Morning all.
Isn’t it frustrating to read that whilst the Arsenal first team are struggling to find the back of the net, Flo Balogun is scoring goals in France? Heck, even Nuno Tavares is scoring goals too. Apparently he’s been superb so far this season. Do I think Mikel Arteta should have kept either or both at Arsenal instead of sending them out on loan? Yes and no, yes because after Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah is our only other striker so we could do with Balogun on Thursday night but no because he’s experiencing exactly what he needed. Similarly, Nuno Tavares was struggling in the first team but a great year in France is just what he needs to regain some of the confidence he possibly lost. Saying that, I’m sure he’d have been good enough to face the teams we have drawn in the group stage of the Europa League but playing every now and again wouldn’t do him any good whatsoever.
The Europa League Cup, whilst annoying because of the Thursday/Sunday fixtures it brings, is a competition which I think Mikel Arteta will take seriously. Any trophy is always a bonus these days but because this one offers Champions League football to the winners, it’s more important than the two domestic cups. Of course it’d be great to win all three but let’s be honest, our squad isn’t big enough to do that. Or at least I don’t think it is.
Already we’ve seen Thomas Partey, Mo Elneny and Oleksandr Zinchenko suffer an injury and it seems ESR has suffered the same fate too. I’d imagine Elneny and Smith Rowe were in Arteta’s Europa League plans so what are his alternative options for Thursday?
Well, here is the Europa League squad in full which I’ve nicked from Jeorge Bird.
Arsenal Europa League senior list:
Goalkeepers: Ramsdale, Turner, Hillson
Defenders: White, Gabriel, Saliba, Holding, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Tierney
Midfielders: Partey, Odegaard, Elneny, Vieira, Lokonga, Xhaka, M. Smith
Forwards: Jesus, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah, Nelson, Marquinhos
B-List:
Saka, Hein
It is anticipated that the following players will also be on the B-List:
Awe, Bandeira, Butler-Oyedeji, Cirjan, Cottrell, Edwards, Foran, Graczyk, Henry-Francis, Hillson, Jeffcott, Monlouis, Sagoe Jr, Sweet, Taylor-Hart, Vigar, Cozier-Duberry, Ibrahim.
Elneny being listed in the squad would suggest that he’s expected to return before the end of the year which I really hope is the case because we need him. ESR too.
The B-list, whilst it’s good to see some of the under 21’s on the list, I don’t think many, if any of them will get game time because they have fixtures of their own to get through and one of those is tonight against Dutch side Feyernoord in the first round of the Premier League International Cup and next week, they have a fixture either side of of match against PSV Eindhoven and I’d imagine that’s how the fixtures continue throughout the season too.
I’m not sure where Reiss Nelson is in his recovery but if fit, I think he’ll have a big part to play over the coming Thursday nights. Marquinhos, Cedric, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Nketiah, Holding and Turner too. Not not necessarily all at once, but at some stage. Perhaps Matt Smith too.
See you in the comments.
Morning all ,It’s good news that they are , even if they prove not to have a long term future with us it boosts their value to someone else. Such loans are good for them and us but the ones for players like Reiss Nelson not so much due to injury blighting his chances .
There’s something about Reiss that we supporters don’t know , there’s an obvious talent and due to his injury record we are caught between two stools . We can’t sell him and we can’t loan him without paying someone to take him.
He is in the squad for Europe and hopefully he will get the matches to prove his worth one way or the other. His problem is that if Marquinos gets a shot at playing he may find himself pushed even further back.
What’s so annoying about a Thursday/Sunday fixture as apposed to a Wednesday/Saturday? (Apart from the fact we’d rather be in the champions League)
Morning Potter, all.
I like Reiss and I’d like to see what he could give this team before he joins the exit queue.
Always playing catch-up for a start.
What’s so annoying about a Thursday/Sunday fixture
Travelling to London on a Sunday for starters , trains are always cancelled for work on the line and public transport runs reduced services.
September 11 ,home to Everton cheapest fares from Norwich to liverpool street £60 return two changes onto buses both ways journey time 2 hours 45 minutes each way ( 99 miles approx )
Afternoon Rico and all
According to reports Ghana have selected Thomas Partey for their internal friendlies later this month. I hope we stop him from attending, the last thing we want is him to get injured for a mickey mouse match.
‘Noon Rico
I’ve seen Nelson play a number of times. He is very quick and direct, but seems to lack control on the ball. He reminds me a little of Theo Walcott in that way.
Tbf he hasn’t had a decent run in the side, but he doesn’t appear to be rated highly by the coaches he has played under.
@Potter that’s what you get for moving to the sticks. The housing may be cheaper, but everything else is really expensive.
A friend moved to the north norfolk coast. House was cheap as chips, but it will probably be in the North Sea in the next 15 years. It was his wife’s choice of abode and she is completely bananas. 🍌🍌🍌
Good day Rico and all. I would definitely rest Saka and play Marquinos, give Nketiah a start in place of Jesus, Tierney in place of Zinchenko and Tomiyasu in place of White. I don’t think we have a suitable replacement for Martinelli so he will have to start.
Afternoon Geoff, Pete, Cicero.
Depends on what condition ESR is in perhaps. If fit, he could come in for Martinelli or even Vieira. Martinelli needs a breather surely.
Pete, my journey would cost similar and the houses where I live aren’t cheap. Anywhere outside of London makes for an expensive day trip to the Emirates.
Hi Pete , Frankly most shops and pubs are charging London prices on the Broads and travel is one of the things we can’t control . We don’t have the luxury of a bus every 2 minutes and Pete if your mate bought a house in Happisburgh then more fool him , he should have done a bit more investigation , the coastal erosion problem of the North Norfolk Coast from Kelling to Yarmouth apart from Cromer and Bacton is well known.
Sadiq has made it double difficult to drive to matches as most of the vehicles that we have to use in the “sticks ” are banned from London and it has made my attendance at home matches a lot less frequent .
I Have retained my season ticket for the moment but depend on the friends and family system to pass the tickets to members via their memberships but don’t know how long that will continue as it’s hard to justify when I can only get there half a dozen times a season.
Having said all of that I would not move back to London I have been here since 1982 , I am nearly a local.
That comment was a bit tongue in cheek, Rico. Sounds like you live in Windsor castle?
The further away from towns and cities you get the higher the cost of all the essentials and public transport in this country is pretty damn expensive.
Mundsley, Potter. Like I said the Lady of the house is as mad as a hatter, but they’re inseparable (until she kicks him out again).
40 years in Norfolk – that’s quite an achievement!
If you’re close to the Broads you could get a wherry down the canals to London. Might be quicker than the train service?
I won’t mention Sadiq Khan in front of my friend. He goes absolutely nuts on him. Still I’m not sure allowing combine harvesters inside North Circular would be a good idea on match days.
Ha ha Pete, if only. I’m quite a bit further down the motorway. I realised your comment was tongue in cheek. I’m used to your humour now. 😂
Oh well, at least Liz has offered us all some hope. 🥱
Potter have you considered NASC. Norfolk Arsenal Supporters Club. They run a coach to all home games and to some away matches. They also obtain tickets. I have only used them once and that for a cup match. The coach used to leave from outside John Lewis in Ber Street and also stopped to pick up at Thickthorn park and ride.
I used to play 5 a side for them at the end of my playing time but kind of lost contact as the covid thing took over . I could give Dave a ring and maybe if my son can’t make a game you could accompany me if you have a membership .
Thanks for the offer Potter, but I’m not a member.
England doing well against Luxembourg half-time 5 – 0.
Finished 10 – 0
Hey Rico, Le Grove is 15 years old today, that’s where it all started for so many, blimey 2007 I was only ***** years old then. 🙄
Good morning all, I see Auba made an impressive start for his new club. Impressively bad by all accounts, he got a miserably poor rating of 4 and was hooked off after 56 minutes.
Hi Kev. 17 years ago? Gosh, where have the years gone. HH is 12 which I find staggering really.
I’ve not been on there recently but the last time I did, the names in the comments section are very different to when we used to go on there.
Morning Cicero, he scored though didn’t he? Shame it was offside. 😂
Morning. Used to post in LeGrove way back when. Recognised Rico’s avatar from that time. Definitely has it’s unusual characters.
Geoff seemed a nice guy. Spotted him on a Grand Designs episode last year. Made a comment about Spurs, also mentioned boxing and advertising, then it clicked who he was. Hilarious.
Morning Pete, I only left LG because it became quite hostile in the comments section but I think it’s calmed a bit these days. It took me a while back then to realise Pedro and Geoff were related.
From LG, to Avenell Road and then HH.
I wonder what happened to the blog Wrighty9, or something similar.
The sadness for me over the years was the passing of Yogi. I loved his writing.
I’m hearing that Thomas Tuchel has been sacked
Bet Aubameyang will be happy . Who would have thunk it.
Classy club eh. Talk about hit the panic button. Again..
Kev according to wide world of sport yes Chelsea have sacked their coach
I was certain the next to be sacked would be one of Gerard, Lampard or Rodgers, The sacking of Tuchel came from left field.
It seems the hedge fund that owns the Chavs is even more ruthless than Abramovich.
More instability down the Fulham Road, long may it continue. 😉
Hi Rico, I admire your ability to keep writing when there are plenty of other things to distract us.
Arseweb was the first place I found years back. Then Arseblog followed by Le Grove. Got bored of the arguing on there, especially when some nutters like Gambon posted (tbh I reckon Pedro posts as alter egos to wind up debate)
Like you I thought Yogi’s writing on ACLF was top quality. Some great old timer posts on there too, particularly from a guy in France posting as GunnerSoreArse, think he had his own blog for a while.
He was also on ArsenalArsenal, where Kev pops up from time to time. The current blogger spends a lot of time talking about PSG for some reason.
Never came across Avenell Road.
Have been banned from Untold a few times by Wizard Grandpa and had a few bans on 7am for not going along with the mutual hatred of anything that might be good about Arsenal post Wenger.
Most of the chatter now is on twitter, but it can be a bit crazy on there.
Oh and there’s always AFTV, but not really my cuppa. Used to see Ty at games years ago (30 plus) and chatted to Claude in the pub a few times. Despite his persona online he was a very friendly guy. The others on there…hmm..
Your path has been similar to mine Pete but with HH, I wanted to find a happy medium, debating without the name calling. You’re right though, social media has taken over, HH is very different to 10 years ago when it was busy here.
I used to go to the away games on the Supporters Club coach and that’s where I met Ty and Claude before they were You Tube personalities Pete, they always had some interesting and heated debates on the coach home especially if we lost.
Pete, the gunnersorearse blog is still on the web but has been inactive since June 25 th 2019.
I haven’t been in contact with northbank69 since November 21st 2016.
Does anyone have any news about him?
If you want to visit the blog google gunnersorearse arsenal blog.
Avenell Road is the same. Still online but nothing since 2012. Can’t think why. 😆
New post up now