Transfer Deadline

And now for something completely different...

Midnight on August 31 is the close of the transfer window in the English Premiere League -- sort of analagous to the trade deadline in US sports. My team, Arsenal (and yes I'm a lucky man), ended up not making any moves before the deadline. They were on track to sign Angulo, but at the last minute the Valencia midfielder decided to stay with his current club instead.

In a way it's disappointing because he sounds like an intriguing player, skilled and versatile. But I can't get too wound up about this. For one thing, Arsenal are still ringing from the Patrick Viera saga. The Gunner faithful were all but convinced that our team captain would leave us for Real Madrid; when he changed his mind and stayed in London, there was much relief. So -- to now see the same situation in reverse, feels a bit like 'turnabout is fair play.'

But more importantly, I'm not sure that we needed him. Unusually for a sports fan, I'm completely willing to trust Arsene Wenger's judgement in this matter, based on his track record with signings. If he thought Angulo would be useful, I won't doubt it. But it's difficult to worry too much about an offense that's been so prolific at scoring goals this season. On the other hand, if we have a weakness at the moment, it's in defensive cover. And so I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't make any signings in the back four. It's not that we're in bad shape, but still it would be nice to see some more solidity.

Campbell and Toure have been rock solid, but Campbell's been injured. Pascal Cygan isn't horrid for a reserve, but he has his moments of weakness, and he's about as slow as I am. I don't have much opinion on Justin Hoyte yet but he's young and inexperienced if nothing else. Our left side is world-class; Ashley Cole is on the short list for best left back in the world at the moment, which is only disappointing in that it means few opportunities for the young, exciting Gael Clichy. But on the right side, Lauren has looked shaky at times. He's certainly a quality player, but of our first-choice starting XI he's probably the weakest, and there's no obvious cover for him. He's the player that could really use someone like Clichy to challenge him -- or replace him. I have a hope that we'll start to see Frankie Simek playing with the first team; it would be great to see an American in the home colors at Highbury. But I have no idea if he's ready to take on that burden.

All of which is to say, it would have been nice to see a defensive signing. There was a lot of noise about signing Hatem Trabelsi from Ajax. I grew less excited about the deal after reading stories of his poor behavior with Ajax, but still it would have been nice to have additional options -- and he's not the only defender available. Again, I have a deep trust of Wenger, and I'm sure he knows what he's doing. I only wish that would help me when I'm drumming my feet in nervousness, watching a long ball floating past Cygan with an opposing striker charging past him.