Top 4 finish has always been the aim, and we look more than capable of achieving that. From a footballing standpoint, it would be travesty of humongous proportions if Mancity do not win the league by a country mile. Their goal difference at present is probably double that of their nearest rivals. Even if we had splashed out, doubt very much it would have made a difference to where we would have finished. I expect us Liverpool and Chelsea to jostle for the final 3 places. In any event we blew 42mill on ozil and his recent performances have not matched that.... If I was to choose a player of the season up till now Ozil would not be in my top 3. I am optimistic we would still be relevant in the home stretch, and that by definition means we will be in the top4. Hopefully we can hang on to the coat tails of citeh and continue to play out of our skins, and hopefully not be scraping in for fourth.
He has been good not great. But that 20 minute period against Southampton he was immense. That was the player I was expecting when we got him. Hoping he pulls that out 2nd half of the season.
Can't give up on the title yet guys. There's ONE point in it!! If Arsenal beat Palace they'll be top again And if Chelsea & City draw they'll stay top There's a lot of season left, they could still do it, they just would have had a much better chance with another striker in. Bendy will be getting fitter & more integrated with the squad though, so I'm hopeful he can step up a bit in the second half of the season & make a difference.
Of course we cannot and must not give up. We are in a good position, stranger things have happened in football. I think the pressure is off us, from a moral view, it would be sweet if we actually won it.... I think as fans we have to enjoy the game more!
In the summer Wenger didn't dissapoint at all, wtf are you talking about? It's ******s like you thatfuel the negativity. We signed: Ozil - has been top of the assists league until Rooney grabbed 2 the other week, he is now 1 behind Rooney (who has basically been carrying Utd when he plays). So he is creating more than Silva, Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Gerrard and anyone else you might expect to create for their teams. He was also a big name signing and showed we will spend big for world class players, it gave the wholeclub a lift and sense of belief. Great signing. Flamini - he's been an integral part of our team this season. He has sured up our defense, added a real sense of leadership and communication and given us a bit of bite which we where lacking before. He came in on a free and has been brilliant. Great signing. Sanogo - One for the future, injuries have meant we havent had a chance to see much of him, but he is young and on a free so the jury is still out on him. He was very highly rated as a youngster so who knows. Undecided. Viviano - back-up keeper due to Mannone leaving. No idea how good he is and hopefully we don't need to find out as Sczc has been on fire. But it was a position we needed mroe depth and competition so a good idea. Good signing. On top of this we got rid of almost all of the deadwood, clearing up space for our promising youngsters and clearing wages for new signings. We also signed our core of British players to long term deals. The one single thing that could possibly have been done is the signing of a striker which we didn't manage although we did have a deal in place for Ba up until the last moments of the window. I can understand some criticism here but given Girouds goodform for the majority of the season so far it hasn't been a huge problem so far. Given that at the halfway point of the season and the January transfer window opening we where top of the table, far better than any pundits or fans thought we would be, i'd say Summer can't have been all that bad! As for January we shall have to wait and see how things turn out but no-one has done much exciting business other than Utd signing Mata but they are basically out of the title race already anyway.
Hopefully the deal comes through in the summer, maybe Shalke just didn't want to lose one of their best players in mid-season, and will be more happy to sell in the summer, giving them more time as well to use the money to buy themselves some new players.
wrong thread. edit: lol you must have changed it whilst i was posting as i clicked quote when it was the other post!
Its not negativity - the entire football world knew Arsenal needed a top striker to compete at the top, and until Ozil signed on deadline day you Arsenal fans were not happy people. I'm a Forest fan, but have had a soft spot for Arsenal since the 1971 cup final, and I want to see them win the league. It's been fantastic that you've competed for all these years without much financial investment in the squad, but it was announced there was £70m to spend last summer, and still no top striker was bought. Six months on, Walcott out for the season - and still no striker - not good management in my opinion.
You say the entire football world knew we needed a striker to compete at the top - well we didn't get an additional striker and have lead the league for most if it and can go back top again later today. So i hardly think it's a reason to call the transfer window a failure or Wenger a dissapointment. We did literally everything we wanted from the club in the summer except get a striker and until the last moments of the window a deal for Ba was in place. Your taking the tiniest margin of error and using it to show failure, which is negativity.
@JanAageFjortoft My view. Based on my information. Bayern Munich managed to stop the Draxler-deal by saying "we take him in the summer". 3:41pm - 1 Feb 14 This is that Bundesliga ITK guy.
We'll have to agree to disagree, Ian Wright and Martin Keown also expressing disappointment at no striker signing... And I shan't mention what Piers Morgan said! Ba ???? Nowhere near the quality you deserve....
I wouldnt want Ba. Dont think he's any better than Podolski upfront. We needed another Quality forward. Would have liked Jackson Martinez, Benzema or Diego Costa. Shame Walcott got injured really he came back looking fantastic.
Curve ball. If Arsenal are looking for a 4th choice CB / Merts substitute they could do a lot worse than Maguire from Sheffield United. Tall, strong, young, and no doubt available for well under 5m, and even less if Shef Utd go down this season. He's a quality player - already linked with Man Utd, and definitely someone I'd like to see at the Emirates.
