Martin Odegaard – 24
Do not want him. Was poor on loan, much better options out there.
Work Hard FC. Odegaard is not creative, does not score goals. He just runs a lot. We should be going for Emiliano Buendia or James Maddison.
And the same people criticising the signing of Odegaard are now criticising…
Kai Havertz – 24
Did not rate him at Chelsea, did not want us to sign him. 0 goals and 0 assists in his first 3 games. Not good enough. Waste of £65m.
And 6 months ago the same people criticising…
Fabio Vieira – 23
Too lightweight. Overpaid for a poor player. Edu talent ID? You’re having a laugh.
And after a good cameo performance, they are demanding he starts ahead of Kai Havertz. But there first choice for that position is still…
Emile Smith Rowe – 23
Brilliant player. Deserves a chance to start. Arteta not rating him is a disgrace
The way some fans talk about Havertz, Vieira and Smith Rowe is a perfect example of them changing the narrative to suit their agenda.
We still have some fans who are “anti-Arteta” rather than “pro-Arsenal”. Any player Arteta rates, they do not. Any player Arteta does not rate, they hype up.
It happened with Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka. These fans were calling for Pepe to start ahead of Saka for some time. And if Pepe was starting ahead of Saka, they would have changed the narrative and been calling for the then-teenage winger to start.
What I find interesting about the Havertz slander is how those fans that dismiss him then hype up Smith Rowe.
They act like Havertz is the finished article, whilst Smith Rowe is a bright young talent who will continue to grow. Yet there is less than a year between them.
I have always had my concerns over Smith Rowe.
He is clearly very talented, but the injury issues that he had as a teenager have just not gone away.
Of the 4 mentioned above, Smith Rowe is quite clearly the worst of the lot. Signing Havertz ahead of him is how you improve your team, and your squad.
Buying better than what you have is how you keep moving forward. Havertz is clearly a better player than Smith Rowe.
I think Emile is one of those players who is also older than people think. He is already 23 and should be further along in his career than he is. It is coming up to 5-years since he made his debut.
Considering his place in the squad os probably as 5th choice “8” (Odegaard, Havertz, Rice, Vieira ahead of him) and 4th choice winger (Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard), I have always felt that if a big enough bid comes in for him, he will depart.
Getting an offer above £40m for a player that is clearly on the fringes of the squad would be good business.
Smith Rowe has had one decent season at Arsenal. Last season he did not start a single Premier League game, and he has less than 50 Premier League starts to his name. And that is not because he has not been given a chance, it is because he is always injured.
When you consider Havertz has played over 300 games for club and country, you begin to get an idea of how far ahead Kai is of the Englishman.
Fabio Vieira is also an interesting one.
He has gone up in many fans estimations off the 30 minute cameo against Fulham.
Vieira was fantastic in that 30 minutes. He is a player who has a wand of a left foot, but did struggle last year.
Whilst many fans were writing him off last season, I saw a player who just needed to get to terms with the physicality of the Premier League. And that if he did acclimatise he would star. But I will not go OTT over his Fulham perfrmance.
Some fans seem to be hyping Vieira up having criticised him for 12 months. My feeling is this is not because they rate him, but because of their dislike of Havertz – and Arteta.
How else can they explain why over the summer, he was on many fans “sell” list, and now they are calling him to start?
We have a lot of fans like this, who just want to criticise. And they will change their support of a player depending on if they are rated by the manager.
Personally, I think Havertz is a fantastic player. A level above Vieira and Smith Rowe. He is still a young man and is learning a new role in a new system at a new club under a new manager.
You do not play over 300 games at 24, capped 37 times by your country, being a bad player.
Vieira will also grow this season.
Primeira Liga to Premier League was always going tobe a huge step up for someone who was clearly a bit physically challenged. But he has incredible technique.
Smith Rowe, meanwhile, could be finding his time at Arsenal is coming to an end.
There are fitter, better players in his position, who are around the same age. Odegaard, Havertz, Rice, Vieira and Smith Rowe are all 23/24.
Phil Foden is also an interesting. He is also 23, just a year younger than Havertz.
It is interesting about how people still bash on about Foden’s “potential” but never talk about the potential Havertz has. The room he still has to grow. I think Foden also falls into the Smith Rowe box that people do not seem to realise how “old” he is.
I also think people forget how “young” Havertz is.
Build your view of a player based on their performances on the field, not based on yourn opinion on the manager, or because you prefer another player.
In 12 months time, the fans booing Havertz on social media will probably move on to someone else. And if Smith Rowe it still at the club, they will probably be calling him “deadwood” and questioning why the club did not sell him this summer.
These fans have been proven wrong about Odegaard, Vieira will prove them wrong this season, and Havertz will also prove them wrong. Yet they still value their opinion above a world class managers!
Always changing their narrative to suit their agenda…
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Worst blog piece I have read on here in quite a while that to be fair. I will says thats unusual.
”Of the 4 mentioned above, Smith Rowe is quite clearly the worst of the lot. Signing Havertz ahead of him is how you improve your team, and your squad.”
What utter nonsense. Havertz and Pepe – have in the past and in poorer leagues looked the real deal. Both look poor / lost/ hapless in the EPL – ESR looked mustard until his injury. Vieira has looked good on maybe 2 showings – but does look like he has ‘it’
Havertz continues to be a head scratcher- we needed a fast powerful forward — we got a midfielder/forward who looks lost currently, doesnt have a role carved out and not up to the job. Maybe he will find his mojo but if Arteta continues to fiddle while Rome burns – he may be too far down the ‘judged’ process to make it work long term. Think Nuno or Sambi with that process.
I take it you didnt watch the U21 World Cup – where ESR was in scintillating form : ESR is a top prospect and we should NOT be selling him, especially to anyone in the EPL.
As for ”I have always had my concerns over Smith Rowe.” The that says it all – and you are guilty of doing what you charge others with – setting a narrative to suit YOUR agenda. Its your opinion – so you are welcome to it. But this post is wholesale based on nothing but your opinion on ESR- bugger all to do with the reality the rest of us are seeing
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ESR at 23 is playing for the U21s
Havertz at 23 had over 30 senior caps for Germany
That sums it up…
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Vieira has a good substitution against Fulham and he’s already adapted to the premiership. I hope he can do that in the bigger and more physical games. As to ESR people have short memories back in 2021 when pepe and William were woeful, 2 players carried Arsenal, Saka and ESR. Too many fans who are too worried to speak the truth. Dont let these people justify potential very bad transfer losses. Remember the Ashley cole saga a product of arsenal academy and best left back in Europe allowed to leave for 5k a week or wasnt you old enough at the time.
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