Arsenal and Liverpool may live to regret missed signings

After a transfer deadline day which held few surprises, with the possible exception of Rafael Van Der Vaart’s recently confirmed move to Tottenham, we now have a clearer idea of how well placed the Premier League squads are to compete in the months ahead. Two pieces of business that didn’t happen yesterday but had been expected to, were at Arsenal and Liverpool, who failed to secure the signature of a goalkeeper and a striker repectively. This inertia is likely to have caused some concerns amongst their fans and may impact their season more than they would like to think.

The goalkeeping problem at Arsenal has been well documented, with high profile errors by both Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski in recent times emphasising the need for a new number 1. The whole summer has now been and gone and despite reinforcing his central defensive options and bringing in Marouane Chamakh up front, Arsene Wenger has failed to sign a new goalkeeper. It wasn’t for the lack of links and rumours however, with Hugo Lloris, Shay Given and, most heavily, Mark Schwarzer, tipped to arrive at the Emirates.

Henry Winter, the respected Telegraph football journalist, probably summed it up best on his Twitter feed yesterday: “Arsenal: great club, great manager, great outfield players. But no keeper. Unbelievable. So that’s the title race down to Chelsea and Manchester United”. That probably neatly encapsulates the sentiments of Arsenal fans today. Any renewed belief that Wenger may have had in Almunia over the summer was surely wiped away after he was beaten at his near post on the opening day of the season, but he will now be relied on for another campaign.

There may well have been similar disbelief amongst the Anfield faithful that Roy Hodgson failed to capture a striker before the deadline. The need for suitable cover for Fernando Torres became apparent at the beginning of last season, and became even more obvious following the Spaniard’s injury problems during the campaign. David Ngog didn’t appear up to the job, Dirk Kuyt struggled to adjust back from his usual right wing spot, Ryan Babel was out of favour with Rafa Benitez and Daniel Pacheco was too inexperienced.  

A striker was surely a priority for this transfer window then, especially with Torres’s recurring injury problems, but one has not been forthcoming. A lack of available funds may have held Hodgson back having apparently been priced out of a move for Ola Toivonen, and there was no lack of effort yesterday in trying to secure the services of Carlton Cole, with Ryan Babel having reportedly travelled to Upton Park by helicopter to be offered as a makeweight. To no avail however, and Liverpool remain as reliant on Torres as they ever were.

Wenger and Hodgson may well point to the January transfer window, although they are likely to find the prices further inflated by that point and, more crucially, they may have lost touch with the pace setters in the league. Wenger in particular will be reliant on the resources he has to prove the doubters wrong, whilst Hodgson will have to intensify his efforts to keep Torres injury free, as highlighted by his recent (unsuccessful) attempt to prevent him playing for Spain. For both managers, there could be some uncomfortable moments ahead.