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- Written by Stuart Willsher
Now that the dust has settled on a haphazard, inconsistent and frustrating season, thoughts are turning to the 2012-2013 season.
We are currently being linked with the fantasy (Llorente), the absurd (Hazard), the has-beens (Kaka) and the ‘please god, no’ (Craig Gordon, N’Zonzi). I thought I’d take the opportunity to step away from rumours and provide my list of hopes for the next season (avoiding the obvious such as RVP staying).
Removal of the deadwood
Arsenal’s first team currently consists of the promising (Oxlade-Chamberlain), the experienced (Arteta, Rosicky) and the world class (RVP). However, we have all noticed that a large chunk of the squad consists of players that shouldn’t be part of the squad and are draining funds and preventing the squad from being strengthened.
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- Written by Barnaby Merrill
It had thrills. It had spills. It had many other things that are exciting. And the 2011/12 season (that’s the one what just ended, for those of you who were unsure) had some rather fantastic games involving Arsenal, some with more favourable results than others.
I’m not one to dwell on defeats, so this list will only contain victories. As it should really. The defeat to Swansea may have been nice for the neutrals, but I don’t think it qualifies as a vintage Arsenal performance.
Here we go then:
5: Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn
The day it all went so right. After a run of one point from four games, Arsenal appeared to have hit the wall in January after slowly forcing their way back into Champions League contention. Many fans feared the worst having lost 4-3 to struggling Blackburn early in the season. There were even rumours of a fan protest.
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- Written by Stuart Willsher
As Arsenal fans, we are used to hearing the words ‘potential’, ‘promising’ etc when used to describe either individual players, or the team as a whole. It is both a source of praise for us (a focus on developing players should be celebrated) but also a stick for other fans to beat us with (particularly Spurs fans), when we end the season without a trophy.
Apart from the odd murmur, we haven’t really ever fallen out of love with Wenger and his ideas, despite some shocking performances this season (AC Milan, Man Utd) and a barren run of trophy less seasons, with the end of each season promising lots, despite the familiar end of season collapse.
Are we, as Arsenal fans, therefore, the most blindly positive/stupid fans in the league? Should we be making our voices louder for change, not just in the team but behind the scenes as well?
In Wenger We Trust
Everybody is aware that Wenger is untouchable. Arsenal is Wenger’s team; The Emirates is Wenger’s stadium; and there are, few, if any, voices behind the scenes seemingly able to influence his decisions and judgement.
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- Written by Barnaby Merrill
With only one Premier League game left to go this term, Arsenal have found their Champions League qualification fate in their hands thanks to dropped points from Spurs and Newcastle earlier today. Assuming they do as they should and beat West Brom on the final day of the season, Arsenal will retain their Champions League pulling power and might just have a chance of re-asserting themselves as a major force in English football.
But this will require two things: A few new signings and a serious analysis of their current squad and the usefulness of certain players.
A common accusation thrown at Arsenal is that this current squad has ‘no talent except for RVP’. I read a lot of this while tweeting the Norwich match (are you proud of me? I didn’t call for Ramsey to be killed once!). By now you’d hope people would realise this is bobbins.
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- Written by Shane Thomas
As the dust settled on the 3-3 draw against Norwich, and the Arsenal players walked around the edge of the pitch for the traditional end-of-season lap of honour, the feeling that swept throughout the stands was one of disappointment and fear - at least, it was for the fans that stayed, my thoughts about those that left The Emirates immediately after the full-time whistle will have to wait for another day.
The disappointment came from the two dropped points, with many of us expecting it to cost Arsenal third place in the Premier League. The fear was derived from the speculation around the captain, Robin Van Persie. As he walked around the pitch, you could feel the palpable terror. Was this to be the last time we saw him in an Arsenal shirt? Fans begun to play amateur psychologist; with his two young children in tow, Van Persie waved to the crowd. But what did it all mean? Was it a wave of appreciation? Was it a farewell? Was it neither? Had he not made up his mind about his future and was just hedging his bets?
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