The Team

Revealed: The strikers and midfielders Arsenal should sign in January

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The January transfer window is almost here. It is funny that just some few weeks ago, our club announced the record signing of our young maestro namely Mesut Ozil just close to the transfer deadline. It was perfect time for all the critics who were calling for the resignation of the gaffer but he played his cards right and pulled the strings to eventually capture the gifted playmaker. In life, fortunes change in an instance and all the vitriol fizzled gradually over the next weeks. Everyone now seems to have absolute faith in the manager based on the previous results and the mesmerizing football on display. It is all based on a rhetoric considering that mixed results will instantly revive the old memories and the majority of the plastic fans will be readily castigating him once more.

It is plausible to consider that we will sign a few players in January even though the manager has always advocated for the closure of the January transfer window. We are playing some breathtaking football at the moment but the squad still appears light in some areas except for the attacking midfield area. Arteta is not your typical defensive midfielder but he is filling in well for Flamini in the few games that he has been absent. We should get a cover for Flamini since Arteta appears restricted and strained playing in the defensive midfield position although he always delivers what the boss asks of him. Gustavo would have been the ideal player bearing in mind that other players such as Ilkay Gundogan will or would not come for cheap. Other players who would cover for Flamini include Mulumbu, Diame and Yann Mvilla who are not that expensive though the first two do not fit the bill perfectly to play for Arsenal football club. The latter, Yann Mvilla has disciplinary issues hence not the Wenger-esque type of signing. We however need cover in this position since the absence of Flamini has really proved how vital he is to our squad. A good player with some strict positional sense and capability to sniff out danger and marshalling the team defensively would suffice.

In my opinion, Giroud is the best back to goal striker in the league. We have been praying incessantly that nothing happens to him injury wise since our striking department is really thin. He is also essential in our game with his hold up play where he involves all our marauding creative midfielders into the game. His nice little layoffs are pivotal to our attacks and all his capabilities triumph over his poor finishing at times. An injury to him at the moment would stifle our challenge for the title. Come January then this is an area which would be a major priority.

As usual, we are always linked to almost every player but Karim Benzema is an archetypal Wenger signing. He is young and massively gifted but the lack of confidence coupled with the exertions of playing in Real Madrid has been detrimental to his development. This is a club where other factors such as politics take precedence over football and the pressure to deliver is at times devastating. Players also need affection and the jeers from the stands in the Bernabeu have done him no good. Wenger is famed for his mastery of the art of developing players and his faith with players in crisis and eventually there is a major upturn in results. He, Wenger has scouted Benzema for many years and his interest in the player is no secret hence he would prove to be a good purchase especially under his tutelage. He would instill some confidence and trust in him since it is lacking in his game just like Mesut Ozil felt hence left Madrid. He now claims to be enjoying his football in London hence feeling all fuzzy and warm in the inside in comparison to the misery and agony in Madrid under the auspices of the Bernabeu crowd and the politicking immanent in Madrid’s nature as a club.

Alexander Pato is a name we are hearing too often as well and he is not that bad. Injuries have been derailing him including the lack of adequate focus and desire to develop his abilities but if he would reformulate some of these hindrances; he would definitely endear himself to the Arsenal faithful.

Demba Ba has ample experience of playing in the premier league hence if he is being sold at the right price devoid of any conniving from Jose Mourinho, he would be good cover for our French talisman. Either of the aforementioned would be a good deal thus at least ensuring that we mount a serious surge or assault on the league title for the first time in many years.

The prospect of signing the other strikers we are been linked with appears a little bit farfetched hence for the time being, I will not advocate for their purchase.

Carl Jenkinson on the other hand is not an able deputy of Bacary Sagna at right back. He is still prone to mistakes hence if Bacary is not going to sign a new contract, then a good and able right back would be essential. Jenkinson is one for the future hence he can bide some time on the bench waiting for his opportunity to arrive. He might also go out on loan and in my opinion, we loaned out the wrong player. Francis Coquelin’s development was definitely more advanced than Jenkinson’s hence I would have opted for him deputizing for Sagna. My guess is that he did not want to be sitting on the bench hence sought for some regular playing time elsewhere.

About our center backs, the defensive pairing of Per and Koscielny has been blossoming but I am not certain for how long will Vermaleen be willing to stay on the bench. Only time will tell. Another center back can be ideal to ensure that we have two pairs of center backs to at least change and give Per and Koscielny a breather.

Arsene, please assume the mantle now and show us that you mean business come January.

We all have a fettish for good attacking football hence I hope our game with the men of steel, coal and beer from the Ruhr region of Germany will not disappoint. Up the Arsenal. Crash Dortmund. Or at least a draw can be satisfying to be modest.

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