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Morning all.
Eddie Howe must be laughing all the way to the bank, or at least the owners of Newcastle Utd. After the protracted summer saga involving Alexander Isak and his move to Liverpool, Newcastle look to have come out on top. They had £125m in the bank, well, half that amount after signing Nick Woltemade, whilst Liverpool have themselves a player who not only looks lost, but he’s injured too. 39 fixtures missed for club/country in three years. Slot says he probably doesn’t need surgery but it’s an ongoing problem which must be concern. After signing Ekiteke, I’m surprised they snapped up Isak too but I’m really glad Dijk and Salah stayed put though.
A. I’m so glad Arsenal didn’t fork out such a hideous amount of money on one player, certainly one who has a history of injuries.
B. Give me a player like Viktor Gyokeres any day of the week because he’s a grafter as well as a goal scorer.
In fact I think that other than perhaps Chelsea, Arsenal had the best summer transfer window out of all the Premier League Clubs. Certainly the best balanced transfer window as we’ve strengthened in every area of the pitch.
Our squad is going to be tested over the weeks and months ahead, as is Mikel Arteta’s ability to rotate his players. Rotation must be one of the most difficult things for a manager because for every player who does make the starting eleven, another 13/14 are left on the sidelines. Five might get the nod during the game but that still leaves 8/9 who don’t get to play on a match day. Good job players suffer injury isn’t it as that number reduces. I jest of course but right now we have Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus injured so the rotating of players must be less stressful for Arteta.
What I’m looking forward to though is Arsenal having a fully fit squad and seeing how new partnerships unfold. Bukayo Saka and Madueke occupying the wings, or Gabriel Martinelli and Madueke, two players with pace to burn. What about Havertz when he returns, where does he fit in I wonder, Jesus too. Piero Hincapie – a no nonsense centre-back who is probably desperate to play.
I suspect it’s a selection headache many managers would love to have.
Like ourselves, this weekend’s opponents Crystal Palace have injuries of their own with Cheick Doucoure, Chadi Riad Dnanou and Caleb Kporha ruled out but on their official website, Palace have 30 players listed so I’m sure manager Oliver Glasner will cope. Mateta has scored 7 goals already this season and Nketiah, well our old player only scored 97th minute winner against Liverpool a few weeks ago. Good man…
Mikel Arteta is due to speak to the media later so with a bit of luck, he’ll offer some positive news on the injury front.
Catch up in the comments.