A beautiful love story + A SpursLOL + news round-up

by .

via @Arsenal insta

The big rumour doing the rounds yesterday centered on Arsene Wenger. Yes, his next job may be at AC Milan of all places. Who is the CEO there? Ivan bloody Gazidis. That my friends would be Stockholm Syndrome in action.

How can a man who has taken 10 years worth of pelters decide that the best man to solve the absolute shit tip that is AC Milan is Arsene Wenger? he literally spent 3 months of the year meeting the brightest minds in the game. He interviewed them, watched their powerpoint presentations, as he watched our first team burn under our ex-manager.

Now he’s going in for more?

What the f*ck is wrong with him? It’d be ESPECIALLY crazy considering the way he mooched around when Emery landed, talking about the vote, the vision, the new era approaching. I mean, honestly, there are better managers unemployed at the minute. Give Conte a call, he knows Serie A and he’s been passed over for countless jobs. Unreal.

It doesn’t make any logical sense. Wenger has no ability to organise a defence, he won’t have world-class talent at his fingertips and his only tactics are centered around players enjoying themselves.

Not our bloody problem though.

There was quite a lot of debate about Leno and whether his mistakes constituted mistakes for no real reason. I think anyone with eyeballs would realise he’d dropped a clanger, and hopefully he’ll be working hard to iron out his weaknesses from balls in the box.

“It gives me confidence to play in big games like Liverpool. But I think he (Emery) pushes us because nobody is safe to play. I think both of us will play many games & so the performances have to be good. I think we push each other every day in training & in games”

Regardless of my concerns when it comes to his aerial handling, it’s clear he gives us a lot with his agility and excellent footwork. As many folk have rightly pointed out, he’s easily up there with Ederson and Allison when it come to distribution, and that has such a positive impact on the defence in front of him.

There are quite strong rumours that 33-year-old Laurent Koscielny is off this January. The club in question is apparently Aston Villa who need another John Terry like defender to stink out their backline. I’m sad to see the Frenchman go. He’s been consistent in our shoddy defense over the years, and he’s been a rock at times. The ruthlessness of the Emery regime is sometimes a bit jarring, but hey, it’s better than giving 5-year deals to absolute crocks.

Reiss Nelson is up for Bundesliga Rookie of the month. He’s played 11 games, racked up 6 goals and has 1 assist. That’s spectacular considering his tender age. Right up there with the best in the world when it comes to teenagers. Long may that run continue.

Finally, I shall leave you on a LOL. Spurs have been told their ground won’t be ready until at March at the very earliest, and that’s if there are no additional issues. Quite hilarious. What a fucking mess. A joke of a club!

See you in the comments. x

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Jamie

AlexH – The Dems took control of the House, so they’ll be able to issue subpoenas for the Mueller Inquiry, Trumps tax returns (to prove his deal-making prowess netted his epic inheritance massive losses over the last few decades), and make it virtually impossible for Trump to create new laws. The GOP made gains in the Senate though, so they have an even larger majority. This means Trump has greater executive and judicial influence, and zeroing the possibility of the Senate voting to impeach him. That said, there were fewer Senate seats up for grabs than in the House. The… Read more »

Pierre

Emery’s substitutions up until the last couple of games have been pretty much spot on, however ,taking off Aubamayang and bringing on Ramsey in the last 2 games is a difficult one to comprehend due to the fact that 1)Aubamayang has proved to be our most potent striker ,and 2) Ramsey is on his way out of the club so smith-rowe should be above him in the pecking order to give him more experience and confidence. Ramsey is not going to put his neck on the line for Arsenal anymore,an injury could destroy his chance of a big money move……he… Read more »

Receding Hairline

“I explicitly stated that I don’t have that high of an opinion of these teams. However, I also don’t think that a draw with Liverpool means that we will “blow” these teams “apart”. I think we will need to play even better if we want to get wins against such teams.” Forget about the result and think about the performance just for a second. We moved the ball quicker, closed them down most times and were generally confident. Why do we need to play better than we did on Saturday to beat those two?? Are both of them better than… Read more »

Receding Hairline

In my opinion,Aubamayang hasn’t struggled this season ,his goals per minute this season are second to none , his attitude has been first class …

He has struggled to influence games all season. scoring simple tap in’s does not exempt a striker from criticism. We have no jewels in our crowns, we have a squad of players were everyone is expected to put in a shift including Auba, don’t go advocating special treatment for any member of the squad. I did not even notice Auba all second half against Liverpool hence why he was hauled off.

Dream10

Receding

Aubameyang suffers at times because we’re still short of technical quality. Elite attacking sides have dribblers at fullback and on the sides of the midfield. Also, we still need more progressive passing into the final third. Torreira and Xhaka did well to help us limit score, but it would be nice to be more even more attacking at times.
We’re in an era of football where bold attacking play reaps more rewards than elite defensive play. That’s the next step for us

Marko

Agree. Joint top scorer in the league and is being played out of position. Say for example hypothetically speaking we bought someone like Pepe in January expect Aubameyang to flourish even more

Alexanderhenry

Jaimie

Sounds like he’ll survive.
It seems to me that the dems need to get a decent candidate up and running as opposed to trying to get rid of trump now.

Anyway, we’ll see.

Pierre

Obviously RH has little knowledge of what constitutes a top goalscorer. An example of what a top goalscorer gives the team was evident last night in the spurs v psv …Kane was having a poor ineffective game ,rarely involved ,looked lethargi c and regularly lost possesion. Did pochettino take him off, of course not, and he was rewarded for showing confidence in his best goalscorer. As for your comment about Aubamayang not influencing games…..do you not think that scoring goals influences games . You really do struggle with understanding the art of goalscoring don’t you ….Yes aubamayang scores tap ins,that’s… Read more »

Jamie

AlexH –

Yeah, he’ll likely survive. And if the Mueller Investigation doesn’t find the proverbial smoking gun, he might even get re-elected. Nothing should surprise anyone at this point.

The Dems definitely need a strong candidate in 2020. No idea who they’ll pull out of the hat, though. I don’t think any of the usual candidates can usurp Trump; Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer Kamala Harris, Joe Biden..

Even though he lost, I liked Beto O’Rourke’s campaign against Ted Cruz in Texas.

Marko

Even though he lost, I liked Beto O’Rourke’s campaign against Ted Cruz in Texas.

He’s earmarked as a potential challenger

shaun ellis

I think that was Emerys only bad call , taking off Auba for Ramsey was madness in my opinion .Auba was rightly annoyed for me as he knows it is at the end of the games when a poacher gets his rewards especially a speedster like Auba and bringing on iwobi was the perfect foil for him to get in behind.yes he was playing great and neither was kane last night

Jamie

Marko –

He seems like a decent fellow. 2020 might be a little too soon for him though. He could really use some Senate experience before making a run for the White House.

mysticleaves

“Say for example hypothetically speaking we bought someone like Pepe in January expect Aubameyang to flourish even more”.

Amen Marko, I expect that too.

Pierre
You are always looking for what Emery didn’t do right. give it a rest. Aubameyang has been treated as he should be. We are not Spuds nor Liverpool. Apart from Kane, they have Llorente. Apart from Salah Liverpool have erm, Shaquiri. We have a firing Lacazettte. Let them be played on form and what the team needs.

Receding Hairline

You really do struggle with understanding the art of goalscoring don’t you ….Yes aubamayang scores tap ins,that’s because he has intelligence and times his runs but to say that he has only scored tap ins this season is wide of the Mark. I have no struggles understanding the art of goal scoring Pierre thanks for your concern. I played a lot of football in my youth mostly as a goal scorer I just expect a footballer to be able to function as part of an attacking front three not all this through the middle excuses you guys keep digging up.… Read more »

mysticleaves

I would argue that Liverpool’s game is worse now because of the way they have indulged Salah and his run last year. He was not going to score the same number of goals again so it was stupid they nullified him from all other duties except goal scoring. It’s what Leeds and Paulinho were saying earlier. If you are a winger, when there’s no goals you should be able to offer something tangible like dribble and assists etc. Salah has forgotten all those cos what he wants now is to score goals. I wouldn’t want Auba to think that his… Read more »

Receding Hairline

And while we are at it he was flagged offside twice in promising situations when he did not need to be offside, he is quick so why go early. He can throw tantrums all he likes for getting substituted, but at the end of the day the fellow left on scored, Welbeck came on and was everywhere running and marking from the front.

I cannot remember a single contribution from Auba in the second half up until he was substituted, he was adding nothing so was the first off. Period

Receding Hairline

I wouldn’t want Auba to think that his only work in our team is to score goals.

Amen

The best evolve their games as they go along, he needs to start adding more to his game than ghosting in behind defenses or running onto a ball squared into the box.

Pierre

Emery starting Aubamayang,Lacazette,Ozil and Mhkitaryan in a tough game v Liverpool was like music to my ears ..I know not everyone has not been in agreement with starting those 4 but hopefully some will realise that it can work…whether Emery is brave enough to start them this weekend away from home ,remains to be seen. Personally,I would love to see them start v wolves ..with those 4 as our attacking options we will be able to counter attack with pace and precision. It’s a pity that aubamayang and Mhkitaryan are being played so far apart as we are not getting… Read more »

Marko

The best evolve their games as they go along The best are generally played in their natural position as well. I mean it’s obvious that he’s not playing great at the moment but it’s also obvious that it’s because he’s being played out of position. Don’t get me wrong I like Lacazette a lot and he’s doing well this season even though there has been times when he hasn’t done well it’s been overlooked and he’s stayed on but I feel like we indulge him too much over Aubameyang. Even though Auba is the top scorer HE is the one… Read more »

Pierre

“I wouldn’t want Auba to think that his only work in our team is to score goals.

Amen”

Yeah right…Aubamayang stands up front waiting for “simple tap ins” , as one simpleton on here remarked.

So apparently we played Liverpool with Aubamayang, Mhkitaryan and ozil having no influence on the game but somehow we managed to put in a good performance.

Do you not think those players needed to put in a good shift and good performances.

Pierre

RH “On Saturday in the first half he was presented with two shooting opportunities, he did not make the keeper work with any of them. You mention Kane, Kane would have scored with one of those, dud knows how to strike a football.” Again,you are showing your ignorance of why the top goalscorers are the best in the business. Last night ,against the great dutch side PSV, kane had chances to score ( more than 2) but as with all great goalscorers ,he kept going ,getting in positions and didn’t let his head drop and was rewarded with 2 goals… Read more »

Marko

I imagine if and when we bring in actual wingers and add more balance to our attack and THEY do their jobs that literally all we’ll need from Aubameyang is to score goals.

kc

Since 1906 the sitting president’s party at midterms has lost on average 30 house seats and 4 senate seats. Trump’s Republicans just lost the 30+ seats in the house, but gained 4 seats in the senate defying history. Blue wave my ass. When RBG finally drops dead Trump will easily get another Scotus in. Oh and Beto aka Robert Francis just lost to a very unpopular Republican in Cruz after spending more money than any senate campaign ever. I beg you idiots to throw him up against Trump in 2020.

Pierre

Mysticleaves
“Pierre
You are always looking for what Emery didn’t do right. give it a rest”

Really …saying I loved the fact that he played such an adventurous starting line-up v Liverpool is criticising is it .

I would Say that questioning his use of aubamayang is a fair point especially as Ramsey has come on in the Last 2 games

I would say 95% of Arsenal fans would rather see aubamayang on the pitch scoring goals than wasting away on the bench .

Receding Hairline

Simpleton..lol Pierre you really don’t want to go down the name calling lane with me so just stick to the topic at hand Marko I see no reason why Aubameyang should not influence games playing from the left of what is most times essentially a front three. He has pace and can cut in to let fly. I am all for the two striker experiment, which i am surprised has not been tried yet by Emery, and the need for a genuine dribbler out wide but for now i think he can offer more than he is doing. Lacazette is… Read more »

Jamie

kc –

No need for name calling. We were having a perfectly civil discussion.

mysticleaves

“I mean it’s obvious that he’s not playing great at the moment but it’s also obvious that it’s because he’s being played out of position” Auba has been great and will always be great in his own right. He will not do more than he’s doing now in terms of dominating CBs or making them work. What he will do is lead the press from the front and get into goal scoring positions and score a lot of goals. Only that it’s not that simple. We don’t have 2 wingers that will offset his obvious flaws as a poacher. Once… Read more »

Wenker-wanger

Just get zaha in January,..the defense rebuild can happen over the summer.

mysticleaves

Pierre your praise for Emery always comes with a caveat. I take your praise of him with a pinch of salt

Wenker-wanger

Wenger joining gazidis…. Laurel and hardy are inseparable.

Pierre

Mysticleaves
“I would argue that Liverpool’s game is worse now because of the way they have indulged Salah and his run last year. He was not going to score the same number of goals again so it was stupid they nullified him from all other duties except goal scoring.”

Will guarantee that if he stays injury free that he will score at least 30 goals in all competitions.
I wish we would indulge aubamayang a little more the way spurs ,Liverpool,man Utd and city indulge their most potent goalscorers.

Wenker-wanger

Hope wenger does go to Italy….. Far away from arsenal,..the nightmare scenario is that he returns on the board or some job within the club.

China1

Agreed with whoever said ox was not a good use of 40m He was a player who even by his mid 20s didn’t have an established position and couldn’t hold down a spot in the worst arsenal squad in a generation – literally. He has some good attributes like pace and power but his entire career to date has been basically irrelevant to the higher end of football. Klopp has had him playing a bit better but again, with that injury record he was an enormous gamble financially. You don’t have to spend a fortune on *every* player for them… Read more »

Wenker-wanger

Couldn’t believe the anger towards Paul Merson from gooners!…
Jeez he only said what secretly many of us were saying: we could be well beaten by Liverpool.
Many pundits are unable to think that bit more imaginatively…… Many didn’t think Emery had a game plan and wasn’t able to motivate the squad for Liverpool.

Pierre

“Simpleton” was supposed to be a play on words as in ” simple tap ins” ..poor attempt I know.

China1

Any Liverpool fan could rightly claim that we too probably overpaid for laca, auba, Mustafi, xhaka and ozil’s salary

They wouldn’t really be wrong tho I’d make exceptions for strikers or wing forwards as the market always put them as luxury signings and there’s always a relative scarcity of top players up front

Marko

Oh and Beto aka Robert Francis just lost to a very unpopular Republican in Cruz after spending more money than any senate campaign ever.

Barely lost in the reddest of states

Marko

I see no reason why Aubameyang should not influence games playing from the left of what is most times essentially a front three

Yeah but it’s not a front three of strikers and he’s not a LW

raptora

Pierre: “I wish we would indulge aubamayang a little more the way spurs ,Liverpool,man Utd and city indulge their most potent goalscorers.” Sure, but you don’t see Aguero and Jesus together in City’s starting lineups. Or Morata and Giroud. Pool have literally one CF player excluding Sturridge who has the skillset to play on the wings if he has to and you still don’t see Firmino and Sturridge playing together. Or Kane and Llorente. Manure don’t even have a second CF in their team. None. A lot of players can do it if there’s a need for it but none… Read more »

Pierre

RH
“I just expect a footballer to be able to function as part of an attacking front three not all this through the middle excuses you guys keep digging up”

Would like to point out that we don’t play an attacking front 3…. Liverpool and city operate with a front 3 ,Arsenal don’t….our system is 4-2-3-1 the majority of the time.

And actually I like Aubamayang playing out wide though I do believe that if we did play 4-3-3 it would suit his game better playing the salah/Mane role.

HighburyLegend

“I take your praise of him with a pinch of salt”

In Pierre someone don’t trust ?? lol

Pierre

Raptora
I wasn’t talking about indulging Aubamayang as in playing at centre forward ,I meant indulge him by starting him and keeping him on the pitch even if he has missed ” 2 shooting opportunities ” earlier in the game.

raptora

Problem is that even if we buy a winger, say Pepe, what do you do with the Auba or Laca conundrum? Only real option is that we start playing in almost classic 4-4-2 with Laca being Bergkamp and playing behind Auba.

Bamford10

There is an obvious solution: play both Aubameyang and Lacazette through the center. Aubameyang is not a wide player, and leaving him on the bench is leaving a £60m striker on the bench. Maybe we can afford to do that, but I’m not sure it makes sense. I agree that Lacazette has been the more effective of the two as a lone central striker, but he too has disappeared for long stretches in games. So while I definitely think he deserves to start, I’m not convinced he’s effective enough as a lone CF, nor am I convinced it makes sense… Read more »

raptora

What do you guys think about this news?

“Crystal Palace are weighing up a £10m New Year’s bid for Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck.”

Would you guys take it? I don’t think that CP would sell Zaha in the winter when they know that if they sell him they get relegated. But doing the Welbeck deal it could set a good foundation for a summer deal involving Zaha coming to us. We could maybe even get things arranged from now on. It would be top business to move Danny W and get Zaha, even if I like our Wele…

Receding Hairline

Raptora Welbeck has been doing very well for us this season, but he will be leaving on a free as it stands. so i say take the 10 million and move on

Marko

Listen and this goes to all arm chair pundits out there he knows what he’s doing and if he doesn’t go 3-5-2 there’s probably a good reason

Marc

The problem with have with formations is square pegs and round holes. It’ll take Emery and SAS (Sven and Sanllehi) a good few transfer windows to get it completely into balance but it will happen.

Pierre

Bamford
2 up front won’t happen unless we are chasing the game.

Guns of Brixton

Sell Wele in summer.

Not now.

All hands on deck till summer imo.

Receding Hairline

For me, Emery needs to think about a 4-4-2 diamond or a 3-5-2.

For me, i demand to see a 4-4-2 diamond or 3-5-2, Emery must do this

There i fixed it for you

Marc

Guns

That’s the dilemma £10 million in Jan towards the summer spend but if it costs us a CL spot it’s a seriously expensive £10 million.

Pierre

Mysticleaves
“I’ll take your praise of him with a pinch of salt”

Try reading my comments instead of reading what Joe etc imply that I am saying.

Trap

Sorry Pierre

I’m of the opinion that we start with one striker if we eventually sign wingers .
What’s wrong with having a World class striker on the bench ? At the moment it doesn’t hurt our finances and I think we can run with it for the next 2-3 years if we are to break into the UCL and mount a Credible Epl challenge

Sell wlbeck and Mickie and get 2 wingers in

TR7

Why let go of a very useful squad player like Welbeck for a paltry $ 10 M ? We should extend his contract for another 2 years. That we are winning games despite not quite dominating them is due to our strikers – Laca, Auba and Welbeck. I hope Emery sees what Danny brings to the table and keeps him.

HighburyLegend

“I don’t think that CP would sell Zaha in the winter when they know that if they sell him they get relegated.”

Zaha at Arsenal, to help us to get more penalties, I’m in!!

Receding Hairline

Zaha at Arsenal, to help us to get more penalties, I’m in!!

If he joins Arsenal expect the pundits to wise up to the fact he is a diver in record time

Wallace

don’t see Emery selling Welbeck in Jan unless we get a 20m+ offer

Pierre

Trap
I’m talking about now ..Aubamayang needs to be in the pitch …..of course if, and it’s a big if,we buy wingers then it all changes .
Not sure we have the finances to buy big but we will see.

Dream10

TR7

I don’t think it’s Emery making the call on whether to sell Welbeck. It’s probably Raul & Sven who want to add another 10-15m to the transfer kitty. Personally, would rather we sell/loan Mkhitaryan next summer and re-sign Welbz with a bump in wages.

Marko

TR7 he’s a useful squad member but in Iwobi, Smith Rowe and a returning Nelson we’re fine in the useful squad member department now we need proper wingers and legitimate starters and that ain’t Danny Welbeck or Aaron Ramsey so what’s the point in keeping them?

gambon

Bearing in mind he’s going to be a free agent in a few mnths, theres no way Welbeck would go to Palace now.

Im not a fan of Welbeck, but he’s get an Everton, West Ham level offer if he waits.

We do desperately need some quality wide options though. At present we have 5 wide options, none of whom are comfortable playing wide.

We have a huge lack of ability 1vs1 across the whole team. No wide players capable of taking a player on, no central players capable.

Trap

Pierre

True . Maybe unai also factors rotation into his aubstitutions .

On wingers we’ll see martial is out of contract
, dembele ( my dream winger) should be available for a cut price deal say 60m, pepe ( hopefully more hazard than gervinho) is rumored to be available for 50m euros, Marco reus would have been great if her wasnt aging

Trap

Gambon

How much do you reckon could be available this summer ?

Pierre

Trap
Yes Martial swap for Ramsey would be perfect…can’t see it happening though

gambon

Trap

Depends if we make top 4.

In general, we always spend what we’ve got. So I would expect the same to happen.

If we dont make CL, I would expect to see us spend £100m plus any sales. If we make CL maybe £120m-130m.

steve

Fucking hell some people actually want Welbeck to get an extension?

Trap

That’s fair considering rumors were a kitty of 40m.

I trust the new hierarchy to make smart acquisitions with the little resource available .

Dream10

We’re interested in signing Tagliafico of Ajax for 10m pounds in January

TR7

Dream

Yes, as I said a 2 year contract would be perfect.

Marko

Welbeck is not just any other squad player though. He is perhaps the only attacking player in our squad who can run channels and has physical attributes to keep opposition defenders occupied. Lacazzete and Auba although more clinical than Danny can’t overpower strong opposition defenders. He has pace to boot.

Graham62

Welbeck, as it stands, is an important member of the squad.

£10m can’t be sneezed at, but his experience and versatility could prove pivotal if we are to push for top 4, as well as progress in Europe.

Graham62

Steve

Why no positivity?

Not one jot.

HighburyLegend

“Welbeck, as it stands, is an important member of the squad.”

I’m not far to thinking the same…

(@steve, you forgot your medication once again)

Marko

TR7 why so many squad players? Why not actually improve the starting 11? If we keep Welbeck on we’re either not improving the starting 11 or not about to give opportunities to other younger squad players. There’s little upside to keeping him

raptora

If you find yourself dependent on your third choice striker what does that fact say about your other two CFs? Yes, not much diversity in Laca and Auba so that in the end we find ourselves in a situation to rely on Welbeck this much. A scenario where we give Welbeck to Palace + 30m for Zaha is ideal but it exists only in fairy land. I just can’t see myself having the conundrum of picking Wele ahead of Zaha in any game that we could play. I’d pick Zaha 10/10 times. Situation would be vastly different if instead of… Read more »

Wallace

I’d keep Welbeck on. don’t think we can afford to only have Laca & Auba as options at #9. he’s an excellent 3rd choice as well as being able to do a job across the front line.

Marko

Two count em two 20-30 goals a season strikers but apparently we still need a 10 goals a season back up.

Receding Hairline

Most of us on here have to develop a more ruthless mindset if we really want to end up with a balanced squad

Marko

I don’t think people realize just how easy it is to replace Welbeck’s input. I mean I thought it was obvious but apparently not. He’s third choice striker and a back up LW who scores about 10 goals a season if he’s lucky and spends most of the season injured if he’s not. Easily replaceable instead of indispensable

TR7

Marko, I am all for improving our first 11 but I would rather we sacrificed someone else , not Welbeck. Ramsey and Elneny are on the way out , that opens up two places for new faces to come in.

Raptora, even though United had two top class strikers in Rooney and RVP in 2013-2014 season, Hernandez was a valuable asset for them. That the Mexican was still an important cog in United’s wheel was not any indictment of the quality of RVP and Rooney. It is just that Hernandez was different to them, same with Danny here at Arsenal.

Marko

Put it this way if we could get 10-15 for him in January and at the same time bring in someone like Pepe or Havertz for 30-35 million we improve the first team and won’t miss him one bit

Marko

I would rather we sacrificed someone else , not Welbeck. Ramsey and Elneny are on the way out , that opens up two places for new faces to come in. Right so you’d get rid of two CM’s to bring in a winger and then end up with Welbeck as a third choice LW as well as third choice striker. You’re still not making a case for keeping him on. We get a winger he’s further down the pecking order. There isn’t a scenario where he improves his place in the squad so why keep him? Better upside to keeping… Read more »

China1

I don’t agree that welbeck’s experience helps us in the squad Despite being late 20s and having won trophies at Utd, he’s not an ageing inzaghi, drogba, Henry, eto’o who raises the dressing room to another level (presumably) and his on pitch performances have been solid this year but not better than I’d expect from a basic backup. I think we’re just impressed because he was really poor for the last 18 months and has been ok this year As far as I’m concerned, if you need a goal in a tight game, do you think with 5 mins left… Read more »

China1

Welbeck will probably score 10 goals in all comps this season and 3 of them will come in one game in a dead rubber in an easy tie against a team from Latvia or League 1

No offense to the guy but I’d just rather we see Nketiah get a chance. If he’s willing to work hard (which welbeck certainly does) then we won’t be missing much else from the guy

TR7

Can Iwobi or Smith play across the front line – LW, RW and Central forward position ? Do they have physical attributes to deal with big imposing central defenders ? Are they as athletic as Danny ? I mean I don’t want to sound like I am bigging him up more than he deserves to be but let’s face it – as a manager if you have to make a substitution to change a game, chances are you will bring Welbeck on more often than you will Iwobi or Rowe Smith. I don’t think Rowe Smith has played even for… Read more »

Marko

Can Iwobi or Smith play across the front line – LW, RW and Central forward position ? They can play RW/LW but yeah Welbeck can play across the front line but he’s not good enough to start in the front line. Put it this way would you keep him on or bring in someone who improves the starting 11? It’s that simple cause you give him a new deal you’re just adding on yet another squad player that doesn’t improve our starting 11. You replace him it’s with someone who improves us. It’s worth noting that this whole endeavor is… Read more »

Receding Hairline

Sorry TR7 I am a bit confused here

Are you advocating a new 3 year deal on an improved salary for Welbeck??

And if yes, are you also in agreement we need to bring in 1 if not 2 actual wide players??

Joe

No fucking way wellbeck should be resigned to a new deal. Especially an
Improved one

I’m Understand he works hard and puts in an effort but his end ball is shit

Rather a proper winger who works hard and knows where the net is.

Why the attachment to average wenger era players. He was a banter signing to begin with

China1

I really don’t understand how people manage to align themselves so closely with one of either two political parties (in any country where this applies) Like what odds that a party with literally dozens upon dozens of policies, initiatives and general outlooks would align that closely with any given individual? You’d think people would be reasoned enough to vote for whichever party aligns closest to them but be blunt enough to see the obvious issues they have with said party and also some positive aspects of the other party, but instead it’s this farcical scenario where most people seem to… Read more »

HighburyLegend

“Why the attachment to average wenger era players. ”
Please remember wenger didn’t wanted him in the first place. 😉

TR7

Marko /Receding I have no idea whether Welbeck is going to be offered a new deal and if he is not then obviously it is better to sell him than lose him for nothing. I definitely want us to keep him by extending his contract. On better salary ? Well all I care is his contract is extended. Salary issue is not for us to debate, it’s an issue that the parties involved will discuss and negotiate. When you talk about improving our starting 11, frankly I don’t see more than 1 opening in attacking position. Laca and Auba both… Read more »

Receding Hairline

I think what Marko said is where i will end this

No one is offering Welbeck a new deal yet so I guess no one is scared of losing him. We have had a few players tied down to deals, even Chambers for crying out loud, and yet none for Welbeck, that tells its own story

Wallace

Marko

“Two count em two 20-30 goals a season strikers but apparently we still need a 10 goals a season back up.”

you’d be happy with just Lacazette & Aubameyang? wouldn’t be too concerned if one of them got injured and was out for, say, 6-8 weeks? cool with the other guy playing every minute of every game?

Pierre

Regarding new contracts ,the decision to give xhaka and iwobi new contracts pre season appear to be an astute decision by the club despite the criticism from many on here.

I would imagine that welbeck and Ramsey were offered similar contracts at the same time but both probably thought they could eke a bit more out of the club so refused to sign ….. Time will tell if they regret that decision if that was the case.

Marko

Welbeck is not blocking the way of any new winger. He kinda would though. For two wide positions we have potentially 6 players next season not natural wide men and not necessarily good enough and the idea of selling two midfielders and adding a potential seventh is ridiculous. I say again we have got enough squad players not good enough to start as is so keeping Welbeck on makes no sense and it seems that the powers that be at the club feel the exact same way about Danny. We need to improve the starting 11 not fill our coffers… Read more »

bennydevito

Wallace

Exactly. He doesn’t complain snd works hard plus he helps our home grown Europe squad quotas and always does well for England. Unless he wants guaranteed first team football or he’s squad blocking one of our youngsters who are better then I’d keep him.

bennydevito

Marko,

Why not? I think he’s a useful squad player but if he’s not being offered a new contract then better to get rid in January for a better than nothing transfer fee.

bennydevito

Cutting our losses to make way for a younger home grown talent would make more sense though especially if we are tight for money and Welbeck is always injured.

Marko

Benny giving Welbeck a new contract either stops us from improving the starting 11 or it stops a path for the likes of Iwobi or Smith Rowe it’s that simple. If he stays we’re not going to sign up a winger we’re not about to stockpile squad players. And that at the end of the day is why he like Ramsey isn’t being offered a new contract. They’ll say something along the lines of wanting to go a different direction but that’s a nice way of saying they want better players and that’s not you.

Northbanker

Marko – bang on
We just don’t need Welbeck. Time to shift on , save his salary and maybe get £10m in process. I don’t dislike him but he still lacks the ruthlessness necessary to be really useful

Buy only current or future WC players for the team and use the top youngsters to help back up the squad. Nketiah and Nelson will both be pushing Auba and Laca hard