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The Wish List

ricky1985

Established Member
Baines, Johnson, Rami? - not for me. Even Cahill, is he better than what Djourou has shown recently, or the flashes of brilliance we've seen from Koscielny? Again, probably not.

What we need is Vermaelen back fit and leading the defence. He's perhaps the best there is in this League, and we miss him badly.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
No, I really rate Cahill, mate. I think he's a really good Premier League defender. I also rate Koscielny and Djourou, though, and I don't think Cahill will come in and really improve us. We'd need a jaw-droppingly good centreback to really do that - and that's exactly what we have in Vermaelen.

All three of our other centrebacks will look better players playing next to him.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
I agree, in hindsight, I would rather Wenger hadn't signed Squillaci. An experienced English based defender would have been a better signing - although they're thin on the ground, and we did go in for Jagielka after all.
 

Bossa

Established Member
Phil Jones could be a good one for the future. Can play both CB and DM and is a regular for Blackburn at only 18.
 

Iloveyouarsenewenger

Established Member
Bossa said:
Phil Jones could be a good one for the future. Can play both CB and DM and is a regular for Blackburn at only 18.

Would absolutely love to have him. He's a good young player, can cover for two positions for now and has the potential to be a future first teamer as well.

The fact that he's homegrown doesn't hurt as well.
 

Klaus Daimler

Established Member
ricky1985 said:
I agree, in hindsight, I would rather Wenger hadn't signed Squillaci. An experienced English based defender would have been a better signing - although they're thin on the ground, and we did go in for Jagielka after all.
On the other hand, what were the options? I doubt Gary Cahill would have done any better than Squiddy.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
As I said, they are thin on the ground. Squillaci wasn't really the answer though, decent player though he is. We really could have done with a defender who knows the English League and is fully accustomed to the English style. Squillaci isn't. Sol Campbell of last season would have been a better squaddie, unfortunately he turned back into a lazy bastard and wasn't interested in getting fit for this season, so he was never an option.

Cahill would have been better than Squillaci in my opinion, but he also would have cost £15M+, so was never really an option over Squillaci, more an alternative to Koscielny - but I realy rate Koscielny.
 

Klaus Daimler

Established Member
But Squillaci was brought in as a third-choice defender (at the most! And probably only because Djourou was still recovering at the time), not a regular starter. Would Cahill have been likely to agree to come here under similar circumstances? I very much doubt it (and even so - who in their right mind spends £15 million on squad depth?). Admittedly Squillaci has played a lot, but who knew that Vermaelen was going to miss the better part of the season? Like you say, Cahill would've been an alternative to Koscielny, and there's not a doubt in my mind that Kos is a superior player.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
I'd take Koscielny ahead of him, too. He's a great player in the making, just needs time.

I actually meant to mention Vermaelen, but forgot. If he had been fit we would have hardly seen Squillaci, and we'd probably all think what a great squad player he is because he wouldn't have been thrown in at the deep end.
 

Klaus Daimler

Established Member
I think that's true too. Squillaci has been a good signing, especially when you look at the circumstances under which he's had to perform. The team could've easily collapsed when we lost our most important defender; THE player we arguably couldn't afford to do without. None of the three centrebacks we've got right now played a single league game for us last season. There's been no one to ease them in and guide them through. Even the keeper behind them had to be exchanged. If our main backups had been Silvestre and Song (like last season) we'd probably be competing with Sunderland and Liverpool now, ten points further down the table. Instead we're topping it. People need to keep some things in perspective.
 

outlaw_member

Established Member
Squillaci has been an important signing. With both Koscielny and Djourou being quite raw, it was pivotal that the other option was someone experienced who is somewhat reliable. Consistency is important and if anything, Squillaci is consistently decent which makes for a better backup than someone who is better but fluctuates between the two extremes.
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Too much to ask for both, unfortunately.

I like Schweinsteiger (alot!) but Ramsey will develop into a similar type of player, and pretty quickly in my view. So I'd rather we invest the money elsewhere in the team.
 

Humble Rex

Established Member
Nah, I´d take Bastian, flog Diaby, and there would be the exact same amount of competition for Rambo. We as a team would be better though!
 

ricky1985

Established Member
Yeah, but if you buy someone of the quality of Schweinsteiger it's to plonk him straight in the team. He's obviously that good. I think Ramsey will be that good reasonably quickly.
 

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