Wenger’s Olympics block makes it clear Iwobi is key player for Arsenal

It is a little bit of a blow for the Arsenal and Nigeria international star Alex Iwobi that Arsene Wenger has made a U-turn on the decision not to stand in the way of the 20-year old going to the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro next month to represent his country, but these things happen.

If Iwobi goes on to realise his potential there will be many more chances for him on the international stage and he must surely realise that his club comes first at times like this. The fact that the Olympics is not a FIFA accredited tournament means that the Frenchman is well within his rights to stop his players going, as the Evening Standard reports he has done.

The reason for this must surely be the timing of it all, with Iwobi almost certain to miss at least the opening Premier League game against Liverpool if he went. And perhaps the reason for the change of heart on Wenger’s part is the fact that key players like Ramsey, Ozil, Giroud and Koscielny might not be match fit after their Euro 2016 exertions.

There is still some concern about the ankle of Alexis Sanchez as well so the boss clearly feels that the young Nigerian international is one of the players he is most likely to turn to and that can only be good news for the player and his future as a Gunner.

Bob.

Tags Nigeria

20 Comments

  1. What? Let him go. Yeah players need rest but we need a deep bench. Iwobi is simply another Campbell. Moments of greatness but not the whole package. Sign some some Wingers and a striker. It’s too bad Sissoko showed his true talent in the euros. Now he will never come.

  2. Any player who has gone to the euros will have finished the PL season and then gone straight in to trainaing for the euros with hardly any break or rest. Even if they did not play they would have to get physically and mentally prepared to play. Basically any player who went to the euros will need a rest/break/holiday, the further their team went then the later this rest would start and the later they will be ready to play for arsenal.

    In an ideal world, Iwobi would go to the olympics, it would be good for his development. However, with so many of our best players likely to be unready to play at the start of the season, this is a real opportunity for iwobi to establish himself as a first team regular. Lets hope he does well in training and the warm up games and is picked for the first team.

  3. Now that the Euro’s have finished, I wonder what Wenger will do now to distract himself from the transfer market? ?
    The Preseason will probably give him a good chance to sit on his hands again. ?

    I’m not being funny but that Sissoko would have been a better signing than Xhaka and at half the price.
    When he goes on a run the man is like juggernaut, what a beast, whereas Xhaka just a taller version of Jack wheelchair.

    It doesn’t look as if we are getting our WC striker, does it? ?
    How about a new manager instead? ? ?

      1. That’s where the buck normally stops mate, but in our case! making the bucks is far more important than anything else! ?Hence Wenger’s Legacy and untouchable status in Kroenke’s eye’s! £ ?£

        1. Manc sack their managers for not performing well enough in the champions league. Can you imagine Abramovich saying he is not “involved” to win championships.

          Kroenke rewards top four with a new contract and great concern about Wenger leaving. I expect we will find out what has been happening when Wenger writes his memoirs, untill then I will believe that Wenger is being financially constrained by the board/kroenke and that wenger has been set the task of maintaining fan support (ticket and merchandise sales), maintaining top four place and minimising spend. He is certainly not expected to spend to win the PL.

    1. ridiculous you just watched one match where he performed well and you think that he would have been a better signing than xhaka? a lot of liv fans were angry that they were linked to sissoko while we bought xhaka.. a worldclass player even from the view of the rivals and a lot of newcastle players blame sissoko for very bad performances.. they watched him the full year.. and you think that sissoko is better based on some strong runs?…

      1. Here we go!.. but, he looked a beast in every game, that he played for France! ?
        As for the Newcastle fan’s blaming him for their relegation, well, that just ludicrous! ?look it up in the dictionary, it says  ” see Manager” ?

        1. @ Fatboy, better still why not have both Xhaka and Sissoko.

          With the weak boys that we have in the squad (Ox, Theo, Jack, Ramsey, Welbeck), the out of favor Joel, aging Carzola, plus we lost 3 midfielders I’m sure Sissoko would be a variable asset even from the bench.

          I’m sure he would be much more cozy even starting from our bench with CL football and all than playing in the championship.

        2. Anyways, We could have signed Sissoko for less than £ 15 million before the Euro’s, but Newcastle are now demanding £35 million for the player! So there you go, that bump up in fee tells you everything that you need to know about Sissoko’ s performance for France. ?

          1. @Fatboy,

            Think of it this way:

            Would you rather work the whole year your a** off for a raise when you really need to be diligent for just one month during summer holidays to get that raise?

            Because that’s how Sissoko fooled everyone. He underperformed whole season because he’s lazy but played his heart out for France because:
            A) he will now get bumber contract and B) most likely transfer to somewhere else

            We don’t need lazy players who play 5 good games a year. We already have too many.

  4. Let the kid go Arsene, maybe he could actually win something with his country.

    The fact that you have useless players that you cant fully trust in Theo, Ox, Sanogo, etc does not mean you should cling on to the young man for a few weeks. His still fresh to international football, he needs as much experience and exposure as he can get, besides he only knows how to play the Arsenal way at the moment and boy does it have its shortcomings.

    Sign another winger, striker, and CB and let the young man go to Brazil.

  5. I think a club manager not allowing a player to represent his country at a major sport’s event is wrong. Allow Iwobi to play

    If Wenger is not getting rid of Walcott or Ox then RW can be played by Theo, Ramsey, Ox, Campbell until Iwobi comes back

    Olympics ends on 21st August so he will only miss the 1st 2 PL matches and he can be given another 2-3 weeks rest and only miss first 3 matches. We can cope with Ramsey, Theo, Ox, Campbell, Wilshere for 3 matches. Also, not allowing Iwobi to play for his country can upset him mentally also

    If Wenger had signed someone like Mktharyan then it wouldn’t have been a problem at all. Wenger should still try to sign either Mahrez, Aubemeyang, Reus, Draxler, Greizmann, Rodriguez, Turan, Gotze to strengthen our attack as well as a striker like Higuain, Icardi, Lacazette.

    I still think we should get rid of Theo and Sanogo and sign new attacking players

    1. campbell and gibbs should go as well … the sad thing is that there are players out there who could sterngthen our first 11 but wenger seems to be stuck in his own fourth place fantasy world

      1. It’s a fantasy that is also shared by and sanctioned by the board of directors at Arsenal FC.

        I really don’t understand why is it so hard for the Manager of this beautiful club to buy world class players, that are needed for any serious football club in one of the best leagues in the world that are looking to compete with the best for major honors!!! Arsene and the board of directors are greedy tight-fisted penny pinching ********************************…

        We the Arsenal fans, supporters suffer the same bull-crap every year. Whilst all other teams strengthen their ranks and at least attempt to make an effort to win things, we are told to expect only challenge for a top 4th position, and then expected to celebrate as if we won the league or champions league… Each year we tend horde our dead-wood/dead-weight who earn too much money for their return in this current climate.

        Mr Weng… should allow Iwobi to partake in the Olympic games which will prove to be a great experience for him, and he should stop being a tight-A*** and start buying these top, top, top, players that he so often talks about year-in year-out!!!

  6. Iwobi should be at the olympics and i strongly feel its not much arsenal club decision, its more iwobi camp decision. I think he see the opportunity to be fully integrated in the senior squad, but i feel the olympics platform would be a platform to launch is Arsenal career properly with a good tournament.

    He is still at risk in not cementing a permanent position even during and after preseason, while the opportunity of the olympics fade away

  7. It’snot a FIFA accredited competition and therefore as his employer, Arsenal have every right to bloke whoever they form competing at the Olympics.

    If Nigeria go all the way in the Olympics, it would mean him missing at least 5 weeks of the new season if Wenger sticks to his usual 4 week holiday after competitions. Let’s face it, football is not really an Olympic sport any more than golf is, it’s not a priority and is a second class competition in the world of football.

    Is it worth risking a player for something so insignificant in the grand scheme of things?

  8. Well, if Iwobi is a “key player” for Arsenal, I am not surprised “ghost” like Wilshere and Walcott are considered “Arsenal stars”…!!
    Thankfully it is only at Arsenal we can experience absurdity and religious mediocrity…!!
    Those 3 players would be playing for the youth team at B.Munich, Real M or Barcelona… Easy!!

    None of us will see the day when Arsenal will win the CL or even the EPL again… At least until Wenger is around….

    Total circus…!!

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