Morning all.
They were meant to make us bigger and better but they didn’t. All four have now gone, the last of course being Theo who looks quite young in this picture above. I suspect all four, certainly three of them jumped ship because they could see it was sinking. Walcott seemed to be happy to earn his wages whilst staying loyal to club which stood by him through injuries but even now had had enough. He’s gone to Everton, where he himself has said will hopefully help him to enjoy playing football again. Mr Marmite he might be but doesn’t it say a lot when he says he wasn’t enjoying life at Arsenal. Not on the pitch anyway and to be fair, his body language showed that too, just as Mesut Ozils did last season.
Walcott openly criticised the attitude of the team after a hefty loss to Palace:
“That wasn’t us tonight,” the stand-in Arsenal captain told Sky Sports. “We are all disappointed in the changing room, like the fans are. We let them down. We can only apologise. They wanted it more. You could sense that from the kick-off.
Into the naughty corner went the Englishman and he’s barely played since. Dreadful way to treat a player for being honest, especially to the fans but then again, he’s not the only player to have been cast aside with ease by Arsene Wenger. I bet Walcott wishes he’d left a while ago, certainly long before all his bad habits had become routine for him but he’s lucky, he still has time and the man who was behind the 3-0 at Selhurst Park will be hoping to get more out of the player than Wenger ever did. That won’t be difficult I know…
I was reading Twitter last night and it became clear that there’s quite a number of fans who are looking forward to Sanchez/Mkhitaryan deal going through. Paul Merson is too as he believes the Armenian will suit our fast flowing attacking game.
Speaking on The Debate on Sky Sports Premier League, Merson said:
“I am a big fan of Mkhitaryan. “I watched him at Dortmund, where he was voted player of the season and scored plenty of goals. He has lost his way at Manchester United but if Arsenal get him, with the way they play and the way Arsene Wenger is going forward with attacking players, I think he will be a sensation.
“He is a great signing for Arsenal if they get him.
“Sanchez is top drawer, but to get that kind of quality in January is very rare. Mkhitaryan is one of the best in the Premier League. Any offensive player going to Arsenal under Arsene Wenger is a good move.”
I thought Merse was off all the naughty stuff which might impair his vision but it seems not, not if he thinks an offensive player will improve under the Frenchman. The last time such things happened was probably back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s when the likes of Anelka, Bergkamp, Henry etc shook off their ‘inexperienced or flop’ labels to show the world how good they were but since then, many of our offensive signings have either regressed or simply stood still. Or gone!
But Merse is right about Mkhitaryan when he played at Dortmund, he really was a quality player, one who started well at Utd but regressed as his time under Mourinho went on. Perhaps a change of club will do him the world of good and just like Theo said, perhaps he’ll start to enjoy football again like he did before he moved to England. If the swap deal goes ahead, we have to hope so.
I’m with Charlie Nicholas though:
“I know Merse is a massive fan of Mkhitaryan and I appreciate he is efficient and a decent team player. Would I take the deal? Yes, I would. But to be totally honest I’d much rather pay an additional £50m to get Martial.
“I think if Arsenal would say to Martial: ‘You can be the next Thierry Henry.’ Arsenal made £30m on selling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, £20m on Theo Walcott, so go all-in; forget Malcom or other players who may or may not be good prospects, go all-in and give him what he wants financially. In the summer Arsenal were willing to take Raheem Sterling but Martial is a far better player and could become one of the best in the world.
“I would hope Arsene Wenger would be talking to his agent, who will already know he is going to struggle for playing time majorly with Sanchez arriving, and saying, ‘Come here where we’ll build the team around him.'”
If Arsenal/Arsene Wenger had ambition, that’s exactly what they’d do imo.
Arsene Wenger has said that losing Alexis Sanchez won’t be as hard to take as when we lost RvP and in many ways I think he’s right. RvP left us after a season when he pretty much kept us in a Champions League spot. He wanted to move to win a PL medal having missed at at Arsenal for so many years. He wanted to do that with Fergie and he got what he wanted, in fact without him, I doubt Fergie would have retired with another PL trophy on his CV.
Alexis, while I totally understand why he wants out of Arsenal, I just don’t understand why on earth he’d want to join a club managed by Mourinho. A club far from being what it once was under Fergie. Yes they have a few very good players, but compared to Pep and City, there’s little to compare. I know, his wages will be right for him and that seems to matter most to some. If Mkhitaryan reverts to playing as he did whilst with Dortmund, we’ll end up saying ‘Alexis who?’, after all, it’s not like the Chilean is having a great season is it, but then that can happen, especially when a player thought he was leaving in the summer, only to be denied the move on the last day of the transfer window.
It seems Mesut Ozil could stay now and sign a new contract. Good news for Lacazette, and PEA if he ends up joining us, although I’ll be amazed if he did.
Anyway, for a change we have a 3pm kick off on a Saturday and it’s the rejuvenated Crystal Palace who stand between us and three points. Maitland-Niles is a doubt as he has flu, well, the sniffles, Monreal and Koscielny are back as might Ozil be so it looks like the squad is getting a boost as just about the right time for a real push into the top four..
Who am I kidding eh….
First
Hi Rico, is Kolasinac available?
Hi Kev, I think so. Wasn’t he back in the squad for the last match?
So Sanchez sent to train with the kids apparently. Won’t be there against Palace then. Seems the talks are stalling probably because Mkhitaryan is playing hard to get . Theres every chance that the house of cards will collapse and we will be left with nothing . Which is no more than we deserve .
If United wanted Sanchez for this weekend surely we would have wanted Mkhitaryan for Palace , so it’s not the clubs holding this up , it must be the agents.
Theovanasrigas…shame Rico. We could have achieved more if we kept that bunch together. Morning HH have we signed anyone yet?
Kolasinac in the last squad, was he Rico?
I didn’t take that much notice tbh, it’s endemic isn’t it.
I mean a few years back, with prospect of not one, but two big signings this blog would be buzzing, but the lack of interest, the apathy, it’s almost Kroenkesque…
Goretzka joining Bayern on a free next summer…
It’s too late for either now as midday was the deadline. I bet you’re not far off though, the deal will collapse and we’re stuck with a really unhappy player.
Big shame Goonster, just watched his press conference with Big Sam. He looks really relaxed, happy and can’t wait to play…
I could be wrong Kev.
Agree, we ll know that it matters not who we sign under Wenger, we’ll not improve much if at all. Not the way we defend.
Afternoon Rico and All
Like Kev says who gives a monkeys
these days.
Arsene could turn Red Rum into
a carthorse if was a horse trainer,
so why get to excited.
Could Arsene be guilty of child
molestation?
Walnut arrives as a 16-yr-old leaves
as a 29-yr-old yet still not sure what
position he should play..
Anyone know whats his best position?
Its goodbye to Sanchez then..What a player.
Shame we never lived up to this great little man.
Lets hope we get the luck to one day sign
another like him.
We now have the usual TW will he won’t he
sign for us.
Funny really that,because we have no trouble
selling players..Do We.
Afternoon Fred.
Oh yes, we are a good selling club. Just a shame we weren’t as good as signing them eh, especially the ones we actually need.
Rico
What amaze’s me..It’s like repeat
prescription..even after the so call
Changes will be made Statement.
As Lee often says Fred, rinse and repeat….
I’m talking about our new people
Rico….
Me too Fred, different people/players, but nothing changes…
Yer I know that rico
But surely these two new guys
are top draw..Aint they.
They are supposed to be Fred, but what Wenger get’s from them remains to be seen..
Wonder what he means, perhaps Oxlade-Chamberlain has been talking…
KLOPP ON SANCHEZ
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has had his say in the last few minutes on the Alexis Sanchez saga…
“I could really create headlines but I won’t. It is not my business – we had our big transfers.
“I’m not sure if it is fixed yet with Alexis? Nothing to say about the numbers but I can’t imagine that City have left the race because of money.
“It is not about money, Alexis Sanchez makes sense for pretty much any team in the world because he is a fantastic player. He is a really good player.”
Evening all and a great read Rico.
Me personally, I think if we do manage to get both PEA and Micki, that will see like a good window considering Alexis was going whether now or summer.
Probably music to Kroenke`s ears as well as with already £30M up from last window, money from Le Coq, Theo and some for Alexis, it will probaly be a zero net spend and wages probaly the same as well…………………….it`s all about the self sufficiency and that is why Kroenke is in no rush to get rid of Wenger !
Talking to my Boss today, he asked how has Wenger survived so long and as per my last sentence, I told him that Arsenal make money through self sufficiency and that Kroenke has never spent a penny and as long as we make money he sees no reason to change things.
He then aslked but surely if you dont get CL again Wenger will go……………I then had to tell that TV money dwarfs the CL money and it`s not as important as it was before when it was the big money maker…………in the last two seasons we have made £240 oddMillion from TV and EPL………………CL is not the big player anymore !
Thanks Lc, I’m still far from convinced Kroenke is all about not spending money. Wenger however… Not that I want him to, just leave it for someone else…
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/martin-keown-calls-man-united-11876654
Catch up tomorrow guys. Night.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/675500/Arsenal-Man-Utd-transfer-news-Alexis-Sanchez-Henrikh-Mkhitaryan-video-Ornstein-Mino-Raiola
Just got home after having my cab fixed, always happens on a poxy Friday.
Whenever I listen to Wenger bleating on about transfers, the ‘rich clubs’, how we cannot compete, blah blah blah, I am reminded of what Adam has been saying to me for over three years, in that Wenger has systematically, through the things that he keeps on moaning about (money) lowered our expectations…
I mean if your manager, the manager of the 2nd wealthiest club in the world, keeps on saying we can’t compete with Chelsea/ManU/ManC/Leicester (?) eventually it drip drips through to the fans and instead of competing for the League Title, we’re hoping for a top four place and a cup run, also forget about signing the really top players we’re getting the 2nd/3rd/4th draw players, sometimes not even them.
It’s all music to the ears of Kroenke as it means he can keep more dough in the bank and if it isn’t his fault, then get shot of Wenger next summer you useless ersatz cowboy and bring in a new manager and financially support him as you should, as the owner of one the worlds top and richest sports franchises as we are The Arsenal, we aren’t West fcuking Brom or Crystal fcuking Palace or Leicester (?)…….
Feel better for that Kev? 😉
Bummer re your cab.
New post up now.