goon wrote:I agree wholeheartedly that our squad is already a lot better than most give it credit for, but we absolutely need to fix the midfield. It was bad enough last year, now we’re losing Torreira and Douzi (in spirit at the very least). Determined for us to play with a conventional back 4 more often than not, and clearly that’s not going to happen with Arteta with the midfielders we currently have on the books.
Torreira and Douzi were part of what made the midfield so dysfunctional in my opinion. In the opposite end of the scale I like how rejuvenated Elneny looks. MK Dons, Liverpool and Fulham were 8/10 performances from him. Yes, it's just a few games and some of them were in off-season, but they're starting to add up quickly. I fully expect him to have another good performance against West Ham tomorrow. If a new signing had played like he does right now people would be talking about it a lot more.
I realise that works the opposite way around too: the reason people aren't talking up Elneny is probably because he's been lukewarm in the past, but I always thought he was a good player and the only real alternative we have to Xhaka on any level within the club. I'm not surprised he works well in a double pivot role under Arteta.