There is a school of thought amongst many Arsenal fans that, although we are up challenging for the title right now, Wenger’s teams have a consistent history of dropping away from the top and ending up in a dogfight for third or fourth place. The fact is that this has happened so many times that it is a little difficult to argue with these pessimists.
But surely this year will be different? We have a much bigger and more talented squad than in previous seasons, and we should be able to cover better if we get our usual injury glut. The Telegraph Sports writer Jeremy Wilson usually gets the scoops on what is happening at the Emirates, and he believes that this year could be Arsenal’s for a change.
“There is a strength in depth about them that there hasn’t been before,” said Wilson.
“He’s deliberately holding [Aaron] Ramsey and [Olivier] Giroud back and giving them a full pre-season almost. I feel like it’s ready for what happens in November when they lose two or three players and normally things unravel to some extent at that point of the season.
“If you go through the squad, the team they played in the EFL Cup against Nottingham Forest, and the team they’ll play against Reading, it’s full of internationals.
“From one to 23, it’s hard to find a better squad. Whether they’ve got the best team, and that striker – if [Alexis] Sanchez can carry on – is maybe the question, but they have a squad that is as strong as any in the league, and stronger than anything they’ve had in a few years.”
“This thing about ‘they’ll bottle it’, you could level that at the [Cesc] Fabregas group of players – Denilson and all those lot.
This lot, if you go through the team; [Petr] Cech has won everything, Ozil’s won the World Cup, Sanchez has won Copa America twice.
“Arsenal as a club have not won the league for a long time, but those players have won everything in the last five or ten years, so we will see what happens.
“We know the history is that come April or May that they are not still up there but they look like they should be.”
So do we all really believe, like Jeremy, that this year will be ours? Has Wenger finally got the balance right?
Darren
Right now Arsenal are far from the finished product. We have been enjoying some good fortune during this undefeated run. Nothing wrong with that – champions find ways to win even when they don’t necessarily deserve it but champions also string together impressive performances as well. Aside from Chelsea and various moments, it doesn’t feel to me like we’ve gotten out of third gear. Hard not to get excited thinking about what they might be able to do when everything starts clicking. It’s building nicely.
But we still havent found the right balance
for our team.
We are lacking height upfront and workrate on the wings.
Man City don’t have height up front or defensive wingers either. But at least we have solutions like Giroud and Gibbs on the bench. They don’t, and no one’s really complaining.
6 wins in a row. Would expect to make it 7 and beef up the goal difference against Middlesborough next week and hopefully topple Man City at the top of the table. We have relatively easy fixtures ahead. We have to build up a points buffer before the big games come around.
Though speaking of big games, I really don’t get the same sense of dread that I used to when we have to play a rival. Bad performances come around sometimes, but gone are the days of humiliating scorelines in big games. We’re now more than a match for anyone in the league.
Much more confident in our current squad than I have been in many years.
I would not call those that have the believe that we will bottle it “pessimists”, I would rather call them “realists”.
I quite agree we have a larger and more complete and talented squad but our manager remains the same. Do you sincerely think the players have always been to blame all those years? NO!!!
I hope to see Arsene show real hunger this season and motivate, push, geer, guide and lead these guys to success this season, lifting a trophy of note.
Always Arsenal, always a Gunner!!!
WE CAN TO DO IT!!!!
first of the more games we avoid playing Giroud the better, dude kills the team from within.
Then Monreal seem to be the only main weakness in defence this term, really thought he became reliable last season, but boy was I wrong; PSG,Leicester,Swansea n even Liverpool made him look useless. He could change to his last season ‘form’ as the season continues though.
and Mustafi needs to avoid being climbed on by attackers to take headers.
Cech hasn’t been convincing yet
Xhaka needs to work on his mobility.
Alexis need to be more a CF than a SS. need to be a bit more selfish in front of goal.
Iwobi needs work on his shot accuracy.
Ozil might have scored 3 but he isn’t at his creative best yet.
Too many false dawns to start shouting “this is our year” in the middle of October.
Have we seen glimpses of promise? Yes, the Chelsea game is but one example of that. Winning games we should not have won is another example of that.
But in many of the previous seasons we had similar promising signs.
For me the positives this year are;
1. more depth at DM (Coq, Xhaka and Elneny) and CD
2. No Giroud – I think this has allowed us to play more to our strengths and to play a faster game, making us more dangerous and allowing us to use the talents of Ozil and Sanchez in breakaway like situations.
3. Walcott – Having more than one goal threat up front makes a big difference. I think playing a faster game also helps him a lot. Ozil, Sanchez and Iwobi look for him and play him in behind defenders, this is his strength. Put Giroud back in and Theo would struggle again IMO.
Reason for concern is the fact it appears Wenger believes he made a mistake with Perez. Sanchez will need a few breaks or might get injured, if we can not fall back on Perez we would be limited to Giroud and that would be season over if it was for more than 1 or 2 games.
For now, let’s be quietly hopeful but not get carried away and not speak about this being our year. Let’s just deliver on the pitch, and show we have learned from the past by not getting carried away in October. Besides, we have a big November coming up so let’s wait and see.