There may be some very strong sides in other leagues around Europe but the strength in depth and the ability of any team to beat another makes the Premier League the toughest in the world and that is exactly the task facing Arsenal this season.
It will be a long hard road for Arsene Wenger and the players and we will need all of our creative ability, resilience and determination if we are to find ourselves at the very top of English football in around 10 months. While Arsenal may not have the financial resources of our main rivals Chelsea, Man City and Man United, we do have an edge over them in other ways.
The continuity that comes from having Arsene Wenger at the helm for two decades is one of them but the biggest factor for me is the one that our new number one Petr Cech alluded to in his interview on the Arsenal website, the brilliant team ethic among the players.
Cech spent 11 years at Stamford Bridge and you could say that Chelsea are a fairly strong and together outfit, especially last season when they only added a couple of players to an already strong squad, but the keeper has clearly been struck by the strength of the team spirit in the Arsenal dressing room.
He said, “What I’ve found is a group of players who work very hard and who are focused on what they are doing on the pitch to get ready.
“I found that the team spirit is extraordinary in the way that everybody pulls in the same direction. This is why I believe that we can have a successful season.
“We need to have that connection between players to reach the same targets. I’ve only been here a few days but I can feel that the team is together.
“We have a good balance in the team. We have players with a lot of experience and we have young players who want to prove their value by being a part of the first-team squad and playing as much as possible.
“There are hungry players, there are experienced players and in terms of the age category we have a good balance. We hope to use that to our advantage.”
Perhaps it is the need to preserve this close knit group that is making the boss very careful in the transfer market but is it not more important to keep all our current players happy and fighting for each other, than risking it by signing a player with the wrong attitude?