Despite a lot of speculation about his future, with links in recent days to Lyon and Marseille, Gervinho says he wants to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place in the team.
The erratic Ivorian scored 7 goals last season but will be best remembered for his miss against Bradford, but the former Lille man is determined to recharge his batteries and come back stronger next season.
“I have a contract until 2015 with Arsenal and I intend to honour it,” he told Sky Sports.
“There is always speculation in the papers, but I am looking forward to a good holiday and to come back to Arsenal. I want to win my place in the starting line-up week in, week out.”
To be fair to him, in both his seasons at the club he’s had to go away to the African Cup of Nations, which is hardly ideal on any level.
It remains to be seen if his desire to stay is matched by Arsene Wenger’s to keep him as the Gunners look to improve their squad ahead of the new campaign.
Oh fuck, more future dead wood because his contract is too damn good with us to get elsewhere, so he’s sticking around and picking up fat cheque’s every week.
Not a Gervinho fan but he says he wants to stay, at a good club, and work for a place. Very different from lazing around eating grapes like Squillaci.
I don’t think it’s fair to critize Squillaci to much. Sure he’s picking up good wages but So would I if nobody would pay me half of what I was earning right now. To me he looks like a very good professionel. He isn’t fat, he doesn’t complain and I haven’t seen any report that he is a problem in the lockerroom. Sure he is a flop, but he is a decent and wellbehaved flop – and he is only fullfilling hes contract.
Agree completely – don’t see it as a failing of the player, really, but Squillaci could have gone somewhere to play last summer and in January.
I certainly don’t blame him for staying though.
Gervinho is not a flop. Look at his goal-per-ratio, it’s not bad at all. He’s been wasteful, I’ll give you that, but let’s not forget the beginning of the season when Walcott was benched and Giroud not ready yet, he was the more efficient player. In fact, he was so in-form that people wanted him to play instead of Walcott. Of course now, it’s different, since Walcott is one our best players, but I don’t understand this ‘let’s unload this dead wood before he eats off our wages’ moaning. I like this player a lot, and you gotta give him… Read more »
SickOfThisPuffyCoat: I feel sorry for Gervinho, because he is obviously lacking confidence (gathered from Wenger’s and others’ interviews on him), and he tries his best, nobody can fault him for that. Still, he is not good enough for us. He has a shooting technique that isn’t even Premiership level, nevermind Arsenal level. If he hasn’t learnt how to strike a ball at his age yet, he will never learn it. Giroud for example, for all his faults, can at least strike the ball well. His decision-making is also lacking, otherwise he would be a very exciting player, because his movement,… Read more »
Gervinho’s shooting technique is indeed awful. But surely, surely, with all the resources at Arsenal’s disposal, we can find someone with a coaching badge who can teach him proper technique. For the amount he’s getting paid, it’s the least we can ask for.
Gervinho + shooting = a pretty damn good player.
Well, mate, that’s what Chamakh said in 2011 when he got dropped in favour of the Dutch Cunt. Look at how that worked out.
What’s your problem? It’s about time players talked of staying. This summer looks a very different but welcomed one. Even those on the bench (poldi, gervinho, vermaelen) still want to stay and fight for their place. Awesome to see really.
Anyway here’s how I see it. Whoever Arsene wants to see the back of i’ll agree and whoever he wants to see stay i’ll also agree….
Good squad player. No harm in keeping him
Yeah he’s an option, but so erratic and pretty unreliable. If we got an offer or could use him as a make-weight in a transfer I would be happy to see the Minstrel-headed one leave.
Just look at DIABY there, you’re the one to talk eh?
well, hope he improves mentally, like TJ did.
who’z t.j
Theo.
Have you not read his new book “TJ and the mental stenfph”?
Squad places are limited and if we are to seriously challenge for trophies next season, we have to ensure that even our squad players are of very good, reliable calibre who can be depended upon to deliver well when called into the team. You need a strong bench full of strong potential match-winners, not ever-frustrating and erratic players like Gervinho, who you are more likely than not to get vexed with than excited about when substitution time comes. That is how costly it is…so I say release him and replace him with higher and consistent quality we can really count… Read more »
Gervinho has to be one of the worst squad players ever then. Squad players have a good stable foundation of footballing ability like Ramsey. Gervinho can’t pass the ball Gervinho can’t shoot the ball Gervinho can’t head the ball Gervinho offers no leadership on the pitch Gervinho has an unstable confidence issue Gervinho does not know what to do with the ball Heck, Gervinho can’t even dribble properly…which is the only reason we bought him. He doesn’t beat defenders but rather tries and creates space which: 1. Rarely works out or 2. It’s against a reading side. GTFO Gerivnho. Never… Read more »
Think thats a bit harsh, he can pass and shoot, obviously not to a quality I expect from a Wenger signing. Heading yeah I guess, leadership I think is rare, my biggest peeve is his confidence because hes going to need thicker skin to survive at this club, hes not immune to criticism, no one is. Dribbling I don’t agree with, he can beat a man when on form, its what he does after ie shoot or pass which he needs to improve, however hes nearly 26 and I think he has too much to learn to make it. I… Read more »
this is very amazing how an arsenal supporter can criticize a player of Gervinhoz quality, hez one player we have in our Team that can take on defenders, and they have their hand breaks on, hez not scared of going forward, apart from Carzola. Secondly, Gervinho z playing like that cz, Wenger gambles with systems all the time, from the attacking 4-4-2, to 4-5-1, 4-3-3, 3-5-2,omg, i have never seen an arsenal team play that kind of funny systems, ever since we dropped the 4-4-2 system, we haven’t won a single trophy, Guyz, don’t put the blame on the playerz,… Read more »
I think your being very liberal with the world ‘Quality’, We all know its not right to boo a player who is struggling, but when you care so much for a team, you want to think every player has the mental strength in them to pull through, like Ramsey but I don’t get that from Gervinho. Hes talented yes, but quality is another matter, if he was putting match winning performances every week and then went through a little slump then fine. But this has been consistent for 2 years, I think thats more than enough time to acclimatise to… Read more »
Never disliked an Arsenal player? Wow!!
Not even Almunia?!? I find that hard to believe.
Disliked Alumina when he played regularly, but he was okay as backup.
Gervinho is just a lost cause.
Indeed, I don’t see how this is anything other than good news. At best, he’s a revelation, at worst he’s an option.
Or…he’s taking up a place in the squad that could be filled by a player of better quality. I can think of many hundreds of players who would be a better option as a squad player in that position.
One thing we’ve learned from Gervinho: He wilts under pressure. And guess what? Arsenal is a top club which brings pressure.
Sorry to say that I just don’t think he’ll ever make it here.
There are people who need (and some that have contracts running out) to go before him. Chamakh, TGSTEL, Park, arshavin. Thats four spots where you can fill with better players than gerv (ya i know we probably wont be able to do that with ALL four spots) and you can still keep him. Mofo just need to learn to calm the F down in front of goal and he can be a solid option off the bench
If he does stay and he works hard to challenge for a spot then he’ll be doing the other forwards a favour by making them up their game too, even i he doesn’t make the starting team every game. I have no problem with him staying, and don’t understand / hold with all of the “Get Rid” comments we keep seeing about him.
It’s called jumping on the bandwagon and it happens in all walks of life, for everything. The defeats to Bradford and Blackburn were not the fault of 1 person, every playing related position (coach, manager, players) should be apportioned some blame. Even the fans too, for creating a negative environment (if there was was an environment, I can’t remember). Why should we expect one person to not be shit when everyone else is? The fact remains that that particular chance should not have been the only match winning opportunity.
True. But it was, and it was a sitter, and he missed it. These are the key moments that footballers are judged on – it only required a tap in… a bit of composure and concentration under pressure. For someone employed and rewarded handsomely for doing this task it was a major fail. If you or I messed up at our job to this degree we’d be warned or sacked, so the ‘bandwagon’ could be rightfully jumped on by those who don’t see a future for him at Arsenal. I see him offering us a useful option primarily as a… Read more »
Good luck to him! With a proper season at Arsenal I think he could be a very useful player, and it’s nice to have a summer where all the quotes from players is about how they want to stay and fight for Arsenal rather than leave.
That’s because no other “top team” will take 99.9% of what we consider out best players…
You mean 9.99%? Else there’s a joke about you: my wife told me I was prone to exaggeration, I nearly tripped over my dick!!
No problem with keeping him. He offers the ability to go past his man from a standing start that no one else in the team/squad does at the moment
Happy to keep a hungry player who wants to improve.
Although he needs to work on his finishing, he certainly adds something different to our attack.
As Blogs stated earlier in the season, if he does not even know what is going to happen to the ball, and he has some influence over it, how would a defender stand even a remote chance.
This is great news and it’s great to hear two of our players say within a week that they want to fight for their places rather than take the easy route. Gervinho is frustrating but he causes opposition defences problems. If he can gain more confidence (helped partly by the fans getting behind him) he could be a very useful squad member.
I’ve actually got a lot of time for Gervinho, he’s shown glimpses of being a pretty handy player. With a sustained run in the team & a bit of confidence I think he could prove a few wrong. Hopelessly optimistic maybe?
Nah, it isn’t hopeless as the guy obviously has *something* it’s just whether we can use that something or not, surely training with guys like Santi and Poldi will rub off?
How frightening would a Gervinho with Podolski’s mentality and strike be? Better than Messi!
Bouncers!
Bonkers?
Bloomers!
we have worse options on the books that I’d welcome leaving first. hopefully he’ll follow in theo’s footsteps by improving his finishing and he’ll be ok
Just don’t ask for 100k
all the idiots moaning about Gerv not going will be the first to squeal like stuck pigs when he gets into double figures before Christmas this year and all of a sudden the papers are full of stories about how he’s got less than 2 yrs on his contract left (should he get into double figures before Christmas) personally i enjoy the unpredictability he brings when he comes on/starts. it’s not as if we’re playing the sublime-to-watch football we once enjoyed any more, so it’s great to see Capt. Chaos come on and confuse the living fuck out of everyone.… Read more »
Heh. That’s first comment you ever wrote that I agree with and made me laugh. Cheers. Confuse the fuck out of everyone, including himself.
People aren’t rational. and?
You dont win trophies with players like this in your squad. end off.
a professional footballer at 26 yrs who cant control and has no composure.
cant really argue with that
Teams have won trophies with worse players in their squad…even Arsenal have had some shitty players with winners’ medals.
I beg to differ.
Chelsea had kalou and the likes and won the champions league.
Didn’t Bosingwa start for them?
United won the league with a 39 year old whose appearances and goals record for the season are vastly inferior to Gervinho’s. Giggs – 32 apps 5 goals vs Gerv – 23 apps 9 goals.
So you are demonstrably incorrect in saying that.
djimi traore
Anderson
He does not fit in Arsenal’s style, he will make it somewhere else.
no sense in that comment. justify please?
At times unplayable – in both senses of the word! I think that he is a good barometer of the strength of the side – if he is in/around the first XI then we are weak. For example, would Man. Utd/City or Chavski have him in their squad?
No, they’d have Gareth Barry, bring Scholes out of retirement and think John Terry was anything but scum
Whenever you hear of someone honouring their contract, it invariably means they can’t get a better deal elsewhere. Sure, there’s the occasional exception which is more about loyalty, but in this case it’s hard to think that it isn’t down to him being paid too much to consider pastures new.
AW was talking about honouring his contract..
no !
how many top clubs were interested in him in the first place ?? says it all really.
Arsenal were only interested in him because Arsenal is the only top club.
He may miss sitters, he may have a big forehead, he annoy the shit out of you…so did Theo and now look at him. He can only improve and I am sure he will with Wenger’s guidance. Keep the faith… I DO!!!
[…] put at the Emirates. The 26-year-old …Gervinho keen to fight for Arsenal placeGiveMeSportGervinho has no intention of leavingArseblog News (blog)Arsenal transfers: Gervinho wants to see out Gunners contractThe Sport […]
I’ll give Gerv another year, and in the meantime, he’s a good option in competitions against lower league…wait, god DAMMIT!
meanwhile elsewhere in the world, Suarez wants to leave Liverpool (and possibly England), maybe QPR will sign him…oh wait
Whenever a player pledges himself to the club after an erratic season I get the feeling it’s simply a ploy to increase his transfer fee.
I’m on the fence a bit with Ger because at times he looks like a tricky player to defend against and other times when he is running with the ball your not quite sure if he will run out of the stadium! But I think he deserves another season as long as we lock the gates 😉
🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁 🙂 🙁
yep, that basically sums him up!
Ahh pants blogs has fell asleep with his finger on the moderation button again 🙁
He isn’t the worst player around and he does make in impact. Improve his finishing and he will be better than Walcott.
I have almost given up hope on Gervinho.
But he is still talented, hopefully with no African Cup of Nations, he can have a whole season. Gervinho is the closest to a true winger we have. He has pace and a bag of tricks. If he can learn how to kick a football properly when attempting to shoot, we will have a good player.
Even if he gets 10+ goals and 10+ assists (i don’t think he will honestly) we still need another striker.
Sad to see that everyone just wants star players and don’t respect players who actually want to play FOR the club and DO WELL. Absolutely sad. Get behind the players – good or bad, else see them miss sitters against League Two sides. Fans are absolutely appalling at times. I would rather have Gervinho in the Arsenal shirt than a cunt like RVP who jumped the ship after 1 good full season.
If he doesn’t ant to leave, I say frog him off!
Ants and frogs??? Lord whatever next…
The remaining 8 plagues?
the remaining 8 plagues obviously!
Ants and Decs.
The issue of having squad players like him could be seen at the two cup runs this season. We need a first 11 (+2-3 rotation players) capable of world class performances, and a bench that can grind out results in case our best players are out. Gervinho is not that grinder, he simply isn’t the player to get the result for us, when it gets tough. That’s is almost a fact, even Wenger realised it and stopped playing him in the run-in, where we were fighting for the 4th place. I’d rather we had more Ramseys, players who are capable… Read more »
He’s a very useful player. Terrifies and opens up defenses. He’s a good option for us. Remember early in the season he was consistently getting and creating goals for us at a time when we were really lacking them. Glad he wants to stay on and do work.
Gervinho’s head is so big that he once used a shower curtain as a bandanna. But he is a Gooner COYG!!!
Gervinho has the news about Newcastle after him and is shaking his head at the thought. Weather forecast in Newcastle changes to ‘Windy’. #forehead. But he is a Gooner COYG!!!
I like him as a player. If the crowd could ignore him (all his mistakes) for a couple of games, we might see the Gervinho that plays for Ivory Coast. I hope he does a Ramsey next season – Plays so good that Walcott/Poldi can’t get into the team.
Geovinho is a skillful but unintelligent inaccurate footballer. He can dribble than walcot. On his day,he is unplayable.Put walcot against evra and put geov against evra and see how he will make mince of evra which walcot will nt succeed. He just need to work harder. Lets see what he will offer us next season.
We, the arsenal fans, have developed a pretty annoying tendency to demotivate our players recently. One poor phase and the player should be sold; one good performance and Arsene should be sacked to think of selling him. Sell Ramsey………… Ramsey is the revelation of the season Sell Walcott……….. Walcott deserves 100K Arsene……………Walcott is useful in patches only; sell him Sell Giroud…………. Giroud is brilliant in holding the ball; he will come good slowly Sell Rosicky………… Rosicky is the mozart of football Mert sucks; he is slow…… Mert is the best; he reads the game like anything (Had we all not… Read more »
Hmmm. Nope. Ramsey, always had the talent and the guts, injury setback, young and slowly healing and improving. Walcott, young, growing into his strengths and improving his weak elements. Giroud, has the attributes for the league, 1st season adaptation. Rosicky, always had the talent, constantly battling for fitness and stamina to use those skills. Mert, experienced and talented international player, had to adapt to the demands/style of the league and the lack of a winter break. Then there is Gervinho. An incomprehensible forehead of a man who has no final ball: he cannot cross but plays wide, he cannot finish… Read more »
Lol he is just increaring the deadwood at arsenal.dnt lyk the guy at all.but i wont deny the fact that the guy has skill and on hes day can be a nightmare for defenderz but the problem is
incosistency
Of course you want to stay, no other manager is stupid enough to pay you those wages while you miss chances against teams like bradford.
i can’t believe the Gerv bashing going on.Gervais is a brilliant winger not a proven goalscorer. In Lille Moussa Sow was the goal scorer and Gerv and Hazard were delivering the goods. I love arsene but there’s something gone wrong in his managerial skills and tactics last couple of seasons. I remember days when he used to sign player who where below Gerv level when they left their countries ( Pires, Viera ) and transform them into great players. Now they come and loose confidence and skills. It’s painfull to witness what Arsene has done to Arshavin and now Gerv.… Read more »
I can’t help having a soft spot for Gervinho. He’s our comedy player like Arshavin before him, Eboue before him, Louis Boa Morte before him. The problem all these players have had though is a lack of self confidence. He needs to find that ability to zone out and just use his instincts instead of thinking to hard about everything. This is something Theo seems to have gotten over and if Gervinho can do this too I think he could actually turn out to be better than Theo. His control and movement is fantastic at times. If he does stay… Read more »
Arshavin and Gerv .The new Laurel and Hardy
All hail the forehead!
I like his attitude wanting to fight for his place. But I just don’t think he’s good enough. Hope I’m wrong.
You’d think it would be blatantly obvious by now but any half decent bench player who’s willing to fight for a place in the starting 11 can only be good for the team
Something completely of topic, Fabregas, what are the chances of his come back?
Slim to none. Not this summer. This story is getting little to no coverage in Spain so it seems like a load
of English press bunkum. I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
there was something ’bout his hair that night, the spurs are shite – GERVINHO
out on th wing for you and me, and podolski – GERVINHO
into the box and then, he falls again – GERVINHO
The beginning and tawards the end of the season he has been inportant.
Dare i say without him we might of dropped some points costing us 4th?
Tho i must admit im not a fan if we could replace him with a better player i wouldnt complain.
Lack of confidence, concentration & consistensy and inability to handle pressure. All the above things are infectious within a squad. Ramsay had a logical excuse for lack of confidence. He crumbled, he survived and he overcame his lackings. What are Gervinho’s excuses. On top of that Gervinho doesn’t fully understand Arsene’s free flowing philosophy. Rosicky, Fabregas, Nasri and even Arshavin Understood it fully and in 2008/09 season they showed us the most beutiful Football in the history of the premier league. Arsene knows that next season will be a defining one to his legacy. his ruthless approach has proven to… Read more »
An average player. Well, inconsistent to be honest. For every Reading home game, there is Bradford away. He just needs to have a consistent performance level.
If he’s shit next season, then we should sell him.
[…] Meanwhile, Gervinho says he’s ready to stay and fight for his place next season. He said: […]
Good little video here of Vito and Theo, guys… Enjoy 😉 http://metro.co.uk/2013/05/31/theo-walcott-little-rat-jack-wilshere-would-beat-santi-cazorla-in-a-fight-3824098/
Warped news going around about Grenier saying that he has pretty much chosen us (quotes cut and pasted togther etc.)
The full answer, however is here:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/473505/20130601/arsenal-transfer-news-liverpool-clement-grenier-lyon.htm
it is more ambiguous than many of the reports out there.
1. replace Fabianski with top drawer keeper
2. replace Squillaci with top drawer CB
3. get a top quality RB if Sagna leaves
4. get a top quality DM for when Arteta is injured / needs a rest.
5. get at least ONE top quality winger if not 2, to replace Arshavin and Gervinho.
6. get a top quality striker in case Walcott up front doesn’t work out.
I would probably move #6 to #1. its not that our offense was bad but to say we finished fourth in the table with the second least conceded means we need to score more imo. I know our new players took time to gel but santi played all the league games & we truly don’t have a pure second option up front without moving someone from their more natural position. the need for another creative midfielder behind santi maybe needed as well honestly. rosicky is getting up there and let’s be honest he has a slight injury possibility. I’d prefer… Read more »
forgot to mention this :
sell Arshavin, Gervinho, Bendtner, Chamakh, Denilson and Squillaci.
4 strikers out could mean a couple at least, in. we’ve already got one youngster in Sanogo. we should probably target one big name striker.
wouldn’t mind keeping Djourou as a 4th/5th choice CB – not that I think he’d agree to being so far down the order. if we get something better, sell him.
would like to see more from Chu Young – showed some signs of promise. wasn’t given much of a chance.
the list was in no particular order.
just feel that the GK and DM positions are the 2 areas of highest priority, that we need to strengthen because of only the one option we currently have.
Szczesny and Arteta are the only real contenders for me in those positions. therefore its more important to strengthen those areas first, then look at either a CB backup or a winger or a striker. we have at least 2 or 3 options for those positions.
i just think we should give at least 2 seasons to walcott in the striker role to see if he can make it or not. by all means if we have the money, lets get another top quality striker but judging by the way we don’t like to spend too much, we’ll only be going for bare necessities. which imo are/should be GK, DM, CB, winger. i’ll believe the part about us being in a much better financial position and having a 70 million transfer kitty because of new sponsorship deals and all that jazz, when i see it in… Read more »