Think it’s pretty clear most of us are hopeful and expectant of the club adding to the midfield stocks which would move Elneny down to 4th choice or lower.
I won’t be happy if him re-signing is our only move in that area but as it stands I think there’s little to worry about with this move.
I think Stroller’s concern was moreso over Lokonga, who was a new signing losing his place to an out of favour Elneny.
It’s not a great look.
We need to make sure whoever we bring in now is actually gonna be better than Xhaka and Elneny.
Lokonga was a young guy brought in, always a chance they don’t hit in the first season or at all. It’s not like we blew 50m on him to save our midfield.
It’s not wildly concerning that Elneny outperformed him. Bigger concern would be the numbers and quality in midfield that puts us in a position where Elneny has to play as much as he did.
It’s a problem but a it takes is one more signing and he’s back to being 4th choice
said this weeks ago that he is going to be signing a small extension. My feelings are they are gonna be looking at forwards and wingers this summer and try to get a good adaptable midfielder in but have him as backup just in case for more depth
If someone we brought in can’t be relied upon then surely you’ll have some concerns. Again, I’ll give him this is his first season but next season he has to be someone we can rely on to step in if needed.
Depends if that someone is a young kid who has never played in the league before though doesn’t it? Different story if it’s a 50m signing.
Are you being genuine in suggesting Lokonga should be expected to be relied upon as a bonafide part of the starting midfield? That wasn’t the impression I got from the signing so I’m interested to know if you saw him as a key starter from the very beginning?
When called upon due to circumstances you haven’t made a significant difference to the cause, your left unfortunately with one conclusion. Not good enough.
You want your 4th choice or 3rd choice at least taking their opportunity surely.
Done nothing to justify a new contract. He’s receiving the benefit because the squad has so many numbers to fill.
Didn’t he do that? or are you talking about Lokonga?
Absolutely, if you are part of the team then you are part of the team.
I don’t see how this is any different to Tavares, Saliba, Guendouzi and others.
22 years old, Belgium international, has 2 full seasons at Anderlecht and we bought him for 20m.
If we brought him in and we’re not counting on him then who did we sign him for? The U23s?
Again, excused for his first season but next season he needs to push on.
No he didn’t. He didn’t let anyone down. Gave his best and that by definition is the problem. It’s not good enough for a renewal.
The fact you sign knowing this is your role brings It’s own issues.
Back on easy street option when you want a young challenger.
At Liverpool for instance thats Jones and Elliot
When called upon, He was one of our better players, was even MOM against Chelsea
That is completely in line with your statement
You want your 4th choice or 3rd choice at least taking their opportunity surely.
Doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Different players have different roles and expectations lol
There’s a stark difference between counting on a player to be a key cog that starts 40+ games and a player who might play 30 games mostly off the bench. Both are part of the team but each player has a different role.
I’m genuinely confused by the fact that you aren’t recognizing that there’s a key difference in expectation between different players.
So we excuse the two games that cost us. It’s not about blaming him because that’s simply not fair.
He’s an honest pro but going forward even in this designated 4th choice we need better.
He’s had 6 or 7 years and the bar needs being moved up.
I disagree. We need a player who doesn’t mind sitting on the bench and putting in a shift whenever required, he’s never gonna be a starter for us so it’s win-win in my eyes. Also I doubt he’s asked for much of a wage increase, if at all.
You are contradicting yourself.
He performed adequately in all matches, even in the ones we lost. We lost because of other areas of the team.
When we don’t have a good enough first 11 to allow room for a 3rd/4th choice player to come in occasionally & grab the opportunity, it will seem like the player is inadequate.
If we had a proper team around Elneny (instead of an amalgamation of 2nd choice full-backs, 3rd choice striker, 3rd choice central defender), we wouldn’t have to even excuse those two games that cost us.
Elneny’s fault should be confined to his input to the team. Elneny need not justify the stupidity of Holding or lack of creativity from Odegaard or urgency from Saka etc.
7 years and people are happy with this level of player.
The level that gets MOM against Chelsea…yes
We don’t need this type of player at all.
The ridiculous pseudo standard fans hold for no reason