Arsenal have certainly suffered a glut of defensive injuries this season, and we are going to be even more stuck for Sundays game at Southampton with Sokratis and Mustafi facing one-game suspensions. We may have Laurent Koscielny returning to the fold after six months out, but we were rocked by the news that Rob Holding will miss the rest of the season.
So now the papers are insisting that we are going to be looking for added cover, with the Mirror saying that Emery is keen on Eric Bailly from Man United, but unlikely to get him, and the other suggestion is Gary Cahill from Chelsea. This is what they reported: “Cahill, meanwhile, is unwanted by new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri and has been told he can leave on loan with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
The 32-year-old has been heavily linked with AC Milan but could be handed a chance to stay in the Premier League as a short-term solution for the Gunners, if Chelsea are willing to let him move to a top four rival.”
It is true that Cahill has only actually played 21 minutes for the Blues this season, and it was no secret that Arsene Wenger wanted Cahill at Arsenal before he moved to the other side of London from Bolton. Their were suggestions that Arsenal had made a derisory offer, which seemed to be confirmed by Cahill himself before the FA Cup Final against Chelsea last year. He was talking about his nearly-move to Arsenal with the Express when he said: “It was close. The move broke down on the fee, nothing to do with me.
“It never got down to whether or not I wanted to go there, it was between the two clubs. They showed interest, but they couldn’t agree a fee.
“It seemed like it went on forever, there was speculation for about a year and a half. I thought it would never happen. It was not distracting on the pitch, but personally.”
Considering Chelsea only paid 7 million six months later, it must have been quite a small offer, and it certainly proved to be a bargain for our rivals.
But now Gary is reaching 33 years of age in a week or two and his career at Stamford Bridge is over, but could he still do a job for us while Holding is out? Surely he can’t have suddenly become a bad defender overnight?
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Nope, Arsenal need younger CB. They already have some and Chambers will be back next season
Ake from the cherries
Do you not understand that Chambers was let go on loan BECAUSE, in Emery’s opinion, he was not considered GOOD ENOUGH for us? He has scarcely pulled up any trees at Fulham either, if you watch their TV games. They only took him as their defence is the worst in the Prem and he is at least better than that. But not by much!
No, GH’s best days are WELL behind him and I
seriously doubt Sarri would consider sending
him on loan to a top 4 rival.
I personally think Arsenal should take a SERIOUS look at Fernando Calero, the Spanish CB rumored to be an Arsenal transfer target. I spent a few
minutes watching his highlight reel and color me
VERY IMPRESSED. Dude has good pace,
technical acumen, and a wonderful feel for the
position. When under pressure in the box not
ONCE did he recklessly slide into a possible
tackle( Holding and Mustafi??) but maintained his
poise and effortlessly handled the danger.
Would be imho a Great signing for the reported
£10-20M fee.
Uh no thanks
NO, we need another like Torreira
Vieira
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eira
reira
rreira
orreira
Torreira
? ? ? ? ? ?
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That’s class!
Yes, reality is we are not likely to get a top quality CB in January…. also Cahill is still 100times better than Mustafi.
That said, if its a choice between cahill n Bailly… its Bailly i’ll prefer but Mourinho is highly unlikely to sanction d sale of a player to Arsenal xcept he is stranded by the owners as in d case of Cech.
…
So Cahill is a more realistic quick fix..
We can start Sokratis-Koscielny and have Cahill,Mavros on d bench…
Mustafi is shit!
I agree on loan till the end if the season could be win win solution,an exoeriperieced player dyiing to show what’s he is still caoable to do and he,ll provide experience and he is no pushover and won,t hsveti move his family from lodon,like I said win win sutuation for both partiesw and he can see the improvemts made by unersai,fixed the defense snd we wilr always score goals!!
Cahill better than Mustafi? I don’t think that is the case anymore. However he can come in as a temporary cover since he is past his best.
YES, Cahill was an England regular not long since and is currently much better than any FIT CB at our club. Unless Kroenke lets Emery spend real money in JAN , WHICH IS UNLIKELY, WE ARE VERY SHORT OF PROVEN, FULLY FIT AND QUALITY CB’s and , short term, Cahill would fit the bill.
Gary who?? ?
Gary Cahill TH 14 and, as Jon pointed out a regular international until recently.
I don’t believe he is better than Kos or Socs though, but certainly better than Mustafi.
Would also fit in well with Emery’s ideas and comes with the perfect DNA for playing in the premiership.
I wouldn’t mind a permanent signing actually, as Kos has indicated he will leave.
No thank you…. I thinks he’s way past his best now. If he isn’t good enough to start for Chelshit then he shouldn’t be anywhere near our first team.
TH 14, I believe the post is asking if we would consider a loan deal for Cahill, especially with Holding out for the season, Mavs still out, Chambers elsewhere, Kos just coming back and Mustafi being Mustafi.
Why such a knee jerk reaction because he doesn’t start for chelsea?
What about Fabregas?
What about Pogba?
What about Alde.. whatever his name is at spuds?
What about Dembela?
What about Mata?
Would you dismiss them out of hand just because….?
That’s a few players that I can bring to mind and just because they play for our rivals and are ( in some cases ) in the latter part of their career’s, doesn’t mean they can’t do a job for another club does it?
We need experience of the premiership at the back and Cahill provides that, certainly in the short term, if not for a couple more seasons.
Cahill or Mustafi, just ponder on it TH 14 for a second or two?
Should have added the previous post states “seven games in nineteen days” but let’s not go for Cahill because he can’t get into chelsea’s team?
That mightmake sense to you, but not me.
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Be careful what you wish for @Ken. Cahil can never be a solution. If Kompany was being touted as a short term fix I’ll gladly accept that. We need someone who can actually SOLVE our defensive problems. Cahil is like Phil Jones 2.0, another bang average player the English media hyped into signing first a top club.
TH 14, remember why we are scurrying around for two CB’s versus the Saints?
Both Mustafi and Sokratis have picked up five yellow cards since the start of the season.
Just look at some of those bookings and then tell me that they, Mustafi in paticular, are not hyped up players?
These two are the ones causing Emery a problem as injuries (Holding) can happen to any player at any time.
Not sure what you mean by a hyped up English player, considering how many trophies caps and medals Cahill has won.
Then you mention Kompany, who you say will solve our defensive problems…is that when he is not on the injury table? Would you be comfortable with him being available for the rest of the season?
We are discussing a SHORT TERM LOAN HERE, not a long term signing to be viewed as a permanent solution to our defensive problems (I would sign him on a 2 year contract).
Cahill has everthing we require..premier league experience, big club mentality, proven international defender and a player who has a point to prove to his current club.
Sign him up I say, the quicker the better so that he can show Mustafi how to defend without getting booked unnecesarily and on a regular basis.
Ken, Detailed reason and fully outlined sensible comments are wasted on those who won’t listen , JUST BECAUSE chelsea/ spurs/ city/ united/ liverpool are involved . It is like a red rag to a bull with these types, no matter how sensible the suggestion. Ther are thinkers and there are non thinkers on this site, as on all football sites. Be thankful you are clearly in the first group; some can never be. They react first and think after, if at all.
really good point!also by reading some comments some people didn,t understand the question,we are talking about short term solution,a loan until the end of the season.I swear some of our fans have to be some if the clueless ones around!!
KEN,” Wouldn’t mind?” Rather like not eating for a week and then saying I “wouldn’t mind” a meal. This long term and real weakness is crucial to put right quickly if we are SERIOUS about being realistic top four challengers. Hope you have now read my reply on the old Ramsey/ Ozil thread we were both on Ken. I was a bit miffed that you thought I was deliberately ignoring your questions , which I only saw today. I am not the sort to duck a challenge, as you surely well know by now Ken. As for Cahill, I think him better than all we have here, save a Kos who would still be the player he once was, which common sense tells me he now cannot be ever again. I do however think Holding has come on a bomb and also much rate MAVROPANOS, THOUGH HE HAS SCARCELY FEATURED. That will soon change IMO.
Jon, you will find I have answered your post and hope you understand why I was querying three requests before a reply?
I’ll ask you the same question Jon, Cahill or Mustafi?
This is a short term LOAN DEAL being duscussed, it was me who added a long term thought and I still think having Cahill for two seasons over Mustafi is a good idea.
Of course we need to look for a long term CB, but with fans wanting wingers, midfield players, surely a player of Cahill’s calibre would benefit in the short term (two years)?
Going to take time off for a little while and watch the tories tear themselves apart…more exciting than the CL football!!
Ken, Cahill or Mustafi you ask! If it were my cat or Mustafi it would have to be Tiddles( not his real name BTW) I think Mustafi the third worst regular CB EVER to wear our shirt. Gus Caesar was the worst(not a regular admittedly) and Schillachi second worst. Mustafi is worse even than Senderos, Djourou, Silvestre et al. Worse even than Laurie Brown and Mancini too. CAHILL IS IN A DIFFERENT LEAGUE TO ALL OF THOSE, even if slightly ageing now. I would bite your hand off if you could offer me Cahill, short term at least.
Jon, I think you are a bit hard on Mustafi, as he has improved considerably over the course of the season. I agree wholeheartedly on your premise that Arsenal has to improve the quality of defense as a whole; all good teams are based on a solid defense.
Arsenal has been leaking too many goals, particularly before half time, which shows lack of concentration.
Let’s wait till on the 2nd Jan to know which position or positions at the Gunners first team needed to be strengthened in the next winter widow after they have played the 7 Christmas and New Year day matches which will tell Arsenal whether to strengthened or not this winter window but wait till in the summer window to do it.
Arsenal are playing very well in all the 3 competitions hey are playing in going 21 games unbeaten. And if they continue in this trend of beating teams or avoidin getting beaten, they may not even sign any new player in January. Hmmm.
NO,i would rather we broke the bank and lured Ake from Bournemouth
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Hes better than what we have
We need to invest in the future and not another player coming to the end of their career looking for a last pay packet e.g. Kallstrom, Suker, Cech etc..
I don’t want Cahill near my team. If he can’t get into Chelsea team, then he is not good enough for us. It is as simple as that. As for him better than all what we have, are you guys kidding. If we have Messi as our player some fans will still say he is not good enough.
mobella, but we do have messy mustafi!!!
Here’s a thought / question….who have we seen make more mistakes when watching these two players?
We don’t need stats or history books, just our eyes to know beyond doubt that Cahill is a better CB than Mustafi will ever be, but because he’s in the chelsea first team sqaud we shouldn’t consider him?
7 games in 19 days and we should be at least looking to strenghten our depleted CB positions in the short term surely?
Just goes to show how little sense is written by laymen pundits. Cahill would cost virtually nothing, and bring instant proven Pl quality to a defense in need of experience. He’s only not playing for Chelsea as he isn’t a long term solution… But we’re not after a long solutiin.were after no nonsense back defending to cover for injuries.
1) Long term we need at least one new strong CB.
2) Short term we have a crisis.
If we can solve both 1 & 2 in January with the right player, it is obviously the best.
But if we can’t solve both in January, I really don’t see why Cahill isn’t a good short term solution.
Some of you needs to read the question ,agiajn,,!we are talking about some term, meanimg loan until the end od the season and may of you would be eating humble pie, g he guy is fit nsy be rusty but he is a beat esactly what we need till the end of the season and in the summer go for for the player we need and wantCOYG!!