If the summer of 2011
demonstrated Wenger's deficiencies in the transfer market, the summer of 2012
has reminded observers of his primary strength: identifying and purchasing
undervalued talent. Unlike 2011 when Wenger procrastinated buying replacements for
wantaways Fabregas and Nasri, Wenger quickly moved to bring in
replacements for Robin van Persie, the malcontent striker with only one year remaining on his contract. Far in advance of van Persie's public declaration that he would not be extending his contract with the club,
Wenger had already negotiated the purchase of Olivier Giroud who scored 21 goals in France's Ligue 1 (joint top scorer) and Lukas Podolski who scored 18 goals in Germany's Bundesliga (joint 4th leading scorer). Remarkably, Wenger
purchased Giroud and Podolski for £13m and £11m, respectively. In the current
transfer market, these fees are paltry for players of their caliber of talent.
Giroud and Podolski are not Wenger's only marquee purchases on the cheap,
however. Arsenal understood that the precarious financial situation of Malaga
in Spain's La Liga presented an opportunity. Malaga were (and probably still
are) desperate for cash and fast, as several players filed complaints that they are owed back wages (among other debts owed). Arsenal, with plenty of cash on hand, may have negotiated a discounted fee for Santi Cazorla by paying most of it up-front to help alleviate Malaga's near-term financial woes. (In general, most transfer fees are paid over the course of a period
of years rather than up-front.) The transfer fee for the highly creative midfielder is reportedly around £16m, which is a great bargain for a player of Cazorla's quality.
Wenger and the club
certainly deserve plaudits for their activity in the transfer market thus far.
Even so, more questions remain than have been answered by Arsenal's
transfer activity. If van Persie leaves, which admittedly seems modestly less
likely with each passing day, Arsenal lose 40 percent of their league goals from last season. Can the new additions compensate for this dearth of
goals? Maybe but it's a big maybe. Adjusting to the Premier League can take
time, and Giroud and Podolski are good players, but they are not of van
Persie's quality.
Even more problematic for Arsenal, the back four are not improved from last season. Center back Laurent Koscielny had a fantastic season in 2011-12; can he maintain that level of play? Center back Thomas Vermaelen's positioning was very poor last season. Can he improve and play at the level that people expect him to play? While Per Mertesacker is an adequate backup at center back, if he is required to play regularly, as was the case last season, opponents will likely easily exploit his lack of pace. (As an aside, for someone as tall as Mertesacker is, he is incredibly weak in the air.) Left back Kieran Gibbs is a promising young player, but he seems prone to nagging injuries. He missed nearly 4 months of last season due to a hernia and related complications. Reserve left back Andre Santos is dangerous going forward, but he lacks the sort of defensive capabilities that are generally considered requisite to be, errr, a defender. Most worrisome for the club, right back Bacary Sagna will be out for the beginning portion of the season as he recovers from a broken leg suffered at the end of last season. I think his return in February of last season was incredibly important to Arsenal's resurgence in which they took 27 out of 30 possible points between February 4 and April 11. In my view, Arsenal are a substantially better team, both in attack and defense, with Sagna out on the field. Until Sagna is healthy, I believe that Arsenal are better off playing Francis Coquelin out of position at right back over Sagna's understudy at right back, Carl Jenkinson. Even though Coquelin is an improvement over Jenkinson, he is still a huge drop off in quality from Sagna.
Even more problematic for Arsenal, the back four are not improved from last season. Center back Laurent Koscielny had a fantastic season in 2011-12; can he maintain that level of play? Center back Thomas Vermaelen's positioning was very poor last season. Can he improve and play at the level that people expect him to play? While Per Mertesacker is an adequate backup at center back, if he is required to play regularly, as was the case last season, opponents will likely easily exploit his lack of pace. (As an aside, for someone as tall as Mertesacker is, he is incredibly weak in the air.) Left back Kieran Gibbs is a promising young player, but he seems prone to nagging injuries. He missed nearly 4 months of last season due to a hernia and related complications. Reserve left back Andre Santos is dangerous going forward, but he lacks the sort of defensive capabilities that are generally considered requisite to be, errr, a defender. Most worrisome for the club, right back Bacary Sagna will be out for the beginning portion of the season as he recovers from a broken leg suffered at the end of last season. I think his return in February of last season was incredibly important to Arsenal's resurgence in which they took 27 out of 30 possible points between February 4 and April 11. In my view, Arsenal are a substantially better team, both in attack and defense, with Sagna out on the field. Until Sagna is healthy, I believe that Arsenal are better off playing Francis Coquelin out of position at right back over Sagna's understudy at right back, Carl Jenkinson. Even though Coquelin is an improvement over Jenkinson, he is still a huge drop off in quality from Sagna.
In sum, Arsenal have
made three very astute purchases in Giroud, Podolski, and Cazorla. They are in
a better position leading up to the season than most fans would have
anticipated after van Persie announced his intention to leave the club. Even
so, whether Arsenal's attacking players can maintain the potency of their scoring
threat in the absence of van Persie (should he leave), and whether the defense can improve from last season are questions to which the answers are far from clear.
Further Reading:
- David Hytner, "Premier League preview No1: Arsenal"
- Dominic Fifield, "Olivier Giroud could make a striking difference for Arsenal"
- Raphael Honigstein: "A more mature Podolski set to prosper in Premier League"
- Sid Lowe: "Cazorla lifts Malaga's prospects"
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please participate in the discussion.