Arsenal has just finished the 6th of their friendly games. A few more to go before we face Steve McClaren and FC Twente in the Champions League Qualifying game. So far so good, the midfield is still bossing the play as usual, but the attack lacks a bit of bite upfront. Hopefully the strikers will get sharper before the season begins.
This season’s Arsenal team is getting younger if its even possible. Well it is, considering that Cesc, who seems to be around for quite some time already but is still only 21, is already the man with the 2nd most number of appearances in the team behind Kolo Toure.
Target
The target this year will be to win a trophy. Win a trophy, Cesc will be happy to stay and we can build a solid team around him. The Premier League will be a tough one with Man Utd managed to hang on to Ronaldo, Chelski just keep getting more players in and the mugsmashers (Ha, free treat to anyone who knows why pool fans are called mugsmashers without checking the internet.) brought in Keano. We will be able to sustain a challenge if we keep ourselves relatively injury free, but with Van Persie and Rosicky in the team, that is at least 30 games lost between them. Arsenal might not last the pace, and with Wenger seldom going for any massive rotations in his 1st eleven, the league may be still out of the reach this year. A more reasonable trophy will be to aim for Champions League and FA cup, especially in the FA cup, where Wenger likes to play some fresher legs. As for the Carling Cup, maybe not, since the carling cup squad may probably get so young that Jack Wilshere and Jay Simpson may be the senior players of the team, a bit too inexperienced.
Ins and Outs
In: Aaron Ramsey, Samir Nasri, Carlos Vela, Amaury Bischoff
Promoted from reserves: Vito Mannone, Jack Wilshere (maybe)
Out: Gilberto, Aleksander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini, Jens Lehmann
As usual, out goes some experienced players, and in comes younger replacements. Vela and Nasri are definitely 2 exciting prospects, Ramsey pops out of nowhere while Wenger describes unknown Bischoff as a gamble. Flamini is a big boot to fill. I am not sure whether Ramsey is the one though. Out of the current squad, I will prefer putting Song (1st choice) or Diaby (2nd) alongside Cesc, although I do prefer Wenger getting a more experienced central midfielder in, Gareth Barry anyone? Hleb is skillful, no doubt. But seriously, he should have contributed much more to Arsenal than his 10 goals in 3 seasons. I am sure Nasri is more than capable to fill his boots. And there is Walcott too, so I am not too worried about the loss of Hleb.
Players to watch/get rid?
Carlos Vela plays with a similar style to our dear dudu (hope he can come back by Christmas). A natural goal scorer, hopefully he can adapt to the rough and tough of English football and make an instant impact. I foresee him being more of a substitute for Van Persie in games at least for the first half of the year.
Jack Wilshere. Only 16, he seems almost able to take on the physical challenges of the premier league already. The mere mention of his name will excite any Arsenal fan. He is the next great hope out of the academy. And hopefully, he can do what Robert Pires has contributed to Arsenal in the past.
Emmanuel Eboue. Get rid of him. Or at least just be a deputy for Sagna. I never liked him. A diver, actor and total disgrace to the football club. It is a great mystery why Wenger is still keeping him, and playing him on the right wing as first choice at times.
Denilson. Ermm.. unable to usurp Cesc’s place, and I will rather play Rosicky or Nasri in the center if Cesc is unavailable, Denilson does not fit in. His qualities are not good enough yet, but at least youth is on his side.
Bendtner, A poorer version of Adebayor. We don’t need 2 strikers with poor touches and need a zillion tries a la Andy Cole before scoring. Ade and Bendtner cannot play together, but the good thing about them is their physical size. We need some striker who can head, and Bendtner is still ahead of Ade on this count though.
Manuel Almunia. Does not have the aura a goalkeeper should have, even with his bleached hair. A good goalkeeper must always exude an aura that gives confidence in his defence or scare the shit out of the opposition. Good goalkeepers like Cech, Reina, Buffon and van der Sar all exhibit this quality. Almunia.. nah.. How I wished we managed to sign Gomes instead of Spurs and offload Almunia to Blackburn instead. Gomes is a pretty decent goalkeeper I think, and most importantly he has the aura. I hope Wenger signs some good keeper with the aura.
Looking foward to the new season!
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