True but there is a huge difference in a rival strengthening generally and a team selling their best player directly to a rival. Say we got Lewandowski - we would have strengthened when compared to Liverpool yet they would not have weakened. However if they sell Suarez directly to us the effect is doubled - not only are we stronger, but they are also automatically weaker. Of course selling to a direct rival plays a part because the effect is doubled. Yes but not at the direct expense of yourselves. They key in the Suarez case is that in an ideal world they won't sell Suarez. Realistically he is going so for them it makes more sense to sell overseas.
True, or at least potentially true... It's worse to see a rival strengthen at the direct loss to your own side though. And why shouldn't football clubs account for the emotional side when appropriate? Football is all about (or should be about) emotion. Bingo
While acknowledging the weakness in our squad with respect to back up for Giroud, Wenger seems unenthusiastic for January recruitment in this area: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/nov/22/arsene-wenger-arsenal-theo-walcott I'm a little disappointed to hear this. Hopefully we'll bring in another striker because for once, I'd like us to have the best possible chance to challenge, not getting by on the seat of our pants as in recent seasons.
Lots of smoke and mirrors possibly - shouting that he is in the market for a striker will only inflate the prices - playing cool helps his negotiation stance. Still, he's only ever really bought big once in the winter - Reyes.
Wasn't sure where to post this, but it seems Bellerin has gone on loan to Watford for the next couple of months. It'll be good for him to get game time in the Championship as he is one of the youth players i think the club have high hopes for. And it seems Watford have some real injury problems at the back so expect Bellerin to start.
Whilst I think we'd all like to see a big signing (striker) one transaction that keeps coming to mind is when newcastle bought Asprilla back in the mid 90's. They were top of the league at the time and there was a feeling that in buying him Newcastle upset a system that worked well for so long and the acquisition backfired, no question Wenger is a little more strategically clued up than Kevin Keegan ever was though.....
Does anyone think that buying an out and out winger, like Di Maria might be a good option instead of buying a striker. There doesn't seem to be many available top class strikers out there - even in the summer (and if Liverpool wanted £50m for a suspended Suarez in the summer, I imagine they'd want a lot more than that in the middle of the season especially with his form) - but one thing we haven't had since Pires is an out and out winger, we seem to struggle with width, with anyone who plays wide (Walcott, Carzola, Ramsey, Ozil, Wilshere, Rosicky) all wanting to come inside, and a good wide man who can chip in with a few goals, could enable Walcott/Podolski to play in the middle, or even Ozil/Carzola to play as a forward no 10 (as Spain did with Fabergas), with more chances being created and Walcotts/Di Maria's width/pace stretching the defence and making it easier for Ozil to pcik passes through. Also because Wenger seems to want to spread the goals around the team since RVP left and our reliance on him - it may make the lack of a striker signing have much less of an impact. (plus we also have the best striker in the world on the bench)
Yep Di Maria would be a stunning acquistion - and would provide a lot of service for Giroud. I like Giroud, but I don't think he's going to be able to carry us through the season. I'd like to see Podolski play CF too and he'll probably get a chance to play there before January. With Walcott, Oxo and Pod back, Giroud should get a lot more support but ultimately I still feel as though we need that top class striker in the Suarez mold to take us to the level we need to be at.
Considering all the uproar about a striker it's worth noting that Giroud has already scored 10 goals this season. If he continues his form until the end of the season and plays the same amount of games as last season then he will be looking at around 25 goals. If he achieves that i don't think anyone can complain. Especialy when you consider everything else he brings to the team e.g. assists, a threat in the air, good defensive play on set pieces, good link-up and hold-up play etc.... If as a team we continue in this form and are still top of the table in the January window then i'd quite happily take a striker on loan as a back-up to Giroud who i think is underated by alot of people and fits very well with the system we play. And wait for Summer for the big money front man.
Oh and i agree Di Maria would be an excellent signing, he is truely class. Madrid fans i know rate him very highly and if we could convince him to come to the Emirates i'd be very impressed.
Agreed He does a good job up front, I just think we need somebody with that killer instinct to get us the goals in really tight games like the one against Utd. I do think we'll need to wait until the summer though
I agree we need someone who can open up a defence on there own like RVP and Suarez do, for the tighter games where we just need to find a goal out of nothing. But i think Giroud is a good option as a main choice striker, he is a very rounded player and i don't think our current style would work as well without a player like him up top. We'd have to adapt our style a bit for a different type of striker and at the moment our current set-up is working well, which is why im thinking we may wait until the Summer (on top of it being easier to find the right player in the summer).
I agree with both of u, if we still had rove we'd be devastating and it still irks me he wasn't willing to wait a year for this. I think we'd need to wait until the summer to get a truly top class player better than giroud, but I think it could be easier to get a class winger m, thus allowing pod and theo to cover giroud while keeping our width. Anyway fingers crossed we strengthen well and get sum defensive cover (which we defiantly need) as well
I seen enough, Diego Costa is the real deal and would be perfect in our system. Break the bank for him!!! please log in to view this image
Also Atlético Madrid sure know how to sign/produce a striker. Torres Agüero Forlan Falcao Costa Those are the five main strikers they have used in the last eight years or so.
