Mick Appleton
I try very hard to be a positive person but this summer has again drained me of all of my hopes and expectation for the new season. We were promised lots of comings and goings but a combination of penny pinching and poor quality players on star quality wages means that we approach the season with virtually the same squad that floundered last season. Gervinho looks like a promising player but his signing does not address the major problem areas of the squad and the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain doesn't do that either. Why is it Arsene is happy to pay £12m for a 17 year old who has played a handful of games in the third tier but will not stump up £20m for a proven Premier League defender? He is only adding weight to the opinion that we are a selling club that buys unpolished diamonds to shine them up and ship them out for a profit. This may be a good sustainable model but it will never fill a trophy cabinet.
During pre-season we have seen a reoccurrence of the same old problems, the inability to hold a lead, the lack of a leader at the back and once again we approach the season with several of our key players injured. The injury to Vermaelen may see us starting with Djourou and Koschielny at Newcastle. I think at best these two should be back up and that we should never be in a position where we have to start the pair together. Squillaci has been a liability since day one and we face the prospect of having to start with him if Djourou succumbs to one of his frequent injuries.
It also appears that we will have no choice but to start the season with a badly out of form Chamakh in the lone striker role. With the injuries to RVP, Theo and the imminent departure of Bendtner we are left woefully short up front. Is Gervinho ready to play there, I'm not sure but it shows just how much we pin our hopes on the injury prone RVP. The midfield has also become a problem area, with our captain and talisman looking to foreign fields, Nasri chasing the highest bidder and Jack carrying an injury. All of this makes poor reading especially if you chuck in the fact that we are also woefully short in the left back position. Gibbs just doesn't look good enough to be first choice and Traore is poor.
These circumstances would be bad at any time but with the first five fixtures we have it is an absolute disaster. Even if we do bring in reinforcements what chance will they have to assimilate in to the squad in time? If we are to avoid total disaster we must sell Cesc and Nasri and make bold signings immediately. The £60m this would generate on top of our existing transfer kitty should be more than enough to bring in two centre halves, a left back and another striker. Surely it will be better to have people who want to play for the club, ones that are committed to the cause. I know the transfer window is open until August 31st but our season could be virtually over if we are knocked out of the Champions League or have less than five points from our three league games, so the time to act is now.
Surely Arsene can see this? His "Best Ever Squad" myth was blown out of the water last season and the fact that so many of that squad are now surplus to requirements just underlines what a stupid statement it was. I cannot remember looking forward to a season less and I have lived through some lean times as an Arsenal fan. The thought of going back to playing second fiddle to Liverpool and Spurs fills me with dread and that is on top of Man U, City and Chelsea continuing to move out of our reach. It's time to show that the move to the new stadium was done to close the gap on Man U not let it turn in to the Grand Canyon.
