A complete re-build is now needed.

[Trevheff]

I've long been of the opinion that our team/squad doesn't need major surgery. Just some tweaking and the addition of 1 or 2 key players. I've always thought that 95% was in place and that we just needed the finishing touches, that little bit extra to realise our title ambitions. Last season re-inforced that opinion. However a combination of the 'extra 5%' not being added, departed players not being replaced, key players being injured long term and certain players having a serious deteriation in their attitude now leads me to believe that the squad is now in need of a more serious overhaul. I am prone to objective criticism but I'm not one for knee jerk reaction, but I can't see any alternative given the gradual decline in performances and mood around the club.

To start with the one key addition we needed after last season (a dominating centre half) never arrived. Add to that the loss of Flamini and Gilberto with no ready replacement and even before the season kicked off we were playing catch-up. We have now lost Fabregas for all but the rest of the season, a loss we cannot paper over and one which requires a serious replacement. While Nasri on paper looks a like for like replacement for Hleb and although Samir has had an encouraging start to his Arsenal career, the loss of Hleb's influence on the tempo and pattern of our game is clear. Hleb shared this burden with Cesc and, added to the lost protection that Flamini provided, Cesc has been left isolated and overworked.

We not only need fresh blood but also a fresh attitude and outlook. That means clearing out the bad apples however good they can be on 'their day'. The less said about Gallas the better. Unreliable, a poor example and simply error prone. Unfortunately I'd now put Adebayor in the same bracket. I was desperate for us to hold on to him in the summer and delighted when he stayed. However the more I watch him the less interested he seems. Even before he established himself last season I was a fan and pleaded for patience, as much because I thought his work rate was phenomenal and his work leading the line integral to our game. That side of his game has all but disappeared and believing too much in his own hype it appears he expects others to do his running for him and offer up goals on a plate. Yet again a poor attitude and one I can't see changing. I can't see any option but to cash in on both Gallas and Ade, two key characters and two key positions which, added to the other needs leaves the team requiring an overhaul.

Enough has been said about the qualities or deficiencies of Song, Eboue, Bendtner, Diaby and Denilson. Personally I believe the latter two have something to offer, but the previous three should be moved on and are, at best, squad players. Their squad places should go to the younger crop coming through.

All in all that's 5 players I would have heading out of the club, and 6 gaps left if you include's Cesc's enforced absence, 8 if you count the losses of Flamini and Rosicky. As a bare minimum I think we need 4 new signings added to by promotion from within (Ramsey, Wilshere to name but two). Is 4 players an overhaul? Not on face value but when in the space of 12 months you lose your best player and captain, leading centre-back, leading goal scorer and line leader, the only two midfielder enforces at the club and your two wide midfielders who were so integral to the pattern of play, in my eye's that needs major surgery to remedy.

Maybe our poor results present the ideal opportunity. Trying to sustain a title bid while re-building the squad is not feasible. But maintaining a top 4 challenge is, with the right moves, achievable. Lets be realistic, the title is gone and therefore the next 6 months should be used to re-structure the squad, and the attitude, ready for next season. This season of course remains important and a top 4 finish vital, all the more likely to be acheived if we flush out the dead wood and bring in a new core.

[QuartzGooner]

Very good post that echoes my sentiments.

I am an optimist and have faith in the youth policy Wenger has, but not in blooding players too early who are clearly not ready (Denilson, Diaby, Song).

Adebayor has been a big let down this season, so has Bendtner.

I would give Bendtner more time as he is 20, but I would also take £5M for him now and replace with a more reliable and MOBILE player.

The summer losses have weakened our team, and we have not sufficiently replenished.

A change of captain, boardroom upheavals, inuuries to key players and intra squad squabbles show a club a way off full health, though with every potential to regain it with the right purchases, and a sorting out of boardroom matters.

I would buy

Centre Back
Midfield Tackler
Right sided midfielder
General defensive utility player

at the very minimum.

I would also like to replace two out the three of Van Persie, Adebayor and Bendtner, though it may well be the summer before this could happen.

But it is not about what I want, it is about what Wenger does!

[brady]

I would buy

Centre Back
Midfield Tackler
Right sided midfielder
General defensive utility player

at the very minimum.

I would also like to replace two out the three of Van Persie, Adebayor and Bendtner, though it may well be the summer before this could happen.

But it is not about what I want, it is about what Wenger does!

I could not agree more with that last sentiment and would take any reasonable offer for Ade and Bendtner. Ade has become lazy and full of himself. Bendtner has failed to make significant progress. When I look at him, I immediately think of someone like Benzema whose touch, finishing and all round play is just in a different class. Robin is frustratingly inconsistent.

I think however that replacing Toure is more important than Gallas. He has gone backwards alarmingly, and even before losing his form, I was never a big fan of his. Great heart and speed but suspect in positioning and covering.

Yes it is in midfield that we have truly lost the plot. We have become a poor parody of the great passing sides in the Wenger era and no longer capable of competing, being shoved off the ball with alarming ease and lacking pace and urgency in recognising dangerous situations. We need bite and tenacity, and that bit of class that Hleb provided. Song, Eboue have to go, Diaby and Denilson still squad players, not first team material yet.

A radical overhaul is indeed in order.