Thoughts on Milner, Cech, Sterling, Kondogbia, Wilshere & Szczesny

Liverpool have agreed a deal with James Milner, who leaves Manchester City on a free.

He was linked with a few clubs, including Arsenal, and some of our fans wanted Arsene Wenger to sign him up. Presumably because of his experience at the top level, and his versatility.

I for one was one of those who didn’t want James Milner. I’m not going to bash Milner because I think he is a really good player – but just not an Arsenal type of player. And the issue isn’t just whether he would fit in, but how Arsene would use him.

At 29 years old, Milner would want to be guaranteed first team football and if he came to Arsenal he would be a squad player. A fantastic squad player, but just a squad player. Also, another problem is he wages he is on. At Manchester City he was getting paid well, but there’s no way he would be on the same at Arsenal. So in the end it was a non-starter and Liverpool seems a good fit for him – he doesn’t have to move house and uproot his family, and Liverpool are stupid enough to pay him stupid money.

We’ve also been linked with Petr Cech, but that’s another story that refuses to go away and will never happen. Jose Mourinho has a special bond with his players, and there’s no way Petr Cech would betray him and join a club Mourinho doesn’t want him to go to.

So again that’s another non-starter.

Raheem Sterling’s representatives are doing well to get him in the shop window, and apparently Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and PSG are all interested in the overrated forward.

It’s amazing how many players believe their own hype. Let’s be real for a second here – Chelsea and Real Madrid for example have a squad full of established superstars, who have a record of winning titles. Where would Sterling fit into that? Are you telling me that Sterling would get in the team ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Isco, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema? The kid wouldn’t last 5 minutes there and isn’t good enough to tie their laces.

The angle the press are using for an apparent approach by Arsenal is that we would trade him for Theo Walcott. Theo Walcott is ten times the player Sterling is and has done a hell of a lot more in the game that Sterling has. What has Sterling won again? And what has he done? Oh yes he had half a good season playing alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. So that’s another non-story.

The press know rumours sell papers and get website hits and they always make up stories about Arsenal, which the fans really need to just ignore. But if you look at Twitter, we’re bringing in about 25 players. One of those is Geoffrey Kondogbia, if you believe The Mirror.

I can’t pretend that I know much about him, but if I was a betting man I don’t think he’ll be in Arsenal colours next season. Every man and his dog knows that Arsenal’s “spine” needs to be strengthen this summer so for the next 4 months we’re going to be linked with every goalkeeper, central defender, defensive midfielder and striker going.

Silly season has started and agents are trying to get that lucrative deal for their players via a big move to an English or Spanish club, and the media lap it up. I think I’m going to make a list of all the players we’ve been linked with over the summer and see how many it is by the end of the transfer window – I’m sure it’ll make for interesting reading.

Then we get on to Jack Wilshere and Wociech Szczesny.

Now opinion on them is mixed. Some fans think they are both a disgrace, while others have come in full support of them.

Fans who slate Wilshere and Szczesny say that Jack was being a chav and shouldn’t be swearing in front of a crowd which would obviously contain young children, and that our former number one shouldn’t be doing something as stupid as smoke, which isn’t great for his health.

Then you have those who praise Jack, saying he was just connecting with the fans because he is a true Arsenal fan. And on Twitter in defence of Szczesny, you see all of those posts of Wilshere, Zidane and even Arsene Wenger having a smoke, as if that is proof that it’s okay.

Here’s my take on the whole thing.

In regards to Jack Wilshere, it certainly doesn’t look great does it? He does look like a chav with his stupid hat and singing that song was stupid to me. I’m not hanging him for murder like a lot of people are and I’m not outraged – but it was ill advised and pretty stupid to do. He had the ticking off last season so why try and win some cheap “support” by singing that song? The Arsenal fans already love Jack so there was no need for it, and it wasn’t helped by his appearance (looking from the outside in). I’m not going to slate him for it, but when we’ve just won back to back FA Cups then it’s not nice to have something stupid tarnish it.

Then the smoking. It’s the second time Szczesny has been “caught” now and you get the impression that he likes the attention. I suppose your viewpoint will be based on your own lifestyle and experiences, and unlike the Jack situation where I’m in-between opinions, this one I’m not. Szczesny was fucking stupid. Smoking is a disgusting habit and I’ve had friends suffer from the effects of it. To me, it’s a legal drug which can cause all kinds of health problems and I am someone who truly hates smoking.

So for a professional athletic to do it is really idiotic, especially when you should be in peak physical condition. You can debate whether smoking really makes a difference to your performances on the pitch but at the end of they day they are very, very well-paid and if I was serious about a career in football and was lucky enough to be part of that industry, then I could stop myself from being a complete dick.

Anyway, there’s my two cents. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

 

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