If there is one thing that this season has proved to Arsenal fans, it is that there are quite a few players in the squad that have either passed their sell-by date, or have failed to live up to their early expectations. Add to that the fact that the team have collapsed when faced with must-win games and have a real lack of a leader on the field to galvanise the players into action when neccessary.
There are certain players that should be sold, and there are positions that need filling, but our great leader Arsene Wenger has indicated yet again that the fans should not expect too much activity during the transfer window.
Le Prof told the Guardian: “If you look at the top three teams, you will see they have not changed their team a lot. We have to strengthen our squad but it’s not obvious to find the players despite the money the English clubs will have. We are already working but we have to find the players and that is not easy.
“You cannot dismiss that the players are young: Alex Iwobi is 19, Mohamed Elneny is 23, Francis Coquelin 24, and they will be stronger next year but you need to keep a core of players and strengthen where we can. The team is going the right way.”
This is a worrying statement from the Boss, as he doesn’t mention that some of the players are actually very old! We already know that Arteta, Flamini and Rosicky will be leaving so that is three places that need replacing. Cazorla, Giroud, Mertesacker and Monreal are all going to be the wrong side of 30 next season and we need backups to settle in as the veterans play less and less. Surely they can’t ALL be replaced by youngsters from the Academy? And if they are then we will have many more players that will need to mature in the squad.
And please Wenger, don’t tell me again this summer that Giroud, Walcott and Welbeck are world class strikers….