Hello gooners! Hope we are enjoying the international break? After a winless streak of many games, this is a time for us to sit back, access our performances so far, and get ready for the games ahead, after the international break.
If we are to be honest with ourselves, we will realize that this season has not been a good one in terms of on-the-field performances, and some of the blame should go to the players. Yes, the coach has a lot of work to do in getting the team to play and win games the Arsenal way, but when the coach is stuck, the people to help him are the players themselves. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with Arsenal football club.
Can you imagine a team like Barcelona having issues, and a Messi or Suarez not doing anything significant to address the issues, at least on the football pitch? A Messi may be powerless off the football pitch, but on the pitch where he earns his money, he makes sure his impact is felt and could probably rally his team mates to a hard-fought victory. Enough of Messi; let us analyze the contribution of our players in halting the decline on the football pitch.
Before I continue, I must confess that some of our players have tried using their individual skills to bail the team out in tough games, but how far the skills have taken the club, is what I am here to talk about.
We have had games this season where all that was needed was a little extra effort from the players, but such effort has been hard to come by and this is my opinion, is what has contributed greatly to us having a bad season. Usual suspects like Xhaka and Ozil have been made scapegoats while pointing out the problems at Arsenal, but apart from these two, don’t you think other senior players should take some responsibility as well?
Mesut Ozil has often been blamed for going absent during big games but, apart from Ozil, who can we say has really been there for Arsenal in the big games? Nobody, I sadly posit.
Nicholas Pepe was bought last summer to add more bite to the already deadly Arsenal attack but so far, he has fired blanks! Apart from a few games where he scored some wonderful individual goals, he has largely portrayed himself as a player who will have it difficult settling down in the Premiership. Sadly, from the little we have seen from Pepe, he may not make it at a club like Arsenal. It is still early days to judge him, but if he does not start making things happen for Arsenal on the football pitch, he may as well forget about playing for Arsenal beyond two seasons.
Pierre Aubameyang was brought in to bang in the goals for Arsenal. So far, so good, he has taken responsibility and lived up to his billing but in recent times, he seems to be playing like he has lost all motivations to play for Arsenal. The club may be having issues, but the players are still being paid their wages and they just have no other option but to give their best for the club, on the football pitch. If recent reports of him not being happy with the way things are in the club are to be believed, then our top goal scorer needs to change his mind set and start playing like somebody being paid to do a job.
Granit Xhaka has no business in an Arsenal team again and why he was not sold last summer, is a mystery I am yet to understand. He was made captain against all odds, yet he never played or acted as a captain. His latest misunderstanding with the club fans woudn’t have happened, if only he was mature enough to understand what is expected of him, as a professional sports personality. I am really hoping that the last game he played for Arsenal was actually his last! I may sound harsh, but this is how I expect things to be done at Arsenal.
In essence, all I am trying to say is that a lot of players need to start taking some resposibility, playing for the club, and start earning their money. What do you think gooners?
Sylvester Kwentua