It was only when I watched some games from the Chileans that I noticed his more central role brought out a set of skills that I didn't know Sanchez possessed. This more polished Oxlade-Chamberlain was now morphing into Cesc Fabregas and Dennis Bergkamp
A lot of folk have already made definitive judgements on Debechy. Some suggest he isn't Arsenal quality or that he is a defensive liability so I would urge you to wait until you've seen his performances for Arsenal rather than Newcastle. He will be playing with better players under a better coach so his performances could rise along with the quality of those around him. While we might not have a player as capable defensively as our former number three, it will be nice to have a player who doesn't look like he is about to freeze when he receives the ball towards the opposition penalty area. I hope Giroud has been telling him to work on his delivery when pre season starts.
From what I have read to date I am guessing that should he sign for us we will have plenty moments of celebrating his attacking play and scratching our heads at his defensive play, not because he is an awful defender but because we have taken Sagna's defensive quality for granted for a long time now. But he need not worry and needn't should you. He has big Per Mertesacker to his left who will be guiding him through training and match days. He is 21 years of age and has plenty of scope to learn the Arsenal way. It is hard to not be excited about his offensive potential though. With Theo Walcott darting inside to join Giroud's lay offs, left backs will be tracking Theo's runs only to find the steam train that is Aurier skipping past his man in acres of space on the right but
So when Arsène spoke about his new contract for the first time he was asked about the summer and he went off on one a little about the importance of adding to the squad in June - July. Ok maybe not going off on one but for Arsène to give that much away without much prompting it made me think he has a plan. But that is not it, Ivan Gazidis was recently talking to fans at one of those fans cosy chit chatting sessions and he spoke about Arsenal being in deep conversations with clubs at the moment and I'm pretty sure he said something off record about 'a big one' I don't think he was talking about Oliver Giroud in the showers either.
Mario Balotelli has been untamed by pretty much every manager that he has come across. Both on the pitch and off the pitch he has let his clubs down time and time again. Before the argument enters your mind I would just like to say that I don't think that the Suarez/van Persie comparison is valid. Firstly Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie are players who are fighters who would do anything to win. Sometimes that spills over into anger and frustration. I have to admit to not being a regular viewer of Mario and his Balotelli ways so maybe I am not too qualified to make my next point but someone who's footballing knowledge I trust has watched him many times last season and said that he strolls around the
Twitter doesn't really give that type of breathing space for such scenarios to happen. You're instantly exposed (sometimes indirectly) to many who want and wish for heavy attention and you may often find them saying outrageous things that they themselves do not believe just because they like measuring reaction and receiving interaction, or worse, to get enough of a reaction so that they can sell awful merchandise. And this does not stop at a click of a button, (you can easily log off or block every Arsenal fan as an alternative), or you can let go of a subject right there and then, and even leave Twitter. But if you come back the next day, someone who has just woken up on the other side of the world will give you his/her side on the exact same overtalked, overdiscussed issue and it is replicated, often following the similar pattern of others.
Aurier has an ability to get beyond the right winger and put in dangerous crosses from advanced positions. On occasions this year, when Walcott was injured, we relied on Sagna getting forward and posing a threat on the right flank, and although Sagna’s crossing has improved in the last few seasons, he really doesn’t offer much of a threat. He doesn’t like to cut inside and take on a shot when the opportunity is presented and often relies on getting his head up and trying to play in a cross. Aurier on the other hand averages 1.7 shots a game, compared to Sagna’s 0.5, and has an average of 1.1 crosses per game compared to Sagna’s 0.5.
At a recent press conference it was clear that Steven Gerrard is devastated by recent events and as this forlorn character sat next to an equally quiet Roy Hodgson, the pair answered what was asked of them and only really getting animated when they shot down Harry Redknapp after his comments about the alleged conversations he’d had with some of his players.