With the early media storm regarding Suarez and the subsequent radio silence, many fellow fans have found themselves in a state of bi-polar disarray.
The confusion regarding Suarez, Liverpool, his contract and any other stakeholders, i feel, will drag on a while longer, and if there is any truth to the rumour, post our second leg of the champions league qualifier. It has shown strong intent from Arsenal to make a bid, but nothing more at the moment.
But taking a step back from this and general fury at making no signings, Sanogo aside, are we in that terrible a position?
The latter stages of last season saw us put together a very consistent run, showing us fans that it can be done. Pre-season, although against sub-standard opposition, has seen many players put in a strong showing, namely Giroud and Oxlade-Chamberlain who would be seen as first teamers. The next three matches against Napoli, Galatasary and Man City should reveal more as to where we are.
The calls for 4 to 5 signings are a tad extreme. If we do sign Suarez, we wont have the funds to sign more than one, possibly two more players.
Looking at the squad, Szenszny and Fabinaski are good to very good keepers who have the time and scope for improvement, Wojech due to age and Lukas's lack of game time.
Defensively, i agree we could do with cover at CB, but with Sagna looking comftable to stand in there, and Jenkinsons fantastic showing last season at RB, i think Carl will step up to take the load of Sagna to allow him to cover the CB's when required.
Linked to this, a DM that can also cover CB would be prefereable. Capoue's £8.5m link to Cardiff is something we should really explore. With Barca being interested before signing Song, and us making a bid on the 31st of January, he would be a wise addition.
Attacking and wide midfield i believe depends on who Wenger intends to play where. If he is of this thinking:
Cazorla.....................................Wilshere...............................Walcott
Podolski.....................................Rosicky................................Oxlade
then we potentially have two solid players in each position, with the addition of a DM, as well as Rambo and Mikel looking after the deeper midfield positions, with Jack more than able to rotate there.
This leaves us with the striker. Get Suarez and we will have a fearsome attack that would rival any in the prem and potentially in Europe.
But who do we go for if we don't get Suarez? Rooney? Hijack Soldados move to where ever. Slim pickings elsewhere. Doumbia from CSKA Moscow?
If we got Suarez and Capoue, we would do well i believe, especially given the state of the teams around and above us.
If we don't, well i'm sure Giroud will do a job!
Taking a step back for a moment...
posted on 31/7/13
Well, unless you look at targets that would have seemed similarly unlikely two weeks ago, such as Reus and El Shaarawy, both of whom probably wouldn't want to move and whose clubs wouldn't want to sell unless we offered crazy money, there isn't really anyone that comes to mind.
posted on 31/7/13
Lewandowski's pretty much agreed to join Bayern at the end of the season on a free, I'm sure he and Klopp have said so... or similarly high ranking people at Bayern/Dortmund.
However if we bid something stupid like £30m for a player who's only got a year left I'm sure he'd consider it, and Dortmund would much rather sell to us than them.
posted on 31/7/13
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posted on 31/7/13
Lewandowski is a great option. Thought he was set on Bayern next year? Although I'm sure a £20m bid to Dortmund would see them happily do business this summer
posted on 31/7/13
Good article, well thought out, constructive and (today) it's a nice change of pace to much of the talk on this board which conjures up imagery of a fair few peeps being on suicide-watch.
Without going into a 'War & Peace' sized response, I will say;
The keeper situation, in an ideal world would be improved on (I'm dubious Wenger has any intention of bringing in a ne keeper). Fabianski is a talented keeper, but is so mentally fragile in pressure situations, I don't & probably NEVER will feel remotely confident with him between the sticks. Chesney is decent, but undeniably irrational at times.
A decent centreback (ideally young, talented, hungry & willing to fight for a place in the team) is a pressing issue also.
We've discussed Suarez and the striker situation in spades, so I'll leave that there.
The squad is no way near as bad as many would have people believe. But it's certainly not capable of challenging over an entire season (atm).
I'll say what I said on the final day of last season, I'll judge Wenger/Gazidis/the board on September 1st. Until then, I'll keep my blood pressure steady, trust myslf around sharp objects and look forward to seeing if the club is going to push on, or if they're blatantly taking the p! ss and having paying fans pants down. We'll one way or the other in a few weeks.
Have 5 stars and a kiss on the cheek.
posted on 31/7/13
Anyone seen much of El shawaraay?
posted on 31/7/13
We're at the start of the rebuilding process. This COULD be a big summer, that could give us a shot at the title/silverware next year, but realistically to be consistent challengers we will need 2 or 3 big summers to put us up there in England and Europe. Time to look forward with a bit of optimisim
posted on 31/7/13
Why not Dzeko? Test out City with a bid?
Or Jackson Martinez?
posted on 31/7/13
Dzeko's a bit too similar to Giroud.
posted on 31/7/13
Why not Dzeko? Test out City with a bid?
Or Jackson Martinez
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Both would be good. Although Martinez would suit Arsenal better in terms of playing style. Dzeko on the other hand has Prem experience under his belt.
I can't see Citteh selling Dzeko to another Prem team to be honest. And with regards to Martinez, I was under the impression that the player has been in talks with Napoli and a move is likely to be agreed any time now..?