There have been a lot of doubts from Arsenal fans and members of the football media about why Arsene Wenger did not strengthen the Arsenal defence more in the summer transfer window. And for those of us that are not entirely convinced by Arsene Wenger’s vague words about not being able to find the right player available, there is today some evidence that he did at least try.
According to a Sky Sports report, the Greece international defender that we were linked with in various Arsenal transfer rumours over the summer, Kostas Manolas, has revealed that he did have the choice of Arsenal and the Italian champions Juventus.
But the 23-year old says that he has no regrets over his decision to join another Serie A club Roma from Olympiakos on a transfer costing a little over £10 million. With the side from the Italian capital fighting Juve hard for the title and looking like they might pip the Premier League champions Man City to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League, it is hard to say he made the wrong choice.
Manolas said, “It’s true, Juventus sought me out after the World Cup.
“I could also have ended up at Arsenal. But I never went to London, as it was reported.
“Now, for me, there is only Roma. I’m very happy to have come here.”
We’ll never know but it seems likely that one of the reasons for him snubbing Arsenal was the greater likelihood of regular game time at Roma and he has only missed one game for them so far. This is why our captain Thomas Vermaelen left as well, allegedly, so how does Wenger attract a defender of the right quality? Should we be looking at someone to replace rather than cover for one of our current stars?
More and more I’m starting to think we need another first choice defender to play alongside Koscielny instead of just a backup. I really like Mertesacker, but he hasn’t looked up to it so far this season. Then again, few of our players actually have..
You cant ask players to be per’s understudy,if wenger keeps on doing this we wont sign anyone
Koalas is quality. I watched him against man City
This was another miss. Truly I think Wengers reputation is beginning to scare quality players coming to this club. PLAYING PLAYERS OUT OF POSITION EVEN WHEN IT DOES NOT WORK REALLY SHOWS WENGER HAS TACTICAL PROBLEMS. Of course, this is apart from not signing or signing the wrong players when he does. LITTLE WONDER PLAYERS MORALE IS LOW AT ARSENAL……..
Careful, been saying that lately and been getting nothing but dislikes and criticism. Simple fact is Mert is a quintessential backup player, perfect for rotation etc but not to be relied upon like a Tony Adams or Sol Campbell as someone to dominate and lead.
Gets boring rehashing the same lines, but Wenger and his socialist/harmonic dressing room idea has made for such a leaderless, ‘yes-man’ atmosphere.
Finally the penny seems to be slowly dropping, Mertesacker needs to be replaced not covered for. What I don’t understand is that many fans seem to believe that he is worthy of a place. Sorry but what do you see ? Sure he is a nice guy.He speaks well,he is articulate, but this is a top class football club not a welfare organisation. He is not up to the job either physically or mentally. When I watch his efforts to run, to close down,to win the ball in the air, in fact all the things that a good defender should automatically own, it makes me cringe. He is not just playing badly he simply isn’t good enough. Never has been , never will be. Is it any wonder that Koscielny is slowly burning out, because his workload is unreal and unfair. I could go on but I have made the point that I want to. Mertesacker is not a bad person, he is simply in the wrong job, being asked to do something which clearly he can’t..
Wenger:id like you to join arsenal
manolas:k,i want to play with koz
wenger:no per is better than you
manolas:f*ck you im off to roma
@Thando
And thats probably how it went down. AW could have at least lied to him. LOL
But it is more than likely the reason we didn’t sign any good defenders. Who the hell would want to be back up for Per?
@Ny gunner lol we wont sign anyone
unless Wenger stops being a stubborn cheap old man, you’re prob right @thando. we’ll end up signing the same amount of defenders we signed in our last January transfer window.
Per is a bench player atbest
On Arsenal.com what Wilshere has to say about Theo and Camberlain
“He gives us something different – he gives us pace,” Wilshere told Arsenal Player. “I know we’ve got Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who gives us pace but Theo gives you something different without the ball.
I would knock your block of for saying that. You need to support all of our players, not say one is better than the other.
Wise up man.
True. I’m sure the OX will be happy to read that.
Chamberlain is quick, but he likes to have the ball at his feet when he runs.
Theo is different – he makes runs without the ball – knock it forward and he’ll run onto it. Chamberlain doesn’t do that as much.
Dont defend a player for saying what he said on an official arsenal website.
It is these kind of stupid statements that will cause tension in the locker room and on the pitch. Shutup Wilshere. like we don’t have enough problems already.
PS with thanks to arsenal.com
PS just tell these football players to shut the f-ck up and concentrate on football.
Jack is trying to b a show star…..always have something stupid to say to media always instead of working on his poor game…on a good day Ox is far better than Jackass
Per made some crucial stops on Saturday, but I cannot get over that play where he let some Hull player pass him like an innocent bystander. Not to mention that he can’t win aerial battles. I respect Per but it is those sorts of things that have caused us to concede goals. I know that they are not all his fault – us as a whole squad have been horrendous. But there’s a reason why he was dropped from the national team during the World Cup and Wenger should take notice. Per has either gotta change or the player at his position has gotta change.
Per has one 70% of his heading duels this season the best at arsenal check your facts before putting down players when u don’t know what your talking about
yup you’re right sir. the poor defending on Hull’s second goal clouded my judgement.
@mesut O-thrilled Even chambers is better than per
Lol chambers wouldn’t be no were near the German team
Hummels,badstuber,boateng,per,howedes,mustafi >chambers
I think we are over rating him n putting pressure on him like we did with wilshire n Walcott. What I like about the lad he seems to thrive of responsibility
Wenger somehow came to the conclusion after playing Monreal at CB for 2 pre season games, that Monreal can now play there.
We could’ve given Sagna more money and use him as a CB if and when needed.
do you remember how much he was asking for though? and how much Sagna is getting at City? i think the better solution was to sign another CB… which we didn’t do. Arsenal life.
Arsenal try that, arsenal try this… And then the story continue! Simply ??wengerstic!!
Guy have you notised how weak flamini has become ever since his red card,him and per are the most targeted players by the oposiotion
_________Giroud
____Sanchez Diaby Walcott
______Wanyama Diame
Gibbs Koscielny Chambers Debuchy
_________Ospina
We need this lineup to stop us from leaking unnecessary goals. Make it happen Wenger!
Wanyama Diame?
why not everyones fav
Mvilla and Capoue?
—-Welbek—Sanchez
____New Lw–Ozil/Cazorla- Walcott/Camberlain
______Ramsy New dm
Gibbs Koscielny/New cb–Chambers/Debuchy
_________Ospina/Szczęsny —
How i wish ospina wasn’t injured
Thank you Wenger and the board for turning me into an insomniac.
We need a new manager and a brand new board
And brand new fans.
Well it sounds to me that Wenger didn’t try hard enough to sign a CB. Wenger made so many mistakes in the transfer market and this is just another example.
Mertesacker, despite being finished as a CB, has signed a contract extension.
Arteta will do so very soon.
This is what Arsenal is about and has become under Wenger guidance.
This is not a joke (like people said often) but serious business because it will hamper the next 3 years of our club.
Despite the stadium and the fairplay rule (one of Wenger excuse which was proven to be useless as him) we should have been able to go forward sports wise.
We won leagues and even a European Cup before Wenger arrived.
Another manager will bring back the glory (well deserved by the fans who are just being taken for a ride and treated as mugs).
As soon as his contract is up, I want him to leave and not being involve in Arsenal businesses anymore. Some fans suggested he should be some kind of technical director.
I don’t think so as he will be a nightmare for the new manager and not allow him to recruit/work as he wishes.
Those 3 years is a punishment for the ones who wanted him out and a possible wake up call for those “In Wenger we Trust” deluded.
Now you have it and the worse is in front of us.
We seem to rebuilt every season and the process is not even done properly (I mean how can you go into a season with 6 defenders?? That is just insane and stupid!!).
We will have no shot at the BPL and the CL, we just don’t have the squad, the manager, the mentality, the experience, the courage, the guidance and the drive.
This club went from one of the best in world football to a basic team showing up in competitions and disappearing after few rounds because it is not the objective anyway.
you would think that it’s wenger playing on the field every game… cuz somehow the fact that our squad (which has huge potential) is underperforming is all wenger’s fault… the players need to sack up and take some responsibility on themselves instead of hiding behind wenger all the time