There is a lot of debate among Arsenal fans and plenty of speculation from the football media about whether it will even be the decision of Arsene Wenger about what Arsenal should do in the transfer market this summer, but I have a feeling that the Frenchman is going to want to and be allowed to have one more crack at winning the Premier League title.
And assuming the Gunners do not manager to pull off a minor miracle and claw back the 11 point deficit to Leicester over the next couple of months, there will be huge pressure on the boss to address thee reasons for yet another failure in a season when it all looked set for us.
Surely the first thing to address and probably the main reason why the Gunners have been going backwards since the turn of the year is our shocking form in front of goal. When the not exactly prolific Danny Welbeck returns from injury and everyone latches onto him as a potential saviour up front then you know you have striker issues.
So Wenger is going to have to make some big decisions and I really hope he does not bottle them and bring out the same old line about there being no better forwards available. Because a quick look at the EPL scoring charts on Squawka.com show that there are plenty of better options in England alone.
Giroud is 7th in that chart but if you look at the amount of chances the French striker has had he should be well clear at the top. And I feel that it is time to say goodbye to Theo Walcott who has always promised much and delivered little. The poor finishing has put Wenger under massive pressure this season so will he finally do something about it?
wenger has no one to blame but himself in terms of the striker issue, giroud is 13.3 goals per season in the epl over 4 yrs, its pure math, it never will be enough to win the league, one goal per 3 matches is not sufficient. bringing in a top striker is not easy, every team is looking for them of course, they are rare, you need forceful managers who can negotiate to get this done, wenger is cheap, and this alone makes it tough to close any deal vs other teams…
i hate wenger now. he’s taken arsenal and stuffed it.
his deludedness has led to inaction in transfer window which has directly led to our demise this season.
arsenal used to play beautiful football, even when not winning. now we dont play beautifully and we also dont win.
wenger’s greed, delusion have led him to stay past his due date and his legacy is tainted.
We’ll, we do need a world class striker, someone that is a proper center forward not make shift wingers. Wenger has made some poor choices in the paste because of his philosophy. I think he had too much faith in Walcott, he should of stayed a winger and not tried to be a striker. It’s to late for him now, he’ll be better as an impact sub. Giroud is quality, he sometimes doesn’t suit our style. We need more from Sanchez to finish with a flurry this season. There’s a lot that needs to be worked on before the next season, defense being a priority.
Wenger will always do too little too late. He reckons the Barca front 3 are the best he’s ever seen but if he knows so much how come he couldn’t see that we clearly needed a top striker last summer. What we got was the usual drivel about how we were strong enough with what we had. Anyone with a brain knew that was rubbish so why do you expect anything different from him this summer.
True @Nickw.
Imagine if we signed Suarez when we bid for him. We would have been saying our strike force was Sanchez, Özil and Suarez (SOS).
Now, all our manager can do is talk about other teams’ strike force, and compare them to art.
I have to agree nickw. Him saying that these are the best front three he’s ever seen means nothing coming from a man who said our strike force was good enough to win everything they competed for. He actually thought our strikers could be comparable to Barcas or Bayerns. Not even outdoing Leicester or tott nor Watford, this doesn’t wash.
I think we need more than just a striker. We have people all over the team who are just not doing enough and are taking their places for granted.
I am never a person who prefers wholesale changes but given the ineptitude of some players and contractual situation of others, we have to bite the bullet. The changes may not win us anything but we will at least start in the right direction.
1- Striker: Get Aubemeyang. Period- whatever it takes.
2- Winger: Sell Walcott and Ox. Bid for Payet. That way we have creativity and intelligence across the front 3. If not we still have Iwobi, Sanchez, Welbeck , Ramsey and Campbell who can play there. This position is not a concern for me.
3. Midfield: Wilshere, Arteta and flamini need to Go. Spend big on Kante. No brainer. Retain Ramsey. Give him one last chance.
No point spending on Kroos. We have Santi at least for 1 more year and if necessary Payet can play the role of deep lying playmaker
4. Fullbacks: Let Debuchy leave- get Jenkinson back. He can also play CB worst case.
6. Defense: Mert has to go period. May be Chambers too. Gabriel looks error prone. Give him a regular go. We need atleast 1 world class centerback- Not sure who- Varane may be?
7. Lastly Arsene has to go. if we plan to change the spine the coach has to go. He is great- no doubt but him and Arsenal are just not working now. Who replaces him is a major issue- don’t see a single worthy candidate. Ronald Koeman may be! best amongst the worst
its easy to name drop but how difficult will it be for us to prize these players away?
payet is amazing and he is in his prime. he is somewhere between sant and ozil west ham are in a good position financially and are looking to build a team capable of challenging top four will they let go of payet, for a team that they intend to catch up to? and for how much? is he worth it at the age of 28. they would want north of 30m. isco / james Rodriguez or rhiyad marhez would be my targets for that type of money.
I Hope he learned his lesson for being stubborn!
Judging by the last results is not only a striker. We need defence rehaul.
We need Arsene to leave. He will not address the issues once again.
Question, how come the majority of the players we have signed over the last few years have become duds?Its a bloody big list.To many for my liking.
I’m sure that’s the last thing on Wenger’s mind, right now!
He is probably working on his “We were tired and jaded” excuses for Saturday’s early kick off! ??
the whole attack needs revamping sell yaya, wellington n theo loan akpom/gnabry/
2 world class attackers are needed
st ibrahimovic? higuin? aubemyang?
fwd ribery mahrez or payet
What is really irritating about Mr Walcott is that he can do it, there is no doubt about that, as demonstrated when it is contract renewal time. I also remember the blistering run of form he was going through, before he was injured at the Spuds.
The question is why doesn’t he do it all the time and why does he go hiding? We all know that he can do it, and if we sell him to a rival club, he will probably do it against us, that is the worrying thing…..
I have suggested this many times now and to me it’s the only thing that makes sense … Walcott is saving himself for England in the Euro’s!
He has missed all the international tournaments, due to injuries, in the past and he obviously wants to be fit and available for this one!
@ Fatboygooney
Maybe, but on his current form, he won’t be picked anyway…
Fatboy well if England does pick Walcot based on his performances at the moment its the reason you guys don’t win anything.
The managers picks players based on their names or the teams they play for. I can bet if Jack was to miraculously recover right now he would also be picked.
England manager please teach our underperforming English players by living them out, feel free to pick Welbeck, his the only one that might come in handy not Theo, Ox, Jack, Chambers, or Gibbs
The guy is a one trick pony ..or to mix animal metaphors once a whippet always a whippet…..called for getting rid of him 3 years ago instead wenger helped orchestrate a 140 grand a week pay rise … Walcott symbolizes the haplessness of arsenal fc under current regime …. Just as sad most fans went along with this nonsense
In a word, NO, AW will NOT sign a striker, he ‘as enough quality in the team already, and Welbeck is like a new signing…blah blah blah…
So no, no striker.
Not
Ever.
Tut..
If Wenger continues clinging on to his failed philosophy, then no we won’t get one. He will say that we have plenty: giroud, Walcott, alexis, welbeck, Campbell, Oxlade, iwobi. He considers them ALL to be top quality in his mind. But I only see one WC and few decent players.
Well he has too there’s no way around it…when you mesmerize about the opposition ability to finish it means you understand that a certain level of quality & consistency is needed to finish up plays & bury occasions (that we do create in numbers better than anybody in the kingdom). Also add to that the fact that you keep saying that our finishing was poor/lack in the last 3rd: ITS OBVIOUS. The problem is that it never translates to concrete actions to buy and resolve the issue from outside. Instead blind trust is given to players who don’t give it back, either because they simply can’t and are doing there best right now with there abilities or that do things in training they’re unable to reproduce in games that matters.
I may sound repetitive here but Walcott is nowhere good enough. Apart from speed, there’s no drilling skills, no great runs, no movements off the ball, no great passing & ultimately no finish.
I’m Wenger I try to move him for 20M pound as long as I can get rid of that contract. Giroud is not a world class player but a squad player he is & can do damage in that role. He provides an interesting tactical option. Good hold-up play, strong, 1-2 touches & can finish when on form but too wasteful & liable to a drought when we need him the most.
Welbeck best of both world add that finishing touch and he has it all not only for him to get to another level but for Arsenal too (get Henry your best scorer ever to train the guy). Speed, IQ, strength, dribbling skills, work rate, team player.Having said all of that a striker is needed. Of course like anyone the 1st choice would be Aubameyang, but can we really pull it off, probably too much money asked (but we have arguments).
But more reasonable options are available: Morata, Michy, Icardi (but don’t know with his character) & Lukaku (18G & 6A = 24 direct contributions in EPL alone). Lukaku would be hard to get as he is from a rival EPL team but doable if done right unlike the Suarez bid.
If Arsenal & Wenger are really intent of competing at a higher level they would limit themselves to that list as it realistic and doable if things are done right. Which means a willingness to pay what they’re worth & getting rid of Walcott would allow the club to offer as much to an incoming player: any of them above would be willing to talk for that amount of money & feel valued. For 30-40M pound I believe one of them would be ours for next season.
I am not sure Lukaku will cut it at Arsenal. Agreed he is better than Walcott but not the one we are crying for right now. May be a backup option more than a preferred choice. When teams play deep, Lukaku probably will be found wanting ! The italian strikers- I am not sure except for Morata- again he is less of a goal scorer and more of a second striker kind of player. We need a 30+ goal striker.For once we need to get into a bidding war and get Aubemeyang (but like we all know it is highly unlikely)
More and more ex -Arsenal players are calling for wenger to step -aside!
P.Merson
C.Nicolas
E.Petit
I.Wright
A.Smith
No doubt that this list will keep on growing,
if the results don’t start to improve. … Starting with Everton.
For me, we have acute problems not just in finishing, but in midfield and defense as well. So reinforcement is needed in all 3 departments. While its true that in our last match our defense faced the MSN trio which also happens to be arguably the best 3 players in the world right now (I’m sure Ron won’t agree..:) ), the ease of which they penetrated our soft centre once they step up a gear is of great concern to me and I think we need to add a top class starting centre back and DM, as well as another quality HM next season…. That is, if we want to continue to dream of competing with the likes of Barca.
I’ve seen Aymeric Laporte, Jose Maria Gimenez being mentioned here as possible options at center back but if I’m not mistaken they are both left sided CB whereas what we need is someone to displace Mert as starter. I don’t have any player in mind right now but what I think we need is a player that can be a real leader in defense in Adams, Terry, Kompany, Aldereiwald’s mould. Kos is a not really a leader on the pitch and not really dominant in the air and I believe he need a strong partner to complement him in this aspect in order to be effective. We need to have a strong starting centre back pairing because normally, the foundation of a winning team is defense (unless you have the MSN trio upfront of course). RB, LB with Jenko coming back, I think we are solid in terms of quality and quantity. Slight concerns if Bellerin and Monreal were to have a long term injury layoff but I think there is no point of having two top class fullbacks in one position if only one is going to play most of the time. Debuchy was top class when he first arrived, but his form has tailed off since as he hardly got a look in after Bellerin emerged.
In the middle, for me Coq has been disappointing this season and for this reason, if we can get N’Golo Kante, good for us, but I would still like AFC to add someone in the Gilberto Silva/Viera mould in the middle…AFC scouts might want to take a look at A Rabiot, W. Carvalho, L Bender, S. Khedira in this regard because I don’t watch other Leagues often enough to judge on their actual quality or suitability.
I also like to see AFC add a holding midfielder/creative passer cum defensive midfielder in the Cazorla mould. A Rabiot is again a player that comes to my mind in this regard because of his age, size and the quality of his passing and if we can’t get him or someone better, El Neny perhaps can also do a job there. With another HM in, from time to time next season Cazorla can relieve Ozil as our primary source of creativity because Ozil has been playing way too much this season for my liking, and the only alternative in this position right there now is Wilshere, who has yet to play a whole season since he suffered that first serious injury. Our attacking play seems to lack real creativity whenever Ozil is not playing and I dread the tot of what will happen to AFC if he were to miss a large chunk of games through injury next season. (With our poor injury record, you can’t really discount this from happening)…
In the striking department, I would like to suggest maybe we should take a good look at Aubemeyang, Zlatan, Morata (not in any particular order). Again, I am suggesting here based on reputations and the few highlight reels I saw of them this season ( as AFC don’t pay me to be their scout..LOL) so its up to those who got paid handsomely at AFC to get it right next season.
I genuinely believe that these are the minimum four reinforcements that AFC need to bring in, in the summer, regardless of what will happen this season. With Pep at MC, Klopp at Liverpool, Spuds, Leicester, Chelsea, MU and perhaps West Ham, Everton challenging…We need to add at least these 4 reinforcements just to obtain a top 4 position, not to mention challenging for the PL title or Europe elite clubs.
Who should be retired/shipped/loaned out? With apologies Arteta, Rosicky, Flamini, loan out Chamberlain, if necessary Chambers as well so they can gain some real playing time. I would keep Ramsey, for me he still young, can contribute both in defense and offense…and I still pine for the Ramsey that I saw 2 seasons ago…Walcott and Wilshere, give them another year……Walcott is having his worst season in reason times, and Wilshere is in danger of turning into another Diaby, but I would give them another year. We after all need them to field a strong team in the FA and that other Cup that MC won this year..:)
I`m just as tired of trying to make comments on the Just Arsenal web site (which is not working) as I am of listening to all the crap that Wenger comes out with. You`ve had all your chances Arsene and you`ve done a fine job of milking the cow, and you`ll be there until your contract ends, that`s when I`ll renew my contract with Foxtel (providing you take the Yank with you).
The fact that we are here having this discussion when the season is yet to be over reflect the state of mind of many AFC supporters at the moment:). Largely because of our unconvincing display this year so far, I too have mostly given up, but still cling on to that small hope that our team would suddenly click and go on to win all our games this season COYG:) For the remainder of this season, if the current retched form especially upfront continues, I fear that every match from this point forward could be a struggle for us. However since we still have a very SLIM SLIM SLIM chance of winning the title….based on current form and ability I would like to see AFC experiment on this line up after the international break.
Cech
Bellerin Mert Kos Monreal
Cazorla, Neny
Ozil
Campbell Welbeck Sanchez
I said experiment because I am not sure how their chemistry would work out on the pitch as we do not see them everyday in training…for example I am not sure if Neny can play the defensive role as effectively as Coq, but since Coq is not performing at the level we usually expect of him anyway, I would pun for Neny there for now…Based on what I have seen so far, I would say Neny defensive game would be based on covering and interceptions rather than going in strongly for tackles like Coq but the plus is he runs and covers more ground than Flamini, and his movement and ball distribution is definitely better than both Flamini and Coq. Another + is he can shoot and scores…(something like 1 out of 6/8 times)..LOL.
Upfront, Campbell seems to perform and work well with Giroud, but I have not seen him play that much with Welbeck…or for that matter Cazorla. However Welbeck is the only striker posing any threat at the moment, and fully deserves a starting spot. If the above combination does not work out maybe Iwobi should be given the chance to start ahead of Campbell. For me Sanchez and Ozil, they still perform good enough to start over other players even if both are now somewhat off their best.
At the back Gab in my opinion has not perform well enough to earn a start in place of Mert…Everyone knows the issue with Mert but for me our backline always seems to look more solid with him partnering Kos.
wenger leave, please just leave already :'(
The Arsenal team that started against Barca and got knocked out last Wednesday night from the Ucl was a very good team but not good enough as they lacked adequate finishing to enabled them beat Barca and possibly knock them out.
Finishing in front of goal has suddenly deserted Arsenal in their recent games as Sanchez and Walcott scoring forms have deserted them greatly. And the Gunners midfielders and defenders have not been abled to come to the rescue of their forwards whenever they have miss fired in front of goal like they helped last season. Hence, Arsenal Premier League points haulaige have become incredibly short this season.
What is the way forward? The Boss has to take the bull by the horns by 1st, recognise the imbalance in the Arsenal goal scoring capacity and urgently addressed it before the start of next season. Every Gunner on the field of play in any Arsenal game MUST have the capacity to score. And 2, the Boss has to recognise the fact too that the Walcott at Arsenal this season is not the same Walcott we had before the ACL he had that sidelined him for a year. Can he regain his once prolific goals scoring form again? I wouldn’t know since I am not a soccer god.
Sanchez should recover his goals scoring form again at least in next season campaign. And Olivier Giroud is still an asset to Arsenal forward line. But he has to improve on his lack of goals scoring consistency and becomes consistent. Flamini should be kept at Arsenal for another season. He is still good as he has a good partnership with Elneny. While Coquelin is more compatible with Cazorla. These good partnerships are important at Arsenal midfield. Ramsey & Iwobi should be senior & junior cover for Ozil as playmakers. And Welbeck and Giroud should be leading the line in addition to 1 good new striker signing if Boss will not promote willock to that role. Wilshere, Campbell and the Ox can be manning the mid-left wing in alternate. But Sanchez needs a top cover signing. All our defenders should remain. But a new top CB is desired. And our present 3 goalees of Cech, Ospina and Macey should be retained while the rest remain on loan for another year. Jenkinson should be assessed in the pre-season, if he makes the grade, it’s okay. If not, the Boss should sign a top cover for Bellerin on brings back Debuchy.
With these, I think Arsenal will be done for the 1st half of next season campaign.