Morning!
Today Arsenal look to make it 3 wins from 3 with a trip to Bournemouth.
Whilst we have had a favourable start, it can not be ignored that two of our first three fixtures would have been away.
You can only beat what is in-front of you and our Champions League chasing competitors will drop points to the likes of Leicester City and Crystal Palace this season – Liverpool have already dropped to Palace and Fulham, Manchester United to Brentford and Brighton.
A bit of a horrible trip for away fans today. Bournemouth is not one of the most pleasant places to go.
The ground is not actually in Bournemouth but in the next hamlet over. that means (like Brighton) you have to get the train into Bournemouth before getting either another train, bus or cab to the ground.
And that is if the trains are running – which this Saturday they are not due to train strikers.
Sorting transport for away days is a real headache these days.
I would expect us to put out that same starting XI as the opening two games of the season.
We are currently playing just once a week so there is no need to change a winning formula.
At some point, Mikel Arteta will have to decide when to re-intergrate Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu back into the starting XI. But as it stands Ben White and Olexsandr Zinchenko do not deserve to lose their places.
Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira continued their comebacks from injury with 45 minutes against Swansea for the youth team at the weekend. Both looked good and sharp – I expect them both to be on the bench today.
Cedric Soares also played well in the youth game.
He was clearly there to try and offer Vieira support. He did his job professionally.
On Soares, by now many of you would have seen every episode of All or Nothing.
He was involved in a flash point with Alexander Lacazette, taking a dislike to the Frenchman taking his frustrations out on a youth team player.
Sometimes it is not just what a player offers on the pitch that is important to a squad but also what they offer away from it.
Cedric is clearly a well liked, morally grounded, humble player. He is clearly one of the leaders off the pitch, even if he is not a regulary starter on.
The last bit of Arsenal news floating around right now is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The former Arsenal player looks to be set to join Chelsea in a big money move.
This has led to the usual boo boys complaining that we let him go for free.
It ignores the fact that in January, no-one but Barcelona was in for a player that we were desperate to get rid of. That gives us a weak negoatiating position.
Chelsea are desperate for a striker and their transfer policy this summer has been to just ‘pay the asking price’. Whilst some might commend that policy, not negotiating will hurt you further down the line.
Due to this strategy, it has led Leicester City to ask for crazy money for Wesley Fofana. Chelsea will eventually pay the money.
They are overpaying for a lot of players and it will damage both their finances and reputation in the future. It is what happens when the man running your transfers (Todd Boehly) has no idea about football.
Chelsea are quickly becoming one of the worst run clubs in England. It will not be long until they are in a similar situation as Manchester United – too many ageing, underperforming, overpaid players on their books.
Enjoy your Saturday.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 