Agreed. Also would have expected better GK insight from a former GK. I've watched several videos from "GK experts" that breakdown Ramsdale's strengths and weaknesses. Based on those videos I can see why someone would be willing to take a gamble. His age, amount of EPL games, some of his natural instincts and the fact that all of his flaws are very coachable.
Agreed in the Howard comments. Greatful for his contributions to US soccer but as an analyst he's neither insightful or entertaining.
Apparently Arsenal have a third example of a player whose wages or wages plus transfer fee have priced them out of a move. The Galatasaray president has vetoed a move for Elneny over his wage demands.
I don't really understand the burning need to get rid of ElNeny he's basically Edu. The problem isn't him it's that a literal donkey is first choice.
i mean, you are obviously correct but i can see what his point is. no, elneny would not play for those sides but, for this current side, he is roughly the same as what edu was then: a 3rd/4th choice central midfielder who can competently fill in for a brief time but is neither good enough to threaten a starting spot nor will he the primary reason the team will finish 2nd or 8th (unless he starts 20+ game, in which case, he would be a contributing factor in us locking in the latter).
i often watch highlights on NBC and he'll be one of the people introducing the lineups and he sounds horrid there, both disengaging and just spaced. i thought he sounded much better delivery-wise in this clip but, content-wise, as many have said, he sounded vapid as hell. a whole lot of words just repeating the same trope by rote but making minimal points of worth.
in an article that talks about the roles of arteta, edu, and richard garlick in a transfers, james mcnicholas talked about xhaka's extension: that is the first i have seen that specific language used (trigger clause) with regards to the extension and it does leave me feeling better about it. there wasn't a new contract - so theoretically no raise or new bonus - but a trigger of a +1 year clause to, presumably, hold some values (namely, 2 years on contract) when we reach summer and try to peddle him off again in a hopefully better market. so long as arteta does not guendouzi him - unlikely given his seeming opinion of xhaka - then, worse comes to worst, we most likely can still peddle him for the same shitshow offer roma gave us next summer.
Not a Howard fan at all. Even most of the MLS teams I’ve watched have better live and/or color commentators than him. It’s also annoying that seemingly every decision to award a PK is always “spot on” unless it’s against Everton or ManUtd. His biases are really obvious and wear really thin on me.
The key phrase there is "important first team player." If that's how they view him it begs the question of their talent evaluation.
Not sure about that, but I'm happy we signed Tobin. She's a life long goonah, but she's now just on the wrong side of the age curve, so I'm puzzled as to why @The Jitty Slitter would've liked you calling her our "best signing". Hopefully the new coach has signed her with the intent of allowing her solo creativity to flow. And hopefully she can muster that, like she did when I watched her on the wettest day of my life, come back from a 6 months on the disabled list, and on her first touch do this: Don't think she'll play tomorrow, but for those who are interested, I just posted details of tomorrow morning's match here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/v...-teams-thread.2018250/page-1105#post-39897526
thank you for the information. if so, then this is a terrible loan. we would have done better to just have him in the championship.
Edu was a key part of the 03-04 season... much more than a 3rd or 4th choice midfielder Unfortunately for him his career really went downhill in 05 I never really understood why he didn't sign a new deal in 05 but maybe he wanted to leave and wenger knew fabrgeas was coming thru
i mean, i liked edu as a player and valued what he brought but could you really argue that he was one of the two names for midfield in the first XI for that team? maybe i remember wrongly but my memory had him and parlour as 3rd and 4th on the midfield depth chart with parlour occasionally moving out wide.
He had 30 league appearances that season - 13 as a starter IIRC he as pretty much the go to guy as the CM in the rotation with either Viera or Gilberto holding in that case. I agree those two players were the obvious starting midfield but Edu was way more than a mere squad player. That is why it was so strange he didn't kick on in 05 Anyway my main point is that 03-04 era vintage Edu and Parlour (obviously) were very very good players - above EPL average El Nenny I would rate as a below average EPL midfielder. Superliga is pretty much his level.
It's not like with Myaichi, when we didnot have a winger. Our right winger we just bought and already is a favourite with the crowd and our left winger is assisting and scoring like mad. The staff isnot going to alienate two important players by benching them for a loanie. For Sinisterra there already was interest from abroad, so pissing him off could mean we lose an important player in the winterbreak we then can't replace as most of the time equal quality costs more money ( we can't afford) and then you have to wait and see if the new guy does deliver. Nelson would stand a better chance if he didnot extend his contract with Arsenal just before the loan agreement. If he came in as a player for the future who is our own ( like Madueke at PSV) than investing in him makes sense. This loan doesnot from Nelson's pov. He will play matches as the right winger is injury prone and to give either winger resting time.
oh, i'm not arguing or blaming feyenoord in anyway. the team needs to do what is best for them. i'm irritated at our continued inability to pick a good spot for our loanees.
and elneny had 41 appearances last year. again, like i said, i am not arguing/comparing edu and elneny qualitatively. they are not remotely close to being comparable and, i agree, on another team parlour and edu would have appeared and started many more games/had more significant roles. my point was and remains that elneny is our 3rd or 4th choice central midfielder. same as edu was for his teams. it looked like he suffered a pretty hefty injury as soon as he went to valencia. that is disappointing. i quite enjoyed watching him played.
I don't know why Elneny gets such hate. He's a perfectly useful player and really should have played more than he did. He doesn't cost you points every other game, which is something you can't say about half our starters.
I'd wager it's not personal but a general pushback against those several players Arsenal acquired over the years that are good but no where near good enough for a side intending to challenge for honors.
Elneny is actually quite unique in that he's actually pretty good against the better teams. He provides decent defensive cover and is a lot more press-resistant than Xhaka. If we play him against teams that defend though, then he offers next to nothing except the occasional pot shot.
Window in Turkey is closed, so no one else is leaving. New transfer thread here: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/r...buyouts-january-2022-transfer-thread.2117337/