Chamberlain and Gnabry?
Chamberlain and Gnabry?
I'm not sure either are wingers, though Oxo is brilliant, isn't Gnabry a central player again?Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
I think we have too many central midfielders though, it would be tempting to cull a few to bring in what we need and have a more balanced squad.
We've got an abundance of these central players and yet are short in a few other areas (up front is ridiculous to be honest), it would be good to have players playing in their natural positions rather than having to stick them out wide.
IIRC, didn't we bid for Bender before we got Flams on a free?
I hope so, I would prefer to keep Sagna TBH, I think he has had a very good season, I feel we could get at least another good season out of him. I think he's gone though.
I doubt Sagna will stick around tbh, it's rare for a player to leave it this long before signing up, being a free agent he'll probably get some lucrative offers.
Yeah totally agree Zim. Its looking increasingly likely that he's a goner, all the usual soundbites are coming out of Sagna's camp, "we moved to slowly to offer contract", "wage is too low", blah blah blah
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...-sagna-3179746
I wonder if we will replace him properly.
We did, but we ended up with Flamini as a matter of expediency, rather than any concerted plan and I'm not sure Wenger is satisfied that he is the long term solution. There is evidence for that too as he seems to prefer Arteta who is a few years older himself.
I'd love to keep Sagna and I'm not sure how far his current wages are from 100k a week (that's the reported figure he wants) but I would be inclined to pay it for his years of consistent service. I didn't want to lose him last season when he was getting hammered and I sure as hell don't want to lose him now.
Like many other though, I fear the impasse will remain... The club will stick their heels in and so will he as players are increasingly doing these days. We were happy to pay Podolski 100k a week and equally happy for him to watch most games from the bench.
On Chamberlain and Gnabry I think that they are ostensibly wide players, but Wenger insists they will eventually be central players and fundamentally are. However that pending 'eventually' may never actually come as it did not with Walcott. Needs must, the game evolves, the players and clubs should follow suit within reason.
We have so many central players as you say that somebody has to play wide.... One might argue the pair of them (who have a very similar skill sets) are better wide players than they are central midfield players at this moment in time / their careers.
Otherwise we effectively have OxO, Gnabry, Ramsey, Rosicky, Wilshere, Ozil, Cazorla, Arteta, Flamini....... and that is without respectfully including Diaby.
To be brutally honest, I believe that Sagna has more than warranted a deal worth ~£100k p/wk.
Over the seasons, he has been 1 of our (if not the) most consistent Players. Asking for the going rate for Players of his calibre is hardly like asking for the ridiculously over inflated wages that the likes of Rooney ask for. He is easily regarded as an integral part of the team and still has a good couple of seasons left in him at the top level.
From a personal perspective, I would find it difficult (if I were in his position), to know that there were fellow Players earning substantially more yet not spending nearly as much time on the pitch as he is:
Verminator - earns 70k p/wk
Podolski - earns over £100k p/wk
Don't get me wrong, I know that this isn't exactly the fault of the Players in the example... But you get the idea of where I'm coming from (with regards to how Sagna would view things).
We lose him, we lose an experienced, moreover consistent player and one that can cover right back AND centre back at a high level. It would be a hugely big deal to let him go.
Ye we might lose an experienced and consistent player, but he if true, he got offers from Galatasary (footballers hardly pays taxes there) and silly-money clubs and we cant compete with that. He's 31 and, if true, we're offering him 2 years with a good salary, if thats not good enough, he can just fuck off.
Personally i dont care if he leaves, i see him as a fast central defender, deployed on the right back position. He's really good defensively, but he offer us almost nothing offensively like we see with Gibbs and Monreal and i'd rather want that, idealy i want a non-injured Gibbs clone for right back.
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