Shall I stay or shall I go?
Manu Eboue has really stepped out of line, earlier this month he said he would consider leaving the club if he didn’t get more appearances, yesterday he reiterated that. It is totally unjustified.
“My future at Arsenal is not clear yet, I did not play a lot in the season and the World Cup is coming.
It would be very difficult to leave Arsenal, but I believe it would be more difficult to experience the same season, not on the pitch.
For starters, according to Arsenal.con, Eboue started 27 times and appeared a further 17 times off the bench = 44 appearances in total. So is that not playing a lot, Eboue?
These statements have not been denied by the Ivorian, making the possibility that they are true a very real one. He appeared a hell of a lot last season but his gametime decreased after being a total and utter twat and getting sent off against Sp*rs…. In the first half.
To be fair he is a very important figure in the squad and it is a possibility he is just haggling for a pay rise, Sly Sports announced that he was close to inking a new deal in March but we have still heard nothing official from the club, so negotiations, in theory, could still be ongoing.
I don’t remember Wenger saying what he has quoted as saying in that article, but then again, I sometimes don’t remember what day of the week it is…. If you can remember him saying those things, I stand corrected. Get back to me on that one in the comments if you want.
We need players with the directness and versatility of Eboue at the club, they are a vital part of any kind of success we aspire to achieve. Wenger compared him to Ray Parlour last September… ‘pass master Eboue’, you may remember.
He is no Ray Parlour, thats for sure, but he is still a pretty good player and does a job. Add to that, he is our only right full back back-up option.
As I have said in the past I quite like him, he brings an element of personality, allbeit OTT at times, he can be a bit of a twat too. He seems well liked by the other players and seems a genuine nice guy off the field, it would be a shame to see him lose that part of his relationship with the fans now. Arsenal made him, he needs to remember that.
Our other right back, Bakary Sagna has responded to rumours that he is the latest Madrid recruit and that he would welcome the offer. It brings to an end two days of rumours surrounding our full-backs:
“I have seen the quotes attributed to me in the French media today and I just want to put the record straight. These comments are not accurate and I’m not aware of any speculation linking me to another club. I am 100 per cent committed to Arsenal.
“This is a great Club and I’m proud to wear the shirt. I’m looking forward to returning for pre-season training in July and preparing for the challenges that next season will bring. We have a great squad of players at the Club and I know that we can achieve something together at Arsenal, my focus is nowhere else.â€â€œI have seen the quotes attributed to me in the French media today and I just want to put the record straight. These comments are not accurate and I’m not aware of any speculation linking me to another club. I am 100 per cent committed to Arsenal.”
Whilst Sagna is certainly a defender Real Madrid would bite our hand off for in terms of quality, he is not the showboaty type they are after, he is not a cunt either, making any possibility of a transfer, nil.
In two days Clichy, Sagna and Fabregas have said how committed they are to Arsenal, you do have to doubt whether it will end the transfer tittle-tattle.
We have been linked with Felippe Melo of Fiorentina – Chances of that coming off are remote.
Onto Xabi Alonso and his injuring of our captains left knee again. A) Who tackles a team mate hard in a training session? B) Who tackles a team mate hard in a training session after already putting him out of action for 5 months with a knee injury with another hard tackle?
Its been said that Cesc is not happy with the tackle at all and who could blame him? The guy is supposed to be a national team mate and also a good friend to him.
Luckily he seems to be fine and has accepted Alonso’s apology:
“My leg very swollen by the blow. Fortunately that will not be anything serious,”
The media reports tend to go a little OTT but Cesc has himself said to AS (Spanish paper) that he might be fit for the Iraq game. I just want him back to Arsenal in one piece.
Right I think that’s quite enough for today. More tomorrow.
PS. Blatter and Platini have stayed quiet about this. hmmm…
Arsenal News 24/7
Well, to answer your query Goonblogger, no, it will not quell the transfer tittle-tattle. The Daily Fail is now reporting that because they lost out on Xabi, Real Madrid will make a mega bid for Cesc. Can a report from one of the Spanish papers be far behind declaring “Cesc admires Real! Soon to leave Arsenal!”?
I know I shouldn’t get wound up over these things, but I do. I’ll be honest…it pisses me off. If there’s a legitimate link, fine. No worries and we can deal with that. But so much of what comes out of Spain, and to an extent the hyperbolic headlines of the British rags, seems only to inflame Arsenal fans and put the club in a bad light. Hardly one paper accentuated the fact that Cesc completely recommitted to the Gunners when he denied the Barca link, but they went out of their way to mention that at some point, yes, he would like to play in Spain while downplaying, almost ignoring the commitment statements – as if those didn’t matter at all. It seems to me that the papers are well and truly of an effort to force him to Spain, no matter the cost. Truly pathetic.
I say good on Bacary for coming right out, on Arsenal.com no less, and crushing the reports linking him to Real Madrid. An extra effort for him to do that, and a rock-solid, iron-clad statement of commitment to the Gunners.
Lol. God, what’s with that awful hair, Cesc?
I heard on another blog that Alonso wants Fabregas injured as frequently as possible so that Alonso will be picked ahead of him, hahaha.
Still though, why would anyone tackle that hard in a training session?
Lets leave the Cesc rumours alone as we all know he won’t be leaving this season and definitely not to madrid as he is a catalan. Eboue on the other hand was treated very badly by certain sections of the crowd and I wouldn’t blame him if he leaves and as far as the 27 apps is concerned how many of those have been late subs?
Hes made 44 appearances, not 27. Read the article.
lol alonso has been sent off in spains match
Re Eboue – yes he did make a lot of appearances in total but he seemed to be left out a lot towards the end of the season in for big matches, and this happened only once he really hit form, which I was disappointed with personally
Still u are right, it is as lightly odd statement. I wouldnt be surprised if he did want to leave because of the booing etc, but didnt want to disappoint wenger or some of the players, so he might be trying to use his losing of his place for those few matches to justity it – duno if that makes sense tbh
Felipe Melo or Lorik Cana i dont care get any one ofthese beasts and I ‘ll start believeing this season mite actually go in a different direction to the last one,but damn i wish i didnt know Wenger so well,once we have heard rumours but us buying someone then we should know that once thats done there is no way we will sign the mentioned player so puuufff there goes my dream…
Should we wait for protracted transfers again? We should be ready long before the season starts. we kick off @ goodison park on Aug 15. I’m against Eboue leaving. End of story, good bye. The end
Goonblogger thinks stats explain everything.
I think the quote if from after the Burnley game, or a game in that period in which Eboue was a substitute and scored towards the end of the game, after he’d come on. The match is after Arshavin came to the club, that’s for certain.
gabriel: back that up then… go on. I challenge you.