Morning all.
Five of this weekend Premier League fixtures have been postponed because of Covid. Leeds v Arsenal tomorrow evening isn’t one of them and neither is the only 3pm fixture of the day, Aston Villa v Burnley. On Sunday, Wolves take on Chelsea, Newcastle play Man City and then the late afternoon game sees Toots face Liverpool. Seldom do I want to see Liverpool win a match but on Sunday, I hope they do.
Brentford manager, Thomas Frank, wants the Premier League to postpone all this fixtures this weekend and the League Cup matches too so clubs have an opportunity to clean up and try to break the Covid chain. I can understand where he’s coming from but I doubt he gave two hoots about Arsenal on the opening day of the season when Covid left Mikel Arteta with a depleted squad to select from. I know the new Omicron strain hadn’t hit the UK back then but unless the government announce that sport has to stop, football will carry on and the fixtures will pile up for a number of clubs. Brentford being one of them.
According to The Daily Mail this morning, the Premier League are set to have a meeting on Monday when they’ll decide whether or not to stop the season.
It’ll be interesting to see how many fans are at matches this weekend though because to pick up Covid now would mean Christmas in isolation.
Alex Lacazette has gone from being a bench warmer during the early stages of the season to being a player key to the way the team plays. He’s unselfish, gritty and determined and works darn hard for the team. Plus, he’s now the Arsenal captain. He’s 30 years old, 31 in May and out of contract in the summer. To his credit, he’s seldom injured but even so, should Arsenal be doing all they can to convince him to sign a new contract?
Part of me says yes, but haven’t Arsenal been here before? Give an older player a new contract off the back of a few good performances and then as soon as it’s signed, his performance level drops again. Then the internet will be awash with comments about how daft it was to give him a new contract at 31 years old. Call me an old cynic but players do tend to pick up their performance level when they’re after a new contract or a final bumper move to another club when there’s no transfer fee involved. As good as Lacazette has been of late, he’s not going to get us 20+ goals as season which is what Arsenal need going forward. So no, I don’t think Arsenal should be doing all they can to get him to stay. Certainty not right now anyway and definitely not for three years.
But, I don’t think it’d be a good idea to accept any offers for Lacazette in January, or indeed any player for that matter, not unless the club have big plans for next month. What we think Arsenal ‘should’ do and what Arsenal can actually do, are two very different things I think. Again, unless the club have vast amounts of money to spend because the winter transfer window is usually about having to pay over the odds for a player, unless that player is in the same situation as Lacazette and other Arsenal players who can leave on a free transfer in just a few months time and that list is very long according to TransferMarket.
Kylian Mbappe and Denis Zakaria are on that list. I don’t expect Arsenal to sign Mbappe for one minute but Zakaria, why not? Make Borussia Monchengladbach an offer they can’t refuse and get him at Arsenal next month. Either that or secure a deal with the player so he arrives in the summer. Actually, why not Mbappe? If Arsenal move on Aubameyang and Lacazette leaves, wages wouldn’t be a problem and there’d be no extortionate transfer fee to pay either. Ok, I’ll stop dreaming….
See you in the comments.
We should be playing as much as possible. We’re in form.
Alex Lazygit doesn’t deserve a new contract. He plays a few good games then decides to have a sulk.
There was quite a decent crowd on Wednesday evening. The demographic seems to have shifted younger. Consequently the atmosphere has got better.
I didn’t see any checking of Covid passes on Wednesday. Another rule that was invented to keep the professional moaners quiet,
Pete, I too hope the season doesn’t stop but if it does, then so be it. Safety and health comes first.
Re Lacazette, I’m on the same page as you, where was he when Emery, Wenger and Freddie were struggling? Imo, he’s playing for a bumper deal elsewhere.
Morning rico, house, good question. I’ve always been behind Lacazette, it’s not suddenly he’s become unselfish, he’s always integrated well with the younger players, and never moaned publicly when watching out of form players keeping him out of the team.
I would offer 2 years on a sensible wage, but not captain as hopefully we bring in another striker and Laca a handful of starts alternating with being a sub option for two up front or his recent role. Whether that would satisfy him is another matter, I believe he still has a lot to offer, us or elsewhere, and is completely different to Ozil.
Morning Rico and all
Brentford manager only wants the league to take a break because his side has hit a brick wall and they need a long rest bad luck.
Laca = We need to keep him until the end of the season to allow us the next 2 transfer markets to buy a new striker and then make up our minds what to do with him. If this means loosing him for free so be it. At the start Laca done a lot of good things that was over looked because Auba we scoring and taking most of the attention.
Good morning Rico and all.
It should be mandatory for the entire population to be fully vaccinated unless for compelling health reasons.
If individual players are refusing the vaccine then they are jeopardising the health and wellbeing of their team-mates, the coaches and opposition players. Any of them testing positive should be banned from all club activities and loss of wages until they are passed fit and free of the virus.
In my opinion we should make every effort to sell Aubameyang in January and be prepared to let Lacazette to go on a “Bosman” next summer.
In the meantime we should be bringing Nketiah and Balogan much closer to the starting line-up alongside Martinelli as well as looking for another striker from outside the club.
Bang on Cicero! If you can have a vaccine you should have a vaccine! Anyone who doesn’t needs to go back to school! I have lost patience with all of the anti vaxxers. So I no longer care if I offend the idiots!
Cicero. Although I agree that all players Should be vaccinated, I’ll bet my shirt that the vast majority of the new cases in PL and community at large are Double vaxxed. Your closing point is and always has been the status quo. Basically we’ve just got to hope that this omicobblers is more cold than Sars.
Out of interest I would guess Cicero & Hobart are retired?
Last night on question time they said that over 100,000 people in London were unvaccinated.Is it any wonder that’s where it spread quickest.
Pete , why does common sense come with age ?
Well Pete in my case yes I am retired, but what difference does that make?
Nope, I’m not retired. Curious as to why you would think that?
My industry works alongside the NHS.
Afternoon Cicero, Andrew, all.
No Auba again tomorrow. Arteta’s press conference was more about Covid than football.
Personally, I think that if footballers aren’t vaccinated to the max, they shouldn’t be able to play.
Hi Geoff. I think Frank is thinking about the fixtures piling up.
@c & @H my guess is based on your views.
Don’t really want to do vaccine talk, but the idea to mandate vaccines is a bit crazy to me. If it’s not legalised, so jog on. People can make their own minds up.
Disclaimer: I’ve had 2 jabs and a recent dose of covid.
Hello Rico and everyone,
I think it won’t help to give Laca a contract extension, and I hope the club’s hierarchy have had lessons learnt after the recent Ozil, and now Auba’s fiasco. If I was a decision maker at the club, I would allow for Laca to play until season-end then leave on a Bosman deal..This will help in the transition period as Arteta & Edu look for a replacement..
Someone assist me to understand; how doesn’t a non-vaccinated person contribute to spread of that virus over a vaccinated individual?
My humble take is that, no one should be forced to take medication/ or undergo any medical procedure. Medical Law and Ethics is clear about the right to accept or reject some medical treatment.. Again compelling someone to take a vaccine against their will amounts to violation of their rights to freedom of conscience! For such a medication with potential adverse side effects, Medical Law and ethics require that the person be allowed to choose to go ahead or not.
The scientist need to come up with a nose spray or tablet for people who can’t take needles. This would help too raise the vaccination numbers, Not everyone who refused to take the jab are anti vacc.
Now let’s get back to what this site is all about Arsenal
Something is clearly brewing with Auba. There’s talk that he is not only dropped but has been told to train on his own. Even rumours about him not playing before the AFCON.
I reckon there is a good chance he will be off this Christmas.
As for Lacazette I think we are
To far long into his contract for anything other than him leaving on a free at the end of the season.
Getting Auba out and a replacement in at Christmas would be my ideal outcome.
Also if even half of the figures I have seen for Omicron are correct then getting as many points on the board before the season goes batshit crazy would seem sensible.
Last word on Covid and it’s a footballing one.
Covid can scar your lungs badly, it can degrade your coordination, it can lead to heart problems. In a sport where small percentages can make such a difference I can’t believe they are not all leaping at the chance to get the vaccine.
As long as the players don’t come out thinking this is going to be easy, we could win 3 nil
On the Lacazette issue, he’s playing his guts out because he’s looking for his next contract, we’ve seen this numerous times in recent years notably with Theo Walcott and we have to move on from these scenarios, which I’m confident we will.
He’s on something like £185,000 per week and although I like him for what he’s been doing this season you really pay that salary to a forward who regularly scores 15 odd goals a season and I’m not sure he’s ever done that?
So no new deal for Laca for me, he’s working hard atm and hopefully he’ll continue to do so for the rest of this season even if he agrees his next transfer in January.
Morning all.
My thoughts exactly Kev.
New post up now