We do have a good core squad now and seem to be progressing. However, a few of these players you've highlighted are still a 2-3 years away from being close to their peak so challenging for the title/champions league is unlikely.
Mate I think Rosicky is world class. But only when fit for a long peroid. I wouldnt rely on him to stay fit next year. As such we need podolski and a top class playmaker. And I would like a top defensive midfielder too. Just to add some competition in there 3 players from the title. And we can offload our junk and do this on a very small net transfer spend imo. And we can save on wages by making these changes Edit: also we need an experienced number 2 keeper imo
As i said, i'm waiting for the upcoming transfer market and beginning of the season and see what happens. There seems to be a lot of talk nowadays and nothing much seems to materialise. I'm not holding my breath for any big signing, actually i wasn't expecting any anyway.
Yeh I am not getting my hopes up. But sometimes it is just hard to find the players though isnt it. I mean I would rather we didnt buy anyone than do a liverpool and spend £100m on lower level premiership players similar in calibre to bendtnar.
Rosicky was close to world class but not now, he's just having a purple patch at the moment. Wait and see what he does for the remaining season and the next. Calling someone world class is only reserved for the very best, he is not. Fabregas is, RVP is and Sagna is close. The rest of our squad is not.
I wouldn't expect Wenger to ever make a dumb mistake and buy a Carroll type player for 35m!!! He is far too smart. If Wenger ever had the same money, he would buy some serious quality no doubt.
Well then who would you say man utd have who is world class? I do know what you mean though and thats why we need some more quality. Rosicky was definatly world class before his injuries. Easily world class If we could guarentee that he can be 90% the player he was (as he has been recently) and can stay fit and play 35+ games next year then we dont need to buy anyone. Its too much of a risk though.
I agree with Wenger, it's quality, not quantatity that matters, just look at Liverpool, they went on a major summer spending spree buying a lot of players, yet hasn't changed much for them. We need at least 2-3 quality players, and that should do.
He was close to becoming world class until he got injuries while playing for Dortmund. Man U only really have Vidic, Rooney and Nani is close to being world class. What makes Man U and us so good is that we have world class managers who have created top class teams with less squad resources as Real Madrid, Barca, Man City, Chelsea etc. Hopefully in the coming years, Wilshere, OXO, Chesney etc will become world class. They are already on the right path....
To make room in the squad SELL: Almunia,Squishy,Bendtner, Denilson,Chamakh,Djourou,Arshavin. Convert loan Benny if we can keep him.
"Quality" is a very contentious issue. Everybody on here doesn't seem to think Song and Walcott are "Quality", but rate Parker and Bale as "Quality". I just don't get it. Seems like as soon as we sign a player and he pulls on an Arsenal shirt our "fans" start calling him crap. Right now Essien is useless, but I'm sure you would have some people telling you we should swap Song for him.
The problem is people get too emotional and say things in the heat of the moment. Our first 11 is quality in my opinion, the only problem lies with the backup players, that clearly are not up to scratch. As for Essien, i think he's a magnificant player, it's just a shame that injury has blighting his career at the moment....
Why do you keep getting worried about players that are 3rd or 5th choice players and out on loan? Why would we keep Benny? He would be so low down the pecking order next season it would be a complete waste of money. he would turn into another Squillachi. Why would you slam Wenger for signing these stop gap players and then suggest he does the same thing again?
Because we are building a whole team worth of spent, expensive second-rate players nobody in their right mind ever wants to see run out in an Arsenal shirt ever again. Unless you have been out of reach of our injuries for the last god knows how many years we will lose another lot next season. And Benny is far better asset than all of the above. We often call on squad strengthening - do you think Wenger will buy another 6 new players? Oh and I forget - I thought Chamakh and Arshavin would be great ........oh dear.
So then we move to Diaby, "Quality" or not? In terms of the back up players, I think this is where we are very harsh on our team. Skrtel is talked about by Liverpool fans as being the best CB in the league, but he turned in a performance against QPR that was awful. There is no way Djourou would have been worse, yet if Djourou made half as many mistakes he would have been flayed alive by the fans (verbally speaking). And Djourou is our 4th choice CB and 2 years younger than Skrtel. You cannot expect a player (particularly a defender) to come onto the field as a Sub or occasional starter and play as well as someone who is getting a run in the team. Players like Bendner, Arshavin, Djourou, the usual suspects are really up against it, as well as new signings like Park and Chamackh who never really get a run in the side. A player never comes straight in playing well and never comes back from injury at 100%, we need to be a lot less harsh on these back up players. I hate the term "Quality" because it is a totally abstract term that does not bear on the subject. Quite frankly any player that makes it into the Arsenal squad is "Quality".
It's different, but on this note, I think all of the players not getting regular first-team action should be playing in the reserve matches. Some of them have been - Park, Chamakh & Diaby played in the last one - but I'd like to see more Squad players getting match practise and adding that 5% to their fitness & sharpness by playing more games in the reserves, so they are more ready to come on if needed and fit straight into a game situation.
I think most people would agree that Diaby when fit, is a very good player. But it all goes down to a gamble, do you keep a player that is injured most of the time but hope for him to suddenly be ok, or do you off load him, save on the 50k a week and bring someone else in that will play? As for the term quality, there are levels of quality. In regards to our team, RVP is at the highest level and someone like Gibbs would be at the lowest level. Now im not saying Gibbs is rubbish as he has potential there and hopefully he will make it, but he isn't around RVPs level. Comparing this teams quality to the invincibles team, RVP no longer is the best player but on par with around half the team and most of the current team would struggle to get on the bench of the invincibles!
For Walcott I can see why, he doesn't help his case with his inconsistent performances, as for Song, I don't understand why he get's heat. Yes, he may not be the defensive minded middle man, but he still does an excellent job at protecting the back from the midfield, and he has also been one of our main creative men in the side this season, he is actually our highest assisting player from the middle! So Song isn't a full out and out DMF, he is actually a CMF, and as a CMF, he does a very good job, if anyone can name me another CMF who they would prefer over Song, I'd like to hear some names. Let's not also forget that Song is still a young player, 24, so he is only going to get better and better as he begins enter the prime-peak years of his career.
Well, it is tough to rate today's team against the invincibles. It's not realistic to rate players as 11 individuals anyway because when a team pulls together everyone in the team looks better. No one can say Alex Song (for example) today could, or could not, have relaced Gilberto Silva on that invincibles team. They played a different system had different strengths and played against very different opposition. The game has moved on. Picking out the weakest link in a team is a dreadfully difficult undertaking. With so much work done by players off the ball, I doubt you can even watch a game on TV and do it. David Beckham used to be such a threat that teams marked him out of the game with two players, Rooney gets that as well internationally. It may look like they are playing like crap and never getting the ball, but it really is the other 10, playing against 9 men, that are playing badly. People can be really certain that, this player is brilliant, and that player is crap, but at the top level just being able to play on the pitch and avoid looking like a total dick is impressive. I think a lot more of our current players could have played on the invincibles than you might imagine.
