Stick or Twist for Edu and Arsenal

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Well that was a bad-news Tuesday.

Firstly it broke that Mohamed Elneny had picked up a long term injury against Fulham. And that news was quickly followed by Thomas Partey being ruled out for around a month having missed the Fulham game.

There had already been much debate over whether we needed to sign another defensive midfielder.

Partey was clearly a world class performer, but seemed to be made of glass since he joined us. Elneny, meanwhile, had long be labelled with the “bit good enough” tag.

I had written a few times about how I was happy with the two. That with Partey, Elneny, Olexsandr Zinchenko, Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga we had plenty of cover as the deepest midfielder.

My though was always that improved competition and a long term replacement for Partey would probably be a deal done next summer.

Now with the news of Elneny and Partey’s injuries, Arsenal need to decide whether to stick or twist?

Stick

Like in January, if a primary target isn’t available, how far “down the list” should we go?

This close to the end of the transfer window, we could end up with a Lucas Perez – spending big money on someone the manager doesn’t want, someone that won’t play. And someone whose wage and transfer fee will burden the club for the future.

Without Partey and Elneny, we still have those names above: Xhaka, Zinchenko, Lokonga. Add in Ben White and Ainsley Maitland-Niles and it still feels like we have plenty of options.

Keep the powder dry, then in January go for long term target Danilo (at the end of the Brazilian season) or next summer Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.

Twist

Granit Xhaka has proven to be a liability when the deepest midfielder. Zinchenko has to cover the equally fragile Kieran Tierney, Lokonga is not a defensive midfielder. Neither is White. And Maitland-Niles need to be allowed to reignite his career elsewhere.

Not buying a striker in January cost us a place in the top 4. The Champions League income would have been enough to cover the additional signing of Gabriel Jesus.

Failing to get in a defensive midfielder could see us slide down the table and out of top 4 contention by the time the World Cup comes. Especially when you look at THAT October.

A list minute deal for a Danilo or Caicedo might now be more pricey. But what the cost if we don’t sign them and collapse over the next few weeks?

Better to die trying than not try at all.

Forget the winger, forget Tielemans. A top class defensive midfielder is now a must.

So what do you think Edu and Arsenal should do? Stick or twist?

Join the conversation on Twitter…

Keenos

Outgoings still the order of the day for Edu and his team

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Everyone have a good bank holiday weekend?

I’d imagine it has been a busy one for Arsenal as we still look to resolve a few outgoings.

And with a full set of mid-week games coinciding with the close of the transfer window, you can see why managers & coaches have little to do with transfers these days.

I always laugh when people say “Arteta has spent XXX”. He spends nothing.

Arteta (and Klopp, and Conte, and Guardiola) are part of the decision making process. But they don’t scout players. They don’t negotiate transfer fees. They don’t agree wages.

They might occasionally recommend a player; but the majority of the the the recommendations come from the scouting network who then filter it through the Director of Football. Then it will reach the managers desk where a final decision is made as a recruitment team.

And it is the same for outgoings.

Arteta will inform the team who is no longer part of his plans. It is then up to those above him to negotiate that players exit.

And over the next few days that is what Edu and his team will be doing.

The big movers will be Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Bellerin is still in a stand off with the club.

He has interest from Spain, but Betis and Barcelona both want him for free.

We have put ourselves in this situation having agreed to mutually terminate others contracts (Ozil, Aubameyang, Mustafi, Sokratis, Mkhitaryan and more).

And I think that is why we are holding firm with Bellerin.

We need to shake off that reputation of letting players go for free or cheap. And Bellerin might be the one whose career we have to stagnate for a year to make a point.

There is also plenty of interest in Maitland-Niles.

Southampton look to be the front runner, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he is snapped up by Leicester City.

They now have the Fofana cash and will be looking at doing a supermarket sweep. Maitland-Niles could find himself a target in that.

In terms of incomings, we still need a winger.

Been a linked with a lad from Ukraine. I have no idea about him. Will maybe write a blog on him tomorrow after watching a couple of YouTube compilations on him. Then I will pretend to be an expert.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Keenos

Woop-woop! That’s the sound of da celebration police! 

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Morning all!

Bit of a later than normal blog this morning – who knew the Blackstock turned into a bit of a rave venue on a Sunday evening!

The celebration police have had a busy weekend following our win against Fulham.

No more so than over in Qatar where the two dinosaurs tried to make themselves relevant again.

There was a time when Gray and Keys were the gold standard of punditry. But since they were expelled from the English media scene, they have fallen way behind the rest.

They now rely on outlandish statements for attention rather than giving an indepth game analysis.

The fact we have upset these two – and a few others – shows we are doing something right.

We felt it a few years ago when someone set up a Facebook page dedicated to us.

They were a little bunch of incels that were banned from our page and in response they proceeded to set up another page where they would post screen shots of our content invinting people to slag us off. I think it ended up with about 6 followers.

Meanwhile we have gone on to great success. The blog is having another record year. We have over 100,000 followers across all social media and the shop is doing great!

Back to Arsenal celebrating.

At the final whistle, the players and coaches celebrated. And so did the fans.

It was a hard fought win, coming from 1-nil down against a resiliant Fulham side. The victory made it 4 wins from 4 – and we remain the only team with a 100% record in the Premier League.

Yes, it was only Fulham. Just like it was only Bournemouth. Only Leicester City. And only Cyrstal Palace.

The same Fulham and Crystal Palace teams that held Liverpool to a draw.

You can only beat what is in front of you and Arsenal are doing just that.

Yes, we have harder tests to come and October will be a crucial month, but as long as we keep collecting 3 points like a serial speeder, it reduces the importance of those games against others in the “Big 6”.

Last season, Liverpool failed to beat any of the other 3 sides that finished top 4. They finished 2nd – one point behind Manchester City.

Now the pessimist would argue their failures against Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham were why they finished 2nd. But it does show that “if you beat the rest” you do not really need to “beat the best”.

92 points would have been enough to win the league in most seasons and if it was not for city coming back from 2-0 down against Aston Villa on the last day, Liverpool would have won the league.

So yes, it is only Fulham. But it is beating those teams that we should that will keep us in the title race this season. And we are in the title race.

Up next is Aston Villa on Wednesday. Hopefully we make it 5 wins from 5 and celebrate like a team that has won 5 in a row.

Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend.

Keenos