The New Season Begins

At least, for me the season starts here. Thanks to the untimely (or timely, depending on your perspective) event of a family wedding on the other side of Canada, I have quite literally missed every second of the official start to Arsenal’s season. The five matches that were played in August is nearly the total of my missed games in the each of the last five seasons. The only way I have followed Arsenal for the past half month is through the wonderful Arseblog app on my Android phone, with the occasional reading at this site when I could get away from family long enough. Now while this probably seems like an undesirable situation to most Gooners, I can assure you I was counting down the days till I could shut off Arsenal from my life for awhile.

The end of the 2010 season was unbearable for every gooner in the world, and I think it’s safe to say that we were begging for the season to end. The matches were absolutely dire, and apart for RVP, every player with a chance to lift our spirits when through on goal at Bolton fluffed the chance horribly, and losing to Stoke always leaves the bitterest of tastes in my mouth.  Thankfully it finally ended and the men in charge from top to bottom at Arsenal promised change in the squad over the summer, something every fan had been begging for a minimum of two transfer windows. And so we waited for the ‘deadwood’ to be sold from the squad and for fresh recruits to be added to the tantalizing quartet known as ‘Theo Van Nasgras’. Gervinho signed after speculation over him and Eden Hazard, but as the summer went on, the only thing we ever heard was the apparent pending departures of $amir Na$ri and Cesc Fabregas. Every article from all over the globe seemed to bring up the two and how it surely spelled their being sold or being kept each and ever day. Gooners argued and insulted each other over these rumors like they knew which were the truth when no one seemed to really know what would happen, not even the club itself. Many people decided Arsene Wenger should be fired as they could play Football Manager better than Wenger could do in real life. They decided that the once vaunted Youth Setup of Arsenal and their widely approved method in the transfer market of buying young prospects with large wages, and having a rigid but sensible payroll structure was clearly the worst part of Wenger’s reign, despite it keeping Arsenal competitive through the incredibly lean years of the move to Emirates. It suddenly did not matter that firing one of the most polarizing figures in world football in the middle of the transfer market would have dire consequences to the club then if he stuck around. He just had to go so we could spend money like Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. Frustration at Arsenal’s inactivity was driving everyone mad, and seriously demoralizing to my desire to follow anything Arsenal.

My return to regular life and Arsenal has incidentally coincided with the Interlull, allowing time to reflect on all that I missed. It’s amazing how stepping away from something you love for an extended period of time can make you appreciate it all the more, and renew your vigor for that love. What has happened though?

Cesc Fabregas was finally sold for a underwhelming amount of money, but I suppose most people are like me in just being happy not to have to listen from the daily wank-fest of Cesc in Barca. Losing the most influential player in the English game can never be a good thing, and replacing him will never be done by simply one player, unless we obtained Kaka of course. The season then began without any notable additions to the squad and a good defensive display at Newcastle was followed by a 1-0 win over Udinese for a decent start, despite losing players to red cards. Arsenal started $amir Na$ri for the Liverpool game and he played well, but the eagerness of Frimpong got him sent off and a loss resulted. The second leg of the Udinese qualifier was upon us and the biggest game of the summer was to unfold and dictate the caliber of players Arsenal could buy. Ultimately a 2-1 win in a terrific display ensured our qualification and the money that comes with it, and Gooners rejoiced in such a determined game. The calls for signings before the Manchester United rose but none arrived and anyone expecting a win was… well let’s be honest here. No one expected a win with the squad available. And a bashing ensued which made me want to break my phone as I followed the Arseblog‘s  liveblog. It was then that the fun finally started and we did the business in the transfer market, buying quality, experience and leadership, all within 48 hours.

So what have does the transfer summary look like?

Clearly, we lost two top end players who can really impact a the game. Gervinho looks as though he may equal what Na$ri gave us, while Benayoun and Arteta will be ask to assist Ramsey and Wilshere in being the creative hub of the squad. The supporting cast in the squad has improved as Wenger has given himself competition at all positions and players available to set up through injury suspensions and lack of form. Wenger has also shipped out youngsters without a real chance at first team football and replaced them with other promising youngsters who can hopefully fulfill their potential. Tactically, the squad now has a solid base of quality defenders, creative players through the middle and some real pace outside of Walcott that was badly needed. My biggest concern with the squad is goal scoring if (when) Van Persie goes down with injury for a substantial period of time as Chamakh is basically a ghost and I have very little knowledge of Park. It’s a shame Wenger waited as long as he did to assemble a team like this, as this was my idea of an ideal Arsenal squad if you had Cesc Fabregas at the helm and replaced Chamakh with Bendtner.

Many have bemoaned and criticized Arsenal for waiting until the last day of the transfer market to finally act decisively and suggest that the Manure mauling is reason for the activity. I personally find this wide of the mark as Wenger, Gazidis and every Joe-Blow with a mediocrity of authority at the club has stated that they needed to invest in the squad and were working hard at doing so. It wasn’t a turn of decision that brought the buying spree, as the seemingly calculated nature of the five new places suggest. Four of the five new comers are or have been captains of their club or country, and have played in the Champions League for their previous club, and they are all between the ages of 26-32 giving the club a massive injection of experience and leadership. They are all comfortable on the ball as all Wenger players must be, fill specific needs and as a whole, they tick every single box that Arsenal fans have suggested needed ticking.

It is absolutely criminal that no new players were added before the start of the season however, I don’t think there can be any excuse for that. Our players were thrown into the deep end without a live jacket or lessons on how to swim. Was anyone really surprised Ashley Young tore apart poor Carl Jenkinson? I do believe there Arsenal attempted to sign players before the season started but were unable to due to their usual stubborn stance on not over paying for players. Juan Mata was reportedly ready to sign for Arsenal. Thanks to Tottenham’s refusal to sell Modric, Chelsea had to look elsewhere and their eyes came upon Mata and Arsenal were never going to outbid them. There is also the curious case of Gary Cahill that more than suggests Arsenal were actively working. Bolton have long been known to be in dire need of some cash, and Gary Cahill  happens to be the Wanderers most valuable commodity on the transfer market, but in the last season of his contract. There were reports all summer of Arsenal’s interest in him, and Arseblog himself at one point indicated that Arsenal were on the verge of signing a central defender only to renege on that tweet the next day and has since revealed that the defender was Cahill. Then came the reports that Arsenal had only offered 6 million for him which pissed off Wenger to say the least. On the last day of the transfer market, Arsenal went with Mertesacker, and the rest of the day was filled with Tottenham chasing Cahill, which never materialized. Now it seems awfully strange that a club in desperate need of cash have their best player so closely tied to two club and then never manage to sell him off, basically losing their last chance in cashing in. It makes you suspect that someone was clearly asking for an obscene, Andy Carroll amount, of money for a player and their gamble has bit them in the ass. There is the thought that Arsene Wenger has not had full control of the buying and selling of players, and I have thought this for awhile. Who sends their chief scout to Costa Rica for Joel Campbell, only to fail to have the work permit denied? Where in the history of Wenger has this sort of logic been prevalent? Add this to Wenger mentioning that there are 20 people working on transfers and the knowledge that it was not always like that, and one must wonder what is currently happening behind closed doors at our beloved club.

So do you fire Arsene Wenger for this? Homey will say absolutely, but if you were going to fire him, it had to have been done at the start of the summer, not at the start of the regular season. Players have come to Arsenal for money, Champions League football, and because Arsene Wenger is still a hugely popular and well respected manager. He has his flaws that draw us all mad, like ‘Like a New Signing’ when it’s an injured player, or defending his players to the death or without fail, subbing at the 60th minute and rarely before that. But he was not called ‘The Professor’ for nothing, and he has a squad that I am happy with to continue the season on with. And despite the demoralizing loss at Manchester United, no trophy is won or lost at the beginning of the season. Arsenal are only 8 points behind the leaders with 35 matches to be played, and we have all seen slow starting clubs come back to win the title. Arsenal are in the Champions League group stage and while in a competitive group, there is no reason for them not to advance.

The misery of the transfer window is done, the squad is complete and will be highly competitive in all four competitions. Moaning about what should or should not have been done in the past will do no good and quite frankly has been done ad-nauseam for the past four or five months. We all know the past, but now is the time to get behind the squad and to cease worrying about who may or may not come. Until January of course. This is the Arsenal, and our season starts here.

….I mean, next week.

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Category: Arsenal News