THREE Arsenal players that I’m happy to see leave in January

Date: 17th December 2010 at 11:34 am
Written by Henry Cloke

The Arsenal squad has pretty decent strength in depth. If you’re an Arsenal player and you don’t perform over a few games, chances are there’s a youngster ready and waiting to take your place. With quality young players like Aaron Ramsey, Henri Lansbury, Craig Eastmond and Jay-Emmanuel Thomas waiting in the wings, some players may have to move on if Arsenal’s youngest and brightest are to get the chance to develop as best they can within the team. Assessing this Arsenal side, there are two or three players who just don’t seem Arsenal quality. With that in mind, these are the three players I’d be happy to see the back of at the Emirates.

The first is Manuel Almunia. Good thing too considering he’s likely to be the first Arsenal player out the door during the January transfer window. Almunia isn’t a bad goalkeeper by any means – he is, for instance, a good shot stopper – but the consistency of his errors have always been a cause for worry. Wenger persisted with Almunia for quite some time but now seems content to let the Spaniard move on. It’s likely that Almunia will attempt to engineer a move to a Spanish club in January. One benefit of this is that we’ll get to see more of 20 year-old goalkeeping prodigy Wojciech Szczesny.

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Another player I’m ready to see move on is Nicklas Bendtner. I don’t like to say it, but at the moment he isn’t quite good enough for Arsenal and I’m not sure I can see him becoming a force to be reckoned with any time soon. He has a tendency to lumber around the pitch, he’s slow and he has a bad touch. He’s also not the great goal-scorer people like to make out. Robin van Persie and Marouane Chamakh have the quality necessary to compete at a club like Arsenal. Bendtner, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about.

My final choice is Carlos Vela. I realise that this might ruffle a few feathers. He’s young, talented and looks to be a genuine prospect. However, he’s really struggling to get a look in this season. Arsene already has to contend with Theo Walcott who impresses and frustrates in equal measure. They are a similar age, but it’s clear that Wenger rates Walcott higher.

On the odd occasion we’ve seen Vela this season, he has appeared to be lacking in confidence. Given that Arsenal already have bundles of talent down the wings, perhaps the best thing Vela can do for his career is move on.

I imagine there will be a few people readying their “but so-and-so is a good squad player” defence. Yes, all these players are decent enough, but the three I’ve listed are players I don’t believe are capable of challenging for a regular first-team position at the moment. There must be competition for places at all times within the squad so that the team avoids complacency. Why settle for second-class squad players?

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17 Comments

Comments pages: 1 2
  • mark reed says:
    Date: December 17th, 2010 at 4:57 pm

    agree but! you left out the hopeless denilson and the headless chicken eboue neither are good enough for our club wenger has lost the plot and should be replaced he does not have a winning mentality and was lucky in the early years as he inherited grahams defence and the great Bergkamp and to a lesser degree Platt.

    Reply

    says: agree but! you left out the hopeless denilson and the headless chicken eboue neither are good enough for our club wenger has lost the plot and should be replaced he does not have a winning mentality and was lucky in the early years as he inherited grahams defence and the great Bergkamp and to a lesser degree Platt.
    mark reed
  • jacob says:
    Date: December 17th, 2010 at 9:06 pm

    Forget the players… it’s the deadwood fans in the stadium that I’d like to get rid of… and the moaners on the internet too. Arsenal would be a much better club if only we could transfer out some of the dead wood in the stands during this transfer window and get in some folks with a pulse… if all these moaning fans had Eboue’s enthusiasm we won’t be losing at home to the likes of West Brom!

    Reply

    says: Forget the players... it's the deadwood fans in the stadium that I'd like to get rid of... and the moaners on the internet too. Arsenal would be a much better club if only we could transfer out some of the dead wood in the stands during this transfer window and get in some folks with a pulse... if all these moaning fans had Eboue's enthusiasm we won't be losing at home to the likes of West Brom!
    jacob
  • goonergerry says:
    Date: December 17th, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    Bendtner-no. A young player coming back from a serious injury-judge him next season. He will be sensational. As for getting rid of the fans-they don’t pick the team. Arsenal fans are either over critical when they do win or totally deluded Wenger lovers who can’t face up to their poor record against the top sides.

    Reply

    says: Bendtner-no. A young player coming back from a serious injury-judge him next season. He will be sensational. As for getting rid of the fans-they don't pick the team. Arsenal fans are either over critical when they do win or totally deluded Wenger lovers who can't face up to their poor record against the top sides.
    goonergerry
  • pete says:
    Date: December 17th, 2010 at 11:56 pm

    I would like to see Bendtner leave in January.He thinks hes fantastic but he isnt.My personal view is hes not good enough.

    Reply

    says: I would like to see Bendtner leave in January.He thinks hes fantastic but he isnt.My personal view is hes not good enough.
    pete
  • stephen says:
    Date: December 18th, 2010 at 12:59 am

    Vela is much better than Walcott if Wenger gave him half the chances Walcott gets heed bee our best player by now . he can cross the ball. he makes good runs off the ball and he is also very fast. come on Wenger give him 5 matches to prove him self .

    Reply

    says: Vela is much better than Walcott if Wenger gave him half the chances Walcott gets heed bee our best player by now . he can cross the ball. he makes good runs off the ball and he is also very fast. come on Wenger give him 5 matches to prove him self .
    stephen
  • Henry Cloke says:
    Date: December 18th, 2010 at 2:35 am

    I rate Vela too Stephen, but he’s not half the finisher that Walcott is. And that’s saying something considering that Walcott isn’t a good finisher.

    Vela needs to learn some shot variety. Can’t chip every shot.

    Reply

    says: I rate Vela too Stephen, but he's not half the finisher that Walcott is. And that's saying something considering that Walcott isn't a good finisher. Vela needs to learn some shot variety. Can't chip every shot.
    Henry Cloke
  • Hastings says:
    Date: December 18th, 2010 at 5:33 am

    U r entitled to ur own opinion but vela no.i would rather see v.p n clichy go.

    Reply

    says: U r entitled to ur own opinion but vela no.i would rather see v.p n clichy go.
    Hastings
  • Arsenal Fan says:
    Date: December 18th, 2010 at 6:54 am

    I dont understand how Bendtner has managed to get all the playing chances as compared to Vela. Even after Bendtner talks as if he’s the main man all the time.

    I feel sorry for Vela because I don’t think there’s much Walcott can do that Vela can’t, yet Walcott is always offered a chance. Vela can cross, finish, pass the ball around and make good runs and so can Walcott. The only thing Vela lacks is Walcott’s Top Speed and Confidence from PLAYING! For me, Vela has better ball control than Walcott anyway so they’re about the same in my opinion.

    Reply

    says: I dont understand how Bendtner has managed to get all the playing chances as compared to Vela. Even after Bendtner talks as if he's the main man all the time. I feel sorry for Vela because I don't think there's much Walcott can do that Vela can't, yet Walcott is always offered a chance. Vela can cross, finish, pass the ball around and make good runs and so can Walcott. The only thing Vela lacks is Walcott's Top Speed and Confidence from PLAYING! For me, Vela has better ball control than Walcott anyway so they're about the same in my opinion.
    Arsenal Fan
  • elvi says:
    Date: December 18th, 2010 at 9:56 am

    will be really nice if wenger loan vela to epl side in jan so he can gain confident…well..bendtner too…if no one offer 14m on…

    Reply

    says: will be really nice if wenger loan vela to epl side in jan so he can gain confident...well..bendtner too...if no one offer 14m on...
    elvi
  • ehab says:
    Date: December 18th, 2010 at 10:56 am

    i’d love to see clechy,denilson,bendtner out … selling them will gain us lots of money too … especially when i read that steve mclarren wants “denilson” for “10″ million pounds

    Reply

    says: i'd love to see clechy,denilson,bendtner out ... selling them will gain us lots of money too ... especially when i read that steve mclarren wants "denilson" for "10" million pounds
    ehab
Comments pages: 1 2

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