As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
markyp wrote:Barry Bender will score a meaningless goal in January prompting Wenker to say we don't need another striker as we already have Barry
And then give him a 5 year contract extension.
Christ no....
I personally think Wen will buy if they find the right man. It could really make the difference come March/April to be able to rotate and have two strikers.
Arsenal are planning a January move for West Bromwich Albion midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu, 26, as the Premier League leaders look to strengthen their ranks.
As disappointed as I was that we didn't sign striker (Sa Go Go not counted) during summer, I'm not so sure anymore if we even need one. Well yes, obviously we are short at the moment as Bendtner is full of nothing and Sanogo is busy with who knows what, but we have Walcott and Poldi. Now that our midfield is working absolutely great, why not put Poldi as our another striker option with Giroud. He could surely do the job and we don't basically need him on left wing as we have other options. Then we have Wally who I think should be given the opportunity as a striker.
I would go for decent defender to have more backup there.
Agree we need a defender spare, especially if Sagna doesnt sign on for another contract for whatever reason.
BFG is irreplacable, note that Judas scored with no BFG in the middle at the corner, and when he went off after heading Sagnas hair this weekend they nearly scored with a good cross.
Cant really see anyone but the cannibal shrek Ba or Lukaku being much use as foreward signings, cant see any as likely as teams dont sell to their rivals do they
any continental signing will probably take a while to get into their stride
I still think we need another striker. Poldi might be able to do a job (Theo's been unconvincing up front), but he can't play the same way that Giroud does, which would force the team to play in a different manner and while it might be a good to have options, our current style is working well and to be unable to continue with it would be a mistake.
I doubt we'll be able to get a top quality striker so an experienced back up (a la Eto) or a top prospect would be acceptable.
Ed Hunter The Gooner wrote:As disappointed as I was that we didn't sign striker (Sa Go Go not counted) during summer, I'm not so sure anymore if we even need one. Well yes, obviously we are short at the moment as Bendtner is full of nothing and Sanogo is busy with who knows what, but we have Walcott and Poldi. Now that our midfield is working absolutely great, why not put Poldi as our another striker option with Giroud. He could surely do the job and we don't basically need him on left wing as we have other options. Then we have Wally who I think should be given the opportunity as a striker.
I would go for decent defender to have more backup there.
Problem is that Arsene, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to trust or fancy Podolski as a striker. For me Podolski is the best finisher and striker of a ball at the club but Arsene seems to think he is a winger. But hey - I haven't worked for 30 years in football.
To your other point about maybe not needing to sign a striker... I feel we still do, as Giroud will either get injured, get exhausted or lose form at some stage. I'd be amazed if we get a full season out of him flat out. Arsene probably will never give Podolski a decent run in the side up front so it seems madness to rely on Giroud alone with back up from the crocked postman and the Fat Drunk.
We blew the league in 2008 because Arsene thought we were strong enough based on where we were at Xmas. But then after Xmas and into March / April our in form players either got injured, tired or lost form and we had shite on the bench so just dropped away. I will go insane if we fuck this league away by making the same mistakes we made in 2007/2008.
Ed Hunter The Gooner wrote:As disappointed as I was that we didn't sign striker (Sa Go Go not counted) during summer, I'm not so sure anymore if we even need one. Well yes, obviously we are short at the moment as Bendtner is full of nothing and Sanogo is busy with who knows what, but we have Walcott and Poldi. Now that our midfield is working absolutely great, why not put Poldi as our another striker option with Giroud. He could surely do the job and we don't basically need him on left wing as we have other options. Then we have Wally who I think should be given the opportunity as a striker.
I would go for decent defender to have more backup there.
Problem is that Arsene, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to trust or fancy Podolski as a striker. For me Podolski is the best finisher and striker of a ball at the club but Arsene seems to think he is a winger. But hey - I haven't worked for 30 years in football.
DB - totally agree. A fit,committed Podolski could be an option but true goal scoring CF is what we need. This is a potentially golden opportunity
To your other point about maybe not needing to sign a striker... I feel we still do, as Giroud will either get injured, get exhausted or lose form at some stage. I'd be amazed if we get a full season out of him flat out. Arsene probably will never give Podolski a decent run in the side up front so it seems madness to rely on Giroud alone with back up from the crocked postman and the Fat Drunk.
We blew the league in 2008 because Arsene thought we were strong enough based on where we were at Xmas. But then after Xmas and into March / April our in form players either got injured, tired or lost form and we had shite on the bench so just dropped away. I will go insane if we fuck this league away by making the same mistakes we made in 2007/2008.
Liked him as a player when he first brokethrough at milan but injuries set him back and he never seemed to kick on from there. He is/was the type of player that I would liked to have seen alongside giroud but he certainly doesnt have the necessary requirements to play his role in the team
We don't have anybody else that can play lone striker. Podolski is our most instinctive finisher but his hold-up play and certainly aerial ability is hugely inferior to Giroud's, not to mention the fact that after a long lay-off especially he's going to be found wanting fitness-wise in a role that requires a hell of a lot of ground covered as well as physicality.
I'm not aware that he's ever played the lone striker role and whilst Giroud does unfortunately lack the pace and movement to get in behind, Podolski isn't exactly rapid and from the limited opportunities he got there at the back end of last season he didn't really look like he knew what he was meant to be doing tbh.
I guess worst comes to the worst we could play Podolski and Walcott up top with Walcott playing off the last man and Podolski as a second striker, but aside from that being a Frankenstein's monster of a strike partnership Wenger will also not change a system that has actually been successful this year.
Always been a fan of Pato. A striker with world class potential hammered by injuries. Maybe Wenger can work his magic on him. If anyone can help him fulfil his vast potential, it's Arsene.
