Gareth Stringer
It’s a strange time be an Arsenal fan eh? I don’t know about you, but I’m well on the way to coming to terms with a season of mediocrity, criticism and well, disappointment really.
There is little doubt that our current woes have been brought in to focus all the more by Man Utd and Man City’s start to the season, both of whom have spent heavily, and in many cases early, this summer, purchasing experienced and proven players – while United also seem to have a handful of excellent young players, (Jones, Cleverley, Welbeck et al) some of whom have come back to the club following time on loan. It doesn’t bode particularly well for the other challengers does it?
While Chelsea apparently tie up the signing of one time Arsenal target Juan Mata, who has apparently said that he chose them as he wants to win the title (ouch), all eyes are on our game tonight in Italy.
It still seems incredible that it’s come to this and we all know that we shouldn’t be starting our Champions League campaign until next month but there we are, it is what it is - and it is a game of genuinely huge importance. It’s hard to argue, I think, that it isn’t a massively pivotal one for the short / mid term prospects of the Club and will shape exactly how that future looks, maybe for the long term too.
Let’s assume for a minute that we go out against Udinese. This will impact Arsenal FC in a variety of ways, not least of which would be financially and then in terms of attracting the kind of talent we clearly need to bolster the squad and turn us in to genuine contenders. It would also give the media a great opportunity to sharpen their knives and call Arsene’s own future in to question and, I’ll be honest with you, I would probably be questioning it myself.
It’s not like we haven’t had a long long time to get things right with regard to the transfer market and despite Arsene’s denial that he is in any sense stubborn, it’s either that, an issue with the Board, an inability to see the problems at hand or too much dithering when it comes to getting players to sign on the dotted line. I find it wholly extraordinary that we haven’t bought a single player with any top class experience this summer and now he’s left it all hanging on one game. I still maintain that he should have done so in January by the way but there you go – we have some fantastic young players on our books but, as Lee Dixon tweeted on Saturday, it’s too much on young shoulders.
Lord knows what going out would do for the players’ confidence and belief too. It seems to fair to assume that we will be playing with a number of youngsters tonight and they won’t be immune to what is being said, the feelings of some of the supporters and the general air of crisis that is lurking over the Club like a big black cloud at the moment. Then we have to go to Old Trafford on Sunday……
If we go through this evening, well, great news obviously, but where might that leave us? With a week or so to conclude deals for players when we never seem able to do so very quickly and, most predictably, with Arsene telling us that he doesn’t really need to buy anyone as we have enough to cope already.
In some ways this is the saddest part of this whole scenario – it all seems so predictable. Losing the Carling Cup following a defensive howler and an inability to turn possession and chances in to goals, drawing Barca in the Champions League, Cesc’s departure to Spain, injuries to key players, a lack of discipline, sendings off, suspensions, transfer targets choosing to go elsewhere, Arsene not prepared to pay the going rate……..I’d like to say that you couldn’t make it up but I think we probably all could have done although Nasri’s departure just feels like salt being rub into already open wounds.
I desperately want it to work with Arsene still at the helm, I really do. I want us to go to Old Trafford on Sunday with Cahill next to TV5, Bastian Schweinsteiger in the middle of the park, Eden Hazard on the wing and Kaka on the bench as he’s “a little short”. It’s irreverent of course but in some ways I don’t mind who we buy as long as they strengthen the squad and meet that world class criteria.
We’ve been linked, and continue to find ourselves linked, with so many excellent players that everyone will have their favourites and most of them could probably do a good job for us and take the pressure off the squad while ensuring that we are competitive. We also need someone to get us, and everyone concerned with the Club, including the media, excited again.
‘Arsene knows’ we say. He certainly used to and I will be as happy as Larry (can we sign him I wonder?) if he shows us that he continues to ‘know’, happy as a Redknapp in Spurs if you get my drift.
It starts, and maybe ends, tonight against Udinese.
