Looks like he is off to Inter on loan, which is a bit bizarre, because just loaning him does not give us that many benefits. Could have been decent squad player because he is arguably the best finisher at the club, shame that his all round game is utter ****e. Goodbye Poldi, your left foot really was something eslse.
I can only presume there's a loan to purchase agreement possibly set up in the summer? and I can only presume with Pod and Sanogoals potentially out on loan makes way for a top striker loan to us or better still an outright purchase perhaps?
Thats a good point about Sanogo going on loan as well as Pod, we def need a striker now - unless Wenger either has an [un-shown/proved) faith in Campbell or he plans on playing Walcott/Sanchez upfront if Giroud/Welbeck are out...
Can't rely on what we have based on the following. 1) Walcott has not proven he's out of the woods with his long term injuries yet. 2) Campbell is bench material. 3) Giroud head butt's someone and out for 3 again or gets another niggling injury. 4) Welbeck also has a niggling injury. What I'm trying to say is we are only left with basically Sanchez as all the other's have or have had issue's this year and we deffinately need a tried and tested world class Striker with two of the bench warmers going out on loan (potential sales in the summer). The defensive issue's speak for themselves, although I can only see us ending up with a make shift loan or two coming in until the summer.
We need a new striker regardless of whether Podolski stays or goes. This is based on: 1. Giroud not being good enough first choice striker 2. Welbeck not being good enough first choice striker 3. Sanogo not being a striker
Such a shame about pod, i really liked him as a person/squad member. If he had a higher work ethic and tracked back he could have been awesome on the left. But unfortunately we couldnt afford a luxury like him
It makes me wonder if Podolski was good enough or wasn't given a proper go or that he simply didn't fit the system. But letting him go in Jan on loan when we have on going injury concerns is a little worrying. The question is and has always been, will Wenger bring in the required reinforcements in Jan to push us forward in the second half of the season? How much can Sanchez continue to lead our attack this season? Will someone else step up like Walcott, OXO, Cazorla, Ozil, Ramsey, Giroud or Wilshere and share the burden equally or close to it? Will Walcott, Wilshere, Ozil, Ramsey, Arteta and Gnarbry feature significantly/be available for the second half of the season? The squad clearly isn't functioning properly this season and injuries have just dragged on and on......What is Wenger's next move in Jan when he knows of the state of his squad in both the un-predictability of their play and state of injuries? Something needs to be done to inject our season with something, as it continues to stutter.
That something, if Pod and Sanogo are gone and Welbeck suffering an injury must be to add a striker as well as the evidently required CB & DM to the squad. To not do so while letting Pod leave would be ridiculous. Wenger is piling pressure on himself.
I can't see that happening in Jan - hopefully in the summer though - unless those Cavani rumours are true... ;p
I find it staggering that there are actually Arsenal fans out there who really rate Podolski and actually blame Wenger for not starting him. I have no time for Wenger, but he can't be blamed for Podolski being a lazy so and so. This guy failed at Bayern Munich for a reason, he just does not want to contribute to the team in terms of his all round play. People say that we play him in the wrong posistion, but this guy is nowhere near good enough to play upfront on his own. Does not have the energy to run the channels and his movement off the ball is ****e. His left foot is so good that he does not feel the need to do the subtle and hard things of the game. Look at Van Persie for example, he also has a lethal left foot but he never stops moving off the ball. Podolski is just plain lazy and that's the reason why he never became world class.
Would be interesting to see what people's opinion of Podolski would be if he weren't so good on social media. The guy was cracking in front of goal but a lazy sh*te outside of that. In his first season he had 33 starts so let's not pretend he hasn't been given opportunities. I wish him all the best but I'm not gutted he's going. In some ways I think Theo's return was the writing on the wall for Poldi. Ironically I think Walcott has almost as many issues as Podolski but we pretend he doesn't because he's also nice but also a bit more English!
I disagree Peter, I think Walcott puts in a huge amount of work tracking back, making runs and supporting team mates, I also think he provides a threat and creats space for others as well as scoring himself. Injuries have hampered him, and he still has some very rough corners - but if you compare him to Pod, who barely moved when played upfront, and never tracked back on the left, then there's a world of difference. (I do like both though, they both seem intelligent, humble and funny guys)
He offers more up front with his movement, I agree on that. I was thinking more of his defensive duties. You do see him tracking back more but it's normally followed by an ineffective wave of the leg with no actual intention to tackle/stop anyone. I don't know if this is years of injuries making him nervous or if he's a massive vaginaboob but it does frustrate me. I still rate him hugely and think he offers so much when on his game. Problem is getting him healthy for long enough.
Gave a decent pass which Icardi should have buried, but apart from that, not much else. As usual his all round play was lacking.
