Wenger should be forced to spend if Arsenal advances in Champions League
Arsenal needs a win on Wednesday, and advancing to the Champions League knockout round has as much to do with Europe as it does with ending the domestic drought and winning the Premier League.
If Arsenal can manage a victory that avoids 1-0 or 2-1 score lines against Olympiakos on Wednesday, the Gunners will qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 16th successive season. If that happens, Arsenal should be forced to finally spend in January and possibly set up a special season that sees the Gunners get out of the round-of-16 purgatory, where the Gunners have been eliminated in each of the past five seasons, and possibly even win the Premier League title, which has not happened in a dozen years.
[ Champions League: Scores and Schedule | Group Standings | Teams ]
Getting past Olympiakos, though, is hardly a stroll in the park. Previously, the Gunners have travelled away to Greece to face Olympiakos three times in the Champions League. On all three occasion, the Greeks came away victorious. Also, Olympiakos has a 100 percent record in the Greek Super League, setting a new national record with 12 consecutive wins to start a season.
As tall of a task that it may be, advancing to the knockout rounds in Europe would make it nearly impossible for Gunners manager Arsene Wenger to justify keeping his wallet shut in January. After only buying a goalkeeper over the summer, a win on Wednesday should signal the need to spend and strengthen a squad that has been decimated by injuries.
[ Premier League: Scores and Schedule | Current Standings | Teams ]
Santi Cazorla became the latest player confirmed out for the long term, as the Spaniard expects to miss three to four months after undergoing a knee operation. The 30-year-old midfielder, though, is not alone on the sidelines. Francis Coquelin, who's also out with a knee injury, is still 10 weeks away from his projected return, so both players should be nowhere near the pitch as the year closes and the transfer window opens.
On Saturday, the Gunners picked Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey as the two holding midfielders against Sunderland, and a quick glance at the reserves made it clear that Wenger had no real replacement had either of those two come up lame at the Emirates. At the moment, Arsenal lacks cover in the middle of the park with Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere also part of the injured contingent.
Wilshere is projected to return before Christmas, but he can hardly be viewed as an insurance policy considering his injury history. The 23-year-old Englishman has yet to play this season after breaking his leg late in the preseason. The clutter of holiday fixtures should demonstrate that Arsenal needs proper cover for Coquelin beyond Wilshere. Also, with Cazorla out, the need to buy a true holding midfielder should be even more visible with the Boxing Day and New Year's Day games.
However, Arsenal fans expect to remain frustrated with Wenger when he inevitably passes on buying a striker.
With Olivier Giroud and Joel Campbell scoring on Saturday and Theo Walcott returning from injury on the weekend, Wenger will likely decide to not purchase a striker in January again because, well, it's Wenger. Even the loss of Alexis Sanchez due to a hamstring injury shouldn't disrupt the French manager's guarded approach to spending on a quality frontline player. Sanchez projects to return just about the time the January transfer window pops open, so Wenger will predictably refer to the Chilean as "a new signing" in the face of fans begging for squad improvements.
Even if Arsenal does not buy a forward, the London club has a tremendous opportunity to spend a bit and potentially walk away with Premier League silverware. Domestically, the Gunners lead Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea, though even mentioning Chelsea anywhere near the title race is uncalled for at this or any further stage in the season.
Arsenal only trails Leicester City by two points at the top of the table, but Sky Bet listed Leicester's odds of winning the league at 28-1 as late as Monday morning, essentially daring the public to bet on the surprise team of the season.
Manchester City is the oddsmakers' favorite, and the Citizens hold that slight edge over Arsenal based on depth of squad. With one or two checks, though, Arsenal can close that gap and help snatch the highly coveted Premier League trophy in a season that sets up perfectly for the Gunners.
Arsenal can win the league, but stocking up reinforcements in January would tremendously help that cause. Thus, a win on Wednesday against Olympiakos is as vital to Arsenal's Premiership hopes as it is to Arsenal's European dreams.
Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass
