Is it time for Arsenal fans to start worrying?

With no real transfer rumours going on, should we be worried?‏ by KM

Good day to all of you fine Arsenal people out there enjoying your summer! So about the question of the title of this article there is only one answer and that’s yes. This window like every other is a huge one, but I’ll give you a few reasons why our transfer behaviour so far is so bad.

First of all, it’s the same as last year. We made one signing to cover a position in dire need of a fresh face, which made the start promising. Then we attempted to land a target whose release clause was relatively low for a decent player these days which failed and then all we heard was that another one of our potential targets is not going anywhere.

Another problem is the fact that competition doesn’t sleep. Chelsea landed Kante and the issue here is why Chelsea can afford a Leicester player and we can’t? United landed a few good names on their sheet. Will they work out? You cannot be too sure, but they needed enhancement and it has been made and they might still splash out some more.

The third major worry for me is everything around Arsenal is made about earning more money, not spending it. It’s a reality we all know is true. We do not base the future on the club on winning trophies, we do it on financial stability. We even come out and publicly declare it – our owner does, our CEO does and worst the manager does it too.

This brings to the final point – the boss. The telling says a manager does his job with the sack in his pocket all the time. It’s the nature of the business and it’s why managers are paid so well. At Arsenal there is a complete lack of responsibility at any level. Nobody is ever blamed, nobody takes the shame of bad results, but the fans of course. These fish that the Arsenal sharks manage to rip off so well each season with little deserved value in return.

But even if we skip the money argument, Arsenal could still improve the squad by getting rid of some deadwood and adding some better quality instead. It’s no longer just a shame that we will start the Season with Giroud and Walcott as our main strikers, it’s a comedy. Walcott lived 10 happy years off Arsenal, only coming good in rare moments while Giroud will never truly be a top striker, despite being Frances main choice.

There are a number of areas we can improve on, starting with our scouting system. Bayern took Renato Sanchez before the Euroes and the guy looks a beast. We bought.. Takuma Asano with all my respect, but this is just another stunt move to increase revenue from the far east. Remember Ryo Miyachi or Park anyone?

I would just pass by tactics, because after 10 years of doing the same mistake over and over again this will not improve without a new manager – period. But we could at least plug all the holes in the system and there are obvious holes in the starting 11. But this means that Arsene must get ruthless with players like Jack, Theo, Giroud and the Ox who just never lived up to their potential. And we gave them quite a few chances and quite a lot of money.

It hurts, because people often label me as the negative guy, but truth is there is obvious room for improvement on many fronts. And the fact we finished second behind Leicester doesn’t mean we’ve moved forward. We’re at best stuck in one place and there are too many examples to highlight this. We need some sort of a catalyst. We have to bomb out 60 million on Morata/Aubameyang/ Higuain and make a bold statement.

When was the last time you saw an Arsenal figure make a truly bold statement? It’s been a while…

Konstantin

24 Comments

  1. I’m already immune of these utter cr*p. Same old same old. Just waiting for Wenger to step down. And Gazidis and Kroenke can go to hell with him.

  2. Why chelsea can afford a leceister player and we can’t? we could, we paid his clause, he didn’t want to leave… end of!
    Bayern bought Renato Sanches? Stop just blatantly leaving things out!! we brought in Xhaka who they were supposedly in for who also played in the Euros!!! Why would you not compare midfield signings made at a similar time? that makes no sense!!!!
    Xhaka, Kante and Sanches are three completely different players. And I would argue heavily that players in the mould of Xhaka (physically imposing, leader, elite distribution) are more rare than the other two. While the other two are obviously quality they’re not a need for us currently.

    1. Stop lying Bayern Munich were never in for Xhaka Arsenal were the only club after him you trying to make seem as if we beat them to his signing,you forever defending Wenger yet you know full well this man will never change,there won’t be anymore major signings but just youngsters with potential will be added but who won’t make it at Arsenal eventually

      1. Absolute delusion if you think we were the only ones after Xhaka.. We may have got the deal wrapped up quickly and agreed the deal in principal as he was a long-term target. But he’s a midfielder of an extremely high caliber!
        I’m saving your comment… You’re going to get a very big I told you so later in the window..

    2. And why do you think the likes of Vardy and Kante didnt want to move to arsenal?
      could it be that there is a feeling throughout the footballing world that Arsenal have NO ambition any more and that almost everything is done on a shoestring budget despite being a club that has the cash reserves to be able to compete??
      Even a die hard AKB like yourself (who I distinctly remember arguing with me two summers ago stating that Walcott would come good and thats not hapend yet) can see that we are in dire need of some fresh blood to achieve what we have NOT achieved in twelve years and that is a major trophy.
      our competition are manning up, and have already loaded thier ranks, we, on the other hand are not appearing to be doing a thing and is as obvious as the nose on your face that Giroud and Walcott will NEVER be good enough.
      Wenger in??? Wenger Out ????? right now, who cares but Walcott out, and whoever is better in?? now that is a question that we all need answeering

      1. You have it all wrong. There should never be comparisions between Giroud and Aguero. They play two different positions.

      2. I’m not an AKB. I defend a lot of players who a lot of fans are harsh with but rarely Wenger.
        I 100% agree with you on fresh blood! I just don’t have my crystal ball out like some claiming Wenger is done when there’s 40+ days left in the window.
        (If it was two years ago wasn’t Theo on the back of a 22 goal season? :S)

      3. ozzy afc chelsea never went in for Vardy and we didn’t trigger Kante’s clause. If Chelsea had triggered Vardy’s clause they wouldn’t have got him either. If we didn’t sign Xhaka and triggered Kante I’m sure he would have come to us. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise. He moved to London to play for a team without champions league football. He didn’t choose Chelsea over us he chose Chelsea over Leicester.

  3. There is a very big fire on the mountain and no one seems to be on the run !! Pathetic Wenger.

  4. It is very hard to win the EPL and
    Arsenal decided by 2007 that
    it was too risky too expensive
    and too hard to win the EPL.
    Stan and Wenger decided in 2009
    that top four suited their needs best.
    For Stan top 4 provided the steady
    income to ensure a profitable business.
    For Wenger it meant he did not have to
    face the pressure of winning another Premiership
    since Mourinho traumatized him in ’05.
    Ferguson met and beat the Mourinho challenge
    whereas Wenger was so traumatized by Mourinho
    and did not rise to the challenge again.
    The arrival of City and the victory by a weak Leicester
    only affirms even more Arsenals reticence
    to mount a serious title challenge over the past decade.
    It’s the in the Arsenal DNA – “Did Not Attempt”

  5. This upcoming season is like high noon, and with the stakes so astronomical, ive no doubt that cooper amean wenger will do what’s necessary in the transfer window to equip the team for the title challenge.. I understand that some of us are anxious and feel left out by what is happening at some of our rivals, but trust me, as stubborn as he may be he’s no fool and is fully aware of what must be done. So am not worried about if quality signings will be made because I honestly think he’ll it’s just a matter of when they’ll arrive.

  6. Wenger needs to know that strikers bring goals and other depts can be substituted but not them. All players till now who been linked with the club want to leave but teams like Inter,Lyon,Napoli are small time clubs who are desperately in need of them. They are club of the past and their leagues are not that great but in order to attract players and investments they need them so therefore Wenger must at least make an official bid for one of them to give food for thought and Arsenal fans some sort of closure that the club showed desire and went for it.

  7. The indignity of having to watch Giroud lead the line for another season does indeed make me worry

  8. I am afraid all rumours linking AFC to Draxler, Lacazette or Higuain will remain just rumours.
    Just had a look at Asano’s videos on youtube. He seems fast and quite a good finisher. Somehow, a complementary profile to Giroud. Not sure, he is EPL quality material, but I think Wenger will be very reluctant to pay a stratospheric amount for big names.
    So, I think we will go this season with Giroud, Asano, Walcott, Welbeck (from April) and maybe Sanchez, as Center Forward options.
    I have mixed feelings about this: a bit disappointed not to see a big name coming, but somehow, a bit relieved as well: £75m (or even £42m + Giroud) for Higuain seems completely unreasonable to me.

    1. Do you think that Asano will get a work permit in time to see him in a Premier League game this season? I don’t think so.

  9. Unreasonable it may be but why would you care about what money the club spends as long as the results came after??
    Its your money granted but its also mine and ever other season ticket buying Arsenal fans.
    Why do you care? would you rather this money sit in The boards pocket and we never win anything ever again? what satifaction would that bring??

    1. I would have no problem seeing AFC spending £100m in an established top quality striker like Aguero, Benzema or Lewandowski. Higuain was second fiddle at Real Madrid and he plays for Napoli. With all due respect to this club, this is not CL material.
      Higuain might have scored 36 goals last year, he has been very inconsistent in the previous years and paying £75m for him would definitely not guarantee results. This is why this price looks clearly unreasonable to me.

  10. I despair. It’s the most frustrating situation. An unsackable manager who doesn’t want to spend any money. We’re stuck.

  11. Already know wat will happen at d end . same old story, no player in d market. And other clubs can find player to get. AFC shud jst forget abt league and stop dreaming of imporsible wit deadwood.

  12. The thing I find most frustrating is our apparent amateur behavior in the transfer market. We appear re-active instead of pro-active, opportunistic instead of single minded.

    One would expect that during the season and before the transfer market opens, the club would make a list of strikers they are interested in and prioritize them. This list should include the expected value range a target would go for and whether a player will be for sale or not. If you don’t want to pay more than 40 million for your striker you don’t put Higauin or Aubamayang on your list for example. If Kane is not for sale you don’t waste time on him.

    Then you systematically move through your list one after the other. Vardy turns you down, you move to your nr 2 target. etc. If you know your job and if your targets are within your budget range this process should not have to take as long as it seems to take at Arsenal.

    We seem to go after strikers that are either out of our price range, or not for sale, or not interested in coming to our club. That feels to me like poor preparation.

    For us it feels like: Ok let’s go for Vardy he has a low buyout clause. Oh shit Vardy is not interested. uuhhhh who do we go for now??? Morata? Ok let’s wait to see what Real will do? Oh shit they want to keep him and sign him to a new contract. Who then? Maybe Lacazette?? Oh no they ask sooo much for him, not worth it. Maybe Higauin? Yes he would be great. Oh no they want twice as much for him as Lacazette’s price tag. Who do we go for now? Shit we are running out options and Janssen has been bought by Spurs. Wait, wait there is this Milan guy Icardi. Should go for him? Well he is almost as expensive as Lacazette!!! Yes, but let’s at least talk to him. Great idea. We talked to him and he would love to play in the PL and for us. Super lets ask Milan for his price. Shit bad news, he is 50 million and that’s too much. Now what do we do??? Let’s wait till the last day of the transfer window and inquire about Lewendowski.

  13. @jansen, I like your anology. This is exactly the way I think arsenal manager and the conduct their business. I don’t why they 34 million for midfielder and not a striker. Are they blind to the fact that we need a striker better or costlier than Giroud? Or is it money pinching?

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