1) Arsenal brought in Alexis Sánchez, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina, Calum Chambers and Danny Welbeck this summer, would you like to have seen a defensive midfielder and possibly a centre-half come in? And as for this summer, would it have been a successful summer even if Wenger doesn’t bring in the much-needed defensive midfielder and/or the centre-half?
It was important to replace the players that departed; Łukasz Fabiański, Thomas Vermaelen and Bacary Sagna. The club brought in impressive replacements for all three. Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers have started the season very well, whilst I’m sure David Ospina, once he returns to full fitness, will prove a worthy competitor for the number one shirt, along with Wojciech Szczęsny.
Alexis Sánchez has had a bright start to his Arsenal career and should fit in perfectly. It will be interesting to see where Arsène Wenger puts the Chilean once Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, our final summer signing, are brought into the squad. Welbeck is perhaps the most intriguing addition this summer. It’s unusual for Wenger to add players from direct rivals, though, the disappointment Manchester United fans displayed upon his exit suggests Arsenal have added a promising player to their squad. The England striker is still only 23 and provides pace, movement and strength up top. Despite the excitement with which the five new faces bring, there’s still a feeling the squad remains short. Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini are the club’s only options in the defensive midfield area – both are ageing and limited, and, even if their wealth of experience is pretty handy to have around, it’s probably better to have in the dressing room, as squad members, rather than first-teamers. Further centre-back cover was a priority, but the failure to bring in one means it’s imperative Arsenal don’t pick up any major injuries in defence.
2) To win the title, do Arsenal need more strength in-depth? Because if you look at Chelsea and Manchester City, they are very strong when they can bring on players like Oscar, Sergio Agüero, Fernandinho, André Schürrle, etc.?
Arsenal can be pleased with the strength-in-depth throughout many areas of the squad; goalkeeper, right-back, left-back, attacking midfield and the wings seem to be covered adequately. It’s at centre-back and in defensive midfield where the issues may arise when the winter months arrive. Despite the lack of a world-class centre-forward, in Welbeck, Walcott, Alexis, Lukas Podolski and the very raw Yaya Sanogo, Wenger will feel he has enough to get by in the absence of the injured Olivier Giroud.
3) Is Arsène Wenger still the right man for the job? We see many every week unfairly criticise the Frenchman for his inability to bring in the adequate needs?
You can understand the frustrations of many supporters when they see Wenger fail to bring in those one or two extra players who could make the difference between a first title in over a decade and another season battling for fourth-place. It looked certain that Arsenal would add someone like a William Carvalho or a Luiz Gustavo, but instead Arsenal are offering Arteta a contract extension, Wenger did say after the draw at Leicester recently “we got the messages today, we couldn’t win and we need more strikers” before signing a £16m forward in Welbeck the next day – it’s unclear, given Wenger’s ‘poker games’ in the transfer window if there is a direct correlation between these two incidents.
4) Should Arsenal have brought in another couple of bodies on transfer deadline day because we all know that the inevitable injuries will occur? With Mikel Arteta, Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs all out at the moment.
It’s expected that Ospina, Arteta, Walcott, Abou Diaby and Kieran Gibbs should all return for the game with Manchester City, which would give Arsenal plenty of options to choose from. As explained, the squad has a plethora of talent in many positions, but the lack of players in certain areas is a concern.
5) With a full-strength Arsenal side that includes Walcott, Gibbs, Özil, Sánchez and Giroud, do you think we can avoid heavy away defeats at Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, maybe even get some results in those games? We feel extremely unlucky when we are hampered with injuries, I strongly believe that if we had Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott injury-free for the back part if last season, we would have won the league.
I agree. It’s incredibly depressing when Arsenal pick up a mountainous list of injuries which derails the season. Unfortunately, fully fit squads are a rare commodity in modern football, which is why the deepest squads are often the ones lifting silverware at the end of the campaign. The heavy defeats at Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool last season were a consequence of many factors; lack of a sufficient tactical game-plan, a few poor officiating errors, not performing on the day and of course, injuries. Wenger may need to adjust his strategy this season in the trips to our title rivals.
6) Who are you most looking forward to watching in an Arsenal shirt this season and why?
Alexis is a player who excites me greatly. He has a bit of everything; pace, skill, dribbling ability, goals, assists and versatility. We’ve seen this already. Where he plays long-term will be intriguing to see.
7) On The Clock Cast, we often moan about Olivier Giroud but do you think he could become a much better centre forward with Sánchez, Özil and Walcott behind him? Maybe he could improve his pace because of the attacking abundance we have when everyone is fully-fit?
Giroud is a very good striker. He isn’t, however, a world-class striker, and it’s unlikely he will become one. When you see Radamel Falcao, Luis Suárez, Diego Costa, Álvaro Negredo and the like moving clubs during the window, it disappoints many Arsenal fans that the club shows little interest in bringing in a top forward. The late, unplanned, addition of Welbeck, though, gives Wenger a good alternative up top and he has plenty of potential and, importantly, knows the Premier League well.
8) Where do you think Arsenal will finish in the league this season? And how far do you think Arsenal will reach in the FA Cup, Capital One Cup and Champions League respectively?
It’s always difficult to predict where clubs will finish in a season, of course. Arsenal have improved their squad, but so have Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. Then there’s Tottenham and Everton who have kept their squads strong and have great trust in their managers. There isn’t another League where the strength is so intense. How United adapt under van Gaal and how their ‘galactico-style’ signings fit in will be imperative in their season. Should it all click at Old Trafford, Arsenal’s proud record of 17 successive seasons in the Champions League may be under immense pressure.
I see Chelsea winning the title, with Manchester City finishing runners-up. The 3rd and 4th positions will be between Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the teams to beat in the Champions League, whilst Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Paris-Saint Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City aren’t far behind. Then there’s Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool amongst others….it’s a seriously difficult competition to win. For me, a sustained title challenge, finishing in the top four and retaining the FA cup would be a brilliant season for Arsenal.
9) Would you take finishing fifth and reaching the Champions League final or finish fourth and reach the last sixteen of the Champions League?
Certainly finishing in the top four and exiting in the last 16 of the Champions League.
10) The beginning part of last season showed that Arsenal could really do something in the league last season, if we stayed injury-free but brought in a centre-half and a defensive midfielder, can we win the league and maybe a cup as well?
When you don’t win the title for 10 years, belief that you can win it disappears. Should Arsenal keep their key players fit and get going, like we did last season up until February, then there’s always a chance!
