Winter Transfer Speculation

[Niall_Quinn]

No, of course not - if it gives the club a kick up the star then so much the better! Just saying it's probably not working ourselves into a panic over...

When you consider who will be involved in contract negotiations and also has control of the chequebook in the transfer windows, maybe panic is the most suitable response.

Sigh. We've said it so many times but this summer we need to see proper, top tier reinforcements arrive or we can forget about existing top tier players hanging around. Plenty of clubs out there that can genuinely compete and will pay a lot more. For the modern player football is a job, there's no loyalty or cultural association. Pep will have unlimited funds in the summer, so will cunt bag over at Utd. You have to assume the chavs will be kicking in a pile of cash too. Love it or loathe it these are the big clubs in action. So are we part of that group or a tier below? It might upset the delicate sensibilities of the misers in our boardroom, it may well be vulgarity that causes manager to wretch, but we're either in this to win it or we chuck the towel in and assume our place with the also-rans. I guess if the latter occurs (99.99% chance) at least we have a nice stadium and a strong share price.

The alternative, of course, would be to get a proper manager in. We've seen how a proper manager can close that gap without having to spend a fortune. Unfortunately the guy we have has demonstrated time after time he doesn't have the know-how so if he's staying it will have to be the money route.

£100mill in the summer window and Simeone or the like brought in and we are looking at a whole new Arsenal with a whole bunch of possibilities. Minimum spend and the stubborn old bloke signed up until 2019 and we're fucked. I really don't know how there's anybody left who can't see that.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I thought it was Ramsey that Barca were after?

[Kano]

I thought it was Ramsey that Barca were after?

They want them all - they're all going to leave at once ffs!

[Xhaka Can’t]

They want them all - they're all going to leave at once ffs!

They can have all of our players and we'll have all of theirs.

And next year we'll finish 4th and go out in the first CL knock-out stage.

[Kano]

They can have all of our players and we'll have all of theirs.

And next year we'll finish 4th and go out in the first CL knock-out stage.

But more shirt sales, more merchandise and higher share values.

So everyone's a winner.

[Xhaka Can’t]

But more shirt sales, more merchandise and higher share values.

So everyone's a winner.

You're Boardroom material!

[fakeyank]

Can Barca just take Wenger?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

They can have all of our players and we'll have all of theirs.

And next year we'll finish 4th and go out in the first CL knock-out stage.

To Barcelona.

[I am invisible]

I think Aubameyang started his life as a winger. I really don’t know how this sort of player can slip under our radar. He was playing in the French league before arriving at Dortmund. But I agree with you. Welbeck should be capable of playing the role. Theo, Sanchez even Campbell. Just someone that has a decent touch, a bit of pace and has the mobility to work from channel to channel, come deep for the ball on occasions, go in behind and also be effective on the counter. When teams sit deep against us, block the middle and restrict the space, we can’t afford to play a slow immobile brick of a player that can only play with his back to goal. I’ve noticed how Klopp’s playing Frimino and I don’t know why we haven’t tried the same.

Why not buy a winger and convert them to a striker? I thought that was the plan for Sanchez. Just before selling Gervinho we played him there and he didn’t look that bad and that guy has terrible shooting technique but he’d manage to find the net and pose a threat. Constantly moving. He had a great game against Southampton scoring 2. The Chelsea and City games were too much for him (even though he scored against Chelsea) but I don’t get why Wenger hasn’t tried this again. I don’t accept that there is no one on the market. I think he’s lost his eye for talent.

The problem I have with Giroud is that he’s not a threat to defenders. Hardly ever a menace that’s a thorn in their side. He has moments where he pops up for a goal but never a constant threat. For all of Theo’s faults, you could see against Bayern and Utd that he was a problem for their defenders and he didn’t have to score. We just need an upgrade on that sort of player. That should be our plan A all the time. Giroud should be plan B. There has to be a player out there or within the squad and it shouldn’t take £60m to get that from a player. I really don’t know why he hasn’t put pace up front as a priority now. Against Chelsea he took off his top goal scoring striker to play with pace. Surely that’s a sign? He’d never do that if that were Anelka, Henry, RVP…even Adebayor.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what happened with the 'Sanchez as striker' plan? Probably the same thing that happens to all of our plans - injuries. One or two wide men go down, and that's it! All of a sudden we have no choice but to keep Giroud up front, and play anyone out wide who is still fit and able to play there.

I'm not actually sure where I stand on the idea now, anyway? I was very much for it when we first signed him, and after last summer, when I really couldn't think of anyone more talented out there who we could have signed to play there... part of me is still curious to see how it might work out, and thinks that a partnership of Sanchez and Özil is potentially mouth-watering... but then another part of me thinks that we're already getting 20+ goals a season from him from the left, and that we'd be stupid to give that up? By all accounts Sanchez himself prefers playing on the left anyway, and it's working out pretty well for us... maybe we shouldn't go tinkering with it?

At this point, given the options we have (and assuming his injury woes are behind him), I think my first choice would be to give Welbeck a proper run as CF. He gives us the best mix of attributes - presence, pace + mobility, work rate, hold-up play, decent in the air and on the deck... he's not necessarily the sharpest, deadliest finisher I've ever seen, but I really don't think you need to be? If you're getting in the right places consistently then there's always goals to be had for anyone. Again, dig out a compilation of Aubameyang's goals from this season as an example, or just think back to what we managed to get out of Adebayor - we've squeezed more out of less before, so this should be achievable.

To be honest, I have a lot more time for Giroud than I do for Walcott at the moment - a limited striker he may be, but at least I generally feel that he delivers towards the top end of what his limitations allow him to across a season. We all know what the biggest problem with him is: he should be used as a horses-for-courses striker, but unfortunately we end up having use him far more often than we should, largely because of the brittleness of everyone around him. He's a good first-time finisher, and a great option to have to break down a deep defence and a packed area - I can't really blame him because we end up having to use him as our everyman for every occasion so often.

My issue with Walcott is that I never know what we're going to get from him? Sure, Giroud has his good games and bad, but at least he's fairly predictable with it (i.e. you can pretty much see it coming a mile of when he's not going to be suited to a particular game or against a particular opponent) - with Walcott though, it's a lot more erratic. He can be god-awful in a game that should suit him down to the ground, and he can suddenly turn up and win a game that you think he's going to be totally swamped in? I don't like not knowing what to expect from our players when we field them - you have to know, more or less, what to expect from your players before you can build a team around them and plan...

[Power n Glory]

Yeah, I'm not really sure what happened with the 'Sanchez as striker' plan? Probably the same thing that happens to all of our plans - injuries. One or two wide men go down, and that's it! All of a sudden we have no choice but to keep Giroud up front, and play anyone out wide who is still fit and able to play there.

I'm not actually sure where I stand on the idea now, anyway? I was very much for it when we first signed him, and after last summer, when I really couldn't think of anyone more talented out there who we could have signed to play there... part of me is still curious to see how it might work out, and thinks that a partnership of Sanchez and Özil is potentially mouth-watering... but then another part of me thinks that we're already getting 20+ goals a season from him from the left, and that we'd be stupid to give that up? By all accounts Sanchez himself prefers playing on the left anyway, and it's working out pretty well for us... maybe we shouldn't go tinkering with it?

At this point, given the options we have (and assuming his injury woes are behind him), I think my first choice would be to give Welbeck a proper run as CF. He gives us the best mix of attributes - presence, pace + mobility, work rate, hold-up play, decent in the air and on the deck... he's not necessarily the sharpest, deadliest finisher I've ever seen, but I really don't think you need to be? If you're getting in the right places consistently then there's always goals to be had for anyone. Again, dig out a compilation of Aubameyang's goals from this season as an example, or just think back to what we managed to get out of Adebayor - we've squeezed more out of less before, so this should be achievable.

To be honest, I have a lot more time for Giroud than I do for Walcott at the moment - a limited striker he may be, but at least I generally feel that he delivers towards the top end of what his limitations allow him to across a season. We all know what the biggest problem with him is: he should be used as a horses-for-courses striker, but unfortunately we end up having use him far more often than we should, largely because of the brittleness of everyone around him. He's a good first-time finisher, and a great option to have to break down a deep defence and a packed area - I can't really blame him because we end up having to use him as our everyman for every occasion so often.

My issue with Walcott is that I never know what we're going to get from him? Sure, Giroud has his good games and bad, but at least he's fairly predictable with it (i.e. you can pretty much see it coming a mile of when he's not going to be suited to a particular game or against a particular opponent) - with Walcott though, it's a lot more erratic. He can be god-awful in a game that should suit him down to the ground, and he can suddenly turn up and win a game that you think he's going to be totally swamped in? I don't like not knowing what to expect from our players when we field them - you have to know, more or less, what to expect from your players before you can build a team around them and plan...

I disagree about Giroud. We need him to find his form or someone else to step up and T up some chances for him. Yesterday’s performance from him was predictable and it has been for a couple of weeks now and that’s not a good thing. He should be a plan B striker coming on off the bench in that case. It might not be wise to tinker with Sanchez now and we really don’t have many wide options being honest.

As for Welbeck and Walcott…..your arguments against Walcott is probably what I feel more so for Welbeck. When he first arrived and had his run up front, he just wasn’t getting into goal scoring positions. He’d need a bit more time to adapt in that role. Walcott on the other hand started to find his feet in that role but got injured as per usual. I think he’s at his worst blowing hot and cold when on the wing. If he’s not scoring, he’s not really contributing that much on the flanks. If he didn’t score last night, people would have been all over his case. But first shot on goal and he scores. He’s the type of player, I feel, will get opportunities and end up putting them away once the confidence flows. Just like we’ve said about Ade, but Walcott has a better touch and finish. Certain games are suited for a striker like Giroud but I don’t think we’ve seen enough of Walcott to write him off.

I did a comparison of Walcott and Welbeck some months back and it’s telling. Walcott had never had a run up front for as long as Welbeck had last season. But in the short period Walcott has had games up front, he’s done a lot better than Welbeck. I’m still not sure he’s had as long a run as Danny up front. But right now, I think we need to switch things up. Giorud not scoring in the last 5 games should be a worry.