After last season, I was convinced that having come so close to major success, Arsene would be more ruthless in the transfer market than in recent seasons. When he came out and declared that we needed another creative player (which I assumed was to provide cover the inevitable injuries of the likes of Rosicky and RVP), and a tall defensive player (to make up for Kolo and Gallas' lack of aerial authority, and the disappearence of Gilberto from the first XI), I was convinced that Arsene would indeed be ruthless. These two minor adjustments to last season's squad would probably be enough to make up the small gap between us and Man U (4 points).

This summer has been so bad that, in just a couple of months, I've gone from being sure that we'd push on from last season to expecting us to struggle majorly. A lot of this has been down to the loss of Flamini and Hleb, and the seeming will of Adebayor to leave, all of which was mostly out of Arsene's hands. However, Flamini, as integral as he was last season, is replaceable. Hleb, as important as he was to our passing and ball retention, wasn't comparable in terms of importance to someone like Pires, and in Nasri, we have a good replacement. Adebayor, who would have been a major loss, fortunately (I think - perhaps I'm in a minority here) stayed. So basically, in order to push on from last season, we needed to replace Hleb and Flamini, and then add the said creative and defensive pair. Arsene has replaced Hleb, but the rest has not been dealt with, and we're already three games into the season.

Other players have been signed: Ramsey, Bischoff, Silvestre; and others have been brought into the squad: Vela, Wilshere (and perhaps Gibbs). The problem is that none of these tick the required boxes. Ramsey is creative, but too young to improve the squad meaningfully. Bischoff is (apparently) creative and industrious, but hasn't played for years and may never fully recover from his surgeries. Silvestre is only marginally taller than Kolo and Gallas, and is not noted for his aerial dominance; he is, at best, cover for two positions, and moreover is injury prone. Vela and Wilshere can certainly be considered creative players, but both are young, and only the former will potentially be integral this season. Perhaps Vela was the additional creative player Wenger hinted at (I initially thought it was Nasri, but Wenger has since said Nasri was a direct replacement for Hleb), but he's considered primarily as a striker, so this is doubtful. What is more, we have let even more players go. Silvestre's arrival seemed to have added depth, but it's been trumped by the departure of Hoyte, Senderos and Traore. More worrying is that the arrival of the inexperienced and not-yet-dependable pair of Ramsey and Bischoff has been trumped by the sale of World Cup winner and vice captain Gilberto. Basically, these signings have not significantly strengthened the squad, have not ticked the boxes Arsene identified, and have not replaced the major departures.

It seems as if Wenger has lowered his goals significantly since the beginning of the summer. First, he assured us that he'd strengthen the squad in key areas. Secondly, he claimed we'd be 'reassured' by major signings before the Euros. As it happens, we've had one 'major' signing (Nasri, who simply replaces Hleb), and the squad has been weakened. As I have interpreted Wenger at the beginning of the summer, what is still required is a direct replacement for Flamini, an aerially dominant defensive player (perhaps he can kill two birds with one stone here), and a further creative player. Arguably the last of these can be considered to be filled by a combination of Ramsey, Bischoff and Vela, but the others certainly cannot.

All of this worries me. Our squad was nearly good enough last season, and thus far it appears as though we have failed to capitalise on this, which is immensely frustrating. It's particularly strange as I have always been incredibly confident that Arsene knows exactly what he is doing, and that he has the same desire for success as the fans. However, I really cannot convince myself that he's done what's needed to be done this summer, so for the first time in years I've found myself doubting him; whether it be his motives or his judgement, I'm not sure. In particular, I just can't understand how he's comfortable with the current situation in central midfield.

I know I'm not alone (there are enough 'ARSENE OUT' people to realise that), but I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this too.

[quote]It seems as if Wenger has lowered his goals significantly since the beginning of the summer. First, he assured us that he'd strengthen the squad in key areas. Secondly, he claimed we'd be 'reassured' by major signings before the Euros[/quote]
It could be that Wenger thought he had signings lined up but they fell through for some reason ?

I trust Arsene, I don't trust the board to trust Arsene.

Arsene's hands are tied. He can do nothing about the team as it is and he's sworn never to walk out on a contract so he's basically stuffed.

That's the thing - are his hands tied? We keep hearing that there is money to spend. We've made money from transfers in the last couple of years, so surely this is the case. The transfer budget is seperate from the Stadium debt payments. Arsene's made various comments about taking it upon himself to make more money for the club by concentrating on youth, and not wanting to upset the balance by bringing in established players, so I wonder whether the lack of spending is more to do with Arsene's obsessions and principles than the club's finances.

PHW has said numerous times that Arsene doesn't like spending money. If the truth is that the club aren't providing him with the money he wants, would PHW really rub salt in his wounds by saying this?

Wenger is sadly denting his reputation and itd not a case of not trusting Wenger for me its a case of not trusting our board at all.

Still a week til the transfer window closes. Lets wait and see. I trust Wenger fully.

[quote]Still a week til the transfer window closes. Lets wait and see. I trust Wenger fully.[/quote]

Time is running out By the by, I think that we missed your boy on Saturday.

[quote]Time is running out By the by, I think that we missed your boy on Saturday.[/quote]

Definately.

[quote]That's the thing - are his hands tied? We keep hearing that there is money to spend. We've made money from transfers in the last couple of years, so surely this is the case. The transfer budget is seperate from the Stadium debt payments. Arsene's made various comments about taking it upon himself to make more money for the club by concentrating on youth, and not wanting to upset the balance by bringing in established players, so I wonder whether the lack of spending is more to do with Arsene's obsessions and principles than the club's finances.

PHW has said numerous times that Arsene doesn't like spending money. If the truth is that the club aren't providing him with the money he wants, would PHW really rub salt in his wounds by saying this?[/quote]

He is clearly held back by the board. He has bought big name players before. Bergkamp was effectively his doing. Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord, Marc Overmars, Sol Campbell etc weren't exactly nobodies when we signed them.

People here might have their problems with Wiltord but he'd just scored the goal that saved France from losing the Euro 2000 final. That added a zero to his price tag and Arsenal paid it.

Then the Emirates Stadium project started costing us money and the signings stopped.

Remind me again who had really serious concerns about the effect that putting all our money into the stadium would have on the team itself and the ability to compete.... and how he is hated for daring to voice those concerns?

[quote]Remind me again who had really serious concerns about the effect that putting all our money into the stadium would have on the team itself and the ability to compete.... and how he is hated for daring to voice those concerns?[/quote]

No idea who you are talking about. I don't hate anybody on here. It's a message board where we talk about football. Life's too short to hate people for that sort of a silly reason.

The thing is, that we're constantly told by the people at the top that we have money and financially we're coping with the debt, so we all focus on Wenger when the money isn't spent.

If those at the top aren't being totally honest regarding the financial situation, and have told Wenger to keep things tight money wise, then they're at risk of forcing out the best manager we've ever had.

Weyoun, nobody on here... hint - he was one of the directors, showed up at all the reserve, ladies and youth games and had his name tag ripped off a director's seat!

[quote]Weyoun, nobody on here... hint - he was one of the directors, showed up at all the reserve, ladies and youth games and had his name tag ripped off a director's seat![/quote]

And he loved the club so much that he sold his shares to such a lovely man. Yes he did great things for the club but he has surely burnt his bridges now.

[quote]He is clearly held back by the board. He has bought big name players before. Bergkamp was effectively his doing. Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord, Marc Overmars, Sol Campbell etc weren't exactly nobodies when we signed them.

People here might have their problems with Wiltord but he'd just scored the goal that saved France from losing the Euro 2000 final. That added a zero to his price tag and Arsenal paid it.

Then the Emirates Stadium project started costing us money and the signings stopped.[/quote]

Here's an Arsene quote from The Independent last week:

“When we decided to build the stadium I wanted to anticipate the possibility of financial restrictions, so I concentrated on youth. I also felt the best way to create an identity with the way we play football, to get players integrated into our culture, with our beliefs, our values, was to get them as young as possible and to develop them together. I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities, and with a love for the club. It was an idealistic vision of the world of football.”

Maybe Wenger's just trying to hide the fact that there's no money to spend, but to me it sounds like the lack of major spending is mainly his doing. It's all 'an interesting experiment'...