I could be wrong, of course, and the Arsenal starting line up to face Chelsea tomorrow could have the name of Mohamed Elneny in it instead of the French midfielder Mathieu Flamini. But I have a feeling that Arsene Wenger is thinking along slightly different lines.
For one thing, the boss has been pretty pleased with the performances of Mathieu Flamini and if he was not then he would have used the other option of Calum Chambers more over the past weeks and months. And even though the Gunners will be expecting to take the game to Chelsea I reckon that the boss will want his strongest defensive midfielder on the pitch in order to stop any counter attacks leading to a goal.
So what about the new signing then? Well this article in the Daily Mail reveals that the Egyptian international is much more than a holding player. In fact the former coach of Egypt, Bob Bradley, thinks that Elneny offers a lot more to a team although he can do the job of protecting the back four very well.
He said, “He’s an all-round midfielder who can play deeper when needed, he can move forward and shoot from distance but he’s not just a guy who stays in there and breaks up play.
“He covers a lot of ground and can play a more defensive role, he is an all-round midfielder, has a good passing range and has ability to score from outside of the box.
“Most of all, I think he is still improving. The thing that was very good for him at Basle was the experience in the Champions League and Europa League.”
Our new Gunner has already scored six goals this season, so imagine Arsenal are either trailing or being held in the second half tomorrow. A great option would be to then replace Flamini with Elneny to give the whole team more of an attacking threat.
Is this how you think Wenger will use Elneny tomorrow?