The Wish List

[Anzac]

From Wenger himself:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/Arsène-wenger/article/4171/

Another foreign player we looked at in the summer was Javier Pastore, who I wanted to have in the summer, but we didn't have enough money!

Why oh why Arsène do you tease us with quotes like that..

Lol - does anyone actually believe this tripe anymore???

 

[Armor for Sleep]

Mata would have been perfect for us.

Its a killer, would be fantastic to have him alongside Gervinho and Walcott with Ryo and Ox-Chamberlain coming through. We'd be sorted in that position.

 

[Anzac]

Mata would have been perfect for us.

Its a killer, would be fantastic to have him alongside Gervinho and Walcott with Ryo and Ox-Chamberlain coming through. We'd be sorted in that position.

But even as a replacement for AA wouldn't Mata 'kill' one of Walcott/Rambo/Wilshere/Ox???
Just as would signing any of Gotze/Hazard/Reus would kill one of Walcott/Ox/Ryo???

 

[Armor for Sleep]

So you reckon when Arshavin goes he'll be replaced "internally"? I think we need to buy but maybe we won't.

 

[Anzac]

So you reckon when Arshavin goes he'll be replaced "internally"? I think we need to buy but maybe we won't.

Oh I agree entirely & probably that he should have been replaced already.

Having said that and looking at the age of the players like Arteta & loans for Benayoun & loan approaches for Gonzales (and combined with AW saying we are at the start of another transition period etc), my thoughts are that the older players are there to cover the youngsters but not hold them back as they'd only be on the books for 1-2 seasons.

Combine that with Ox being our most expensive signing & IMO the likes of Hazard/Gotze etc are as likely as Mata = not at all, and IMO that was always the case as soon as AW was able to get his way & sign Ox whilst letting Cesc & Nasri depart without consequence or being told to replace them directly. He was able to use the likes of Jack, Rambo & Ox to point at and say 'there are the replacement players & to sign anyone will kill their development'.

Me thinks Ox is AA's replacement by the end of season.

 

[Armor for Sleep]

Thing is though if he's off next summer, our wide options will take a significant hit. Presuming Benayoun goes back to Chelsea too, Ox and Ryo would be moving up 2 places in the squad. And if Wenger has any intention of using Walcott as a striker i think it leaves us very short and in need of an extra body.

We'd be gone from:

Walcott, Gervinho, Arsh, Benayoun, Ox and Ryo to

Walcott, Gervinho, Ox, Ryo, Campbell?,

Thinking about it, unless one of the younsters makes a serious impact, then i can't see us selling Arshavin and promoting within. Well we might do it but it would be a big risk and once again depending on an unproven kid to make a big step-up.

Edit - and a final point... something that might come into it is any replacement for Chamakh/Bendtner and how versatile that player is. For example a Podolski type might be seen as "killing 2 birds" - providing cover for RvP and taking Arshavin's spot as a WF with Ox and Ryo moving a place closer to the first team.

 

[mistaT]

Not that I'd advocate it but you could hypothetically see Santos at LWF and Gibbs behind him. The two of them could run riot in certain games overlapping, and covering each other.

Gervinho has all but locked a wide position and Walcott has too as I don't see us going to a 4-4-2 or having him as CF. So really the best we can hope for is to see Chamberlain step up and challenge, or one new player brought in to challenge rather than be a project (Ryo/Campbell).

 

[fabo]

We're ****ed if that's the case tbh.

We should be moving Diaby, Arshavin on and bringing in upgrades at AM and in one forward position.

Wenger will bottle it as usual though, and care more about the feelings of his next batch of projects while we fork out big money to watch us get 4th every season, which funnily enough has gone from being viewed as a failure to being a good finish this season.

 

[Bossa]

Iker Muniain

still only 18

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ99rhcHcvA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ99rhcHcvA</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Bossa]

Junior Hoilett. Just heard that his deal expires at the end of the season.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddAvft67RtA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddAvft67RtA</a>

We must sign this guy for free.

 

[Armor for Sleep]

Great shout that. Impresses me everytime i see him.

Only problem is he's probably only good enough for a squad role and we already have two young talents looking for games. However if we're not looking to bring in a big name then i'd take Hoilett.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

He gave Sagna a torrid time at Ewood Park this season, and that's not something a lot of wide players can say.

 

[fabo]

I like Hoilett too, but it would be slightly underwhelming.

We need Mata-level signings for the wide/AM spots while moving on Diaby, Arshavin and others like Denilson, Chamakh, Vela. No doubt Wenger will fail to strengthen enough and then expect a midfield with 19 year old Wilshere plus 20 year old Ramsey to be consistent enough to win us trophies.

The way I see it we have no midfield trio good enough to win a league(or at least challenge for it throughout a season), no attacking trio good enough either. Both areas need at least one addition of fairly high quality imo.

 

[eye4goal]

Junior Hoilett. Just heard that his deal expires at the end of the season.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddAvft67RtA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddAvft67RtA</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We must sign this guy for free.

I like him and I also like Olsson (can play LB)

 

[outlaw_member]

Mata would have been perfect for us.

Its a killer, would be fantastic to have him alongside Gervinho and Walcott with Ryo and Ox-Chamberlain coming through. We'd be sorted in that position.

Nah, I'm very glad that we didn't sign Mata. Let's stick with wide strikers and go after players like Remy, instead of falling back into the trend of signing creative players for wide positions. Furthermore, I don't want us to sign Goetze unless he's going to play as an AM. Allow the midfielders to control possession and keep hold of the ball, whilst the forwards need to continue providing the killer edge. What we need is a skilful wide forward who has the skill and technique to be proficient with the ball, but still exhibiting the qualities that both Gervinho and Walcott provide. What we don't need is a creative forward who will be keen on providing the final pass.

 

[Beksl]

Hulk would be the perfect fit IMO.

 

[outlaw_member]

Co-signed. Hulk is absolutely perfect.

 

[VancouverCanuck]

With all the rumors of Neymar going to Madrid, I'd like to see us making a bid for Higuain.

 

[AFC-Phil]

Pato.

If he can get over his injuries, he'd be the perfect signing for us IMO. His movement is good, he's skillful, quick, good technically, a strong finisher and can beat his man. With a:

- - Pato - - - Van Persie - - - Walcott/Gervinho - - -

frontline, we certainly wouldn't struggle with our cutting edge up front.

 

[truth_hurts]

Pato.

If he can get over his injuries, he'd be the perfect signing for us IMO. His movement is good, he's skillful, quick, good technically, a strong finisher and can beat his man. With a:

- - Pato - - - Van Persie - - - Walcott/Gervinho - - -

frontline, we certainly wouldn't struggle with our cutting edge up front.

Pato would be immense, easily our biggest signing since Bergkamp and i've been wishing him here for ages. I would happily spend 35m on him and Sacrifice Chamakh, Bendtner, Vela, Arshavin and our financial prudence to have him here!