This time last year Arsenal fans were in confident mood ahead of the new season. We had won the FA Cup and had brought Alexis into the fold. We were being linked to Karim Benzema as usual and every post on JustArsenal was saying that we needed a new beast of a DM and a World-Class striker. No change there then!
So we were all dismayed when we were 10 points behind Chelsea after just two months of the season, and didn’t look like we had any chance at all of finishing in the Top Four. So it is no surprise that Arsene Wenger is a little worried about the start of the coming season, although we should have a fitter, fresher squad than last year.
“[Stability] is undervalued but that’s what we want to show,” Le Prof said. “Chelsea have a good stability, especially defensively, and they took advantage of it from the start of last season.
“What you could say is that last year we missed our start for different reasons. One of them was that some players were not mentally ready after the World Cup. It was also because we had the Champions League qualifier and that cost us a lot of energy against Besiktas.
“We have a tricky start again. West Ham look to have bought well and Crystal Palace are a strong team. We have to be ready from the beginning but it will be a tricky start.”
Last year we started off our League campaign with a last gasp win over Palace at the Emirates, followed by draws against Leicester and Everton. This time around we have no pressure of the Champions League play-offs, and, including the Charity Shield, our first four games are all in London! Surely we must hit the ground running?