I will reserve judgement until 1st September

With Arsenal yet to acquire top players, this evening is absolutely key

24 August, 2011 10:00

David Jones 8 comments

I will reserve judgement until 1st September

RVP: Would new captain stick around without CL football?

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Following the first two home games of the season, the need to bring in new players is evident. It is clear that the current squad is not good enough to finish in the top four, let alone challenge for trophies. The performance in the first leg against Udinese – who are not a bad outfit – was one of a Europa league side and poignantly demonstrated that our squad is simply too thin to compete at the highest level.

As we know, there is a real sense of frustration at the lack of new players and we know that Wenger does not like overpaying for players. However, given the potential financial losses of not making the Champions League we need to pay more to secure those players to ensure that we finish in the top four this season.

Without investment in the squad, we also run the risk of losing our current top players. If new players are not coming in, why should they stay? What would Arsenal do if Vermaelan, Van Persie, Sagna or Wilshere decided they wanted to go? We need to bring in new players to show these guys that we are serious.

However, it could be that both prospective players and the board are waiting for Champions League qualification; the board to ensure we have the cash, and from the players’ perspective to ensure that they will be playing Champions League football. Regardless, we have recouped £30 million for Cesc and will receive £20 million plus for Nasri. Every penny must be invested.

Given the situation we find ourselves in, I would take one point from the first three league games as long as we secure Champions League qualification and have at least three new players by the close of the transfer window, but preferably five. Anything less and we find ourselves in serious danger of falling out of the top four. We will know whether the board and Wenger are serious about challenging for trophies on the 1stSeptember, and I reserve judgement until then.

If not, it will be a long, painful season for this ‘young team’; a ‘young team’ that the Board and Wenger will have had every opportunity to strengthen.

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8
comments

ed enough
Aug 24, 2011, 15:02 #11776

Have we not reserved judgement for long enough??? Stop trying to please everyone and say what you want too...Wenger must go and that's an end of it....
overspill gooner
Aug 24, 2011, 10:24 #11743

we should not have got ourselves in this position,selling our better players, one of who we knew was going to leave and not having replacements ready. The board and manager have allowed the squad to stagnate, there seems to have been no long term plan to replace top quality players with new players of the same calibre for at least the last five years. It is now make or break tonight against a team we would have spanked several years ago. We are stale and sruggling. What does happen if we go out tonight, do we then blame injuries, bad luck and poor refereeing ?
Theo's Broken Toe-Nail
Aug 24, 2011, 10:14 #11741

PistolPete, Your suggestion, albeit sarcastic, wouldn't work because Pat Rice actually cares about the club's well being and reputation first before that of the players. Also for your information, Pat Rice has a 100% win record as Arsenal manager. Yes, that's right, 100% win record: 4 wins before Arsene took over in 1997 and you can even include the Carling Cup victory at Spurs last season and last Tuesday's win against Udinese, when Wenger was banned. So I suppose it's not as stupid a suggestion as you thought it was when making it.
Yap
Aug 24, 2011, 9:59 #11738

Bla bla bla 'Judge Wenger in May' 'Jude Wenger in January' Shut up please. He's been judged, six years wihout a thing is plenty enough already. 'Reserve judgment' until September 1st? By which time Arsenal could be out of the league and CL. I mean listen to yourself: 'I would take one point from the first three league games' Exactly the kind of unambitious apologist this club needs to be rid of.
Arsene is a Fraudster
Aug 24, 2011, 9:21 #11725

What a crock. Another apologist giving these losers, these proverbial clueless wonders that we have running the team and the club even more time before declaring them a failure. After the 1st September what will you do then? Wait till the end of the January window before deciding that they have failed miserably? Nonsense, OGL should of bought players weeks and weeks ago but here he is spouting more crap which his followers lap up, about needing to find "super quality". What a disaster.
Steadfast
Aug 24, 2011, 9:04 #11721

I agree that the wait is justified. But, what if we fail to qualify (god forbid)? Will this not be because we don't have enough good player? Or is it the other way round? Rather than playing this excruciatingly frustrating waiting game, we should buy good players right away and break this vicious cycle we are inadvertently getting into...
thejoker
Aug 24, 2011, 9:01 #11720

nice to see you label 4 names as top class players,thats where this team is at just 4 names..a joke why has the club been left to drift down this road?for years we have called for certain areas to be beefed up(the defence)still after a decent striker somebody who can play more than 15 games a season.wait till the 1st of september wenger should have had done deals for defenders by mid august for f**k sake buy cahill
PistolPete
Aug 24, 2011, 8:02 #11710

Sounds good to me, lets just wait. See if we qualify, and then lets the buying begin. And lets get off Wengers back to. Who shall we replace him with Pat Rice.