Last January all Arsenal fans were crying out for Wenger to sign a decent CB (Samba, Cahill, etc). Kos was inconsistent, Squillaci was horrible and TV had been out for some time. Wenger stubbornly declined to add anyone and we went from having a shout in 3-4 competitions to narrowly securing 4th. This time we need a full back and since TV went out of the side (I count yesterday as he was clearly not fit enough) we've dropped 9 points!! Wenger isn't a stupid man he must see the weakness there but what you can only imagine being either a) Super tight with money b) Too much faith in average/crap players He has 1 week left to add not only a full back but also a centre forward and there are NO excuses now for failing to do that
Just as a matter of interest, is any full back acceptable or do you know of a world class left back who is available?
Not my job to I'm not paid to run a football team or buy players. You'd think a top coach would have a scouting network big enough to know the players of quality and available in each position from around the world so should he lose a player to injury/sale he has replacements in mind?
Cissoko is not good enough to play for Lyon, but has enough quality for us? He is fast, but his technical ability, positioning and ball skills are considered very average. Taye Taiwo is on loan at QPR with an option to buy for 3.5 million. He is not available. He again is more known for his speed and shooting than his technical ability. Both are left backs and so would not replace Djourou.
Taiwo is not very good. He is as hopeless as they come. We do not need him coming and be added to the wage bill.
He is a CB trying to play at RB. Johan did well last season for long periods of the season along with Kos. But we now have 3 better CB's so he could be moved on. I have seen Taiwo play and like I said he is not very good. I have seen him for AC Milan, his country and OM. There is a reason Milan are moving him out and that QPR are the takers.
No point comparing him to Johan. One is a left back and the other a CB/RB. When did Milan with Taiwo play against Bayern?
Key word. Taiwo is not very good he would get turned inside out if that was a serious game. Like I said, he is off to QPR for a reason.
They also signed Mancini,Emerson, Favalli and Zeljko Kalac who were all crap. Big clubs can also make mistakes. And they clearly feel Taiwo was one. Loaned out half way through his first season with them. Great stuff.
When Luca Antonini is the man you are second choice for then you must be pretty bad. That sums it up for me.
The only real question is...is Taiwo better at LB than Djourou is at RB? If yes, then signing Taiwo on loan would have been a good move. I'd take a wild stab in the dark and say a natural LB is better at his natural position than a massive CB playing out of position who looks more useless than a chocolate cake at a weight watchers party.