(Getty)
The sale of Robin van Persie to bitter rivals Manchester United prefigured a dismal week for Arsenal. An exasperating 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland in their opening Premier League fixture sealed it.
Though the Gunners controlled possession against a Black Cats side characterised solely by gutsy defending, their performance was all-too-similar to dominant performances last term that required Van Persie’s predatory instincts to salvage three points.
Simply put, the Gunners cannot afford a repeat of last season’s utterly dismal opening to the campaign – primarily because, this time round, there’s no flying Dutchman to dig them out of trouble.
The captures of Santi Cazorla, Lucas Podolski and Olivier Giroud represent positive pre-emptive transfer market activity before Van Persie’s departure yet, for the Gunners to truly cope with the void left by their talisman, captain and top goalscorer, Arsene Wenger needs to spend big again before the window shuts.
After all, the £22 million received for Van Persie, on top of the further £15m that Barcelona added to the coffers in exchange for Alex Song, means that Wenger must have a bit of cash to play with.
Josh Clarke is convinced Arsenal need one more forward…What do you think? Do Arsenal need to strengthen further up front?
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I’ve been reading tweets about how after selling Song & RVP, Arsenal now have a net profit of around 2-3m pounds. I really think this kind of information misses the point, because now the team desperately needs to splash the cash on at least one quality defensive midfielder. Even when Song was around, a good backup was needed and now there’s none. Those supporters who talk about Wilshere should realize that he won’t be back until 2013 at best and like Sahin (if he does come), he’s not a physically imposing ball-winner.
And although Wenger has bought well so far, his new signings will take a few months to settle in. All of which means that the Gunners will be facing a very difficult first half of the season, which does not necessarily mean that they will be able to recover to finish 3rd like last season.
So, yes, he better spend that cash on some proven talent otherwise the club will be looking at a Europa-league shaped bullet come this time next year. Anyone fancy Tiote or maybe even Essien in an Arsenal shirt?
I know what you mean but if you saw the game over the weekend you’d notice, Wenger had Arteta shielding the back-four. He’s not your typical midfield destroyer, but I feel like he could play a similar role to that of Xabi Alonso at Liverpool. He’s got the range of passing, plus technically gifted. Interesting couple of weeks before the window shuts.