Tag Archives: She Wore

Has Denis Suarez fallen out of favour at Arsenal?

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What is happening with Denis Suarez?

When Arsenal were first linked with Denis Suarez in January, it was clear that Unai emery was pushing for a move for him because he no longer wished to utilise Aaron Ramsey or Mesut Ozil.

There was talk at the time that had Arsenal completed the move early enough in the month, that they might release Ramsey to Juventus earlier – making a couple of million from the deal whilst boasting the Italian’s Champions League chances.

It was a long drawn out transfer process.

Arsenal wanted the Spaniard with an option to buy at the end of the season, Barcelona wanted to either insert a compulsory purchase order in the deal, or have Suarez sign a new deal to protect them from losing him on a free in 18 months.

In the end Suarez agreed a new contract with Barcelona, and Arsenal secured their man on a loan with an option to buy.

It is now two months to the day since Suarez completed his move to Arsenal and he is still awaiting his first start.

To date Suarez only has a handful of substitute appearances to his name. Meanwhile Ramsey and Ozil have returned to Emery’s first team plans – starting 9 of the last 10 games between them.

It is odd watching Ramsey or Ozil starting pretty much every game whilst the man signed to “replace” them is on the bench, getting 10 minutes here, 12 minutes there.

So what is happening with Suarez?

The first theory is that he is still very much part of Emery’s future plans. That we moved for an early loan deal for him so that he could spend 6 months acclimatising to the Premier League whilst Arsenal have both Ramsey and Ozil still at the club.

He would not be under pressure to play, and could spend his time getting both physically and mentality prepared for the Premier League. Bulking up in the gym and physical training sessions meaning that come August, he is ready to go.

This argument is logical, and we have previously seen Arsenal do this before with Emmanuel Adebayor and Jose Reyes. Both signed in January with the view of getting prepared for the next season.

With Ramsey joining Juventus at the end of the season, Arsenal will need a replacement. Suarez will be that replacement and by the time August comes, he would be fully acclimatised to the Premier League.

Getting Suarez in now takes the pressure off the summer, meaning we can concentrate on signing a centre back, left back and winger, without having to be considered about replacing Ramsey.

A second argument is that he is not fully fit.

Prior to joining Arsenal, he had played just 10 games this season for Barcelona, with his only 2 starts coming in the Copa del Rey against Spanish 3rd tier side Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa.

To have barely played in 2018/19 is a problem.

With the added physicality of the Premier League, Suarez would have arrived nowhere near match sharp, and it is taking him a while to get up to speed.

The final theory is that having pursued Suarez, Emery no longer fancies him.

Emery has seen the man he managed at Sevilla up close at London Colney. Alongside Ramsey and Ozil and he is clearly inferior. Not up to it. Not a player for a top tier challenging team.

Having seen him train amongst his peers, Emery does not see a future for the 25-year-old at Arsenal and has already made the decision not to make the move permanent in the summer. He will pursue other options to replace Ramsey; like Christopher Nkunku, whom Arsenal were also heavily linked with in January.

Suarez has become a short term option to a problem that never really existed, and in the summer Arsenal will decide to pursue Nkunku to replace Ramsey, and return Suarez to Barcelona.

The situation of Denis Suarez at Arsenal is interesting, and he is seemingly no closer to starting a game for Arsenal then he was whilst a Barcelona player.

With the club chasing 3rd place, and Ozil and Ramsey returning to Emery’s 1st team plans, I doubt we will see Suarez start a game this season.

Keenos

Brazilian “wonderkid” signing sends negative message to Arsenal Academy

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Arsenal ‘launch £5m offer’ for wonderkid Gabriel Martinelli after Man Utd trial is the headline news this morning in many of the click bait media outlets.

I for one do not agree with us targeting the Brazilian teenager.

Gabriel Martinelli is a 17-year-old Brazilian forward who reportedly had a trial with Manchester United 2 years ago. In June he will gain his Italian citizenship meaning that a work permit will not be a problem.

He has reportedly been courted by a whole host of clubs in South America and Europe. The likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Crystal Palace have been monitoring him, with Arsenal leading the pack.

I do not want to see Arsenal sign the Brazilian teenager.

At the moment we have a lot of exciting young talent in the academy. It is in good health.

Eddie Nketiah deserves his chance next season to replace Danny Welbeck, backing up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

Another who also deserves his chance next season is Reiss Nelson who has developed well in Germany. I expect both Nketiah and Nelson to be part of Arsenal’s first team squad next season, and regularly take a place on the bench.

Xavier Amaechi is barely 18-years-old. Some have claimed that he is the quickest player at the club and he potentially has a big future. A year younger is Bukayo Saka.

Would it be right to sign Martinelli instead of continuing these two’s development?

Martinelli can also play up top.

In Dubai, Tyreece John-Jules announced himself. Another 18-year-old, it seems a poitnless task to sign someone ahead of him before he has even had his chance.

Finally we have Folarin Balogun, who recently signed his first professional contract with he club.

Another who is just 17-years-old, there is a lot of excitement surrounding him.

With Amaechi, Saka, John-Jules & Balogun all at the club, all 18-years-old or younger, all local lads who have been at the club since children, it is illogical to sign a Brazilian who will then come in and compete with them.

And i have not even mentioned Joe Willock or Emile Smith Rowe yet…

I would rather give the young, local lads a chance.

If the club considered Martinelli as already better than Nketiah and Nelson, I would understand it more. He would be coming in to the 1st squad, able to contribute straight away.

A bit like Matteo Guendouzi last season, it did not matter that he came in ahead of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ben Sheaf or Joe Willock, he was ready for first team action and they were not.

I very much doubt that Martinelli is ready for the 1st team. As it stands, he is a YouTube player – with most fans having never seen him play and just getting excited by the “Welcome to Arsenal” videos of him doing a few step overs.

If the local lads were not good enough, I would understand us buying someone ahead of him – like what happened a lot during the 00s. Likewise if he was a special talent – like Cesc Fabregas or Guendouzi – he would be joining up with the first team squad rather than the academy.

If Arsenal do sign him and he joins the academy, it will send out a poor message to youngsters and their families. “Do not join Arsenal as when you reach 17 they will sign someone from abroad to replace you.”

Let’s give the local lads a chance. Give Saka, Amaechi, John-Jules, Balogun tne opportunity to continue getting time in the U23’s and League Cup games next signing.

Signing Martinelli is a poor move.

Keenos

“Superpower” Tottenham are the Newcastle of the South

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We wake this morning to headlines revealing “the secrets behind Pochettino’s success” and how Spurs are a “Premier League Superpower”. I spat my coffee out.

What success is this exactly?

This is Mauricio Pochettino’s 5th season with Tottenham. He has yet to win a trophy.

In the 4 completed seasons, he has finished above The Arsenal twice, and only finished top 4 75% of the time.

Let’s roll our minds back to the Arsenal trophy drought 2006-2012. An 8 season period of failure when Arsene Wenger failed to lead the club to a single trophy.

During that 8 year period, Wenger led Arsenal into the Champions League 100% of the time. The side finished above Spurs 8 out of 8 times and he led the team to a Champions League final and 2 League Cup finals. He was labelled a failure for doing so.

What Wenger “achieved” during that 8 year period, when Arsenal were paying off heavy stadium debt, was superior to what Pochettino has achieved in his 4 completed seasons at Spurs.

This year will make it 5 seasons in a row without a trophy. It could also see Tottenham finish outside the top 4 for the 2nd time in his short reign (Wenger was at the helm for 22 years and finished outside the top 4 just twice).

Tottenham may well end up finishing behind Arsenal for the 3rd time in Pochettino’s 5 seasons.

Reading a book explaining Pochettino’s success would be akin to reading a self-help book from Theresa May on how to unite your colleagues behind you. It would not contain anything useful.

The reality is the media are writing about Pochettino’s success even though he is achieving less than Wenger’s failure.

I have said for a while, Arsenal at their worst this century achieved more than Tottenham at their best.

As for the “superclub” comment, well that is just laughable.

The new stadium in Tottenham is an architectural masterpiece. The most technological advanced stadium in Europe. But that should be a given.

It is the most expensive stadium ever built in England, and the newest stadium. You would be a bit disappointed if it was not the best, most advanced stadium in history. Especially for £1bn.

The media have tried to compare it to Arsenal’s Emirates stadium. Spurs fans have “boasted” about how the new Tottenham stadium is superior. Of course it is superior. It is new.

Arsenal’s stadium is 13 years old. The technology that is around now was not around in 2006.

In 2006 the iPhone did not exist. The best-selling phone was the Nokia 1660. It still had snake and cost £30.

“The Nokia 1600 mobile has a speaking clock, which was a novel feature when the phone was launched in 2005. A user could use the speaking clock by pressing the asterisk (“*”) button during the display of the home screen.

The phone also includes a ringtone composer which allows creating custom ringtones. Pre-composed ringtones can be transferred through a data cable.

The phone has a basic calculator which can perform only addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

There are 14 pre-defined themes with 14 wallpapers and menu backgrounds.

The menu features animated icons.”

In 2018 the best selling phone is the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, at a cost of £799.

Look at your car.

In 2006, things like SatNav and air con did not come as standard. Bluetooth A CD player and FM/AM radio was your entertainment system. In 2019, every car comes with SatNav, climate control, digital radio, bluetooth enabled and more. Technology has moved on.

In summary, you would feel short-changed if you spent big on a new mobile phone or car and it was not vastly superior to a car or phone from 2006.

It is a fantastic stadium, but that counts for nothing if you fail to win trophies.

Tottenham are no more a superclub than Newcastle under Kevin Keegan.

Keegan led Newcastle to a 2nd place twice, and three top 4 finishes in four years. Compare that to 3 top 4 finishes for Pochettino, finishing 2nd just the once.

Newcastle also reached two FA Cup finals, losing both.

In the end Keegan left having failed to win Newcastle a trophy, despite playing in-front of over 50,000 every week.

Were Newcastle a “Superclub” in the 90s? Or did they just have a couple of years where they finished high up the league, won nothing, played in-front of huge crowds and failed to break their league title drought which was well over half-century.

Tottenham have finished high up the league, won nothing, played in-front of huge crowds and failed to break their league title drought which is well over half-century.

Leeds under David O’Leary were cut from the same cloth.

They finished top 4 three times in a row, made a Champions League semi-final. But like Newcastle, it was temporary and they soon found themselves relegated.

Tottenham can not be talked about in the same bracket as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea. These clubs have all won trophies in the last 5 years. Tottenham have not.

They might have a shiny new stadium with all the mod-cons that the newest, most expensive stadium built in England should have, but that means nothing if they do not win trophies.

Tottenham are merely Newcastle of the South. They think they are a big club but do not have the recent silverware to back it up.

Keenos