Wenger gets a B...but barely.

Phew...so once again at the last moment, Wenger wakes up and realizes he needs to add to his roster. This season he added some quality in German play-maker Ozil. Good signing. Adding this world class midfielder to the likes of Carzola with speed on the wings in Ox and Walcott and you might have something.

Coming to a North London pitch near you

Then once Diaby comes back to full fitness...hahaaa...sorry had to throw that fantasy into the conversation. But why do I only give Wenger a B? Here is why:

• Why keep waiting to the last minute? I realize that Ozil probably could not have been signed until the Bale deal went down. But the fact Wenger was waiting for another team's transfer to occur before he got off the sidelines is a little disconcerting. It feels as if Wenger's transfers seem to hinge around last minute deadlines...why don't we sign a big name in, say, July instead?
• Not enough...still. Ozil is a huge signing, don't get me wrong, but Arsenal needs more. They need another striker - Higuain, Suarez (thankfully didn't happen), Benzema or Rooney - were all rumored on the Arsenal wish list. Yet all of them fell through. Add to this Ba and once again Arsenal was not able to get a player they coveted (I do think Ba was a long shot to go from Chelsea to Arsenal). What about Di Maria? More excess inventory at Real Madrid, rumored to be heading to Arsenal...why couldn't that deal be done? Adding Di Maria to the wings would have been a huge win coupled with Ozil.

End of the day I am glad that Wenger spent money and got a world class player in the deal. Giroud should also be very happy from all the service he will be offered from this world class midfielder. Unfortunately Wenger needed to add more pieces for me to truly believe the Gunners can challenge for more than a 4th place EPL finish and maybe a cup semi final.

You get a B Arsene, could have been an A if you had brought in Ba and Di Maria or a D if Ozil had not made it under the transfer deadline!

After day 1 - Arsenal is already desperate...sigh

After a brutal start to the season for the Gunners, we are once again finding ourselves in the midst of the August transfer panic for the North Londoners. Feels like every transfer season now with Arsenal. Do nothing of substance during the early days, try to wait out players and then panic.

The latest is that Wenger has made a bid for Newcastle midfielder Cabaye, too late? That he is interested in Pogba, who isn't? What about getting another striker? There are rumblings that he is interested in reopening his pursuit of Suarez. Again, no thanks on that Gustavo...wasn't he all but signed? Ooops.

Which team wouldn't want the U20 World Cup champion?

cancer. The reality is he had a chance to shore up his strikers with Higuain this summer, but didn't pull the trigger fast enough. Or was just too stubborn to spend the necessary money. He did not seem interested in other strikers that moved, Gomez and Cavani. Not that he would have been able to purchase either, but at least get involved. You have the money Arsenal! Oh and what about

So now all Wenger has to show for his massive transfer kitty is French U20 striker Sanogo. Fantastic. If you were Ligue 2 side Metz. Wenger and Arsenal are now behind the proverbial 8 ball, they are desperate and late to the transfer game, teams know this and will make them pay a king's ransom for players they could have had 2 months ago for more market friendly fees. Also, most of the players have already been moved. So now you are looking at trying to get players that were not really planning on moving, again driving up the price.  I do not think that Wenger will be able to do much before the window closes. He does not seem to have a real plan, just more of the same...and more of the same has not won silverware in a very long time.

Maybe he will surprise us all and use his entire transfer kitty to get Ronaldo to North London...oh and one more thing. Where is Kroenke in all this? Does he care about fielding a winning side in North London or is he more concerned about developing malls near Wal Marts? As the largest share holder I would expect more from him, like actually showing up at games and maybe pretending he cares about the product on the pitch. Say what you will about other American EPL owners, like the Glazers and Henry, but at least they give the appearance of caring.

Arsenal - net sellers once again? Next stop Europa League?

So it appears that once again, Arsenal will end up being in the black after the transfer window closes...meaning they will be a net seller. Good? Bad? Typical?? Here is what it might look like:

• Purchase Gervinho from LOSC for 11m pounds. Great another winger! Maybe we should look to getting a true #9 instead...
• Oh Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at 12m pounds, great, the next wonder kid English winger...he isn't even 18 yet...guess we will have to wait for that impact on the first team.
• Sell Clichy to Manchester City for 7m pounds, not a surprise that the French left back leaves, it feels as if his time had run its course at Arsenal.
• Rumor - 18m pounds for Nasri to join Clichy at ManCity...might be more if Manchester United gets serious in the bidding.
• Rumor - 35m pounds for Cesc to Barcelona, we have all been waiting for this move and I think this is the season it finally happens.
• Rumor (purchase) - Cahill at 17m pounds

So net net, 40m pounds out, close to 60m pounds in....great we made a profit! Pop the champagne! Pay down more of the debt! Put some in the player's 401ks! Buy back some outstanding shares! Fund more R&D! Invest in some PP&E!!! Oh wait that is what you would do if Arsenal were a business. But it isn't, Arsenal is a sporting and entertainment entity. Add to these rumors the likelihood that Arshavin, Bendtner and possibly Diaby/Rosicky are all shown the exit and what type of team do we have left?

Arsenal are making me very nervous with regard to  comings and goings in the transfer market. If they do lose Nasri, Arshavin and Cesc where will the creativity come from? Who will be pulling the strings in midfield? No addition of a true #9 is a concern. What about...the goalkeeping?

If Wenger and Arsenal do not take a different tact I fear the club might be relegated to competing in the Europa League in the near future.

Winter transfer window closes - the crazy season for Liverpool

Um okay, £50m for Torres...making it the 4th biggest transfer in history. Wow.

BIGGEST WORLD TRANSFERS

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (£80m)
Man Utd-Real Madrid (July 2009)

2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£56.5m)
Inter Milan-Barcelona (July 2009)

3. Kaka (£56m)
AC Milan-Real Madrid (June 2009)

4. Fernando Torres (£50m)
Liverpool-Chelsea (Jan 2011)

Not bad for a player that Liverpool spent £20m for - 81 goals over 142 matches while playing for the Reds - a good return. With the acquisition of Suarez and Carroll, for a combined £57.7m, Liverpool is still at a loss during this transfer window. I am also not sure that spending £35m for Carroll was a wise purchase. I realize that the former Newcastle striker earned a recent cap for England and has scored 31 goals over his 81 game career with Newcastle, but is he really worth such a large transfer sum? For another 10m pounds Liverpool could have pried away Aguero from Atletico Madrid...who would you rather have? I would opt for Maradona's son-in-law. The acquisition of Suarez appears like a wiser purchase for Liverpool, while the Uruguayan striker might not be as much of a "star" as Torres, he remains one of the games deadliest strikers - same number of goals as Torres, 81 but in 32 fewer games...that is efficient. Seems like the Liverpool moves were questionable at best...a deeper look at the numbers:

• Carroll 0.38 goals per game - £35m
• Torres 0.57 goals per game - £50m
• Aguero 0.38 goals per game - NA
• Suarez 0.73 goals per game - £22.7m

Looks like Liverpool made a smart purchase on Suarez and very questionable with Carroll. I am not sure the Reds needed another striker after acquiring Suarez.

Not overpaid -



Could they have been better served getting another midfielder to help shoulder the creative midfield load from Gerrard? Maybe another play making midfielder such as Honda. Rumor is CSKA was willing to shop him this transfer season. Or a defensive minded midfielder, something that Liverpool has been severely lacking since Mascherano and Alonso both left - I am sure that Rennes would have been willing to part with their starlet M'Vila, which was rumored to be in the works - and for far less much money (£15m +). This would have been a better move for Liverpool than acquiring two strikers, one of which was way overpaid for!

Coming to Stanford Bridge

What about the move from the Chelsea side? £50m for Torres was a lot of money to spend for the Spanish striker. Granted, when it comes to Chelsea there is no such thing as a "budget" or financial constraints. Taking the amount of money spent aside, add to this the £25.5m spent on defender Luiz from Benefica and the "old" drunken sailor Chelsea is back, however from a football stand point I think the moves were wise. Chelsea are an old team, the addition of two high level players who are 23 and 26 years old (Torres being the older of the two), will add some much need youth to a team desperate to infuse their talent base with younger talent. I think that Torres' time at Liverpool had run its course - I think the Spaniard's form dipped when his countryman (Rafa) was ousted as manager. The change of scenery will benefit Torres as well as being part of a solid strike force of Drogba, Anelka and Kalou. As well as having the likes of Lampard and Malouda feeding him up front. The addition of the young Brazilian center back, Luiz,  will infuse some youth in an aging central defensive pairing of Terry and Alex. These moves might thrust Chelsea back into the title race, especially since Arsenal and Manchester United did not do much during the transfer window.

Finally, not surprising that Wenger and Arsenal basically did nothing...other than loaning out a disappointing Vela. No center back, no keeper, no striker....oh well.

The transfer window closes, with some moving parts in the EPL it will be interesting to see how this impacts the race. Chelsea clearly realizes it had to do something but will it prove to be too little tool late? Liverpool splashed some serious cash, but not sure their purchases were 100% wise...Carroll...seriously? The other contenders - Tottenham (rebuffed in their advances for the aforementioned Aguero), Arsenal and Manchester United stayed pat.

Of course cannot overlook Manchester City who splashed out £27m for Dzeko - who has a 0.59 goals per game yet comes in cheaper than Carroll!!!!  Just makes you wonder what Liverpool is thinking!

Rooney To Stay - Yawn

So now Wayne Rooney is staying in Manchester. I should be more specific, obviously. He's staying in the red-half of Manchester with United and with Sir Alex. I'll be interested to see how long it takes the fans and his teammates to truly welcome him back to the fold.

For me, this is not particularly surprising. Their seemed to be an element of contract negotiation brinksmenship to the whole story (I know that's easy to say in hindsight). But it would have been hard for him to leave United and go anywhere but City, as they're in a financial position to outbid everyone else, and United are in a position of desperately needing cash.

Further, leaving Manchester United, but not leaving Manchester would have made his life miserable.

Also, when you compare Rooney and Tevez on form this year, Rooney doesn't make the starting 11 (City don't play with more than one striker). Tevez has been on-fire, Rooney has been slowed by injuries, and has lost his goal-scoring touch.

And finally, in my opinion, I think Rooney has actually entered the decline phase of his career. Yes, he's only 24. But Michael Owen was on the decline at a similar age, if not earlier. Rooney rose to prominence at an early age with Everton. He has a lot of games under his belt, especially when you think of all his England Caps (67 senior Caps so far). He's rarely had a summer off. And worse, he's had a number of major injuries. Games and injuries add up, especially with the all-action style in which he plays.

Are Manchester United better off with Rooney? Absolutely, for now, though I still think they'll struggle to stay in the Top 4 this year. But check back in years 4 and 5 of the new contract. He might end up being a millstone around their neck.

Club football around the corner - Hargreaves to start...injured

News bulletin!!! Owen Hargreaves will miss the opening of the EPL season for Manchester United!!! I find this slightly amusing, sorry I know this is schadenfreude towards SAF and Manchester United. I have nothing against the Canadian holding midfielder. However could he be one of the worst signings in the recent past? First Bayern sold the midfielder for 34m pounds to Manchester United in 2006. Since then the midfielder has played...drum roll...stoppage time versus Sunderland last May and has played with the reserves! Great return for the investment. Hargreaves has basically not played for his entire Manchester United career. The fact that Capello almost called him up for the England national team for the South Africa World Cup is mind baffling, that actually makes the fact Domenech wanted to call up Makelele seem sane.

Does the 34m pounds for a player that has given you a stoppage time appearance over the past 2 seasons a good investment? Um no. Shocking. It is not as if SAF was not aware that Hargreaves was brittle and has some injury concerns. Granted Manchester United can throw that kind of money away, but still one of the worst transfers ever.

Other bad transfers you can think of?

The holidays....and winter transfer window fast approaching!

With Christmas just a week away, wow I should think about doing some Xmas shopping, I figured it was time to think about which players would be on the move once the January transfer window opens. A few thoughts -

• LDiarra from Portsmouth is all but signed and delivered to be heading to Real Madrid for a small sum of 20m pounds...wow. Diarra will now have been at 4 clubs in basically 2 years - Chelsea, Arsenal, Portsmouth and now Real Madrid. He is approaching Anelkaesc movement of teams. It is not a surprise that Diarra is leaving the south of England for a top notch European club, I was always a bit shocked that he left Arsenal...not totally shocked since he was sitting behind Flamini as the holding midfielder (Arsenal could use him this season). I hope that Diarra finds some stability at Real. He will have some competition at the position from Gago and Diarra (not related). Now Diarra is hurt, but should be back at some point. However, I think that LDiarra could develop into Reals new Makelele...or decide to move in the summer transfer window.
• Marseilles - They seem to be going after every tier 2 offensive players - Podolski and Savidan - on the market. The irony is that Marseilles had the top of the diamond striker they desire when Cisse was not back in England. I think OM sees this season as an opportunity to threaten Lyon at the top of the table, and to do so they will need another striker. I say they get Podoloski on a loan for the rest of the season.
• The Arsenal rumor mill is rather quiet, then again do they even have any money to go out and acquire a player? Or do they see Eduardo's potential return in the second half of the season as equivalent to a transfer addition? Granted, there are some stories that Inter want Bendtner...hmmmm not sure why, but maybe Mourinho just wants to stick it to Wenger from Italy. Of course the biggest rumor is that Gallas is on his way out, especially after his captain's armband being taken away from him. But where could he go? Here is a crazy thought - PSG could take him. PSG has had a surprisingly good first half of the season and will be looking to build to at least challenge for Champions League football...or gasp....a Ligue 1 title. There were some mild rumors this past summer that PSG would make a push for the French central defender, the situation seems ripe now for that to occur.
• Speaking of Paris...PSG maybe a player in the transfer market this January. With wins over Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseilles, PSG must see that they have a real chance of challenging for the top step on the podium (in addition Lyon keeps dropping points). The strangest rumor is Hourau for Adriano....hmmmm. Why would PSG want to get rid of their tall striker that plays well partnering with Guily. And why would PSG want Adriano? The player that is one dinner and binge night away from spiraling back into a black hole. I do think a move for a Gallas would be very intriguing, giving PSG some more steel on the back line and allow Gallas to redefine his club career. Could PSG also go after Briand from Rennes after failing in their bid this past summer. It never hurts to add some quality players, but I have never been convinced Briand is the offensive star the media hypes him up to be.

These are just some thoughts, the rumors will start flying fast and furious. Looking forward to the crazy transfer season.