Houssem Auoar

Arsenal will get a deal for Lyon midfielder Houssem Auoar over the line. It will be done.

His signing will add important creativity to Mikel Arteta’s side; and will also see Arsenal transition from 343 to 433.

For a long time, the view has been that Arteta prefers to play 433, but did not have the players to do so. Auoar changes that.

Whilst Auoar is a creative player, he is not a Mesut Ozil – a player who want to play behind the forward line, and contribute little defensively.

For Lyon, Auoar usually plays on the left hand side of a midfield 3. Arteta will look to see him replicate that:

Leno

Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney

Ceballos Xhaka Auoar

Pepe Lacazette Aubameyang

Xhaka remains fairly static in the middle of the park, allowing the 2 number 8s either side to press and push forward – with Ceballos offering creativity on the right hand side of the pitch and Aouar on the left.

(Note: at this point this isn’t a debate on who the front 3 is. Whether it is Willian on the right instead of Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka on the left it Aubameyang down the middle. It’s a blog for another day).

Auoar will change the way Arsenal set up.

Matteo Guendouzi

Arsenal quickly realised this summer that the big bids for Matteo Guendouzi were not coming in.

The midfielder is still just 21-years-old and is extremely talented. But a mixture of attitude and Covid19 has seen his value plummet.

Guendouzi’s value at Arsenal has not been as low as it is now since joining the club.

Whilst he only has 2 years left on his contract, a good season on loan at Marseille next season will see his stock rise again.

If he gets his head down, Arsenal would expect his value to rise again and bids northwards of £35m next summer.

Regardless of performances, his time at Arsenal is over.

Bukayo Saka

Well deserved England call up.

Alongside Ainsley Maitland-Niles, it is the first time in a while 2 Arsenal players have been selected in the England squad.

Just hope Gareth Southgate doesn’t waste his talent.

Bernd Leno

Fabulous performance from Arsenal’s number 1 last night.

Bernd Leno has not let the club down since he joined Arsenal from Leverkusen, and Arsenal were completely correct in backing the man with over 300 top flight games to his name.

Now it is time for fans to forget about Emiliano Martinez, move on, and back the keeper who wanted to stay and fight for his place.

Celebrations

When did everyone become so concerned about how other clubs celebrate trophies?

Is there a rule book on what games teams can and can not celebrate winning? How much they can celebrate? What is too much? What is no enough?

How about just let players and fans live in the moment, and celebrate how they naturally feel at the time.

Keenos