Why Arsenal Might Be In Big Trouble After Signing Aubameyang

So yesterday marked the official confirmation of one of the worst kept secrets in transfer history, when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived at Arsenal to join ex-Dortmund midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the club.

In terms of outgoings, we sadly saw Olivier Giroud move to Chelsea in a bittersweet move – he was “an Arsenal man” as Arsene put it and it’ll be strange to see him at Chelsea. I’m not convinced he’ll see more playing time their either than he did at Arsenal but we’ll wait and see.

So once the dust has settled the fact is this. We’ve got Alexandre Lacazette who cost in excess of £50 million and brought in similar player in Aubameyang, for slightly more.

So where is Arsene Wenger going to play them?

Added to the fact we have Mesut Özil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, we have an extremely lopsided team. And Arsene won’t change his philosophy and play 2 strikers will he?

If those four players are in the starting lineup then that only leaves 2 midfield spots – one which will go to Granit Xhaka who needs at least a couple of players next to him to carry the defensive burden and he won’t get that as he’ll be next to one of Jack Wilshere or Aaron Ramsey.

Has Arsene Wenger lost the plot?

And added to this, where is our Plan B now?

By getting rid of Olivier Giroud we have no Plan B, no alternative when Plan A doesn’t work. What are we supposed to do now if we can’t break a team down or we’re losing a match?

We can’t bring on our super sub now can we?

Spending money usually excites the fans, and with good reason, but this January window reeks of desperation and I’m not convinced things are going to get better before they get worse…

 

Thank You For The Memories, Alexis…

So it’s official, Alexis Sanchez has joined Manchester United while Henrikh Mkhitaryan has gone the other way in a straight swap deal.

He joined in the summer of 2014 and was our second biggest “marquee signing” after Mesut Özil the season before.

A lot of Arsenal fans will have negative feelings towards the Chilean forward but for me I can’t help but love him. Over the last few seasons, he is one of the very few players (perhaps the only one) who gave 110% every single time he put on the Arsenal shirt. He was a winner, someone who thought giving everything was the bare minimum and demanded the same from his teammates. And while his winning mentality was a hit with the fans, it didn’t go down so well with his fellow players.

The problem was that Alexis Sanchez was at a team with serious deficiencies and while there were rumours of dressing room unrest, he just displayed how the fans felt. Like him, we were sick of the mediocre performances from certain other players and the fact that we would make the same defensive errors time and time again. While it’s never good to show the world your anger and distain for how things are on the football pitch, there must have been a point where Alexis Sanchez thought enough is enough and just snapped – hence the theatrics at Bayern Munich.

Arsenal are a club where harmony is encouraged and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it encourages a lack of winning mentality or seriousness because no-one wants to rock the boat. But that’s the problem with Arsenal these days and why we’re stuck in a rut.

Do you think Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Sol Campbell would settle for the lack of effort and desire from the players? The problem wasn’t Alexis Sanchez, but the Arsenal team he joined. If he arrived at Arsenal 10 years earlier he would have fit right in – and probably won a hat full of trophies.

On departing, Alexis Sanchez gave the following statement on Instagram:

“Gracias por todo Gunners ! I want to say thanks to the Technical Staff, to the medical team and all teammates with whom I shared many nice things for the club and especially those people who do not see themselves on the covers, but without them nothing would be possible, which are there to prepare food for us and take care of us day by day, those who keep our shoes clean and the grass in the best conditions. Many thanks to you for helping us to improve every day. Thank you very much ????.

“There are people (former club players) who have spoken with no knowledge of what happens inside the club and cause damage. I must say I always gave 100%, until the last day, when I asked to the Mister to be in the team, because I wanted to be a contribution.
I remember today, a conversation I had with Henry, a historic Arsenal player, who changed club for the same reason and today is my turn.

“Thanks for everything Gunners! All we achieved and the good moments that I gave to the club, I want to dedicate it to the fans, they are the most important. Thanks for every time you sing Alexis Sanchez Baby.”

And can you blame him for leaving? Forget about the fact he turned down Manchester City (or they pulled out of the race) the fact is both Manchester sides have a much better chance of winning anything compared to Arsenal, whatever the massive wages he’s on.

Robert Pires even said today that he thinks that Alexis Sanchez’s move to United wasn’t motivated by money but by the desire to win things. Jose Mourinho is a serial winner and won’t tolerate the kinds of mistakes we seem to make on a regular basis.

For me, Alexis Sanchez was sensational for us and seeing him in a Manchester United shirt hurts more than seeing Robin van Persie in one. Van Persie was a sign of the times when we struggled financially, selling off players like Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in those years, yet this one stings because we don’t have money problems. Financially, we can compete but players want more than that – players want to win trophies and sadly, it’s clear that isn’t happening at Arsenal.

I wish him all the best, even though it will be so sad to see him in the red of Manchester.

 

Arsenal Won’t Sign Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan or Malcom

The January transfer window is well and truly underway and it looks increasingly likely that Arsenal will lose Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United. But then again who knows as Arsenal have a habit of mucking up transfer deals and will probably just lose Sanchez in the summer instead for nothing.

Theo Walcott looks like he’s moving to Everton, and we’ve already sold Francis Coquelin to Valencia. So what about incoming transfers?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock we’ve been linked with several high profile names, including Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan and Malcom.

Depending on which “reports” you’ve read and seen, we are apparently “confident” in bringing in Aubameyang and Malcom, while the Mkhitaryan deal is muddying the waters because of his high wages.

Before you waste any more time on worrying or hoping about Arsenal’s transfer dealings, let me save you the trouble:

Henrikh Mkhitaryan won’t be joining Arsenal for several reasons. Firstly he’s on mega money at Manchester United. And secondly his agent is Raiola who is notorious in only getting his players the absolute best deals, usually with the richest clubs in the world (PSG, Manchester United, Real Madrid, etc.) and we’re not in that bracket. He would want something stupid like a £5 million ‘agents fee’ to see the deal go through so that’s no happening.

Then we come to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Arsenal seem to think somewhere in the region of £55 million would be enough for Borussia Dortmund to sell but they’re not exactly skint after selling Dembele and Mkhitaryan in recent seasons.

And then finally, there’s Malcom:

To me, it’s all just a smoke screen from Arsenal to hide the fact we’ve been playing absolutely shite recently and to appease the fans.

The bottom line is that Arsenal are probably a”making enquiries” but ultimately they’ll be unsuccessful.

Can anyone remember Luis Suarez? Gonzalo Higuain? N’Golo KAnte? Xabi Alonso?

The list goes on and on.

Update:

And just to add to the “complications”…

 

Where Will Alexis Sanchez End Up This January? Vote Now!

So the speculation surrounding Alexis Sanchez has been ramped up since his omission from the Arsenal squad that faced Bournemouth.

Reports are suggesting that Manchester City have resigned the fact that he won’t be going to The Etihad, which leaves Manchester United as a possible destination, or possibly staying at Arsenal until the summer.

Where do you think Alexis Sanchez will end up? Cast your vote below and leave your thoughts in the comments section!

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Alexis Sanchez to United? Theo Walcott to Everton?

If you were going to put money on the destinations for Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott this January, then you would put it on Manchester City and Southampton.

We all know about the ongoing links with Manchester City for Alexis and it was reported that Theo to Southampton was done deal and all we needed was Walcott’s signature.

However, it seems as if the vultures are circling (in a sense).

Manchester United have apparently made contact with Arsenal and are keen to hijack the Sanchez deal, which would be typical Jose Mourinho. And the BBC have just reported that Everton are in negotiations to sign Theo Walcott.

Manchester United certainly have the money to tempt Alexis so it’ll be interesting what happens there and will say a lot about how Sanchez is thinking. If it’s about trophies, playing beautiful football and being re-united with Pep Guardiola then he will go to The Etihad. But if it’s about one big final deal then Manchester United would be the choice – and it could be argued that he would probably get more playing time at Old Trafford.

A lot has been made about his relationship with Guardiola and the time they spent at Barcelona but correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t the Spanish manager sell him after only one season together?

Anyway, the one thing for sure is that Sanchez won’t be seen in an Arsenal shirt for much longer.

Then we come to Theo. Southampton did seem to make sense as he wouldn’t have to uproot his family from London to the North but the Everton story is gaining traction. But if he did go to Everton I would understand why.

He’d play with Wayne Rooney which is a big pull whatever you think of him and also work with Sam Allardyce, as opposed to Mauricio Pellegrino, which is a no brainer really. Especially when the Argentinian managers future is far from certain. Working with Big Sam and getting more playing time will be in Theo’s thinking if he wants to reignite any slim chance he has to make the England squad for the World Cup.

So there we have it – where do you think Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott will end up this January? Or maybe they’ll both stay?