Lukas Podolski appears to be growing increasingly frustrated at his lack of playing time and hinted he could call time on his Arsenal contract early if things don’t change.
The German international was repeatedly linked with a move away from the Emirates during the summer before a post-World Cup pep talk from Arsene Wenger persuaded him to ignore the advances of potential suitors.
Behind Olivier Giroud in the attacking pecking last season the 29-year-old appears further than ever from starting games regularly with the boss signing Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck, playing up the potential of Yaya Sanogo and getting ready to welcome Theo Walcott back to the first team fold.
“I am a full-blooded player, a street player and I love competition,” Podolski told RTL television yesterday. “If I don’t have this competition every weekend then a change must occur.”
“We will have to see. But it is certainly something one has to think about,” he said when asked if he would see out his deal with the club.”
Podolski’s current contract runs until 2016 meaning Arsenal have three transfer windows to make some (if not all) their money back following his £10.5 million move from Cologne in 2011. He’s played 90 minutes just once this season – in the Capital One Cup – and featured a further three times off the bench.
BYE!
Bye???? How could you sing the “He Scores When He Wants” song to Danny Welbeck yesterday? It’s no wonder Podolski wants to go now you heartless fucks.
Podolski’s performance against Southampton in the League Cup was worrisome. My guess is that even in training, something must not be right in the eyes of AW.
I don’t think AW is leaving Podolski out for no reason. I think AW sees something that he does not like in training, and also, Podolski hasn’t done himself any favor in recent matches.
Think you all missed the point. YES Danny is giving more than Poldi ever did. YES Poldi has become Arshavin-like. BUT for fucks sake you fucking fucks at least wait until he’s fucking gone before you fucking give Danny his fucking song!
Firstly, it is not “his song”. It’s a song used to celebrate strikers all over the country and singing it for Poldi wasn’t the first time us Arsenal fans have uttered the words.
Secondly, try to be a little more eloquent rather than using the word fuck every fourth word.
Poldi seems like a genuinely likeable guy but his performances just haven’t been good enough for him to play for Arsenal anymore. I think it’s damn sad, but as excellent as his finishing is, he does not create anything himself and every single game I’ve seen him play this season and most last, he just seems to vanish.
As such, I believe it would be best for both him and for Arsenal if he was given a fresh start elsewhere.
Yeah well if he played like he gave a fuck when given an opportunity then I would maybe believe that he is hungry and he loves competition… He tends to disappear far to often in matches for me…
I really like Poldi as a character, but wish i loved him as much when he was on the field #sadAHA
lets be realistic about this situation – Podolski offers a threat, but at the end of the day I do question is he a typical “arsenal player”? and I say this painfully, as I like the dude and want him to do well, but he lacks: 1. back to goal on the wing, ball usually gets played back 2. 1 v 1 is not very effective 3. technical ability in his link play hasn’t quite been there but he can: 1. rocket a shot 2. put in a mean cross 3. offers some physicality I dunno – it’s a toss… Read more »
Yep that’s a good summary
With Giroud back in January, it’s clear that either Poldi or Campbell will need to leave (they’re both too good to linger on in Chamakh/Park/Squillaciesque inactivity). It’s not an easy choice between them– Poldi has experience and quality (at least in his left foot/finishing), but Campbell has much better work-rate, is more versatile, and much cheaper (likely less than 1/3rd the wages). Or, given the options we have (including Gnabry and, at a pinch, Akpom), let them both leave, as long as the profits are reinvested!
Podolski and Campbell aren’t strikers, they’re wingers: so they’re not in direct competition with Giroud in the slightest. Poldi will never be picked again as the one central striker, as he’s had several opportunities and not taken them. Niether are likely to get much game time as there are better options ahead of them both: Chamberlain, Walcott, Sanchez, occasionally Ozil (although he’s better as a no.10), Gnabry, Cazorla. Podolski is way down the pecking order. I think Podolski will be off in Jan.
Love the man, and he’s got a hell of a left foot, but it might be time. You can’t help feeling that Wenger only ever saw him as a transition player, following the departure of RVP, until such time as the money was there and he was able to really bring in some big players, such as Sanchez. Now we’re there, you’ve got to think that selling him and giving his spot to a youth player – such as Gnabry – would be better for everyone involved.
Really going to miss that left foot though…
He scores goals. I wonder which we could buy to replace his goals, and in fact actually compete for a place. Marco Reus. I’m looking at you.
What does his hair look like? Is he wearing the Arsenal kit? Does he have his boots on?
Does he have his shin guards ready to go?
He had a great opportunity to give Wenger something to think about against Southampton in the Capital One Cup. Instead Arsene was probably wondering how much he could flog him for in January.
I think we all love Poldi but he just doesn’t fit in with our game at the moment.
Do your talking on the pitch Poldi!
How can he do his taking on the pitch when he cant even get on the pitch? Don’t give me the Southampton match because some players need a run of games to be effective.
If he needs a run then maybe he’s not a player we need right now. In the same game, Coquelin, Hayden, Bellerin, and Diaby all stepped up, half of them out of position as well.
I didn’t include Chambers who also did well, as he plays pretty regularly for the first team anyway.
Some players do need a ‘run’ to get to their touch but Poldi didn’t look like he was even trying against Sotton. He really needs to make the effort when he next plays or he simply won’t get a run.
Oh my Lord, Olivier’s abs… I just swooned out loud. I need a girlfriend.
But then again, who am I kidding. I don’t go out, I just spend my time refreshing the news page every five minutes lol.
Ain’t mad if he leaves… He’s 77 on fifa! I’ll miss his shoot power but we’re about to buy younger players like khedira and reus.
Send us a tweet and an Instagram selfie when u sign for ur new club
I like Podolski as a person but I am also frustrated. Frustrated that when he does get on the pitch he plays like he couldn’t care less. If he took his football as serious as he media work we would have the best player in the world.
He has had one bad game (pretty much..) and is getting immediate stick from the fans. He was our most goal effective player for the last two season’s. Everyone has an bad game, in Podolski’s case it has to do with lack of games.
Hear, hear! He’s barely played this season. He’s had one bad game that he started. Even Ozil, Ramsey, Giroud or anyone else don’t get this much stick after ONE bad game. There were even several games on the trot last season when Giroud was so bad people were calling him a lamp post. What’s Poldi supposed to do if he hardly ever plays? What were people expecting? That he runs around the field like a puppy? We all know his style by now, he’s mainly a finisher and a crosser, and he still has a tremendous goals to minutes ratio,… Read more »
He wasn’t that impressive last year either.
But he did usually put in the effort, which he didn’t do against sotton.
Just not cutting it anymore, brother. Thanks for the goals and good luck!
I just can’t stop thinking about last year.
It was the game in which he got injured for 4 months or so. Poldi was sprinting. He was actually sprinting. I was shocked, I jumped up and said “Go on, son. Yeah, baby, Yeah, Whooooooop”.
And then, at the end of that sprint, his fucking hamstring.
I went from full retard rejoicing to an epic contemplation about whether I jinxed it.
Poldi to score a volley against Chelsea like against Montpellier.
I can’t help but think that that injury was a big turning point for his career with us. He was looking increasingly influential and bagging goals as well, but after that inury his contributions have been minimal. I love the guy’s character and have defended him to the hilt against criticism in the stands, but the last few performances at the end of our cup run last season and the Southampton game this season have been poor. I hope he can turn it around, it would be sad to see him go.
As much as I like Podolski if he and Campbell were sold in January and Reus was brought in I really think that would be ok
Who on earth wouldn’t think it’s “ok” to sell two decent players who are surplus to requirements and replace them with one of the very best in the world?
He can always come back in 10 years as Gunnersaurus #aha
Only guy inside of a mascot outfit ever to be smiling just as much as the character is hah
Quality left foot but not much else going for him on the pitch.
Even last season while he wasn’t injured, he showed desire in the opposition’s half and was trying stuff. He was pretty much invisible in the Southampton game this season. Seems like the WC win has drained much of the desire out of him, whatever he says. Thanks for the memories, and there were quite a few but if you don’t want to work your socks off anymore it’s time to say good bye.
Giroud’s abs *swoon*
I’ve loved him from day one seeing him play with Germany. If you love competition, win your chance…you’ll get a run out. Don’t run from the team…at best he’s a great squad player and morale booster, I’d hate to see him go.
For those ready to immediately wash their hands of him, without anything good to say, remember that when the next player you want to stay, leaves. Loyalty should be a two way street.
I still like the guy and hope he can regain some form. Sadly, that’s not going to happen unless we have more injuries all up front (please lord no *touches wood*) so it might be best for him to go on loan to raise his value again.
Watched Campbell face on tv when Welbeck scored his ha trick. .he didn’t look too happy, not a good sign for supposed to be squad players, wenger has a big decisions this January about their futures, offer them both for Sporting lisbon to make ways for Carvalho
Its all about competition. He wanted to be out on the field, scoring a hattrick himself. Sometimes desire is greater than joy. When your friend gets with a hot woman, its a bittersweet feeling because even though he nutted in/on a supermodel, you want one yourself.
And also – Carvalho? He’s ordinary and we can do much better. Like Khedira.
Why would a winger be unhappy that a striker scored a goal?
Thought he was great in helping drag us into 4th last season. Hopefully gets more game time as it will help our starting players stay fresh during the season. If not for the red he’d have been ideal to bring on for 30 minutes or so against Galatasaray
i’ve said it before the Wele signing…Podolski doesn’t offer much other than the occasional rocket shot
If only he showed this kind of passion and hunger when he played. During the Capital One Cup game, not for the first time, he as a passenger. Strange that he seems so meek on the pitch when he seems so dynamic off it.
Podolski spends too much time on social media to be taken too seriously as a footballer
When he’s actually got the ball at his feet, he’s a brilliant player – the problem is that without the ball he contributes virtually nothing. Even worse, he struggles to get on it either by winning tackles or being on the same wavelength as his team-mates generally speaking. That might be a consequence of our system just not suiting him, rather than him being work shy etc. With both Draxler and Reus being/coming on the market in the next 1-2 transfer windows, you can’t help but feel there are significantly better players (soon) available for his position – not to… Read more »
I believe Arsene must give him a chance with Ozil Sanchez Welbeck…. He played with a team full of nothing against southampton and I believe he can do wonders with the first team. Is not the same playing along reserves, than playing with a good team around you
1) The point is that he didn’t ‘play’ with a team full of nothing.
2) It’s wrong to say a team full of nothing as they were mainly international players who could all play 1st team for most of the EPL teams ( which means they would play for pretty much every team in Germany/Italy/France/Spain etc), so they’re all good players.
Poldi simply doesn’t fit our system. I’d love to see him do well but its not working out. Its best he moves on now.
I will be sad to see Poldi go, as he’s a likable fellow, but his time at the club is likely up- especially as we continue to be linked with more forwards and Giroud extending his contract.
Fans crying for Arsenal to buy players, Arsene bought good new players – and now we have a healthy selection of high quality Forwards – something gotta give in. You can only field 11 players, chances are scant that even Alexis gets benched (no matter how absurd that sounds like). I love Poldi but aat this rate even getting a sniff at starting line-up will be utterly scarce – give him game time to prove his worth? who do we bench then, Alexis? The Ox? Cazorla? Ozil? Walcott? – you get the picture….
I like the guy but when he has been given a chance he hasn’t looked interested…A far more worrying sign than playing poorly. Had an absolute shocker against Southampton.. Which is why i get annoyed when we go out of that competition. It is a chance for players like Podolski to get game time but also to prove Wenger wrong. Sorry but so far he has failed miserably.
I think Podolski has become our Eboue.
I’m a bit mystified with the Podolski love to be honest. Maybe it’s because I hate twitter and instagram and the way social media have turned the whole of football into a massive commercial enterprise with the ultimate goal of selling playstation games and garbage one-off scarfs, but if Podolski spent half as much time on his positioning and his movement as he did doing this #aha nonsense we’d have a hell of a player on our hands. Is it just because he smiles a lot? I dunno. As it is he’s on high wages and doesn’t really offer our… Read more »
Honestly, talent wise he is better than Giroud…but he never quite flourished even at his previous clubs. Wouldn’t put him as a “rubbish” player ala the likes of Park, Chamakh etc. but we need a clearing out of slow ineffective players which Wenger just gave two contract extensions to…guess some rubbish still have value…
Talent means nothing without application, just look at Ariel Ortega, Freddy Adu, Adriano, Denilson (old Denilson and Arsenal Denilson), Bojan, etc….
When given a chance to show this desire to get more ‘competition’ then you need to give and leave everything out on the pitch. You can’t play, looking like you don’t care and suddenly expect to be picked week in, week out. This is an experienced German international who is still only 29 and someone who has played a lot of games but I think playing for Koln had coloured his vision as he was picked every week as he was their best striker. In the PL, you have to put the effort in or you’ll just end up looking… Read more »
Bye, Bye Lucas.
Here I though we were talking about LuKas Podolski but you seem to to be talking about Lucas Neill? Lucas Leiva? Lucas Moura? David Lucas from Fleetwood Town FC? Scott Lucas who used to play Aussie rules football?
being out of one cup competition already game time for poldi is more limited he is an impact player from the bench, he only has fwd gears reverse he struggles with, hates defensive play so unless we are struggling for a goal then he willl warm the bench, was probably going in August but the injury to Giroud and no other player to sign option was he had to stay as a squad player
I’ve been a fan of Podolski since ’08 and I was ecstatic the day I learned that he was joining Arsenal. To be honest, however, I think his footballing qualities don’t really fit into the tactical plans of Arsene. While his powerful shots are always a joy to watch and behold, his style of play would be better suited for a different team. I still really like him as a super-sub, but given how Poldi is getting paid a lot of money for very little field time… it seems to do no favor for either parties. Best of luck to… Read more »
As much as I love him, can’t imagine it’d be anything but a win-win do everyone involved if he left in the winter, fans get money towards new signings and don’t have a player who dampens our ‘together’ spirit by complaining about lack of game time, and best for Poldi as be gets to finish his career with a bang and Wolfsburg or cologne rather than wither away on the bench here
On the wing:
Better than Alexis? Nope.
Better than Feo? Nope.
Better than Santi? Nope.
Better than the Ox? Nope.
In the Center:
Better than Welbs? Nope.
Better than Giroud? Nope.
He’s great injury cover, but I can’t see him breaking into the starting lineup. I can totally understand where he’s coming from. I wish him the best.
There’s certainly not enough room for cover in both the form of Podolski and Campbell. The tricky bit is that they both should be playing at their stages of career – Podolski wants to make the most of the years he’s got left, while Campbell needs regular game time to develop.
Difficult….verrrry difficult…..
It’s a tricky one. Arsenal are a team who try to control games and keep possession. But Poldi is the type of player whose main strengths are crossing and shooting, two actions which will result in the team losing the ball almost 100% of the time. He doesn’t pass well or dribble well, he’s simply very clinical and very specialist. As a result he’s unlikely to become a first team player. However he is a very valuable asset. Back in 2012 when the team lacked quality and couldn’t control games, we needed players who could take the few chances they… Read more »
Frustrating player that has that terribly terribly bad habit of scoring goals. I’d like him to come on with 20 minutes to go and sink the chavs on Sunday!!
I’m very disappointed by a lot of comments here. Podolski has realistically played one game, the Southampton game. The other games were substitution appearances of less than 15 min. In the game vs Dortmund he had a good typical Podolski chance and didn’t take it. If he had had a little more game time before that, he would have put it away. He’s never been a Sanchez type of work horse. Why do people expect it? In the early days of his career, where he was scoring at an amazing rate, the most widely used system was 4-4-2. For Germany… Read more »
he starts them together because he WANTS it to work. who cares if it doesn’t. who cares that the opposition has a plan, we don’t do tactics. we are about expression and patterns.
Yup
good finisher just dosnt work in our formation, if we went 2 up front a bit more he’d be useful. on the left, meh good for germany but we need the balance there more
He can’t get in the Germany team and I bet there won’t exactly be a stampede of top clubs trying to sign him, that should tell everybody something about the level he’s at… Probably go back to his former club, again
He was so shit against Southampton, I don’t give a flying fuck if he stays or goes and plays in an easier league.
He really pissed me off in that game, where you had teenagers giving their all but he didn’t look interested at all…..or maybe he was and he is actually that bad.
Possibly the new Frimpong- bags of potential, brought joy to many fans with off pitch antics, but ultimately dissapointing. Poor old Lukas, I wanted you to succeed more than most other players
There’s a luxury player like Ozil then there’s one like Podolski. He does not nothing at all unless someone puts the ball on the platter for him inside the area and slightly on the left. He wants to play but refuses to run at all.
Players go up and down in form Last week, Flamini was guilty of the undeserved Spurs equalizer. Yesterday he put on a storming performance allowing the attacking midfield quartet opportunity to go forward and combating some of the more vicious tendencies of Felipe Melo and company Podolski and Campbell are in some ways quasi-strikers. They are not the best at leading the line but are more direct assets in finishing than say the cultured approach if Santi or Alexis wide or the direct pace of Ox Theo or gnabry. Just different tools. Right now we are working well with a… Read more »
we only do one approach.
I think I’m becoming very negative, like let down by a father figure. I should stop posting comments and simply watch the team play. If they give me joy, wonderful, if they give me sadness, that is life. I can’t quit the gunners now.
I think Poldi will be a very useful squad player this season and still chip in with 10-15 goals.
Like the article alluded to I hope we can re-coup a fair bit when he leaves next summer, which is now looking pretty certain.
Keep your head up Lukas, your club still needs that hammer of a left foot if we’re going to challenge for major honours.
I think his transfer was all set before Giroud’s injury stopped it from going through. But ultimately, Podolski faces competition from Campbell, the Ox, Alexis, Ozil, Walcott soon, Gnabry, Rosicky and even Danny Welbeck. Sometimes competition brings out the very best in players, sometimes it worsens their confidence and affects their game. I fear Podolski faces the latter.
Podolski’s favoured system is 4-4-2, which we know Wenger doesn’t play so saying his future is elsewhere sounds reasonable, right? I don’t think so. Admittedly we never play 4-4-2, but as Wenger showed in the FA Cup semi final and final he can resort to 4-4-2 in need of a goal. And Podolski’s goal scoring record speaks for itself. When you’re in need of a goal, he can produce one out of nothing. I concede that he is on quite a lucrative salary just to be a last resort impact sub, but in times of desperation when goals are needed,… Read more »
I agree with you, and on the salary, I would say that financial firepower means we should have exactly this kind of player as an impact sub. You need a goal, you pay for a quality player that may not give you a lot of game time, but mark his worth in the ability to change a game for you. However, this is the big thing you noticed in your post. If we have an expensive tool in the locker, when we take him out to do some work, we have to change the conditions to make sure he gets… Read more »