Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Wenger hints at striker cull

Arsene Wenger has conceded that Marouane Chamakh and Ju Young Park have not played enough football this season and hinted that he’ll offload both in the summer if suitable deals can be done.

The Moroccan and South Korean ‘strikers’ have been reduced to little more than benchwarming duty since the start of last season following in the bumprints of Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela who were subjected to similar treatment last term.

It is believed that all four players are available to potential suitors, although their respective long(ish)-term contracts and big(ish) pay packets appear to be major stumbling blocks to permanent moves.

Speaking to the media this morning about his plans for the summer, the boss revealed: “That is a situation we have not sorted out yet but we will do that, of course, at the end of the season.

“They need opportunities to play and some players didn’t get enough opportunities here during the season. We will try to give them an opportunity to play if they get the chance somewhere else.”

In fairness to Bendtner and Vela, they’ve both proved in recent months that given regular playing time, they are capable of putting the ball in the back of the onion bag even for less ‘fashionable’ teams. Perhaps, despite the fact they’ve been on the receiving end of constant fan jibes, both Chamakh and Park can do the same elsewhere…

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heihaci

Bentdner and Vela are better than Chamakh and Park

But all four strikers are not Arsenal class IMO

Merdebag

Chamakh looks like a newborn

heihaci

The Great Dane should be playing for Barca alongside Messi. That is his real level!

CAGooner

I can just see Pep talking to Bendtner: “Grab some pine, Meat!”

AMURICAH

wouldn’t pep be speaking cuntalan

Goon Mate

I wonder.. Who will fill Chamakh’s Bumprints next season? Cos they’ll be pretty large Bumprints. Lol

ThaatArsenalGuy

They’ll have to febreeze the tobacco stench from the seat too

Cygan's Right Foot

After selling we can buy Cahill and Benzema…..

Hurley

Cahill?!?!

Cygan's Right Foot

More… more thumbs downs are needed to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need!!

Midfield Corporal

That made me laugh out loud

AMURICAH

everyone takes every thing so serious on the website wenger out we need to get back to fourth to claim our 4th place trophy

gooner

or hangaelaand and hunterlar

ThaatArsenalGuy

migel veloso and sakho

Titsan Arse

I think that this summer will finally be the summer that Sebastian Frey becomes an Arsenal player, GET IN!!!

Le sausage

So thats four pieces of dead weight we can offload…although the greatest striker in the world isn’t so bad as a back-up, still better than Park and Chamakh. And we still have Joel Campbell to come back!

Summit

On the subject of strikers, does anyone know whether we are going to have Joel Campbell for next season? What’s the latest on his visa stuff?

ggggggoooooooonnnnnnneerrrrr

i see this boy campbell and i cant help but be reminded of a certain samuel etoo, he could easily score 20+ goals a season, hes just a natural striker, and hes performed at the top international level too, this kid is real special i tell you

GunnerDareMKD

He doesn’t have a permit and unlikely he will get one so he will be loaned again for another season I think again he will go to Lorient best team for his development and he did quite well and Lorient want him.

ilya

Can’t say enough good things about the kid, he’s got it all. I’ve seen him several times now for both Lorient and CR and he has really impressed me. I’m usually sceptical about youngsters doing well in lower league teams and weak national teams but I’ve seen some really special things from him. Not to overdue it but he reminds me of the original (Fat) Ronaldo; he’s got very good first touch, shoots very well with both feet, he’s a great dribbler with lots of flair, his positioning is not bad at all considering his age. Also he’s pretty strong… Read more »

feygooner

I think we should all calm down about Campbell and stop comparing him to Ronaldo and Eto’o right now.

Titi

He is 2 times better than Eto’o when he was at his age but is not as good as Ronaldo (Lima).
The guy has a lot of promise, looks like faster Van Persie to me, will learn alot from our Batman if they manage to be together next season, watch some of his game a Lorient, we be as good or even better than Eto’o under the watchful eyes of Le Professor

Oleg Luzhny

Personally, I don’t see a Costan Rican becoming a world beater.

I don’t even know what that means to be honest, but I just don’t see him being a 20+ goal threat consistently. Obviously he is young and hasn’t featured yet and therefore the jury is out.

Titi

Sir Alex F. did not think that Van Persie will become wordclass, that the reason he thought his youthful exuberance is not worth his talent – now see
Arsenal Fans thought Denilson will be as good or even better than Fabregas – result?
Real Madrid thought that Eto’o will be another African Waste of time – he went to Barca and hunted them
……………………………………………..
Stop saying what you think, and
Have you actually watched the guy play?

Simon

Feeling quite positive now, rvp and podolski as main two strikers next season with Joel Campbell or afobe as backup. Get rid of park chamakh vela and bendtner and that is a deadly strike force.

Binda

chamahk, park, vela are all players who want to play rather than have more money imo. bendtner though is a different case, but maybe a good summer can get him some money elsewhere

the only sam is nelson

Grant Holt

that’s all I’m saying

*taps nose*

Anton

So was Jensen’s, and we all know what happened there. Not that I’m slagging off Jensen though

Anton

Fuck, this was supposed to be a reply for the below post about Chamakh

argonaut

Those will be some very large bumprints indeed.

Mooro

What is this thing with Grant Holt, Sam?

You’re either his agent, or you’re a Norfolk Gooner, which may mean you’re his brother/dad/sister/aunt/nephew. All at the same time.

northerngoon

Mooro, so funny I lol’d.

gooner from bangladesh

Chamakh is better than the other three, trust me. His goal tally says so.

“In October 2010, Chamakh became the first player in UEFA Champions League history to score in six consecutive matches.”

^You can’t argue with THAT. He just needs to sort out his tits and start scoring again :S

Midfield Corporal

I can – 1 goal in a season and a half, I reckon If I played one might bounce in off my arse during that time.

I love the idea of a Striker Cull, reminds me of the cattle cull following the foot and mouth outbreak a few years ago. I can picture disinfectant soaked straw at the entrance to London Colney and a pile of useless strikers burning in the middle of the traing pitch so as not to infect any of our good strikers with their shitness.

gooner from bangladesh

Chamakh played like…what? 350 minutes during the whole season? That’s like.. less than 4 complete 90 minutes. Yes, I can understand that he has not performed well, but when you play so little, your confidence is supposed to go down the drain. You could see him working really hard in the match against Stoke. I say we give him a chance in the next two matches.

Midfield Corporal

He was great at first but lost it when RVP came back and maybe more telling, when this issue about his private life that we aren’t allowed to talk about surfaced.
To me he looks like a player without the desire to succeed, if he doesn’t have that fight in him then he should go.

Huntersanti

Completely agree with this. I rate him as a player, but I don’t think he has been able to fit into this team due to RVP’s form. I can’t remember the stats, but early on in his Arsenal career he had a good record, then we just stop playing him. Shame really.

I think he’ll move on and start putting them away elsewhere.

arseblog

I think there’s a reasonable player in there somewhere but the fact he’s hardly played isn’t just down to the form of van Persie.

He looks like he’s given up, and when he first came into the team the thing that impressed me most was how hard he worked.

ThaatArsenalGuy

exactly! remember how many goals he scored and how many players he got sent off for bringing him down as the last man. This is from working hard and constantly making dangerous runs. Then that nob van persie came back and ruined it for everyone.

Elly

I feel rather sorry for Chamakh. I watched some clips of him at Bordeaux and some of the early games at Arsenal the other day and just thought – what the hell has happened to him!? He really was quite a decent player, but I can’t help but agree, he looks like he’s given up. Understandable in a way, given that he can’t seem to get more than the odd 10 mins on the pitch even when we’re leading 3-0 against 10 men. He’s obviously realized that other than taking out a contract on RvP he’s just not going to… Read more »

Midfield Corporal

I can’t get past that terrible hairdo, looks like he uses the same stuff as Cameron Diaz on Something About Mary to style it. Actually if the rumours are true he probably does.

He is a shadow of the player who scored two against wolves last season.

Merlin's Panini

ah, I was wondering why he couldn’t kick the ball.
He’s a shadow. Of course!

ilya

Lol but we haven’t even seen park play so how can we judge his ability. This is tough to admit but the way Vela’s (and Bentner to a lesser extent) been scoring we might all be eating our words about their incompetence in the near future. Vela has deffinitely looked like a much better player this year, then he has for us and deffinitely way better then Chammakh, which is really sad because he seems like such a nice gay

Merlin's Panini

to be honest, I never thought Vela looked a bad player. I just thought he lacked the playing time and experience to be able to knock in goals when it matters, instead of a beautiful chip at the end of an easy 4-0.
He’s had the playing time at Sociedad and look what’s happened. Seems to me that his laziness in training is what kept him out of the side more than anything.

ggggggoooooooonnnnnnneerrrrr

i feel arsenal should apologize to park, he was leaving to get some regular and better football at lille but we bought him for no apparent reason and kept him inactive for a year which must have affected him both emotionally and physically, and its not like he was out of form we never even gave him a chance to play, like blackburn for example, the game was sealed and we threw on henry, so why did we buy him, first time i have ever been truly let down by arsenals conduct regarding transfers and players

arseblog

We bought him because we needed a striker. If he hasn’t played it’s because the manager doesn’t think he’s good enough to play. That’s the manager’s fault for sure, but I don’t feel sorry for Park. I’d rather he didn’t play if he wasn’t good enough, he’s getting well paid and he’ll find another club.

sJ

ggggggoooooooonnnnnnneerrrrr (heh copy pasting ftw), you’re forgetting Junichi Inamoto…http://www.arsenal.com/history/profiles/341/junichi-inamoto

IndieGunner

Inamoto! Wow, that brings back memories. We won something with him in the team? Maybe AW is a tiny bit superstitious. Buy a bad player. Let him warm the bench and sell him to Fulham.
What fun would it be to see him not score for Martin Jol, that fat cunt.

Anton

Shit cunts, out

Georgecostanza

Ya! Well said mate.

Jerryseinfeld

hahahahahahaha george. I agree. Shit Cunts. Got faith in Podolski, Campbell and Afobe not to get lazy/pissed off when Van Persie is first choice striker.

Midfield Corporal

Excellent point Anton

CAGooner

I know Chamakh sucks–I’ve seen him play. I can’t say anything about Park because–unless I was suffering a hallucination at the time–I’ve only seen him play once, and only for a few minutes. It remains a great mystery to me why Wenger pissed away money on a player who was doomed to ride the pine.

Merlin's Panini

maybe he got stuck to the bench. He just can’t get up.
the splinters must be horrible.

Matt

I’d like us to sign Fletcher from Wolves.
His chance/conversion ratio is impressive

badaab

I’m also keen on us adding Kevin Doyle, his work rate is fantastic and he’d provide us with a nice thorn in the opposition defense’s side in games where we need it.
As for Campbell, it remains to be seen if he will even be an option next term or if he will be again denied a work permit. If he can play for us, I’d see chamakh going. If not, the moroccan will likely stay.

argonaut

RVP, Podolski, Campbell and Afobe. Those are our 4 strikers for the foreseeable future, right there.

Cygan's Left Foot

True, so people can stop fantasising about new signing. You asked for early signing like last summer? Now we will get one more over 19 “Rough Diamond* and that is your lot for the season + all the LANS *books mark this page for future reference*. Last year Forehead was the ONLY over 18 signing until the 8-2 humiliation. The year before Koss (I know Squid signed too, but that because we lost the great Silvester), can you see what is coming next season??? Only one or maximum two over 18 players per season! The results is ……TOP 4 is… Read more »

tim

I’d rather we offload the once masked one rather than park.The form he has been in with the cats I think is his best but nowhere near arsenals standards.

ggggggoooooooonnnnnnneerrrrr

seriously guys, watch this video campbell is the real deal, ive watched every game he plays in and this guys got a real magic foot, not just tap ins but inside the 18 yard box this kid is a real wonder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3saNjxuL_U

Nick

Definitely sell Vela and Bendtner. Vela isn’t happy at Arsenal and he’s never gonna play more than 3rd string striker. Bendtner is a headcase we don’t want or need. Legend in his own mind any nobody elses. Park I truly feel sorry for as I’ve seen about as much playing time this term as he has. I’d love to know what Arsenal told him when we stole him from under LIlle’s noses. Chamakh I think is a decent striker but needs to be a first team starter to get into a groove and he’s not gonna get that here. Now… Read more »

atid

Park has yet to play 90 minutes of football in total. chamakh has played less than the equivalent of 4 matches. exactly how many goals are they expected to hit in such limited time. no matter what striker comes if he aint playing he wont score. sub appearances should not even be counted as an appearance they never used to years ago unless you came on in the first half. people slate bendtner but 45 goals in 79 starts for arsenal is a better record than van persie. having said all that with a squad currently containing 33 players under… Read more »

Spooner

That record is misleading though, as he had a fuckload of substitute appearances. Record or no record, the guy is a disruptive clown.

atid

Dont get me wrong read the.comment. but to count all bendtners sub appearances some of which were less than 5 minutes would be unfair. but here is another for you to consider goals per minutes played bendtner has a better record than henry and van persie. also at 24 years of age he has more career goals than wright bergkamp henry and van persie and more goals than any of them had in their first 79 starts for arsenal apart from wright. its these sort of stats that give him the belief that he is a good striker. obviously we… Read more »

Spooner

@ ATID, where do you get the so called minutes stats? Bendtner had 79 starts & 78 sub apps. Of course you can’t count them as full appearances, nor can you count the minutes evenly bearing in mind a sub usually comes on fresh when other players are tired. However, though respectable, I don’t think 45 in 79 + 78 makes him spectacular by any means. Especially as he’s been in a team where strikers often get chances galore. Take into account that apparently his idea of fun is to smash up people’s cars, then I don’t think he should… Read more »

TomC

Atid mate, one of the reasons these gays don’t get match time is because they’re completely shit in training or at least they are compared to the others. Park, Chamack etc can’t cut it. They were mistakes. All managers make them.

Playing in matches is a privilege earned in training and not an entitlement just because you signed a contract. So let’s not feel sorry for them.

[…] 来源:[Arseblog News] by BY ANDREW ALLEN […]

charlie

It were left to me, we’d have Podolski, Robin and Theo as main strikers. It’s high time Theo plays central. Robin will still bang them in playing on the right of a three pronged attack. He does for Holland, and it would also prevent his being isolated from general gameplay as has been the case in the last 10 games or so. Robin and Theo showed precisely the benefits that could reap when they combined in the wolves game. I’d rather Arsene bought a skillful winger (who can score) with vision (Hazard, Goetze, must be others) and technical ability who… Read more »

heihaci

Kagawa(1 year left on his contract) or Erikson. Both are creative and score goals and we won’t need to break the bank to sign them

Merlin's Panini

I think we would have to pay rather a lot of money for Erikson.

Midfield Corporal

Erikson would be my preferred choice, haven’t seen enough of Goetze..

ggggggoooooooonnnnnnneerrrrr

i agree, get kagawa, top class player with a huge arsenal of passes under his belt + he can score goals because his positioning is excelent , but man united already have their eyes set on him so a bidding war might cause his price too go beyond arsenals reach

fru fru

Unless the opposition decide to play a high line against us, which is next to never Theo is wasted through the mid I recon. He finds it hard enough out wide half the time

chris

Podolski is the guy thats going to keep Gerviniho on the bench or play in the centre role because of his flexibility. Theo I still don’t feel is good enough for a centre role his game is too one dimensional and a lot of the time he doesn’t set the world on fire with his play. I think we should buy another main backup striker and baring he gets a work permit bring Joel Campbell in he has shown he can find the back of the net this season and we can then bring in Benik Afobe as a 4th… Read more »

atid

You are wrong there mate as it stands we have 33 players that are 21 and over as we.head into the new season. that includes the.players on loan those becoming classed as homegrown szcesney ramsey lansbury eastmond etc plus podolski and benayoun though he seems likely to be joining almunia on the way out. we need to get rid of 8 whether permanent or on loan just to get down to 25.

Eddie McGoldrick's east end chop shop

If the boss hasn’t played chamakh and park this season it’s simply because they’re not good enough for arsenal. I also think when you remember how much time we have given bendtner and vela, (they have had more than enough chances over recent seasons to show theyre good enough, far more than they wouldve got from other clubs,) and it hasn’t worked. Contrastingly chamakh has had 2 seasons and park just the 1. Does this indicate a more ruthless approach? Perhaps wenger has decided that his faith should be earned by new players in the nearer term (chamakh and park)… Read more »

It's A Hanmer Blow

Can’t really see how those quotes from Wenger can be interpreted as ‘hints at striker cull’. Unfortunately.

The situation needs some ruthlessness which we haven’t displayed in the past.

Fatgooner

If either Park or Chamakh are at the club next season then we will be a joke.

Georgecostanza

Mate, arshavin stuck around for two and a half years after he was surplus. With this board, I wouldn’t rule anything out.

Wanking thomas

Vela can go, we need GUNNERS!!……..not gunners. Anyone know what I mean?

Georgecostanza

Nope. I think you mean gooners not gunners. Either way, it was a lame point.

Wanking thomas

See, you don’t know what I mean.

Midfield Corporal

I’m lost too Mr Thomas, or can I call you Wank?

stephen

Anyone know what’s the story with Wellington for next season?

Merlin's Panini

doubt he’ll get a work permit. He’s sat on his arse in Levante getting some sun most of the season so he’ll probably be out on loan again. Heard he also has an attitude problem, but we shall see.

Midfield Corporal

He got the boot! Sorry.

Mooro

Shocking. Truly awful!

Sola gonner

Vela,chakmahk,bendtner and the likeshould leave the are not arsenal class if arsenal is serious about winning and just competiting

Wanking thomas

Grammar lessons for you son.

Midfield Corporal

In out of breath reading that, not a fan of punctuation?

atid

I think wenger is planning a slight change to the way we play next season assuming rvp and walcott stay. i can see us playing with rvp at centre forward with walcott and podolski playing like inside forwards. i think he is looking to play an out and defensive.midfielder thus allowi.g the full backs more freedom to push on. the other two midfielders will then both act as playmakers rather than an attacking midfielder as we.have at present. if we do need a wing option we have ox and ryo who can come on which is why i think we… Read more »

diefenbaker

Fooking slow news day

Arselood

Bring back Bendtner…..I used to love calling him a cunt at the top of my lungs for 90 mins.

Yassir

Chamakh is good, very good. He used to be called teh deadliest striker in Europe 2 years ago. He also has experience (champion with Bordeaux). He still carry’s th erecord of scoring in 4 champions league games in the roll (with Artsenal) Messi just equaled that, he had the fastest goal in the EPL, and did a great job scoring 11 goals before January when he just move and not amny people can do that coming to the EPL. he is not used to be a substitute, so when Van Persie came back and he lost his place, he basically… Read more »

[…] the other strikers at the club are still an issue. The manager hinted at something of a cull while praising what Podolski will bring to the team next […]

AdamAnt

do you not all think that Wenger should await the result of contract negotiations with van Persie before getting rid of Chamakh and Park?

GeorgeGooner

We all know Chamakhs secret was the snood.

7amkickoff

I don’t care who we get, who we sell, or what happens this summer just so long as I never see the net referred to as “the onion bag” again.

Thanks.

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