For a variety of reasons, none of which are interesting, Yankee Gunner Blog has moved.

You can now find the blog at this address:

 www.yankeegunnerblog.com

Theo shines as Arsenal rout ten-man Blackpool

Arsenal returned to the Emirates for the start of a new campaign and put on an offensive show for the home crowd.  The performance was impressive and encouraging, but I suggest that it be forgotten as quickly as possible.  Playing against a newly promoted side, projected by many to equal Derby County’s record for futility, and with a man advantage for the majority of the match, any team with title aspirations would expect to cruise to victory.  The fact that we did dominate the match and convert our dominance into goals deserves praise.  However, if the team starts believing that the win over Blackpool was indicative of their general prowess, then complacency could become a concern.  Surely we’ll be given a sterner test by fat sam’s team of thugs at Ewood park on Saturday.

There was an uneventful return to the team for Cesc Fabregas late in the match.  He contributed little in his time on the pitch, but the match was well and truly decided long before he entered the fray.  Seeing him in that beautiful new home kit was good enough for me, and he received a warm reception from the crowd.  You could see that Cesc wasn’t 100% sharp, but the fact that he played a part in the match suggests that he could be on schedule to start at the weekend.  It will be particularly nice to see him wearing the captains armband again.

The most newsworthy performance against blackpool was delivered by Theo Walcott.  Despite scoring a hat-trick and setting up a raft of chances for Arshavin and Chamakh in particular, Alan Hansen was not impressed and ripped Theo on Match of the Day.  You really have to wonder what Theo Walcott will have to do in football before his detractors will finally shut their holes.  It seems that his every errant pass or poor finish is heavily debated and scrutinized, while his positive contributions are dismissed for one reason or another.

On Saturday, Theo was imperious.  It’s so obvious that defenses don’t know exactly what to do with him.  His pace is troubling, but his first touch and strength on the ball have improved.  Two of his better contributions resulted in scoring chances for Arshavin and Chamakh that weren’t converted.  His first goal was a wonderfully calm, side-footed finish, and his second goal was tremendous center forward play.  He received the ball with his back to the goal, turned his man, and slotted home.  It was the kind of play that had Arsene Wenger admitting after the match that Theo will soon find himself playing center forward more regularly.

Naturally, there were moments that went awry for Theo.  At one point he cruised into the box and blazed over the bar when he had support on the left.  On the very next attack he looked to atone for his mistake by trying to pick out a teammate when the shot was a better option.  But, at 21 years old, his potential is finally being realized with some accomplished play, and his decision making improves with every start.  Remember, Theo looked very bright two seasons ago before the shoulder injury wiped out most of his campaign.  Last season was mostly lost to injury after the under-21 fiasco.  So with a proper pre-season under his belt, and a little bit of fitness, perhaps we’re just seeing him pick up where he left off before the last two seasons.  He’s been very short on playing time for Arsenal, and that’s what he needs more than anything else.

If Theo’s performance grabbed the headlines, then Tomas Rosicky’s quietly stole the show.  He pulled the strings in midfield and almost made you forget that Nasri is injured and Cesc was on the bench.  Rosicky was a monster in the 2006 World Cup and arrived at Arsenal with great expectations.  After 18 months out of the game with injury, he looked understandably off the pace last season.  But if you remember, few expected him to play much during the last campaign.  Now he too is fit, rejuvenated, and looking like the player that we hoped he’d be when he first arrived.  If we can get this level of contribution from Rosicky throughout the season, then it really changes the landscape in midfield.  He’s experienced and talented and gives Arsene some real selection headaches.

Marouane Chamakh made his first appearance in front of the home crowd, and showed he was a perfect fit for Arsenal with his various efforts at emulating Nicklas Bentner’s brand of finishing.  But to be fair to the new striker, he lead the line well, and scored a majestic header from a corner.  While he did “Bendtner” some chances, he also had a few well saved.  Regardless, his aerial abilities were not over-hyped and you have to wonder if it might be worth taking more advantage of that asset.  We delivered precious few crosses for him on Saturday, and it doesn’t look like he would need many to convert a few.

Overall, the team contribution was excellent and after looking out of his depth at Anfield, Jack Wilshere made amends with a solid performance.  He started slowly, but as the game wore on he began to find his rhythm.  He setup Theo’s second and showed great energy pressing the ball in Blackpool’s half.  It was important for him to get a good game under his belt because it will be hard for him to crack the starting eleven in the matches to come.  With Cesc returning, Rosicky in form, and Song ready to reclaim his DM role, it’s unlikely that Wilshere will be asked to start many matches in the near future.

After receiving his fair share of criticism last week, Arshavin put in a much better shift against Blackpool.  He had a nice half-volley well saved, set-up Theo’s first goal, and took the penalty well.  It’s easy to dismiss the fact that he converted a penalty, but we saw various examples of poor penalties from around the league.  Just ask Nani how much fun it can be taking a penalty.

Speaking of the penalty, there’s been some debate about whether we should have been awarded the spot kick.  It did appear that the contact began outside the box.  For me, it would have been fair to rule that a free kick.  But if you remember, we had a penalty awarded against us last season from a foul that started about 10 yards outside the box.  The defender certainly did not take any of the ball and he stopped a clear goal scoring opportunity.  The tackle was from behind and he was the last defender.  I’d say those are all sufficient reasons to award a red card.  While the penalty might have been a touch harsh, I simply don’t see the argument against showing the red card.

In some ways, I wish Blackpool hadn’t had a man sent off.  I think it would have been much better for the team to face a little competition.  After two weeks, we’ve played a little more than a half of football against eleven men.  And it wouldn’t surprise me if fat Sam had a player sent off this weekend.  Maybe the trick to this whole trophy winning thing is to just play against opposition with fewer players.  So far, so good.

There’s been some debate over on twitter about Abou Diaby.  Many suggest that he’s a first choice midfielder.  I just don’t see it that way.  First and foremost, Diaby is not a defensive midfielder.  He wants far too much time on the ball, and his giveaways can be fatal.  He doesn’t have the energy or defensive nous or tackling skills to play the role.  When I suggest that Wenger might start Rosicky and Cesc together with Song, most people argue that we’ll miss Diaby’s size and power, but the fact remains that his size doesn’t really translate into any solidity.  He is talented, but inconsistent, and doesn’t add steel to the side.  I’ve said many times, and only somewhat sarcastically, that Diaby is better suited to be a forward.  He’s good with the ball at his feet and can be a lethal finisher.  He also wouldn’t have to run as much which suits his style perfectly.

The fact is, our team sheet will be looking very different as we welcome Cesc and RVP back into the fold.  Following the Blackpool match, Wenger suggested that he would only play RVP and Chamakh together in a traditional 4-4-2.  Naturally he went on to contradict himself by saying that both players can drift out wide in a 4-3-3.  Regardless, some players are going back to the bench in exchange for the returning superstars.  It will be interesting to see who Arsene selects.  Theo certainly made a case for starting with his performance, and Rosicky would be a big loss from the lineup given his form.

Overall, the Blackpool result was welcome and entertaining and a perfect way to open the Emirates for business this season.  In reality, we might be a bit disappointed that it wasn’t double figures, but the team showed good concentration to keep going after taking a 3-0 halftime lead.  However, the result needs to be put in it’s place.  The team simply can’t afford to take too much away from such an easy win.

This weekend Blackburn will look to bring us down to earth with a traditional combination of hard fouls, long ball tactics and an all out physical assault on our keeper.  We will arrive at Ewood park with a new defender in tow as Squillaci appears to have signed.  (Arsenal’s official site will post the news whenever they get around to it.)  What seems clear at this point is that there won’t be a new keeper.  Sad really, because games like blackburn away are the reason why we need a new keeper in the first place.  More on that match in the next few days.

Until then...

When someone points a gun at you and says “your money or your life,” you’re supposed to hand over the money.  Not so sure that’s what Arsene Wenger would do.  His love for parsimony seems to exceed his love for just about anything else.  And as the transfer window limps along towards a conclusion that will surely be marked by the most hyperbolic of Sky Sports graphics, Arsenal have yet to sign that elusive GK or CB.

Attempting to confuse Fulham into selling us Mark Schwarzer, Arsenal have made another bid for him in the same amount as the previous bid.  Perhaps we were hoping that Mark Hughes failed to write down the prior number and would simply assume that our new bid was higher.  Seems reasonable, considering there are very few people who deign to make the same bid twice.  But Arsenal apparently have no fear of rejection when it comes to transfer negotiations.

Perhaps we’re missing a much bigger story here.  Maybe Arsene Wenger is a Jedi.  That’s right, he’s a Jedi.  If you remember the original Star Wars movie, Obi Wan Canobi was able to get right past some Storm Troopers with a wave of his hand while saying, “these are not the droids you’re looking for.”  Perhaps Wenger has attempted the same tactic with Hughes.  You can almost imagine how it would transpire,

AW: “We bid £2 million.”
Hughes: “that is not enough.”
AW: (waves his hand) “You want to sell us Mark Schwarzer for £2 million.”
Hughes: “I want to sell you Mark Schwarzer for £2 million ... and I’m a huge cunt.”

Unfortunately, Arsene must be merely a Jedi in training because this tactic was ultimately unsuccessful.  Mark Schwarzer is still a cottager.  But the deal can still get done.  I have it on good authority that Arsenal are preparing an improved bid in the £2 million range.

Having one bid rejected for its insufficiency wasn’t enough for Arsenal on Thursday, so Sevilla summarily dismissed our bid for Sebastien Squillaci as well.  The 30 year old defender isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s a strong, reliable CB who would most likely be content with a backup role to Koscielny and possibly even Djourou.  (Until September when both are recovering from viscous spleen injuries picked up against Blackburn.)

All this bidding suggests that Wenger genuinely wants to sign someone, but only if he can use the change from the coffee can in his kitchen.  Seriously, it’s not my job to determine how much money the club should spend.  And I don’t believe that millions of pounds should just be thrown around.  But if there’s a flood coming and the only guy in town with a boat wants a few extra quid to let you on board, then maybe you should consider paying the man.  Just my opinion.  But if you’re a good swimmer, I suppose you can try to survive the flood instead.  I’m sure we’ll be fine playing the season with Alumunia in goal and three first-team CBs.
All kidding aside for just one moment, we really do need to get this transfer business done.  While some suggest that we can make due with the goal keepers we have, everyone recognizes the need for another CB.  I personally don’t think we can with the league or the Champions League with Almunia in goal, but I KNOW we can’t win anything with three CBs.  So we can laugh at the lack of signings just a little, and have some fun with the rejected bids, but the situation is starting to get just a little worrying.  Without new players I fear that our season has a woeful predictability to it.  A glass ceiling if you will.  Hilariously, the official website ran a poll asking fans if we needed to make additional signings to win the league.  95% responded “yes.”  I wonder if Wenger visits the official site.

And while we’re busy not signing CBs and GKs, our players are busy getting the medical staff back in shape.  Nasri’s injury was a blow, but Emmanuel Frimpong has one-upped Samri and torn his cruciate ligament.  The young DM will be out 9 months and miss the entire season.  Really this is a heartbreaking development.  Frimpong might have had limited exposure to the first team this season, but surely would’ve had a place in the Carling Cup sides, and possibly the FA Cup as well.  Now he will miss a season that would have been a crucial stepping stone to future first team contributions.  Get well soon Emmanuel.  (For what it’s worth, I have the phrase “get well soon” saved in my clipboard for easy cut-and-paste into blogs all season long.)

As far as Samir Nasri’s injury goes, everyone is upset, but I have been reading a lot of opinions that it’s not the end of the world.  That’s wrong.  It is absolutely the end of the world.  Okay, that’s not true.  But I think it’s worse than some are suggesting.

Nasri is due to miss one month.  But we have no way of knowing what that means.  If he merely returns to training in one month, he could be prevented from starting for closer to 6 weeks.  Suddenly that means he would miss two champions league group games and the trip to Stamford Bridge.  While we have talent in midfield that most teams would envy, you still want your best players on the pitch in the big games.  Recently, we’ve had to make due with back-ups and that’s far from ideal.

For me, there’s no question that a midfield trio of Cesc, Song and Nasri is our best.  With those three in the center of the park I think we’re both threatening and solid.  There’s creativity, work-rate, and goals in that trio.  Without Samir, the options lead back to Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson and Wilshere.  While the former looked good at Anfield, I don’t trust any of the latter three in a big game yet.  So while Samir’s injury isn’t the end of the world, I think we need him back more urgently than some surmise.

Finally, it looks as if William Gallas is going to sell his soul to Sp*rs.  Our former ill-fated captain was a dressing room pariah and destroyer of team chemistry, but also a talented defender with a penis whose eye for goal was impressive.  Hopefully he’s bringing more of the former traits to WHL and less of the latter.  His arrival means that Harry Redknapp has accepted his extravagant wage demands.  Combine that with Spuds missing out on Champions League money and Redknapp will be well on his way to bankrupting another club.  I wish him all the best in his endeavors.  With Gallas at the Lane, it might breathe some life into a rivalry made stale by its one-sided predictability.

A Blackpool preview later.  But here’s a preview of the Blackpool Preview:

“We’re playing Blackpool at home on Saturday.  If we don’t win by 5 clear goals I’m going to cry.”

More insightful analysis like that is in store for you.  Until then...

Something Important May or May Not Happen Sometime in the Near Future!!!

I am a blogger.  I write an Arsenal blog.  I do this for three reasons:

I am obsessed with Arsenal Football Club
I am opinionated about Arsenal Football Club
I am optimistic enough to believe that other people might want to read what I write

I write an Arsenal blog to share my thoughts in the wild hope that you, my wonderful, clever, handsome reader, will be affected by my opinions and analysis.  I do not, however, consider myself some kind of ersatz journalist.  It is not my job to break the news.  It is my responsibility to opine about it.

By my count, Mark Schwarzer has had nine medicals at Arsenal.  He is now the most medically scrutinized man in the western world.  Or perhaps he hasn’t had a single medical. Maybe it was Shay Given that had the medical.  Perhaps the medical was performed by Per Mertesaker while he was signing his new Arsenal contract.  Joe Cole never signed for Arsenal, but he played against Arsenal on opening day so that’s almost the same thing.  Now it’s being widely “reported” that we’re about to sign Squillaci.  Surely that will happen.  Just like all the other moves happened.  Then again, perhaps no one really, genuinely knows what’s going on at all. 
We all want to know who will be the next Arsenal signing.  We crave any hint of information about Arsenal’s transfer activity.  But news should be verifiable.  It should be reported in a responsible manner and backed by primary sources.  Sadly, that kind of rectitude is too often lacking in modern journalism.  Newspapers seem willing to report on any football topic based only on rumor or innuendo.

But when blogs make it their job to report the news, it is even more dangerous.  I realize that some bloggers do have a genuine connection to the team and possess inside information.  And I appreciate the desire to share that information with the desperate, panting masses.  Unfortunately, it’s the wrong forum.  News that is held to no standard of truthfulness or accuracy ceases to be news.  So let’s take a deep breath, leave news reporting to the diminishing number of media outlets with some element of credibility, and use our breath for shouting at the top of our lungs about the latest calamity... Samir Nasri is injured.

It’s almost comical at this point.  The equation for Arsenal injuries is maddeningly simple.  Pick a player with immense potential.  Wait for the moment when it finally appears that his potential will be realized.  Then cut him down with an injury that halts his progress.  In this case, Nasri had surgery to repair a damaged meniscus in his knee yesterday.  The official website claims that he’ll be out for one month.  However, if he is only able to return to training in one month, then it could be fully six weeks before he’s ready to be a starter again.  And that should be perfect because he’ll be able to replace the next player who will be leaving with an injury.

Nasri’s injury is problematic for a number of reasons.  The first is the most obvious.  He had a tremendous preseason.  He looked active and effective in stretches against Liverpool.  And he was set for his first pairing with Cesc Fabregas at the weekend.  That creative duo could be devastating.  But now we will have to wait at least a month to see it, and hope that Nasri can pick up where he left off.

The other problem with an injury like the one to Samir, is simply that it disrupts the team’s development.  Teams need time to gel.  Players get used to one another and that comfort level leads to better performances.  Arsene Wenger himself has said that changing even two players in the side can disrupt the performance of the team as a whole.  But with Arsenal, the lineup is constantly changing.  Injuries prevent players from learning to play with one another and force players into the starting lineup that simply aren’t ready.

We have a maturing team, but when players are out injured, we are forced to rely on our younger players once again.  And we have seen over the past few seasons the many pitfalls of relying on a team with a dearth of experience.  What I find laughable, is that some fans met the news of Nasri’s injury with excitement.  Some suggested that this was just the opportunity that Wilshere needed to step up.  That’s simply ridiculous.  If Jack Wilshere’s name was Radoslav Virgolatz, would anyone be “excited” about Nasri’s injury making room for him?  I doubt it.

The fact is, we expect to challenge for the title.  If we’re going to do that we have to win our next five matches.  It’s really that simple.  We can’t afford to lose to Blackburn, or Bolton, or Sunderland, and expect to earn the necessary points to win the league.  We need experience in those games.  We need players that know how to stay focused for 90 minutes and not take any opposition lightly.  With Nasri out, it means more playing time for Wilshere, or Diaby, or Denilson, and we know what we can expect from those players; inconsistency.  We simply can’t afford that.  I’m not suggesting that they aren’t good players with massive potential.  They are.  But this is not a season for occasional performances.  For our sake, I hope Wenger relies on the more experienced Rosicky while Nasri is out.

Most pundits seem to think that this season will be more wide open at the top of the table than usual.  I think that the title race is between United, Chelsea and Arsenal.  The winner might simply be the team that is able to put its first choice eleven on the pitch most frequently.  And that’s a scary thought for Arsenal fans.  But at some point, if we want to challenge for the title, we simply must have our best players on the pitch together.  We have a good team and a deep team.  And it speaks volumes about our depth that we have been able to stay in the top four the last two seasons despite an outrageous number of games missed through injury.  But if our ambitions are higher than the top four, we need the injuries to stop.

We need look no farther than the starting eleven at Anfield on Sunday to realize the gravity of this situation.  We started Eboue as one of our three forwards.  We started Jack Wilshere for the first time in the Premier League.  We started Diaby at DM.  At Anfield!  On opening day!  And we still earned a draw!  Impressive on one level, but devastatingly disappointing on another.  Just think what could have been achieved with Cesc, RVP and Song.  But that’s been the story in our big matches over the past few seasons.  Look at the starting lineups for matches against Chelsea, United and Barcelona and it’s really no surprise that we were on the losing end of those encounters.  Too many second or third choice players, forced into big situations before they were ready.  And those losses don’t come with asterisks denoting our lack of key players.  They’re just losses.  Painful as any.

The only absurd part of this discussion is that there’s probably nothing that can be done to change anything.  Something is obviously amiss at Arsenal’s training ground, but the club seems powerless to correct the problem.  One way or another, however, they have to figure it out and make changes.  Otherwise we’ll be sitting around in May, lamenting another “what if” season lost to injuries.  We’ve been there before and I don’t think anyone wants to go through it again.

Get well soon Samir.

A quick word about Arsenal fanshare.  Fans will now be able to buy partial shares of the club through a program endorsed by the club and the AST.  For £95, a fan can purchase 1/100 of a share of the club.  Some have argued that this is merely cosmetic because the total ownership will never be more than nominal.  But over time the accrued shares could reach a meaningful level.  More importantly, it’s a way for fans to own a piece of the club they love, and have some rights to participate in the experience of ownership.  It’s just another way to protect and participate in the operation of the club we all love.  I say bravo.

One final bit of comedy to brighten the mood.  Young Boys 3 - 2 Tottenham.  Commence uncontrollable laughter.  I realize that Spuds have a very good chance to qualify.  I realize that they recovered a desperate situation.  But that doesn’t change the fact that they lost to Young Boys.  Harry Redknapp called it a great loss.  Sorry twitchy, but there’s nothing good about losing 3-2 to a side that wouldn’t earn promotion from League 1 in your first Champions League action in decades.  And you know what?  I have a sneaky suspicion that Spuds won’t get it done at home.  It’s a massive match, with crushing pressure.  I figure them to collapse under the weight of it.  Here’s hoping.

Is the glass half-empty or half-full?

 

You’re walking through the park on a beautiful summer day.  Suddenly you discover a satchel filled with money.  £100 to be exact.  Delighted with your bounty, you swiftly exit the park.  Subsequently, you are rather disappointed to learn that a larger satchel, filled with £1,000, was sitting directly behind the bag that you retrieved.  While you are still satisfied with the pleasant recovery of £100, your excitement is somewhat muted by the realization that, with a little more assiduousness, you might have left the park with something more significant.  Such was our sojourn to Merseyside.

Asked before the match whether a solitary point at Anfield would suffice, most Gunners would likely answer in the affirmative.  Treacherous ground, new manager, renewed optimism.  All good reasons to fear our trip to Liverpool.  Add to that equation the absence of our most valuable players and there was every reason to think that a draw would be an excellent result.  But you must evaluate the performance on the basis of the actual circumstances.  That’s the meaning behind my allegory above.  Coming out from half-time, level on the scoreboard, up a man, and having dominated possession in the first half, Arsenal should have left Anfield with all three points.

Before I discuss the merits of the performance, it’s important to quickly make a point about supporting a club.  There is nothing apostate, or “plastic”, about criticizing your team, your players or your manager.  When your child makes a mistake or behaves poorly, he must be reprimanded for his behavior.  When your particular political party acts in a way that meets with your disapproval, it is only right that you voice your displeasure.  You can’t love anything if you are unwilling to recognize and discuss it’s flaws or faults.  Productive criticism is an indispensable aspect of love and support.  So, while this evaluation will include criticism of Arsenal, it is precisely because I love the club that I include it in my assessment.

Liverpool had a clear game plan for this match.  It’s the same plan that we’ve seen carried out to perfection against us by Chelsea and United in recent seasons.  Rather than even attempting to challenge us for time on the ball, Liverpool were content to yield the lion share of possession and stay organized at the back.  We were permitted to play all the lateral passes we wanted in their half without ever looking truly threatening.  Liverpool were patient.  They looked for two specific opportunities to create scoring chances: set-pieces, and midfield give aways.  They played to our weaknesses.

This Arsenal team becomes complacent when we have too much time on the ball, and when we give it away in midfield, we’re often caught out of position at the back.  When the opposition wins a corner or a free-kick, then our lack of a commanding goal-keeper is exposed.  The latter weakness was apparent early in the match when Almunia went flying for a corner kick, punching at nothing but the warm summer air.  In that case we escaped punishment.  The former deficiency was the source of Liverpool’s only goal.  Andrey Arshavin played a casual ball out from the back, Jack Wilshere failed to properly control, Diaby stood and watched as the ball was played into N’Gog, and Almunia was powerless to stop it from flying past him at the near post.  The keeper has taken some abuse for being beaten at his near post, but I think few keepers would have stopped the shot.  It was a creditable finish from the otherwise mediocre N’Gog.

So despite being down a man at half-time, Liverpool held the lead in the 47th minute by sticking with their game plan.  We had controlled the game, become over confident, forgotten that Liverpool posed a threat, and were punished.  The goal seemed to sap our confidence and we entered an uncertain period where we looked like the team missing a man.  It wasn’t until Wenger brought on Rosicky and Walcott for the abject Wilshere and Eboue that we started to pose a real threat.

What this team still hasn’t seemed to learn is that possession doesn’t score goals.  Endeavor, courage, desire, intelligence and inspiration are the key ingredients.  Playing a ball to your teammate standing four yards to your right or left is easy, but it doesn’t get you any closer to scoring.  Swinging the ball from side to side doesn’t create chances.  Darting runs off the ball and dangerous passes around and through the defense lead to goals.  But those were conspicuously absent on Sunday.  And to some extend, there was a lack of urgency.

I’ll get to the some of the individual performances in a minute, but there’s a very interesting statistic I want to share.  (Stats provided by Orbinho via Twitter).  Last season Cesc Fabregas created a scoring chance more frequently than any other player in all of Europe.  That’s outstanding.  But, Cesc only completed 76% of his passes.  That’s just 3% better than the average for Premier League midfielders.  So if Cesc’s passes are completed at an average rate, what makes him so special?  It’s the nature of the passes he plays.  He’s not afraid for a pass to go astray.  He’s not concerned that he won’t complete every dangerous through ball.  Cesc has the courage to try the killer pass.  He has the will to find his teammates in the right positions to score goals.  And he has the inspiration to complete the pass that creates a scoring chance more often than anyone else in the Europe.

On Sunday, Abou Diaby complete almost every pass he attempted, and yet he failed to create a single scoring chance.  The reason?  Diaby never had the courage or the endeavor to make the decisive pass.  He was content to leave the responsibility to a teammate.  Happy to pass the ball three yards to his left and wait while someone else tried to unlock the defense.  With that attitude, you’re never going to score.  At one point in the second half, Nasri tried to play a one-two with Diaby on the edge of the Liverpool box.  He gave the ball to his French compatriot and made a darting run forward.  Rather than trying to complete the move, Diaby controlled the ball and then slid it calmly back to Gael Clichy.  That moment was a microcosm of Arsenal’s attacking display.  Not enough dangerous runs, and certainly not enough dangerous passes.

The more teams employ a defensive strategy against us, the more important it becomes for us to put them under intense pressure.  We must show teams that if they are happy to give Arsenal the ball, then they are going to yield too many goal-scoring opportunities.  On Sunday we created virtually nothing, and that allowed Liverpool to get comfortable and stay calmly within their game plan, even after Joe Cole was rightfully sent off.

Arsenal deserve credit for the number of matches that we’ve rescued over the past few seasons.  This group of players has shown that they are willing fight until the end and can score the crucial late goal.  It’s a quality that deserves praise, but it’s also one that frustrates me to some extent.  The reason I find it frustrating, is that the team doesn’t seem to switch on until their backs are against the wall.  Sometimes it requires the sucker punch of conceding a goal for this group of players to move up a gear.  If we are going to challenge for the title then we have to learn to start every match with the intent to destroy the opposition.  We can’t play the first 30 minutes as though it’s a passing drill.  We must be more ruthless and determined.  There’s a reason that we didn’t score a goal in the first 15 minutes of a league game last season.  I’d argue it’s partly because the players don’t begin the match with the proper attitude.

It’s easy to look at Sunday’s match and be critical of the attacking display.  For the most part, we were abject in the opposition half.  But the story of the match might actually be our defensive effort.  Granted, we were rarely troubled by a stoic liverpool side, but we looked relatively composed and confident defensively.

For all the doubts about Koscielny, he looked very solid.  At one point in the second half, a ball was played up the pitch to Torres.  We were chasing the game and Koscielny was left exposed.  But the frenchman showed good pace and power to get on the ball and calmly clear the danger.  It was a good sign.  His pathetic dismissal at the end of the match means we won’t have the pleasure of seeing his Emirates debut on Saturday, but hopefully he won’t be needed against Blackpool.  (That’s what you call a good-old-fashioned jinx.)  The real question, however, is who exactly can replace Koscielny at the weekend.  We literally do not have a fit, first team CB at the club other than Vermaelen.  Sorry state of affairs frankly.

I think it’s fair to say that our attack will sort itself out.  The attacking was abject on Sunday, but it’s more than likely that there will be very few days like that this season.  The fact that our defense looked solid is cause for great optimism.  If the defending is better this season, then we will truly have a shot at the title.  However, that presupposes the presence of a legitimate first-choice goal-keeper and the arrival of another CB to fill-in when there is a need ... like this weekend.  I still believe that we’ll see those needs met before the transfer window closes.

Arsene Wenger does so many things right for Arsenal Football Club, but I think his selection on Sunday was flawed.  Jack Wilshere is a bright talent with a big future, but he’s not ready to be a starter in a three man midfield at Anfield.  Like any young player he struggles with consistency and concentration.  Wilshere also has a penchant for the nasty tackle.  His skills and potential are undeniable, but this match required a little more precision and nous than we can expect from the young Englishman.  Additionally, while Emmanuel Eboue is a great squad player and a wonderful back-up to Sagna, he’s not a first choice forward for a big match.  Both selections were errant in my opinion.

Rosicky showed almost immediately upon entering the game that he should have started.  I’ll accept that he might not have been fit enough to start (because that’s always possible), but if he was, then he shouldn’t have been a substitute.  He showed a great willingness to make the dangerous pass that I alluded to earlier.  His linking play was good and he nearly got us the equalizer before Pepe Reina bowed to karma with his howler. 

I also think that Theo Walcott should have started the game.  Roy Hodgson was always likely to choose a pragmatic approach to this match, and Theo’s pace is just the kind of quality that can unsettle a team that’s setup to stifle the opposition.  As I’ve said before, he pulls defenders out of position, and creates room for his teammates to operate.  If he’s going to blossom this season, then these are the kinds of games where he needs to shine.  He’s going to be a substitute in most matches this season, but if he can’t get ahead of Emmanuel Eboue in the pecking order at forward, then why even have him in the team?

Those are my chief complaints with Wenger’s starting eleven and I think he could have made changes at half-time with an eye towards making the most of our numerical advantage.  But if I’m going to address Wenger’s selection, then I must give him credit for rightly starting Almunia.  He may not be great, but he is light-years beyond Fabianski.  I think Wenger’s decision to go with Manuel proves that Arsene is not blind to Lukas’ inadequacy.  Good to know really, because we might be stuck with our current crop of keepers for the rest of the season, and I’d rather depend on the Spaniard than the Pole.

Andrey Arshavin played the entire 90 minutes.  I mentioned that for two reasons.  Firstly, because you might not have noticed.  And secondly, because he rarely finishes a match.  Arshavin himself has said that he’s not fit and in poor form.  On Sunday it looked as though he was determined to prove those points.  He was abject.  He was devoid of creativity, never threatened Liverpool’s defense, and ran even less than usual.  I still think we’ll see good things from the Russian this season, but he must give more to the cause.  If he puts in too many performances like that at the Emirates, he might soon find himself a pariah among the supporters.  I find it interesting that Arsene Wenger left Arshavin on the pitch for the entire match, despite his poor performance.

Otherwise, there’s not much else to take away from our trip to Anfield.  The team was better defensively than we probably expected, but undeniably poor in attack.  Few of the attacking players covered themselves in glory, but we managed to get a point that we probably deserved.  Our debutants got their first taste of Premier League action and the one we were more worried about, Koscielny, was a clear bright-spot.  (He even showed that he’s not your typical Arsenal player by surviving Joe Cole’s flying challenge, rather than breaking into a thousand pieces.)  Chamakh wasn’t outstanding although he had little supply.  But when the moment came for someone to be a hero, it was his smart run across the keeper and courage to get on the ball that ultimately lead to our equalizer.  So I’m willing to call that a success.

In the end we earned a point from a fixture that will be tricky for the other title contenders.  Certainly, in the grand scheme of the season, it’s a good result.  But as my silly little story at the top of this article was meant to imply, under the circumstances, we might just consider it two points dropped.

This week we’ll be busy incorporating RVP, Cesc, and hopefully Song back into the squad.  Blackpool’s 4-0 victory over Wigan was impressive, but we should still be able to get our attack sorted out at home against the the newly promoted side on Saturday.  In the mean time, there’s some football to keep us all preoccupied.  The Scum play with Young Boys today in the first first leg of their Champions League qualifier.  Should be fun to watch them crumble under the pressure.  Enjoy!

Come On You Young Boys.  (And, for once, that doesn’t mean Arsenal!)

So here we are.  We stand at the precipice of a new Arsenal campaign with high expectations and more than a few latent doubts.  I could wax poetic about new beginnings and hope springing eternal but I expect that would induce vomiting and I don’t want to be responsible for damage to your computer or mobile device.  Instead, let’s skip the pleasantries and dive right in to the analysis.

Arsenal can win the league this season.  It’s true.  It can happen.  Really.  I’m not just saying this to convince myself.  But then again, maybe I am.  I’ve been reading a lot of fan and journalist opinions that Arsenal are ready to challenge for the title this season.  You have to laugh a little because the press were happy to write us out of the top four before the start of last campaign.  Now, despite more uncertainty in defense and in goal, with one addition to the attack and a net loss at center-back, apparently we’re title contenders.  It’s always interesting trying to anticipate which way the wind will blow.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not suggesting that Arsenal can’t win the league.  I’m not even suggesting that we won’t win the league.  I find myself believing that we can win trophies this season, and I even have some arguments to support that theory.  But we must also accept the horrifying reality that this season can be a massive step backwards.  While the title seems within reach, it is undeniably true that 6th place is a viable alternative.

Before even looking at the squad, let’s take a moment to contemplate the league around us.  United and Chelsea were better than us last season.  They are getting older, but barring early-onset arthritis they stand to be tough competition again this season.

Manchester City can’t buy the title, but they can buy everything else.  With the players at their disposal it would be ignorant to simply write them off.  I’m not sure that they are ready to challenge for a title, but they will be in the conversation.  And if they’re in hailing distance of the top, they’ll simply spend more money in January to fill any obvious need.  Adding City to the mix at the top means that there will be less room for error.

Then there’s Liverpool.  They were a bit of a joke last season, and I enjoyed having a good laugh at them.  But the Spanish waiter is gone, and more players stayed at the club than many expected.  Gerrard and Torres are still there.  Mascherano is there at the moment, although Christian Paulson was presumably brought in as his replacement.  Joe Cole has arrived in exchange for Benayoun, and the rest of the team looks relatively similar to last season.  It’s clear to me that Liverpool had stopped playing for Benitez.  Now that he’s gone, we may see a more motivated, spirited Liverpool team. Let’s remember that they finished just barely off the top spot two seasons ago.  If Torres can play more than a handful of games this season they will be tough to beat.  Liverpool’s resurgence adds another bonafide title contender to an already crowded ballot.

Spuds, Villa and Everton will probably be one notch below the best in the league.  But they will have their moments when they can beat anyone.  Spuds in particular will be favored to retain a top four position, but I think their exertions in europe (if they make the group stage), combined with their lack of depth and mediocre defense (yes I live in a glass house and I’m throwing stones) means that they will struggle to repeat last season’s “success.”  But no one will gain an easy three points off these sides.  And if any of the other top four candidates hits a patch of poor form, these will be the teams waiting to capitalize.

Looking at those seven clubs, it becomes evident that no one is assured their place in the top four.  It wouldn’t be surprising if the distance between first and eighth was closer than it has been in any other season.  For that reason, three stupidly dropped points can be the difference between title contention and thursday night football.  The Premier League has changed and replaced oligarchy with a semblance of parity.  Arsenal are certainly one of the clubs to be seriously considered for the title, but there will be no room for complacency and no pity for a team suffering through an injury-plagued campaign.  We may have been in the title conversation for a substantial part of last season, but two seasons ago we were clinging to fourth place by our finger-nails.  Which one will it be this season?

Having taken a brief look at the competition, we can focus on the only club that really matters.  But before looking ahead, lets remember what we’ve left behind.  Last season we didn’t truly challenge for the title because of three clear problems: injuries, defense and goal-keeping.

When it comes to injuries, it’s hard to say what can be done to improve that situation.  It’s entirely possible that we were just unlucky.  After all, we lost Van Persie thanks to a bad tackle in an international friendly.  Nothing could be done to prevent that.  We’ll need better luck on the injury front this season, and unfortunately, we’re already off to a bad start.  Hopefully, we’re just getting the injuries out of the way early.  But my feeling is that there are four players who must play the majority of the season for us to have any chance.  RVP, Cesc, Song and Vermaelen are indispensible.  We don’t have any clear replacement for these players, and without any one of them we would be considerably weaker in key areas.

Arsene Wenger made no excuses for our defending after last term.  He was clear in his appraisal that we conceded too many goals to challenge for the title.  His response? We signed Laurent Koscielny, a bright talent one season removed from the second tier of French football.  We also watched William Gallas, Sol Campbell, Phillipe Senderos, and Mikael Silvestre leave the club.  While you can probably make an argument that losing the latter three is relatively meaningless, there’s no denying Gallas’ quality.  He was a pariah in the dressing room but a top player on the pitch.  I’m not suggesting that we should have kept him in the team, but there is simply no possibility that either Djourou or Koscielny are ready to match Gallas’ contribution.

Adding to our defensive woes, is the uncertain play of the goal-keepers.  Last season was a major step back for Manuel Almunia.  After looking like he might develop into a decent #1 at Arsenal, he showed why he has never been picked for his country at any level.  Almunia cost us points that we couldn’t afford to drop.  But he looked positively world-class when compared with the hideous practical joke of a goal-keeper that is Lukas Fabianski.

It is not an overstatement to say that I have never seen a worse goal-keeper in my entire life than Fabianski.  Never.  Not anywhere.  He is undeniably the worst.  He doesn’t even look decent in preseason.  He doesn’t look decent during practice at member’s day.  He’s just plain terrible.  But that’s not the funny part.  The funny part is that he believes he’s done enough to be Arsenal’s #1.  Sorry, I know I promised not to make you vomit on your computer but that one’s not my fault.  And I haven’t even told you the worst part yet.  Arsene Wenger might actually start him at Anfield.  Will that happen?  I doubt it.  I don’t think Wenger can be that myopic.  But the fact that it’s a consideration is disgraceful.  I am one of Arsene Wenger’s biggest supporters but in my opinion, his failure to sign a proper goal-keeper, combined with his persistent belief in Fabianski’s abilities, ranks as his most negligent act as manager during his entire term.  We might be able to win the league with Almunia in goal.  And I stress, “might.”  But we will not finish in the top four with Fabianski anywhere near the pitch.

On paper, we are weaker defensively than last season, and facing more uncertainty at goal-keeper.  So you really have to wonder, where does the optimism come from?  Some of it comes from the genuine belief that Arsene will sign someone.  I still can’t fathom the possibility that he’ll let the transfer window close without signing a CB and hopefully a GK.  I think most supporters would agree that if the window slams shut without defensive reinforcements arriving, most optimism would fade rapidly.  We can only hope that our belief in the manager’s appraisal of the team is not misplaced.

As of today, with Djourou apparently injured, we essentially have two CBs in the first team squad.  We will go to Anfield with Vermaelen and Koscielny starting at the center of our defense.  Should one of them go down with an injury during the game, Arsenal will be accepting applications from the traveling supporters for a place in the team.  That’s the state of Arsenal’s defense.  And when you put that kind of uncertainty in front of an uncertain keeper, the result is often panic and disorganization.  Defenders need to trust their keeper and vice versa.  Currently, it’s hard to see that happening.

I realize that this is starting to sound too doomy and too gloomy.  But that’s not my intention.  I still have high hopes for this season.  But it’s patently obvious where our deficiencies lie and it’s absurd to trumpet our title aspirations while ignoring the weaknesses that may ultimately prove our undoing.

However, there are a few ways that we can overcome our defensive weakness.  Most notably, we must pressure the ball in midfield.  We all hate Barcelona, but watching them play last season, it’s easy to see what they do to their opponents.  They pin them in their own half.  They relentlessly pressure the ball in the opposition half, forcing giveaways and keeping the play far from their mediocre back four.  That’s right, Barcelona don’t have a great back four.  But they are protected by the hard work done in the opposition half.

Arsenal did very much the same thing at the start of last season.  We pressured the ball, retained possession and kept the opposition trapped in their half.  Unfortunately, as the season progressed, some of the diligence faded.  Players like Denilson and Diaby didn’t work hard enough and that allowed teams to get behind our midfield too easily and outnumber our defense.  This season the entire team must show better focus and commitment.  With good pressure on the ball, we can take some of the emphasis off our defense and keep the opposition from creating easy chances.

Once you look beyond the defense, we are probably the best team in England.  In fact, I don’t have a problem suggesting that we are as good as any team in the world.  Our first choice starting eleven is good enough to beat anyone.  Let’s look at the first choice squad:

Arshavin, Chamakh, RVP
Cesc, Song, Nasri
Clichy, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna
Alumunia

Ignoring the obvious concerns at the back, that’s a very strong lineup.  But it’s even more impressive when you consider some of the names fighting for a place on the pitch:
Walcott, Vela, Bendtner, Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson, Ramsey, Wilshere, Eboue, Gibbs, among others.  You can make a very good team with the players that won’t be regular starters.  Unfortunately for Arsenal, that’s often exactly how we are forced to make our team.  If we can get through this season without being completely decimated by injuries, there’s a frightening amount of attacking talent Arsenal can deploy in any given match.

The addition of Chamakh to the squad not only bolsters the attack but adds a new dimension.  During one of our particularly bad injury spells last season, we were forced to play Arshavin at CF.  We frequently had a frontline devoid of height and power.  But when you add Marouane to the squad, we have a real aerial presence.  Chamakh and Bendtner give us more height and power in attack than we’ve had in a long time.  If we need to be more direct, we have that option.  Teams won’t be able to bully us like that did at times last season.  On the contrary, a front line of Chamakh, Van Persie and Bendtner would prove an intimidating proposition for any defense.  When things aren’t going your way during a match, you have to be able to change tactics.  We will have the ability to do that this season.

Another factor in examining this season, is simply the development of the younger players.  No title contending team can boast the amount of young talent found at Arsenal.  And while these young players are no longer “kids,” they are still in periods of their respective careers where considerable development is expected.  While teams like Chelsea will see key players start to decline, many of Arsenal’s players should improve dramatically.

Look at Alex Song last season.  After his struggles the previous season lead some to question his future at the club, he became our first choice DM and one of the best in England.  There’s no reason to believe that players like Denilson, Diaby, Vela, Walcott, Bendtner etc. can’t make similar improvements.  If even a few of our players make Song-like strides, then we will be an even stronger side than anyone anticipates.

Samir Nasri deserves special attention.  He has been a beast in preseason.  He looks driven, fit and full of potential.  I expect that we’ll see a fantastic season from Samir and that will only help Cesc play even better.  He’s a perfect example of the kind of improvement we can expect from our squad without signing a single player.

That’s what’s so frustrating about this team.  The more you look at the players, the more impressed you are by the wealth of talent.  There are two title contending teams worth of creative players in the squad.  And that’s what makes it even more inexcusable that we’ve failed to properly strengthen the defense.  This is a team that is ready to win now, and for years to come.  If only we could stop opponents from scoring.  Unless we’re able to do that, it’ll be another season of style without substance.

The season begins on Sunday at Anfield and already the injuries are a concern.  It’s entirely possible that our starting lineup will be missing RVP, Cesc and Song at a minimum.  Denilson, Diaby, and Djourou are also injured.  Not ideal, but not an excuse for failure.  We simply have to make due with what’s available.  Ironically, despite all our absences, we’ll be able to feature our first choice defense.  And that’s still the area that concerns me the most.

It remains to be seen what, if any, impact the world cup will have on players around Europe.  While we sent several players to South Africa, only RVP really played the entire tournament.  In the past, the world cup has taken it's toll on the club campaigns of its participants.  We'll have to hope that it has a similar effect on the competition, but not on any of our players.

Cesc will have the confidence of a world cup winner and if he's still motivated to play for Arsenal, as he suggests he is, then he could go from strength to strength this term.  Frightening thought for the opposition.  His contribution last season was nothing short of Herculean and we will need more of the same from him if we want trophies.

So where will we end up this season?  What can this Arsenal team achieve?  For me, it’s very simple.  If Arsene adds a CB and GK then we can win the league.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I think we should win the league.  As of this very moment, rumors are flying around the web, from some very reliable sources, that Schwarzer and a defender will be arriving imminently.  Some suggest that Schwarzer is hardly better than what we have but I disagree.  I think he’s stronger on set pieces than Almunia and a better communicator which are two of the most important areas where we need improvement.  With the new signings on board, I believe the sky is the limit for this team.

But on the outside chance that Arsene fails to strengthen at the back, I think it’s a very different story.  Conceding late goals and stupid goals and funny goals and heartbreaking goals and every other kind of goal you can imagine is bad for team morale. It makes the entire team nervous.  Suddenly, a 2-0 lead at Wigan isn’t cause for chants of “Ole,” it’s cause for panic.  Winning teams play with confidence and swagger.  They turn 2-0 leads into 7-0 victories.  They feel safe with a one goal lead in the last five minutes.  We must become that team.  And with our current selection of central defenders and goal-keepers, it’s hard to see that happening.  Drop a goal here, drop a goal there, suddenly you’re looking up at fourth place.  Without improvement at the back, this could be our top 4 swan song.

So now it’s time for Predictions:

Top 4:
ARSENAL
Chelsea
United
Liverpool

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  I genuinely believe that Arsenal are the most talented team in England.  Frankly, I don’t even think it’s close.  When you look at our biggest games last season, we played most of them without RVP or Cesc or Song or Nasri or Gallas or Vermaelen or all of them.  We simply can’t be as unlucky with injuries as we have been the last few seasons.  When we put our strongest team on the pitch, I think we should be favored to beat anyone.  With even the slightest improvement defensively, this can be a very exciting and memorable season.  Call it optimism, or stupidity, or prescience, but I believe this is the year that Arsenal rise to the top of the footballing world.  And no matter what happens this season, no matter who is on the pitch, I can’t wait for another chance to cheer on the Arsenal.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

It has been my intention to write a season preview but one thing keeps preventing me from starting; my naive belief that a goal-keeper and center back will arrive at the club and change the entire prognosis. While that continues to be the case, it's no excuse for failing to write altogether. The season preview will have to wait a few days, but there's always time for a little transfer debate.

It's clear where our needs lie. Theres really no debate among arsenal supporters or even the manager. Wenger has been clear that he considers an additional CB a priority. We also know with reasonable certainty at he has been on the lookout for a new keeper. But with only five days until Anfield, neither has arrived. Has Arsene given up his pursuits? I don't believe that he has.

This has been a quiet transfer window by recent standards. It seems that teams are either unwilling to spend, or unwilling to sell without collecting an astounding transfer fee. The latter problem can be blamed squarely on Manchester City. The former can probably be blamed on the global recession. But needs must, as they say, and certainly some teams will be forced into the market before the window slams shut.

Once again, City may hold the key to player movement. They have a massive squad at the moment. In order to comply with premier league regulations and the new homegrown player rule, they will be forced to sell, and they won't have the luxury of demanding an exorbitant price. Once their players start moving to new clubs at cut-rate prices, other clubs might flinch and make a few deals on players they had hoped to sell for greater fees.

Arsene Wenger has never been afraid of transfer brinksmanship, and he loves a bargain. You need only look as far as Chamakh and Arshavin to prove that point. Wenger was willing to wait an entire season to get Chamakh for free, rather than paying a small fee for him last summer. Arshavin arrived in January because Arsene wouldn't meet Zenit's demands in august. So it's not difficult to imagine that Wenger might be playing the same game this summer. However, the stakes have never been higher.

Arsene himself recently suggested that the title race could be closer than ever this season. Surely, he considers Arsenal one of the clubs that will be challenging for the trophy. And if he expects the competition to be fierce, then small margins will certainly be the difference between glory and disappointment. Wenger can proudly claim the league's most exciting collection of attacking talent. He has among the best full-backs and a fierce center-back in Vermaelen. The pieces are certainly in place for a title challenge. But the failure to sign another accomplished CB and a reliable GK could be the reason we are lamenting another nearly season rather than celebrating our first trophy in five seasons.

It's not as if Wenger doesn't realize the failings. He noted very clearly that we conceded too many goals to win the league last term. But if he believes that replacing gallas, campbell and silvestre with koscielny and djourou is an improvement, he will find that he is very lonely in that appraisal. And the suggestion that promoting Fabianski is anything short of a major step backwards is madness. Almunia is not the abject failure that some might claim, but we saw how far he can take us last season and it simply wasn't far enough.

Arsenal need a CB and a GK. We need them now. Not in January and not even at the end of august. Plainly speaking, we needed those players yesterday. We already stand to take a depleted side to Anfield where most gooners will be very skeptical of escaping with a result. After that, we must take full points until our trip to Stamford Bridge. Conceding silly goals like we did at Birmingham, Wigan and a host of other lower tier premier league grounds last season is a surefire way to relinquish 3 points. But with our current assortment of central defenders and keepers its hard to see us keeping clean sheets at places like Blackburn where fat Sam will have his thugs pumping long balls and set-pieces into the box at every opportunity.

We know that Wenger believes that buying a player can kill the career of a developing youngster. That objection, however, doesn't seem to apply in this case. We are short of the necessary numbers in central defense, and even Djourou and Koscielny would acknowledge that they are far from experienced at the premier league level. Wenger would neither kill their development, nor deny them chances to play if he buys a CB.

As for goal-keepers, only Szczesny and his bevy of consonants seem to have a real future at the club. But Arsene has said very clearly that he is not ready to be the #1 for a title contender. So it would do no disservice to him to sign an experienced, quality GK under whom Szczesny could apprentice.

So the manager's principle objection to buying players doesn't seem to apply to our current situation. Moreover, Wenger's contract with the club is running out and he'll be desperate to garner some additional silverware before contemplating his future. So if he thinks we're close to being title worthy, I'm sure the need to spend a few quid won't stop him this time around. Recent revelations about the club's finances further obviate any need for parsimony. The real question is whether the players are out there to be bought.

So far, the answer seems to be "no." Arsene might be frugal but he's not stupid. He knows what he needs and I think he'd be willing to spend the money if that was the only obstacle. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Mertesacker apparently wasn't for sale. Fulham seem desperate to keep schwartzer. And I'm sure there are a several others who might have been genuine targets but couldn't be pried from their current clubs.

Arsene's critics suggest that he's waited too long to resolve obvious deficiencies in the squad. You often hear it said that the manager needs to "splash the cash." But if the deals can't get done, then he can't be blamed. Arsene identifies the targets, but ultimately it's Gadzidis who does the deals. And although I think the time for excessive frugality has passed, when James Milner is commanding £35 million, you have to exercise some discretion.

So now we wait. We wait for clubs to get fidgety. We wait while Arsenal play "chicken" with other clubs over potential transfers. But if the players don't arrive, then a promising season might well be lost with the failed transfer attempts.

It was the moment we had waited for.  Cesc appeared at member’s day, smiling and waiving, received rapturously by the adoring Arsenal faithful.  Barcelona had failed in their bid to sign him, and all that was left was for Cesc to put out some statement about his future.  As I had been saying all along, this was the right and proper conclusion for Arsenal.  And then today, something unexpected happened.  Cesc released a statement so poorly written, so half-heartedly considered, so devoid of reassurances to Arsenal fans, so short on passion, that it made me rethink my entire approach to this saga.  Suddenly, I’m not sure he should still wear the Arsenal shirt at all.

There are a variety of problems with Cesc’s statement.  First, reread the statement in its entirety as it appears on the Arsenal official website:

"Firstly I would like to apologize to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment. I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me. This was the club where I learnt my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing. There are not many players in this world who would not want to play for Barcelona. I have had many conversations with Arsène Wenger both in person and over the phone over the last few months and although the content of those conversations will remain private, the conclusion is that Barcelona have had two formal offers rejected by Arsenal.  I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal's prerogative not to sell me.  I owe a lot to the Club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal. I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 percent focused on playing for Arsenal. I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about. I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me."

At first blush, it may seem a decent, honest, reassuring message.  But I assure you, when you take even a moment to consider it, the statement is whole-heartedly disappointing.  Perhaps the best part of the entire message is unintentional.  “I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me.” Nice double-negative.  Technically, that means that moving to Barca WASN’T attractive for him.  If I believed that’s what he meant, I might be less disturbed by the rest of this drivel.

Firstly, it’s important to realize that this message was written by Cesc’s “people.”  Principally, I would imagine, by Darren Dein.  While I would have preferred to see Cesc give a statement in person, a written statement would have sufficed.  And I realize that it’s common in today’s sports world for statements like this to be crafted by agents and other operatives.  But that’s not an excuse.  If you let your representative’s write a message on your behalf, then you own the content of that message.  This statement might as well have been intended for Barcelona and its fans, because it certainly does nothing for Arsenal.

The statement begins well-enough.  Cesc apologizes for keeping quiet for so long.  That’s welcome and necessary.  Then comes the part that we were expecting.  He explains why he loves Barcelona so dearly and why anyone in their right mind would want to play for them.  In my opinion, he goes farther than is needed, but it does give the feeling of sincerity which is important.  I have no problem with that aspect of the statement either.  What follows is the part that’s so desperately disappointing.

Cesc says that he’s staying.  He says that he spoke to Arsene Wenger and it was explained to him that offers by Barca were rejected.  He is gracious enough to allow Arsenal the prerogative not to sell him.  He finishes by saying that he will play hard, be 100% focused, and is looking forward to putting the speculation behind him.  And that’s that.  That’s his big commitment to Arsenal.  Except there’s only one problem: he never commits to Arsenal.  Rather, he says that he’s “100% focused on playing for Arsenal.”

Maybe I’m splitting hairs, but that’s not the same.  He doesn’t say he’s 100% committed to Arsenal.  He says that he’s 100% focused on playing for Arsenal.  Essentially, rather than saying he’s committed to the club, he’s saying that he’s focused on the task at hand. That has the ring of displeasure to it.  That suggests a person that’s disappointed with an outcome but realizes they’re stuck doing their job.  i.e. “I’m not committed to my employer, but I’m focused on doing my job because that’s what I’m paid to do.”

Moreover, Cesc says that he will “respect” Arsenal’s decision and concentrate on the season ahead.  “I respect your decision” is something you say to someone as they break-up with you.  Or maybe it’s something you say when your boss turns you down for a promotion.  But it’s not something you say when you’re pleased with an outcome.  It reeks of disappointment.  And saying that you’re going to concentrate on the season ahead is just another way to say you have a job to do.  It’s something a squad player says when they don’t think they have a place in the first team.  Not something you expect to hear from your captain.

But it’s not really what Cesc said that’s important.  It’s what he didn’t say that’s disturbing.  There’s no passion to this statement.  There’s no headline quote like “I’m here to win trophies at Arsenal.” or “I love Arsenal, and although I have great admiration for Barcelona, Arsenal is my home now and I’m happy to be here.”  In fact, he doesn’t once say that he’s happy at all.  He doesn’t even suggest that he’s happy to be staying with Arsenal.  He expresses no excitement for the coming term, no ambition to win anything, and no appreciation for his teammates.  He doesn’t even mention his captaincy and the responsibilities associated with that hallowed position.

Cesc had every right to express his admiration for Barca in his statement.  He had every right to say that there was a strong temptation to return to his home club.  But in order to offset that sentiment, he needed to passionately commit to his current club, fans and teammates.  He needed to provide a rally cry.  He needed to tell us that when the first game kicks off we would see a player so driven to success in an Arsenal shirt that we would forget this ugliness ever took place.  He basically just needed us to know that he loved us too.  That being here wasn’t a silver medal.  We needed to know that our captain, despite his affections for Barcelona, was proud to be Arsenal captain.  And if he was writing that statement to us, he probably would have said those things.  But he wasn’t.

Cesc’s statement was written for Barcelona.  Period.  It’s written for their fans.  It says to them, in its own way, “I have to stay here for at least another season, and I’m a classy guy who fulfills his responsibilities, but I’m not laying out any ambitions here, and I’m not pledging any loyalty to this team.”  That’s the reality.  And it’s really sad.  It’s sad because it doesn’t even sound like something Cesc would say.  Those aren’t the words of the man who played against Barca with a broken leg.  There’s none of his trademark passion and class.  It’s cold and it’s calculating and it’s so typical of a football agent that it might as well have been written on Darren Dein’s letterhead.

Consider this for a moment.  Cesc spent the entire summer with his friends from Barcelona.  He won the World Cup with them.  And after winning the world cup, at a moment when he could have been forgiven for forgetting where his loyalties should lie, he said this:

“All I can say is that this (World Cup victory) is for all the Arsenal players and fans, they are a world-class club. I am an Arsenal player and I am proud to be.”

WOW!  There is more love, appreciation, passion and class in that statement than in the entire flaming pile of shit Darren Dein left on our doorstep this morning.  He dedicated his victory to US and his teammates!  Think about that.  Right after winning the world cup with his Barca buddies, he had the love and consideration to say that.  Right from his mouth.  “I am an Arsenal player AND PROUD TO BE.”  But with months of preparation, and a statement 10 times longer, he couldn’t reproduce one scintilla of that class?  I don’t buy it.  I don’t believe Cesc was right to let his “people” write his statement and I don’t think they did him any favors.  But we have to  be adults and when your representatives write something on your behalf, as I said before, you own it.

The fact is, I wanted Cesc to stay.  I wanted him to stay because I believed that, although he had love for Barca, he had love for Arsenal as well.  I believed that Arsenal was near and dear to his heart.  I believed him when he made his post World Cup declaration.  And I saw that love for Arsenal in the way he played last season.  But if today’s statement represents the Cesc Fabregas that is staying at Arsenal, then I want nothing to do with him.  If today’s statement is the best Cesc Fabregas can do, then it simply isn’t good enough for me.  Hopefully he’ll make up for it with his performances.  Now, that’s the only way he can win me back.

But not for the good of your club!

It’s Arsene’s pre-match press conference.  The start of the season has arrived and we’re facing Liverpool at Anfield.  Arsene is asked how the team looks ahead of the big opening match.  He responds:

“It has been a difficult week because we are not really capable of training.  Naturally, Diaby, Song, Denilson and Bentdner do not train because they are injured.  Ramsey does not train yet as well.  We are without our Captain who was in Mexico, but also we are without, Walcott, Vela, Gibbs, Wilshere, Arshavin, Rosicky, Nasri.  That is what we must accept because of the international friendlies.  But we have not been able to incorporate Cesc or Van Persie into the squad this week.

We will not have Rosicky or Arshavin on Sunday because they have come back with little problems.  Of course we will not have Walcott because of the injury he suffered on Wednesday.  We do not know how long he will be out, but again we send a player away in good form and they come back to us broken.  It is difficult to accept because I believe Theo was very strong in preseason.  Naturally he is devastated.  Vela and Cesc will definitely be short for sunday because of the travel from Mexico.  I will have to be careful with the others because it is very early in the season and we do not want to take risks.  I still believe we have the quality to get a result.  The spirit and belief is very good, but of course it is difficult when so many players are missing.”

With that, the press conference is over.  The reality sinks in that we are starting another season facing injury problems and an ever changing team sheet.  I hope that’s not the case, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

All summer the fans have been outraged by the Cesc situation.  We waste our time complaining about what a player said to the media, or didn’t say to the media like it’s the end of the world.  But really, that’s just talk.  Cesc is back with the club.  He’s staying with the club.  And regardless of what he said or didn’t say, he’ll be an amazing player and captain for us once again.

Instead of wasting time being outraged over some media transfer orgy, maybe we should spend a little more time being outraged over an issue that directly effects the team’s ability to compete.  Playing international friendlies 3 days before the season starts is unconscionable.  It may well cost us a result at Anfield, and maybe more than that.

Teams that don’t practice well usually don’t win.  And there’s no more important days of practice than the ones right before a big match.  Players develop a rapport and rhythm with one another during that time.  Strategies are implemented and crucial team selection decisions are made on the basis of those training sessions.  But the days before the season starts won’t be filled with productive practices.  They won’t be spent feverishly re-incorporating Cesc and RVP back into the side.  They will be spent travelling with, and playing for, national teams.  They will be spent in Russia, France, Mexico, Czech Republic, etc.  And even if every player comes back fully fit, (what are the odds) there’s no chance that they will all be ready for Sunday.  Carlos Vela has never played a game for Arsenal following international duty in Mexico.  So on that evidence alone you can almost certainly rule him out, along with Cesc who will be playing against Vela’s Mexico in the Azteca stadium.  (A place where altitude and pollution can destroy a player’s fitness for weeks.)

You really have to worry about Samir Nasri.  Laurent Blanc will be looking to make a big statement in his first match as France manager.  He doesn’t have a lot of experienced talent to choose from, and he’ll be desperate for a good showing.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see Samir play 90 minutes under intense scrutiny and pressure.  Considering how fantastic he’s looked in pre-season, it’d be a tragedy to see him robbed of an impressive debut at Anfield.

Theo is another concern.  He’s looking fresh and healthy this summer and has a lot to prove after his England snub.  But rather than having his chance to prove doubters wrong at Anfield, he’ll likely do everything he can to impress against Hungary.  It won’t be a leisurely friendly for Theo.  Rather, it’ll be a chance to let loose all of his South African frustrations.

Arshavin will be in Russia and Rosicky will be in the Cech republic.  Neither are noted for their legendary fitness.  Again, even if they return unscathed, it’s hard to imagine 90 minutes at Anfield from two players who rarely contribute 90 minutes under the best circumstances.

When you consider that Diaby, Song, Bendtner, Denilson, and Ramsey are all likely to miss the opener through injury, it starts to get very difficult to pick a team.  RVP will be under pressure to play, but Wenger has already hinted that he’ll be short of training and likely won’t start.  So that leaves only Chamakh as an obvious starter in front of the defense for a crucial match on opening day.  Ideal?  Hardly.

Losing at Anfield isn’t the end of the season, but as I mentioned in this blog just a few days ago, winning that match could be enormously important considering the matches that follow.  Can we win at Anfield with the squad that will be available?  I hope so.  But this absurd international friendly date has made that less likely.

So maybe you can take some time off from shouting obscenities at Cesc because you’re upset about words in the media, and spew some of that venom at FIFA.  Unlike Cesc, they actually pose a threat to our club and our chances of winning on opening day.

Well finally the nay-sayers have been put in their place. We persevered. We stood by while Arsene Wenger built a team from a pool of talented young players. And finally we have a trophy. Yet another Emirates Cup can go in our trophy case. Champions of Europe? Bah! We are the champions of Emirates Airlines. May all our flights to the middle east be free!

While the joy of winning a trophy is always special, there’s also a lot to be learned from the two games in two days during the Emirates Cup. There’s also the massive opportunity for overreaction. Considering that the matches are still only preseason tuneups, and that our best players continue to sun themselves rather than earn a pay check, any conclusions about the state of the squad should be measured. But it’s certainly acceptable to evaluate players individually, and then wildly overreact based on those evaluations.

I’m not going to recap the games, because you either watched them or read a recap already. Suffice it to say that I believe we were decidedly the better side in both matches. But Arsenal were kind enough to provide us some cause for alarm and panic. First, allow me to summarize the team effort. Then I can give you my take on the individual performances.

Despite missing Cesc, RVP, Bendtner, Denilson, Diaby, and Song, I thought we showed considerable fluency in attack in both matches. The passing was slick, the movement was good, and the team seemed to be sharper than they looked in austria. Considering the talent that was missing, it’s almost not worth discussing our attacking displays because there’s little cause for concern in that department.

Defensively, however, there is always cause for concern. I’ll deal with the individuals in a moment, but the team’s defensive approach is worrying. As much as we dominate possession, the concern for Arsenal is what happens when we give it away cheaply in midfield. Particularly in the Celtic game, it seemed that whenever we lost the ball we were suddenly outnumbered at the back. Last season we gave up the second most counter attacking goals and it’s easy to see why. Even teams like Chelsea and United have started playing a counter-attacking style against Arsenal.

In the 4-3-3 formation, as we start to grow in confidence, the two attack-minded midfielders push higher and higher up the pitch. The full backs join the attack to provide width, with the hope of eventually delivering one of the worst crosses ever seen. But if our defensive midfielder is caught in possession, or there is a sloppy pass near the middle of the park, our defense is suddenly massively outnumbered. Only the center-backs, and possibly one of the full-backs is in position to protect our poorly guarded goal. Eventually the numerical disadvantage is bound to be telling.

Sometimes I wonder if our defense is that bad, or if it’s just put in terrible situations on a regular basis. Remember, Gallas and Vermalen looked pretty good together last season, yet we conceded far too many goals. When you add together the goals from set-pieces, often due to poor goal-keeping, and the counter-attacking goals, often due to our tactics, maybe the defense isn’t the primary culprit. When we play the 4-3-3, even when the FBs stay back, and Song sits in front of the CBs, we’re still very vulnerable to attacks coming from the wings because the two remaining midfielders tend to move into a more central position, and our wide attacking players tend not to be great at tracking back. That means we see more crosses delivered into our box and that’s another opportunity for our goal-keeper to make a mess of things.

Having said that, I’m a fan of the 4-3-3. It puts pressure on the defense and goal-keeper at times, but I think it makes the best use of our talent. Some want to see more of a 4-2-3-1, but I thought we looked terrible playing in that formation at the end of the 2008-2009 season. We don’t have two defensive midfielders that I would start. Certainly not at the expense of one of our more skilled players. Additionally, we got the best out of our best players in the 4-3-3. Cesc and RVP really shine in that formation. Cesc in particular really struggled when he was asked to come from a deeper position.

So from my viewpoint, I’d like to see us stay in the 4-3-3 and do the one thing that we must do if we don’t want to concede buckets of goals; press the ball. Barcelona (everyone's favorite DNA laboratory), plays a 4-3-3 and they defend from the front. It gets much easier to create scoring opportunities against Barca once you get that ball across midfield, but it’s next to impossible to get the ball into the attacking area at times. When Barca came to the Emirates, we were pinned in our own half for nearly the entire first 45 minutes. And it was all down to work-rate and aggressive ball pressure. We did that at the start of last season, and then mysteriously lost the appetite. We must do that for 90 minutes of every match this season or it’s going to be another long winter of complaining about giving away bad goals.

Some players shined over the weekend and a few struggled. For me, the biggest winner in the race to secure a first team spot was Frimpong. Since he’s English, cue the soul-crushing expectations. Theo will be happy to hand the weight of that expectation to anyone who is willing to take it. But Frimpong looked strong, self-assured, and seemed to have a decent grasp of tackling. While that should come naturally to a DM, you need only to look at Denilson to realize that it’s not always that simple. Whether Frimpong is ready to be the second choice to Alex Song is unclear. His first half against Celtic was suspect. He was a little to fancy with the ball at his feet and the one thing you absolutely cannot do when you’re playing DM for Arsenal is get caught in possession. Celtic’s best scoring opportunities of the first half came from Frimpong turnovers. But some consideration must be given to the fact that Frimpong played two games in two days. So if you make some allowances for tired legs, then I think you’d have to say that he earned place in Wenger’s plans this season.

Jack Wilshere is another player that most people believe to have excelled over the weekend. I thought Wilshere was solid but unspectacular. He is still a little over-elaborate with the ball and a bit slow to distribute. His aggression is good but his tackling is very raw. The reason I tend to be very critical of Wilshere is because he’s not just some young prospect. People aren’t just tipping him for a place in the squad. They want to see him starting. Some suggest that he’s a ready made replacement for Cesc. That’s patently ridiculous. For me, Wilshere is still one for the future. There are too many players with more polish and experience ahead of Wilshere at the moment. And if Ramsey returns in early November with any kind of form, than he’s another player that Wilshere would have to climb past before he can play. It’s clear that Wilshere is going to stay at Arsenal, but I don’t see him contributing much to the team in the league or in Europe.

It was a tale of two center-backs at the Emirates Cup. Johan Djourou made me exceedingly nervous, while Laurent Koscielny showed some encouraging signs. The biggest disparity in their performances was their positioning. For the most part, Kos was in good position to make tackles and when called upon, he showed real proficiency in dispossessing his opponent. People constantly point to his lack of size, but sometimes defending is about attitude and it’s clear that he has no aversion to the physical side of the game.

As reassured as I was by Koscielny’s contribution, I was equally concerned by Djourou. He looked slow, confused and generally uncertain about what to do in some very basic situations. At one point in the celtic match he stepped up for no reason and created a perfect space for a simple through ball behind him. The finish was poor and the bullet dodged, but it was a real warning sign. The question with Djourou is whether his struggles are due to a lack of form, or whether he simply isn’t very good. Remember, we hadn’t seen much of Djourou before his injury last season, and now he’s coming back from a year out of action. Not the perfect recipe for a starting defender. At this point, I’d say he’s rooted to the subs bench behind Vermalen and Kos. But if another CB does come into the squad, as AW has promised, then Djourou is a far better fourth option than Silvestre...who is rumored to be coming back.

Although the CB situation is still worrying, the Emirates Cup proved once again that we are flush with FB talent. It’s hard to say which full back had the best tournament, but you could make an argument that Eboue and Gibbs played better than Sagna and Clichy. Regardless, it’s an area that doesn’t really provide cause for much concern. But if you had to nitpick, I suppose you could point out that our FBs, and Sagna in particular must start delivering better crosses. With a player like Chamakh in the middle, crossing opportunities now provide better scoring chances than ever and those chances shouldn’t be squandered.

The brightest star of the Emirates cup was probably Marouane Chamakh. He had a masterful performance against AC Milan and looks every bit the bargain buy of the century. While his heading and finishing are as good as expected, I was surprised by the quality of his movement, first touch and distribution. At one point he instantly controlled a long pass and sent Arshavin in on goal with a beautiful back flick. He worked hard, and scored a goal that wasn’t spectacular for its difficulty but for the calmness that he displayed. Considering the number of clear goal-scoring chances that are squandered at Arsenal, a CF with composure will be a welcome addition. It speaks volumes about Marouane’s performance that he received a standing ovation from an otherwise somnambulant Emirates crowd.

Some have suggested that Chamakh will share time with RVP. I think that’s an insane suggestion. If we play a 4-3-3 again this season, I can see Wenger employing a very fluid front three of Arshavin, Chamakh, and RVP. I can also see Wenger experimenting with Nasri in attack and Arshavin in the midfield, although his lack of interest in defending might be too great a liability. Regardless, I think the Moroccan is slated to be a first choice forward.

If Chamakh was the star of the Cup, then Nasri was a close second, and has probably been the star of the preseason. He received mixed reviews last season after so much was expected. But he was robbed of his preseason and most of the first few months with a broken leg. It’s tough to come into the team under those conditions. Now he has had a rest thanks to his inexplicable omission from the France squad, and he’s getting the chance to have a proper preseason. He looks to be in imperious form and if this is what we can expect when the season starts then he will surely rise to new heights. Sometimes you have to agree with Wenger when he says that buying players isn’t the only way to strengthen your team. Sometimes your team gets stronger through the natural development of your personnel. That happened with Alex Song last season and it looks certain to happen with Samir this season.

Theo Walcott and Andrei Arshavin are a study in contrast. Walcott gets into more dangerous positions in five minutes than Arshavin does in an entire match. Yet Arshavin can take a single opportunity and score or create a goal brilliantly. Theo, on the other hand, can turn a relatively simply finish or pull-back into a wasted chance. Arshavin takes some criticism for his work-rate, but I think a 28 year old player is entitled to pick his spots in a preseason game. The counter-argument is that he does the same thing during regular season games, and that’s not acceptable. But I was extremely encouraged by the interplay between Chamakh and Arshavin. They have clearly developed a rapport in their short time together and perhaps having more talent around him will bring out more creativity from the little Russian. It certainly means that we won’t have to see him at CF any time soon.

As for Theo, I choose to be encouraged by his performance over the weekend. You can complain about the squandered opportunities, but it’s worth pointing out that those opportunities were created because of his talent. He terrifies FBs, pulls defenders out of position as they try to help cope with his pace, and creates acres of space for his teammates. Yes, he needs to learn to pick the right final ball and he needs to learn when to shoot and when to pass. Right now, he seems to do the opposite of what is needed. But Theo changes games. There’s no getting around that fact. He was the player that most frightened Barcelona, and he was the player that most punished them. Given a run of a few games, maybe the decision making will improve. It’s also worth pointing out that when you run really really really fast, it’s harder to make the easy pass. (That’s a reach.)

The fact is that Arsenal sometimes mesmerize themselves with the neat little passes. It’s pretty to watch but doesn’t always lead to results. Theo gives us a more direct approach and if teams are going to try to crowd our penalty area on set pieces, then they risk watching Theo blaze down the pitch behind them. (If we manage to clear the ball.) His presence on the right can neutralize the threat from opposing FB’s like Cashley, or Evra. He’s probably not going to get many starts, but he should be the first player off the bench.

I could discuss every player at length but there really isn’t much point. I was hoping to have something to write about JET but he was apparently ill over the weekend and only took part in the Celtic game. He didn’t last the entire 90 minutes and was totally ineffectual in his time on the pitch.

Rosicky was solid and I see a player who is returning to some semblance of form after an injury nightmare that lasted nearly two seasons. People are so eager to dismiss him but if you consider what he was before the injuries, it’s lunacy to write him off. If he returns to even 75% of his old form, he will be a very valuable part of the squad.

Carlos Vela scored a nice poachers goal but did little else. What worries me with the Mexican is his penchant for disappearing from games entirely. However, it was encouraging to see him score a goal that wasn’t a lob. No one likes a one-trick pony.

So that brings us to the most depressing part of the conversation, the goal-keepers. Fabianski started on Saturday and Almunia started on Sunday. The big problem is that neither keeper committed a howler. That means Arsene Wenger is already convincing himself that he doesn’t need to buy a new GK. Had they each scored 3 own-goals while discussing Cesc’s Barcelona DNA, that might have helped our cause.

What I don’t understand is the suggestion that Fabianski is the better choice than Manuel Almunia. Not only don’t I understand it, it makes me chuckle. But not in a good way. Fabianski might be some amazing shot stopper, but frankly, every top-flight keeper is a great shot stopper. The two things we need most are a keeper that can command his box and convey a sense of serenity and composure to the back four. Neither of our keepers can do those things well, but Almunia is certainly the more composed of the two, and his wild punching on set-pieces is better than Fabianski’s wild nothing. I can think of matches that Almunia lost for us, but I can also think of matches he saved. Fabianski, on the other hand, has lost almost every game he’s started single-handedly. It’s hard to find an example of a match he has played that didn’t result in calamity. Without a new GK I don’t know if we can lift a trophy. But with Lukas in net, I don’t know if we can win a match.

So that about sums it up. There’s still reason for concern but I left the weekend feeling more optimistic than worried. We have performed well this preseason without our best players. Assuming Cesc’s return isn’t a massive distraction, we’ll only get better. And considering the dismal performances I’ve seen from some of our rivals, I think we should be relatively pleased. Fabregas returns to the team this week along with RVP. It’s Legia Warsaw at the weekend and then we’ll be off to Anfield to start the season. I have a feeling that it will be a very active fortnight for Arsenal but it’s will seem like an eternity.

That’s it for now. In my next post I intend to give my thoughts on our two new CBs and new GK. But my initial reaction is that they are all brilliant signings.