A Tale of Two Midseason Reviews

Now that we’re at the halfway mark, it becomes the duty of Arsenal bloggers to write about how things have gone up to this point in the season, and how things are likely headed in the future. Since opinions are probably even more diverse than ever this year, I thought it would be fun to write two completely different midseason reviews. One will take the glass half full approach, while the other will take the glass half empty approach. Both will be a bit on the extreme side. My actual thoughts are between the two, although you can guess which one I agree with more.

Glass Half Full Midseason Review:

When things got going in preseason, the club had to deal with the refusal of Nasri to commit his future to Arsenal, as well as the ongoing mutual desire between Fabregas and Barca. Finally in August, Wenger was essentially forced to get what he could for each. And while the price for Cesc was disappointing, Nasri brought quite a bit of money to the club. This money was soon re-invested in shoring up the entire squad with numerous shrewd deals that Wenger is known for. At or near the deadline, the club welcomed a new left back, center back, two midfielders, and a striker. This gave us more depth than we’ve had in a while, and an ability to endure our usual injury woes. In addition to that, it was done very economically, leaving the club in a strong position to make necessary moves in either January or next summer. Arteta and Mertesacker in particular have proven their value, while recent goal-scorer Benayoun has been a handy squad player, and Santos was an important contributor until his recent unfortunate injury. On top of all that, when you compare our transfer dealings to those of, say, Liverpool, it’s not even close. They spent a net of roughly €43 million, and they’re still looking up at us in the standings, even despite our slow start. While they splashed €22.8 million for Downing and €18 million for Henderson, we did much better with less money on guys like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Gervinho.

After the aforementioned slow start, the team really came together with its new pieces and started dominating. Led by the ridiculous form of a certain Dutchman, Arsenal rocketed up the standings, and now sit just a point behind Chelsea for fourth place. And I would have to imagine Spurs fans can see us coming at a fast pace as well. Since mid-October, the team has won eight times in league play, lost once, and drawn once. There was no November hiccup at all.

While the Carling Cup ended in disappointment, that was due in large part to our decision to rest key players, while the moneyed Man City still had plenty of high-priced talent to roll out, and it was just enough to eke out a win against our reserves. However, our form in a tough Champions League group was terrific, as we scored key wins at Marseille and at home to Dortmund, allowing us to wrap up the group title with one game to spare. Oh, and it should also be mentioned that we did this while the Manchesters both crashed out. And while I’m on that topic, I should also point out that if we get past Leeds at home in the FA Cup, and Man City handles United at home in the same round, it would mean that we went at least as far as Man Utd in all three knockout rounds this year – same round in the Carling Cup, and further in the FA Cup and Champions League. When was the last time that happened?

Regarding our form and development, for the first time in ages, the defense is looking like a strong suit. We definitely have one of the top young goalies in the world, and we’ve also seen the rather meteoric rise of Koscielny, while Vermaelen has returned to his great form. In addition, Jenkinson is going to be a steal for the price Wenger paid. Suddenly, we’re becoming difficult to score against, and we’ve also gotten better at defending set pieces.

Overall, this sets up as another brilliant season for Wenger and the club. Realistically, it’s hard to imagine not finishing in the top four yet again, and securing another Champions League spot next year. Spurs will begin to falter at some point, because they’re Spurs. On top of that, we’ve already played all four teams ahead of us on the road, so all of them will have to make trips to the Emirates in the second half of the season. And while it’s a bit unlucky to draw AC Milan in the Round of 16 in the CL, we should still be favored there. Plus we had a lucky FA Cup draw. All of this while finally putting the Cesc saga behind us, making a nice return on Nasri, and moving forward with a group of players who seem largely committed to the cause. If and when Wenger decides to shore up a couple of positions in January, he’s positioned the club well to do so, and we have to trust he’ll make the right moves to carry us forward.

Glass Half Empty Midseason Review:

As the season began, Wenger and company still seemingly had no idea what to do in key areas. The Nasri and Cesc issues dragged on way too long. When they were finally sold, there was little time to re-invest, and the season was already going. We dropped valuable points early in the season because nothing was sorted out. If there were serious inquiries made for players like Hazard and Götze, they were made too late for those clubs to get the money and re-invest it themselves. And as with all of our attempts at high-profile players, Wenger probably tried to low-ball those clubs to get a steal, which would never happen on players of that caliber. Anyway, we instead plugged holes with guys like Park and Benayoun instead. And our most expensive transfer of the summer (AOC) has hardly been trusted to play at all.

Not surprisingly, we were close to the relegation zone for the first few weeks of the season. The improved form has certainly been worthy of applause and admiration. Still, it shapes up as yet another season without a trophy. We’re currently 12 points back of Man City, and 10 back of Man Utd. So there won’t even be a league title chase this year at all. The Carling Cup was our best bet, but that came apart too. The Champions League was always realistically going to be out of our reach, and the AC Milan draw makes that even more of an uphill climb. So that leaves the FA Cup as our only real hope, but we haven’t even gotten started there yet. I suppose it’s a possible dream to keep alive, but we’ll have to go through the big boys at some point, so we’ll need a combination of lucky draws and inspired play to make that happen.

Regarding our depth and prospects moving forward, we can almost be assured that once again, the club won’t spend big in January on a real superstar. Until it actually happens, I’ll believe it when I see it. So that means we’re left hoping to bring in Henry and Wayne Bridge on short-term loans in January to bolster our depth at a couple of key positions. Wenger has already hinted at those sorts of moves. And of course Henry would be an inspirational player to bring back to the fold, his best days have long since departed. And Wayne Bridge? Do I need to even go there? If it’s not those guys, it will be something along those lines. Just a little bandage to hold us over until a couple injured guys return, and a couple guys get back from the African Cup of Nations.

But what are we really doing at the attacking positions? Where will the goals come from if/when RvP goes down? Chamakh? Get real. He’s already making noises about leaving, and he’s done nothing in ages anyway. Park? If Wenger considers him below Chamakh in the pecking order, that probably says everything we need to know right there. Arshavin? He’s been poor for the better part of a year or so. There are no signs of life there. AOC? Maybe someday in the future, but for now, he’s behind guys like Rosicky and Benayoun in a battle for a place on the bench. Gervinho? I like some of his qualities, but he’s pretty clearly not a very clinical finisher. Plus he’s headed to Africa soon anyway. Walcott? Ok, now we’re getting somewhere at least, but we need more attacking players to make it through three competitions over the next several months.

In general, the situation is screaming out for the solution that most fans are begging for – selling Arshavin and Chamakh, and buying a real thumper like Götze, Reus, Podolski, or someone who could really make an impact. Will that ever happen? If we’re being realistic, we would have to rate the chances as slim at best.

So where are we heading? We’re heading for another season without a trophy, almost for sure. And while a top four finish is likely if our form holds up, we’re probably one injury away from being in next year’s Europa League. Yes, we can blame the riches of Man City, United, Chelsea, and the Spanish giants for making things difficult. We can pine away for the arrival of Financial Fair Play. So maybe the league title would be out of reach anyway. But with our aimless wandering at the start of the year, combined with a refusal to really fix things in January, we have to place some blame at the feet of the owner, the board, and Wenger for not at least doing their best to deliver something to the fans (who pay the highest prices in the EPL).

Summary:
OK, well if you’ve been reading this blog for very long, you’ll know that the second half of my blog came a lot more naturally to me. But I do really believe in some of the things I wrote in the first half too. I’m concerned about what Wenger will do (or not do) in January to give us more bite to our attack. It’s ironic that as things have gotten much better in the back, some of our attacking has dipped a bit. Well, again, it’s not really so bad right now with RvP playing like one of the best players on earth. But as someone noted in the comments’ section a while back, we need our club leaders to be proactive, not reactive. We shouldn’t need to get thrashed by Man Utd to realize that Traore is poor and needs to be replaced. That decision should have been made ahead of time. Likewise, we don’t need RvP to go down to suddenly see that we need some help there. We need to expect those sorts of things to happen, and plan ahead of time. So time will tell how it all goes. I’ve enjoyed our resurgence this season, but now is the time to make a move to ensure it will continue. We shall see.

I’m thinking I’ll be called upon to write the Wolves preview as well, so I’ll go ahead and apologize now for that being a bit on the short side. I just returned from a little vacation, and I have to catch up on a few things.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

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Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men! Luke 2:14.

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