Before a few days ago (just after the Man Utd disaster) there wasn’t a lot I could say apart from “utter disappointment”. Despite the signings, our squad isn’t as strong as it could have been and the window is shut. Before the last two days of the window, all we had done is signed a kid (a very talented Mr Chamberlain) from nPower League One side Southampton for £7million (eventually rising to £15million), Gervinho, who took 9 weeks to sign (but a bargain at £10.7million), Jenkinson (another League One hotshot for £1million), and then flogged the rest of our chalk.
Eboué went for £4million to Galatasaray, nobody bats an eyelid, suddenly our whole squad leaves and you think “was £4million worth it?”, never mind, what’s done is done. Then there’s the hot-out-of-hell Arsenal villain Nasri who picked a spot on the bench at Man City for £200K a week, transfer fee of £24million. Losing Nasri seemed fine, but that was with the expectation we would replace him with someone of similar, if not better, quality, cue Eden Hazard.
As for Fabregas, it only seems like common sense that we signed an adequate replacement BEFORE we sold him, yet that never happened. It was inevitable that Fabregas would leave this summer so why spend so long dallying over an outbound transfer and spend no time at all looking on bringing players in?
But then, inbound… Two of our left-backs have gone (Clichy and Traoré), leaving Kieran Gibbs on his own with who as back-up? George Brislen-Hall (who we re-signed after releasing)? I thought: “****” we’re flapping our arms in the deep end now, but then out of nowhere appeared André Santos, not bad for some. We “supposedly” planned a £12million bid for Baines, but like 95% of all Arsenal transfers, nothing materialised so we went for the cheaper option.
Park Chu-Young as a replacement for Bendtner? I don’t see why not, although I’d rather lose Chamakh than Bendtner. The point is at least we signed someone, even if he does have to leave for military service when he’s 28 (look it up if you don’t believe me). Per Mertesacker, 6’6” and has a good disciplinary record, why not? The deal was done fast and he’s only 26, good move for the future. Benayoun? Fair enough it’s just a loan, but it is a “panic buy” and this is what we need to avoid if we are going to continue to grow as a club, decent squad player, though.
And to top it all off, we get MIKEL ARTETA who I am OVER THE MOON about signing. Arteta is, in my opinion,exactly what we need; Arteta is creative, experienced, and hungry to play (in Europe, we know he wasn’t starved of football at Everton). The icing on the cake: he took a £10k per week wage cut to play for us, shows how much he wanted the move, shows how much he wants to be an Arsenal player.
Need for change
However, despite the signings, we’re still left with this weakened squad and a mountain of cash stockpiled on a varnished wooden table in the boardroom. I guess we’ll have to wait until January to see our money get fully spent.
As for the lack of drive behind the scenes, I’m not sure who to blame here, is it Wenger? Yes. Is it the board? Most certainly yes to that as well. We’re left with one big problem which Wenger and the board are big parts of.
Wenger is (arguably) too stubborn to change his ways when, let’s face it, his ways aren’t working anymore. The board lack any sense of direction whatsoever and only seem to care about lining their pockets with our money. It’s all a bit too much, and with Danny Fiszman no longer with us, it only seems right that we bring back David Dein to the board as well as giving a place to Usmanov (Red & White Holdings).
There would be nothing wrong with having those two on the board, why? David Dein was always an influential figure in driving the club forwards (when he was here) but with him gone, everything seems to have taken a turn for the worst. Dein was known for backing Wenger’s transfer wishes, but with Silent Stan & Co not caring at all, there appears to be a chasm of separation between Wenger and the board and it’s hurting us, Dein and Usmanov [left] could bridge that gap. Why Usmanov you ask? Why on earth not?! He’s been quoted saying he “loves” Arsenal, as well as making a statement of intent by not selling his 29% stake in the club (Red & White Holdings) to Silent Stan during his brisk takeover of the club. The fans need a voice on the board, and that voice is Usmanov. Make it happen.
Submitted by www.o-posts.net @OAlmasri
