Arsenal and transfers

[Sanchez11]

Also the lack of activity in previous years has an effect later on down the line. Not signing a striker in 2013 meant that when Giroud got injured a year later, we had to settle for Welbeck. Same thing in 2015, Wenger opted against signing Kante on Grimandi's advice and so a year later he signed Xhaka with the intention of trying to turn him into a similar all-action midfielder. If he'd signed a striker that summer as well, he wouldn't have had to make a panic signing again in the form of Lucas Perez.

If a CM and CF had come in during the summer of 2015, it could easily have resulted in a league title that season but it would also mean less business to do the following summer. You could keep the squad ticking over with 2-3 additions every year, instead of being in the position we're in now where nearly half of the XI needs replacing at the summer time. @Trilly have been banging this drum for ages as well, if we can see something this simple it's amazing that Wenger allows it to happen.

It is wenger's arrogance and stubborness that this has occured

 

[Vinci]

The most baffling thing of all is that the club had it's pennies collecting dust in the bank for so long. Five years ago players costed half of what they cost now, or even less, and even though we had to be careful spending then there was always at least 100M available. The club didn't want to spend it, even though they knew a boatload of money was coming in with new tv-rights and prices would skyrocket.

Our manager has a degree in economics no less, but none of them had the balls to spend it. That money could buy us several top players back then, which only gets you one or two now. That's the worst kind of non-investment possible.

 

[Batman]

One thing I hope will happen is that we'll start to see our transfer policies reflect not just a commitment to a balanced squad but at an even more basic level and acknowledgement of what it takes to win in England. As fantastic as Kos has been you cannot win the league with 1 Kos and a poor man's Kos next to him which is what we've been trying to do for years now. Kos is more of a continental defender than your classic rugged PL defender. 1 Kos absolutely can win you things and is a massive asset in Europe but he's got to be partnered with a snarling bastard like a Terry or Vidic. We need to prioritize the kind of players that are proven to work in English football and rebuild our standing in the league so that we can be in the CL and then we can worry about what works there.

 

[Giroud12]

I refuse to believe that Xhaka and Mustafi are as bad as they look in our current setup. They were decent/good performers before they came here. In theory they should be good buys for the price. Look at Gabriel, OK in La Liga, **** here, now apparantly doing good for Valencia in their best season for years.

Cech on the other hand - there is no excuse for signing an old, over the top GK and selling one of the most exiciting young GKs, who cried when he left the club, for peanuts. Were gonna look proper silly when he becomes the next Buffon at Juve.

At this point I think we should just use that third keeper and never play Cech again.

 

[Giroud12]

On a positive note, it sure looks like Sven knows whats up. Clearing the deadwood like crazy, and Auba is a very good transfer.

 

[Hunta]

One thing I hope will happen is that we'll start to see our transfer policies reflect not just a commitment to a balanced squad but at an even more basic level and acknowledgement of what it takes to win in England. As fantastic as Kos has been you cannot win the league with 1 Kos and a poor man's Kos next to him which is what we've been trying to do for years now. Kos is more of a continental defender than your classic rugged PL defender. 1 Kos absolutely can win you things and is a massive asset in Europe but he's got to be partnered with a snarling bastard like a Terry or Vidic. We need to prioritize the kind of players that are proven to work in English football and rebuild our standing in the league so that we can be in the CL and then we can worry about what works there.

Harry Maguire is staring us in the face. Has all the things you want in a PL defender, big, strong, fast, good in the air, young. But he's also excellent on the ball.

 

[Trilly]

Its like the whole recruitment team including Wenger have completely lost all ability to sign a decent player.

Or maybe they’re being put into a system where only a small minority can succeed.

 

[Batman]

Harry Maguire is staring us in the face. Has all the things you want in a PL defender, big, strong, fast, good in the air, young. But he's also excellent on the ball.

Exactly the profile we should be looking at. We haven't had a defender who really relishes a physical battle since Campbell. Hell when Campbell came back on loan as a pensioner a few years ago he was our best defender. You need a unit back there if you're going to win and if they've got a bit of a nasty streak then all the better.

 

[El Duderino]

On a positive note, it sure looks like Sven knows whats up. Clearing the deadwood like crazy, and Auba is a very good transfer.

Yes and no. I think Sven gets far too much credit for stuff he's not even doing (like contract talks).

The club's known what's up with some of the squad before his appointment.

The fact that we've tried to ship Mustafi, Elnenny, Walcott in the summer shows we were done if a couple of players in the squad.

We were even open to cancelling Debuchy's contract if he found a suitor, but alas, he wouldn't lower his wages (and why should he?).

Giroud was allowed to leave, but decided to fight for his spot.

Key difference now is that we have someone in place with the knowledge and track record to command enough authority so that thoughts and plans become actions.

Ivan's done well so far. But only because the house needed clearing and you don't really need a plan for that.

Now comes the real challenge, which is presenting and executing a direction for the club.

What's the actual direction Arsenal want to move towards to?

We need to stop being this reactive and start being more proactive. If he fails to deliver a vision, no amount of changing managers will help us.

 

[Jasard]

My only hope is we've thrown in the towel on this season and that's why we are rebuilding our attack and not worrying about defense - because we will sort that in the summer. Really hope the club doesnt think defense and GK is fine....

 

[TriniGunner]

My only hope is we've thrown in the towel on this season and that's why we are rebuilding our attack and not worrying about defense - because we will sort that in the summer. Really hope the club doesnt think defense and GK is fine....

We have a perfectly good # 1 in Ospina.

 

[Jasard]

We have a perfectly good # 1 in Ospina.

Very debatable! But I think he suffers from a messy defense.

 

[Toast]

I don't understand why you'd sign a DLP like Xhaka and then try to turn him into a box-to-box player. Sign Kolasinac and then say you have doubts about him in a back 4. Then you have guys like Chambers and Welbeck covering multiple positions but never nailing down a place in the team, hard to see what the approach is here.

I think it's opportunism, mostly. We sign whoever happens to be available and then try to figure out how to make it work. So we sell two wingers and get whoever is available to replace them - in this case a striker and a CAM, who just happened to be unwanted at their clubs.

I also suspect the club often sign the player they consider to be the best value for money or perhaps is the 'safest' option, rather than the best fit for the position. The whole point of StatDNA is, allegedly, to ensure we don't sign duds. It's meant to prevent us from signing expensive flops that'll cost us money. Ironically, expensive flops is exactly what StatDNA has produced for us. As it turns out, the 'safe' option on paper might not fit into the squad at all. E.g. Xhaka, Perez, arguably Mustafi.

Lastly, there's the panic buying to which we are prone when we start a season poorly. So we buy a Lucas Perez because Welbeck is injured for a few months. Welbeck himself had more than a hint of a panic buy about him as well.

Altogether it adds up to a mismatched squad of square pegs for round holes. There's far too little planning. When things then inevitably don't work on the pitch they have to be made to work, so you get Xhaka in a box-to-box role because we need a box-to-box player. Why do we need a box-to-box? Because we didn't sign a suitable partner for Xhaka, so can't use him as a DLP and therefore needed to change formation. Because of that constant re-adjusting our style of play constantly changes as well, which in turn makes it harder to plan for the long term and buy players to fit a certain formation and style of play.

Hopefully the changes behind the scenes mean we'll see the start of some actual long-term squad planning soon.

 

[Batman]

We have a perfectly good # 1 in Ospina.

If that were true he'd have suitors. He doesn't.

 

[KrissKringle]

While Miki and Auba are good transfers, I'm really not happy with Wenger doing favors for Manure and Chelski. When he sold RVP, he basically gave Whiskey Nose the PL trophy then and there. You don't do that sort of thing if you have any ambition.
Auba, I feel, is sort of a mercenary and will look to play well for a year or so and move to a better club, so there's the possibility of the team being left for dead up front in the next two years if Lacazette doesn't pan out the right way.
I'm glad they got rid of the dead wood, but Ox, Alexis and Giroud leaving for rivals is a big no-no in my book, even if we don't actually compete with them at the moment in the table.

 

[Penn_]

Transfers now more than ever seem very hit and miss for everyone. Only have to look at the money both Manchester clubs spend to know nothing is guaranteed.

What is worrying is that we supposedly scouted Xhaka for over a year, who then came into the team with no clear position or role. Is there no dialogue better scouts/recruitment and the manager?

Then there's the penny pinching, obviously no one knows our budget. But over the years we were forced to buy Elneny in January through a combination of lack of planning and unwilling to pay up for Xhaka. Same with Mustafi, we were unwilling to meet Roma's demands for Manolas so got stuck with him.

The bigger teams around us would probably bin Xhaka and Mustafi in the summer, unless they seriously improve, will we?

 

[GeorgiaGunner]

While Miki and Auba are really good transfers, I'm really not happy with Wenger doing favors for Manure and Chelski. When he sold RVP, he basically gave Whiskey Nose the PL trophy then and there. You don't do that sort of thing if you have any ambition.
Auba, I feel, is sort of a mercenary and will look to play well for a year or so and move to a better club, so there's the possibility of the team be left for dead up front in the next two years if Lacazette doesn't pan out the right way.
I'm glad they got rid of the dead wood, but Ox, Alexis and Giroud leaving for rivals is a big no-no in my book, even if we don't actually compete with them at the moment in the table.

Kind of hard to be ‘happy about Mkhi’ and then bemoan “doing favors for Manure” — we swapped a player who would have signed for them in <6 months anyways for a high-ceiling, albeit out of form, replacement. They offered the most attractive option and we (wisely) took it. Would have done more net damage to have let him leave basically for free for a 6 month rental to a Bayern (as no non-rivals were offering anything close to what he wanted), especially if he went ahead and signed for a rival anyways in the summer.

 

[Giroud12]

Harry Maguire is staring us in the face. Has all the things you want in a PL defender, big, strong, fast, good in the air, young. But he's also excellent on the ball.

Nah mate, makes way too much sense. Unless the old man's gone in the summer (which i think)

 

[Brown Gooner]

Within the last twelve months Arsenal have sold decent to good players to other Premier League rivals.

Alexis to Manchester United
Giroud to Chelsea
Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool
Walcott to Everton

What next? Wilshere to Man City and Ramsey to Tottenham?

The selling club Charity F.C. keeps on being a feeder club for others.

 

[blaze_of_glory]