Feel for him. That's the second heavy injury we've gotten at the hands of some piece of shit Manc in recent years after Wilshere against that fucking United intern.

Really hope we stick it to then at home and hand someone an ACL rupture back. Preferably Mourinho

Feel terrible for the lad. That's probably his Arsenal career gone.

We really have to buy someone in January now. Get out that cheque book and sign Manolas before Real beat us to it.

Klaus wrote:

Feel terrible for the lad. That's probably his Arsenal career gone.

Under Wenger it definitely wouldn't have been but as harsh as it may seem I hope we are more ruthless with players after big career hampering injuries. Holding will still have a good career and make more money than any of us could hope for so there is no need to be overly sentimental.

I agree it throws his Arsenal career into doubt, but I'd say that's more because we should have signed at least 1 very good centreback by the time he is back fit.

Developmentally its not great but I don't think it's insurmountable. Joe Gomez got the same injury a couple of years back, for example, and whilst I'm no massive fan of his, he's clearly doing alright for Liverpool.

Although, my main worry for holding is that it'll make him even slower on the turn.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Developmentally its not great but I don't think it's insurmountable. Joe Gomez got the same injury a couple of years back, for example, and whilst I'm no massive fan of his, he's clearly doing alright for Liverpool.

It's possible to make a full recovery of course, but in 90 percent of all the cases I can think of the player loses some significant advantage, and the more developing they have left the worse it is. In Holding's case getting back to his current level would only be the beginning. Then he'd have to improve on it and keep developing. The odds are well stacked against him.

I see all these headlines with Mislintat and Dembele's names in them. Just garbage.
Let's continue with central defender and left back. The summer clean-up will be fascinating

Has to be madness. ..at least in this thread.

Why can't a central defender and a left back be madness? I think we need to go mad with the central defender. It's a pity the big clubs are acting like Wenger in a strip club, but I would've loved someone on the level of De Ligt. Young and established. I want young stars. Under 25 and super quality

Diallo, Ferland Mendy and Pepe or Under - that’s a madness right thurr

IMO the first question that needs to be addressed is what formation are we looking to make signings for - 4 at the back with FBs or 3 at the back with WBs , and which is going to be our formation going forward?

The second question being which area of the pitch becomes the priority in terms of effectiveness - being more likely to be able to 'fix'? - Defence / Midfield / Attack?

How much should we be looking to do now in terms of the rebuild? Do we look to 'ensure' top4 or do we look to hold off until the summer so as to get more bang for our buck, hoping that we regain top4 and are able to attract higher profile players?

That last question - I really believe that those two questions should not be treated as two different answers. Short-termism and lack of thoroughness are the ingredients that were baked into the shit cake that Emery inherited

Claudius wrote:

That last question - I really believe that those two questions should not be treated as two different answers. Short-termism and lack of thoroughness are the ingredients that were baked into the shit cake that Emery inherited

Lol - Nice edit.  ;D 

Ultimately I think that a combination of funding and requirements will effectively determine the who, where and when we spend.  Whilst we would like to see the likes of Isco and Dembele I doubt that those calibre players are on our agenda to begin with, unless we can  sell some of our misfits for decent coin, and when.

And why shouldn't we. There are a number of players who have not proven themselves indispensable this half season. Amongst them are men like Mkhitaryan and Ozil. Meanwhile others like Shkodran are capable of being the nightmare before Christmas. I'm happy to sell/dump salaries to dupes. The team really only needs about 5 or 6 players to function. The rest can be switched up.

Claudius wrote:

And why shouldn't we. There are a number of players who have not proven themselves indispensable this half season. Amongst them are men like Mkhitaryan and Ozil. Meanwhile others like Shkodran are capable of being the nightmare before Christmas. I'm happy to sell/dump salaries to dupes. The team really only needs about 5 or 6 players to function. The rest can be switched up.

Just thinking that we need upgrades across the team & that we need a complete team that is fit for purpose more than we need an elite level player - unless as a bargain opportunity.  That's not to say we shouldn't try to do something if an opportunity presents as it did re Ozil.

As much as anything we need to make sure we get the right players for the role/job, and not just look to sign a top class player simply because they are both available and affordable.  For example I don't want us to replace Ozil with Isco if we're going to play him on the flanks rather than CAM.  Likewise I don't want a specialist winger if we're going to play narrow.

I'm not saying sign a top-class player because they are available and affordable. I'm explicitly saying do not repeat Wenger's bizarre transfer policy mistakes of just bringing in players because they are available.
We know we need a good defender. We have Holding out, Koscielny is done, and Mustafi is Mustafi. So go out with 50m plus and get that guy now and don't look back. If we aren't able to afford a left back on top of that, fine, but I do not want short term measures. I want every new player who comes in to be 1) super quality, 2) under 25/26, and 3) addressing a burning need in addition to the usual prerequisites.

I don't disagree - particularly in regards to AW's bizarre transfer policy about not making any approach for a player unless their club says they are for sale, or any of his other criteria re not killing development opportunities for the duration of their contract, or the need for re-sale value etc.

I just wonder if points 1 & 2 may need to wait until we regain CL qualification, and that point 3 is currently the greater requirement?