Claudius Yes, exactly. We are not winning anything meaningful this season (I don't really count the FA Cup for some reason), so not sure what we need to reinforce for. Screwing it up over the last 3 years of transfer windows and simultaneously overplaying your most important player and then trying to rectify the inevitable injury through an overpriced purchase of a half-assed solution in the winter is doubling down on the original screw-ups. Let's fix this properly in the summer (unless we can truly get one of our first-choice targets in the winter in which case we go for it even though they won't bed in and contribute anything this season). I'm glad we got rid of Edu and now we need a proper DoF.
el Janny Tranny
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For a stats-based guy, you sure are willing to reduce the situation to "2nd vs 1st" and not talk about points difference and games played. I do however agree that the CL would be a reason to sign someone, that's a good point.
I'm not sure why those who were adamant we didn't sign anyone else this summer because nobody were available are now recommending names that shouldn't be more available now than they were then.
Bernard Woolley sorry. This is hyperbole. You talk about years of screwing things up but we literally had the best record over the last twelve months. It’s hard to take a rant seriously when it lacks any perspective. We have made mistakes but to suggest we’ve spent the last few years screwing things up when actually we became the only team to go 5 years in a row improving points and finished 2nd twice, and sit 2nd in league - come on, man!
QuincyAbeyie I know that the probability isn’t 50:50. Probably closer to 80:20 at this point. But if you look at this league you’ll see that we’ve had variance against us and variance for Pool. If there is a reversal of that trend, we catch these guys by season’s end.
On the other competitions, Real Madrid, Bayern, and Liverpool are our truly strong competitors in Europe right now. A lot of other would be competitors look down. I would like us to take that opportunity seriously. Along with the domestic cups. I like trophies. I want us to win some to reward the boys for being good for so long.
Claudius I was specifically responding to the point on not bringing in sufficient forwards. Not sure we can call our track record on that count (on either quality or quantity) "the best" over the last [x] years (pick your number). My only point was that, even for those making the argument that we have under-indexed on recruitment in the forward positions (as I do), the remedy cannot be bringing in the best of the available lot at a 50% premium to any reasonable value for a season which, in my view (of course I acknowledge that you may differ from that view) is likely a washout now.
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QuincyAbeyie pretty much. the summer fucked us. we're out of the title race, and there's no signings available in January that will get make a difference in the CL either. we're better off trying for a clever/value deal in january and keeping powder dry for the summer and fixing the forward line once and for all
Nah we need signings. This is work that should have been done last summer. Leaving more and more to do this summer will just mean more gaps in the squad.
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and what makes us think we can find solutions in sub-optimal market conditions, when we couldn't even do it in optimal conditions last summer? we're not finding a rice-level signing for the forward line in january, which is what it would take to actually improve this team. if we get desperate and push the boat out now, it will probably be for an upper midtier player at best. we don't want to spend 60m+ to bring someone in that's barely better than what we have. we're more likely to fuck ourselves over longterm if we pay premiums this month
Gazza M I also think the transfer approach is Arteta and the team is also a little worry for me when it comes to attacking players. Even signings where you can recognise it has improved us we have often overpaid or left ourselves with stupid wages on the books, Jesus and Havertz prime among those in my view.
Our moves on the forwards front other then Trossard have been very questionable Willian, Sterling etc.
There are a couple of issues with our forward line. Three is the dynamism issue that Martinelli and Saka alone will not solve. But more than that is just availability. Yesterday in the second half with Saka & Nwaneri injured and Kai sick, we just looked thin. We are depending on Jesus who has also been brittle. It’s a time bomb.
So we just need to add now. Sterling is back in a few weeks but I would also get the best forward we can find. And not be overly Goldilocks about it. The two best forwards out there are probably Isak and Kvara. Would be surprised if their teams gave them up even in the summer. We will wait indefinitely with blue balls
Gazza M 100% this. In a perfect world we could bring in an attacker that would help both short and long term this month. But I highly doubt that’s going to be possible so we would likely need to overspend for a short term half measure, which would likely eat into our financial power this summer when players that could address needs are more likely to move. At this point, while I’m not ready to concede the league, it’s looking like it’s going to take a pretty big dip from Liverpool combined with a run reminiscent of last year from us (while missing our best attacker for the bulk of it). Unless we can pull forward a signing we’d make in the summer, I’m fine with holding fast at the moment. I also don’t want us rushing Saka back even if it means we suffer as a result. He’s too important to our long term future.
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Claudius And not be overly Goldilocks about it.
Exactly. This is what has cost us time and time again. I'd put good money on most people here being delighted with a Cunha type by the end of next August when reality sets in.
The reality is the prices aren't going to be hugely different for who want in summer. There wont be some great firesale on strikers either.
Look at 2 Januarys ago, we tried to get Caicdeo for £70m and he moved for over £100m that summer. These players prices wont drop.
Claudius that’s nice to reflect on, but almost completely irrelevant. Picking us as being the form team of 2024 also smacks of the ‘Wenger would have won the league if it ran from January to December’ chat we used to get. It ignores that we had an almost perfect and likely unrepeatable second half of 2023/24, and very imperfect and hopefully unrepeatable first half of 2024/25.
I’m sure Arteta and the players won’t give up when it comes to the league, but for the miracle to happen we need a combination of several factors to go our way. And it also assumes Liverpool will collapse and allow us in - not beyond happening, but not likely.
The general talk of setting the league aside and being contenders in the Champions League is just baffling to me.
Did nobody watch the game yesterday where we struggled against 10th place Brighton, or the many others this season where we’ve been ropey and struggled for creativity?
If I indulge the expected response of injury/fitness disruption and assume we have a fit and firing team, is everyone ignoring our recent European form where we’ve looked technically inferior and lost the midfield battle to more technically sound teams? I don’t see what’s changed since then, I don’t see the development or improvement in our team that raises us to the level of taking the next step.
Seems like we’re pinning hopes on Saka and Odegaard performing miracles rather than any sane notion of building a capable and competent term, and more generally, seeking to excuse and explain away our issues by focusing on external factors rather than things within our control to change.
(Not all directed at you Claudius)
Qwiss I can see wanting Cunha if you'd be happy with the signing half a year ago as well. But for those who thought there were no players who would improve us in the summer because only world class players can do that, I'm not sure what's changed now. Players getting injured was always going to happen.
QuincyAbeyie the summer was an under performance from the transfer team. Even those who thought/hoped it wasn't have seen the reality play out in front of them.
The reality is the same players who were gettable last summer are gettable this month. Cunha, Vlahovic, Osimhen, Rashford, etc The market is what is, no point in people crying that there isn't a prime Henry available.