Winter Transfer Despair and Bafflement.

[Penguin]

I think with Liverpool it’s as much how they are setup as it is the playing personnel.

Yeah I agree with that, their whole system is high risk because one wrong decision can let someone through on goal. It can be devastatingly good when all the parts click but it only takes one mistake and you've conceded a goal. Signing a quality CB will definitely help but really they need all of their defenders, all of their midfielders to be at that level defensively if they want their defensive record to improve.

They will be a force if they sign a decent keeper.

[Cripps]

They're addressing the spine of their team which has been weak since the Rafa days of Reina, Carra, Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres.

With Keita coming into CM next season that'll add power and solidity to their midfield. If they add a keeper they'll take it up another notch.

I agree that it's about system and structure, not just personnel, but having a real leader at the back, in the ilk of Hyypia and Carra instils confidence throughout the team. It remains to be seen if VVD is that leader but at £75m you'd certainly hope so. In fact you'd expect so.

Will be interesting to see how it all pans out. If it means them finishing above Utd and moody Jose then I'm all for it.

[Marc Overmars]

If Coutinho goes that will set them back but they are certainly do all they can to negate that possible impact.

Meanwhile we continue to bumble along unable to even celebrate the small joys we do get because the source of those joys are going to walk away and we’ll likely have a very different team next season.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I think with Salah, Lallana, Mane and Firminho they won’t miss Coutinho that much anyway

[selassie]

Bunch of voyeurs! Why can't we just mind our business? Fucking Arsenal fans! Besides the manager and players really pissing me off, the fans are getting on my nerves as well. Joke of a club.

We'll laugh at what clubs are paying for certain players now but when such teams overtake us in the league we'll point to their transfer spending as the reason why. Some will never lean. As you've pointed out, this is about trying to address the weak areas in your team. A ludicrous price tag but it shows how much Klopp wants to address a problem and how much pressure he is under.

Half of the fan base have been “Wengered”, more concerned about the price tag than actually trying to address an issue in the team whatever the cost. I’m done too mate, unless Wenger pulls off something really special this team will be dropping down the table once the likes of Ozil and Sanchez have gone.

I agree with your last point too, I think even Wenger will jump in on the act too and say “Looooook Liverpool spent 75million on a Defender, 50 million on a midfielder, we can’t compete”.

The whole thing is a nonsense, sick and tired of our sorry ass club, it’s pathetic!

[dostoy]

I want Ozil and Sanchez both out in January.

I hope he signs no-one and writes this season off, Arsenal are NOT going to get above Spuds and Liverpool to get 4th place.

I then hope he fucks off in the summer, and the new manager is given all the money from January plus the summers budget to make Arsenal into title contenders.

Zero chance of any of that happening.

[Cripps]

That's the only hope we have really. That it becomes a commercial decision after 2 years of Europa.

Or that 2 years of Europa makes him see the light. Like an epiphany.

More likely though it'll be another 2 year extension.

[selassie]

Agree with you both, sell Ozil and Sanchez in the January window and ride out the rest of the season. I don’t think we will finish top 4 with either of them still here so just let them go.

I also don’t want Wenger to be given a penny more to spend because he doesn’t deserve funds given his recent purchases which aside from Laca and to a lesser degree Kolasinac have been nothing short of a disgrace.

I am praying Wenger goes this summer let alone next, we need fresh ideas with the management of this team ASAP and we need to give the new manager the resources and time to build his own team.

[Niall_Quinn]

Good, I don't really see much in Van Dijk.

The fee is not irrelevant because spending £75 millon on a defender is using up resources where it might otherwise be needed, especially when it's highly likely Coutinho will be going.

Also, realistically what are Liverpool going to win?

Another also, why can't this just be insane, looking at it purely from someone who first and foremost is a fan of football? Why does it have to be in comparison to Arsenal?

There's a very stark comparison to be made with Arsenal.

Liverpool and Utd and Soton and the spuds and other clubs are spotting talent and nurturing 50mill, 75mill, 100mill and bigger sell-ons to the really insane market in Spain where the lunacy is quite normal. Ultimately the Spanish taxpayers and Spanish TV audience will pay this latest transfer fee.

At Arsenal we used to spot talent and sell it on for comparatively crazy fees. We don't do it any more and even when the opportunity presents itself to limit the damage and temporarily bridge the opening gap, Wenger fucks it up. It was a 60 mill bid for Alexis is the summer, that's the only reason we could bid 90 mill for Lemar. Somebody else's money plus our usual 30 mill on top. The 60 mill portion became irrelevant because the money was only passing through - if we hadn't fucked it up.

We can blame Kroenke for being a tight wanker - but the reality is Wenger is an absolute dinosaur who is incapable of getting into sync with the modern market. The poor fool is still looking for value when value has no relevance whatsoever to the fees being paid today and how they are structured.

[Niall_Quinn]

Spot on. They're breaking the record on the area of the team that needs most improving.

Meanwhile our fans are laughing. What are we doing about our dodgy defence? Going into the remaining games with Koscielny and Mustafi?

Kos and Mustafi would be adequate under a competent manager and coach. We can't be calling Kos the best in the league one season and then a liability the next - not without looking into it a bit more deeply. I've said all along, Alexis and Ozil walking out the door will have a MUCH bigger impact on this club than just the money lost. All of our players will hit the bottom in terms of motivation when that happens. In fact it's already happening. To try and estimate just how massively Wenger has fucked things is probably not possible. We'll just have to wait and see the full extent of his unmatched incompetence as the disaster unfolds.