Yaya Sanogo admits he’s found it tough leading the line for Arsenal, but promises he’ll get goals once he eventually opens his account.
Regularly utilised as an alternative to Olivier Giroud the French striker hasn’t netted in any of his 17 appearances since signing from Auxerre last summer with the drought appearing to take a toll on his confidence.
Speaking to L’Equipe (paywalled) about his struggles at the Emirates, the 21-year-old took a moment to point out that he’s come a long way since playing in his country’s second tier.
“Last season, I didn’t doubt myself. I was more afraid of getting injured. If the coach brought me in, it’s because he has faith in me.
“I’ve become more solid. The defenders can be quite nasty. When you come out of Ligue 2, and you know that you’re going to come up against [Manchester City’s Vincent] Kompany, it’s quite a thing. But I’ve gained in experience.”
“In all aspects I’ve evolved. When you train with great players every day, you progress. When you play big teams, it helps gain experience.
“It’s a big club. The fans know that I’ve scored a lot of goals at youth level, they’re putting me under a little bit of pressure. Once I’ve scored my first goal, everything will be fine.
“It’s their problem if they criticise me. I’ll still be here. I’m going to play, improve and score goals. Sooner or later, it’s going to go in.
“I needed six months to adapt. I’ve had quite a lot of problems. I arrived on one leg. It’s been difficult to adapt to the league. There’s a lack of confidence, perhaps a bit of pressure too. You’re 21 and you play up front for Arsenal, it’s not easy.”
Sanogo did score four times in pre-season against Benfica and just last week netted his first goals for France under-21s against Kazakhstan, proof that he knows how to find the back of the net even if neither occasion can be compared to the cut and thrust of domestic encounters.
You almost wonder whether the acquisition of Danny Welbeck (“He’s going to have to battle for his place in the side,” says Sanogo) will allow the younger man to relax a little. No longer will all eyes be on him in the absence of Giroud.
In some games (Leicester away in particular) the poor boy looked as though he was trying too hard to score, overthinking situations where other strikers let their natural instincts take over.
Arseblog News still harbours hopes he’ll come good, but it may be that – like many an Arsenal striker before him – he’ll have to use the League Cup as a way of getting in the goal-getting groove.
Yaya sanogo rhymes with Anthony agogo
I feel so sorry for him. At 21 he is almost being built up as the fall guy if we don’t win anything this year. We all know that he’s way way off being able to lead the line for Arsenal, even though he’s scored in preseason and for the U21’s the other night. He needs a loan spell at a decent club where he will get the opportunity to grow through his experiences playing first team football. There must be some sort of untapped potential there, and Arsene seems to believe that he can bring it out of him.… Read more »
I agree that he has potential but instead of playing away, he should be used for the cup games, FA and League cups not the Champions League of course!
I think he will be good once he gains his confidence, it must be difficult for him to fullfill our expectations! Let’s be patient !!!!
FA and League cups are our only chance of silverware this season. I’d rather we play our full squads in these games and not worry much about the league. Hence Sanogo should go on loan elsewhere.
Not being pessimistic…just being realistic.
If you rally think about what you said, you’d realise that it makes no sense.
No CL is not good for us.
Well hope he starts scoring soon. Otherwise Welbeck will take his spot. 🙂
Welbeck has probobly allready taken it. A loan move would seem like the best way for Sanogo to get going.
except that transfer silly season is over and thank god for that.
What if le Prof starts Sanogo instead of Welbeck this weekend?
I’d be surprised but if he does then there’ll be a reason for it.
If that happens & the result doesn’t go our way then I suspect the crowd after the Villa match last season will be nothing compared to the ether being sung from the stands after the match…………I’m not saying it’s the right or wrong thing to do, but to deny the possibility of it happening is just naive, especially since it happened as recently as last seasons 1st match.
When Yaya scores we riot!
Somewhere in those flailing, gangly, bambi-on-ice-skates limbs is a great, predatory striker…lets give him a couple seasons of development and training under Le Prof before we make any kind of definitive judgment on the boy! (I say boy but we’re the same age haha!)
He’s getting into the right positions to score the simple ones, just not putting them away; I’d be far more worred if he wasn’t getting into the box at all.
If both him and Welbeck sort out their feet in the area, Giroud might be relegated to a statuesque position on the bench every week.
I agree, but I dont think we can afford developing him in the first team if he does not perform. That would just not be fair on other players like Ramsey, Özil and Sanches whom was hoping we would be able to compete for some silverware this season. Now thatnwe have financial muscle atlast, I dont think they envisaged themselves tutoring and developing talents and fighting for 4th yet again.
People say Sanogo is free. Guess what, he’s not. He will cost us more than just plain old money. His performances will cost us points, which is way more important and something people seem to forget. And that’s not just him, every other player we’ve developed. I think that’s the problem with the Wenger method. I’m all for sending him out on loan and what not, but playing for the first team, when he can’t even control the ball properly, is fucking lunacy.
Course he’s not free, in the wider sense of the word but then, nothing is. Plus, you should never judge players on the price, only what they deliver, it;s just as dumb to do it for free tansfers as it is for 20m+ players.
Excellent REALIST comment
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-29126161?
you never know
Whos looking forward to saturday?
It must be awful having your fans call you a cunt a thousand times a day on Twitter, egged on by scum like Legrove. I think he might be good for someone someday, but Arsenal is not a nurturing environment for young players anymore.
Le grove is so tiresome. I’m all for criticism and calling out a mistake, but literally everything is a crisis and proves Wenger is wrong to that site.
“The fans expect me to score more, but once the first one goes in they’ll come…” I totally believe this is the truth! #COYG!
So he needs to score to be able to score.
Just like I need to exercise to be able to start exercising.
Every striker (the good ones) will say the same thing.
Scoring breeds confidence which makes scoring easier.
Which is why it’s such a shame poor officials disallowed his 2 goals for us.
Where’s the poo meter?
Dont worry Yaya, Southampton is coming up soon, you will score against them
Do you mean cos all our strikers get their 1st goals against Southampton?
or because like Blogs stated he’ll have to find his feet in the league cup, and ironically we will face Southampton?!?!?
I think should start the league cup AND FA cup matches and substitute appearances in the league
Not good enough for Arsenal – just like Francis Jeffers, Andre Santos, Park Ju Young, Nicklas Bendtner, Philippe Senderos…..
And Aaron Ramsey. He was never good enough for Arsenal.
for every ramsey there s a chamak.
Not a decent comparison as Chamak scored a lot for us when he first joined. He was covering for the choccy legs skunk who was continuing his love affair with the treatment table. When he was fit again Chamak got dropped but it effected his confidence, then the whingers got on his back and his head was completely broken for us.
DR – Yawn! Boring and lazy comparison – not to mention inaccurate. Ramsey showed his class for Arsenal as a teenager. He had several Man of the Match performances scoring goals for us in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. Then unfortunately he got assaulted, which set him back massively. Thankfully he eventually came through his physical and psychological set back and has progressed to the player we expected him to be, based on his pre-injury performances. Sanago has never showed his class for Arsenal. What he has showed is he lacks composure and skill, which has resulted… Read more »
Perfectly logical opinion. Cannot comprehend the downvotes.
The downvotes are fully justified. For one, the attitude is completely unnecessary. I hate when players are summed up as “shit” just because they’re struggling to break through. Associate that word with the likes of John Terry or Adebayor and I’ll be right there with you. But Sanogo is not “shit”. He’s just a young talent who hasn’t sorted his swagger yet. Also, he has not played in 17 PL games but 10. He’s played 17 games TOTAL for The Arsenal. Get your facts straight and stop distorting the truth to fit your narrative. Fine, he did not score in… Read more »
Where in this thread was he referred to as “shit”.
Do you understand the purpose of quotes?
Spinner merely voiced an opinion. There was nothing derogatory aimed at the player nor at fellow commentators.
The “fuck you” just highlights your immaturity.
10 games and not 17 full games. Valid point.
But counting that miss kick as an assist, is as you so eloquently put, distortion of facts to suit the narrative.
There’s a difference between attitude and opinion but that distinction seems lost in the comments section. Good day sir.
the purchase of Welbeck is good for this, he needs to continue being the impact sub, play in Capital One cup games and such to continue to grow, he is more suited for that right now. I’m positive there is a decent striker in there, his hold up play and control isn’t actually bad for someone his height and age
park chu young is more experience than sanogo, but wenger sold him.it must really say something about Sanogos ability
Why hasn’t Wenger said anything about Welbeck? It’s odd.
Maybe he missed it and nobody has told him, Wenger will just turn up and assume Welbeck got lost from training for England and then, presumably, shrug and carry on.
There was a manager’s conference in Switzerland and Wenger doesn’t do commentary on international matches anymore, at least for the time being. Not much of an opportunity to make half a comment on whatever, unless he went to the beach but he probably just dove into the ocean to piss of the journalists. “I used to say that I didn’t see it, but now you can’t see me, but above all, I didn’t get Aaron Ramsey on a plane to Switzerland nor Sanogo to a meeting in Paris to get them to sign for Arsenal just to hear them say… Read more »
It’s interlull time. I expect his ‘comments’ later in the week when we’re back to AFC time.
Don’t listen to them, I’ve wondered the same thing from the day after the window closed…..international break or not, the way that signing went down, the time/deadline day, & who it was for/from it is extremely odd for the manager to not make a single comment on it. Very very weird for no comments a day or 2 later, let alone OVER a week later!! What was it like on other deadline days!?!? There were comments from the manager!!
I like this guy. He has something in him. He’s come a long way in his life so that shows a lot of character. And he has often been a lot of responsibility as well which can have its own weight. I’m sure had he been a third choice striker in the squad with guys like Henry and Bergkamp around him he would’ve not only opened his account, but also would’ve become a fan favourite by now.
The boy opportunities will come with time!
@spinner and Aaron Ramsey?
@eternalflamini – please see my response re Ramsey / Sanogo comparison above. Thank you.
I feel that Yaya will come good, but he needs to be taken out of the firing line. He is not yet ready to lead the line and I hope Alexis and Danny can take the burden off him. I may be voted down for this, but we as gooners are some of the most fickle and judgemental fans out there. I just hope Yaya believes in himself and doesnt let the talk get to him.
No excuse for him being young…its about balls…and I just dont think he’s got the balls at the moment. Calum chambers is younger and he has balls…I like his balls…big elephant balls…anyway yaya…dont worry…balls cum in time…heheh.
Wake me up, oh Sanogo, he’s much better than that cunt from Togo.
i found his comments in the interview quite resilient and mature. Good sign.
Even if the goals come i doubt you’ll be here longer. what people need to realise is that some players are bought for a income generation. he will be sold for much more than what we paid. win win!
Well, it’s one facet of their value, sure. It’s why you bring through yioung players, the ones that aren’t quite good enough for us we get to sell on, but you want to keep the ones that are useful.
I’d be surprised if he wasn’t with us for a long time to come. He’s a real AW signing and we’ll always want a big physical striker in the squad.
Not if he doesn’t score a freaking goal!!!!!
To all of you labeling him as “not good enough”, were you saying the same thing about Ramsey few years ago. I admit I got frustrated with him against Leicester but it’s not his fault he was pushed in to the spotlight by Wenger. He should of gone out on loan this year but lets remember he’s only 21, he has shown us his potential at times, (FA cup final made big contribution) all he needs is to gain more experience and confidence in his ability. He isn’t ready for the first team and with the players we have now,… Read more »
Sanogo and Ramsey are 2 completely separate scenarios
this ramsey argument issimply not valid. The point is he should not be starting important games simple and short. Giroud came from Ligue one were he was highest goal score and we said he isn’t the person to win us the title, now Sanogo who has only professional goals at u-21 level and ligue two is our main striker?? Thats the issue, no one is arguing he will be rubbish or he doesn’t have potential.
I’m not advocating for Sanogo to be our ‘number one’ striker, as he clearly isn’t ready yet, my message is to individuals already writing him off. And you say the Ramsey argument isn’t valid but I remember few seasons ago when people were saying he shouldn’t be playing, isn’t good enough enough for us, even suggesting we should do a swap deal for Fellaini. I thought exactly the same back than that he needed to go on loan to enhance his confidence. I’m not comparing Ramsey and Sanogo, as they’re too completely different players, my point is do not write… Read more »
Ugh, I swear people are going to use the FA Cup final (where he just ran around a lot to make the defense tired) & the Benfica preseason to back this guy up for the next 4 years. Some players just aren’t good enough, it happens. Nothing mean or negative, we are Arsenal FFS & our standard should be higher than him, not “expensive” or “world class” just better than Sanogo especially in terms of youth. Youth is something we were/are renowned for & Yaya & what we are trotting out? C’mon now……….
He’s not even that young!!! Even late bloomers have shown glimmers of talent or even BALANCE by now!!!!
arrived on one leg? peg leg sonogo ?
Ramsy too was not good for arsenal , now the team relies on him . Give the young lad some space he will come good .
I feel sorry for this lad. Its not his fault he’s brought into a club where the level required i clearly beyond him. We need to blame the one who did it to him. Ok so we bought Ozil and Alexis, but to be honest neither of them have lit the league up yet. I noticed someone mentioning are “new financial power”….really where is that then?? I ask you if chelsea can land the likes of costa and fabregas etc..whilst only spending 80+ mill you really need to question this so called financial fire power. Especially as the only striker… Read more »
The weird thing is we didn’t need a world class or expensive Center Back……we just needed ANOTHER decent one. Its pathetic if someone doesn’t see the neglect a club of our stature & resources didn’t find ONE center back that would leave his team just to play backup for ARSENAL…….IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE…..MOST LIKELY IN TOP 4 OF EPL. I still can’t get over that one & it will haunt me until January….when we don’t buy cover again.
This blog, which is my main blog, is turning into a thumb down space for the 12-13 year old fascists of arsenal. FFS, we have to agree that not signing a new center back to replace Vermaelen is either absolutely poor management and deal making, or negligence. Don’t forget, we are a club with shareholders, i.e. a company. At any company, this would be questioned, and the top management would have to answer. I see why Bailey might have so many thumbs down (because his comment about Alexis is just plain stupid, the guy has been here playing football for… Read more »
Sanogo is the new John Jensen.
Sanogo will benefit from Welbeck’s signing. It will take a lot of pressure off him. I don’t think loan is the way for him anymore. All he needs is the Capital One Cup and the odd sub appearance when we are comfortable. I believe he will come good.
“You’re 21 and you play up front for Arsenal, it’s not easy”
We all agree and you shouldn’t be thrown like that into the deep end. Sanogo needs to go on loan in a premiership club, not lead the line at AFC at this point in his very young career. This isn’t helping anyone.
Do you see him leading the line at City? United? Chelsea or even a mid table club like Sp*rs? Not a chance.
I am glad we signed welbeck, certainly adds depth to that part of the sqaud. He sure does look like a potential monster as compared to some players who were fielded as strikers in the recent past – gervinho, chamakh, park, bendtener…it will be quite cool to see him become a real striker at arsenal.
I really don’t know what to think about Sanogo and maybe that’s it, there’s really nothing to think about. He’s 21. At that age, he’s obviously not meant to lead the line for a team like Arsenal.
We had young players who went through sticky spells, like Ramsey, Wilshere. But these players were brilliant before their injuries. Sanogo… like I said, I really don’t know what to think of him.
Sanogo has been brilliant as a youth player (club and national).
Injuries have slowed him making the step up and ‘our need’ has forced him into starting when he should be a PL sub & LCup starter. Like all young players, he’s been inconsistent but he usually brings something positive to the game, admittedly not enough for a PL team yet, but it should come. Give him time.
I think he could be a beast of a striker…but he needs to relax and take his time. Now the pressure will be off him and that will help him be more composed.
But when he does find his equilibrium, he will be amomg the best.
Sanogo should just go back to the reserve. Trying him 17 times without a goal is way too much.
There’s a rumour doing the rounds that Welbeck was a signing made by Gazidis and not Wenger. It kind of makes sense when you consider that Le Prof has been awfully silent over Danny’s arrival. Normally, you can’t stop Wenger from talking about a new incoming player. And when you consider that The Nutty Professor decided to spend Transfer Deadline Day out of the country, a signing make above his head doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
He says what he wants
He says what he wants
faatgooooneeer
He says what he wants
I guess it isn’t impossible but I just can’t see Gazidis doing it without his sayso, if he did then Gazidis deserves a lot of credit for knowing more about football than I thought, unless it was literally ‘he’s at United and avaialable he must be good so we’ll buy him’, then he should probably take fewer decisions like that before we end up with Cleverley. I hope the silence means Wenger is just busy trying to figure out why a perfectly good defence and midfield were playing like a bunch of non-league part-timers agaisnt Leicester, that’s what worries me… Read more »
He hasn’t said anything as it’s interlull time.
Well that would be strange…i remember commoli saying on bein sports that wenger texted him and told him welbeck was a permanent deal when people thought it was a loan. But then again, wouldn’t be surprising seeing that its strange wenger would sign some welbeck’s age despite saying how much faith he had in him.
He’s got talent. I know it! You can see the potential there. Yes it’s very raw but if he can just get those first few to get going, I have no doubt that he’ll become a very handy player in the future. But I do agree that he should be an impact sub an cup games player at least for now
mark my words – once Sanogo can challenge Giroud physically – he will be a better striker…raw, but a very good work in progress…
send him on loan to West Ham
The boy is good but the problem is that he doesn’t have the luxury of being mentored by a World Class striker unlike the likes of RVP and Adebayor who learned the trade under the King TH14 himself and Prof Denis Berkghamp. Wenger should have signed an experience WC striker which would allow the likes Sanogo and Chuba to become better in their development. Welbeck is an exception having learned under Rooney, Berbatov, RVP and even Chicharito. He’ll be massive for us.
Send Sanogoal to Southampton or Swansea and make him a Sano- GOAL GOAL ..
Okay
I’m 100% behind you, Yaya.
Am not slating the kid for being bold and not letting Things get to him but what exactly has he improved since he first arrived after a year of training with top class players. Pls state the attribute before you thumb me down. and getting into good position is not a skill, its a requirement for every striker who can’t make his own goals.
Without seeing him in training before he came, we can’t tell you. Only the club (players, technical and manager) can tell you.
I heard Torres used to train well, and I guess Joel campbell trains horrible but of course when it comes to wenger people assume the best scenario that fits his reasoning.
Campbell has been on the bench every game so far and come on 2 or 3 times. So I’d guess he trains well which is why he’s there. He came to us after a long season including a world cup run, and there’s a long season ahead. AW rates him and will play him but he’s a winger / secondary striker. He can only play well as CF against certain styles of play (or late in a game when the opposition are chasing the game) so only a poor manager or someone without options would play him there from the… Read more »
Your just making no sense because campbell has three season of top level football and also international experience. Sanogo has u-21 and ligue 2, plus Sanogo is still playing rubbish whether he backs or fronts the goal. As far as I am concerned we should field 11 players that we can hold responsible like we did against Besiktas and not Sanogo who is a liability in front of goal.
Campbell has 3 seasons of good level football mainly as a winger and international experience (which is a completely different style of football) mainly as a winger but sometines as a second striker and (when they don’t have options) as a CF. Try to re-watch some of the Costa Rica WCup games and you’ll see that he’s only effective in the middle when he’s given space by the CBs (which isn’t often). He’s very effective as a winger or secondary striker. The PL CBs are consistently better than JCs played against elsewhere and our ‘one in the middle’ system means… Read more »
From what your saying Sanogo should play because even tho he is not good enough, he is suited to that position and too that I say it is an embarrassment that our only option should be Sanogo. And this fit system 2cb argument is rubbish, simply change it as we need goals and our midfielders who the so called CF is supposed to make room for can’t score enough.
I must be in the minority but thought Sanogo played well vs Leicester. His control, confidence, dribbling and hold up play have improved from last season. He’s more aggressive at looking for his own shot than Giroud is. This kid is a beast in the making, and he’s only 21.
People slag Chamack but when he first joined us his strike rate was awesome. He played an excellent first couple of months whilst RVP was injured but didn’t get a game again all season. Playing time = confidence = goals.
I don’t agree with that nonsense of loaning Sanogo out…we shall nurture our own. The boy’s numbers at youth level are very impressive. He surely will come good. We have good depth in the forward line to ensure his learning curve is well secured. Likewise, the Sanogo situation is similar to Ramsey’s. Prof bloodied him severally in the biggest games because he knew his element. I think we’ll see more of Sanogo than many gooners are willing to swallow. I suggest y’all take up a serving of “keep calm AW knows” early enough..
We don’t have the luxury of loaning him now.
That’s the bottom line.
It may have been an option had Giroud been fit and it may have accelerated his progression much like it has done to Campbell with consistent competitive regular footy.
Nah, fuck that. If we are building a team to compete, none of the 38 games can be sacrificed for “development.” That was all very well for the stadium debt years, and taking a longer view one could celebrate the growth of players and recognize that trophies are not a given in the life of a club. Totally fine. But once the board ups the rhetoric about financial firepower, and raises ticket prices like crazy, then the time for development has come to an end. You can’t sign players that keep feeding a striker that might not score. It makes… Read more »
Sanogo is still very young.
It would have been unfair to be solely reliant upon him.
He will be in and around the team this season. Hopefully it will help his progression. Certainly an alternative to Welbeck until Giroud is back on the mend.
On a side note, not sure what all the hype around Carvalho is all about.
Portugal got beaten by Albania and had it been Arteta in DM, there would be a whole slew of comments on why he was too old or too slow.
22m for Carvalho? + Campbell? No thanks.
Join the queue with MVilla, Wanyama and Gustavo.
Sanogo scores again for France U21 tonight. Guess he’s good enough for players of his age and level. Just shows that we really should only play him in the Capital One Cup to build his confidence.
I think it’s fair to say, after Welbeck’s performance against Switzerland, that he is indeed a better striker than Sanogo at this point. That performance looked exactly like what we need in a striker right now!
I don’t think anyone doubted that DW is better than YS at the moment but one’s a 23 year old with lots of PL experience and the other’s a 21 year old whose just getting over some nasty injuries and is quite new to the PL.
This is the first day I am coming out and saying things that seem quite clearly critical and negative, and I wonder why because I have not always felt this way. I think the club is being managed with priorities other than what we feel should be the central ones. Corporations often market and spin the truth, and I think we should step back, treat the game for what it is, a game, and be a little more cynical about whether our dreams for Arsenal match the vision of the powers that control the corporation. This way we can be… Read more »