The Transfer Window And Where It Leaves Us

The Transfer Window has closed and we now know what we have for the season, or at least until January.

We carried out the following transfer business this summer:

Out -

Flappy
Sagna
Verminator
Bendtner
Park
Djourou
Miquel (youth)
Ryo (loan)
Jenkinson (loan)

So thats 1 first 11 player, plus two first choice back-up players, 2 useless strikers, a defender that hasn't played for us for a long while now, a youth player that didn't make it and Ryo out on loan as he won't get near the first team this year. Oh and Jenkinson on loan to get game time.

In -

Ospina
Debuchy
Chambers
Sanchez
Welbeck
Campbell

So a replacement first 11 RB for Sagna (equal or arguably better), replacement GK (improvement), a CB/RB to replace Verm as CB back-up and Jenkinson as RB back-up (one player for two, weaker in this area, though i think Chambers is a great signing) and Sanchez, Welbeck and Campbell in to replace Bendtner, Park and Ryo in the squad which is an upgrade for all three spots in the squad.

I think all 6 signings we have made will strengthen the squad overall compared to last season but due to the numbers going out it leaves us slightly lighter at the back.

Our squad now looks like this:

3 GKs -

Szcz, Ospina, Martinez

6 Defenders (enough for one back four with two players covering the whole back-line) -

Debuchy--Mert--Kosc--Gibbs

Monreal, Chambers

10 Midfielders

----Ozil----
Arteta--Ramsey

---Cazorla---
Flamini--Wilshere

---Rosicky---
Diaby--Zelalem

Coquelin

9 Forwards

Sanchez--Giroud--Walcott

Podolski--Welbeck--Oxocube

Gnabry--Sanogo--Campbell


We can play 3 completely different teams with pretty good quality in depth in all positions except across the back-line where Monreal and Chambers between them have to cover for our first choice defenders. Whilst i'm happy with the quality of our defenders we could really have done with adding another face in this department. Wenger seemed to want to get a CB if verm left and i genuinely thought we would get a deal done. We now have to hope we dont get any bad injuries to our back-line.

Overall i think we have strengthened the squad and Sanchez adds an extra edge of quality. Whether we have added enough yet to be able to go for either of the big two trophies or not is yet to be seen and with our rivals all strengthening as well it will be a difficult season either way.

What do you make of our transfer window? Do you think we have a better squad than last season? Does this squad have what it takes to push on from last season and add more silverware, do better in the CL or improve our league finish?

 

Two players short. We needed another CB and a DM. Shocking that Wenger is going into the season with just three CB's and one of those is a 19 year old kid. Have to pray that Mert and Kos stay fit or we are ****ed.

 

Ah, just ranted on the wrong thread! Essentially said the above. Desperately worried that we've ****ed up. How we haven't addressed those areas is baffling. It's not like we even have anyone in the reserves capable as far as I'm aware.

 

Nowhere near deep enough in defence. Cheers Arsene.

 

The more I think about it, the more angry I get. Having ****ing Monreal as a fourth choice CB is a sackable offence. The guy can't defend for **** at LB.

 

Welcome back you twat
I hope prison life wasn't too hard on you

 

Actually if you check my IP, you will notice that I am sunning it up in Sri Lanka, while you lot are stuck in blighty. Had to come on here and share my thoughts about our transfer business.

 

I'm glad immigration acted on my tip off and that you've now been deported

 

I've thought Monreal has looked better at CB than at LB weirdly. I mean, he's still pants, just not as pants. Regardless, considering our lack off CB cover and Gibbs' proneness to breaking it seems...negligent at best.

 

Agree with what seems to be the consensus that we are very light in defence. Had we for example got manolas and carvalho it would have been an excellent window but we are in a precarious position now defensively. Also, will we fare any better against the big teams without having addressed the DM issue? I'm not sure we will. Hopefully we can still be in the mix come January and we can make the reinforcements we need then but I think Wenger will probably think we have enough.

 

The defence is shocking i cant believe we are relying on chambers to cover RB,CB and DM are there youth players capable of stepping up that i dont know about also what do you guys think of coquelin covering Dm ? i saw him play there a couple seasons ago but havent seen much of him

 

Coquelin never impressed in the first team, Arteta and Flamini and probably even Wilshere would all have to be injured for him to get a game

 

Will take your word for it then we are surely fvcked

 

I'm happier than most, it would seem. Think Welbeck is a good signing... hopefully bringing the best out of Ozil who craves a striker with some pace.
Another defender would have been nice... perhaps Wenger thinks bellerin is ready to step up as cover for right and left back? Then CB cover in Chambers and Monreal (who I think is a reasonable option for 4th-choice CB).
The major disappointment for me is that we're sticking with Arteta / Flamini. It's the upgrade we're crying out for imo. Of course if we could rely on Diaby...

 

I have to say I'm disappointed with welbeck considering the strikers that were available. I was very upset we didn't get falcao yesterday but seeing today that he's on apparently 300k plus I understand what piskie (i think it was) said yesterday that it. Was never on for us. We'd never be able to afford that. But I do think Remi or even ba would have been better as they would have been a more like for like replacement for giroud.

Shocking that well now go 2 seasons with only 2 CBs. Sooner or later this amount of games will break kos or mert. We should have made getting another cb a priority. Especially as our current one is only 19 and is our only viable rb replacement.

 

Gibbs is generally injured most of the time anyway so actually we only have 5 defenders.

 

True.

I think we've missed him a lot - he provides us with a lot of width and attacking threat but is still good defensively

 

Pretty sure Bellerin is covering RB and Chambers hasn't even been used as a DM at all for us.

 

Whats your opinion of Bellerin? Did he play any of the preseason as I only saw one game and he didn't play that. Seems a bit of a risk to potentially have to rely on him.

 

He's no worse than Jenkinson is and has loads of potential IMO. I could see him displacing Debuchy as starting RB in a couple of seasons.