By: Mark Finlay
3/5/14
It is so hard to be an Arsenal fan at times especially when you feel as if you could do a better job than the man in charge Arsene Wenger.
Forgetting the past glories when he first came to the club we have a new generation that have not yet tasted success while paying the highest ticket prices in the country to watch their team.
This season apart from the match against Aston Villa and the two crushing defeats at the hands of Liverpool and Chelsea along with the 6-3 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad the Gunners were top of the table for most of the season until the injury list started to pile up.
What this says to me is that we need a squad similar to Chelsea and Manchester City if we want to be able to compete both in Europe and in the Premier League.
Liverpool have done well this season thanks in part to the good work put in by manager Brendan Rodgers and the fact that they had no European competitions to worry about, but now they have qualified for the Champions League next season you can bet that they will have their transfer targets lined up ready to sign before the World Cup kicks off on June 12th in Brazil.
All the top clubs both here and in Europe will be looking to get all their transfer dealing done soon fearful that the player they want to sign will have a good showing at the tournament and that not only will their price go up but it would also have other teams now bidding on the player you want.
Mister negative Arsene Wenger however is already bracing Gooners for a let-down this summer by claiming that the World Cup will make it difficult for Arsenal to sign players before mid-July.
Every transfer window Arsenal fans are told that Wenger has a war chest of limitless funds available yet rather than sign a couple of players in January which might have made a difference in the title race Wenger signs a player with a bad back from Moscow.
The basic thinking among the fans is that this summer Arsenal need to sign two strikers one of whom should be a top class finisher and another who can play anywhere across the front line, a central midfielder for the aging Arteta, a new right-back and a centre-back, along with a backup goal keeper that can be used in Cup competitions and the Champions League.
There you are simple enough right! Plus hopefully a fourth place Champions League spot will be achieved this weekend giving Arsenal added money for new players.
The 64-year-old Frenchman already however appears to be readying the fans for a summer of disappointment telling the Daily Mirror: “It will be busy, but the main thing for us will be to keep the stability because we feel we are close. We want to add something that makes us even stronger, but, number wise, it will not be massive.
“From my experience, the World Cup years have always been very quiet until the end of the World Cup, with no players reachable.
“Everybody is focused in the country on their national team and there’s not a lot happening. People are away.
“I believe this year again you will have to wait until July 15 to start going.
“You are not the only one who decides when the business is done because it’s down to availability of players and the clubs who sell decide that.”
Not exactly the type of positive news Arsenal fans were expecting to hear as Wenger prepares us all for the speech in August when he says he could not find value in the market just so long as Arsenal PLC keep making a profit nothing will change at the Emirates and it will be business as usual for Stan Kroenke and company.
We would love to hear your comments on this as to what you think will happen with Arsenal this summer and if they will sign a big name striker or not?
