomping, acne-faced teenager?
“As per Sussex Live, Brighton have a mounting injury list after their exploits at Selhurst Park, losing Steven Alzate to a nasty ankle injury with Danny Welbeck also coming off with a hamstring problem.
Other absentees from the 1-1 draw were defender Adam Webster, who also has a hamstring issue, as well as summer signing Enock Mwepu who missed out with a groin strain. Most notable of all, however, was Yves Bissouma.”
____________________________________________________________________________
I can’t complaint. I’ll take three points and move on.
Not gonna lie.. Hoping for an Emery European night masterclass today. Cutbacks galore.
Apparently it’s not ok to pick a fight with underperforming teammates or opposition players but completely ok if it’s with your own fans.
Nigel Tufnel Making the point that plenty of top players make backwards steps at 22, and aren’t the finished article, was clearly my point None of us know how Willock will develop, unless you have a crystal ball? But he has a lot of the required tools to succeed How many people would have predicted the players I listed above, would have had the careers they had, when they were 22? You haven’t got a clue what you’re on about, saying “Willock hasn’t got a football brain”…. 22 yr olds aren’t meant to be the finished articles Willock is just… Read more »
What the GX injury does mean of course is there is no chance to get shot of him in January
Surely we call Granit a stoneman not an Ironman because, we’ll , he’s…. Granite 🤠
defending one v one Xhaka is a ticking time bomb……….not sure if it’s his relative lack of pace or the strong man persona he tries to cultivate, but having just returned from a three games suspension for a two footed lunge he almost did the same in the 55 minute in his pathetic attempt at tackling Ndebele near the corner flag.
Luckily for Arsenal Ndombele skipped right past him leaving Xhaka on the ground and not the other way around, or we could’ve played 35 minutes a man down.
“ “As per Sussex Live, Brighton have a mounting injury list after their exploits at Selhurst Park, losing Steven Alzate to a nasty ankle injury with Danny Welbeck also coming off with a hamstring problem.”
Nelson, Brighton can cope fine without all of those with the exception of Bissouma. Welbeck possibly but Bissouma is the one who makes everything ticks over for them.
If they have Lamptey and the new leet back Cucurella playing they will be a threat down both flanks.
“Not gonna lie.. Hoping for an Emery European night masterclass today. Cutbacks galore.“
Ha ha Midwest, me too.
Downside being of course I don’t think Ole can withstand another CL disappointment ( 7 losses in 11) with Conte waiting in the wings, and Conte at United makes them dangerous.
I don’t want OGS to get the sack
He needs to do just enough to hang in there, at least until we go to Old Trafford at the end of November
My issue with Matty G… was I didnt think he was a very good footballer for the PL.. Most matches he was all over the place positionally and once he got close to the goal.. had no clue what to do with it. His attitude didnt bother me. Maybe it was killing the training sessions though…if he is trash talking dudes.. which no manager is gonna put up with. Anyhow for me.. he wasnt going to be a solution for us this season regardless of his attitude or last season for that matter. Tom- Yes.. Im a yellow submarine fan..… Read more »
Nelson: “I vote Gabriel as player of the month for September”
Absolutely agreed. By far our best player for the month it’s not even close.
People will put Ramsdale and Tomi in the conversation but it’s not even close in my eyes.
Gabriel won the Arsenal PotM awards last year in Sept and Oct. Hopefully the quality in his performances later in the season doesn’t drop this time around as it did a year ago mostly due to Arteta’s game plan but also because of his own problems.
With the risk of sounding boring , i will go back a couple of weeks after we lost 3 on the bounce, and i mentioned an old Arsene Wenger quote about confidence goes up by the stairs and comes down by the lift. I mention this as our improvement recently started slowly with the Norwich win , and followed with another victory v Burnley and you could see the confidence in the team slowly growing, and even the 3-0 victory v Wimbledon added to the more positive vibe in the club. The Tottenham performance was a culmination of what had… Read more »
Dissenter, You’re selective in what you take from my comments as always. You have to be. Being constantly negative forever, you are slowly realizing its going to be hard to maintain that in the near future about our club, and you’re going to hear about it from me and some others who won’t forget thousands of annoying negative comments. The mum comment was related to me saying that Rich was committing “football blasphemy” – my quote,, to mention Willock in the same conversation as deBruyne, Gnabry etc. Here is Rich’s full quote…not parts of it for effect, like you do… Read more »
Yeah, I hope Manure score a lot of goals today. We need Ole to be kept at the job for as long as possible.
I don’t think we will miss Xhaka at all. The only reason to be concerned is the fact that we don’t have enough numbers in there if Partey gets injured. But other than that two of, a Lokonga, AMN, Partey midfield will be athletic enough to get us to January. Elneny isn’t so bad either when paired with a player like Partey. Remember the one nil win at Old Trafford? Anyway I am not happy that he had to be injured for us to not have him in the lineup. But he earned his place on the bench because of… Read more »
Xacka out I’m ok with , we need to take this plaster off. He had a decent game against a terrible midfield. Partly is the monster, but gets zero airtime with. People slagging him for Misshitting 2 passes a game. Align with your stars
Definitely new signings have won me by now. Never against Ode for 30m. Ramsdale and White looked rather extravagant. Particularly with the emergence of Saliba in french league. But by now they look pretty decent deals.
Happy with the summer signing. It was the right market to spend. Next season those same players would worth more than double the price we paid.
I just want United to get knocked out. … Think it would be hilarious if they signed Ronaldo to try and win the CL and got booted out of group stages. Would kill their team chemistry not to mention Pogba will probably leave.
Any opportunity for Manc U to get humiliated.. Im all for it.
Nigel Tufnel
I bet you’d have written all those players off at 22 as well? Calling them brain dead….
Willock will end up at a bigger club than Newcastle before his 25th birthday, and forge a top career for himself
Newcastle fans absolutely love him
He’s currently more suited to a counter attacking team, but I bet he develop’s into a double digit goal scoring No8 or wide player in the PL over the next 2 seasons
At which point he’ll be 24, and primed for a bigger move
Xhaka injury is a lose, but not a great lose. We might see some of Patino.
Anyone want to see some of Patino and Balogun, they’re playing at the Emirate’s for the under 23 against Brighton. Tickets around £4.
I agree with Pedro’s assessment of Shaka. Although he isn’t the most popular player within the fan base, he is undoubtedly so vital to the way we play. He isn’t a coward. Never hides. Always gives his best even in some instances it may not be good enough. But Arsenal is much better with him than without him.
Xhaka is a left footed and he covers the left hand side when Tierney pumps forward. We don’t have a left footed midfielder apart from Patino or AMN who can use his left foot.
Emery’s men should’ve been 2 up. ManU look hopeless.
Villarreal moving the ball around expertly but their finishing is atrocious.
United need better players so Ole can show his true qualities
This blog hypes young players most of whom end up nowhere. Balogun and Patino could end up in the Championship.
Remember Krystian Bielik ,Kyle Ebecilio and Gedion Zelalem?
Pedro stated a couple of weeks ago that he wished that Lokonga a youngster straight out of the Belgian League would take Xhaka’s place in the team and in his first season.
This week it’s a huge blow that Xhaka is not available.
This is the inconsistencies some have talked about on here.
Rich,
I’ve bad news for you, the biggest club Joe Willock could move to is Southampton. But, keep dreaming of him being a superstar.
AMN another player we didn’t move on after the FA cup win and look at him now!.
Kenyangunner,
Patino just like Saka and Fabergas even at 17 you can tell there’s something special about him. Balogun depends on how he develops.
For an international fan/supporter, this video lets us share a bit the atmosphere inside the stadium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CznUXxhiB3s
Chelsea caught cold.
Very sharp finish by Chiesa.
Chelsea have had zero cohesion upfront so far in this match.
It’s another match where everything Havertz tries to do he fails with and Ziyech ineffective.
Got to love Bonucci.
Just rampaging forward as Juve striker a minute ago.
Chelsea’s defense can’t stop Federico Chiesa.
Pedro
I don’t see a Xhaka-less arsenal side as a problem.
Also, he’s no Gilberto. That guy was a walking ocean of tranquility.
Xhaka can be a neat passer and he used to have a pretty lethal shot, but he stopped shooting at goal about two seasons ago.
That’s about it really.
As an experienced member of the squad, he doesn’t seem to bring the sort of experience we need- -namely being a player who’s experienced in straight red earning horror tackles and tantrums.
I see it as a plus.
Oboi… Villarreal scores. Bad news…
Emeryball is demolishing Manure.
Sgit! Both EPL teams are losing
Emery one up
It;s gonna be a good ebening… for Emery.. a cutback special.
Good opportunity for Lokonga to further his progress with Xhaka likely out for the rest of 2021. He has talent, but I have not been impressed with him as others have. Xhaka has limitations, but his long term injury is one we that cannot afford. For me, he is one of the four most important players at Arsenal. Aubameyang, ESR, Xhaka and Partey are the four that we struggle to replace. The dropoff from Xhaka/Partey to other options is evident. Xhaka is an extremely durable footballer and eats up minutes with no problem. Love Partey, but I would be very… Read more »
Time Up I never said we shouldn’t have sold Willock I can understand why the club took the money, and I can understand why Willock went somewhere he’ll play every week, I’m also delighted we signed Odegaard Willock needs to play consistent football In order to develop, and he wasn’t going to get that at Arsenal Willock isn’t the finished article, he’s got a lot of rough edges, but the majority of 22yr olds have, that’s not unusual He’s got a lot of the tools needed to succeed, and over the next 2 seasons, I can see him developing into… Read more »
What a goal!!! Telles
I’m a Big Saliba fan, and feel he’s been treated so badly in not being given a chance. It’s looking doubtful we’ll get to see him play for Arsenal. 😔😤. Imagine this back four; Tomi , Saliba , Gabriel , Tierney. They should be lining up for us right now. That extra £50m could have got us Bissouma or 2 midfielders and given us more depth, so we’re not sweating on Partey getting injured all the time. Ben White is ok, but not worth £50m, which is the issue most of us had with the transfer. Concerns which have been… Read more »
Man Utd losing is always great. Don’t want Solskjaer to go though. He is good, but not good enough. It gives us an opportunity to get back in the CL. Doubt it will happen under Arteta though
What a goal that was
Tremendous goal.. Villareal Keeper was stunned into not moving. Still want United to lose.. I don’t care about any perceived manager change that hasnt happened.
Wow… Serge Gnabry with an amazing goal.
Midwest
Did you see the Chiesa goal? Great finish