❤️ Edu x Eddie ❤️
Time to take a first look at your new shirt, @EddieNketiah9 🤩 pic.twitter.com/loNrGj5KlW
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 18, 2022
Morning all.
No fancy mask, no drawn out process, just a simple message with a smile. Eddie Nketiah can’t wait to get started again after signing a new five year contract at Arsenal. I’m really pleased and I hope his last few games of last season were/are just the start of a long and successful run in the first team. Do we need another striker? Of course we do but at least now he will be as well as Nketiah and not instead of. He’s taken the number 14 shirt, so what? It’s just a number, nothing more, nothing less. Just because Thierry Henry wore it, it doesn’t mean no one else can.
I’m delighted Eddie is staying with us. He represents what we are all about and all the values of the club. We are very happy that he has extended his contract and now we have to get to work and continue to develop the great talent and person that we have in him. – Mikel Arteta.
Thank goodness Alex Lacazette contracted eh because otherwise I truly believe he’d have been leaving at the end of this month. But that’s by the by now, Eddie’s time came and I think he more than took it. I actually read the words “he’ll by like a new signing” on the Sky Sports website yesterday which made me chuckle but in some ways, he will be because he’ll be involved in Arsenal’s season from the beginning rather than just the last few weeks.
Not every Arsenal fan is happy if social media is anything to go by but Eddie’s teammate Gabriel soon jumped into the comments with an upside-down smiling emoji and response to the negativity which read: “How can you be so ungrateful? OMG”
“Not good enough for number 14” said another who’d rather have seen Eddie Nketiah leave for free. Ian Wright’s response was:
What’s a number?’ Why don’t you say nothing if you have nothing positive to say to our players? You can never call yourself an Arsenal fan with negativity of this nature. Would you say this to Eddie’s face? If not, STFU!
I wonder what the people moaning about Nketiah were writing about Arsenal’s potential new signing Fabio Vieira, a 22 year old who Arsenal will be paying big money for but has never played in the Premier League? Not good enough or a great signing I wonder. If it’s the latter, how can that be? Don’t get me wrong, he might be a great signing but until he’s played for Arsenal for a few months, no one knows. Thomas Partey was a great signing at the time, as was Nicolas Pepe but the reality is, barring a handful of really good performances, they’ve been disappointing in my opinion.
Good old social media eh, great in so many ways but no so good in others. There’s a vast difference between having a chat about players between friends and putting it out there where everyone and anyone can see.
William Saliba, Matt Turner, Auston Trusty and Marquinhos are new faces for the new season.. Plus, there’s over two months of the transfer window left to bring in further reinforcements, but what about the academy players, who really has a chance of pushing their way into the first team? Jeorge Bird has an article about who might end up where.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico, it’s good that former players such as Ian Wright can use their media profile to support our club, but to tell dissenters to STFU is denying them the right of free speech. Personally I would prefer him to use a reasoned argument to, perhaps, turn their dissent into approval.
Morning Cicero, I’d nearly given up for the day. Lol
Free speech, what’s that these days?
Morning all.
Don’t give up yet, we’re all reading even if we’re not writing.
Sorry I’m going through a ‘quiet’ period. Happy, mostly with what the Club are doing and saying at present. Not much to complain about really.
Very pleased that Eddie has committed to the club and team so wholeheartedly. Just a thought, is Gabriel Jesus a carbon copy of Nketia? Do we need two very similar strikers in the same squad? Or will Flo get a bit of playing time as an alternative focal point?
Questions, questions!
Rico, with the militant woke tendency daily gaining momentum there will soon be no such thing.
I was going to have a bacon sandwich for breakfast but my wife told me it would have to be a vegan one as I’d eaten the last two rashes on Friday. I didn’t fancy two slices of dry bread so settled for toast and marmalade instead. 😉
Hi Wavy. I’d rather a strong, powerful and physical striker to work with Eddie, that way we have a plan a and b, but it seems MA is going down the small and technical player route. Didn’t AW try that?
Morning Rico and all
(1) Until we see these new players in a Arsenal shirt playing to Arteta’s style of play we should make these players feel welcome and give them a chance.
(2) The only question I have have about Eddie is why did it take so long for Arteta and Edu to offer him a good contract
(3) I still feel we need a true striker to help the younger players out.
Morning Happy People, social media eh, what a cesspit, but we love it.
Eddie signing for 5 years and given how he finished the season was a great move by the club, after all the alternative was Eddie walking away for nix and the same people criticising the club for signing Eddie also criticising the club for a terrible transfer policy – sometimes Arsenal really can’t win.
So far I’m quite impressed with the business Edu has done, signed Turner as a replacement for Leno, retained Nketiah for a long contract, signed a very impressive looking Portuguese midfielder in Vieira who can fill a multitude of roles, signed the very promising Brazilian right winger Marquinos to replace Pepe and probably Nelson who can act as cover to Saka.
And it seems as if the club is seriously targeting an Argentinan defender who can cover left back, left centre back and do a job in midfield as well as the other names we’re in for, as reported in The Athletic and by Ornstein.
It’s not bad from where I’m sitting…
Morning Rico, another stellar post from you, your star is high in the sky….
Hi Geoff, I think the contract offer has been there for a while for Eddie but he wanted assurances before committing. Don’t forget that both Saka and Balogun deals went down to the wire.
Morning Kev, thanks, I think. Lol
So far so good imo too. If the Argie arrives and another striker, even better. Wonder what’s happening with Hickey.
Morning Rico. Good work by the club so far. The Ajax defender looks interesting. You tube shows him to be tenacious in the tackle with a lett-foot wand that can play a cross field pass like very few I’ve seen. Saka must be drooling. Versatile too.
Like you I believe we must get a powerful front man in to link it all up. The 5 subs is going to bring opportunities for minutes and tactical variants that could prove crucial.
Morning Adam. I even like the sound of Marquinhos. Young yes but he’s certainly looks talented.
I was being sincere Rico, honest…. 😃
I guess if we sign the Argie then that could be the end for Hickey, unless a bargain can be had Rico. The thing is Hickey can play several positions as well and that seems to be the type of player that Arteta/Edu are targeting.
As Adam so surgically commented, as he often does, the 5 subs opens up a whole raft of possibilities.
Been in and out of signal on the Greek side of Cyprus so have not done a lot of posting . You have to be careful with data roaming as the Turkish signal cuts in and you end out paying for it.
😂 Kev
Can the Argie cover right back though? Or will Norton-Cuffy get an opportunity I wonder. Or Cedric for another season.
I’m not surprised Potter, a lot of swimming though I hope. Lol
Potter if it’s too hot on the coast, get yourself up into the Troodos Mountains, it’s beautiful up there. 👍
Kikkos is interesting but quite a drive up the mountains. The pool however is nice and cool and near the bar .
A few years ago I swam three times round Aphrodite’s rock naked to gain eternal youth . Might do it again this year and see if it works this time.
As for Eddie, I think it’s good business, if he scores a few and we sell he makes money and if he scores and stays all well and good
Totally agree Potter, it’s a win win.
Good morning Rico and all
Just seen some of the comments on social media on EN14. to be honest I was so disappointed but I sort of expected it in a way. I am always hugely in favour of our own products from Hale End (although NK14 arrived when he was 14) and prefer them to any player which the club buys. but some of the vitriol poured out because he was given the number 14 is beyond belief. Wasn’t Theo Walcott given the number 14? He didnt set any houses on fire and though he wasnt a bad player he wasnt top top level like TH14. I am more pissed off that DB10’s shirt was given to Willy Gallas. Now that was an insult. EN14 may turn out to be the CF we always wanted to replace TH14. Then again he might not. But we have to see how his career pans out.
Cicero, with regards the comment I made about match fixing in previous article yes I did allude that match fixing takes place in the English leagues. I dont have any proof, but Football has the highest frequency of suspicious matches with one out of every two hundred matches being fixed. Plus it has happened in various leagues over Europe like Italy, Spain, France, Germany. The European Union police agency has found evidence of match-fixing of some top international football games. So do you honestly think that it has never happened in England? True, as you pointed out, it should have come to the fore and been found out…..but maybe we are dealing with a very large web especially when it comes to top matches. Do you honestly believe that the 4-4 against NUFC was a clean game? Sorry but I dont. That game stinks. Who is to blame and who fixed that match still remains to be seen, if it will ever be seen. but I dont believe that from 4-0 up you go to 4-4. However much exciting as EPL is at 4-0 a team is dead and buried.
Devil I have long believed that all’s not equal and that the courts are not on the level and corruption has existed in football for a long time.
Now I don’t bet and am not sure that I know the correct terms however as gambling has grown it’s no longer doing the pools to guess eight draws or four aways..
Spot betting is the real villain of the piece and in this case is the culprit , I have stood behind people at the Emirates that have been putting bets on throughout the game , in my opinion it’s plainly wrong I saw one guy drop £ 200.00 in 45 minutes , he spent more time betting than watching what he was betting on.
I agree about the Newcastle 4-4 and it was interesting to see how soon after Dowd stopped reffing . Was it all hushed up and swept away ?
We read on certain sites about Blatter , Infantino , Platini so can only conclude that if it’s happening there at the very top then it’s happening everywhere else.
Sadly where there are vast amounts of money there will be people bending rules to get their hands on it.
Ah the mystical 4-4 at Newcastle. Was talking about that game recently.
Arsenal folded that game and were ably assisted by the ref. 2 questionable penalties and sending off for Diaby after Joey Barton (has he been locked up yet?) flew into an ankle breaking tackle.
Then Titoe (RIP) scored a thnderbolt to equalise. His only goal for Newcastle.
We were so fragile then. Remember we lost the league cup to Birmingham a few weeks later.
If you want to look at a dubious refereeing performance look no further than Paul Tierney for Spurs v Arsenal a few weeks back. It’s been going on for years.
What about the Van Persie sending off at Barcelona? He had the temerity to shoot at goal!
Morning guys, new post is up.