august 15th
I said I was going to do a bit of a preview for the season ahead, so here we go.
Squad: Obviously with Patrick Vieira staying our squad is stronger than we thought it was going to be, but we’ve lost some experience in the summer. Out have gone Keown, Parlour, Kanu, Wiltord, Jeffers, Stepanovs, but in have come van Persie, Flamini and Almunia, to add to the young guys like Cesc, Hoyte, Senderos and Clichy. Pennant is going to challenge in midfield, which can only be a good thing, Cole gets better every season, Gilberto looks fit and sharp and Kolo is ready to do it all again. We may lack a little nouse but we more than make up for it with pace and ability.
Even though they went through last season unbeaten this squad should still feel like it’s got something to prove. Become the first Arsenal team to win back to back titles. Get beyond the 1/4 finals of the Champions League. Do it playing the same kind of wonderful football we saw last season. The reason Manchester United were so successful for so long was because they were hungry for silverware every season. They knew there were no points awarded for being Champions the previous season. I’m sure Arsene Wenger has told the lads they won’t be resting on their laurels and we’ve got a core of ambitious young players who know they’ve got a chance to win a haul of medals in their careers with Arsenal at this time.
It’s a fantastic time for the club, we’ve already heard the scoffings of ‘Oh the most he’s spent is £3m on van Persie’ and even though we’re the team that went unbeaten Chelsea and their dirty money have been installed as favourites. Suits me.
Players to watch: Like everyone I think José Antonio Reyes is going to be the player to watch this season. We’ve been blessed to have a striker like Thierry Henry who has scored lots of goals consistently for the last 3 or 4 seasons, and it’s right to think that one of these seasons he might not be as prolific. If that happens I’m not worried because I think Reyes has the goals in him to negate the ill effects of any kind of slump in Theirry’s form. He’s fast, he’s now quite powerful having spent lots of time in the gym this summer, and his sheer enthusiasm and willingness to just attack people is a joy to watch.
Watch out for van Persie too. I have it on good authority that his free kicks are sensational, so if he gets a chance or two this season expect fireworks.
Finally there’s Cesc Fabregas who may not play as much as we thought he might with Vieira staying, but this lad is prodigious. Fast tracked to the first team at the age of 16, he’s going to feature quite a bit in the cups and after his display in the Community Shield the boss won’t be afraid to use him if needed. He reminds me of Pep Guardiola crossed with Norman Whiteside. He’s clever and not afraid. A real star in the making.
Discipline: The players know the importance of it and they’ll have learnt a lot from Old Trafford last season, but there’s nothing like a bit of a scrap to engender team spirit and that ‘us against them’ attitude that works so well. Expect something to kick off early enough in the season.
Top of the table: Last season I predicted us to finish first and it seemed to work. So obviously this season I’m going to do exactly the same. Arsenal top, followed by Chelsea, Manchester United then Liverpool. Boro and Birmingham could make Newcastle look over their shoulders as the established fifth team.
Bottom: Crystal Palace, Norwich and Everton. I’ve been predicting/hoping it would be Spurs for the last few seasons so I’m hoping by saying nothing it might just happen. I’d love to see Bolton go too.
First Arsenal player sent off: Patrick Vieira or Jens Lehmann
First Arsenal goal scorer: José Antonio Reyes
First manager to lose his job: I got Hoddle right last season, this time around I reckon it’ll be Sturrock at Southampton, followed by Kevin Keegan losing his rag, throwing another mickey-fit and walking out on Manchester City.
First new rule about offside: Sometime in October.
That’s it for the predictions. Some quick bits and pieces of news. Double-D on the whole Vieira saga – Arsenal are going to stop Edu and Gilberto playing in Brazil’s meaningless friendly against Haiti (uh oh, watch out for that voodoo, Arsene) – Kolo Toure has reportedly signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2009, while Sol Campbell is also expected to put pen to paper on a new contract.
Apart from that there’s nothing else going on. Apart from the first game of the season against Everton. Hurrah. Football is back. I can’t wait. More later.
