No Drama

Should have known from the beginning of last night that The Arsenal weren’t going to bring anyone in when Sky Sports News (SSN) had no one camped at The Emirates or at Colney.

I amongst many others on Twitter felt drained and disappointed come 11.00pm on Transfer Deadline Day. But what was our disappointment based on?

-We didn’t buy anyone yesterday?
-We didn’t strengthen where we really needed?
-Spurs were quite active?

I think it’s a bit of all of the above.

We came out of the window having bought the least amount of players (3) and sometimes our problem in the desire for Arsenal to compete is to scream at the TV for us to buy anyone. AW always looks for the best deal, cash rich or not. Daniel Levy on SSN was hailed as having an incredible window financially. They too sold 2 of their best players (as did Arsenal) and bought quite well and in profit (so did Arsenal). Yet for us it is crisis, them it is a financial miracle. I think Levy was rather nervous when his £22m bid for Moutinho was accepted. At the end of the day, Lloris aside, they’ve replaced averagely with their secondary targets.

Enough about them. We did cast a jealous eye as SSN, sponsored by Spurs, flicked over to Spurs Lodge on occasions as their relative excitement built. But that is all it was, Deadline Day excitement rather than big deal excitement. As many tweeted, if we’d have signed Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud yesterday, we’d be very happy.

Wenger here should be applauded for getting these good deals in early. But SSN wouldn’t see it as such as it is not the Sky sensationalist drama they crave on Deadline Day.

So where I remain disappointed is not really with the First XI (once they all click) but the lack of depth in a quality squad. Time and again Wenger doesn’t seem to want to bring in quality back up that could propel us to title challengers or security of 3rd. This given our appalling jury record. What I want to see is real competition for places. Too many in our starting XI are too comfortable. Chesney is a good example. No way will Wenger drop him for Flappy or Vito. Competition is healthy.

Not bringing in a DM also seems negligently criminal. So far I am impressed with our new found Bould defensive discipline. But this has been against bang average teams. Clearly Wenger sees Diaby and co as capable. Relying on Diaby is just crazy.

Liverpool away is a tough fixture no matter what state they find themselves in. It is the anniversary of our 8-2 drubbing, and despite the disappointment of last night we go into this fixture on happier ground.

Just feel we just haven’t improved on last season in regards to the squad (how can we when we sell players like RVP and Cesc), and therefore we all know our ambition really relies on 4th.

I will ask again what I tweeted as Theo started looking elsewhere earlier this week, has The Emirates Stadium killed Arsenal FOOTBALL Club?

It is more of a business now, financial prudence is key in ensuring the club survives the worst economic conditions of a generation whilst maintaining a great stadium. Hats off to the club in that respect but we are football fans, not financial investors, who want value for money when we watch our team. Here we are getting a raw deal, and until Stan or Usmanov pump some money in, whilst City and Chelsea defy the seemingly infertile FFP, 4th is where we can only aim for for a few more years.