To say nothing of the manager making wages he certainly doesn't deserve.

Irish gunner wrote:

Ozil will stay, Sanchez is off. The opposite would probably be more beneficial tbh.

Agree. It's a lot easier to find a top attacking mid than a top striker. Plus, there are advantages to not having to play with a CAM. And as much as I love Ozil, and as skeptical as I am of media narratives, I do think he has a habit of disappearing in big games, instead of being the guy that drags us out of the muck. For the wage he's after, he can't be a passenger.

Sanchez is great, but I see late Henry right now - clearly the best player, surrounded by players he sees as ineffective, and thus getting into bad habits like holding the ball far too long, trying to do too much. The frustration is palpable.

Thing is, I think the supporting cast can be better than they've shown with a new, top manager.

Wanting to see proof of the club's ambition as one of the conditions of singing a new contract usually doesn't go down too well with Wenger. He will be sold.

It's January. A serious club would already have either tied down Wenger or signed on Simeone/Tuchel for next season. I do think that Wenger has been selfish with the way he does his own contract renewals. We need clarity on his role, so other things can fall into place quickly.

But we're not a serious club.

We havent been for a long time, Wenger has been allowed to run things without question. No serious club would give the manager so much leeway for such a long time without any success.

Klaus wrote:

I'm as big a fan of Alexis as they come, but he's had a bunch of performances lately that Özil would probably have been chastised for if the table was turned. He wasn't good against Bournemouth. His annoying habit of holding onto the ball to the point of the absurd was one of the reasons we couldn't score for the first 70 minutes.

Who was he supposed to pass it to? Pretty much everyone else was worse, Giroud was completely out of it for the first hour, Iwobi was invisible and Ramsey's first touch as usual this season looked like a poor goal attempt half the time.

Good point by Kamikaze, there are shades of Henry's last season about Alexis right now. It's generally not easy to keep your performance at the highest level for months, nobody really does that bar Messi. It's even more difficult to do it when your whole team plays like shit and given how Alexis has in fact carried the team for long spells this season (becoming Europe's top scorer+assister in the process) I'd agree with General that calling his performance dogshit is extremely harsh.

Sanchez linked to PSG , spurious link i know.. but they can pay what he wants

So ozil stays if wenger stays. Who knows how much truth there is to that, could just be a convenient negotiating tactic. I do think he enjoys the freedom he gets playing for wenger, and knows he won't get the same luxury elsewhere

Would Sanchez go to PSG? Seems a bit unambitious to me for a player with so much drive to go to a wind rate league like ligue 1.

Have a feeling Alexis will be off this summer. Obviously a top player but I wondering if him going presents us with an opportunity to get another star in to better complement Mesut - assuming he stays.

If one were to stay I'd prefer Sanchez. He's one of our key leaders on the field. I'd make him a ten and go find him a striker. He'd bring more combativeness to the center of the field. Of course the best outcome is they stay and we bring in a third superstar, but the homie Wenger don't play that

I'd kill to see Sanchez at ten here. With a welbeck upfront...a welbeck who magically gets theos finishing skills. even wenger wouldn't be able to stop that team.

We are too wide open with a number 10 and it will continue to remain a source of weakness against the top sides as we get outnumbered in midfield.

arsedoc md wrote:

I'd kill to see Sanchez at ten here. With a welbeck upfront...a welbeck who magically gets theos finishing skills. even wenger wouldn't be able to stop that team.

Wellbecks knees knackered. I wouldn't normally say but keown said it on TV. He'll be more of a rotation player. 

Just ditch the entire number 10 role at Arsenal altogether.

It hasn't given us any semblance of a midfield in years.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:

Just ditch the entire number 10 role at Arsenal altogether.

It hasn't given us any semblance of a midfield in years.

It's the elephant in the room.

Even when Fabregas was moved there in 2009 - yes he was a product machine but I HATED how he became.

We have enough tools now to try a 3 man midfield with the return of the punk Xhaka. Xhaka, Ox and El Neny would be a good place to start with a 3 man midfield that has some balance of defence and attack. Put in front of that Iwobi, Lucas and Sanchez and see what happens. Whatever we do, it's time to drop Ozil and either teach him a lesson or allow him to find himself.