Morning all.
Big game tonight as we visit Old Trafford to face Manchester United.
Earlier in the week I spoke about how important these next two games are – trips to Everton and Manchester United.
With West Ham dropping points again last night (now without a win in 3) we have the opportunity to move into 4th place tonight. It is a chance we can not afford to miss.
Also importantly a win will open up the gap to Manchester United to 8 points.
Whilst West Ham started the season well, they are not real contendors for a top 4 finish. Our rivals for that are still Leicester City, Tottenham and Manchester United.
We have already won away to Leicester and at home to Tottenham. Victory over Man U will be 3 from 3 against our top 4 rivals.
Yesterday’s big Arsenal news was that Eddie Nketiah had rejected a new contract offer.
I will expand on my thoughts on this another day, but we really do need to make more decisive decisions when it comes to young players.
Eddie turns 23 towards the end of this season and really now needs to kick on with his career.
He had a chance to leave in 2020 but we kept him. This summer Mikel Arteta blocked a move as he declared he was still part of his first team games. He has just 2 League Cup appearances to his name this season.
It is not just about the transfer fee, but how we are perceved in future deals.
Eddie stayed because he was told he was part of Mikel’s first team plans, yet has not played.
What happens next time we have a talented young player whose contract is expiring – like what happened with Folrian Balogun last summer. The manager sits him down and says “sign the deal as you are part of my plans”. But then he remembers what happened to Nketiah, what happened to Ainsley Maidland-Niles.
We kept both men because they were part of the managers plans, yet neither has played much in the last 18 months.
Playing about with players careers and costing the club around £40million in transfer fees is just poor. We need to operate better.
Anyway, if you are travelling to Manchester tonight forn the 8:15 kick off. Enjoy the trip.
Up the Arsenal
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 