Tony Adams believes that none of Arsenal’s right-backs is worth keeping and has urged the club to sell them off for a better replacement.
He was speaking with Stadium Astro and questioned why Arsenal brought in Cedric Soares in the first place when he isn’t as good as Hector Bellerin.
Bellerin has been the first choice right back at Arsenal for several seasons, but the Spaniard is no longer as good as he was before his last long-term injury.
Soares has hardly been an upgrade to the former Barcelona man and Adams says there is no wisdom is bringing in a player that is worse than what you have before.
He said Arsenal should have signed a more quality player when they looked for a backup to Bellerin.
As things stand, both of them cannot deliver the performance that the club needs and he suggests that both are sold and replaced with one solid full-back.
“If you’re bringing players in who is a lesser standard, you don’t get someone that’s less than what you’ve got,” he said.
“Cedric, is he better than Bellerin? Have you made an improvement there? Take it or leave it
“Or are you telling me we need two? Get rid of two and get a good one! That would be the opinion that I would have.
“You always bring in players better than the ones you have got or don’t bring them to the club.”
TA on the money again. He may not have had what it took to manage, but knows what he’s talking about when analysing a team’s strengths and limitations. Cedric has his fans but at best he is reliable cover for the heir apparent whoever he may be.
But this is a bit of a contradiction. You admit that he did not make it as a manager but his recommendations for players is spot on.
That’s like saying “John might not have made it as a doctor but he is always so spot on when it comes to diagnosising illness and prescribing medication”.
It absolutely contradictory.
I think the best thing to say is that his own opinions seem to mostly lineup with my own so this makes me feel all fuzzy on the inside.
Because to me Cedric has been a better RB than Bellerin for the few games he has played for us. I was not happy about his signing in the first place but from what I have seen of him at Arsenal he is way better than Bellerin. Bellerin has had nearly about 7 years here and just seems to be getting worse and worse each season. But Tony thinks he is way better than Cedric from what we have seen?
Cedric is far better than Bellerin, his linkup with Saka or Pepe when he played at the right back was fantastic and he always look to take the ball forward towards the opponent instead of playing it sideways or backward.
Well maybe TONY was comparing the way both looks facially. If that’s the case I agree with Tony that ,Bellerin is better looking than Cedric
Agree with TA; unfortunately the player bought as a back up Cedric is in better form than the “incumbent” Bellerin.
Buy an upgrade and look to the Academy for the backup player.
Disagree. Mikel Arteta is trying to build two starting 11’s. He needs 2 right backs. Also if one is injured, seeing as AMN hates playing rb, who’s going to fill in? In the current market, it’ll be hard to find better rbs for a reasonable fee. Remember, we have a spendthrift owner. Also, with the number of games the Arsenal play, squad rotation is key for future successes.
Spendthrift means the exact opposite to how you have used that word. A spendthrift is someone who spends extravagantly, not like Kroenke at all.
Belle is OK to sell as 1st team member if there’s an upgrade to replace.
For Cedri am not too sure.
Cedric is decent to cover a few positions.
Problem is Arsenal do not have enough decent rotational/backup players. Where are you gona get more covers for a few positions. Do Arsenal have alot of funds like Chelsea? Nope.
Cedric is way better than bellerin and would keep him. Some fans dont even watch the games to understand how good cedric has been playing. We should get max Aarons or lampthey.
Cedric is not the best player by any means but IMO he is a better defender, better crosser and has a much better work rate.
I’m fed up listen to and Arsenal fans excepting we have no funds, FROM what I’ve read Arsenal have loads of money, the trouble is our billionaire American owners are not willing to part with it, they aren’t fans, and take a healthy living out of the club every, since they’ve owned us we have been a steady decline, winger took most of the blame back in the day, and we would all say why don’t he spend?but it was clear after he left that we are run on a shoe string budget, fourth spot was a win win for them, now we sit at around 10th in the league, that is about right though as we have turned into a average mid table team,and obviously the kronkies have done studies and to be a true contender is more money than they are willing spend verses spending and being a true contender
i agree but wenger bought many good players in small fee. wenger was artist. he know the art. arteta is fully dependent on edu and edu is busy in bringing poor players. look at willian. look at his age and he got 3 years from us. what kind of stupid contract was that! anyway arteta must improve otherwise arteta should go. there are many managers who can turn an average team into a good team. look at liverpool! they aren’t all stars team. we must look at the market or hire wenger. wenger knows who can perform at arsenal.
TA is right and knows a thing or two about football as he is our legend unlike the armchair pundits who criticize him. If we are content for for top 10, then Cedric is your man, if you want to be top 2 then Cedric is not your man, sorry folks. And he is not getting younger and faster. Bellerin should have moved years ago to Milan where he could have pursued his career in modelling and fashion and maybe played a game here and there for Inter or AC.
Get Max Aarons from Norwich with AMN as the back up or promote someone from the academy.
That’s fallacious. It’s an argument from authority.
Just because Tony played football and is our legend does not mean his opinion is the objective truth. It’s his opinion like everyone else’s. If he was talking about “Center Backs” then maybe yeah.
His opinion on every football matter is no more valid than anyone’s or Arteta’s. Hence why Tony himself has failed as a manager. When push comes to shove he is as incompetent. That’s why he is only a pundit now. To just give his own subjective opinion.
Just saying.
😊
@Gooner It’s really good to see that people understand that an “argument from authority” means little in reality. Not to discredit what Tony is saying at all but the reality is that it’s an opinion and nothing more.
We def need a new RB and I’d be happy with Cedric as the back up.
Do you really know anything about max Aarons or whosever you think should be better than Cedric at the moment or you are just flowing with the media hype.
And what’s that with the AMN and acedemy player you don’t even have an idea of.
Or you just want to comment and criticize for the sake of it.
Max Aarons was a stand out in a relegation bound Norwich last year, has played 33 matches till date, 1 goal, 6 shots on target, tackle success 66%, pass completion 83%, 21 years and English and can go on. AMN was the back up and did well. Cedric will be 30 this August, and will not get better with age. If you want to build a champion team, you need real men and as the club owned by KSE, we will need cheap options too. The academy is in existence to feed players to the senior teams and that is their job and so far they had success with Saka & ESR of late. Jordi too was doing well before his injury.
Cedric in the Europa where he’s played well has a pass completion rate of 86%, and 1 assist playing just 6 games as opposed to Aron’s 33games, 1gol and no assist.
Cedric was bought as a backup to Bellerin and he’s be doing a great job as well as filling in for KT. And he gets better with each game he plays.
If we are to get an upgrade, should be someone way way better than him, not one you really can’t tell the difference except for your age difference issue and being English with hype.
But he has a point about Aarons and that’s his say. That’s you point apart from criticizing him?
The bottom line is of you compare Aarons stats and performance ratio and return in over 30games played to Cedric’s return in less than 10 games played this season, Cedric will still be better than him.
So, it’s an upgrade we are looking for, not another back up.
I agree with TA 💯
Goonster you are very passionate on this issue and good luck to you. However managing a football team and having the nous to identify individual footballers’ strengths and weaknesses are two different things especially when you’ve played the game at Tony Adam’s level. I’m not going to defend Adams as a manager. Perhaps he didn’t have what it takes in terms of personell management and tactical know-how. He was thrown in at the deep end, at a club which was already dysfunctional. I doubt if Arteta would have survived. As mere pundits you and I can only identify with individual players based on how we look at a game. I look at Cedric and think that he is solid in the basics but limited in that he doesn’t offer much else. Is he really an upgrade on Bellerin or just some one who can fill the gap until another Dixon or Sagna comes along. What do you see when you watch Elneny play? A donkey or a noble stead like Ozil.?
If we didn’t have Cedric, who would have been covering when HB gets injured or needs a break. Or KT for that matter. His was a necessary signing
I disagree you only need to bring in players who are better than what you have. We’d have never signed Wiltord or kanu if that were the case – they were crucial to our past success but were not as good as Henry or bergkamp. These were still top class players, but you could say the same for Grimandi or Cygan – very good, but flawed players that were absolutely needed
i agree but we must upgrade. wenger used to upgrade by bringing new players in small fee. many were massive hits. arteta must learn this art. we must not rely on brining star players because market is already saturated and only big clubs afford big players. wenger signed nasri,fabregas, henry and so many more. they were like pillars of arsenal. it’s time for arteta to learn something from wenger. we can’t cry for funds. we know businessmen don’t invest. they only buy. same with american owner as well.
Tony must realize that there is a reason Cedric is a better signing, getting a better player than Bellerin will result in the value of Bellerin going down. Replacing will be a task. But right now club can sell Bellerin and get almost enough cash for the replacement. And Cedric does not complain at being backup.
Martin and how much do you fondly imagine any team would be willing or even able to pay for Bellerin? Like many others on here, I believe you and they are living in pre Covid days when it comes to assessing transfer fees and those days are gone for a long time to come, in reality!
He will be unlikely to fetch even £15 mill though I know we will ask more.
But in vain, I firmly believe. Incoming but top quality players, which Bellerin is definitely NOT, will still be much dearer than what he would bring in, though will also be cheaper than before Covid.
I fully disagree. Cedric is not at the level to be our starter, but he is a decent back-up.
People are forgetting that we can’t have 22 star players whom are all on the same level. No team has that, not even Man City..
That our back-up is outperforming our fist choice starter is more Bellerin’s fault than it is Cedric’s. That’s why I would be more than happy to replace Bellerin with a new first choice starter and keep Cedric as a back-up again, unless AMN sees the light finally and decides to focus on being a fullback
I seriously wonder about the mentality of Tony Adams, but perhaps he was misquoted.Cedric was brought in as a ” back up”, nothing else, and is doing a decent job.I am all for finding an upgrade on Bellerin , but we need Cedric and a natural back up for Tierney at LB.
I completely agree with tony adams. monreal was fantastic. i don’t know why we sold him. we must get rid of both players. bellerin can’t run faster. he was caught several times this season. soares is good but average in big games. if you want to win tropgies, you need to bring quality players. arteta is already under pressure. if we can’t finish 6th this season than arteta should also go. no place for excuses now.