LeeEvans Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 4 hours ago, The LBC said: Bild with a report that Ozil has signed an extension and will get married this summer. I'll believe it when I see it from a more substantial source. Would probably mean Wilshere's days here are numbered for as many are left in this current season, though I'd personally prefer to re-sign him, shop Ramsey (were that Wales had freaking qualified for WC to boost his value and demand), and just outright sell Xhaka back to the Bundesliga and pursue a holding/defensive mid that best complements the strengths and weaknesses of Ozil and Jack - wouldn't even really sweat age of the player as long as they were established in their ability to play the role we need of them. I genuinely believe Maitland-Niles has the potential to be what Arsene had envisioned Diaby becoming were it not for the injuries, but as competitive as the league is for the CL spots these days, I don't think it advisable to just hand him the spot when he's never really played it. The extension is official now, hell of a day for Arsenal with Ozil staying and Aubameyang signing. I don't know mean to be a downer on a pretty great day but I can't really say Arsenal are any closer to catching their rivals, seems like they've just done enough to avoid a bit of a collapse. I'm really excited about the signings though, Auba and Mkhitaryan should be exciting to watch and I'm looking forward to see how they combine with Ozil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Smithers Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Wouldn’t be surprised that this reported extension is tied to seeing Auba arrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalvadorsDeli Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Kip Smithers said: Wouldn’t be surprised that this reported extension is tied to seeing Auba arrive Certainly seems like it. I'm curious what Ozil was told/assured on Wenger's future and whether he made any demands in either direction on that front. Even if the only move of the window had been selling Alexis and getting Ozil to sign a new contract, would have been a success. But getting Auba and Mikhi on top of that is pretty massive. Just nobody mention the Swansea result yesterday... It's all been done in a somewhat quiet way but there's been a massive clearout/overhaul of the squad going on - between the summer and this window we've now seen Gabriel, Walcott, Coquelin, Giroud, Gibbs, Alexis, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sczescny all sold, and it sounds like Debuchy is following today as well. Of those, selling Chez was a massive mistake but on every other deal it was either somewhat necessary, a clearout of deadwood, or a deal in which we got good value on a want-away. This is basically a brand new team in some ways. I don't think the overhaul is done yet either... Mertesacker is retiring this summer and Koscielny's body is breaking down, Cech looks over the hill, Lacazette may find himself the odd man out if we don't play a 2 striker system, and Xhaka just doesn't seem to fit with this team and could very well move on. All of this transfer business already done but come summer we still need to invest heavily in rebuilding the defense and midfield. But more immediately, now that we've made all of these signings and have the rest of the season to contend with.... hopefully someone at the club can focus on getting this team to defend? Edited January 31, 2018 by BaltimoreTerp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 10 minutes ago, BaltimoreTerp said: Certainly seems like it. I'm curious what Ozil was told/assured on Wenger's future and whether he made any demands in either direction on that front. Even if the only move of the window had been selling Alexis and getting Ozil to sign a new contract, would have been a success. But getting Auba and Mikhi on top of that is pretty massive. It's all been done in a somewhat quiet way but there's been a massive clearout/overhaul of the squad going on - between the summer and this window we've now seen Gabriel, Walcott, Coquelin, Giroud, Gibbs, Alexis, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sczescny all sold, and it sounds like Debuchy is following today as well. Of those, selling Chez was a massive mistake but on every other deal it was either somewhat necessary, a clearout of deadwood, or a deal in which we got good value on a want-away. This is basically a brand new team in some ways. I don't think the overhaul is done yet either... Mertesacker is retiring this summer and Koscielny's body is breaking down, Cech looks over the hill, Lacazette may find himself the odd man out if we don't play a 2 striker system, and Xhaka just doesn't seem to fit with this team and could very well move on. All of this transfer business already done but come summer we still need to invest heavily in rebuilding the defense and midfield. But more immediately, now that we've made all of these signings and have the rest of the season to contend with.... hopefully someone at the club can focus on getting this team to defend? Definitely think this window has been a great start and that the attack looks very promising, if a little narrow. Unfortunately midfield and defense needs some major attention and I'm a little wary that the spending continues. You listing all of the players leaving the club got me thinking, it seems like someone outside of Arsene is finally calling the shots. A lot of "hid guys" got shipped out and some of the signings and contract extensions seem a little different from something he would do. Either this season has truly woke him up or someone else is pulling the strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalvadorsDeli Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, LeeEvans said: Definitely think this window has been a great start and that the attack looks very promising, if a little narrow. Unfortunately midfield and defense needs some major attention and I'm a little wary that the spending continues. You listing all of the players leaving the club got me thinking, it seems like someone outside of Arsene is finally calling the shots. A lot of "hid guys" got shipped out and some of the signings and contract extensions seem a little different from something he would do. Either this season has truly woke him up or someone else is pulling the strings. There's definitely been a shift. Even though Wenger ended up getting an extension it seems like part of that was contingent on Gazidis getting to make some appointments and starting put a succession plan/overhaul in place. I'd imagine the new Director of Football from Barca had some input in these moves even though he doesn't technically start till tomorrow and Mislintat no doubt played a role in the fact that we brought in two former Dortmund players this window, not to mention the Greek defender. We've also got a new contracts team that goes with what looks like a new approach to the wage structure; a lot of these new deals are a bit more like the way Man City approaches their contracts where they are more incentive-laden. This is only the beginning of the overhaul and I expect to see lots of movement on defense and midfield come summer... but it's encouraging stuff, even if this season is unfortunately a bit of a writeoff unless we can pull together a Europa League run. But as good as the off-the-field appointments and signings and everything may be the central question remains what is going to happen with Wenger. You couldn't ask for a better contrast between the off-the-field progress and footballing realities than the past 24 hours - Auba and Ozil committing long-term futures to Arsenal shortly after an absolutely shambolic performance at Swansea in which we characteristically looked disinterested and completely unorganized. The coaching itself still leaves a lot to be desired and a change in manager still feels necessary to me if we want to stop the rot and get back to at least competing for top 4 if not one day challenging for the big trophies themselves. Edited January 31, 2018 by BaltimoreTerp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, BaltimoreTerp said: There's definitely been a shift. Even though Wenger ended up getting an extension it seems like part of that was contingent on Gazidis getting to make some appointments and starting put a succession plan/overhaul in place. I'd imagine the new Director of Football from Barca had some input in these moves even though he doesn't technically start till tomorrow and Mislintat no doubt played a role in the fact that we brought in two former Dortmund players this window, not to mention the Greek defender. We've also got a new contracts team that goes with what looks like a new approach to the wage structure; a lot of these new deals are a bit more like the way Man City approaches their contracts where they are more incentive-laden. This is only the beginning of the overhaul and I expect to see lots of movement on defense and midfield come summer... but it's encouraging stuff, even if this season is unfortunately a bit of a writeoff unless we can pull together a Europa League run. But as good as the off-the-field appointments and signings and everything may be the central question remains what is going to happen with Wenger. You couldn't ask for a better contrast between the off-the-field progress and footballing realities than the past 24 hours - Auba and Ozil committing long-term futures to Arsenal shortly after an absolutely shambolic performance at Swansea in which we characteristically looked disinterested and completely unorganized. The coaching itself still leaves a lot to be desired and a change in manager still feels necessary to me if we want to stop the rot and get back to at least competing for top 4 if not one day challenging for the big trophies themselves. Very insightful post and I agree with you. As you said the off field excitement is so starkly contrasted by a side that just frankly hasn't been good enough in at least 18 months if not longer. I'm hoping for Arsenal that the off field change behind the scenes will soon influence a change in manager. Arsenal just look so disjointed and lopsided and most of the issues have been around for ages. This team could be absolutely electric going forward but with Wenger at the helm I just don't really see it. I have no idea what Arsenals play style has been for several seasons and it doesn't look like the players know most of the time either. I hope Arsenal does continue to invest because the pieces of a really exciting squad is there but this needs to be the beginning of a squad shake up and not the end of one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Smithers Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 We’ve been saying for years Arsenal need midfield help and defensive help. Now they have tried a bit with Mustafi and Xhaka but that’s not enough particularly with the latter. While Mustafi hasn’t been consistent enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon14 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Waking up to the news of the Ozil extension has made my day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon14 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Max Meyer rumors are pretty strong now. Would be a great bit of business to get him on a free. Has great potential as a zone moving 8. Been playing a deeper role for Schalke this year than he normally had and it's been quite successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr LBC Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 6 hours ago, LeeEvans said: The extension is official now, hell of a day for Arsenal with Ozil staying and Aubameyang signing. I don't know mean to be a downer on a pretty great day but I can't really say Arsenal are any closer to catching their rivals, seems like they've just done enough to avoid a bit of a collapse. I'm really excited about the signings though, Auba and Mkhitaryan should be exciting to watch and I'm looking forward to see how they combine with Ozil. We're definitely not. Our spine is still Gronk's, for lack of a better comparison of someone with stenosis. And I'm not confident Wenger is the man deliver us from the muck we've found ourselves in unless he somehow stumbles onto a vocal leader who is going to seize the reins from him on the training ground and the pitch. There is, for the first time in a year or so, reason to have hope that we're on the path (still very capable of getting lost, but on the path). I've stood by my belief that Arsene is a stubborn creature who isn't going to change, so I don't really have much of a reason to believe that he was the driving force behind the Aubameyang signing or even the Mkhitaryan exchange. Nobody (at least nobody on here and nobody I know) can claim with certainty that Gadzidis and Minslitat have taken transfer completely out of Arsene's hands, but at least an equal-or-larger share of the responsibility has been shouldered elsewhere. At this point this is more hope for me than confident fact, but this has similar fingerprints to when City lined Pep up but gave him a season to analyze the squad before he actually came aboard. I'll go so far as to say I'm certain we're not at that stage yet because we weren't ready to be at that stage until very recently, which is why I am certain that, barring a player insurrection, Arsene sees out his current contract through next season. But, there seems a realistic possibility that the club does what it should have done in 2015-16 and announce that the next season will be Wenger's last (whether or not they announce a new manager selection at that time or later is less important - preferred, but less important) and give him a send-off tour he's rightfully earned, and also hope that it galvanizes the players to actually play for him, because he doesn't seem to be able to get them to consistently play for themselves, let alone him, these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yrba1 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 As a Dortmund and Arsenal fan, I have a lot of mixed feelings about Aubameyang's transfer to Arsenal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalvadorsDeli Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustrianNiner Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 2 hours ago, BaltimoreTerp said: Still Arsenal's best bit of business this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 20 hours ago, AustrianNiner said: Still Arsenal's best bit of business this year. Have you extended Welbeck yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Arsenals midfield was so off the pace yesterday, it was mind boggling. The Aubameyang money could have been better spent on an elite CM, perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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