Should Arsenal fans really be disappointed if Wenger doesn’t spend in January?
The Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has never been known to spend huge amounts on players but with this season starting in worrying fashion, Gunners fans have piled on the pressure for him to open his chequebook in January to ensure that the promising revival will continue until May.
The North London club has been linked with defenders, midfielders and strikers ranging from the usual unknown prodigies to players already on the world football scene. M’Vila, Gourcuff, Martin and even Pato are just a few of the many names rumoured to be on Arsenal’s wish list but it is certainly doubtful that any of them would leave their current clubs midway through the season, especially if they’re ineligible to play in the Champions League for the Gunners.
On top of this, the current squad – whilst not flawless – offers surprising amounts of depth and options, with five centre-backs alone. With the summer arrivals of Arteta, Gervinho, Benayoun, Mertesacker, Santos, Jenkinson, Park and Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wenger clearly reacted to the disappointments of last season and the troublesome start to the current campaign. Stifling the squad with even more players will limit the chances of the newcomers and could end all chances of the youngsters achieving much game time at all.
Of course, there is never a problem with adding talent to an already in-form squad but Arsenal needed it far more last season than they do now. Wenger himself is not a fan of the winter window: “I question a bit the transfer window, because this is the period where you want everybody to be connected, you cannot be half in or out.” Therefore, do Arsenal fans really expect him to spend this time round?
Assuming there are no significant long-term injuries – to Van Persie, for example – and that the current run of solid form continues, would Arsenal fans be particularly surprised or disappointed if no money was to be spent?
Trackback: trackback from your own site.
COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FREINDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS!
Like you rightly said, I think we need to react to our situation. If we have injuries with no cover Wengers hand will (should) be forced, although as a majority of the players we want are cup tied, it might make it more difficult, this would then follow up with either an upcoming teenager, or golden oldie to fill the spot.
I think all major signings will be held off until next summer, where we can asses where we’re at, I’m sure all the players with prospects will be advised that Arsenal are on shaky grounds atm with so many teams competing for the Champions league spot.
I would love to see some world class players, but I don’t want to look at Arsenal and see a completely different squad in the space of a season, hold out until the summer, drop the dead wood and rebuild.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
16 
4
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
1 
10
omg,arshavin has given a bitter interview about wenger and the board (goal.com).am sure wenger’s going to get furious with the russian…… :/
Rate this comment:
3 
2
What’s wrong with Arshavin’s interview? Nothing in my opinion
Rate this comment:
3 
0
no fans needn’t be disappointed ,if they continue to perform this way.its understandable that we as fans will always keep talking about signings.at the end of the day,arsenal is a club of values and wont change that till they are financially resolved .still wenger may buy a player or two as a cover up for african cup departures.buying someone like a gotze or hazard would get everyone super-excited though….
Rate this comment:
3 
0
We need a back-up striker at least. Podolski would be an ideal minimum addition.
If Theo gets injured and Gervino goes for AFCON, we may also end up a bit thin on the wings. The so-called panic buys are proving sceptics wrong! Remember a quality signing is in the pipeline for January already, one Jack Wilshere!
Rate this comment:
5 
1
I’d be surprised if Arsene signs anyone during the transfer window. Clubs are notorious for not selling during the January transfer window. Only “silly” money could potentially make some of Arsenal’s transfer targets free. Arsenal are not known for splashing cash, and even less so in the January transfer window.
Being cup tied may not be a problem when Arsenal may not be competing for that cup next season. The priority may be to ensure a top 4 finish for next season.
However a lot will depend on where Arsenal are in the table come the end of December. If we are still in 7th, Arsene may be forced to do something…
Rate this comment:
3 
0
I would not question him, neither would I complain but I won’t mind If he gets some specific adjustments to the team.
Alex Song, despite him being unsung, is as important to our new found revival as Robin Van Persie is, as a matter of fact, the reason we needed to revive was because we had died when he wasn’t playing after that Red Card against Newcastle. And though he helped Blackburn beat us, the revival started only after he resumed his duties…….And he doesn’t have a proven assistant so, Yann M’Vila is a definite requirement if not necesity. Coquelin and Frimpong are able rookies, and Diaby is good but often injured or inconsistent but can you imagine a run of 10 crucial games with them in there?.
I trust in Ji Sung Park, but if we can ever have Alexandre Pato, why not? can you imagine Arsenal in a 4-4-2 line up, with Pato and RVP upfront?. But unlike M’Vila he is not a crucial requirement.
Aaron Ramsey?. He has been good, but still you get a feeling like he doesn’t deliver some balls he should be delivering in to the oppositions box, If he can get a senior player like Gourcuff to take the burden off him and help him ease back to his very best. why not?
And Wenger will definitely make a Winter signing, probably the best signing he can make, the 40 million worth Jack Wilshere. I love it.
Rate this comment:
1 
0
borrusia monglebach just confirmed that wenger called him to comfirm is interest in marco reus. That guy is consistent and a better player than media hyped hazard. Pls thumb me down at your own peril
Rate this comment:
5 
6
Well, you have got to make up your mind about whether adding talent to the squad is stiffling or progressive. For me, this would always be seen as progressive. Arsenal has always given young players the opportunity to express himself and I cant see this changing. So there is no fear in this area as far as I can see.
Rate this comment:
1 
1
good headline as it can be interpreted in a number of ways. I wont be disappointed if wenger doesnt spend as i have done with being disappointed. He wont sign anyone unless we hit a catastrophic run of bad results. whilst picking up modest wins, losing a few and even dropping to mid-table in january wont force his hand. Wenger will draw attention to the last big victory and proclaim “we beat a top side last month so it proves we have the quality”.
NO signings and you can predict the rest of the season.
We NEED a 20-goal a season striker and play 4-4-2. Sure we lose a bit of possession in midfield but we would be more potent upfront…whilst RVP is in this amazing form (and is a truly world-class player). the deficiences in the team are not too visible. If /When RVP gets injured the results will certainly reflect his absence. Wenger knows this , but maybe pinning his hopes on park, walcott or even chamakh to fill the void. Like i say i wont be disappointed, we all know what to expect!
Rate this comment:
3 
2
Sell Diaby, Squid, Alumina, Denilson, Bendtner, Chamak.
Get Montoliva, Reus, Podolski.
Rate this comment:
5 
0
It’s better to have a strategy in place. Buy a striker and an attacking midfielder in Jan and sell two or three deadwoods to fulfil the 25-man rule. That’s not for the sake of buying in fact it’s a necessity. With that Arsenal could approach the second half with minimal risk factor. Later, they could move for one or two big money signings in the summer to complete the rebuilding. This strategy would be perfect rather than not buying players, especially a striker, in Jan and risking the second half of the season. If the reluctance to buy another quality striking option plays a key role in Arsenal not finishing in top four, we would look back and regret not spending in Jan. There’s no point in bringing 5-6 players simultaneously like Arsenal did this summer. Better to be proactive rather than reactive. There’s no strategy in place this summer and paid a heavy price as a result at the beginning of the season which has forced Arsenal to play catch up this early in the season. I hope Arsene and Ivan have learned their lessons.
Rate this comment:
2 
1
i think what wenger should look is his opponents man city are strengthining thier squad also man united and other clubs,so if he setining thier and doing noting and arsenal making injuries its tradition after the mid season, as usual arsenal will end up without trophys for te seventh Consecutiv season,so im not only be disapointed i may perhaps going to hate him 4 ever
Rate this comment:
2 
1
Yes, it goes without saying. We are still vulnerable in defense. With Sagna out, I don’t think Jenkinson (as promising as he is) will be able to hold guys like Bale, Ribery etc. Santos too is a bit slow, great anticipation on tackles and great going forward, but he lacks speed in backtracking. We saw Sturridge tear him a new one, who knows what guys like Robben, Ronaldo would do to him.
We also need another world class striker, we shouldn’t have to rely on RvP all the time. Every top team has at least 3 excellent strikers, just think of United, City, Chelsea all their strikers are world class. We have RvP, Chamakh (who in my book should be sold) and Park (has great potential and needs more exposure).
So AW please make two world class signings this Jan. One defender and one striker.
Rate this comment:
2 
0
wenger wil not spend unless gunners been thrash yet again..if we keep on wining n draw wenger wil say the team is strong enough bt then after been thrash..rush buying..so myb no chance at ol..yes wud b disapointed!!! january goetze,podolski,vertonghen..atleast these trio..squid,chamakh,denilson,bendtner,almunia go..
Rate this comment:
2 
0
Wenger himself is not a fan of the winter window: “I question a bit the transfer window, because this is the period where you want everybody to be connected, you cannot be half in or out.”
I also question a bit the summer transfer window because AW always leave it late and don’t replace the key players who leave with quality. just this summer window itself, he only acted 3 days before the summer window slammed shut and only because we lost 8-2 to man utd. believe me if we had won that game or even drew, he would not have bought anyone.
the best thing is to expect nothing in the jan transfer window. arsenal already made over 60 million from the sales of fab, nasri, eboue and spent approx 40 million. the 20 million left is for the board.
Rate this comment:
1 
0
Extremely disappointed. With the current team Arsenal might not finish in the top 4 this season and top players will siphon out the following summer. Better safe than sorry,and it is the safe thing to do buying world class players now(even if at a slightly higher price and even if they are cup bound)
Rate this comment:
1 
2
no wenger is surely hasnt to spend in january,
because:
-berbatov,drogba,malouda,kalou,bosingwa,owen,rodallega,del piero and DE ROSSI
Rate this comment:
0 
3
wenger hasnt to spend at all in january since;
drogba,berbatov,kalou,malouda,owen,bosingwa,del piero,raul,rodallega,farfan and DEROSSI are all available for free
and cahil still has only 6 months in his contract
so,if we need to spend then we should buy a good backup for gervinho when he go to the african cup of nations
Rate this comment:
0 
2
and farfan are all available for free
and cahil still has only 6 months in his contract
so,if we need to spend then we should buy a good backup for gervinho when he go to the african cup of nations
Rate this comment:
0 
1
wenger it is such a waste to keep almunia,squid,chamakh,bendtner,denilson,.. goetze,podolski,vertonghen wud b useful..these trio cn help the team rather than the deadwoods hu enjoyed their wages by nt playing..n play like a potatoes..yeah potatoes cnt play..i knw n its the same!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Don’t think we will sign anyone, unfortunately. When do we ever sign proactively (up and coming talent doesn’t count, as they aren’t usable immediately, but require time to develop). We only signed experience in the last window, because we had no choice. No signings would have equated to ‘LOSE’. Therefore, we signed whoever we could get … Last minute. If we had signed with intent, surely we would now have Mata, but we got Arteta, because he was all we could get at the 11th (& 59mins) hour.
I’m not saying Arteta is bad, or a bad signing, just that it seems he was more a panic buy than a player we courted, and lured across to strategically design and build a team to remain at the top this season. The reality is, there was a gaping big hole to fill, and Arteta was the best fit considering the circumstances. Thats my point. It’s all very reactionary. We need to have an strategy of buying smart to build a team that has youth (AW does well in this department), talent, potential, maturity, strength, attack, defence, and creativity.
At the last window, we had an inadequate defence, so we bought to make up for this. But we should never have been in this position in the first place! We don’t have proper strikers (OBVIOUSLY RVP is totally world class, but apart from him????). And what I fear is that like Fabregas and Nasri, AW will not buy till he loses what he has, which means instead of getting the player/s we want, we get what player who can just do the job.
I really wish we would buy, but I will be (pleasantly) surprised if we actually do.
Rate this comment:
2 
2
just a natural top striker to compliment RVP’s effort will do,wenger please we must not finish behind spurds this season.
Rate this comment:
1 
0
i think we just need new medical staff. dont u think why fabregas only got 3 weeks out for the same hamstring injury in barca but got 6 to 5 weeks in arsenal ?? there must be a problem with a staff of the facility inside. n why they cant detect wilshere injury on the summer early ?? something fishy right here i guess ??
Rate this comment:
0 
1
my thoughts are that we are still short and wenger needs a few buys, eithier in january or next summer, definatly a striker podolski/pato, their both world class players and they wont come cheap, a defender vertonghen/cahill, i would prefer vertonghen because hes versatile and would be a cheaper option than cahill, vertonghen can play cb and cdm and i think hes a very good player, and we need an creative/attacking midfielder gotze/marvin martin/reus, theirs plenty of quality attacking midfielders out there and we need one. Up Gunnerz
Rate this comment:
1 
0
assuming Chamakh doesn’t recover any kind of form by the january transfer window, I would like to see him traded with a striker that could cover (or even complement) Van Persie. Having only one proper striker is very risky. And I’m not so sure about Park.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
EXTREMELY D.I.S.A.P.P.O.I.N.T.E.D!!!!!!!!!
but i dont think he will do that..
Rate this comment:
0 
0
We need to be proactive and increase the potency of our attack. And I don’t want to hear if we buy quality players it takes away from appearances for the youngsters, if they aren’t getting enough minutes loan them out. I believe pong, and Ox would greatly benefit from loan moves in Jan. A couple realistic signings in Jan would be podolski/p. Cisse and Douglas-costa (cup-tied but would provide mid/wing depth when gerv leaves for ANC) or biglia. I would love to see some movement in the market in Jan but I don’t expect any
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Yes it does matter !!! Time and time again i see our club go down hill after january remeber last year. It’s time we get a gifted CM and a gd RB back up and for sure get a goal scoring machine so that we can give Van Persie a well derserved rest. Podolski would do the trick for me or maybe even Klose but im been serious Arsenal need a gd back up striker cause Charmack aint going to score for us anytime soon !!!!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
Our players will surely get fatigued with time.it affects all teams n since we usually r not close to winnin any trophy @ dat time our players switch off.signin big players like podolski,gotze,grossekrutz,shea n pato will assure us of @ least a local trophy if we can’t win d ucl then we can go all out for it nxt season.arsenal will be great
Rate this comment:
0 
0
GK: Szczesny (currently a top GK, recently voted 2nd best in EPL), back ups are Fabianski, Mannone, Almunia
RB: Sagna (best RB in EPL), back up Jenkinson, Djourou, Koscielny
CB: Vermaelen, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Djourou, Squillaci, Miquel, Song; we have 3 top EPL quality CBs with maybe 3 acceptable other ones before having to resort to Song
LB: Gibbs with Santos as back up or is it the other way around. Another option is Vermaelen
DM: Song, Frimpong is back up (what about ANC?). Wilshere, Ramsey, Arteta, Diaby can all do a job but they are all more of a box-box MF. Coquelin is a strong up and coming candidate.
AM: Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey, Rosicky, Arshavin, Benayoun, Diaby. Looks pretty good as well
Strikers: RvP, Walcott, Arshavin, Park, Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh. A strong selection IF RvP stays fit and available… How can we get Park going as we all know he is an excellent finisher but seems to need some time to adapt.
Adding someone in January is difficult. With our starting XI, I can only find room for improvement as LB. It is difficult, almost unrealistic, to find players who are better than, and available for anything close to realistic prices, Szczesny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Song, Arteta, Wilshere, Walcott, RvP, Gervinho. I am not to concerned about new players; let’s tie up the really good ones and maybe start selling a couple who are not performing to standard to make room for the up and coming talents (e.g. Miyaichi) as well as new signings in July/August.
Rate this comment:
5 
0
It all depends what we like to achieve at the end of the season, if our target is sixth or seventh place we are ok with the current squad. If we need CL football or more,we need at least three quality signings by january. Looking our performance against big sides in the last two years or our performance after january in the last three seasons justifies this .
Rate this comment:
0 
1
Podolski would certainly be good because he is a proven striker and plays lw for germany in a similar system to arsenal’s. he’s got a great long shot. He would be available for like £12m
Rate this comment:
1 
1
I belive we need signings peirod we became comfterbale with the top 4 places and arsenal is a known big champion team we need trophies and inorder to have big trophies we need big players we need to be number 1 not 7 not 4th not 3rd first!!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
of course we should spend some money to strengthen the squad. While we have improved there is still lots to be done and a couple of new players could turn this squad into genuine contenders
Rate this comment:
1 
2
just buy a striker to help out RVP or play alongside him in a 4-4-2 but that would never happen. We are solid all around the park the only aspect to the game we realy lack is a sub/ replacement for robin
Rate this comment:
0 
0
i think we should sign max 3 players because your right arsenal are in form and too many players can upset the chemistry but maybe a defender and a defensive midfielder will do more good then harm
Rate this comment:
1 
0
ronaldinho is not cup-tied but i am not sure wenger will want him.
yes we are rebuilding but arsenal needs super sub, someone like gaucho or similar type. arshavin and rosicky dont really make any impact.gervinho did well when he came in against marseille in france,walcott also does very good but they are both in the starting 11. maybe he’s unleashing miyaichi and chamberlain soon still we need new signings not necessarily big money.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
we need another striker
v perise has been great but am sure he will get injoued soon or we should rest him a bit more
and with park and chamak farrrrrrrrrrr from being on the same leval as v perise.
i rather we play walcott on his own upfront then chamk or park.
so am sure wenger will be bring someone like podolski in
Rate this comment:
0 
0
goetze,vertonghen n podolski!
squid,chamakh,almunia,denilson,bendtner out! FULSTOP!!!!!!!
Rate this comment:
0 
0
We are in building phase after losing Nasri and Fab. Next season we need to hit ground running and will need the new guys to have settled and be on song. So AW must look at the likes of M ‘Villa, Hazard, Goetze etc, so we can start well.It’s business now and will lose out if we hesitate.
Rate this comment:
0 
0
if they are anything like the panic buys on the last day of the transfer window this summer then no thanks.
Rate this comment:
0 
0