The vast majority of Arsenal fans seem to be in a very negative mindset right now (I can’t blame them for that), which seems to have stemmed from the loss against Galatasaray and not having won the Emirates Cup, and obviously not having signed anyone this close to the start of the season. I must say, I am in the same boat as you right now although there are many positives about the club and our current situation that I have noticed. The first of many is our signal of intent that is being shown over this summer, for the first time in a very long time. Since it has been shown that all of our debts from the stadium are paid off, and how this was why we haven’t been able to buy players at high prices or give high wages, it is now obvious that we are able to spend a lot more and supposedly have a large amount of money available to be spent. Our targets have been of a world class standard and our bids have been a lot higher than before, shown in our interest and bids for Rooney, Higuain and Suarez to name a few. Having bid £40,000,001 for a player is very unlike Arsenal, which is roughly £25 million more than our current record transfer fee. We may not have signed anyone (other than Sanogo), but we are definitely trying our hardest to sign a world-class striker at the least, and haven’t given up on Suarez. Either way that the Suarez transfer goes, we will still sign a world class striker, I’m sure of it. Once the interest in Rooney faded, we gained interest in Higuain. Same fashion from Higuain to Suarez, and as we’re still interested in Suarez, and how he wishes to leave for a CL club, I can see it happening. Clearly we need more than just the one player, but the ambition shown is a lot larger than past summers, which is a huge positive in terms of our future and how we’ll do next season. Also, I know the start of the season is only a matter of days away, and I would have much preferred players to have come in earlier and got used to things at The Emirates just like you, but it is just over half way through the transfer market meaning we still have a lot of time to bring in new players. Another positive of late is how pre-season has gone as a whole. The Emirates Cup was clearly not the high point of our pre-season, although positives can be taken from it. The performance against Napoli can be taken well, despite the two poor goals conceded. The comeback was very good to see against a team that came second in Serie A last season, and performances from the likes of Koscielny and Rosicky were pleasing. If it wasn’t for Drogba and his diving, we were on course to win the cup, and the game against Galatasaray was also fairly pleasing. The loss could also be taken in a constructive way, and could give Wenger the push that he needed and demonstrate how we are in need of a couple of players before the start of the season. As said by @LeGrove earlier on, we may be thanking Drogba by the end of the month. The Asian Tour was very optimistic, despite it being against lesser teams. The performances were of high standards and the team tended to gel through each game, including the youth players who were involved. The tour was a lot better than that of last year, as we won every game we played. Giroud was the standout player to me, having scored 6 in 68 minutes at one point. His pre-season has been very strong, showing more confidence and how good he can actually play. Hopefully we can see him rival another striker to start each game, making both try even harder each training session and game. The featuring of the youth lot were very encouraging, not looking scared or out of place whatsoever. The likes of Zelalem, Gnabry and Akpom were involved in the majority of the tour, and their performances were very pleasing, especially from players of such young ages and with a lack of experience. A stand-out positive of this summer in particular is the sale of many “dead wood” players, or those who were not thought of as good enough for Arsenal. A total of 28 players have either been sold, loaned out or whose contract have ran out, including many who haven’t been able to cut it. The likes of Gervinho, Denilson, Andre Santos and Mannone have all left this summer, and the list goes on and on. 28 players could be said to be too many seeing as we have only brought in one player, although I assume many youth team players may be promoted or used if necessary. The selling of so many players also gives me confidence that we will actually bring in a number of players, or at least makes me hope so. This is a large positive due to freeing up a large part of the wage bill, believed to be in excess of £400k each week, which creates space for players of high quality to come in. All I can hope Wenger is doing is creating space in the wage bill and squad to bring in a few players. The current situation of Arsenal may not be looking too good, mainly due to the most recent loss of the Emirates Cup and not having signed anyone so close to the start of the season, although hopefully this post has given confidence to you as an Arsenal fan and given faith that we will in fact sign someone and create success in the upcoming season
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:29:24 +0000
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