Lukas Podolski MUST be sold, Arsenal let off Tomas Rosicky, while the defensive role for Abou Diaby is a good thing

Podolski still flatters to deceive in an Arsenal shirt

Tuesday night wasn’t the worst result in the world when you put things into perspective but it was highly frustrating to go out in the first round of the Capital One Cup. Winning as many trophies as possible is always welcome and we’re now one short.

Last night highlighted errors made in the market, in the central defensive department for example. I saw some positives in Isaac Hayden that I like, however, the thought of him filling in our first team defence at any given moment should something happen to two of our CB’s is an incredibly scary thought.

The space left between him and Calum Chambers at times was cringeworthy and you can imagine that he’d need his hand held throughout a game if he was to play at the highest level for us. Having said that, he looks like a very good tackler and has mobility that would have me open to seeing him at DM.

Speaking of DM propositions, one of the big positives of the night was that Abou Diaby left the field unscathed. He looked pretty solid too. What interested me was how he sat behind the midfield last night which Arsene Wenger concedes he instructed him to do.

Diaby’s always been great offensively, but last night he was a more disciplined performance and it impressed me.

Diaby lined up in a defensive role on his return

Wenger seems open to deploying Diaby in this role for the foreseeable future, saying: “I tried to develop [Diaby] in a deeper role, I think he can do it. He can be very interesting because he has all the attributes to do it. After, he must love it as well because he’s more of an offensive-minded player.”

He brings much-needed physicality to the role, as well as offering more mobility than both Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini. We all know relying on him with his injury record is pointless, so I think he should be saved as a big game specialist to help us avoid getting overrun by the likes of Nemanja Matic and Yaya Toure etc.

Lukas Podolski let me down big time I must say. I’ve been pretty keen to see the end of him at this club in order to make space for defensive players and last night only solidified those thoughts.

He brings very little to Arsenal and considering he’s one of our highest earners (£100k-a-week) his cons far outweigh his pros. Great shot on him…….. but that’s about it. It doesn’t help when he’s coming towards the halfway line to collect the ball all the time either.

I think I can be a little more forgiving of Tomas Rosicky, although he gave away a very soft penalty, my stream had me assume it was one of the kids that lunged into that tackle, but I was highly disappointed to discover that it was our skipper for the night.

Rosicky displayed the kind of rookie moment you would expect from Chambers or Hayden

Signs that he may be ageing a little as that burst of energy wasn’t as evident as it so usually is, but he hasn’t had many minutes so far so I’ll put it down to that.

If you know me, you’ll know of my admiration for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is a player that I’ve always personally rated higher than the in-form Raheem Sterling. But his development over the past couple of years has concerned me. A lot of this is down to a lack of playing time, something Raheem has been afforded plenty of and, therefore, benefitted from.

The Ox came on and gave us some much needed urgency. He is so good at taking on players and I believe that he could have a massive role to play as an impact player for us. He’s admitted it’s a role he approves of and I’d like to see him play it too.

I’d like him to start more games to be honest but when Theo Walcott is back it’s quite unlikely that will happen. Don’t forget Theo played the impact role when he was coming up for Arsenal before eventually fighting his way into the First XI. Ox could well follow suit.

Lastly what a goal from Alexis Sanchez. He really does look like the real deal and could turn out to be the signing of the season. I’ve always desired a player of the Sergio Aguero/Luis Suarez ilk, and I really feel that we finally have our very own hard-working South American talent.

He already looks good this season, but just like the two aforementioned players, Suarez in particular, I think that come his second and third seasons, he’ll explode into one of the world’s best.

Subomi Oguntoyinbo

Subomi Oguntoyinbo

I am Subomi. An Arsenal supporter throughout my lifetime currently in my early 20’s. I am a graduate of West London’s Met Film School and an aspiring screenwriter. I do like to write about various topics that interest me and that tends to swing towards matters concerning Arsenal, it’s a passion of mine.

I was born and raised in North London, moved out to Essex but I am now back in North London for university of course.

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