Arsenal Season Preview 2014/2015

It’s slightly later than planned so apologies there but without further ado; here is the Goonerverse 2014/2015 season preview.

What a contrast this summer is to the one last year. At this stage of the pre-season last year, the only arrival was that of an unheard and apparently injury prone Yaya Sanogo. The mood was only worsened by the shock 1-3 defeat to Aston Villa at the Emirates on the opening day. People were calling for heads, namely that of Arsene Wenger, with many people questioning the direction of the club.

How much the mood has changed since then. The deadline day capture of one Mesut Ozil started the ball rolling in what can only be described as a feel good factor around the club. This was continued with a very promising start to the season where we were winning at will and seemed like genuine challengers for the title. Things went by the wayside in the latter half of the season when injuries, (What injuries? At Arsenal? You’re having a laugh mate!) poor form and some heavy defeats coincided to see us go from title challengers to competing for the somewhat familiar position of fourth place. This, however, was not all.

We finally won a trophy. The 9 year monkey was well and truly beaten into submission when the delicious Aaron Ramsey scored a hugely dramatic extra time winner in the FA Cup Final. The celebrations commenced and gooners around the world were ecstatic if not somewhat relieved.

Since then the euphoria has dissipated a little but there is more than a sense of optimism among fans for the season ahead.

Unlike last season, business has been conducted in a timely fashion and as such Arsenal are in a far stronger position than they have been at the start of a league campaign for some time. Though there are still some areas of the pitch which could be further strengthened, and one would hope they will be before the transfer window slams shut, we have certainly added quality to the starting XI and to the squad in general.

The first summer arrival was the most exciting in my opinion, not only for Arsenal fans but for the Premier League as a whole. Alexis Sanchez, a world class player who has performed on the biggest stage and come off the back of a very promising World Cup signed for Arsenal for a reported fee of £32 million. This could end up being a bargain as if he fires, which I believe he will, he has the potential to do very well in a team that is built for his qualities. Whether he plays on the flanks or up front is up for debate at this moment in time but what is indisputable is the fact that he has many of the qualities we need. He is a proven goal scorer with a very healthy goals to shot ratio, a great passer and possesses both pace and dribbling ability which will make him a nightmare to play against.

Combine him with the wealth of creativity in the team, particularly that of Mesut Ozil and we have a potential leading goal scorer. Perhaps not an obvious choice, but he is my choice to take the boot this year and that’s where I will be putting my money.

Mathieu Debuchy has arrived for £10 million to replace Bacary Sagna as he did in the French National Team. From what I have seen of him he looks to have settled in nicely and whilst he may not have performed as consistently as Sagna has over the last few years he is younger and as such am hoping he is, if not an improvement, an equally competent player. Signs so far point to a positive outcome.

David Ospina comes in for a fee believed to be around £3 million and he is set to battle with Szczesny for the Number 1 shirt. This is a great signing but one has to wonder if such a talented and promising keeper is going to be happy playing second fiddle in the long term. This will certainly provide a strong sense of competition for an area of the park where that hasn’t really been the case for a while.

Finally, for now anyway, our final signing of the pre-season was the unexpected Callum Chambers capture. A player that can play in a number of positions across the back line and has been described as a future defensive midfielder by Arsene Wenger, Chambers has been acquired for his versatility. Despite being one for the future, he has increased expectations considerably following a series of promising performances in pre-season. He looked right at home in the Community shield, and a few shaky moments aside, he does seem to possess all the qualities to make it at Arsenal in the future. He is only 19 and one can’t expect too much of him too soon but as an understudy in the defence and defensive midfield area he is likely to come in very handy this year.

So as things stand this is the business we have conducted so far this summer according to the Mirror:

In: Alexis Sanchez - Barcelona - Undisclosed (In the region of £32m)

Mathieu Debuchy - Newcastle - £10m

David Ospina - Nice - £3m

Calum Chambers - Southampton - £12m rising to £16m

Out: Bacary Sagna - Manchester City - Free

Lukasz Fabianksi - Swansea - Free

Nicklas Bendtner - Released

Park Chu-Young - Released

Chuks Aneke - Released

Daniel Boateng - Released

Thomas Eisfeld - Fulham - Undisclosed

Benik Afobe - MK Dons - Loan

Thomas Vermaelen - Barcelona - £15m

Despite adding four players, there are two contentious areas among most fans and pundits. Both in central defence and defensive midfield we are seen as being short either number wise or quality wise.

I certainly understand the argument for another central defender as we are an injury and suspension away from having to play Nacho Monreal as a centre back. As much as the thought of Peter Crouch’s illegitimate love child humours me, I do not want to see him as a centre back in an Arsenal shirt ever. This is an area we can add real quality to not only provide backup to Koscienly and Mertesacker but to challenge them too.

The other position is one which I see an acquisition being very unlikely. Despite me wanting a new defensive midfielder, we are very well stocked in midfielders in general for us to buy another one without letting one go. There were rumours surrounding the future of Mikel Arteta and whilst some fans and pundits argue he is past his best, he still is a capable and skilful player. He has also just been named captain which suggests not only is he going to stay, but Wenger sees him as the first choice for that position. I am not saying he cannot be improved upon, but I guess it doesn't matter as it seems unlikely that he will be replaced. I hope that isn’t the case but I don’t think it’s the end of the world if it doesn’t happen either.

Another type of signing, and perhaps most importantly, is that of Shad Forsyth. He has a very good reputation and has a distinguished background in sports science and medicine. If he can stem the flow of our injuries this year then he could prove to be the best signing, not of just this window, but perhaps of the last five years. There is a great piece in The Guardian by Amy Lawrence of what he can bring to Arsenal.

One can only imagine what could have been had we avoided costly injuries at key times and I guess with the improvements we have made both to the squad and the medical team, it is clear why there is a sense of optimism around the club.

I strongly believe we are in a far stronger position than last season. Our squad has more quality and certainly more quantity all over the pitch (apart from at centre back) when compared to last season but I think a crucial source improvement could emanate from within the current playing squad. Players like Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are hugely gifted individuals and can benefit from an injury free season. I genuinely think both will push on greatly this season and particularly in the case of Chamberlain we are looking at a potential world beater. He really does have it all in his locker, pace, control, passing ability, strength, finishing and overall technique. If these two push on and improve, like I believe they will, competition is going to be huge this season.

So with almost all the pieces to the puzzle in place; a cup victory, addition of world class players, increased competition and a medical team fit for purpose (hopefully) I predict big things for us this year. It will be a tough start especially with a somewhat disjointed pre-season and lots of crucial fixtures early on, but if we can ride the early storm I think we will challenge for the league. We might not win it but we will certainly be up there this season but I am ever the optimist. Come on you Gunners.

League Prediction: 1^st Place

Top Scorer: Alexis Sanchez

Player of the season: Aaron Ramsey

Also remember to sign up to the fantasy league.

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

The code is: 2125017-470489

The GoonerVerse Fantasy League

A very quick post to let you know about the GoonerVerse Fantasy League. I know it is late but felt as though it would be good fun to compete against readers and fellow gooners in a Fantasy League.

 To this end, I have set up a Fantasy League and am aiming for 100 or so gooners to join. Depending on how many people join, a prize will be decided on. So the more of you that join, the more likely it is that there will be something to win.

Also there will be shout outs weekly for those of you doing well in the competition so please let all fellow gooners know.

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

The code is: 2125017-470489

May the best gooner win.

Community Shield Preview: Arsenal vs Man City

Morning all,

As the season draws ever closer, I find myself tugging at my testicles with increasing gusto (sorry for the graphic detail – I am just very excited).

Although today doesn’t quite mark the start of the season proper, it does hold a special place in my heart which, for me at least, signifies the end of pre-season. Today may be a glorified friendly but it is certainly an opportunity to make a marker on the season ahead. We certainly have a chance to lay rest to some of the niggling doubts about our ability to play against the so-called bigger teams. Whilst the result may not matter as such, we can use this game as an opportunity to give us a positive platform for the season.

Today is also an opportunity to get ready for the upcoming season in a meaningful way; top opposition, fairly competitive and what is essentially an opportunity to see how we may line-up next week.

 

And how might we line up? This question is somewhat trickier to answer given the sale of club captain, Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona for a reported £15m fee. Not bad going, business wise, considering this is a player that fell out of favour majorly but this leaves us numerically very short at the heart of defence. The centre back situation is further complicated with the absence of Per Mertesacker due to his holiday and subsequent return to fitness. It is unlikely that he will be ready for the start of the season which leaves us with only Laurent Koscienly, himself working towards full fitness.

 

As you can see this is quite the area of contention and needs swift remedial work. I expect a centre back to be bought, certainly by the close of the transfer window, but ideally before the league opener next week. Who that may be? Well we can speculate as much as we want but I suppose we will have to wait and see.

 

Back to immediate matters and one would expect as close a line up to next week as fitness allows. I expect the team to look like this

 

It is an exciting opportunity to see how the new signings will fit in to existing systems and also to experiment. As you can see from above, I am half expecting Alexis to start up front by himself. This is in part due to Giroud’s fitness but also I can imagine this being the case for some of the bigger games.

The result doesn’t matter so much but gaining much needed fitness is imperative because from next week there is no margin for error. For now though, we can perhaps enjoy with much less stress than we are otherwise used to.

I am certainly looking forward to today for a number of reasons. I am excited. Very excited. Beer is cooling. Meat has been ordered. Tugging. I think I am ready.

GoonerVerse.

FA Cup Final Preview

Morning all,

And what a fine morning it is; FA Cup final morning. It seems a long time since I have felt the excitement of FA Cup final day and god damn have I missed it. There is nothing quite like it; the sunny day, the cold beer and most importantly the sense of hope.

Today is quite like any other day I can remember in the past few years. We have had some near misses in finals and some calamitous performances as well, but on each of these occasions I have gone into the final with a feeling of dread. I was fearful of failure.

To some extent that is true today. I cannot fathom the possibility of losing to a Hull team who we so comprehensively we recently beat. Yet this feeling of dread is not quite the same. I on previous occasions felt we were a team capable of being beaten by anyone due to serious flaws. Today I truly believe we *should* win. No disrespect to Hull City but if we don’t win with our team and the experience we have, it would be an utter disaster.

I therefore feel slightly strange today because for the first time in a long time I expect us to win. Don’t get me wrong I am also just as worried that we will find a way to truly fuck this up in a fashion only an Arsenal team can muster, but I am confident. I am almost expectant and that fucking scares me.

The nerves are kicking in for me so I am just as sure that feeling is amplified emphatically in the players. There is a worry that the pressure of the occasion will get to us but lest not forget, surely our players are better suited to dealing with pressure than our opponents.

In terms of team news, nothing is certain but a huge talking point is the selection of the keeper. For me it is a no-brainer; Szczesny has to take the spot. I strongly believe the player who is likely to be our number one, for what could very possibly be the long term future, needs to play in this occasion. Whether it be to get that winners medal and mentality that hopefully comes with it, or to put to bed some unwanted skeletons in his closet from the Carling Cup. It is essential for me he plays over someone who is going to play for a team, in all likelihood, a competitor.

I expect the rest of the team to pick itself:

Szczesny

Sagna              Mertesacker                 Koscienly                    Gibbs

           

Arteta             

            Ramsey

      Cazorla                                          Ozil                             Podolski         

Giroud

The Hull team will be depleted certainly without their two best forwards in Long and Jelavic but one mustn’t forget that they got this far without them as well. They are going to approach the game without the intention of taking risks but putting a lot of pressure to dissuade us from playing our natural game.

I expect us to remain solid defensively and use the movement of Ramsey and the passing of Ozil to open them up. This is a game, all going well, we should go and win. I certainly hope so as I feel the consequences, from a fan perspective, will be incomprehensible.

Come on The Arsenal!

GoonerVerse.

Team News - Arsenal vs Newcastle Preview

Evening all,

An exciting night of football awaits us with a fresh sense of promise displacing the doom and gloom of just a few weeks ago. With Everton slipping up and crumbling under pressure at the first time of asking, we find ourselves with our Champions League hopes very much in our own hands.

I wouldn’t say a win tonight confirms our Champions League place but it certainly cements our position as red hot favourites. We could find ourselves in a position where our position of 4th place is even confirmed before we play next Sunday. A win tonight would take us four points clear with two games to play. Everton host Manchester City on the Saturday; meaning a defeat for Everton would confirm our place in the top four.

It is therefore crucial that, despite the Everton slip up, we are absolutely fired up for this one tonight. No room for complacency. None what so ever. The players have had a long rest and as a result should be fresh and ready to rip apart a Newcastle team in dire form. The worry for me is we seem a team that, this season in particular, allows the opposition far more of the ball than ever before. We invite and almost welcome pressure, choosing to sit deep instead of pressing higher up the pitch. It has worked when our defence has been solid and has failed, spectacularly, when the defence has been fragile.

For that reason, as important as Ozil and Ramsey are, it is imperative that the Mertesacker and Koscienly axis are at the top of their game and provide that solid platform for Arsenal to build their game. This season has seen us start games slowly and I hope I am wrong but I expect us to do very much the same tonight. We will grow and allow Newcastle to play but pick our opportunities and use Ozil to create space for Ramsey to exploit.

Team news is generally good with our only absentees being Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, both of whom are nearing returns, and Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott. Considering these injuries I would assume that the team that played very well against Hull last weekend will be the exact same team we see tonight.

                                                                     Szczesny

Sagna                   Mertesacker                                      Koscienly                                             Monreal

                                                Arteta                                                   Ramsey

Cazorla                                                    Ozil                                                                         Podolski

                                                              Giroud

I expect this to be the team and I expect a win but this is Arsenal and we never like to make things easy.

Enjoy the game and hopefully a delightful win.

Come on you Gunners.

GoonerVerse.

Arsene staying, Sagna going?

Morning all,

Before the match preview tomorrow I thought we could delve a little deeper into two of the pressing issues at the club at present. It seems as though both Sagna’s and Wenger’s future are beginning to look clearer and I am not overly comfortable with how things are looking.

Let’s start with Sagna. His situation is one that is hard not to get angry at but easy to see from his point of view. His contract is running down into the final months and we are at an impasse. We are no closer to an agreement as Wenger confirmed:

Talks are not progressing. The ball is not in our court anymore and he has to come back to us.

It is becoming more and more clear that he has no intention of renewing his contract which is sad because he has been a brilliant servant for the club but mostly because there is a sense of frustration that we shouldn’t be in this position. He really has given his all in a red and white shirt and as such should be rewarded with a contract which reflects his position in the team. I say this not as an advocate of player power and some of their ridiculous demands but more as a fan fearful that we will be unable to replace him. Surely giving him a large contract to ensure he stays must be cheaper than replacing him with like for like quality.

I guess we don't see him train and have all the information but it strikes me as a less than ideal situation and one which, unfortunately, we have been in before. There are many contract situations which have been handled in a strange way in my opinion. I read a recent Nasri article, perhaps not the greatest example, which highlights our handling of such situations are not of the highest order.

What happened is this: it was my best season with Arsenal (15 goals). We were in October (2010) and the manager asked me whether I wanted to stay at Arsenal. ‘Yes I want to stay at Arsenal,’ I said. Then they offered me a contract. It was far from what I wanted. With my agent, we were saying: if I stay at Arsenal, I know I’m going to win less money, but it’s fine, I’m only 23. I have time to win money. If I’m good I will always win money.

 We were still in four competitions with Arsenal. We were playing really well. The manager wanted to be focused on what happened on the pitch. It’s normal. We wait, we wait, we wait.

Regardless of my hate for him, he does highlight a significant problem which could explain why these situations continually reappear. Now I know this is spun to make him look closer to human but it is a revealing insight into our transfer negotiations. It appears to highlight a lack of killer instinct in our ability to close a deal. By allowing things to get to such a late stage gives the players an opportunity to seek pastures new. We almost encourage it.

I could be completely wrong and do understand it takes the players willingness to make things happen but I can’t help but feel that we could have done more to ensure it never got to this stage.

Wenger seems more likely to stay though. Given his previous indication that he wants to stay coupled with the fact that a top four finish now looks increasingly likely, the smart money would be on him to stay.

On that note, enjoy you’re day and thank you very much Everton.

GoonerVerse.

GoonerVerse Reboot: An All Too Familiar Battle

Morning all,

To say it has been a while would be an understatement. It has been close to a year since I last blogged. A lot has changed in the world of Arsenal but at the same time, things eerily are so familiar; erratic and volatile. While the season promised much in the way of a Championship challenge, it has petered out into a familiar battle. One which, unfortunately, all of us have become accustomed to all too well these past few years.

We find ourselves in a scrap for fourth place and as ever, something that should have been simple has been contorted into a turbulent ride. What started off as a season of dread following a dry summer, the arrival of a truly world class player changed the outlook of the season. Could we dare to dream? Judging by what followed; we could dare. And dream we did.

What followed was a series of fantastic results if not always fantastic displays. This team finally demonstrated some of the qualities that we have missed so emphatically in seasons gone by. There was a new sense of determination, grit and perhaps even a winning mentality. Grinding out results became the norm and we became the pace setters for much of the season.

And then it happened. Despite being 8 points clear of Liverpool and top of the League in February, the Gooonerverse was rocked by a battering at the hands of Liverpool and things have never quite looked the same since. Our league form following that defeat was D-W-L-W-L-D-D-L which meant not only had we relinquished our position at the summit of the League. We had somehow managed to drop out of the top four entirely, if only temporarily. 9 points from a possible 27 available. Take that in for a moment.

There was an air of inevitability about our fall if truth be told. There had to be. All the “experts” had predicted it all season. It was coming. After every match we were told it has to happen. Any day now… Shit! It’s happening. The so-called pundits revelled in our misery with claims of “I told you so”.

Oh how simple must life be for these experts. They just know everything. So they return to the “lack of winning mentality” rhetoric that often gets spewed so viciously it hurts the core of my being. Mainly because it is stupid and I am offended by stupidity; especially under the guise of expertise.

Well what went wrong? Winning mentality is just one small component of the larger picture and I am afraid this picture is large and pretty ugly. There are many issues that have contributed to our drop in form but the largest component for me is of course the wealth of injuries that we have had to cope with in that part of the season. To my mind this is the single biggest factor in our drop in performances and results. It became more abundantly clear as the return to early season form coincided with the return of Ramsey. He has been immense all season.

I recently read at Arseblog that losing Ramsey would be akin to Liverpool losing Suarez. Sounds a bit bizarre but I would go one step further. Losing Ozil, Walcott and Ramsey would be like them losing Suarez, Sturridge and Gerrard. If you take those players out of the Liverpool team how do you think they would cope? Probably not quite the form that has seen them, deservedly, surge up the league table.

Now believe me, I am not looking for excuses because even without the players that were out injured our performances, and in turn results have been far below expectation. We should have done better. We could have done better. We must in future do better. There were factors including tactical ineptness and bizarre team selections which further contributed to our downturn in form but I unequivocally believe that losing the number of players that we have has, unfortunately, shattered dreams once again.

This in itself is a huge problem that should raise questions. Why are we continually unable to rehabilitate players in a timely fashion? Why are there so many strains and tears? Is this a failure in management or medical staff? Probably both.

The outlook is not overly bleak though, we have after all returned to a position where our top four credentials are in our hands. If you asked anyone before the season started if we would take a top four finish and win a trophy I would imagine they not have bitten your hand off so much as devoured you whole. My point? I guess some perspective is in order.

The season has in many ways been successful but perhaps that’s why this season hurts even more than seasons before it in many ways. It seems almost depressing to say (mainly because we have been here before) but we have a strong foundation which if built on in the right way we can create something very special. The question for me is; is Arsene Wenger the right man to do that?

Until next time.

GoonerVerse.