13 Aug 2015 14:29:43
I truelly believe that the list of positions we should strenghten, be it with calling up a youngster or buying someone, just to have some cover on the bench, is 1. Left Wing; 2. CDM; 3. Striker.
Hear me out before you all go mental.
Of course our main man Alexis is great and doesn't need replacement, but as we can witness whenever he isn't playing and the Boss opts for fitting the trio of, Santi, Özil and Rambo in our midfield we lack in width. We saw that with Giroud very often going down the left providing said width. If he is on the left though there's nobody in the middle to put those crosses away.
That's why I say get cover there. I personaly promote Iwobi since he deserves his chance after his pre-season performances. Hell let's start him against Palace!
CDM is obvious for everybody to see, but doesn't top my list since we got Arteta as cover which is better than having none (like Left Wing). A player onpar with Le Coq would be better I agree so they can push eachother to new levels, something that won't happen with Arteta as backup.
Third is the position upfront. I am one of these delusional Giroud-Fanboys and truelly believe that people are far to harsh with him. Especially given his stats. Keeping him on after he got knocked-out was an odd decision I agree. He also got backup though I don't think Theo can do the trick upfront but he is better cover than Arteta is.
Getting a "worldclass"forward would improve us a lot but since goals can come from everywhere with our team shouldn't be our top priority in my opinion.
I wouldn't reject either Lewa or Benz though (who I prefer in that order)

{Ed025's Note - dont forget a CB mate..

1.) 13 Aug 2015
13 Aug 2015 14:50:55
I honestly believe that although there is room for improvement we don't necesarrily need to upgrade Ed that's why it didn't make my list
Do you agree with the list as it is though?

{Ed025's Note - swap a winger for a CH and yes..

2.) 13 Aug 2015
13 Aug 2015 19:53:25
Ed, would this still be your opinion if Gabriel got more first team opportunities and shows he is a big talent? Remembering Wenger has confirmed that Chambers is being treated as a CB for the future and Mertesacker has a season or two left in him, I don't think it is a top priority right now personally.

I am now on the striker bandwagon as my loyalty to Giroud was really tested after seeing his finishing (lack of) against West Ham. I thought the end of last season was just a bad spell but it's gone on too long now and an inconsistent striker isn't ideal when aiming for the PL title.

{Ed025's Note - its hard to say about gabriel TPG as i have not seen a lot of him mate, for me per is an accident waiting to happen too slow and although a good stopper not enough quality mate..

3.) 13 Aug 2015
13 Aug 2015 21:11:21
The thing about our CBs is that mert is ok, but only when he has kos to look after him. If mert gets injured, slide gabriel in next to kos and I think we'd be ok. But if kos gets injured like last season, then the thought of mert +gab/chambers/monreal is a terrifying prospect. Personally I'd like us to go for Stones (sorry ed025)

{Ed025's Note - if he was to go to anyone then i would love it to be arsenal lemon, he is a proper footballer and would flourish under wenger imo mate..

4.) 13 Aug 2015
13 Aug 2015 21:11:33
Where are these chances that we were creating for Giroud on Sunday. Was I watching something different to everyone else? He stuck one over the bar near the end after a cross from ox, by which point the game was already over. I've already said it but I'm going to say it again. Put Benzema, or anyone else for that matter, in for Giroud and we still lose that game on Sunday. You cannot put in a performance like that and then blame the centre forward, it's naive to do so. We lost because we played badly, were not incisive, and were all over the place defensively. We did not lose because of poor finishing by any stretch of the imagination.

{Ed025's Note - you make a good point UG, but for me benzema gives you a different dynamic compared to giroud, at times olivier can be a bit static and hard to find, i believe karim gives the midfield more options but hey, that could just be me mate..

5.) 13 Aug 2015
13 Aug 2015 21:48:58
No I agree with you on that one Ed. I do believe he would improve us. But pointing the finger at Giroud on Sunday after giving him that service really isn't fair.
I know what you mean about him being hard to find though. He is good in the air, but not stunning, and his lack of pace can make some good through balls look like bad ones.

6.) 14 Aug 2015
14 Aug 2015 09:01:47
ubistonk if you look at the stats we actually had 20 shots in the game and only 4 on target, if you have a more clinical striker with better movement then 1 if not more of them chances go in and we go 1 -0 up the first place and its a different game, plus if the defences fear the striker then they can not relax, that in turn makes the midfielder cover more and express themselves less, so the who game can be different.
I am a big Giroud fan and want him at the club i think he has an awful lot to bring to the team, but striking fear in defences is not one of them and clinical he is not.

{Ed025's Note - i agree breal mate