Here’s a guest article from Anders Marshall from Canada. He thinks that we do need some players in the summer but not many as we’ve got one hell of a team. This is his first article so be a little lenient on him. Over to you Anders.
A Spot to Fill: Which Players Should Arsene Wenger Buy?
By Anders Marshall
As seasons come and go, many fans of Arsenal FC feel that with a little more money spent on proven talent and less on inexperienced youth, they would be adding more to the trophy cabinet. I’m definitely one of those fans. The problem is that Wenger is stubborn in his signings and doesn’t like to sign older, more expensive players. Despite these limiting factors, here’s a list of the top positions that need filling, and who could occupy them.
Goalkeeper
Absolutely no one. I know the last sentence was a bit misleading, but this point needs to be made. Since Lehmann’s departure, there have been endless cries to sign a goalkeeper, but Arsene Wenger stood firm. He chose to rely on Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski instead. In the short-term, it seemed like a horrendous blunder on AW’s part, but this season we have seen Fabianski flourish into a strong, calm goalkeeper who made very few mistakes. Unfortunately, he’s been lost to injury. Then came along Wojciech Szczesny, a goal keeper quite similar to Lehmann: good reflexes, shot stopping, and mad. He did very well on his debut against Manchester United only conceding once against Park Ji Sung, and has been the reason Arsenal haven’t lost more games. Position filled.
Defence
Similar to the goalkeeping conundrum, Wenger stood firm and didn’t sign anyone in the winter transfer window, despite rampant calls for a new centre back. This was understandable, with four centre backs already in the senior squad, Le Boss felt that he had enough talent at his disposal. With Tomas Vermaelen out for the season with a possible return for next, the back line will be very crowded. Of course there is an odd man out: Sebastien Squillaci. Squillaci has been poor at best for most of his first season at arsenal. He lacks pace and communication when he is paired with Laurent Koscielny. His departure would free up wage funds and add a small amount to the war chest. The most likely and most capable candidate for signing would be Mamadou Sakho. French, tall, young, and fairly cheap. He ticks all the boxes. He has great leadership qualities as well, captaining his side since he was seventeen. If Wenger could secure the Frenchman’s services, then qualms about defence would surely cease.
Midfield
This is where Arsenal have been lacking recently, to our surprise. Without Cesc Fabregas in form, the team lacks ideas and pace in the build up. Signing someone like Eden Hazard or promoting Ryo Myaichi next season could work wonders for the front line, as well as selling Abou Diaby, Denilson, and Tomas Rosicky would give us more money for a tough holding midfielder, something Arsenal sorely lack at times when Alex Song is injured. Charlie Adam looks a likely candidate if he is allowed to leave Blackpool next season. He provides goals, strength, stability and calm to the back line and would be a vital asset for years to come at 25 years of age. Another attacking winger would ensure Samir Nasri gets a more central role, because he has proved to be a worthy replacement should El Capitan become injured. Fabregas has been known to be the most creative midfielder in the team, but right now the attack is looking slow and predictable. The most important thing to do is hold on to Nasri and Fabregas, and perhaps open up the pocket-book for Eden Hazard.
Attack
This line has always puzzled me. Robin Van Persie is arguably the best left footed striker in the world, but it’s too bad he’s injured for at least half of every season. Yet again, Arsene Wenger signed a fairly unknown player in Marouane Chamakh, but turned him into one of the best strikers in the EPL. While Chamakh was lighting up the stage along with Samir Nasri, RVP and Fabregas were waiting in the ranks to come back to the first team. At first they both seemed rusty. Then came the new year, which saw both players on fire with goals and assists aplenty. With RVP back in form, Chamakh was relegated to the bench. I don’t think a transfer in for a new player is absolutely necessary, provided tactics change for next year. Partner RVP with either Chamakh or Bendtner, giving us more height and heading ability. Position filled.
Conclusion
All in all, Arsenal are a great team who really deserve better, but are usually struck with injuries which results in mediocre players getting the start. With these new players added to the line up, Arsenal will have a new-found depth and skill in their squad required to win trophies.
Shubham
First thing, the season is NOT over, the title race for us is over. I know that it was a useless performance. When the time was crucial, they failed to deliver. But Bolton did after the Wembley shock. I’m not sure whether Arsenal would’ve done the same if they’d lost 5-0 to Stoke in a semi-final.
Goof first article tbh.
goof or good? lol
Obviously good
Thank you!
It is difficult to play 120% week in week out against refs , media, and fans.
I think Hill Wood and co should find a way round the FA. Give Sturige a penalty and deny Walcott. Give Lucas a penalty. I dont think Super Manu can even beat any team if they need to play against refs and whiles ref ensures that the last kick of the game is a penalty against them
Agree with you. Referees are 100% biased and always favor Man United. But I guess Arsenal players should also learn the techniques to influence the referees cuz sometimes they do something completely immature.Look at Diaby against Newcastle.
He could’ve lied down and called d medical team and got Barton sent off.But no, he does the opposite.
This is something our players need to learn.
Hi, I’ve seen you make a few appearances at the ArsenalArsenal blog. Best of luck with your blog son.
It’s a tough time to be a gooner.
All the best.
Thanks charybdis1966,
It surely is a tough time considering the fact that I’ve never seen Arsene so helpless
Sahko cheap? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
More like VERY EXPENSIVE.
The problem I have with Sakho is that he is left footed, same as Tommy V..it is very unusual to find two leftfooted CB’s playing together.
The only change I feel is needed in the defence is some competition for Clichy in form of Baines.
Midfield, an extra hand to complement/compete with Song n maybe another striker if Nikky B leaves
Baines if arrives would surely displace Clichy cuz Clichy is prone to a mistake every 2-3 games.
Completely agree that a backup DM to compete with Song is a must and a Centre-forward is also a must.
I don’t think our defence is that bad and don’t forget Vermaelan is back next year. He and Kozzer will make Rio and Vidic look like amateurs(I know that’s a long shot but it’s possible). Koscielny is bad when he plays with Squillaci.He gets significantly better with Djourou who is no where near Vermaelan. So I don’t how much better will he play him Thomas.
I agree with loads of the facts he showed since I see the same things in the squad; although he failed to see some other things.
Firstly he needs to understand we cannot be Man City or Real Madrid. I don’t mean that in talent, ability or skill. I’m talking about the player frustrations. Both in Man City and Real Madrid loads of players are very frustrated, such as Sergio Canales. He is Very Frustrated. He probably would leave next year. They have too many players for each positions result on no proper starting XI. That’s what Murinho changed soon as he got their. It was obvious that the team is failing because of frustrated players. Therefore one thing for sure we cannot have too many players in the squad.
Now let’s see, we cannot sell the following players if we do we are doomed.
1) Robin Van Persie
2) Moroune Chamakh
3) Cesc Fabregas
4) Samir Nasri
5) Jack Wilshere
6) Alexander Song
7) Thomas Vermalen
8) Laurent Koscielny
9) Wojech Sessney
Out of them all of them are on the Current 1st XI or should be in the current 1st XI.
I always thought our 2 full backs are not good enough, especially Clichy. We replaced him with Ashley Cole. So let’s be realistic he is not Ashley Cole or Marcelo who I think is the best left backs in the world. Often I have seen Clichy playing players on side during the off side trap, giving them a chance to score. Barcelona was one of the games. The only good thing about him is his pace. Either improved him or sell him and get the Marseille left back he is goooood
… Sagna is Okay not the best. Also Eboue is stupid but has a bag of talent in him which people sill have not seen properly. So I am reluctant to sell him. All players love him too. You need a player like him in the squad, Also since he can play in the right wing I would take my chances on him.
Goal keepers, 3 of them are more than enough. Wjoech being brilliant this season together with Fabianski, I think we should keep Vito Mannone and sell Almunia least get a couple of Millions for him. Giving us the ability to improve in else where.
Centre Backs, Thomas and Koscielny would be starting. Thomas is one of the best CB’s in the world and we just got Koscielny and he is good, so i don’t see him going. Djoru is as good as Koscielny so I see him giving back up specially in cup matches. Squilacci is old we can’t really sell him and he just came. Therefore I see him being lower in the ranks and his experience would still help. Then we have Miquel Ignasi coming through ranks who I see going on loan next season to join the 1st team the season after. SO we can also have him. CB replacements? forget it.
Defending midfielders, we have Djorou, Song, Denilson, Wilshere and Diaby who can play in that role. If we get a better DM than Song he will get frustrated and leave when he is one of the best. I don’t see Arsene investing here. Denilson is just 21 guyz. A fact loads of people forget. He should be in the reserves team to be honest, but he is not. So he will be one of the best from times to come. Therefore I do not see him going or Arsene investing. Diaby had a bad season; people forget he was the most impressive midfielder in the world cup. We knew other midfielders who performed were already good. No one expected that from Diaby. Therefore please hang on to that memory. Since he had a bad season with injuries and personal problems. I’m sure he will look sharp next season. So 4 good players in that position, Song, Djorou, Denilson and Diaby. Also do not forget we have Emannuel Frimpong.
Attacking Midfielders, We can play Nasri, Rosicky, Ramsey, Cesc, Wilshere. I see Wilseher not changing the role and playing alongside song since he did really well there. Also I prefer Nasri replacing Cesc than anyone else,leaving shortage on the wing and Ramsey is soo good. You can’t replace him. However I do not see any need for Rosicky, In fact he is now old and should sell him and get some cash. Meaning we need a winger who also can play Attacking Midfield position.
Then we come to Wingers, We have Walcott, Arshavin, Nasri, Van Persie, Rosicky, Vela and Bendtner. To be honest who I see playing in the 1st team in the winger positions is Nasri and Walcott and Van persie will def. Play in the Central Striker role. I think we need to cash in on Bentner. Also I see Arshavin being a frustrated player since his wife is not settling down here very well. Therefore I see us cashing out on him too. And we need to give Vela more chance. So I see him starting all the cup games. Again so far conclusion Bendtner and Rosicky should def. leave.
Strikers, we have Van persie, Bendtner, Chamakh and Vela. Vela has been brilliant on loan. I see him being a really good player on the wing rather than up front. We just got Chamakh therefore I do not see us selling him. Therefore I see Bendtner leaving for sure.
Conclusion, Bentner, Rosicky and even though I do not like saying this Andrei should leave. We should get a Winger who can play as an attacking midfielder, and maybe another striker. I see someone from younger generation coming up for Bendtner, either Benik Afobe or Jay Emannuel Thomas. So we need one player. Only two players who Arsene is interested fits the description. Eden Hazard and Alex-Oxlade Chamberlane.
From these two I see it being Alex. Few reasons fro that. 1 is that Eden said he is happy at Lille. Therefore he may not come to a different club yet, also he prefer playing for real in the future than Arsenal. 2ndly ex Arsenal players have urged Arsene to invest in English players. The only one I see is Alex. However it also can depend on how far Man UTD is going to sign him. Since Fergy really want him apparently.
Also then there is the Cesc dilemma, should he leave for Barcelona or not. If he does leave we just have to either get Eden as well or get Yohaan Gorcuffn, no one else to replace Cesc for sure. I doubt he would leave yet. Even today Arsene said they are tied down to long term contracts and he will not sell them. Therefore should he want to leave we may get massive amount of cash. However would Barcelona agree to that? I don’t think so. Therefore I see him staying for another year.
So conclusion Alex would be the prime target, in my view.
Agree on most points. But I’ll just mention those which I don’t agree on.
Squillaci CAN be sold and we will easily get 2-3 millions for him. He’s not as bad and would be successful in a lower intensity league.We need another great defender so that we have 4 and can easily rotate.
Secondly, Denilson is 23 and is shit. He is not confident and hasn’t improved a bit in the previous years. He should be sold for whatever price we get.
Diaby is not a defensive midfielder.I’ll call him a Central midfielder. He has qualities but no brain which is a must for an Arsenal player.
Wilshere is also not exactly a DM and I’d ask you, if we play just one DM would you give that position to Jack when Song is injured. Frimpong looks good and might be able to provide a decent enough backup to Song.
A winger such as Hazard, Miyaichi or Alex would be great and at least one is certainly needed especially on the right flank.
For me, we need a centre-forward as currently we only have van Persie and Chamakh(Bendtner will surely be sold).ManU have 4 and 2 on loan good enough for backup. The striker position is one where you need the most players as there’s a huge possibility of a striker getting injured. Another striker is needed so that van Persie can be rested and both of them can play together when necessary.Chamakh will provide an able backup.
Yes Shubham,
I do know their correct roles. However recently Diaby prooved since the last season he can play defencive midfield role. That’s how we play him now. We do not have central midfielders as such in our formation. Also though we start as two Defencive midfielders and onky one remain in the center of the park, as the other will be attacking. Normally that’s Wilshere or Diaby. Therefore that Answers your question. My point is we cannot buy someone better than Song. Reason then we need to keep him off and play the better one. Then song will get frustrated. He is also good at the same time. Good enough. Therefore if we are to buy someone it should be either just as good as song or someone better than the replacements. Now as DM we can play Wilshere, Diaby, Djorou, Denilson and Frimpong. Say we sold Denilson we still have Frimpong and Diaby. Can you see? There is a huge problem with balancing the squad as it is. Since Diaby should be pllaying int he 1st XI to be honest. Don’t say that about Diaby. He is a hot tempered person due to recent activities. He played really well at the world cup only to be seen as a clown thanks to the dum senior french players and the manager. They were really frustrated. Then he was suffering from Injuries all season to see his place taken over by Wilshere. Also when he is given the chance someone came and did another reckless tuckle. So you need to give hime a break. It’s not fair on him. Last season we scored the 1st goal because of his pass to walcott, and boy what a pass it was. He is brilliant he is intelligent. He just had a bad season. So did Andrei, and Cesc.
By the way Shubham, I told you you will get more people through twitter. See now more people comment. Also I think some of the players actually read too.
Ever since my comment about Cesc not taking shots, He been taking shots. In fact they were brilliant shots. Twice he hit the post 
. So carry on our young Delhi gunner. This Blog is bloody brilliant. 
Thanks Chabbz for the compliment.
I do think that Diaby deserves to be in our squad but certainly not in our first XI. But Denilson should be sold.There are no two ways about it. Sold now. Any way. For any price. To any club.
Diaby is no doubt talented but isn’t consistent like the other DMs we have in Wilshere and Song. For me, we should either have Frimpong in our squad or sign a defender cum DM who is good. I’ve said this a hundred times ago. Get Vertonghen and our defense and midfield problems will be solved. He provides backup for 3 positions(CB,LB and DM) so obviously he won’t get frustrated. Next season if Fabregas remains at Arsenal and stays fit, we’ll be fine. Another player I want is a centre-forward which scares defenders.First of all, we don’t have enough strikers.Second, Bendtner is not good enough. He can be sold for a good 15 millions. Next year we can have van Persie, Chamakh,Vela, new centre-forward and JET.
Also, is it just me who thinks that even though Song has been vital this season, his defensive game hasn’t improved much. I’m not saying that he’s been poor but it’s just he’s not progressed on the defensive front. Maybe because of injuries, the World Cup or the new role he was given.
Wel yes, So one thing remain cenrtain although I believe we should not sell Deilson and Diaby. That’s every gunner wants to see Rosicky and Bendtner defenetely gone. So lets see replaacements for them rather than others. The reason being other being sold or bought depends on what offers we get and with whom we can replace. Which is hard to predict what transfers it would be.
In terms of replacements for Bendtner I highly suggest Lukaku. He is known to be better than Drogba. That’s the type of player we need. The defenders scare him, Strong and powerfull and great movement, or sign Drogba as I think their is a very good chance of him leaving Chelsea this season for sure. Apart from that there is Benzema who is out of our price range and Remy from Marseile.
Rosicky obviously it’s either going to be Eden Hazard or Chamberlain. After seing the videos of Eden hazard loads of gunners are impressed about him. However I have watched Alex as well. He plays just the same way rooney used to play for Everton. So imagine rooney playing for Arsenal? and Eden Hazard is rated as the next ronaldo. Bare in mind Miyaichi is also known to be just like ronaldo at his age. So if we already has a ronaldo in our disposal why go for eden? when we can have a rooney in the squad. We can be better than the MAN UTD squad???. So I personally vote for Alex than Eden Hazard especially due to the fact that we already got the japanese wonder kid Miyaichi. Again I saw him against PSV the dutch leaders. They beat them 3-1. Who beat them 10-0 in the 1st game. So what a come back, and have to say Miyaichi gave some balls to the box it was breathtaking. Specially his runs. So quick. Yet I believe he has a lot to Improve in his game. He is only 17 though. So we got one of the best future wingers.
At the same tim I see Andrei leaving for sure. Specially because Nasri can devolop more and he is already better than Andrei.
I think Nasri might leave this summer…and what’s worse is that unless we sort out his contract terms soon, he might leave for free. If he doesnt leave though, then he should be played in the center more. I think he despises the fact that cesc gets more money and plays in the center where nasri might be better. Nasri also shoots more often and works harder (than cesc). So i think Nasri should be moved to a central position.
Nasri in my opinion will not leave.And he’ll not leave for one & only one reason.Arsene Wenger. Nasri would surely be tempted by other offers but in the end ARSENE will talk to him and get him to sign a long contract.
Yes I also think Nasri should play a more central role. Why not play Nasri just behind the striker.Or play him in the Fabregas role.Fabregas should certainly be shifted in the midfield along with Jack.This will allow him to have a much wider view of the field which can only help his much gifted vision.
My team for next season :
Szczesny
Sagna Koscielny Vermaelan Clichy/Gibbs/BAINES
Song
Fabregas Wilshere
Nasri
NEW STRIKER van Persie
We DO need replacements for Rosicky and Bendtner but surely one of them won’t be LUKAKU. He is priced at around 25-30 million and every big club wants him.So expect the price to go further up and Wenger to pull out of it. Milito from Milan has emerged as a major target. We’ll probably get him for around 5-7 million and he is a proven goalscorer who’s not injury prone.Drogba would be great but I don’t think Chelsea won’t sell him to us(if they decide to sell him!).
Alex would be welcome but not in the first team. Hazard would be. Obviously can’t guess who Wenger will sign.
Wenger will surely sign a defender as he’s openly criticized his defence for the first time in years.
NO he wont buy a defender. Our team is great, What we lack most is fixing the errors we make. We need good trainers. I don’t think Nasri would leave. I also don’t know for certain about it though. Fabregas may not leave another season. So I don’t see the midfield changing. I defenetely see Arshavin leaving, that would mean Nasri will be playing in the left wing so he often get to cut inside and take shots. Wallcott will play on the right for sure with his speed and recently build up crossing ability.
Therefore to be honest all I see is our replacements being replaced. That would mean obviously not any big signings this summer. However we may get 2 or 3 players who are relavantly good. Drogba would be out of contract. So if he decides to leave Chelsea he would be a free transfer. That’s why I said he might come. He also do not like Arsenal. He used to be a chelsea fan when he was in France. So the fact that he is leaving Chelsea because he got frustrated with the club may mean he may come here if we talk him in to it. Drogba for free aint bad eh? lol
I really don’t see any defencive signings. However I do see strong defencive training camps being done pre season.
I’d love Drogba at Arsenal. He will surely act as a leader. Didn’t know that his contract was up this season.Now I want Torres to score so that he becomes a starter and Drogba gets frustrated. On the defensive front, Wenger has said that we lack a commanding presence at the back. Vermaelan does provide that but Koscielny doesn’t. In Vermaelan’s absent, we might suffer defensively. Koscielny is a great defender but needs Vermaelan to help him.
Vertonghen would cost us 8-10 millions. He is rumored to be just as good as Tommy V. If that’s the case, our central defence,left back and defensive midfield will be sorted in no time. The most important thing will remain to work hard to get the ball back cuz no matter who we have at the back, if we allow free space to the opposition like we’ve done in recent games, we’ll ALWAYS concede.
Hello Shubh
Nice to see you engage with the chat on AA today.
Good luck with your blog.
How big is football in India at the moment? And which team is most supported (the evil Mancunians, presumably).
Football as compared to cricket is as big in India as Kabaddi might be in England. Not more than 0.5 % of India’s population(5 million people) actually watch football and they also don’t do that on a regular basis.
The World Cup though has a very high viewership as almost everyone is aware about the results and a lot of people watch it. I myself am not a fan of the World Cup given the fact that the quality is nowhere near the Premier League or the Champions League. Maybe it’s just because of the pressure!
And Man United is the most supported club followed by Chelsea. Then Barcelona, AC Milan and Liverpool. Very few Arsenal fans whom I know at least!
Well then, it’s up to you to spread the word!
I know. I know quite a few football fans with some of them being really passionate. But none about Arsenal .Mainly Manure, otherwise Chelsea or Barca. Also I know some fans who shift their clubs if their favorite player does so. No loyalty there huh?
Wow, thanks everybody for reading and posting your opinions! Gave the site a lot of traffic I must say, and all thanks to you Shubham!
Welcome mate!
Good article, but Chamakh was a known player and a lot of teams were after him, however he has never been a proven goalscorer. I do think we need a striker, simply because RVP is injured too much. Its problematic, and he isn’t an out and out striker as strange as that sounds. Just like you said, it is a weird conversation to have about the attacking side, because no one knows whether it needs filling or some slight adjusting.
If we do buy a centre-forward(and I mean that, not a second striker like van Persie), Theo and Nasri and Arshavin would become much better players. Theo’s crossing ability if not great is good but how many times does the ball fizz past the goal?
big like! – thanks .