It was hard to take in the summer too but made somewhat easier by the fact that we were never going to win the league anyway. With Özil's arrival and Ramsey's emergence as a top European midfielder we actually have a good shot though. I suppose that's why Giroud is so hard to stomach at the moment. The lack of a competent striker is really holding the team back.

Agree completely with that, Klaus.

With the situation we are in now after half the season, in the middle of a title race which was totally unexpected in August, how do you guys think Wenger SHOULD act in January? If it is impossible to sign a top class striker, which is a very real possibility, do you think Wenger should, as Gazidis put it, 'keep our powder dry' for the summer? Should he invest in a lesser player?

Maybe a few of us got over-excited by his early season form. But some of his touches and link-up play was fantastic; it wasn't just about the midfield, he was crucial in making them tick as well. In the recent big games, it's not just Giroud but many players who have failed to get us going.

I never feel confident that Giroud could create something out of nothing or take a difficult half-chance to win us a big game, and so buying an excellent striker is the easiest way to improve our team. But I think he is a lot better than what he has been showing in the last month or so. We seem to be asking a lot of Walcott...maybe he'll stretch opponents, maybe he'll make Ozil play better, maybe he'll score a shedload of goals, but that one-touch lay-off thing that Giroud does is particularly useful for runners so Theo should help.

If Podolski becomes a revelation as a centre forward ahead of Ozil then I wouldn't mind not getting a striker in Jan.

agree with that, rayman. also agree with rex and klaus - we're in this now, and the lack of quality at CF is holding us back. podolski could be at least a short-term solution there, but that seems over-optimistic to me; i dont see that happening but i can't rule it out either. we'd have to play in a different way and i'm not sure they will have had enough time to make it work.

Rex wrote:

If it is impossible to sign a top class striker, which is a very real possibility, do you think Wenger should, as Gazidis put it, 'keep our powder dry' for the summer? Should he invest in a lesser player?

Do we, as Arsenal fans, think that signing top class players is impossible because we've been conditioned to think like that though? If another top European club had our striking resources i cant help but think they'd be moving heaven and earth to get in a world class centre forward.

it would be almost impossible to get any team that is contending for a european spot to sell their top class striker, since it would be very difficult for that team to obtain a comparable replacement in january. the exception might be if the selling team is already loaded.

a lesser factor is that if the player is doing really well right now, they might not want to jeopardise that form ahead of the world cup.

we would prob have to look at acquiring whoever that replacement would be, someone along the lines of ba or dzeko. but chelsea and city obviously will not sell or loan to us.

This is where I see Jackson Martinez coming into a possible equation. Porto are well known for selling their star players; this is not something they want to do, but they have to do it. They are already in debt, and CL qualification has historically not been enough to keep them at a break even level; they have also relied on selling their star players to keep their ship afloat. Now, they missed out on the last 16 in the CL. I think they may be open to selling Martinez.

I am not saying he is a certain big hit at a major European club like ourselves, but he is a fair bit better than Giroud.

Good sell. I'm intrigued. Jackson Martinez, eh?

A/S/L?
Average distance per match covered?
Average pass completion rate?
How many michu's would he cost?

A/S/L - have no idea what it means
the following two - haven't the first clue
How many Michus - a fair few. Porto tend to get top dollar for the players they sell.

The boy is a big, strong lad with pace, and he is an excellent finisher with both feet and his head. Question marks over his link play, but I am not too fuzzed.

Rex wrote:

A/S/L - have no idea what it means

age/sex/location. from the early days of internet chat.

any chance we could just get michu? he's not the guy we're looking for, but he'd be an upgrade on giroud, and every bit of improvement could count this season.

Martinez is where it's at.

Martinez is whack, don't know who's responsible for hyping him up.

Kike Marin saying we've sounded out Costa's camp over a bid in January. Also says Wenger hates Jorge Mendes, Costa's agent. Very reliable journo.

Hmmm, think he broke the Suarez and Higuain interest back in July.

Might be some fire here boyyyyyys!