Last night in his post match interview Wenger was asked “if he would be bringing anymore defenders in” and he replied
‘ “I believe what is important is that we focus on the qualities we have and do not worry too much. I think it is important to continue to develop the qualities we have started since the beginning of the season and if the opportunity comes we will take it”…. {watch video [Here]}
Now lets wait a sec… A few days ago Wenger said ” We were short of numbers at the back and he would be looking at signing one more defender” and that was BEFORE Sol Campbell joined Newcastle?
So why has Wenger now changed his tune? ….. I have no doubt that our transfer dealings are now done… But maybe Wenger will push the boat out and resign Silvestre for 2 more years?
Wenger will tell the fans that he will be up until midnight on deadline day working hard to bring in new faces. but come midnight we are going to be left waiting.. and nothing.
Then afew days later Wenger will say “We came very close to doing a deal but it didn’t work out”
Now hang on, Arsene’s attempts to resolve the defensive problem have been going on for several seasons now.
Based on his efforts to date to fix this massive weakness in the team, which has I conclude that Arsene is a massive, massive flop.
We have allowed FOUR CBs to leave this summer for FREE and replaced them with an unknown CB with the physique of Marc Randall.
And what if Vermaelen picks up an Injury during the season??
And what about the Keeper? Who is going to be our number ONE?? And the backup DM for Song?.. I pray its not Denilson or Diaby being asked to do the dirty work when Song picks up his 10 yellow card of the season.. Or maybe Wenger will use Nasri again? …Oh god please Arsene stop being a tight sod and go and sign Kompany who can do both jobs.
Worried yet? …..You should be, But in Arsene we trust right?
This is much of the same over the last four summers, Wenger hinting that he would invested and then backtracking and letting us down? …Where is all this money that we apparently have?
I tell you something, If we go into the season with our current squad we are going to be lucky to finish in the top FIVE!!
And then what?… What will the “in Arsene we trust brigade” do then?… Blame the board? Blame the players? Blame the pitches? Blame the refs? Blame the other team for being to hard?….No we did all of them already since 2005.
No doubt this is going to have the “AKB” calling for me to go and support the scum down the road, or pick out the odd spelling mistake to take the attention away from from the facts… But it time some of you so called Arsenal fans smelt the coffee.
We need a manager who cares more about making a profit and balancing the book. I hope this summer is his last as our manager.
Sinbad – Part of the “Wenger Out“ group on facebookDebate this more on our forum > arsenalaction.com/forum/
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“I know is that within our team we have a great hunger for success,We have great solidarity and team spirit. We are a team who has grown up together and wants to achieve things. We have not won anything yet together and that makes us hungry for success.” January 7, 2010
Could have been just as valid three years ago.Only thing different is that he left out the “I believe” bit.
“In Arsene we rust”.
I agree with a lot of this article. If we don’t sign anyone else before the season starts i will be extremely pissed.
You AKB’s go on about what Arsene has done in the past and how spending money will cause us to end up like Leeds…. Get a f**king grip…. spending £30m on a few good players that could win us trophies will not make us bankrupt if the reporter finances from Arsenal are true we can comfortably afford to…. so why then are we in yet another pre season looking at a team weaker than the last?
You Arsene supporters need to wake up… Arsene did the same thing to Monaco years ago. Won things, everything looked rosey and then he started with project youth and all went to shit.
Arsene is the best signing Arsenal have ever made and he has achieved great things for us but the last few years we have gone backwards. I will reserve judgement until opening day of the season but if we start the season with the defence we have right now my faith in Wenger will be gone
The last few years we haven’t had the money fact and fact AW will buy a keeper and a CD
Wenger also said: “We are still on the search for centre-halves. We have three and we need at least four. There are people we consider and are analysing and we look at the financial possibilities.”
One other thought – you said in this article: “I have no doubt that our transfer dealings are now done” Could I ask, if you have no doubt, that we have a wager on this. £50 perhaps?
Look mate you have a right to say what you want about ‘our’ club and ‘our’ manager. Yes I dont agree with most of it and yes we will see who is right in a mtter of weeks but..dont become so narrow visioned that everything AW does..you hate, and even when you are proved wrong you still hate the man. I for one have supported AFC since I was 7 ( 61 years ago) I have seen more crap than you will ever seed or even imagine. So it is hard for me to see or understand how you can be so anti the greatest manager we have ever had….only George showed similar genius.
The fact that we have got rid of the failed old brigade of Sol, Sylvestre, Gallas, Senderos, and so far replaced them with young potential such as Vermy, Kossy, Nordviedt, Song, and probably one other (Tasci) I know who Id prefer out of that lot!
I also think that adding Embecillio, Wellington, to our stiffs will be great moves.
As for the rest well the fact that we will now have Wilshire, Nasri, Rosicky, Arsharvin all vying for Cescs spot when he goes is perfect planning.
Add to these Frimpong , Jet, Henderson & Lansbury…all class and we have a squad second to none. Yes AW will bring in another goalie and that will save us another 10 points this season…..and yes as usual he will add some unknown kid like Gandolin who will shock us all.
If you then add Ramsay and the rest of our squad to the above I would say that it is very likely that we will win a trophy or two at last…….one thought though….if Cesc is sold ( and I think that is more likely after todays news that he has asked to talk to AW) Then I expect a mini buying spree with OZIL + Jagielka to arrive.
So cheer up you miserable git and enjoy being a gunner.
yes we need CB like two them bt to balance jst take 1 expirence CB and anther two youth loke PEDRO and NOVEDTVEIT and expirence like PER MERTESACKER the gay he cheap and talented player,
If Wenger thinks this squad and these goalkeepers are good enough then the man is dilusional and should be sacked…please spend some cash every fan knows what we need
Unlike our AKBs friends who permanently have their head buried in the sand , none of our transfers so far this season have given me a positive feeling that we are going to compete to win something. I doubt Cesc when he comes back is going to look a the squad and see a positive attempt at strengthening the team. No wonder he wants to go to Barcelona, how long before RVP starts to think about a move?
I’m still hopeful that Wenger will buy at least one player. Even he can’t be that negligent, can he?
Something quite interesting may be taken from the release of Arsenal’s squad list as regards the new EPL rules. Of the 26 man Arsenal senior squad, 13 are homegrown and 7 are counted as Under 21′s. When you remove the 7 players that Arsenal are counting as U21s (some big names there Walcott & Ramsey to name 2), that leaves a senior squad of just 19 players of which 7 are homegrown. Now my understanding of the rules are that we only need 1 more homegrown player to fulfill the EPL homegrown quota in a 25 man squad or name a smaller squad, so we ARE fine as we are. That said, most of our reserves come under the homegrown category, leaving the potential for up to 5 new places in the squad for a player from any country, or 6 if we were to sign someone who falls in to the homegrown category.
If you want to look further in to it, which I believe Wenger and his team would do. During the 2011/12 season, 3 of the U21s (Vela, Walcott & Traore the latter 2 being homegrown) have to be sold or ‘promoted’ to the first team leaving the likely number of possible transfers this season at 3*. With Sol leaving, I think one of those places will definitely be filled this season. Let’s hope it is another CB.
*Obviously there could be other transfers and other scenarios.
@Lee
I keep seeing conflicting info about the homegrown rule. I’m going with what they say on ArsenalArsenal (http://arsenalarsenal.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/arsenal-get-it-right-the-press-get-it-wrong/)
* Arsenal: Squad of 33, of which 13 are under 21. We therefore have five spaces left for non-homegrown players aged over 21.
I don’t think we have any worries with the rule, the problem is do we have the best possible team to put up a sustained title run and complete for cups. In my opinion no we don’t.
Since City are going to have to sell at least 7 players, I wonder if the reason so many teams are not buying (including us) is because we are waiting to see who they release and get them cheap.
I could of course be clutching at transfer straws.
Boring.
arent you the guys who ran the story we have agreed with Cole?? Stop with bullsh.. reporting!!!!
Does he really think we can go another season without a decent keeper. I didn’t count back but I am guessing that goalkeeping errors cost us more than handful of points.
Even if the article is crap and fiction, doesn’t explain to me why AW said he wanted all is signings tied up before the WC ! Which WC did actually mean, anyone?????
With the new premier league rules, Wenger’s policy is CORRECT!
@BigL
What they say on that site brings around the same conclusion as I wrote. I did, however, make a small error with the 2011/12 season ‘prediction’. Gibbs would also need to be promoted or sold leaving just 2 actual places available for players who are not homegrown and over 21. Ideally, I think we only need 2 players anyway. A GK and a CB. I really don’t think Arsenal are as way off the pace as some other Arsenal fans think we are. We did much better last season than some of the ‘experts’ predicted just not as well as we all would have liked.
This season will be a good one for us, I truly believe that we have the potential to be champions. Ok, I also felt the same at the beginning of last season (due to our seemingly easy run-in). That didn’t work out, but in comparison to the previous 3 seasons before that my hopes have risen. These young kids JET, Lansbury, Wilshere, Ramsey, Gibbs, Frimpong & Eastmond are a different mould to what we have produced previously. They show the type of ‘grit’ that Adams, Keown, Parlour, Petit, Flamini, Vieira, Wright even Bergkamp etc added to the squad. Sol Campbell showed us, that, THAT and not necessarily experience is what is missing from the current Arsenal squad.
We need players like this, we need players that slide in for 50-50s, make tackles that if they get it wrong they’re getting booked or going off. I’m not talking about playing to hurt someone, I’m just talking about what all of our successful teams had. You kick us, we’ll kick you back. You slide in on one of our players we’ll do it back. Once the opposition is tired and have nothing else to offer (Blackburn & Bolton to name a couple) we’ll then out play them, send them home (after a heavy defeat) dreading the next time they play, THE MIGHTY ARSENAL!!!!!!
These are true articles that should be poising the head of this thrifty economist-turn-coach. How many years are we gonna be bullied by other fans like out cast? Is wenger not seeing what going on? The pendulum of the game is gravitating to spending. for AKBs, spending to buy good & quality players is a rational decision. the players and fans are always happy, the fans are not always worried of a shaky defense, neither will the team as great as Arsenal be leading 2-0 but still lost to a team like Wigan. Mr. Wenger and all you Board members, the writing is on the world, we cannot and will not accept any form of humiliation this season only because will want to declare huge dividends. This is the team we love, we not allow it to go down the dream for the sake of stingy administrator.
And i hope people like you ( mr know all ) close your big mouth,and i hope ( god forbid ) if our club finds itself in barca position ( because of people like you who allways wants wenger to SPEND SPEND SPEND ) will be the first one to dig deep in your POCKET.to help out the club
Im confused how Silvestre has been spoken about in the blog. He has been terrible so i really hope that he has disappeared back to France.
We will sign a defender or goalkeeper……..
Otherwise we may as well enjoy Eufa Cup football, as we are very short on numbers at the back now!
@Lee
I agree with you that we are not way off the pace. I’m sure we’ll be there or there abouts, but to stand a realistic chance of winning something we need a few extra players, which to be honest should have been added a few seasons ago. Adding 4 new players to a team is risky as it takes time for everyone to gel. (Man City will struggle for that reason this year).
Personally I’d like to see Melo in there, he is not afraid of a tackle and getting stuck in. Lately we have become a soft touch.
Spend spend spend !
Oh shit I must of been dreaming!
I can’t beleive people are hanging their hat on the hope that half a dozen reserves and youth team players can make th step up.
The fact is that over the last five years the quality of the squad has incrementally deteriorated year on year. The last time Arsenal won the title it was (with the exepction of Lauren) packed with world-class internaional players who were first or second choice in their position for top international teams. In many cases they were the benchmarks for the positions they filled. The midfiled was controlled by two World Cup winners for Christs sake!
Added to that, many of them relished the physical side of the game. During this period Wenger signed men. normally 24 or 25 years of age, approaching their peak years.
When you look through the current team, its full of non-contact technicians, many of whom are on the fringes of theie respective national teams, or in some cases event he squads.
In addition, BigL listed a number of players who could actually LEAD a football team, in terms of quality, example and, if necessary, sheer power. This is another critical ingredient that is practically non-existent in the current squad.
When Fabregas leaves (and he will leave), who, after Vermaelen, is even close to possessing the leadship qualities required of a championship wimming side?
Even if Wenger does sign a couple more players, if they are not top class internationals with a winning mentality, the skills gap will not nealry be bridged sufficiently enough to keep this team in the top four, let alone mount a title challenge. Just look how the team caved in the last 6-8 games of the past season. I know the likes of Adams and Keown would not have tolerated it. There would have been skin and hair flying.
I fear this is the season the improvements which have been taking place at Man City and even Tottenham, coupled with the fact that Liverpool will not repeat last years performance, will squeeze Arsenal out of the top four.
listen lads we can talk all day about this crap year in year out,,the fact of the matter is arsene will not bring in any defenders iv all this 2 many times with we have defenders cummin back like there our new players or sum shit!!!!werent we promised we wud have new players b4 the world cup ends another bullshit promise!!!! all i can say is we have no defence and were not going 2 have either!!!!!!!! if we start the season without anymore signings im givin up on surporting arsenal and not watchen football it mite sound harse but iv had it with this bullshit no players no silverware promises been broken and been wipped every year by man.u or chelsea its a embarresment bring back the old days were we were challanging 4 everything p.s man.c will finish above us this mark my words people along with man.u and chelsea the scumbag yids will do the double over us this year
I just want to say, we get what we sow.
Wenger has taken our beloved club backwards. He is only interested in making money for the idiots we call the “board” and HIMSELF.
This billock gets a massive bonus just like the executives.
For us true FANS, we need to demonstrate our displeasure.
I am convinced, if wenger goes to Madrid or Barc, he would fail BIG time. That is way he sits on this cushy job, because he is coward and would be found out
WENGER OUT!
Everyone keeps saying Wenger has taken the club backwards. Can I just ask who took the club forward in the first place?
I wonder if Arsene was married whether he would buy his wife a birthday prsenet the tight sod! We need given or hart for gks 2 new cbs now sol has gone and someone to fill in for song but not another denilson.
Guys, supporting a football team, should be fun. Win, lose or draw. Winning titles or being relegated. Who cares? You support them because you love them. So stop calling for the manager to go.
So what if we don’t sign another CB or GK? So what if we don’t win anything for a while? The club will surely still be there when we all pass away. Hey, we may even be lucky enough to have a run like Man Utd or Liverpool and win virtually everything for ten years in a row. Either way, I’ll be happy watching my team no matter what the outcome.
So to all you mugs who keep being negative, just remember that lots of teams have their day – even Huddersfield and Wolves have won the top English league before. One day soon, some lucky manager will reap the benefits of a really well run club. I just hope that I am around to see it. If I’m not, I’ll still be in the stands swinging my walking stick at 80!
People saying that Wenger has taken the club backwards obviously don’t remember the club before his reign! With the exception of a few George Graham years we’d been mediocre for a long time before he came.
I get annoyed at the constant negativity from so many Gooners. The way I see it is that the only true Gooners who can complain about the club not spending money are the ones who hold season tickets or go to the majority of games (therefore paying money directly to the club). And if these fans aren’t happy then don’t renew your tickets or stop going to games.
It also seems that the vast vast majority of people who complain have only been “Gooners” for the last few years, since we became “successful”. In the current financial climate (and due to the fact that we have just built one of the best stadia in the world) money hasn’t been forthcoming. But our financial sense has now put us in the position of being one of the best run clubs in the country.
I still think we will sign another couple of players, so everyone relax, realise that there is over a month left of the transfer period and concentrate on supporting the team rather than telling everyone how Shit it is!!!
And I can’t believe that I’ve posted on this Shitty blog AGAIN, i promised myself I wouldn’t do it again
No one is asking for spend spend spend like some idiot posted. What we ask for is streghening in the GK and CH positions. It wont break us to invest 20m in 2 class players. However Wenger is a stubborn man and will insist his way is the correct way. Well for me he is inept and a liabilty and the sooner he leaves the sooner this club can get back to its winning ways.
In response to Sinbad… It is the job of Ivan Gazidis to secure new signings based on a list provided by AW! How do you know AW hasn’t provided a list including goalkeepers, centre backs, def mids and Joe Cole? You don’t do you?
You correctly refer to a lack of securing real talent since 2005…or put another way since David Dean was removed from office! Dein (on Wengers request) secured Vieira, Petit, OVermars, Henry, Pires, Ljungberg, Campbell (the first time) etc etc and before that he secured Bergkamp whilst Rioch dithered and Wright who Rioch couldn’t handle!
Perhaps your frustration should be redirected. Of course Wenger isn’t going to criticise the board – would you publicly slag off your employer? But seems to me the subsequent CEO’s don’t have what it takes to get the stars in!
Having said that, I defend your right to say that you hope it is Wenger’s last year in charge, but you fail to say who you would want to replace him – bearing in mind it would need to be a realistic long term choice! Who is available that would be better? Hiddink wouldn’t come (too close to Abramovic), Cappello wont forego his £6m pa unless sacked (and possibly out of date). Mourinho/Guardiola are not leaving their Spanish havens! So who do you want?
I am as frustrated as you that we didn’t buy Given when he was available for £7m or that Arsenal’s penny pinching cost us Alonso 2 years ago or Jagielka this year…and I share your concerns that the weaknesses at the back have not been addressed, but think the problems are deeper that simply being laid at Wenger’s door!
Why not start a bring back David Dein campaign instead of a get rid of Wenger one????
We gooners are all acting like bitches!Why don’t we do something that will show those mugs[Wenger and the board] that we can’t be taken for granted.All we do is moan and moan on blogs.That can’t solve the obvious problems that Wenger can’t see.I’m really sick and tired of this bullshit.
scooch, i have supported the arsenal since 71 and have a season ticket, so kiss my ass
i feel wenger hole is not commited to teh arsenal, and only acts a banker.
he should act like a coach to win things, instead of falling short. in the last few years , i have started to hate this guy, for not improving the team . last year and in 2008 we had ha dthe title in the bag. a few proven aquistions would have won it.
in stead we have cesc asking to leave. next it will be a Van Perse
you AKB are idiots
Sinbad,
I can understand your concerns but right now isn’t the time to panic. There is plenty of time for Arsene Wenger to do deals.
I’m sure that Wenger will not go into the campaign with the current numbers we have at the back. I expect him to sign someone. Maybe not today, tomorrow but he will before the window shuts.
If he doesn’t then will be the time to worry.
Also, (this isn’t a dig) I remember last summer you saying the same thing that we wouldn’t finish in the top four. Haven’t you learnt your lesson mate?
Don’t underestimate Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.
Don’t get me wrong, Wenger can frustrate me too, but he is the right man for the job. He will get it right.
Wenger is a fucking stubborn old man.I thought he would of realised by now our squad needs strenghtning.3 cbs and we have let 4 go and still the stubborness to add a couple of defenders is there for all to see.Didnt he say a short while ago we now have the financial stability to compete with chelsea and man u?.Fuckin bullshit!.Its been 5 years how long can we go without winning trophies!.
Yes that Wenger has ruined our club.Crap ground,crap finances,no decent players,never in the Champions League,boring football,no trophies since he’s been manager,no world class signings.
This is July 29th-do your moaning when no players come in before the window not now.You sound like a lot of moaning girls.
another idiot praising wenger.
wenegr has lost the plot and just looking aftyer himself and the board. they are trying to payoff the debt and make sure they get a big paffoff after they sell teh club. wenger is also part of the Plan
he has no ambition to make the team strong. citeh, pool and spuds are getting stronger, and we are just kissing kids. stupid plan wenger. please leave before you get turfed out
Let me state I would be very surprised if Arsene doesn’t get another goalie.If the results go against him he will be crucified.He is taking a massive gamble if he takes no action on the goal position.
As for the other positions perhaps the gunners are quite not badly off. However it remains to be seen if the younger gunners straining at the leash for first team action are up to the mark. If not it be will time wasted especially if the gunners are off the pace for the title.
Mr. Wenger Please for God sake and to avoid another heartbreak this season change your mind on signing. We need another solid defender and a goalkeeper at least if you can not sign melo. Please hear our cry.
Here are the latest quotes from Wenger:
“I wouldn’t like to give you any names,” he said. “There are plenty of names that we consider and we analyse. We look at the financial possibilities and the technical potential. But it is impossible for me to come out with a name.
“We are still on the search because at the moment we only have three centre backs and we have seen last season you needed five. I believe we need at least four because we have some other players who can fill in this position but overall we are still on the search.”
Thank you Mik, some common sense at last.
Wenger’s comments today show he knows he must buy. End of. The whole article above now is pointless. I can’t actually believe this clown who wrote the article actually thought AW would not buy. AW deliberately misleads the media at times.
Not even Fat Arry is stupid enough to start a season with 3 CBs.
Hi Arsenal, Leeds United fan coming in peace.
Any news on what Sanchez Watt will be doing next season? He was excellent for us on loan last season, and we’d love to see him back at Elland Road for another year.
there is no getting away from the fact that wenger has to buy. arsenal have been on the verge of being an outstanding team for the past 5 yrs. but it is the same old story we are always 1 to 2 players away from being great. it is frustrating and here we are again the team as it stands has huge potential. but the defence needs to be addressed. a good solid dependable keeper and full back will have a huge impact on this team. and as most arsenal fans are aware that is really what cost us the title last season.
If Arsenal don’t sign an additional Centre Back and go into the Season with Fabianski as their first choice Goalkeeper then it is safe to say that they will again win absolutely nothing!Indeed,I will predict that they will fall out of the Top Four!-and possibly a lot further!
If Spurs,Liverpool and even Sunderland can afford to buy the players that they NEED then why not Arsenal.Every fan knows that a new GK,CB and additional Central Midfielder are required at the very least.We don’t need any more 16 and 17 year old South American and French proidigies.We need experience.Gilberto was good enough to anchor the Brazilian Midfield in South Africa but was discarded two years ago despite a lack of direct replacements.Mediocre players have been rewarded with extended and more lucrative contracts.Yet these players haven’t appeared to up their game-play as a consequence.Anyway, what are extended contracts worth these days when they don’t get any real long term loyalty in reciprocation.That said,who could blame Cesc for wanting to leave-he’s given his all and he can see that the team as they stand will never challenge for Trophies!We can all dwell in the past but we are far more concerned with the present.George Graham in his own way brought Arsenal back to the forefront of English football but became a Dinosaur-other factors notwithstanding he would not have been relieved of duties if he was still managing a sucessful team-Monsieur Wenger please note!!!
No fan at this time of Financial Instability would want the club to destabilise itself by purchasing players it cannot afford.But like all businesses outward investment must sometimes be made,when there is no other option.Moreover,with Ticket prices at their current levels-how much of the type of football witnessed at the end of last season could fans take before they start to vote with their feet-A partially filled Emirates Stadium makes the current business model unsustainable!!