With much fewer games this year and our inability to sell Nketiah I wonder whether it is now a mistake to not get Balogun out on loan. He's too good for U23 football but has at least 3 players ahead of him for the starting striker role in the first team.

I saw a contrast with Tammy Abraham who whilst he is 3 years older than Balogun had 40 games in the championship at 19 with Bristol City, another 30 in the prem with swansea at 20 and another 40 in the championship with Villa at 21. Then he came back to Chelsea's first team with 120 odd games of men's football and the thick end of 60 goals.

Lacazette and Nketiah are on their way next summer, this would have been a great year for Balogun to spend in the championship or lower prem team playing every week.

Or otherwise just play Balogun instead of Nketiah. I suppose an argument could be made that Lacazette is more likely to win you a League Cup game than Balogun so he should be chosen ahead of him. But without wishing to appear overly negative about Eddie, I think Balogun is arguably just as likely to help us beat Wimbledon than Nketiah is. Perhaps even more so?

Didn’t Darren state his belief that Saka would be sold next summer a while back? I have said if he doesn’t renew his contract, he’s unlikely to be with us for more than another two years. So this report may make uncomfortable reading.

https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/ ... dium=email

I'd agree on playing Balogun instead of Nketiah, but even then how many minutes is Balogun going to get with us this year? The odd league cup game until we meet a big team, same in the FA Cup, and some minutes off the bench if we're desperately chasing goals or are comfortably ahead.

How many central strikers do we have ahead of Balogun in the pecking order? Aubameyang and Martinelli. Apart from them, considering how poor Balogun was at Brentford maybe Lacazette. But he’s leaving on a free transfer next summer so I’d say even he’s debatable.

Agree with some of the comments. I wouldn’t play Nketiah at all this season. He asked for a fortune and priced himself out of a move this summer and I don’t see why we should invest first team minutes in a player who is leaving. Also there’s not much between him and balogun anyway.

Start lacazette Wednesday and bring on Balogun as soon as they are put to the sword.

In theory, with Balogun as good as we hope he is, only Aubameyang is ahead of him.
Martinelli hasn't proved it centrally either.
Lacazette has proved he isn't prolific for us, so we'd only choose him for team shape and balance.
If Eddie signs an extension, then maybe he'd be the one behind Aubameyang.

We might like Balogun to get a lot of games on loan (no idea about his preference or what was agreed when he signed his contract), but we just don't have the cover to let anyone go.

Personally, I see Eddie as quite a different type of striker. If he'd committed and were a bit better than he's shown so far, then he'd be a useful alternative to Aubameyang in some games.

It'll only be uncomfortable if I click on it. For someone who only believes in arsenal.com for facts, why would you bother with 'www.football.london', whatever that is?

London football equivalent of the Daily Mail searching global social media for clickbait on its website

Good point. I just suspect Darren might be right, albeit a year out.

I have to eat a lot of humble pie re Ramsdale.
i know still early days but i was one of many who didn't want him anywhere near Arsenal as he was crap.....
His first few performances have been excellent. Very comfortable with the ball at this feet and love the way he comes for the ball and claims it.
Also seems to have a great personality and authority about him compared to Leno.
Hope he continues making me eat humble pie.
I hope the rumours of Leno getting the spurs game are just that!
Arteta would be an absolute idiot to take out Ramsdale who is riding high on confidence but who would actually be surprised if he did bring Leno back in.
Surely Balogun didnt sign a new contract to be put back in with the Under 23s??
He hasnt even made the bench the last few league games. Seems he is in direct competition with Martinelli for a place on the bench. I hope he is one of these kids who will be humble and bide his time. Unfortunately no european football to give these kids some game time which is why the Europa league conference was a big miss.
Also please no Xhaka on sunday.
What sort of message does that send to Lokonga and AMN if he comes straight back in.
Make him wait and stick with the winning teams of last 2 games.

Also loving the look of the new defence.
They must all play v Spurs.
Let them build an understanding and stop the chopping and changing.

You might be right! Although I hope not.

Thought that was excellent. Obviously he's not going to criticise the club much being an employee, but he comes across really well and reinforces a lot of what we've heard about the plan for Arsenal going forward. Just hoping all of it can start translating into performances and results, because it seems we're trying to move the club forward in the right way.

So let’s gets this right ..

Arteta was an idiot for signing him
If he plays badly it’s Artetas fault
However he’s playing well right now so if Arteta rests him even if it’s for logical reasons then Arteta is a complete idiot for doing so.
If he has a drop in form the moment he does Arteta will get blamed though.

Great stuff, terrific. See how easy it is ?

Saka’s current contract expires in 2024. I think the key factor in whether he stays or goes will be if he extends it (as with many if not most players these days). If he does, I reckon the club will keep him. If he doesn’t, I reckon he’ll be sold.

The club should be looking to get him to sign an extension two years beforehand in 2022, so next year when Darren reckons he’ll leave. Myself, I think that’s a year early because selling him would surely have a massive negative impact on the Arsenal project, if that’s what building a younger improving side can be called.

So even if he doesn’t renew it I’d expect the club to keep him until 2023, so the end of next season. But if he hasn’t, I simply don’t see the club being willing to run the risk of losing him on a free in 2024. His transfer value is simply too big to allow that. That’s why I reckon Darren was a year out. I believe Arsenal should and will wait until 2023 before selling him, even if he shows little or no inclination to extend it.

Satisfying Saka’s wage demands will be the least of Arsenal’s problems, however big a pay rise he wants. Nearly all top players not only want money. They can all live in mansions and drive Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Bentley’s or whatever. Even a relative footballing nobody (as a Premiership star) like Reiss Nelson had a £3m property in Hadley Wood. I think the issue will be if Saka can be convinced he can win things at Arsenal, in addition to earning a ton of money.

Even Harry Kane, a lifelong Tottenham fan (despite the photos of him wearing an Arsenal shirt when linked with us as a schoolboy), eventually decided he wanted to move on to win things, even though he’s still there for now. As far as I’m aware, Saka has never pretended to be a lifelong Arsenal fan. Hopefully he can be persuaded or become convinced he can win trophies at Arsenal and sign a new deal. Otherwise my bet is we’ll have him for this and next season before selling him for a very big transfer fee.

https://arseblog.com/2021/09/tactics-co ... t-burnley/

This did a good job of analysing Ramsdale's strengths v Burnley. I was looking for some clips because when I watched some highlights I noticed at least a couple of times where the corner was swung right in oder the crossbar and Ramsdale confidently caught it when 95% of GK would punch that away and the pressure remains on the defence. Some still images from that are in this report.

There is one image, 84th minute, 1-0 up away from home to cloggers, corner swung in and there are 12 players in and around the 6 yard box including 4 within a foot of Ramsdale and he makes the catch. Superb

Like i said i'm happy to eat humble pie re Ramsdale.
Clearly Arteta can do no wrong in your eyes.
Cant think of many who would legislate dropping a keeper high on confidence and on form last couple of games to bring back someone who is out of form.
But hey whatever suits your narrative.

Really don't care who's in goal Sunday. Just do the job they're hired to do Sunday. Like not letting Spurs win is a start.

For me Ramsdale has grabbed his chance with both hands. Leno should have to wait for an opportunity to get back in. Ramsdale deserves to stay in the team.

Paddy being a wee bit ecnomical with his part in it all..haha

Will his Chelsea side evetually replace Liverpool as the City's biggest challenger?

Forgot about Balogun...he needs minutes.

[quote="AmericanGooner"]Will his Chelsea side evetually replace Liverpool as the City's biggest challenger?
I think they're the team to beat this season. I make them favourites. The depth of quality in their squad is unrivalled.

Arteta just might go with experience, but who knows. If it is Ramsdale he most likely is aware of the pressure of this derby

I agree about Xhaka. But surely Balogun does need to bide his time? We shouldn't be getting worked up if he isn't on the bench. And I don't agree that it would be idiotic to rotate Leno and Ramsdale. Apart from any promises or plans that may have been made, its early days with Ramsdale so Arteta may feel more confident with Leno for the big games for now.

Our heavily deplete team got whupped by no less than City and Chelsea and the keeper is the villain.

Then our full strength side beats the two bottom teams in the league and our keeper is the hero?

I'm excited by Ramsdale, and unlike you, thought highly of him before we signed.

But I would like a bigger and more representative sample than that before drawing any firm conclusions.

Don’t know how to tell you this mate but we don’t play spurs till Sunday and I doubt he’s getting dropped anyway. You’re talking about nothing.

It’s all extremes right and the moment Ramsdale makes an even borderline mistake both he and the manager will get it both barrels. It’s all so predictable and boring now. It’s not even anything to do with the manager, support your club d*******.

If Leno plays tomorrow it’s Ramsdale Sunday. The manager has given major clues Ramsdale will play in some of his comments but you never know. Over the next few weeks it’s par for the course Ramsdale will finally get a shot smashed past him and it will be painful having to listen to the complete divs in our fan base start questioning him again.

You’re right Decaf. It’s very early days but Ramsdale looks good in the air and confident in dealing with crosses. But, and at this stage it’s an important point to make, he hasn’t kept out a shot that you wouldn’t expect a semi-competent keeper to keep save.

I’m not going to say all the shots he’s saved so far would have been kept out by my mother-in-law who’s in her eighties. I will say, however, that if he’d let any of the shots he has saved for Arsenal so far go in, they would and should have been put down as a goalkeeping error.

Ramsdale has started well but it’s a little early to declare him the next Neuer.

The main issue about Leno or Ramsdale is exactly the same as the main issue about Leno or Martinez (imho). Ramsdale seems to work as part of the defence, as did Martinez. Leno may be a better shot stopper but, even if he is, that doesn't make him the best gk for us.

Personally, I'd expect to see Leno tomorrow and Ramsdale at the weekend. Chopping and changing keepers rarely works, unless there's a very good reason for it. It might be a high pressure game, but Ramsdale looks as if he has had plenty of those over the last three years. He's got experience of working with this defence (+ Partey) and Leno hasn't.

I'm going to be the forum worry wort and say winning tonight is not a foregone conslusion. I hope we aren't looking past this game.
It's a great opportunity to give young players some first team minutes but we can't blow it either. We have to be prepared to throw some weight around the pitch with first team players off the bench if need be for the win.

I'm glad we now have a GK who is willing to come forward and claim the crosses. That's being proactive. And gives defenders confidence too.
Waiting on the line to save is reactive.

Surely the most important factor is choosing the right occasions to come for crosses or stay on the line. Sometimes it’s right to come for crosses. Other times it’s the wrong decision to come for crosses. Likewise it can be the right decision to wait on the line but there will be times when it can be the wrong decision.

I suspect if one over-generalises, and I’m not saying you do, you’re likely to ignore the probability that it is wrong for keepers to do the same thing all the time. The better ones will make their decisions according to the specific circumstances they are faced with.

Having the ability to come for crosses gives you an option you don't have if you can't. (Nearly) Everyone has the ability to wait.

That’s true but I’m struggling to think of many professional, at an established (lots of games) Premier League level, which is what I predominantly watch, goalkeepers unable to come for crosses. I can fully understand why on the basis of three games some argue Ramsdale looks more accomplished at it than Leno. I think that myself. But it would be majorly unfair to the point of almost being laughable to claim Leno was unable to come for crosses. There are gross exaggerations and there’s stupidity. I’ve seen Leno catch many high balls.

De Gea isn’t great at crosses but his shot stopping more than makes up for it.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I’m aware you didn’t say Leno was unable to come for crosses. I was just saying why I think it would be verging on ridiculous if anyone did.

Go *%^@ yourself you *%^@.
*%^@*** hyprocite.
Seems only you can be on a downer when it suits. Xhaka spring to mind??
Forum of opinions.
*%^@*** deal with it.

Cannot stand self entitled pricks like TG taking on the guise of forum moderator and advising everyone how to support our club.
Prick.

Bernard
No one has declared him the next Neuer!
Just said he should stay in on form.

I appreciate that David. That’s why I didn’t say anyone had. I was just trying to find a slightly lighthearted way of emphasising my agreement with Decaf that it’s a little soon, three games against poor opposition, to make hard judgments.

I thought it was unacceptable when people started slagging Ramsdale off on other social media outlets when he hadn’t even played for the club. No one here has gone to that level here, in reverse, by praising him. But he’s played against WBA, Norwich and Burnley. Let’s keep calm. He still has it all to do.