I woke up on Saturday morning with a tingling sensation in my stomach - the type which suggests a feeling of nerves coupled with a wholly overwhelming, consuming excitement.

I picked up the TV remote, selected the TV guide, scrolled across to later on Saturday night, and subsequently gleamed at the beautiful sight of Match of The Day hitting our screens at 10.35Pm. I'm pretty sure that feeling is up there with the typical great feelings in life.

You know...wedding day, birth of a kid - that kind of stuff.

Lessons after one weekend

Utd are still cr*p

They can play 451, 442, 352, 847, they will continue to be awful because they lack an array of players. What a mess Fergie has left behind and what a joy it is to see.

Chelsea look a force going forward

They impressed me offensively on Monday night. Their passing was crisp and Fabregas kept things ticking really effectively. That was the best I've seen them keep the ball under Mourinho.

However, what I felt watching the game was that a midfield of Matic, Fabregas and Oscar could be hugely vulnerable.

Fabregas is a number 10. He doesn't have the engine to run up and down covering yard after yard which is what you need from a box to box midfielder. You wouldn't play Mata/Silva/Ozil in that position because you don't have enough mobility and trackers in your midfield if you do.

Against a better team than Burnley I think they could be hurt as a result. We will see - I'm not being bitter I promise

Arsenal lack a forward

The Crystal Palace game highlighted that physically we are not quite ready. That is understandable. But what worried me was the lack of movement from Sanogo.

Ramsey said in an interview after the game that him and Wilshere weren't seeing enough runs up front and therefore the two of them dwelled on the ball too much. That's a worry and however much you rate Sanogo, we all know he isn't going to fire us to a Champions League or Premier League. Giroud is closer to what a club with ambition needs, but he still doesn't give us that mobility, that power or pace to make us totally complete.

People can get transfer happy around this time of the year assuming that every flaw in a team can be solved through purchasing players. They forget that sometimes players don't want to move, and certain transfers are unrealistic or even impossible.

However, Wenger, I'm sure you're reading this post in the bath tub in your hotel room in Turkey...I really do implore you to put a bid in for Cavani - if he's available, he would transform us. We haven't replaced 'he who shall not be named' since he snaked his way to Manchester - We need to do it this summer.

It's early days, but the tone has been set. 37 games to go and let's hope that a 92nd minute winner isn't required for all of them otherwise my cardiovascular health will decline faster than the career of David Moyes.

@mikeegeo

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Comments  

#21 Mike 2014-09-01 19:02
If anyone out there thinks that we will become a force by signing a single striker…think again my friends. We need more than that, our defence will leak gold once again this season and by all accounts we have just signed Wellbeck….point proven! No ambition, no leadership, I just wish we had no manager! Time up Mr Wenger….should have been years ago.
-1 #20 Jimmy Gyabi Locus 2014-08-21 15:11
Mr Wenger help and get us a world class striker,Giroud does not qualify to play as a striker,get Gavin now the team will be complete.
+1 #19 Emma-top 2014-08-20 14:03
I strongly believe Arsenal needs a quality striker(Cavani, Falcao, Balloteli), a holding midfielder( Carvalho to b precise) and 2 center backs(kostas and Nastasic). Wenger should also give Joel campbell chance to prove himself, i think he`s way better than Yaya Sanogo.
+2 #18 TC 2014-08-20 09:03
The world and his wife know we need a striker except Wonga the arrogant stubborn Twa*
+2 #17 Redlondon 2014-08-19 21:54
I doubt what would be the value of signing average forward as Vargas on loan or permanently. I think now the priority is to sign game changer quality forward like Cavani or Falcao. Mr. Wenger plz do something
+1 #16 Gunnerman 2014-08-19 21:46
We do really lack a decent CF. Besiktas could have won before Ramsey was sent off. If only we had pacy, free scoring forward and Ozil in the game ...
+2 #15 Kevin Fabregas Adaki 2014-08-19 19:48
Wenger is really behind, cavalho should come in. Arteta does not fit our club any more. i dönt know why u never brought us Fabregas back. strikers like Giroud and Sanogo do not show any qualities of a player. Bring a striker or use Sanchez as no. 9 and campbell his assistant.
#14 Meder 2014-08-19 12:56
Arsenal needs a world class striker/CF to win the league!
#13 Russ99 2014-08-19 12:20
Quoting Jeremy:
Just don't understand why Wenger is holding out on Samuel Eto. Arsenal badly needs a frightening forward that which Giroud, Sanogo, and Campbell are clearly not.
And he's there for the cheap... Furthermore, he's desperate to stick it to Jose ... And the returning Drogba... So what's stopping Wenger?

Eto'o had the highest wages in Europe for a striker last year. Even with a pay cut he'd still be very expensive.

I'd rather they spend that on Carvalho or Khedira.
+4 #12 Yemmy 2014-08-19 09:45
Good write-up Michael. But you claimed that we are yet to replace 'him'. But remember that he plays just 194 games for us in 8 seasons; while Giroud has played 100 games for us in 2 seasons. 'he' scored a miserly 96 goals for us in 8 seasons, (8 solid years, POOR); while Giroud has scored 40 in just 2 seasons. We can improve with players like Cavani (if he wants to come) but I celebrates Giroud
#11 Dirty Sanchez 2014-08-19 08:13
Quoting george:
Arsenal is like a big bush fire, it get really hot early and then dies down


Well then, don't stand too close.
-1 #10 gunner fan 2014-08-19 07:46
Regarding MU,I doubt they can ever repeat the feat winning 13 titles in 20 years.Get set for more years in the wilderness. The thing is all empires come and go.
Furthermore they don't have a monopoly of top talent unlike the last ten years. MC
+2 #9 Emirates Alan 2014-08-19 07:07
Wenger could have bought Fabregas. Arteta, Rosicky and Flamini are really aging. To me Wenger seemed like he was getting the plot. Now he has truly lost it. We are starting tovget injuries and we are struggling to get teams together. When will he learn. Chelsea and Man City are miles ahead. Why not William Carvalho.
#8 Ogban 2014-08-19 04:44
Burnley contained Chelsea better in the second half and even created some good chances themselves. I think the plaudits are coming too early for Chelsea. Teams will soon learn to stop them.
-4 #7 colin 2014-08-19 04:43
Chelsea's title again, arsenal 4th place and that's not certain!!! the diddymen may even hand that too spurs!! overated as usual
#6 Sir Cecil 2014-08-19 04:27
Ramires is the box-to-box man at Chelsea. Fabregas played that particular role at Burnley only because Ramires was suspended.
Oscar will give way to Fabregas when Ramires is back.
+2 #5 Malaysian gunner 2014-08-19 04:02
Football is not only about sills/technique/pass ing,etc. It's about power as well.You look at the CP game where you find Wilshire,Sanchez and Cazorla repeatedly out powered by the more muscular CP players.Mind you,these are wc players.
Yet Wenger continues to be associated with technical players who are on the small side. The Brazilian Bernard is only 5ft 4inches tall. Once upon a time in the 50s you have such guys plying their trade.If Wenger follows up and signs him he must have really lost the plot.
Btw,in the old days of playing badminton,skill and craft were considered essential. Since then the game has been taken over by power ie smashing which can win games not placing the shuttle.
-2 #4 cannon 2014-08-19 03:50
i dont think chelsea are a force yet. they beat burnley. they could be a force by game 10 maybe. not before.

man utd will pick up plenty of points with rooney, mata and van persie i think but they'll lose plenty too cos of their defence.

i dont think we lack a striker. sanogo didnt have a great game vs crystal palace but no player can really say they did that game. if the midfield create better then sanogo would do better you'd think. tho he's still clearly a raw talent so he has a lot of his game still to develop.

whilst giroud did help contribute to the winning goal. he and the team still struggled with palace's defensive structure. that could be down to it being the first game of the season. we should be in better shape by game 8 really.
-5 #3 Jeremy 2014-08-19 03:48
Just don't understand why Wenger is holding out on Samuel Eto. Arsenal badly needs a frightening forward that which Giroud, Sanogo, and Campbell are clearly not.
And he's there for the cheap... Furthermore, he's desperate to stick it to Jose ... And the returning Drogba... So what's stopping Wenger?
-13 #2 A Gooner never 2014-08-19 03:40
Arsenal fans like the team lack class and they deserve the manager they've got .
Both delusional
-3 #1 george 2014-08-19 03:25
Arsenal is like a big bush fire, it get really hot early and then dies down