Wenger’s Probably Not Arsed with January — Here’s Why
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Look, If I had a fuck to give, I would give. You know that. If there is a fuck out there that I can get that will please you, I will get that fuck and give it.[/caption]
Remember the great fullback crisis of 2011? Or was it 2010?
I honestly don’t remember what year. Sadly, that’s pretty indicative of how common massive injury plagues are on this club. How we manage to temporarily kill a third of our squad year after year is a notable accomplishment in itself, really. A salute to duncery in its purest art form.
I think our coaches and trainers took A-levels on ignoring “little bit niggles” that turn into “oh no my arm’s fallen off”, and, credit to them, it works.
You might be wondering where I’m going with this.
To me, that calamitous season sets precedent for Arsène’s behaviour in the January window. We were playing a back line of Thomas Vermaelen, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, and Johan Djourou, were we not? We had Sebastien Squillaci knocking around too, if memory serves. Honestly, I’m getting chills just thinking about it. That is just tragic, and cruel to the fans who endured that shambles. What did Wenger do to remedy that situation? Nothing!
We were linked with Chris Samba — the largest centre back in the known world — and nothing came of that. We were linked with Emilio Izaguirre. He still plays for Celtic. We went all the way through January, and nobody came in. We made fourth place, and the world reset. No sweat off Arsène’s neck.
Sure, it would have been easier for Arsène to go out and get in a few competent players to cover our positions, but then what would we have done with six full backs in the summer?
The situation is similar this year in defense, and to an extent, central midfield. For time’s sake, let’s just look at the back line.
Depending on how you classify Calum Chambers, we either have three centre backs and four full backs, or two centre backs and five full backs. Most say we need one more body in the centre of defense, and I’m inclined to agree.
However, we’ve been through this before. We’ve seen how hard it is to keep all of our defensive players happy. Remember Thomas Vermaelen? He is the microcosm of our current issue.
So, I put it to you. Make sure any player you have in mind to sign fills out “yes” to each of the following questions.
- Is he good enough?
- Is he willing to compete with two established starters?
- Is his transfer fee reasonable?
- Are his wages?
- Will his club let him leave?
- Does he want to leave?
- Can we strike a deal in two weeks’ time?
If you’ve found a player who ticks all those boxes, congratulations. You should send in your resume to Steve Rowley’s office. Rub elbows will Gilles Grimandi or something, because you’re damn good.
