Tag Archives: Eddie Nketiah

The peril, promise, and proxy that is international duty…

1 Reply

It is as best a double-edged sword to be calle up for one’s country. On one hand, it is one of the penultimate compliments a player can receive to be summoned. On the other, it exposes the player to possible callumny if not catastrophe. It was just a season ago that we lost Gabriel Jesus to injury while he played for the Seleção in the winter World Cup as an example of how perilous international duty can be. At another extreme, Saka’s penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final arguably fueled his fire. He’s now a Ballon D’Or nominee and deservedly so. International duty,, double-edged sword though it may be, signals the rise of this squad.

Continue reading →

10-man Arsenal see off 12-man Palace!

10 Replies

Crystal Palace are always a bogey side, even if they’d been shorn of two of their most-important attackers. Hodgon sets them up to stay compact and hard to break down, and this made for a difficult, tense match. Each side spurned some early chances, and it wasn’t until a bit of guile from Martinelli, some gamesmanship from Nketiah, and some grace under pressure from Ødegaard that we could pierce Palace’s rearguard. It wasn’t always pretty, and David Coote did his level best to assist Palace’s efforts. In the end, not even the sending off of Tomiyasu for two bookings inside of six minutes could stop us from snatching all three points.

Continue reading →

A half-baked attempt at talking religiously about Jesus’s “resurrection” from injury…

20 Replies

Just as we thought Jesus had risen, putting in an effervescent shift in the 5-3 thrashiing of Barcelona, he was left out of the squad for Wednesday’s Emirates Cup clash with AS Monaco. Because his name is Jesus and he’s going to return soon, we’re obliged to discuss this in religious terms. Instead, let’s go with Michael Corleone, adapted ever so slighty: just when we thought he was in,…they pull him back out. To allay fears, Arteta said it was a “little procedure” to deal with what he called “some irritation.” Rest easy, Goonerland.

Continue reading →

Arsenal target £40m Ghanaian wunderkid from Ajax…

4 Replies
Well, he does look good in red and white…

One of two things is going to happen between now and the closing of the transfer window: one, we’ll sign a few more players. Two: we’ll be linked ad nauseum to signing a few more players. Arteta was quoted just the other day about continued ambition and investment, and, already, the rumours have resumed. With the club on tour in the US for the next week or so, new developments are unlikely, but the chatterati are talking up a move for Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus, a 22 year old who can play as an attacking midfielder, striker, and—wait for it—right winger.

Continue reading →

Chelsea are chasing Arsenal’s want-away forward? £50m is an “embarrassing” bid.

10 Replies

Stuck behind Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah has left Folarin Balogun in a bit of a dilemma. His recent decision to play for the US men’s national team instead of for England suggests that he values playing far more than he cares for watching. Of course, that loan-spell to Reims saw him net 21 goals in 27 matches. That seems like a pretty convincing case for him to be deserve a larger role here at Arsenal, but that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards. With Chelsea sniffing around, let’s slap a price of, oh, say £72m. Maybe £88m? We know they have the money.

Continue reading →