So for 6 seasons now we have gone with no trophies and we constantly hear and preach that we are only a couple of players off actually winning the trophies and not just being a competitor. Is the same true now? Some would have you believe that Arsenal have fallen apart completely and have a weak squad. But in actual fact a couple of top signings could see us right back in the mix. Imagine we sign two players we have been heavily linked with: Goetze and Podolski. This would give us cover in the middle, on the wings and up front. Both players are of a good enough quality and would be in the first team or fighting for a place in the first team. It would create some very healthy competition for places. -------------Szcezney----------- Sagna------Kosc----TV----Santos ---------------Song-------------- --------Goetze------Wilshere----- Walcott---------RVP------Podolski Subs: Fabianski, Mertsesacker, Jenkinson, Ramsey, Arteta, Gervinho, Park Back-Up: Almunia, Djourou, Gibbs (interchangable with jenkinson above), Diaby (when back to fitness could be on the bench or even in the first 11 depending on what level of form he finds), Rosicky, Coquelin, Frimpong, Arshavin, Benyoun, Oxocube, Miyaichi, Chamakh Loan: Denilson, Lansbury, Bendtner, Vela, Campbell Other: Mannone, Squillaci Looks a healthy first team and a very good selection of back-ups to step in for the others when needed. Good enough first team to compete with any team in the world imo. And a good enough squad to compete on all fronts and grab us that top 4 no problem. What do you guys think? Are we still in the "We are only a couple of quality signings off winning trophies" era? I think so. We have done well to replace those heading out of the club and although we mis players like Fabregas we are still in a very similar position as a club as when we had them in the side.
Yeah I assume a couple of players would have to make way if we where getting in both these 2 players - but they would improve the strength of the squad for sure.
Thing is that we've actually been pretty close to winning the League, the Champions League and the Carling Cup over the last 6 years. But we have come up short, I think Wenger has identifed the positions he'd like to strengthen in. He had a couple of sizable bids turned down in the summer. Personally, I think we could do with replacing Squillaci with another decent CB and I think Gotze is the final piece of the jigsaw in MF, we still need to replace Fabregas. Another striker would be a bonus, but I'd like to see OXO on the right and Walcott at CF.
We are realistically 2-3 years away from being competitive enough to challenge for the league and champions league. This all hinges on the development of Scezny, Wilshere, Ramsey, Frimpong, Kos, Gibbs and Jenks, which makes up the spine of our squad. If they all manage to fullfill their potential, then we will have a proper base to launch a successful campaign. At the moment, we are too vulnerable and unable to win a trophy. Despite the rhetoric on this forum, we are not a couple of signings away from winning a major trophy. We have vulnerabilites that need to be dealt with and until then, we will continue on our barren run.
Now imagine you are the shareholder and it is YOUR £50 ml that may be spent on two players who might be better than what you have and might be not. And of course they do not guarantee you a trophy or even the top 4. And this is 50 million we are talking about, not 50 quid. Would you buy them or would you rather rely on the current team? If any fan who wants Arsenal to buy another player had to send a tenner to his club before posting, I think the number of fans perfectly happy with the current squad would have raised dramatically.
I agree that we've got a great set of youngsters coming through, and that the future looks good. Once again Wenger has proved that his youth policy does work. But I'd also have to say that we do have a squad capable of challenging now, albeit with some strengthening in a couple of key areas
Not only would you make a bit of money back (though I personally think it'd end up being a bit less) but we'd free up a sh*t load in wages. You know each of those six are on a very healthy whack which would easily cover a couple of quality new signings, not to mention an increase in wages to Mr RVP. Naturally that's easier said than done.
We need a creative mid, a striker who will get on the end of crosses and a reliable centre half as back up. I'd like a taller DM than what we have, but if Frimpong develops into the player I expect then .. that would be just fine. We aren't that far away, we never have been, we need to keep moving in the right direction, I still think we are fragile.
Seeing as Arsenal is being run like a business, what you wrote does not describe how business works. Investment made by a company doesn't have a guarantee of any returns but they speculate to accumulate. Every entrepreneur has a hope and belief in his product, he has no guarantee that the money he has invested will make any money for him at all. You invest money to grow, that is business .. this is how banking came to be.
Chamakh was that man until he joined us. He never became a bad player once he passed through customs and needs regular game play and decent service. I strongly believe he has a LOT more to offer the team than we have seen since he joined. I'm still not convinced that we don't need a better LB either. Unless we can play Verm out there with Kos and Mert in the middle and Sagna at RB?
The Question still remains whether the £50 mill investments in january will produce us trophies this season considering we already lost the CC to Man city and our position in the title race.It will take a miracle to beat Man city to the EPL title seeing their form and growing strenght. The only trophy we have a realistic chance of winning is perhaps the FA cup and the champions league "if" luck is on our side.
The only real reason to invest in the squad in January is if we have an indifferent or bad December and look like dropping out of the CL places, any player bought would need to be able to hit the ground running, there would be no time to allow them to bed in. We lose Chamakh and Gervinho for the ACON too.
Podolski would be absolutely perfect as he can play anywhere across the front three. Goetze would be an incredible signing but he's already known as 'Germany's next big thing' so he wont come cheap. This is certainly a team good enough to win the league. -------------Szcezney----------- Sagna------Kosc----TV----Santos ---------------Song-------------- --------Goetze------Wilshere----- Walcott---------RVP------Podolski Subs: Fabianski, Mertsesacker, Jenkinson, Ramsey, Arteta, Gervinho, Park Back-Up: Almunia, Djourou, Gibbs (interchangable with jenkinson above), Diaby (when back to fitness could be on the bench or even in the first 11 depending on what level of form he finds), Rosicky, Coquelin, Frimpong, Arshavin, Benyoun, Oxocube, Miyaichi, Chamakh Loan: Denilson, Lansbury, Bendtner, Vela, Campbell
I think if Walcott has what it takes to play in the CF role, then with Oxo coming through, talent like Coquelin getting into the first team and a good signing like Goetze ... it's possible.
Agree with this - buying a striker might not be the solution. If we did get Gotze, we could afford to push Walcott further forward.
I'd like to see Walcott given his chance down the middle but the only time this will happen is if RVP gets an injury. And by then it's a little later to see if he can handle it Hopefuly he gets an opportunity in some of the less important games. But i recon Park and Chamakh deserve the game-time as well and i think Wenger will continue to give these two there opportunities. Park i still think will become a goodp layer for us and Chamakh still has something to offer but not sure if he has missed his chance.
