Podolski: I didn’t get enough game time at Arsenal | OneFootball

Lukas Podolski thinks Arsenal didn’t give him enough of a chance to prove himself on the pitch, despite a solid record in the games he did play.

Speaking in the April edition of the FourFourTwo magazine, Lukas Podolski gave his thoughts on his time with Arsenal. The forward spent three years on the books in North London, though he went on loan for half of the final campaign in 2014/15.

Things actually started out pretty well for the German, as he made 42 appearances (33 starts) in his first year. However, after starting the 2013/14 campaign strongly an injury disrupted his season and he was rarely a consistent league starter after that.

“I didn’t get enough game time,” Podolski said to FourFourTwo. “I felt that I performed well and didn’t get the minutes I deserved.

“On the other hand, if you look at my stats, I played in about 80 matches and was directly involved in a lot of goals by scoring or assisting.”

Overall, Podolski made 82 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 31 goals and assisting 17. With 4,590 minutes on the pitch, that’s a goal contribution every 96 minutes. As he suggests, a solid record.

It just didn’t really work out, in the end. All the same, Podolski maintains a strong relationship with the Arsenal supporters, and he seems to have fond memories of his spell.

“My relationship with the fans and players was positive,” Podolski continued. “We won the FA Cup in 2014, which was the club’s first trophy for quite a few years. And I liked living in London, in Hampstead. My family enjoyed it, too.”