Whither Alexis Sanchez at Arsenal Football Club?
The way the media has spun this story since last May, not surprisingly, those who are most prone to their deceptions and fakeries, must be feeling like John Denver in “Leaving on a jet plane”:
“All my bags are packed
I’m ready to go
I’m standin’ here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin’
It’s early morn
The taxi’s waitin’
He’s blowin’ his horn
Already I’m so lonesome
I could die”
According to the fakers, his suitcases are now packed for PSG, a few days earlier it was City, and prior to that it was Bayern. Disbelieve me at your peril.
In preparation for this piece, on Saturday afternoon EST, I did a quick search of Google News and in 45 seconds there were 2,500,000 hits on Alexis and his rumored transfer. As any informed person should know by now, Google is not being altruistic in generating this data. This is certainly one way of convincing advertisers they can gain the attention of those millions of eyeballs consuming the equivalent of transfer “junk food.” It is no wonder Alphabet Corporation, Google’s parent company, dominates the multi-billion on-line advertising space.
I am not for one moment blaming Google for this sorry state of news reporting, specifically sports coverage. With very few exceptions, like their political brethren, football journos and their bosses have decided facts be damned in the pursuit of a juicy transfer rumor. It is all about ratings whether in electronic or print media. Just as bad or even worse are the online websites and their twitter offspring who multiply like weeds at this time of the year. One can easily assume they are profiting from the increased web traffic during transfer season. Those of my readers, not using an adblocker when browsing, are suckers for pop-ups selling you dildos and sexy anime apart from being at risk for malware.
To understand the commercial benefit of peddling transfer rumors take for example the top listings, ranked by popularity, by Google from my 45-second search:
“PSG increasingly confident of signing Neymar and Alexis Sánchez” (Guardian)
“Arsenal transfer news: Alexis Sanchez to PSG, official bid to be made” (Fox Sports)
“Arsene Wenger attempts to ward off rivals’ interest in Alexis Sanchez” (Independent)
“Arsene Wenger adamant Alexis Sanchez won’t join PSG” (ESPN FC)
“Alexis Sanchez meets PSG chief ahead of €50m move” (Goal.com)
Nearly 8 hours after Arsene Wenger’s clear and unambiguous statement that reports of Alexis meeting with PSG was “…only media imagination”, with the unusual exception of ESPN FC, both the mainstream media and, renown rumor-monger, Goal.com were still peddling the bullsh*t that Alexis Sanchez could be in both Chile and France at the same time. Moreover how could he, without the club’s permission, be discussing personal terms relative to his transfer, which is one of the biggest violations of the rules and regulations governing player contracts. This could not only land him in trouble but also put PSG at risk of a transfer ban as happened earlier to Barcelona and only recently to Athletico Madrid.
The facts is, as of the time of posting this blog, nobody knows, with perhaps the exception of Arsene Wenger, whether Alexis will be staying or leaving Arsenal Football Club this transfer window. Admittedly his future is somewhat up in the air.
The first sign publicly of his unhappiness or disgruntlement with the club is the strop he threw in February after the first of two defeats to Bayern Munich in last year’s champions league. It amuses me no-end to read and listen pundits and journos claim Alexis was let down by the rest of the squad in that game. The fact is, he was relatively ineffective, coughing up possession on several occasions leading to dangerous counter-attacks by the Bavarians. Sounds familiar? This is despite his elevation by the media as a world class player who is a game-changer at this level. Have we forgotten the funny faces and contemptuous smiles he made after he was substituted?
In the subsequent week there were reports of him being part of a bust-up on the training ground. While the manager has never confirmed, it was self-evident that as a consequence he was benched for the start of an important PL game with Liverpool which followed thereafter. The fact that Arsenal lost that game added to the media myth of the indispensable Alexis, as if he was not part of both Bayern losses and a good many others.
Since the February-March decline in its fortunes, the media had been doing its level best to create a climate of doom and gloom around the club featuring the supposed denouement of Arsene Wenger as manager and the eventual departure of both Sanchez and Ozil, the club’s two best players. Apparently the two stars plan to not renew their contracts as they go into their final year because they are earth-shatteringly disappointed that AFC did not qualify for the champions league.
Has it struck anyone that none of the predictions made last April-May by the mainstream media and like-minded bloggers, tweeters and podcasters concerning the imminent demarche of Arsenal Football Club and Arsene Wenger has come to pass? None. Nada. Zilch.
The media has so carefully constructed a narrative of doom and gloom, it seems they have no choice but to continue promotion of rumors, half-truths and downright lies about Alexis.
As anybody who follows me on twitter knows, this defenestration of the media does not mean I am a fanboy of the Chilean. To the contrary, I support those who think his individualistic tendency does more harm than good to the way Arsenal plays. Specially concerning to me is his desire to drop into the midfield to demand the ball but thereafter lose possession because of his less than 70% pass completion rate. This, in my opinion, is detrimental to team balance in both attack and defense.
But one cannot deny the importance of his 33 goals and 15 assists in all competitions. Of 77 PL goals by Arsenal last season Alexis contributed 24 or 31%. Until Arsenal can replace those goals it would be foolhardy to lose his services.
It seems to me the club is preparing for any eventuality. Surely it is not a coincidence that the service of Lacazette was secured early in the transfer window for a club record transfer fee of £49 million. Usually Arsenal will be conservative in its valuation of a player and take the negotiations into the ultimate week of the transfer window. Another significant piece of information is the public admission by Ivan Gazidis, when in Australia, that the club was club was trying to attract Thomas Lemar from Monaco is also evidence that a wide player to supplement or replace Alexis is being sought.
But I give Wenger the benefit of the doubt. He knows better than almost anyone how risky it is to depend on new players coming from a different league to come up to speed and to immediately produce. Without big money to spend, he took some pretty big risks in the past and was able to scramble into the champions league. In recent years he has repeatedly proclaimed, to those who would listen, that the PL is getting tougher and tougher as the so-called small clubs are acquiring better players and coaches etc.
I therefore take him at his word that he wants to keep Alexis for the final year of his contract and not sell him to a domestic or foreign club. In the summer of 2003 he convinced Patrick Vieira, who was agitating for a transfer, to commit for a final year. Patrick renewed his contract and stayed. The rest, as we all know, is history.
By the way, two years later Patrick did get the big move he had been agitating for. Wenger appears convinced he can do something as big with Alexis.
If the Chilean does, however, refuse to extend his contract and agitate for a transfer, all bets are off. There is no way the board (big decisions are not down solely to Wenger) will easily allow him to walk for a free with 50 million in English or European currencies on the table. Only clubs with humongous non-football sources of revenue such as United, Chelsea and City can easily treat 30-40-50 million as monopoly money. At the end of the day football is a business, not a hobby. Owners, shareholders, managers must look toward the long-term interest of the club not only the short-term gratification of fans.
Happily we are not at that point yet. But the day of reckoning is coming sooner or later. There are 5 weeks more in the transfer window. That is almost a lifetime in football. Stay tuned.
Positively Arsenal 
Who wouldn’t want to be in Monaco sipping Krystal wiv Raiola and Tapie’s* flapping toupe?
These are the kind of players we all dreamed of being when kids. No?
LikeLike
And they hate Vengarrrgghhh too, these stand up allies of the true football fan against Modern Football – and their blagging subcontractors back scratching desperate wallys like Olly (as their employers go bankrupt, the show must go on!)
I can think of hundreds of millions, billions of reasons why the friends and business partners who like to spend a weekend down at Bernie Tapie’s yardie sale would promote such business’ over covering something like Sport!
Show me the goddamn money. Please.
The Damned Utd: hands down best narrative covering this story/topic. Highly recommended. Brilliant. Poetic. And not covered on AFTV, by the kind of people that would prefer to hang out with The Moron over Paul Davies: nuff said.
–
Not long till the next test match starts!
LikeLike
What is it with the snivelling, sneering Attwood & his hatred for the Guardian? Not only does he do a regular job on Amy Lawrence at every opportunity, but never misses a chance to criticise them for a perceived lack of investigative football journalism, when most of his so called “news” is stolen from the Guardian, Telegraph & BBC.
LikeLike
Lawrence and the Manchester Grunt deserve all the heckles they ask for.
They get
Perhaps you are groaning on the wrong forum.
LikeLiked by 4 people
> they get plenty of heckles here.
Therefore, logically, perhaps youd be happier on the guardian forum.
Or the Online Groaner.
LikeLiked by 3 people
So this is Untold lite then? You’re welcome. I’m gone.
LikeLike
I confess that it was me who got Tony going as far as the honest and able Amy is concerned.
Guilty as charged.
To be fair given the easy to observe record (for AFC) this past decade and more anyone from the Online Groaning crew, especially those who are not honest enough to admit what it is that they think, they are fair game and then some.
Why would anyone come here to protest upon behalf of these babbling idiots? Given the topic of Shott’s article!
Strange behaviour.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Bye!
LikeLiked by 4 people
don’t let the door hit you on the arse on your way out
LikeLiked by 4 people
fins once amy started to get tv time she utterly changed her tone towards Arsenal, she runs with the hare when a guest at arsenal fans events, but once she sees the tv lights of bbc or sky she is barks with the hounds
LikeLiked by 4 people
Rob Holding returned to training today. Not sure if Chambers is back yet, or Bellerin either.
LikeLike
yes anicol the off season transfer ramblings in the redtops/media in general is awful, back in the 70’s and 80’s if a paper ran a transfer story there was a very good chance there was some substance to it, and journos actually worked hard to get info from clubs and players about moves, and there were genuine exclusives, you did not have the source of a transfer rumor in one redtop being a rumor in another redtop as we do now.
but now of course we have “reports” included in all sorts of made up crap, if we here at PA wanted to we could have a fake transfer story splashed all across the papers and the web within a few days. the papers are even running stories based on fake ITK twitter accounts.
the sensational misleading headlines from Arsenal blogs are a disgrace. AFC release Stefan O’Connor and Newcastle sign him up, so that should be a simple headline of
Released O’Connor joins Newcastle.
but no, not in Arsenal blog world, it becomes
Arsenal agree deal for talented BPL defender
we see the signing by Arsenal ladies get the spurious headline
Arsenal sign outstanding european midfielder
look at the recent reporting of the former Arsenal schoolboy who got done for drugs. He left AFC at 12 or 13, but even Arsenal blogs reported it as
Arsenal academy players jailed on drug charges
disgraceful stuff.
ANR is run by a Chelsea fan, and I have little doubt that other high profile Arsenal blogs are too run by non Arsenal fans
LikeLiked by 3 people
Several first-team squad members are set to play in our pre-season friendly match against Boreham Wood on Thursday evening.
Chuba Akpom, Mathieu Debuchy, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson and Jeff Reine-Adelaide could all feature for Steve Gatting’s Arsenal XI side.
These players will be joined by Krystian Bielik and Eddie Nketiah, who have recently returned from our first-team tour of Sydney, Shanghai and Beijing.
Thursday’s match will mark the official opening of Boreham Wood’s newly redeveloped pitch, and there will be a range of community activities to celebrate.
For full details and ticket information click here
Copyright 2017 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/strong-arsenal-xi-expected-boreham-wood-clash#HwVWhWU5JeQd63bR.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/strong-arsenal-xi-expected-boreham-wood-clash#7yzETzym7zSHH8E6.99
LikeLike
Congratulations to Nathan Tormey, who has signed his first professional contract with the club.
Nathan, 17, is a technically gifted and pacey winger.
A boyhood Arsenal fan, he joined our Hale End academy at under-12 level.
We all look forward to Nathan’s continued progress with the club this season.
Copyright 2017 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/nathan-tormey-signs-professional-contract#xFAHO0KU8AwOgy6Z.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/nathan-tormey-signs-professional-contract#8yhO6Tl7YPyVoHR5.99
LikeLike
Eds there are talented writers in the Football world.
David Peace might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he is at the least interesting.
Some dude called Nick Hornby.
Then there are the hack dwarves trying to make their daily bread and their eventual replacements the blaggers. It appears that following the collapse in the journalism industry that they now simply support the agents’ much bigger or more lucrative industry. And they don’t really count for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Holding, Chambers, Bellerin and Wilshere returned to first team training today. Nelson and Willock were kept in the squad too. Lucas Perez was also in the squad today. It seems Jeff, Gibbs, Debuchy, Jenkinson and Akpom are with the U23 squad for tomorrow game v Boreham Wood
https://www.arsenal.com/news/bellerin-chambers-holding-and-wilshere-return
LikeLike
Hitchin Town v Arsenal xi
LikeLiked by 1 person
Arsenal goalkeeper Deyan Iliev returns to training after two years out with knee injury
LikeLiked by 1 person
it seems that Bellerin, Holding and Chambers have been back in training since Monday
LikeLike
Hitchin Town FC @HitchinTownFC 26m26 minutes ago
Hitchin Town 2 @Arsenal XI 1
Hitchin took an early lead, AFC leveled on 42 minutes through Osei-Tutu, but Hitchin scored on 44 minutes.
Attendance was just over 600
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yet another defeat – writing on the wall – black scarf out – or in – if you see what I’m getting at
LikeLiked by 4 people
Anicoll, you forgot ‘Wenger out, Akers out, Tea lady out, same old Arsenal’ etc, etc!
LikeLiked by 4 people
How could Masterstroke have made such a false shot by hitching up at this blog? We were set up to counter the fake news by the negative Nellies that live parasitically off Arsenal fans. How could a person with the airs of someone knowledgeable think we have anything in common with the Guardian, Telegraph, BBC or any other member of the disgraced mainstream media. All those years when they attacked Wenger and the club for trying to live within it’s means to pay for a new stadium are now suddenly apologizing for Pochettino and Spurs who can’t afford a single worthwhile transfer this window claiming an inflated market. What a damn set of hypocrites. But then it is no surprise to us here at PA.
Masterstroke is free to go and enjoy the lies and hypocrisy of his apparent friends in the mainstream media. They can fool some people some time but not all the people all the time.
LikeLiked by 3 people
maybe shotta he is influenced by a bygone era when you could trust these media outlets, before they too went for clicks. When you now see the BBC reporting on football like a bad version of the Sun, it makes you wonder did the Jimmy Hill era ever happen, how could it go from such high standards, not just in his shows, but in his convictions, to the rubbish that the beeb now serve up, its almost comic like in its standards now.
LikeLiked by 2 people
can I take this opportunity to express my fake outrage at the new Arsenal away kit, its shades of blue, and as a traditionalist I must take umber with it, as its not yellow, what have Puma, Kroene, Wenger and Gazidis done to my Arsenal’s away kit, you see yellow is our away kit color, well in fact yellow and ahem blue, for most of my time as a Gooner, and I don’t care one iota that in fact we have had more non yellow away kits than yellow away kits in our history, and that apart from two cup final special kits, we had not worn a yellow kit pre 1968, and in fact, don’t tell anyone this but we actually had many many years of having a white away kit, and had an all blue away kit as far back as 1918, but I’m fake outraged at Arsenal, at Puma and at Wenger,
I can only assume when gooners say “yellow is our color” they are actually referring to their own lack of bottle and not Arsenal’s traditions, as surely these experts know our history.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Arsenal xi play Boreham wood this evening, and then we have the Emirates cup on Saturday and Sunday, isn’t it great
LikeLiked by 1 person
Arsenal FCVerified account @Arsenal
Arsenal XI to face @BOREHAM_WOODFC: Macey, Debuchy, Bielik, Pleguezuelo, Jenkinson, Reine-Adelaide, Toral, Bramall, Nketiah, Mavididi, Akpom
We’re midway through the first half – and we lead 2-0
A penalty from @cakpom opened the scoring, and @SMavididi9 added the second
LikeLike
Mohamed Elneny mucked in as much as anyone on tour, whether he was learning about animals at Taronga Zoo in Sydney or trying out Chinese drumming in Beijing.
He had some new experiences on the pitch too after Arsene Wenger decided to shift Elneny from his regular central midfield role to the back three. The boss has spoken before about having a ball-playing centre back flanked by two quick defenders, and he thinks Mo fits the bill.
“Yes he does,” Wenger told Arsenal.com. “Elneny is a player who has a fantastic mentality and attitude, and his main target is to help the team. When he plays there, of course he does extremely well.
“Of course [he needs to learn the defensive side], but I always felt that a good central midfielder can be a good centre back. With the fact of course that when you’re playing in the back four you have to be decisive in the challenges, you have a bit more flexibility in the middle of a back three. He can do that.
“Overall on tour, I played players like Elneny in a back three and he coped very well. Maitland-Niles sometimes played at centre back as well, even in the big games against Chelsea.
“You see their strengths and their weaknesses, and you learn a lot about your players and your combinations too. The advantage we have is that we have a good stability in our squad, so I already know who I can combine with who, more or less.”
Copyright 2017 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/why-elneny-fits-bill-new-role#GER4iocfJpAoyYmK.99
LikeLike
LikeLike
Not sure why Gibbs is not in the squad, .com stated yesterday that he would be.
LikeLike
Arsenal FCVerified account @Arsenal 5m5 minutes ago
It’s half-time now at Meadow Park – we lead 3-0
Jon Toral scored our third goal, converting after @EddieNketiah9’s initial shot was saved
LikeLike
half time at boreham wood and AFC are 3-0
gatting out,
our academy is a mess
we are a joke of a club
its only boreham wood, we can’t win when it matters
LikeLike
Arsenal FCVerified account @Arsenal 3m
We’ve been playing for just over an hour now… Our lead has been extended to 4-0 courtesy of @SMavididi9
LikeLike
Boreham Wood FCVerified account @BOREHAM_WOODFC 4m4 minutes ago
FULL TIME – The Wood battled hard, but came up short against a young Arsenal side of real quality 0-4
LikeLiked by 3 people
Alexis and Mustafi will return to training on Sunday.
LikeLike
Wenger has hinted that Alexis might even be a sub on Sunday in the Emirates cup game v Sevilla
Wenger: “Alexis & Mustafi, their first training session will be on Sunday, the day we play against Sevilla. They are practising on the day. It’s easier to put a striker on the bench than a defender, sometimes. Because in a short period they can make an impact. We’ll see”
LikeLike
Cazorla: ” I don’t know how far I am but I’m convinced that I will play football again at my best level. Hopefully as soon as possible. It looks like the operations are over. I started the recovery two weeks ago. I need time but I am very happy with my recovery.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Arsene Wenger gave us a brief fitness bulletin after overseeing training at London Colney on Thursday.
The boss doesn’t have too many injury concerns right now, but here’s what he said about those who definitely won’t be fit for the Emirates Cup.
on Gabriel…
I would say that Gabriel is still a few weeks away because he has an inflammation of his bone.
on Jack Wilshere…
Jack Wilshere is close to coming back to training.
on Santi Cazorla…
For Santi, it is difficult to set a definite date but he is getting better every day.
on other fitness issues…
Overall those are the main injuries we have. Everyone else is back to fitness.
Copyright 2017 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-santi-gabriel-and-jack-updates#5RZSR08FDyHtqk4X.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news-santi-gabriel-and-jack-updates#u1exjI9FcvzV1Beg.99
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Saint of Cazorla promises (his son) to play again. Great news.
most important news this summer so far.
LikeLike
Arsenal name squad for Emirates cup
Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers are back in our squad for the Emirates Cup.
All three players took part in this summer’s European Under-21 Championship in Poland, where Hector’s Spain reached the final only to lose to Germany.
Rob and Calum got as far as the semi-finals but also lost to Germany – on penalties.
Hector and Rob last pulled on an Arsenal shirt for the Emirates FA Cup final win over Chelsea in May, while Calum is back from a season-long loan with Middlesbrough. All three returned to training this week.
We face Benfica on Saturday and Sevilla on Sunday. RB Leipzig are the fourth team competing for this year’s Emirates Cup.
Don’t have tickets yet? Get them here
Arsenal squad:
4 Per Mertesacker
6 Laurent Koscielny
8 Aaron Ramsey
9 Alexandre Lacazette
11 Mesut Ozil
12 Olivier Giroud
13 David Ospina
14 Theo Walcott
15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
16 Rob Holding
17 Alex Iwobi
18 Nacho Monreal
21 Calum Chambers
23 Danny Welbeck
24 Hector Bellerin
26 Emiliano Martinez
29 Granit Xhaka
30 Ainsley Maitland-Niles
31 Sead Kolasinac
33 Petr Cech
34 Francis Coquelin
35 Mohamed Elneny
40 Cohen Bramall
61 Reiss Nelson
69 Joe Willock
Copyright 2017 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/squad-emirates-cup-confirmed#SsruRlCIXRI5hU1R.99
LikeLike
14 “homegrown” players in that 25 man squad
LikeLike
A squad brimming with quality in every position – more players to return from injury and illness by kick off in August. I fancy a strong opening.
LikeLiked by 3 people
GK – Cech, Ospina, Martinez
CB – Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Holding, Chambers
RWB – Bellerin, Oxlade-Chamberlain
LWB – Kolasinac, Bramal
CM – Xhaka, Ramsey, Coquelin, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Willock
F – Ozil, Iwobi, Walcott, Nelson
CF – Giroud, Lacazette, Welbeck
some players who did not make the squad
Alexis and Mustafi not back in training yet
Cazorla, Gabriel, Campell are injured
Wilshere not fully fit yet.
Bielik expected to go on a season loan, Norwich the favorites to get his services. Reine-Adelaide expected to go on loan too
Debuchy, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Akpom and Lucas look likely to be sold
LikeLike
I will always have a soft spot for Alex Iwobi
Because he was not expected to make it (I know the rules he needs 100 hundred starts to have made it,some think 100 league starts) but he has had 59 appearences and looks like he is putting down roots.
I just got this feeling that he is going to do ‘a madness’ and we are all going to be on the floor when does.
Little glimps against Swans at home,but I think there is a lot more.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The upcoming Women’s Super League season marks the anniversary of 30 years of women’s football here at Arsenal.
In that time, we have been the most successful and progressive club in the English women’s game. We have lifted 43 major trophies and developed some of the best players to grace the game. This is a huge achievement and something that is an important part of what we stand for as a football club.
We are always looking to improve as a club and to move the modern game forward, so as a result you will see in future that the ‘Ladies’ references will be dropped on Arsenal channels, interviews and messaging.
Video and pictures will make it clear which team we are talking about. We will wherever possible refer to our Women’s team as, simply, ‘Arsenal’ – just as we do our Men’s team.
This is a clear signal of togetherness and unity and is more in keeping with modern day thinking on equality.
For formal purposes we will be renamed as Arsenal Women Football Club. The name Arsenal Women will be used sparingly, primarily to avoid any confusion with the men’s team.
This is an important and progressive step as we embark on the next chapter of our history in women’s football.
Copyright 2017 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/important-update-our-womens-team#vHL4LeeOpwRTaS1g.99
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/important-update-our-womens-team#AMv0mWd3WuG0cfmL.99
LikeLiked by 1 person
by this time two weeks we will have played our first league game of the new season.
LikeLike
LikeLike
surprised at that line up, would have expected kolasinac and xhaka to be saved for tomorows game with rest of our likely starting 11 for league opener.
LikeLike
I like the new blue kit
LikeLiked by 2 people
one switch from the line up shown on arsenal.com.
AMN is at CB and Kolasinac is at lwb
LikeLike