Something needs to change next season

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Cambridge
I think it's pretty safe to say our season is now over. Our first team can match anyone but in the modern game that just doesn't cut it. With all the games that are played we need a strong squad and this has been our downfall (penalty decisions aside!).

Almunia

Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy

Hleb Cesc Flamini Rosicky

RvP Adebayor

The lineup above looks great but how often have we had that. We are having to rely on 2nd rate players and it's had a massive effect. Bendtner just can't score, he's been given countless chances this season but can't cut it. Senderos at fault for 2 more goals last night and countless others all season. Eboue playing in midfield, he is a defender. We have no left sided midfielder apart from a sick note. Adebayor has had a good season but ultimately he is not a good player, his control, passing, composure and decision making has cost us many times. When Cesc or Hleb is out we have no one who can come in and do a similar job. With the injuries we've had our subs bench has looked shockingly inexperienced and to be fair not very good.

As much as i admire Wenger i think his major shortcoming is his refusual to spend money on established players. I don't mean spending 30/40 mil on 1 player but we need to spend 10 - 20 mil on 3 or 4 players. We have the money and we are in desperate need of an injection of quality. The problem is i have serious doubts Wenger will ever do that.

I know it looks like a knee jerk reaction to last night but this has been building for a couple of months now. The same thing happened last season too, Wenger needs to take stock of the current squad and replace certain players / enhance it with a couple of extras.
 
Eduardo looked useless on the left every time i saw him play there. Admittedly he didn't do it a lot and was new at the club but i dont see him being good enough there full time. He should be playing off defenders shoulders providing he recovers fully.

I know Adebayor has scored a lot for us but he could have scored so many more goals. It's like there's 2 versions of him, at his worst he is like a pin ball machine with no control whatsover and at others he looks awesome. With RvP out we were relying on him and he wasn't consistent enough.
 
What annoys me is how close we are to being an exceptional squad instead of a good one.

A genuine winger (make Hleb first choice left winger cause Rosicky cannot be relied upon), a defender that can play all across the back, quality back-up for Cesc and an established goalkeeeper is what we need.

Hleb is far better on the right.

I believe Wenger has already stated he'll be here next season, his been on loan for 3 seasons and playing in La Liga so I don't think he need more experience. (Wiki suggests they have the option on another year loan)

Aye i read that Wenger said he'd be fighting for a first team place next season.
 
We need people to jump in and do a job though, just look how long it took Clichy for example to be first team standard. Maybe 1 of them will slot in like Cesc did but it's pretty unlikely.
 
You on drugs mate? :p It's pretty much common knowledge to any Arsenal fan with a pair of eyes that Hleb is twice the player on the left side than he is on the right. He's far more willing to run at players and drive in to the box and just seems to develop a directness that is, for whatever reason, lacking when he's asked to play on the right. I think Wenger realised this towards the end of last season when Hleb played a few games on the left, and that is why we've literally only seen Hleb on the right wing a handful of times this season.

I've seen him be pretty ineffective on the left nearly every time i've seen him play there. We've basicaly had no left midfield the whole season and he's rarely played there. The reason he hasn't been playing on the right as much is because Ade has been playing up top on his own with Hleb behind. When we have 2 fit strikers Hleb plays on the right.
 
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Heard on the radio this morning that Wenger stated he was going to stick with his young team next season. Are 2 seasons of failure for those exact reasons not enough to prompt a change? I don't think anyone in their right mind thinks we can compete with our current squad so why can't he see that?
 
As much as i'd love it i just can't see Wenger splashing out anywhere near the required amount of money to get Villa in :(.
 
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