I have been doing my usual daily read of all subjects Arsenal related and I came across a very interesting article in the Mirror, which basically listed all the Arsenal players and gave an opinion on who would leave or remain at the Emirates.
I agreed with some of their views and disagreed with others and so what I have decided to do here is list the players, highlight the Mirrors opinion, and put mine beside theirs.
Bernd Leno:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Petr Cech:
Mirror – Retiring
JustArsenal – Retiring
David Ospina: Out on loan
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Leave
Emiliano Martinez: Out on loan
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Matt Macey: Out on loan
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Defenders
Hector Bellerin:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Stephan Lichtsteiner:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Leave
Carl Jenkinson:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Leave
Rob Holding:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Sokratis Papastathopoulos:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Laurent Koscielny:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Shkodran Mustafi:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Remain
Konstantinos Mavropanos:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Sead Kolasinac:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Nacho Monreal:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Calum Chambers: Out on loan
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Leave
Midfielders
Aaron Ramsey:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Leave
Mohamed Elneny:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Leave
Lucas Torreira:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Matteo Guendouzi:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Henrikh Mkhitaryan:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Leave
Mesut Ozil:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Remain
Grant Xhaka:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Alex Iwobi:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Ainsley Maitland-Niles:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Joe Willock:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Denis Suarez:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Leave
Emile Smith-Rowe: Out on loan
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Forwards
Alexandre Lacazette:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
Danny Welbeck:
Mirror – Leave
JustArsenal – Remain
Eddie Nketiah:
Mirror – Remain
JustArsenal – Remain
A long list and as you can see there are not many areas that I disagree with the Mirror on but here is my reasoning behind the few disagreements we have.
Shkodran Mustafi:
The Mirror reckons he will leave but I do not think he will, Emery has a soft spot for the German and even though I am of the opinion he is not good enough for us, the manager is and that is all that matters.
Calum Chambers:
I reckon he will be sold and The Mirror reckons he has a future with us, I just do not see that. He is consistently loaned out and we need to raise funds and he would be an easy sell.
Mohamed Elneny:
I know that Emery seems to like Elneny, but surely even the boss knows that he has no long term prospects with us, he is simply not good enough. And while the Mirror thinks he will stay, I can see him being sold to raise funds. He is a fringe player at the end of the day.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan:
The Mirror is convinced the Armenian will remain at the Emirates but I believe he will be sold, he is still fairly valuable and will raise a decent amount and at the same time free up a significant salary commitment, and I feel that Emery will realise this and cash in while he can.
Mesut Ozil:
I do not think it matters if we want to sell him, the bottom line is he does not want to go and even if he did, who would take on his wages and pay out a significant transfer fee? The Mirror says he will be sold, I just cannot see that happening.
Danny Welbeck:
Because he is available to leave on a free at the end of the season the Mirror is confident he will depart the Emirates, but I reckon we will offer him a new contract and keep him as a squad player.
Phew, that is it, what are your opinions, do you think the Mirror has it generally right or do you disagree with them as I do on some players?
Agree with almost everything.
Ozil does not need to be sold. He just needs 1-2 wingers or MF’s that are good too to raise his and everyone’s game.
Also I think keep Chambers.
If I have the full authority over the player contracts and transfers at Arsenal, I would release or try to sell:
– Koscielny and Monreal: Good old soldiers, but their performances have decreased a lot due to aging. Time for rejuvenation
– Elneny: Poor guy that never got his chance to play regularly as a starter, but definitely not in Emery’s plan
– Ozil and Mkhitaryan: Would be difficult to find buyers for them. But we might still be able to market Ozil, because he can sell a lot of shirts, which would be highly profitable for his suitor
– Xhaka: If he doesn’t score or assist, he is almost useless. We need a more technically gifted playmaker that can control the game, make quicker decisions, score and assist
Xhaka has been okay this season. We can definitely upgrade but being realistic, we need to focus on improving defense, wingers, Ramsey replacement before we worry about Xhaka.
Agree, we need to get a more dominant CB and more skilled wingers first
The first signing we must make this season is Ismael Bennacer because he’s quality and we have a first option clause in his contract.
He’s a CM who plays like Xhaka and Torreira in one but can actually beat players.He’s very good and I wish he didn’t leave.We must not let such a quality player slip out of our hands when we need some.He is better than Guendouzi and Xhaka and also Torreira with the ball at his feet.
I disagree with a number of your remains but I do not have the inclination to argue at length on this site.However I am compelled to state the case for keeping Chambers who as you acknowledge would be “an easy sell”.He would indeed attract a lot of interest because he has proved his worth during his loan season with Fulham who I believe would like to retain him.He has impressed as a DM and given his versatility why would Arsenal not recall him and retain low quality defenders such as Mustafi and Socratis other than for the fact that they have little resale value.If we are to make progress next season we really must offload all our aging and inadequate defenders together with Mik and if at all possible, Ozil.In this connection would a move to a tax free scene such as Monaco attract him?.If so , would a swap arrangement with Tielemans be possible?
Please i’m i the only person that doesn’t rate kolasinac? He can’t defend at all, why should we keep him when we can make a profit and buy a proper first choice fullback. Monreal can stay as back up for one more year.
cant defend but the best crosser on the team, so he has value. I am also okay with our LB’s for one more season, Just because I think we need two CB’s and not one.
Have you seen his deliveries of late? It’s been shocking, yes, he crosses more than anyone else in the team but our defense will never improve with him as a starter. I agree we need CB’s but we can only expect one to come in realistically and i think the LB position is just as important.
As long as our defense looks drastically different and improved next season then I’m fine with that. I know LB isn’t good enough right now, but I just dont know what our budget will be and if we can find an improvement as well as get those vital positions fixed all around the other parts of the pitch. Kola and Monreal are “acceptable” standards of LB. Not great, but not terrible. Meanwhile other parts of our squad…
I disagree with you on the LB’s but I agree with you on the CB’s part.The two could happen though because we’ve been shambolic defensively and I kind of expect three CB’s to get sold.
However,when it comes to Monreal and Kola both aren’t good enough and if this glaring weakness is ignored then next season people would be complaining about how we should be signed a LB.Better for us to sign a LB this season and then sell Monreal.We can’t afford to go into next season without a LB.
He is very good in attacking and Emery’s tactics require wingbacks/ fullbacks that can play well as wingers. His strategy is similar to Klopp’s and that’s why Robertson/ Arnold created the most assists at Liverpool
Emery doesn’t need rigid fullbacks that can only defend like Jenkinson/ Lichtsteiner. He needs a skilled ones like Ricardo Pereira
Besides, Kolasinac’s salary might be too high for other clubs. Monreal’s performances have worsen and Kolasinac must be pushed by a younger LB/ LWB
I disagree, i prefer a LB that can attack and defend. You mention Robertson and Arnold but they can actually defend. kolasinac spends most of his time watching his teammates defend so i disagree with your last statement, he shouldn’t be first choice. Klopp benched Moreno all season for Robertson because he can’t defend so bad example from you.
Hence this gives more reason why Monreal has to be sold because he was supposed to be just that but is clearly past his best.I would be very happy if we could find a similar and younger version of him in the market.
Kolasinac telegraphs his play too much.Imo he’s not very good but Monreal is past his best so we should sell him and bring in one.
Monreal won’t fetch any money as his contract is expiring. Kolasinac on the other hand could bring a good profit towards buying a new LB, he’s also massively overpaid and i don’t care that he was free.
Has anyone taken notice of Lucas Digne at Everton? I think he’s the best left back in the Epl and an upgrade to Kola. We should definitely be looking to sign him this summer. Plus he’s a dead ball specialist… wow!!
It is good to highlight the players that will be staying or leaving. But if our manger feels losing to teams like West Ham, at home to Crystal Palace, Southampton (draw) wolves (draw at home), Everton while playing miserably and conceding like an amateur represent a good season then am sorry to say the club considered its to be an average club. Pep will never say that, Klopp will never say that. It is always encouraging when a manger gets it wrong and apologise for have a miserable run of results. No manger of a football club as big as Arsenal, with the amount people pay for tickets will be satisfied with himself. There hasn’t been a full stadium in a while and he feels he has done a good job. If we win Europa League then he can say either way he has achieved something important and notable, because that will make all the shameful football we play in premier league a little bit inconsequential.
Leicester played us like men versus children.
Cech,Ospina,Jenkinson,Monreal,Mustafi,Chambers,Xhaka,Elneny,Mkhitaryan,Welbeck and Ozil must all either be sold or allowed to leave the club.Then we should sign a CB,LB,CM,RW and promote some youngsters:Bielik,Osei-Tutu,Willock
This summer transfer window is going to be a transformational one for us so we can’t afford to make mistakes or else we risk being far away from City and Liverpool who have set the standard and thus delaying the number of seasons required for us to really start challenging.
to me get out Mike, lost his touch & tec abilities along with pace, let off kos (age & injuries), mustafi (chicken head blunders), Elneny out ( not good at all) get a huge physical DM to support/ rotate with cake, need pacy wingers with clear touch of class, and again a goal keeper. above all replace Ramsey with someone better than Ozil
Lacazete may be off to barca
Would be loss to arsenal, but he will be a fool to miss such..what do yall think about that..to go or. Not to go..he a great player and if arsenal dont give him , backing with decent players what yhe use
Lacazette is our best player. If we lost Laca he could fund a lot of great transfers though. We’ve seen what Liverpool have had to do to build their squad. But given how poor the rest of the team is I’d rather see him stay and we sell off a bunch of our deadwood, even if they are on bargain deals. Just get them out of the club.
and losing our only big game players, Laca and Ramsey in the same window would be crushing. Gotta keep him and improve.
Calum should remain,his loan at Fulham has seen him improved,he gained experience and game time,if you has seen him he is very commanding in defense,playing for a botton team he will have learnt more than at a better club,don,t forget he is young,unai will do wonders with him,also he could play in midfield,remember Wenger who said to be a good midfielder you have to start at the back for vision,he wil hav d a better understanding of the game,for me bring him back to arsenal and could play different positions.
Why not push Kolasinac forward left and still buy a left back?
Is it because of his defending?