KEEPER SIGNS – WHO NEXT?

I am BACK. How are you? Is everything good in your world? Have you bought a pair of Skechers after that most excellent advert VO’d by the powerhouse audio vibes of Harry Kane?

Ok… let’s get into it.

Jurrien Timber is out for 7-8 months with an ACL injury. I am so gutted for the player. He looked so at home with the club and the fans adored him. To injure yourself like that so soon into your new career is tragic.

Few things I wanted to address regarding the weird narrative surrounding the issue.

1. Blame culture.

People who have never worked in sport, don’t have a medical degree, haven’t put on a pair of football boots in their lifetime should not be passing hot takes on WHY the injury happened or who is to blame for it.

Don’t blame the doctor – they followed protocol. I wrote about this on Twitter, but here it is again.

Medical teams have a battery of clinical tests they can run at halftime, Mikel confirmed that happened. They test for structure, movement, strength, dislocation, resistance, and stability in the knee. Player feedback is absolutely considered. Arsenal has top-tier medical professionals – if his ACL was ruptured at halftime, the tests would have exposed that. He wouldn’t have come out at halftime. There might have been a small amount of damage done, but no way of seeing that (without a scan). If it is an ACL half tear or a rupture – same recovery time. 6-8 months. Has to be noted, the club hasn’t confirmed yet.

So to repeat – if he’d blown his ACL at halftime, he’d not have come out. If he’d torn his ACL at halftime, it’d be the same recovery time. Arsenal have top doctors, top performance people, and we have a very, very good record when it comes to soft tissue injuries.

I’ve read people blaming the training ground grass – the stadium grass – and the manager. I can’t be having it unless you have some expert analysis on why those things are suddenly an issue. Sometimes, in football, bad things happen, and no one is to blame. ACLs and those horrendous / very rare blowouts sit in this category. Until there’s a pattern – like there is in women’s football, the blame game is kind of pointless.

ALSO:

Been told that ACLs being career-limiters at the highest level is a bit of an old wives tale in 2023. Best example: Virgil Van Dijk in 2020. He collided with Pickford, busted his ACL, had surgery, was out for the entire 20-21 season. The following season, he returned, played 4,621 minutes over 51 appearances, was part of a Liverpool side competed on 4 fronts, and pushed City until the end of the season clocking 91 points. ACL doesn’t mean it’s over these days and there’s a very high chance Timber comes back the same was he was before.

Wishing Jurrien the speediest of recoveries.

David Raya has joined the club. He’s coming to be number one. No doubt in my mind. Aaron didn’t develop at the rate he was expected to, so Arteta has signed in what he believes is an upgrade. Raya has better distribution and his save numbers are top 4 in the league versus Aaron who is 12th. Brutal – but hopefully this will up Aaron’s game.

The referees are at it again. I know there’s been a lot of chatter about the Wolves decision. Onana clattered a Wolves player, the ref missed it, as did his VAR crew. The decision was so bad, I’m pretty sure if you had Mark Goldbridge in the VAR room, he’d have given the penalty.

Those officials have been dropped. But what does that mean?

Are they being retrained?

Are they being fined?

Is there a three-strikes policy?

What are the consequences here?

Lee Atwell, the ref who was sacked last season for being utterly useless, has made his way back into PGMOL to train Premier League referees. This is a prime example of the rot that is going on with the refs. Someone who was clearly not at the level for a long time, finally lost his job, then he was brought back into the fold. This decision reeks of old boys club and protectionism. It’s refs over performance. It sends a message to the rubbish refs that there are no consequences and it tells the good refs you are treated the same as the useless ones.

If you want to create a high-performance culture – people that don’t hit the mark need to be exited. The best need to be rewarded. There needs to be constant inspection of what needs to be improved.

What has Howard Webb improved? Yellow cards for managers? How many managers were sacked last season? How many refs? One referee is really all you need to know here. Does that make sense considering the constant drama around bad decisions? Not to me.

PGMOL needs to offer up more transparency. Refs need to be more accountable. Fans need to know there are consequences for referees the same way there are for managers and players.

Is Howard Webb the guy to deliver that? Has he ever ran a high-performance organization? Does he have a background in improving dead organizations?

If not – why is he ‘the’ guy?

The storyline of this season so far has been ‘punish managers like Arteta’ and ‘do not ask why managers get so angry at officials.’

Let’s talk about Gabriel getting linked to Saudi. This is a WEIRD link and I’m telling you – do not be shocked by him. If Arteta could upgrade him, he would. This is a Raya/Ramsdale moment waiting to happen. You don’t get linked to Saudi when you are a 24-year-old that has played EVERY SINGLE GAME of the last season. These links happen when someone from the players camp sounds out the richest league in the world (in my opinion).

This might not happen this season, but I would bet my house Gabriel isn’t here in two seasons time. Keep an eye on it.

We’re getting to the exciting stage of the transfer window, the cogs are moving, there will be opportunities for Arsenal to move on undervalued talent if it comes available. Our squad is basically where it needs to be, but there are some worries.

Relying on Zinchenko to stay fit feels like a big ask – the loss of Timber probably needs to be addressed for that reason.

Reiss cannot cover for Saka, so we’re still lacking a speed demon to give him a rest

Our squad is bloated and fat. I told you a few weeks ago Nuno would get a good fee and it looks like Forest might pay it. Sambi still hasn’t moved. Kieran T needs to exit. Rob Holding, for my health, needs to find a new club. Maybe there’s a surprise exit in the mixer as well.

Fun times.

We have two podcasts in the mixer you might like. Johnny spoke to a Palace fan and Matt spoke to a FFP expert about the Chelsea growth strategy. Check them out below!