Truth be told, I have never been so much excited for a season from some time now. Last few seasons have been completely dominated by Liverpool and Manchester City and for a change we are in that dominance race. We finished second, were on top for most of the time but a few injuries and out of form performances by our key players ruined that. We were angry, sunken and talked about the ‘same old traits’.
But it’s a new day, new season and there is a lot to look forward to. Ask any Arsenal supporter on the street and anything less than a trophy this season in addition to a good Champions League run is a failure. That’s some standards we have managed to set.
We have had few known issues at the club, most important of which, was the money motivation. A player coming to us was more inspired by the cheque we signed each week for them than the badge on their tshirts. You may say that we are still signing those big fat checks but that’s along side the motivation our players have to play in red and white. That’s a big reason in making Saka, Martinelli, Saliba sign their contract extensions and players like Rice and Timber joining us.
We have a team who fights till the end, celebrate like they hate Gary Neville more than us, gets frustrated by a 4-1 win because they conceded one, and looks after each other. Can you say the same for Man United or Chelsea? Fortunately, no. When a player like Martinelli, who is a generational talent and is proving his worth, goes on to sign an extension and drops a media interview that he would love to play for Arsenal his whole life, it means something. That Saka’s “finally” comments on Saliba’s Instagram post after renewal meant he wanted him to stay and continue to win.
And we are in the Champions League. We are trying to make some additions that will make sure we don’t have a drop in performance when we have to play 2 very important games in a week. Rice and Kai are those experienced yet young players who should have the hunger to prove they are among elites. Kai fixes the Xhaka’s shortcomings and hopefully Rice will turn out to be as good as Partey. I’m still against selling Partey this summer though. Timber is yet to be announced but he is coming to us; this will fix the problem we had last season when Saliba got injured. He can play CB and he can cover for White.
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Regardless of what happens for the rest of the transfer window, I’m quite excited for this season. A tough one for Arteta because he will be judged, a tough one for players to keep last season’s performance and fight and a tough one for fans who believe we should have won the title. It’s still a long month to go before we play our first game against Forest, but hey it allows me to get the Arsenal tshirt from the official store. Thankfully, AFC is shipping it to India.
Blunt opinion before the season starts? Winning Premier League this season and a Champions League quarter final at the minimum.
Hope summer is treating you well!
TRVL
Amen.
Is it just me who is noticing that we are extensively profiling players? Timber have brothers who follows Arsenal and he wanted to play for us when he was kid.
Ambarish-you would think that in a totally anomalous window, when we’ve made some rather unprecendented moves, that they just might lean into that particular narrative…for all the monies that have been spent propping up this present regime, you would think that they might have handled things in a vastly different manner…to be frank, none of their negotiating “tactics” have saved us a plum nickel, in fact some could logically argue that it’s actually cost us from both a fees and opportunity cost perspective…as for all the usual club-contrived pro-Arteta thirsty banter, that should be shelved until he actually accomplishes something of real merit…if or when that happens, have at it
Cheers
Ambarish
Sorry mate but you are so wrong. I own several polo shirts, pairs of jeans and shoes that are Boss, its one of my favourite brands but I am not rich. Don’t get me wrong I do OK and live a comfortable life but I’m also single with no kids. Going to PL football matches on a regular basis is bloody expensive – my season ticket was 1400 odd quid and they’ve knocked off 4 matches from the cost.
Break down the day out (it can be done cheaper of course) ticket on average £45 – £60, travel £10 – £15, then add in a few beers, even a couple of bottles of water in the stadium, maybe a bite to eat and matchday can easily hit £100.
Then do that 2 or 3 times a month.
Or try and take a kid!
PL football is no longer for the masses – I’m not say that’s how it should be but it is how it is.
Marc-I would agree with your sentiments…I live very comfortably and have quite an extensive wardrobe, but being a regularly attending fan, of any sport, is a more expensive endeavour, especially when you include all the inherent periphery costs…not to mention, each day at the park, pitch or arena is a one-off gig, unlike those other purchases which could be enjoyed on a plethora of occasions…of course, there’s an obvious intangible benefit that comes with attending that would be difficult to quantify, but there’s no doubt in my mind being a season ticketholder at the Emirates, or somewhere similar, unless you’re in the nose bleed’s, is now considered to be a far more privileged undertaking than having a prediliction for Boss clothing…now it would be a vastly different story if we were talking about Gucci, Vuitton and/or Versace, as you could pay upwards of a grand for a plain white tee, but that’s not really the Boss gig
It’s starting to look like MA might have lost faith in White’s ability to be the starting RB moving forward, which wouldn’t be nearly so devastating if it weren’t for the fact that he paid way above the number to secure his services…with Timber arriving and plenty of talk surrounding the notion of him playing a similar positional/tactical role as that of Zinchenko, albeit on the opposing side of the pitch, White might become our 1st defender and 3rd ever 50+M cover piece(Pepe & Auba)…ironically the same descriptors that were once being lavished upon White, by the Kool-Aid crew, are now being directed towards our most recent backline acquisition…the only saving grace is that they might actually be applicable in this particular case…ultimately if this leads to improved results, come the business end of the season, all will likely be forgiven, but if not MA’s status as a chequebook manager will reach almost legendary heights…of course, none of this will or should reflect poorly on Timber, as he’s not the one who made the mistake he’s been brought in to rectify…here’s hoping that he will play a far more decisive role than his predecessor whenever we’re facing anyone with bus parking tactical tendencies
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