None of the 'panic buys' are kids, they're all established players. It's a clear departure from the past few years transfer activity from the club.Originally Posted by Boss
This should have all been sorted out months ago but we were certainly not the only club scrambling on the last day.
Also what it tells us: Chelsea loaning us a player shows they don't regard us as a serious rival
I dunno - we're the only so-called 'big club' doing so. Manure had their transfers sewn up months ago - and have therefore allowed them to bed down. So did Citeh. Chelsea were in for Modric - but still had their main business done. Liverpool have been buying for months.
Compare and contrast AFC. We sold our 2 best players weeks ago - sold Clichy before that - yet scramble last minute for players we have needed at least since then, and in the case of Mertesaker - for months.
This is 'arry behaviour at best - and at least 'arry has held on to his most influential player!
Putting the laughter back into manslaughter
http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
Well sure, I'm not doing cartwheels that we were scrabbling around at the last minute but at least in the scrabble we got some much needed experience this week.
I doubt many of these signings were on the top of the list at the start of the summer. It doesn't mean they're bad - they're not. It became a case of wenger needing to get players that fans had heard of to buy him some support after the 8-2 loss. Good panic buying, mind.
We have signed some decent players (regardless of the reasons for signing them). However I can't help but feel that we have taken a step down from last season.
Fabregas > Areteta
Nasri > Benayoun
You could argue that Fabregas is high enough quality that you can't realistically replace him but nevertheless I would have liked to see a top player come in as replacement or at least two very high quality replacements to make up the quality. Arteta is good but he isn't going to give us the same return in terms of goals / assists.
I imagine that Gervino and Benayoun are Nasri replacements so it at least gives us options. We could have done with spending a big amount on someone top to really push on though. Benayoun is clearly a "filler" type signing.
I think we'll struggle to get top four with this lot. You have to assume Man Utd, City and Chelsea will be above us. So we have to be better than Liverpool and I really don't think we are.
If we're not in top four by Jan then yes we'll make signings but will it be too late by then?
Tbh, I wanted whole sale changes. I wanted the likes of Denilson / Clichy out of the picture, players who have fucked up more times than I care to remember. I wanted Cesc sorted, and didn't want Nasri kicking around once I knew he was a cunt.
I wanted experience. I wanted a proven CB. I wanted some width. I wanted pace. And I wanted some leadership.
I've got what I wanted, to a degree.
But there are two ingredients missing.
a) That we fucked the whole thing up so badly, combined with a shambolic start to the season (albeit securing CL place against a tough opponent)
b) That we didn't do a big one. A Mata, a Benzema, a Drogba. Something to lift the fans and the players and the club as a whole.
It remains to see whether it works better, but I'm still very concerned with regard to the planning of all of this. What the fans want the most is confidence in the club again. Confidence in the players, and that the players are confident on the pitch.
So far we haven't seen anything over the summer to ease the worry. Last night goes a way to calming a few nerves, but nowhere near enough has been done to sort out this sorry mess. And it'll be a long time before I trust anything Arsenal again....
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
cahill in january for 6mill..
The transfers tell us the club and the manager are still willing to take risks that haven't paid off in the past. We really should have got another CB. TV and Merts HAVE TO stay healthy this year because what we've got lined up behind them is pure comedy. RvP too, he has to stay fit or else the Korean guy needs to be a winner from the off like Arshavin was when he first arrived. Realistically what are the chances? If Samba and Bellamy were sitting on the roster this morning I'd be 100% more confident, as it is we're winging it again.
Für eure Sicherheit
We have learned that officers of the club are poorly prepared and incompetant.
Unfortunately I have no faith in the manager and that fan power has made him buy players he would not have neccessarily bought.
This is to save his 6 million annual salary and status.
Short term this will help him, but his phylosophy will ultimately come through and we'll be back where we were IMO.
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