The future of Walcott, the Ox, Per and the Arsenal deadwood?by KM
Good day to all of you bright people! As the title ended in spectacular fashion in the hands of Leicester, there is still something to play for in the league and tonight would be a really funny one if Man United managed an away win at West Ham on their final game at the Boleyn Ground.
I hope United outdo City in the race for fourh, because they have a terrible manager in LVG that seems ever more likely to be here next year, especially if he finishes fourth and wins the FA cup which by Arsenal standards is a successful season! Anyway the premier league is seeing a minor shift of power with West Ham’s and Tottenham’s rise, and of course the bomb of Leicester winning the title.
Next season Arsene will again have the advantage of experience. He’s got all the funds and as recent examples in Payet, Mahrez, Ali, Kante and Vardy show, there’s talent available at a good price. We can also free some good wages and as news reports there could be a 20 million offer for Walcott coming off of West Ham! I mean Theo is a nice guy, I suppose, but his contribution has never been that impactful.
Fabregas was a pivotal point of Arsenal’s team back in the day, so was Van Persie. If Theo is here or not is not something we’d cry over, but those 140k of wages could be well spent on fresh blood. The Ox is also someone who’s impact is highly questionable, but I feel like Arsene would give him one more season, after all it usually takes about 10 to realise a player won’t cut it (Hello Diaby).
Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky will be released hopefully and that’s more free wages. I’m hoping we’ll make at least 4 signings, 3 of which need to be ready made players. We need to ditch Per too in my opinion. Although he is Arsenal through and through, he’s kind of like the Arsenal. On his day he could do a job, but overall you really question if he’ll do a job over the course of the season and he is not exactly the kind of leader Arsenal need.
Speaking of which, who would you elect for our next captain when Arteta leaves? Per doesn’t play regularly so you’d obviously look to Koscielny. The curse of the armband might strike him too though, but in all fairness we really lack players with the demanding presence of Adams and Vieira. We need to buy character, but we are also immune to it, because it disrupts Arsene and his power.
One of our biggest weaknesses this season was the fact that we lacked a solid starting 11. We always had players out of confidence (or just short on quality overall) to sustain our push. We lacked killer instinct when it was needed and that needs to be addressed. Move out players who are in the balance and add solidity and consistent performances.
Bayern have already signed Sanches and Hummels! We need to act this window. Another slump like signing only Cech will be unforgivable. Just one game left! Then the painful wait will begin.
Konstantin