Transfer window overlap could push Wenger towards new striker
August 28, 2012
Four days to go until the transfer window smashes shut and while it’s been a bit of a quiet start to the week I fully expect the rumour mill’s about to go into overdrive.
Everyone seems pretty much agreed that having the window overlap with three weeks of the Premier League season is ‘a bad thing’ but as far as I can tell, FIFA don’t much care about what you or I or every single manager and chairman of every single club thinks about the way things are done so it seems like the system is here to stay.
What it does mean is that Arsene Wenger has had a bit more of a chance to see how his new squad are settling before making any final decisions about what other players if any to bring in. And while, unsurprisingly, Le Boss has been assuring us not to panic regarding our lack of goals so far and rightly reminding us that new players take time to settle, you do wonder if what he’s seen may have a bearing on who he decides to sign.
When he was asked a couple of weeks ago about his targets he mentioned looking for a defensive midfielder and a defender. And while I’ve no doubt that whoever he had in mind then he will still have in mind now and that he’ll be well aware of where he believes the weaknesses lie in his squad, there must surely be a part of him that’s more worried now about our ability to score goals than our ability to keep them out. While it’s clearly only early stages, so far the work that Steve Bould has done on the defensive shape of the team has shown a lot of promise and I wonder if, rightly or wrongly, Le Boss is wondering if he could save a few quid there and throw some money at a shiny new forward.
As we know, we’re not only looking to bring players in this week, we still have a raft of players to push out the exit door and chief among them are Chamakh, Park and Bendtner, all heavily linked with moves away to a variety of clubs. If we do manage to get rid then in addition to Van Persie that’s four strikers we’ll have lost this summer and with Benik Afobe also sent out on a season long loan, surely there’s a vacancy there for another centre forward.
The extraordinarily unreliable whispers on Twitter link us with a move for Edin Dzeko this morning which sounds like it might have had a bit more to it when we were offering Robin Van Persie in return and before Sergio Aguero picked up his knock. Great player that he is I feel like he’s a little too similar in style to Olivier Giroud and would love to see us looking at somebody a bit stronger and pacier who’s going to play on the shoulder of the opposition centre backs and spin into space looking for Cazorla’s through balls. I watched Romelu Lukaku come off the bench against Spurs at the weekend and he looked extremely dangerous. Staggering that Chelsea don’t even need him this season.
The superb displays of Mikel Arteta in that deep lying role will surely have begged the question of, like last season, what do we do when he’s not fit, and I’m sure a midfielder is still a priority. As usual, Yann M’Vila sounds the most likely candidate and with Spurs having apparently put in a bid of £12 million for him this week, we may be forced to finally act to get our man. How that policy of sitting back to drive the price down may have backfired if we end up in a bidding war with our newly flush neighbours in the last week of the window.
Elsewhere both the Sun and the Mirror link us with Montpellier’s 23 year old captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, the former believing us to be in a battle with Chelsea, the latter claiming we’re about to lose out to AC Milan and Napoli for the services of the versatile defender. He’s only got a year to run on his contract so the suggestion is we could nab him for a bargain fee, something we’ve become quite specialist at in recent times. That and the fact that he can play at both right back and centre back make him sound like a feasible candidate.
Mind you, with some of the commentary we’ve been forced to sit through in recent games I’m not sure they’d be able to handle us signing M’Vila AND Yanga-Mbiwa. And every time they exchange passes I’ll be forced to burst into song.
‘M’Vila. Mbiwa. Mbiwa. M’Vila.’
Let’s call the whole thing off!
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31 Responses to “Transfer window overlap could push Wenger towards new striker”
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If we bring in M’Biwa I’ll be happy, add M’Vila to that and we’ll be exretemely well stocked in the midfield and be looking stronger defensively than we have for some years, add in Afellay or another striker and I’ll be shitting my pants with excitement, our squad will look incredibly healthy, capable of weathering injuries without it derailing our campaigns with enough options to take on any type of team and potentially win a trophy – thought I think the trophies are probably more likely to come next year, when Cazorla, Giroud and Podolski have had a year to get into gear.
arsenal management and coach are confused on what to do in arsenal. they turn arsenal to market every come and get world class player
i like the news but let the players come in first because of past history. wenger discover mata, sahi,harzard,where are they now i don’t trust in wenger at all
I’d buy another forward. Not because I dont rate Pod or Giroud, because I do, I think they will turn out to be great buys, but I think we need another type of forward for other days, to unlock these tight defenses. Pod and Giroud both look strong, powerful with a good shot, but im unsure about pace and the ability to score out of nothing, create abit of magic. Rooney, RvP, Aguero, Torres, Suarez, they can all do this, I feel we are maybe lacking. Besides, we always had 4 forwards. Henry, Bergkamp, Wiltord, Kanu, Reyes, Eduardo, Jeffers, Anelka, Suker, Bendtner, they all overlapped giving us plenty of options. Get a rapid striker in!
We realy ned a strika nd cm plus cb
seems like another disapointing season
Its true I agree with some of my former colleagues that Arsenal needs some signings to compete otherwise we shall remain as participants as it has been of recent. We might raise some games especially against some of the big teams but keep on dropping key points on small teams like Stoke, Sunderland etc and still remain happy that we have not lost.
But is the result good enough for some one who wants to compete?
I agree Sebastian, that’s why I didn’t like the idea of Llorente – expensive and doesn’t offer us anything different. We need a technical striker with good movement, someone great with their feet…easier said than found and bought but there’s a lot of talent out there and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a big name – Mirallas would possibly have fit the bill. While Giroud and Chamakh are very different players they offer similar skillsets and play similar roles, with the possibility of Chamakh, Arshavin and Park all being off a new striker who offers us a different angle seems necessary.
I think the perfect striker for us would be Jermaine Defoe. He is the speedy and technical striker that would unlock defences. Perfect. And he would love to MIND THE GAP too.
I believe we need four signings. I am little bit dissapointed this season in terms of our outgoings in the transfer window. I mean obviously which arsenal fan wouldnt be with RVP and Song gone but i mean in terms of our wasted players. Chamakh, arshavin, park, squillaci, bendtner, and possibly djourou. These players were expected to leave but havent done, they are racking up our wage bill that can be better used in offering the players that we have and want to keep better longer term deals.
I believe first priority should have been getting rid of these players from the start of the transfer window to allow us breathing space and enough capital to invest better. We are now in a situation where we have to haggle a lot more to get players in just because our wage bill is too high. it has already got to the stage that we are negotiating ourselves out of potential deals.
Ideally i would like to have a solid CB to challenge koscielny and mertesacker, perhaps jagielka or hangeland. As well as destroying DM like tiote, as well as another creative player to support cazorla like we had between fabregas and nasri. I was thinking perhaps Demebele but that is probs not likely and definately a dynamic centre forward who is rapid and can get in behind the defenders.
It is a lot to ask but we can do it if we save a little face in our negotiations.
the management i feel you are all confused am only waiting for rvp to score against arsenal that’s wen you be exposed of your foolishness.you are looking for defensive midfielder now wat was the problem wth Song?just quiet you have failed to run the club
we understand its business but you can ‘t go like that.
I believe wenger and d board are confused of wat to do.we see teams reenforcing there squad bt d story is total different,we kept on losing gud players every transfer bt nt replacin bt rather wait on arrival of injuried players coming back from injury to fight for there position.stingyness is killing arsenal football.we need a right footed striker dat will partner our 2 left footed striker.we are really lackin cuttin edge offensively/final third,wenger needs to change arsenal formation to 4-4-2.gerv and walcot on d wings supporting d two attackers-podoski and giroud or right footed striker.cazorla and arteta/diaby/coq. In d midfield.4-3-3 formation is nt working 4 us,gerv is nt a scorer,why play him in a 4-3-3 formation,he should be played in 4-4-2 formation.both him,walcot and chamb should played in 4-4-2 formation,since they are fast.wenger should just change d formation to 4-4-2.
Arsenal is looking good and promising… THE ONLY THING ARSENAL IS LACKING IS…PACE…They have dropped there pace and if they try to have it, they look danderous. PACEEEEEEEEEEE….NOTHING ELSE.
Buy m’vila and a Defender only.
Good Luck
Did he really say “defensive”? I though it was just “midfielder”…
Anyway, I don’t think we’re on the lookout for defenders anymore, we have a lot of those in, plus a number of youngsters on the verge of breaking and entering.
In midfield, we could buy a defensive-minded midfielder, but whether this be M’Vila?… Hard to say, though the rule in previous years was that the more often a link was confirmed, the more likely a player was to move in.
We definitely need a sub striker – not another option, but simply a sub. My own thoughts on this matter are that we should look for a versatile attacking player, either a winger/striker or an attacking midfielder/striker. This would allow us to use the player as an impact sub, and just a regular replacement for Giroud.
In terms of likelihood, it’s the striker deal that looks the most promising. Outside of Chamakh, Bendtner and Park, all of whom are on the club’s transfer list, we currently have no backup plan for CF. This is arguably our only real weak spot.
We’re pretty well stocked otherwise, with enough defenders, midfielders, and wingers to run riot any day.
Yeah I also agree with Sebastian. I say we go for Radamel Falcao. He’s a Beast!!! And offers us that edge we need to win games when things seem tough.
Arsenal need a complete DM, Yann M villa is the man, a man who as the quality in all arsenal need, good passer of the ball, and a very defencievly minded player, who love and ready to play for the red and white club . Mbiwa good addition, if mr wenger can play his card perfectly. New striker, if we are going to sale park, nik bentner, chamack, yes for a new and experience striker to bring in .
@kunle i love ur comment,e need a more pacy stiker and also need to change back to a 442 formation
Why not use walcot as a striker? It is his natural position after all…
wenger needs to sign more players. in other to improve the squad
4-4-2 doesn’t really work in the modern game, and we have pace out wide from Theo, Gervinho, podolski and the Ox. The only thing lacking from the side at moment is goals, this is due to our 4 front men just beginning to gel. Goals will come Cazorla is too good not to provide them, just let the players find each other first.
As for signings, I do not want M’Vila the guy is in and out of trouble all of the time he will be a bad influence. When Wilshere is back we have a midfield of Arteta, Wilshere and Cazorla there is no room for anyone else; let alone a player like M’Vila who will not sit quietly on the bench. The only signing I would make is a goalkepper that is fit to challenge Shez, Fabianksi and Manonne are not good enough; Craig Gordon or someone of his standard will do.
Jovetic.
Absolutely love Falcao but just can’t see it.
Robin was a bit of a trouble maker when we signed him, M’Vila is young – if Wenger met him and felt his character was compatible with him and his team then that would be good enough for me.
M’Vila is not a good player, he gives up halfway through games and that’s why he gets subbed all the time. A string of teams wanted him once but now node do except Spurs. Why do you think this would be the case with a decent player?
The fans of Rennes don’t like him and I’ve heard they treat him like we treat Denilson.
Walcott is not a striker. It has been proven loads of times. The player doesn’t even ask to play upfront anymore so many fans need to catch up and get on the same page as the rest of us.
The transfer window can’t close soon enough. Nevertheless, i would love to see a ‘DM’ and another attacker(preferably a striker) added to the squad. An injury to either Giroud or Podolski and we would look thin in the striking department.
Btw, Arterta has been immense so far in the holding midfield role, i thought he was better defensively than Song last season, i think the last few matches proves that.
1again – having watched M’Vila a bit I have to disagree, as does the French national coach – he has plenty of talent and frankly I find it strange that anyone can question that. Undoubtedly he has questions hanging over his character but that’s up to the manager to decide on if he believe it will work or not.
Walcott played successfully for Southampton through the middle as a striker and we’ve not seen it tried – you have absolutely no idea what he says behind closed doors, so unless you’re Arsene Wenger I’m not going to take your word for it.
I have no idea if he’d work well as a CF but until it’s tried I won’t write it off.
Zinc, my thoughts excatly re M’vila. Having watched him play for Rennes i think it is safe to say the boy is good. Its not sunshine and rainbow tho, Apart from attitude problems he hasn’t progressed as much as i expected this last season, but he is definately better than Song at the same age.
Infact the more i think about it, he is very similar to Arterta(this season) only more robust, so we could be killing two birds with one stone by signing Yann, giving Arterta more freedom to venture forward/ and getting a quality holding midfielder.
Err Zinc, i don’t think Walcott has the skill set to play as a CF, strength, hold up play, high technical ability and creativity are just some of the skills a striker has to possess when playing 433. Take for example Hernandez, he is alot like walcott, fine finisher, quick and very good movement but even in a 442 whiskey nose prefers using Welbeck because he has more to his game, strikers like Owen or Walcott hardly exist anymore.
RE: Theo – yeah, I’ve always thought Theo could potentially work as an old fashioned English style forward (Owen isn’t a bad comparison) – technical ability doesn’t come into it, it’s all about movement and finishing, quick runs into space and clinical shots and squaring the ball acorss the 6-yard box. He might not be good enough to make it work at PL level but he hasn’t been given a chance yet so I’m not going to say I know it wouldn’t work – he does posess the type of speed that could in theory make him a dangerous if limited forward and in the past his shooting has been surprisingly decent.
I see him out on the wing match after match and when he’s on fire it’s fine, he gets into the space behind the full back and can cut in or cross it, or he’ll come inside and run diagonal lines between the CB’s and FB’s, dragging them out of position, but when a FB figures him out he spends all day running the ball into peoples shins and unlike Chamberlain doesn’t have enough to his game to change his approach. If he started those runs from a central position, not limited by the byline, could he cause serious problems for his trackers? (without the ball) It would be interesting to see.
I think technical ability comes into play when operating as a CF in any top club, but we can agree to disagree.
Apart from that i agree with everything you stated in your last comment, if Theo wants to play as a striker he needs to prove himself capable of performing consistently in the wide position, he has played out wide from the age of 16(throughout his professional career at Arsenal) so no more ‘i am a striker’ from Theo, you’re a right winger, get with the times son, at least that’s what i would tell him.
Neil- I believe Djourou signed a 3 year extension back in February of this year so I doubt he’s going anywhere. Though he does have a mistake in him, he also had some massive games for us, and a player of his caliber who seems happy enough to be our 4th pick for center back isn’t always easy to come by. Sure you want ambitious players sometimes, but having an experienced player like him (both for us and at international level) as a backup is a pretty good thing.
@ Justin P
“Though he does have a mistake in him…”
Like the second world war was a scuffle.