Adequate is the word that I would use to describe Arsenal’s transfer window – it could have been better, but then again, it could also have been worse.
Watching the post match interview with Arsene Wenger after our dismal Sunday last weekend left me feeling angry, deflated and pessimistic about our future.
Wenger seemed in denial as usual, espousing his rhetoric of ‘special circumstances’. Robin van Persie saw through it as did most of us Gooners, pointing out that Man U were also missing players. As Robin was suggesting football is all about squads, not just first-teams and ours was not even close to being able to compete with Man United’s.
In truth the Man U team that trounced us so comprehensively was almost unrecognisable from the team that started the Champions League final last May. Only Rooney and Evra remained in the starting line-up, dramatically highlighting the difference between the two squads. Every cloud has its silver lining though. It finally appeared as the emphatic nature of the defeat forced Wenger and the board to spend some of the infamously abundant silver lining their pockets.
At last, if not all a little bit too late. Wenger’s interview about ‘special circumstances’ and the imminent signing of Park Chu-Young though had suggested it might have been different. In reality these signings should have been made months ago and been given time to settle in. Yet they were merely just a reaction to a crisis situation, a situation that should never have been allowed to develop in the first place.
According to Wenger the reason we did not buy players before was because it was hard to find players of Arsenal quality. Yet he somehow managed to find 5 in two days, and two of them had been right underneath his nose for 6 years. Obviously Wenger has panicked – just as he said he would never do – and bought players for the sake of it. Arteta and Benayoun, both undoubtedly good players, are not even close to the quality of Fabregas and Nasri. Nevertheless, they are better than nothing and although I am not ecstatic I am moderately appeased.
Earlier in the summer Wenger admitted to the world that we would no longer be a big club after selling Nasri and Fabregas. That is not completely true. Reality demands that sometimes big clubs must sell big players, (e.g. Ronaldo from Man U to Madrid), however, big clubs always replace big players. Arsenal have failed to do that this summer.
It has been an awkward summer for Arsenal and I am glad the tedious transfer sagas are over (until the inevitable Van Persie saga starts next year). However, I cannot escape the fact that despite our squad being much stronger than it was last week, it is still undoubtedly weaker than the one that finished fourth last season. The truth is that we have a real fight to get fourth this year and whereas last week I was despondent about the challenge, I am now optimistic again.
Click HERE to see the original article. This article was first published on Arsenal Insider
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