Injuries, reinforcements and Jim White – Deadline Day from a Gooner’s Eyes

I started work ridiculously early on this day, the 1st of September. So early my family were all still gripped tightly by blissful dreams and the usually chirpy birds who have set up camp outside my house were as silent as Arsene when quizzed about targets. You get the picture, it was early.

The first thing I did after making my mandatory coffee? Checked my phone for news of signings. My eyes, still bleary from lack of sleep and my fingers, still clumsy from recent slumber, struggled with this prosaic task yet after muttering many throaty expletives I managed to find myself at the foot of the information altar.

We all know what stories greeted my ugly sleepface, as no doubt even the most stoic Gunner has kept his or her ear to the ground to check whether those much-required reinforcements were being sworn in – my point is that, this was one of the first things that I did after waking. It is nearly all-consuming.

We have all, as Gooners, suffered through awful transfer windows. Many times, we have looked in through this portal with a pained expression as our rivals dined carte blanche at the signings table, tasty morsels flying hither and thither as Chelsea, City and Utd gorged themselves to the point of bursting. Even spurs and Liverpool had a spot at the banquet, spying our nose pressed onto the window and laughing heartily with an open mouth full of chewed banknotes.

We were promised the shackles had been cast aside. The debt that had acted as concrete boots had now been shrunk to a negligible size, enough so that our Gallic manager could use his extensive knowledge of the game to cast his no-doubt famished eyes across the landscape and choose without restriction players that would aid his quest to bring back the glory days of our club.

Mesut Ozil was meant to be a herald of things to come, the signpost welcoming us to warmer shores. £42.5m was spent on the bug-eyed genius, who in my opinion is perfect for our technical game. He has shown enough to warrant optimism.

This summer, after a wonderful World Cup, positivity was rife amongst fans. The Ozil capture and the price tag showed that Wenger was ready to spend. The fact that he was spending his time playing football on Sao Paolo beaches and chatting to beautiful women was enough to send some frothing at the mouth, even though it was still July. The best was yet to come though.

Four signings. Done early. Covering all departments. A back up keeper who covered himself in glory at the World Cup for his country. A right-back who replaces the outgoing Sagna. A promising young defender who can play in the holding midfield role. The cherry on the cake, the roast potatoes in the roast dinner, the pinnacle though, was Alexis Sanchez, Barca’s number 9. A fantastic set of stats, a frankly breathtaking World Cup campaign and a gargantuan price tag silenced the frothers, set the cat amongst the pigeons and keyboard warriors wrenching themselves from the computer and for the first time in eons, leaving their stink-filled pits and embracing daylight.

Sanchez and Ozil are world-beaters. True stars who can make the difference. Not a 15yr old French kid who worked part-time at the petrol station that Dick Law stopped at to fill up his Austin Maestro. What a shock to the system.

The optimism lasted until the start of the season. My opinion was that a lack of a holding midfielder would hinder us once our usual injury curse kicked into gear. Not even the assured displays of Debuchy and the surprising showings of Chambers could warm the hearts. The aforementioned injury jinx then bit. Not a playful nibble but a full-on Suarez chomper.

Giroud injured by a flying ball Vs Everton. Our main man. Our fulcrum. The crux of every attacking move, injured badly by a football. Gibbs and his hamstrings that are actually Cheesestrings, which did such an admirable job of holding up last season, finally giving up and leaving him in a crumpled heap on our treatment table. Arteta, our most cultured option at defensive midfield, out indefinitely. Ouch.

With these injuries, you could rightfully expect the last week or so to be busier than Tony Pulis’s tracksuit dealer. At this current moment, as I type with 5 hours to go before the window slams closed, not so.

I’ve proffered my opinion on our striking options many times. I happen to think that if a striker wasn’t signed, we could cope. With the versatility of Sanchez, Walcott, Podolski, Campbell and the vision of Ozil, we can keep our heads more than above water. If we click, if we gel, we can be the club equivalent of Germany. They didn’t have the familiar sight of a regular centre-forward loitering in the box, instead they had interchanging players making runs and a fluid movement that enabled easy transit into the box without the attentions of a marker. We have the technical ability to do this, but we need to gel, and quickly.

This doesn’t mean I wouldn’t welcome a No.9 with open arms. I think another CF would only boost our chances. I just think a CB was more important.

Playing through until at least January with only three centre-halves is risky to say the least, but TV5 left due to lack of opportunities being 3rd choice, so we have precedence of coping under such conditions. However, Miquel has been sold to Norwich and my rose-tinted glasses aren’t rouge enough to make me think we have enough bodies at the back. A lack of a holding midfielder is also imperative however I think we could convert Jack if needed. I will cop flak for that but on his day he’s a rugged terrier of a player who can tackle with the best of them. Should we do it? Hell no. We have money and no time for Jack to adapt to the role, so he would have to learn on the job, which brings about its own problems. When Carvalho, Schneiderlin, Bender and even Matuidi could be snapped up if enough readies were waved under the nose of hierarchy, then we should have taken the plunge. Ditto with a CB.

Welbeck and a fee of £16m was the end product of unleashing the effervescent and cocaine-addled Jim White to our eyeballs for a prolonged time. The response from Gooners was a mixture of sheer repugnancy from the fans outside the Emirates and a select band on Twitter – and from a level-headed bunch I follow – welcoming arms . I won’t pretend to be impressed with what I’ve seen from ‘Welbz’ last season. He didn’t score enough and looked to be suffering from a distinct ravaged confidence. I did do my research though.

I read a few pieces and opinions from Utd fans, ex-players and coaches. All had the highest opinion of him. We all know that he has impressive fitness levels and is full of running. What isn’t known is that his overall goal record is eerily similar to our current 1st choice centre-forward – Giroud. This is also mostly reaped from playing in a position that is ill-fitting to his preferences. He likes to play through the middle. When played in that position, he scores and with abandon. Fans of Utd recognise this. If he has been bought as a striker, with the players we have to supply him, he will score. Even his harshest critics, if they read his stats, would have to agree. We have one-hell of a player on our hands. Plus, Wenger knows players better than we do. A qualification in FIFA 15 ratings and a degree in Youtube compilations maketh not knowledge. Whether you think Wenger has made an almighty oversight this window or not, he knows better than us.

I think Wenger is still the best man for the job. I have stuck up for him in the tough times and I’m of the opinion that no-one could’ve replicated the results he grinded out when the money tree had wilted and our rivals were breathing down our necks for the Champions League slot. He can still get us there.

Surely though, we should be aiming for the Title? Our revenue and club size state that the League is the carrot that should be dangled in front of our players, not the fabled 4th place.

This window didn’t reap what I had hoped for – but Welbeck will aid us significantly. I am of the thinking though, that we might be light at the back though – not forgetting our tendency to drop like flies throughout the season.

I’m not a Wenger Out man. I say with pride that I’m a Wenger In – I remain objective enough to realise that if we are forced to play Monreal at CB or are forced to give any of our current crop of Rambo, Jack, The Ox etc an apprenticeship in the holding midfield role – our failings on the pitch will fall on his shoulders and his alone. Shad Forsythe – you are really going to earn your money.