After confirming that Calum Chambers future lies in the centre of defence, rather than as a right-back, Arsene Wenger says that he’s not in the market for a central defender this summer.
The former Southampton man has been taking out of the spotlight after a season which began fantastically well slowly saw him lose form and confidence, but he’s going to be considered one of the options for centre-half next season.
And with the January purchase of Brazilian Gabriel adding depth to that area, Wenger says he’ll be concentrating on other areas of the pitch when it comes to getting his chequebook out.
“At the moment I have players who have more experience than he has but in pre-season I will play him there,” he explained.
“That means we have enough there. Debuchy can play there, Monreal can play there so you can say we are not out to buy a central defender.
“And Gabriel will be a great central defender, believe me. So we have now sorted out the centre backs.”
The right back position looks set to be a straight fight between Mathieu Debuchy and Hector Bellerin with a little bit of Jenks to keep up the competition.
dapper wenger
wouldn’t have expected one anyway. Let’s get competition for Coq and a forward, i still feel like with just Giroud and Welbeck for CF, we’re a bit light up front. Oh, and Cech if there is any chance we can get him…
I hear loris might be looking to leave spurs for champions league football. I think he’s a better player and would be a good option if we could get him for a reasonable price. Not that they would do reasonable business with us…
Daniel Levy would rather shit his pants and wear them for a week straight then sell Loris to Arsenal, so you can forget about Hugo.
Daniel Levy already shits his pants and wears it for the week leading to St. Tottenham’s day. He does it every year
Check if we can get who?
I’m sorry, I’ll be leaving now.
Cech yourself before you wreck yourself
Not too surprising. The signing of Gabriel and Bellerin’s emergence mean that our defensive depth is actually good now. Not to mention that Jenkinson’s there if Wenger really felt an extra squad player was required.
Four CB’s plus Nacho having a little experience there now and maybe even Hayden providing cover is decent enough.
And Debuchy played well there when called into action
Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal, Chambers, Hayden seems sufficient right now.
This summer we need to strengthen elsewhere.
Can we call a halt to transfer speculation this summer? Apart from being mostly a waste of time lets just see what happens. One or two in, one or two out (we know who, the older ones and/or those on loan).
Keep all the core, we have enough good/great players.
Backup a Coq, and sniff out a WC striker. Maybe Cavani?
Good illustration of my point above. Lets take a break over the summer and see what happens. It’s not like we can do anything about it and the chances are we won’t have heard of the player anyway eg Gabriel.
I tell you i would start Giroud 9 out of 10 times over Cavani any fucking day
Well for the 10th time i would rest Giroud not drop him
This basically reinforces comments made about Chamber’s future role as a CB for us. That’s 4 cb’s for next season sorted, I can’t remember the last time we had it so good in that position.
Then Wenger will have to sell Chambers after 2 to 3 years. You cannot keep a player as fourth in the rank for 3 years especially a young guy who needs development. OK, he will become 3rd after Mertsacker leaves but that doesn’t give him game time still.
You are not accounting for injuries and fatigue. I think Chambers will be fine. He looks like a stable lad who understands the importance of patience. He can become a like for like replacement/backup for Per with his physicality and if he develops/learns from Per’s positioning/anticipation.
You make a great point, Eternal. Look at Jenko: can anyone doubt that he’s happier playing every game for West Ham than sitting on the bench of his boyhood club–or behind it? These guys have a limited time to make their mark. They want to play–they HAVE to play. Nasri has come in for a lot of criticism, much of it justified, but he was right when he said there were too many men at Arsenal who were happy to take a paycheck and hardly ever play. Those days have to end if the squad is to be championship caliber.… Read more »
Remember TV 5, the reason why the boss had to let him go ?
Because he was injured?
“Debuchy can play there, Monreal can play there” – not good enough. Hope it never gets to that stage again.
True. But now we have Gabriel.
That said, two points:
1. Monreal was more-than-adequate as a CB if you care to remember.
2. We can’t keep 4 top-flight CB’s in the side at any one time. A fourth just wouldn’t get sufficient playing time.
It should also be noted that Mertesacker is probably coming to the end of his time with us and may well leave next year unless he gets an extension. So it’ll be then that another CB will arrive. Not this summer.
Only need a DM in my opinion and I hope, and assume, it’d be someone who competes directly with Coq, not over takes him immediately. Do we really need to upgrade on Giroud though? His numbers have him up there with anyone else in the PL and he plays so well with our runners. Plus I’d rather we not risk the money for a Falcao kind of deal, especially with Welbeck taking a bigger role in the middle in all likelihood next season. I’d personally like to see that winger who can really provide that competition off the bench, but… Read more »
I largely agree with you re: Giroud. However, I do still think we need someone who unlocks the better defences in the league. He’s been found out against the top 4 (bar that strike against ManUre that gave me a full blown stonk on) and in Europe. Granted, we’ve done slightly better against the top 4 this year but I really think we need to start getting real results against Chelsea etc and Giroud doesn’t seem to have the pace or (real) quality to do that which is a shame and there are 24 points to play for in those… Read more »
Here’s the problem for me, there’s a balance in the side. If you listened to the podcast Friday, Amy made a point about the competition and group sense in the side currently . Don’t get me wrong, world-class players are clearly not untalented, but there are other implications. A DM means less time for Cazorla and Ramsey for example. Any other offensive player means another will look to leave, and I don’t mean Podolski, but Walcott in all honesty and Rosicky would probably reconsider his future as well. What a world class 9 would bring to the team wouldn’t offer… Read more »
We already bought the upgrade on Walcott last year. If we buy someone to replace him, are they really going to keep Sanchez out?
I like Mertesacker he’s a good centre half, but he can be improved upon, he’s a bit soft, very slow and not great in the air for someone who’s 6ft6.
I expect all thumbs down… But the reason we’re doing better is because we’ve signed better players, why stop now? Hummels is Potentially available? and easily one of the best in Europe.
Can’t say I’m confident that Arsene is ruthless enough to take us back to the top.
Expecting another off season of frustration and another season of what if’s!
It’s not as if Mertesacker hasn’t played during this run. In fact he has played more often than not. People seem very quick to have a go at Per but I love me some BFG!
Agreed. Love Per a lot. Not as much as I love Kos but that’s pretty much impossible because Kos is superhuman
i echo your sentiments rich. we just bought Ozil and Sanchez, they have immediately transformed us to a a side that looks like it could win a title. whats wrong with calling for 2 more players of the same calibre in the aforementioned (previous post) positions and get us a title next year. Barca bought Neymar and Suarez and have effectively reclaimed Laliga. Real Madrid got Bale and Modric, the latter won em the Champions league. PSG got thiago silva and Ibra ..and straight away guaranteed ligue 1. its not rocket science that we need atleast 2 worldclass players in… Read more »
Although I rate chambers, it’s one thing having numbers in a position, which is necessary, but another having the quality. I’m sure chambers and Gabriel will turn out to be great players, but we still only really have two proven, experienced central defenders at present. Also there’s a lot of talk about finding backup players to others. For me we should only be looking for a couple of top players who can challenge or take the first choice spot. We have plenty of good youth for squad players. For me the most important player would be a top striker. I’m… Read more »
Before he joined us, Gabriel was a regular starter in league and Europe for a very respectable Spanish team.He has since then been selected for Brazil national team as well. I don’t think Wenger can keep him happy with bit part appearances next season. So, adding another experienced CB into the mix won’t help our balance.
I disagree about the defence. I think Gabriel would certainly be good enough now to be first choice if required. Think he’s shown that at Villareal and in his appearances with us so far. Especially next season when he’s had time to settle. And chambers is better than most 4th choice in the league and he’s only going to get better. Adding another proven, experienced centre half would be overkill in my opinion.
I agree that we’ll be targeting top players this summer though. If walcott leaves I can see that being a winger.
I do like it when the boss says “believe me” at the end of his statement that Gabriel is very good. I for one believe you Arsene. I would settle for a top top dm to give comp for our coq. Very exciting times to be a gooner.
Do we really need another centre back? The answer is NO. So Prof. Wenger is right
For the first time in many years I am not eagerly looking forward to transfers.
Wenger should buy who he wants, for real.
I would think a goal scoring forward and a physical midfielder would’ve have been the best, but what do I know?
You take care of it Wenger , let me take care of these med text books right here.
Hopefully One day I will be Arsenal team doctor or future replacement for Chad, one can only dream. Okbye
i hope you make it too
We just need a goal poacher and an assistnance for Le Coq other areas we’re well equipped
Assuming nobody leaves I would be quite happy with just the one signing (competition for the Coq).
Of course if quality becomes available then go fur it, but I certainly don’t feel the need is anywhere near as great as previous years.
Even if Theo goes Ox and Ramsey have shown themselves able, and there is young Gnabry who we were all quite excited about before injury.
We need a striker and CDM.
Striker….. if its not Benzema or Cavani then they can aswell fuck off.
CDM…… if its not Kondogbia, Schneiderlin, Calvarho then they too can aswell fuck off.
Those we absolutely NEED, a goalie we can AFFORD.
Yawn, already.
Kindly support your “yawn”
It’s the greatest yawn the world has ever seen.
See my earlier comments for how we can’t affect transfers, don’t know who Wenger will buy and how many fashionable names get thrown around. Would we now say that Kos, Gabriel, Monreal etc were bad signings? I wasn’t aware of any of them before Arsenal bought them. Have a break at the end of the season, don’t get tied up on the sort of names you’ve suggested and come back fresh late in July and see what actually happened. That’s my plan rather than getting excited about things that 99% of the time won’t happen (each summer we are linked… Read more »
All the players you’ve mentioned came good in the 2nd to 3rd season in an Arsenal shirt. we want to win the title next season. we dont have time to let someone come into his own hence my suggestion of these 2 worldclass strikers + Higuain….. so imma tell you what “yawn” is, it’s falling short again next year because Arsene chose to go for Dybala instead of Benzema thus leading to the all to familiar situation we’re in right now.
THAT IS THE YAWN!
The yawn is on the pointless speculation, do you really think anyone influential is listening to you (or me)? You’d take Falcao, Balotelli, Di Maria etc, they came good in their first season? Just buying a ‘world-class’ striker doesn’t necessarily work, unless you play FIFA. But I agree, you make a good point that we want to win the league. Keeping the current squad together (with their automatisms) and injury free are priorities, along with a good start to the season. We need to be patient with new signings, they won’t all have an Alexis impact. We were the top… Read more »
You’re swimming against the tide. If speculation bothers you, my advice would be to stop clicking on and reading articles and comments regarding transfer speculation.
Some people enjoy the summer speculation. Why not let them enjoy it instead of lecturing them?
No problem, just trying to save people time and effort, there are better things to do with your summer than look through 150 odd click-bait speculations and debate them. I’ve learnt not to bother a few years ago, after initially thinking that the journalists must know something, so it doesn’t concern me at all as I won’t be involved.
And not trying to lecture, you can do what you want.
Oh God/Dennis, not the “best team of the calendar year” trophy nonsense. Give it a rest with the made up achievements. Madrid won 22 matches in a row earlier this season but if they don’t win LaLiga (which is very likely) the club & support will forget that 22-match win streak & the season is a failure. THAT is the level of ambition we need to strive for, definitely not the imaginary “consecutive-UCL participation” trophies or “best team in a calendar year” trophy.
Thumbs up for that, that is what we need if we are planning to win PL as well as CL
I would add higuain in to that lists of strikers, let’s hope Napoli won’t qualify for cl next season, dm is
a must too, not only for
competition for Coq but
also because we need to
rotate players.
I don’t think Higuain would add much more than Giroud, in all honesty. His stats in arguably an easier league aren’t much higher than Giroud’s. Higuain played second fiddle to Benzema for his duration at Real Madrid and Giroud is currently second fiddle to Benzema at international level. Giroud is a great player who is a work horse, he does fantastically well bringing the players around him into the game and should get a lot of credit for that. Whilst I share the sentiment that he isn’t at the top level, I really don’t see any viable option we could… Read more »
We could see if Barcelona would sell Suarez for 75,000,001 pounds……
If Dick Law had his way, he’d offer £50,000,002. I still can’t believe we did that.
Wenger has spoken and that is final. Am looking forward to another surprise package from the Le Prof goody bags. interesting time to be a gooner. Owen remains a cunt.
Personally i feel a goalscoring right winger should be an option. You dont need a Aguero or Costa getting 30+ goals if you have Sanchez Giroud and a new signing gettin 20 each! Would love to see Marco Reus
What happens to guys like Ox? Let alone Theo?
I think we do need a replacement keeper. Szczesny and Ospina are both good, but neither is setting the world alight – certainly all the other top 4 teams have better keepers, as do Spurs (and a couple of other mid-table teams, to be honest). A genuine world-class, 30m+, experienced goalie (when did they become “keepers” instead of “goalies”, by the way?) would really help to lock that defence down. Other than that I’m pretty happy – I hope we do bring in players to replace Podolski, Rosicky, Diaby and Flamini, and it’d be nice if at least one of… Read more »
What has Ospina done wrong? What more can he do? How should he “set the world alight” exactly?
If my goalkeeper quietly goes about his business and keeping clean sheets like he has been doing, then I’m happy enough. hope it continues
Agreed on most of this except the “goalie” parts! Our current keeper, despite this being his first season, has not “lost” any games for us, but our attacking players have missed chances in all our biggest games this season. No-one had more clean sheets than our No.2 last season and is he is younger than our No.1, so they’re both where they should be. It’s fine to say get a new keeper and if were to secure a better keeper than Sczeczsny that would be ideal, but if you downplay the important contribution of Ospina, then it’s hard to be… Read more »
Assuming that is correct then a holding mid fielder is where we are at.
And probably a striker. In fact definitely one if Walcott goes.
We’re fortunate to be in a position where 2-3 squad players out and 2-3 in should do it this summer. This season we added pace and physicality to the attack with Welbeck and Sanchez, and defensive cover with Gabriel, Debuchy and Chambers. The key stat line that needs boosting is goals – if he’s not buying a centre-half I hope it’s because he’s banking his money on an expensive goal-scoring midfielder, or an even more expensive striker/forward. With our unpredictable transfer strategy and the strangely levelled-off state of the top-level transfer market, who these players are will remain a mystery… Read more »
We need Pogba, Reus, Lloris, Varane, Draxler, Moratti to sit on our bench just in case.
*and Veratti.
Sorry
With Wenger, you never know what will happen, maybe our first signing will be a WB….I cannot see that happening, especially as he is of the opinion that Debuchy and Monreal can fill in there should the need arise.
On another point, how often has the same team played on consecutive Monday nights in the Premier League?
I would still like a top notch striker if possible, but they are few and far between, so reckon we must pin our trust on Giroud next season aswell. But I feel Giroud has been hyped up so much this season by people taking his best string of games and posting stats for those games only which only make up half of his games played. looking at the whole season you get a different picture. You can make anyone look good by only including their best games in your evaluation of the player. In 23 appearances he got 14 goals… Read more »
Careful now…the giroud fanboys will come out in full force and call you negative. Thats the reason why I’m starting to dislike the guy…gets overhyped for no good reason. Of all the first choice strikers we’ve had in the last 10 years, giroud probably comes last….yet we hear how we can’t survive without him and what not.
Good analysis, but still backing Giroud here. I know his passing isn’t an “Artetaesque 98%”, but he’s also a big man trying to pass in the most crowded area on the field. And at least he looks to move the ball. I’m not going off of numbers, but I would back on his attempts being at worst top 3 of all strikers in the league, which shows an interest in distribution we wouldn’t see from a world class kind of 9.
Giroud spends most of his time wrestling with two or three thugs all through the game. If Aguero had them hanging onto him like they do to Ollie the ref would be puce in the face from blowing his little whistle and awarding free kicks and lots of cards. Aguero would spend most of the match on the floor or getting injured, and probably not scoring many goals. Because it’s Ollie and it’s Arsenal they can do what they like. I’d be amazed to see any other striker manage what Ollie does, not only does he manage to score a… Read more »
We’re going for reinforcements in attack with another (at least) 15 goals/season player.
It all depends on pre-season for me. If Walcott improves his game all around, we’ve got a great front 3 with Alexis and Giroud beside him. If Chambo improves his decision-making and final ball, we’ll still have a great front 3. Or, to keep everyone on their feet, Wenger could just buy a creative, dribble-loving attacker and we’ll have an amazing front 3. Maybe Dybala or even Draxler? Getting a DM depends on whether Chambers impresses there or not during pre-season. If he does, we’ll probably get nobody. If he can’t play the holding role, he’ll be CB and Wenger… Read more »
Someone young…like Bieilik?
Chambers will be CB (3rd in line), not a DM. Back up for DM would be good in case of injuries to our Coq. Lets hope TW improves his all round game and gets back the form he was in before his injury at WHL.
If one more pundit insists we need a centre-half I might punch something. I don’t think we do. We have four of them and I trust them all. A composed, vocal goalkeeper is the priority.
Why is there an advert link to Chelsea’s online store on this page?
And we dont need a WC striker …give me a break .. you think aguero would have missed that wallcot chance
No Jenkinson. Chambers cut his mustard as RB for Soton.
Bellerin and Debuchy
Monreal and Gibbs
Metersecker Koscielny Gabriel and Chambers (utility)
Plenty.
We need a CM who can replicate some of Diaby plus cover at DM.
Coquelin will be first choice and then either of Flamini or Arteta.
We also need a player to replace Walcott should he leave (looks like he is fishing for offers this summer in not signing contract and dragging on proceedings). Bearing in mind Rosicky will likely also retire, probably someone with quick feet and able to play as quasi-striker.