Afobe

That splinter must be sore at this stage.

Ha, i can assure you i have no chip, i am dead against the big boys not the likes of Leicester and see them as just an extension of the rest of us clubs of similar standing, you lot included.

Ditto mate.

See ya Sunday

Oh feck, so we get to see you guys smash us Sunday then.

4-1 to you guys.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 1 hour, 14 minutes ago
When you miss so much time with injuries and then play yourself into great form the last thing you want to do is go back to a club where you are 3rd or 4th choice.

The decision was right for him and right for us at the time - even though there was a lot of belief in his potential.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
No it wasn't Afobe is better out & out striker than both Welbeck & Sanogo who have both got significant game time with the club.

Another youngster AW has failed with and this time wasn't lucky enough for an injury crisis to make him realise (see Coq/JC).

Wenger has lost his eye for talent. If Akpom doesn't get a go next season I'll be livid. We've had some potential PL level talent come through the ranks of late and AW has failed to acknowledge the majority of them.

This was lowkey a golden era for our youth system and very much likely hardly any will make it despite being talented enough... all because of Arsene the fool

What has Akpom done at Hull (or any other loan) to suggest he is anywhere near ready or good enough to go straight into our team.

-------
No it wasn't Afobe is better out & out striker than both Welbeck & Sanogo who have both got significant game time with the club.
-------
As I said before, Sanogo wasnt even at the club when the decision to sell Afobe was made. Welbeck was used mainly as a wide man. Neither has had 'significant' game time at the club.
When there were chances for Afobe he was unfortunately injured. 3 or 4 times he was close but missed out because of fitness. There has to be a time when you have to let a player go in this situation .


There have been very few youngsters let go who were up to the standard. Those who were left for reasons far from Wenger not seeing their quality. The new squad rules have definitely had an impact on how long you can keep hold of players who reach their 20th birthday.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 10 hours, 31 minutes ago
When you miss so much time with injuries and then play yourself into great form the last thing you want to do is go back to a club where you are 3rd or 4th choice.

The decision was right for him and right for us at the time - even though there was a lot of belief in his potential.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
How was that ever the right decision? He never even got a chance to play despite being described by Wenger (a few years back) as being technically 'perfect'.
Sanogo was given a few chances and proved to be terrible. Really terrible. Have you seen that video knocking around of his highlights at Ajax (it's basically him falling over and missing an open goal)?

Unfortunately, Akpom appears to be heading in exactly the same direction

How was that ever the right decision?
------
Explained that a fair few times

You cannot just stockpile players with the new squad rules.
And you are another who refers to Sanogo as if he was the reason Afobe was sold. Sanogo was not at the club when Afobe was sold, Sanogo was not a factor in the decision. Sanogo hasn't been part of our squad since before Afobe was sold.
It was based, no doubt, on Afobe, his injury history, the chances of him being an immediate factor in the first team and the player himself wanting to leave for first team football.

comment by D'Jeezus Mackaroni (U1137)
posted 2 hours, 32 minutes ago
How was that ever the right decision?
------
Explained that a fair few times

You cannot just stockpile players with the new squad rules.
And you are another who refers to Sanogo as if he was the reason Afobe was sold. Sanogo was not at the club when Afobe was sold, Sanogo was not a factor in the decision. Sanogo hasn't been part of our squad since before Afobe was sold.
It was based, no doubt, on Afobe, his injury history, the chances of him being an immediate factor in the first team and the player himself wanting to leave for first team football.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I understood your explanation, I'm just not sure I agree. The fact that we had space for Sanogo to join and then we play him suggests Wenger thought that he was a better bet than Afobe (or rather that Afobe wasn't a bet at all).

As we didn't replace Afobe with someone guaranteed to start, really what was the point in getting rid of him?

Maybe it'll turn out to be the right decision, playing for Bournemouth is, with all due respect, not the same as playing for a team in the CL I just can't fathom why he didn't even get a few games.

I can only wonder what would have happened to Coquelin if there weren't injuries affording him an opportunity. Wenger lucked out big time with him, and it's worrying that it was only his hand being forced that made him realise Coq was a good fit in the team. I imagine he'd be on loan right now.

As we didn't replace Afobe with someone guaranteed to start, really what was the point in getting rid of him?
--------
You wouldn't replace a youth player with a guaranteed starter though.
When Afobe went to MK Dons we moved Akpom more into the seniors, then when Akpom went on loan we have Iwobi.

Coquelin would have been released at the end of last season if it wasn't for the injury issues. But, like many fringe players, he got a chance due to circumstance. Afobe would have got a similar chance, unfortunately he was injured at so many key times.

Players improve with playing. It is no surprise to anyone at Arsenal, Mr Wenger included, that a fit Afobe is a good player. But we definitely couldn't guarantee Afobe playing time, a decent offer was made and Afobe wanted to go.

It is a regret of the circumstances of Afobes Arsenal career rather than a regret of the decision to let him leave that will linger if Afobe continues to shine.

But let us not believe there was a choice between Sanogo and Afobe and that the French star was chosen ahead of Afobe because Mr Wenger believed Sanogo was a better player.