Despite Arsenal’s squad lacking in a couple of areas and Stan Kroenke taking 100% ownership of the club, fans still have a lot to be positive about.
The new season is upon us. There has been an air of optimism over at the Emirates. Unai Emery has come in to replace Wenger. We have identified the areas which are weak and made signings in those areas. Pre-season has been good. Fans looking at the training videos which suggests the players are equally enthusiastic for the new season.
Having said all of this, it would be fascinating to see how the fans react to Emery’s first bad run after having called for so long for Wenger to go and promising they would back any successor. A match against champions Manchester City, then trips to Chelsea, Cardiff and Newcastle. These will present a challenge for Emery and the squad.
The key here is patience. We have to understand the squad Emery has, is nearly the same which finished sixth last season and expecting immediate results would be nothing short of foolish. But the squad still lacks width, and the loss of Calum Chambers to Fulham and potentially no player linked with us, could create problems as the fixtures pile up, particularly if there is an injury crisis.
There are a few positives to look forward to this season:-
1) Ramsey appears to be close to signing a new deal.
2) Ozil’s retirement from Germany. He will want to show the national team what they would be missing in his absence.
2) Leno looks to be a steal, looking at the amount some of our rivals are spending on goalkeepers.
3) Torreira looks to be a world class signing, one who will improve the midfield massively.
4) Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi, Nketiah and Nelson are doing well and pushing their senior counterparts.
5) Many are also underestimating the effect Aubameyang will have. He came to Arsenal when the league season was effectively over last year. Now Arsenal finally have a striker who could win the golden boot and it wouldn’t surprise anyone. That’s a serious advantage we have. We have to remember Van Persie’s goals took a Arsenal squad who were weaker compositely to 3rd. Suarez nearly won Brendan Rodgers a league title almost single handedly. Aubameyang is in that class of players.
Coming to the Kroenke saga. On Tuesday Stan Kroenke has made a £600m offer to buy the whole of the club has seen Gunners fans going into panic mode. But there were a couple of good things which came along with this:
1) Kroenke’s £550M loan was not taken out on Arsenal as a liability, like what the Glazers did at Manchester United.
2) Funding for transfers will be easier. Last few years we have seen major changes in our spending as the fees for Xhaka, Mustafi, Lacazette and Aubameyang have been on the higher side. Also invested around £70 million this window.
3) Gazidis’ contract with Arsenal says he must give a 1 yr. notice before leaving Arsenal. This gives us a lot of time to find a potential replacement, must he leave the club. It appears to be Josh Kroenke, who is ready to take over from Ivan. The advantage the 38-year-old has is he is already an executive face at other subsidiaries of the Kroenke franchise.
In short not everything is gloom and doom at Arsenal. Emery would require sometime to implement his style of football at Arsenal. I call for every Arsenal fan reading this to have patience and support the new management and the squad this season.
Semperfiarsenal
Die hard Gooner. Always opinionated, not always right. Author of The Fans' View and The Rival Fans' View series.
