KAI -PTIMISM
Doubling up today because I realize that you do NOT have a recent post to comment under, with all the PRIMO writing getting the paywall treatment this week.
Ok, so here’s the Arsenal news…
Injury issues appear to be racking up for the spine of our team.
Declan Rice did not go on international duty, which could be read as R&R, but you just never know these days. Thomas Tuchel seemed very pissed at the exit of Cole Palmer with injury… do we think he’d have been ok with Declan taking three weeks off for a breather without something going on?
Idle speculation… but it is international break week.
Kai Havertz is OUT of the training camp with that injury from Jurrien Timber’s brother. The best-case scenario is usually 14 days with a hammy, which kind of works with this break. The good news, is there are reports saying that the club is optimistic about the injury. So that must mean a minor issue and we can’t all stop crying and speculating whether Arteta should put Dowman as the striker.
Piero Hincapie has confirmed on radio that he is injured. This is another piece of news I do not like. The left back from Ecuador is supposed to be the robust one. Now he’s picking up issues? What is it with Arsenal and fullbacks? Too much bad news for a grown man to take…
Christos Tzolis scored a screamer for Greece, I don’t normally pay too much attention to this sort of thing, but the dazzling footwork was a sight to behold. I did question myself… am I disappointed in his signing? Maybe. But have I also got into the mode of expecting players to come from foreign leagues and just be insanely good from the get go? I am in that mode. Silly, right? Belgium isn’t the level of England, so we should show more grace to new players.
One of the key pieces of data that makes Madueke and Arsenal kind of player is he’s one of the most prolific winners of corners in the Premier League. Seriously. Can you believe that type of intel? I know we scored from a lot of those corners and won the league, so the move was smart, but when you’re wondering why our attacking signings aren’t great, remember, we paid £55m for a corner winner, while City paid £63m for a goals and assists KING in Semenyo.
For absolutely no reason at all I am thinking about relegation release clauses. Do you think when you sign a million euro a week deal with a major club, you make sure you lawyer has that in the contract? How does the release work? Is it fair market rate? Does the club have to sell you if they don’t get a good offer? How does it all work? Just thinking about it for no reason at all.
Back on the injury front… Alex Isak and Bruno have withdrawn from their respective camps with issues. I don’t care much for Liverpool or United… but it is crazy to me that we’re still doing these massive international breaks with clubs barely into the season… and players are breaking. Who pays? Clubs do. Who suffers? Clubs fans. The Premier League product. I don’t have an answer for this, but it is wild to me that the football calendar keeps getting chunkiers and chunkier, despite all the injury pile-ups. After a World Cup, there should be no international football for the rest of that year. That’s actually my solve.
Finally, a little bit of kit goss… we are apparently going for a white kit with green trimmings. All a bit Newcastle for my liking, but I’m sure it’ll look pretty. I’m a touch unsure why green is a thing for us now, but I guess when you’re doing three kits a year, you have to start getting liberal with your color palette. My ask… when are we bringing back fluorescent yellow? The LG brand colors depend on a reboot very soon.
Ok, another short one today, but there have been two, so maybe you should show a little more gratitude out here! Have a fine afternoon; see you in the comments. x
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