Tag Archives: Jack Wilshere

Who’s Arsenal career is Granit Xhaka about to end?

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132News on the Arsenal grapevine is that a deal for Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka is only a few days from being completed.

Now before we all get too excited, it is season ticket renewal time soon. We expect the renewal Emails to be sent out over the next couple of days.

Usually, and rightly so, such a heavy link a few days before renewal day can be put down as a bit of hyperboil. A leak by the club to make fans think this year could be different. It usually isn’t.

Counteracting that, the Bundesliga has a habit of doing business early. Bayern Munich have already spent big on two players.

In the last 10 years, Arsenal have made 3 big signings from Germany. Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker & Tomas Rosicky.

Mertesacker was signed on the last day of the transfer window on that day of madness in 2012. Podolski & Rosicky were deals completed in April and May respectively. Deals done early. I think the Xhaka rumour has legs.

So if Xhaka is coming in, where does it leave Arsenal’s other central midfielders?arsenal21jan16-636666

From what I have read of the Swiss midfielder. He is a bit of an all rounder. Defensive but can pass and get forward. I see him being the sides primary defensive midfielder if he signs, replacing Francis Coquelin. He is a good place to start.

Francis Coquelin

He has been a revelation since he broke through at the back end of 2014. Full of energy, works hard for the team, gets around the pitch, a crunching tackle, enthusiasm, heart (and to the most part) discipline.

His main weakness however is his distribution. He is not the best passer. And with him at the back, it has restricted Arsenal’s ability to launch attacks from deep. Our defensive midfielder see’s more of the ball than any other player. We need someone who can pass. Xhaka can. Coquelin can not.

Coquelin flourished when playing next to Santi Cazorla. As he could win the ball, play a short pass to Cazorla, who would launch the attack.

Xhaka will not mean the end of Coquelin. But Coquelin will find himself as a bench player.

Recently he has been demoted as Wenger has gone with the Elneny/Ramsey axis. This will continue into next season with Xhaka playing ahead of him.

Where Coquelin will excel is in the bigger games when we need extra defensive protection from the midfield. Coquelin will come in alongside Xhaka providing a solid defensive duo.

My bet for next season? Ozil for Coquelin will be the most common substation made.

Mohamed Elneny

Over the last few games, Elneny has replaced Coquelin as Wenger realised that we were struggling to transition the ball from defence into midfielder. His partnership with Aaron Ramsey seems to work a lot better than Coquelin / Ramsey.

With Xhaka coming in, the future of Elneny has to be bought into question. Does he have a future?

Xhaka will replace him in the starting 11. And with Coquelin a better option on the bench for a defensive substitution, I can see Elneny being a peripheral squad player.

Such a cheap signing, it could be that he was always a short term option.

Of course, I do not want to write him off, and he could continue his progress, but I see him as no more than a back up player. Being back up for Xhaka if he is out, or a replacement for Aaron Ramsey and/or Jack Wilshere when they get their usually injury.

He will stay another year, but will not get much game time if everyone is fit.

Jack Wilshere

This time last year, Wenger drew his line in the sand. Jack Wilshere would be our new defensive midfielder. We would not be buying anyone else. And we didn’t. It did not work out well.

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Xhaka will not be ending Wilshere’s Arsenal career. Merely changing it.

Wilshere has shown he is incapable of staying fit. When he is fit, he is a class player. But the same could be said of Diaby.

His future at Arsenal is surely now as a squad player. Someone who can not be relied upon to be a consistent starter, but can be used as a back up player for any of the 3 central midfield positions, and a good opinion off the bench.

A brilliant player, but there is no point being brilliant if you are always in the medical room.

Aaron Ramsey

A consistent starter this season, despite being in poor form, the signing of Xhaka will add competition to his place in midfield.

Whilst Xhaka will not directly be in competition with Ramsey, an extra quality player in midfield will add pressure to Ramsey.

It would mean that the manager would have the option to play Coquelin alongside in the back games. And then add Wilshere and Elneny into the mix, any loss of form for Ramsey would result in him surely losing his place in the side?

Santi Cazorla

The Coquelin / Cazorla axis worked so well during the early part of the season. But the signing of Xhaka will put an end to that.

Most likely, Arsenal will start the majority of games with Xhaka and Ramsey. Ozil ahead of them. Xhaka’s natural replacements are Coquelin & Elneny, Ramsey’s will be Wilshere. So where does that leave Santi Cazorla?

The only place I can see him fitting in is Ozil’s understudy.

Like Ramsey, this would then see Ozil get a kick up the arse. Having someone quality to back him up and put pressure on him.

If everyone is fit, it could also see Ozil play wide right, drifting inside.

 

Taking into account the injuries in the middle of the park we get year after year, Xhaka will be a quality signing. A leader. A general. It is certainly one to be excited about.

The domino effect however may see Mohamed Elneny’s Arsenal career being over before it has really begun.

I guess to be a success you must be ruthless.

Keenos

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Goodbye Upton Park – A chance for some revenge

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Tomorrow Arsenal have a chance to go half way to avenging a pair of results that happened against West Ham a decade ago.

In 2006, West Ham became the last team to beat Arsenal at Highbury, and followed that up with becoming the first team to beat us at the Emirates.

This lead them to have 10 years of singing at us every game “Last team at Highbury, first team at Emirates”. It is a song that cuts deep. No matter how many trophies you win, something like that pair of results, for a football fan, is above that. Arsenal fans have no retort to it.

The only thing in football that is similar is clubs being able to sing “Where’s your European Cup”.

So tomorrow we play West Ham in our last ever visit to Upton Park. And it will be a sad day.

Whilst West Ham’s ground is horrible, small and in a dump of an area, it is a proper ground. One that there are very of left, not just in the Premier League, but in football in general.

At the heart of the community, surrounded by terrace houses, it is a reminder of yesterday, when clubs cared about their fans. When the stadium was built and grew alongside the area it was in. The stadium was the beating heart of the community.

Since the Taylor Report, every year another club is moving stadium. There are now so few like Selhurst Park, White Hart Lane, Goodison Park & Upton Park around now. Instead, we have a lot of identikit soulless bowls, often on an industrial estate on the outside of the City or Town. No longer part of the community. The stadiums have become detached, symbolising the detachment of clubs and players from the fans.

And at the end of this season, we lose another one in Upton Park. With the aforementioned terraced houses surrounding it, the tight alleyway away fans have to walk down to get to it, the closeness of fans to the pitch, the chicken run, 4 separate stands. It reminds me of Highbury. It makes me miss Highbury.

And then next year they move 3 miles up down the road to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

Whilst in normal terms, 3 miles is no distance whatsoever, in London terms, and more importantly in football terms it is a life time away.

Arsenal only moved 500m, yet it changed the landscape of Islington on a match day. No longer way Blackstock Road the place to be. Holloway road became the new drinking port of call. Blackstock Road is now a ghost town on match day, with only a few old boys hanging on to memories past.

So what for Stratford? Where to drink? The Cow in Westfields? Or go down to the boozers on the Broadway? Bet the casino will be fun after a match day. West Ham will probably make use of the land around the stadium on match day and put up beer tents like Twickenham does for the rugby. It just won’t be the same for those fans who have been going week in, week out for 20 years.

And then the stadium itself. Yes, as a building, it is an improvement on Upton Park. But like all Arsenal fans will tell you, it is OK buying a mansion, but it will never be the same as the family home. Next year at the Olympic Stadium, fans will have to bring their binoculars to see the game.

West Ham fans, a word of warning, you might be excited about the move, like many Arsneal fans were in 2006, but just ask fans of almost every club that now have to go to a soulless bowl on an industrial estate 2 miles out of fan, is it worth it? They will say no.

A lot of the pre-match talk has already been, and will be, about Dimitri Payet. A fabulous player that shows you can still grab a bargain abroad.

At the time I felt Payet to West Ham was odd. This was a player who had created more chances than any other player in a top league in Europe over recent years, and here he was, going to West Ham. Why wern’t anyone else interested in him?

His age played a big part, he is 29. So many clubs look at resale value when buying a club. It is hard to buy a 28 year old (as he was at the time) and hope to get any money back for him.

Then take into account that he had spent his entire career in France. Whilst he had performed for many a year, twice being named in Ligue 1’s team of the year, it did present a big risk, taking a player out of a smaller league with no resale value. It could go horribly wrong. Think Gervinho.

But here he is, as a key member of West Ham’s Champions League qualification side, scoring free kicks for fun. Everything go’s through him.

It has lead to West Ham fans stealing Arsenal’s song about Mesut Ozil and rewording it for Payet. I have no issue with it as almost every song is stolen from another club, whether it be at home or abroad. I was at Burton Albion v Oldham over Easter and the Oldham fans were singing Ozil’s song about one of their players!dimitri-payet-v-mesut-ozil-in-de

Yesterday, the journalists had some fun with some Arsene Wenger quotes about Payet. He confirmed he was a player the club had watched. These days every top club has watched every half decent player in every league around the world. A side like Arsenal will have a scouting network of 100s. As do Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich. Every player get’s watched.

Wenger mentioned he did not go for Payet as he felt he had sufficient quality in his position at the club. Listing Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey. And of course, he is right. Imagine the outcry of the fans had we, in the summer, signed Dimitri Payet, another diminutive play maker. We would have screamed that he is clueless. That we already have Ozil, Cazorla and Wilshere. And that it was typical Wenger, buying an unknown Frenchman to take the place of an Englishman in Jack Wilshere.

Instead, 9 months on, the story is being written by the manipulative English press that Wenger decided not to sign Payet due to having Jack Wilshere, who has been injured all season. No mention of the other 3 in the squad. Just focus on Wilshere. Especially after he has been in the press this week for misdemeanours.

Further proof Wenger has lost it, people cried. Not signing Payet as he backed Jack Wilshere. Well that is not true. He backed Ozil, Cazorla, Ramsey & Wilshere.

And to repeat the point. Would you have been annoyed in August if we had sold Wilshere to Manchester City and signed Dimitri Payet? If you answer yes, then you can not really dig out Wenger for not making the move.

Football is an easy game in hindsight.

So Saturday will be built up as Ozil v Payet. I always find these sort of battles interesting. As the reality is, on the pitch, the only time they will be near each other is to swap shirts at full time.

The more important battle will be Ozil v Noble, Coquelin v Payet. We need Coquelin to be on his game, and helped out by Mohamed Elneny. Shadow Payet for 90 minutes. Do not let him leave your sight. And let Elneny deal with the rest of the midfield.

Perhaps most importantly, do not give away a free kick within 35 yards of the goal. Payet has been finding the postage stamp recently. He is a danger, whether shooting or putting a ball in like he did in the opening game against Arsenal this campaign.

Coquelin v Payet, I am backing my boy Coquelin.

And if we win, and we do have a great record at Upton Park in the last decade or so, we will be half way to putting the ghost of 2006 to bed. We might not become the last side to ever win at Upton Park, they have a few more home games left, including Manchester United twice, but at least personally, Arsenal would have won their final game at Upton Park.

And then it is on to the Joshua fight…

Enjoy!

Keenos

Arsenal to sell English gems

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article-2250578-16954B0B000005DC-586_964x50219th December 2012. With not much to cheers about in recent years, Arsenal announced, to great fanfair, that “Five young internationals sign new contracts”.

Kieran Gibbs (then 23), Carl Jenkinson (20), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (19), Aaron Ramsey (21) and Jack Wilshere (20). The future of Arsenal. A bunch of young British lads. At least if we did not have trophies to cheer about, we knew we had home grown lads on the field, progressing, knowing what it means to play for The Arsenal.

At the time, Arsene Wenger said “I’m a strong believer in stability and I believe when you have a core of British players, it’s always easier to keep them together and that’s what we’ll try to achieve going forward.”

Fast forward 6 months to the unveiling of the final Nike shirt.20130709-3

Nike knew how to market a product, and they decided that they would use the British core to promote their final shirt.

To the 5 players who had announced a new contract, Theo Walcott was added in making it a magnificent 6.

A British core. Something that had been levelled at Arsenal for so long. Not enough English players. Well the future of Arsenal was bright. And the future of England seemed in Arsenal hands.

We are now in 2016. Over 3 years on from the announcement of the new contracts. In that time, Arsenal have won 2 FA Cups and got the trophy drought monkey off the back. Things are a bit brighter at the club, even if this years bottling of the title race has put a bit of a downer on the last 24 months. Arsenal are back on the up.

But then you look at the line ups of our last two games. A 2-0 away victory at Everton, a 4-0 home win against Watford. Two excellent performances. And yet just one Englishman started. Danny Welbeck. Who in 2012 was at Manchester United.

What has happened to Arsenal’s British core? And are we now in a situation where the 6 players at the 2013/14 shirt unveiling could all be sold and improved on?

Jack Wilshere – In 2012, Wenger clearly had Wilshere pegged as the next Arsenal captain. “Jack is certainly the best known, the leader of this group.” Just 20 years old, He was an extreme talent, showing his potential in 2011 with a world class performance against Barcelona, Xavi and Iniesta.

In 2012, there were already warning signs about his future. He had missed the entirety of the previous season injured. And had already been involved in numerous off the field incidents. Arrested in 2010 after a fracas outside a bar. Given a police warning in 2011 for spitting on a taxi driver.

Roll on 3 years and history is repeating himself. He has once more missed an entire season injured. And news yesterday breaks of him again being involved in a night club brawl were police had to intervene.

Clearly a good player, but he is now 24.

I am not massively concerned about his off the field antics. He should be making headlines for his on the pitch performances, but we have had worse at the club. I am concerned about his injury record.

It was at 24 we gave Abou Diaby a new 5 year deal. He had played 76 games in his previous two years. It is a contract offer which 3 years down the line caused a lot of fans to attack Wenger. In the last 5 years, Wilshere has played just 91 games.

Do we continue giving him a chance, or do we learn from the mistakes we made with Diaby and cut our losses?

Verdict: Sell

Aaron Ramsey – Ramsey is certainly the ying to Wilshere’s yang. 3 years ago it looked so bright for the pair. They could become our Scholes and Keane. The new Vieira and Petit.

Wilshere had the silkiness, Ramsey the engine. Wilshere the nastiness. Ramsey the calmness. They would have complimented each other brilliantly.

In 2013, it seemed like Ramsey had finally arrived. After recovering from that leg breaking assault by Ryan Shawcross, he was our player of the season in 2013/14, cumulating in scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup Final. Since then, he has digressed.

He stopped playing his simple game that saw him become so successful in 2013/14, returning to back heels and Hollywood passes.

Over the last 2 seasons, he has had many minor injuries, resulting in him struggling to put a run of games together.

He has gone backwards in the last 2 years. But is still an important player. Into next season, he needs someone to get hold of him and say these 3 words. Keep it simple.

Verdict: Keep

Theo Walcott – In 2013 when that shirt was unveiled. Walcott was the father figure of the group. Despite only being 24 himself, he had already played nearly 200 Premier League games.

The year leading up to the shirt unveiling, he was exceptional. Scoring 21 goals in 43 games, adding many assists as well. He had finally arrived as a player.

Then the injuries returned. And now, 3 years later, he is a shadow of his former self. He looks scarred. He hides. He does not want the ball.

His time is up.

Verdict: Sell

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – The most overly hyped up player of the magnificent 6. People used to say Walcott did not have a footballing brain. Oxlade-Chamberlain is no better.

Another who’s recent years have been hampered by niggling injuries (seeing a theme here!). He is a player who has never impressed me. Plenty of talent, but no end product. That might be good enough for someone like Crystal Palace. But not Arsenal.

Cash in before the rest of the Premier League realise he is a myth.

Verdict: Sell

Kieran Gibbs – Another who just has not pushed on over the years. I remember him playing for England under 21s many a moon ago and he looked a class above. The issue with him is he was always older than we thought. When he was put forward alongside the others as the future in 2012, he was already 23. People were going on about his potential, but he should have already been established.

At the time of signing that contract, he had played barely 50 Premier League games. OK for a 19 year old. Not OK for a 23 year old.

At the start of next season, he will be 27. He has not yet made 100 Premier League starts.

His career is disappearing before it has even gotten going.

No longer can he be considered as the future long term solution at left back. The heir to Ashley Cole’s throne. Nacho Monreal is comfortably ahead of him. And there is a point when we will have to start thinking about giving a younger option a chance.

For now, Gibbs is worth keeping as back up to Monreal. But as soon as the next youngster shows any promise, it is time to move him on.

Verdict: Keep

Carl Jenkinson – The least known of the 6. At the time, you felt he was just an add on. A spare part. Like the bloke in the boyband who is always at the end but never has a solo.

And with the rise of Hector Bellerin this has been the case.

Jenkinson however was never bought to be an Arsenal regular. He was always destined to be a squad player. And with Debuchy likely to leave at the end of the season, Jenkinson will be 2nd choice behind Bellerin.

Worth keeping around as he is a Premier League standard player. Would surely rather be sitting on the bench of Arsenal, the club he loves, then playing week in week out for someone like West Ham or Crystal Palace.

He could become a Wes Brown type player at Arsenal.

Verdict: Keep

 

3 years ago Arsenal were the future of England. Now it is natural to glance at Spurs with a hint of jealousy. Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, all performing for their country. It is time now for Arsenal to be ruthless. If the British core are not good enough, not reliable enough, cut them loose and replace them with the quality that is needed to win the league.

Keenos