Relative squad strength to last year

[the playing mantis]

Feel free to merge mods, just not sure where this would fit.

lots are pleased with our transfer business thus far (as i would be if there were more to come), but if there is no more how better off are we than last season in terms of depth.

Gk
last year we had 3, what can be described as senior based on their expereince and careers to date, GK's this year was have 2 and martinez who is pretty crap from the admittedly rare occasions i have seen him. ospina looks to be an improvement by far on flappy, so this is an improved area i suppose, at least wqual to last year as the 3rd choice keeper shouldnt be needed.

Defence
we have lost 3 defenders, 1 first teamer, and 2 regular backups. debauchy is like for like for sagna, and you can debate if its better or worse, but not much in it either way imo. jenkinson is gone and supposedly been replaced by chambers. thats an improvement. vermalen has gone and been replaced, also by chambers. so we are a decent defender down at present. i know we are linked with this greek chap and thats all well and good, but at present we are worse off in a key area.

Midfield

nothing

Forward


Sanchez has come in and should eb a top top signing, but thats all. its an improvement on last year, but that said he could be seen as a replacement for walcott, who has not been repalced and may well have lost his only asset as aplyer when he comes back from an injury that often robs players of speed.


Overall we are not particularly ahead of last season

[the playing mantis]

i neglected to mention campbell as it seems he wont get a chance.

[DB10GOONER]

If this stays as what it is obviously intended to be (a discussion about squad depth) and doesn't turn into a transfer thread, then I think it deserves it's own thread.

Of course that's not to say that the Merge Queen Quartzy Jizzle won't come on here at 4:30am and merge the living bejaysus out of it!

[mcdowell42]

If this stays as what it is obviously intended to be (a discussion about squad depth) and doesn't turn into a transfer thread, then I think it deserves it's own thread.

Of course that's not to say that the Merge Queen Quartzy Jizzle won't come on here at 4:30am and merge the living bejaysus out of it!

Bet it turns into a Wenger out thread before it turns into a transfer thread.

[DB10GOONER]

If this stays as what it is obviously intended to be (a discussion about squad depth) and doesn't turn into a transfer thread, then I think it deserves it's own thread.

Of course that's not to say that the Merge Queen Quartzy Jizzle won't come on here at 4:30am and merge the living bejaysus out of it!

Bet it turns into a Wenger out thread before it turns into a transfer thread.

They all do, Mac. They all do.

[clockender1]

GK - UP, Ospina is an improvement on Flappy.

Defence - UP. Chambers is better than Jenko. way more flexible and in the 2-3 performances has been close to MOTM. Debuchy is a much much better crosser than Sagna. The independent says Manolas had a medical this morning and that is further cover back there.

Midfield - UP. but still low - Dirty is quality, but we still need a World class DM and a suitable back up. Yes, we have a veritable plethora of wide players but still no-one to protect gibbs or Nacho. Plus if the inevitable happens and Rambo gets a knock we have no engine room either.

Forwards - Same. I'm in a minority i know, but i think Pod and Giroud are quality when played right. we also have Walcott, Campbell and Gnabry as very respectable alternatives and back up.

so overall i think we are in better shape than last year, and as much as i loathe and despise Wenger, he has to get some credit for Ospina, Chambers, Debuchy and Sanchez (and possibly manolas).

However, he's not done enough to close the gap and prevent the heavy defeats to the top five imho. We are one DM away from that and THREE CM's away from title winners and CL semi finalists.

IMHO we should be aiming to pick up all of Khedira, Cavalho and Schneiderling, because a) we can afford it, b) it makes a BIG statement about our ambitions and c) we need all of them.

if we just pick up Kedhira and then Song on a FREE Loan then thats not really good enough

[Gunner Rob]

we might sign another defender but thats it.

Wenger will not sign a DM now that he has made Arteta captain.

up front surely we need to play Sanchez up front if Giroud doesnt score enough.
I also don't see where everyone will play if everyone is fit. we really do have such an unbalanced side this season

[QuartzGooner]

"Feel free to merge mods"

Like a red rag to a bull!

But I shall let it be, for now

As for DB10Gooner's attempt to discredit me, I suggest his frequent allusions to feminine attire hint he could be lining up a Frank Maloney style transformation procedure for himself?
Might he vanish from the forum for a few months only to re-emerge as KS10Gooner?

The squad?

A bit stronger, but still not got that centre back and defensive midfielder we need, plus am starting to think we could do with another left back to cope with Gibbs's frequent injuries.

[the playing mantis]

GK - UP, Ospina is an improvement on Flappy.

Defence - UP. Chambers is better than Jenko. way more flexible and in the 2-3 performances has been close to MOTM. Debuchy is a much much better crosser than Sagna. The independent says Manolas had a medical this morning and that is further cover back there.

Midfield - UP. but still low - Dirty is quality, but we still need a World class DM and a suitable back up. Yes, we have a veritable plethora of wide players but still no-one to protect gibbs or Nacho. Plus if the inevitable happens and Rambo gets a knock we have no engine room either.

Forwards - Same. I'm in a minority i know, but i think Pod and Giroud are quality when played right. we also have Walcott, Campbell and Gnabry as very respectable alternatives and back up.

so overall i think we are in better shape than last year, and as much as i loathe and despise Wenger, he has to get some credit for Ospina, Chambers, Debuchy and Sanchez (and possibly manolas).

However, he's not done enough to close the gap and prevent the heavy defeats to the top five imho. We are one DM away from that and THREE CM's away from title winners and CL semi finalists.

IMHO we should be aiming to pick up all of Khedira, Cavalho and Schneiderling, because a) we can afford it, b) it makes a BIG statement about our ambitions and c) we need all of them.

if we just pick up Kedhira and then Song on a FREE Loan then thats not really good enough

How can we be a plus in defence, as things stand losing 2 and replacing them with someone who has played barely 20 first team games. Verm and jenk werenithing special but nemerically we are struggling already.

If you think we wil sign those 3 cms u must be on the 89 juice! I doubt we could afford all 3.

[Dodgyknee71]

Squad depth is light not only in quantity but quality. Minimum 4 quality players short.

[northbank123]

Welcome improvement in keepers - but a back-up keeper unlikely to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things.

Debuchy for Sagna is like-for-like. Chambers is a good long-term addition but in the short-term we will miss Vermaelen's experience at CB, even though his form wasn't hitting the heights of his first season or two. He is a better option at RB than Jenkinson though. I'm sure someone else will come in at CB.

Apart from that Sanchez can obviously only add strength. I would be inclined to say Arteta/Flamini option will decline further and cost us more this year. Not convinced Campbell will get any meaningful chance.

[OneBardGooner]

If this stays as what it is obviously intended to be (a discussion about squad depth) and doesn't turn into a transfer thread, then I think it deserves it's own thread.

Of course that's not to say that the Merge Queen Quartzy Jizzle won't come on here at 4:30am and merge the living bejaysus out of it!

Bet it turns into a Wenger out thread before it turns into a transfer thread.

I bet mcdowell starts moaning about it becoming a Wenger Out thread before it actually turns into a Wenger Out thread.

As for strength of squad.

We need some strength in Mid-field - we are too lightweight.

We need a top class striker - AND for Wenger (out!) to give Campbell a chance instead of playing the physically dyslexic postman....we deffo need a CB - already Chambers has had t step in and play - and although he has been exceptional - he would not be able to cover long term if Koz or BFG get a bad injury.

[WE8SPURS]

I think overal we are in better shape than last year but what I find irritating is we are so close yet so far. Unfortunately even if we were to address the positions we need to and bring another couple of world class players I just no longer have the confidence in Wenger to bring it all together.

I would love to see what another top manager would do with the players availble as i'm sure there is someone out there that could take this group further given the right formation/tactics.

To conclude I would say we are definitely stronger in personel but equally lacking in leadership in the form of a manager who can adapt and get the best out of them.

[augie]

The signing I can't quite understand is that of Sanchez - in the current system (that shows no sign of changing ), Sanchez is currently playing in Wally's position and whilst I would be the first to say that he is miles better than brainless Wally, there are those out there to rate Walcott highly so can the purchase of Sanchez be classed as an upgrade to them ?

As most of you know, I am still a big fan of sagna and with the exception of zabaleta I don't think there is a right full in the world that I would rather have in our team From that regard I see debouchy as a downgrade (although the best available option imo) and although chambers has started well, it is unrealistic and unfair to expect the guy to fill the holes in our defence. Some of you were delighted to see tv5 leave but what I seen was the loss of a capable defender who lost his way defensively in le cocks free flowing football I believe that had he not got injured at a crucial time it could be him and the BFG who are our commanding centre backs now. Tv5 and kos was never going to work (too similar imo) and if tv5 had BFG marshaling him then he might have been a star for us, but as it was he proved to be a solid back up who supported his team-mates without moaning about his own predicament Personally I feel that our defensive options are considerably weaker than last season and I don't see this Greek guy changing it much.

Midfield has regressed as well but that is down to the fact that arteta's legs are beginning to go and flamoney is not good enough or intelligent enough imo. Cazorla has regressed hugely in the past two seasons, but on the flip side the ox has come on in leaps and bounds (although I am concerned with the squad player role he has had so far this season). For me we have put all our eggs in ozil's basket and his performances will have a huge influence on whether this team succeeds or fails. Yes Ramsey will score us goals but we need a much improved ozil to take the team up to another level. Overall because arteta is slowing and we haven't bought a quality DM, I would say that midfield has regressed slightly.

The attacking situation is hilarious really - last season we bemoaned the lack of a back up/competition for Giroud, and now this year we have one but he is a useless cunting postman from france There is no point factoring Campbell cos he clearly isn't in le cocks thoughts, and playing podolski and cazorla is a failed experiment that exists from last season so no change there really. I think that I would be happier having no back up for Giroud rather than having le postman as back up so I suppose that makes it a downgrade

The keeper situation is undoubtedly a massive upgrade on paper - the problem with this upgrade is that only one of chesney and ospina can play and as longer as chesney remains number 1 it doesn't really matter who the back up keeper is

[Brady's left peg]

Ospina much better than flappy... upgrade.
I think Debuchy for Sagna is near enough like for like and with Chambers as cover plus Bellerin, who I thought looked a good prospect pre season. Losing TV5 not only effects our cover at CB it also means given Gibbs injury record we could be in trouble at LB. Unless we sign at least one if not two centre backs, we could be in trouble... currently big downgrade.
Arteta's legs have gone and Flamini has turned into AC milan's Flamini and seems to be getting worse by the match.
Even with the Ox improving and hopefully Wilshere finding some form... hopefully, I still think with Cazorla not looking that great so far its fair to say it might not be any worse than last season but its definitely not any better... No change.
Although Wenger is playing Sanchez on the wings I am including him as a striker... in which case if you include Campbell our striking options are an improvement. As long as clueless plays them as strikers that is!... upgrade.
Overall I do not see much change generally in squad strength or depth.