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Amidst the doomsayers and critical journalist condemnation, we are entering the last week of preparation for season 08/09. The situation with the condemnation is the same as last year when King Henry left us. But will it be the same results this year?
Arsenal took off with a breath taking start last season; leading the way until injuries, broken bones and suspensions finally reared in our audacious youngsters in the last quarter of the season. To rub salt into injures, the “ Peters” of blindness (Vink and Peter Frojdfeldt in particular) gave away incredulous decisions against us in the Champions league.
What does the season promise? A building on of last season’s overachievement or the demise of a once mighty giant strapped of cash? Experience has left in the form of Flamini, Hleb, Gilberto and Lehmann. If we add all those years of experience up, that is definitely more than 100 years in total. More ‘babies’ are bought in the form of Nasri, Ramsey, Coquelin and Bischoff and all of them have a certain level of baby fats on them.
In the pre-season build up, we lost our Emirates Cup and consequently, our unbeaten record in it. Our preparation looks sloppy and we do not have a stable first team selection playing together regularly before our season starts. On the other hand, our team of youngsters and retained the Ajax Cup, albeit haphazardly with a win and a draw.
So what is it going to be for this season? Champions or promising future champions or just kids running around? More importantly, are we better than last season and progressing in the right direction? Do we have the strength in depth to last the whole BPL season and also compete in the Champion League, together with the FA and League Cup?
Our starting eleven will most probably be Almunia, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Sagna, Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri, RVP and Adebayor. The back four is decent with two outstanding fullbacks while the strikers’ accolades speak for themselves. It is in midfield that we may have a significant problem. While the outstanding Euro Cup winning Fabregas pulls the strings in midfield, the other 3 midfielders may not be as good as last year’s first team players.
The precocious talent of Walcott has threatened to explode last season but it did not fully materialized and we only saw bits and pieces of it. As a new recruit, it remains to be seen how acclimatized Samir Nasri will be to the rigors of the BPL? Compared to Rosicky and Hleb, the two current wingers have a lot of catch up to do. Even if we add the gifted Vela into the equation, there is a lot of promise but no credential.
Lastly, the defensive midfielder’s position that Flamini glorified last year is not filled up since his departure. The candidates are internal as Le Boss somehow did not find anyone he liked. However, the young guns of Song, Ramsay, Diaby, Denilson, Coquelin and Randall do not have the flair nor capability of Flamini and Gilberto. Will they grow into the role? That can be answered for one as Wenger can only choose one to grow into our DM. Is there time over a season? Only time will tell.
Is it all gloom? Never say never when you still have a 30+ goal getter, a brilliant midfielder, a deadly finisher (when fit) and a amazing dribbler when on fire. Add a brilliant manager to this equation and the hope gets brighter by the day. As it is, the promise and capability of the squad is beyond doubt. However, the experience and grit are in question. Last year, we place our faith in Wenger when he sold our King. This year, without another source of doubt, lets place our faith in his hands again as he creates another miracle in the history books of Arsenal!
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