Arsenal Gives Finger to Fans Yet Again

The transfer window has finally shut. We can stop checking every website imaginable, believing the absurd rumors and hoping against hope that Arsenal has changed its ways. Instead a summer that started in promising fashion has ended in disappointment. The loss of Van Persie was expected ever since the infamous July 4th message, but to Manchester United? It's hard to believe Wenger would end his ban on trading with his archrival over one of the best and most important players he's ever had. Then the inexplicable sale of Alex Song, who still had two years left on his contract and didn't seem to want to go. The reason? It appears to be the 15,000 pounds a week that separated the club from Song's wishes (55k vs 70k). But fans, of course, assumed that we would grab some sort of replacement. Wenger all but promised there would be two signings before the window closed. And yet nothing more has come through since the nice swoop for Cazorla, who could very well ease the pain of losing Fabergas a year ago.

As the rumors surrounding the Gunners slowed down over the past few days, fear began to set in that this was going to happen. But it's hard to understand why. Do we have owners whose greed is so great they care little if we ever win silverware again? Has Wenger's ego gotten the better of him and his desire to prove the critics wrong gotten in the way of winning? Or, as appears to be the case, is it a combination of the above two together with a real problem in closing deals. The reality is Arsenal really could have used another striker, particularly now that Bendtner and Park have been offloaded (on loan in both cases), a defensive midfielder and a right back. Sagna might be coming back soon, but is Jenkinson really a worthy backup? My opinion has consistently been no and he did little to allay my concerns last Saturday, with a very average performance (good on defense, but awful going forward). Regarding defensive midfield, it appears Arteta is going to play this role for now with Coquelin or Frimpong as backup. The problem with the latter two is, of course, their lack of experience and the fact that it is unclear if they can really marshall the position the way Song has. I hope the answer is yes, but it will be interesting to see how the defense performs against stronger offensive opponents. And though there has been little talk of it, it appears clear to everyone besides Wenger that we need another striker. Sure he can switch Podolski and Giroux in the position, and maybe even give Walcott his shot (though I'm less than sanguine that he'll shine), but it would be nice to have another player that is a proven scorer (right now I would argue Everton might be stronger up front than us, which is pretty depressing).

In any case, Wenger has decided not to do anything and I'm afraid this could be the beginning of the end of the Wenger era. It's hard to see us winning anything at present, though I hope I'm wrong. Let's see if we can actually put the ball in the back of the net tomorrow ...