The Scholars of Shen Zhou

Because Liverpool have a manager the players and fans believe in? It is possible we get a stronger attack then we had at start of month (though wondering how some of it would fit) but a leaky defence, poorly balanced midfield and Wenger as manager, still hard to see us getting top 4.

I don't want you guys to leapfrog us for that top 4 spot, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that two massive acquisitions could push your challenge into a higher gear - especially with your patented second half surge looming. Even with Liverpool's irresistible attack (though, I don't know how true that is anymore without Coutinho), they still have Karius and Mignolet so they will still drop points. And Chelsea has been inconsistent this year in terms of their dominance.

The race for top 4 is still anyone's game and while I don't think we will miss out, I could see some other teams struggle to maintain form. As a Dortmund fan on the side, I know how dangerous Auba could be. And with Ozil feeding him and Lacazette supporting him, his supporting players are arguably much stronger in Arsenal than they were in Dortmund and Auba is a perennial 20+ goal scorer. Having a sort of mid-season Salah style acquisition is nothing to scoff at, bad manager or not (see Bosz).

I'm feeling more confident now than I was on the 1st January. Getting Mikhitarian instead of money for Sanchez is definitely better! With 6 months left on Sanchez contract we'd have been lucky to get £35 million for him and that's not enough to sign a top player at the moment. No-one seems foolish enough to let players get this far through a contract...

If we can sign Aubameyang and get Wilshere and Ozil to sign new contracts as well then I'll be even happier! As for Malcom, I don't get the impression his club will let him move in January. If we get Aubameyang then I'd rather we signed a centre back than another attacker (maybe Evans from West Brom?).

Anyway, I think Spurs will finish above us, but only in 5th. I can't see you overtaking either Manchester clubs, Chelsea or Liverpool this season. If you were to finish outside the top 4 do you think that would cause you any issues on player retention Mik?

I think it would give us a lift of moral, a jolt like going to 3 at the back did last season and we will close the gap somewhat, we will score goals. I just don't see who we overtake

As in signing Mikhitarian has given us that boost?

I was more thinking if we get Aubameyang. I think the general reaction to swap deal is we have played a poor hand well there but I'm not sure anyone would kill it an upgrade

Dong Zhou wrote:I was more thinking if we get Aubameyang. I think the general reaction to swap deal is we have played a poor hand well there but I'm not sure anyone would kill it an upgrade

Yeah that makes more sense! What do you think to complaints made about Aubameyang's attitude?

Sun Fin wrote:Anyway, I think Spurs will finish above us, but only in 5th. I can't see you overtaking either Manchester clubs, Chelsea or Liverpool this season. If you were to finish outside the top 4 do you think that would cause you any issues on player retention Mik?

We can catch Liverpool, so I don't necessarily feel like it's a lost cause at the moment.

Personally, I don't think we'd have too big of a problem keeping key players. We can resist bids for certain players and unless it's silly money territory, we don't need to sell. Furthermore, with the upcoming upgrades to our stadium and deals with the NFL, it's definitely a club that is on the rise. And if we combine that with a relatively lengthy CL campaign, we could certainly be a very attractive destination... even without CL for next season.

There's very little short term-ism with how our clubs is currently being run so it's hard to not be optimistic regardless of what happens this season.

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Mhki was the best out of a bad situation. You could have gotten money for Sanchez but with your board/manager currently how it is, I don't know if the money would have been spent to its fullest potential. I mean, there's been many talks about the warchest the past few seasons but it hasn't really shown itself apart from a few major transfers.

As for Auba's attitude. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Dude's been angling for a move out of Dortmund for ages so maybe a new scene would do him some good. If not, getting a few seasons out of him with 20 goals minimum could still benefit you regardless.

I agree with you on teh Arsenal front Mik and you do talk sense on the Spurs front. The two players I think you might lose are Rose and Alderweireld. Rose is a fantastic left back but you will be able to replace him. I think Alderweireld might be harder to replace if he does choose to leave. There just isn't an abundance of top centre backs right now.

Sun Fin wrote:I agree with you on teh Arsenal front Mik and you do talk sense on the Spurs front. The two players I think you might lose are Rose and Alderweireld. Rose is a fantastic left back but you will be able to replace him. I think Alderweireld might be harder to replace if he does choose to leave. There just isn't an abundance of top centre backs right now.

If I'm being honest, I don't mind if Rose leaves. At his top form, he's not that much better than Davies and at least Davies has stayed respectful to the club. And if he's gone, maybe we can get similar replacements (like we got Aurier for Walker) though I do wary about losing a English trained player since we had problems with that during this CL campaign.

Alderweireld is a bit of an anomaly for sure. He clearly wants more money, which is why he hasn't re-signed for the club. However, I feel like he is very much at home here with a lot of Belgians in the squad. If he does choose to leave, he will command a great fee and we already have a replacement for him in Sanchez so it's not like we will be missing out too much. And while there's not an abundance of top CBs out, there could just be diamonds waiting to be unearthed like we did with Dier. Let's not forget how incredible Poch has been in developing players so it's not too worrisome.

That being said, I don't at all wish that Toby leave but I couldn't say the same for Rose.