Mohamed Elneny’s Arsenal career had looked over, but manager Mikel Arteta has returned him to the fore.
The Egyptian found himself surplus to requirements at the Emirates last season, and returned from his loan with Besiktas with an uncertain future amidst many reports linking him with the exit door, but the manager had other ideas.
Elneny has played the full 90 minutes in six of our seven fixtures so far this season, and admits that he was unsure just how things would be on his return.
“Before I came to London, I didn’t speak to him and I was a bit…. not stressed, but just thinking about what would he like,” Elneny told Arsenal Media.
“When I sat with him, I said, ‘The way you train, the way you want to play is the way I love to play’ and really I love the way we train, the way he is assisting everything in the club now and it makes me excited to give 100% for the team.
“Under Emery, I was not playing much, that is why you can lose your confidence and your feeling to play. That is why when I went to Besiktas, on a one-year loan, I played always and brought the confidence back, and when I came back here I saw everyone happy for me to come back.
“Everyone was excited to see me back, and when I trained, everyone gave me good feedback, saying ’Mo, you did well’ and this makes you get your confidence back. I will build it and build it and every day I try to learn new things.
“Yes [I feel wanted], all the time, every day,” he added. “I think in any job if you wake up in the morning, try to learn new things and try to improve every day… this is what is always in my mind when I wake up. I have to go training, I need to improve myself in everything.”
This is another on a growing list of players and staff to come in with praise for the way our new manager works, and happy players in and around the club can only be a positive note.
Thomas Partey’s arrival may well end Elneny’s extended run in the first-team however, and the Egyptian may well become available once again come January, although he may be happy to play a bit-part role in North London under the guise of the Spaniard.
Will Elneny’s opinion change if he finds himself playing a minor role following our new arrival?
Patrick
Can we just stop already with some labels we use on our players?! Wtf is “outcast”?
Very disrespectful set of people I see here. They are the ones who are first to cry like babies when players give them a little dose of disrespect…😏
I think he will be placed back on the bench now Partey as signed ,but fair play to him he hasn’t really put a foot wrong when he’s been called upon,and I think that’s testament to how good Arteta is as a manager,he was signed by Wenger and Emery had no clue how to get the best out of him but fast forward 12 months and he doing the same job (and better )what Guendouzi was doing when he was playing under Emery .
He’s not everyone’s cup of tea ,me included but you can’t fault the lad .
Elneny is a workaholic let’s give the lad a chance to prove himself we are very judgemental on our own players
There is the feeling that Partey and Elneny would be better playing in the team than Xhaka and Elneny and it will be interesting to see what the boss decides.
My view is the former pairing, but that’s just my opinion.
Can’t see it myself Ken if I’m honest. Xhaka with Partey gives a better balance I feel, and there is no doubt Xhaka has performed consistently well for MA. If we play a 433 or 4213 I still only see Xhaka in the team ahead of Mo.
It’s Partey- he has immediately given us options we simply didn’t have before. That’s because we selected the exact player that was needed and got him. Next season it will be a CAM to add the creativity we will need to progress, but slowly and surely MA with Edu will get us there I’m sure
Partey and Elneny will be a real wonder of a midfield destroyer duo!
ultimately it depends on the team we are playing and which style we want to play…
we can rotate
Hi KEN,I am actually a litle surprised that you think MA will pair Partey with Elneny. I am with Phil on this one.
Not only do I still not rate Elneny personally , I also think he is only in the team for defensive solidity right now as there is no one else, til PARTEY arrived.
I am convinced Elneny will be gone by next season hopefully, though less likely, even in January. He is nowhere near a first choice Arsenal player and he is only there now temporarily!
Well, I feel sorry for Elneny. He has performed admirably well since his return, and for me, he offers more defensively than Xhaka being more nimble and has the ability to cover more ground unlike Xhaka who is sluggish. His biggest undoing is his inability to pass progressively.
All in all, I feel he will have a bigger role to play than Wenger afforded him
Do u really think hes going ave a bigger role this season than what he had under wenger look back in your mind most likely arteta sell him jan if not in the summer.eleny still here cuz we wasnt sure about partey cuz we were going for aouar and we cant sell all players without out the surety of another coming and since we leave it late for partey no deals for eleny
Lol..
You should be the one to look back in your mind.
Bcos El Neny is very much part of Arteta’s squad. Arteta guaranteed him that after his first trainings on return from loan.
So sorry to spoil it for you 😂
Sold in January my foot
He is doing great these days, I wish him the best and stay in shape whenever we need him. He is the kind of “Hard-worker” that we need.
Ive always liked Mo from the time he was signed.
Not the most spectacular or eye catching but a very solid likeable tidy professional.
Very rarely makes a mistake.
Super reliable squad player 7 out of 10 every week
He’s a really good player, just needs to improve his passing of the ball, make it fluid!
I would prefer Elneny pairing with Partey rather than Xhaka simply because of the reliablility factor. If Elneny works more on his passing than nothing like it. Anyway we have lot of games in a packed schedule and all players concerned will be required for the rigourous season.
I think he won’t be totally forgotten. Arteta said in an interview that signing Partey gives the team many options. Now many options don’t have to be about the same set of players. We are still in the running for many competitions and we need all our players. Regarding current options, I think Partey and Ceballos/ Xhaka ahead as B2B and attacking CM with Mo as the CDM is a good pairing. But whatever Arteta thinks matters most and whatever he thinks, he has my full support.
COYG!!
Elneny is a Managers’ dream, maybe not in terms of pure football ability but in his dedicated attitude to his work , day in, day out.A deeply religious guy I believe who has strong morale principles which he upholds, on and off the pitch.He is the type of squad player who a Manager can call upon , in the knowledge that he will always give 100%. Not a great footballer but an unpretentious ,upstanding man .
Spot on Wise one