which striker (left back and backup goalie) should we buy?

[northbank123]

dzeko is class as well and is only 3rd or 4th choice at the arabs. would love to see him at the arsenal.

The number of times he's brought on for 20 minutes when they're in trouble and grabs a goal is scary. Amazed how many people don't rate him, so much more to give.

[highburyJD]

I'd pretty much take any of ManShittys strikers TBH

[DarylAFC]

Not read all the replies but I expect to be shot down for this

I'm happy with Giroud and think he should be first choice start.

If we buy someone else, I'd want Lewandowski but at the same time I dont really see the point

[northbank123]

I like the shape of Giroud and reckon he'll start finding his feet but don't see the point in another striker who is pretty hot property right now... bold.

[BournemouthRED]

Can't see us buying a striker to be honest, would love to be proved wrong tho!

Oh and welcome back highbury JD

[the playing mantis]

ffs "dont see the point in signing anyone else"...

we have one striker. giroud. no one else. pod is not an out and out striker, certainly no aloan front man. forehead, is well forehead, theo is gash. thats it.

next in line is the camel.

how facking stupid are people, cant they rememebr beyond a week ago? we have been fucked over by lack of strikers so many times in recent seasons (AA upfront on his own anyone?) that it beggars belief they calim we dont need anymore.

what happens if pod or giroud gets injured? what happens when forehead is at the acn?

spose you would be happy with chamkh upfront agian daryl?



ps bournemouth yo have posted since i was writing this, not aimed at you as i agree we wont sign noone

[Barriecuda]

Best strikers potentially available in the world:

Falcao
Cavani
Llorente
Dzeko

Also good buys:

Goetze
Reus

Likelyhood of us getting any of the above players:

Minimal

None of those players would be any lower than 20m GBP (give or take the last two) and I don't think we're about to compete at those prices. Llorente would be the best value of the listed strikers but that's a risky buy at the premium we'd be paying for him, especially because unlike City and Chelsea we can't easily absorb a "bad" buy.

Noteworthy mention: Lewandowski (spelling?) at BVB might be a real opportunity for a team right now. Good striker who's falling out of favor and is in a bit of a slump - often a great time to buy a player who has shown his talent in the past.

[SteveO 35]

ffs "dont see the point in signing anyone else"...

we have one striker. giroud. no one else. pod is not an out and out striker, certainly no aloan front man. forehead, is well forehead, theo is gash. thats it.

next in line is the camel.

how facking stupid are people, cant they rememebr beyond a week ago? we have been fucked over by lack of strikers so many times in recent seasons (AA upfront on his own anyone?) that it beggars belief they calim we dont need anymore.

what happens if pod or giroud gets injured? what happens when forehead is at the acn?

spose you would be happy with chamkh upfront agian daryl?



ps bournemouth yo have posted since i was writing this, not aimed at you as i agree we wont sign noone

Agreed. Why do people seem to forget everything when we have a couple of Autumn wins and we've not even come close to the Christmas fixture pile-up which extends into January......and then the serious stuff when the CL proper starts again in Feb. To think that we'll get through all that with one recognised central striker and a load of rotational players around him who are not proper central strikers is beyond belief

Go and get a sodding top rate striker in January if its the last thing we do (although we are also walking the tightrope with Arteta - if he gets injured then I'm afraid there is nobody who can deputise adequately for the big games)

Its a choice between whether we want to 'just get by' and scrape 4th or whether we want to give the big guys a run for their money by adding a serious centre forward

[highburyJD]

I'd go a bit further - I think if we want to nail down 4th and challenge for domestic cups we need another striker
let alone to push the big boys for Prem & CL

there are plenty of games to come in the new year + Gervinho will be off for a month
I think signing a forward is a necessity (thought we needed one more in the summer but had not predicted Klingon up front)

[northbank123]

Best strikers potentially available in the world:

Falcao
Cavani
Llorente
Dzeko

Also good buys:

Goetze
Reus

Likelyhood of us getting any of the above players:

Minimal

None of those players would be any lower than 20m GBP (give or take the last two) and I don't think we're about to compete at those prices. Llorente would be the best value of the listed strikers but that's a risky buy at the premium we'd be paying for him, especially because unlike City and Chelsea we can't easily absorb a "bad" buy.

Noteworthy mention: Lewandowski (spelling?) at BVB might be a real opportunity for a team right now. Good striker who's falling out of favor and is in a bit of a slump - often a great time to buy a player who has shown his talent in the past.

Goetze's recently signed a new deal and they would demand a huge fee and Reus only moved in the summer. Plus neither of them really strikers. Don't think any of those apart from Llorente are at all realistic, and he makes far too much sense for us to act.

[SteveO 35]

I'd go a bit further - I think if we want to nail down 4th and challenge for domestic cups we need another striker
let alone to push the big boys for Prem & CL

there are plenty of games to come in the new year + Gervinho will be off for a month
I think signing a forward is a necessity (thought we needed one more in the summer but had not predicted Klingon up front)

Klingon up front is no solution either. Lets not be fooled he's scored a few goals, fair play to him, but in the majority of those games I still think he's looked awful and on the big stage he'll let us down (yes ok he scored against the Chavs but he was also woeful at City). My fear is that a couple of goals against Norwich and QPR and we'll be tempted to go up to Old Trafford with him as the sole striker and we'll be toothless. I remember Chesney's debut game up there a couple of seasons ago, when we played OK but had the Camel trotting around on his own up front and as a result never threatened to get the breakthrough.

That's the key difference for me. Gervinho will notch at home to some of the shite, but he won't nick us a vital equaliser or winner at OT, the Etihad, or the Shitole. I'm not convinced that Giroud will either. We might still scrape 4th without an addition simply because I think the other challengers outside the top 3 have similar issues e.g. the Spuds now rely on Defoe (Adebayor too inconsistent), ditto Everton with Jelavic and Liverpool with Suarez.

But a £20m+ striker would definitely nail down 4th and injuries provided elsewhere give us a much better chance of going deeper in the CL and getting closer to the top 3

[QuartzGooner]

Who is realistically available in January?

Fernando Llorente
David Villa
Demba Ba
Robert Lewandowski

Who do I think we will sign?

Not sure, but do not be surprised if we buy Loic Remy or Grant Holt

Who do I want us to sign?

David Villa or Fernando Llorente or Demba Ba

plus

Leighton Baines as left back; use Gibbs as second choice, left midfield or deep central midfield on occasion, and use Santos left midfield if needed.

[highburyJD]

agree totally on Gervinho, but even the fact that he's an option up front v poor opposition is a bonus
I think Giroud can score big goals, thats exactly what he did last year
he scored a lot and most of them were big - winners and equalisers,
admittedly that was because Montpellier had a very solid defence
I still think he can do that for us

but we need another striker, even if Olivier improves on his great La Paillade season
he can get injured or suspended - and we will play a lot of games

maybe Llorente can be the man, another lump but he's played for Bielsa's Bilbao
he knows passing football. They arguably play even more fluid passing football than us - a defence of midfielders

my preferences - break the bank for Falcao (unrealistic)
or get David Villa cut-price (also pretty unrealistic)

[DarylAFC]

ffs "dont see the point in signing anyone else"...

we have one striker. giroud. no one else. pod is not an out and out striker, certainly no aloan front man. forehead, is well forehead, theo is gash. thats it.

next in line is the camel.

how facking stupid are people, cant they rememebr beyond a week ago? we have been fucked over by lack of strikers so many times in recent seasons (AA upfront on his own anyone?) that it beggars belief they calim we dont need anymore.

what happens if pod or giroud gets injured? what happens when forehead is at the acn?

spose you would be happy with chamkh upfront agian daryl?



ps bournemouth yo have posted since i was writing this, not aimed at you as i agree we wont sign noone

That's a fair enouigh comment mate. But what tope world class striker will go to Arsenal ust to be a back up?

[SteveO 35]

Who is realistically available in January?

Fernando Llorente
David Villa
Demba Ba
Robert Lewandowski

Who do I think we will sign?

Not sure, but do not be surprised if we buy Loic Remy or Grant Holt

Who do I want us to sign?

David Villa or Fernando Llorente or Demba Ba

plus

Leighton Baines as left back; use Gibbs as second choice, left midfield or deep central midfield on occasion, and use Santos left midfield if needed.

If the day ever comes when Arsenal sign Grant Holt then I will lose the last grain of hope that I have that we will ever be a serious contender again

From RvP to Holt in the space of a year.......get me the gun