Arsenal Fail To Add a Goalkeeper Before the Transfer Window Shuts

The transfer window eventually slammed shut yesterday evening and despite the fact that it has been clear that Arsenal were searching for a goalkeeper since last May, we failed to land one. It would appear that despite having our initial bid for Mark Schwarzer rejected in May he remained our prime target and Fulham just decided that they didn't want to do business.

The general consensus is that the boss wanted a keeper to come in for a year or two to plug the gap before revealing Szczesny to the world as the keeper of the future for Arsenal. If we had signed a keeper who had longer left in his career than Schwarzer, then perhaps it would have hampered the progress of young Szczesny, but it's a very big gamble to take with the current team.

It's all well and good building for the future but during that time the good of the current team cannot be jeopardised for the possible future benefits.

When last season ended the boss said that we needed strengthening in certain areas and that he would do just that over the summer. The first arrival was Chamakh and he was balanced by the departure of Eduardo, although I think Chamakh is more suited to our current preferred formation than Eduardo was no matter how much I liked Eduardo.

Having seen the exits of Gallas and Campbell, the boss knew that the centre of the defence needed urgent attention too and he obliged by signing Koscielny and eventually capturing Squillaci as well.

Silvestre and Senderos had left too but Senderos had been out on loan for two years and Silvestre was about as useful as a chocolate teapot so they didn't need to be replaced by purchases in my opinion as long as Djourou could recover from the constant injuries that have plagued him. As it stands at the moment, that looks very unlikely as he has already struggled with injury since the return to preseason began in July.

It means that either Song or Nordtveit are the other options at the heart of the defence if we suffer a string of injuries similar to last season at any stage. Song is our only quality defensive midfielder and while Diaby can play there against lesser teams like Liverpool and Blackpool we need proper cover for him too.

Frimpong was said to be the man to step up this season and provide that cover but the injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago means we probably won't see him at all this season.

Nordtveit is currently being deployed at right back in the reserve team and while on loan in Germany last season he spent most of the time as a defensive midfielder when he did play. If he is to be a centre back of the future you would think that he would play that position in the reserve team at the moment.

All of that leads me to suggest that in terms of actual squad strength we are no better off than last season. We have lost a player, Campbell, who was dominant in the air when he played and an experienced Premier league defender, along with Gallas, who despite being a nasty individual was a top-class defender and performed very well for Arsenal after being stripped of the captaincy.

Obviously, some of the younger players are more experienced than last season and if the injury situation can be kept under control we will surely be more competitive for the entire season than we were last season.

If Cesc is as happy at the club as we hope he is then a full unhampered season from him could be a joy to watch and inspire those around him to bigger and better things.

If Arshavin can play for us like he did when he first signed then it will also improve the team as will RVP having a full season uninjured.

At the moment, the jury is out on Cesc, but I believe that we will get the best out of him. I hope that Arshavin can rediscover his form now that the disappointment at missing out on the World Cup is behind him but the signs are not so promising for RVP as he is already out with his first injury of the season.


Season Preview

I'll do a complete season preview later in the week now that the transfer window is closed and our squad is complete until January at the earliest. I'm not sure how it will go yet as I genuinely thought we would sign a keeper and I will have to consider our chances of challenging for the major honours with our current goalkeeping options or lack thereof.

Players Leaving

In other deadline day news, Arsenal's Armand Traore joined Juventus on loan for the rest of the season and maybe they can teach him the basics of defending as we seemed incapable of doing.

Another player to go out on loan for the season is Nacer Barazite who has joined Vitesse Arnhem and I would imagine that both players are on loan with a view to move away from the club next summer as they probably won't feature in the manager's future plans.

Carling Cup

Arsenal's third round Carling Cup tie against the Spuds has been arranged for Tuesday September 21 at their ground and it will be broadcast on Sky. As I said yesterday it will be very interesting to see the teams put out by both clubs.

Arsenal should go with any first-team squad members who don't start the match the previous weekend and a few youngsters but will the Spuds prioritise this competition knowing it is their only genuine chance of a trophy and risk some of their first choice players.

And Finally

Finally for today, there's still no definitive word on whether the Spuds have captured Rafael van Der Vaart, but if they have he is a genuinely good player and it's a very good piece of business, in my opinion. They only need 10 more like him now and they can consider themselves to be nearly as good as Arsenal.

Also, Birmingham have captured the loan signing of Alex Hleb from Barcelona as the sob story of Arsenal players who join Barcelona continues. It's a long way down for him from being a pivotal part of our team only a couple of years ago to being loaned out to Barcelona and he has already stated in the past that he should never have left Arsenal.

Here's a little bit of the best of Almunia seeming as he's our keeper now whether we like it or not.

See You Tomorrow.