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Tag: arteta

  • Arteta leaves door open to Ozil return

    Arteta leaves door open to Ozil return

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has left the door open to re-registering Mesut Ozil for the second-half of the season.

    Ozil was frozen out by Arteta from both the Premier League and Europa League for the first-half of the campaign.

    But he admitted yesterday: “Let’s see what happens in the winter transfer window, we will assess the situation closer to its closure.

    “Of course, when a football player is not playing, it is difficult for him to be happy.

    “It’s hard to rejoice when you are not playing, but those who get little playing time try to support the rest.”

    Ozil’s contract expires in June.

  • Arteta starts to trim Arsenal squad after Kolasinac exit

    Arteta starts to trim Arsenal squad after Kolasinac exit

    Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac is joining Schalke on loan for the rest of the season after Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said offloading players was the January transfer window “priority”.

    Bosnia-Herzegovina left-back Kolasinac, 27, began his career with the German side before moving to Arsenal in 2017.

    “We cannot sustain the numbers we have in certain positions,” Arteta had said earlier on Thursday.

    “There are some players that are going to go on loan and going to leave.”

    He added: “That is the priority. Then we will see if we have the right opportunity in the positions where we need some more help.”

    Kolasanic has made 113 appearances for Arsenal and was part of last season’s FA Cup-winning squad.

    This term, he has started only one Premier League match but has featured in the Europa League and Carabao Cup.

    Arsenal technical director Edu said: “Sead needs to be playing regularly, so we have decided together that a move back to Germany with Schalke will benefit him at this moment.”

    Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi has also barely featured in the league in 2020-21, while German midfielder Mesut Ozil, whose deal expires in summer 2021, was left out of the Gunners’ Premier League and Europa League squads this season.

    Arsenal already have three first-team players out on loan – centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos is at Stuttgart, while midfielders Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi are at Atletico Madrid and Hertha Berlin respectively.

    The Gunners are 13th in the Premier League after 16 games, following back-to-back victories over Brighton and Chelsea that ended a run of seven matches without a win.

    They host 19th-placed West Bromwich Albion on 2 January.

    BBC

  • Arsenal boss Arteta announces squad clearout plans

    Arsenal boss Arteta announces squad clearout plans

    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed plans to clearout his squad’s fringe players.

    Arteta says Arsenal’s priority for the January transfer window is to trim the numbers in their squad.

    “We have a large squad and we knew that. A lot of things that should have happened in the summer, we cannot accomplish for different reasons,” Arteta said ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Brom.

    “There are some players that are going to go on loan and going to leave and that is the priority at the moment.

    “We cannot sustain the numbers that we have in certain positions and we are looking to do that, and then we will see if we have the right opportunity in the positions where we need some more help.”

    Arteta was quizzed on reports which suggested Sead Kolasinac was close to a move to Schalke, but he responded: “There are some conversations around a few players and whether we can find some loans.

    “The numbers we have in the squad at the moment are really big, but again we cannot confirm anything yet.”

  • January: Offloading players is Arsenal priority – Arteta

    January: Offloading players is Arsenal priority – Arteta

    Arsenal will prioritise offloading players in the January transfer window, says manager Mikel Arteta.

    Midfielder Mesut Ozil, whose deal expires in summer 2021, has been left out of the Gunners’ Premier League and Europa League squads this season.

    Defenders Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac have barely featured in the league in 2020-21.

    “We cannot sustain the numbers that we have in certain positions,” said Arteta.

    “There are some players that are going to go on loan and going to leave, and that is the priority.

    “Then we will see if we have the right opportunity in the positions where we need some more help.”

  • Arsenal great: Arteta right to bomb out Ozil

    Arsenal great: Arteta right to bomb out Ozil

    Arsenal great and former academy chief Liam Brady believes Mikel Arteta deserves greater control in the transfer market.

    But Brady feels there is no money to strengthen next month, while boss Arteta has wrestled back some control over signings.

    Speaking on the Keys and Gray podcast, he said: “(Raul) Sanllehi did buy the players. Arteta has much more say now.

    “When he came in, the model was that he would just coach the players. But he did well in his first few months and the team looked more organised. And I think they decided this is someone they can trust to buy the players.

    “Thomas Partey from Atletico is his big signing and that’s fair enough. But I do question why he went along with the Willian deal. I don’t think that’s helped his position.

    “However, apart from Partey, he’s not really had a go in the market.

    “To be honest, I don’t know where we go as we have wasted all this money. Liverpool hadn’t won the league for years, they hadn’t challenged.

    “When Jurgen Klopp took over, he had Philippe Coutinho to sell for £140m. He could then go and buy Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson – there’s not a situation like that at Arsenal.

    “It needs a major change. It’s going to take at least a couple of years to do it. I just hope Arteta can show he has the ability to turn it around.

    “I think the kids are up to it. With the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martinelli, they have the ability and character to pull us clear. My worries lie with the seniors.

    “Six or eight need to go. Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, Pepe, Willian, David Luiz – I could probably name another three if I had the squad to hand.

    “And I don’t blame Arteta over Ozil. He gave Ozil plenty of chances and he performed for a couple of months. As did a few others who had question marks hanging over them. Luiz looked better. Xhaka looked better.

    “But Ozil just reverted back to type. He’s not a good guy in the dressing room, he’s not a good guy on the pitch. I have no problem with Mikel bombing him, none.

    “(Ivan) Gazidis should have let him go on a free three years ago and we should have spent what we are paying him over three years, £50m? – that we could have invested in a good young player instead of having him around the place.”

  • Beating Chelsea the best medicine for Arsenal – Arteta

    Beating Chelsea the best medicine for Arsenal – Arteta

    Mikel Arteta says beating Chelsea on Boxing Day would be “the best medicine” for “suffering” Arsenal in a “crucial” festive period.

    Arteta has come under increasing pressure with the Gunners languishing in 15th in the Premier League table.

    They also crashed out of the Carabao Cup with a 4-1 quarter-final defeat at home to Manchester City on Tuesday.

    Arteta says a London derby victory over Frank Lampard’s side would be the perfect remedy ahead of trips to fellow strugglers Brighton and Hove Albion and West Brom.

    The Arsenal manager said: “At the moment, to keep the team together, to keep the team alive and to be a team, not a group of players, it takes a lot of energy because when you are losing football matches you have to lift them up, to get them together.

    “You have to get them all being positive to each other, to not blame each other or any external factor when things are not going well.

    “The best thing to do when you have a situation like that is to have the possibility to do things outside of the site, get them together in a change of environment, but at the moment, with Covid [restrictions], we cannot do it and probably we are not going to be able to do it in a while.

    “We have to try other ways, but I have to say the players are really putting in a lot of energy enthusiasm not to lose what we are building, but it takes a lot of energy because we are losing games.

    “Every game is a lot of weight on your shoulders, it’s a lot of disappointment and people are suffering. We are hurting and suffering and we have to get back, start believing again and try to push the players, then they respond and are excited for the game.

    “The best medicine, better than anything than can happen outside of our facilities, is to win against Chelsea.”

    Goal

  • Current Arsenal squad worst in history – Frimpong

    Current Arsenal squad worst in history – Frimpong

    Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong has slammed Mikel Arteta’s squad.

    Frimpong claims it is the worst squad seen in the history of the club.

    He told PlayOJO: “Yes. No doubt about it. The league table says it all. I can’t remember the last time an Arsenal team was in 15th at this stage of the season.

    “The current situation is very very bad for everyone involved with Arsenal.

    “I feel like this squad is probably the worst squad in a very long time.”

    Frimpong believes Granit Xhaka is just one of many Arsenal players who are not good enough for the club.

    He said: “With Xhaka, I don’t know if he is a defensive midfielder or an attacker, I really don’t know his position.

    “Defensively, I think he’s far too slow and offensively, I don’t know if he can see a pass. All I know is players like Xhaka, and I don’t mean any disrespect, but are they great players?

    “Are they players to carry Arsenal to the next level? In my honest opinion, I think the answer is no.”

  • Guardiola defends Arteta after Arsenal loss to City

    Guardiola defends Arteta after Arsenal loss to City

    Pep Guardiola says it would be a “big mistake” for Arsenal to sack manager Mikel Arteta after Manchester City’s 4-1 win over the Gunners in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday.

    Arsenal are without a win in eight domestic league and cup matches.

    “I’m pretty sure they are going to trust him,” said Guardiola when asked if Arsenal need to stick with Arteta.

    “They will do a big mistake if they are thinking [of dismissing him].”

    Arteta said on the eve of the last-eight tie with City that he has no plans to walk away from his job and feels he has the support of the club.

    The former Arsenal captain won the FA Cup in his first season in charge and his side then beat Premier League champions Liverpool in the Community Shield at the end of August.

    But they have been poor in 2020-21 and languish in 15th spot in the top flight, four points above the relegation zone and without a win in seven league games.

    They have qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League but they were comfortably beaten by City on Tuesday.

    Guardiola, who has won two Premier League titles, three EFL Cups and one FA Cup after failing to secure a trophy in his first season at City in 2016-17, said Arteta needs time.

    “I know his incredible quality as a human being and especially as a manager, how he is involved in everything,” added the City boss.

    “It’s just a question of time and he will do well.

    “Football changes in one week so quick. I can speak about my experience alongside him – one of the most incredible, successful teams in English history we had, and he was part of this success.

    “It would not be possible without him. To create something like this you need time like I had in my first season.”

  • Winning Carabao Cup won’t be enough – Arteta

    Winning Carabao Cup won’t be enough – Arteta

    Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says winning the Carabao Cup this season won’t be enough to say it’s been a good campaign.

    After defeat to Everton, the Gunners meet Manchester City in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night.

    “It’s not enough, isolating just one competition. We have to play every competition to try to win it,” said Arteta.

    “Last season, we managed to win two of those and we have a really nice opportunity because we’ve done really well in the competition this year and tomorrow’s game is another step forward to be closer to winning another trophy and this is what we are going to try to do.

    “But this doesn’t mean that it’s going to reflect on the rest or it’s going to look better because at the moment – whatever happens in any other competition – in the Premier League we’re nowhere near where we should be.”

  • Mikel Arteta tells Leno: This is my responsibility

    Mikel Arteta tells Leno: This is my responsibility

    Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists Bernd Leno is wrong in his criticism of his teammates.

    The Gunners go into this weekend down in 15th in the Premier League table, but they were at least able to stop the rot of recent defeats with a 1-1 draw against Southampton in midweek.

    “I take full responsibility because at the end of the day I pick the players that have to be on the pitch and I have to able to try and transmit to them and get themselves in a state of mind that they can control themselves,” Arteta said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Everton. “Unfortunately in football everything can go so quick and emotions take a big part.

    “But I want the players to play with that freedom and take the pressure off them in this moment because it is really needed.

    “That, in my opinion, is when you get the best out of them.”