On again, off again...

This Arshavin deal has been on again and off again so many times I think I'm getting sick. Today I woke up to the news that I really didn't want to hear. Apparently Arsene Wenger has held his usual press conference, and in it he discussed the Arshavin transfer, and specifically the news that a fee had been agreed with Zenit. Here's what he had to say:

“There is no news about Andrei Arshavin or about anybody else that is why I cannot give you anything. At the moment it is all quiet.
When asked outright if a price had been decided and whether a deal was far away, he said,
“[That is] not true. In this job ‘far’ doesn’t mean a lot. I believe that we are not close to concluding any transfer, Arshavin or anybody else.
“I don’t know [if it will happen] frankly. Time is getting short and at the moment I am more focused to win the game tomorrow. We know we are in front of a big game and the most important thing is to focus on that.”

So apparently we are no closer to signing Arshavin, and according to him, we also are not close to signing anyone else. Arsene Wenger sure does know how to kill a supporter's spirit.

Here I was, and I know many of my fellow gooners were as well, excited by the apparent news that the Arshavin deal was only days away, and we would soon have his creative influence to inspire our lacklustre attacking. A new signing doesn't just improve the team or its performance, but it also gets the fans and players excited and energised.

We need some excitement and energy right now more than ever. And with only a week left of the transfer window and no signings anywhere near completion, we may end up not having strengthened the squad at all, and that would, I believe, be a huge mistake on Arsene Wenger's part.

Yes we have quality, yes our best players are injured, and yes our defense is improving, but we still need to improve. Long before the transfer window opened, I suggested that we would either need to sign someone new to play for us or sign someone new to train the players that we have. So far we have done neither, and it's looking now like we may not sign any new players. This means our last hope is to sign a staff member, a coach who will inspire and instruct the team.

Remember, the players aren't everything in football, and without the right management and coaching they will not perform at their best. I think more than anything right now we need either a new defensive midfielder or a new creative influence in our attacks. With the challenges that lie ahead, we cannot wait for Fabregas to return to add spark to our attacking play.

So whether we sign Arshavin or not something needs to be done, and I genuinely hope Arsene Wenger sees this and will work to rectify the situation. We'll find out in the next week if either of these things happen, but in the meantime we'll just have to keep the faith and continue to support the club we love, through thick and thin.

I don't think I'll preview the Everton game too much, but it's important to note that this may be the biggest fixture we will have until the Champions League starts up again. This match away to Everton will, I believe, show us how the next dew months will play out, and could either make or break our season. Here's hoping for the best tomorrow night. Don't forget, you can get now all the Fab 4 Arsenal news and views sent direct to your mobile phone for free, please Click Here for details on how to try out this great service!

Fab 4