Maybe this thread is a bit previous, given that we have a few hours of the transfer window left - but the noises coming out so far suggest it won't be.
I've been trying to get my head around both the attitude of our manager.
I think its generally acknowledged that we are severely lacking in options up front - and a Giroud injury away from having a serious goalscoring problem. We ran a massive risk not investing in another proper striker last Summer - and are very fortunate that things have worked OK so far - but that's been down to a large extent on Ramsey - whose form had nosedived even before his injury (and who will doubtless now only play a bit part for the rest of the season - we are looking at 10 weeks or more on current prognisis for him to return and hit form again), and Theo, who is out for the season. We might be 'surprised' by Wenger signing a 'stop gap' before 11pm tonight, but even if he does our experience tells us that this is unlikely to be a signing that maintains a realistic title push.
The risk continues in defence - and even in the DM position. We have got where we are this season laregly because of the Merts/Kossy pairing. Vermaelen may be an adequate replacement, or he may not. But beyond him we are in trouble. If Sagna gets injured, Jenkinson has shown frailties. In DM we are relying on a free transfer who has faded since the season began, and is a potential red card waiting to happen (this is not to do Flamini down - but to point out that he is a risk in many respects), and Arteta, who is getting on - and in any event, not a real DM. Our understudy, Coquelin, has been farmed out on loan.
So why is Wenger operating what amounts to a skeleton squad in all these positions? What does it mean in terms of our title/silverware aspirations? To me, its bare minimum CL position preparation. No more.
Yet he spunks 42M on Ozil. With another manager, Ozil's signing would seem like a serious statement of intent. And if it wasn't for the other factors, I'd have said it represented Wenger's first genuine atempt in years to win something. But ATM (and seemingly for the forseeable future) Ozil is like buying the best rifle scope on the market then attaching it to a bog standard rifle. And that's not to mention that Ozil was added to a squad already bloated with attacking MF's. When you consider that Wilshere; Ramsey; Gnabry and the Ox are all AW's pet developmental players, while Rosicky; Cazorla should be considered top first team players it is very strange that he would spend so much on a player who will stunt the development of other players - an excuse that he has regularly used to explain non-investment in other areas.
Even this transfer window appears strange. Spending effort on trying to bring Draxler to the club when first there is no incentive whatsoever for Shalke to sell below his release clause, and secondly he would be very unlikely to make a big difference to our chances of winning something this season anyway. Massive echoes of Suarez in the Summer, really.
And its becoming increasingly difficult to suggest that Wenger's choices are imposed finacially.
This is not supposed to be yet another thread bemoaning lack of transfer activity, its an atempt to understand WTF is going on in Wenger's head. With the perennial injury situation that only an idiot would not anticipate - why is the manager so obviously tying one hand behind his back? Does he honestly think that a gamble that has lost for so many of the last 9 years will succeeed this time? Has he effectively conceded the league to the big spenders - and if so why the Ozil signing? Or does he think that Ozil was necessary simply to keep our CL slot?
If he's conceded the league this season, and with the likes of Ozil and Draxler is looking to future success - why future and not now? Because to me the only likelihood is that its going to get progressively more difficult to compete against financial doping going forwards.
Or is the reality that the world's 4th highest paid manager is more interested in playing the game in his ideal aesthetic way than trying to win serious silverware?
There are bound to be posters who (if they can be bothered at all) reply to this saying that I'm bitching and moaning when we're 1 point off the league - and that Wenger's achieved much simply to get us where we are. For me that's not the point. If we win something this season - great, and well done Wenger. But the reality is that this will be more through luck than planning. What I simply can't understand is why we don't seem to be taking the obvious steps that are in the club's power to make silverware more likely. And that has nothing to do with either improvement or current league position.
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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
