Alex Iwobi obviously thought Arsenal could beat Forest with his eyes shut!

There were many bad performances from Arsenal players when they went to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, but Alex Iwobi was definitely slated by fans and pundits alike after the match.

Now it has been revealed this morning that the youngster was snapped while out partying in Soho in central London at 2.37 am on the morning of the match, with allegations from neighbours saying that there was widespread evidence of drug-taking and drunkenness in the flat that was rented via airbnb especially for the party.

This story broke early this morning, and it was no surprise that Wenger was asked about Iwobi during his pre-match conference ahead of our League Cup semifinal at Stamford Bridge tomorrow.

Wenger responded: “If that is true he will be fined.

“It’s unacceptable.

“I will have to see him and see if that is right or not.”

“If he was at a birthday party, how long has he stayed? That is very important. After that I will decide what happens.

“If your neighbour takes drugs, what can you do about it? You are responsible for your behaviour.

“You must have played football, you want to prepare 100% but sometimes it is not a guarantee that you will be at your best.

“But that is what is requested from a top professional.”

If all this turns out to be true, then it is truly mind-boggling that Iwobi has passed up an excellent chance to improve his prospects of becoming a permanent fixture in Wenger’s first team. He has been in and out of favour for the last year and has started less than half of our League games. A great performance against Forest could have put him back in the running but instead he is now likely to be in the doghouse for the rest of the season because of one (only one, we hope) stupid decision before an important match.

What would you do about it if you were Wenger?

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31 Comments

  1. The same goes for Chamakh, Arshavin and Szecheny for smoking and drinking…

    Iwobi needs to be dropped

      1. It’s not just me that thinks like that then! Every time I slate him on here I get a load of thumbs down! Thank you Ignasi

      2. Arsenal value him more than his contribution. He is like Peter cech, who can not score goal for his club.

      3. finally some fans not blindly defending iwobi, his form has been terrible since the start of the season yet i would get thumbed down for saying so. i dont know where the audacious iwobi with ridiculous dribbles has gone but his work rate is worse than ozil at his worse which seemed inconceivable.

        1. didn’t know Iwobi had a fanbase. He’s been dreadful for ages. Was only good for a few months. Not progressing, championship quality player.

          1. League One actually, considering entire Forest team made him look like a toddler kicking the ball for the first time.

  2. If true, This is totally unacceptable innit.
    On match day. It was 2pm match as well.
    Highly irresponsible.
    A pro player needs some discipline. A good nights sleep? is very important before a match. Also, he was caught at 2:37 am. When did he leave? When and how long did he sleep? Did he sleep at all?
    Lack of sleep affects performance

  3. Iwobi is like Wilshere and Szczesny. Wilshere and Szczesny were caught smoking, their performances dropped, sent on loan, then came back much stronger.

    I wonder whose head would get bigger next, because of too much hype. Nelson? Maitland-Niles?

    1. Young English players always getting carried away before they even make it big. Szczesny left just on time to save his career. Doing great at Juve after escaping the clutches of Arsene Wenger. Thing with Iwobi is he lacks the talent.

  4. I do not know whether or not Iwobi stayed out late at a drug fuelled party. However , like all,of us i have eyes and a brain capable of interpreting what I DO see and the likely consequences. In Iwobi, right through his so far short career, I see definite talent, for sure. But I do NOT see any evidence of “I will show them how good I am ” mentality whatever. In typical Walcott style, young Alex often hides and does not show any keenness to get thoroughly involved in the play, when our team is under pressure, which will happen to ALL teams at times. That is when the real men , those you can rely on, stand up to be counted; the VIERAS, ADAMS, GERRARDS, Roy KEANES OF THIS SPORT RISE TO THE FORE. In other words, winners, who are MEN not boys and who all successful teams need, packed full throughout their ranks. Like the Invincibles who were hugely talented as we all know , BUT who were full of “don’t you mess with me and my mates, sonny” types. THAT is primarily why they were Invincibles., not merely talent. Since the likes of VIERA AND GILBERTO LEFT, WE HAVE HAD FEW, IF ANY, OF THIS TYPE and this is why we are universally recognised throughout the football world as easily bullied. Though Wenger refuses, utterly, to accept this truth -which is a PRIME reason he must go, and I believe will go in May, at latest – I believe that a new manager next season will insist on whole hearted players ONLY in our team. If he does not, then we might as well all stop supporting Arsenal. I FOR ONE COULD NOT STAND ANOTHER WENGER TYPE; AND I DON’T BELIEVE WE WILL GET ONE EITHER. I have learned in my long life that a winning mentality is given -in these “snowflake” generation days- to few players. But I counsel that without them, and they still exist at other PREM CLUBS, if not in any quantity at ours, A TEAM CAN NEVER BE TRULY SUCCESSFUL This toughness is certainly NOT given , judging by all evidence of his career to date, to IWOBI . FOR THIS REASON , WHICH IS OVERWHELMINGLY IMPORTANT, I would move him on. Were I manager it would have already been done.

    1. So true. You could add, that the right mentality was why Man U were so successful under Sir Alex Ferguson. He oozed of winning mentality, went for, and kept, players with it, and those without it, he cut off. The Man U players in his time were very good, but far from all of them were the biggest talents. But they could give 100% and win.

  5. If anyone has played a sport will know that once a player smoke and drink…it will have a detrimental effect to his performance

    1. Two people have disagreed with John Ibrahim’s statement that smoking and drinking has a detrimental effect on a players performance. Absolutely astonishing. Presumably these are the same two or three who “thumb down” any criticism of Wenger? What is going on with our club?

      1. the reason people disliked his post is that the post meant players cannot drink or smoke when we know its absolutely bs. Top athletes also have a common life with family and friends and as long as they are doing it moderately unlike iwobi it is and should be completely fine and acceptable.
        Remember that ridiculous incident with wilshere smoking at a pool party being judged for influencing young fans to smoke while the blame sorely lies with the paparazzi who was criminally stalking his private life and publishing pics without his consent.
        What next; players should all be virgins because sex life affects performance and since they get millions they should be forced to obey our rules LOL

  6. I’d day sell him.
    but our squad is so bad we also need to sell walcot, girode, elneny, coqline, debushi, chambers, holding+ sanchez and ozil leaves.
    wee can’t sell them all, so he will stay and under-perform for another 2 years.

  7. If I were Wenger, I will pat him on his back and encourage him to party his future away and then, I will bench him until he is tired of partying his future away! that’s what a good coach like me will do…come to think of it, his uncle, Jayjay Okocha was a party freak during his own time as a footballer… I guess partying runs in the blood… who has Iwobi’s phone number? I need to invite him for a party in Nigeria!

    1. Partying and prof footballers are chalk and scheese and flippant, silly, party condoning remarks like yours , the enemy of a dedicated player and a successsful team.

  8. If the news are true, we should get rid of him before he spread the party virus around. The party boys should be rid off ASAP.

    It’s quite apparent that he is performing below par. He should be grateful for what he has now.

    The FA cup defeat is disgraceful.

  9. It would explain things a bit. He needs to be practicing, extra training more focus. If he’s not doing that then he obviously feels he has better things to be doing with his time. No wonder he chose Nigeria, all one big party for him out there and might bring a few of his mates along. If it’s true it’s not gonna be a first nor one off. Iwobi is a snake in the sense that he acts and looks like butter wouldn’t melt, they’re the sneakiest ones. Loan him out to the Russian league if true. If he left the party early, stick him with extra training cos I don’t think he’s bothered.

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