The former Arsenal and England international defender Sol Campbell is not exactly well loved at the home of his former employees Tottenham, as he was one of the few players to cross the north London divide and it made it even worse for the fans of the Spuds that once he did make the transfer the centre back played a major part in helping Arsenal to achieve that historic title winning campaign that earned us the name of the Invincibles.
But Spurs and their long suffering fans will probably be happy about the recent comments from Campbell on the current title race, reported by Metro, because he reckons it could be heading towards the first time since Arsene Wenger took charge that the spuds finish above Arsenal in the Premier League table.
The former Gunner does not think we are certain to finish below our local rivals by any means or even that we cannot end the season by lifting the EPL trophy, but he does think that Arsene Wenger needs to get busy in the transfer market in order for that to happen.
Campbell said, ‘They could, they’ve done it before. In 1998 when they were a long way behind the leaders, but they are a lot of points behind.
‘There’s a long way to go but the way Chelsea are looking at the moment alongside Tottenham and Liverpool – those teams just seem to be a little bit ahead of Arsenal at the moment.
‘Arsenal need to settle some contracts and get that sorted, maybe buy another player before the January window closes.
‘You always need somebody up front who can give us something else. You can never have too many forwards and maybe a really good holding midfielder.
‘You can always improve, there’s always room for improvement. There’s always injuries and there’s always somebody who has a loss of form – you always need somebody on the bench who can come on and make an impact.
‘If you want to win something you need a good bench, guys who can come on and change things. You need experienced players who can come on and make a difference or change the complexity of the game, to give the opposition something different to think about.’
I must admit to being worried about what could happen to our title challenge if we lost a key player to injury. You could say the same of Chelsea or Tottenham but with our record what is more likely? Do you agree with Campbell? Does the boss need to spend in the transfer market? Could Spurs really finish above Arsenal this time?
Bob.
As long as we don’t change our system and start playing modern football we can spend ten times more than Barcelona. Nothing will happen. You have your clue.
Wenger needs to go
Useless stubborn clueless old man
He gets plenty of money to spend and spends on mainly average to decent players
He is the only manager who does not believe a team needs a top DM
He is happy with players like Eleny, Ramsey, Jenkinson, Debuchy who is always injured
He will never change his system or philosophy
The media always hype spending as though that is the answer. Just look at Depay going to Lyon or the sums spent by City and United last summer? Did Leicester spend to win the title? Additions are important insofar as they are needed and IMPROVE the team like Mustafi has done. For the first time in a long time we have a good mix of forwards who all offer something different- aerial threat (Giroud) good technique (Sanchez) good finisher (Perez) Mr Utility (Welbeck) and even Walcott and the Ox are popping up with goals. We have gone from needing strikers to having many and from having too many midfielders to being thin on the ground at the moment. If AW can find a ball playing CM like Santi or (dare I say) Dembele- then sign him now!
Even if Wenger could find a player like that he would NEVER buy him in January.
Whats the goal – FINISH ABOVE SPUDS…ffs, we have been finishing above them for many seasons – who cares about them, The goal should be to win the league..
The sad part with the spuds, is that season after season they tend to look good in between and like they gonna finish in the top 2 but come end of 38 games they always behind us.
Obviously teams need to spend, but I think it’s more important to have a quality manager in charge. Look at the progression Spurs and L’pool have made, and they’re getting out spent. Atletico Madrid cannot compete financially, but look at their results. Then look at Arsenal. Wenger’s spent a lot over the last few years, and we’ve barely improved. City have spend a ridiculous amount already under Pep, and have actually gone backwards (although I reserve criticism for Pep until next season, as this is his first time in England).
Remove Wenger, employ Simeone, and you’ll see an upturn in results. Arsenal will also save money, because I doubt Simeone will earn as much as the delusional one.
we don’t need to spend to finish in top4 or/and above Spurs.
but is “finish above Spurs” our target this season or winning the title?.
To win the title we need to recruit at least one quality player in LB or CM
Wenger doesn’t spend on the right players
We have been begging for a Top defensive midfielder for ages
We need another Top forward
Our defense needs improving with another top cb, a top lb and back up RB.
Ultimately its Wenger who needs to GO.
Haven already signed Cohen Bramall fir the Arsenal’s Under 23 squad, Well, Le Prof has made it categorically clear yesterday in his press conference that he will be quiet during this winter transfer window not to do any more signing as his first team squad is not short of a player in any position in the team.
But with the absent of Cazorla to a long-term injury and Elneny gone to Afcon competition, one would have thought Arsenal are short of a midfielder in the long and short term. For, out of the five mid fielders currently at Arsenal midfield, only 3 are available for selection as of now. And out of these three, two of them cannot be relied upon on the long-term as they often pick up injuries. So, if at all Le Prof will change his mind to do a sign which I doubt he would, is a midfielder he should sign and not a striker during this window in my own view. Because how many of them are there at our midfield any way? They are: Santiago Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Francisco Coquelin, Mohammed Elneny and Granit Xhaka. But can Ramsey and Coquelin play up to seven games consecutively without getting sidelined these days?
I think Arsenal need to sign a midfielder who has the two attributes of DM & AMF.at the same time. I mean who is versatile as Defensive and attacking midfielder with the ability to pass the ball accurately in short, medium & long range passing. I don’t mean long-range shooting like Xhaka is doing. But that also is an asset at our midfield if his shootings can be hitting the target.
wenger needs to understand the difference between stocks and flows….purchasing new players is a stock addition and he prides himself on being tight on that score but we also need to focus on the flow and on that score total wage bill is 4th highest in epl but not significantly below chelsea manutd or man city (but significantly ahead of spurs and lpool) and has actually risen more than these over last few years … result we are overpaying average or worse players who can only deliver 4th place … wengers much heralded economics degree not worth the paper its written on!!
Haven already signed Cohen Bramall for the Arsenal’s Under 23 squad, Well, Le Prof has made it categorically clear yesterday in his press conference that he will be quiet during this winter transfer window not to do any more signing as his first team squad is not short of a player in any position in the team.
But with the absent of Cazorla to a long-term injury and Elneny gone to Afcon competition, one would have thought Arsenal are short of a midfielder in the long and short term. For, out of the five mid fielders currently at Arsenal midfield, only 3 are available for selection as of now. And out of these three, two of them cannot be relied upon on the long-term as they often pick up injuries. So, if at all Le Prof will change his mind to do a signing which I doubt he would, is a midfielder he should sign and not a striker during this window in my own view. Because how many of them are there at our midfield any way? They are: Santiago Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Francisco Coquelin, Mohammed Elneny and Granit Xhaka. But can Ramsey and Coquelin play up to seven games consecutively without getting sidelined these days?
I think Arsenal need to sign a midfielder who has the two attributes of DM & AMF.at the same time. I mean who is versatile as defensive and attacking midfielder with the ability to pass the ball accurately in short, medium & long range passing. I don’t mean long-range shooting like Xhaka is doing. But that also is an asset at our midfield if his shootings can be hitting the target.
We will never win any major trophy under Wenger, but some fans are happy as long as we finish above spurs, says a lot about our ambitions
We all know that its not JUST spending money that makes for sucsess, Its spending money wisely and in the right area’s.
Wenger has spent smallish amounts on players that in his mind may or mayy not come good and this mindset is NOT what the manager should have if he wants to win major trophies.
out of last summers transfers the ONLY one who is real game changer is Mustafi, He hasnt been in the side long enough for it to be obvious yet but I feel he could well be the next club captain and leader at the back. As for Perez, ok he;s ok but I dont ever see a world beater there and even if he has the potential how many games will he get to really show what he can do and get the experience that all potential superstars need? Granit Xhaka is NOT what we were ppromised, his passing is remiss and he is far to late in challenges and too aggresive at the wrong times to really be the sort of DM midfielder that we can really beniift from. Last but not least is the japanese kid who we have never seen and are unlikely to ever see as he will drif off to the footballers graveyard after we bought his mearly for shirt sales. Ramsey is intermittant and also self obsessed, keen to critisise others when his own game is rarely on track. Ive siad it before and Ill say it again we only have HALF a world class side and its easy to see why Alexis is becomming frusterated and annoyed with it all. He either needs to win major silverware OR stays with us and never see’s a champions league final BUT gets a whole huge wad of cash for giving up on his dreams.
Ozil could really care less, he has all the medals anyone could ever need and its just about the money for him now, I think theres a strong beleif in the squad that they are just never going to win anything of noteand they play with that attitude showing.
we again need about three world class players and in my opinion that includes a genuine Iron man DM with intelligence as well as muscle, a genuine world class 30 goal a season striker, the likes of which will turn a game around when its looking bad, and with the fall of Santi Cazorla looking ever more imminant we also now need a genuine creative midfielder (why didnt Wenger get Cesc when he was an option?) as Santi is very much looking like he’s going the way of all of our other real artists in midfeild and will be more off than on the pitch for the rest of his career.
how Long before Cech starts to wane and he needs replacing? how long before other players other than Ozil and Sanchez start to think about major silverware?
we NEVER seem to replenish in the area’s we need it most and this is the reason we will end up below the spuds this season. They have bided thier time and snapped up players we really didnt think were worth the money and now look and see what they have in comparison. I hate them with a passion and it really riles me that they look sooo dedicated and dangerous as opposed to us who look like we are only half there and not really that bothered.
Hard times ahead me thinks and if beating spurs is all we consider important it says a lot about the fans and the mindset we have hammered into us by the club over the last ten years.
Why are people so fixated about finishing above Spurs. Is this our main objective? We should just be concentrating on winning the next game and at the end of the season if we finish above Spurs then good, if we don’t finish above Spurs then we haven’t deserved to. If Spurs finish 16th would these people be happy to finish 15th!!