Another one bites the dust

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After Arsenal Wenger’s surreal send off, was last nights result really a surprise?

I said after the game against Burnley that it was all a little off, the massive goodbye, when there is still two games to go.

It was compared to having a leaving do on a Monday at work, and then still having to see out the rest of the week in the office. Seeing those soon to be ex-colleagues that you slagged off after one too many Carling’s.

Another away defeat, our 54th this season, alongside the 360th red card under Arsene Wenger would have been a fitting way to end his time at the club. But then we still have another game to go.

3 more sleeps till Santa Wenger’s last day.

I imagine the away trip to Huddersfield will be just as surreal as the last week or so.

Even before yesterday, Arsenal could finish no higher than 6th. no lower than 6th. It is probably why Mesut Ozil decided not to play again.

The German midfielder is set to miss the rest of the season with a back injury. That will mean he has not started 27 out of 60 games this season. Even the most loyal Wenger / Ozil defender would agree that being paid a reported £300,000 and starting just 55% of the games is not right.

The fans who go in through the gates, or pay for their TV subscriptions, are being robbed. Maybe Ozil’s new deal should have had a lesser salary and bigger appearance based incentives – like what the club want to do with Jack Wilshere (who has started 29 games this season).

Wilshire incidentally was missing last night, but unlike Ozil he had a decent excuse. The birth of a baby daughter. Congratulations to him, and I imagine this is the reason for the huge recent contract breakthrough.

The run of 0 away points in 2018 continues. It is a run that ultimately cost Arsene Wenger his job.

As an away scheme member, it has been tough going away this season. With the huge amount of Sunday kick offs, and just 3 wins. It has been a struggle to keep going. Hopefully the new manager will revitalise everyone – players and fans.

Last night was like so many other away games this season – a match where we were on the wrongside of poor referring decisions.

It has been the story of our season, especially away trips.

Stoke, Watford, Southampton and West Ham spring to mind. 4 games where poor refereeing decisions directly cost us point. 8 in those games alone.

There have also been countless other decisions that luckily did not cost us.

Last night, Konstantinos Mavropanos was unlucky to be sent off, and it certainly was not a penalty. When decisions  happen that early

“I disagree with the red card because Holding would have caught this ball. [Mavropanos] was not the last man,” Wenger told Standard Sport.

He added of the second half penalty won when Henrikh Mkhitaryan brought down Demarai Gray: “The penalty is a very creative, imaginative aspect from the referee. We watched it again, it’s a nice dive but it’s not a penalty. “[Mkhitaryan] plays the ball.”

Even Wenger’s critics will struggle to disagree with his judgement that the referee affected the game.

So one game to go. That is it. Then it is over.

Keenos

Jack Wilshere contract news imminent

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After 6 months of negotiations, it seems there has finally been a break through on Jack Wilshere’s contract.

Having nearly left the club last summer, Wilshere forced his way back into the Arsenal first team this year. Maintaining fitness, with mixed form, Arsenal were encouraged to offer him a new deal.

Early reports were that Arsenal wanted to pay him a lower basic, with high incentives (ie appearance fees). The net result would be Wilshere earns more than he does currently if he plays, but Arsenal will pay him less than they do now if he does not.

It showed a lesson learnt from the Abou Diaby time at the club, who maintained a high salary regardless of whether he played or not.

From Wilshere’s side, this was not acceptable. He felt he was worth more than Arsenal were offering, and the club reached a stalemate.

Over recent weeks, there have been some wrangling’s, with Arsenal reportedly offering more on his basic wage, but lower incentives. The net result if Wilshere played was the same, but the Englishman would also receive slightly more than the original deal if he failed to play.

Recently married, and his 3rd child on the way, a move abroad was going to be unlikely. Even a move away from London would now be a struggle for him.

My bet is at some point in the last 6 months, his agent has also quietly canvassed other Premier League sides to see what they were offering.

I imagine those clubs above Arsenal failed to give Wilshere the news he wanted.

They were either unwilling to give him (or his people) the huge contract he desired, or the first team football he craved.

The reality is, he would not be a guaranteed starter at any club above Arsenal (nor I suspect will he be at Arsenal next year) so those clubs would have been uncomfortable paying him a huge salary.

Note: I know Wilshere (and his people) were not “allowed” to speak to other English clubs until his contract runs out, but you are naive if you think his agents did not have unofficial discussions in a service station somewhere.

https://twitter.com/AFCfreddie8/status/994129036388524032

The reality dawned for Wilshere, he would have to look below Arsenal to get guaranteed playing time. Everton, Leicester, Newcastle, West Ham, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace. But none of these clubs would be able to match the contract Arsenal had on the table, let alone beat it.

The result is, Wilshere has come closer to Arsenal than Arsenal came to Wilshere, and this was shown in Arsene Wenger’s comments yesterday.

A new 3 year deal on a lower salary but with incentives based on playing time has been provisionally agreed. It is likely to have other incentives, such as salary increase based on game time, and an option for a further year.

All in all, a good deal all round.

Keenos

Laurent Koscielny injury GREAT news for Arsenal

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You have to wonder if Koscielny will be seen again in an Arsenal shirt.

That was my thought process in an article I wrote after the Europa League defeat to Atletico Madrid.

Laurent Koscielny’s troublesome Achilles once more reared its ugly head. Crumpled on the pitch in extreme pain, he was forced off after just 12 minutes. Immediate diagnosis was that he would be out of the World Cup.

Soon to be 33, I felt at the time it could keep him out longer, and so yesterday’s prognosis that he is set to be out for 6 months is not surprise.

“You will not see him until December at best,” said Wenger.

It pretty much rules the Frenchman out until 2019. At that is best case scenario. As we have seen with Santi Cazorla, any sort of surgery on your Achilles can lead to further complications. Even if he returns in December, he will only have 18 months left on his contract.

By the time that contract expires, he will be 35. This is almost certainly his last contract with Arsenal.

He has already spoken about wanting to see out his career at Lorient, and even before the injury, I felt that his Arsenal career was coming to an end. That he perhaps only had 1 more year left in him at the top level.

Whilst I do feel for Koscielny, this long term injury could actually be good news for 2 reasons for Arsenal.

The first (and lesser) reason surrounds the captaincy of the club.

For too long, the captain of Arsenal has been messed around with. Since Patrick Vieira left us back in 2005, the only consistent player we had as a captain was Cesc Fabregas – who led us for 3 years.

Robin van Persie was given it to try and encourage him to sign a new contract, whilst in recent years with the likes of Thomas Vermaelen, Mikel Arteta and most recently Per Mertesacker barely captained the team on the pitch.

The concern going into next season was that Laurent Koscielny was going to be the natural successor to Per Mertesacker, as the current vice-captain and senior professional in the team.

That concerned me as I felt he only had 1 good year left in him, and even next year he might not be guaranteed to start week in week out (if we sign a top centre back). That would leave us in the exact same position that we have been in recently. A captain who does not always play.

With captaincy off the table for Laurent Koscielny, it naturally gives the club a chance to look a bit longer term. Give it to someone who will be captain for the next 5 years, not just the next 12 months. If Aaron Ramsey signs his new deal, he is the man for the job.

The second reason is that Koscielny’s injury will force the clubs hand in the transfer market.

We needed a centre back last season. Instead of signing the player we needed, we stuck with Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi, with Per Metesacker and the youngsters Rob Holding and Calum Chambers backing him up.

After Konstantinos Mavropanos performances in the later end of the season, it would have been an easy option for the club to say “lets stick with Mustafi and Koscielny, with Holding, Chambers and Mavropanos backing them up”. This would have been a disaster.

Koscielny is clearly on the wain. He has always been error prone, but more mistakes seem to have crept into his game in the last 18 months. As for Mustafi, there are question marks over whether he will ever be good enough.

Had we gone into next season with Mustafi and Koscielny as our centre back partnership, it would have led to another season of disappointment. Now the club has no choice but to go into the market and sign a senior centre back to partner Mustafi.

Whilst the injury is bad news for Koscielny personally, it is great news for Arsenal as we can moved forward into the new era post-Wenger with a new captain and new centre back partnership.

Keenos