Some of the major Premier League rivals to Arsenal and our hopes and expectations of ending the long wait to regain the title of champions of England have been spending money right from the start of the summer transfer window. In fact, Manchester United even had a deal for Memphis Depay sewed up before the end of last season.
Since then they have continued to add to their squad in the transfer market, as have our next opponents Liverpool. Meanwhile the previous title holders Man City have been freed from the shackles of the FFP rules and have been making the most of it by splashing the cash on the likes of Raheem Sterling, Nicholas Otamendi and possibly Kevin De Bruyne.
And now it seems that Chelsea and Jose Mourinho are reacting to all this action with a bit of heavy spending of their own. They have already signed the new left back Raman and Pedro from Barcelona and the Daily Express are reporting that they are also looking at a £100m double swoop for John Stones and Paul Pogba.
Arsene Wenger, however, is still saying that he is struggling to find players available and will only sign them if they are better than what Arsenal already have, as reported by The Mirror.
He said this morning, “We have in every position strong players.
“I was asked this question two years ago when some clubs buy ten players. We live in a society that is hungry for news.
“News is good but you have to be convinced that it strengthens your team.”
While our injury situation is much improved these days, can we really afford to stand still while all around us are bringing in new faces?
Nope ( as usual).
We are being left adrift by a lack of addressing a pressing issue.
We Need a DM , striker and another CB . It has been like that for 5 years at least.
You could have gotten one DM and sold flamini and arteta
A striker instead of the desperation which led to the buying of welbeck
i bet that these time arsene will be ashamed of accepting a new contract after failing to win the pl or cl…2 more seasons and arsenal will be free of captivity forever…with his attitude of wanting to prove the spenders wrong, he will remain a loser and i can bet my house that these guy won’t win another major trophy at arsenal…if he accepts another contract then he is A SHAMELESS OLD T**RT….arsenal will be great again soon!!!!!
Do you mean the same Welbeck who broke our Old trafford hoodoo? I’m not a Welbeck fan but the guy has been very useful last year in the absence of Giroud, walcott and co.
I get your frustration. But the only strikers available last year was him and Falcao. And I’m glad Wenger didn’t go for the latter.
This constant whining is getting on my nerves. “We need a striker, DM, and CB”…
Let’s start with DM – we have Coq (granted, he was discovered by accident), Arteta (very much capable against mid and lower table teams), Flamini (can be used in Cup games), Chambers (should really be given time and tried in this position), and finally Bielik (Polish kid that we bought last season, who’s gonna be our starting DM probably in about a year). So who else do you need/want to bring in?
CB – Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gabriel (I think a lot of people forget that we bought him not too long ago), Chambers (can do a great job there when needed), and Debuchy (who can cover in that position nicely as well). Do we need more? I don’t think so.
ST – Okay, this is probably the trickiest of them all… having said that, we still have Giroud (VERY capable striker, IMHO), Walcott (he can be a 20-goal player when fit), Welbeck (needs to come back healthy and fit, and given a run of a few games), and Alexis (can play through the middle easily). So again, I ask you – who would you bring who’s gonna give us an immediate improvement in that position? Benzema? Get Real (no pun intended). They’ll never sell him because he’s their only option. Or perhaps 35-year old Ibrahimovic? Point is, we’ve got a very capable squad of winning the league, given that everyone stays healthy/fit, keeps the focus, and keeps on playing hard. So stop complaining, get behind our boys, and let’s see where we are in 7-8 games from now. Then we can perhaps do a better assessment of what/who we need.
wenger is scared spending Bc no matter who he sign he knows he will get beaten by any one.
if he don’t change his tactics no significant signing will win him trophy.
Wenger is still living in denial
Nope ( as usual).
We are being left adrift by a lack of addressing a pressing issue.
We Need a DM , striker and another CB . It has been like that for 5 years at least.
You could have gotten one DM and sold flamini and arteta
A striker .
Many of our players are so average that other champion league clubs are not queuing up to buy them from us .
We are not even buying the best youths anymore.
When was the last time we bought unknown like a Suarez ?
I’m not sure many of our players are so average, for me it’s more that Wenger is long established and they feel settled at the club, so don’t get hawked around like other players at other clubs..
Agree about the players we need though.
teams DO want some of our players.
there was noise about barca (or was it RM) interested in ramsey.
lots of teams would LOVE to buy ozil and sanchez. and koscielny. and bellerin.
we do have good players and some really good ones.
but what gets me about AW is him making excuses for his probably suck transfer technique by saying nobody’s available, or good enough, or wants to come to arsenal. dein he isnt.
No one is asking him to buy for the sake..FFS we only need 2 quality players in the two obvious positions…No one is asking Wenger to buy 5/6 players…He should know buy now that dont get bargains on Transfer deadline day..
relax dude. last week of transfer windows im 10000% sure there will be a great surprise from wenger
why so serious?
at least when benzema really joining the gunners.
we will have more cohesion beetwen ozil and benzema.
cohesion in da night club . haha
benzema draxler and Krychowiak … i`ll take everything back i have said about our french slug if we get all three…even last two and will be in a forgiving mood…just benzema will keep me quiet for a while…less than this and the gloves are off!!!!
Martin keown, “giroud is not up there to win arsenal the title.they need benzema.”
Thierry henry, “benzema would win arsenal the title. “….a while back also said giroud wasn’t good enough.
Ray parlour, “benzema would propel arsenal to the title.”
If it was owen saying all this…then yes maybe it just hating…but this are all arsenal legends.
They must surely have a point…
if we dont buy a good striker we have no shot at the title.
PERIOD.
giroud got link up play blah blah blah.
our midfielders can chip in with goals to help blah blah
walcott is a striker blah blah
EXCUSES.
Yes let’s say 1 player would be the reason we win or lose.
Would you also tell us these people’s experience in managing football teams. What hindsight do they have to categorically say Benzima will win Arsenal the league? What if Arsenal fail to win the league after buying Benzima? What would they say? Were they not saying the same thing when Man United bought Falcao and Di Maria? Why then did Man United have to finish 4th that season without winning anything?
As a matter of fact only one team will win the league, yet the same people are saying if Man United add a striker they will win the league. The same people are saying Chelsea will win the league for the second year running if they buy Stones. The same people are saying Man City will be the team to beat this season. So who will win the league this season between Arsenal (with Benzima as they want), Man United (with a new striker as they want), Chelsea (with Stones as they want), and Man City as currently is? These so called pundits have not been able to give an unequivocal response, why? Because they do not know, as you and me don’t.
In short there is no value in the claims of those so called pundits.
and tha truth shall set you free!
Amen dude
Get away from here, you are going to hurt a few minds on here with all that logical talk …
I find it absolutely astonishing, but not surprising, that we’re on the verge of playing our third game (fourth if you count the Community Shield), and our only signing is a 33 year old that we didn’t even need.
Apparently Wenger feels that his squad, which has gone badly downhill in Europe and has done nothing in the league, is suddenly good enough to win it all! No major additions needed!! What scares me even more is that all of our rivals are really strengthening their squads, whilst we’re doing nothing. Even if Wenger buys, why so late? Money isn’t an issue any more!
Maybe a little bit of education will assist you. In the 2003/2004 season Arsenal only bought Jens Lehman in the summer adding Reyes in the winter. In the season before they had finished 2nd with 78 points, 5 points behind the league winners. In the 2003/2004 Chelsea became a force to reckon with as the Russian money started pouring in. At the end of the season Arsenal topped the league with 90 points, 12 points better than the previous season. They also went for the whole season without a defeat. Their nearest rival had 79 points, that is 11 points behind, while they were 15 points ahead of the 2002/2003 league winners. So what was the secret behind such a phenomenal success? The answer lay in managing to retain the 2002/2003 squad.
Fast forward to 2015/2016 season, what are the characteristic features of the Arsenal squad. The squad has been together for over a season now. They have not been any major departures. The only addition so far is a goalkeeper. That same squad was the best in the second half of the 2014/2015 season in terms of points tally and goals conceded. Is the squad not capable of replicating its end of season form? It is down to the players and nothing can stop them from achieving that.
What is the impact of player purchases by other clubs? The major impact will come from teams outside the top six. These teams previously had very weak squads as such the marginal improvement from adding one quality player is five times higher than the marginal improvement from Man City for instance buying Sterling. As an example Crystal Palace’s purchase of Cabaye could have more impact than Man United’s purchase of Bastian and Morgan put together. This raises the question whether we have a squad that can get us points from teams outside the top six? The answer for me is yes, what is needed for the team is to give its all out in those games. Never under estimate the opponents then we will be fine.
The impact of purchases by top six teams will be very marginal as they already had very good squads. Chelsea’s purchase of Pedro will mean either Oscar or Willian will be on the bench. What is the marginal improvement of Pedro over those two players? No one can answer that question with certainty. No one knows how Pedro will adapt to the Premier league having spent all his career in the La Liga. How will otamendi improve Man City? No one can say that with certainty considering that Man City value him lower than Mangala in terms of outlays. He could save them points and goals conceded, yet he may not if he fails to build a partnership with Company. The same analysis will apply to every other top team.
What then am I saying? Simple. Purchases by top six rivals say nothing about what Arsenal can achieve this season. The onus is on the existing squad to show everyone that they can replicate their form of the second half of last season and all this noise will die.
Analzer you have to write articles man!
Finally someone who comes with actual FACTS (although some people hate facts around here hahahha)
I hear what you’re saying, but also a little education for you, and do you watch Arsenal regularly? If you do watch Arsenal a lot, then I’m very surprised you haven’t mentioned our manager, your comment mainly focusing on the squad. A lot of our problems reside with our manager, so even with an injury free squad, we’re still going to have a lot of the same problems that have dogged us for years. An excellent example was the home defeat to West Ham. Wenger had a fully fit starting XI to choose from, apart from Bellerin, we were at home against a mid-table team who have been in poor form (Intertoto Cup), and were only just getting used to their new manager, and we barely created a chance against them. The performance was nothing new, we’ve seen those types of games for years under Wenger, but does this not worry you? Wenger is still tactically inept, even with all this money and these star players. I’m sorry, but it worries me.
Now ten or more years ago, the league was only between two teams – Man Utd and Arsenal. You mentioned about the success of 03/04 season being down to retaining the 02/03 squad, and whilst I agree with that, I also have to mention again, that Man Utd were our only challengers. Arsenal and Man Utd were quite far ahead of anyone else, but for a while now it’s been a completely different story. The league is much more competitive, and more so every season, especially now that the FFP is basically defunct. You mention how much of an impact will these new signings at other clubs have, it’s subjective, and I agree with you on that. Pedro, for example, could flop like Torres or he could bang in 25 goals this season, no one can predict the future. But one major point you’ve failed to mention, is that other clubs are signing these quality players to put themselves in the strongest position possible to challenge for the major trophies. Some will succeed, some will flop, but at least these other clubs are trying…Arsenal are not. We’ll still have problems with Wenger in charge, but at least quality signings would give us a better chance of success in the major competitions.
So I guess my major point is, where’s the ambition? At least try and put yourself in a position to succeed, especially now when finances are not issue. We had key areas to strengthen in the 13/14 season, Wenger ignored them all, and in the 14/15 he still ignored key areas, but did address others. You say the onus is on the squad, but it’s the manager as well. Let’s not forget that last season’s squad was much stronger than the 13/14 squad, yet we gained less points in the league, with the same amount of defeats and had our worse performance in Europe for as long as I can remember. So to almost suggest that the same squad can suddenly win the major trophies, is more than a tad naive.
One thing I’ve learnt about our manager is that he wants to please everyone and therefore is ofttimes economical with the truth. For me excessive PR=LIE end of! Come out and put every fan out of their expectations/misery and tell us you are definitely not in the market for players it is obvious we need instead of taking everyone on a merry-go-round, cock-and-bull stories. Pinocchio???
Why not you ask the question: Is Ozil committed enough as claimed by Wenger?
No he’s not if you ask me! He’s being carried by every player around him but does not wish to work hard for anyone! He’d rather still be at Real than at the Emirates. He’s still very much perturbed that he was forced to leave a team like Real! He’ll never get over it. If I were Wenger, I would sell him to the highest bidder and get short of him and cut our losses. He was a poor investment and would definitely not have a resell value. Alexis however is quite the opposite!
I suppose you are English so therefore if a player is not running full pelt the lenght and breadth of the pitch, throwing himself into tackles and generally running himself to the ground with very little technical or skillful ability then he is useless
ozil has been HUGELY effective in last 6 games. what have u been watching??!
we have many problems. OZIL is not one of them.
WE NEED A NO. 7 AND A NO.9
I thought Koscielny is the “Boss”
Sorry. gents,I can’t wait for a change of management.
The hierarchy at Arsenal need to change as well
To them it’s a profit making franchise business.
Snuffs enough I say.
If Wenger can’t find players who will “strengthen the team” he needs to get glasses
At the beginning of the summer possibilities included Benzema, Dybala, Lacazette, Ibrahimovic, Mandzukic, Cavani, Gotze, Lewandowski, Muller, Jackson Martinez, Vidal, Khedira, Kondogbia, Gundogan, Schweinsteiger, Carvalho, Bender, Gustavo, Schneiderlin, etc. Any one would have strengthened us at least a little bit especially over Welbeck, Arteta and Flamini. (Before anybody has a heart attack. I am NOT saying they are bad, just that there are players who are better and would have strengthened us)
I’m also not saying Wenger won’t still get another Top quality player. I’m just saying, that strengthening argument doesn’t hold water IF we don’t sign anybody and Welbeck and Flamini are still on the squad. Surely Wenger can improve the quality at least a little bit.
My thoughts are:
1. Let go of Flamini
2. Get Krychowiak, Carvalho or Bender
3. Get (if possible) Benzema, Lewandowski, Gotze, Reus, Greizmann, Draxler, Cavani or maybe Ibrahimovic on loan. Most may not be possible hut Cavani seems to like the idea according to rumours
We need a DM and CF or versatile winger
To start with give us evidence about the following:
(1) They were available for sale;
(2) They were willing to join Arsenal; and
(3) They are better than players we have.
You can not just come up with names of players, how good they maybe at their respective clubs, and boldly allege they would have improved our squad. If Bastian is so good, why is he only making second half substitute appearances at Man United? Why were Man United fans whistling every time he had the ball in their game against Club Brugge? Is it not because he slows down play, as claimed by match commentators, the same crime you accuse Arteta of? How then could he have been better than Arteta?
Who would Vidal and Schnierderlin have replaced in the current Arsenal starting eleven. Do not start with the DM position rubbish because those two players rarely play as DMs. Khedira is out injured for the next three or so months, so tell us how he would have improved our squad? Gustavo refused to join Arsenal in the 2013/2014 arguing that he did not believe he would get enough game time ahead of the world cup. If he could not fancy his chances ahead of Arteta what makes you think he will fancy his chances against Francis this time around?
Arsene deals with real squad management and strengthening issues rather than the fantasies you are talking about here.
Analyzer for president!
You sir are my new best friend in this site !
hahaha
That’s exactly the point … and more so, we still might be pulling off a huge deal or two, so fans should be patient. Wenger wants to win badly, more than all fans on here, he will not jeopardize that to save a few quid, so he’s going to buy … the end is near, keep the faith.
If stoke city can wrap up a deal for a player like Shaqiri,i dont understand how Arsene can claim that there aren’t quality players out there.thats bs.the mere fact that he waits till the last minute to make purchases shows that there is no clearly defined transfer plan.
And who will Shaqiri replace at Arsenal?
Wenger, get back to managing arsenal and wrapping up transfers … enough time wasting for the day!!
Guess where I am writing from? Africa. Zimbabwe to be specific. I have never been to England, although I spent a week in France some two years ago. So I can never be Wenger.
No he is not. This is because arsene has signed cech and benzema. With move for krychowiak imminent. arsenal are gonna have a very very strong squad. Yes i know krychowika is injured.
@all guns
I want to believe you so bad….
yet my sanity says dont hahahaha
if krychowiak is injured, its a shoe in that we’ll get him.
Signings would be great, but getting the right combination of players on the field would be better. Why Mertz is starting over Gabriel or why Arteta or Flamini are even considered over some of our younger, faster, more skilled players baffles me…
How many games has Flamini played this season? Who should have come in instead of Arteta in the two games that he has played as a substitute this season? What evidence do you have that the Gabriel-Koscielny partnership is better than the Per-Koscielny partnership? The manager spends every day with players in training trying all sorts of combinations and partnerships. You spend the bulk of your football time reading articles about Arsenal, watching snap shot video clips about players, and watching programs like fan zone that are produced by people with no knowledge of football management or have failed as coaches. Based on that knowledge you come here and think you can expertly tell us about who the manager should play. That is very wonderful of you isn’t it?
God damn … you’re on fire !!
#HesWengerInDisguise
We listened to all the excuses throughout the years, and some of them were valid, this year Arsene has NO excuses, NONE, and he is still playing his I know better than everyone else game. Frankly he is just hurting the club and hurting his legacy.
Its quite unfortunate that Wenger is yet to find and still searching for a better player to add quality to the team at his disposal, my take is, the problem limiting Arsenal as a whole not claiming any major trophy is our high record with injuries and the coach inability to select the right player for the right spot, no genuine back up for some crucial positions, if and only if we can sort the injury issue out and Wenger selecting the right player at the right time and in the right game, then we’re good to go.
Arsenal should have sold Walcott,arteta,wilshere,flamini and brought on some useful contributors like bender and cadreva who are underrated but perform better than those 4. I feel arsenal don’t need quality but what they need is a grinder and a hard working winger/goalscorer just like Sanchez but who can actually make impact at all times.
Benzema is good but will he be on fire like an Aguerro or Suarez? I doubt it, he has not demonstrated it at Real.
Cavani on other hand has a great record when playing in the right position but even that won’t guarantee an instant hit in the EPL.
Too much expectation for one position.
i dont think ppl are saying that 1 player would light the EPL on fire. we/I are looking only for a noticeable and significant improvement on giroud. being that OG is at the apex of our amazing midfield, he gets a crap load of chances, converts some of them (misses a significant number of sitters) and at the end of the season he has a decent tally. we’re looking for someone that would play at that crucial apex point, give us 6-8 goals more than OG; that would get us 6-9 points more. since i’m not in the backroom watching these deals, i cannot be certain. i guess it comes down to that i dont trust wenger: there’s too much evidence of penny pinching & stubborness that leads me to believe he doesn’t do deals well or pays enough. and then he comes out w excuses “nobody’s out there”, “its not easy to get deals done” etc etc.
Maybe (hopefully) Wenger IS working on areal or 2 for some top players but now he has had a mic stuck in his face and a reporter asking him the same questions so he is just making up more BS answers just to either shut them up and/or throwing them further off the scent of his secret dealings? I’m just trying to stay calm and see what happens. Surely AKB