Interesting stat. Ozil's rare moments of semi brilliance do not merit him getting anything close to the wages allegedly being demanded by El Sanchez.
Transfer Rumours Transfer Rumours Thread
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Think his point is that Arshavin performed better than Ozil.Not wumming, genuinely not sure of the point you are trying to make....
Though they didn't really play the same position.
Arshavin was a forward/winger, so you would expect his goal and assist stat to be higher.
Not am I reallyNot wumming, genuinely not sure of the point you are trying to make....
- Mesut Ozil made his 100th Premier League appearance, and provided his 36th assist in the competition - only Eric Cantona had provided more after 100 games in the division (39).
The press are reporting that we could be in for Juventus's Miralem Pjanic as a long-term replacement for Santi Cazorla
Not really kept up to date on his career since he left Lyon, does anyone think he'd be the type of player we need?
Not really kept up to date on his career since he left Lyon, does anyone think he'd be the type of player we need?
£40k fee being mooted for this lad. Had some time at London Colney and impressed supposedly. Rather he was a RB as that's the only position I think we lack a strong back up.
* Mirror reporting we've signed him now.
* Mirror reporting we've signed him now.
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Monreal is getting on a bit soo could be a good option for the future. One thing Wenger seems to know about is fullbacks.
Torino's Sporting Director has said that they've rejected a £56m bid from us for Andrea Belotti.
Now I'm not quite sure if I believe this. First of all, although he is a very good striker, I doubt Wenger would bid for him in January when we have Welbeck, Giroud and Sanchez as options up front and he wouldn't risk alienating one/two of those players midway through the season by getting another striker.
Second of all, even if the rumor was true, would Torino really be in a position to reject that much money?
Now I'm not quite sure if I believe this. First of all, although he is a very good striker, I doubt Wenger would bid for him in January when we have Welbeck, Giroud and Sanchez as options up front and he wouldn't risk alienating one/two of those players midway through the season by getting another striker.
Second of all, even if the rumor was true, would Torino really be in a position to reject that much money?
I'd take him for £20m... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38595765
Walcott---------------Ozil------------------Payet
----------------------Sanchez----------------------
Walcott---------------Ozil------------------Payet
----------------------Sanchez----------------------
If he was 2/3 years younger, it'd be worth considering but he's 29. Besides, he comes across as being a bit flakey and we have enough bottlers in the team as it is. His attitude hasn't impressed me at all, had one good season and hasn't turned up for this one. You can't just pick and choose when you want to perform. Let's not forget that he has also been part of the team responsible for West Ham's poor season.
Wenger described the Belotti story as "Fake News". Made me chuckle.
I think you'd get a few decent years out of Payet and he'd be a ridiculous upgrade on AOC as things stand. Made something like 15 more key chances this season than the next placed player and that's in a horribly underperforming side. If that's with him playing badly then I'd still take it. Also, he'd want to bust a nut to prove himself after coming across as such a tw*t.
Obviously it would never happen, just musing.
I think you'd get a few decent years out of Payet and he'd be a ridiculous upgrade on AOC as things stand. Made something like 15 more key chances this season than the next placed player and that's in a horribly underperforming side. If that's with him playing badly then I'd still take it. Also, he'd want to bust a nut to prove himself after coming across as such a tw*t.
Obviously it would never happen, just musing.
Charlie Nicholas on Sky Sports was saying that he thinks we should sell Coquelin in the Summer.
Judging by people's reactions on social media, they were stunned to hear him say that. Whilst I disagree with him, I don't think that's an unreasonable opinion to have. He's a useful squad player, makes some vital interceptions and tackles, but he's very slow in possession and an average passer of the ball at best. At 25, I can't envisage him improving significantly more than what he is now.
I don't think we should sell, but IMO, he isn't first-team material. He's not the type of player who will win us a league title if he's a regular in our XI.
Probably not a popular opinion, but just my view on it.
Judging by people's reactions on social media, they were stunned to hear him say that. Whilst I disagree with him, I don't think that's an unreasonable opinion to have. He's a useful squad player, makes some vital interceptions and tackles, but he's very slow in possession and an average passer of the ball at best. At 25, I can't envisage him improving significantly more than what he is now.
I don't think we should sell, but IMO, he isn't first-team material. He's not the type of player who will win us a league title if he's a regular in our XI.
Probably not a popular opinion, but just my view on it.
We'd be weakened if we sold him though. I know Xhaka and Elneny can play there, but I think we need the spread of those 3 players through the course of the season. Coquelin is a fighter and I like that about him, he adds a real edge to that midfield when he's in there and whilst he might not be the most technically gifted player, he still adds a tough dimension to our team.
He is a good squad player as we have Xhaka and Santi when fit are our first choice pair. We have moaned for years that we don't have enough cover in DM and now we have 3 players who can play there.
We'd only be weakened if we didn't replace him. Again, let me reiterate: I'm not saying I want to sell him, I think he is a handy player to have in our squad but at the same time, I can understand why others would want to sell or why others don't rate him that highly.
When he came into the team in December 2014, I thought he was brilliant and it was so refreshing to have an energetic, combative midfielder in the middle, rather than Arteta or Flamini who both weren't physical enough. From that point till the end of that season, I felt he was the catalyst for our turn in fortunes, having endured a terrible campaign prior to his recall.
But the more I've watched of him since then, I just don't see how he fits into the first team for most games.
When we play a lot of teams, our formula consists of trying to monopolise the ball, push high up the pitch and break teams down there on in. We don't need him for most of these sorts of games where his distribution and speed of passing isn't good enough or, dare I say, necessary.
In games against teams who are better at retaining the ball than us, his combativeness comes in handy, but it's not very often that we come up against teams who have a higher % of the ball than we do and who relentlessly attack us.
I would say that against teams like Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Spurs and Utd that's exactly where we need a player like Coquelin. But it's not just those few games, the league has changed and there aren't many games these days where we simply dominate the other team for 90 mins. Even against the 'smaller' teams these days, there are sustained periods of pressure where we need a combative midfielder to break up play and win the ball back.
What Coq really needs is Cazorla beside him, because then we have the perfect foil of a player who can break up play and a player who can ignite the creative spark
Equally, I think part of the reason why we struggle to dominate games for the full 90 minutes is due to the inability of some of our box-to-box midfielders to contribute going forward/their limited passing range. We set-up with a 4-2-3-1 but with the way the game is now, we need the axis of the two midfielders to help us out offensively and Coquelin, when he plays, doesn't do that because he slows us down in possession.
There was a really good article someone posted after our defeat against City which explains what I mean, and although I disagree with the OP's conclusion that Xhaka-Ramsey would be our best midfield pivot, he makes some very valid points nonetheless:
http://fromthestands.co.uk/articles/what-must-arsenal-do-to-sort-out-their-midfield/
You've hit it on the head with missing Cazorla. Not having Cazorla is like a missing kidney, all good when everything is going well until difficult times hit...
I like Coquelin and think he offers something our other Midfielders don't with his combatative edge. He has really good stats for tackles and intercepts. I think once Xhaka has learnt what he can and can't get away with he could be the Coquelin style player but also has the passing ability to fit the team better. But for now Coquelin has a solid use in the squad.
I also think that until Cazorla is back from injury Xhaka is the best player to fill his role. He's the only one of our CM players who can link the defense and attack quickly and has the passing range to pull it off.
Xhaka is probably our most all round CM I think.
I also think that until Cazorla is back from injury Xhaka is the best player to fill his role. He's the only one of our CM players who can link the defense and attack quickly and has the passing range to pull it off.
Xhaka is probably our most all round CM I think.