Have to be honest I was surprised when TNT gave him motm then he was winning every twitter motm poll. Obviously I am glad for him doing well but didn’t think he was a standout without looking at the stats
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MOTM was over the top. I didn’t see anything to make me think he’s not fourth choice at best and still on the transfer list.
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Great to see him back. Sadly, I think this is the summer to sell him.
He’s good, very good even, but he’s unreliable and there doesn’t seem to be an opening for him to stake a claim for a starting role.
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All depends on the offer, if it’s 20m he’s potentially worth more to us. If it’s towards 30 he probs will go.
At some point you’ve gotta give up hope on players overcoming injury troubles. Ox didn’t stay anymore healthy at Liverpool for example, one of our best ever sales that.
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Tbf you hate the guy so much he could score a hat trick and set up another and you’d still think a MOTM award was unwarranted.
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That’s not the situation though. MOTM is over the top and looking at this thread I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks so.
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I’d really love to see him contribute to our winning silverware in the next couple months. But he has to leave this summer for his own good. The best case scenario for him at Arsenal is a squad player who sometimes comes off the bench when we’re chasing a game and who gets the occasional start against weaker opposition. If he stayed healthy in a different set up he could start regularly for a club like West Ham/Villa/Newcastle and maybe even get back on the fringes of the England squad. He should want more for his career than he will be able to achieve at Arsenal.
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Would love that cause I want him to succeed here but emotion doesn’t come into it and you know Arteta will be ruthless. Let’s see if he can stay fit for the rest of the season and make some significant contributions. Yesterday was a small step in the right direction.
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Calmly to say, he was in between really decent and good.
I am more leaning on “good”; but I would give him “come back player of the season” rather than MOTM.
He hasn’t played enough minutes to qualify for that! I always think of that award as going to someone who had a subpar season but is now playing really well. If Havertz can get himself into double figures for goals and assists (he’s on 8/4 right now) I think he’d be a decent shout for that award.
If we get a strong offer, we should sell asap. Anything around the fees we sold Iwobi/Oxlade for would be excellent business.
Love the lad, but just can’t see his legs lasting here. Also he’s almost 24… no longer an academy kid anymore.
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I will still be an ESR fan when he leaves. Unless he signs for Pool or City.
Wonder who would be in for him? Reckon the London clubs who aren’t Spurs or Chelsea go in for him plus maybe a Newcastle or Forest. Villa could be a shout.
Can see him doing well at a top half club*
*if he can stay fit
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Villa looks like a good move if they have the need. He knows Emery and he’s got some similarities to Grealish.
Could be a good move for him.
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If he can stay fit he could have a good squad role here too
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I don’t see him leaving personally unless he really pushes for a move.
Clearly Arteta likes him and he’s starting to trust him again.
Haven’t seen us be linked with any attacking midfielders yet. Only Curtis Jones kinda fits that bill but I maintain I don’t see that move happening.
I think Nketiah is probably the most likely to go out of the current players(excluding loanees and players who will be out of contract).
Mainly because striker seems to be a priority and that would push him to 3rd/4th choice.
Then you’ve got guys like Partey, maybe Ramsdale, maybe Nelson. .
Squad is already pretty small as is, whoever goes from these guys would have to be adequately replaced.
Then you’ve got all the guys coming back from loan and lads from the academy where you’ll have to make a decision for.
Every window we’ve got 10-15 players that are supposed to go, and they usually most of them don’t move, and whoever moved doesn’t move till very late and usually it’s on loan.
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There’s what Arteta says and then there’s what Arteta does,
I think Smith Rowe’s issue is that the way we have evolved he only fits one position in our scheme, the left 8.
Arteta does not use him on the wing anymore. He wants players with more pace, dribbling ability and direct threat.
But he also clearly does not see him as someone capable of filling Odegaard’s role. Ode has not started like 12-15 games over the last two seasons across all comps and every single time its been either Vieira or, increasingly this year, Havertz that fills in for him. ESR just isn’t seen as an option there either, probably because that player often leads our press and does a ton of off the ball work and that just isn’t ESR’s game.
So ESR’s chances are going to involve playing left 8 in games where we opt for having two relatively attacking 8s, instead of two CMs like Rice/Jorginho as we’ve increasingly been using. And even for that role of “attacking left 8” he’ll still have to compete with Havertz (if not being used as a 9), Trossard, Vieira, and probably Nwaneri pretty soon.
Its thin gruel to base a career off.
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ESR shouldn’t want to stay here and start 5 league games a season. He went from the England squad to being leapfrogged by the likes of Cole Palmer. A player like Gibbs White is probably closer to an England call up than he is.
If he has ambition, he should be pushing for a move.
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https://x.com/charles_watts/status/1794260887924252751?s=46&t=LlMNFvsPPy2ozwuX8FhQrA
I would like Havertz as the #10
The suggestion ESR can start to demand anything is ludicrous.
The talks should be ESR begging the club to trust he can stay fit. If he does he’ll play enough but not gonna get minutes if you’re making a comeback every 4 weeks.