We all know that Arsenal had a terrible start to the season with a glut of draws against average opponents, and we all blamed Arsene Wenger for failing to bring in another top-class defender and a young but promising defensive midfielder.
But we all know that the real reason for our misery was the unrelenting injury problems that left us with only half of our squad for the first six months of the season. Now that Francis Coquelin has comeback as a new man in midfield (and signed a new contract) and the recent arrival of the beast-looking Gabriel Paulista to shore up the defence, we are now looking like the finished article at last.
As well as Le Coq and Gabriel we have also seen our injury list eased, and we all saw that, even with seven changes from the Leicester game, we still managed to field a top quality starting XI against Middlesbrough and produced arguably one of our best performances of our season so far.
Arsene Wenger feels we are definitely now well-stocked with quality players as he said after our win yesterday: “We have a week now to prepare for the Crystal Palace game and I did rotate today as well. I changed two defenders from our last game. It shows that everybody’s focused and has the quality to compete for places in the team. At the moment, in every single position, we have two very good players.”
Many JustArsenal readers thought that we also needed a top quality striker to actually challenge for the title, but Olivier Giroud is now looking like the real deal, and both the youngster Chuba Akpom and the ex-Man United Danny Welbeck could be adequate understudies against the weaker teams. Wenger remarked about Welbeck yesterday: “One of the reasons I bought him is that he can play central striker and wide. I believe he’s doing extremely well and is contributing to the team very well.
“He can play central striker like he did for a long time but the most natural centre forward we have is Giroud. All the strikers we have can play in different positions. The only one who can only play centre forward is Giroud, so when Giroud plays the others have to move out wide.”
It would seem now that Wenger’s major problem for the rest of the season is to rotate just enough to keep all our stars happy, as the quality in depth is there for all to see. So now we have the majority of our players fit and well, do you STILL think Arsenal needs to buy in the summer (except to replace ageing stars) or have we now got all the pieces in place to challenge for the title next season?
all we need is a CDM to compete with Le Coq honestly. I know some would want another striker but I doubt that’s going to happen when we have Welbeck, Akpom, Sanogo all on the fringes, and Alexis who can also play there.
True but Podolski has to be replaced I’m sorry, can’t see him staying much longer and I personally want Dybala to replace him. May not happen but I never thought Ozil or Alexis would be donning our jersey either but it happened…
The attack is coming together well
Sell :poldi Wellington ryo. +15m and 120+ in wages
Loan: ,sanogoo,gnabry,campbell
Ozil .giroud.sanchez=a team
Walcott welbeck chamberlain= b team
Akpom back up striker
The Midfield we could add a dm
Sell=flamini,diaby= +100^ in wages
Santi.ramsey.coqulan? A team
Rosicky.wilshire.arteta. B team
Beilek back up
Santi should stay central.With Beilek not expected to make much appearances and Rosicky and arteta less, then we have space to sign a quality dm if coqulan isn’t seen as a starter. The wages saved could go towards signing such a player and knowing our injury record there will be space.
The defense is perfect.
Sell Ajayi, jenkinson 7m
Debuchy mertesacker koscielny monreal =a team
Bellerin chambers Gabriel Gibbs = b team
Im a fan of Jenks but we shouldn’t stand in the way of his development. we could sell him to West Ham with a buy back clause (10m)for when debuchy starts to age.
Gk
Ospina,Szezney,Martinez
W.s has everything to prove so will come back strong I expect an intense battle between the two with martinez waiting in the wings.
Disagree. We need a top class DM, like gustavo/schneiderlin, which will put coquelin as able rotation player. Then at ST we only really have Giroud who can produce there, despite you saying some CAN play there. A few can, but none offer everything a specialist ST does like build up play AND goals (looking at you Welbz, Theo)
LW – Alexis, Welbz (poldi sold)
ST – Giroud, Akpom (sanogo sold)
RW – Theo, Ox
Definitely could use a player like Lacazette to fight Giroud for the ST role. He offers build up play and a massive goal threat.
We don’t need Shniederlin Charles,Coquelin will be hard to better, so spend it on other week places like LB and a striker CB
I am depressed coz My ex is getting married.. And she seems happy..
Hence Arsenal don’t need any more players they can win FA cup and 3rd place EPL and semi’s in Champion’s league..
Seems she dumped u, don’t worry pray to God n u will get direction bro
For now, I think we are set, especially when Arteta is back and Beilik is given a go. I think Wenger might let go of Arteta/Flamini or both and get a younger replacement. But that’s about it. We have finally reached the level where we have a complete squad and will spend only on world class players. COYG
We are not set. If we are please enlighten me as to how we’re fighting for 4th and not 1st?
Be really awkward if you’re an AKB and have to try and figure out how to skirt round that minefield…
Paulista isn’t the surname… and to be honest as a Arsenal fan I find the ignorancec of others who call him that to be frustrating.
Lets start using the correct names for our players? Paulista is a word for a person from a specific region, you do not call Ashley young “Ashley Brummie” do you? So why be so damn ignorant to our own player???????
Gabriel Armando de Abreu is his name.
Gabriel is what is on his shirt…. It is what he wants to be called…
Paulista = Sao Paulo, not a individual.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paulista
I say this in hope that Arsenal fans will start calling our players by what they desire to be called and not some other name from the media who do not always get it right… look at the TV pundits who still call Alexis by his surname when he has clearly indicated he wants to be known by his 1st name due to Sanchez not being an rare name…. He wants to be seperated from the trash and rightly so.
So lets start calling our players by the name they desire ^.^
It is not Paulista but Gabriel ^.^
Think QUALITY, not quantity. Arsenal need an upgrade in quality in several areas. Specifically, goalkeeper for starters. The two currently on the squad are decent, but not top shelf. Defensive midfield could use an upgrade also. The current DM’s are not premium quality, but decent backups. A premium striker could also be added to strengthen the squad.
Remember this is not about finishing 4th at best, but this is about competing for the title. It takes more quality than is currently available. The team will never achieve league titles unless the overall quality is raised another level.
Show me the shop where they buy premium quality players! Which English club has premium quality whatever that means? The mentality of always buying players will not solve a team’s problem. You buy because you need those players not because you are chasing a mirage of premium quality players. What Arsenal needs is to reexamine those positions where we have aging players and bring in their understudy and possibly another DM to compete with Coquelin. Apart from that I think the team is now complete.
Premium: “of exceptional quality or greater value than others of its kind.” – english dictionary.
Which English clubs have premium players for most positions? Chelsea and City
He examined 3 areas we could strengthen. GK, DM, and ST. Pretty fair assessment although I’d hold fire on the GK issue as I don’t think Ospina has been given enough time. So a DM and ST of top quality is a very sensible idea of how to improve this team.
I’ll tell you one thing that won’t, getting a player of the same ability as coquelin and expecting 15-20 points to come from that. Absolute fantasy on your part. Compare the spines of Arsenal, Chelsea, and City and you’ll see why we’re so far off the mark.
You spend a billion over 5-10 years and I would expect a decent spine to my team. Personally I think Chelsea have a top drawer 1st X1 spine but bugger all in the 2nd X1. Not as impressed as you with City’s spine; Fernandinho, Fernando and Demicheles are often on the pitch masquerading as a spine. Mangala?? Wouldn’t take any of them tbh. Augero WC but made of glass, Toure WC but 30 and on the wane. Kompany still continuing with his bad year. Hart not as good as everyone thought he was.
What both teams have though is 3 of 4 years training, development and playing with a core of 7 or 8 players. If we keep what we have and add 2 or 3 top quality signings there will not be many excuses left in terms of comparable squad depths.
You know for the countless times Giroud has been called a donkey, the truth is when he leaves he will be remembered for the good and bad. For me I actually see the class he possesses with his intricate touches and yes he might not be “World Class” but he is CLASS. The guy has his own song for crying out loud and it’s not for the wrong reasons…
I’ve never been a huge Giroud fan, nor his most vocal critic amongst this board however I would love to see Arsenal complement his skill set with a true young pacy, goal scoring poacher. Dybala, Lacazette would do just fine.
As far as DM, Flamini and Arteta have reached the end of there Arsenal careers and the Frenchman will definitely move on with the emergence of Le Coq. This is where, with the purchase of Bielek, and flexibility of Chambers I think AW can be a little adventurous this summer. Perhaps take a fliar on M’Villa. I just cant see him spending 20M + on one player, although I would be tickled pink with Wanyama, M Schenderlien, Kondogbia, etc.
Get Petr Czech.
This falls dream and feasible line up:
Lacazette
Sanchez…..Ozil……Walcott
Cazorla….Kondogbia
Gibbs…..Koz…..Gabriel……Bellerin
Czech
Honestly dont see Jack or Ramsey getting into the squad.
A quality defensive midfielder to ease the burden on le coq, who can be rotated with him! Either morgan schneiderlin or perhaps jeffrey kondogbia would be a great signing in the summer to strengthen the team!
Yes I think we have to buy CDM and LW. Cazorla is getting old and when he will retire/be sold Ozil will be moved to the middle. That means we will have no backup LW( Walcott and OX at the right side,Sanchez at LW). My pick would be Memphis Depay. Young but showing class already.
On other positions we have good both starters and backup players,so in my opinion we ”need” 2 players.
Good point regarding Cazorla and a player that comes to mind for a future replacement and #10 is Juan Quintero from Porto (Ospina’s World Cup teammate)… Others are out there as well and I’ll leave that to the scouting department.
Totally agree I would get rid of Podolski,Wellington,ryo and get Memphis depay to replace them.
Why?
1. He is superior to all of them as a left winger
2. All of them would add to our 25 man wereas depay would be a youth like ox chambo on the right
3. Replacing 3 players in one go
4. World class potential
We need a DM as we only have one good one
We need another B2B midfielder as Wilshere is always injured and Ramsey needs cover.
Possibly another one that can play one of the positions across the front 3.
Our top XI is good enough to beat anyone. However, how often do we see our top XI play without anyone being injured? House of Rahman does have a point saying we need reinforcements in every position, but of course – he’s taking it a bit too long.
Keeper – covered, i’d say. Ospina is great, Szczesny a good #2.
RB – I believe we’ve just been unlucky with Debuchy’s two long term injuries, so going mental here is a bit too extreme, asking me. Besides, we have Jenx coming back too, if Bellerin and Chambers wasnt enough.
CD – I’d say it’s covered good as well. However, with Mertesacker tipping 30, his pace isn’t exactly increasing, and for how long can we rely on him as a half of our top CD-pair?
LB – Covered. Gibbs and Monreal are doing well, and theyre neither notoriously injured, nor getting old.
CM – I’d say covered, with Santi, Ramsey, Wilshere and Coq as our main men there, but injuries make the midfield our most insecure position.
Wings – Sanchez, Ox, Walcott, Campbell, and also Welbeck frequently being played on the wing – I dont see why we need more cover. Upgrades and replacements however…
CAM – Most of our offensive midfielders + Özil and Rosicky, covered in my eyes. Same as wings, upgrade/replacement.
Striker – Giroud and all the promising ones + Welbeck, covered – as long as Giroud is fit. I do not feel safe with Welbeck, Akpom and Sanogo as our only players to pick from if Giroud gets injured again.
Our squad is wide and rather good, but some players should go on a loan, others replaced due to age. All i wish for is to keep our players away from injury. If that can’t happen, then a striker (Dybala) or a midfielder (Schneiderlin/Pogba/Quintero) would be my opinion on who Arsenal should buy this summer.
We got Man U at Old Trafford…
Then we can kiss the cup goodbye, unless Preston wins tonight..
Come on Preston!
United was bailed out by De Gea in the first 30 minutes of the last match. If, and Im not living in hypotheticals Arsenal finished their chances against United in the early stages of the match they roll the Red Devils.
I hope we whip there ass in front of Fergie
They gotta get by Preston first NY.
COME ON PRESTON!!!
Man Utd away. Worst draw for us. Truth is if we cant beat them we dont even deserve the trophy though.
Our attack vs Man United’s defence? We should tear them apart. We dominated them at the Emirates, even despite losing. They didn’t have a single shot on target until the 80th minute. Plus this time we should have a proper defence to play. Obviously it’s far from certain, but we can definately win.
we couldn’t beat Moyes’ United last season. We just have a horrible record there and its time to shake it off. I am confident we are the better team, we simply have to prove it now.
@RSH
I hear ya. I don’t care who we come up against. They want the Cup, they have to take it from US…
United..
Preston next round lol, seriously it shouldn’t even matter. What a feeling if we could dispatch Man Utd at Old Trafford on the way to the finals…
LOL United next round damn. i wanted that to be the final.. this is gonna be tough
Phew a close one….glad avoided Bradford!
Those ball numbers… 8-2. Conspiracy! Haha
hahaa good one
Come on Preston
Yes wellbeck can play centre forward but is he any good at it?
Danny is a good player who can help the team the way he can help our team but he isn’t a natural CF who will bang in the goals. His touch is too heavy and control awkward plus he is not an instinctive finisher. We need quality here.
Let’s imagine the scenario; champions league final against Barcelona/Real Madrid (COYG) or similar quality and we (yes we) aren’t seeing much of the ball. We sit back and wNt to work the counter attack..we get our chance in the 75th minute and it could be the only real chance of the game for us to score.
Now, do you still choose DW to be Centre Forward?
Thing is I could say this about Theo but he even though he is not prolific has a much better chance of finding the net.
IMO
We need Schneiderlien and a top striker: lacazzete /Cavani/Dybala
Bare minimum.
But we can beat Man U, we use same tactics as vs City, Pool and Spurs. The only reason Spurs beat us was cause our passers never turned up, plus Alexis and Ox should be fit.
i think we can absolutely thrash man u and I’m not being cocky.
can’t believe kevin davies is still around
Ageless veteran, love 2 see Gabriel knock his ass out. Lol
I’d love to see him knock man u’s ass out of the cup then Gabriel lay him out!
Oh and now we play with the big boys eh!
Bring em on. Hopefully le prof and his students can get it right.
I think that if we can keep all the players we have RIGHT NOW for next season, we can become more competitive.
The serious problem we have (still need to be resolved), is the incessant battering with injuries.
Until something is done (Wenger seems to think there is a problem, but nobody is blamed or no solutions have been found so far) we will never, and I mean NEVER win the league again (well, at least with Wenger, that is just a fact) because we will always be without one or more of our best assets.
As for the squad, I won’t be sad if someone like Wilshere is sold and replaced by Dybala from Palermo (100 times better).
We can get £25millions for the local boy (that’s how expensive English players are even thought they are mostly average) and Liverpool seemed to be interested.
Also I won’t mind a proper defensive midfielder because Coquelin CANNOT play all the games and he will get injured (with our records, no doubt).
Oh yeah, make sure we keep Cazorla… I don’t like those rumours about At.Madrid…!!!
Wouldnt be traumatized in the least if Jack is sold and Ramsey replaced by a Sissoko type B2B player in the summer.
I agree replacing Cazorla would be a dreadful conodrum to deal with but demanding big money from AM for an aging, diminutive player could be just the ticket to keep him @ the Emitates.
Still like the additions of Lacazette, Kongogbia, and Czech in the summer
Are you serious? Replace Ramsey with Sissoko. Last year Ramsey was the best player in the league until his injury!
Im dead serious, and yes AR had a wonderful half a season last year but his incredible goal scoring output was ironically fools gold for his evolution of a player, especially @ Arsenal.
He needs to understand his ROLE within the team, not his personal ambition and selfishness to score goals. Countless times this year he has recklessly bombed forward and made the wrong decision, exposing Arteta, Flam and Le Coq to quick numbered counter attacks from the opposition. Be an engine, facilitate the ball and occasionally take your chances going forward. Until he accepts this, he should remain on the bench.
some fans are too reactionary when a player goes out of form. Cazorla had an average season too last year, and now he’s one of our best players once again. Ramsey proved he can be a top player. He doesn’t need replacing and we dont need another attack minded midfielder. Ox, Rosicky, Cazorla, Wilshere can all play box to box either way.
Sorry, just have never rated Ramsey even when in form. I think his magical goal scoring run last year has put the expectation level of his play far behind his actual ceiling as a player. Dont see him displacing Cazorla, Ozil, Le Coq, Rosicky, anytime soon
Honestly? Sissoko? Seriously? Ramsey is a funny looking fool’s gold. Sissoko is certainly the grass is greener.
Really fancy our chances against Man Utd’s best defense. All we have to do is “Show up”…
YES we do, one or two win’s and some people lose the run of themselves.
Preston should be an interesting match for us. I think we will go through.
Dat guy Welbz for the winner at Old Trafford…
PRESTON!!!
Preston 1-0 up… alrighty then. Lets go Preston, get it done
omfg please preston!!!!
Preston may not have deserved a goal, but United deserved to concede for how awful their attacking play has been. It’s criminally bad considering the likes of Rooney, Falcao and Di Maria are playing.
De Gea is soooooo good.
without de gea….utd wld hv been at the bottom.of the table….
Usually it’s an outfield player that carries a team, but a goalie to do it is the first for me to witness and what does that say about them. The stage is set Wenger and I heard the commentators mention Giggs’ wonder goal against us…
Utd equalise 🙁
But I reckon Utd are so bad we should
get a result there.
We never do. Wilshere missed a sitter from 5 yards last time and that was at home. We conceded on the +60th minute (own goal) and it was their first shot at target.
We are so bad against United no matter who we field, we end up loosing. Haven’t won them in 4 years and unfortunately I think our FA run ends next month.
Wenger has a habit of starting Wilshere against Utd, and he always plays badly against them. If wenger picks the right lineup we can win.
Come on preston get another goal!
I think uniteds first goal was offside, Rooney was obscuring the goalies view, that is interfering with an opponent.
Most definately offside and Rooney dived for the peno.
Ok to grind out results when you’re playing poorly but Utd doesn’t deserve a thing since Sir Alex left. Just my honest opinion…
If we want to compete for 1st then we need a Top striker.
City have Aguero, Bony, Jovetic
Chelsea have Costa, Remy
Giroud is good but he still hasn’t proven he can score in important times, against big clubs. He can’t create goals out of nothing. Welbeck squanders more chances and scores the odd goal. Akpom is still young.
Only difference between us and Chelski/City is WC striker.
Look at it this way
1. We have Sanchez/Ozil/Cazorla/Walcott. No WC striker
2. Chelsea has Hazard/Fabregas/Cuadrado (also Willian and Oscar) and Costa – amazing striker (backup Remy is as good Giroud)
3. City has Dzeko/Silva/Nasri/Navas and Aguero ( and also Bony and Jovetic who are not WC but at least equal or better than Giroud)
United are around us with Di Maria/Mata/Rooney/Herrera (RVP and Falcao haven’t performed well this season) However, with ;£750 million from Advertising, they will get WC striker in Summer.
Cavani, Martinez, Lacazette or Dybala will do.
I don’t understand How we can win PL without one and another DM.
totally agree these strikers guarantee goals….
they score goals for fun。。。。
I do not agree with your view on giroud’s ability to score important goals for this season.
Scored the second at everton for the draw
Scored the only goal against man u (it was at the last minute and we lost 1-2 but only played 13 minutes)
Scored the 1st and 3rd against newcastle
Scored an equilizer against liverpool
Scored the second against city(helped securing the result)
Scored the first against villa
And finally, scored both goals against middlesbrough.
And you can’t say his were tap ins anymore.
Lets give credits when credits are due.
If theo start scoring well aswell, then we should only consider buying if our players send on loan fail to impress.
I agree on most points, Remy for one is a better striker than Giroud, his movement is better and so is his finishing, he suffers from the fact that he is 2nd fiddle to a world class striker. The big area Chelsea beat us in is midfield. I love Le Coq as much as anyone BUT Matic is an absolute monster and having Fabregas beside him is the perfect midfield pairing. Cazorla has stepped his game up significantly but Fabregas edges him.
John Terry is a morally questionable individual but he’s probably the best CB in the league and that Zouma kid looks like he’s been playing for years beside him. For me we need a world class CF and a DM to have a comparable starting 11. One that consistently gets 20 EPL goals a season, then we’d have a chance
Grass is greener. Remy isn’t that good. Giroud is rightfully ahead of in the French squad.
Fair enough you might not like him but Remy hasn’t proved himself. Not in the world cup nor for Chelsea.
John terry isn’t the best but one of the best.
Chelsea might have beat us but it is their so so so great midfield which has been their weak link and Achilles heel for their losses this season.
defensively Matic and fabs are arguably one of the worst pairing in the leauge they are respectively 1st and 2nd in the leauge for the players that have been ran passed the most.chelsea ball winnings come from Willian and hazard who is arguably the most complete player in the prem
I get the point that city have three quality lead strikers. But not your point on Chelsea. They have one. Remy isn’t a lead striker. He is of the same category of a Walcott or Sanchez. A false winger. In case of injuries he plays lead but only when needs must.
As for arsenal we have giroud, welbeck as our main striker and if needs must Walcott and Sanchez who can play there.
In truth either we have four there but I’m sure will only accept the two and claim they aren’t good enough.
But I will counter that by saying that only aguero is world class and though he plays that lead role he isn’t a traditional number 9. So city have bony and misfiring jovetic as lead strikers and neither anywhere near WC.
Chelsea do have a WC number 9 in Costa but with him injuries or suspended they only have old man drogba.
Yeah so I agree that going for someone WC is a good idea. But not because Chelsea, city look soooooo great. Noooo, because going for quality is going for quality. It is reason enough. Not your false arguments. Or your grass is greener view point.
Exactly I think we lack a mercurial figure like aguero.
Giroud is similar in style to dzeko,bony,Costa
We should go for dybalya or Lacazette
For shame Rooney for shame… No contact whatsoever
Blatant dive. I just watch the vine of it. So Manchester win with an offside goal and a dive from Rooney resulting in a penalty. We can beat ManU away.
United look so ordinary (new long ball specialists). Even at old Trafford we should be beating them.
Bring them on!!!
Utd are awful and we beat City away.
I expect us to beat Utd and advance.
typical man united these days; play shit then win with a goal where Rooney is interfering with play, a second goal where Fellaini literally pushes the defender so that he can head the ball, and then a penalty where Rooney dives with absolutely no contact whatsoever shown in the replay.
Worst draw as well, not because I rate them but because we don’t have the benefit of the Emirates and Man U is our bogey team (lost 2 and drawn 1 in our last 3 despite having way more chances). Hoping we can actually score goals when we inevitable dominate them in terms of chances.
Gaya, Laporte or Varane, Schneiderlin. This might seem like a funny one but il like to see Draxler come with the intention of making him a dynamic forward, otherwise look at Dybala or enquire about Saurez.
Let Flamini, Mertisacker, Poldoski, Diaby go and loan Akpom, Jenkinson, Gnarby