Arsene Wenger's Magic

@Dastudog

I'm not looking to purposefully antagonise, I'm looking at this from an objective standpoint without the baggage and emotion that the previous week of despair seems to have sullied every other Arsenal's outlook with. Anything would have been success to they after what transpired last week; to me, however, I find it completely insulting to anyone with any footballing intellect that it took an ebb as low as that to move anyone at the club from what seemed an eternal slumber.

I'm equally annoyed at the players that have been signed. The only shred of hope I exhume from the signings are the fact that in Arteta and Benayoun we have two premier league ready players who know just what it takes to get the job done in this league. Beyond that, however, I question the validity of either signing.

In Arteta we've merelypaid money for old rope. A player with barely a game of football in the past 18 months and a dwindelling skillset as a result of the habitual place reserved on the treatment table. At his best, one of my favourite players, but, 3 years past that best, approaching 30 and with an injury record as bad as anything at Arsenal - and we all know how bad that is - this is an extremely hopeful punt on a player who's only ever made plays for a team who's discipline and defensive organisation allowed him the freedom he was given at Goodison. Arsenal's style of play will never give him that.

Banayoum is another used, abused and player more likely to slow attacks down, whilst dithering sullenly on a ball that should have been played forward an hour ago. He'll duly fit right in.

Santos is the same kind of player as Clichy. but probably with a much better end product, both in goals scored and chances created. Not that that matters in Arssenal's aimless 4-3-3 systems, however, as the full back's are barely used for either attacking or defending so I suspect we'll likely not see too much of a change on what we once had. He was horrible in this years Copa and in a defence wherein cover is not always forthcoming will be exposed every bit as much as Clichy, Gibbs and whoever has been unfortunate enough to have to fill that role in the past 3 years has.

He's more robust defensively than Clichy (who isn't?) but I don't expect him to make us a better team, nor do I expect him to improve that God-awful defence of ours. The only thing that will change that particular horror is the lobotomising of Arsene Wenger who couldn't organise a defensive crux if you had what's left of his balls clamped in a vice.

I won't comment on Mertazacker because clearly, you've brushed over the point I actually made by ever mentioning him. Which was that every player replaced, has been replaced by a much lesser player. Something I steadfastly stand by.

Something else I steadfastly stand by is the other major point I raised in that first post, that Wenger needs to look a little closer to home for improvements - i.e. at himself and his system. He was never able to plug the gap tnat Patrick Vieira's departure made. Equally, he will never plug the gap that Fabregas' has made. So why try? This should be an opportunity to rip it up and start again; instead of sticking with a 4-3-3 that has only seen us decline further since it's implementation lets look at the talent we have and play to their strengths instead of forcing a blueprint on them they simply aren't able to fully lend themselves to. Do this, and I may lose some of the scepticism I harbour towards Wenger's ability to halt the decline.

meh, some people see things half empty i guess. that's life.

Herbie Spot on.

Dastu the problem is that we are not stuck in a fixed point in time last year. Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and Spurs have all strengthened.

Now you could say we have covered the positions from last year because Cesc had a down year or Nasri only played well for the first 6 months and Gervinho will be more effective compared to Nasri's second half.

There is a gap between the top 5 and us. To be honest in terms of squad depth and quality we are 6th best.

But

There are a few problems outside of squad depth that could allow us to sneak into the top 4. Spurs have a Modric problem and weak defenders. Chelsea are getting used to a very untried manager, and Liverpool have a manager whose tactics will be deficient as the season wears on. So our advantage lies in Wenger. Thats it. and his reputation has been damaged by the 8-2 defeat. We will find out if it is terminal in the dressing room.

There is nothing exciting about our squad. Thats why Arsene was unable to attract Hazard, M'Vila or Gotze. Thats very depressing. I fear we will need Usmanov type investment if we are to recover after Cesc.

Mertesacker is an amazing buy, whatever you guys paid for him it was well worth it, 26 and 75 German caps should say it all really.

Arteta is an interesting one, he made 29 league apperences last year, in fact if you look at him since he signed to everton he has only ever dipped below 25 league apperences in 1 full season since he signed for them, thats hardly injury prone. However personally I cant for the life of me see why you spent that on him when Parker could have been bought for half the price

I think 10 million and a 4 year deal was a bit steep, but I am guessing that Everton basically twisted your arm for as much of the Cesc money as they could get.

Your other sigings...Welll I cant really comment on that much, as apart from Benayoun I cant really say I have seen them that much.

However transfers in and out when taken into account you made about 20 more million then you spent, so that on top of your regular funds means that realistically you still have a tonne of money to potentially spend come January.

All in all looking at it from the outside your transfer window could have been a lot, lot worse then it was as Wenger really has gone for experience to fill the (massive) holes left by the players who left

Can these players play one freaking game as a team before we make final judgements.

Some people just love misery

Black Swan, my thoughts exactly, I feel even if we signed Messi and Ronaldo that still wouldn't have been good enough for some people!

"In Arteta we've merelypaid money for old rope. A player with barely a game of football in the past 18 months and a dwindelling skillset as a result of the habitual place reserved on the treatment table. At his best, one of my favourite players, but, 3 years past that best, approaching 30 and with an injury record as bad as anything at Arsenal - and we all know how bad that is - this is an extremely hopeful punt on a player who's only ever made plays for a team who's discipline and defensive organisation allowed him the freedom he was given at Goodison. Arsenal's style of play will never give him that."

He's had some problems with injuries over the last few years, but last season, he started 29 Premiership games for Arteta, and as Mattyp says, only once has he fallen below 25 EPL appearances in a single season.

I've got to be honest, I was hoping for a slightly higher-profile replacement for Fabregas, but over the last 5 years, only 5 Premiership players have been more creative than Arteta, and hopefully with the likes of Van Persie, Walcott, Gervinho and Wilshere around him, we'll see him at his best.
I'd also mention that his versatility means he could comfortably play the auxiliary role, supporting Song/Frimpong, giving Wilshere the freedom to push up into the Fabregas role upon the England international's return.
It was always going to be impossible to directly replace Fabregas, but such a change could help bring out the best in Wilshere, whilst providing additional defensive robustness in the centre of the park.

"Banayoum is another used, abused and player more likely to slow attacks down, whilst dithering sullenly on a ball that should have been played forward an hour ago. He'll duly fit right in."

I've always rated Benayoun very highly. I don't know that I'd be happy to see him as a regular starter, but I feel he could be a superb alternative to Walcott, Arshavin or Gervinho if we're in need of a little more guile and ingenuity in the final third. His work-rate is superb also, which is an attribute I feel has been lacking a little in an otherwise incredibly talented side over the past few years.

"I won't comment on Mertazacker because clearly, you've brushed over the point I actually made by ever mentioning him. Which was that every player replaced, has been replaced by a much lesser player. Something I steadfastly stand by."

I understood the point you were making, but I mentioned Mertesacker to show an area in which we have improved, without losing any key players.

"Something else I steadfastly stand by is the other major point I raised in that first post, that Wenger needs to look a little closer to home for improvements - i.e. at himself and his system. He was never able to plug the gap tnat Patrick Vieira's departure made. Equally, he will never plug the gap that Fabregas' has made. So why try? This should be an opportunity to rip it up and start again; instead of sticking with a 4-3-3 that has only seen us decline further since it's implementation lets look at the talent we have and play to their strengths instead of forcing a blueprint on them they simply aren't able to fully lend themselves to. Do this, and I may lose some of the scepticism I harbour towards Wenger's ability to halt the decline."

I agree that Wenger should be open to the possibility of changing the system to compensate for the loss of Fabregas and Nasri.
However, I don't think the 433 is a problem. The system allows us to control the midfield area more effectively, both defensively and going forward. Further, the three-pronged attack suits the triumvirate of Gervinho, Van Persie, and Walcott. In a 442, one of these players would be forced to play deeper.

With the signing of Mertesacker, I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger looked to drop the defensive line a little deeper, forego some of the possession we are used to having in games, and look to utilise the pace of Gervinho and Walcott over the top a bit more.

"There is nothing exciting about our squad. Thats why Arsene was unable to attract Hazard, M'Vila or Gotze. Thats very depressing. I fear we will need Usmanov type investment if we are to recover after Cesc."

I agree with this, and this is something I'm slightly concerned about, as I fear the departures of Fabregas and Nasri may have got us caught up in a vicious cycle in terms of our ability to attract and retain key players.
I really feel we need more investment if we are to challenge for the title, but for now, I'm content that our squad has more depth and variety than it did last season.

8bithero, I am not a pundit. I care not for what they say or think might happen; the fact is Arsenal did fantastically well last season in keeping up with Man United, but now your team is weaker. This is not good.

As for the obsession bit, I can assure you I am a football fan and will join the discussion (as I believe that is the point in forums) regarding any team who is currently "making waves". Arsenal are a fairly hot topic at the moment, so I'm talking about them. Are you quite comfortable with that?

Oh yeah, and you were right about the cheaper prices at the last minute of the deadline.

An uncapped 29 year old whose only club honours are from Scotland and has spent the past 6 months on and off the medical table for 10 million. What a steal.

not really fussed what rival fans make of arsenal, i can make my own opinions and i'm happy enough. and i didn't say every transfer is a bargain, i said prices drop towards deadline day. especially now that many clubs are in financial trouble and need to balance the books. proved again by the amount of transfers done on deadline day. buying clubs want to pay less, selling clubs want more and both give in a little to make the deal happen