Arsenal 2013-14 season preview

Santi Cazorla

The duo of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith on FIFA 13 try extremely hard to make an individual feel upbeat with their customary “it’s time for optimism as we begin a new season”.

Closer to home, unsurprisingly, it would be daunting for any Arsenal fan to be buoyant ahead of the new season. With almost two weeks to go, which was deemed to be one of the best for the clubs, both in terms of the funds available and the (departing) personnel, has been a let down until now.

While the club’s major rivals (except Manchester United) have strengthened significantly, Arsenal find themselves bracing themselves for (hopefully) a frenzied end to the transfer window. Here’s a preview to the new season:

What went right last season

For a club which had gained the reputation of having a keen interest in eleventh hour signings, Arsenal, by their usual standards managed to finish up their transfer business early by bringing in the likes of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla to fill the huge attacking void left by the departing club captain, Robin van Persie.

Cazorla flourished and became an instant hit, started 37 of the 38 Premier League games, scored 12 goals and laid on 14 assists, winning the club POTY award in the process.

Podolski and Giroud, on the other hand, threw themselves about and finished the season with impressive stats considering it was their first.

Giroud lacks the skill and finesse of a world-class striker, yet he comes off as a guy who is willing to work hard for the team. While Podolski arguably failed to live up to his big reputation, being branded as ‘lazy’ and ‘inconsistent’ in the process. The following season will be huge for the two forwards.

Among the rest, Walcott, Koscielny, Ramsey and Arteta stood out. Walcott, after being embroiled in a contract saga in the early part of the season, showed that he was ready to come of age.

Koscielny has come a long way from his blunder against Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final two years ago and has established himself as one of the best centre halves in the league right now. Ramsey stepped up to the plate and silenced his critics who wrote him off after his injury. And Mikel Arteta was the captain, both on and off the pitch, especially in the latter stages of the season.

Not to forget, the impact of the former Arsenal defender Steve Bould, who took over from Pat Rice as the assistant manager at the club.

Arsenal had the second best defensive record the Premier League, conceding just 14 on the road- the best in the division. It was down to this defensive cohesion that the club went on a run to win eight of the last ten games that ultimately tipped them to a fourth place finish.

What went wrong last season

A slow, stuttering start to the season, again. Blame it on the players taking more time to settle or the lack of fire power in the first place, the club managed just four wins in the first ten games, an Achilles’ heel of sorts since the past few seasons.

With no new apparent signings and the new season being just an arm’s length away, one would imagine that if and when Arsenal bring new players on board, they’ll still struggle to hit the ground running.

Another subject of concern was their performances against the clubs which finished amongst the top five in the league last season, managing a measly five from a possible 32 points, whereas Tottenham who finished just a point behind Arsenal in the standings picked up 11.

Which brings us down to the individual defensive errors that directly/ indirectly lead to conceding of goals. If statistics are to be believed, 40% of the 37 goals conceded in the league were down to defensive blunders. Thomas Vermaelen, the club captain was one of the casualties of the inconsistencies in defence, ultimately being dropped after the North London derby in March as a consequence of being involved in errors that lead to both goals.

What has been done right this transfer window

Umm, not much on the acquisition front. The only comforting aspect has been the departure of the deadwood, freeing up almost 500k-per-week in wages, insinuating new well paid signings (who seem to have lost their way, somewhere in the hindsight).

Note: The departed players (sold, loaned or released with mutual agreement) haven’t been enlisted here because in comparison to the current state of our paper- thin squad, those players would’ve seemed like assets to the club. You are requested to Google their names at your own convenience. Please bear with us.

Moreover, we haven’t lost any of our relevant players yet. Yay!

Luis Suarez

What has been done wrong this transfer window

The commencement of the transfer window featured a huge fallacy on the club’s part when their chief executive came out in the open and spoke of the club’s ‘escalation of financial firepower’.

Fast forward to three months and despite being linked to a host of high- profile players like Rooney, Higuain and Suarez, Arsenal have found themselves either priced out or failing to meet the evaluation of the selling club.

Ideally, assuming the funds they have had at their disposal, Arsenal should have finished up with their transfer business by now with all their preparations in place for the new season.

Ironically, after all these years of equitable spending and outlined financial accounting, the club finds itself stuck in the same muddy waters, it had been preparing to avoid this time around.

What to expect from the dusk of the transfer window

The club has apparently managed not to be held to ransom, so far this transfer window which has seemed sensible up to a certain extent. It’s high time that the club let go now.

Although, Wenger has stressed the fact that the club are looking to bring in quality and not just quantity, it is pretty evident that with all the injuries at hand, they will struggle to even make up the numbers.

Sensibilities will have to be compromised, rationales need to be set aside and money is needed to be shelled out to bring players in. If one looks across the squad on paper, re-enforcements are required in every department of the team.

Nine Premier League points and two Champions qualifiers are at stake before the calender strikes September 2. Any overthrow will be dealt with acute condemnation.

Verdict

Bleh! Safe to say, we can brace ourselves for another ‘I was alive when Arsene Wenger made X signings in Y hours’ Facebook page.

Prediction

Assuming the club does brings atleast 2-3 decent players in the window(or whatever that has left of it).

Capital One Cup- Winner

FA Cup- Quarter Finals

Champions League- Quarter Finals

Premier League- Third