Eddie and Pepe looked like players that took advantage of their minutes to show their values. Balogun; not so much.
With PEA seemingly out and Laca gone in the summer I wouldn't be opposed to convincing Eddie to reup and give him a ton of time the rest of the season to see if he can atleast be a regular player for us going forward.
Any agent who tells Nketiah to sign a new deal should be immediately fired. After how we've treated AMN, there is no way Nketiah should accept any offer we make unless it is way above market value.
All the rumors say are we are looking for a new ST, and that was before Auba had his most recent fallout. In addition, Eddie hasn’t signed a new deal and appears to be on his way out. I’m not opposed to Eddie staying, but I don’t know if he wants to stay, nor has he consistently shown he can play at the level we need (against tougher competition than the likes of Sunderland). If we can sell him, I think that’s the best long-term option for club and player. so my reasoning is that we can hopefully arrange a transfer at least double the 10M that Crystal Palace was willing to offer us last window for him.
Per Arsenal.com prior to the match, AMN had a non-COVID related illness. 🚨 Lokonga, Mari and Chambers all miss tonight's game after testing positive for COVIDMaitland-Niles misses tonight with illness (not COVID)Get well soon, lads ♥️— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 21, 2021
I don't see any reason not to take this as face value. I'm on record here as not being the biggest fan of Arteta's man-management skills in many instances, but he's been pretty up front of late about players illnesses or being disciplined or needing to still work in training.
Yeah. If Auba is likely gone/sold then def should keep Eddie. But is Auba really likely gone? IDK. And Eddie really really wants playing time. But all this puts a little thought in my head that perhaps Arteta is trying to take advantage of a recently worsened situation with Auba, to somehow convince Eddie to stay. Which based on what Mikel says in public, is exactly what he’s been wanting to do.
He played in 11 of the first 15 games in all comps, and since then has gone: Bench Bench Not selected Bench Bench Not selected "Out with illness" That looks like the sequence of a player on the way out whose value the club doesn't want to tank to me. Maybe I'm being conspiratorial. I know that if I were in AMN's shoes I'd want to leave as soon as possible though.
can you give me a good reason why nketiah should re-up to be a *maybe* backup? 1) at 22, he needs to be playing. it doesn't seem he can get that consistently at arsenal. 2) he can wait 6 months and decide where he lands *and* get more money as a free signing. 3) as @ArsenalMetro said, maitland-niles' situation, amongst others, hasn't show me any type of consideration once the club gets what it wants.
great point. i feel like you can work around 1 with 4 in attack (whatever your configuration, 2 up front or 3 behind 1) if at least 1 of the other attackers is well rounded and smart (like saka) who can cover the missing element. more consistently so if at least 1 of your midfielders contributes heavily into attack (prime ramsey? maybe santi?). more than that and you run into danger of being incredibly inconsistent (real pretty when it works and just neutered when it doesn't).
Saka, ESR & Martinelli were all getting mininal minutes until injury, poor play, etc... gave them an opportunity. PEA in the doghouse and Laca leaving could be Eddie's. If he leaves in the summer he is likely gonna be on a mid-level side at best where he may go some games with zero shots/opportunities.
"could be" is pretty slim when you (not you-chjoak but you-the club) have already clearly shown you value balogun more *and* you are consistently flirting with new strikers to replace aubameyang and lacazette. there is not a thing wrong at all with dropping a level to put yourself in the shop window. while i think he can do the job for the 12-20 clubs, if i am his representation, unless someone like newcastle comes calling, i would be looking at one of the stronger and more attacking proficient clubs in the championship (hell, a norwich looking to do their annual yo-yo) - because i think he will score in bunches there - with a (written) agreement for him to be able leave if a premier league club comes for him. do like watkins and earned his way up with good performances in the championship.
It wouldn't surprise me if he's on his way out. Just saying I don't have any reason to doubt that he's actually ill.
I'd be a bit wary of giving Eddie significant playing time or a new contract if we are truly looking for an Auba replacement. If we can get someone young and promising in the window we should. Eddie scored 3 very nice goals against a league-one team where we had a lot of chances. We have talked a lot about how our team in the PL, doesn't actually create many chances, so I'd want a better finisher than Eddie going forward.
As much as I like Eddie he is probably just a very good Championship striker or a good squaddie for a EPL team playing multiple tournaments.
If we were playing today I woulda rather drawn Chelski. But the semis start right after New Year's so who knows where team form will be at that time. It's such a huge crap shoot with fixture pile-up and potential injuries, covid, etc. Also AFCON starts shortly after that, so that might come into view, depending on when key players like Salah & Mane have to report.
The AFCON schedule starts January 9, FIFA wants players released immediately after Boxing Day. The Clubs want to hold out until January 3. Either way Salah and Mane will be gone before the League Cup Tie with Liverpool.
sadly, minamino and jota are damn good. hopefully/maybe, they will find them necessary for actual league games and hold them out of the league cup tie.