Balogun has to commit to stay if he wants to play

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Misguided, immature, lacking respect are just 3 things that came to mind after Folarin Balogun posted up a video of one of his goals for the U23s as Arsenal were struggling to break down Southampton in the FA Cup.

Balogun is yet to sign a new deal with Arsenal and will be free to leave in the summer. Already his representatives can begin negoatiating with foreign clubs.

Reports are that Balogun’s reluctance to sign are due to a concern about playing time. Other reports say he wants pay parity to the likes of Bukayo Saka.The reality is, Balogun is a 19-year-old talented young footballer who is 5th choice striker at Arsenal and not yet done anything to prove that he can perform at Saka’s level.

If Balogun wants to play, if he wants to earn the big bucks at Arsenal, then he should sign the deal on the table. He should trust the coaches and management at Arsenal to guide his career rather than his agents.

Sign the new deal now, go out on loan for the rest of the season. Score a bucketfull of a goals.

Come the summer, his performances on loan could lead to Arsenal cashing in on Eddie Nketiah. It is likely Alexandre Lacazette will also leave as he will have just one year left on his contract.

That will see Arsenal’s striker options be Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel Martinelli and Folarin Balogun.

Balogun would be 3rd choice and be getting plenty of game time at 20-years-old. The task of both him and Martinelli would then be to progress enough over the next 2 seasons to show that they would be worthy of replacing Aubameyang.

This time next year, if he is putting in some good performances nd becoming a regular in the starting XI, then knock on Edu’s door again. Ask for a payrise.

The path for Balogun is clear. Everyone can see it. But he is either impatient or greedy. Neither trait is good to have for a young footballer making his way.

It is interesting to note that many of those on social media calling for Balogun to start, for Arsenal to “pay him what he wants” also demand William Saliba play week in week and. They are also those fans that have spent 8 months complaining about the treatment of Mesut Ozil. And they all have #ArtetaOut in their Twitter bio’s.

Their rating of Balogun (and Saliba) is not based on seeing him play week in week out for the U23s, following his career since he was 14. It seems to be a simple case of:

We hate Arteta for the way he treated Ozil so are going to hype up any young player he is not playing.

This has led to Balogun gaining a lot of “fan boys” despite being 19 andnot yet having started a game.

These fans are demanding him to start based on goals against Molde and Dundalk.

Let’s return to Eddie Nketiah for a bit.

Nketiah has received a lot of abuse online from these so called “fans” due to being given the chnce.

Eddie deserves his chance this season.

Everything Balogun is currently doing – scoring goals at youth level and nicking a couple against inferior opposition in Europe – Nketiah has also done.

Eddie also went to Leeds on loan and has waited patiently.

You feel those abusing Nketiah and hyping Balogun would be doing it the other way if Arteta had sold the senior man in the summer and promoted Balogun.

If Arsenal had have given Balogun a big contract, they would probably be criticising the club for giving a youngster so much money without doing much.

These fans view things in a biased manner. They will contradict themselves.

What Balogun needs to do is stay away from social media. Ignore those fans hyping him up. He is not yet a Nicolas Anelka or Thierry Henry. At the same age as Saka, he is levels below.

You feel the social media echo chamber is influencing him though.

Fans tweeting him every day telling him how great he is. That he should be starting ahead of Nketiah. That he is right to demand to play before signing a new deal.

What he does not realise is this menatality is not the mentality of someone Arteta will want to keep.

He ends up coming across as devisive, willing to trample over a colleague for a promotion.

An employee who thinks he is better than senior employees, despite having never proven anything. It does not make for a good workplace.

what people (and Balogun) fail to recognise is that it is not just Nketiah ahead of him,

Arsenal have two senior strikers in Aubameyang and Lacazette. Both are proven goal scorers.

Even if Eddie left tomorrow, Balogun would struggle to get much game time – Nketiah has played just 319 Premier League minutes.

And it is not just Nketiah who is ahead of Balogun; there is also Gabriel Martinelli.

Martinelli is just 3 weeks older than Balogun and is levels ahead.

It is only injury that has limited the Brazilian’s game time this season. And there is a school of thought that had he not picked up that injury, Arsenal would have sold Lacazette last summer with Martinelli providing cover for Aubameyang.

Does anyone out there think that Balogun is better than Martinelli?

So even if Nketiah left, Balogun would still not be getting that game time as it would be going to a fit-again Martinelli.

We have seen talented young strikers at Arsenal before – Benik Afobe and Chuba Akpom in recent years. Balogun is not doing any more than these two at youth level. Neither made it at Arsenal.

Why should Arsenal give Balogun game time when he has not signed a new contract?

Those that say they stand by Balogun refusing to sign a new deal until he plays have got it the wrong way round.

A young player should prove his loyalty to a club, not the other way round.

It is the equivalent of an employee handing in his notice and then demanding he be promoted ahead of colleagues who deserve it more.

Any manager would tell that employee where to go. That they are not ready for the promotion but give it a year or 18 months and they would be ready. That he should not be holding the company to ransom by demanding a promotion otherwise he will quit.

If Balogun wants the opportunites currently being given to Nketiah, then he should sign a new contract.

He can not expect to be given that chance when he could leave in 6 months.

And ultimately, the argument should not be between Nketiah and Balogun.

With everyone fit, they are 4th and 5th choice striker.

Martinelli is the future.

Keenos

Match Report: Southampton 1 – 0 Arsenal

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Southampton (1) 1 Arsenal (0) 0

FA Cup Fourth Round

St. Mary’s Stadium, Britannia Road, Southampton SO14 5FP

Saturday, 23rd January 2021. Kick-off time: 12.15pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Cédric Soares; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pépé, Willian Borges da Silva, Gabriel Martinelli; Eddie Nketiah, 

Substitutes: Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Thomas Partey, Calum Chambers, David Luiz, Joe Willock, Mat Ryan.

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 62%

Referee: Peter Bankes

Assistant Referees: Neil Davies, James Mainwaring

Fourth Official: Graham Scott

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR David Coote; AVAR Stephen Child

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

It’s funny how the fixtures fall isn’t it? We play Southampton twice in roughly eighty hours at their place on the not-so-balmy south coast, the first of which forms the next instalment of our defence of the FA Cup at fifteen minutes past noon today. Good to see Gabriel Martinelli getting a start, as well as Eddie Nketiah in the main striker role, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not available today due to a personal issue. Also on the bench, is goalkeeper Mat Ryan, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion; the winners of this match meet Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in Round Five. All to play for!. Let’s go!

The home side certainly took the match to us in the opening stages of the game, with James Ward-Prowse’s corner bouncing off our crossbar from a corner after just eight minutes, which was a close shave indeed. This has the makings of a great FA Cup match, with some breathtaking end-to-end play out there. Gabriel Martinelli and Saints old boy Cédric Soares made good, strong attempts on the Southampton goal, whilst at our end, Bernd Leno made a superb save from Danny Ings; a lesser goalkeeper may not have even attempted such an athletic operation. After twenty-four minutes, we were a goal down when James Ward-Prowse slotted a ball to Kyle Walker-Peters out on the right, who fired it low across the six-yard box which was deflected off Gabriel (whilst Bernd Leno was blindsided with the menacing presence of Che Adams) on its way into our net. This goal quite naturally fired up the home team, who applied more pressure on us, and we certainly struggled to even walk out of our own half, let alone play out of it. We managed to counter-attack about ten minutes before the break, when Gabriel Martinelli slotted the ball to Willian, who passed to Nicolas Pépé, but his shot was blocked before a clever chip towards Cédric Soares was beyond his outstretched leg. Unfortunately, from then on up until the half-time break, Southampton pressurised us, and somehow, we managed to hold out until Peter Bankes’ whistle signalled the end of the half.

The beginning of the second half appeared to be a continuum of the first, with Southampton being entirely on the front foot, with us struggling to get going. We got badly caught when Danny Ings run on from a long ball, and using his pace, left Rob Holding and Gabriel for dust, and his resulting shot hit the post, bounced off Bernd Leno and spun off behind the line. Good job he was offside, otherwise it could have been embarrassing. The Southampton forwards were all over our defence like a disease, and there does not appear to be anything we can do to address this issue at this point in time. We need to get a grip here at St. Mary’s, and quickly, too. Thomas Partey replaced an anonymous Mohamed Elneny, and Gabriel Martinelli was substituted for Bukayo Saka, just before the hour to mix things up a bit out there. Almost immediately, the changes started to make a difference. Eddie Nketiah was desperately unlucky not to score after sixty-seven minutes, when his clever shot was pushed away by Fraser Forster in the Saints’ goal, after a pinpoint pass by Nicolas Pépé. In a desperate measure to chase the game, Alexandre Lacazette replaced Hector Bellerin with twenty minutes of the match remaining, and despite the changes, we still looked decidedly lackustre out there today. With Gabriel playing up front, and the shuffle that only a substitution can give, we looked terribly exposed at the back. As the match edged towards it’s obvious conclusion, Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Nicolas Pépé all had chances in the last quarter of an hour, but they all came to nothing. In fact, in the three minutes’ injury time, Eddie Nketiah bustled his way into the Saints’ penalty area after a clever flick-on from Willian. Unfortunately with a couple of Southamtpon defenders moving in on him, he sliced the shot and it went just wide of the right post and over, and along with out, went our defence of the FA Cup, on a cold and sunny afternoon on the south coast.

So disappointing, so deflated, such an anti-climax, and in some ways we were extremely fortunate not to lose by a greater margin. We may well have had the greater possession statistics, but we all know that when it comes down to it, goals win matches, not percentages. Unfortunately, Mikel Arteta gambled and lost with the seven changes on the teamsheet today, as some players looked decidedly off the pace somewhat. We looked uncomfortable, second-rate and completely adrift from this match, which to be fair, the home side showed the greater intent right from the start. Let us hope for a different result, with an alternate line-up for the Premiership match at the same stadium on Tuesday evening.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday, 26th January at 8.00pm (Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.

FA Cup defeat doesn’t tell us anything we did not already know

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So we will not be winning back to back FA Cups again.

Taking into account a side winning back to back FA Cups has only occurred 4 times in 30 years the odds were always against The Arsenal.

Interesting to note that 3 of those 4 teams have been Arsenal.

So we are out of our trophy and it was not a huge surprise.

We were in for a hard game as soon as the team news came out that the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney were not playing whilst Southampton picked their strongest team.

We have struggled this year with our strongest XI, and limped to a draw against Southampton earlier this with our 1st team.

It actually annoys me when mid-table teams with no really chance of relegation play are rotated XI in the cup. It is disrespectful to fans that travel and denies them a genuine chance of winning a trophy – so fair play to Ralph Hasenhüttl for taking the competition seriously. There is no reason the likes of Southampton or Wolves could not go all the way to the final.

So we had a weak XI, Southampton had a strong XI and that was that.

Even with a weakened side, I still expected Arsenal to perform a lot better than what they did. But it was “same old same old” with the usual players putting in their usually poor performances.

During our poor run earlier in the season, there were 2 consistencies.

Sides taking advantage of an error at the back for Arsenal and scoring, and lack of creativity up front.

Gabriel was unlucky for the ball to bounce of him and slide under Bernd Leno. An own goal was Southampton’s only real chance of the match and it sums up our season.

It is the top of the field where it was a feeling of deja vu.

Willian and Nicholas Pepe.

The pair should simply not be in a starting XI together. Both are playing so poorly that we are losing 50% of our attacking prowess when the pair start.

Neither has performed well this season, so it was no surprise when their poor form continued.

Why Mikel Arteta continues to pick the pair in tandem I do not know.

Yes, Saka and Smith Rowe are youngsters and Arteta needs to treat them carefully, but it feels like every time Willian and Pepe start together we struggle to create and lose.

And it was not that both started, but also that both finished the game.

The free kick with 3 minutes to go sums it up.

In a good position on the edge of the box. A whipped in ball to the far post is what’s needed. Any touch is a goal.

Willian and Pepe over it, the Ivorian hits it a long way over. Not even close.

It is getting to the point where Arsenal need to just cut their losses on Pepe. If an offer of £20m comes in for him, take it.

Whilst that will see us make a huge £50m loss on him, it would at least allow us to reinvest some funds in someone better.

As for Willian. The decision to offer him a 3 year deal gets more and more baffling every game.

It’s taken 18 months for us to get Mesut Ozil off the books, but we now have over 2 years of Willian eating a wage.

If the side was rotated so that Arteta could see if the likes of Pepe and Willian would return to form, it all did was reinforce what most of us know. That neither are good enough.

Hopefully with the emergence of Emile Smith Rowe, the impending signing of Martin Odegaard and return to fitness of Gabriel Martinelli, we should not see Willian and Pepe in an XI together again.

The senior pair should now be 5th and 6th in the pecking order behind their junior team mates.

So it is frustrating to be out of the FA Cup, and equally as frustrating that it is the same old players putting in the same old poor performance.

Onto Tuesday when we play Southampton again.

Keenos