Arsenal: The wait through the transfer window begins

“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same” – a well-known quote from Kipling that my DVR somehow seems to have taken to heart. Having mercifully failed to record our 6-0 disaster at Chelsea last season, it somehow conspired to miss our perfectly executed 4-0 triumph in the FA Cup.

Well, almost perfect, since we had 17 shots, if my memory serves me right. However, it was the “oh” rather than the “four” that gave me most satisfaction. Especially when one thinks about the very quick and suicidal 0-2 start we had last year. Alas, therein lies the rub. That clean sheet may indeed make for our undoing in the all-important transfer market.

In a rather twisted take on the same Kipling poem, Wenger has tended to keep his head firmly rooted in denial while all else are shaking theirs in abject frustration. At least this time we won’t have to hear that cruel punchline “We have Diaby” (Mere paas Diaby hai). Diaby has officially been released. Hallelujah!!

The masterful defensive performance in the FA Cup (only 2 shots by Villa) may play into Wenger’s second most (in)famous mantra – “We don’t need to add anybody”. That mantra was coined when teams were slicing through our defence like a hot knife through thin air. We would have gladly embraced “butter” in those days.

Then, along came Francis Coquelin, or more correctly, along came back Coquelin. Well, to be historically accurate, along came Alexis and started chasing after the hot knife. And he begat a Santi Cazorla with a resurrected spine.

Arteta (mercifully) picked up a timely knock before the January transfer window, which spurred the return of Coquelin. Whatever they fed him at Charlton, it might be a diet Arsenal’s new trainer may want to look into.

While we are about it, Steve Bould may want to look into what they teach about tackling at Charlton as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Charlton staff didn’t have a motivational speaker or two to boot. Coquelin was an average Gunner waif when he went on loan. Whatever happened there, he returned a confident, savage tackling man.

Arsenal’s defence isn’t the problem

Suddenly, we have a defence we can start to believe in. The danger is if we fool ourselves that the transformation is complete. To dispel any illusions, I would have Wenger watch film of Montero ripping apart Chambers, then Bellerin. One may want to add any number of sequences with Mertesacker in a foot race with just about any creature on the planet.

However, having said that, I will quickly backtrack and say that defensive line may indeed be where “We don’t need to add anybody”. We still have Debuchy to throw at Montero. Besides, I saw Montero rip apart Zabaleta in Swansea’s Man City fixture and Zabaleta is about the best right back on the planet. No one seems to have picked up how good Montero is, thank God.

We have two very good right-backs in Debuchy and Bellerin, with Chambers able to pitch in against most other opponents. Likewise, Gibbs and Monreal have the other wing in hand. With the addition of Gabriel Paulista, there are enough central defenders for a good rotation. The real question is when will Wenger move Mertesacker to the bench?

There is a slight hitch in that his preference is to play on the left, Koscielny’s side rather than Mertesacker’s. Chambers has had very positive showings in Mertesacker’s spot. Our most critical acquisition is not in the back line.

There have been many rumors about Cech moving to Arsenal. There are several reservations I would have with Cech. The first would be the price. What would Chelsea want in return – money and/or players? Cech is still very good, but is potentially on the downward side of his career.

A better acquisition would be Hugo Lloris, who reportedly wants Champions League action. If Spurs would let him come across. David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny are not at the level of De Gea, Neuer, or Lloris, but they are pretty much at the next level down. Besides those three, it wouldn’t be worth spending our tightfisted club’s money on any other keeper.

To Giroud or not to Giroud?

The other big complaint from all the pundits is that the Gunners cannot make it to the top with Giroud as the principal striker. You look at Giroud’s strike rate and it is pretty good these days. He has the size and strength to hold up the ball and invite the speedsters to make a run.

The Gunners fortunes turned when he came back from injury. There are only three can’t miss strikers I can think of, none of whom is even remotely within our price range – Messi, Ronaldo and Suarez.

For the last couple of seasons, many Gunners fans were screaming for us to acquire Falcao for silly money. We came within a lucky whisker of acquiring Balotelli after Giroud got injured. The other name thrown around is Cavani. Every time I have seen him play, he has squandered chance after chance. Now, we could upgrade our bench strength by cutting some of the non-performing assets loose - Sanogo and Campbell.

I think the guy at our strike price and plenty of upside potential is Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca. He has speed, can hold up the ball decently and, most importantly, seems to put the ball in the back of the net with regularity. With Bacca and Walcott as options on the right, Alexis and Welbeck on the left, we should be looking at many more goals.

Arsenal’s problem in the middle of the park

I am sure you can guess I left the midfield to the end. Starting with the attacking roles, the biggest question is who gets cut loose. All fingers seem to point to Rosicky. He is a very skilled player, but prone to injury. More importantly, he can still bring in a good transfer fee. The perpetual loanee, Ryo Miyaichi, is another candidate, though it would appear he is currently on Arsenal’s released list.

For me, Mesut Ozil has not lived up to his price; unfortunately, I can’t see us recovering enough on his transfer fee to let him go. Someone needs to work with him on toughness, both into and against the tackle.

If Gnabry comes back from injury, we would be spoiled for choice between him and the Ox. Perhaps Gnabry goes out on loan.

Cazorla has cemented his place by improving on his defensive duties, opening up several of the midfield spots to him. That brings us to the homegrown boys, Wilshere and Ramsey. This season has not been the best from either of them. Ramsey has been guilty of numerous errant passes, Wilshere of his bad habit of letting the ball get too far ahead of him – led to exactly the injury I thought he would be prone to.

However, since his return from injury, I have seen Wilshere unleash not one, but three, lightning strikes – the first against West Brom and two for England against Slovenia yesterday. If he can keep that up, defences won’t be able to just clog the box. Can Ramsey return to last season’s form? He will need to remember that nothing is automatic, he needs to concentrate all game long.

Defensive midfield – forever my bugaboo. The new and improved Coquelin at least showed us what was possible with a good defensive midfield presence in front of the back line. We were lucky that Coquelin didn’t pick up any significant knock during the run in. If he had, we would have been back to Flamini and a recovering Arteta.

This is the spot that needs a complete overhaul. Flamini and Arteta must go. Bielik will need at least another two years, even if he lives up to his full potential. This is the position that should draw the big money transfer and the Gunners should go after it early, as they did with Alexis.

There are several decent candidates, many already in the rumor mill. Schneiderlin has always been on the brink, though we may now be competing with deeper pockets for him. He has excellent size and plays for a very similar system at Southampton. The downside is that he is prone to injury. Arturo Vidal, who seems to be part of a predicted but inexplicable Juventus midfield fire sale, is the second. The downside to him is that he is a booking magnet.

Geoffrey Kondogbia received widespread praise for his performances against Arsenal

One who isn’t mentioned as much is Kondogbia of Monaco. He caught my attention in the two Champions League fixtures. With his size, speed and two-way ability, I am almost tempted to invoke that term “the next Patrick Viera”.

Last, but not least, a guy who has been linked with the Gunners in the past, Carvalho. I have only seen him play as a sub for Portugal, but he operates very self-assuredly in that holding role and shows plenty of skills on the front foot as well.

Of the four, I like Kondogbia the best; Carvalho may represent the best price-performance value. Having any one of them would be the most important piece in pushing the Gunners into contention for the big prizes – the League and the Champions League.

Wenger could play counterattack in tough away games, with two defensive midfielders and alternate them in home games or against lesser opposition. Ah, one can but dream of such luxuries. The wait begins.