Lukas Podolski says he’s going to have to talk to Arsene Wenger about his Arsenal future and the current situation he finds himself in at the club.
The German international has been vocal a number of times this season about his unhappiness, and while he says he’s happy at Arsenal and in London, the fact he’s not playing is vexing him to the max.
Speaking after Germany’s 1-0 win over Spain last night, he said, “I have to speak to Wenger because the situation at the moment is not good for me because I have to play, so we will see what happens.
“I am happy at Arsenal and happy in London but the only thing is I don’t play. I don’t get the chance to play. I play always ten to 15 minutes. I cannot be happy with this.
“I don’t say that I want to leave or that I leave in winter. I just think about my situation and my situation is unhappy. It is like anyone who is not getting a chance at doing their job.
“I know that only eleven can play but when you always play 10 or 15 minutes and it happens every week then you cannot be happy. I am happy with the team and the coach and the club but I don’t play. That is the only thing.”
Pretty reasonable stuff all round, especially as some other players would surely have thrown their toys out of the pram in a much more confrontational way.
Podolski also touched on the team’s current form and said the competitive nature of the Premier League gives them some hope that it’s not all dead and buried yet, but he knows results have to improve.
“You can always speak about problems but the season is not finished. The Premier League is the best league in the world. It is not like in Spain where you have two teams or in Germany where you have only Bayern Munich. You see it every week, that every game is tough. Home and away every team is hard to play. You can never say that the three points are easy to get.
“There is always pressure when you are at a big club and you are not in the top four. So we have to start winning games and start picking up points.”
What odds Poldi with the winner on Saturday? We’re thinking 18-1.
Which word do you want, podolski?
Just the one.
Maybe ‘aha’ from the boss?
I’m going to go with ‘AHA’
#moreplayingtime #dontlike10minutecameos #transferwindow #aha
#Aha
Need to check replies before I reply.
I dont understand why Podolski doesn’t get the game time he deserves. If Arsene is gonna make subs at 60 mins then atleast he has a chance to prove himself. Away at Anderlecht he was a last min sub, same at Swansea, and at home against Anderlecht he didn’t even feature! Sure on the rare occasions he has been handed starts he’s gone missing in games, but so have plenty of our players over the past month but Wenger has insisted in trying to play them into form. No one except Poldi likes playing on the left wing, whoever does… Read more »
But that’s the problem, Wenger doesn’t make subs until 70mins at the earliest!
It’s usually up to 70mins when he has finally given up hope on zipping up his jacket ….
the funniest (most annoying) moment when was, we needed a goal against Swansea, and instead sending an effective goalscorer like poldi, he sent “goalscorer machine” Sanogo…
I assume you’re saying that fully aware that Yaya scored 2 in his last game (French U21s).
and how many OFFICIAL goals has he scored for us?
And when we needed work rate and a forward who is physical and can hold up the ball to see us though the game, he brings on podolski.
Exactly, bad substitutions there by Arsene
Wenger doesn’t believe in rotating the squad. Hiring new physio isn’t going to help the injury situation. If AW rotates the squad when necessary (and when I say necessary, i don’t mean Capital One Cup games) and stop playing the same players every 3-4 days consecutively, our injury problem will not be as bad as it is every year.
This. I love Wenger, but this is his biggest flaw in my opinion.
No manager believes in properly rotating a squad that’s playing real bad AND ravaged by injuries. Until the team starts actually playing like a team a manager wants the core of players to get on the same ‘wave-length’. When they’re playing well, then you rotate a bit more. Our injury list shouldn’t be effected by exhaustion this early in the season, it’s effected by bad luck and poor refs allowing the opposition to kick the shit out of us (expect more of the same from mike dean against ManU). But if we don’t start playing well soon then the manager… Read more »
Breeze. Rotation is vital, if a player is not playing well use your squad. We have been banging on about squad depth for the last 5 years if not more. Now we have it, it’s not being utilised at all. How rosicky and poldi have not featured more is just bad management.
I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any rotation but all managers want the core of their team to ‘click’ before they start proper rotation. It would have been wise to have done so by now but it’s not vital yet. It will be in the next few weeks though when the tiredness starts to creep in.
Personally I’d have brought TR, Poldi and JC on more often at around 60 mins but that’s not proper rotation.
Because that would make sense using him on the wing in preferred position, ask Wenga
The only problem I see here is that this is happening out in the media. Poldi says he’ll think about a January move, Wenger says he needs to compete and will not be sold, then Poldi again says I’m gonna talk to him .. so on. I think Wenger was not able to manage him well. He was essentially brought in as a replacement of the dutch skunk but Giroud was preferred and he’s now left in a pretty sticky situation. For the sake of the player, if you don’t see him as a potential starter in your team, which… Read more »
I totally agree with you, why waste a player’s career when you won’t use him. If he is not played now, when is he going to play?
We seem to have no qualms selling players in form but not players who are on bench most of the time. Not that I dislike Poldi. He is a really effective attacking player and he will excel in another team (which happens most of the time). If we can’t utilize him sell him use the few pounds to make a new CDM happy.:)
Give him a go in place of Santi? Even if he doesn’t hit the ground running its hardly a step backwards, gets his morale up a bit and gives Cazorla the rest he clearly needs
Watched Santi play in Spain’s game last weekend & he was awesome, so it’s not about needing a rest.
He is obviously unhappy with something at arsenal, let’s hope it gets resolved.
He’s not been Guy Smiley much lately. I do wonder if Arteta’s comments pertained partially to him. Spain was probably a chance to get away from it. He also played on the right hand side, which he usually does with them. He might be tired of playing on the left, poor defense, cold rain, getting kicked to the ground 15x a match.
Or maybe his puppy is sick. Who knows? But it would be good to see him enjoying the game again. Putting one past De Gea (if he plays) might do it.
“Arsene… if you don’t play me soon, I might just miss the target when doing shooting drills, and I’m not saying I’m planning anything, but… it would be a terrible accident if one of my misses were to hit you on the side of the head while you’re talking to Bouldy…”
Wouldn’t you have a word with you manager before complaining to the press? I can imagine his pleas now going down like a lead balloon
Thing is he may have had plenty of words with the manager but feels as if he is being ignored, so figures what the hell I’ll let everyone know.
But to then go back after you’ve essentially thrown your toys out the pram is a bit weird but then maybe it’s just because it’s different to the way I would’ve handled it.
It’s always better to keep things within the team but I can’t really fault Podolski for the way he has handled it up to this point. As a star football player (he might not have performed as well recently but Poldi is a very much a star) you’re going to get media around you all the time. It’s hard not to say anything especially if it seems like you’re used as an afterthought. He hasn’t said anything damaging about the club or the manager, he has simply stated that he wants to play just like anyone else. He could easily… Read more »
What happens if you buy a pint of milk, and that milk becomes unhappy with you and wants to talk to you?
Should be concerned with the Milk’s aspirations or your own?
Put it in the fridge until it goes stale and then walks out to Galatasaray? I hope not.
If you buy a pint of milk, and then leave it to go stale, well, that’s a total waste of money. If someone bought something with my money, and then wasted it, I wouldn’t be too happy. Oh wait..
The milk is being off with you
I put it in the blender with my ice cream, and whirr it up. If it doesn’t mix properly with the ice cream to make a delicious shake, i dump it down the drain and get a more mixable pint of milk.
I’m sorry, I maybe possibly perchance see the point(s) you might be trying to make, but comparing a human in a job to a bought object really unsettles me hence my thumbs down
Ha Ha! The conversation of the day award goes to…..
Will need his goals these next two matches. Play him on the left Alexis playing behind Welbeck and Theo on the Right. Devastating attack against a very average manure defence.
That’d be amazing…
Shame we can’t have 12 players on the pitch, because I’d like to see Ox in there too.
Rotation just hasn’t been Arsene’s forte this season and then you get him complaining about the players were fatigued at the end of the Anderlecht game. However, with that being said, Podolski just hasn’t shown that he is an effect player over a full 90 minutes. Throughout his tenure at the club there have been moments where I was like, “I forgot that Podolski was playing” and since a large chunk of our attacks come from our right wing he becomes even less noticeable. But he has one hell of a shot on him and given a chance you can… Read more »
You don’t have to be a 90mins player to be of use. All he’s really asking for is a few starts and some introductions that last for more than 10mins. you really can’t fault that.
Last season(or the one before) against westham, he came in with 30mins to spare and arsenal one goal down, we eventually won the match 3-1 and he scored (mind you, he was only brought in at that time coz someone got injured)
I do like the guy. Hope he gets playing time but he is not consistent then…Well he will be fine. The guy loves London.
Let’s be honest: Podolski has no future at Arsenal – at least with Wenger as manager. Le Prof clearly doesn’t fancy Lucas, that’s been obvious for a long time now. It makes you wonder why Wenger didn’t just get rid of him a long time ago. Maybe maintaining Podolsi’s massive wage has put off any prospective buyer. But it’s bizarre that a current German international can’t get into our side.
Dear commenter,
Fatgooner is that really you? I was waiting for the ‘Wenger Out!’ rant but it wasn’t even in the denouement.
I don’t even know which emotion I’m feeling. I’m conditioned to being irked just by seeing your avatar. I’m always happy to see non-doomsday comments/critiques. I’m suspicious as to what you’re smoking.
Sincerely,
Confused in the Confederacy
Podolski was good in 2012/2013 season he was so effective on the left wing. Wenger should give him more game time.
As we have in some games recently been playing with Alexis and Welbz up front i think Poldi could do a job in one of those positions when one of the other needs a rest. On the wing he often gets invisible and often the same when he is alone up front, but his quality finishing and crossing would really be efficient for us getting some points in the future. So i think with a striking partner with him up front he could do a really decent job!
Would like both Poldi, Rosicky and Campbell to play more. It is not like our players have put in dazzling displays worthy of a place in the team except Alexis. If i was a substitute in our team, i would really wonder what it would take for me to get the chance to prove im worthy of a place in the team Ahead of the underachievers playing week in week out with minimum effort put in. There is no incentive in the form of competition for our first 11 to up their game. Wenget need to use his Squad depth… Read more »
It’s because Sanogo is a better option when we are a goal down.
He’s simply not good enough when played, it’s as simple as that! A shame because he’s so clinical but at times like playing with 10 men
Get in line Poldi, there’s a queue.
Podolski will play no part in next game. Wenger will prove to the world that none of what the player said in the media affects his decision process. I hope to be wrong.
i believe that Poldi has a potential to be a great addition for us only if he is allowed a stretch of games. The way Santi’s form is spiraling down and the way we have seen Rambo blast away balls whose probability of touching the inside net,is same as of sp*ds winning the league, Poldi certainly deserves a look in. If Arsene can stick to players in their dip shit form,why not trust a player who is best in his enthusiasm in the locker room and has a genuine love for the club. Sending in Sanogo with him on bench… Read more »
Sanogoal scored four in a single pre-season friendly.
at least you can thank wenger for doing something that gave you a round ass.
was it square before…?
Am I alone in thinking that one reason for Poldis lack of playing time this season is down to the makeshift back four? In my mind Monreal seems to be a more “traditional” left back, but Wenger isn’t able to deploy him on the left as he’s currently plying his trade in the centre.
Maybe Wenger would feel more comfortable with Poldi on the left with Monreal behind him?
more “traditional” than who? Gibbs?
Yes – Monreal looks to me to be a lot more cautious going forward. Not sure this is actually the case, just started thinking about it (interlull abstinence)
Monreal isn’t as quick as gibbs to get back so he doesn’t get quite as far forward so often.
Having said that, when he does get caught forward in his efforts to get back he tends to dive in a bit too much giving away free kicks.
He’s just being honest. Nothing wrong with that.
At least we are well covered with striker options.
OTOH Liverpool have Sturridge out, Balotelli and Ricky Lambert. Brendan Rodgers is obviously spending it well.
United have their own issues at the back with a lack of choice.
We can’t keep thinking we are always hard done by injuries.
I think Wenger will be more likely to let Podolski go if a good offer comes in Jan. This particularly as Campbell and Gnabry are waiting on the wings. Podolski has been unable to sustain effort when starting. He has been better as an impact sub. that said this is somewhat self fulfilling since the infrequent starts would render his ability to sustain that said effort through a longer period difficult anyway. All said, I don’t think we are using him as well as we can. he is clearly a lethal finisher given right time and space and has saved… Read more »