Where would be Arsenal priority if transfer window opened today?

The international break has given us plenty of food for thought, and led to an upturn in tranfer rumours, but which current position are Arsenal weakest in?

The main rumour I have read is that we are looking at a deal to sign Lucas Vasquez from Real Madrid, with him supposedly outside Zinedine Zidane’s key plans moving forward, and I feel like those rumours while should be discounted at this point in the season, should pose as a warning to Pepe.

The Ivory Coast international arrived for a club record fee from Lille this summer, after enjoying an amazing season notching up a whopping 22 goals and 11 assists in his 38 league outings, but has so far struggled to have the immediate impact fans had hoped after the big splurge this summer.

When you consider he is credited with a goal and two assists from his eight PL apps thus far, that actually papers over some below average performances so far from him, and something seriously needs to give in the near future before he starts to be labelled a flop, as that can be tough to shrug off.

Youngster Saka is already beginning to show great promise, and he may well find himself benching Pepe when Alexandre Lacazette returns to fitness, although you can bet your bottom dollar that Unai Emery will call it rotation or resting of players, although it will become obvious in the bigger matches.

If the transfer window was to open today, the winger role would certainly be up there amongst the spots where we need to consider bolstering if possible, but centre-back would also be up there. This seems the clearest indicator that Emery’s summer didn’t go as well as hoped considering the two positions I would want us to bolster, are two positions which we already tried to bolster in the previous window in Pepe and Luiz.

Am I wrong to think the two weakest positions are also the same two places we actually added to in August?

Pat J

26 Comments

    1. Agree.
      Emery needs to stop starting Xhaka we have better players but Ideally a replacement.
      We need a RB too to compete with Bellerin

      1. why not sign everyone?

        there are alot of spot that need competition too

        currently Auba do not have real competition till lacazette returns

        1. Martinelli begs to differ. Also you cannot have 3 top CFs if you play with one up top.

          RB, DM (unless Chambers gets a chance, but Emery don’t think so), possibly CB if Mustafi leaves (or Sokratis).

          Kola is good enough for a backup, we have lots of good wingers now, but perhaps some midfield creativity would not be bad. Spain has players as good as Ceballos, possibly more consistent, too.

  1. Pat J nice to have your articled back..
    I don’t think we need Lucas Vazquez.
    I’ve always seen him as average though.
    We need a right back and tough DM though since Torreira all of a sudden is now a B2B player

    1. I agree Eddie, no to Lucas Vazquez. A RB, a tall commanding DM and possibly one of the CB’s from FC Leipzig would be more appropriate.
      Arsenal have some good young midfielders and attackers coming through deserving of opportunities.

    2. We already have two tough DMs in Torreira and Chambers so why waste money there? Just need Emery to start playing people in their correct positions. Why he thinks Torreira is a B to B is one of the great mysteries of life, along with Black Holes and the Pyramids.

      1. Torreira is apparently not settling in well in London, is home sick for Italy and may leave at the end of the season.

  2. I would say the wings are our weakest area at the moment. CB is poor as well, but huge boost when Holding returns.

    Pepe has flopped hard so far. Saka has been excellent, but is very inexperienced, and Nelson has been disappointing. It could be beneficial to sign a more experienced winger, and maybe loan Nelson out.

  3. If Pepe thinks he can get past the opponents by simply cutting inside, he will not improve his contribution to the team

    Saka will not bench Pepe though, because their positions are different. Aubameyang, Martinelli or Nelson are the ones that can be vying for the RW spot

    If the transfer window is opened today, Arsenal’s priority should be offloading the fringe players that are surplus to their requirements and the ones that can only play in one position. For instance, Ozil

  4. I think signing new players is not going to change much. We have a squad decent enough to improve. I would not want us to spend precious money on this manager until he proves he is our guy.

    We need to change the way we play (more aggressive, more pressing higher up the pitch and more positive), our team set up (we play too narrow and with too much space between our lines)and the players that are the first choice (our midfield is not mobile and complete enough (we lack creativity and mobility) Xhaka should not start as he IMO unbalances our midfield (he doesn’t bring a lot going forward, he doesn’t bring a lot in protecting the defense and he doesn’t get around that much requiring his teammates to sacrifice for him making their own game less effective).

    Start Luca T as DM, Ceballos as creative inspiration and give Guendouzie a chance to glue these two players together otherwise work Wilock in there.

  5. I don’t understand when fans complain about Torreira being used as a CM. Guendouzi and Xhaka have operated as both CMs or DMs in different games. I believe Torreira is no less capablethan those 2. Emery has demonstrated he values versatility a lot with even Ceballos being used as a CM and CAM. One dimensional players like Ozil who can only play one position will quickly find themselves out of the line up if they cannot adapt, so I hope Torreira will accept the challenge. Lacazette as well may have to find a new position or enjoy the bench like AMN decided to because Aubameyang is tearing it up as a striker.

    1. Are you saying you will welcome playing PEA in defense and Leno as ST. The length we would go to defend this coach. He bought Torreria as DM so he should play him there simple. If versatility is the key as you stated my friend, why do we keep saying we need DM and CD for years under regime.

      1. @Mobella
        A defensive midfielder plays next to a central midfielder. Infact, defensive midfielder is simply a role that a midfielder performs such as box-to-box midfielder and holding midfielder. Does a striker perform defensive roles? Like defending striker? Does a goalkeeper play attacking goalkeeper? Are you saying asking a midfielder to perform a different type of midfield role is as outrageous as asking a goalkeeper to play as a striker? Why don’t you guys ever criticize Emery then for using Guendouzi, a DM, as a cm! The reality is if a player is skilled enough he can interchange those positions seamlessly.

        1. You keep defending emery with weak arguments like versatility, and you wonder why our midfield is so weak.

          Players needs to be played consistently in their preferred positions first and foremost. Before we even entertain versatility…

          When have you seen Arsenal play well when players in the midfield played any position in midfield? Your versatility argument is nonsense my friend, you have no evidence to back your claim that we would do better with our midfielders being versatile.

    2. Xhaka IMO is not versatile at all. He is also limited in skills and attributes. He lacks closing speed, he lacks the ability to tackle, he lacks judgement and he lacks dribbling ability to get out of oposing teams pressing. He is a good passer from time to time.

  6. I feel we have the players to make it top 2 or 3, just need a pragmatic non partisan coach.
    The most important transfer would be IMHO would be getting rid of MO10, a distraction to the entire team, offers nothing on and off the pitch, except a merchandise sale, and it was never his fault for the non performance for the last five seasons in a row!Blame it on everyone else, except him. Blame it on the groundsmen in Baku, because he could not jog, only walked.Blame it on the physios he looks tired and not interested even for those 60-70 minutes he is on the pitch, blame it on the weather, and I forgot the janitor!The doorman, the associates in the cafeteria and every where.It was never his fault. It was always Joachim Leow’s fault in Germany and now Unai Emery’s fault at AFC

    1. Yes Sir, you hit the nail on the head. If Emery cannot make something of the players he has at his disposal, a new face, no matter what position or how expert in that position, is going to make any difference. The players are there, they just need to be coached into a team that performs as a unit with energy and commitment.

  7. What we need is a coach that knows what he is doing. The best we can get is a point from shefield united match due to our coach always playing to the stenght of opponent and not his own team. Replay watford,man utd,liverpool,burley and bournemouth matches and you will see my point

  8. It’s hard to say at this point the team hasn’t clicked yet. With the players we have in defence, is that solid? Will Pepe, Saka, Willock, Martinelli come good?

    If Ceballos isn’t staying it would be an energetic, creative CAM for me.

  9. our weakest link is the midfield , we do have good players (not of the highest quality) but the coach makes them look too ordinary….For starters Xhaka should not play because he is too slow in everything thus costing the team defensively and offensively…. Torreira should play DM alongside Ceballos or Goundozi…Ozil or Willock for the number 10 role..Willock is still learning hence am convinced he can adapt to this position…..In defence Chambers is indispensable at the moment hence he should play whether as right back or CB….

  10. A better player than Torriera, one who bosses the CM. And an attacking CM player who knows how to control a game through passing, and gets involved with forward runs and final balls as well as being able to hold his own in a scrap. Basically just up the overall quality and numbers we have in midfield, we sort of done that a little with our options in wide areas and forward areas, next we have to do it in midfield. I’d also look for someone who might compliment Saliba, Upamecano ..or someone that looks confident and capable but still a good age. After these positions, I think we could do with a better GK, in fact, there’s a shout that this should be priority. But I’d go in the order I wrote these. A top CDM, top CAM, top CB, and a spectacular GK. This is what we need to do, even when we get a top team you’ll still need to see if you can add better competition, so none of these names/positions should take it personally.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors