Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny started only his second game of the season against Brentford last night.
The Egyptian international has been used sparingly by new manager Unai Emery with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi ahead of him in the pecking order in midfield.
However, fans weren’t particularly impressed by Elneny on one of his rare outings for the club:
Apart from running around like a headless chicken, there’s not much Elneny does.
— Lacompactdisc (@Lacompactdisc) 26 September 2018
Seeing Mohammed Elneny in the number 4 jersey for my club makes every fibre of my stomach turn
— Charles Vane (@Aggyhairline_) 26 September 2018
Elneny needs to improve.
Positive signs from Guendouzi, welbeck, mkhi and holding. Iwobi , Smith need more time.— Afc domain???? (@arsenaldomain) 26 September 2018
What’s the point of ElNeny
— Santï (@goonersanti) 26 September 2018
Elneny was awful played to advanced.
— bobby (@bobby01503436) 27 September 2018
Others though did notice his cheeky nutmeg in his own penalty area:
Elneny cheeky nutmeg in the penalty area pic.twitter.com/lyapgpbK3Y
— The Swedish Freddie (@FredrikDanell) 26 September 2018
Elneny's nutmeg was pure filth! ???????????? https://t.co/z0af6L01it
— Pranav (@Pranav_kmanchi) 27 September 2018
Elneny that was filthyyyy hahahaha
— Smokey ???? (@ltzSmokey) 26 September 2018
Elneny Oh my Allah ????????????????
— The Bad Guy (@KingDavid_300) 26 September 2018
Naaaa can’t let Elneny do that to ya
— Pires (@PrescientPires) 26 September 2018
Elneny just made someone look silly.
— Pain In The Arsenal (@PainInThArsenal) 26 September 2018
Elneny certainly didn’t make a case for himself to start more matches. Since arriving from Basel for an undisclosed fee in the 2016 January transfer window, the 26-year-old has never really established himself in the first team.
Last campaign, he managed just 11 starts in the Premier League, compared to eight in the 2016/17 season. He has been an unused substitute in all six league matches so far under Unai Emery, and it looks as though his appearances will mostly be restricted to cup competitions.
