Morning all.
First up, in no way, shape or form do I feel sorry for what Liverpool are going through, however, following Mo Salah’s comments about being thrown under the bus by his club, it made me think whether or not it’s right for players to speak to the media when they feel hard done by?
I’ve been sat thinking about Arsenal and I can’t think of any player who has spoken out about being cast aside by the club/manager after clearly being unplayed and unwanted. Not even since Mikel Arteta returned to the club in 2019 and he’s ruthlessly dumped a lot of players. Guendouzi, Ozil, Aubameyang, Pepe, Martinez, Mkhitaryan, Sokratis, Mustafi and Kolasinac to same a few were gone, some quicker than others. Younger players were sold on too like Nketiah, Smith Rowe and Willock, not to mention the many academy players.
Mikel Arteta wouldn’t have seen his team win the FA Cup had it not been for Martinez, Aubameyang and Ozil but that didn’t matter and rightly so because it’s not like any of the three appeared to put Arsenal first after that. Martinez wanted to be number one and sulked when such assurances weren’t offered, Ozil, as good as he was on the ball, simply wasn’t able to fight for team and Aubameyang, well we’ve all read what was supposed to have happened with him.
Yet I don’t recall any of the players who Arteta froze out, speaking to the media whilst still employed by the club. Saying that, it might be a case of my memory not being as good as yours.
Putting things into perspective though, none of the players Arsenal have let go in the last six years have had the kind of impact on the club as Salah has on Liverpool. Eight years, 420 games according to Wikipedia, scoring 250 goals. Two Premier League trophies and a Champions League winners medal too. As well as a few Domestic Cups. His goals were key to Liverpool enjoying those successes.
In April this year, he signed a new contract which is was everyone concerned with Liverpool wanted wasn’t it? Yet now, he feels like he’s been thrown under the bus because Liverpool have been struggling this season. Yet, if one listens/reads to what the media have to say on the Merseyside side club, there are more issues with their football than just Mo Salah. They have conceded 24 goals, 15 more than our miserly 9, they’ve scored 24 goals which is just 4 less than we have in the league so logic suggests, it’s not up front where Liverpool have a huge problem but in defence.
So perhaps Mo Salah is right, he has kind of been thrown under the bus. Not so much because he’s scoring for fun this season but because those behind him are leaking goals for fun.
Even so, do you think he’s right to speak out or should he just keep quiet, ask for a transfer and move on to pastures new?
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico.
A thought provoking post to say the least.
My first thought was the right to free speech. My second was loyalty to the club that has nurtured him and made him a multi- millionaire.
I rather suspect that his agent may be behind the outburst. If Liverpool chose to sack Salah his agent stood to pocket a, more than, nice little earner.
If the club decide to hold Salah to his contract they will have to pay him millions in wages for very little return. Salah will eventually drift into obscurity and have to exist on his savings.
I see the whole sorry mess as an attempt by Salah to get a last whopping great boost to his bank account as he has come to realise that he is no longer the terror of The Premiership. Indeed, he has had a dreadful half season and needs a quick exit before the club’s courting him realise that they might just be buying a pig in a poke.
All that said, I have to say that schadenfreuder is a wonderful thing. 😉
Morning Cicero, all.
My thought was how different it’s been at Arsenal.
MLS or Saudi in January I reckon, life is tough at the top eh..
Rico, Salah is an Arab in Saudi he will be treated like Prince, in the States he would be looked upon as another immigrant.
I think the problem lies more with Van Dijk than Salah , He is not as quick as once was and as captain appears to be more aggressive to his own players than supportive . I don’t think Slot knows how to curtail him .
But that’s their problem and long may it be so.
Morning all,
Yes thought provoking is right,I can’t really think of any in recent years,I’m sure some of those mentioned would have said something when asked but nothing like Ashley- nearly crashed my car- Cole for example.
I think Salah probably is after a final payday in Saudi,the words greedy and hypocrite spring to mind.
Ironic you mention Guendouzi,I keep reading he might be off to Sunderland in January. He would be the 3rd former Arsenal player at Sunderland. There are at least 4 more I can think of across the Premier league. A sign of the times,a few years ago it used to be the case that lots of ex players were in the lower divisions.
Good point Cicero.
VvD defensive partner has been awful too Potter but oh yes, long may their troubles continue…
Limey, I think a few have spoken out after they left for good. Aubameyang, Cole, Pires even.
I too read about Guendouzi going to Sunderland. Interesting move.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/296633828235465/permalink/1500733021158867/
If this opens , it’s an interesting stat if true .
I wasn’t expecting that, not good if there’s more to it than just coincidence.
Rico, Potter I don’t have a Facebook account, could one of you put the gist of the item in a comment please?
Interesting about Odegaard/Gyokeres,can’t be true surely. One of the comments said useless as captain,I wouldn’t say that but Declan Rice would be better,no brainer.
Odegaard doesn’t pass to Gyokeres Cicero.
Lumley, not so sure about Rice as Captain he can be a bit hot headed at times. These days Captains need to be cool, calm and collected when conversing with referees.
Rice for me too, or Gabriel..
Thanks Rico.
Blimey, how many games have they played in together? One or the other has been injured or unfit for most of the season so far.
Sorry Limey, spell checker again.
Exactly Cicero.
Usual bland uninformative non news from Arteta’s press conference.
A week off after tomorrow’s match and then it’s a game every three days into January and beyond.
Good afternoon lady and gentlemen
As Cicero pointed out, a thought provoking post. And an enjoyable read as well.
What goes on in the dippers’ lair is of no concern to us/ True, as you pointed out, the same thing might happen at our club, however from what you said later on it seems that very few may have said something bad against our club…..Coke, Adeba, Na$ri, Pur$ie spring to mind. Only a handful though. And keep in mind one thing, comments that Salah uttered throw more light on him and his character then they do about Liverpool. I fathomed that out looooong time ago, whenever I split with a girl I never said anything bad about her after, because Pa always taught me that such a thing would throw more light on who I was than who she is.
tbh I just wish that whenever Arsenal sign someone they insert a clause in their contract about what they can or cannot say to the press whilst they are contracted to us. Its not a question of right of speech. He would have the option of signing or not before he signed. Free choice pre contract. Not Post contract but PRE contract. Terms and conditions apply once you sign.
Onto something different. Gyokeres. We have to keep in mind that he did not have proper pre season. He was not afforded the luxury of being introduced slowly and rotating but was thrown into the deep end immediately. But he is doing what we lacked so far, he is bringing other players into scoring situations because he is drawing the defenders around him. He is giving us a presence up front. Although 27 Gyokeres is like a youth player…..you pay with points with youths, AW once said. In Gyok’s case we pay with less goals for now. He is not scoring that much but he is helping others score. I have always liked him and banged the drum far long before he came to us. Tbf I have always loved a big striker up front and although small players, like Pippo Inzaghi (my top favourite) and Roberto Baggio (divine foot) were favourites I always favoured big players up front as a CF.
Give Le Gyok time….he will flourish and score for us. Maybe do another invincible season winning all 38 thanks to him? Only God knows that.
Basically it’s a map of Odegaard’s passes from the Brugge match of the first 66 minutes and it shows passes to every forward member of the team the whole of the back 4 but shows that never once did he pass to Gyokeres.
As I said I can’t verify it . but if it;s true there is a question to be asked.
Afternoon Devil, thanks.
I don’t think anyone here is being critical of Viktor, just questioning the heatmap shown on face back. As Potter says, if it’s true it’s far from ideal for the team and certainly not our striker. Odegaard seems to favour the right and Saka, those two and White have in the past been a fantastic little group, but we have to change to bring Gyokeres into the game more.. imo anyway.
Yes Cicero, Joanna Lumley is a bit of alright…
As for Liverpool, let them suffer!
I don’t want to nitpick but since Odegaard returned and replaced Eze everything goes down the right wing again or square or backwards, the left flank is being starved again and nobody is chipping it over the low block for our forwards to run onto in the box.
And too much goes backwards Kev. I don’t mind nitpicking 😂
I’ve noticed that recently Raya has been launching long clearances down the right side, previously he favoured the left where Martinelli had the pace to chase the ball. Maybe he will revert back now that Martinelli has returned.
I reckon Madueke could start on the left tomorrow..
Rico.
I’d be happy to see Madueke start on the right and play the full ninety minutes to A) prove he is fit enough to do so and B) Give Saka the rest he certainly needs.
Cicero, wouldn’t mind that at all either. I’ve a feeling we could see a couple of younger guys on the bench tomorrow because I didn’t get the impression that anyone is returning. Hopefully Jesus will get more minutes too.
New post.