Evening everyone.
Still not much happening due to a flurry of international games, but at least all our players have come through unscathed for now.
Well, actually, there's one exception: Mesut Ozil. The German hasn't featured for die Mannschaft twice, both in their loss to Argentine and in their narrow win over Scotland. This casts a shadow of doubt over Ozil's potential involvement on Saturday.
Those of you who watched Leicester vs Arsenal should remember how our playmaker hurt his ankle and needed lengthy treatment on the sidelines. Had he sustained that knock a couple of minutes earlier, Mesut would have been substituted, but he didn't and thus we had no chance to take the German off. Instead, he played the remainder of the game and this, I suspect, wasn't the best thing for him to have done.
So now Ozil is a doubt for Man City game. The reigning champions have problems of their own, with Kompany and Jovetic both likely to miss through injury, so that's a bonus, which can make our life easier.
The seriousness of Ozil's injury is yet to be confirmed by the manager, so maybe his absence from the Germany squad was a precaution above all else, but even if it wasn't, we have players to fill the hypothetical void left by Mesut. Not ideal, we all remember how Arsenal struggled to create chances without the German, but not end-of-the-world stuff either.
For starters, there's Tomas Rosicky, who's expressed his displeasure at not being player regularly. Then again, Ozil played on the wing, so we may introduce Oxlade on the left with Sanchez on the right or vice versa. Now that we have Welbeck, Arsene can afford to ease Sanchez into his new position. I'll go over our options in the usual preview, the picture should become clearer by then.
In other news, Arteta and Giroud seem to be on the brink of being offered new contracts. The Frenchman should get a two-year extension, while our captain will get only a one-year deal. His current one expires in less than twelve months. Giroud is under contract until 2016.
I've already talked about how Giroud is important to our current set-up, so I have no problem with him staying. We're yet to see what role Welbeck will fulfil, so Giroud's position is also unclear, but Olivier is definitely a quality back-up striker, if not more. I suspect the Frenchman will be behind Sanchez in the pecking order (after the Chilean adapts, of course), but, as these two have completely different playstyles, it's not saying much. With Welbeck on board things become complicated, but we'll see.
Arteta, meanwhile, is no less important, than Giroud. The Spaniard was made captain for a number of reasons. Firstly, he is a leader and his mere presence is vital. He helps his teammates, supports them, spurs them on when needed be. Arteta is important for the morale of the team.
The other reason is that the Spaniard remains a crucial cog in our machine. Deployed as a deep-lying midfielder he sweeps up and helps the defenders out, while his metronomic passing sets a tempo to our game. There's a criticism aimed at Mikel for not being fast enough on the ball (he may be, but I still cannot recall when was the last time Arteta lost it under pressure). Also, the Spaniard was vilified for his weak display against the top sides, but I tend to look at these results as a collective failure.
However, complications regarding Arteta's role may arise. We all know Arsene is somewhat reluctant to offer big contracts to players over 30 (Arteta turns 33 in March) and it's for a reason: more often than not these players have to accept reduced roles. The reduced roles usually bring about reduced salaries, something that won't make our skipper happy. It's not like he's one of the highest-paid at the Club, so a drop in wages may be tangible.
Finally for today, Jack Wilshere has hit back at Jamie Rednapp for being a two-bit idiot (I kid, I kid. He IS an idiot, but Jack hasn't said so.) Rednapp said there are no more excuses for Wilshere not to perform, to which the Englishman replied:
“To hear people go on TV and say: ‘He’s got to get fitter,’ well, I don’t need that. I listen to people like the boss here, Gary Neville, people who talk a lot of sense and can help me with my game. It doesn’t ‘hurt’ me, hearing criticism from ex-players. It probably disappoints me a little bit more. I heard what Robbie Savage said and that was, if you like, the first ex-player to give me constructive criticism. I respected that. I’ll take criticism. I know that’s part and parcel of football. But when it’s just reckless and aggressive, I don’t listen.”
There's a good boy. Frankly, Wilshere knows he has to deliver, but criticising him after just one game is as absurd as it gets. You can read the rest of the interview here.
That's it for today, back in a couple of days with fresh news
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
Still not much happening due to a flurry of international games, but at least all our players have come through unscathed for now.
Well, actually, there's one exception: Mesut Ozil. The German hasn't featured for die Mannschaft twice, both in their loss to Argentine and in their narrow win over Scotland. This casts a shadow of doubt over Ozil's potential involvement on Saturday.
Those of you who watched Leicester vs Arsenal should remember how our playmaker hurt his ankle and needed lengthy treatment on the sidelines. Had he sustained that knock a couple of minutes earlier, Mesut would have been substituted, but he didn't and thus we had no chance to take the German off. Instead, he played the remainder of the game and this, I suspect, wasn't the best thing for him to have done.
So now Ozil is a doubt for Man City game. The reigning champions have problems of their own, with Kompany and Jovetic both likely to miss through injury, so that's a bonus, which can make our life easier.
The seriousness of Ozil's injury is yet to be confirmed by the manager, so maybe his absence from the Germany squad was a precaution above all else, but even if it wasn't, we have players to fill the hypothetical void left by Mesut. Not ideal, we all remember how Arsenal struggled to create chances without the German, but not end-of-the-world stuff either.
For starters, there's Tomas Rosicky, who's expressed his displeasure at not being player regularly. Then again, Ozil played on the wing, so we may introduce Oxlade on the left with Sanchez on the right or vice versa. Now that we have Welbeck, Arsene can afford to ease Sanchez into his new position. I'll go over our options in the usual preview, the picture should become clearer by then.
In other news, Arteta and Giroud seem to be on the brink of being offered new contracts. The Frenchman should get a two-year extension, while our captain will get only a one-year deal. His current one expires in less than twelve months. Giroud is under contract until 2016.
I've already talked about how Giroud is important to our current set-up, so I have no problem with him staying. We're yet to see what role Welbeck will fulfil, so Giroud's position is also unclear, but Olivier is definitely a quality back-up striker, if not more. I suspect the Frenchman will be behind Sanchez in the pecking order (after the Chilean adapts, of course), but, as these two have completely different playstyles, it's not saying much. With Welbeck on board things become complicated, but we'll see.
Arteta, meanwhile, is no less important, than Giroud. The Spaniard was made captain for a number of reasons. Firstly, he is a leader and his mere presence is vital. He helps his teammates, supports them, spurs them on when needed be. Arteta is important for the morale of the team.
The other reason is that the Spaniard remains a crucial cog in our machine. Deployed as a deep-lying midfielder he sweeps up and helps the defenders out, while his metronomic passing sets a tempo to our game. There's a criticism aimed at Mikel for not being fast enough on the ball (he may be, but I still cannot recall when was the last time Arteta lost it under pressure). Also, the Spaniard was vilified for his weak display against the top sides, but I tend to look at these results as a collective failure.
However, complications regarding Arteta's role may arise. We all know Arsene is somewhat reluctant to offer big contracts to players over 30 (Arteta turns 33 in March) and it's for a reason: more often than not these players have to accept reduced roles. The reduced roles usually bring about reduced salaries, something that won't make our skipper happy. It's not like he's one of the highest-paid at the Club, so a drop in wages may be tangible.
Finally for today, Jack Wilshere has hit back at Jamie Rednapp for being a two-bit idiot (I kid, I kid. He IS an idiot, but Jack hasn't said so.) Rednapp said there are no more excuses for Wilshere not to perform, to which the Englishman replied:
“To hear people go on TV and say: ‘He’s got to get fitter,’ well, I don’t need that. I listen to people like the boss here, Gary Neville, people who talk a lot of sense and can help me with my game. It doesn’t ‘hurt’ me, hearing criticism from ex-players. It probably disappoints me a little bit more. I heard what Robbie Savage said and that was, if you like, the first ex-player to give me constructive criticism. I respected that. I’ll take criticism. I know that’s part and parcel of football. But when it’s just reckless and aggressive, I don’t listen.”
There's a good boy. Frankly, Wilshere knows he has to deliver, but criticising him after just one game is as absurd as it gets. You can read the rest of the interview here.
That's it for today, back in a couple of days with fresh news
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)