Category Archives: Arsenal

Laurent Koscielny, Miguel Almiron & the UEFA Nations League

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Laurent Koscielny

Yesterday Laurent Koscielny announced that he was retiring from international football. It did not exactly come as a surprise.

The 33-year missed out on a World Cup winners medal this summer and admitted that it was hard to see his team-mates lift the trophy in Moscow.

It seems Koscielny’s decision was driven by a lack of communication from French manager Didier Deschamps.

The Frenchman picked up an Achilles injury back in May, hobbling off after 12 minutes in the Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

Koscielny claims that since his injury, Deschamps has contact him just one – wishing him happy birthday.

He made 51 appearances for France, making his debut in November 2011, and took part in the European Championships in 2012 and 2016, as well as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“The injury is one thing, the victory of the World Cup is another,” Koscielny said. “I think the victory certainly made me much more psychologically hurt than my injury.

“I think I gave the France team what I could. For me, my injury has not changed anything. The Blues are over, after that, I will always be a supporter of the French team but what is certain is that I will not put on the blue jersey.

“I have a new state of mind, there will be the Laurent before and the Laurent after injury. I want to continue to Arsenal, I want to return quickly. I want to fight.”

At his age and with his injury record, you have to wonder how long there is left in the career of Koscielny.

With his Arsenal contract set to expire in 18 months, his career in London is also coming to an end. It would not be a surprise if this summer he returns to France to see out the rest of his career.

PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 28: Laurent Koscielny of France applauds the fans after the International Friendly match between France and Spain at Stade de France on March 28, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Miguel Almiron

We are pretty much equidistance between the closure of the summer transfer window and the opening of the January window.

It is no surprise therefore that we have seen an increase in transfer speculation as  outlets look to increase their advertising revenue.

One name that seems to be at the top of Arsenal related news is Miguel Almiron.

The 24-year old Paraguayan has been linked heavily to Arsenal recently with increasing intensity. My take on it is that his agents are using Arsenal to get his name in the papers, to make it clear his client is available for a potential move to Europe.

He has had a good season in the MLS, with 12 goals and 14 assists. However the step up from America to the Premier League is a huge one.

Whilst the scouting reports that I have read highlight him as a good player:

“Almiron is the epitome of a 21st-century playmaker: strong in the pass, equipped with outstanding vision and technical ability, but also with the physical attributes to match.”

The consensus seems to be that Almiron is both a technical brilliant, two-footed play maker, but also has the industry and work rate to press the opposition high up the pitch.

With Aaron Ramsey set to leave the club at the end of the season, Almiron could provide a decent, low-cost understudy for Mesut Ozil / Aaron Ramsey replacement. Although I am unsure if he is that much of a step up from Alex Iwobi.

There is talk that Atlanta are holding out for double the £12.6million that Arsenal were rumoured to have “agreed”. At this point he no longer becomes the cheap understudy.

Almiron’s statistics this season are not too dissimilar to former Arsenal star Carlos Vela.

In a league where Bradley Wright-Phillips finished 3rd top scorer, you have to question the quality of the league.

Ultimately, the deal could come down to whether Sven Mislintat believes that the MLS and Premier League are too far apart in terms of quality. And whether they see the point in investing for cover for Ozil when you already have Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Keep an eye on this one.

UEFA Nations League

What a load of rubbish. Glorified friendly’s. Scrap it now.

Keenos

Arsenal U23 “Best in England”

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It is very easy to get too excited about youngsters coming through.

For every Cesc Fabregas that is a superstar at 18, there is 10 Denilson’s, Aneke’s, Lansbury’s and Emmanuel-Thomas’ who do not move from being top youth player to global superstar.

However, there is plenty of justification to be excited about the future of Arsenal and the young players coming through.

Our recent turn of form under Unai Emery has been built around top quality senior pros, the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil. But the supporting cast of young players, those under 23, will get you excited for the future.

Whilst the senior team are on a 9 game unbeaten run in all competitions, sitting 4th in the league, the U23 team in the Premier League 2 are currently second, and unbeaten in the last 6 games.

What is incredible about this is Arsenal pretty much have a starting XI of players within the senior set up who would still eligible for Freddie Ljungberg’s U23 team. Some of them you often forget how young they are.

First up is Hector Bellerin. He has not been looked at as a young player for some years, yet he is just 23-years old. He is still amongst one of the best young right backs in Europe. And whilst this is a key season for him, there are not too many players out there who have played 200+ games before their 24th birthday.

Alongside him in the defence could be Rob Holding. Like Bellerin, he is just 23, and surely not too far away from being called up for England?

We then come to Konstantinos Mavropanos.

I am wary of hyping up the 20-year old Greek international based on just 3 Premier League games – one of which he was sent off in – but he looks a powerhouse. Injury has restricted him this season, so we have not yet seen him in the Europa League or League Cup. I would not actually be too upset for him to take a step back into the Premier League 2 side for 6 months just to get some consistent game time. He is a talent.

At left back is Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Not a natural full back and 3 months ago I would have had him in the central of midfield. But as you will see, this side does not lack for midfielders, but does lack for left backs. At 21-years old, Maitland-Niles is a talent. And at worst will have a career at Arsenal as a utility man.

Mattéo Guendouzi is just 19-years old. It is very easy to forget given his performances this season.

Whilst the British media continue to hype up the likes of Mason Mount, Guendouzi is the teenager doing it in the Premier League. The Frenchman is younger and better than Mount. There was talk of him getting a France call up, which would have represented a huge jump from Ligue 2 player to French international. The World Cup winners have a lot of talented midfielders, so it is not a bad thing that Guendouzi is still in their youth set up.

Alongside him in midfield is Lucas Torreira. The 5 foot high from Uruguay is just 22-years old and already looks a world beater. He is younger than the likes of Harry Winks and Nathaniel Chalobah, who were both recently called up into the England squad.

Wide right is Alex Iwobi. Another who is just 22-years old. On the left is Reiss Nelson. The 18-year old currently impressing on loan at Hoffenheim. And between the two is another 18-year old. Emile Smith Rowe.

Leading the line is Eddie Nketiah. The 19-year old is yet to see much game time this season, what with the form of Lacazette, Aubameyang and Danny Welbeck. A second half of the season loan deal could be suitable for him.

We have not had such a large group of quality youngsters come through since 2006. When the likes of Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Gael Clichy, van Persie, Abou Diaby, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Song, Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor took Arsenal close to the league title in the 2007/08 season having grown up together.

Whilst the current crop might not yet be as good as those names, they have better players ahead and alongside them.

A year of playing together, another year of development, who knows what they could achieve?

Keenos

Arsenal youngster impresses abroad

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It was to huge relief of everyone at Arsenal Football Club when youngster Reiss Nelson put pen to paper finally this summer.

On 31st August, Nelson committed to a new long-term contract at Arsenal before completing a season-long loan switch to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.

The German outfit are in the Champions League this season, meaning that if Nelson got game time, it would be both at the highest level in Germany and Europe.

Hoffenheim have started this season poorly – winning just 2 out of 7 games and gaining just 1 point from their opening 2 Champions League games. They currently sit bottom of their group, having lost 2-1 at home to Manchester City.

Whilst his playing time so far has been limited – just one start in 4 appearances which he was substituted off at half-time – he has made an impact with 2 goals already.

Nelson is part of a close knit group of successful young England players; including the likes of Jadon Sancho, Ryan Sessegnon, Mason Mount and Phil Foden.

Last year he would have watched on in envy as Sancho began to make a name for himself in Germany, Sessegnon impress in the Championship and Mount be named Player of the Year whilst on loan at Vitesse. Clearly playing time was on his mind as he delayed contract discussions with Arsenal.

Sancho and Mount have recently had call-ups to the England whilst. Whilst it is probably too early for both, it highlights the importance of playing time for development.

Arsenal Wenger used to hold the opinion that 18 – 21 was the most important time for player development, and that during this period it was key to be playing senior football week in week out.

Mount is just 19 and already has 50 senior appearances to his name. Compare that to Ruben Loftus-Cheek who is 22-years old and has played just 60 times for Chelsea and Crystal Palace.

Foden was rated as the most talented youngster amongst his peer group. He won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award in 2017, a tournament that England won with the likes of Sancho and Emile Smith Rowe.

The fact that Mount and Sancho have been called up to the England side shows the importance of game time. They have now moved ahead of Foden in the pecking order, with the Manchester City starlet having played just 31 minutes of Premier League football this season.

Nelson has followed in the footsteps of Mount by seeking game time abroad on loan, rather than sitting in an academy, getting paid to not do very much.

In his fleeting performances for Hoffenheim, he has shown the pace and footwork which many of the followers of Arsenal’s Academy would have known about for some time.

With 2 goals in 90-odd minutes of football for Hoffenheim, it will surely only be a matter of time before he sees regular starts.

In a years time, Arsenal will have returned a 19 year old attacker who has had a season in the Bundesliga. Like Mount and Sancho, he will be benefiting massively from playing.

It will actually be interesting to watch the progress of Arsenal’s two teenage attacking midfielders.

Whilst Nelson pushed for a loan move, Emile Smith Rowe – who is 7 months younger – opted to stay in England, at Arsenal. He has already seen some game time this season in the League Cup and Europa League, but seems some way off starting in the Premier League.

There is certainly space for both Nelson and Smith Rowe in the Arsenal squad next season.

We lack natural wide attacking options. Whilst neither will perhaps be ready to be first choice, you can certainly make a case for them to both be understudy for whoever we play on the wings. Especially with Danny Welbeck set to leave.

The futures bright, the futures Arsenal.

Keenos