Arsenal...what next???

Latest from London is that Adebayour is all but wrapped up and ready to go to Manchester City. The striker is already undergoing his physical in Manchester. I guess Arsenal is trying to get rid of any semblance of height it has offensively. Anyways, not sure what the plan B will be once the Togolese striker leaves the Emirates. With the likes of Tevez, Kaka, Ronaldo, Santa Cruz, Benzema, Gomez et al already having made the move to another club, there is not much in terms of strikers/offensive minded players available this late in the transfer window.

Now mind you I am not crying a river over his departure, I was never a huge fan of his since he came over from Monaco. As the BBC states, there are others that feel his departure will not be a bad thing for Wenger. However, I am not convinced that losing the Togolese will be so easy to handle. Yes Eduardo should, could, might be back at full strength. Yes Van Persie has committed himself to the club. Yes Arsenal have a full season of Arshavin. Yes Bendtner is suppose to only get better. But, where will be the depth come? How about the physical presence Adebayour brought, who will replace that? And who knows about Van Persie, he always seems nicked up. When you see cross town rivals Chelsea with Anelka and Drogba as their strikers, or Manchester United with Rooney, and Liverpool with El Nino, it makes you wonder if Arsenal is just playing to be top 4 once again.

Just wonder what Wenger has up his sleeve, hoping it is more than bubble gum and duct tape.

Arsenal a shell of the old Gunners

So Arsenal faced cross London rival Chelsea this weekend, in a tie that used to be dominated by the North London side, the match this weekend was a far cry from those days. Chelsea easily left the Emirates with a 4-1 victory. Once again Drogba was a thorn in the side of Wenger's men, and there wasn't even Senderos to blame for this!

Oh well. This game, brutally, demonstrated the work that Arsenal needs to do to in the the transfer season if they every really want to contend for the Premiership title, let alone European glory. As I have mentioned in many prior rants, er I mean postings, Arsenal need to find some steel to their team. Ever since the sale of Pat Vieira there has been no toughness, no edge to the squad. Rather than signing players of that ilk as well as Keown and Parlour style players, Wenger has placed too much emphasis on youth, but youth that resembles itself, players like Cesc, Wolcott, Clichy, etc. All world class players, but all cut from similar cloth - talented but slight of stature players. I realize I have said this in the past, but you cannot allow players such as Pires, Edu, Silva, and Flamini just leave without a replacement. While these players were all on the "wrong" side of 30 (not including Flamini) they all could have and did bring veteran experience as well as steeliness to the team. However since Wenger does not belief in siging over 30 players to any muliyear deals they all walked. Wouldn't a Flamini or even a Silva have looked good doing some of the dirty work in the Arsenal midfield this season??? Also, I realize Henry appeared to be winding down, and I would never argue that he is the Henry that terrorized the Prem, however he would look good in a rotation with Adebayour, Van Persie and Bendtner...he certainly does not seem to be playing too poorly for Barca!

Bottom line, Arsenal will get into the Champions League once again. They will play some beautiful football in England and Europe. They will tease their fans at some point in the season...but short of an FA Cup (we all know that the Carling Cup will be sacrificed in the name of playing the youth) I do not see how Arsenal will grab any silverware in 2010...unless you count the Emirates Cup.....