Is Wenger right about Walcott?

[Power n Glory]

I'm not saying he doesn't want speed. But it's clear he has priotised physical size and hold up play over speed. My hindsight over certain players is irrelevant. It's Wenger and the scouts that should be aware of these players. Not me and just further proves the point that there were players available and could very well be more out there now.

As for Suarez, we sold Ade for £25m and that sat in the bank for a while. I don't believe we'd have gone bust with that signing. £5m more than our record signing.

I think the players we've bought reflects on our unbalanced team. Too heavy at the top but very light in midfield. Wenger trying to find another Adebayor hasn't helped up. You only have to look at his words on Chamakh when we signed him to see the strategy at play. I just think it was wrong.

[mastermind84]

As for Suarez, we sold Ade for £25m and that sat in the bank for a while. I don't believe we'd have gone bust with that signing. £5m more than our record signing.

not bust, but Arsenal is not a club that can sign expensive flops. Particularly in that period. Its damaging. IT was damaging when we couldnt get bums like Bendtner off the books.

[Power n Glory]

not bust, but Arsenal is not a club that can sign expensive flops. Particularly in that period. Its damaging. IT was damaging when we couldnt get bums like Bendtner off the books.

Suarez wouldn't have been an expensive flop. Like David Villa at Valencia or Aguero at Atletico it shouldn't take a genius to see these players were worth the money.

We can't afford expensive flops and £22m isn't cheap. But you can't compare Suarez and Bendy in that regard. Two totally different risks being taken but we'll take the expensive gamble on bums like Bendy and pay £10m here another £10m there and £2m here and that's your £22m on flops.

Suarez moved to Liverpool in the January 2011 window. In the summer 2011 window we spent around £50m.

£12m on Ox,
£10m on Gervinho,
£10m Arteta
£8m Merts
£6m on Santos,
£3m on Park Chu Young
£1m on Campbell
£500k on Eisfield

Only two of those players are regular starters, Campbell was eligible to play because of his work permit, you've already said your piece on Ox, Gervinho, Santos and Park were flops already gone. That's what I deem expensive and risky over signing someone like Suarez. I don't understand why we were shopping in bargain basements and taking risks on players nobody ever heard of over proven players just destined for a move to a big club. Senseless stuff. Not wanting to take the risk resulted in the trophyless years and players leaving. Instead of investing the money from sales of players like Henry, Ade, RVP we'd go for the above type players. The ones on other top club would bid for.

[IBK]

Have we really seen enough of Walcott to make any solid judgements? He's played well in a few games, but that's all we've had from him because he's injured most of the time. Will we ever get a season out of him, or enough of a season to make a difference? He needs to have a RVC recovery and get a season under his belt. If he can't do that we need to be looking for a player who can. However good Theo is or isn't, makes no odds if he's not on the pitch.

Good question - but given that he's not had the striker's role for very long - the team has made a step change in terms of balance. He gives Ozil and Sanchez some space to work in, and we have seen the greater opportunities the team has had going forwards as a result. As you rightly say, however, can he stay on the pitch to make the new approach mean something for us.

[Kano]

If people are being honest with themselves then we already know the answer to that - no he can't. He'll score goals, put in some good performances but if by this age he is still getting injured so much then it will remain that way for the rest of his career. Walcott is not a player we can rely on to build a strategy around.

[Power n Glory]

First you were saying he can't play as striker and that he doesn't score goals and now the crystal ball is saying he'll never stay fit.

[mastermind84]

Suarez wouldn't have been an expensive flop. Like David Villa at Valencia or Aguero at Atletico it shouldn't take a genius to see these players were worth the money.

We can't afford expensive flops and £22m isn't cheap. But you can't compare Suarez and Bendy in that regard. Two totally different risks being taken but we'll take the expensive gamble on bums like Bendy and pay £10m here another £10m there and £2m here and that's your £22m on flops.

I didnt compare Suarez to Bendtner.

I mentioned Bendtner because we had bad contracts on the books like Bendtner's. Like Denislon's (who I loved as a player and really feel he got a raw deal). Like Diaby. Like Rosicky.

And if I told you a 23 year old striker, who is a proven nutcase, was scoring goals in Holland for fun, a lot of people would say "but its Holland?" Do not compare that situation to La Liga.

I do agree about nickel and diming that Wenger and Co did which either lead to talents like a Nasri and Koscielny, or bums like Gervinho. Its a tricky game.

Suarez moved to Liverpool in the January 2011 window. In the summer 2011 window we spent around £50m.

£12m on Ox,
£10m on Gervinho,
£10m Arteta
£8m Merts
£6m on Santos,
£3m on Park Chu Young
£1m on Campbell
£500k on Eisfield

Only two of those players are regular starters, Campbell was eligible to play because of his work permit, you've already said your piece on Ox, Gervinho, Santos and Park were flops already gone. That's what I deem expensive and risky over signing someone like Suarez. I don't understand why we were shopping in bargain basements and taking risks on players nobody ever heard of over proven players just destined for a move to a big club. Senseless stuff. Not wanting to take the risk resulted in the trophyless years and players leaving. Instead of investing the money from sales of players like Henry, Ade, RVP we'd go for the above type players. The ones on other top club would bid for.

I dont disagree with you entirely, but this summer we lost Fabregas and Nasri. Those monies were basically from those sales. Wenger may have felt its best to spread the quality instead of making the big huge signing. TBF, he had done that many times before and it was shown to be successful. (in 1999, we sold Anelka and signed Henry, Sukur, and Slyvinho)

He had just flopped with that summer's signings because I still feel he thought he could keep Nasri and Fabregas.

I dont know how that summer relates to Suarez though since we sold neither during that period.

[Power n Glory]

I know you're not comparing Bendy and Suarez as players but it's a bad comparison in terms of transfer risks. That should be obvious.

Again, fan perception of a potential signing and what league they play in is totally irrelevant. That's for the scouts and manager to make a call on. Also we bought Giroud, Gervinho, Park and Chamakh from the French league. Clubs that have no history of a producing great talent like Ajax. That's a another bad point you've made. Santos came from the Turkish league. Jenkinson and Ox came from the Championship. If we as fans accepted them, I seriosuly doubt there would have been strong objections from fans because a player came from Ajax with that sort of record. You only had to watch a couple of games of him to see what sort of player he was. He had a very sketchy history, it got worse at Liverpool but it makes no sense that we moved in after he had gone to Liverpool and lead astray by those northern, feral, racists.

But back to the original point. You say there were no players on the market we could afford at that time. I say you're wrong because I'm using Suarez's move to Liverpool as one example and also, the same year Liverpool bought Suarez, we bought Ox and Gervinho. That's the funds for that deal. £22m identified and we bought those two players early in the summer without having to sell. Gazidis also kept saying we had funds in the bank so I don't know how much more evidence you need. Can't always defend the indefensible. We just had a bad strategy.

[Kano]

First you were saying he can't play as striker and that he doesn't score goals and now the crystal ball is saying he'll never stay fit.

I don't think you need to be Derren Brown to see what a fuck up this boy is. 26 (closer to 27) and established as a legend in the medical industry and nothing more than another vanity project for Wenger.

[Power n Glory]

I don't think you need to be Derren Brown to see what a fuck up this boy is. 26 (closer to 27) and established as a legend in the medical industry and nothing more than another vanity project for Wenger.

Again, I remember you saying he doesn't contribute to this club and isn't good enough to be a striker for us. That's I find it comical. Keep those knives out for him.