Naïve or Arrogant? by DS
Throughout pre season I worried that our manager May have been in danger of being blinded by our second half of last season. Unfortunately having beaten Chelsea in the Community Shield my worries have increased with others now jumping on the bandwagon.
While I believe we will mentally be better for wins at Old Trafford and the Etihad and in particular how we handled the pressure of the FA Cup final, the reality is we finished 12 points behind Chelsea, never one being involved in the title race.
For our club to think they can stand still while those around us spend and have a chance of winning the Premiership is pure naivety bordering on arrogance.
Surely common sense would suggest if Man City finish 4 points ahead of us then spend over 60 million on outfield talent compared to our zero, there is a high chance that that gap widens. Worse, surely Man United have closed the gap with their spending if we don’t splash the cash.
Cech is a great start but Wenger needs to make more brave decisions like that if we are realistically going to challenge for the title. I use the term brave as, in many ways, Arsene’s biggest strength is his biggest flaw – an unbelievable loyalty in this group of players to fulfil their potential.
He wouldn’t have enjoyed sending Szczesny (at the club since a child) out on loan to Roma, but he realised the Pole in his years as our first choice had developed into a good keeper – but not a great one. And only great wins you titles, only great separates you from getting over the finishing line or missing out, the small details.
The question is will similar hard calls be made elsewhere in the squad? I’m not sure they will.
Take the emergence of Coquelin, without question he has earned his shirt and should stay in the team until he drops the baton. But the reality was for a few seasons now the Frenchmen has been out on loan and the club had zero interest in handing him a new contract. While it is a great personal story for the Frenchmen if not for an injury crisis at Xmas he would be a free agent right now, yet we are suddenly meant to believe he is the answer to our lack of physical strength in the truly big games. Could he not do with some help?
Are our 4 defensive options in the middle truly champion elite?
While I’m a fan of Giroud, could he not do with some support?
Of course there are still 20 plus days in the transfer window, the club could have something up their sleeves. Who saw Ozil arriving until deadline day happened?
But would any Gooner be surprised if we win all our games in August and then Mr Wenger tries to convince us we have all we need to win the league, with of course our Board not arguing as all they care about his finishing in the top 4.
Our owner and directors are clever men, they know there are an increasing amount of fans who question why they spend the most on tickets in the UK without money being invested into the team. Two years ago it took a 3-1 home loss to Aston Villa for Stan Kroenke to fly over and ensure he pulled off a glamour signing.
Before that it took a 8-2 hammering at Old Trafford to force a last minute trolley dash. I certainly don’t want to wish for us not to beat West Ham just so we get out the cheque book, but being blinded by a comfortable win on Sunday would be just as unhealthy.
Dan
we need a striker and a DM..
Apart from Petr Cech the squad is the same as the one that finished 12 points behind Chelsea,we definitely need reinforcements let’s not delude ourselves,the season is long injuries will occur as Wilshere has already shown!
If we’re just pointing stuff out how about this…
While we’re targeting Benzema the Spuds have Charlie Austin in their sights…….different worlds ??
I know wenger is bringing someone in, we, just need that person to improve us. I just hope it’s not another welbeck signing.
Benzema is coming
to Arsenal 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
After that we will sign
another DM 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Let’s get this show on the road
EPL title here we come 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
then a new Centreback!!
followed by a new LB
then a Winger
then a milkshake…and a sushi bar!!!
ive waited years for a damn yo sushi -!!
If so it will be a waste of money.
Whilst i agree good investment can obviously improve a side, I think it also needs mentioning that growth is a vital aspect of a clubs improvement.
Ok it’s not something specific to Arsenal, but this season as it stands compared to last we have added Cech, whilst Coquelin/Gabriel/Chambers have are now fully integrated and ready to participate from the first match onwards. So whilst City have spent 60mil on outfield talent, we have 40mil of talent plus Coquelin heading into this season that wasn’t available to us throughout last season.
Going further, if you add Theo then it’s quite clear that even with the minimal outlay at this point we are starting the season with a significant increase in talent than last. Now add Benzema and suddenly the point is moot, if he comes, as is being hotly tipped, then Arsenal in the space of 12months will have massively upgraded the spine of the team.
Really very little to complain about right now, let’s just get excited for Sunday where I’m hoping we hear Wenger in his post match interview talk about starting the season with 3 points – giving us the trademark smirk when quizzed on Benz. Go on Arsene….treat yourself lad.
Very sensible – reflects my thoughts exactly. Still amazed that people see a direct and immutable correlation between money spent and improvement in the quality of the team. As you suggest improvement comes from a blend of factors that may or may not include massive spending. It is as easy to make a team worse when spending £150M as it is to improve it. I think all things considered Wenger is a fairly decent spender compared to many others.
dont forget the cohesion tho…. 🙁 🙁 🙁
Ozil knows Benzema from
Real days. Sanchez
Monreal Gabriel Cazorla know
him from La Liga.
Kos Giroud Coque Debuchy Flamini the gaffer
all French. Adelaide Fortune French.
He’ll fit in just fine.
benzema an ozil use to double team girls in madrid- they know each other more than u realise believe me lol
Oh…and he has a ‘leg injury’ 🙂 and will not play in RMs 1st league match on August 23rd.
I saw that, made me chuckle at how little effort they put in to cover the fact he was really just being protected for a possible sale.
Reporter: where is Benzema?
Real: Injured
Reporter: what has he done?
Real: body injury
Reporter: K…
Guys hw sure re you that benzima is in the market…..and who exactly do you want venga to spend his ‘war chest’ on? Apart from benxima who is nt even in the market…..
Spend only if it makes sense. Very few good players available this year. Chelsea and City have been quiet for a reason.
Breaking news: Benzema signed contract extension. It until 2019!! Google it!
Sky sports are saying the same thing ?
False.
I googled it and saw nothing.
You right it’s a artical from the past ?
Ha ha.. I was joking.
Dan I know where you are going to. You want Arsenal to sign Benzema, isn’t it? It has been reported that Benz’ will be an upgrade to Giroud if he’s signed. Arsenal want to add the 4 remaining titles to they Shield trophy they’ve won to complete the fifthruple. Right? Can’t the Arsenal’s 3 strikers add sufficient goals to Arsenal total season goal tally to win the 3 remaining domestic titles? Yes, I believe the would if the Boss agrees to alternately play the trio though the center throughout this season. Walcott said he will score 24 in all competitions and a injury free Giroud could get upto 20 goals or above. That’s make it 44 goals in total by the duo. If we add Sanchez likely another goal tally of 25 goals, that’s get us to 69 goals. Where are we short to get to the average of 80 goals and above? Welbeck? If he recovered, will he be short to score 20 goals for Arsenal in all competitions this season? I think he should if he wants to be a top striker at Arsenal. 20 goals are the minimum requirement from a top striker and Giroud and Sanchez have proved they are equal to that task. Since the 3 strikers we have on ground could guarantee Arsenal the Premier League title and the 2 remaining domestic titles. So, what are Arsenal signing Benzema for? To win the CL? He has proved to be a master of scoring CL goals behind Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar and Suarez. He can held us get pass the 2nd round. But to actually win the CL, Arsenal may need to add another proven or potential goal scorer. Can Iwobi fit this bill if he has ambition? If Benz’ is signed, I hope his signing will not make Arsenal to sell one out of their 3 strikers already on ground. I can’t see that happening, can I?
Its good to see walcott and welbeck will nv get a chance to play striker by signing Benz
Spend spend spend
still cant help but have the higuian heebee jeebees ,
not willing to accept this benzema thing- but its bloody everywhere.
my postman was like/.. u heard about benzema??
dammit bernie your a luton town fan-!
but my milkman this morning said the deal is still on….heard it through his mate who delivers at Arsene’s!
Give it up guys his just signed a new contract with Real SKY SPORTS
Was wrong sorry guys it last years artical
Benzema will be a great buy and if he settles quickly, should take us closer to the title. However, I feel a little bit that that would put paid to Walcott’s ambitions of playing as a striker. I still don’t think we’ve seen enough of him as a CF…
So it’s come on Higuain
Let’s just do what’s right. Buy a WC striker pls. Giroud is good but not that good. Bensema to Arsenal already a done deal? Kidding someone. Remember Vidal to Arsenal? Yeah, He’s now a Munich player. What of Higuain? Arghhhhhhhh. If it is not official, it is never a done deal.
Splashing the cash doesn’t guarantee you the title and buying a bunch of players for the sake of needing to sign a player is not what’s making us not to challenge for the EPL, i’ll categorically tell you that the only thing that has been disrupting our chances is injury and injuries, flash back to any season without us having a huge record of injured players in the medic room, if we can sort that out, less injured players, we’ll certainly have a huge impact than signing any other player, we were just lucky with Alexis for being a duracell and injury free
Ok, let’s get 2 things straight before I start. 1. I do believe we should make at least 1 more signing. 2. I do believe there is always room for improvement in any team.
Onto my first criticism. This article stipulates that spending money on new players improves the quality of a team. IF this were always true then each year the team that spent most would improve and you’d have an exponential improvement of each team until we have godlike teams. That’s not quite how it works. Improving the quality of your team relies on 3 aspects: improving the quality of individuals, improving the cohesion of the team and improving the depth of the team. Obviously all 3 CAN be addressed by purchases but this isn’t the only means or a guaranteed success.
You can buy a new quality forward to improve quality for example and he can score you lots of goals. BUT this is not a video game where a player’s stats determine how they perform in a team. In actuality there are FAR more aspects that effect that player. Say he comes in and doesn’t speak the language – he may not get on well with others and they do not click well playing football together. Alternatively, he may have a personality that does not gel will with others and this can cause players to feel unhappy. Emotional states of players DOES have an effect on the game and feeling confident, happy and part of a unit can do more than having a single great player. This is just a couple of examples of how buying someone in does not necessarily improve the team, but may just be paying for an excellent player.
This is not to say, however, that you can’t compensate for this. Any player being bought can be scouted for having the right mentality, their language skills can be checked, you can have a multitude of languages in your team to start with etc. Add to this, a quality player on the pitch may transcend problems by just being THAT good. You are always waying up how this may effect your team though. No signing is as simple as just “He has 20 shooting, 20 pace and 18 heading! He’s the perfect striker!” This is one reason why spending doesn’t necessitate improvement.
Further to the fact a player doesn’t necessarily fit into the team perfectly, you have other aspects. Players DEVELOP. If you compare the Arsenal and City squads you’ll notice 1 obvious aspect. Arsenal’s players are mostly under 30, most of our players pushing the squad are under 25. Jack, Rambo, Alex, Chambers, Bellerin, Gibbs, Gabriel – all under 25. Theo, Ozil, Alexis are 26. ALL of these players are arguably yet to hit their prime or are just coming into it. The idea of “stagnating” by not signing is ignoring the vast potential of all of these players to improve. If City weren’t to sign, you’d say they were stagnating though – with an average age around 28 most of their players ARE in their prime and aren’t much going to change, if not get worse, over the next season. Toure is 32! So yes, in order to not stagnate you either need to buy or improve…
BUT there is more. Depth of squad is also important. Often times we will look at a first 11 and say “This team is better” but they then lose 1 player and look worse for it. Alternatively, sometimes a team is constantly without 1 or 2 players but still look decent. This is depth. People complain we can’t cover if Coquelin gets injured…but then you look at EVERY other top 4 team and they lack great cover for about half the positions. I agree, we COULD improve the DM position for cover, but Coquelin is looking VERY good at the moment and spending 25m on a replacement would be silly…as would doing the same on cover. The truth is though, we’ve got in most positions a player who would get into the first XI of any non-top 4 club as BACK-UP. That’s quite impressive if you ask me. I’m not sure City/Chelsea/United can say the same. This depth issue is something the other top 4 clubs seem to ignore – with many great players having to leave to fund the big money signing. It doesn’t always balance out as an improvement to the quality of the team as a whole.
SO I’ll finish up with a final point. I do believe that Arsenal are moving forward. I also believe Arsenal still need to add a little more quality. I won’t go into why because this is already getting long but if you said to me right now “Can Arsenal win the PL” I’d say yes. If you asked me “WILL they” I’d probably say unlikely. While we have the best squad on paper, our first 11 is still probably a little weak in two positions that can cause us to drop silly points. I don’t know if it is possible in this current climate to secure those signings though AND I think there is a good possibility for improvement within this season. That’s why I won’t agree Arsenal “NEED” to spend to succeed. I think a much more appropriate term is “Arsenal must improve in key areas to win the league”. The “How” is much more open to a wide variety of answers.