It seems obvious to most Arsenal fans that Arsene Wenger does not like Lukas Podolski as a player, because no matter how many injuries the Gunners have, or how out of form his selections are, as he still refuses to play the German winger.
Podolski himself said the other day that he need to talk to Wenger about his continuing presence on the Arsenal bench, and now the German manager Joachim Low has also publicly stated that Podolski needs to sort out his his position, or risk losing his international career.
Talking ahead of Germany’s game against Gibraltar, Low said: “It’s in my plans that Podolski will play from the start,
“I’m aware he doesn’t play a lot right now for Arsenal. He needs to play competitive games. Sometimes he lacks the physical condition to play the full 90 minutes.
“He has to think about his situation. I’m still convinced about his abilities, but he needs high intensity.”
Podolski was recently given a cameo performance when Wenger used him for the dying minutes of Arsenal’s late win over Anderlecht, and even scored the winner. Le Prof even gave him high praise after the game. “Podolski we know can always score you a goal. He is frustrated and I can understand that but he is important,” Wenger said.
“He needs to get back to a good physical level and now he is nearly there,”
“He was never close to leaving the club in the summer. He has 115 caps for Germany – that is not a coincidence. He is a guy you want to have in the box because his shot accuracy is great. I know when he comes on that he can score a goal.”
Since then Podolski has only played 9 more minutes in the return leg against Anderlecht, and the German must be seriously wondering what he has to do to gt more game time under Wenger. Even when we were losing to Swansea, Wenger chose to put Sanogo on instead of the man Wenger says can “always score a goal.”
How can he get match fit if he is never used in matches?