Wenger has frustated us in every transfer window, often waiting until the last minute to bring in the players and sometimes seemingly losing out on the actual players we needed. This tactic was never more evident as a failure than this season when he made the acquisitions so late that we'd already lost several points and lost more while the new players took time to settle in. The jury is still out on all of the new players, probably least so on Gervinho at 10M looks decent business. So what will Wenger do come January? He has strengthened in previous seasons in the January transfer to decent effect (i.e. Reyes, Arshavin, Adebayor - all of whom helped get us some additional points in the 2nd half of the season). STRIKER We NEED a striker, desperately!!!!...Chamakh has gone missing for 12 months and will unlikely return to the same player, Park has only played 3 games but in 2 of those looked horrific. Where would we be without RVP?!?!? Almost every other Premier League team has a better 2nd choice striker than ours (for example - Andy Johnson, Shane Long, Agbonlahor...these aren't world class players but they're a million miles better than what we have). CENTER BACK I'm not 100% convinced but fair play to Kos he's beginning to become more solid but Vermaelen is so injury prone we'll never have a settled back line. Mertersaker has been average at best but more often clumsy, SOOO slow and for such a giant terrible in the air. But he's only been here 2-3 months so he isn't going anywhere Wenger will give him time to settle but i'm skeptical as to how good he will ever be for us? Add to that we already have Squallaci, Djourou and Miquel. Regardless of the number of CB's we have we need a new one although i doubt Wenger will get anyone. I think the plan MIGHT be to go back in for Cahill considering he'll be a free transfer next summer so they might accept under 10M but is saying that he's not been great this season. We need a 30yrs old + centre back who can slot right in but for the most part be a squad player. Kind of like what Squillaci sounded like on paper but was the opposite. And possibly can fill in well in the full back positions.
Mertesaker has had some truly shocking moments. His display against Chelsea was awful for a 26 year with 75+ caps for Germany you expect so much more. He's had some ok moments in game but I've yet to see any aerially dominant showings. Right now i'd be somewhat ok with a Kos & T.V partnership but if one of those are out and we have to play Per against a Man City, Man Utd I'd be very nervous
I hate to admit it but I'm with Jamram on this one! With the exception of Squillaci, I believe our CB's come in for a lot of unfair stick when quite often they are left exposed by a lack of cover in midfield. Personally I would like to see a defensive midfielder brought in January.
A striker. I've been saying this for much longer than anyone else, WAY before Van Persie became so key, I was saying it as soon as Chamakh stopped scoring tbh. The key would of course be to sign someone who isn't cup tied for the Champions League (Or the other two cups if english - but not so important now). But it's very hard to find a top player that isn't.
Dunno why it'd be hard to admit, Jayram is usually spot on with his assessment, and this is no different. Mertesacker offers something Vermaelen,Kos and Djourou don't have. Ok so he has had a couple of dodgy moments, lest we forget he has only been in England for a few months, still trying to adapt to the style and tempo of play in this league. I believe he will become a great player for Arsenal, he just needs to adapt. He has already come out and said he does need to work on certain aspects of his game to be the player he wants to be for us. This I commend, and I expect him to get an extra yard or two of pace (and I think he has improved in this already). As Jayram says, his reading of the game is impeccable, with all the injuries our CBs have suffered, I doubt they've all even trained together, something vital in creating a unified defensive unit. As for the transfers, I think Wenger will try pretty hard to get either Gotze or Hazard (or both) to Arsenal in January. I can also see him looking to pick up Podolski, or if its remotely possible Gomez, both are quality finishers/poachers. Something RVP can use to play the ball to when he drops deep or it gets played to feet. We may see Wenger in the market for a more defensive minded LB, as Santos has me extremely nervous at times defensively, going forward I think he is pretty good. Our Midfield trio is pretty solid, with Wilshere hopefully back at that point. Gives us a lot of options (Wilshere,Arteta,Ramsey,Song,Rosicky,Benayoun,OXO) can all play centrally in midfield. Although Wenger may spot a teenage gem to mould for the future, or possibly M'Vila with a view to the future as well. Or just that extra spark that offers something different. If you look across the top teams, only City have a comparable set of midfielders, but they often look to deploy two holding midfielders in barry and toure rather than the attacking nature of ours. United's midfield is and has been non-existent since Scholes left (and is often by-passed in attack moves). Chelsea have their own troubles at the moment, but Ramires is hit and miss, and Lampard is getting on a bit. The only bright spark is Mata, someone Arsenal should have signed when they had the chance. Obviously if Arsene has a big purse going into January, which we can assume he does following the sales of Nasri and Cesc, we will see him improve the squad as well as looking to youth for the future (as he did with Miyaichi last season). I'd expect quite a few youngsters brought in, if the talent is about, to compliment the big name signings we all hope he makes.
Another midfield player. Diaby is looking like a lost cause and Jack is still on the mend so we need another body in there. Arteta has played a lot of games without a rest and this is going to be hopefully Ramsey's first full season so he needs a rest from time to time. Do not mind a DM or a player like Arteta. Esteban Granero is the player I would buy. Also thank god, Song will not go to the ACON this year. Plus getting another forward goes without saying.
Aweful article. Most people although irritated by the way the transfer business was undertaken are happy with the players bought in during the Summer. Arteta has be a good buy, Gervinho excellent, Oxo looks a talent, Santos is a little shakey but still a good buy imo. Park we haven't seen enough of to judge. As for the defence - Kosc is fantastic. Verm is not injury prone i hate it that people are saying this - he had one bad injury, that doesn't make a player injury prone... Is ramsey injury prone because he got his leg broken? No. Mert reads games really well and has been great so far rather than a couple of games and since he is in a new league i'll forgive him this. That means we have 3 very good CB's so your being unfair on the back line. Also for the front line - i think park needs more time before we make a decision on how good he is and if we bring in another striker and its abonglahor no-one is gonna be happy... Chamakh can do a job given a string of games but i admit has fallen well off form, park we can't judge and next season we have Campbell comming through, Bendtner possibly back at the club, Walcott and Gervinho able to play down the centre. So no point bringing in a second rate striker - i hope we only make movements in thsi area if we bring in someone truely class. Overall i think your unfair on our strikers, defense and Manager
You realise this was posted to CREATE A DISCUSSION. The fact you replied in the manner of a discussion shows a huge amount of hypocrisy to the statement i've quoted.
Ok maybe slight over-reaction with that statement - i'm fine with different points of view i just thought the article was a bit rubbish. Also things like calling verm injury prone are nonsense. But i'll agree that was probably un-needed from me. Having re-read the article it's not quite as bad as i first thought. But i still disagree with almost all of the content
Only 1 person has said Vermaelen is injury prone. Pretty sure the prevailing opinion is that he will be back for a long time. Whilst the initial posters content may be misguided, his question is a very good one. What do you disagree with, making a counter point will help us discuss it further?
I think our Strikers aren’t too bad and I don’t see Wenger buying cover in case Van Persie gets injured. I would imagine that Chamakh would be our second choice which is not as bad as everyone claims. I think with Chamakh its purely a mental issue he's facing at the moment when he first came he brought with him a different approach by brining other players into positions to score resulting in more goals from the midfield. Given a few games I think he would regain his confidence and prove to be a decent sub if Van Persie is injured or rested. For this to work however I believe that we would need at least 2 more midfielders who are creative and could therefore improve our centre. Hazard would be a great option and if the recent stories are true we may be making a bid for Götze. These two players along with players like Gervinho and Ramsey could contribute a lot more in regards to goals. Lets face it Chamakh is not the most prolific goal scorer but he does seem decent at setting other people up either through his holding play or winning the headers for players like Gervinho and Walcott to run at.
RVP has stated a few times that he does not see himself as an out and out goalscorer. RVP would much rather be setting up goals, as well as scoring them in equal numbers. This lends to a more supporting role upfront, ala Bergkamp, in which we would need an out and out goalscorer/poacher, the likes of Gomez or Podolski could provide.
Does nobody ever stop to think why kosshellknee was apparently so bad last season but so good this season? it takes time to adapt to the english game, when they do that they'll show their true class, much like kossy is doing now. this is maybe even more of a problem for merte as he has no pace and being that big players to very hard in/around him when he gets used to the physicality and the speed etc he'll be top class. a midfielder and maybe a striker, but with Campbell hopefully coming in next season do we sell chamakh first? or wait until bendtners back?
I think we're alright at CB, Kos is bang on form and TV looks like he's slotted straight back in. Mertesacker has done okay imo and I think he'll only get better as he settles. I'd love to see us bring in another top playmaker to replace Cesc and Nasri - Gotze would be my choice - the boy looks like the real deal, don't think we'd get him in Jan though.
For the first time since the invincibles retired, we have a very good CB pairing/Threesome. Each is talented, and each brings a wide range of abilities to the table. The only things i'd like to see in January are the purchase of a more defensive LB (Santos is terrible defensively, yet great going forward), a creative playmaker like Mario Gotze, and a cheap, backup striker for when RvP gets injured. Chamakh is too far gone, and Park doesn't seem good enough. Plus we don't get Campbell til next season.
Well, we're not going to buy another LB and Santos is actually good at defending, but he needs to iron out the mistakes that invites pressure. Chamakh and Park both look a definite step down from RVP, but who wouldn't? I don't think a 'cheap back up striker' exists does it?
I don't in for these 'wish lists' as a bunch of names get thrown out there of players who are under contract elsewhere, so the only way they can be signed is if their clubs want to sell. Over the years we've been hurt more than most by the de-stabilising tactics used (usually by Barca) when clubs were clamouring for the signatures of Thierry, Cesc, Flamini, Nasri and a host of others, and most Arsenal fans were rightly critical of the likes of Mancini telling the world that Nasri is a players they will buy with no respect for the club that currently pay his wages. Also, as AW has always said, he will only buy players who improve the team, Zamora doesn't and Kuyt would be 3rd/4th choice and therefore a squad player.
