No fan could have imagined that we would start 2014 top of the league after the 3-1 defeat against Aston Villa on the first day of the season. But the team has gelled perfectly after so many seasons of potential but no follow through. We have a solid back 5 of Szczesny, Sagna, Per, Kos and Gibbs having only conceded 18 goals all season in the league, 9 of those came in two games and we have only conceded once at the Emirates since the end of October in all competitions. Our midfield has once again been our strongest point, with Flamini, Arteta, Rambo, Gnabry and to an extent Ozil all impressing. Giroud has often led the front line admirably proving to be a great target man and has weighed in with his fair share of goals. But his form has dipped of late despite the winner at St James Park, before that goal a lot of fans were getting on his back and he looked very much like a player who could use some decent competition up front.
So things are looking good, but here we are in January with the transfer window once again open and the chance to add a couple of players to what is now a depleted squad and give the option to have a bit of squad rotation and rest key players when necessary. Every game in all competitions between now and the end of the season is huge in the eyes of all Arsenal fans with even the most skeptical fan starting to dream that we can finally win something for the first time in 9 years, the pressure is most definitely on Arsene Wenger to deliver more than ever now. But the big question is, will he add that little bit of extra quality this month? Once again he has been toying with the media and us by one minute stating that if he finds a special player than he will go for him and then the next saying he is happy with what hes got.
It’s common fact that Giroud won’t be able to lead the line on his own for the rest of the season, Podolski isn’t a natural finisher (preferring to play on the left behind the front man) and he hasn’t long come back from injury and looked very rusty when he played in the forward role against Cardiff.
Bendtner (despite scoring a couple of crucial goals) isn’t a good player and will probably have one decent game in 10, plus he is out injured for the next 4/6 weeks.
Theo COULD have played there but obviously now with his recent long term injury that option is no longer available. So who does that leave? I think Gnabry is a star of the future and could fill Theo’s role very well but other than him we don’t have any other players coming through who has the experience of filling such an important role.
Obviously we are not going to get Lewandowski, and I doubt very much that both Madrid clubs are going to let there forwards Benzema or Costa leave until the end of the season. Berbatov’s available for around 2 million and he could be a good short-term option and has the experience of winning the Champions League and the Premiership, plus will still be able to grab the odd vital goal. A lot of fans have mixed opinions of him, namely because of his work-rate and he does blow hot and cold more often than not, but give me Berba over Bendtner any day and maybe a move to a top 4 club may re-ignite him some what.
If not there’s always Vela who has been linked in the last couple of days the buy back price agreement that we have with Sociedad is apparently some what cheap. Vela is an interesting option having failed to make the grade at the club last time, but since moving to Spain he looks a different player and if we signed him he would provide a different option to Giroud with him being a target man and Vela more renowned for his pace. Morata, Pato and Vucinic have also been linked with the club on various loan deals but whether they are just wide spread rumours remain to be seen.