In the wake of the 4-1 win over Newcastle, Arsene Wenger says that a January purchase is on the cards to provide some defensive depth.
Having had to play Mathieu Debuchy at centre-half today, the need for another central defender is obvious. And with the post-game news that Laurent Koscielny is going to be out for ‘a couple of weeks’, the requirement is now pressing.
Asked by BBC Sport if he’d be active in the window when it opens, Wenger said, “Well yes, with Koscielny we’re a bit cautious and we need cover.”
It means the Frenchman will join Aaron Ramsey on the sidelines for next weekend’s trip to Anfield but the reassurance of a January signing is some small comfort in the meantime.
Meanwhile, the Arsenal manager praised his team after the win, saying, “We can score goals and overall it was a dynamic game. We were solid defensively and going forward always dangerous.
“The most important thing is that our fans go home happy because we won.”
Things we learned today-
1.Giroud loves home.
2.Ox is unstoppable.
3.Hector Bellerin runs like Cristiano Ronaldo.
4.Debuchy is in yakuza.
5.Porky Pig took over commentary for the cazorla penalty.
Santi Cazorla is a genius.
I dont know if Newcastle were too poor or we were too good! But i think if Debuchy plays like the way he did considering its his first time as CB, i lost count how many times he goes in for the ball, assuredly, with his head, foot, body. It was good to see. But if he performs like this again, the boss may do the unthinkable and regard him as the ”5th” emergency CB behind Kos, Per, Chambers, Monreal. It may affect our Jan business though i hope not but you never what that guy(Arsene) does and doesnt do… Read more »
It was mostly us being very good, I thought.
I would presume that Debuchy has catapulted himself to 4th choice CB, and I’m not sure it matters too much in terms of getting in a player, as we simply don’t hae enough bodies, regardless of their versatility.
Hmm.. I’d rather say Chambers is Mertesackers preferred replacement, and Debauchy is Kosc’ replacement. With Debauchy’s mobility and willingness to attack the ball Mertesacker was again allowed to play on his strengths rather than his weaknesses. It was enjoyable to watch. This was certainly the second best choice as far as pairings go we’ve seen so far.
With Bellerin emerging as a decent RB alternative now I’m actually more concerned about getting a DM and/or getting the right player, rather than the get-fucking-anybody attitude I had before this game.
I dunno, having seen what happens with Bellerin/Chambers together I still want another CB, maybe it was a freak performance against Stoke and they should improve with games but I’d rather not risk it.
I do agree with the first part, aside from that I’d prefer to see Chambers partner either of Per or Kos with Debauchery at RB, but todays partnership did complement each other fairly well.
Agree.
Debuchy did a great job and showed a versatility and intelligence which was surprising. However, one thing he lacks is height and in the long term if we are truly trying to build a solid backbone to the defense we need an intimidating central pairing.
This said, if we can bring in youngsters like Bellerin and blood them (it’s easy to forget Chambers shouldn’t be first team yet) and then have players like Debuchy becoming more versatile then all bodes well – maybe there is a silver lining to this chaotic period.
For all the plaudits Koscieny gets, how tall is he ?
Um….the entire point of this fucking article is because Wenger said he will be buying a defender in Jan.
Newcastle were too poor?…really!,,,,,,same conclusion as those negative pundits?….from an arsenal fan? why is it that when arsenal win convincingly, its always because “the opposition is poor” or “the scoreline is flattering”, blah blah blah! and yet when chelsea or man city beat the same team, by the same scoreline, they are the “best team on the planet”, according to these experts? …..could it not be possible that the reason why newcastle “were too poor” was because arsenal was so good they made their opposition “look poor”? ……given that this is the newcastle team that just last week defeated the… Read more »
i don’t know, Cesc had the highest assists in all of Europe when he was playing for us, I think he has the most in the premier league now. He was certainly the most creative Arsenal player during his last 3-4 years at the club -although he did get injured a bit, it is Arsenal you know.
Agree the media are haters, but Cesc is world class and I think Arsene should have looked hard at some of our current squad members and brought him back.
When Cesc went ‘on strike’ to get his move away from us, he knew he wouldn’t be coming back here.
It’s the same here in Brazil with Botafogo’s fans
A loan then.
At least Chambo is back next week.. but goodness me, injury situation is disastrous even by our standards.
Well i for one for debuchy looked solid. Good enough for a 4/5th choice CB anyway. But good to hear Wenger aint going to use that as an excuse.
It’s going to be a tough market for a top CB in January; lots of teams are trying to find one. At least now we can offer more certain playing time than when Mertescielny is ticking.
I know that a lot of clubs are trying to find one, but I don’t buy the argument that we cant find/secure the right targets. Mertesacker is 30 and Koscielny 29. Why cant we bring in someone young that will be ready to learn from these two highly-regarded defenders for now and take their chance when they get it? There are a good number of targets if you ask me. Winston Reid -If nothing else matierializes, we should at-least sign a pre-contract with him in Jan as West ham don’t want a mid-season transfer. Tyrone Mings – a 6’3 left… Read more »
I don’t know this as fact, but I get the strong feeling we had a couple of ‘younger’ CBs lined up this summer (a main target and a ‘fall-back if 1 didn’t happen) but they both decided to go elsewhere as starters. Even younger players with talent can be regular starters in other top leagues and they want to play as much as possible which isn’t something we can guarantee.
This team can only get stronger. We have been unlucky with injuries. Get one or two bodies in and watch this team blossom.
The scary part is that they are capable of playing far better than what we saw today. An unlucky team will get a mauling before this season is over.
Totally agree – I think the attacking part of the squad especially. They look like they’re enjoying their themselves and really clicking.
Very pleased for Arsene today. Good performance, and the fans singing his name will have given him a boost. I don’t buy the ‘£8million a year, people can say what they like’ line of argument. He’s still a human being.
A CB is desperately needed. Even planning for the long term, Per isn’t getting any younger!
Great to hear fans getting behind Arsene today. Despite his failings he loves this club and does not deserve any form of personal abuse
I have never doubted, last week was just a bad day in the office!!!!! If we have some support for our defenders, we will go only upwards! COYG!
Come back, Kallstrom, all is forgiven 😉
What did he do wrong?
I have a feeling that in the last week of the transfer window (I’ll swoon if we sign a CB in the very first week), all our defenders will be fit, and Wenger will state that he won’t sign anyone since the whole defensive unit is fit 🙂 While it would be nice to have our 6 senior defenders simultaneously fully fit, we do need to sign that CB and slowly bed in young guys like Bellerin, Hayden et al. I feel like we missed a trick with Aldeweireld on loan from Athletico. CB, RB and CDM…
AW has left the team a player or two short of a dominant team for a long time, probably with the need to developing young players.
Now that we have the money and reached something of a low point (first time a banner against AW by our supporters?) in his term as our manager, hope AW does all he can to plug the gaps we have in the team.
Where’s Diaby? He’s not in the injury list yet there’s no sign if him.
“The most important thing is that our fans go home happy because we won.”
Cheers Arsene, regardless of all the shit we’ve all endured he’s still a class act.
We will still need a CBack
Metersecker is in the red.
Xmas fixtures is going to do him no favours, absolutely vital we get a CB. Preferably for the left side so Chambers & Per can stick to the right flank.
God it’s good to have debuchy back. Our season turned the game he was injured in. Massive player for us
“…the reassurance of a January signing…”
I’m optimistic but I wouldn’t be quite so naive as to be reassured 🙂
Media has a very divsive influence in todays world. There are games where the team has not played well and each one is entitled to voicing their opinion but in rough patches, as a supporter we need to get behind the club and be patient. No club is perfect.
Loved the fact that the crowd sung Wenger’s name.
PS: I watched the game on NBC SN and when we conceeded the commentrator was blurting out lines as if we had conceeded 3 in 3 minutes.
I miss Carl Jenkinson- hope he will be a solid squad player in the future- and less red card prone.
Last night we were good and them poor. There was no edge in N’castle’s attack. They lacked drive from the midfield. All said, we should be putting 5 or 6 past these teams. We create many dangerous situations but don’t make them count. But overall a satisfying outing. Few observations: 1. Bellerin is quite some way off from being a Premier league right back. Needs at least a year out on loan. 2. Welbeck is a complete value for money. He gives everything for the team. Will be a great player for the club if keeps up this spirit. 3.… Read more »
A lot of it was because we got at them and into our game from the first whistle which put the barcodes on the back foot. We’ve had that done against us but managed to gain a foothold later in the game sometimes, they didn’t.
Bring back Jenko in Jan, then sign a world class DM. The team will be lethal with everyone fit. Bring on the mugsmushers!
Watch him sign a small, fast, creative, attacking midfielder available for a knockdown price after a career threatening injury.
And a seventeen year old defender. Who turns out to be brilliant. After a few seasons anyway. Before clearing off to Man City on a free. It could happen…
Varane anyone?
Nice idea but it won’t happen.