Author Archives: keenosafc

Theo Walcott – Not simply the best, but maybe better than all the rest?

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So yesterday’s blog bought out a response from someone on the She Wore Facebook page with regards to Theo Walcott. And that comment has inspired this blog.

The comment was a simple one. That of all of the players mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Walcott was the biggest freeloader.

I responded in my usual matter of fact way; 19 goals last year. Walcott is a better winger than Ox, Welbeck, Perez or Joel Campbell.

The response from someone was as expected. Are you having a laugh???

No, I was not having a laugh. Theo Walcott, whilst he might not be mine or anyone’s full cup of tea, is the better than those others named above.

Theo Walcott knows where the net is. Not too many wide men outscored him last year. Just the top, top players. The likes of Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez.

He has scored 104 goals in 381 games for Arsenal. That is a better ratio than Freddie Ljungberg. Add in the goals for Southampton in the Championship, Walcott scores a 1 goal in every 3.7 games.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has always flattered to deceive. He has the ability to beat players for fun, but then will run to the corner flag and stick one into row Z. He is currently loving the celebrity life style, and is acting Hollywood on the pitch.

The simple fact is, he does not have any end product. In his entire career for Arsenal, he has scored just 20 goals. Just one more goal than Theo Walcott scored last season. 20 goals in 196 games. Add the goals in League One for Southampton, he has scored a massive 30 goals in 239 games. That is 1 in 8.

One player who will always frustrate everyone is Danny Welbeck. He has the pace, he has the power, he looks like an elegant gazelle when running. But put him in front of goal and he looks like Bambi.

Twice against Stoke City at the weekend he had the ball with the goal in front of him. Both times he took 3 touches of the ball and failed to get a shot off. You can not take 3 touches of the ball in the box in the Premier League and fail to get a shot off.

Even when he scored against Leicester, he needed 3 touches of the ball. And that was 3 years out, with an open goal.

When we signed Welbeck from Man U, there fans told us exactly what it was we were getting. A player who was class until he had to score. It is crazy to think he has scored just 55 goals in his career, at a ratio of 1 in 4.5.

Then we come to Joel Campbell. Has there ever been a player who has produced so little who ends up so highly rated by many? He certainly falls into the category of “Wenger does not rate him, so lets rate him, because we refuse to agree with Wenger”.

Joel Campbell is now 25 years old. He is no a youngster anymore. He joined Arsenal back in 2011 and has scored just 4 goals for the club.

In his defence, he has spent most of that time on loan throughout Europe. But lets be honest, he has not exactly set the world alight whilst on loan.

He scored a couple of world class goals for Olympiacos back in the day, but it has been a career of averageness.

Let me but it another way, if Arsenal were interested in signing a 25 year old winger from sporting Lisbon who last season struggled to start for them – just 7 league starts, would you be excited, or would you be screaming for Wenger to go?

It would be the later.

During his loan spell at Lisbon last season, he scored 3 goals in all competitions. This bought his career total to 25 goals in 200 games. A fantastic 1 in 8.

Lastly we have Lucas Perez. A player who some feel has not had his chance. The truth is different.

Perez scored against Sutton (it was a cross), Basel, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth. Not exactly giants of the game are they?

Perez is a journeyman. A career that has taken him from Spain to Ukraine, on to Greece, back to Spain, then North London. 4 years playing in average Eastern European leagues did not get him the goals you would expect.

Only twice has he ever hit more than 10 goals in a season. The first was for PAOK in Greece. The second was the year he before he joined Arsenal .He scored 17 goals for Deportivo in 2015/16. That is 2 less than Walcott scored for Arsenal last season.

His record of 1 in 3.4 is superior to Walcott, but he has played in defensively inferior leagues.

If you look at just the last 5 years for Walcott – he was a very slow starter – his goal scoring record is one goal ever 2.5 games.

Theo Walcott might not be what we want, but he is better than what we have. And anyone that disagrees is an idiot. Simple as.

Keenos

2 down, a load more to go for Arsenal

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So after failing to sell him, Arsenal yesterday made a deal to loan Carl Jenkinson to Birmingham for the season. Details of the deal, including loan fee and wage contribution, have not been made clear.

With a year left on his reported £45,000 a week contract, it will leave Jenkinson able to join whoever he wishes next season on a free transfer, whether that be Leyton Orient or Harlow Town.

I bet Arsenal wish they had have done the deal with West Ham for circa £10m a few years ago now…

So it is another gone, as Jenkinson has joined Yaya Sanogo, Wojciech Szczęsny and Gabriel as senior players to leave.

4 down, and it feels like there is at least another 10 to go…

Mathieu Debuchy is somehow still at the club. Reports surfaced last week that Marseille were interested last week, and were trying to do a deal for a free transfer. Anything that gets his £70,000 a week off the wage bill is a positive.

Fellow full back Kieran Gibbs also needs to man up and get some ambition about him. He has had a less than stellar footballing career, and some still talk about him and his potential. He is 28 in September, and has become a millionaire by not playing much. With it being a world cup year, England lack any top full backs. A good 12 months at someone like Watford could see him make the plane.

Instead he seems intent on sitting around doing nothing.

Next on the list is Jack Wilshere. A fans favourite, but like Kieran Gibbs, his career as passed him by. Too injured, too often. Wilshere might get a life line as Arsenal are seemingly not targeting a central midfielder this summer. A decision no to pursue Jean Michael Seri seems silly, and it seems once again we will end relying on Wilshere’s fitness. With a year to go on his contract, it seems Wilshere will stay and see out his contract, even though we should just get rid.

Goalkeeper David Ospina, you might find it odd that he is on this list, but he is never going to be good enough to be a long term replacement for Petr Cech. Preferably, I would have liked us to have shipped him out this summer, and Arsenal targeted someone younger and better who could play Europa League and compete with Cech. Someone like Jordan Pickford. Instead Ospina is staying, and I fear a Manuel Almunia situation – where the Spaniard took over from Jens Lehmann despite being useless.

Theo Walcott is like a bad STD. Lip herpes. Or something. He just want go away. No matter how much he isn’t wanted. He keeps coming back .The lad has more lives than a cat and the only reason he is still here is because Arsene Wenger has done an incompetent job replacing him.

Walcott’s partner in crime, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also needs to be dumped. He thinks he is a celebrity, ever since getting with that blonde tart from Little Mix. From the Snapchats and the Instagram’s, to hanging around festival VIP areas and London celebrity nightclubs, he has lost his focus. He thinks he is a celebrity, and has started acting Hollywood on the pitch as well. He thinks he is a global superstar, he thinks he is Martin Garrix, when the reality is he is a children’s party DJ.

Next up on my list of shame is Calum Chambers. Now I do not actually want to get rid of Calum Chambers. He was decent for Boro last season and impressed for England in the youth tournament over the summer – keeping Rob Holding out of the team. You have to question why Arsene Wenger has not picked him this season, preferring to go with 2 left backs at centre back instead.

Rob Holding is still young and will be inconsistent. At the other end of the spectrum you have Per Mertesacker, with one year left on his contract and a mash-up face. In the middle you have Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi. Chambers would be an asset to keep, but we should also target a Premier League proven centre back to replace Gabriel. That will leave Chambers back on the chopping board.

Jeff Reine-Adélaïde – The next big thing? Probably not. Lets cash in before people realise he is no good. Lets not make the mistake of giving another 19-year-old a 4 year deal on £40k a week and be unable to shift in him 24 months. Get. Shot. Now.

It is a pity Joel Campbell is injured. Now he will be like a new signing in January…

And as for Lucas Perez, it did not work out for you lad. Stop crying. Leave now. Take your fan boys with you.

Chuba Akpom is another one. You’re never going to be good enough mate. Look at Benik Afobe’s career. He dropped down and came back up. Rather than sit earning a pretty penny at Arsenal, becoming a millionaire doing nothing, take a risk, drop down the leagues, and work your way back up.

Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny are both not good enough. But we are not buying a central midfielder, so both will stay. Sadly.

As I have been going through, I have been deleting players off my spreadsheet (I love a spreadsheet). It now only has 17 players on it. 3 are Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Riess Neilson and Joseph Willockm who are all kids. That leaves 15.

Then you have Mertseacker, Cech and Santi Cazorla, all of whom should be in the last year at the club.

Sanchez and Ozil ,the contract rebels. Iwobi and Welbeck who are one year away from being dead wood, players we should give up on. And Mustafi and Xhaka. They looked shakey last season.

Giroud, Monreal and Ramsey have split the fans for years. That leaves a squad of 5.

Lacazette, Bellerin, Holding, Koscielny and Kolašinac. Maybe Arsenal should get down goals.

All a little depressing, I know. Sorry guys.

Keenos

Man City Offer £60m to Acquire Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal

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Arsenal FC might just get a big pay-check from Man City as they try to pursue Alexis Sanchez. Reports have it that the offer from City is a skyrocketing £60million, and has been made as the future of Sanchez’s career with Arsenal is still uncertain.

However, there are also reports saying that Sanchez might be staying for one more season at Arsenal. Despite that, Man City are still actively pursuing the Chilean in hopes of improving their lineup.

Ever since rumors surfaced, Arsenal have maintained a firm stand on the transfer situation, saying that it’s highly unlikely that Sanchez will transfer to another team. Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger, is pretty sure that Sanchez will be staying with the team even though his contract will end in 12 months.

Wenger went on to justify his statement saying that Sanchez is not permitted to move to Man City, especially that as they are one of Arsenal’s staunchest rivals. With this alone, it can be seen that the decision doesn’t lie with the 28-year-old’s hands, but instead, on his team’s.

And even though Sanchez might want to pursue better days with Man City, he might not be permitted to do so.

How Good is the Offer?

Despite all the impossibilities that loom behind the possible transfer, Manchester City are still pretty confident to turn the tides around. Pep Guardiola, the manager of the City, has just upped the stakes as he tempts Arsenal with a dazzling £60 million bid for Sanchez.

It’s one of the biggest transfer offers in the history of the Premier League, making it a pretty good deal. And what’s best about it for Sanchez  is that City is planning to offer him a £400,000 weekly salary contract!

That includes the many bonuses based on his performance, as well as his image rights. Now, the question is – is Sanchez worth that value?

How Salable is Sanchez?

Man City are not the only team that pursued Sanchez. Among the many clubs are Paris St-Germain and Chelsea.

However, St-Germain’s interest in acquiring Sanchez faded after they signed Neymar with a whopping £200 million payment to Barcelona. Then there’s Chelsea that finally surrendered the cause to get the Chilean after negotiations failed to push through.

Take note that the City already spent £220 million in its acquisition of new players. But Guardiola still thinks that Sanchez is a big catch if he ever makes it to the team.

Alexis Sanchez Statistics

Putting all of those issues aside, Alexis Sanchez is still one-heck-of-a-valuable-player for Arsenal.

He’s proved to be one of the best finishers during his time spent in the Confederations Cup, Int. Friendly, FA Cup, and Copa Cup. These four tournaments all hastened his development and gave him enough experience to make a name for himself in the Premier League.

The Chilean is an all rounder. Great at through balls, key passes, and dribbling, making him a vital asset to the Arsenal’s offense. Crossings and offside awareness are some of his weaknesses, but his prowess in passing and doing direct free kicks make up for it.

Having won his last six consecutive games with Team Chile and Arsenal, and averaging 57 minutes per game, Sanchez has accumulated enough good impressions to add to his resume. The Chilean likes to work on his counter attack threat, getting layoffs, and cutting inside, which is just what Arsenal needs.

It’s because of these that he’s become a player worthy of reckoning from the finest clubs around the league.

Arsenal and Man City Betting Odds

The Arsenal was the favorite on their past game against Stoke on Aug. 19. Stoke had 7/2 and +1.0 odds while Arsenal got 8/11 and -1.0.

After which, Arsenal will play against Liverpool on Aug. 27 with them being having 23/10 and Liverpool getting an evens offers from UK betting sites. That game sure is an exciting one.

Then there’s Manchester City who will be playing against Everton on Aug. 21 with them being the favorite with 3/10 and Everton getting the 9/1 underdog odds and +2.0. Man City’s next game would then be against the underdog Bournemouth having 13/2. Manchester City gets a favorite 2/5.