Arsenal: Now that that’s over, shopping spree anyone?

It’s not wise to panic buy. But after seeing Arsenal get pulled apart like shredded chicken, can we make an exception? Just this once?

Ah, yes. The crisp winter air is turning over a new year, full of fresh beginnings, new belief, and a basket full of resolutions sure to make 2019 a fantastic year. But in order to get there, we first have to bear the stinking filth that is the decomposing corpse of the Arsenal defense, hard done by Liverpool.

We’ve known this defense is bad for awhile. Truly we have. But I don’t think anyone thought they could be this bad, and I honestly don’t believe anyone who says otherwise. We faced Manchester City and Chelsea and looked nowhere near this bad. We faced Tottenham and Liverpool in the reverse, not as bad.

But this? This was a massacre and it falls firmly at the feet of that starting defense, all of whom were remarkably terrible.

I have not once encouraged panic buying. Panic buying is a nasty thing, it clogs up the ranks, it puts you at risk of now owning a player that you don’t necessarily need and at the end of the day, investing faith in youth, or in the fallen senior players, can often pay off just as much as trying to get a new player acclimated.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

This time though? This time I’m just wondering how quickly we can restart the defense. And, better question – who restarts it?

I have spent many years defending Shkodran Mustafi, particularly for his play in big games. But this wasn’t even bottom of the barrel Mustafi. This was like he dug out a false bottom and plummeted below that. He has never been this bad. He was so bad, that I am almost on the “sell him” boat just for one match.

And Sokratis fell right with him, a horrible performance in his own right, no better than the man who he was partnering with to decent effectiveness earlier in the year.

I don’t know who the Gunners can secure in the January transfer market, but if he plays anywhere near a top-ish club and has a “CB” next to his name, the I’m 100% in favor of throwing money at the problem and seeing if it works.

I just can’t keep saying “trust this defense, guys!” when it is so obviously broken. Panic buy, guys! Let’s try that out for size.