Arsenal - We're going for it this season!

The only concrete link to a defender that Arsenal had was Swansea’s Ashley Williams. And with it also came talk of us looking at Michu. But it came to nothing, and in the end, no reinforcements were made in the defensive area of the squad.

Towards the end of the transfer window, Arsenal went back to Real Madrid in search of a winger and a striker, with rumours of us making enquiries for Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria doing the rounds. With Nicklas Bendtner close to a move to Crystal Palace, landing either or both of them would have solved the crisis in the forward line. But neither came to fruition.

And then Ozil happened. With Mourinho blocking Demba Ba’s loan move to Arsenal, Wenger also pulled the plug on Bendtner’s move to Palace, to at least have a backup striker in case the need arises.

Many have said that Ivan Gazidis and Wenger have not had any plan for the summer and have gone about it in a haphazard way, trying to sign players. But when you take a deeper look at the squad, it would seem that that wasn’t really be the case, and in fact, I would say there has been a lot of strategizing when it comes to who should be signed.

Before the signings of Flamini, Emiliano Viviano and Ozil, we had four spots in the squad that we could fill with players that were not “home-grown”. In an ideal situation, one defender, one forward, one midfielder and one goal keeper is what the club would have gone for. Instead, we have two midfielders and one goal keeper, and one vacant spot in the squad.

One can imagine what the discussions might have been in the back room of Arsenal. Clearly, when Arsenal were signing Ozil, it was not the intention to sign another midfielder, as one was already signed in the form of Flamini. Benzema or Angel di Maria would have been a perfect fit for Arsenal as they would have solved the problems with the strikers and the midfield. So, dare I say that Ozil was another signing of convenience too? Certainly looks that way – not that anyone is complaining!

After the signing of Flamini, it looked as if all attempts at signing a defender would be stopped, and more focus would be on the more forward positions in the squad. And it makes perfect sense. Flamini has already shown that he is adept at playing in the full back position, with the record breaking run in the 2005/2006 Champions League campaign. So if ever Sagna was required to fill in at centre back, or if both the Left Backs got injured, Flamini could put in a good shift.

This thought certainly made the signing of Ozil all the more easy, but the forward line was still short of strikers. But like I stated above, Podolski and Walcott are more than capable of playing in the central striker position. And since Ozil would be a certain starter in the centre of midfield, Cazorla could always start on the left, which was his position before he came to Arsenal. And on the right, there was always Oxlade-Chamberlain who could cover for Walcott, along with Miyaichi. And if push comes to shove, even Ramsey could be asked to do a job on the wings, for one or two games, even though it is not his best position.

There remains the signing of Viviano and the jury is out on whether it was really necessary. While Wojciech Szczesny is the undisputed number 1, last season showed that he was more than capable of becoming complacent. And with Lukasz Fabianski being perennially injured, he wasn’t exactly always available to keep Szczesny on his toes. With Viviano, Szczesny will know that there is an experienced keeper that is ready to take his place, though it is hard not to liken Viviano to Almunia.

On the whole, when you look at Arsenal’s squad more closely, you will see that there is not much else Arsenal or Wenger could have done differently in this window. True, a striker would have meant that we could all stop worrying about when Giroud would get injured, but all is not lost. While a measure of consistency needs to yet be imbibed to win the league, this squad is certainly equipped to win the domestic trophies and go far in Europe.

I, for one, feel that this Arsenal team is going to go for it this season. The trophy drought is sure to end this time around, not just because of Ozil, but because, finally, we have a settled squad. A squad that can, and will, win games without pressing the panic button.