Why This Portuguese Star is NOT the DM Arsenal Require! by AT
Well, it is no secret that Arsenal are in desperate need of a defensive midfielder. Let’s face it, Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta are both past their prime and are simply not good enough. In regards to the issue, the Daily Mirror is reporting that the Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger is contemplating a £25million move for the AS Monaco enforcer Joao Moutinho when the transfer window opens in January.
The Portuguesse international has reportedly handed in a transfer request at the Ligue 1 side after being frustrated by the departures of Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez, which has resulted in the club not being able to compete with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain in the new campaign. It is understood that Moutinho does not see a bright future for the club and has therefore decided to jump ship.
While the reports about Moutinho handing in a transfer request are likely to be legitimate, I really do not see any credibility in the rumors of Arsenal’s interest in him. At just 5 ft. 6 inches tall, he is not really the physical presence in midfield that the Gunners squad desperately needs. Looking at his style of play, he does not offer anything very different from what we are getting from Flamini and Arteta. Finally, at 28 years of age, the player is unlikely to have a good re-sale value and Wenger will not be willing to splash £25million on his services.
Quite honestly, I don’t see Arsenal going in for a defensive midfielder this January. With Flamini’s contract set to expire in the summer, Wenger will most likely let him go and then go in for a new enforcer to shield the defence. In my opinion, the best we Arsenal fans can hope for in the January transfer window is the arrival of a new centre-back, but we can be hopeful of a quality defensive midfielder coming in in the summer.
As I said in a previous article, he would be nice to have due to his versatility, but he isn’t a priority at the moment… We need an out-and-out no none-sense DM…
no more creative midgets unless its danny devito
Disagree,with the premise of your argument Makalele was small,and i disagree with this articl because clearly yo people have never seen Moutinho play,he cannot be compared to Arteta or Flamini because hes world class,didnt you people see the way he dominated Spain and Germanys midfields in the euros?I dont think the writer of this article is educated enough about football to comment on Moutinho
I rate Joao Moutinho as a player, but he’s simply not what we need. Just like Cabaye.
Get a player like Krychowiak or Kondogbia, that’ll do.
How’s Diaby coming along? Any chance of a little bit kickabout this season at all?
who?
Diaby.
By the way, Mikel Arteta was (imo) the best Arsenal man on the pitch vs Manure and he was among the best vs Dortmund. Definitely not past his prime, just not suitable to start all year long.
You are people in coocoo land ,you don t know what you want.Man U and Dortmund are not good in this moment that why Arsenal was dominating them.
Time and time we have seen Arteta struggles in his position against fast good opposition.
Are you happy with fourth place in PL and exit at 16 ieth at CL because that the level those players are good for.
You want to win trophy,invest in good players,most of Arsenal players are average good in the moment,I don t say to ship them they can be squad players.
calm down man, I’m just saying he was among the best those games and doesn’t deserve ALL the criticism he’s getting. It’s the manager’s fault for not having a proper player for the starting XI or maybe rotation.
Well said @Grim Bligh,complacent people like @Skandalouz will get us nowhere
Well, Jack’s ankle has gone through surgery. Wish him a quick recovery, but i still think yesterday’s injury to Sonogo and Arteta was avoidable (so was many more before) only if Wenger timed his substitutions well. Yaya hasn’t been playing half or full matches for quite a while, hence his stamina for such a high intensity match should have been monitored. So was Arteta, after giving so much in the middle of the park we only had to substitute him when had broken down like that.
Joao Moutinho is a player in the mould of Fabregas. It would be criminal to sign him when we passed on Cesc. Anyways, a BS rumour.
Being man of the match in this squad, apart from Sanchez, don’t amount to a hill of beans.
Arteta is very good attacking-wise. He has a great ability to dictate the pace of games, and has a good work rate too. However defensively he has neither the strength or mindset. Arsenal are a team that play with the ball, we usually dominate possession and attack teams, that’s where Arteta fits in. But the part of our game that needs improving is our defensive play, that’s why we need a proper defensive midfielder – a player with power, quality, the ability to win aerial duels and a defensive mind to snuff out attacks before they happen.
Spot on with your evaluation although I’m not sure about the attacking part.
Posession wise he is the best deep lying player in the leauge and he has shown that for his years at arsenal.only fabrigas and yaya toure have recorded better possession stats in the prem.
(squawka) he is also ranked 10th in europes top 5 leauge midfielders in ave possession.
Arteta lacks that natural defensive ability to make the correct tackles. Thats were flamini comes in ….
Flamini is ranked 2nd in dm defensive contributions this season only wanyama is better (squawka)he is also the 6th best in possession In the Bpl.overall only blind and wanyama are ahead of him this season.
As fans we want better but I think our poor showing comes from using arteta as a sole def mid his tacking isn’t good enough for that but his possession and passing stats mean he could still be a useful squad player.i would also keep flamini with that in mind whilst going out for a dm to start.
I think arsene works best under pressure; that dortmund match was sensational; some real end-end stuff, sometimes I feel wenger knows what to do but a part of him. Just likes experimenting; any waiz its cos he sitting comfortably as manager of arsenal
Am tired of some Arsenal fans complaining about our team.
We lost against Man U, they complained about us losing against the worst Man U team. We won against Dortmund, they complained again that we won against the worst Dortmund team…
Have you ever think for yourself that…
This is also the worst Arsenal team since 1982?
Did you see any Dortmund fans complaining about there team for losing against the worst Arsenal team since 1982? No…
They shouted on top their voices with there banner held higher than we the Arsenal fan, even with them being at the Emirate.
Truly our manager has a problem, but we fans has our own problem.
Dortmund played without any pressure, knowing that they secured the 1rst place already. The problem with Arsenal fans is that we are fickle and we support individuals in the team more then the club. At Dortmund you will not find not a single fan who loves a individual more then the club.
Dortmund is a fans club, Arsenal is not.
just don’t understand why some fans are undermining the performance, BD haven’t locked in 1 st place and they knew that a point is a must, in addition, don’t you think the incentive of gaining confidence to kick start their season would be enough to beat a team they dominated earlier in the competition. Give credit where credit is due, Arsenal were dominant and that’s because the players seemed determined correct some mistakes made against Manu.
If and I do mean if their was half a chance to sign Pogba we should sound out Juve.
We have got to start making all positions,not just 1or2,filled by world class internationals.Weak links ie not up to scratch average players has been our problem since the invincibles.Teams with the best players nearly now always win the league,Manure,Shitty and Chelsky have proved that since those heady Arsenal times.The new manager,when he comes,will want to know what budget he’ll have so The board will have to loosen their purse strings if they want success with the new manager or the old.
He is to big for us, and the club where he is playing at is also biger then us.
He signed a four year contract recently.
its unfortunate! the media, just Like Wenger, doesn’t even know what we really need to complete this Arsenal team…….we have been Linked with almost all the players on this planet from iceland to New zealand, faroe island to singapore……..Very very unfortunate
Martinez has a better save / goal ratio than Schez.
Bench Schez when he returns.
No surprise we won a game when Jack did not play.
I am happy to win if it means Jack stays out.
That’s just stupid
What we need is 2 CB, 2 DM … THAT would make a world of difference between avg team to competing with chelsea, i don’t get how you can neglect the walls to the fortress.
Juve has the same standing in Italy as Arsenal but skint. New contracts mean nowt where monies are concerned or the player wants to go.
Get Kondogbia, Hummels and Reus. Put us out of our misery
why do we need Reus?