Lucas, Eddie, Mo, Nacho – A review
Aug 28th, 2019 by 'holic
It’s another brief review of what is happening news wise (but not politically here, I promise!). Where to start but the North London derby? I have to say that when a Uruguayan talks of the match in such passionate terms we have a better understanding of just how much others realise it matters. Lucas Torreira had this to say about his first experience of the game last season. You are officially a Gooner, young man.
“You don’t realise how special and unique that game is until you’re in the middle of it. A few people had tried to tell me about the passion, but it was an eye-opener for me. This just isn’t a normal game.”
Good lad. Now just ensure that Nicolas Pepe, Dani Ceballos, David Luiz, Gabriel Martinelli et al are in the loop too. Reputations will be made or burned on Sunday.
Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!
Eddie Nketiah continues to impress on his loan at Leeds. He made only his second start but grabbed his third goal for the Elland Road outfit as they came back from two down to Stoke City in a Carabao Cup clash last night (Tuesday). Sadly it wasn’t possible for both teams to lose, but Eddie’s appearances in white this season mean Stoke’s ultimate triumph on penalties was the more regrettable outcome.
He is probably some distance from returning to the fold as a first team starter but this season should provide him with invaluable experience, and it would be wonderful to create our first academy striking talent since, erm, Lord Bendtner?
Mo on the brink?
A Besiktas source revealed that Mohamed Elneny is a target and that they have contacted Arsenal about a loan move. They have also held talks with Elneny who is open to playing football in Turkey. It seems inevitable that he will go somewhere after Unai Emery made his situation, along with Shkodran Mustafi, so public. I doubt that we are keen on the loan situation but our position is extremely weak in the circumstances.
I’ll admit that I will be sorry to see him go. I see a footballer in him who could have certainly challenged Granit Xhaka for his place in the side, although neither inspire complete confidence if we are talking of title challenges. I think he has sadly ended up with the brown and sticky end of the stick.
Nacho, Nacho man
The Mail (I know!) are reporting that Unai Emery wants Nacho Monreal to resolve a £3million move to Real Sociedad but wants that to go through before the weekend so he can settle on his squad. If you had suggested this to me at the end of last season I would probably have been less vexed with it than today.
Kieran Tierney is apparently closer to fitness than we had originally been told, and a Celtic friend assures me we have bought the best left-back in Britain, when he’s fit. I hope he is right and the lad stays fit. I also hope we hang on to Nacho until January at least. I have had the good fortune to interview him and he is a top man as well as a defender who seems in the opening weeks of this season to have rediscovered his mojo. He provides us with options in a back three or four that frankly Sead Kolasinac does not.
If you choose to go Nacho, know that you will be missed, and thanks for being an absolute star in the red and white.
Roll on Sunday.
55 Responses to “Lucas, Eddie, Mo, Nacho – A review”
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Cheers H.
Glad Torreira is up for the derby and I hope he starts. Will be sorry to see Nacho go but not bothered about Elneny. I’m looking forward to seeing Tierney as soon as possible.
I’m timing my runs into the box better than Rambo. The above is the final strike in a hat trick of firsts. Boom!
I think selling Nacho now is a bad idea. Why not wait till January? What if Kolasinac gets injured, who will fill in for him? He is far way better at left back than Kolasinac and i do hope he has improved his game if he is to be our left back.
Evening GSD, spot on my friend.
Agreed Ebere. ??
[…] Original article: https://goonerholic.com/2019/08/lucas-eddie-mo-nacho-a-review/ […]
Bronze Medal position[1] (disregarding duplicates and bots (?)).
Nice early build up to the NLD. I shall be there again courtesy of the sister-in-law. It seems that the nevvy and his mate, who each own around 40% of the seasons ticket haven’t the bottle for The Big One ™. Bah! Kids today.
Up the Arse!
COYG
[1] Does anyone else remember some quote from, I think a 1978 Commonwealth Games article commenting that the Bronze Medal position sounded more fun than the missionary position? God, I’m getting old and boring.
Uncertainty in the Tottnum camp running through the ranks and fomenting bad thoughts, distractions, jealousies and such?
This headline has been floating around the bbc website since Aug. 25:
Christian Eriksen: Mauricio Pochettino unsure if he will play for Spurs again
Holic,
Thanks again for this digest. In agreement on all you say.
Torreira has played two NLDs in the League, scored in one and got a red in the other. Elneny started well and I certainly prefer him to Xhaka but then I prefer almost anyone to him! Very fond of Nacho. I’d hope we could keep him until Tierney is fully fit. I’ve heard wonderful things about Tierney too from a Celt .
Always liked Nketiah. I think we could have used him much more last season.
Pangloss,
Do I understand there are Gooner season-ticket holders who can’t hack the NLD? That’s utterly pathetic!
A 37-year old striker has started a public relations campaign aimed to get Manchester United (or any other desperate British or European side I imagine) to sign him for next season when he will turn 38. Can’t tell you who it is but his unChristian name starts with Z and is not Zorro.
Thanks for the things to
ponder GH.
Tierney’s fitness seems to
be a very movable object.
bt8,
hmm….. is it Zane Zooney?
Hah! Zane Zooney sounds vaguely recognizable but I can’t think why. 😉
This Zorro fellow on the other hand thinks he is sly as a fox but turns out to be dumb as an ox where his next season Premier League prospects lie, or don’t.
Arsenal will host Nottingham Forest in the League Cup in about a month’s time. I would like to see us do well in that competition this year but seeing as we do not have Eddie Nketiah who will play at center forward I wonder?
Spurs will be fired up . If the gunners become complacent they could lose.
Emery shd play a settled formation and not tinker with the line up for every game. If he needs to change maybe 1/2/3
at the mot and not whole sale changes.
That’s why he lost more games towards the end of the season.
LUiz is supposed to strengthen the defence .Hopefully he will be able to show his form and nullify the Spurs forward line.Its not a one man job.
Kane and Erikess must not be allowed to be isolated otherwise if you see from previous games how Kane scored.
Luiz is a liability against any attack which has pace. We saw what happened against Salah. Son and Maura will be licking their chops. I prefer playing Luiz in the midfield in place of Xhaka and Chambers in the center back position. Luiz doesn’t have pace but he is a technically good player who has an eye for defense splitting passes and will provide the bullets for our forward line.
I would be sorry to see Nacho leave now. He has been a very good player for us and we should try to keep him till January.
The problems with selling Nacho now are stated in the article below:
http://dailycannon.com/2019/08/tolaji-bola-suffers-injury-further-decreasing-arsenals-left-back-options-amid-monreal-sale-rumours/
Thanks for the link ksn.
Surely no sane man would let
Nacho go until January.
Emergency left back options
include AMN and I think Xhaka
covered there once. Neither are
good options though. I suppose
the other option is 3 CBs with
Kola as left wing back or even
Nelson for home games.
Seems crazy to me
@13 bt8
We owe Forest in the cup as
they rolled us out a couple
of years ago in the FA Cup.
No idea about CF though.
I wonder who our young
CFs are.
I’ll be there Sunday but I bloody hate the NLD. I even find Cup Finals less nerve wracking. I’m nervous as a kitten already.
I’d be very sad to see Nacho go. He has been a stalwart. How about that goal at Old Trafford? Smashed it near post past De Gea!
Iwobi scored for Everton last night. Good on him.
Thanks for the update, ‘Holic, most informative. Newspapers are too gloomy at present, and Talkspite & BBC full of shit.
TTG, if I watch the NLD on tele I always find it most comfortable to view from behind the sofa until we have a two goal lead!
Thanks for the news roundup Guvna. I don’t visit NewsNow any more as it’s impossible to differentiate the utter garbage from the pure shite. And the MSM especially the erstwhile reliable BBC have become vehicles for personal political agendas and attempts to influence ‘the ignorant masses’. So I really appreciate you wading through the garbage for us.
I hope Nacho wants to play in at least one more NLD before he winds down in the sunshine.
I hope you improve beyond all your expectations, cba. The liver has remarkable powers of recovery!
COYG
TTG@8. I tend to agree. Considerations of gifthorses and mouths suggest I shouldn’t press the point.
COYG
OM@18: Folarin Balogun has been playing up front for the U-23s. He is still only 18 and was banging in goals for fun for the U-18s last season. Auba, for one, rates him.
Ned,
Be nice to see Balogun play
in that case.
I just remembered The Corporal
is at Forest now. Hopefully he
will get a nice welcome back.
Lucas should start and not for the statement he made, he is the balance we need in the midfield. We should be adventurous this game and i would love to see a 4-2-3-1 though with xhaka and torreira in the pivot, ozil,auba and pepe as the 3 and lacazette upfront. There is no way we are defending a goal against kane and his theatrics and he always scores against us, so for once, unai play to our strengths, winning 4-2 is still a win, thank you. Some may ask why Ozil, the answer is simple, you play him to unleash your front men who is your strength and no as good as ceballos is, he is not better than Mesut as a number 10.
I’d put money on Torreira starting on Sunday and I’d choose Willock and Ceballos with him if we play our PAL up front. I’m delighted to hear, therefore that the man from Frey Bentos is ‘tuned in’.
It’s one thing when a Celt tells you that Tierney is the best. The fact that Teds and Jam Tarts are (albeit reluctantly) saying exactly the same thing is the kicker 🙂
I recall when he’d seen Xhaka, Mustafi and Elneny play a few times Clive* stated that no team with ambitions to win the PL would sign players at that quality level he was right then and he’s right now. (I’d add Kolasinac to that group).
I think Nacho will go and I think on balance it’s the right decision but I could just as easily argue that he still has much to offer – much more than the Faltering Fullback.
* What’s the news on GoonerSince54, Holic?
I like that team Vinay.
Though I’d play Guendouzi
instead of Xhaka.
But I think UE won’t start
Ozil
Overconfidence a problem? Don’t know why not, it’s just the Spuds after all.
Lads. It’s Tottenham.
And what do you think of Tottenham….
SHIIIIIT!
@OsakaMatt, i know Unai won’t play Mesut, I rather see a 4-3-3 then with a midfield of Torreira/Ceballos/Geundouzi but my point about Matteo is simple- awareness, he fails at times to read the game and i know it is too much to ask for from a 20-year-old but then he plays in such a crucial position that it is expected of anyone who plays there. I see Willock being more aware but physically frail, what we need is an imposing CM with an awareness of the game, sadly that was paddy and he left us a long time back never to be replaced.
Anyways we go to the game as favourites and if we score the first goal, i do not see how we will lose it unless we fall back to our usual tendency of conceding very quickly after we score. Else, Pepe to score 1 of his many goals for us in a 3-1 win.
so frankfurt, standard liege, and vitoria fc in our group. we should have ample opportunities for the kids, then.
No long overnight trips. Belgium, Germany and Portugal. Should bode well for the games the following Sunday.
Fair points about our current
midfield options Vinay.
And I’ll go with 3-1 as well, I
think this game is a great chance
to send the Spuds into the
Interlull on a low.
I was surprised we’ve never
played Frankfurt.
Anyway, agree with scruz, let’s
play the kids
Dorset Mick/ Countryman
I know how you feel about the NLDS. After the game where they came back to win 3-2 I was not a happy camper for some time. Whereas after the two 5-2 games all seemed well in the world. I may have mentioned this here before but queuing for the tube after the first 5-2 a striking topless lady appeared at her window. It was a sign I think and a very agreeable one.
As for Sunday Ozil won’t play but Xhaka will.
And as for the Europa League it’s a tougher group than the last two seasons. I see the logic for playing youngsters but I think Emery will be conservative . As Countryman says the journeys back are not too taxing which is important. I fancy we will win it this year.
TTG, I don’t recall the “striking topless lady” story. Damn you. It rather puts in the shade my memory of almost knocking over a smiling loon as he left the the stadium after the match. (As I recall I was wandering along reading the quotes from Lee Dixon et al when he shot out of a staircase a few feet in front of me. Both of us very smiley, neither of us thinking particularly straight, somehow we manged not to knock each other over. Not a topless lady in sight.)
COYG
WOOOOO! matchday 3 against vitorio is at the Grove, i’ll be in london, and so i can go!!! if i can get a ticket, that is. i’m lining up my ducks; if there’s anyone here that normally would go and can’t on october 24 for some reason, and wants to sell their ticket to someone who hasn’t ever seen an arsenal game at the Grove… i also have other avenues, starting with arsenal america, and a couple of friends who have family with tickets that might not use them for the game…
i am so damn excited.
Pangloss,
A little more detail on the topless lady might be in order. I used to attend matches with a neighbour and my old boss and his son sat in the next block . He and his son could not make the game so he gave his tickets to his old secretary who was now my PA and her brother.
She had never attended a NLD and was amazed that as S***s went 2-0 up the people next to her walked out ( after about 30 minutes of the match)
At the end of the game there was a state of euphoria and as we shuffled along Aubert Park I glanced up to see a rather voluptuous lady in all her glory smiling out of the window. I nudged my mate who burst into a wide smile . When my PA saw this she followed our gaze and recoiled in disgust accusing us of being ‘sex maniacs ‘ .By now this lady had garnered a lot of attention and there were lots of sex maniacs in tow. Our friend said that she thought football brought out the worst in men and was not going to attend again even though the match was about the most exciting thing she had ever attended.
But she did return and has now become a strong Gooner. Alas we have never seen the topless lady again . Perhaps she was a mirage ? But we did beat S***s 5-2 the next season as well.
Scruz,
The chap in front of me lives near Brussels and doesn’t attend a lot of midweek games. I shall ask him on Sunday ( if he is there ) if he is willing to sell you his ticket and if so will make arrangements to meet you at the match .
Delighted you can come over
ttg, i’d be honored to meet you and sit with you. dave has my email address. oh, and a few of your favorite drams if you have the time…outstanding!!
Scruz,
Let me see my friend and see what he says. I’m sure we will be able to find you a ticket
Encouraging to see Poch is
losing the plot.
This week he’s talking about all
the offers he’s had from other
clubs and that spuds are now one
of the biggest clubs in the world.
I sniggered happily about both
comments.
So Nacho has gone to Sociedad. Before the NLD. Very odd timing.
But thanks Nacho for six great years. For bending it past De Gea in front of 9000 Gooners at Old Trafford in Danny Welbeck’s game. For that absolute thunder bastard of a right foot volley at Wembley in the Cup Final. For always putting the team and the club first.
Nacho and Kos gone. The times they are a-changing, as Mr Zimmerman once said.
Exactly what c100 said.
Thank you Nacho.
My son has reminded me that the goal against City at Wembley was in fact in the semi final the year we went on to beat Chelsea in the final. My only excuse, apart from old age, was that in that period we were going to Wembley more often that Sp*rs in their exile years and that it’s easy to mix the games up!
When Nacho and Santi get back together in Spain someday to reminisce about their time at Arsenal over a vino tinto May they remember all the good times. They both left before I would have liked to see them go but they were a dynamic duo in the side and left a ton of good memories for me. Thank you Nacho you are a great gentleman and I will miss seeing you in the team every week. Good luck at Real Sociedad and. I hope Arsenal’s plan for replacing you turns out in the short term better than I fear.
Elneny loaned to Besiktas is a move I can’t criticize but I hope he lights up the Turkish league.
Best luck to Nacho at Real Sociedad. He graced the shirt while he was with us.
Best of luck to Elneny.
A fair player but just
not top class, I hope he does
well in Turkey
TTG – To be fair to the nevvy, it was he that took me to the first 5-2 NLD. Maybe it did for his NLD nerves.
Nacho Monreal- an excellent ( Wenger) signing, a great clubman and a gentleman.
Thankyou for stalwart service. Gooners everywhere wish you well.
Dropped points for Chavski
and Manure.
Good start to the weekend.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>