When do Arsenal finally give up on Jack and Ox? by NP
I recently read an article stating that the Ox is negotiating with Arsenal for wages north of 100k per week in his contract extension with Chelsea and Manchester United supposedly interested in signing him.
That made me wonder whether its high time we break away from our ‘English core’ bandwagon and focus on improving the squad. Don’t get me wrong here, I was hurling out abuses too when Chamberlain was substituted against Manchester United (long, long back) at the 70th minute by Arshavin after just having assisted a Robin Van Persie goal, and only calmed down after Wenger revealed that he was ill. However, such moments and matches of brilliance have been few and far to come by for the Englishman, with even Henry claiming that he hasn’t progressed much after joining Arsenal.
Arsenal injury bonanza appears every season to give a chance to our fringe players to nail a starting spot, but bad form/ injuries have meant Ox hasn’t done that yet. Indeed, I remember him more for losing the ball on numerous occasions and putting the team under threat on the counter, many of which also resulted in goals and losses. The most recent nail in the coffin seems to be his tunnel-cam (nuf said!).
The Ox possess raw pace, but, unlike Hector Bellerin, its difficult to recall him actually using it to his advantage in matches.
With Marco Reus likely to be available this summer, and most likely to turn up at Liverpool (damn he really deserves a better team), Wenger should be looking to get him at the Emirates. If it happens, the Ox would be 4th in the pecking order after Reus, Theo and Joel. Not a good sign when you are 23 yrs old! I consider him more of a winger then DM, hence not considering DM order here.
Coming to our own poster boy, the lifelong Arsenal fan Jack Wilshere, now. Its a dream for any fan to watch a true gunner gain spotlight after coming through the youth ranks and breaking into the first team. However, Manchester City were rumoured to be willing to shell out £30m last summer for Jacky boy. His talent is undeniable, but with every passing day he seems to be moving closer to Diaby then the first team. Smoking incidents haven’t helped his cause either.
With Rosicky, Flamini and Arteta likely to be out of squad next year, you would wonder why I am propogating to sell Wilshere? The simple reason is, does it make more sense to sell him, add some more and break the bank for a much more quality player like Isco rather than pinning our hopes to the almighty that he has an injury free season?
Also, given that we already have Santi, Ozil, Ramsey and Elneny for two midfield slots, Jack has his work cut out to find a spot in first team. Would we be better served by promoting a youth team player next year to the bench, maybe Zelalem or Crowley?
Let me know what you guys think!
Nayan