Morning all.
Record crowds watched the Arsenal women beat their Brighton counterparts last night. 4-0 was the end result with Beth Mead continuing her Euro’s form by scoring two of the goals. Kim Little and Stina Blackstenius Scored the other two. An early red card for Brighton meant Arsenal had a pretty easy night in defence. Next weekend, Arsenal are set to smash the WSL attendance record for the north London derby, having sold more than 45,000 tickets for the clash at The Emirates Stadium.
What on earth was Gareth Southgate thinking when he made his decisions about the England squad? Harry Maguire? Laughable really as are a few other choices he’s made but hey, it’s his job under scrutiny but I very much doubt ‘football will be coming home’ this autumn if the same squad travels to Qatar later this year. Oh well, Ben White can sit with the three Gabriel’s, Martinelli, Jesus and Magalhaes, and have a right old moan about not being called up for their country. We fans can be grateful that they won’t be travelling far, wide or coming back knackered.
Rumours are that Oleksandr Zinchenko has suffered another injury and could miss tomorrow’s game although Mikel Arteta wouldn’t/didn’t confirm or deny this during his press conference yesterday. All he said was:
One or two players can be considered for training and selection. Whoever will have to be ruled out, that is going to be tomorrow. (today) We have those 24 hours to see.
Emile Smith Rowe remains a doubt for tomorrow which must be frustrating for him.
It’s been an ongoing issue that Emile’s had. It’s something we are trying to assess and trying to help as much as possible because we need him fit, we need him available and we need him performing at the best level, because he’s such an important player for us.
It’s such a great shame that the medics at the club can’t get this injury sorted out once and for all for Emile, at least not yet anyway. I just hope for his sake, Arsenal’s too, that they can, and very soon. He was one of our highest goal scorers last season and there’s no doubt his absence is a huge miss. I just hope that his career isn’t going to emulate the likes Jack Wilshere, Kieran Tierney, Abou Diaby etc. Even RvP struggled with injuries, as did Tomas Rosicky. Who knows what Arsenal might have achieved had those players been fit for the most of their time spent at the club.
Thomas Partey seems to be another player who is key to the way Arsenal play, yet misses a lot of games through injury. He was due to return last weekend according to Martin Tyler so in theory, he should be ready for tomorrow’s midday game. I think I’ll believe it when I see him on the pitch.
The Mirror reckon Arsenal are in talks to sign Miguel Ângelo da Silva Rocha – aka Xeka. Portuguese, a midfielder and he’s 27 years old. Not the age of player Mikel Arteta seems to prefer these days but he’s free so he’d be a low risk signing if he joins.
I’ve never seen Xeka play but honestly, I can’t see Arsenal adding a player to this squad if a) he was no good and b) if he wasn’t going to bring something to the team, even if it’s just in the domestic cups and perhaps The Europa League.
Could he be any worse than Arthur Melo? Reports in the newspapers suggest Jürgen Klopp wants to send him back to where he came from already. Hilarious.
See you in the comments.
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Thanks for the post Rico.
Southgate has a blind spot where certain players are concerned, either that or he is too weak to drop underperforming big name players.
Like you, I know nothing about Xeka except that he is out of work and thus available to sign outside the transfer window.
The story could just be the media’s version of click bait but with the injury problems of ESR and, particularly, Partey he could be a cheap option to help fill a gap or two.
That’s what I thought Cicero. At least he’d be low risk and who knows, a loan deal might be ideal.
I don’t think Southgate will last much longer. A bad World Cup and he could be gone.
I don’t think a loan for Xeca is on the cards because there is no-one to loan him from as he is out of contract. It’s really a matter of whether he wants to play and how much he wants in salary and whether Arteta wants him.
As for Maguire and England , It seems that all managers have blind spots when it comes to players , through history the list is endless. ,Managers get their favourites always have , take Arteta and Xhaka for an example.
Greaves ( should have played in the final ) , Le Tissier ( should have added his flair ) , Wright should have played more minutes and if Shearer hadn’t kept scoring penalties probably would.but they were all international fringe players .I know Ramsey got away with it but If Greaves was fit he should have played , if only to shut up the we won the world cup chants from those cheeky cockney fellers whose ground was in fact further from Bow Bells than Highbury.
I am sure others will have more names , more examples but Southgate will hang his hat on the big lump getting a goal from a set piece and will overlook the mistakes at the other end and we will probably be home before the postcards.
A season long contract with an option, for both club and player, of a one year extension would be good. Or why not a pay-as-you-play deal?
Oops, stupid me Potter. A year deal of course.
One year to resurrect his career , at 28 if he looks good , a contract somewhere , should be on the cards . He was on £25k a week at Lille so would be cheap by today’s standards even if we have to pay him that much.
Yep, and if he’s any good, the pressure for a midfielder signing in January reduces.
Afternoon Rico and all
In regards to Xena it depends on how much he wants and if Arteta sees him as long term or just for 12 months, if just a fill in I would give it a pass and look for a long term player.
Did anyone watch wolves vs man city match today, don’t know what was going through the wolves player but he tried some crazy kick of the ball but only managed a karate kick to the man city player stomach
If I heard correctly VAR was down and may not get used today
Afternoon Geoff, can we afford to pass on him even if he’s only short term? Assuming Mikel Arteta/the club really are interested in him. We saw and still see what injury to Partey can do.
Afternoon, all.
I would prefer to keep the small squad, unless a clear upgrade is on the table.
Call me an elitist, but Xeka clearly isn’t. Neither youth nor senior international caps, only a French championship and cup in his cabinet, but even Lille didn’t want to keep him. And we aim higher than LOSC Lille – apart from Jonathan David, but we completed a better deal in the summer. And Xeka is extremely card-prone. It’s like another Xhaka, but without his left foot, technical skills and leadership abilities.
We have a single game before the interlull, Partey is back in training, there will be no AFCON this year, so I don’t see the pressure to reinforce our midfield with players who are not an upgrade on Maitland-Niles.
Ghana are at the World Cup though and we’re in four competitions this season unlike last. Partey might be on his way back but who’s to say he won’t break again?
Small squad = more games = more injuries. I’ve not seen Xeka play so have no opinion on him but if Edu and Arteta really are interested in him then I hope they get him.
Going with a small squad is asking for trouble when you consider we are committed to four competitions in a season which, in addition, will include the World Cup.
Maybe if we weren’t carrying a number of players prone to injury, namely Partey, Tierney, ESR and, to an extent, Zinchenko we would not need reinforcements. For a relatively small outlay we can shore up our midfield and, thereby, ease the load on other members of the squad.
In the immortal words of Del Boy “you know it makes sense Rodney”. 😉
Of course you do, Rico.
We’re on the same page Cicero.
Don’t you then Pb? Surely the two of them know more about how any player would fit in at Arsenal than you or I.
Pressure on today , Man City and Spurs above us now with far superior goal differences, so a win tomorrow is a necessity
The bounce back from United will show just where we stand and we have the Toney bounce to contend with too.
Last year we came up short under a welter of strange circumstances , Covid , Sky’s opening fixture , injuries etc. 5 players started that are no longer here at the moment Balogun was upfront, Mari at the back , Leno , Chambers and Pepe .
Lets see who starts and whether the attitude is right.
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Rico If we are looking at the short term then why not bring in an academy player
Who though Geoff? Who has the experience to take on the Partey role right now should he suffer an injury?