Following his rant over Arsenal’s shambolic display in Milan on Wednesday night and suggesting the trio of Andrey Arshavin, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott must be sold in order to bring in new blood, ex-Gunner Emmanuel Petit states Lille’s Eden Hazard may not be the right way to go, claiming his former club should be aiming to sign more experienced players.
Quoted in The Independent yesterday, the former France international said:
‘I like him a lot but what has he done at a high level?’
‘Has he been good in the Champions League? We haven’t seen him.
‘Has he been good for Belgium? He’s sometimes even a substitute.’
The 41-year-old went onto say:
‘What’s needed is five or six players of real stature, great experience. Players who are 27 – 30 years old at most. Players with technical qualities, obviously, but also strong character. A group of guys who refuse to accept defeat, who inspire confidence in the rest of the team.’
Now whilst I am all for our club signing bright young talents, I can’t help but agree with Petit when he says we should be going for more seasoned heads.
I do like Hazard’s style of play and undoubtedly he is a great prospect for the future, but do we really need him at this time? Do we need yet another youngster on board?
Strangely enough, before I read Manu’s comments, I was actually thinking the same thing. Perhaps signing the 21-year-old Belgian international, who is taking a summer move to Arsenal into consideration, isn’t the way to go.
We already have an abundance of young players within the squad – Ramsey, Walcott, Coquelin, Chamberlain, Miquel and Gibbs are to name but a few. But at the end of the day, can these guys handle the pressure? Can they stand up and be counted for when the chips are down? By the looks of it the majority of them soil their undies and hide in a corner. I for one firmly believe that we do lack that vital experience and killer instinct, especially in the bigger games, like the one in Italy on Wednesday night.
Although it would be perceived by many Gooners out there as a positive and great acquisition, Hazard wouldn’t solve our problems at all.
Winners, fighters, players with steel and the know-how are desperately needed to be brought in, not exciting young prospects, not now.
In my honest opinion, Arsene Wenger should heed Petit’s words carefully and should start reconsidering his failing ‘Project Youth’, or face more misery.
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if this was the case you wouldn’t want Wilshere or chamberlain or Cesc when he was here. We have enough older people on the team which offer nothing. Wilshere is only 20 and offers more than Rosicky etc. Age has nothing to do with it, it is more temperament and aptitude and fight which Eden does have and has a tonne of skill and trickery and pace.
If we didnt get him and our rivals did you probably would be the first to complain especially if he comes to the EPL and destroys teams for fun!
If arsenal want eden hazard or any other top quality playmaker,they must move now.I do agree with petit,but such experience will be better in attack & defence,let the kids run the midfield,also arterta is there.
Getting Kroenke out and Usmanov in would solve everything!
Agree with Petit but before we can get such players we need a fire sale to remove our `deadwood` (that awful word). This type of regeneration will never happen under Wenger he`s far too slow and lacks imagination, but he`s a nice guy, so I`m told.
yes we do need the experience….henry, arteta,yossi,mertasaker they offer that and the players admit it too…..imagine if arteta and mertasaker and andre santos was here last season we would have been better………arteta fabregas and song in the midfield not to mention wilshere we would have been great
Aussie Jack,you’re a disgrace to the Aussie name.
Cretin….and no Arsenal fan.
We meet again ,”ocker”! No, I`m not an Arsenal fan they`ve just been around me for an awful long time, probably before you were born. What`s your beef, what I said, or my name?
sagna
koscielny
vermaelen
v perise
song
arteta
thats 6 players who are over 25 who have all been round for a time and have experince
its not about the age of players, yes you need big old players who can give advice you younger ones on bad times but the fact is
if we had a squad with quality we would not be in the position we are.
we have too many avrage players
thats the problem.
and this hazard i have not seen him play much but his got skills and can score better verson of naseri or deffenelty on his leval.
Wot do you expect Scott its in Aussie Jacks genes with England shippin out all those liars,murderers, robbers,rapists & trash all those generations ago.
I reckon we nd the likes of Dembele, De Jong, Fellaini, Montolivo, Hoillett, Bastos & Cissokho to have a real team & squad with competition 4 places!
Up the Gunners – In Arsene we trust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Up the Gunners
Lol….You guys really do have a problem. “It`s in Aussie Jack`s genes”, I like that bit seeing has my genes were bestowed upon me near Manchester nearly eighty years ago and honed in London near Highbury. To my knowledge my ancestors were not murderers, robbers or rapists and were not deported as suggested.They weren`t racists either. I`m an Australian citizen not because of “the dog on the tucker box” or “Waltzing Matilda”, I`m not that romantic, it was just to get my aged pension you dumb shits.
Just for you Scott, does that make you feel better? There are no racists in Australia.
we need more direct players. Someone who can run at the opposition defence with the ball in the midfield that is what we lacked in milan no one to get things moving in the midfield. We had this with fabregas and nasri. I think our priority should be is to go for gotze instead on hazard because he can play either on the wing or most notably in midfield. And also a expeirianced center back e.g. Lucio. And a striker: sturidge and rodrigo. Walcott should stay, arshavin, chamackh, diaby, squillaci, andre santos and park out.