by thebigbangtheo » Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:42 pm
I would say that in tandem with this episode being shared with his fellow Arsenal loanee, is why manager Mikel Arteta has become an addition to the Oxford and Collins dictionaries as a similie to the word 'conundrum'.
His apparent..no...clear willingness and consideration to continue utilising the already established intermittently malfunctioning and defective hardware of Kolasinac, Holding, Xhaka, Bellerin and Chambers, whilst at the same time contrasting them with a Rolls Royce level of quality control to ommit the likes of Ozil, Martinez, Mavropanos, Guendouzi and Saliba faster than the human eye can blink.
Only my opinion obviously, but for me and those of you structural engineers or others familiar with construction technology, it is the equivalent of swapping out acro props supporting a basement roof for 2.5m lengths of 2 by 4.
It is now widely recognised that the first step of overcoming an addiction is in having acknowledged that you do have a problem. For me, the recognition and purchase of Ramsdale equates to that first step being taken because yeah, he f***ked up big time there, no matter whichever way you want to slice it regards Leno and Martinez.
Similarly, the pursuit and subsequent capture of Odegaard coupled with the emergence of Smith-Rowe, is recognition of the squad having catastrophic deficiencies in its creative department in Arteta having removed our creative instigator in chief like an encology surgeon on speed. Whilst the long term progression of the team was always going to be without the enduring presence of our silky visionary, the need was never there or urgent enough for him to have been discarded in the fashion he was whilst Xhaka remained anchored and seemingly encased in concrete to our midfield. Suffering pain when we had no need to do so seems to reveal a bit of our managers penchant for sado masochism outside the sanctuary of his bedroom.
The foresight to spot and consider the ceiling to the talent of Sambi Lokonga should indeed be lauded by the gooner nation, yet at the same time not turn a blind eye to the equation depicting the optimal result from his being supplemented by the talent of Guendouzi alongside him, Smith-Rowe, Odegaard and Party as our midfield mainstays.
And the same applies to Saliba, who as things stand appears to be producing displays for Marseille the equivalent if not better than those of White. In that there is no wailing and gnashing of teeth regards the former Brighton man lining up as part of our defensive line, again the main issue here appears to be with Holding and Chambers getting preferential treatment as opposed to Saliba and Mavropanos being treated as though they were suicide bombers.
This course of action needs to come to a halt now, with the likelihood of leaving Arsenal being the remit of the two English defenders because put simply, they've had their turn already fair and square and have failed to make the grade. Continuing to pursue stellar performances from them is more than likely to result in court proceedings brought by the RSPCA for cruelty and depravity in continuing to flog dead horses.