Nacho Monreal - Is it Enough?

So we bought one player this window and it came minutes before the deadline. But is it enough? Clearly it isn't but as I didn't expect anyone to come in these last couple of weeks I guess it's better than nothing. Although about 3-4 short of what our squad needs. We were never going to bring in 4-5 players in January although 2-3 would have been nice and with some real planning and desire, realistic.

I can't say to know much about Nacho, Nacho Man but he played for a good Malaga team and has 9 international caps for Spain. On paper he looks good and it will mean that Santos doesn't play during Gibbs' absence (apart from against Bayern Munich...) which according to Wenger today is 4-6 weeks but can easily go to 8 weeks. So now we know why we pushed this signing through; because we were desperate, not because we were proactive and saw we needed to strengthen. Wenger also said that we were 'close' to one more signing but that club didn't want to sell. Not sure how that makes us 'close'. Was that player David Villa?

I think this signing shows that if you want a player then you can get them. All this about January being difficult to bring players in and they have to be 'top quality' is really just excuses. There is some truth to it but it's still excuses, especially if you haven't strengthened sufficiently in the summer and you have the money. If Nacho was meant for this summer but was pushed through yesterday because of Gibbs' injury (which is what I think happened) it shows you can bring players in if you truly want to. If this signing wasn't in the pipeline but we made our moves yesterday, it shows the same thing. I don't mean it's easy and you can just turn up with an offer and it's accepted, I mean that there are enough players out there that are good enough to improve our squad that are within our transfer budget and there is enough time throughout the season to make it happen. Either way, we still need a strong DM, a goalie capable of pushing Szczesny, another striker and CB.

Maybe they will arrive this summer... Let's just hope we get no injuries to key men.

I'm sure Monreal is a pretty decent player. I do find it rather funny that the transfer is rather similar to the Squillaci one though (international, defensive player, experienced, played for a decent side in La Liga, we didn't know he existed before we signed him). The same thing can't happen again... right?

Either way, you're right Mario, this does pretty much prove that if we wanted to do business we could, but chose not to. Irresponsible to the point of stupidity. I don't care if we make the top four, all that would mean is that we had the potential to do better but refused to do something to achieve that.

I was expecting no one so it's certainly a bonus to sign him. Looks like a very good signing as well, but a left back was not a priority. Gibbs is currently our best defender so buying a 26 year old looks strange to me. If we had signed a right back, it would have been quite understandable. Still, Nacho man is not enough. If we are buying the whole Malaga squad, why didn't we go for Isco?

My only concern is: he's cup tied. An injury to TV and we'll be seeing Santos dance around Robben and Ribery in the CL. But a good signing non-the-less. Makes us more balanced for the long run.

Only time will tell how he will help sort out our defensive problems...definitely think he will have a bigger impact on games compared to Gibbs....verm will no doubt be slotted in at left back for the champions league and I feel he will do a good job agains robben better than what Santos would...

Clubs only allow top players to leave in January / half way through the season if the money is crazy (Torres to Chelsea) or in Malagas case they desperately need the cash to pay off debts.
Would any of they players bought in this window of massively improved our squad? I'm not convinced they would and clearly neither was Wenger.

What has happened this window is that we've signed Theo, moved a few fringe players out on loan to free up costs and bought from what I've read a good solid left back something we've needed for longer than I care to remember.
I'm sure there will be a couple of arrivals in the Summer but they need to be top draw players not the average ones that have moved last month.

Arsène Wenger has hailed Nacho Monreal’s versatility and believes he has the characteristics to quickly adapt to Arsenal’s style of play.

The Spain international beat the transfer deadline to complete his move from Malaga to Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

With Kieran Gibbs out for up to six weeks with a thigh injury, Wenger says his new signing could even make his debut against Stoke City on Saturday.

“Our scouts have followed his progress for a while and of course we had a blow with the Gibbs injury, which is a bit longer than expected,” the manager said.

“We expected [him to be out for] two to three weeks, but it will be four to six, so we were in a position where we had to make a quick decision. That explains our buy.

“We bought Monreal as a left back but he can play as well as a left-sided midfielder. We bought him as well because we believe he can integrate into our style of play and adapt very quickly to that.

“He has the characteristics to play our game because he is very mobile, has a good left foot and is very good in combination play. That is vital in our style of play.

“He is available for the Stoke game. I have not made a decision yet

Even if he hasn't even trained with the lads, I still think he should play against Stoke because he can't be worse than Santos.

As I said in the stoke thread chucking him in against stoke will be a cracking idea show him what the league is all about..

Alex Hadjicharalampous wrote:I'm sure Monreal is a pretty decent player. I do find it rather funny that the transfer is rather similar to the Squillaci one though (international, defensive player, experienced, played for a decent side in La Liga, we didn't know he existed before we signed him). The same thing can't happen again... right?

Either way, you're right Mario, this does pretty much prove that if we wanted to do business we could, but chose not to. Irresponsible to the point of stupidity. I don't care if we make the top four, all that would mean is that we had the potential to do better but refused to do something to achieve that.

...I knew who Squillaci was before we signed him... anyways, I would be deluded if I didn't say this was a disappointing window, but now I'm just hoping the rumors I heard about this summer being a big one come true.

Vanig Bostanian wrote:I was expecting no one so it's certainly a bonus to sign him. Looks like a very good signing as well, but a left back was not a priority. Gibbs is currently our best defender so buying a 26 year old looks strange to me. If we had signed a right back, it would have been quite understandable. Still, Nacho man is not enough. If we are buying the whole Malaga squad, why didn't we go for Isco?

Actually, a LB was a priority. As good as Gibbs is, he's still a bit injury-prone, and Santos is a catastrophe waiting to happen. If we're going to be without Gibbs for at least a month, I'm glad we got Nacho so that we don't get our shit handed to us until he's fit again. As for Bayern Munich, I'll just hope that Vermaelen is played at LB.

Our supposed thriftiness in the transfer market is bollocks.
Indication that we have no real plan? Poldi (and Giroud) come in only when it looks like we'll lose RVP.
Santos only came in (for £6m) because 18 months ago Wenger was playing it cheap and only bought cover for Gibbs when he got injured.
Now he's spent £8-10m on Nacho.
18 months ago he could have had Jose Enrique, a solid veteran defender, PL experience, perfectly adequate to platoon with Gibbs, for £5-6m.
Instead he has spent a total of £14m on BACKUP/platoon cover for one position.
Doubt we'll recoup the fee for Santos, we'll be happy to get rid of his wage, if possible.

What does it mean that once again we bought only in the last hours of the window and only because of injury. Treading water instead of moving ahead.

The way I saw it, we needed to bring in 5 players over the January and (next) summer transfer windows to be strong enough to be challenging for honours again:

A striker, a defensive mid-fielder, a left-back, back-up goalkeeper and a centre back (in roughly the same order, in terms of priority).

So while it wasn't our first priority, as far as left-backs go this one ticks all the right boxes. So can't complain - unless he turns out to be another Santos / Squillaci.

Now we all know we won't be signing 4 quality players in the summer - so that makes me question if this club is even serious about challenging for titles at any stage.

Part of me is glad we didn't sign Ba or Villa - for different reasons, they are not the striker we should be looking to sign. Huntelaar would have been ideal but I would love to think we are holding out for a Cavani in the summer.

Defensive mid-fielder, our #2 priority, in my opinion is alot more tricky. The club again decided not to pursue M'vila. Biglia (spelling) also not signed, probably not the caliber of player we should be investing in either? This Wanyama bloke sounds ideal - but we will face stiff competition to sign him. I also hear Xabi Alonso is out of contract soon?

Really missed a trick by not signing Julio Cesar, but in all honesty what we do need is a keeper to keep Szczesny on his toes and to be our 2nd choice ahead of the likes of Fabianski and Mannone. Can't really make sense of the Reina links.

At centre-back we need a top class player. Not a 4th choice but a 1st choice. Hummels might be unreleastic, even though he'd be a dream signing, not because he wouldn't want to play for us, but because of the competition. Also saw us linked with Howedes, another defender I'd rate ahead of both Vermaelen and Mertesacker.

Good to get all of this off my chest

From what I saw in the Euros, Hummels is error prone. Would rather have Mertesacker instead. Cavani is never going to happen, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind bringing in a number 1 keeper, not just back up to Szczesny.

Newcastle have just proven that you can buy quality players who will form a key part of your squad for reasonable amounts. They have 3-4 French lads who would have slotted in very well at Arsenal, and well done to the Toon for getting them in. Further proof that January can be a reasonable time to build and strengthen a squad.
I think the best proof ever was when ManU bought both Vidic and Evra in the same week in January, years back - and both at a snip, considering how great those players have been for them.

Meshaal wrote:The way I saw it, we needed to bring in 5 players over the January and (next) summer transfer windows to be strong enough to be challenging for honours again:

A striker, a defensive mid-fielder, a left-back, back-up goalkeeper and a centre back (in roughly the same order, in terms of priority).

Why on earth would we need another striker. When Gervinho comes back from the AFCON we have: Giroud, Poldi, Theo, Ox, Gervinho and Arshavin who can all play across the front three (except for Ox who can't play alone up front). Plus Cazorla and Santos are last resorts for wingers if you like. That's plenty, in terms of quality and bodies. Only Man City or Chelsea would be able to pay for another player. And before anyone shoots me off for Gerv lacking quality, bullshit, he kept us afloat at the beginning of the season with some important goals and he seems to be doing well at the AFCON. Arshavin is Arshavin, he's on his way out but even when he comes into the game (off the bench) he's dangerous.

We did needed to make a signing in defence, CB or LB... We got a LB. Great signing, from what I saw today he's quick, good in the tackle, reads the game well enough and will only get better in that area as he adapts. Decent cross on him too.

Why do people (especially our own fans) keep comparing us to Man City or Chelsea and co? We can't compete! At least not this year financially. We can't afford to have Poldi as a backup to Cavani. This isn't Football Manager. Same goes for CB. We're fans, we demand instant success so when a player has a dip in form we jump on their backs, like TV... He's our captain (no fucking way was it a wrong decision to make him captain), he'll get through it so there's no need to sign another world class defender. We have 3. Per and Kos did well today. Djourou can easily get called back from Hannover. That loan deal will be good for him, get him some game time and confidence back to be able to challenge.

I don't have confidence in Mannone or Fabianski so one of them leaving wouldn't be a bad idea and get someone in to push Szceszny but that's not an emergency... why do that now in January? What's the rush, let the club do it over the summer.

In midfield we can be light but in our case we'd have to let someone go to be able to bring a decent/quality DM in. Again, you have Ramsey, Jack, Coq, Santi, Arteta, Diaby, Rosicky and Frimmy (on loan). You can't add someone there without letting one go.

I agree with AW's stance too, why add someone like Santos in January when you can wait till the summer and regroup properly and get quality? Last summer we did that. We brought in Poldi, Giroud and Santi who are top notch. Those types of players don't just jump ship in the January window.
Of the players we were linked with (apart from Villa) I wouldn't take anyone. I mean the realistic ones like Zaha, Ba... why? They don't offer more than we already have... Diame maybe. But again would he fit into our passing game...

Little disappointed with just one in but again I do understand the difficulty of signing another player that we probably did need. Let's hope the Spuds choke tomorrow

Marko Maksimović wrote:

Meshaal wrote:The way I saw it, we needed to bring in 5 players over the January and (next) summer transfer windows to be strong enough to be challenging for honours again:

A striker, a defensive mid-fielder, a left-back, back-up goalkeeper and a centre back (in roughly the same order, in terms of priority).

Why on earth would we need another striker. When Gervinho comes back from the AFCON we have: Giroud, Poldi, Theo, Ox, Gervinho and Arshavin who can all play across the front three (except for Ox who can't play alone up front). Plus Cazorla and Santos are last resorts for wingers if you like. That's plenty, in terms of quality and bodies. Only Man City or Chelsea would be able to pay for another player. And before anyone shoots me off for Gerv lacking quality, bullshit, he kept us afloat at the beginning of the season with some important goals and he seems to be doing well at the AFCON. Arshavin is Arshavin, he's on his way out but even when he comes into the game (off the bench) he's dangerous.

Should have stopped there but I somehow continued reading. You can't be serious considering Gervinho, The Ox, and Arshavin as strikers right? I mean why not put Chamakh and Afobe there as well while we're at it?

Chamakh has lost it and I have no clue why, he looked like he could do well with us. Afobe it seems isn't gonna make the grade...

Sorry it's just sometimes fans are so fickle... Who kept us alive in 09? Arshavin.
Gervinho scored a couple at the beginning of this season when he was up front. But that's besides the point. We have Poldi, Giroud and Theo who can definitely play up front as the CF and the last resorts are the rest. But that's 3 players who can compete for one position if the first choice is injured. Doesn't matter that they start of have a place in the front 3. So why put pressure on our wage bill and get another? What if the marquee signing flops because he misses home? Or breaks his leg on his debut. That all gets factored into whether or not the club will click its heels and spend a load of money.
Plus I did say the Ox can't play at CF but he can play in the front 3 or in midfield so yeah.
I'm not trolling, I just really think that attacking-wise the team is ok. How people question Giroud and Poldi is beyond me. Poldi runs up and down the left all game long and busts his gut. Giroud is leaping for every one of Szceszny's clearances. He's in good form now and may it continue.
I digress, the point of the thread is: Is Monreal enough? Yes and no. Under the circumstances around the economy and money in football, yes. For us to challenge, no. But realistically if you want to build a team to challenge you do it during the summer and not in effing January. Another defensive player would've been sweet. We didn't get one... onward.

Buying Moreal does not show that it is easy to buy our targets.

Buying injury replacement players is not desperation. It's a good idea. Much better than not buying players to replace injured players.

If we want to challenge for titles, then yes we have to bring in players like Cavani / Jovetic and Hummels, if our aim is to qualify for CL by the skin of our teeth every season - which means we might miss out every now and then - the likes of Gervinho and Djourou are great.

Plus, if we don't strengthen, the likes of Sp*rs, Liverpool and Everton are bound to over-take us sooner or later - so its not just wanting to compete with the team that (traditionally) finish the season ahead of us.

I am quite happy with Podolski Giroud and Theo. They have finally clicked and the goals are coming from everywhere these days. But we are one injury away to any of those three from a big change in quality. In stead of trying to save money by not buying quality, proven, world class players, we can save money by not buying Santos and Gervinho only to buy someone else in the same position a year and a half later. If we got X instead of Santos, we wouldn't have needed Nacho man right now. Now we have to pay two players' wages to do one job.

I'm not sure we are one or even two injuries away from a big change in quality, on either flank Chamberlain can deputise well and if any two of the "first choice" three you mentioed are injured my preferred change would be to move Cazorla into the front three and Wilshere into the advanced mid position and behind that we have several midfielders who can play.

Personally I think we are alright up top.

Vanig Bostanian wrote:I am quite happy with Podolski Giroud and Theo. They have finally clicked and the goals are coming from everywhere these days. But we are one injury away to any of those three from a big change in quality. In stead of trying to save money by not buying quality, proven, world class players, we can save money by not buying Santos and Gervinho only to buy someone else in the same position a year and a half later. If we got X instead of Santos, we wouldn't have needed Nacho man right now. Now we have to pay two players' wages to do one job.

I like that logic. Though I'm not sure what Wenger saw in Santos before he got him. He wasn't bad last season, but wasn't a 'top 4 quality' either. Wenger can at times play with my head with his signings and all.

Subrat Koirala wrote:

Vanig Bostanian wrote:I am quite happy with Podolski Giroud and Theo. They have finally clicked and the goals are coming from everywhere these days. But we are one injury away to any of those three from a big change in quality. In stead of trying to save money by not buying quality, proven, world class players, we can save money by not buying Santos and Gervinho only to buy someone else in the same position a year and a half later. If we got X instead of Santos, we wouldn't have needed Nacho man right now. Now we have to pay two players' wages to do one job.

I like that logic. Though I'm not sure what Wenger saw in Santos before he got him. He wasn't bad last season, but wasn't a 'top 4 quality' either. Wenger can at times play with my head with his signings and all.

You only have a handful of ready-to-buy top 4 quality LBs out there. Who cost a shitload so I guess managers have to scout out the next best thing that has the potential to be turned into a top quality player but at the same time bring experience to the team. Santos didn't exactly get the chance to play more than 20 games on the trot last year did he? From what I remember he was pretty solid in the tackle and his general play was ok.
Had a really good game against Chelsea in the 5-3 win... The shirt-swapping thing this year really messed him up I think. Silly thing to do and he was bound to get some sort of disciplinary action taken against him... Even if it is not playing a load of games due to an "abdominal strain."