I'd rather walk alone...

Unlike most Londoners, each day I look forward to my daily commute on the London Underground. Not because it gets me where I need to go quickly and effortlessly but because it is clunge-heaven, which lightens my mood and sets me up nicely for a productive day. Today was different.

Why? Because the back pages of newspapers, from The Metro to The Evening Standard, were plastered with images of Arsene Wenger, alone, vulnerable with his head in hands, soaked in the rain...

Seeing him like this hurts. A lot. This is Arsene Wenger, a man who has single-handedly revolutionised Arsenal Football Club since his arrival from Japan in 1996. He has worked extremely hard on various fronts; helping build state-of-the-art training facilities at London Colney (so good that it is used by England and a whole host of top European clubs whilst on their travels), overlooking the move from Highbury to the magnificent Emirates Stadium, whilst also guiding us to various trophies and cup finals – all under admirable financial stewardship.

Much to the discontent of many fellow Arsenal fans, he disapproves of debt-financed consumption and exorbitant transfer fees. He believes in nurturing young players rather than buying ready-made superstars. Unfortunately, the game has changed too much, too quickly. Various clubs have become football powerhouses, almost overnight and the harsh reality is that we cannot compete financially.

People are talking about this being a make-or-break week for Arsene Wenger. Such talk is ludicrous – this is a man who guided us to our (and his) third Premier League title in 2003-04 without losing a single game. I do agree that this is a massive week for our club. Being dumped out of the Champions League at this stage is unimaginable and a defeat at Old Trafford would be catastrophic. Sadly though, I think this is how the week will go. Tough times ahead – this must be what it’s like to be a Spurs fan.

Back to Saturday’s game, it was a disappointing result against a rejuvenated Liverpool side. We have an injury crisis already and with key players missing out due to foolish red cards, this was always going to be a tough encounter. The game could have gone either way but it needed an unfortunate own goal to break the deadlock which says a lot about our opponents who were bolstered by several expensively-purchased players (more about this later). Once we were down to 10-men, Liverpool were able to bring on Suarez and Meireles and they stretched the game to get a late second. By contrast, we brought on Bendtner and Lansbury, hardly game changers – the club only have themselves to blame for such a lacking squad. However, there were some positives to take from the game. Tommy V was magnificent. Absolutely outstanding and must have slept awkwardly as I hear Andy Carroll’s still in his back pocket.

We also have the emergence of a new hero, Emmanuel Frimpong. Despite his red-card seeming almost inevitable, this is a boy who plays with his heart and has no fear. Watch out, he’s ready.

On a lighter note, I’ll end this post on a discovery which amuses me (transfer fees courtesy of guardian.co.uk).

£120m gets you: Shay Given (£3.5m), Cesc Fabregas (£35m), Ashley Young (£16.8m), Chris Smalling (£8m), Rafael Van der Vaart (£8m), Javier Hernandez (£10m) and Sergio Aguero (£38m).

With the same funds Liverpool bought: Andy Carroll (£35m), Charlie Adam (£9m), Stewart Downing (£21.6m), Jordan Henderson (£20m), Jose Enrique (£6.5m), Luis Suarez (£23m) and Alexander Doni (£0m).

No thanks, I’d rather walk alone.

It's good to be back...

I’m sat here in my living room glued to El Classico as Barcelona take on Real Madrid in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup. Cesc Fabregas is sat firmly on the bench, possibly wondering how he will oust Xavi or Iniesta for a starting berth in the Barca line-up. I will miss Cesc, he was my favourite player. Disgusted to hear some people question his loyalty, effort and attitude. Let me tell you, Cesc Fabregas gave absolutely everything for us in over 300 games. Cast your minds back to that goal against Spurs, the match-winner at The San Siro, the cameo appearance versus Villa, the penalty equaliser (with the broken bone in his leg) at home to Barcelona, spitting on Phil Brown and scoring at Anfield. When you look back at those moments you can see how much Arsenal meant to him.

Take a moment to view my special tribute video to Cesc Fabregas.

Closer to home, a brand new Premier League season is well and truly underway. First on the agenda, a tough opener away at Newcastle United. Being the season opener and having been addicted to Byker Grove as a kid, it was only right to reunite the famous five; Dan, Dimi, Joe, Yeamilson and FK for a road-trip. Finally, after a long summer of trepidation, the big KO had arrived. All the transfer gossip, politics, spin and frustration could be forgotten albeit for 90 minutes.

Charged with excitement, off we set to St. James’ Park. There’s something about away-games – they seem to be more satisfying than trips to the Emirates. Perhaps it’s the gradual build-up of emotion and excitement during the journey or maybe it’s the on-the-way-home visit to the Colonel at Newport Pagnell Services..

Truth be told, none of us knew what to expect – that’s right, nobody could predict that we’d be greeted by an army of orange women, all absolutely smashed before 4pm on a Saturday afternoon! Lovely. Come kick-off, we were excited but incredibly nervous. Nervous because we had a weakened first team due to the absence of Cesc and Nasri, injuries to key players like Wilshere and not to forget the debut of Gervinho - how can it be possible to be bald and have dreads at the same time?

The big talking point will be Gervinho’s red card following an unnecessary tangle with Joey Barton. For me, it’s simple. I’m not convinced it was a penalty and despite Barton being in the wrong for dragging Gervinho up from the ground, he had no justification to slap Barton’s head. It’s disappointing that we don’t seem to have learnt our lesson from last year when Abou Diabolical saw red for reacting to Barton’s wind-up antics. The performance itself was quite flat, lots of possession but a distinct lack of creativity to penetrate a stubborn defence. Contrary to popular opinion, I was very pleased with our defensive performance. Vermaelen and Koscielny looked in control and it did make me wonder what could have been had Tommy not been injured last season. Furthermore, Szczesny dominated his area very well and I think he looks the real deal. The famous five had discussed possible results on the way up to Newcastle and we were reasonably pleased with a 0-0 all things considered. Finally, a quick note on St. James’ Park – an absolutely incredible stadium, a must-see if you’ve never been.

Arsenal were also in action in our Champions League qualifier against Udinese earlier this week. A massively important game against a team that finished fourth in Serie A last season. Despite the sale of some key personnel including Alexis Sanchez to Barcelona, the Italian outfit still posed a serious threat. Being the first game to be played at the Emirates this season, the night marked the reunion of the usual suspects; Mark, Demetris, Yeamin, Janine, Nathan, John R, John K, Kevin and Sam Bartle, Keith & Callum and The Suttons. All fuelled with their own conspiracy theories and tales of frustration, pre-match debate was colourful to say the least. From the outrageous, ‘I HATE Wenger. He must buy a goalkeeper, at least three centre-backs, a couple of midfielders and a world-class centre forward or be SACKED’ to the more sensible, ‘We’re OK, just a bit of fine-tuning, maybe one or two additions and we’ll be fine!’ arguments. It is amazing how people are so divided in opinion but I suppose that’s why we all love the game.

We went on to beat Udinese 1-0. A flying start with the winner being netted by Theo Walcott in the 4^th minute. However, Udinese offered noticeable threat all throughout the game and I’m not overly confident of the return leg next week!

Back to the Premier League on Saturday in what will be a tough encounter against a new Liverpool side. It says a lot that I’m not at all optimistic about this game. We’ve far too many absentees and Arsene has not acted quickly enough in the transfer market. My heart of course says we’ll win 1-0 but my head suggests a score-draw, or even dare I say it, a scrappy win for the scousers.

Whatever happens, it’s good to be back. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

A New Season...

Soccer AM, Football Focus, Game of the Day, Football First, Match of the Day, Super Sundays and Monday Night Football… how I’ve missed you! Opening weekend of the Premier League, my teeth grinding in anticipation of a fresh season. A summer without the beautiful game makes you wonder if football is the most important thing in life. I have decided, it is.

Football deprivation is not good for me as I become grumpy and short-tempered – just ask my mother. Such barren days are spent playing endless hours of Football Manager, watching Arsenal DVDs and videos of Arsenal on YouTube, re-enacting some of our most glorious goals in the garden and in the event of ‘rain stops play’, whipping out the legendary Subbuteo (oh-oh-oh!).

It’s been a difficult and rather frustrating few weeks for Arsenal fans. On the back of a disappointing season, there was much hope of a big summer for Arsenal Football Club and I’m not talking about the Emirates or Eusebio Cups, both of which, incidentally, we lost. Now we face losing El Capitan, Cesc Fabregas, who for me has always given his best for Arsenal Football Club and after eight years of top-class service, he deserves to play for a magnificent team like FC Barcelona. And then we have Samir Nasri. Such a gifted footballer with the world at his feet. I’m not going to lie, I think he’s world-class  and I love watching him play but his prolonged refusal to sign a new lucrative deal has left me saddened. How or why the club have let both these situations drag on for so long bothers me immensely. Fellow Gooners will be concerned by the detrimental impact these sagas may have on the rest of the squad - it’s all very unpleasant.

With Arsenal Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis, openly admitting that defensive frailties led to our almighty collapse last campaign, supporters were looking forward to seeing some new signings. Many fans and several pundits have been calling for a complete overhaul; a new goalkeeper, two ‘commanding’ centre-backs, a defensive midfielder, an attacking midfielder and a top-draw centre-forward. That’s some list.

Personally, I disagree because in the words of Arsene, I think we have the quality. Unfortunately, we’ve been destroyed by injuries to key players. I’m not foolish enough to say we’re the only club affected by injuries but for some reason we seem to be hit harder than most. To be without Tommy Vermaelen for the entire season, RVP for at least three months in what seems to be an annual occurrence and with Cesc playing only 22 of 38 league games, it is not just bad luck. It’s tragic misfortune. Would Manchester United have claimed their 19^th title without Vidic, Rooney and Nani in similar injury scenarios? I think not.

Having said all this, I think our problems are deeper than injuries to key players and they won’t be solved overnight by bringing in new recruits even if one was to be a ‘caveman of a centre-half who feasts on the blood of oxen’. We have tactical/technical inadequacies in the defensive side of our game which can only be addressed by further effort in training. To concede so many goals from set pieces is just so unlike the Arsenal of old – I can just imagine Tony Adams crying himself to sleep. A fit Tommy V and some (or a lot of) fine tuning at London Colney and we should be OK, with or without new personnel.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see new signings at Arsenal but I think we have to be realistic. Our latest financial statements report a group debt of £147.4m and despite a 6.25% increase in the price of my beloved season ticket, I appreciate that it’s not easy to lash out excessive money on new players. We’re not as fortunate as some of our rivals to have super-rich sugar daddies bankrolling new stars on a whim. The reality is that we must spend within our means and remain prudent.

Something that does bother me is despite the club openly acknowledging our defensive problems, we spend in excess of £20m on two attacking players, Gervinho and Alex ‘The Ox’ Oxlade-Chamberlain. A warm welcome to both but many supporters will see this as salt being rubbed into a deep, painful wound. I think c£25m for Nasri and c£35m for Cesc would be very good business all things considered and I would expect Arsenal to reinvest immediately – if possible. The transfer deadline is 31 August which leaves us just over a fortnight to conclude any deals for new players and I am confident the club are working hard night and day, burning the midnight oil, to sort things out.

So, my thoughts on the forthcoming season? My heart will always back Arsenal for the title. Like supporters of any club, something inside you makes you believe you’re the greatest team in the world (until May, or March in our case). My head says we’ll finish top 4 - comfortably. I also think we’ll surprise a few so you just never know. A big few days for Arsene Wenger but I urge fellow Gooners to keep the faith.

Trust in Arsene – he will lead us to glory again.