http://www.caughtoffside.com/2011/07/11/arsenal-will-not-sign-gael-clichy-replacement/ âI already have Thomas Vermaelen, Armand Traore and Kieran Gibbs in the squad. There is no need to buy a left-back at this time,â said Wenger. WHAT!?!?!? Really Arsene ?? Traore has never performed for us before and had an unimpressive spell in Italy (10 apperances) Gibbs is (a) very injury prone (b) performed very poor last year Vermaelen might work if we sign quality centre backs to put in his place but I've heard from others on here that he was only make shift in the full back positions for Ajax or Belgium and not strong enough to be a long term solution for us. We lost Cole and however much we hate it he was a superior player to Clichy, and if despite Clichy having a dodgy couple of years putting Gibbs in his place is only putting us further behind again. What ever happened to Wenger filling the team with quality, it seems it's all based on profit now, sell Clichy for 7M and bank that money whilst covering him with lesser quality.
I'm beginning to wonder about the wisdom of following the press too closely through the off season. It doesn't do one's nerves any good is my humble 2c. We should perhaps wait and see what happens between now and indeed January. I say January, in the event that we may need extra cover then. Perhaps the man has learned his lesson. If he hasn't then, I imagine the pressure on him to go may be overwhelming. In that event I believe Mr Gazidis should go as well. Like I said, my 2c
Like someone said, caughtoffside is unreliable. Although I have to agree with Wenger here. If he decides to spend on a left back the only one I can see being a worthy investment would be Aly Cissokho. Why? Because he is reported to be available for around £8m-£10m and is great going forward aswell as stable at the back. Players like Enrique and such aren't much of a step up from Kieron Gibbs who I see as a viable replacement for Clichy. Gibbs deserves a chance now though, if Arsenal sign Cissokho then Gibbs may have to seek a move because he'll realise he'll always be second best. Enrique only boasts Premier League experience over Gibbs, but with game time and under the right guidance, I believe Gibbs can be better than Clichy and better than Enrique. If anything, Clichy's leave may have been a blessing in disguise.
We're gonna sign ashley cole!!! and carlton cole and joe cole then our left side shall be Cole Cole cole THE COLE WING WOOOO YEAAAA MOTHERFUCKER
Not sure what to make of this story, but in my opinion, it's crucial that we sign a proper LB. Gibbs is a good player, but we can't rely on him the whole season and moving Vermaelen there is just ludicrous when he's our best CB
From what I've seen of Enrique at Newcastle, I think he'd do really well at Arsenal. He's good going forward, not just in a bombing down the wing way, but he can bustle past people and therefore pull them out of position. We've got enough talent around him in MF to create some really good attacking wing play. Defensively, I'm not entirely convinced by either Enrique or Gibbs to be honest.
Caught offside may be terrible, but uh... http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-we-have-what-we-need-at-left-back Yeah. Leighton Baines man! He'll be, what, £15m, and is probably the best LB in the Prem.
Definitely a risky option in my opinion. I can only hope that Wenger is going to sign another CB if he's going to play Vermaelan at LB
