Another transfer window gone by and another chance lost at addressing the problems of the Arsenal squad. Arsene Wenger may have different opinions and reasons for choosing not to sign specific players but the truth is that Arsene tried his hardest to acquire an exceptional hitman, according to Thierry Henry..
Other than Petr Cech who joined very early in the window, there is no signing to talk about at the club. Factor this – Arsenal is the only club in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga or Ligue 1 to not sign an outfield player. Sounds familiar?
But club legend Henry has come to the rescue of Wenger and has strongly defended his former manager. More notably, he defended the failure of signing Karim Benzema or Edinson Cavani this summer.
The club was linked to Real Madrid striker Benzema through the window. There were many reports that spoke of the deal being close, the player being happy to pursue a move but nothing moved on that front. Henry even mentioned that signing Benzema could be the last piece of the jigsaw for Wenger.
Eventually, Benzema refuted the rumours and dismissed any suggestions of his movement away from Madrid. Player transfers are a very sensitive issue and unless the two clubs and the player find out a common ground, it is difficult to find a solution.
Clinching the transfer of a player who is very happy at his current club is a difficult proposition. And Henry says this is the reason why Wenger couldn’t sign either Benzema or Cavani, but he is certain that Le Prof tried his best.
Henry says that it is not for lack of intent that Arsenal couldn’t land up any strikers. Rather, it is because of the difficulty of prising these players away from their respective clubs, although he agrees that there were areas that needed strengthening.
Arsenal did not start the season brightly, as was expected in many quarters at the club. They are already five points behind Manchester City who turned out to be the early runners. The lack of goals from Giroud has already seen him lose the position to Walcott.
The disappointment in the fans on lack of transfer activity is palpable. Striker is a real problem area for some years now and not being able to sign anyone is a concern. Will this stop the Gunners from mounting a serious title challenge? Only time will tell.
Listen to Henry’s words here……
Again, the press is trying to induce to the fans idea that AFC failed in signing Benzema or Cavani but Titi put it right : why would these guys leave their teams ? What can you possibly offer them? I like how the host tries to make Henry bash Wenger and the team but he’s fending off and stay cool.
What basically isTiti saying? that we are not good enough for WC players?
We still have welbeck to come back.I would use welbeck upfront since giroud and Theo are just not performing for me its between welbeck and giroud
Hey Sean!
That has took a weight off of my shoulders I can tell us!:)
It is your oppinion but he did not said that. These said players would never leave their current team for anyone else because there’s nothing to offer them. Sure, if you want to pay the 200 mil quids then you may have a point. But since no one is insane enough to pay such fees …
And even then, lets’ suppose we have a huge amount of cash, say we give Benzema 50 mils and Madrid 50 mils. Or Cavani. Are anyo of these worth 300k / week ? Seriously? Above Sanchez? Or Cech? Or Ozil?
I agree fully that price and salaries have gone crazy, it’s Platinis fault he did away with FFP which suited us better then most clubs,
Well let’s just hope we don’t get serious injuries this season
now playing:::::::::::: “I TRIED” by AKON ft BONE THUGS & HARMONY
@budd. If arsenal football club had some personality and could choose what is good and bad for it then obviously u cld have been dumped for good coz u don’t mean any good for it!
And you based your opinion on what?
I haven’t posted anything for a while now. Just frustrated with our transfer window.to be honest there is nothing we can do now but just to support our team. I’m saying from now and mark my words, man city will dominate and our best chance is to play catch up and try to fight for the second spot
Aye, now we must support the team (not necessarily Wenger), but the players.
Note how Man City looks unstoppable at the moment although they only added Sterling. Otamendi and De Bruyne haven’t played a minute yet. I refuse to believe it’s because of Sterling that they are playing so well. It’s because Toure, Kompany and Silva have rediscovered their form. Last season all of them were absolutely terrible.
Our players MUST do the same. Gladly, Cech looks now the GK we are used to be. Blinder against L’pool.
Bellerin and Monreal, SOLID. Bellerin just got called by Spain, magnificent for the 20-year old. Koscielny and Gabriel MUST start as our first choice centrebacks. They are the dynamic duo: athletic, pacy, distributers and they actually WIN aerial duels. [b]Coquelin[/b] – I just pray he stays fit and doesn’t lose form (Wenger mistake #1, which can hurt the team).
Cazorla needs to STEP UP. We know he can shoot, where are his shooting boots? His fake shots are predictable and don’t help our play. He needs to do what Silva has done this season. [b]Özil[/b] in my honest opinion, looks like he has stepped his game up a notch. We saw how dull our play was against N’castle without him. What he needs to do is to be more selfish, take shot if he has the chance.
Ramsey, Giroud and Theo, they have been our weak links start of the season. Well, maybe for now we can forgive Walcott since it Magpies game was his first start since May. But the other two have no excuses, Ramsey needs to sort out his playing position and that’s CM. Stop trying so hard Aaron, goals will come but the team needs your other contributions (defending, carrying the ball forward). And Giroud, keep your f’n tongue in your mouth and concentrate on scoring, enough with the flicks and fancy play, it doesn’t work against an organized teams.
My 2 cents huhh
yeah right.
refused to pay 50 M for cavani.
is that trying.
the same henry said we wont win the epl because we cant compete with the likes of chelsea and city….. dont forget that part.
we will get a reality check at stamford bridge vs chelsea….forget stoke.
chelsea will kill us…….
and then people like budd the most optimistic will also turn on wenger..
and cycle continues hahaha
It is an away game at Chelsea, OK? Always tough. We may lose but we may win. Or we may get a draw. Why crying already?
refused to pay 50 M for cavani
Definitely no sources mentioned as well as he wasn’t available also till the last moment. Based on a tweet, you can’t decide anything.
“we will get a reality check at stamford bridge vs chelsea”
Definitely as we are playing away to them. It will tell us whether we are capable of beating top teams or at least grinding out a draw in such situations. That can decide whether we are title contenders or not.
“forget stoke”
Nah we can’t forget them. We have to beat them to get those three crucial points. PL won’t give us points in free.
“chelsea will kill us…….”
Very Probably…… not. Looking to last two clashes where we had a balanced team, we went toe to toe against them. Fairly enough, we did great. A 0-0 draw(which Chelsea was playing for) and a 1-0 win which was touted as a deciding match whether Wenger can beat Mourinho.
The same Chelsea that we beat a month ago? The same Chelsea on 4 pts out of 12?
There’s more reasons to be positive about our upcoming match at the bridge than negative dude.
But by all means, predict away.
and then people like nayr, the most negative will also start to believe in Wenger…
(see what I did there 😉 )
Yea well Welbeck is our only hope. Wenger should better do this right, cus he’s used to using Giroud for 8 straight match but when the time comes for walcott, it’ll be 3 match, welbeck 2 or so… wenger should be ruthless, give welbeck a long run in the striking role so he’ll get up his game, who knows? giving him a long run in the 9 might change stuffs for him positively and let him know we trust him. since we’ve used Giroud there for 3 years and he’s not living up to expectations, giving welbeck a long run to prove himself won’t be bad? Giroud ain’t working so change him after all we have nothing to loose since they both ain’t world class yet, i don’t see the risk in benching Giroud for Welbeck
Well that would be trueasier if not for the fact that Wrlbeck is now out for months following a knee surgery. KMDT.
Wenger failed to sign the right players. And don’t tell me that players like kondogbia and Martinez did not want to leave their teams. Coz they fukin did!
Wenger spent the whole summer chasing an unrealistic target who did not want to leave and RM did not want to sell.
It’s like the Suarez deal… Offer less than the player is worth so that the offer gets rejected and then u can tell everyone that u tried but it didn’t work out. Bullshit!
4 years to find someone better than giroud?
Never trying to replace Gilberto Silva (the rise of Coq was an accident, he was not part of wengers plan)?
Laughable!
haha I find the excuses people constantly come up with to state Wenger simply hilarious!!!!!
A player’s rise an ‘accident.’ Stop it!! Was Bellerin an ‘accident’ as well??
Just because you’d only watched him a few times before his call up to the first team, there are actually people at the club who have worked with these players for 100’s of hours, evaluating their game and watching them who are probably more equipped to evaluate their likely performance than your good self who only watches a handful of competitive matches.
Suarez so, so, so, so, painfully obviously had a clause in his contract! If they were that desperate to hold onto him not to honour the release clause, it probably says a lot about their willingness to let him go that window?
And sorry. But there’s no guarantee that Kondogbia or Martinez are better than Coquelin and Giroud. Bossing the french league, or the golden boot in the Portuguese league are no guarantees for PL success. Martinez’s international record is actually quite poor… The fact that it took so long for a top club to go after him despite his impressive league scoring record surely says something, yeah??
josh you should never pursue a management position in club football pal……
Those same people who work day in and day out with Coq sent him on loan.
At that time he was not good enough. you cannot give Wenger credit for him sorry.
Secondly, you need to check your facts. Jackson Martinez in Europe and his domestic league scoring record were prolific! who gives a sh1t about his international figures ?
In fact you could day the same about Giroud ? French top scorer , bad international stats and bad CL stats….
Fact of the matter is that HIS STATS are better the Giroud’s have ever been. so please rather just dont comment if you dont know what youre talking about.
Not entirely true because you compare Giroud from Arsenal with Martinez from Porto. Why not compare Giroud from Montpelier with Martinez from Porto? Ligue 1 is at least as strong as the Portuguese league (I say more competitive but for the sake of argument lets just put equal). I think they were pretty similar. The best way to calculate is to take the coefficient every league is given in competing for golden boot in that period and we will have a pretty accurate comparison.
Again, I do not deny Martinez would have been better than Giroud because obviously I don’t have a crystal ball. But Giroud was also top scorer and we know where it came to.
Titi is 100% right in his argument. We cannot burst the bank like the oil rich (or just flat out mega rich) clubs in order to force these players to move with 300k+ a week wage deals. Ultimately we’re not guaranteed titles or trophies and if we’re trying to get the top players who are already at other top teams we are always at a disadvantage coming to the table. We’re not as bright an option as we used to be.
That said, there were plenty of secondary options who maybe add a SMALL amount to the first team, or a considerable option to the squad, who we chose not to pursue for one reason or another. I think the lack of strengthening at all is a bigger issue then not being able to get someone massive. Wenger is right to not buy rubbish, he is right that you can’t buy everyone, but I’m adamant that he has a team designed to find players who can add to the team, or potentially add to the team, but he was unable to procure any player with even the potential to add. That is a failure in the transfer market, even if it’s an understandable one.
Amazing how the ministry of truth changes things 1984 style. Wenger had from the beginning of June to sign a DM or striker. Kondogbia, Carvalho, Imbula, Schneiderlin. Vidal, Khedira all moved. All top notch, but Wenger did not even bid. My heart goes out to Coquelin who will be expected to play up to 65 games this season. Wenger is now actively harming AFC. As we drop points Wenger’s excuses will dry up Remember Cavani scored 31 goals in 53 games last season. I suggest that would have won us the Premier League this season. Not worth 50 million?
And he did right not to sign any of them. Some of them didn’t even want to come at Arsenal. Why would Scheiderlin come here when Manure pays him 140k / week?
And stop this nonsense with Cavani or Benzema. These two players will not move anywhere in the world.
Some stats…..
Cavani: 34 league appearances, 2607 minutes. 18 Goals, 1 Assist.
Giroud: 27 league appearances, 1855 minutes. 14 Goals, 3 Assists.
But I completely 100% agree. We all know the toils and torment PSG have to face. The French league is after all the most competitive league in the world. The sheer brutality of the teams Cavani had to face in Ligue 1 is simply unfathomable for us premier league followers.
Those extra 2 goal contributions Cavani managed in 752 minutes of extra play probably would’ve got us over the line though!!
tbh this budd guy here is totally deluded. He is always happy with everything wenger did and no body knows what is he supporting arsenal for? every arsenal fans want trophy from the club we love but not him. He even said that arsenal don’t need the fans and should never listen to fans if they want to avoid bankruptcy. He is very annoying btw.
Budd seems to be a rational fellow who’s life doesn’t fall to bits if certain players aren’t bought. What is annoying is how every thread is constantly reduced to the same whining, p*ssing and moaning – no matter the topic.
What are you talking about!?
He’s optimistic about the team having the capabilities to win and you’re questioning why he supports the club? Haha really?
So let me get this straight, Budd believes we have enough to win a trophy, you don’t. So somehow he’s the one who doesn’t want a trophy at the club?… Makes sense.
We may just have enough to win a trophy. I am sure of that. What trophy will that be it is another question. Look (c), Wenger trusts more this team than I do, I already said it. But there’s no reason to start now and lose in our hearts the games we did not played yet. Wenger said it and you all know he is right no matter the amount of mocking you can throw at him : if you don’t believe you can win it then you have no chance at all.
Why do you assume Wenger does everything at the club? There’s a board whose decisions have to be respected by everyone at the club and that includes Wenger. I am amazed when I see people claiming an Arsenal supporter does not want a trophy. Do you read what you write or you are just frustrated by the fact that Wenger & board do not share the same thoughts as you? Guess what, it is the same for me but I don’t shout Wenger out because : 1) it won’t solve anything especially on the short term, 2) I have no saying in contract discussions with club employees.
The fact that you do not like or are unhappy with what Wenger is doing does not mean everyone should. Man United fans are busy defending the club’s acquisition of some unknown fella for insane amounts yet some Arsenal fans always look for excuses to slate the club they purport to support. The club has posted historical information about Santi’s first goal, and what do you get as comments? Wenger out, Wenger this. What a despicable bunch of fans.
Vidal: Not a defensive midfielder; Khedira: Not a defensive midfielder and out injured for 3 months; Kondogbia: From a champions league qualifier club to a club that is not in Europe at all. That should tell you about how he rates himself; Carvalho: Some star in youtube clips not worth putting a penny on; Imbula: Who? Cavani plays for PSG where he is their main striker in the absence of Ibra. PSG has emerged as one of the top European clubs thanks to oil money. He could only have become available if PSG no longer wanted him. Facts point to the opposite direction so I do not know how on earth you are dreaming that he could have been available for caquisition by Arsenal.
Wenger is still sleeping n will wake up when Chelsea white washes us at de Bridge.
Giroud b Walcott. haha
Cant the 12th come sooner…the quicker we start playing again the sooner we can forget this Transfer window sh!t…
Haha the first international break always sucks… A taste of the league just to go a fortnight without any action? It’s just mean!
I firmly believe there was significant interest in Benzema. His social media presence went very quiet during all the rumours, which to me suggests he was told to keep a low profile amid the chaos.
I also believe it would have taken a large fee to prise him out of RM’s clutches.
Finally I believe he was easygoing about it all. After all, he is playing at one of the best clubs in the world with star billing, it has to be good for the ego. That said, a new challenge in arguably the best league in the world with players he respects would have been a pull for him (in my opinion).
So he couldn’t lose really, but sadly, we could …and have.
Cavani / Ibrahimovic I’m not so sure about. Both ageing and not worth the money PSG would have required to weaken their front line.
It’s not ALL about money, but AW does prefer a bargain, and will not pay more than he thinks a player is worth. That is to be admired in some ways, but it won’t change the transfer market, hence why so many supporters are fuming. We all know you HAVE to spend big to compete at the highest level, not 3rd or 4th, but the HIGHEST level – i.e 1st place.
He didn’t try hard enough. Of course Henry would like to be seen to be on the side of his ‘father’, but deep inside as he had let out before, he really sees it as it is- we need more quality!
By the way, which quality player would like to come into a squad that its only ambition is to finish 4th. 4th as Arsene-knows-it-all-Wenger is like winning a trophy. Some of these players touted know what it feels like to win and win good and all of a sudden being relegated into a team that wants to be in the CL doesn’t appeal enough to their ambitions. And until Wenger restates his case that he is in the race to win it and win it well, any top quality player coming to us would just be sheer luck (like Alexis) or the need to secure their financial futures!
In all honesty, Arsene must be forced out if he fails to deliver anything of note this season. The fans have had enough!!!!
Yeah Alexis was luck. It had nothing to do with Wenger.
But the point remains, Alexis left Barcelona to escape the shadows of Messi et al.
Benzema didn’t/wouldn’t leave Real as he had no need too. Plays with the best week in week out and wins stuff.
See the difference…
Why? Because Benzema does not live in the shadow of Ronaldo and Bale? Sanchez have seen Suarez coming and he quickly realized that in order for him to play competitive football he will have to move. Pedro wasn’t so smart one year ago.
Y is it so hard to spend 50m?
Time for a change…
We need a new manager with ambition
Why is Bellerin not in CL squad?
He is but since he is under 21 he can be added on the additional 7 players list. That’s a good thing.
At least if that wc dont want to leave comfort zone
show some ambition
sign some striker, because we didnt know when welbeck is back,when theo start scoring as a center forward
.
sign gomis/austin will be enough !! they maybe not world class,sure they affordable,and their wages is below 100k/week.
but they show HARD WORK is one thing that matter , that could change the game atleast than just waiting the ball, then punch the ground when failed to score, or stroking her hair posing like a victorian secret models. aside from if he was world class or just good player
this season in epl it all became equal, top teams use money use world class player,grab every player that categorized good enough .to winning the league!
but middle/mediocre team this season surely doing extra double triple hard work and passion to beat top class team.
like what we see on swansea vs mu
Bafétimbi Gomis and andre ayew and the other swansea player, make me dazzled,spechless and so excited even im not swansea fans.
i dont now what our team is categorized now, top team, or middle, because our team lack of world class, either lack of passion and not showing extra hard work. its like our player intention was to be dominant,stand out than the other in wenger’s eye than worrying winning/losing itself
I never heard people wanting Gomis after he stopped scoring last season. Now he scored again and everyone thinks he’s Ronaldo.
Your logic is baffling mate. So Arsenal must be going after some players who are on a run of form? If goals evaporate sell them? Before the Man United-Swansea game I never heard anyone talk about Gomis, why?
Have you watched Gomis play except in the big games? The guy goes missing ALL the time. He isn’t an expert finisher and he isn’t some amazing player. He’s a downgrade on Bony. A CONSIDERABLE downgrade. He is not what Arsenal need at all.
Ayew…well the jury is still out on that one.
Let’s focus on what we have now. The window is shut. Gomis is not world class, BTW. I’m glad we didn’t buy him. He’s an average striker that wouldn’t bring us anything.
What about Schneiderlin? It is a huge risk just having Coq, and Schneiderlin made it quite clear his preference was to come to London, and held out on ManU because of that.
He was available, and he wanted to come to Arsenal, so all this about players not being available, or wanting to come to Arsenal is pure blue sky thinking.
BUDD
On the point of Gomis I can agree with you for the first time however on th point of Wenger I agree with Paul merson that wenger has no ambition and has cheated the arsenal fans.Anyways wenger can do what he wants because he is not taking a penny from my pocket. Afc for life on my sofa Saturday night 10.25 match of the day for me feels much more sensible. BUDD bring back a match day programme for me if you can pls