Jorginho
I for one am delighted that we are offering Jorginho a new contract.
Jorginho is a leader on and off the pitch in this squad, and it is important we keep these sort of players around.
Where I sit in the Emirates is behind where the subs warm up. Whenever we are chasing the game, Jorginho “warms up” when in truth he is actually coaching close to the opposition box. This is a tactic that has been used by Mikel Arteta a few times, and one which goes relatively unseen.
On the pitch, Jorginho has had accusations that his “legs have gone”, but can your legs go if you never had them to begin with?
He is like a Xabi Alonso or Luka Modric. Never been blessed with pace or physical ability, but blessed with a brilliant footballing brain. The first 5-yards are in your head and all that.
Jorginho offers an alternative option to the hustle and bustle of Thomas Partey and Declan Rice. His calming effect in the ball is a positive from both an attacking and defensive stand point.
I expected one of either Jorginho or Partey to leave this summer, with a new central midfielder to come in. My expectation was that it would be Partey to go, with Jorginho staying on for an another year.
A new 12-month contract with an option for another 12-months. That feels fair for a man who is still only 32. Jorginho could be at Arsenal for some time to come (and I would not be surprised to see him managing or coaching us at some point in his life).
Declan Rice
There is a fabulous interview in The Athletic with Declan Rice. For those without a subscription, just search his name on Twitter and you will get almost every quote.
The interview really highlights how much Rice has grown as a player and man in the short time he has been at Arsenal.
No longer does he look to just play long balls to the wings in the hope a team mate gets on the end of it. He talks about learning that playing a great diagonal ball is pointless if it will leave his team mate isolated. And this is the difference between a good player playing for an average team and a top player in a top team.
A poor player plays the Hollywood ball and then thinks his job is done. A top player realises that the pass might look good on his showreel, but it does not benefit the team.
To highlight further, you often see on Match of the Day a player for a lower team put an aimless cross into the box. Commentators then celebrate the ball in and then criticise the strikers for not getting on the end of it. When you watch a top team, their wingers (such as Bukayo Saka), recognise that an attacker will be unable to get on the end of the cross so look to keep hold of the ball and recycle rather than play it into the box and lose position.
Rice has now realised it is not all about him. That top teams get to the top by recognising what their team mate will be able to do with the ball when they get it.
The interview is a worthwhile read to understand just how much Mikel Arteta’s coaching has influenced his thinking, and just how much he has grown as a player.
Arsenal WAGs
It had not gone unnoticed how Arsenal players wives and girlfriends were socialising together. And not the “falling out of nightclubs” and wanting to be famous themselves socialising of England’s Baden Baden era.
Partners of the players watch games together in eachothers houses, look after eachothers dogs and are often seen dancing in a box at the Emirates together.
Arteta has built a squad of players who are all in and around the same age, which in turn means their partners are. His players are humble and not interested in the celebratory life, and they have wives and girlfriends to match.
A happy wife means a happy life. And if a player’s partner is comfortable in the presence of a teammates partner, then it will naturally lead to less anomoisity on the field and players also getting on better.
Arteta has spoken in the past about how the “Arsenal family” is more than just the players. It is the coaches, the backroom staff, the guys and girls that work in Highbury House, players partners, children and parents.
I have never known an Arsenal squad to be so much as one and with no cliques. Arteta should take credit for that.
Five players to leave Arsenal
Just read a clickbaity article from the Express (sorry, I know I should do better) which talked about 5 players that might never play for Arsenal again.
Four of those 5 players were Mo Elneny, Kieran Tierney, Nuno Tavaras and Cedric Soares. Two players with their contracts ending and two players out on loan. It really is not a hard hitting piece of investigative journalism and just highlights that the media now care more for clicks than actual stories.
The fifth player oddly was Fabio Vieira. I would be surprised if the Portuguese midfielder is going anywhere.
The journalist clearly does not realise Vieira has been injured for much of the season (he fails to mention any injury). Vieira is a technically very good player in the same mould as Bernardo Silva. He will grow with more playing time, and if he does not get that playing time it just means other players are performing (Martin Odegaard is an unbreakable force. He never seems to be injured or fatigued. A blog for another day).
Enjoy your Wednesday.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 