I wouldn't say "No one" is elite, but it is the only person who can consistently finish on this team.
He was obviously no RVP replacement, but I loved Podolski. A great system player and an extreme team player and supporter to boot. One of my favorite Arsenal players in the last 5 years.
He was decent in the first year. In the end he was never quite good enough for an elite team and I think he got pretty lazy under Wumger But you know, if Mkhi can kick in 11 goals from right midfield that is great
Both players are considered damaged goods by most of the big clubs Jitty. I think you're putting the cart before the horse. They are available to Arsenal. The question being hidden from us now though, is why? Auba wasn't exactly expensive back in the summer either.
This confirms what was discussed earlier, that Mkhi is eligible to play in UEL for us. However, he'll have to wear a different shirt number! https://www.arsenal.com/news/why-mkhitaryan-wont-wear-no-7-europa-league
In yesterday's presser, Wenger was asked whether Giroud or Welbeck would be leaving this January, and he game strikingly different answers; On Giroud: "The negotiations are not as far as that" On Welbeck: "No, I want Danny to stay here"
Spot on. Missing out on CL qualification again would signal that last season wasn't a blip and that we're on a downward trajectory, which will make it harder to recruit new players and eventually a new manager. Potentially bringing in a trio of players who are all almost 30 is definitely a short-term, stop-gap measure.
He has. Movement has totally fallen off. He was never fast, but he's lost all his quickness and can't create any separation.
Even so, he's still a better option for us that Danny IMO. I'm sure we're not going to let Welbeck go though because of our homegrown numbers.
Wenger made that quite clear yesterday. Danny's staying if he has any say over the matter. If Danny goes, then it's a big wow moment as far as management evolution goes. As for Giroud, he's always been slow, but he has a great strike rate so I don't really care. I think he's unfairly underrated or dissed in general, and on this board specifically.
Nah Giroud's pace has been dropping off for the last two seasons. Its not so much his top speed really, which is probably the same. It is his first and second step now, a good time to let him go been a great player for Arsenal.
I can certainly see the argument that we are not playing well at times, such that on could make an argument that we are in danger of slipping to 7th or 8th. We still have games against both Leicester and Burnley, and both appear to have easier remaining schedules than we do (one less game against a current top 5 team). We have a decent gap on them. Leicester show signs of improving, but Burnley are not in good form. Though we look poor at times, dropping to 7th or 8th doesn’t look probable, even if it looks possible. But even if we assume the Powers That Be are afraid we will drop to 7th or 8th, how would that explain the behavior we’re seeing? In other words, why would we change our behavior over a difference between 6th, 7th or 8th? The money for place finish in the League can’t be that much. Is there some other benefit to 6th that I’m missing? (I acknowledge that real possibility.) It seems to me if we believed we were that poor a quality team, we wouldn’t be chasing PEA, at the very least. If we didn’t think we had a shot at a Euro place (and the money and recruiting cache that comes with it), we’d only be looking at transfers that worked for us longterm. We’d be building for the longterm with any money we spent. We wouldn’t be tossing 50 million at a 28 year old who’s probably, what, top 20 at his position in the world in his general age bracket? Someone who’ll be, if it goes well, as good as the best we already have? Of course, the Powers That Be May be in between. They may have very serious doubts about us getting into the top 4 this year. (Just like most of us, amirite? Amirite?) This window may be about a strategy for chasing a top 4 spot next year (and somehow getting transfers in now helps with that, eg retaining Ozil, less chances of bidding wars, thoughts prices will escalate yet again in the summer?).
Why is easy, we have people from BVB involved and they have better connections than anyone else we have had to negotiate or broker deals in the past few years.
When my son watches highlight videos of Giroud in the future it's gonna seem like he was freaking Pele.
Regarding Auba, I think something with his personality or reps had to put teams off. His numbers are elite but none of the top clubs wanted anything to do with him last summer and there were a lot of top teams in need of a 9. If I had to guess, I would say he/his reps were asking for ridiculous money that clubs weren't ready to spend on a 28 year old that relies heavily on pace.
I get all the talk about Arsenal behaving a bit different in this transfer window and trying to rescue club from falling outside of 4th place again...but it is really depressing that deal is falling to the end of the window.... what are the chances this gets done by Saturday? only 14 games left.
A typical Arsenal transfer, hassling over the fee, without Arsene's involvement. Which begs the question, have the board kept Arsene around because he has been willing to take the heat
Bacary Sagna on @beINSPORTS: “Arsenal don’t keep players because negotiations take so long, there is only so long a player can wait.” pic.twitter.com/mhA42ZYZCn— Krunal Raval (@KrunalRaval14) January 25, 2018
I've always liked Ollie, but that compilation actually downgraded my overall perception of him. Still, I'll truly miss him if/when he's gone. Most of his goals fall into these categories and (gut feel) percentages - Headers: 50% - Bad first touch/mishits/impossible to miss shots from close range: 40% - Brilliant strikes: 10%