Arsene Wenger has taken a lot of stick throughout this summer's transfer window. Even with the transfer window closed he is probably getting more.
The reason for the discourse from Arsenal fans and TV pundits has been Wenger's 'inactivity' in the transfer window. The TV sofa 'experts' identified positions in his team that needed upgrading. One said they needed five players another said two. Even in their positions as experts they couldn't even agree on that, yet they think themselves better judges of Arsenal's needs.
One position that has generally been agreed to require an upgrade is the striker's position. The general consensus is that they need a big money striker to lift the league, (like the reason Arsenal have been failing for the past years has been a lack of goals) one club legend went as far as saying they had no chance of winning the league with his compatriot Oliver Giroud spearheading the attack.
Obviously from Wenger's utterances in his press conferences he feels an upgrade can be made. Arsenal's opening matches for the season has already seen Giroud under serious criticism. The faults for the team's failures are being laid at his feet - for being mediocre as an Arsenal friend of mine calls him - and Arsene Wenger for not buying a replacement.
While i don't think Giroud is at the level of Sergio Aguero or Luis Suarez, the fact is that he is more than useful. History has shown that having strikers who guarantee goals don't mean you automatically win the league - see Liverpool with Suarez.
Most Arsenal fans ( at least 90% of those i have come across ) believe Wenger didn't do enough to sign a better striker than Giroud. While Wenger has been known to have faith in his players sometimes bordering on blinding, that has not been the case this summer.
He rightly identified Karim Benzema as the player to improve his striking position, but was unable to get the Real Madrid player with the Spanish club not showing any sign of readiness to sell, despite Wenger being ready to spend upwards of £40m on the Frenchman.
This is where the problem is. Most Arsenal fans just don't agree with Wenger's decision not to buy another striker after he failed with Benzema. A former player of the club said Wenger should have bid up to £75m for the striker and wait and see if his club rejects the bid or if the player rejects the proposal. He said if the player then rejects the bid then he would known he tried.
However that argument made him sound like a novice despite his seat as a sky pundit. My reason being that, someone with Wenger's experience and know how would have thought of that option and weighed whether it was feasible. Instead he just allowed himself to be an all knowing expert. Even a ten year old playing Football manager simulation knows how to throw money about but the fact is that sometimes some transfer don't just happen.
Hours ago it was revealed that Chelsea failed in their move to sign Paul Pogba despite Juve accepting a bid with the player rejecting the move.
This shouldn't come as a surprise as it has been public knowledge that Pogba has his heart set on a move to Barcelona. It showed that while throwing money around Man Utd style works, it is only to an extent.
Another position being held by Arsenal fans is that Wenger should have gone after the likes of Cavani or Jackson Martinez. This type of transfer would only show desperation which doesn't solve problems. They wanted him to satisfy their demands for new signings and he smartly decided against doing that.
Will Cavani be an upgrade on Giroud? The facts and his showing for PSG since his move there shows that he is on the same level as the underrated Frenchman.
Last season, in Ligue 1, Cavani scored 19 times in 35 games. A strike rate of 0.54 goals/game - nearly identical to the 0.52 scored by Giroud despite the fact that all of Giroud's goals came from open play and him missing significant portions of the season with injury, while Cavani netted two penalties.
Jackson Martinez despite his goals has not showed anything to suggest that he will be a better striker for Arsenal than Giroud. I don't dispute the fact that he will score goals but for a signing that would have cost Arsenal more than £30m and at the age of 28 he would have delivered at most the same return as Giroud.
Wenger's refusal to just spend for the sake of it should be lauded. He only wants to sign a player better than the one he has already at his disposal and i don't think that is a bad plan.
While Arsenal could have signed a capable and younger deputy for Coquelin rather than Arteta it is not something that will be a reason for Arsenal failing to win trophies ( they are well stocked n midfield .
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