Arsenal Football Club were having a fine start to the season, until they dropped two points at home to recently promoted Middlesbrough. Wenger’s men looked lacklustre throughout and struggled to find a breakthrough against a resilient side managed excellently by Aitor Karanka – and they could’ve even lost the game if it wasn’t for a brilliant double save by Petr Cech.
Onto today, though, and we’ve compiled some of the news stories surrounding The Gunners in the aftermath of that game, and all three items are rather important pieces of information to take going forward.
First up, we have the Arsenal career of Jack Wilshere being thrown right up in the air. Sky Sports News‘ Jamie Redknapp reckons that the 24-year-old may not don the red and white of Arsenal ever again after being sent out on loan to AFC Bournemouth. Yesterday was the first time the midfielder had completed ninety minutes in over two years, and although that bodes well for his new team, you just struggle to see where he’ll fit back in at the Emirates.
It would be a real shame because it wasn’t that long ago when he was regarded as one of the hottest prospects in the country. Injuries have really hampered him, meaning he hasn’t really had the chance to get going.
With a new big-money signing like Granit Xhaka coming in, coupled with the form of Francis Coquelin, you really are left scratching your head at just how Wilshere plans to be starting games for Arsenal regularly.
Now attentions switch to the fans, and alarm bells could be ringing for a select few of the Arsenal faithful, who could see their season tickets revoked if they fail to attend games going forward. That’s according to the Daily Telegraph, who say that members of the board in North London will meet up tomorrow to discuss how and why this is happening, and what they plan to do to sort out the issue.
The lack of fans turning up has gradually gotten worse over the last couple of seasons, and culminated in around 3,000 seats that were left empty but had been sold for their Champions League group game against Ludogorets. This means that 3,000 Arsenal fans who would’ve paid for the pleasure of watching their side weren’t able to – which must be hugely frustrating. It also has a detrimental effect on the much-maligned atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium, which is something they want to change going forward.
Onto the final bit of news, and this one could well be a concern for manager Arsene Wenger. Arsenal made the move to bring in Lucas Perez from Deportivo La Coruna over the summer as the transfer window was winding down to a close. However, the Spaniard has expressed a displeasure at the amount of on-field minutes he has received.
Perez, 28, has made just one start in the Premier League so far, and one substitute appearance in the same competition; totalling a mere 64 minutes of league football as we now approach the end of October. Whilst this must be hugely frustrating for the star striker, he has to remain patient. There is no doubting that his chance will come, and then its solely up to him to take that opportunity with both hands.
Featured Image: All rights reserved by Massimo Usai.