I am currently one of the few Arsenal fans, possibly the only one, that is still sitting on the fence and has not joined up with either the AKB or the WOB groups. I was a little disappointed and surprised to see that the Frenchman did not spend anything in the transfer window after signing Petr Cech but I can also see his reasons and am not too impressed with the players our Premier League rivals have signed.
I have to admire Wenger’s courage though, because this decision has left him without a leg to stand on if things should go wrong this season and he is really putting his legacy on the line. He would only have himself to blame if it goes wrong, because he could easily have signed a player or two, even if he did not think they would add much to the team or even get on the pitch a lot.
So if the players get back from the international break and the team still looks a bit disjointed and does not click into the fluent type of football we know they can produce, Wenger will get the blame and he will not have anyone else to blame. Brendan Rodgers or Louis van Gaal can say ‘look we spent the money but it will take time for these new players to gel’.
If the old injury curse comes back to haunt us and any or a few of the likes of Alexis, Giroud, Ozil, Cazorla, Koscielny or Cech have to miss a decent portion of the season, Wenger cannot bemoan his luck because the fans and the football media will say, quite rightly, that he should have planned for it and signed some players.
Having said that, look at Chelsea last season. They could have come seriously u8nstuck if they had lost Costa earlier in the season, or Matic, Terry, Ivanovic, Fabregas or many more, at any point of the campaign. Sometimes you need a little luck and Arsenal are certainly due a bit. But if we don’t get it, Wenger will get the blame and he has no excuses.
The end of this season will see him labeled as either a genius with great foresight or a muppet who is stubborn and stuck in the past. Which will it be?
We don’t need to wait until the end of the season. This is now season 4 with only one recognised central striker. It hasn’t worked any of the 3 previous years and we have seen that when Giroud has an injury/hits a period of no scoring that there is actually no real options.
‘Recognized striker.’
You know Theo scored 4 goals in the last two games he played there last season?? He’s had 118 minutes this season without scoring. Costa, Kane and Rooney are still yet to open their accounts playing for, in some cases, three times as long. Great ‘recognized striker’s’ they’ve been so far.
Welbz and Theo are actually really good back up/rotation options when you compare with the rest of the league. Martial, Falcao, Sturridge (for 3-4 weeks a season) and Remy? Yea.. No thanks..
Bony’s another story though, I will happily admit.
Both Welbz and Theo are also massive counter-attacking threats off the bench late in games as well.
What decent strikers could we have signed though? No big strikers were signed this window because they weren’t available. Man U had to spend 30 mil on a BACKUP for crying out loud! What does that tell you about the options available?
We have had 1 striker for the 4th year running!!!! I’m sure he could have found someone by now.
MUFC pathetically missed out on Pedro.
Personally I believe for the right sum, every player is available.
i expect Arsenal will face either PSG or Madrid in CL-16.
the outcome will prove if wenger is right or wrong.
Jackson Martinez,Mario Manzukic, Benteke……just to mention a few who were available all through the summer we could have signed..i cannot think of any of them refusing to move at the right price to a club based in London,a club constantly in the Cl, with a fine reputation for playing good football….unless you like Wenger believes these players are not as good as Giroud,Walcott,Welbeck etc…..in which case I give up!!!!
If Theo was a recognised striker then Wenger wouldn’t have spent all summer flirting with Benzema.
The same way he wouldn’t have tried to sign Higuain and the same way he wouldn’t have tried to sign Demba Ba on loan.
At best Theo is an option for use sometimes. If you think he is a recognised striker then you are dreaming. Even Wenger doesn’t believe that.
Call me crazy… But the fact that we as a club just went into contract negotiations with him to make him one of the highest earners at the club makes me believe he has higher aspirations for him than an ‘option for use sometimes.’
Also another maybe crazy conclusion of mine… The fact that he started Theo at striker vs Chelsea and Newcastle so far this season seems to lead me otherwise.
There is also direct quotes of his…. But what do they mean anyway?
“It’s not too late for him. I think his position will be as a striker. I have worked with him in both situations, as a striker and as a wide player,” said Wenger.
“The quality of his runs is so fantastic with the pace he has, and he is a good finisher now.
“When he was younger, he rushed in front of goal but he has improved now.
“He can be transformed. He is naturally gifted and can play in this position. Olivier Giroud has different qualities: he can head a ball and he plays with his back to goal. Theo is a runner who is capable of going in behind.”
I’d be happy to be proved wrong however Theo has a very poor injury record, if he is a striker than he hasn’t been replaced in the wide area and he has big issues in general as of now on the lone striker role
And u have concrete evidence that wenger “flirted” with benzema? Or are u just going by what the media circus has claimed?
What you need to do is compare arsenals 32 man squad with man utd 26 man squad, with Chelseas 23 man squad and man city’s 21 man squad, because that is all they have been able to name in the champions league. You will then see why certain clubs had to buy players. Man utd have rooney as their only recognised striker, man City have aguero sterling and bony, Chelsea have Costa, the non scoring Falcao (who people on her wanted wenger to spend £60m on last summer) and remy. We have giroud Welbeck Walcott campbell and the free scoring alexis. Now look I am as gutted as anyone that we didn’t buy a world class striker, But many people on here need to look on the uefa.com website and then actually compare the squads like for like. For example look at man city’s goalkeepers, Hart and cabellero, I would say cech and ospina is better, at right back they have sagna (Debuchy deputy for France) and zabaleta, we have Debuchy, bellerin. I also prefer Monreal and gibbs to clichy and kolarov. Their midfield looks strong with 8 players, the likes of fernandinho, Fernando and toure, plus the likes of Delph, nasri, silva, navas and De bruyne but then we have 7 coquelin, cazorla, wilshire, Ramsey, ozil, chamberlain, rosicky, we also have the likes of arteta, flamini, kamara and reine-adelaide as back whereas they don’t have back up.
If u was to take 11 players out of arsenals 32 man squad and compare it with man city’s 21 man squad it is not so bad, then give man city 5 injuries and suspensions, they will be lining up with just 16 players, arsenal would simply call on the rest of their 32 man squad. Man City cannot do that.
Falcao is not non scoring.
He has scored one more than Theo, Giroud or Walcott!
That’s as far as I got with your post.
Theo scored the same as Falcao’s season total in 2 games last season… 😉
And Giroud and Falcao are level.
Yeh, forgot Giroud.
Question is, can walcotts phenomenal run compared to Falcao’s continue!? I mean it’s hardly been long has it.
Still, hope theo proves Wenger right for his sake.
I like theo, but against teams that sit back (and quite a lot of teams will do that this season) he can be largely ineffective. Giroud, will bag 20 + and Danny will try hard no doubt:) but if Alexis doesn’t follow his first season (again quite possible) with one similar we could be struggling to score (as has been evident early doors).
Ozil needs to become a complete CAM/No.10 and score. Aaron always puts in some numbers and if played in his preferred role he would no doubt score a bag more.
Hopefully Santi, finds his touch and shooting boots and ox when played also has to contribute more in terms of goals.
They all have to..
I personally think we could come up short..
Haha how could you forget a goal with such a finish 😉 just a regular old tap-in for the G-train.
Personally, I think a lot of fans are forgetting that Theo spent the better part of a year on the sidelines. I think he should be given an extended run on the right firstly. A bit of time with the ball at his feet, more space, dealing with a fullback instead of two CB’s should help him adjust back to regular football. He was never shy of getting into scoring positions out there and seems to link well with Giroud. Then, if he can start converting chances on a regular basis, confidently with composure, give him a run in the centre. Just my thoughts.
Chelsea’s squad’s even thinner still. People bemoan our supposed midfield lack of depth. But who do they have past Matic and Fab? Ramires and then….
Also our first-choice striker doesn’t have dodgy hammy’s, oh and he’s actually scored this season! Hate Costa… With a passion. Have zero respect for players who cheat or intentionally try to hurt players behind the play. Absolute scum.
So u counting Rosicky part of Arsenal Midfielder??Someone that has never been injury free even without playing ball….Tell me which of the Matches he played that made him to be injured since . Your type are the reason why Wenger is taking Arsenal Fans for a Ride ………Name any of this Arsenal players that will go 10 matches injury free among this names…..Wishere, Ramsey, Chamberlin and Walcort???
And how do you know that? Are you Wengers’ butler?
Simple – Higuain, Suarez and Demba Ba are all confirmed as having Wenger enquired.
You can’t have it both ways. If Giroud, as the one and only striker, is good enough then his own manager disagrees with you.
Giroud is fine but Wenger keeps on not signing strikers for 2 + years.
I thought you meant Cavani and Benzema not Higuain, Suarez and Demba Ba two seasons ago.
Wenger has always had the habit of reinforcing positions where we already have very good players and leaving the holes to the players already there/or filling in positions where people left (not always WC). Last few transfer windows are an example of that.
Last year we bought Debuchy to replace Sagna, Ospina for Fabianski, Chambers for TV, Welbeck for Sanogo & Sanchez as the only big signing when we already had Theo,Ox,Poldi (all very good at the time).
The year before, Ozil when we already had Cazorla and Rosicky (very good at the time).
Now basically we have to hope that OG, Theo and Coquelin should have very very good seasons so that Wenger feels now he can add players to that department.
“Wenger Left with no excuses if Arsenal hit problems” …………. LooooooooL…….really?…….. Yea u might be correct………… But not when there are a certain cult at Arsenal who make the excuses for Him!
I agree with this article. The result will be either of the two. I think this will be the last chance for wenger to shine or fad up. What a rigid idea and philosophy it is.
Hahaha excellent article. I just posted a comment in the previous oe and it’s very similar to this.
As per the final question. …for the sake of the club that I love I hope he pulls it off and we win.
I wouldn’t mind just saying one thing quickly.
I’m seeing a trend in insults other teams fans throw our way being used by our own fans with referencing our club. For me, it’s really sad to see this early in the season.
Terms like ‘specialist in failure’ that Mourinho used to have a really big dig at our manager and ‘4th place trophy’ has become relevant to just about every thread.
The only english club that had a more successful season than us last season was Chelsea, and the season before that City. Premier league, should always be, and is the top priority. However we did secure two consecutive F.A. Cups while qualifying for the CL yet again. (ask liverpool and tottenham fans what they’d trade to have champions league football to look forward to this season… or the F.A. cup last season)
The expectation this season is the league. No question, no doubts. But I really don’t understand why fans are acting as though it’s over before it’s even began. Having faith in the team seems to be almost like a dirty word to some, and the feeling that we can compete in the league is treated negatively. Any form of belief now the window is over is passed off as a ‘lack of ambition’ or ‘if you’re content with this squad, you’re content with 4th.’ Which is simply not true.
Could it have improved? Almost definitely!! But we’re still strong… Fans single out 1 or 2 positions they feel aren’t good enough but neglect the other 9-10 positions we have absolute quality.. Let’s get behind the team! 🙂
Well said, but one thing you forget is that the couple of positions you mention have been an issue for a while now and Wenger has not addressed them in a manner that befits a club with ambition. Bring in two top players in this window and we are gunning for the top spot. How many transfer windows do we have to wait to see a CF and a DM in this club?
When we are so close to completing a puzzle and season after season we fail to do it, well it pisses a lot of us off.
Yes, we are a good team, but we are not good enough to win it all, and about 70-80 million well spent could have gotten us there.
That is not a lot of money for an ambitious club, he’ll it is something we can afford to do.
Why wait? Why try to prove every pundit wrong? Why not buy and maybe overpay but become competitive now this season?
Next window, others will buy again, this is a race, and we can’t win if we don’t play.
We have the most defensively productive DM in the league!!! Really don’t know what team you’ve been watching mate. He’s also completely bailed us out of dangerous moments in multiple occasions. Without him and Cech we would have been 3-4 goals down at half-time vs Liverpool. People were moaning for a player to ‘shield the back-4’ for years and years…
We have one now who does exactly that, now fans seem to expect him to be Pirlo as well!!
We have a striker.. He scored 19 goals last season despite being injured for 3 1/2 months. Sorry, but how, how, how do people keep neglecting this. He isn’t world-class, but can easily do a job there when on form.
Our midfield’s phenomenal, we have the best supporting forward in the league, there is absolutely the quality in the squad to challenge. But our forwards need to find form soon.
I love le Coq (not in that way). He does what a good straightforward no nonsense should do. Nick the ball and distribute simply and defend the back line like hell for leather.
The thing is, he can’t do it alone all season and as a consequence our effectiveness as a defensive unit will diminish should arteta/flaming come in for any stretch of time (like last year).
Oh well, fingers crossed eh!
I’m definitely going to get thumbed down…
But I think Arteta and Ramsey actually compliment each other pretty well when playing together in the deeper two. There’s the big sacrifice of Cazorla not pulling the strings but against the weaker sides, but Ramsey’s a lot better defensively than a lot of fans give him credit for. It’s definitely an option.
Far better than Chelsea’s second choice after Matic in Ramires IMO.
same story over again….
Fans are just deluded…
how many more excuses they would like to hear from Wenger??
Depends how many games he intends on losing.. If he can get this squad on a run there’s no need for excuses now is there?
Far out… I’m already soooooooo excited for the Chelsea game! The chance to put them at three losses at the bridge just six games into the season when they only lost two last season!! Ohhhh it’ll be absolutely priceless!!!
impossible…injuries are bound to kick in….
every approx 5 or 6 games consecutive wins there wiill be 1 bad day at the office….
in addition we cant even score….
A few stats….
Ozil’s created 12 chances in 3 games!
Cazorla’s 16 from 4 games from a deeper position!
Even Ramsey’s getting involved with a casual 12 chances created….
Coquelin’s won more tackles than anyone else in the league. Multiple tackles, bailing us out when the opponent were through on goal.
Our midfield has been brilliant so far. And first game aside, and an abysmal display from our 4th choice CB our D’s not looking to shabby either.
Our scoring is an issue.. No debate there Hafiz, and the tempo in our play needs to lift. But if we start taking a few more of the plethora of chances that are being created while remaining defensively, a big bunch of prudes. I have high hopes.
Don’t forget the chambers first half appearance against Liverpool was his first start at centre back in months, he was caught out by the pace, but still Liverpool could not score, even with a shiny new £32.5m guaranteed 30 goals and title winning striker up front.
In the 2nd half chambers settled down, and again contained Liverpool. Sure the 20 year old was helped out by his keeper and fellow centre back, but isn’t that what a team is supposed to do?
We have played 5 games of note this season our record wins P4 W2 D1 L1 F3 A3 PTS 7 oh and we beat last year’s champions to win the first trophy of the season.
Our terrible little squad, has more players on international duty at the moment than any other team and that is with welbeck, wilshire and rosicky all injured whilst mertesacker is retired. Just ask yourself why are arsenal sending more players on international duty than other clubs?
Spending money does not guarantee success, just ask Liverpool and spurs they spend in abundance. Even when Liverpool were successful, it wasn’t through spending money, it was through having a settled squad of players, same as United when they were successful, they had a core of settled players then added one or two big signings a season. Arsenal have improved their starting x1 and bench by signing just 1 keeper. If we go at it with our best 18 as often as possible, cech, bellerin, Gabriel, koscielny, Monreal, coquelin, cazorla, chamberlain, ozil, alexis, Walcott, ospina, Debuchy, mertesacker, wilshire, Ramsey, Welbeck, giroud, then use the likes of Macey, gibbs, chambers, arteta, flamini, rosicky and campbell to cover injury and suspensions only then we will not fare too badly. Our best 18 stacks up against any of the other “big 4” and when you then look at their next best 7 they are not so different. In fact you go beyond 21 players and you will struggle to name the rest of their squads. Our best 21 are all current internationals bar Monreal and coquelin, who will both get a call up this season and mertesacker who has over 100 caps to his name.
What people don’t seem to take into account is that incoming players would definitely be taking into account their first-team opportunities as well.
Fans say ‘hey this guy can be back-up and provide competition with Coquelin.’ Yeah cool, why would they come here when there are plenty of top teams out there who can guarantee them a spot in the first team?
Giroud scored 14 goals in 21 starts in the PL. Shopping in the world-class bracket is obviously a different story, as Giroud isn’t in that league, but still. Many, many great strikers have failed in this league. Competing with Giroud at a new club, new league may not be as big of a walk in the park as some fans seem to think..
Not only that. We also have Wilshere and Ramsey with undetermined positions in midfield (And Wenger’s undying love haha). Ramsey’s absolutely crazy work-rate and Wilshere’s vision and versatility would’ve definitely entered my mind if I was looking to join Arsenal.
I must admit that i first became an arsenal fan during the invicible 2004 season not knowing it was the last shot of its kind for more than a decade..i doubt whether arsenal will attract a new generation of fans while teams like shitty and chelshit are dominating the play,plus who needs stress anyway by choosing to be a gunner?we are an injury away from a disaster just as always…maybe luck wld be our best signing besides our owngoal top scorer!!!
Sir Alex faced and beat the
arrival of Chelsea and City.
Wenger found the pressure
to much so he the players
the Owner + the fans settled for 4th.
The owner is only interested in profit,
the board do what they’re told and Gazidis
maintains winning the EPL is not important.
Most Arsenal fans insists 4th place = 1st place.
Wenger has lived off the invincibles for 11 years
spending wildly on weird transfers most of whom
ended up on his huge dead wood pile.
The 8-2 jolted him. Since then he has begun to change buying
older more proven players and using more planned tactics.
Only buying Cech is probably Asene’s best window because even
Wenger acknowledges he is weak in transfer business.
However he still allows injuries to govern his team selection.
If Wenger wins the EPL he should finish his last season.
If he does not win the EPL he should step down.
Sir Alex compiled a pretty phenomenal squad. Air-tight defence, brilliant midfield and attack with deep squad members who could all play a role. Success breeds success and Sir Alex’s model was simply phenomenal. Nothing but respect for him.
But please don’t be as naive as to think that Arsenal as a club afforded Wenger the same ambitious backing as Fergie received. The way we’re holding onto our players, bringing in marquee players and offering actual competitive wages is simply incomparable to 3-4 seasons ago.
The stadium debt was obviously a big priority for the club, and the transfer movements made in that time were more relevant to a mid-table club than one challenging for the title. The fans expectation of Wenger was clearly to overcome these obstacles, and his performances were against these expectations. The stability he’s given despite a clear lack of ambition shown by the club should not be taken for granted. If the ‘top 4’ trophy had not been reached, I shudder to think what the club would’ve expected without the extra Champions League revenue…
Where was the fortune when Sir Alex Fergusons fledglings won it all then? 6 from the youth squad developed and brought up through the ranks??
The man was a great motivator, tactician and man manager who had a clear uncomplicated way of playing.
Being in the Champions league
has not helped Arsenal.
All the money gained was
wasted on rubbish signings
and paying deadwood to run down their contracts or
on injury wrecks like Diarby Wilshere and Sanogo or
flops like Santos Girvinho Park and Chamakh or
over the hill pensioners like Podolski Rosicky Arteta and Flamini.
Besides we only make the last 16 which is not hard
when we play sides like Galatasary Olympiacos
Anderlecht Zagreb Montpellier + Schalke
who are no better than Crystal Palace or Newcastle.
Of course it did!! You act like those are the only signings he ever made despite the fact that a lot of the time they weren’t even in the squad! Where did the other XI players who were actually PLAYING FOR US come from!? Thin air?
I swear the amount of times you’ve brought up Park is probably more than the seconds he played for us. Get over it!
I’d actually love to hear what you’d be saying if you were a United, Tottenham or Liverpool fan based on the signings they’ve made in recent seasons…. They were actually 20-60 million dollar transfers, not players brought in for peanuts…
Yep, Wenger has left himself with no excuses. Any injuries/suspensions to Coquelin/Arteta/Giroud/Walcott will have Arsenal’s transfer criticized. Again. Arsenal dare not lose to any bottom or mid table team.
Bed is made, let him lie in it.
#dontLikeHisOdds
Guys, no matter hw u guys complain, the window has closed. we can’t do anything about arsenals transfer activity. I can’t believe hw some so called arsenal fans want us 2 fail just 2 c wenger proven wrong. those who should b praying 4 such things should be pundits like Neville and Redknap. Pls guys enough hate and let’s get behind our team.
Arsenal not buying a WC striker has left us like having a Ferrari BUT without insurance
I believe we have a great team that can beat anyone on the night BUT not every night
No doubt we will win more games then lose and at times we will look great or even amazing BUT…….. I can’t see us scoring all or most of those great created chances begging to be put back of the net
what is upsetting is that we had a great opertunity of taken the “BUT” out out of our game and further added “WHAT IF”
Denile, depression, anger and soon acceptance 🙂
Thank you for the more balanced article. I’m already tired of the WOBs but I totally understand their frustration. I just think the vitriol being spouted along with the nonsense is vile. I’m not an AKB – if Wenger makes a mistake I’ll say it. Doesn’t mean I necessarily advocate that there is a better manager available or that he deserves to be moved on though.
I actually still believe we COULD win the PL this season. I highly doubt it. If I was a betting man I’d probably place a sly bet on Arsenal but most of my money would go on City. This season will test Wenger’s true credentials as a manager. He has to facilitate the team to play to their upmost if he wants to succeed…but if he doesn’t succeed then I fear the WOBs will have enough numbers to force him out.
Wenger is acting as if Martial was the only available striker.What about Dybala,Dzeko and Falcao?
Thats a good one, so Dybala signed long before the italian league ended for Juventus and you still count him available for any other team this season. Nice.
Falcao? You’ve gotta be joking. Nuff said
Dzeko? Lost motivation in EPL, I believe for him is much, much better to play in Italy. Very close to Bosnia as well. And honestly, I doubt he deserved 150k / week.
I believe Welbeck will save the situation,am not impressed with Giroud at all,am just waiting for his return.