Attractive play gives no results
Arsenal thrilled the world with their style last season, and Wenger once again showed that he can get the best of the young players and give them a chance they would wait for much longer in some other club. However, in the end of the season Gunners were left empty-handed again, so it is a matter of time when the Frenchman will face the pressure. They have gone three years without a trophy and the fact that they play attractive, that the players are young and that February saw them competing for three titles with real chances won't mean much to the fans in a couple of moths time. To make things even worse for Wenger, his critics, who have a theory that Arsenal have become a club for nurturing young players only to leave to big clubs, have got more proof to back this during the summer. Fabregas is still in the team but Hleb and Flamini left, so the Frenchman will once again have to form the midfield from yesterday's reserves. The fact that Adebayor has spent whole summer thinking about moving to Italy or Spain only adds insult to injury as well as the fact that Fabregas as the first star of the team has already announced that he wants to go back home in Spain, some day. This season could be crucial for Arsenal because the question is if they drop another trophy if they will manage to keep the biggest stars in a team with no aspirations.
Weaker than last season
Arsenal are again relying on Wenger's scouting team, since the French expert decided to save the money and rely on the reserves. The money from Hleb was spent on signing his countryman Samir Nasri who is the biggest back-up this summer. A great blow for the team was Flamini's transfer for he was perhaps Gunners' most important player last season and now he has left to Milan on free transfer. The midfield will be Arsenal's biggest problem this season, first of all because the lack of Premier League experience of the players that are to replace Hleb, Flamini, Gilberto and injured Rosicky. Fortunately, Adebayor stayed so with recovered Van Persie and golden reserve Bendtner attack shouldn't be a problem. Brazilian Eduardo, who has shown great potential last season, could start playing in the second part of the season. Still, in the season where Arsenal should have used the priceless experience his players got last season, the Gunners will most likely again have to gain experience to be used by some other clubs.
In
Samir Nasri (Marseille), Bischoff (Werder), Ramsey (Cardiff), Vela (return from loan – Osasuna)
Out
Hleb (Barcelona), Flamini (AC Milan), Gilberto (Panathinaikos), Lehman (Stuttgart)
Far away from the title
Title race and the performance Arsenal gave last season were a surprise. On the start of the season Arsenal were predicted to fight for 4th place and Champions League contention with Tottenham. Fortunately for Arsenal fans, their team were brilliant and the neighbours had a pathetic season. On the other hand, in this pathetic season the Spurs won the Carling cup and Arsenal were left empty-handed in their excellent season. This time, everyone consider Arsenal favourites and this could bring additional pressure on the players. The fact is that Arsenal have the quality, but last season they fell apart in the mist important moment. The key question for Gunners this year is how the team and new players will react after the first result crisis. Also, we must admit that Arsenal had plenty of luck last season, having won many points thanks to stoppage-time goals and turnovers. Although on one hand this points to the strong mental side of their payers, on the other hand you can't deny the luck factor in those situations. What goes around comes around, and Arsenal could do much weaker in Premiership this season than the fans hope. On the other hand, Cups could be their chance so it would be no surprise if we saw Arsenal drop out the title race early, and focus on winning a Cup trophy.
Our tip: Top team goalscorer: Adebayor
Odds 2.00
Bookmaker: Bet365
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