It is not uncommon for Arsenal to scramble for signings in the closing days of the transfer window. In years past, Arsenal have left nearly all their business to the last day, the most recent window being a change from the ordinary.
With a war chest of riches to spend, Arsene Wenger had the tools to do almost anything in the realm of possibility. Early in the summer, Arsenal were one of the star clubs of the transfer window. Signing Alexis from Barcelona improves the team at multiple positions, not to mention he is nothing short of a world-class player, as he showed in the World Cup.
Arsenal did an excellent job of replacing the departed players which needed to be replaced. David Ospina is an upgrade over Lukasz Fabianski, and Mathieu Debuchy started over Bacary Sagna in Brazil. Furthermore, after loaning Carl Jenkinson to West Ham, Hector Bellerin proved he could produce quality minutes after his performances against Benfica and Monaco in the Emirates Cup.
Calum Chambers was a bit of a surprise, but it’s now confirmed that he will be the third-choice center back this season. Under the tutelage of Steve Bould, Per Mertesacker, and Laurent Koscielny, Chambers could pan out to be a top, top defender. Then again, Arsenal are one injury away from having just two first-team center backs, although that was the case last season as well.
Arsene Wenger did a wonderful job of replacing those who needed to be replaced. However, he did not add to the squad as so many fans wanted him to. Last term, Arsenal were in dire need of a center forward to supplement Olivier Giroud and a tough-tackling defensive midfielder.
Both deficiencies were brutally exposed over the course of a long season; several routs against top teams showed the need for steel in front of the back line, while Giroud could not handle the burden of leading the line consistently.
Many fans were calling for a world-class center forward, but what people might not understand is that those kind of players don’t grow on trees. Diego Costa was the only world-class center forward to join the premier league, and Danny Welbeck is a better signing than most would think.
At Manchester United, Welbeck’s goal output was unimpressive to say the least, but this can be attributed to two things. First off, Welbeck was more often than not featured on the wing; he has the pace to fill that position, but his natural position is through the middle.
Secondly, with the presence of Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie, Welbeck was far from first-choice, let alone in his favored position. At Arsenal, Welbeck will likely be played through the middle almost exclusively, and given the absence of Giroud, this could be his chance to shine.
Wenger is a perennial risk-taker, but the biggest risk still lies in defensive midfield this season. Between Alexis, Welback, and Joel Campbell, Arsenal have options up top. In the defensive midfield, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini will be tasked with much of the load, a scary thought for Arsenal fans.
William Carvalho, Sami Khedira, and Morgan Schneiderlin were all seemingly available for the taking, but Wenger failed to pull the trigger on any of them. In this area of concern, there is no excuse. The funds were available, and even if Wenger overpaid for a player at the position, he would have been unanimously forgiven by fans.
Arsenal were near perfect in the opening weeks of the window. They replaced the players who needed to be replaced, and brought in a superstar attacker in Alexis. However, I don’t see this squad as that much better than last year, and that is due to the lack of hard man in the middle.
Offensively, Arsenal definitely improved, but Arteta and Flamini are both on the wrong side of 30 and aren’t getting any younger. Between now and January, Wenger should make it a priority to negotiate some kind of deal to bring in a player who sits in front of the back four.
As I said before though, Arsene Wenger is a risk-taker; always has been and always will be. However, the jury is still out on whether or not they can compete with the top teams, with their biggest deficiency still being a powerful midfielder, who they had two months to acquire.
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