You article is good in many areas but u seem to trip on a few things - you stated that our players are not good and then you suggested Wenger buys more players - i agree with you so far - then you say that if we dont win titles with the new team you suggested - they should sack Wenger!!! I mean where did this sacking culture come from? Look at Newcastle? You need to understand you cant win all the time even with spending money - what did Liverpool, Spurs and other spending big power win in the last two years???

Richard...

the liverpool spending loads of money thing is a myth....they dont spend loads of money.... not overall....

benitez sells the rejects in his squad to fund the players he buys....

bentitez has been at liverpool 5 years and spent a total of 70mil....

thats less than 10.5 mil a year....

maybe if wenger would of done that we wouldnt need the 3-4 players we need now....

You're absolutely right in the sense we don't need anymore attacking players. I disagree with the Bentdner issue, he shows great desire and is the difference when we play against strong defenders and defensive teams. He scored a great goal against Chelsea, and is willing to make it big at arsenal.

I think two good signings would be mark noble and Stephen Taylor, these two would add fight depth and an urgency to win to the squad. They are U21 internationals and knocking on the door for a big club to come and get them.

Noble would add a bit more bit in midfield, he's box to box and a good passer.

Stephen Taylor gives me the impression that he hates to lose, that he loves to attack the ball in the air. Two signings would do it for me, I know there is this hype around the french young kids notably Sakho, Saivet etc, I think we need players that have experienced what is like to fight in the premier league.

That said I'm not looking foreward to the summer

Your suggested replacements although necessary don't stack up.Laursen is currently sruggling with a career threatening injury and Barry would amount to a like for like replacement of Song.Whether he was a "one season wonder" or not we need someone along the lines of Flamini.A strong tackler who has the ability to get box to box;win the ball;not give it away;and is able to protect Cesc as well as the back four.Unfortunately this type of player is few and far between-but Barry isn't one of them.On the other hand there are a few more likely CB candidates who would be able to boss our penalty area-look no further than Fulham for this particular necessity.Let's hope that Monsieur Wenger can actually see THAT far!!

Everyone knows arsenal create chances, but what you need is sharp finisher in the box. The problem, as long as ade is there wenger will play him there and he will take the place of our top stikers vanpersie who has support him and eduardo who has to sit on the bench. Ade must go. playing waolket centre scares everyone.
Othe weak point sylvester (sitting duck) he has to go. We need there on experienced defender to cover galas toure when injured, Most important of all experienced midfield holder (I wish filimini comes back} to protect the back four. finaly jaaskelainen (bolton goal keeper) to keep alemunia in check, if we stop leakind goals
we will certainly win every game.

The problem with our defence is not our defenders but out defending as such. The midfield does not offer a shield for the back 4 and there is too much space in and around the box. Other top 4 teams dont give this much space. While Song looks good when he chases and nips at ankles, his positioning is poor - he doesnt block up space (like Denilson for me does). We need to defend as a team better for less goals.

3 new signings and the sale of Adebayor would be enough. Sell Adebayor to Milan get (as low as ) 15 mil and we have enough in the kitty.... Get Jagielka at the back (reckon that would cost us about 12 mil), Barry in midfield (He can do a lot more than just pass sideways) and a good striker... should be nuff...

Id prefer both Jagielka and Lescott....

they are the 2nd best defensive pairing combo in the PL behind ferdy and vicid....id take them both but that could cost 40mil and thats our budget blown already...

too new CB's who can actually defend and a dominant CM and a lethal finisher and we are back in business

id like another wideman in the team as well so we can push AA uptop to play no 10...but thats not a priority at the minute...

Almunias not that bad...he'd look better if we gave him more protection.....

Wenger admitted himself that our goal difference is the key to why our season has been like it has....

we need the players to protect that goal.....we need to start focusing on clean sheets....

we cant just go out and expect to turn teams over every week with wengerball..... 1st we need to earn the right to play wengerball..and that means keeping it tight in defence...

2-3 experienced defenders, 2 CBs & 1 DM, chose from EPL.
No more French or African, who would prefer blue sky and green back once opportunity arising to their red and white shirt.
Sell Denilson and Diaby. Try Wilsher and Randal.

We can ramble and ramble on the issue of new signings, even to the point of suggesting the likely players, but is Le Boss ready to listen to any of us? It is against his self-righteous self to do it anybody's way. He says his squad has all the quality, well let's wait and see. I know one one thing AW is not ready to buy any player such as you guys suggest. He'll keep to his Diaby, to his gallas, to his Silvester, to his Adeba wayo (Ade No Sense) to all his spiritless junks in favour of wanton policy. Next season wouldn't be any different from the current. I hope some miracle would happen to change the Boss' perspective to be a contender even for once, not to talk of being a winner.

Hi nice article..actually VERY nice article..in response to #9 Peter geez thats pretty racist my man...what we need is a player i dont really believe we need to look at a persons passport before getting him...just as long as he can do the job.having said that we DO need more defensive options and experience..

Maybe we do need six players, I think we've overrated most of these players.

"Our starting line-up consists of two of the best full backs in the world ", I'm sure you know u're wrong there's no way Clichy is better than Evra and there's no way Sagna is better than Bosingw or Alves. I think this is the biggest problem with most Arsenal supporters they can't seem to separate black from white.

If the 2007/2008 team needed two or three players catch up with Chelsea and Man U then maybe we do need six players to compete with the big boys.

i agree on everything about this article, except for bendtner. to me he shows desire when others dont and makes things happen, and plays smarter than adebayor. im not saying he is bergkamp all of a sudden but he has been very useful many times, and he doesnt get many chances.

i will even go into further lenght about diaby:
he is the worst arsenal player right now, and possibly ever.
i can understand why he was bought as he shows a resemblance to vieira's style and physique, but in the end what he has proven to be is just a dumber, talentless, uglier version with no heart.
i cannot understand why some people play football, i can swear im a better player.
get rid of him already, give him away for free cause nobody will pay a penny for this man.
i hope he goes and i dont wish him well, he has been such a detriment to our team and is useless.

This article is crap.

End of story!

We needed a CH and a DM last summer but stubborn Wenger could see it.Now we are crying out for the same again.Arsene as i write this we are 18pts behind Man Utd having finished 4 pts behind them last season,Yet stubborn Wenger thinks we have made progress this season.Time to pack your bags Wenger your time is up

We need 1 DCM and 2 CBs. My prime targets would be Alonso or Barry, and 2 out of Lescot, Upson, Jagielka (Say £7mish each). If we got them our problems will be pretty much solved all apart from gettin Keown as Defence coach.
We can try to sell Diaby (£3m) and Silvestre (£3m), and then there are a few possible players likely to leave, Toure (£6m) to Man City, Senderos (£3m) to stay at AC, And Ade (£15m) to AC if they renew their interest.
If Toure goes it could relase a few more funds for us to clinch one of the everton boys.
If Senderos doesnt come back, it might be worth gettin a new proven but young CB like Ryan Shawcross (£3m) for example.
If Ade goes then a replacement isnt necessarily a nessecity we got enough attacking to probably get 4th again, might end up gettin Martins (£4m) when newcastle goes down, or theres a decent russian who used to play with Arshavin, Pavel Pogrebnyak (£5m).

Other possible CMs if those top ones dont go through
De Rossi (£15m) Gourcuff (AC £6m),
Flamini (£4m), Sissoko (£8m),
De Guzman (£4m), Coutadeur (£5m),
Catermole (£2m), Zabaleta (£6m),

Diaby should be sold?! HAHAHAHA! Another ill informed article by a so called gooner whose knowledge of football is pathetically childish. It is these same gooners who do nothing but criticise our brightest prospects which leads to their drop in confidence. Criticism which is often biased towards selective players does nothing but stifle their talents for fear of reprisals should they have a bad game.

IN SHORT, if you are going to support Arsenal then back the team for fucks sake, otherwise go support another club. Wenger is here to stay and I have faith that this team will deliver soon.

Nevertheless we do need to get rid of a few players and purchase maybe 2 or 3 players.

Fabregas should not need a babysitter. The top midfield players in the world should be able to apply creative flair with defensive nous.

He was poor again and compromised our play with his poor distribution.

People point to his impact last season but that was due to the creative and defensive abilities of Hleb and Rosicky.

What to people fail to see and understand is that we have options to replace him and he ought to be benched when he is in such poor form.

Van Persie goes missing far too often but that may be due to the burden of carrying the team earlier on in the season. Nevertheless even during his golden January, we really he was our only fit striker, we still suffered a lot of draws which highlights the fact that he does go missing for large periods of the game. There is also the issue of exactly what is his best position.

why spend money on defenders when wenger does not teach defence. No mattter who you buy, even a bus/brick wall/godzilla would ship in billions of goals if wenger is in charge of defence. I say get a defence coach.

www.goonernews.com go to this site guys....we only have 13m to spend. Who can we get with that kind of amount if you we ask for a top quality player, we can't afford jagielka, barry, alonso, de rossi, hangeland, none of them. The only one thing we can do to achieve it is sell one of our star player each season. Wenger usually buy france player not with purpose, it is because france the only market he can bargain. The blame is not on wenger shoulder, it's on the board. Its like U want a Ferrari car, but u only gave the amount of cash only suitable to buy a motorcycle.

Are we all looking forward to another season finishing 4th, with lots of potential? Or do we want one where we are actually competing with, if not beating Manure up to the last week?
Wenger said: "In attack we have scored almost as many goals as United, but we have let in more."
So we need to sure up defence, especially if Toure goes, senderos would soften the loss if he comes back.

If we only have £13m to spend, which of the midfield players would you sell to be able to purchace what talent wenger needs to make his last 2 season truly successful?
Surely not cesc, so out of the 3 other 1st team regulars? i say Diaby, as Denilson and Song seem to have better touch and distribution.

Liverpool are likely to renew their interest in barry, as he is at the end of his contract, so surely alonso will be even more unsettled. A Cesc - Xavi partnership would be solid and both can play penetrating balls from anywhere. Imagin the Spanish glory of last summer being repeated next summer for us.

#14 - ANON

Agreed,

There's just too many things to disagree on in this thread, I'll be typing for ever.

4 points behind last season 18 behind this.Wenger can tell us all the Bullshit he likes but the table doesnt lie we our light years behind Man Utd.We need quality and experience Wenger not CRAP and youth.

£13 million may not be a lot of money but when you factor in the proceeds from the sale of Adebayor and Silvestre and maybe others then you are looking at about £35-40 million which is more than enough.

I hope we buy Amr Zaki to replace Adebayor.

We need a premiership class defender and despite being an ugly fuck, Lescott, is probably the man to go for.

I disagree with the comment about a Cesc - Xavi or a Cesc - Alonso partnership. We would not be solid because neither Xavi nor Alonso are defensively minded midfielders. Sure they can tackle but their main game is to create from deep, i.e what Cesc should be aspiring to do. Xavi and Alonso are the footballers that Cesc should aspire to be. Neither are gonna score many goals and nor is Cesc a goal scoring machine.

If you actually watch football or have any knowledge of how it is played then you will realise this. Xavi is supported by a 3 man midfiled comprising of Iniesta, Xavi and Yaya, whilst Alonso is supported by a 3 man midfield of Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard. It is Yaya and Mascherano who do the dirty work not Xavi or Alonso.

Fabregas and Adebayor has been our biggest problem this season. Adebayor because he is just plain crap and doesn't support defensively and Fabregas because he has no position where he fits in. I say Nasri should replace Fabregas

IN DEFENCE

Clichy
Has had a poor season this year but he was one of our hardest, working and most consistent performers last year. A monster of a player at his best. Should be kept at all costs. I expect him to come out of the blocks hard next season and we have Gibbs to cover should he fail or succumb to injury.

Gibbs
Terrific effort from the young lad. Clichy does need to look over his shoulder because whilst the young lad is not a defensively secure as Clichy he is terrific going forward and his crosses are much better. Started off playing left wing and Wengers decision to turn him into a left back was a stroke of genius. He has played against some of the best wingers and wing forwards around in Ronaldo, Anelka, Valencia, Kuyt, Reira, Rooney and come up trumps. These teams have often targeted our left back specifically since Clichys injury and Gibbs has come up trumps against the very best. It was a joy to see Ronaldo switch wings because he could not find a way past Gibbs. Unfortunate slip by him which led to the goal which ultimately killed off any chance of going to Rome but he is a very strong minded person, he must be because he had Ronaldo in his pocket for much of yesterdays game. I hope the competition for places serves to take both Clichy and Gibbs to much greater levels. Also with shared responsibilties which should not be stretched at left back at all.

Sagna
Like Clichy, he too is having a poor season which has also been hampered with injuries. Defensively he is as solid as a rock, much like Lauren was. His crossing and final ball have been poor all season but we all know the ability is there and he just needs to rediscover that form and we will look so much better. Seems to look at his best when paired with Eboue rather than Walcott but we need Sagna at right back rather than Eboue when Walcott is playing because Sags is defensively better.

Eboue
A much needed squad player. We all loved him really but then the cheating and diving started resulting in ultimately 60,000 odd fans booing at him and many, many more cursing him at home for his antics. He could have cracked, a lesser man would've, but he chose to work hard and play clean and since then I have nothing but praise for him because he trys so hard and some of his clever balls shows he has vision as well as talent. A true legend in the making. A worthy back up to RB, LB, DM, AM, LW, RW ! Perhaps the most flexible player in our squad, a true sign of his abilities. I expect to see Eboue as a mainstay in this squad for a long time.

It is perhaps central defence we needs examining the most.

Gallas
Is our best defender and a leader in defence who can organise and mobilise our defence better than anyone else. As most people have correctly posinted out, he is at his best when next to a taller partner who is prepared to sit back and attack the long balls leaving Gallas to sweep up. Our defence has been at it's best when Gallas and Djourou have been the central defensive partnership. Will he stay or will he go? That is the question. I hope he stays. Whilst it was clear to see he doesn't make a good captain, he is a fantastic professional and his dedication even when he was stripped of captaincy and publically humilated should be applauded.

Toure
Has been very poor for most of the season, particularly during the early stages, coinciding about the time when we had our poorest run of form. A shadow of his former self and has not looked at all happy when paired with any of our other centre backs. He too is at his best when he is alongside a taller partner (Toure and Senderos) for his style is similar to that of Gallas and as a sweeper type of defender he is probably one of the very best around, when at his best, obviously. What he is not so good at tho is organsing the defence which is probably why he and Djourou do not make such a great partnership. He is 27 odd and still has a few good seasons in him left. Also to think that he has lost his legs is a fallicy as he is looking to come into form, too last for this season but the signs are there that if he continues in the same vein then he will have a blinder next season if paired up correctly of course.

Djourou
A very, very good defender. As I said earlier, he is not an organiser, preferring to leave that to someone else, perhaps with age he will acquire these abilites but right now is very much the ball winning type of centre back we need. Seems to be injured at the wrong time, particularly when our defensive is already decimated to the bare bones but I hope he comes through this bad patch and can be relied upon more often in future. Our best partnership this season has been Gallas and Djourou and we have conceeded the fewest goals with these two.

Silvestre
This one perhaps one of Wengers dumbest signings. Buying a washed up old fart rejected by Man U. This is one player we need to say goodbye too and look to strengthen our squad in.

Options
We have Senderos still on loan and the option is there to bring him back should AC milan not want to keep him. Despite his flaws, he can attack the long balls and organise our defence. Toure and Sendy were a fine combination which led to our rise to the Champions league final in 2006 (which we would've won had it not been for 2 offside goals) It can also be argued that Toure has never been the same player without Sendy and has failed to strike up a worthy partnership with Gallas or Djourou or Silvestre.

Perhaps the solution for Wenger may be to rely on a two central defensive partnerships of Toure and Senderos AND Gallas and Djourou and rotate between the two. Senderos and Djourou may also be a worthy partnership and one that may ultimately flourish when Gallas and Toure are on the wane.

Assuming Silvestre is sold that still leaves the need for a 5th central defender and I would like to see Wenger spend big to acquire a ready made defender someone like Lescott who can easily fit in for either Toure, Gallas, Djourou and Senderos. Injuries will probably be another big factor next season, especially so in our defence it seems, which is why the 5th defender will still be required to play a considerable number of games.

Of course if Wenger decides not to bring back Senderos then we need in addition to an experienced defender, another talented young defender like Bassong, Sako, Zapata.

If Gallas or Toure decide to leave then we will need 3 defenders. Two experienced and a young prospect. But I can't see either of them doing so.

We also have the ANC 2010 which, if our squad stays as it is, would mean the loss of Ade, Song, Eboue and Toure.

Damn african players!

What most fai to see is the fact that we also don't defend well enough as a team. I believe that perhaps Toure is past his best as is Silvestre. 2 candidates to move on this summer for me. I believe we require 2 new CB's, the type we all know we need. Almunia is sufficient in goal.

It's our tactics and game plans that need addressing. It's all well and good having possesion and creating pretty chances. But when we don't take those chances and then the oppo get a free kick, we need to be able to defend set pieces better.

Either Wenger needs to change things, or we need a defensive coach i.e. a Keown type, to at least work the defenders with drills etc. George Graham, as boring as he was, had the defenders spending hours running the same drills. Everyone knew roles at set pieces etc. It appears at least that most of our squad don't know who's doing what at set pieces.

We need quality in Central midfield to compliment Cesc.

JAV - you're crazy to say Cesc should go. You're faith in Diaby is completely unfounder... he's done ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING IN HIS TIME WITH ARSENAL. FACT !

And Adebayor should go - simple.

He's a mercenary.... and does not care 1 jot about Arsenal FC. His only concern would be do they have enough money to pay my wages every week. I'm not stupid and I know many players are more interested in money than their clubs. But most of them have enough brain cells to not act the way Adebayor does.

Last summer he courted a move away - several times saying how it would be great to play for Milan / Barca - both clubs were interested in him and it's up to the board to make him a stubstantial offer to satisfy his needs. He spouted about planning for his retirement?? What?? You're 25 - even by footballers standards that's about 10 years too early....

This guy is too concerned about his image, bank balance and looking like a gangster.

And he wonders why he got boo'd and why the fans don't sing 'his' song anymore?? He is a complete d!ck... obviously not the brightest spark if he can't see what he's doing wrong.

People can spout he's scored 16 goals in 37 appearances etc which isn't a bad return this season, but if we had the stat for chances and I'm pretty sure you could find a more clinical striker than him.

His attitude stinks - he scored 30 goals in all comps 1 season (half that this year!!) and thinks he's 1 of the worlds best? I don't think so...

When he first joined, people overlooked his less than efficient strike rate and clumsey technique/finishing because he ran his @rse off. he chased, closed down and defended from the front. He doesn't do that anymore and hasn't all season. He's too c0cky that's why. Some strikers don't do that, Henry didn't all the time but he WAS world class and could win you the game in a split sec with breath taking skill.

I've always been an advocate of Adebayors style...I thought he really did bring something different to our squad, but not anymore. Without his work rate, he's half as effective. Couple that with his mercenary attitude and I'd take any money for him this summer, especially if a club is stupid enough to offer more than 10mil...

Bring Jay Simpson back to the club... at least you'll get a honest hard working striker who's love playing for the club and will bust his balls to do so.....

I'm not asking for Fabregas to leave. He is one of my favourite players and I'm just asking that he takes this summer to reassess how he feels. If he wants to stay at the club for a long time then he must commit this summer or leave.

Also he must improve, particularly his body strength and shooting, otherwise for me he has fallen down the pecking order with Nasri, Denilson and Diaby all exceeding him. But that may be due to his injury.

I would also like to point out to Arseman that we havn't won anything with Cesc Fabregas for 4 years either have we??!

Wenger's biggest mistake was playing an unfit Fabregas. The reason we have been beaten so often and dumped out of the cups. Not the sole reason of course but at a time when our defence and midfield was looking a bit soft, I don't think Fabregas was the answer. Song, Denilson and Diaby are a much better and more cohesive unit. You don't have to be the most technically talented player to be succesful and Cesc without his passing accuracy and distribution (which has been woeful this season) doesn't really have much more to offer the team. He's not a tackler, he's not very strong, he's the slowest person in our squad, has a poor shot. He is not suitable for playing up front nor is which suitable to play deeper because of his lack of physicality but ironically it is playing from deep where his skills benefit the team the most. So I will reiterate what I've said before, that to be considered a starter, he MUST hit the gym and bulk up otherwise Arsenal will continue to go on trophyless if Wenger continues on insisting him in playing.

I agree that I would like to see Jay Simpson back and fighting for a place in the team. I feel he could be perfect. Like you said a hard working striker who loves playing for the club. Adebayor without his work rate is a liability. Anyways, I have total faith in the big dane to deliver next season.