It’s March: there are many trophies to be won, positions to be fought for and accolades to be presented, yet much of the talk amongst football folk – on the internet and elsewhere – regards the summer. Not the World Cup so much, but the never-ending merry-go-round that is the transfer window. Most of these conversations consist of hypothetical arrivals, the majority unrealistic and pure fantasy, but when it comes to Arsenal the subject of outgoings receives just as much attention. There are certain observers who pay to both sides of business in equal measure and with the recent history of well documented departures from the Emirates, you can understand why.
Cesc Fàbregas’, Samir Nasri’s and Robin van Persie’s exits sparked controversy and uproar, however the club have developed as such that the key players no longer have their eyes on other destinations, as the recent renewals of Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Per Mertesacker, Tomáš Rosický and Santi Cazorla have shown. Acquiring Mesut Özil marked a major turning point in the direction the club are heading in, too. Regardless, selling with the intention of making profit is a basic fundamental to the sport nowadays and the performances of players heading into the business end of the season can hinge on the threat, or certainty, of where their future lies.
You will begin to notice a newfound sense of motivation with the members of the squad who are perhaps aware of the potential danger they are in and as the more eagle eyed of the fan base are beginning to realise, is something creeping into Lukas Podolski’s game. After an impressive 2006 World Cup thrust him into the limelight, the expectation was that he would mature into one of the best attackers on the planet and fresh from a move to Bayern Munich from FC Köln, the world was his oyster.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as according to plan for Podolski as he and his employers would have hoped and after three bitterly disappointing seasons in Bavaria, he returned to Cologne. Despite the cult hero status at a team essentially built around his talents, the dream of making it a top European club proved an opportunity too tempting to turn down and when Arsenal came knocking in 2012, the answer was pretty much guaranteed before negotiations had even started. Whilst it would be harsh to suggest that Podolski has replicated the Bayern failure still synonymous with his name to this day, he hasn’t exactly set the Premier League on fire. There is the possibility of the German paying the price for further underachievement once again, with his age and the younger targets undoubtedly on Arsène Wenger’s radar to be considered.
One of the problems with Podolski is inefficiency. Arsenal’s injury plague has affected the more direct attackers in the squad, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out for the first half of the season and Theo Walcott missing the second. You’d think that with his penetrative approach, the 28-year-old would have capitalised on this convenient chance to cement a place in the side for seasons to come, too. Unfortunately, for the most part, Podolski has disappointed and hasn’t sufficiently filled the voids left by Chamberlain and Walcott. When there are spaces in front of him on the left flank he looks disinterested or, rather, unaware of how to use it to his team’s benefit and in a system that demands intelligent movement obviously leads to problems. Consequently, he’s spent an in reason amount of time on the bench, with Le Prof instead opting for Tomáš Rosický and Santi Cazorla, who both fail to offer natural width.
There is reason to believe that Podolski’s fate is still there for him to decide, however, as the aforementioned drive to impress was an evident feature in his recent performances at the Allianz Arena and at White Hart Line. Equalising to inject some dignity into their tie vs Bayern, ‘Poldi’ found retribution against his former club and caused problems for Philipp Lahm throughout the ninety minutes. Sustaining his form into the North London derby, Podolski again looked like a player reborn: his runs were meticulously thought out, the urgency to his game increased the tempo to the Gunners attack as a whole and the midfield had found themselves an outlet to break with and play balls over the top to, which made for a refreshing change to the narrow style of play Arsenal are often forced into using on most occasions.
If you paid any attention to twitter following the Spurs game, you’d have noticed a lot of talk about the team’s post-match festivities. Asides from Wojciech Szczęsny’s selfie taking and Tomáš Rosický’s warmhearted generosity, Lukas Podolski made waves with his celebration amongst the travelling supporters. This scene of euphoria is rather symbolic of their relationship – the love is mutual and the fans are behind him through both the good times and the bad times, clearly a potential sale would not sit too well with his admirers. This popularity has quickly spread to the dressing room since his arrival, too. The banter we catch a glimpse of always seems to involve Lukas in one way or another and the value of having such an upbeat character through times of negativity and disappointment cannot be overstated – the last thing Arsène Wenger needs is a mutiny at London Colney.
There are pros and cons that support and oppose the notion of keeping Podolski. Whilst you’d expect him to fight for his future with every appearances he makes until the end of the season, to converting more sceptics into believers, showing faith when he can only perform to the best of his capabilities when placed in an uncomfortable situation doesn’t make much sense. What this improved run of form does, however, irrespective of the way the club are approaching this matter at the moment, is inflate the transfer fee Arsenal would receive in the summer. Watch this space, Schalke.
