Mick Appleton
As the clock ticked to 11 o'clock last night, once again I sat dumbfounded as we failed to sign the reinforcements we so obviously require to maintain a push on four fronts. The only signing being the 18-year-old Ryo Miyaichi which doesn't really fit the bill. When Wenger announced that he would need a centre back in the window to cover the injured Vermaelen, I found myself making a shopping list of all the suitable candidates & I sitting back to see which one we would go for.
But as January progressed all the usual soundbites began to emanate from The Grove, "Vermaelen is making quicker progress then we expected", "Squillaci is nearly fit", "If we get anyone it will probably be a loan deal" and my heart sank. After watching the torturous FA Cup tie at the weekend my longing for a new centre half got greater as I watched the inept Squillaci bumbling around before he eventually made the schoolboy error of standing square on as an opponent ran at him, leaving him with little option but to pull the player back. The deserved red card followed.
Should either Djourou or Koscielny be injured (as sadly happened with Nasri) we will be seriously exposed in the centre of our defence. Song is adequate against lesser opposition but not against the top teams (as we saw in the home Barcelona tie). Plus if you move Song from his midfield berth you will only have Denilson to cover him and I don't even want to contemplate that. We have a real chance to bag a couple of trophies this season but if we are found wanting at the back we may well find commentators and pundits banging on next season about "7 years without a trophy".
Will anyone be confident of winning anything if we have a combination of Squillaci, Koscielny or Song to choose from for our centre half positions? No, me neither. Surely there was enough in the kitty to at least sign one big ball-winning centre back, especially when we are still involved in all four competitions. I watched other members of the so-called big four wielding their chequebooks to get what they wanted (in Chelsea's case actually against one of the big four) and I couldn't help but feel envious.
I know that is not Arsene's way but just once I would like us to make someone an offer they couldn't refuse, especially if it secured the one player that would complete the jigsaw. The calls for Arsene's head will be deafening if injuries or our lack of squad depth sees us coming up short again this season. And I for one will not be trying to defend him this time.
