David Oudot
(Ed's note – Continuing from part one of our end of season survey results, here’s the second part of five in total which we are running over the course of July)
Do you think Arsenal's summer 2014-15 transfer window activity (Chambers, Debuchy, Welbeck, Ospina and Sanchez) was:
1. Good 68%
2. OK 30%
3. Poor 2%
The fact of the matter is that by the end of the season we had a much better squad than we had on 1 June 2014, and each of these players were beneficial in different ways. A back-up goalkeeper who went on to become first choice, the French right back who kept Citeh bench-warmer Sagna out of the national side, a brilliant young Englishman to back him up, some experienced international class back-up for Giroud (finally!), and our new top scorer/hardest worker/best player rolled into one person. Maybe not the top, top quality that Arsene himself always talks about, but at least we weren't bricking ourselves at midnight in front of SSN waiting for Jim White to confirm that we're paying €50m for a Real Madrid reserve as our only signing…
It’s open to question, but assuming we did have first refusal to re-sign Cesc Fabregas last summer, would a £30m+ transfer fee plus £200k a week in wages been the best use of our available resources at the time?
Yes 25%
No 66%
Don’t know 9%
I'm sure the yes and no votes were reversed on NYE 2014, but as the year went on the Ozil that Wenger thought he bought started to appear, Cazorla was accidentally discovered as a perfect player as one of two deep-lying midfielders, and Cesc's second half of the season was very, very average. Sure, if we could get hold of the Fab that left us a few years ago then we'd all snap him up in a heartbeat but the new one isn't as good as that.
Which ONE area of the team do you think needs addressing the most urgently?
Goalkeeper 44%
Attack 29%
Midfield 11%
Defence 10%
Manager 6%
With Szczesny about 5% as good as he thinks he is (never a good thing if you're better at smuggling fags into the dressing room and taking selfies than you are catching a football), Ospina having to rely on adidas gloves AND stilts, and Emiliano Martinez struggling to get into the first XI of Football League teams he goes on loan to, we obviously need a new goalkeeper for 2015/16. Although if you put a gun to my head and asked me if I had to choose between a 'keeper,a DM, or a centre forward it'd feel like Sophie's Choice. Whilst Olivier is vastly underrated he's still not as good as the starting centre forward at Citeh, Chelsea, ManYoo, or even Spurs. Personally I would take an experienced DM to play alongside Cazorla/Ramsey/Wilshere as aside from Coquelin we don't have anyone else good enough to take that role on.
Limiting yourself to two names and excluding any players who have already been signed, who would you most like Arsenal to buy this summer?
They always say 'be careful what you wish for', but with everyone knowing we need a new goalkeeper and one particular person being (a) world-class; (b) wanting out of his current club; and (c) the guy and has family settled in London and not wanting to move; I don't blame all of you wanting Petr Cech and I wanted him myself. As we all know the deal has been completed and we're all happier than a dog with a tin dick.
Aside from Cech, other big names a lot of you have named are players we'd love to have in the positions we all want to fill. Based on the names a lot of you have put forward, if Dick Law and co can do a deal and get Cavani, Lacazette, Benzema or Higuain to play up front, Vidal, Schneiderlin or William Carvalho in the MD role (a lot of people fancied Geoffrey Kondogbia but he's gone to Inter already), or Hummels giving us some more beef at the back, then we'd probably win the Ashes, the X Factor and the next General Election, let alone the Premier League!
Who do you think will play the most games at right-back next season?
1. Hector Bellerin 61%
2. Mathieu Debuchy 38%
3. Carl Jenkinson <1%
4. Callum Chambers <1%
It will be very, very interesting to see what Arsene does at right back next season. Bellerin, like Coquelin, was a surprise discovery who only got his place in the team due to injuries, but he has been fantastic for us. However, the alternative is far more experienced, in the peak of his career, and French... so some would believe that he'll be pencilled in, double under-lined, and probably laminated into the team line-up! As everyone believes, though, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, so maybe le gaffer will keep it as it is.
Which current Arsenal player would you least like to see leave the club?
1. Alexis Sanchez 58%
2. Aaron Ramsey 14%
3. Jack Wilshere 12%
4. Santi Cazorla 8%
He was so good last season Alexis seems virtually irreplaceable at the moment. Even if we got 300 bajillion pounds for him there's no way you can replace a player like that – look at Liverpool when Suarez left. As Rambo's biggest fan I'm really pleased that he's in second place. At the age of 28 I think he'll be the best and most wanted midfielder in the world and we really do need to keep hold of him as well.
Of the following players who will be returning to the club this summer following a loan spell, who would you keep, who would you loan out again and who would you sell?
Chuba Akpom… Keep - 29% Loan - 64% Sell - 7%
Joel Campbell… Keep - 8% Loan - 15% Sell - 77%
Carl Jenkinson… Keep - 21% Loan - 57% Sell - 22%
Lukas Podolski… Keep - 15% Loan - 3% Sell - 82%
Yaya Sanogo… Keep - 2% Loan - 32% Sell - 66%
I find it a huge shame that so many WANT us to sell Podolski and I hope they'll be happy when he finishes top scorer in Turkey next season. Sure, he didn't warrant a starting place, but he was quite an effective super-sub. The best shot of anyone at the Club and he had a habit of scoring vital late goals from time to time. Certainly more so than Campbell (very similar player but the Primark version) or Sanogo (must have saucy photos of Wenger. Only reason I think he's at our place). Totally agree with the majority of you on Akpom and Jenko, though. Akpom is very much in demand so there must be something in him. If he has a year in the Championship that could man him up, and maybe another year at Wham (but this time under a football manager) will see our fellow Gooner Carl get even better and stay on afterwards.
Of the following youngsters, which do you think will make more than FIVE appearances for Arsenal's first team next season? Tick all that apply.
1. Chuba Akpom 59%
2. Gedion Zelalem 42%
3. Krystian Bielik 30%
4. Joel Campbell 9%
5. Jon Toral 4%
With a lot of people talking about him there is something in Chuba, so if he doesn't go on loan somewhere and we (inevitably) don't buy another forward then he has to make a few appearances this year otherwise we've wasted his time. Zelalem is a mystery. I've seen the youth teams on a few occasions and I'm not convinced he actually turned up – a combination of him being an Ozil-esque drifter, and built like an eight year old child, I suppose. Still – let's see what he's like post-puberty. As for Bielik, we paid €5m for the unknown DM in January and he hasn't appeared at all. With our Club often being tighter than a nun's nasty I'd be surprised if we see nothing of him and he doesn't start in the CoC Up.
Who should be club captain next season?
1. Per Mertesacker 56%
2. Aaron Ramsey 17%
3. Mikel Arteta 13%
4. Laurent Koscielny 6%
5. Jack Wilshere 5%
It has to be the BFG, if you ask me. Mikel Arteta has signed up for another year, but assuming Francis Coquelin remains the first choice holding midfielder, the BFG is our leader now. He has resurrected the tradition of getting to the centre circle and clapping all four stands when they come on to the pitch, marches up to us after every game, often with a clenched fist, and famously gave Ozil an earful when he tried to strop off the pitch rather than thank the people who pay his £8m a year salary. Rambo when PM4 departs, sure, but in the meantime it's Per.
Arsene Wenger still has two years left on his current contract. At the time of the survey do you feel he should:
See out those two years then leave 46%
Stay beyond his current contract 41%
Stand down this summer or next 13%
