Arsene Wenger has launched something of a broadside at Inter Milan over rumours that they’re set to sign Lukas Podolski on loan until the end of the season.
The German international has expressed his unhappiness at not playing, and said this week, “I am not 20 or 21 years old, I can not afford to wait for a chance. I’m 29, and I want to play.”
The former Cologne and Bayern Munich man has spent much of the season on the bench, and this week whispers emerged from Italy that the Nerazzurri had reached an agreement to take him until the end of the season.
Speaking today, however, the Arsenal manager slammed the club as ‘not serious’ and said he wanted Podolski to stay.
“Inter? That is a joke,” he said. “Inter is not serious, they talk. There is only talks. Podolski is a player of Arsenal football club and I want him to stay.
“Apart from that, what it is to be professional is that as long as you are somewhere, you give your best to justify your wages and your love for the club.
“I hope that he will still be an Arsenal player at the end of January.”
Despite his slamming of the Italians, Wenger’s final statement doesn’t exactly close the door on a move away for the disgruntled Hashtag King, but with plenty of games to play, and an injury to Danny Welbeck to add to Olivier Giroud’s current ban, he may get some time on the pitch.
Either play him or sell him, one or the other. He deserves better.
“Deserves” better? What an odd thing to say.
He’s earning 100k a week, he should keep quiet and stop complaining
Money doesn’t necessarily guarantee fulfilment. I’m glad that he has the hunger to play; it at least shows he has integrity. I am very curious as to the exact reasons why Wenger is unwilling to play him. Another one for his autobiography, perhaps.
Perhaps a regular unwillingness to track back? Seems like a liability unless you’re desperate for a goal late in a match?
So when players leave to oil-infected clubs for more money (no names need to be mentioned), we blame them for being superficial bastards with no heart for the club… But when they want to stay and play and be a part of bringing results to us, we tell them to stop complaining because of the money they get… #aha
Great comment. Just one small correction: Podolski does not want to stay, but yes, it has nothing to do with money. He wants to play. Good for him. I’d also like to point out that Podolski has been pretty decent about the whole thing. I mean, he’s been frozen out for over a year now, and he’s still refused to publicly criticise the club.
You can’t sell him in January even if he’s not playing regularly for us. At the least, he’s still a super sub off the bench when we need a goal.
Also, all the Italian clubs are a joke. When they want to sell, they quote an astronomical sum for the transfer fee. When they want to buy, they want to loan a player or a bargain basement price.
Keep Podolski, lose Wenger.
I know which one I have faith in to perform better in their respective role.
Rubbish, you want to keep one dimensional player for multi talented manager. I know Wenger has some issues but there aren’t many coaches better than him right now.
True that
True that is for set him free or play him.. Not for podolski stays, Wenger out. That’s ludicrous.
Agree, why keep him as ornament on the bench? Wenger himself stated few months ago that Podolski was the player you want to get the last pass and shoot at goal. If Wenger thinks of Podolski that way and does not use him then he needs to free him.
If you want him to stay maybe play him more than just 5 minutes per game
He rarely even gets 5 minutes nowdays. Which is strange considering that the player is one of our most goal efficient players.
I do think one of the reasons he’s goal-efficient is that Wenger plays him selectively in situations he knows he’ll be effective.
His biggest problems are his inability to contribute to build-up play and his lack of defensive awareness. The former is why he can’t play up front, and the latter why he can be a liability on the wings in a season when we’re already fragile at the back.
Finally, someone contributing a worthwhile comment. Podolski is a decent finisher and a great character which is why we love him, however he is so defensively irresponsible we can’t fit him into the team. The premier league isn’t a place to be carrying someone who only contributes in one area of the pitch. Giroud, wellbeck and alexis all give defensive options as well as offensive. Don’t get me wrong I want him to stay, just a shame he’s on 100k a week!
Honestly, Podolski is not the only of our offensive players that are defensively irresponsible. To be fair..
Has been like that all his career. Why sign him in the first place?
Exactly! Arsene is honestly losing the integrity battle on poldi.
Well said Striker. Wenger always pick a player to be tough with. Hasn’t he punished him enough by keeping him on the bench for that long ? We all saw Poldi tracking back when he got a chance in Dormund. Chamberlain has been our second best player most part of this season. Does he score goals ? The ox is a speciality player, he has power and burst into defences. Don’t see why Poldi wouldn’t be a guy to deploy if goals are required.
Then why won’t he sell him? What’s Wenger going to do, develop him into that kind that of player he wants in his early 30’s?
With the all important need for strength in depth (even more important for us with our injury problems and what not) i dont think Wenger would be willing to sell off an attacking option in January. The summer window is a more sensible time.
Frankly this is one of the bizarre issues with the management at Arsenal. Weird passive agressive crap.
No good enough then let him go. I have no doubt he’ll score and on a regular basis.
Good enough for the squad, then spell him in to relieve the likes of Sanchez for a half.
Looks like he may finally get a start New Years Day
You want him to stay yet you do everything you can to leave him out of the team, week after week. I don’t think a player of his calibre deserves this. I love Podolski for the player he is, but wenger should let the man go if he does not intend to use him. I certainly think that he is a player that is lethal to have in front of goal, he is our most goal efficient player we have at this football club, why wenger does not use him is a bit of a joke really..
He might have a good games-to-goals ratio, but it’s worth checking WHO he scored his three goals against this season, ie two pretty ropey defences with in one case nothing to play for (Galatasaray and Anderlecht).
When you see how hard our other forwards work with and without the ball, it becomes quite clear why Wenger doesn’t use him for anything more than an “impact sub”. He does an awful lot of standing around, waiting for things to happen around him, which just isn’t the modern game any more.
Honestly: Those were the games he got a chance to play in. He got the chance, he scored, and never got the chance from start again. Olivier Giroud’s goals has not come against much better opposition.
Yeah, Bayern in Munich. Litteraly through Neuer.
What a bad player.
He got the chance from start in that game.. Podolski didn’t.. I am simply saying that you cannot make assumptions of a player if he never gets the opportunity.
To be fair, I think Jeff was referring to Podolski’s goal at Bayern last season, not Giroud’s the season before.
@Jeff It was an impressive shot, certainly. Lahm wasn’t too impressed with the push that Poldi gave him before he scored though. 😉
Yes I was refering to that. Thanks for explaining. I mean, he can score against anybody. But as it has been documented quite well, he does not contribute to the buildup as much as we would like.
But when he shoots, seek cover.
If you don’t get the chance against any other team it is hard to prove it wrong. It is sad really that people tend to protect every wenger decision there is.
That’s not my point. Although I do believe your and my assessment of Podolski’s skill and form are only based on seeing him play a few minutes in a competitive game occasionally. Wenger and his coaching staff see him train nearly every day. So you got to give a bit of credit to the professionals working with him. But if you look at the games where he had more minutes, he really doesn’t contribute much to the team play. This has been the main criticism against him for many years, not just this season. I’m not one for saying ‘told… Read more »
Someone who contributes with goals (Poldi, who is efficient in that aspect and his minute per goal ratio is out of this world) but contributes not so much on build up play vs someone who contributes with build up play but has to shoot a dozen of times before netting a goal (welbz) hard choice sure, but doesnt mean he couldnt use poldi more often, i dont think playing once in a while and just for 5 minutes is good for a goalscorer like him
will someone please think of the hashtags!
Wenger is entitled to play Podolski as much or as little as he deems fit – Podolski is paid way way more in a year than most of can ever hope to see in many lifetimes. So he has to suck it up and be the best he can be whatever is asked of him. I like Poldi and I like his thunderous shot, however lets not forget that Wenger warned him that he needed to work harder i.e. get fitter, but when Lukas got his chance he didn’t track back and made errors that cost us goals. Now Lets… Read more »
It’s not all Wengers fault, the player must take some responsibility for not playing more minutes.
Aha! Some nice goals from that cannon left leg please.
Podolski is little bit specialised weapon. His shooting ability really is the only world-class thing about his play (not to say that there aren’t other aspects of his game to admire – his passion for one) whilst his stamina and defensive abilities leave a lot to be desired. In other words he’s a great off-the-bench player who is being under-used in this role. When Poldi and Theo came on against Burnley they caused real problems and almost scored three goals between them, our last game against West Ham was crying out for an attack-is-the-best-form-of-defense approach and the introduction of Podolski… Read more »
What does podolski have to do to get a game? He has to be better than alexis and chamberlain. I think 7amkickoff may have mentioned this. He seems like an excellent guy to have at the training ground though.
Better than Alexis really. You been on the eggnog?
I dont think he’s claiming Poldi is in fact better than Alexis, i think he’s saying that in order for Poldi to move up the pecking order he needs to be better than them.
Yes that’s what I meant.
…huh?
I can understand Podolski’s frustration at not starting a game. But when we’re 2-1 up and need to defend a lead, we need players who will put a shift in defensively. Not sure he does enough defensively. At 29 is he too set in his ways? Obviously there’s something we don’t see, that the manager sees in Podolski in training. In any case, there’s a very good chance he’ll get a game vs Southampton, and probably against Hull City, so I hope he makes the best of it and gives the manager a welcome selection headache. As for the Inter… Read more »
It’s unfortunate that Podolski has become another Arshavin! In either case there is doubting the talent but the manager doubting their work rate. I would really like to see more of the thunderous left foot of Podolski. However, if the plan is for him to spend time on the bench, then might as well let him go and play elsewhere. Why pay £ 100K a week (or whatever his salary is) when there is no plan to use him, especially with Walcott returning as well? We could instead use Campbell to warm the bench, while spending the money on a… Read more »
It looks like we already have the money for a quality CB, the problem is/was finding the right one.
Keep him Arsene…..back in 1999 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became a life long legend for flicking in the winning goal for Man U in the Champions league final against Bayern having been a bit part player who only came on with a few minutes to go. Podolski is twice the player he was and capable of coming on and winning any game.
Ps
I fucking hated that night!
Showing your age a bit mate…
who doesn’t remember that?
Podolski do not get chances? You mean like the FA Cup final. Sigh, some folks have convenient memories
Wenger’s rotation policy this season so far has been very odd. I can understand why Poldi is frustrated but I can understand why Wenger is at times reluctant to play Poldi as has been mentioned. But in some games, I really do feel as if Wenger should have given more chances to players like Poldi and Rosicky as you can see that some players are absolutely finished but are not given rests and oddly not even subbed.
I agree that AWs management of subs is odd but mix into that how many ‘in-game’ injuries we’ve had which have forced other subs to be made. Plus the poor ref’ing at some games where we should have been comfortable but the ref has kept the game too tight to use Poldi.
Despite this, I still think Poldi and JC should have got more game time.
Wenger has rotation policy? thats new
A. Why loan out a guy with goals practically every 3 shots he takes?
More importantly B. why not play the guy in A?
C. When guy in A wants to leave and for good reason why stand in his way if you you are not playing the fella?
D. y u no play Poldi?
I don’t get you Heroldgoon…
Some Arsenal fans are so sick and ungrateful, why? Wasn’t it the same fans and media who said arsenal don’t have a good bench and that our bench is full of youth players, now that Wenger has Campbell,Poldoski,Rosicky,Ospina on the bench,they say we are wasting talent, Seriously, don’t Arsenal Football Club also deserve to have a strong 25man club…. All we need now is a center back and a defensive midfielder… So, to all the people out there who were waiting for Arsenal to fail as a club like Liverpool, IN YOUR FACE..
He is not getting chance due to current demand of defending which podloski lack and Giroud, welback and alexis doing very swiftly. I love podolski shots but you have to fight the opponent whenever you lost the ball even Cazorla is doing this
The guy needs to be patient. We are at the stage where we NEED to win ALL our games, so there is no room for speculative fielding of players. FA Cup games are imminent. So……….
was Giroud angry because of the club going for Cavani……
if so why would we even sign another striker…
I know many of you will start saying these are just rumours ,
well based on my past experience if AW mentions a name, then he was/is/going to be involved..
These are just rumours.
Imagine Podolski with alexis work rate .. No transfer talks then.. No doubt he’s the best finisher at the club but let’s face facts he doesn’t hold the ball up he doesn’t do enough defensively. He has no pace. But I love him none the less.. Will hate when he goes. Just wish we had him before the twilight years..
Again, is “workrate vs goals”, workrate is nice and all, but how many goals “workrate welbz” has wasted?
Exactly. And how many goals and assists has zero work rate Ozil stacked up but if you criticise him you don’t ‘understand’ football and all his work is ‘invisible’. Well Podolski’s work is visible, he scores goals, lots of them and he would score a lot more given the chance.
Sp yes, guy, i can confirm you that you don’t know football that is not only about tackling ! Check out how Özil defends by cutting the lines between his opponents. Much more efficient than running like a headless chicken. Of course this is nothing aggressive and bloody. Yes, when it comes to cleverness in football, some (like you) are losing their way.
Wenger said he couldn’t prevent Vermalen from leaving because he was not getting game time. You see the double standard ?
Lol, he knew Vermelean was nursing an injury which could reoccur, not replacing him adequately was Wenger’s mistake but well who doesn’t make mistakes… At least signing WELBZ showed dat Gazidis had BALLS.. So maybe he wd correct Wengers mistakes
The summer window is a completely different animal to the winter window.
Some of you are forgetting how many chances Podolski has had. In his first season, he was our main striker for the first few games. Giroud was on the bench, remember? He failed so bad, that Wenger had to bring in HFB and use Poldi on the wings. When HFB got injured, Wenger tried Poldi upfront again. He failed so bad that Wenger used Theo instead and shifted him out to the left. Scoring goals is one aspect of the game but so is creating them and defending your lead. Poldi has very little ability to play facing away from… Read more »
That is not entirely true is it? 1. Olivier Giroud started against Stoke. 2. Podolski won the game at anfield for us. (3rd game). 3. Olivier Giroud scored his first goal against Coventry if I don’t remember wrong. My point is: he was not at all bad considering how utter shit Giroud was for long parts of that season. (He scored 15 goals in like 50 games or something) Same amount as Podolski during the same season, yet he had significantly more time playing upfront. 🙂 I am really disturbed by people hitting out at a player that happend to… Read more »
People talk about Podolski’s lack of work on the defensive end. We’ve been letting in goals like crazy, and yet he’s hardly played. How can you blame him for the goals we’ve conceded or his lack of work? He’s an offensive player. He wasn’t bought to play defense, but I remember someone putting up some stats in the comments about him last season towards the end of the season that showed that even though people claim he doesn’t work hard, he puts in the necessary work. The guy deserves some more time on the field. He’s an offensive machine. Hopefully… Read more »
Italian clubs are a joke atm.
Bet Inter are only offering to pay half his wages and don’t want to pay a loan fee, with an option to take him permanently for a few million.
The world of football has moved on and left the Italian clubs far behind
Their economy is the issue to be fair. And also, the world football is now crazy thanks to a few clubs that I would not like to mention by name. They’ve created an market inflation where prices is crazy and they seem to get fucking worse every season.
£15m Shane Long anyone?