With Manchester United set to complete the high profile signings of Phil Jones, Ashley Young and David de Gea soon, and with Manchester City and Chelsea expected to be Manchester City and Chelsea, in other words continue spending vast sums of money on signing top quality players, all the focus has turned on Arsenal to see if they can strengthen the squad in order to finally win a trophy next season.
But with Arsenal making no big signing yet and with some expecting Arsene Wenger to remain passive in the transfer window, several people have been quick to predict the doom of Arsenal. The web is already filled with talk and predictions of how Arsenal’s season will be a failure and many have already called it a disaster.
Reading some of these articles and pieces you would have thought that the season has taken its course and that the 2011-12 season is already over with Arsenal finishing trophyless again. Yet none of that is true, simply because the season hasn’t even started. Even the transfer window hasn’t closed yet and there is a good two months to go for the season to start.
Arsenal, for that matter, haven’t started their transfer dealings with youngster Carl Jenkinson the only capture of the transfer window.
Despite the season even starting we can already see the bold predictions of doom for Arsenal. Much of this is due to rumors that both Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas could be heading out of the club. While it is likely that both may depart, Arsene Wenger is no fool, despite several people depicting him that way, and he will know that the club just cannot afford to lose two of their maestros in the same season. Losing them will render the Arsenal midfield without their main creative sparks, but not necessarily a void that cannot be fulfilled to a certain extent.
Something tells me that Arsenal will not lose both of them this summer and even if it does happen, Wenger will sign quality players to replace them simply because Wenger has been so keen to retain them, thus indicating that he, too, realizes their value to the team. Also we must remember that no player is larger than the club and like with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, the club will continue to function and run despite players leaving.
Seeing all this talk about Arsenal’s doom when the season has failed to start for me is a bit ridiculous. We all know that predicting the season so early is a near impossible task, especially since the season hasn’t even gotten underway, with Arsenal set to start their summer spending soon.
We all know how futile it is to predict a season so early with the best example coming this year. Many were quick to predict the doom of Manchester United with them looking shaky. Yet all that talk proved to be unfounded as United romped home to a record-breaking 19th title and also reached their third Champions League final in just four years.
The same should apply to Arsenal. Right now everything is merely and purely speculation. A little bit of speculation and bold predictions is always interesting but at the same time we need to have a sense of realism when going ahead with these predictions and to say boldly that Arsenal’s season will be a disaster months before the season has started, I feel is totally uncalled for and unnecessary
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Arsenal fans, I believe, should be optimistic ahead of next season because of Arsene Wenger’s comments which indicated that he will address some of Arsenal’s predominant weaknesses and will look to strengthen the squad in every position. His demeanor at the end of last season itself was a stark contrast to that of previous seasons. Previously he used to always look at the positives, but last season he seemed a broken man, someone who knew that a certain amount of change will be required next season if his team were to win trophies.
Every season before the season starts, there is always talk about how Arsenal will fail and will finish outside the top four and every season these fears prove to be unfounded. While that does not justify Arsenal’s disastrous season, we have to remember that talk about Arsenal’s demise is something that happens all the time.
I must say I am an optimist and I encourage other Arsenal fans to be the same. Right now Arsenal are in the midst of a disappointing run and we need to believe in the team and in the manager. I feel that we can expect an exciting summer with some solid signings that will strengthen the squad and make it good enough to finally win trophies.
A true judgment about Arsenal’s 2011-12 season can only be made in 2012 when we know if Arsenal have gone a seventh season without trophies or if they have ended their wait finally and silenced their numerous critics.
Right now let's just enjoy the hectic transfer window.
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