Well here we are on the eve of the new season and it’s like it’s never been away. Apart from the 3 month gap, you know, but apart from that it’s like it’s never been away.
There’s a ton of stuff with the boss in this morning’s papers and he talks about turning down Real Madrid, the expectations on his team, money etc etc. The most important thing is that he believes this team is ready to win things. He says:
The team we have now gets there, and by that I mean it wins the championship. At 22 or 23 I think a team is mature enough to deliver and it is a massively important year for our club. I am conscious of that.
I know people have no patience any more but I agreed on a structure at the club that I believed could work, and we are at the period now when we will see whether I was right. To talk of winning the league is an audacious statement but I built this team and I want to deliver.
Boom. There it is right there. There’s no hiding this year then. He has put it up to his players in a big, big way. Because while these are the words that fans want to hear the only way they can be backed up is by what the team does on the pitch. This is his team. He knows what kind of pressure there is from all sides, really. The fans were restless last season, the media love that the fans are restless and so it goes.
But he’s talking about winning the title. He’s not saying “Let’s improve” or “Let’s get more points and see where we end up”. I know he frustrates people, me included, but one thing I don’t think you can ever question is his desire to win. The stuff in The Times interview about living like a footballer, not having another glass of wine in case it hampers your focus etc, shows a dedication to his job above and beyond that of most managers.
Whether it really makes a difference or not is another thing but that he would make sacrifices from his position says a lot about him.
He explains the sale of Adebayor:
My only question was whether we could afford to sell Adebayor. You come to the conclusion, can you stop Manchester City creating a big team? I don’t believe so. If we do not sell Adebayor they will buy Samuel Eto’o or somebody because they have the resources.
I love that. Let’s sell them Adebayor because, let’s face it, they could easily afford to buy someone better.
Overall the Wenger football philosophy is one that has seen Arsenal transformed from a supposedly boring club playing boring football into one that, on its day, is up there with the best in the world. Leaving aside the fact that we haven’t had as many of those days as we would like in recent seasons you have to love his outlook on the game of football:
I ask you: who is the most successful team in the world? Brazil. What do they play? Good football. Who won everything last year? Barcelona. What do they play? Lovely football.
Our lovely football reached its peak with the Invincibles in that famous season and perhaps he’s been torn a bit by the need to be more pragmatic in his approach. The new stadium, young players, financial handicapping, we all know the reasons, but as the man himself said it’s time for this team to deliver. He himself has set the expectation levels for this season, he knows we’ve got to be in the mix right to the end this time, and if we play good football while doing it then all the better.
But results are more important than aesthetics this season. To me that’s the bottom line.
Now, looking ahead to tomorrow’s game and we’re already beset by injuries. Lukasz Fabianski faces two months on the sidelines and that is a big worry. An injury to Almunia means we’re relying on 21 year old Italian Vito Mannone or the 19 year old Pole Wojciech Szczesny (bless you). It’s an area I hadn’t really given too much thought until GilbertoSilver from Gunnerblog mentioned it on the Arsecast but you have to wonder if he’ll make some kind of short term signing to provide some cover in this area.
The other main worry is Johan Djourou who is out for a month with knee trouble. He talked about making a step-up this season but he’s missing the chance to establish himself because of a persistent niggle. Vermaelen is just back from a hamstring injury and all of a sudden we’re just a knock or a strain away from playing Sylvester which really doesn’t fill anyone with confidence.
As well as that Theo Walcott misses out with a back strain (nothing too serious) and Abou Diaby might just be fit as he suffers from yet another little problem (groin). Add Rosicky and Nasri to that lot and we’re going into the first game of the season with 5 or 6 players out. I’ve often wondered if it’s just a perception amongst Arsenal fans that we have players injured more than other clubs but surely something’s got to give.
If we can’t keep our players fit can we not buy players who just stay fit? Anyway, Arsene says there’s money available to spend, if looking at his squad list and seeing a big red INJ beside so many of them doesn’t tell him we need to improve the depth of our squad then nothing will. And we can’t really moan about injuries and being unlucky with injuries when it’s often the same faces on the treatment table week in, week out.
Still, the focus now has to be on the three players we have who are fit and available for tomorrow’s game against Everton and I’ll do that tomorrow in a more substantial preview of the game. I don’t want to get bogged down in negativity with the kick-off this close but all the same you can’t help but worry. If you slap a dog enough times does he not flinch when you raise a hand? Or something.
There’ll be the traditional pre-game press conference today so that should provide plenty more copy for tomorrow. In the meantime it’s time to welcome back the Arsecast.
On this week’s lengthy show I chat with both Goodplaya (swish new design) and GilbertoSilver (swish … erm … nah) about the season, our transfer business, the state of the squad and lots more. As well as that I chat to Kevin from The Lord of the Wing about the Champions League game on Tuesday and what we can expect from Celtic.
The Man in the Bar has his season predictions and there rest is just me waffling like a twat. Some things never change.
You can subscribe to the Arsecast on iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week’s arsecast directly – click here (25mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.
Right then, that’ll be that. Have a good Friday, prepare yourself for tomorrow because here we go again.
