Leeds fans have all got the same answer to a report asking about Paul Heckingbottom’s future, and let’s just say the manager might want to stay off Twitter.
It was a long and painful season for Leeds fans, and the arrival of Paul Heckingbottom in February had completely the opposite effect it was supposed to, dampening spirits instead of lifting them.
The former Barnsley man replaced Thomas Christiansen with the side’s playoff push faltering, but has won just four matches since the change, and fans voted strongly in favour of dumping the 40 year-old last month.
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Looking ahead to the summer transfer window, the Yorkshire Evening Post has asked fans what the future holds for the boss, and the responses are overwhelmingly negative.
There is a small section of fans that feel the manager should get his own transfer window to make an impact on the squad, but the majority just can’t look past the lack of improvement in the current players since he took over.
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Fans have been reacting to the report on Twitter, and an awful lot of them are saying the exact same thing. You can find some of the best reactions below…
Make no mistake about it, Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Liverpool on Friday night is a key fixture in both clubs’ respective seasons. Currently either side of the all-important top four line, the Emirates Stadium clash could have a determining say in which side qualifies for the Champions League via domestic position come the end of the campaign.
What’s more, this fixture has a knack of delivering an impressive supply of goals – their 51 Premier League meetings to date have produced 141 – so it looks set to be another open and edgy encounter between the Gunners and the Reds this time around. Accordingly, the result could well boil down to which side dominates the key individual battles. Here, we look at four of the most important…
Ainsley Maitland-Niles vs Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah has unquestionably been one of the most formidable attacking threats in the Premier League this season, so it’s rather surprising Arsene Wenger appears to have lost his faith in first-choice left-back Sead Kolasinac ahead of such an important game.
The summer signing was left out against Newcastle last weekend yet played the full ninety minutes versus West Ham in midweek, suggesting he’ll be starting from the bench at best on Friday night.
While we could see Nacho Monreal return to his natural left-back role after most commonly featuring at centre-half this season, recent selections suggest Wenger will place his trust in youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles. More a midfielder by trade, Salah represents easily the biggest test of the 20-year-old’s career to date.
The Egyptian international already has 14 Premier League goals this season and completed the fourth-most dribbles of any player in the division.
Hector Bellerin vs Andrew Robertson
Both managers like their full-backs to venture forward whenever possible and nowhere is that highlighted better than on a flank that will see Hector Bellerin and Andrew Robertson directly compete with each other for space on the overlap.
Although both defenders will have their own problems to deal with in the form of the opposing winger (most likely Philippe Coutinho and Alex Iwobi respectively), they’ll be desperate to contribute offensively – especially in Bellerin’s case if Arsenal revert back to the 3-4-3 setup they’ve used on the most-part this season.
In what looks set to be an open game between two attacking-minded teams, Bellerin and Robertson’s ability to provide deliveries into the box could well prove to be the difference – but so could the gaps they leave behind when pushing forward.
Jack Wilshere & Granit Xhaka vs the Counter-Attack
Rather than directly competing with an opposite number, the ultimate question lingering over Arsenal’s midfield is whether it can offer enough protection to stop the most potent weapon in Liverpool’s armoury – the counter-attack.
No side has come close to matching Liverpool’s five counter-attacking goals away from home this season and that was their biggest offensive success in the 4-0 win at Anfield as well, sucking up pressure before hitting the visitors on the break. While that’s as much about how the whole team is organised, Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey’s lack of discipline in midfield was undoubtedly a pivotal factor in how poorly Arsenal defended those situations on Merseyside.
With Ramsey injured, Jack Wilshere looks set to take the Welshman’s place in the engine room but the ultimate question is whether Xhaka and Wilshere have the athleticism and the awareness to push wide and snuff out those counter-attacks when required.
Mesut Ozil vs Jordan Henderson
While he may continue to divide opinion, Mesut Ozil is still one of Arsenal’s most important players – especially at home where he’s provided two goals and four assists in eight Premier League appearances so far this season.
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If the German international brings his best form, he’ll almost certainly unlock what has been a shaky Liverpool defence at times this term, particularly on the road. The task of stopping him primarily falls to Reds captain Jordan Henderson, who will be at the base of the engine room.
Steadily transitioned into a defensive midfielder by Klopp, the England international has a knack of dividing opinion amongst his fans as well, but if Liverpool are to escape the Emirates Stadium with a clean sheet, he’ll inevitably play a huge part.
Concentrating on the football side of things almost seems pointless right now but I feel for my own and others people’s sanity that someone must. There is no doubting that there are more important things going on at the club right now but we as fans follow a club because of the football so lets have a look at the football side of things
Our squad has obviously been adversely affected by all the goings on at the club in the past months and with the players currently in the side it really shows.
Early pre-season games usually tell you very little but the squad selection is looking more and more likely that it will remain the same come the start of the new season. Our squad has been missing key elements for a long time now but last year with the addition of a couple of good loans we had a good side with a bit of depth.
Obviously these loan players are now nowhere to be seen and couple that with the players told they are free to leave and do not feature in Pressley’s plans and we are in trouble.
Going through the squad and Goalkeeping wise we look to be ok in terms of our number one with Joe Murphy likely to stay. Number two however is a different story and one must be signed as soon as it is possible to do so.
Defensive wise is where we look most vulnerable. We have a left back who is a really good left back but injuries at the end of last season have seen him fall out of the picture, it is definitely good to see him back playing in this pre-season.
On the other side we currently have two of the best right backs in the division. One Jordan Clarke was originally told he was surplus to requirements and free to leave but Pressley has had a change of mind. This seems a strange one not only to freeze him out in the first place but to then go back on that decision and bring him back into the fold.
To me it is a decision which only confounds the rumours of interest in our other right back Cyrus Christie. He has undoubtedly progressed quicker than Clarke who has in the past had a crisis of confidence and Cyrus will be huge loss if he is sold. But in Clarke we do have a ready made replacement, if we can make him believe in himself he will be just as good if not better than Cyrus in the future.
As for the central defence the only player we currently have is young Jordan Willis who whilst has shown a lot of promise has very little experience of first team football. It is crazy to think there is every chance we are going to start the season with one centre half and an inexperienced one at that.
The heart of any defence is the key to a solid back four, we are a million miles away from having that and on that basis we are really going to struggle to keep teams at bay come the new season.
The midfield is the part of the team where we probably have the most depth. We have Baker, Fleck, Thomas, Moussa, Barton and a couple of emerging youngsters in Daniels, garner and lobjoit. It is far from the strongest midfield but it is a midfield with a good potential.
Captain Carl Baker we all know can be a class act at this level and will be the key to most good things we do this year. Fleck, Thomas and Barton are all players who arrived with great potential but none have delivered as of yet. The younger lads clearly still have a lot to learn and for some it may be the right time to bring them into the first team fold but for others it may well be too soon.
Moussa on the other hand is a player who football fans have a love/hate relationship with. There is no doubt he is a talent and he is often an exciting player to watch but his inability to perform on a consistent basis is what annoys us football fans. Saying that though if he was able to perform at his best consistently there is no way he would be a Coventry City player. He is a player who on his day can single handedly unlock the opposition defence and is a good weapon to have in the team.
We do need some new faces in the midfield though and pacey wingers for me are a must. Pace at any level can be a great weapon to have in the side. Sometime the player doesn’t have to be the best technically just for the fact it gives the opposition defence something different to think about which allows players with other traits to make use of them more often. Look at any successful sides and almost all of them have at least one player who can out pace defenders with relative ease.
Looking at our forward players and only two come to mind. Leon Clarke is a player who scores goals at this level. He is far from a great player but his goal record in this division is up there with the best and if his goal scoring continues then goals shouldn’t be hard to come by for us.
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Callum Wilson is the only other recognised striker and whilst he is still very young and inexperienced he has shown sparks in his time in the side. He came to the forefront due to injuries and he did himself proud scoring one goal and impressing with his confidence to make things happen. He will need to step up another level though if he is to be a major player in this year’s league one campaign.
Reinforcements are much needed but once again it is unlikely we will see any before the new season gets underway. We have the basis of a good squad but without the ability to add strength in depth to it we are going to struggle. Pressley remains committed to his recruitment with trialist currently training with the squad but with both his hands tied behind his back we look like we are going to be in for a long hard season on and off the pitch.
The world of football transfers can be fascinating. For an extended period of the year, fans dedicate multiple hours each day trawling the internet or waiting for that yellow banner on Sky Sports News, in an attempt to discover just who their club are in negotiations to sign.
Many moves down the years have collapsed, frustrating managers, supporters and players, and while some of these issues ultimately benefit all those involved, there are a fair few cases of the ‘one that got away’. Whether it be wage demands, stubborn chairmen or a sudden sense of realisation, a number of promising moves have broken down, which would surely have changed the landscape of British football as we know it
This list looks at 15 transfers that never quite came to fruition for various reasons.
Click on Kaka below to get the ball rolling
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That Liverpool have had such a strong second half of the season in the wake of Philippe Coutinho’s departure to Barcelona is a remarkable thing considering how important the Brazilian playmaker was to the way the Reds emerged as a lethal attacking force under Jurgen Klopp.
The season started with serious worries that they may even crumble should he move away from Merseyside, worries that have obviously been obliterated by the incredible season Mohamed Salah ended up having.
Still though, the goal in this summer’s transfer window must be to support Salah rather than rely on him in the way they did on Coutinho. If the Anfield side are ever going to compete seriously for the English Premier League title they need an array of superstars in support of the Egyptian sensation.
Coutinho was destined to never have the opportunity to play for too long with Salah and as such there are still puzzles left to be solved by Klopp, his coaching staff and those tasked with completing transfers.
One player that has been linked with the Reds this week is Lyon’s 24-year-old star attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir, a French international who is making quite a name for himself in Ligue 1.
He’s been instrumental in his side’s bid to qualify for the UEFA Champions League again, making them the best attacking outfit in the league outside of the untouchable Paris Saint-Germain.
From Liverpool’s perspective, his form has also been a demonstration that he can replace what Coutinho left when he moved to La Liga.
The player’s stats on WhoScored.com are evidence he can be a big hit at Anfield and offer Liverpool a level of excellence and style of play in midfield that they currently lack.
Even at an initial glance the signs are good considering nobody in the Liverpool squad has scored more than his 17 goals in league action.
On the creative side, only Salah has more assists than the Frenchman, with Fekir’s key passes also higher on average than everyone at the Reds this term apart from the departed Coutinho.
His average of 3.1 dribbles per game bests the entire Liverpool squad this season, including the Brazilian, who certainly wasn’t shy in taking the opposition on with the ball at his feet.
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That his numbers sit in the same conversation as both Salah and Coutinho is a testament to his ability, which is still improving all the time at 24 years of age.
Surrounded by better players Liverpool he can potentially flourish into a devastating weapon for Jurgen Klopp and help them reach their Premier League potential next season.
This week the summer’s transfer business seems to have shifted up a gear with Manchester United splashing the cash on midfield reinforcements and Liverpool finally agreeing to allow Raheem Sterling to leave for Manchester City.
Big deals like these, either by their success or failure, continue to shape the fortunes of clubs at the top end of the table.
By contrast though, Abou Diaby was released by Arsenal this week. Had things worked out differently for the big Frenchman, the landscape of the Premier League might have been startlingly different over the last decade.
The most successful Arsenal team of Arsene Wenger’s tenure had club legend Patrick Vieira at it’s heart but it is now ten years since he moved on. Some would say that the Gunners have been one Vieira short of being title winners ever since. Diaby should have been that man.
The club finally drew a line under the gangly midfielder’s time in North London this week, with injuries having wrecked his career.
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Diaby arrived at Arsenal back in January of 2006 when the club was in the midst of it’s last season at Highbury. It was a modest fee of £2million, which was a sign of the times given the vast expenditure on the Emirates Stadium.
It was testament to his potential though, that he was able to choose between the Gunners and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea at the time.
Diaby came oozing with youthful athleticism. He was a natural powerhouse, an effortless mover, a sharp passer and ultimately a Vieira in waiting.
He was just 20 when he left former club Auxerre for the Premier League brimming with potential.
Now though, nine years on, Wenger has finally been forced to let him go and will feel huge regret that he was only ever able to field the giant Frenchman 125 times during all those years.
The coach was quoted this week as saying it was one of his “saddest moments” being denied the opportunity to get the best out of Diaby. Wenger praised not only his natural ability but his attitude towards training and recovery stating “he didn’t deserve what he got”.
What he got was horrendous luck with injuries. He suffered an ankle break within four months of arriving at his new club causing him to miss the Champions League final in 2006.
Much of the following season was spent attempting to recover from three separate operations. A thigh injury then caused him to miss a large part of the 2007-08 campaign.
The pattern continued throughout his career in North London. Every time he returned to fitness and began to show his potential a fresh problem sidelined him again, including a nine-month layoff with anterior cruciate ligament damage in 2013.
Diaby, with 16 France caps to his name, has now finally seen his Arsenal dream end at the age of 29.
There is reported interest from MLS sides but it remains unclear where he will go to attempt to salvage a few years at the end of what should have been a glittering career. He has been robbed of the success that his talent should have brought him.
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Arsenal too, have been denied their next Vieira. Could Diaby have been the box-to-box phenomenon that would have converted so many top four finishes into genuine title challenges?
How different would the list of Premier League winners over the last decade have looked had fate not dealt him such a cruel hand?
Even Vieira himself no doubt wonders. The World cup winner said: “He could have reached an exceptional level. He is better than me, better on a technical level, a better dribbler and a better scorer too”.
Sadly Diaby was only ever able to show us glimpses of this. Maybe he can do it elsewhere in the next few years, but for Wenger, the search for another Vieira goes on.
Retiring Liverpool star Jamie Carragher claims he would run away if he was asked to take a penalty in his final game against QPR.
The veteran defender is calling time on his 16-year career after Sunday’s game with already relegated Rangers at Anfield, and he doesn’t want anything to blot the day.
Carragher claims he couldn’t cope with the pressure of taking and converting a penalty in front of the Reds’ famous Kop, even if the team are cruising towards a home victory.
When the scenario was put to him by reporters, the former England international was quick to dismiss the idea out of hand, with a clean sheet and a good solid performance no doubt at the forefront of his mind, on what is sure to be an emotional occasion for him.
He said: “No, imagine missing that on your last game and going for a pint after the game and people say, ‘You missed a penalty in your last game!
“I’m not the type of person who likes that but it’s going to be like that isn’t it? I just don’t want it to overshadow the game. I just want this game to go well and if it doesn’t it’ll annoy me after the game.”
The 35-year-old has long known that he would be hanging up his boots at the end of the season, having decided over 12 months ago, even though Carragher didn’t make his thoughts public until February.
However, he has been living in fears for the last few weeks that he would miss his own send-off with a mistimed tackle or an errant handball, potentially ruling the centre-back out of the clash with Rangers in what will be his 737th appearance for the club.
He added: “Before the Fulham game, someone texted me and said ‘don’t get sent off’ so I had a word with Mark Halsey before kick-off.
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“I just said ‘if I’m misbehaving or whatever, get them to bring me off’. He said ‘don’t handball it on the line or do a professional foul and you’ll be all right’.
“I thought, imagine if you end up missing your last game through being suspended.”
Swindon Town defeated Stoke City 4-3 in the Capital One Cup after extra time at the Britannia Stadium. A 119th minute winner from hat-trick hero James Collins saw the League One side progress into the third round. Swindon had previously knocked out Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Robins started the game positively in the sparsely filled stadium. As Swindon played the ball around well, chances were created and in the 26th minute Collins capitalised on a mistake by Stoke City keeper Sorensen. Swindon kept up the pressure after the goal and in the 39th minute De Vita collected a wonderful cross field pass from Robins captain Alan McCormack, who darted past his marker and his shot hit the woodwork. This momentum continued and just a minute or so later Swindon had a corner from the left, in which De Vita’s cross was met by a brilliant header from James Collins, for his second of the night. This sent the travelling fans into raptures. A brilliant first half display was finished off by another De Vita strike hitting the same post.
At half-time I rang my friend and was very concerned that if Stoke were to play high balls and if they brought on Peter Crouch then we could be in serious trouble. I had been at the Leeds 2 -2 Swindon League Cup game some 9 years ago and it had all the hallmarks of a repeat occurrence.
Stoke started better after the break, strong half-time words from their manager must have done the trick. They started using long high balls to a great effect. Swindon’s back line was in trouble and this was exposed in the 63rd when Trinidad & Tobago star Kenwyne Jones headed home Shotton’s cross from the right. This was Swindon Towns first goal that they had conceded all season.
The Robins had little chances during the period after Stokes first goal but had soaked up all of the pressure brought onto them by the Premier League side. A triple substitution in the 78th minute by Tony Pulis saw Crouch, Ness and Walters on for Shotton, Jones and Jerome.
Following the substitutions Stoke City looked to utilise high balls especially with Crouch on the field. In the 85th Minute a hopeful ball up field saw the ball fall for Walters who slotted the ball home past Swindon keeper Wes Foderingham. The sense of relief from the Stoke fans was apparent and the disbelief from Swindon fans that their side had failed to hold on to a comfortable 2-0 lead was clear to see..
Deep into the four minutes of added on time, Stoke had chances to snatch victory, with Peter Crouch and Jermaine Pennant both going close. As the final whistle went and extra-time loomed, Swindon Town could be proud of their performance thus far.
Extra time started and within five minutes both sides had chances to make the scoreline 3-2. Devera got in the way of Walters at the back post whilst at the other end Williams dragged a shot wide from close range. Soon after this McEveley had to be replaced by Nathan Thompson after a head-to-head collision with Potters striker Walters. After chances from Cameron, Crouch and Upson coming to nothing it seemed the first half of extra-time wouldn’t end with a goal. This was until the last action of the half were a corner from Matt Ritchie saw Aden Flint, rise above everybody at the back post to nod in Swindon’s third goal.
After 115 minutes, Swindon Town, of League One were in front at The Britannia Stadium 3-2, where just 48 hours previously, Arsenal, three times Premier League winners had failed to scored a single goal.
With less than ten minutes remaining of the 2nd half of extra-time, Swindon Town players were looking very fatigued, they had given there all for over 110 minutes, but a simple cross from the right saw Peter Crouch comfortably rise above the Robins defenders to simply nod home there equaliser.
With two minutes to go Williams skipped clear of the Stoke back-line but his shot was straight at Sorensen. On the next attack, Swindon Town’s Miller shot from inside the area, Sorensen palmed this away, then Williams headed the ball across goal for James Collins to score his hat-trick. This sent the away fans into raptures. The relief, excitement and joy of every single Robins fans was very clear.
Some two days later and I still have a beaming smile on my face, I can honestly say that this was the best match I have ever been to. Performance wise and the way in which we won was absolutely amazing. I ended up being on BBC Radio Wiltshire after the game but I cannot really remember what they asked me, the adrenaline running through me was unbelievable.
Match Statistics…
Stoke Swindon
52% Possession 48%
17 Shots 25
8 (On Target) 15
7 Corners 11
13 Fouls 12
Now Burnley…
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Last night the draw for the Capital One Cup Third Round took place and Swindon will now face Burnley at The County Ground. The last time that these teams met was on 17h April 1996 when the teams played out a 0-0 draw. A notable former Swindon Town player will be making his return to The County Ground for the visitors in the form of Charlie Austin. The 23 year old, signed for Swindon Town in 2009 from Non-League Poole Town. Austin played 54 times for The Robins where he netted on 31 occasions. Austin joined Burnley in 2011 where he has netted 18 goals from 48 appearances.
Preston…
Swindon Town play Preston North End on Sunday for the first time since 1986. The 2 sides have met on 26 previous occasions whereby Swindon have only won 7 matches. Back in 1935, 24,480 fans saw Preston defeat Swindon in the highest attended match between the teams, somewhat suggests that this will not be beaten when they meet at Deepdale.
You can follow me on Twitter for even more Swindon Town discussion.
Leeds United failed to build on last week’s win in the English Championship on Saturday, losing 2-1 away to Norwich City.
Pressure is building on manager Paul Heckingbottom, despite only being in the job for just under three months.
The Elland Road side have won just three of his 15 games in charge and fans appear to have had enough.
Many feel he isn’t the right man to take the club forward beyond the summer and worry they will suffer more mid-table mediocrity if he stays in charge.
They harbour ambitions to make a serious bid for the play-offs next term and are now pleading with their club to make the change they feel is needed.
Is it harsh to be questioning Heckingbottom’s management so soon into his career at Elland Road or are fans correct to look for change before what will be a massive summer for the club?
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Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts…
They may not have shown it yesterday afternoon against Manchester United – a 1-1 draw in which the Gunners didn’t get going until the last half an hour – but Arsenal are a few signings short of a title-winning side. The only problem, however, is whether or not Arsene Wenger will make them this summer.
British punditry are fairly unanimous on what they think Arsenal need in the coming window – I too am largely in agreement. The intrinsic weaknesses lay in the spine of the team; particularly, at goalkeeper, central midfield and centre-forward. A top class centre-back – if we’re being idealistically greedy – can probably be thrown into the mix as well. That’s not a sleight at what the north Londoners already have, rather the objective acceptance that what Chelsea and Manchester City have is proven to be superior.
David Ospina has exceeded expectations since stepping in for Wojciech Szczesny as Arsenal’s No.1. But how much that’s down the Colombian international, or whether he’s simply been propelled from the coattails of the Gunners’ improved form since the turn of 2015, is open to interpretation.
And we’ve been here before with Gunners goalkeepers; Manuel Almunia was a stand-in for Jens Lehman before becoming first choice and Szczesny took the No.1 mantle from the Spaniard after a string of impressive Premier League displays. But neither were purchased as indisputable starters and a few seasons later both proved short of the required standard.
A top-class goalkeeper of undoubted Champions League quality could make all the difference. It’s impossible to quantify how many points a world-class goalkeeper adds to a Premier League campaign, but we can say for certain that an average one will comparatively add little.
Rhetoric from Wenger thus far, however, suggests he’s fairly pleased with his current goalkeeping options. He’s recently described Ospina, Szczesny and Damian Martinez as ‘three world-class goalkeepers’, whilst constantly batting away rumours linking the Emirates outfit with Chelsea’s Petr Cech.
Few managers head into press conferences dancing and singing about buying their alleged targets, purely due to the fact demand increases price, and the Blues appear particularly reluctant to let Cech join a direct divisional rival. But if we take Wenger’s words at face value, signing a new No.1 isn’t at the top of his summer agenda – in fact, it hasn’t entered his thoughts at all.
One area I’m almost certain the Gunners will strengthen, however, both figuratively and literally, is central midfield. Although Francis Coquelin has proved useful in adding a more defensive, sturdy and predictable dynamic to Arsenal’s engine room – allowing Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla to enact upon their more progressive urges – it still lacks the level of brutish physicality that can compete with Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic, Manchester City’s Yaya Toure or the Premier League’s other top enforcers.
With Mathieu Flamini’s contract set to expire this summer and Mikel Arteta moving further away from the playmaking influence he once was with every injury, it would constitute an unforgivable oversight if Wenger didn’t bring in a defensively-minded lump of brawn during the coming window.
Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin seems destined to move on after another impressive Premier League campaign, Sporting Lisbon have paved the way for William Carvalho’s departure after restructuring his third-party ownership agreement to ensure full profits from any sale, Sami Khedira will be leaving Real Madrid on a free contract and Monaco’s Geoffrey Kondogbia has received plenty of column inches in recent weeks – so it’s certainly not a question of availability. Even Bayern Munich’s forgotten man Javi Martinez, a towering battering ram who would also provide depth at centre-back, is a realistic possibility.
In terms of centre-forwards, however, I’m not so optimistic. Wenger’s perpetual faith in Olivier Giroud has only grown over the course of the season whilst, for whatever reason, he seems determined to prove Yaya Sanogos’ free transfer from Auxerre in summer 2013 is the smartest piece of business he’s ever done.
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Rather than going out and getting a Gonzalo Higuain – expected to leave Napoli due to their absence from the Champions League next season – a Christian Benteke, reportedly available for just £30million, or a Karim Benzema, who Real Madrid are allegedly going to flog for around £40million this summer, it’s more than likely Wenger will stick with what he has, hoping Sanogo can finally live up to the hype whilst Danny Welbeck continues to transform his industry into the occasional goal. Recently, he’s even declared Theo Walcott ready to play as an out-and-out front-man. So once again, a top class striking addition seems unlikely.
But the fact of the matter is that in the last five seasons, not one club have been named Premier League champions without their top scorer netting in excess of twenty goals. Diego Costa, only through injury, might prove to be a rare anomaly this term in a consistent Premier League trend. Giroud, meanwhile, has never scored more than 16 in his three top flight campaigns. Although Arsenal’s midfield offers more goals than most, the 28 year-old is not the talismanic match-winner the Gunners desperately need spearheading their attack.
So who will Arsene Wenger sign this summer? The growing concern is yet another attacking midfielder – or failing that, a rabble of young, undeveloped talent adding depth to an already overwhelming squad. For all of Arsenal’s progress over the last few months, their manager’s inability to be ruthless in the transfer market could once again hold them back.