We take a look at the key stories surrounding Arsenal from the day.
Granit Xhaka having fun at Arsenal
Granit Xhaka’s return to his former club Basel went exactly the way he would have hoped last night, as he started and played a big part in a 4-1 victory in the Champions League. Xhaka played against his brother Taulant Xhaka for the second time this season, and the two clearly put their relationship aside and focused on their jobs, seeing as they were involved in several scuffles with each other for the ball.
Xhaka has no problems with that whatsoever, as he says he is having the time of his life at Arsenal :
“It’s a good experience, a nice experience,” Xhaka said, according to Arsenal.com. “Arsenal is a very big club and it’s so much fun to play alongside my team-mates. I’m really happy here.
“I came home after five years. Here at Basel is where I made my first professional steps, I came up and grew up through the FC Basel school.
“Tonight I played against my brother for the third time [too], and it’s always special to play against him.”
Granit was definitely the more impressive of the Xhakas last night. The younger Xhaka made more passes (104), took more touches (125) and was involved in more duels (14) than any other Arsenal player.
Alex Iwobi says Arsenal knew what was happening at PSG, and that provided extra belief
Alex Iwobi was on the score sheet last night, scoring Arsenal’s fourth goal against FC Basel. The Nigerian international was on hand to score after a fine pass from Mesut Ozil that left the youngster with the simplest of tap-ins.
Arsenal scored 2 goals after the break, and according to Iwobi the Gunners started the 2nd half in that fashion because the team saw what was happening with Paris Saint-Germain’s game and that gave them “extra belief”:
“We saw the scores at half-time when we were walking into the dressing room,” Iwobi said, according to Sky Sports.
“It gave us that extra belief so we just had to maintain our positive approach. We dropped off a bit which is why we conceded, but we still completed the job.”
Iwobi was also pleased that he managed to get on the score sheet:
“It (a goal for me) felt like a long time coming and it’s always a great feeling to score a goal, but I’m just pleased with the team’s performance and that we were able to finish top of the group.”
Paris Saint-Germain could only draw with Ludogorets, which meant that Arsenal finished the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in top spot, and will potentially have an easier pool of teams to play against based on tonight’s results.
Here is Iwobi’s goal from last night :
Video: Iwobi’s goal for Arsenal. #afc pic.twitter.com/CcxxoTWf0e
— Arsenal (@AFCvideosHD) December 6, 2016
Giroud staying at Arsenal, according to agent :
Olivier Giroud will not seek a move away from Arsenal in January despite his struggle to break into the first team, according to his agent.
Alexis Sanchez’s brilliant form coupled with the fact that Giroud has been injured quite often so far this season means that the Frenchman has been relegated to second choice striker whenever he has been fit.
Lucas Perez also managed to bag a hat-trick last night, and if things continue the way they do, Giroud might find his role as a super-sub more permanent than he thought it would be.
All of these factors have also led to Giroud being linked with moves away from Arsenal, but according to his agent, Michael Manuello, Giroud will not be seeking a transfer this season and is very content at Arsenal :
“I have not been in touch with any Italian clubs. Olivier is very well at Arsenal. He will finish the season at Arsenal.” Manuello said, according to Foot Mercato.
“A move in January for Olivier is not possible, and he has no plans to move in the winter transfer window either”
Giroud has only made 12 appearances for Arsenal this season, out of which 10 have come as a substitute. He is yet to be named in the starting line-up in the English Premier League.
Ray Wilkins would sell Mesut Ozil and keep Jack Wilshere
Ray Wilkins – a former Chelsea player and assistant coach – says that he would rather have Jack Wilshere in his team than Mesut Ozil. The Englishman – who won the Premier League title while serving as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant coach at Chelsea in 2009/10 – says he would rather have Wilshere as Mesut Ozil tends to “go missing” in big games.
Wilshere, who joined Bournemouth on loan earlier in the season has been getting regular game time uninterrupted by injury for the first time in years – he has made 9 starts for Bournemouth this season – and Wilkins feel that he has already shown enough to be a better option in midfield than Mesut Ozil – who has played 19 games for Arsenal and scored 8 goals while picking up 5 assists.
According to talkSPORT, Wilkins had this to say:
“I’d bring Jack Wilshere back and let Ozil go.” he said. “I think Jack is thoroughly enjoying himself at Bournemouth. He is actually playing week in, week out and you can see progress he is making. Thankfully he is over the injury problems he has had in the past.”
It’s worth noting once again at this point that Wilshere has only played 9 games this season.
“I think Jack Wilshere could be the equal of Ozil, if not better.”
“He has a total commitment around the pitch. Ozil has wonderful touches but when he plays against the big teams sometimes you see him go missing.”
This is a slightly baffling claim from Wilkins, considering Wilshere has yet to score a single goal this season and has no assists. Wilshere has been impressing in a Bournemouth shirt, there is no doubt about that, but it is far too early to tell if he will be able to stay fit the entire season, or if he is capable of having a season like Ozil currently is.
