It's hard to add much more than the Arseblogger after last night's defeat to Benfica. There is no need for despair but there if nothing is done, then we are certainly in big trouble for the season ahead. A lot hasn't changed and obviously that's where a lot of the frustration comes from, this is very understandable so in my opinion.
Even with a few key men out the first choice eleven did a decent job. Gervinho looks a steal, incisive and penetrating with most that he does. Gibbs played neatly and got forward well. Szczesny led the defence well. RVP scored again and got injured again. We deserved the one nil half time lead.
The problem came with the depth in our squad, some are just not good enough while others are very very raw. This is a massive concern because given the length and intensity of our season ahead, these guys need to come into the side and pick up points for us on a fairly regular basis. Can anyone seriously say that they feel Chamakh is going to bang in 15-20 goals or that Squillaci is going to come in to keep several clean sheets?
We are less than a week away from the season's opener at Newcastle and frankly our squad is a complete shambles. We have two key men who look like leaving (Cesc, Nasri). We have a striker on his way out (Bendtner) when our reserve centre forward looks as potent as a stoned Franny Jeffers (Chamakh). We have a real lack of strength in depth in the centre back position with some struggling for form temporarily (Djourou) and others more permanently (Squillaci). We also have several injuries and several of these are in very injury prone individuals (Vermaelen, Theo, Gibbs).
If nothing happens in the next week then it will speak volumes. There will simply be no excuse for the lack of action in the transfer market. We need to get rid of Cesc and Nasri, we must then replace them with some real quality. On top of this we need a centre back and we must sort out the forward situation. I really hope the club has something up its sleeve. Arsene needs to change or he will fall on his sword, he must stop worrying about a million here or there, we need a strong balanced squad for the long hard season ahead. Sort it out Arsene.
