Good evening.
It's been a bit quiet in terms of Arsenal-related news for the last couple of days. And this probably shouldn't come as a surprise: the last game was won (so no introspection is required), our next FA Cup opponent is not Bayern Munich and the situation on the injury front is about to be drastically improved with the returns of Flamini, Ramsey, Ozil, Welbeck and Giroud. Still, there are bits and pieces I'd like to discuss. Starting with
Szczmoking habits
The story of our №1 goalkeeper having a smoke in the showers after the defeat to Saints has been all over the newspapers. Initially, some reports hinted at a row between the manager and Wojciech. A falling-out (if there was one) is understandable: a self-inflicted 2-0 defeat, with Chezza the main man to blame on one hand, and a dissatisfied Arsene on the other. These reports were consequently squashed by Arsenal's press team, but soon others emerged: these of Wojciech being punished for having a smoke in the showers. For that the Pole was allegedly fined £20 000 and there is no consensus reached on whether or not Wojciech would be dropped and if he would be, then for how long.
The bit about fining Szczesny doesn't worry me in the slightest: he's a wealthy guy earning £100k per week. It's pocket money for him, literally a day's work. The smoking itself also is of little concern to me. As long as it doesn't affect his performances, he can smoke three packs a day for all I care: he's a grown man who can decide for himself what's in his best interests.
But here we've come to the most important part: DOES smoking affect his performances? If this incident in the showers is a one-off, then definitely not. However, if Wojciech has made a habit of it and it's influencing the way he plays, then he should be dropped.
I think this particular "dropping" bit should be decided solely on the Pole's performances. As for me, I think a spell on the sidelines can do Chezza some good. The impression he's left this season is not particularly shiny: only 3 clean sheets in 24 games and a stupid red card against Galatasaray. Add the absolutely atrocious performance against Southampton on top and both Ospina and Martinez look better-placed to protect our goal right now. Damian has three clean sheets in four starts, Ospina has one in two.
So I'd drop Szczesny and give the Colombian a run in the side. He's had a solid performance against Hull (they didn't prove much of a threat, but still) and, as I've said, it can be highly educational for Szczesny. One such spell on the bench back in 2013 brought about the desired effect, so we can repeat the experiment.
Transfers
No, we haven't brought anyone in. Right now Bielik and Perrin seem our most likely transfer targets, but there are question marks over the latter, because, though he himself claimed to have been contacted by Arsene, Saint-Etienne denied receiving any bids.
However, I'm not too worried we haven't bought anyone yet: we always tend to close deals very late in the transfer window, so I don't expect any arrivals before the last week, most probably before the very last day. Yes, there are beautiful exceptions to us buying players early in the window (Sanchez, Giroud), but: a) I cannot recall us buying early in winter b) it's the exception, not the norm. The norm is Ozil, Welbeck, Arteta etc.
It's the game of brinkmanship Wenger plays and who would blame him? When Bony goes for £30 million to consequently sit on the bench or Falcao's loan is worth £20 million, Arsene is really trying to find value for the money he pays. As he often does just that, I see no sense in questioning the way he does things.
Finally, if you are still getting worked up because of Podolski's departure, check out this article. It explains why exactly losing Podolski isn't such a big loss after all.
That's it for now. Back with a preview on the 10th, most likely.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
It's been a bit quiet in terms of Arsenal-related news for the last couple of days. And this probably shouldn't come as a surprise: the last game was won (so no introspection is required), our next FA Cup opponent is not Bayern Munich and the situation on the injury front is about to be drastically improved with the returns of Flamini, Ramsey, Ozil, Welbeck and Giroud. Still, there are bits and pieces I'd like to discuss. Starting with
Szczmoking habits
The story of our №1 goalkeeper having a smoke in the showers after the defeat to Saints has been all over the newspapers. Initially, some reports hinted at a row between the manager and Wojciech. A falling-out (if there was one) is understandable: a self-inflicted 2-0 defeat, with Chezza the main man to blame on one hand, and a dissatisfied Arsene on the other. These reports were consequently squashed by Arsenal's press team, but soon others emerged: these of Wojciech being punished for having a smoke in the showers. For that the Pole was allegedly fined £20 000 and there is no consensus reached on whether or not Wojciech would be dropped and if he would be, then for how long.
The bit about fining Szczesny doesn't worry me in the slightest: he's a wealthy guy earning £100k per week. It's pocket money for him, literally a day's work. The smoking itself also is of little concern to me. As long as it doesn't affect his performances, he can smoke three packs a day for all I care: he's a grown man who can decide for himself what's in his best interests.
But here we've come to the most important part: DOES smoking affect his performances? If this incident in the showers is a one-off, then definitely not. However, if Wojciech has made a habit of it and it's influencing the way he plays, then he should be dropped.
I think this particular "dropping" bit should be decided solely on the Pole's performances. As for me, I think a spell on the sidelines can do Chezza some good. The impression he's left this season is not particularly shiny: only 3 clean sheets in 24 games and a stupid red card against Galatasaray. Add the absolutely atrocious performance against Southampton on top and both Ospina and Martinez look better-placed to protect our goal right now. Damian has three clean sheets in four starts, Ospina has one in two.
So I'd drop Szczesny and give the Colombian a run in the side. He's had a solid performance against Hull (they didn't prove much of a threat, but still) and, as I've said, it can be highly educational for Szczesny. One such spell on the bench back in 2013 brought about the desired effect, so we can repeat the experiment.
Transfers
No, we haven't brought anyone in. Right now Bielik and Perrin seem our most likely transfer targets, but there are question marks over the latter, because, though he himself claimed to have been contacted by Arsene, Saint-Etienne denied receiving any bids.
However, I'm not too worried we haven't bought anyone yet: we always tend to close deals very late in the transfer window, so I don't expect any arrivals before the last week, most probably before the very last day. Yes, there are beautiful exceptions to us buying players early in the window (Sanchez, Giroud), but: a) I cannot recall us buying early in winter b) it's the exception, not the norm. The norm is Ozil, Welbeck, Arteta etc.
It's the game of brinkmanship Wenger plays and who would blame him? When Bony goes for £30 million to consequently sit on the bench or Falcao's loan is worth £20 million, Arsene is really trying to find value for the money he pays. As he often does just that, I see no sense in questioning the way he does things.
Finally, if you are still getting worked up because of Podolski's departure, check out this article. It explains why exactly losing Podolski isn't such a big loss after all.
That's it for now. Back with a preview on the 10th, most likely.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)