Morning all.
There was no official word yesterday about whether Arsenal have appealed, or will appeal, Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card, but I expect that to happen. It’s an unacceptable decision, I think we can produce a mountain of evidence, from our games and others across the Premier League, that would be sufficient to see the red card and three game ban overturned.
Even last weekend there were decisions made which make the idea that MLS engaged in ‘serious foul play’ ridiculous. Joelinton once again got away with a horrendous challenge in Newcastle’s win over Southampton, this man is 1% human, 99% Teflon because nothing sticks. Not even a yellow card. Julio Enciso’s challenge on Wataru Endo in Ipswich’s 4-1 defeat at Anfield was like something you’d see in the Octagon rather than on a football pitch. And even in our game, the second yellow for Joao Gomes was a far more dangerous and potentially damaging challenge than the one which saw the 18 year old sent off.
I’ve seen chat about the Bruno Fernandes incident earlier in the season, and I can see why they might have chosen that to present as part of any defence for Lewis-Skelly. So, let’s see what happens. I do have a slight fear that the PMGOL’s deflectionary tactics, focusing the story more on the abuse directed at Michael Oliver than the fact they got something as wrong as they did might have an impact, but let’s see. Bottom line: no player, Arsenal or otherwise, deserves a red card as well as a three match ban for that, so hopefully the independent panel that makes an adjudication on the appeal applies common sense.
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Elsewhere, it’s now Tuesday January 28th – the transfer window closes on Monday February 3rd at 11pm. I suspect over the coming days that will become the prevailing story for Arsenal fans who remain hopeful/desperate (I think that’s a sliding scale where we all have to find our own place) that the club will provide the reinforcements that this team so badly needs.
As I wrote after the Wolves game, I thought our response to the adversity was excellent, we played really, really well with 10 men, but it also took a lot out of us. There is a physical cost to what we did, even if the numbers were evened up after the Wolves red card. It’s not the first time this season either, as we well know, and we have asked a lot of key players in those games, and subsequent fixtures.
I cited Kai Havertz as someone who so badly needs help in his position. As it stands, we don’t really have anyone else to play centre-forward. Leandro Trossard is playing well and needed in the wide positions, so there’s a huge burden on the German international, and you can see it took its toll on Saturday at Molineux. He looked absolutely shattered at the end of the game.
I really have no idea what Arsenal are going to do, although on the Arsecast Extra James sounded relatively confident that we’d find a forward of some kind before the deadline. There’s a wider discussion about how that then might impact our summer business, but if it’s the ‘right’ player now who might be a little more expensive than he might be in July, then maybe he repays that extra financial outlay with goals between now and the end of the season that are more than worth it.
You’ve all seen the names we’ve been linked with, and I think we can all understand how during January deals for those players range from impossible to very, very difficult. So, I wonder if it might be someone whose name hasn’t yet popped up in any discussions or debates or vague social media posts from self-styled transfer gurus. I guess time will tell, but obviously the clock is ticking and the deadline is fast approaching.
We do seem to be seriously interested in the young Norwegian midfielder Sverre Nypan. Again on the Extra, James outlined our position on him and the potential deal – and having spent some time watching highlights on YouTube (I know, I know), he looks a very talented young man. We can talk a bit more about him if/when that deal goes through, but there are qualities in his game that perhaps we don’t have enough of, but how much we can expect from an 18 year old is another question.
Right, I’m gonna leave it there for now. If there’s any breaking news on Lewis-Skelly you’ll find it on Arseblog News, and for something to listen to today, we have an episode of The 30 on Patreon, and there’s a new Arsenal Women Arsecast dropping pretty soon on the main podcast feed.
Have a good one.
