The Transfer Thread (Rumours and Confirmed)

Spurs were a one-man band last season. That one man now plays his football at Real Madrid.

They've also signed a shitload of players from abroad who will need time to settle into the Premier League, settle into playing with their team-mates and settle into life in England. That's not the optimal strategy for making an improvement over one season.

Also, who are these Spurs starting XI players that are better than Arsenal's? Lloris, Vertonghen and Dembele are the only 3 that would stand a chance of getting into Arsenal's first XI. Sagna, Gibbs, Koscielny, Wilshere, Walcott, Özil and Cazorla would stroll into Spurs' first XI, even with the £100m worth of new players signed this summer. And that's before we look at the difference between the managers...

You're also ignoring the weekend's game between the sides where a) Arsenal were carrying a lot of injuries to key players and b) Lloris saved Spurs from a doing.

Arsenal will not finish below Spurs this season.

 

The market could have gone better for Arsenal no doubt, but it didn't exactly go badly by any means, and given the state it was in 24 hours ago, it's gone as well as anyone could have possibly imagined today. The club finished in the top four last season, not by a massive margin obviously, but they still did it. This is the first season in a while where a key player, or even key squad member, hasn't left. You'd obviously expect the same core of the team, which did OK last season, to improve due to its average age and the fact that they'll be playing more and more with each other as time goes on. Add to that, a solid defensive midfield option who has premier league experience and previous connections to the club, a back up goalkeeper and a world class playmaker who will fit into the style of play effectively and create the ripple effect amongst the rest of the team that transfers of that magnitude do, and you'd say it's a decent window.

And then there's obviously the statement and effect that comes from such singings. And lets be honest, this isn't the sort of singing one expects for Arsenal. The thought of a player going from being a key man at Real Madrid to Arsenal has been unthinkable these last few seasons as we've had to scrap into the Champions League each year and never had even a remote glance at the title. Ozil going to Arsenal suddenly changes a lot of perceptions about the club and can even help them get players of similar calibre in the future, something that many didn't think was possible given the state Arsenal are in.

 

Giroud-Walcott-Podolski-Sanogo is much better depth than Soldado-Defoe.

Koscielny-Mertesacker-Vermaelen-Sagna is at least equivelant to Vertonghen-Kaboul-Dawson-Romanian geezer. Particularly as Kaboul and Dawson are rubbish.

 

I also don't fully agree that it's not what we needed. There were positions where a world class player would have been more useful, but a world class players was exactly what we needed, regardless of where they played. We were pretty good against the weaker teams in the Prem last year, and despite the usual concerns about the defence, it wasn't that bad last season. We just lacked that brilliant player to take a big game, against a strong club, by the scruff of it's neck and win it for us, which is what Van Persie managed to do the year before. Özil's signature could give us that this season.

Edit: Marcuss sums it up well in his post.

 

lolwut

 

The logic that says Özil isn't really needed also says Man Utd didn't need to sign van Persie last summer. Which is absolute rubbish.

If the opportunity to sign a better player than the ones you've got presents itself, you take it.

 

What formation are you planning on playing?

And name your avatar terms.

 

So wtf is happening with Coentrao...?

Holding off on the :fap: until I see him in a United shirt.