It was not that long ago that Arsenal under Arsene Wenger had forged a reputation of being a team full of foreigners, as the old guard of Gunners like Tony Adams, Ray Parlour and Ian Wright were replaced by the likes of Kolo Toure, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry.
But Wenger always said that he was all about the quality of the player first and foremost and that has certainly been backed up with a lot of his recent signings and the new look Arsenal squad. And that British core continues to expand at the Emirates, with Danny Welbeck and Calum Chambers joining Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from the England international set up, not forgetting Carl Jenkinson out on loan.
That seems to have helped young Chambers to settle in remarkably quickly and Walcott thinks the same will be true of the new striker. Theo knows Welbeck from their time with England and has told Arsenal Player that he believes the 23-year old has all the attributes, both personally and football-wise, to really do well at his new club, especially as he is going to get a lot more chance to play in his favoured centre forward position.
Walcott said, “I’ve worked with Danny for England and we link up very well. He’s another English guy and we’ve got a good English core now.
“He’s going to be better for us than he was at Man United, definitely. He’ll get more opportunities and he’s got a point to prove. I know he’s worked hard and he’s still very young, and I think the boss will enjoy working with him. The fans definitely will – he’s very exciting and he’s very strong.
“One thing I would tell him to do is be a little more selfish because he’s unselfish at times, which isn’t a bad thing but I think he’ll get more goals if he’s more selfish. I’m sure he’ll do well for us.
“He’s a very good guy and a very hard worker. Off the pitch he’s very relaxed and likes to get involved in anything. He’s just a very well-spoken young man and he’s always eager to improve and spend time with people.
“He fits perfectly into Arsenal, which is such a big family club where everyone’s together. He’ll fit straight in here.”
That certainly seems to be the opinion of most people in football and of course we are all hoping that he gets his Arsenal career off to a good start with a goal or two and all three points against Man City on Saturday.
Welbeck was the only available option, but i am glad we signed him
At 1st I tot it was a bad business, but after watching him play with england while my heart is FREE (no hate) I saw him as a very good business. And if he can add goals into his game then Man U fans will start crying loud as they are doing for pogba. The guy is quick, hard worker, pacey, very good dribbler. Am yet to move on from the sale of van the Traitor. But finally its time as this transfer hurt much United fans like how the traitors deal hurt us. #COYG keep the faith.
My hate for Van P*ssy was born when he celebrated against us, after scoring. I never wanted fans to boo him, still liked him but he should have know that not all fans were against him, some of us saw the business and professional side to his switch to one if our ass rivals.
Sanogo needs to go out on loan and make way for Campbell to play in Left Wing.
Does Sanogo play on the left wing? I think you wanted to say something else…
Sanogo playing on the left wing would be a little bit awkward..
Wow! You didn’t tell Giroud that. Time will tell who’s better…
Biased Tw14 …lol
Such advice should come from someone else (a legend or retired player, perhaps), not a teammate like Walcot. At the end of the day, he just might be so selfish that what should be an assist to his credit and even in favour of Walcot, as a goal scoring chance, would be spurned.
Walcot sounding like he himself is a very experienced and accomplished striker. #smh
Walcott not in a position to offer advice but OK for you. Lol.
OH god… Cant wait to see him play in Arsenal colours
Dear admin, plz i beseach you to write an article on Abou Diaby, basically on why we should do away with him (or maybe you do think we should still keep him, you may provide your reasons as to that effect too).
I do like Diaby, but he’s now like an alien captrued by government special forces, kept in a special lab and being seriously studied. #TimeUp
He’ll play on Saturday, to boss the mid-field. He’s being preserved for the big games. You know City 2, Chelsea 2, Liverpool 2, United 2 = 8 in all, and then others.
How sure are you that he will play on Saturday?
The game against City; heaven know’s I’m not going to miss it. Gonna feed ma boss one of the best lies that can even take a sinner to heaven.
My hate for Van P*ssy was born when he celebrated against us, after scoring. I never wanted fans to boo him, still liked him but he should have know that not all fans were against him, some of us saw the business and professional side to his switch to one of our ass rivals.
there was nothing professional about that traitor. He bolted off just when he regained fitness and actually placed a “come get me” plea with that chaotic “leaked” letter to the fans a month before he was sold..and after lying he can only move abroad
Can’t wait to see Sanchez, Walcott and welbeck linking up with ozil spraying the assists
COYG
What goes round comes round and i believe he (RVP) had his “come round” last season and possible this season.
He won the league the season before.
Kind of blows your theory into oblivion.
there is a clear difference between last season and the season before..geez
@mwenyeji
You don’t say. hahahahaha
Gorgo Italiano
i disagree no CL this season no cup last season god knows what will happen this season if the injury roomers are right, he has a lot of competition this year for position, we all know how upset he was when SAF retired if RVP wasn’t curing injury i recon he would of left Man-U
beginning of last season.
@Tas
Oh yeah mate, I agree with that, but, he went there to land the premiership and he got it first time round. That in itself justifies the move to Man U. He got what he wanted in the end and apparently Real Madrid are going to come calling in Jan or at the end of the season.
Van Persie only had one really good season for us (2011-12). Thank God he did we really needed him that season and he was just brilliant. The whole moving to Man Utd and hugging Ferguson as if he was the one who developed him into the striker he became was hugely disrespectful to Wenger and to all Arsenal fans. I prefer to remember the great strikers Ian Wright and Thierry Henry. Legends. It’s time Wrighty got his own statue at the Emirates. Wonderful striker. Welbeck has been treated badly by Utd and England. Play him as a CF he will score goals, I’m hoping he scores at least 20 this season. With the playmakers we have and the pace we have he really should show people what he can do. At least we’re no hiring mercenaries like Man Utd. We have an identity a way of playing that people who know about football respect.
The season he left, we all knew how complacent the board (not Wenger specifically) was to bring in capable reinforcements. We were never going to compete for major trophies, and age was not on his side.
To be honest, as an employee, I would leave my employer if there’s a better offer somewhere else where I know I’d earn more and have the chance to accomplish more goals, personally and collectively. However, I’d never disrespect my former employers or colleagues in anyway.
KickAssFan
would you leave you employer who sat with you in the injury room for seven years and just when you recover you leave when he asks you not to offer’s you 160,000 a week and 5 million cash in hand to stay?? i serenely would not Fluck Him the traitor go suck SAF hair dryer.
Wenger has actuallyw suffered. He have him that much, maybe the same with what he earned, and he left anyway. People and the traitor had the hut to question his ambition.
@KickAssfan,
When RVP left, we had just signed Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla… we would have been a complete or near complete article ,
Get the Wenger hate blinders off
@kickassfan
Spot on dude. Everyone else in here would do the same but they are too chickenshit to admit it because they have been spouting hateful nonsense for too long.
Glad to see there are some adult here that can see the bigger picture and think objectively.
Only petty and immature people cannot see past the fact football is a business and there is not the same level of loyalty as there used to be. Until folk realise this they are deluding themselves and setting themselves up for a fall every time one of their favourite players leave.
When all teams were paying similar amounts of money in wages it was easier to become loyal to 1 team and stay there for that reason. With such a massive gap in wages from 1 club to the next loyaly goes out the window and it becomes just a job.
A footballers career is short so if a player can go away and earn double wages elsewhere (and also win more trophies) then who are we, as fans, to say anything about it. In fact, good on them, I say.
Some of the petty names RVP gets called on here are like being back in primary school. It’s totally embarrassing for an adult to act this way.
The best of it is, a load of the people on here change their mind from 1 game to the next so why would they ever think a player wants to be loyal to someone like that?
Get over yourselves.
Yes, their “short” careers must be a real cause for concern. Only being able to earn a couple of million a year for 10-15 years and then deciding whether to take another job upon retirement or put their feet up for the rest of their lives must be a real bummer for them.
See, mate, you just come across as completely bitter about how much top players earn. No matter how much you earn, if someone offers you double you take it.
If you don’t, you’re a mug!!!
Simples.
It’s easy to sit on your high horse but if you were told you would work with better people, get more recognition in your profession and get more accolades (trophies) along with double pay then you would take it.
Mate don’t arbitrarily fill in the gaps to help bolster your world view – I am not bitter about how much anyone earns – you won’t find a single derogatory comment from me in the history of this forum against any player that has left for money. Your world must be a depressing place where accumulating wealth is the only real virtue an individual can be judged on. I can respect a mercenary more if they just tell it as it is. Whilst the office worker or shop assistant has little choice if someone wants to double their salary no-one tells me that multi-millionaires are compelled to move for more money and have no choice in the matter. And why don’t you tell it how it really is instead of fluffing around with guff like “better people” (how do you figure that one out?), “recognition in your profession(?)”, “more accolades” before getting to the nub of the matter “double pay”. They move for the money, period. And then pretend it was for something else – how many players leave to work with “better people”, “more recognition” and “more accolades” but for less money? Exactly – none.
Enough already!! The first time RvP scored against us he did NOT celebrate. Just to make you understand – I was a pissed-off as anybody else when he left, and actually felt that, if we had hung onto him (even if that would mean we lost out on a transfer fee at the end of the season), we could have won the EPL that year, which would have more than made up for the loss of a transfer fee. But I was NEVER angry at RvP himself for making a move that, as they say, seemed a good idea at the time. The only guys that left the club, at which I was really angry because they bad-mouthed the club, its ambitions and Wenger, were Nasri and Ashley Cole. Why didn’t we hate Sol Campbell just on principle since he was the Spurs Captain, then he deserts them to come to Arsenal, where a year later we went through the season unbeaten. Come on, guys, professional footballers are just like any other professional. As an engineer, if I get a good hike in salary from another company, even if I have learned all I know from my present employer, and I see that as an opportunity to improve myself, I will go. I owe it to myself, not to anybody else. So it is with professional cricketers, rugby players and footballers. Now get over yourself and grow up.
“You talking to me?’ in my best De Niro voice.
Fair enought but I was fairly sure that you were inteligent enough to realise I meant RVP went from us to them because a) They were much more successful B) They had better players and c) they were paying a ton more cash.
Those would all have been factors in his decision. I couldn’t agree with you more that I wish they would just come out and say that but could you imagine the reaction from fans (and potential future clubs) if footballers were honest when moving from one club to another:
“Yeah, Man U offered me double my salary so I was already more than interested. On top of that they have much better players and at least I might actually win the league with them. The team I was with were piss. Oh yeah, player x and y are a pair of dicks too. Didn’t like them at all. Plus, the gaffer had a shit hair cut. If anyone else offered me this move from Man U I would jump at that one too, so remember, you double my wage and I’ll move on without hesitation”
Really mate. That’s the kind of thing you’d expect and prefer to hear? In fact I’m sniggering as I type this. Could you imagine some of the folk on here if they read that? Their mental state goes off of the chart when a player moves to better himself. Imagine the drama queens if tey told the truth. hahaha.
Anyway. Good discussion, pal 😉
Jonestown 1 Bravo mate
Exactly. And no matter how loyal you are to a club, if ur form does not improve, they wouldn’t hesitate selling you or releasing you, and fans are most likely to boo you continually. #smh
Spot on dude.
Some folk on here cannot function correctly without moaning, whinging, crying and getting on peoples back.
If that person they moan about scores the following week and plays well, they move onto someone else that didn’t live up to their ‘high standards’.
It is utterly pathetic and child like.
Bring on the thumbs down for speaking the truth. hahaha 😉
…….says he, whilst moaning, whinging and crying. And whilst your response to KAF has nothing whatever to do with his point (loyalty) I do agree with the sentiment.
What about Arsenal with Diaby we are loyal as fluck to our players
Former Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano, in his book ‘The Eleven Powers of the Leader’ , has said the following thing about Mourinho “Mourinho is a personality made for these noisy and empty times. I never heard him say something about football, in public or in private, that was worth remembering.”
There are however some people in the game who show loyalty to their club and its traditions. Wenger, like him or loath him, is loyal to Arsenal’s values and loyal to players he believes in. Walcott didn’t take his huge pay day some place else. Henry, I believe was traumatised for a while after leaving The Arsenal. I remember seeing an interview on Football Focus just after he left us for Barcelona and how he missed the fans “Thierry Henry you’re having a laugh”. The tears he shed at the unveiling of his Emirates Statue. Yes these are “empty times” but that does not mean there aren’t players who genuinely love this club. Wilshere does, he needs to start performing I know, but you can see his love for the club. I know there are a lot of mercenaries out there (Falcao, RVP, Remy) but there are also players who become so identified with a club and it with them. I would love to see Ramsey grow into the Arsenal captain I feel he should become. I would love to get that feeling back I had when watching Ljungberg or Pirès running toward goal. I hope the young players we have stay free of injury, develop their potential and write their own names in Arsenal history.
@Admin, please give this more flesh and muscle, and post it as an article. I’d like to read more. Loyalty is not just a word in the dictionary…it is what people show out, what players show to their clubs, and what some have shown in the past. #Don’tkissthecrestandleave
Ouuchh – that Mourinho quote is quite venomous. But it is the nature of JM that this wouldn’t bother him one bit. If true it sort of fits my idea about Mourinho that it is all about him and nothing or nobody else, the football is just happens to be the platform in life offered to him to strut his stuff.
Badge kissing. God I hate that! Who started that?
I will always remember what Tony Adams (will always miss him in an Arsenal shirt)
“Play for the name on the front of the shirt, and they’ll remember the name on the back” For me no other words are needed. Don’t play for your own fame but play for the club. I’d rather have Danny Welbeck showing that kind of attitude than 20 Falcaos. That’s why I feel in the long run that Wenger with his Domestic players is going in the right direction. Breed love for the club. Remember when Bruce Rioch got the sacked and we were waiting for Arsene the team kept winning. Down to that magnificent back four and again the irreplaceable Tony Adams.
easy on Theo guys. What he said is exactly the same as Henry when commentating on the 1st England that he came on as sub.
Welbeck will become an arsenal hero,, i strongly believe a goal totally between 15 -25 goals in the EPL and that willl be amazing