Wot No Signings?

Morning Arsenalists, how are you? Sonuvagun here finally making his presence felt after a long summer siesta in which I felt no urge whatsoever to blog. I suppose I could have thrown in my two pence about Fabregas and the neverending Barcelona saga, but why contribute to a story that is to column inches vs. interest what Oasis once were to adoration vs. musical talent. It’s been clear for some time now that we weren’t prepared to sell him and unless a) Cesc puts in a formal transfer request or b) Barcelona wade in with 60-80 million bid there really isn’t need for more idle chat. As someone who lives in Barcelona, I’ll be fully hoping Ronaldo has the season of his life in 2010/11 and that Mourinho will be dancing up and down the touchline all (domestic) year long, especially during los clasicos.

But back to the point that I was trying to make before you-know-what distracted me, is that re: Arsenal news it has been damn quiet, especially regarding (concrete) transfers. I remember last year it was the same. We made a move for Vermaelen ‘early doors’ and then I found myself frustratingly checking the Arsenal news one million times a day, only to discover nada in the way of new faces…

Ok, this year has been slightly better than last already. Last summer we bought an unknown defender and sold my favourite Arsenal defender Kolo Toure (never understood why Arsene let him fall out of favour!), and our most prolific striker. Hardly the moves of title challengers and the minute Robin Van Persie had his ankle smashed by some Italian tw@t we were never likely to keep pace. In the end we did pretty well I thought, but it’s worth remembering how many points Man U and Chelsea threw away in an eminently winnable race… would the 35 odd million we got from the two sales bankrupted us if we hadn’t cashed in? How much more money is winning the Premiership worth than coming 3rd? Sometimes I think Wenger’s parsimony is a false economy.

This year we’ve at least kept all our (contracted) major players so far. A doffed cap to Eduardo who sadly leaves us, but his impact on the field last year was negligible and it’s hard to feel that footballing-wise we will are going to suffer unduly now he’s gone. A new start is what he needs and let’s wish him well. Re: non-contracted players, Gallas is a huge loss. He may be a dick, and he may be a destabilising influence, but his quality as a defender for me is unquestionable. Arguably we lost the last two titles because of his injuries in the latter parts of the season, and we certainly stacked a lot of goals in the season just gone by without him. Like most Arsenal fans I have my doubts that Wenger has successfully replaced him in Koscielny. I’m sure the Pole/Frenchie is a damn fine defender and he’ll only get better with us, but Gallas was amongst the best of the best. He also scored a lot of vital goals.

So versus last year we’re basically Chamakh instead of Eduardo and Koscielny instead of Gallas. Is that an improvement? With defense a more important area to address right now than attack you’d have to say ‘no’.

I’m stating the obvious to say we need another defender, but what is strange is why haven’t we moved for one already? If Wenger has isolated a target get him. Stop quibbling over 2 million when the whole season is at stake! Now that Djourou has picked up a strain and Campbell has signed for Newcastle we’re in a considerably worse bargaining position with teams who know we are desperate. This should have been sorted weeks ago, as far as I’m concerned!

As for the goalkeeper situation. Well I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see one come in. Wenger has never shared the fans’ opinion that Almunia isn’t good enough and I get the distinct impression he is only in the market to appease us. That’s why he’s trying to pick up a cheapie like Schwarzer (Who, incidentally, I’ve seen make more mistakes over the summer – starting with his match vs us – than Almunia did all season). To be honest I’m happier than most to keep Almunia. It’s my suspicion that Gallas’ bullying personality robbed him of his confidence last year, and its clear that the Spaniard has nerves of, errr, something very unsteely (sorry metaphors beyond me at 4:41am). If Wenger is sticking to his guns (ho ho) then he needs to give him a big vote of confidence, not freeze him out of any more friendlies. Naturally the best scenario is Wenger digs into his pocket and buys a world class keeper. The Dutch chappie would do nicely… but AW’s phobia of spending money makes that more than unlikely IMHO.

So there we have it, the new season is almost upon us and our so-brief-we-didn’t-have-time-to-get-wet dip into the transfer market has barely compensated for the outgoing players. I have a distinct feeling the only action we’re going to see in the final weeks of the season is one more defender and possibly Schwarzer at best.

A bit depressing give the resources we have available to us, but if we do see a) an experienced defender and b) quality keeper arrive in North London then we’re in with a decent chance for some silverware I reckon (not as good as it could have been but as Arsenal fans it’s something we’re used to!). Djourou’s injury has reinforced the need for a) and it’s almost unthinkable that something won’t happen… but, if last’s year’s lack of action is anything to go by, then I wouldn’t hold your breath about seeing a fresh pair of gloves between the sticks when we take to the pitch at Anfield.

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