Arsene Wenger has revealed that there are no new injury worries ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wigan.
The manager’s press conference took place today, due to Saturday’s early kick-off, and he said, “There are no new injuries. It will be a very similar team to the team that played on Monday night.”
Whether that means a change of striker, with the more traditional Olivier Giroud replacing Theo Walcott up front, remains to be seen. And while the manager spoke about the new contracts signed by the Brit-quintet, the subject of Walcott’s non-signing was inevitably brought up.
Wenger said the winger would not be sold in January and that, “My gut feeling is that he belongs to this club and I hope he will do it and sign for us. I am convinced he will stay.”
Which all sounds positive, if a bit familiar …
Wenger in Jun 2007 on Ashley Cole – “I am convinced he will stay and I will try everything to keep him here. To extend his contract is the next step, at the right salary. I am convinced deeply that Ashley wants to stay, that is my belief.”
March 2008 on Flamini – “We are on course there, negotiations are going well and we hope to sort that out in April.”
July 2011 on Fabregas – “He wants to stay. I am convinced but I want him to be convinced.”
July 2011 on Nasri – “Samir Nasri is very happy at the Club and committed to stay at the Club. I hope he will sign a new contract.”
June 2012 on van Persie – “He will stay at Arsenal. We have not bought the players to replace Van Persie, but to strengthen our squad with the thinking Van Persie will stay. That’s still my mind at the moment.”
So, while it’s good as a soundbite we’ve been around this particular block before. And look, this isn’t necessarily criticism of the manager. He knows that he needs Walcott for the rest of this season and it makes no sense to play out any difficulty or acrimony in public.
The signings yesterday have illuminated the situation far more than any words could.
—
Thanks to @JamesDallESPN for the Flamini nod
The question is if Theo refuses to sign a new contract should we sell him in January??
when wenger says that, you know the player will be gone in the summer
Yes!
He just confirmed the disillusioned little boy is leaving
Typical wenger
How is it wenger’s fault?
I suppose he should have said “Theo’s a cunt. I’m gonna sell him to literally the first person that offers anything. Chocolate coins, an old shoe, anything.”
Great way to achieve alienating the player AND getting a shit price.
You fucking goon.
Go eat bear cum you loser
Ashley Cole left in August 2006…
Yes. My mistake. Will correct that
And Ashley Cole is a cunt.
Yes, yes he is.
Can’t see the point in not selling him in January IF the money is reinvested in a decent replacement (not Nani). If we don’t sell him he goes on a free to play his hit and miss football for someone else.
He could and should knuckle down at Arsenal and try and get more consistency to his game.
whats wrong with nani.. hes a quality player he gave us headaches plenty of times
Nani good..? I have many united friends.. Comes naturally living in cape town.. They all cant wait to see the back of nani.. And if nani isn’t good enougg for thrm why should it be different for us..? I cant stand him.. He is as frustrating as gervinho is for us.. Imagine him and gervinho on each side of our flanks..? Hell no.. No thanks..
I heard he was just a shit Michael Jackson…
Nani is a lot better than Gervinho IMO. But he is inconsistent, and frustrating. Besides, if we’re serious about competing with Man U, then we won’t be picking up their garbage. Remember Silvestre? Ugh… that was a transfer low-point for this club in my opinion.
Sounds like he is as good as gone.
If that’s your real name, I’m never playing you at Scrabble
Why is Fucking theo doing this to us?. I mean come on lad, we’re building a team here, alittle loyalty would help.
He’s gone to Chelsea or one of the Manchesters because their boards aren’t tighter than a duck’s arse.
If he goe’s to LFC it will be really upsetting. As it means that they can offer higher wages than us.
Anyone can pay him higher wages than us because they’ll be getting him on a free (or, if we sell in Jan, almost a free). The agent will be pushing the wage angle because a transfer is in the agent’s own interest, but I’m not sure wages are the main factor for Walcott himself. He wants to be a central striker and he wants to impove as a player; above all, I think, he wants to be loved. Currently he’s not getting much love from Wenger who has virtually benched him – as a punishment? -since the start of the… Read more »
I long for the day …
“I am confident Gervinho will stay and we are negotiating for an 11 year contract extension.”
how he made it as a professional football player is anyones guess
Excellent at dribbling past people, makes good and unpredictable runs, linked up very well with Hazard at Lille…
Speaks volumes for the quality of the French League, that does. Either that or the French league doesn’t allow you to field inanimate carbon rods. in your first eleven. Because I honestly can’t imagine a sane manager picking Gervinho ahead of said carbon rod.
Got twice as many goals as Hazard in his last season.
I agree with Witoldo on his positives but just can’t stand watching him..
I think we should use him as a backup/sub to oxlade-chamberlain or instead of walcott against teams that sit so deep that he’s ineffective.
Ideally (if we had any transfer budget left over after dealing with bigger issues), you’d replace him with someone like hazard – pace, directness and can shoot..
This is a crap comment on one of our most productive players,
YES ,He’s been crap recently ,but this kind of comments doesn’t help
“crap recently” ?
“RECENTLY” ?????
Theo’s gone, you only have to look at the way he plays a straight bat to any questions on the subject. Everyone I speak to seems to be on two minds about him, they don’t want him to go, but if we give him £100k a week they are worried we’ll be stuck with a fast but one dimensionsal inconsistent player.
I find it more than a bit amusing how a lot of same people who rip the shit out of Theo every week are now solidly convinced that the likes of Chelsea and Man C are willing to give a player they regard as complete gash upwards of £200k a week – because he so good all of a sudden. Personally, I think Man C are pretty much sorted for striking positions. Chelsea… well… why would they buy Theo if they have the raw cash to fling at the likes of Falcao and such’n’such? Maybe these clubs would be more… Read more »
Why wouldnt they sign walcott? they signed moses and marin and even hazard junior! with lampard sturridge and possibly lukaku on the way out they are going to need some re-inforcements and walcott seems to fit the bill. who knows? if they offered us marin and sturridge i would rip their arm off!
I love Theo, but I think Arsene should stop playing him from now on.
heh! he can leave . I am used to that . besides he’s replaceable.
I hope he flops .
The thing with Walcott isnt that we cant pay a wage that would make him happy!! But we really dont want to!!
Is it really right for him to be top earner at our club when we have players like Santi and Jack that would be on much less! In that respect he doesn’t deserve it but can understand why some clubs would pay it!
Personally pay him what he wants for now then look to offload him in the summer if we have a suitable replacement in mind
So do you think Ramsy deserves the £60k he gets every week?!!!
This is nonsense, Walcott plays very well this season and he deserves more money, well maybe a little less than £100k a week
but Ramsy’s salary should be deducted to £30k as maximum till he returns to his best form or the club should sell him.
This is so boring year after fucking year.
Bayern munich.. Munchën.. Whatever
In other words, not barca.
I’m loving this. I think manure just drew Madrid.
One of the journalists in the press conference should read this article to Wenger. I fail to be convinced by his rhetoric anymore. On this occasion, I find it difficult not to be very angry with Walcott. Wenger switched to the 4-2-3-1 system to accommodate him on the right of the 3 because he was not capable of playing RM or centrally and it still took him ages to break in to the team and score his first goal. However, while his goal record has improved, he continues to frustrate. His work rate, tracking back and tackling in particular being… Read more »
I’m pretty sure Arsene didn’t start playing 4-2-3-1 to accommodate theo. we started playing 5 across the middle during the 2006 champs league campaign as I recall. Then everyone did to stop their two in the middle being overrun. If theo leaves ill be disappointed but not gutted like when RVP or Cesc left. Any can you blame him for saying Fuck You to the fans? It’s not like he’s had 100% support from us, 12 months ago he was being lumped in with Squillachi and Chamakh and being called ‘the sprinter’ by certain supporters……..the same ones who said Diaby… Read more »
Mouthed something. Jesus get over it for fucks sake. Theo is off be it January or summer. And add him to a long list of top performers leaving the club recently. Can’t all be down to the players being cunts. Bet hey if it’s easier for you to see it that way fine. But please let it drop
No, Adebayor IS because of the way he reacted in the first game back against us, Cesc ISN’T because he was homesick, which just leaves us with ‘I’m happy to take your money for 7 years then as soon as I have a few seasons I’ll bugger off’ plus some chinless inconsequence .
Really, only one guy is a cunt for leaving us.
The stats suggest otherwise when it comes to Nani.
He’s better than all wingers we have, at football that is. And if you think gervinho, ox, ramsey are better than him then it’s probably nothing to do with football.
I can remember all bad things the united fans said about that dutch cunt before he signed for them. Most of them even believed shrek was better. Ask them now.
Long story short, we’ll probably buy zaha, raw as he is and play the ‘but he’s an england international already’ card. Another young english player. One for the future.
He should sign or warm the bench, I don’t see why we should be his shop window for securing a high wage elsewhere. Funny how he has pulled his finger out this season…
I’m not sure Theo belongs in the “long list of top performers leaving the club.” Probably heads the list of “most potential,” but you can’t complain about the club overpaying mediocre players who happily draw paychecks from the bench for years and then moan because we don’t pay Theo 100k a week based on what he might develop into.
What is the French for Deja Vu?
Thierry Henry?
Theo’s contract situation was identical to Van Rapist’s, yet unlike said Dutch turncloak he didn’t have lots of suitors lining up for him during the summer. I agree that no-one will buy him in January simply becuase no-one is that despertae to pay for him when they can sign him for sweet fuck all in June, as proved this summer gone. I’m totally in two minds over whether I want him to stay or not though I’m leaning more to the side of hoping he does just so we don’t have to endure yet more boring media editorials about players… Read more »
When we had superstars like cesc and the dutch skunk I couldn’t wait to see the back of walcott. Horrendously inconsistent and has the ability to literally do nothing in a game. Even at his worst gervinho is involved in something every 30 seconds so theo’s disappearing acts are really quite something. Now we’ve lost a few big names walcott has started to look a bit better (but still has the ability to disappear as he did against swansea) and the only reason people want him to stay is the lack of alternatives we have. He is by no means… Read more »
Gervinho is the only professional non professionals like me feel I can easily replace at arsenal. He never crosses the ball to Giroud, he always dribbles to Gail kick, always misses easy goals and has horrible shot accuracy. Gervinho skilachi djurou chamakh diaby Santos should just leave. They r surplus to the club.
Gail kick – goal kick
Diaby will have I excellent season and decide arsenal is not ambicious just like robin cunt Pepsi.
Walcott, Walcott, Walcott, Walcott….
Sign da ting!
Sign da ting!
Part OC me hopes he does fuck off so I never have to hear that bloody Sign da ting crap again. The boys from Newbury not Harlesden
Haha, you may still hear it even if he did bugger off!If you don’t wana hear it again you’d better hope the world ends tomos! :p
Who knows the next transfer saga may incur an even more irritating little ditty!
I loathe when Arsene speaks in this manner. Who does he think he is fooling. Most fans know Walcott will probably not be staying. I understand trying to keep negotiations private but it seems disrespectful to the public to say these things over an over when they are not true.
Unless he really believes them and then I would really have to question his judgement when it comes to his players’ mindset.
Keep negotiations quiet ? Do people really think that other agents. Managers or CEOs don’t know the game arsene is playing or that he hasnt played this before ffs
Theo has more than likely already made is mind up about where he’s going and how much he’s getting. It’s the way things are done in football and to think otherwise is naive in the extreme.
Bring on the January bids for Wolcott…and make em HIGH, cus we need to do some shopping ourselves.
This is the club we support, right from here in Kenya my country in East Africa to Austraria and am sure whether it was to be even BVB and Real Madrid as long as Arsenal plays that trade mark we will win. I support Arsenal and pray that Walcot signs and Arsene brings in defensive midfielder and another one striker and who knows the big cups will be carried to Emirates.
If Wallet doesnt sign by mid January Wenger should loan him to Colchester till his contract runs out dckhead.
Walcott won’t go in January because he’ll earn far more by leaving in the summer. It’s not our choice, it’s never been our choice. He wants as much as possible and the best way to get that is to go on a free in July. He’s not stupid, he is cold and calculating. That said….. I’m extremely happy he’s going. I don’t give a damn about the stats, the facts are he scores the 5th goal most of the time when the game is dead and buried, not the first or 2nd. People talk about his assists and that’s a… Read more »
Let us not complain much yet the Arsenal salary structure is wanting! Please put the club at the level it belongs sirs. This is a family which can afford any player on the globe as expensive as anybody. Please restructure the salaries, improve the pays to players to entice them and improve their morale of their play. Through these we will be happy to enjoy the fantastic play of Arsenal club.
[…] at face value that’s very positive, except that as Arseblog News highlighted yesterday he’s said pretty much exactly the same thing before the departure of (amongst others) Ashley […]