Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

What happened to Arsenal’s 2015 FA Cup winners?

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Three years ago today, Arsenal 4 Aston Villa 0.

It was certainly not as stressful as what happened at Wembley 12 months previous – when Arsenal found themselves 2-0 down with Kieran Gibbs heading off the line – but it was equally as satisfying.

Arsenal were in complete control from the first minute against relegated Aston Villa – who did not have a shot on target.

https://twitter.com/goonerbeau/status/1001704778920022018

What struck me was the goal scorers that day. Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud. Who would have thought all four would have departed just 3 years later.

That day Santi Cazorla was named Man of the Match. He joins the goal scorers by leaving Arsenal this summer.

These little snippets then made me look at the entire match day squad from 2015, and investigate “where are they now?”

 

For Wojciech Szczęsny, the FA Cup Final would be the last time he would be seen in an Arsenal shirt. what followed was a 2 year loan to Roma before he joined Juventus as the eventual replacement for Gianluigi Buffon.

Captaining Arsenal that day was Per Mertesacker. He retires this summer. Also leaving the club this summer on a free is Santi Cazorla.

In January, we saw a quadruple of exits. Francis Coquelin went to Valencia, where he joined Gabriel Paulista  who returned to Spain in the summer of 2017.

Three of the goal scorers that day also left in January. Olivier Giroud joined Chelsea in a massive merry-go-round of players and Theo Walcott went to Everton. Alexis Sanchez joined Manchester United,

Kieran Gibbs, who saved the day with a goal line clearance the season before which would have seen Arsenal go 3-0 down, went to WBA where he got relegated.

Thinking the grass was greener, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain went to Liverpool in a big money move in the summer of 2017. Inconsistent performances and injury showed that sometimes it is the player, not the manager.

Finally, Mathieu Flamini Went to Crystal Palace and became a billionaire.

With the futures of Hector Bellerin, Jack Wilshere, David Ospina and Aaron Ramsey in the balance this summer, Arsenal could be in a situation where just 3 players remain from that victorious team 3 years ago.

Keenos

Sokratis to be only incoming centreback at Arsenal

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With the signing of Sokratis (I can’t be bothered to Google his surname) imminent – or completed if he signs before this blog goes live, the talk now is “who is next”.

A goal keeper, defensive midfielder, back up right back and winger are a must, but plenty of fans are also calling for a second centre back to sign.

I can not see Arsenal signing a second centre back.

Firstly we have budget constraints.

Whilst we will bring in a lot more than the £50m worth of players the press are claiming, we still have to be sensible.

Having all but secured Sokratis and right back Stephan Lichtsteiner set to join on a free, our financial strength should be chucked behind signing a goalkeeper, defensive midfielder and wideman. A 2nd centre back will not be top of the list.

There is a lack of decent centre backs around in world football at the moment. It is why Liverpool spent so much on Virgil van Dijk (who is average). And look how much Manchester City have spent on a partner for Vincent Kompany (Mangala, Otamendi, Stone, Laporte and more!).

To secure one decent centre back in transfer window is sufficient. To secure a second is fairly unrealistic, and it would feel like whoever we got in next (such as Johnny Evans) would not be a player we actually want.

Arsenal will sign a new goal keeper and defensive midfielder this summer. Were we to also add a another first choice centre back alongside Sokratis, that will mean complete new personnel in the heart of our defensive shape. A new keeper, 2 new centre backs and a new defensive midfielder, it just is not feasible.

By partnering Sokratis with Shkdoran Mustafi, and playing Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal either side, it will see us keep at least 50% continuity at the back once the new goal keeper and defeisnvie midfielder have joined. That is important.

More likely will be to bring Sokratis in this season, and then sign him a partner next season if Mustafi does not perform.

Sokratis looks a leader. Strong and commanding. The type of player that is needed to get the best out of Mustafi. It would be sensible to give Mustafi another 12 months before dumping him. Let’s see how he performs alongside a consistent defender next to him.

With neither Sokratis or Mustafi going to the World Cup, it will give them a full two month pre-season to develop a partnership. Add in Bellerin and Saed Kolasinac, Unai Emery will have plenty of time to drill an organised back four before the season starts.

There is a (valid) opinion that Mustafi is not good enough and a new centre back coming in will replace him. But again this is unlikely – especially with Laurent Koscielny out until 2019.

Picture the scene if we get rid of Mustafi. It leaves us with:

2 new centre backs
Calum Chambers
Rob Holding
Konstantinos Mavropanos

It just looks weak.

Chambers and Holding have so far shown themselves to be inconsistent, and Mavropanos is already being overhyped after just a handful of games.

Mustafi might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we know what we are getting. With Sokratis we don’t entirely know what we are in for. Losing Mustafi and having 2 unknown quantities could leave us high and dry.

All of this would be OK if Koscielny was not injured, as we could go into the new season with Sokratis, Koscielny and another new centre back. But with the Frenchman out, Mustafi becomes key.

The worry would be that if Sokratis or an additional new centre back came in, the risk of both flopping is huge. Without someone who we know backing them up, it could leave us in a situation where we are relying on Chambers, Holding or Mavropanos for the season.

Partnering Mustafi with Sokratis protects us. If Sokratis does struggle, we can then flip one of the others in and it leaves us in a similar situation defensively as we were at the back end of last season.

With a new manager and new coaching staff at London Colney, it is important that we do not let too many players leave.

With Santi Cazorla, Per Mertesacker and (likely) Jack Wilshere gone, we need to keep what we had at the end of last season and build.

Anyone on loan can obviously go, but Arsenal need to keep the likes of Mustafi, Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi. Get the key first team players sorted this summer, then we can look next year at improving on the quality of the squad.

Next season, with Sokratis settled, and the youngsters with another year under the belt, we can then make the switch. Koscielny gone, and Mustafi sold if he does not improve and we can then go and buy a partner for Sokratis.

This summer, Sokratis will be the only centre back coming in.

Keenos

A Wife and Two Break-Ups

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Every relationship, whether hellish or hospitable, has a leading-on period.

Firstly your wild side wants to charge in, Theo Walcott-esque, with little idea for the end product. I imagine the train of thought goes something likes this, “Do it. Do it. Kick it. Run. Run faster. Fetched!” But when the time comes to commit to the final ball, the doubts can be consuming. “But how could she possibly control the cross with those prison toothbrush toenails?” The drawbacks defer you and, in Walcott’s case, a blind get-out punt into the away stand follows.

Two men fell victim to such romantic hesitations this week.

The first was the North Korean leader, whose courtship became all too high-maintenance in its nuclear lustings and the banquet of ‘hostesses’ at an unnamed Singaporean suite was cancelled in lieu of the Donald’s break-up.

The second was none other than our scorned Spaniard.

It is easy to sympathise with Mikel Arteta, who’d practically half-Odemwingied in his desire for the position as journalists touted it as ‘basically a done deal’. But like a cruelly guarded affair, Ivan Gazidis was wooing his mistress before breaking off the marriage.

Many were so infatuated by Arteta’s mystery that there was no other option and it meant enthusiasm towards Unai Emery’s appointment was initially rather muted. However, the truth is, for the board at least, Arteta was too fresh and too unpredictable. It was one of love’s old clichés – ‘the right person at the wrong time’.

However, I have no doubts the Club came to the correct decision. Not necessarily in choosing Emery, but in appointing him over Arteta.

Arsenal are in an unstable period. Our leader and, to an extent, our philosophy has irreversibly changed and it’s essential we’re guided by someone proven in handling such a situation. Even with a heavy heart, it was right to second-guess the Spaniard.

Admittedly, Emery did somewhat lose his allure in France and the recent revelation that it was Neymar who was the boss in Paris is a slight cause for concern. However, his achievements at Sevilla indisputably showed that he’s a serial winner.

Emery’s approach is meticulous, hands-on, and he’ll work within the Club’s temperamental new structure. It may not quite be the new wife we supporters hoped for but it’s still the drastic change we desired.

It’s inevitable that after these years of repeated heartbreak, we’ll enter any new relationship with trepidation. But now the leading-on period is over and we’ve committed so there’s nothing to do but blindly charge in à la Theo.

Tom