January Transfers -- Speculation & Shit?

[Bergkampwonderland10]

Do we want to challenge for the league or consolidate what we have? We need a stronger first team to win the league, our squad is fine and adding Cabaye and Ben Arfa for 5M wouldn't have changed much. For all the talk about injuries, Ben Arfa has averaged 20 starts a season or less during the last five years and Cabaye's output isn't good enough for the level we want to be at.

Would we have challenged for the title last season if we had both in our squad? Nope.

Add a fit Tiote to that and I'd say we would have done.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Add a fit Tiote to that and I'd say we would have done over.

[GP]

Tiote

[Bergkampwonderland10]

Tiote

Still waiting for your top 3 prem keepers curly tots! Hart being the most over-rated of over-rated players of course

[Bergkampwonderland10]

We watch all our games so we tend to think our players are shitter than everyone elses but there is a reason Newcastle are currently 16th in the table.

Yes, no cabaye, no ben arfa, no tiote = no midfield....could be a small reason why.

[Grebbo]

Yes, no cabaye, no ben arfa, no tiote = no midfield....could be a small reason why.

That great midfield is the reason Newcastle finished ahead of us last season.

[Bergkampwonderland10]

That great midfield is the reason Newcastle finished ahead of us last season.

No, the fact we had Van Persie meant they didn't.

[Bergkampwonderland10]

At the end of the day, not everyone is screaming out for star-quality signings - just effective ones that can make an instant impact. Would David Villa? Yes. Would Begovic? Yes.
I'm not sure why everyone is so hung up on saying how shit Newcastle's recently signed midfielders are when clearly they were the reason why the barcodes were so improved last season. Their signings are just being used as an example of how we don't necessarily need star names - just effective players who give a shit. I don't know why we just don't cancel the contracts of players like Denilson, Bendtner and Squillacci or just give them away to clear permanent space.
If we can sign a keeper, a CB and a striker in the next week I will be more than happy.

[Niall_Quinn]

In the past I used to be heavily against Wenger, way too caught up in the seven years without a trophy thing but I believe if you look at it rationally, there's not much we can do and I do believe the club has a long term goal that will hopefully see us competitive once again. In the past I used to get hung up over players joining our rivals that I thought could improve us (Carroll, Enrique, Parker, for example) but realised that they wouldn't really make a difference to our current plight.

I've said on here a few times I think it's near impossible for Arsenal to win the league given the competition we have and have been laughed at but I still believe that. Clubs have outspent us by millions to try and compete for our spot in the Champions League and every single year we outperform them. Higher up the table, clubs with more resources than we could ever think of spending have wasted in one window what we've spent in ten to try and compete, and chopped and changed managers with little success. Chelsea spent 75M this summer yet we're as close to them as they are to the top of the league, we're still in the Champions League and so on.

I believe we've looked at it in a pure financial point of view, which fans may not like but it's the best thing to do during these times. We could spend 100M and really go for it one window - which would probably see us in serious trouble if it didn't pan out (unlike Chelsea or Man City), or we can continue to make a profit, pay off debts and rely on Wenger to get us CL footy, waiting for FFP to level the playing field. Wenger is a manager a level below Ferguson, I believe that but I also think he's streets ahead of anyone Chelsea or Man City have employed over the last few years.

Good post that. But to put a bastard's spin on it, I'm not bothered about top players going to our rivals either. Unless it happens to be RvP. Scandalous. That transfer had our ambitions written all over it.

It may be near impossible for us to compete at the top, then again maybe not. A couple of signings at key moments and we stood a much better chance of not having to talk about this 7 year trophy thing. They didn't make those key signings. They do make signings when CL revenue is threatened though. I don't think there's an absolute demand from the fans to win a trophy but I do think there's an expectation for us to compete, make it a little tougher for our rivals, get a little close than 20 points a season. We're looking for a team of winners in terms of shooting for the top even if we don't make it. Our manager and our board make no secret about the fact they are aiming for 4th spot, going as far as to call it a trophy. The guys who run this club have a winning mentality on the balance sheet but are willing losers in terms of what happens on the pitch. Not good enough for a sporting outfit.

Then there's the business of financial prudence as we wait for stadium debts to be paid and FFP to kick in. Fair enough, we can't go out and spend £100mill without thought for the financial consequences. On the other hand we can invest £70mill in government bonds for a healthy return in interest. Somebody has their priorities wrong, from the fans' point of view at least. And the purpose of the fair play rules is to stop the big clubs with money dominating on all fronts thereby allowing the smaller clubs a sniff. Kroneke and the gang won't be fooled by this for even a moment and neither should we. The whole world is about consolidation of the most for the fewest and fuck the rest. So we are relying on a bunch of crooks who like backhanders (caught too many times to be worth disputing) to produce the first altruistic and socially just model ever in the history of the world and then administer it impartially. Seems naive to me if I have my polite hat on. FFP is Stadium Mk II - the fans are being asked to wait patiently while the club gets raped.

The only long term plan at Arsenal is for the yank to cash out with a lot more than he put in. It'd be great if there was anything more to it but Kroenke's commitment to the footballing activities of the club couldn't be clearer.

[Boss]

Yes, no cabaye, no ben arfa, no tiote = no midfield....could be a small reason why.

Are we to expect their injury problems to magically clear up had they moved to us? The reason Ben Arfa was so cheap despite being a huge talent is because he's a perennial crock.

You wanted us to effectively sign Newcastle's midfield? If we look at our squad this year, we have Cazorla, Wilshere, Arteta as first choice CM, followed by Diaby, Ramsey, Coquelin, Rosicky as backup. I believe the first four are as good, if not much better than said Newcastle players, and Rosicky when fit* is as good if not better. Even if he's not, do we really expect players that are apparently good enough for last season's 5th finish to come to us and be 5th, 6th and 7th choice?

This isn't FM, we can't just stockpile players. Add to that I believe our midfield is fine, but we do need a defender or two and probably one up front. Only if they are super, super quality though**.

*Never
** Although when Wenger says this he's generally waffling for the press I believe in the premise.