Arsenal: Takuma Asano Going To Olympics A Contradiction

Arsenal’s long time feud with international competitions continues with Alex Iwobi being blocked from the Olympics. Is Takuma Asano going a contradiction?

Arsenal simply do not get along with international competitions. Arsene Wenger has clashed with international coaches, most notably Chris Coleman, and he has frequent outbursts condemning such competitions. But he has to accept that there is (usually) not much he can do about it. When you’re the manager of a top tier team like Arsenal, it can’t be avoided.

That is, unless you tell Alex Iwobi that he simply can’t go to the Olympics. Which I still find egregious.

However, according to Nigeria U23 coach Samson Siasia, he completely understands. He even called out people in the media for sensationalizing things, which I guess accounts for me and my outburst on the matter not long ago.

I just don’t understand it. Sure, Iwobi has a fantastic opportunity at Arsenal, but that opportunity isn’t going anywhere. Wenger isn’t looking to sign a wide midfielder and it’s not like missing a month of the season will disqualify Iwobi from taking the position again in the future. He took it last year, didn’t he? And to do that he had to elbow through Walcott, the Ox and (somehow) Joel Campbell.

Letting Iwobi garner some international experience at a stage like the Olympics would be a massive step in his development. But Wenger saw it in a different light, and that’s what matters. Siasia is okay with it too. Maybe I’m the only person upset with it.

It all leads me to a thought that I’m having trouble wrapping my head around. Isn’t it a contradiction to allow Takuma Asano to go to the Olympics with Japan if you’ve blocked Alex Iwobi?

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I get the counterpoint to that. Iwobi is first team material, Asano is most likely going out on loan. That’s fine, and if that is the only argument that’s needed to say that this isn’t a contradiction, fair enough.

My point is just that, both of them are at pretty important stages of their career. Both need experience on different stages. Even with Asano supposedly going out on loan, wouldn’t the Olympics interfere in the exact same way that they would with Iwobi? The only difference is that Iwobi has first team aspirations this year and Asano doesn’t.

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It’s certainly a difference, but I don’t think it’s that big of a difference. Iwobi is not being allowed to go to the Olympics while his older Arsenal team mate is. It also worries me that we have not heard from Iwobi on the matter yet. I can’t imagine that he is pleased.

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