Good morning to all.
I still feel bad here, although a little better than yesterday. I have a cough, pain in my legs and a general fatigue that I was very surprised that my Covid test came back negative. Maybe this is a new version that the tests don’t detect. Either way, it’s pretty nasty and I don’t recommend it.
Also, I got up this morning, turned on the kettle and coffee machine, the lights flickered and the power went out. I thought I had blown a fuse or something, but there seems to be a power outage in the area, which was supposed to be fixed at 7:45am (via the power company website), but now it’s 7:54 a.m. and it’s not like that. I’m sitting in the dark connecting my phone for some internet but haven’t been able to get a Lemsip or coffee yet.
I have a suspicion that staying awake for 15+ minutes without ramping up my caffeine levels might be part of why I don’t feel so great either. I had the idea of going to the local coffee shop to get a coffee to go, but then realized that unless they have an open fire and cauldron, they are likely to be affected by the power cut as well.
Anyway, what news of things and things? I saw some chatter yesterday about how Gabriel Martinelli will sign a new contract with Arsenal until 2027, and while that’s obviously a good thing, I don’t think it’s super-exclusivity. It comes from the Catalan newspaper Sport, which makes the statement in an article based on Barcelona’s interest in signing him. The decision to stay at Arsenal has been made, etc., so it’s bad luck for Barca.
Two things: first, I don’t think they had the slightest opportunity to sign him because of his financial problems. They would have to activate a hundred economic levers and improvise all the change they can find on the back of the sofa. Second, it’s pretty clear that this is a deal that everyone wants to see done. Martinelli said that he just needs a pen, Mikel Arteta and Edu obviously want him to commit, and after that it’s just fine details. Which is to say I hope Martinelli signs a new deal, but I wouldn’t suggest I’m ITK if I said it out loud or wrote about it in a column. This is basic information that everyone knows.
I’ve also seen a lot of talk about the possible use of Martinelli as a center forward to give us some depth in the absence of Gabriel Jesus, and I just saw this:
Great to sit down with #Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta during the break in #PremierLeague action. Great insight into what has worked so well for the Gunners this season!
pic.twitter.com/src56sD0zF
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) December 21, 2022
Using the tactic board with Jamie Carragher, Arteta says of Martinelli: “He has to play the back line and he needs to play wide.”
The player himself has spoken on more than one occasion about his preference for the position of winger, rather than central. It doesn’t mean he can’t play center back, it just means deploying him there would be a last resort. Which then raises the question of how we find depth at center forward with just Eddie in that position, but perhaps it’s a question Arteta will be asked at his press conference this week. And, to be fair, he might as well go into a bit more detail in the full interview.
With West Ham arriving on Sunday Monday, there are reports of a game behind closed doors today against Luton. That makes sense to me. Martinelli and Bukayo Saka could probably use a few minutes between the World Cup and the Premier League to get them going again, and it’s a chance for Mikel Arteta to fine-tune his plan for that game.
Obviously, there are still some injury issues and concerns. Emile Smith Rowe, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Reiss Nelson, the latest addition to the list that also includes Gabriel Jesus. Having had a fairly established side for most of this season, it looks like there will be some decisions for the manager to make, but we can pay more attention to them in the days to come.
As January approaches, Shakhtar Donetsk’s sporting director says of Mykhalo Mudryk: “There is interest from Arsenal, I can’t deny it.”
However, he says there have been no official offers yet. Whether that means the clubs are still talking or things have calmed down, we’ll have to wait and see. Usually though, when a club talks to the press so often, it’s because they want everyone to know there’s a player available, so it’s probably just that.
Right, I haven’t had any coffee yet, I don’t have electricity, and I can’t even make toast. I’d really like some toast now, that good scratchy throat cough. Argh.
See you tomorrow.
8:30am Update: Just as I’m about to post, the power is back on and the world is fine again, with a cacophony of home alarms going off. The neighborhood, what sweet music it makes.
