New boy Alexis thanked the Arsenal fans for the warm welcome they gave him over the Emirates Cup weekend, but says he has to work hard to get up to full fitness ahead of the new season.
The Chilean made a Saturday cameo on the 5-1 win over Benfica, and played 73 minutes from the start in yesterday’s 1-0 loss to Monaco. It’s all part of his post-World Cup regime, and he admitted to the official Arsenal website afterwards that fitness was the key for him right now.
“I have to go step by step,” he said. “I have only trained twice with the team. Today I played 70 minutes, I believe I needed it, and I just have to keep on working hard and training.
“I like this style of football. What it is important for me now is to try to play games, to score as many goals and possible and to win titles.
“What it is important now is to play and get fit. I need to get 100 per cent.”
The loudest cheer of the weekend was for his introduction, something that didn’t pass him by.
“I am extremely thankful to all of the fans. I am happy and I hope I can make them very happy as well.”
Get fit and fire us to the league title mate. Still can’t believe he signed for us.
My girlfriend knows nothing about football and she thinks he’s unbelievably fit, silly girl
*where did I leave that damn coat?
My girlfriend saw him yesterday and commented that with that downturned mouth he looks a bit like a piranha. Have to say I quite like the image of him nipping around the opposition half gobbling up goals like a devious little chomper, and not the racist cannibal kind either.
My girlfriend…. I don’t have a girlfriend.
This is the internet mate, most people count their imaginary ones as well.
*Talk to the hand*
Haha, mine lives in Niagra Falls!!!
My girlfriend was horrified to learn i spent yesterday, the day when i should have been spending with her after she returned from holiday, up at the emirates buying the new kit for 66£ and going to a bar to watch the rest of the game. She asked me to rearrange my priorities on what i spend £66 on, and said the long anticipated time had come to choose between the gooners ir her.
In other news how good does chambers 21 look on the back of the new home kit?!
Comment of the day.
You’re welcome. And again, welcome to Arsenal!
Alexis will kickass! Him Campbell and Bellerin have the effect watching Sagna’s wife has on me! A 73 minutes b**n**. Dont ask how I survive!!
Maybe it’s too early on a Monday, but I can’t figure out what word you’ve ***’d out!
Think it’s boner, and he can’t spell (maybe because he had a b**n**r at the time and was excited)
Google Bowner clown!
Is he that racist bloke who used to play for Charlton, Leeds and Newcastle?
Is it BOWNER? The well known term for an erection…
Atlast someone who can spell!! Clowns above obviously need lessons on street lingo….a rounded b*n** is a b*wn**. Lol.
#ListenAndLearn
Clearly Sarcasm hasn’t got a steet spelling yet.
Boo-urns?
Or Booner (A Gooner Boner).
Deploy him on the left wing and he will shine. Walcott on the right. Cant wait for the new season. 😀
Alexis looks great (fitness aside), but my word doesn’t Ramsey look like a man on a mission already. If he stays injury free this season, then I think he along with Ozil and Sanchez would be key (from an attacking perspective) to win us the title. Debuchy looks like a sound addition as well. This season is getting me more and more excited by the day.
Indeed. Ramsey’s looked sharp in all the matches so far, which is both surprising and impressive considering it’s still pre-season.
Maybe because he was not playing at the world cup and had enough time to get 100% fit opposite of our many first team players that play at the world cup and need time to get to full fitness.
And don’t forget how sharp he looked in last year’s pre-season – it was a harbinger of things to come. Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez … we’ve got a number of candidates for player of the year in this squad.
Boan er perhaps…I Am German so can’t get in trouble for English profanities
What a monster we have on our hands!
I have to agree with Edu’s Braces girlfriend !!!! What with him, Podolski< David Beckham oops I mean Ramsey, Ozil , Walcott, AND of course the football they all play…I think I have died and gone to heaven !!!!!!!
Anyone noted how long it took zelalem to send someone thru on goal? We have many more coming thru!!!
On the up and up!!
In another note did anyone else watch the Bobby Pires prig in saturday night. Gave me goosebumps. What a fucking legend!
Yes I watched it…brilliant……
Scuse my spelling lol
Cannot wait for the community shield, only problem is I’m in the Man $hitty end
-Our Mole behind enemy lines-
Don a Citeh shirt (make sure it’s not an officially licensed one) and start spreading false rumours!!
Sorry, I should never ask someone to put that blue stain on. Just thinking of a way to turn your situation around.
–>Be the loudest Gooner in the park!
Wooooah! A fit Alexis in front of a clearly “fit” Ramsey is going to be exciting as fuck!
No one is mentioning that .
Arsenal lost their own cup in their own stadium……poor Gunners
what cup???? I’ve never known any Arsenal cup mate. Maybe my Mug of coffee but that’s MINE not Arsenal’s!!!!!
Nobody is mentioning that.
People seem to be more interested in Arsenal’s pre season than their own team’s… Poor random jealous person
A Spud, a Spud, his heart filled with envy and hate,
Catch him quick before its too late!
Crunch his balls in your hand,
Grab his throat and get a grip,
Hoist him up and over my friend,
Toss im over, try not to trip.
A fitting punishment for his crime,
His scream of pain shatters the calm,
A wonderful sound, a feeling sublime,
His balls are still within your palm.
Alexis you still have a mission….which is to make mourinho look like a cunt…..
Not much of a mission then
Perhaps the mission should be to out-cunt John Terry? Even for Mourinho, that’s a challenge.
Need a better mission than that – Moronho’s already a cunt.
I thought Alexis’ pre season debut was a good introduction for him. The crowd reception was top notch and he knows how we all feel about his arrival. Once he has attained match fitness, I think we’re all going to be witness to something a little special this coming season. Once he and Mesut connect and Theo makes his return, a few of the Premier League defences will be very wary. C.O.Y.G’s.
Santi sanchez walcott ozil ramsey rosicky chamberlain and apoldi will one day be in the pitch together.
coyg!
you still all remember that Ramsey can play RB right???
Please tell me Poldi’s NOT at LB!
I think Ramsey also played CB when Kos was sent off vs Villa on the opening day.
Wow, is there anything he can’t do?
what cup???? I’ve never known any Arsenal cup mate. Maybe my Mug of coffee but that’s MINE not Arsenal’s!!!!!
Was also immensely impressed by Ramsey this pre-season. Picking up from where he exactly left off, creating some sublime chances, taking shots and just running around the whole pitch making tackles and opening space for his teammates. We have a real talent on our hands here. Can’t wait to see him, Özil and Sanchez tearing apart the opposition. I must say I am incredibly impressed by Chambers and also was impressed by Debuchy, it’s like Sagna never even left and dare I say it’s an upgrade on the attacking front. Debuchy’s crosses just looked so dangerous! I still do think… Read more »
if wenger is gonna be ruthless with Arteta, maybe he should the same with Monreal. I saw the way Monaco were concentrating their runs on his side. dont know what will happen should Gibbs get sidelined. assuming TV5 leaves
The left side looked a bit more stable once zelalem was put on and tracked back. Also threatening when he went forward! Whoo, what a star in the making!
Must sign Carvalho. He is the key to Arsenal doing the double or even triple this year. Most people are focused on whom Ozil is feeding, Sanchez and Walcott, but the key for me is who is feeding the best # 10 in the world. Carvalho is a tremendous upgrade. He is the man you want behind Ozil. Ozil is at his best when he receives early balls just before the defense settles, those precious split second openings. Naturally you want the feeder to have less of touches of the ball, the vision, the speed of thought, and the confidence… Read more »
You’re right, I definitely think Carvalho should be the player we try to get for the DM role. If for some reason we can’t close the deal, however, what do you guys think about Axel Witsel?
And jack wilshere looks like a beast ready to be let loose. ramsey is becoming too much. hehe wow exciting times
My girlfriend is from Brazil.
Alexis scored against Brazil, she don’t like him.
we don’t like her
I do have a soft spot for Brazilians.
There’s a pill for that, mate.
Well, she doesn’t like a lot of players after this world cup then.
I’m thrilled Alexis is on Arsenal but I just have a feeling that late in this year we are going to be talking about the time it takes to adjust to English football when we talk about him. I so hope I am wrong about this but while Arsenal may play a style he likes, he is going to come up against Stoke type Neanderthals the likes of which do not inhabit La Liga and that require some time
Not always the case that players from overseas need a season to adjust. My point being Santi Cazorla – what a first season, played in every PL game and was our little crafty master.
I don’t think Montreal is shit, just that no one helped him so was always 2 against 1.
I think this has been the case ever since Monreal signed for us, the poor lad has had no protection from whoever it is playing in front of him and gets left 2 on 1 basically every attack the opposition have. Needless to say this is where I hope signing a real DM, or at least someone quicker and stronger than Arteta, will work out perfectly. Onwards and upwards!
I am upset that some fans take this pre-season thing so seriously and giving Arteta and Giroud the whack they don’t deserve.Saw this old guy speak on ArsenalFan TV and he was so upset that he feels sorry for Alexis to have joined us.Pathetic.
Just cheer louder. Let them mutter off to themselves.
I just remind myself media outlets of many kinds seek those perspectives for attention and sensationalistic reasons. It’s there to get a response out of you. Any response is good for them in their view, and we’re all caught in it from time to time.
I would be curious to see what % of comments on the boards are responses to originally negative comment posts.
Now there’s a topic for a doctorate thesis in sociology.
did this bloke ever get a follow-up interview? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSFEaI4HdA (Arsenal FC FanTalk – Either the Board or Wenger Must Go – Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 3 – ArsenalFanTV.com) i remember thinking at the time “if i only i could explain strategic management to this poor fellow”. the vast majority of our immense fanbase (myself included) have no experience or knowledge whatsoever of board-level involvement in an organisation of this stature. it’s a variation on the cliché, but arsene may not always know best (he is only human after all), but he knows a shitload more about football (*all* facets of… Read more »
This was always going to be problem for a club like ours in a World Cup year.
But historically we’ve always been one of the best regarding fitness and now with Shad Forsythe on board that’s got even better.
You can’t judge much from what happened yesterday – the only thing that matters is where we are on Saturday August 16th against Crystal Palace. And though it would be nice if we had a Community Shield in our cabinet by then, it’s not a priority. Winning the league is.
Arsene Wengers magic, and now his wallets fat, so when he saw Alexis, he said I’m having that!
Welcome to Arsenal our young lad
On the subject of the defensive cover that a more mobile DM or CM would give, i think that William Carvalho looks a very good player for that role. He is a beast destroying attacks, but he is also great with his distribution. Not only with short passes, but also with long balls over the defense, which I think would perfectly suit Campbell’s or Sánchez’ runs in space. He could alternate with Arteta to give him rest, come in in matches to shore the midfield if needed, or just as a one man mountain to allow Ramsey or Jack more… Read more »
Some good points made there about William Carvalho. I definitely think we need need a player this type of mould. He definitely has elements of a young Vieira about him. Tall, strong, excellent interceptions etc. He also looks like he has the physical capabilities to make those kind of toure/vieira esq runs through the middle of the park. Having said that he is still very raw and needs a couple of years of excellent training and acclimatisation to become the player we would all want him to be straight away. I think I would still prefer Khedira on the whole.… Read more »
Tbf John Terry is a cunt
@scarlet. How dare you mistake the messiah for the most overrated player EVER!! Ready for the thumbsdowns
Just for fun watch this GIF of William Carvalho tackling two Porto players at once:
http://static.dyp.im/SKxxU2A2rW/b0d8f8a0bb637b5d46cbe3d4c5e5b2c6.gif
Awesome!
He is too good for clubs such as Liverpool.
We need a Cback first and foremost. Goals conceded were mainly from set pieces. With Santi, jack and Alexis all short, we have to be careful with our resources when defending set pieces. Chambers is an interesting prospect up front but neither he nor the out going vermaelen should be entrusted at the moment to rotate through Meterscielny and that is a massive issue. CDM frankly can wait. This whole thing about needing a DM has been sputtering on since MVila, Wanyama and Gustavo were linked. None of them have shown the potential they were advertised. If Khedira is available,… Read more »
I personally disagree. Arteta is an excellent passer but he is not and never was a defensive midfielder. He will never be able to bully players of the ball like some of the others do. Flamini is a bulldog but is very limited in other areas. In my opinion one of the reasons we lost 5-1 to Liverpool and 6-0 to Chelsea was because we didn’t have that enforcer who could snuff out attacks. Once the first couple of goals came it was like the floodgates were open and nobody could close them, and as a result our center backs… Read more »
He’s already gone to Napoli, but to be frank a striker like Michu would be first and foremost in my book, and if we signed a striker like Michu who’s got height we will win the league because if we had a striker like Michu he’d be the most valuable addition to this squad, not a DM.
Ammirite Santori?
I have to agree with Santori, which can’t be too far from Wenger’s view point. Arsenal is not in a dire need for a CDM. If Flamini is out there, everyone will be singing songs for Wenger to sign Flamini; however, now that he is with us, he doesn’t look that good after all. It is not Flamini’s fault, Arsenal is not built to accomodate a specialist ‘defensive’ midfielder. Instead Arsenal team is built to accomodate a ‘pivot’ role in the same mold as Pirlo, Alonso, Busquet, Inler etc. To Wenger’s credit, he has converted an AM (Arteta) into this… Read more »
Alexis Sanchez looks like a MMA fighter. Get another one of his ilk (Vidal) and we will be ahead of Chelski and Citeh.
Eagerly waiting for the season to start. C’mon Gunners!!