Former Crystal Palace and Charlton player John Salako has stated that Arsene Wenger should not overlook the fact that the club is in need of serious investment in the summer despite managing to win the FA Cup trophy last season. Arsenal were top of the table going into 2014, but the lack of strength in depth meant that they finished the season in the fourth place. They will have to go through a qualification round in order to get into the Champions League group stages. However, the club managed to wipe away this disappointment after winning the FA Cup by beating Hull city in the final.
This was a joyous occasion for Arsenal fans and players, as they finally celebrated lifting a trophy for the first time in nine years. Despite the celebrations, Salako says that it is quite clear Arsenal are in need of strengthening in several areas of the pitch. He says that attack is also a major area where the club needs to reinforce with another striker. Olivier Giroud handling with the responsibility for most of the season and this led to his form going downhill in the second half of the campaign. Arsenal are also expected to lose a couple of defenders in the close season.
“He hasn’t replaced the spine of the team – Jens Lehmann, Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Ian Wright. I’m watching and this isn’t Arsenal. I loved it when they had Marc Overmars, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg with Sylvain Wiltord coming off the bench. But the quality of player isn’t there now. It showed when they bowed out to Bayern Munich in the Champions League they really weren’t good enough. They didn’t have the calibre of players, as simple as that,” said the Sky Sports pundit after Arsenal lifted the FA Cup.