ESR had a breakthrough season least year, scoring goals and providing assists so much so that he deserverdly got an England call-up. When he is fit, he is very potent and can create chances and score chances. A good ball carrier, he is also a very good shooter but he is so injury prone still…and now it is clear that:
- Odegaard is the starter as central attacking midfield
- Martinelli is the starter at LFW
- Fabio Vieira can be used very effectively in the hole as well
So the question is simple…once fit, ESR will need playing time, which Arteta will give him but does ESR have what it takes to sustain a high level of performance and reduce the number of nagging injuries he has been plagued with? If not, is his time up at AFC? We do have a few players like Azeez, Taylor-Hart, Patino, Lokonga and even Nwareni or we could also have Lokonga play in that central position…so…i am a bit worried for ESR. I d like him to succeed with us and be our KDB / DB but at the moment it is looking bleak
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Good point and a valid concern. As things stand it is hard to see where he fits but we should not forget that no team is not set in stone.
For all the plaudits that Xhaka is rightly getting at the moment, he is not a natural number 8 for the simple reason that he is not a goal scorer. The point being that there is room for improvement and if that doesn’t sit comfortably with you then the simple fact that Xhaka cannot play every game of the season forces the fact that Arteta must look for alternatives.
Enter ESR.
With regard to his fitness: the club has indicated it is a groin issue connected with his growing cycle. This may of course be obfuscation, but it does fit with his age and body shape.
On the question of how he gets in the team – well, bloggers across the gunnersphere have been banging on for years about the lack of depth; so now we have some, we start wringing our hands about having to leave players on the bench. There will be injuries; there will be losses of form; there will be changes in tactics; Xhaka and Partey are over their career watershed age-wise – whereas ESR is barely into his twenties.
Hopefully, and I’m confident this is the case given the evidence we have about the new management team, ESR is in the loop regarding his status, and is happy to bide his time and get over this current growth spurt.
I think ESR once fit would be martinelli sub so all he needs to do is keep fit, he also showed us last year how great a super sub he can be
Giroud back with the goals
Giroud must make it to the WC2022 – he is really an asset for France. He is quite underrated and look at his trophy cabinet: WC, CL, EL, European Super Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Scudetto, Ligue 1…and he won the Pusas award, top scorer in France…
Anyways – if we want to have a very solid midfielder, we have already missed out on Tchouameni and Camavinga but there is this Fofana playing for AS Monaco and he has all the attributed to become the next…Kante or Makelele if he does not get injured and keeps focused.
With 26 players allowed at the WC, I think FR has the space for Giroud 🙂
3 – Lloris, Maignan, Areola
8 – Pavard, Clauss, Kounde, Saliba, Varane, Badshiele, Kimpembe (or L.Hernandez), T.Hernandez, F.Mendy (or L.Digne)
6 – Tchouaemeni, Camavinga, Fofana, Kante, Guendouzi, Rabiot
6 – Mbappe, Dembele, Griezmann, Nkunku, Benzema, Giroud
+ Upamecano or Konate
+ Coman or M. Diaby
+ Ben Yedder or Martial
Lloris – Saliba, Varane, Kimpembe – Pavard, Tchouameni, Camavinga?, T. Hernandez – Griezmann – Mbappe, Benzema
Maingan – Kounde, Upamecano, Badshiele – Clauss, Fofana, Guendouzi, Mendy – Nkunku – Dembele, Giroud