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Make No Mistake, Alexandre Lacazette Is A Huge Downgrade On Alexis Sanchez

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With the signing of Alexandre Lacazette imminent, Arsenal will complete their second signing of the summer, after bringing in Sead Kolasinac from Schalke.

And the reported fee of around £52 million will mean we have smashed our transfer record by some margin, eclipsing the fee paid to Real Madrid for Mesut Özil in the summer of 2013.

But is this guy any good?

Well from what I’ve seen, he scores a lot of penalties. And he’s quite quick – not Thierry Henry or Theo Walcott quick, but not as slow as Olivier Giroud.

He’s scored a lot of goals in Ligue 1 but so had Giroud. I’m a bit conflicted about his signing and if every Arsenal fan was honest with themselves, they know in their hearts that Alexis Sanchez is the far better player – and unfortunately signing Lacazette will mean the departure of Sanchez.

It’s clear that with Alexandre Lacazette is a replacement for Alexis Sanchez. Manchester City are reportedly willing to pay £50 million for the Chilean, co-incidently a similar fee that we’re going to pay for Lacazette.

Alexandre Lacazette’s scoring record is good but in comparison to Alexis Sanchez’s 30 goals and 13 assists for Arsenal last season, they are inferior. Of course, football isn’t all about statistics but for all of Arsenal’s talk of winning the Premier League title then this signing is significantly below our expectations.

I don’t doubt that Alexandre Lacazette is a decent player. But after all the drama with Arsene Wenger’s contract situation, the abuse aimed at the Arsenal manager, then the club talking about pushing on next season and wanting to win the Premier League – it’s clear they need to sign world class players who are ready to help the club reach that next level.

Will Kolasinac and Lacazette do this? I highly doubt it.

Do You Want Mesut Özil To Leave, Or Stay At Arsenal?

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The future of Alexis Sanchez is still up in the air, with the forward strongly linked with a move to Manchester City. Some people have said that it would be worth keeping him for the last 12 months of his contract but we all know how football works these days – and there’s no way in hell Arsene Wenger or Arsenal would turn down something in the region on £50 million if that was offered. We might strengthen a rival but that’s the game today and unfortunately, how Arsenal conduct transfer business. We’ve sold players to Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the past, so Sanchez to City shouldn’t surprise anyone.

But I digress, it is our other superstar player I wanted to talk about this morning.

Mesut Özil is the other big player who is stalling on a new contract but unlike Sanchez doesn’t seem to be looking for a move away from The Emirates – although that may not be down to him. Alexis Sanchez is a player who has been linked with Bayern Munich, PSG, Manchester City and even Chelsea over recent months – with the vultures circling ever since it was revealed Sanchez wasn’t signing a new deal. For Mesut Özil on the other hand, there have been absolutely no links to him potential signing for anyone else.

Why is that?

Is it because he is a luxury player that no big side that wants to win things can have in their starting line up? Is it because he’s overrated?

Özil is a player who divides opinion and it’s almost as if Arsenal fans need to convince themselves thats Özil is a useful player who Arsenal need. But is he world class?

It is generally accepted that if Alexis Sanchez left Arsenal, it would be a disaster. But what about Özil? Do Arsenal fans care if he did leave?

The strange thing is, even if Özil does keep stalling on a new deal, then there might not be any clubs out there who would buy him anyway!

So do you want Mesut Özil to stay? Or would you prefer if he left and Arsenal spent the money on someone else? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Sead Kolasinac Is An Absolute Beast!

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So Arsenal have made their first signing of the summer, Sead Kolasinac on a free from Bundesliga side Schalke.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international is only 24 and was widely reported to be the best left back in the German league last season.

And if you look at this YouTube compilation here, you can see he looks like some player:

Of course, football compilations of players on show their best bits and I’m sure if you made a video on Alexander Hleb then you could make him look like Messi, but at the same time there are several things you cannot discount about this guy.

The first is that he is an absolute beast!

Look at the size oft his guy! He clearly has a good touch and decent pace but he is so imposing on the pitch! A justified criticism of Arsenal over the past decade is that as a team we’re a bit lightweight and too intimidated by more physical sides but we definitely wouldn’t be with this guy in the team.

He is well built and looks very strong. And what I like about him (apart from the assists and goals that you’ll see on the video) is that he doesn’t seem to give a fuck when it comes to tackling. No hesitation, no dilly-dallying – he gets stuck in and shows the other team who’s boss. He sees the ball and he goes and wins it, no questions asked.

Obviously he is a relative unknown to most Arsenal fans (as we seem to be ignorant to other leagues in Europe) and he was clearly free but I’m excited about him. A solid, reliable and young player who I’m sure can integrate well into this Arsenal side.

And having been at Schalke for the last 5 years he is fluent in German and will get on well with Per Mertesacker, Shkodran Mustafi, Mesut Özil and of course, Granit Xhaka.

And slightly off topic, but I can’t be the only one who thinks he looks like a bigger version of Lucas Perez?!

Why Finishing 5th Could Be A Massive Blessing For Arsenal

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So Arsenal finished the season in 5th. Now the dust has settled, does it matter?

I do find it amusing that it is widely accepted that Arsenal have had an awful season. Yet despite having a “disastrous” season, we were in touching distance of Manchester City and Liverpool for the Champions League spots. If we were in crisis, then how about those two North West clubs?

Yes, between January and April we have been awful and yet we finished 5th. People need to get a grip – seriously, after a “disastrous” season most teams get relegated.

For me 5th doesn’t matter and in the cold light of day, is a blessing.

The Europa League is a joke. The sooner we agree on that the better. It’s a poorly organised competition and playing on Thursday nights is a massive burden on a Premier League season. We have two choices; take it seriously or use the kids.

For me it’s a no brainer. Play the kids. First of all it would be a great experience for them, and secondly they could do well in it. If you listen to Jose Mourinho, the repeatedly goes on and on about how much of a pain the competition is, despite wanting to win it so they get Champions League football next season.

But the message it clear – far too many additional fixtures, played on a day which severely interferes with the domestic calendar. If you want to win it then fine, but the road to success can cause major problems, and even then you’re not guaranteed to win it.

If we treat it like a European “League Cup” and play the youngsters, then we’d only have the Premier League and FA Cup to concentrate on. The Champions League has been a distraction in many ways, and a problematic one considering we don’t get further than the last 16 anyway. Why not focus on the Premier League instead? This gives us the perfect excuse.

Look at Chelsea this season. No Champions League football and they win the league. And Leicester City the season before. No Champions League football, and they win the league.

Simplistic perhaps, but if we had a real chance at actually competing for the Premier League, it would be next season.

Did Arsene Wenger Finish Outside The Top 4 On Purpose??

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Let’s be honest here, for the last few months if you’re an Arsenal fan like me then you’ve probably just been sick and tired of all this “Wenger In / Wenger Out” crap and been bored senseless of all the speculation over Arsene’s future.

The club at the moment is a complete mess; we have owners who do fuck all – I’ve heard more noises from the Loch Ness Monster than I have from Silent Stan – and why does Ivan Gazidis get paid? Seriously? Is there another Chief Executive in world football that does less than him?

Arsene Wenger is a great man who is carrying all of Arsenal’s problems on his own shoulders and the fans know it. Silent Stan, Ivan Gazidis and the Arsenal board have been a completely disgrace with their treatment of Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal fans – deciding not to talk about what their intention are. What do they want? Do they actually want the club to be successful??

There are a million questions that need answering and it’s just mind-boggling how quiet the Arsenal board are. They’re more than happy for Arsene Wenger to take the bullet week in, week out and it’s just pathetic. The Arsenal board in its current form is destroying the reputation and trust the fans have in the club.

Arsene Wenger made a series of revealing comments after the Everton game yesterday, admitting that his future disrupted the players and had an affect on the teams performances. That was the first time he admitted that and it’s quite interesting to see why he’s decided now is the time to admit the truth.

Of course, it would have been stupid to say otherwise before the end of the season but to admit it at all seemed like a shot to the board and owner Stan Kroenke. It also seemed like a dig at the board when Arsene said he’s turned down every single offer from other clubs from around the world, to help transform the club, and that he loves Arsenal. From that it appears Arsene Wenger is telling the world that he is perhaps the only man at the club who actually cares about Arsenal.

And it would make sense. The owners are always absent and their lack of public comment is deafening. Do they care? Do they fuck?

What do the owner care about? Money. We’ve seen that from Stan’s other sports franchises that he only cares about taking a yearly profit from his teams, and on the whole, they’re not successful on the pitch. Because that’s not what matters to him.

And look, business is business. Every successful businessman is out to make money but in football you want a billionaire who actually respects the fans and wants to see success for their club. Stan is clearly not that man so thank you very much for the last how many years you’ve been here, but fuck off.

And that got me thinking – did Arsene Wenger finish 5th on purpose? He’s not getting enough backing to improve the club and he knows better than anyone that the best we can do is finish in the Top Four and reach the last 16 in the Champions League. What’s the best way to shake things up? Not get into the Top Four.

Arsene Wenger is now the man with all the power because where do the Arsenal board go from here? There’s no way in hell they would recruit someone else now as Arsenal aren’t such a big attraction without Champions League football and they know it would take a magician to get Arsenal back into the Top Four – or Arsene Wenger.

This could be a power play by the Frenchman who has for all intents and purposes been left to hang out to dry by the board. Finishing 5th isn’t a disaster but sends out a message to the Arsenal hierarchy that they shouldn’t forget who’s in charge and if you want to fuck with Arsene Wenger then he’ll make sure your yearly profits that you take from the club year in, year out, take a hit.