It's a real shame. Last season for a while he looked very good. He seems to be overweight at the moment though, which isn't surprising. He came to Arsenal to play, had a good run, got injured, and never came back. I imagine it's affected him quite a lot and he's dropped his standards a little, which isn't surprising as he's barely played for ages. But that means now Gibbs is injured he's not ready to step in, and signing Nacho is essentially the end for him as a LB. If he can get fit he could be a great replacement for Podolski in games where Arsenal are winning. He will add something defensively, and he can keep the ball well and make runs up the left. He'll stay for now, but he'll definitely be gone in summer IMO.
Unfortunately i see the same fate for Santos that Eboue went through. Whats worse for him was Eboue was better as a RB but was pushed forward due to Sagna and our weaker RM. Now we have a stronger squad, so there is little chance of him playing (depending on the extent of Gibbs injury). With Nacho coming in, we are now fully stocked on the left side. He will be moved on in the summer. Lets hope the fans will be nicer to him than they were to Eboue....
It is possible that he brings Santos on as a LM for a more defensive formation, but how often does Wenger do that? I can see us going full tilt from now to the end of the season, so it'll be a mixture of Pod, OXO, Rosicky and Cazorla in those areas.
I say show him the door. For the second Liverpool goal he was outfought and just gave up, that lack of heart is unforgivable at this level.
Sorry to be off topic. Just wondering what you make of your right-back situation? I know some are unhappy with Sagna's performances, will he be dropped in favour of Jenkinson?
Santos needs to share a flat with Peter Odemwinge they could waste away their time Playing XBox & comfort Eating. Perhaps Jermain Jeanus could call round mid afternoon when he wakes up
He's a good player but he has to play regular football to keep himself sharp and obviously struggles with his weight and fitness (which seems to go up and down like a yo-yo). I don't think at this stage of the season we can affords to give him the run of games he needs to regain his form from last season. That said he can be useful on the wing to help close out games late on as a sub for poldi. I'd keep him until the end of the season as a back-up to Podolski and Nacho-Man and then see where he is at with fitness etc. Like with Arshavin i think he is a player who is very talented and could still have a part to play at the club IF he can sort his issues. I think i'd move him on in the Summer though - he just doesn't look interested to me (and from my experience working with quite a few brazilians, once they are uninterested in something they just don't bother putting the effort in!!!).
The first line says it all with Santos. When he looked good it was from his 3rd or 4th game. For the first few games he was poor and getting this type of reaction, then when he got his match fitness/sharpness back he improved. Bergkamp was the same, but obviously a better player. The problem is we cant give him 3 games every time hes out in the PL.
@northbankgooner - Because playing for Brazil he has less defensive responsibilities and is able to push forward more. Also the whole national team play more his style of football than we do i think. Oh and top it off with the fact that actually he is a very talented footballer and when he gets a string of games together he tends to actually do very well. He was our best defender last season prior to his injury. He is just too lazy/unfit and not interested in playing for us (at least thats how it looks!).
My comment was in relation to just how awful he is at left back. I'm sure most are aware how the Brazil team plays. In no way, shape or form was he our best defender for any part of last season. He was ok going forward, but again a huge liability at the back.
Wenger said today that he is a player who needs his competitive edge i.e. Games. He's not a nervous type of player, but needs a few games to get up to proper match sharpness. Trouble is, he's not going to be a starter at Arsenal, so do we risk bringing in a player into games who isn't up to speed everytime we need him ?
@Northbankgooner - Your comment was that "God knows how he's played 22 times for Brazil" - i was simply explaining how.. And sorry pal but your wrong. Prior to his injury he was our best defender. Not just because of our injury issues and our CB's struggling for form, but because he actually was playing very well. This is backed up by stats - he was statistically our best defender, highest tackle success %, number of tackles etc... He was genuinely very good for us.
