Whilst Arsenal have won three Premier League games on the trot (the first time they’ve done this since March) it’s clear that there’s little reason for festive cheer at the Emirates.
The Gunners have shown signs of improvement, but there’s still plenty of work to be done to get this squad competitive again.
Defeats at the hands of Swansea City, Bradford City and Norwich City ought to have woken the top-brass at the club up. Without wanting to show fans of these clubs any disrespect, these are the kind of teams that Arsenal ought to be turning over.
Instead, they’ve spent most of the year looking tired, creatively drained and lacking in focus. Most worrying is their forward line, which has chopped and changed so much that nobody has managed to hit a vein of form. This is probably because the likes of Gervinho and Olivier Giroud have largely disappointed.
Suffice to say, it’s clear that Arsene Wenger needs to bring in some reinforcements this January. If Arsenal are to cling on to fourth place this season, they’ll need to bolster the team.
Unfortunately, Wenger seems content to roll out the same old platitudes: “We are in the market but only if we find players who will really strengthen us because we have a good squad. But if we find an exceptional player then we will take him.” (Source: ESPN)
Whilst it may sound exciting for Arsenal fans to hear that their club are after ‘exceptional’ talent, those who have listened to Wenger being interviewed enough times may worry slightly. Wenger has often used the lack of ‘exceptional’ or ‘special’ talent as an excuse for not making additions, whilst other clubs around him snap up good talent.
There are good players out there. Demba Ba, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Nani have all been linked to the Gunners. These are players who would help add depth to the squad and make the Arsenal competitive once more. The trouble is, we just don’t know what Wenger considers ‘exceptional’ (Olivier Giroud for instance? Marouane Chamakh). Let’s just hope that he won’t use this an excuse for another disappointing January.
ESPN claim that Wenger may have up to £30m to spend during the next transfer window, so let’s hope he’s not feeling too frugal!
What’s your take? Who should Arsenal be looking to bring in this January?
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I would go all out for David Villa and similar namesake M’vila, This would give us a world class front line man that can play anywhere from right to left. I know people will say he is 30+ but even if we only got 2-3 years out of him he would be worth it. His similar namesake Yan M’vila is a stopper he does not go walkies he patrols in front of the back line I know he as been a bad boy but I think AW would be able to control him . Total cost £ 16+8 £24 mill to solve a lot of problems and if Walcott goes you would recoup £ 15 of this.
Wenger should wake up or open his senses and eyes should know dat d squad is nt strong enough.i am happy wit D injury news bt d problem is dat wenger lacks tactics,formation and selection.To me dis arsenal squad is strong,only if wenger can change d formation to 4 1 3 2 or 4 4 2.dis formation is better than 4 3 3 becos d two strikers are nt isolated upfront bt d 4 3 3 formation d lone striker upfront is isolated.eg walcot,giroud,gervinho,podoski have been isolated upfront in previous matches.wenger should try playing walcot and giroud upfront and see how there pairing will work.just playin giroud as a lone striker upfront is limiting him as a goal poacher.why 4 once wenger buys a player from a club and dont play d player in d position d player plays in his former club,to me wenger is killing d players ability to perform.dat is why arshavin,giroud,chamak,podoski are nt performing well,they are played out of position.Lets look at dis players are there previous clubs are they performed.Arshavin in zenit played as amf nt a winger and he performed.2,podoski at koln played as a striker along wit another striker in d attack nt as a winger and he able to score goals.3,giroud at his former club didnt play as a lone striker,he played wit a 2nd striker beside him.