Quote Originally Posted by IBK View Post
IMO our flaws in the transfer market have more to do with Wenger's desire to be proven right than anything else. He persists with players that he has developed rather than cashing in his chips and moving on - when more pragmatic managers would either accept that they are perennial crocks or that they will never fulfill their promise. Which brings us back to the question that I posed originally. With Walcott, I don't think the problem is the manager's vision for the player and what he brings to the team, I think it is that his castle may be built on sand - because there's no point building the team's new approach on a striker who looks like never being there for a whole season. We have Giroud who has shown consistently that he can't do the business over a period of time, and his alternative that is usually crocked. Wenger seems to insist on shooting himself in the foot.
I agree with both you and PnG, in terms of the squad, I think Wenger has mismanaged transfer windows for a good few seasons now, of course he bought well in Cech, Sanchez & Ozil but they really were no brainers and were brought in to improve our first XI which they all have and significantly. Where Wenger falls over is consistently leaving the squad short of quality and consistent back up players, I agree with you in as much as he does it to prove a point. The fact that he has to come out with statements like "Quality isn't linked to price" and stuff like that tells me all I need to know about his approach and stance on the transfer window. I'm more than happy with him to persist with players assuming they remain fit, the problem we have is that every single season we have half our players out crocked, the likes of Arteta and Rosicky are pretty much worthless to us now because they are never fit! They are essentially clogging up squad space.

I do agree with P'n'G in as much as we should have pace up front, the team seems to function better that way, some of our performances have been explosive with Theo up top, he might not be the solution but an alternative with pace would be better suited to the team than Giroud. Giroud is an OK player, he scores goals...but his lack of consistency and lack of pace lets him down.

Finally and I know I have banged on about this a bit, the problem for me is Wenger, he will always do enough to keep most of us satisfied but he will never do enough to move us forward. He needs to go now, we need a new man in who is a little more pragmatic and who is focused on moving the football team forward at all costs.