A lot has happened since the last time I checked in, including a 3-0 smashing of Aston Villa, an exit from the Capital One Cup at the hands of Southampton and a 1-1 draw in the North London derby that felt more like a loss. As we cross into the month of October, Arsenal still have yet to establish much positive momentum. The positives are there — we're still unbeaten in the league, we have five of our six Champions League group stage fixtures ahead of us and even our exit from the league cup means less fixture congestion for our threadbare squad to have to contend with. At the same time, the flipside to each of these things is evident, too.
We sit nestled in our familiar fourth place spot in the league and though we're undefeated, we haven't found our form with only two wins and four draws. When it comes to the cup exit, many Arsenal bloggers have pointed out that it was a missed opportunity to give some of our youth players and reserves games, especially since some of them may be heavily relied on due to the injuries we've suffered. Our chance to get back on track in Europe comes tomorrow against Galatasaray with the pressure on us after being dominated by Borussia Dortmund. Our next game after that is the rather shit-inducing matchup against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It has been hard to build momentum with all of the injuries we have encountered. We signed Danny Welbeck and he has looked really good in our team, bagging his first goal against Villa, but then we lost Giroud for 3 months. Our decision not to sign any more defenders immediately cost us even further when Mathieu Debuchy went down with a long-term injury, too. Mesut Özil struggled to find form of his own, then just when he notched a goal and an assist in the span of two minutes, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere all get injured in the next game.
In terms of our season, it is still early days but Arsenal have yet to look like the team that rattled off 10 straight league wins around this time last season. Of course, those wins came after a dispiriting opening day loss, so things can turn around pretty much at any time. I feel like the pieces are there to do it, with Alexis looking great, Santi Cazorla still a wizard on the ball, Welbeck leading the line well, and so on. It's also worth mentioning that Calum Chambers has been an incredible signing and in each appearance he has made, he has played way beyond his 19 years of age would suggest.
The team will need to respond tomorrow against a very tough Galatasaray team after failing to beat a poor, flat Spurs side that we really should have beat. A draw at home wouldn't be the worst result in the world but after losing our opening match, we really can't afford to drop any more points. Galatasaray did us a favor by drawing their opening match against the supposed underdog of the group, Anderlecht. However, we have yet to see if that is a good omen for us tomorrow or if Anderlecht are being underestimated more than they should be.
As for Sunday's match against Chelsea, it remains to be seen whether we can keep from self-destructing against a top four team on the road again. The hope is that we'll have learned from the mistakes of last year and/or gotten over the psychological hurdles that we face with those teams last year, but then we felt that way last season after it happened against City. And then Liverpool. Then Chelsea. Then, to some extent, Everton. Chelsea also look like the best team in the Premier League this year by a long way, which is very painful to admit because I truly hate them all with a burning rage. It would be fantastic to upstage Mourinho by handing them their first loss, but if we held on for dear life and scraped at least a draw from them, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
The news from today is that Jack will be in the squad tomorrow, though my guess is that he will not start. Also for all Arsenal fans' required daily reading, Arseblog raised a good argument for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to play in central midfield with the injuries we've had there. Ox has looked very good this year, his equalizer against Spurs was as clutch as hell and maybe he can step up in the position in which we have the most depth.
Until next time.
September 30, 2014
September 18, 2014
Gunned Down in Dortmund
Arsenal's Champions League group stage couldn't have gotten off to a crappier start as we lost 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund in a game in which the scoreline didn't reflect how thoroughly dominated we were. Dortmund was the superior team from start to finish, while on the other hand Arsenal was sloppy and lethargic. It was an extremely worrying performance on a big stage, but all we can do now is regroup and focus on beating Aston Villa this weekend.
The only two bright spots in defeat were Wojciech Szczesny's play in goal and the full debut of Hector Bellerin. If it weren't for some outstanding saves from Szczesny (as well as some pretty bad misses by Dortmund) we would have been subjected to another five or six-nil loss reminiscent of last season, which is the last thing we need. Szczesny did come way out of goal and get easily rounded by Aubameyang on their second goal, but the defending leading up to that was so bad that it may not have mattered.
Bellerin also stepped in and performed well at right back, considering he's only 19 and it was in a very intimidating European venue. I love everything about the Dortmund fans and the atmosphere they provide is the envy of any club, I just wish we didn't have to keep facing them. It would be great if Bellerin is ready to contribute at right back for us this year, all of the buzz around him has been how good of a prospect he could be. However, between him and fellow teenager Calum Chambers, it's a lot to expect them to consistently produce, especially as defenders. If Bellerin has a season as close to the one that Serge Gnabry had last season, that would be incredible. But with Debuchy out for so long, we may not have to luxury to manage his minutes the same way and it could negatively impact his development, as well as Arsenal's results.
One more silver lining, though, is that Galatasaray and Anderlecht played to a 1-1 draw, so the fact that they both dropped points helps us early on in our group's standing. Still, when a team like Arsenal can't string passes together or simply retain the ball, it's always going to be a struggle for us. It was another lackluster performance by Özil, which gets more worrying with each game that has to be said. But for that matter, the same could be said for Wilshere, Ramsey, and Arteta, among others, and I feel that they'll be able to turn it around. Welbeck's misses in front of goal didn't help matters, either. We knew what his goalscoring record was before we signed him and now he'll have to come into his own, which again I believe he will do. Whenever a striker is new, there is extra pressure on him to score that first goal so once that happens, I think he'll have one less thing to worry about.
Our performance last Saturday against Man City was much better, so hopefully we can get back to playing like we did that day. It's also worth mentioning that this was our first official loss of 2014-15, it was just the way we lost which was inexcusable. Arsene may have to consider whether this formation can work with our players or not. Whatever the case, we have to put this game behind us and make up some ground in the Premier League with a win in our next game.
The only two bright spots in defeat were Wojciech Szczesny's play in goal and the full debut of Hector Bellerin. If it weren't for some outstanding saves from Szczesny (as well as some pretty bad misses by Dortmund) we would have been subjected to another five or six-nil loss reminiscent of last season, which is the last thing we need. Szczesny did come way out of goal and get easily rounded by Aubameyang on their second goal, but the defending leading up to that was so bad that it may not have mattered.
Bellerin also stepped in and performed well at right back, considering he's only 19 and it was in a very intimidating European venue. I love everything about the Dortmund fans and the atmosphere they provide is the envy of any club, I just wish we didn't have to keep facing them. It would be great if Bellerin is ready to contribute at right back for us this year, all of the buzz around him has been how good of a prospect he could be. However, between him and fellow teenager Calum Chambers, it's a lot to expect them to consistently produce, especially as defenders. If Bellerin has a season as close to the one that Serge Gnabry had last season, that would be incredible. But with Debuchy out for so long, we may not have to luxury to manage his minutes the same way and it could negatively impact his development, as well as Arsenal's results.
One more silver lining, though, is that Galatasaray and Anderlecht played to a 1-1 draw, so the fact that they both dropped points helps us early on in our group's standing. Still, when a team like Arsenal can't string passes together or simply retain the ball, it's always going to be a struggle for us. It was another lackluster performance by Özil, which gets more worrying with each game that has to be said. But for that matter, the same could be said for Wilshere, Ramsey, and Arteta, among others, and I feel that they'll be able to turn it around. Welbeck's misses in front of goal didn't help matters, either. We knew what his goalscoring record was before we signed him and now he'll have to come into his own, which again I believe he will do. Whenever a striker is new, there is extra pressure on him to score that first goal so once that happens, I think he'll have one less thing to worry about.
Our performance last Saturday against Man City was much better, so hopefully we can get back to playing like we did that day. It's also worth mentioning that this was our first official loss of 2014-15, it was just the way we lost which was inexcusable. Arsene may have to consider whether this formation can work with our players or not. Whatever the case, we have to put this game behind us and make up some ground in the Premier League with a win in our next game.
September 15, 2014
Arsenal Hold On For Draw as Injuries Mount
Arsenal's game against Man City this past weekend ran across the entire spectrum of all things positive of negative. The goals we scored were amazing, while the goals we let in through sloppy defending were... um, not. The fantastic individual performances were also great, however Mathieu Debuchy went down with a serious injury. On the whole, it was a match that left me with a ton of mixed emotions.
Overall, there was a lot to like. It's not like a draw at home against the reigning champions was a bad result, it's just that tying the game after being ahead always feels like a huge missed opportunity. It's still too early in the season to really count these as two dropped points, but had we held on for the win against a team that is certainly a lock to finish top-four, it would've been massive. In typical Arsenal fashion, we were on the front foot from the beginning of the game, only to concede a goal on the counter attack. It was a little bit unlucky that Flamini's initial tackle sent the ball down line to start City's break, instead of rolling out of bounds, but it was Flamini's failure to track Aguero that allowed him to score. Dominating possession and shots and finding ourselves 1-0 down is nothing new and after that Szczesny made a brilliant one-on-one save that kept us in the game. Had he not, it would've been a totally different matter for us to have to come back from two goals down.
That save ended up paying off massively as Jack Wilshere scored a great equalizing goal midway through the second half. City turned the ball over in midfield, which led to Jack starting a flowing passing move before receiving a final pass from Aaron Ramsey and smartly finishing over Joe Hart. Wilshere was a standout performer on the day and it was a great response to all of the negative criticism he's received over his potential and performance for both club and country.
The other standout player was Arsenal's second goalscorer. Alexis Sanchez was excellent, from his running and pressing all over the field, to his dribbling attacks with the ball. His goal, volleyed in from Wilshere's headed assist, was an extremely skillful finish. The two goals were of such a high quality that it was definitely a shame to let City equalize, again from a totally unmarked player and again from a set piece.
The injury to Debuchy, who is now set to miss two months, is very concerning though. Our decision not to add to the defensive ranks continues to make less and less sense. It's a simple fact that injuries (not even to mention suspensions) have to be accounted for. With Calum Chambers coming in at right back, we have no natural backups at center back. Arseblog discussed the possibility of Hector Bellerin and Issac Hayden seeing first team action and honestly, under these circumstances, we may not have much of a choice.
The truth of the matter is that injuries are increasing across the board and not only at Arsenal. Maybe it has to do with the fact that most of the players at this level are playing virtually all year long. Even our players who didn't represent their countries at the World Cup this summer played their last game on May 17 in the FA Cup Final and had to return for preseason training in early July. Not even two full months off, and the players that did return from Brazil got even less of a break than that. It can't be a coincidence that most of our injured players (Gibbs, Giroud, and now Debuchy) played at the World Cup.
And when you think injuries are uniquely an Arsenal problem, take a look at Borussia Dortmund, tomorrow's Champions League opponent, and their injury list. That's Reus, Sahin, Ji and Kirch, not including Gundogan and Blaszczykowski whom Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also mentioned as being hampered in an interview with the Evening Standard. That's not to underestimate their quality, nor the intimidating atmosphere of their home fans. It's always a tough test to go to Dortmund and pick up points and tomorrow will be no different.
Overall, there was a lot to like. It's not like a draw at home against the reigning champions was a bad result, it's just that tying the game after being ahead always feels like a huge missed opportunity. It's still too early in the season to really count these as two dropped points, but had we held on for the win against a team that is certainly a lock to finish top-four, it would've been massive. In typical Arsenal fashion, we were on the front foot from the beginning of the game, only to concede a goal on the counter attack. It was a little bit unlucky that Flamini's initial tackle sent the ball down line to start City's break, instead of rolling out of bounds, but it was Flamini's failure to track Aguero that allowed him to score. Dominating possession and shots and finding ourselves 1-0 down is nothing new and after that Szczesny made a brilliant one-on-one save that kept us in the game. Had he not, it would've been a totally different matter for us to have to come back from two goals down.
That save ended up paying off massively as Jack Wilshere scored a great equalizing goal midway through the second half. City turned the ball over in midfield, which led to Jack starting a flowing passing move before receiving a final pass from Aaron Ramsey and smartly finishing over Joe Hart. Wilshere was a standout performer on the day and it was a great response to all of the negative criticism he's received over his potential and performance for both club and country.
The other standout player was Arsenal's second goalscorer. Alexis Sanchez was excellent, from his running and pressing all over the field, to his dribbling attacks with the ball. His goal, volleyed in from Wilshere's headed assist, was an extremely skillful finish. The two goals were of such a high quality that it was definitely a shame to let City equalize, again from a totally unmarked player and again from a set piece.
The injury to Debuchy, who is now set to miss two months, is very concerning though. Our decision not to add to the defensive ranks continues to make less and less sense. It's a simple fact that injuries (not even to mention suspensions) have to be accounted for. With Calum Chambers coming in at right back, we have no natural backups at center back. Arseblog discussed the possibility of Hector Bellerin and Issac Hayden seeing first team action and honestly, under these circumstances, we may not have much of a choice.
The truth of the matter is that injuries are increasing across the board and not only at Arsenal. Maybe it has to do with the fact that most of the players at this level are playing virtually all year long. Even our players who didn't represent their countries at the World Cup this summer played their last game on May 17 in the FA Cup Final and had to return for preseason training in early July. Not even two full months off, and the players that did return from Brazil got even less of a break than that. It can't be a coincidence that most of our injured players (Gibbs, Giroud, and now Debuchy) played at the World Cup.
And when you think injuries are uniquely an Arsenal problem, take a look at Borussia Dortmund, tomorrow's Champions League opponent, and their injury list. That's Reus, Sahin, Ji and Kirch, not including Gundogan and Blaszczykowski whom Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also mentioned as being hampered in an interview with the Evening Standard. That's not to underestimate their quality, nor the intimidating atmosphere of their home fans. It's always a tough test to go to Dortmund and pick up points and tomorrow will be no different.
September 9, 2014
Video: Welbeck & Wilshere vs. Switzerland
Here's a video courtesy of @TerryAFCx from England's 2-0 win over Switzerland, with the two goals coming from new signing Danny Welbeck.
Danny Welbeck & Jack Wilshere vs Switzerland 08/09/14 from TerryAFCx on Vimeo.
The compilation also shows Jack Wilshere's involvement. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers were unused subs.
While it's hard to draw conclusions from this without seeing the match live, it's a good frame of reference for their performances. At any rate, it's pretty hard to find anyway negative takeaways from two goals from a striker in his first action after signing for Arsenal.
Here's hoping he can carry some of that form over to the Emirates when we face Manchester City this weekend.
Danny Welbeck & Jack Wilshere vs Switzerland 08/09/14 from TerryAFCx on Vimeo.
The compilation also shows Jack Wilshere's involvement. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers were unused subs.
While it's hard to draw conclusions from this without seeing the match live, it's a good frame of reference for their performances. At any rate, it's pretty hard to find anyway negative takeaways from two goals from a striker in his first action after signing for Arsenal.
Here's hoping he can carry some of that form over to the Emirates when we face Manchester City this weekend.
September 3, 2014
Welcome Welbeck, But We Remain Short on Defenders
After a mostly productive summer transfer window, Arsenal signed Danny Welbeck at the 11th hour. The signing is a somewhat strange one for several reasons, mainly due to the fact that Danny Welbeck doesn't play center back. All in all though, I am happy with his signing and our business this summer, all totaled, looks pretty good.
Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina add up to a pretty impressive haul, now topped off with Welbeck. The only negative takeaway is that we were already short on defenders heading into the summer and that was before we sold Thomas Vermaelen. We also sold Ignasi Miquel to Norwich on deadline day so I just genuinely can't understand how we didn't add another center back.
So far Chambers has looked great there, considering he's only 19 years old. Still, in his first few games with us he's shown glimpses of his inexperience which will make it a risk to really depend on him for long stretches. Really it should be the other way around when talking about a teenage defender making the step up from Southampton to Arsenal — you'd think he'd be showing flashes of his future potential while looking like a raw talent overall. Chambers' signing may quietly be the best piece of business we pulled off this summer, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we need more than three fit natural central defenders.
The decision not to buy another center back may come back to bite us in the ass this season but I guess we'll just have to see how things play out. There have been whispers about youngsters Issac Hayden and right back Hector Bellerin maybe seeing action if needed but that again seems like a huge, unnecessary risk.
On his merits though, I think Welbeck could be a very useful player for us for years to come. His goal-scoring record is spotty at best, but he's still 23 as well and therefore is entering his prime. He adds to Arsenal's growing English core so it doesn't hurt that he's played with Wilshere, Ox and Gibbs before. When I've seen him in action for Man U, he's looked a pretty tricky dribbler, has good pace and is dynamic enough to play as an outright striker for us (which not all of our forwards can say is their best position). He looks good enough on the ball to fit in with our one-touch, flicky attack play and if his movement off the ball can reach Giroud's level, then he'll strengthen us greatly.
Overall, I'm very happy with his addition. Whatever criticisms there are about him, as there are with pretty much any player, he has scored goals in the Premier League before which can't be underestimated. I think that Yaya Sanogo will eventually come good, but we can't afford to wait for him to gain experience during real games in which real things are on the line. Welbeck's addition will take the pressure off of him to produce so he can still learn and grow into the player he can become.
I still think Alexis has a part to play with us as a central striker too, but I like the versatility that adding Welbeck gives us so that we're not really pigeon-holed into any particular lineup. Plus, with Walcott on his way back and when Giroud comes back in January, we'll have legitimate options. Maybe there's still time to buy a center back in January if need be, I just hope it's not too late for our title hopes by that time.
Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina add up to a pretty impressive haul, now topped off with Welbeck. The only negative takeaway is that we were already short on defenders heading into the summer and that was before we sold Thomas Vermaelen. We also sold Ignasi Miquel to Norwich on deadline day so I just genuinely can't understand how we didn't add another center back.
So far Chambers has looked great there, considering he's only 19 years old. Still, in his first few games with us he's shown glimpses of his inexperience which will make it a risk to really depend on him for long stretches. Really it should be the other way around when talking about a teenage defender making the step up from Southampton to Arsenal — you'd think he'd be showing flashes of his future potential while looking like a raw talent overall. Chambers' signing may quietly be the best piece of business we pulled off this summer, but that doesn't excuse the fact that we need more than three fit natural central defenders.
The decision not to buy another center back may come back to bite us in the ass this season but I guess we'll just have to see how things play out. There have been whispers about youngsters Issac Hayden and right back Hector Bellerin maybe seeing action if needed but that again seems like a huge, unnecessary risk.
On his merits though, I think Welbeck could be a very useful player for us for years to come. His goal-scoring record is spotty at best, but he's still 23 as well and therefore is entering his prime. He adds to Arsenal's growing English core so it doesn't hurt that he's played with Wilshere, Ox and Gibbs before. When I've seen him in action for Man U, he's looked a pretty tricky dribbler, has good pace and is dynamic enough to play as an outright striker for us (which not all of our forwards can say is their best position). He looks good enough on the ball to fit in with our one-touch, flicky attack play and if his movement off the ball can reach Giroud's level, then he'll strengthen us greatly.
Overall, I'm very happy with his addition. Whatever criticisms there are about him, as there are with pretty much any player, he has scored goals in the Premier League before which can't be underestimated. I think that Yaya Sanogo will eventually come good, but we can't afford to wait for him to gain experience during real games in which real things are on the line. Welbeck's addition will take the pressure off of him to produce so he can still learn and grow into the player he can become.
I still think Alexis has a part to play with us as a central striker too, but I like the versatility that adding Welbeck gives us so that we're not really pigeon-holed into any particular lineup. Plus, with Walcott on his way back and when Giroud comes back in January, we'll have legitimate options. Maybe there's still time to buy a center back in January if need be, I just hope it's not too late for our title hopes by that time.
September 1, 2014
Two Dropped Points - Deadline Day 2014
Yesterday, Arsenal quite disappointingly dropped points away at newly-promoted Leicester, only managing a 1-1 draw. Alexis opened the scoring in the first half only for Arsenal to concede the tying goal less than three minutes later. Leicester's Leonardo Ulloa headed his goal in over Laurent Koscielny, who earlier in the game had been down for several minutes after a clash of heads left him requiring stitches. The length of time he was down, combined with the fact that he was knocked directly in the head, would've been a good time to follow proper concussion protocol and sub him off. Instead, Kos had his head patched up and he was sent back on the field.
That decision cost us dearly in two ways. First and foremost, soccer has a real problem with following safety standards regarding player head injuries. For player safety, anyone who may have suffered a concussion needs to be substituted to prevent further damage from a repeat blow to the head and it really doesn't get any simpler than that. Secondly, that the goal was headed in directly over him leaves us wondering whether his timing, positioning or awareness were impaired in that moment. Also maybe being slightly reluctant to stick his head in again just moments after clashing heads on a 50-50 ball, or even whether it was even safe for him to head away a whipped-in cross after likely being concussed, for that matter. Any way you slice it, that was a key moment that cost us the three points, in my opinion.
Arsenal took lots and lots of shots, but many of them were blocked by Leicester's well-organized defense or were just unable to find the target. In the second half, Ulloa missed a chance with a wide open goal that should've sent us to defeat and other than a few counter attacks, Arsenal were unable to find a winning goal.
Yaya Sanogo started up top in place of Giroud, who is now out of action until January. Sanogo is the closest replacement we have for Giroud in terms of size, strength and style of play but yesterday showed exactly why we're going to need an upgrade in that position while we're without Giroud. Sanogo is still just too raw at this point to be an effective player for us. His first touch was off all game long and it looks like he knows what to do when the ball comes to him, it's just that his lanky legs can't quite execute it as of yet. Even his involvement in "setting up" the Alexis goal was really just him bumbling the bouncing ball and it kind of falling off of him into the Chilean's path.
It was also slightly worrying that Mesut Özil hasn't had a strong game since his return to action. At this point, it looks like it has less to do with match fitness and more to do with the fact that nothing he tries is really coming off for him. Many of his passes were intercepted, a lot of dribbles led to nowhere or to him losing the ball altogether and more than once he passed up the opportunity to go for goal himself only for it amount to nothing. In watching him, the quality and the class is still there, again it just comes down to the execution at this point.
At the end of the day, a draw on the road early in the season isn't the end of the world. At least we stay unbeaten and unfortunately, a draw was the fair result on the day.
As I'm writing this, the transfer window is drawing to a close and so does any chance we have to address the remaining holes in our squad (as well as the newly-formed ones). It goes without saying that simply buying available players is not always the best strategy, but it's time for Arsenal to follow up on the good transfer business done early in the window and bring in the required players on deadline day. While that's easier said than done, our depth has already been stretched thin barely weeks into the season. If we're serious about challenging for the Premier League title, we need to fully flesh out the rest of our squad.
That decision cost us dearly in two ways. First and foremost, soccer has a real problem with following safety standards regarding player head injuries. For player safety, anyone who may have suffered a concussion needs to be substituted to prevent further damage from a repeat blow to the head and it really doesn't get any simpler than that. Secondly, that the goal was headed in directly over him leaves us wondering whether his timing, positioning or awareness were impaired in that moment. Also maybe being slightly reluctant to stick his head in again just moments after clashing heads on a 50-50 ball, or even whether it was even safe for him to head away a whipped-in cross after likely being concussed, for that matter. Any way you slice it, that was a key moment that cost us the three points, in my opinion.
Arsenal took lots and lots of shots, but many of them were blocked by Leicester's well-organized defense or were just unable to find the target. In the second half, Ulloa missed a chance with a wide open goal that should've sent us to defeat and other than a few counter attacks, Arsenal were unable to find a winning goal.
Yaya Sanogo started up top in place of Giroud, who is now out of action until January. Sanogo is the closest replacement we have for Giroud in terms of size, strength and style of play but yesterday showed exactly why we're going to need an upgrade in that position while we're without Giroud. Sanogo is still just too raw at this point to be an effective player for us. His first touch was off all game long and it looks like he knows what to do when the ball comes to him, it's just that his lanky legs can't quite execute it as of yet. Even his involvement in "setting up" the Alexis goal was really just him bumbling the bouncing ball and it kind of falling off of him into the Chilean's path.
It was also slightly worrying that Mesut Özil hasn't had a strong game since his return to action. At this point, it looks like it has less to do with match fitness and more to do with the fact that nothing he tries is really coming off for him. Many of his passes were intercepted, a lot of dribbles led to nowhere or to him losing the ball altogether and more than once he passed up the opportunity to go for goal himself only for it amount to nothing. In watching him, the quality and the class is still there, again it just comes down to the execution at this point.
At the end of the day, a draw on the road early in the season isn't the end of the world. At least we stay unbeaten and unfortunately, a draw was the fair result on the day.
As I'm writing this, the transfer window is drawing to a close and so does any chance we have to address the remaining holes in our squad (as well as the newly-formed ones). It goes without saying that simply buying available players is not always the best strategy, but it's time for Arsenal to follow up on the good transfer business done early in the window and bring in the required players on deadline day. While that's easier said than done, our depth has already been stretched thin barely weeks into the season. If we're serious about challenging for the Premier League title, we need to fully flesh out the rest of our squad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)