It’s funny how everybody seems to lose their sh*t when a big transfer happens to a rival, especially when we’ve seemingly been innocently looking to the sky and whistling so as to not attract much attention to ourselves, isn’t it?
And when I say ‘funny’, what I actually mean is ‘maddeningly hysterical, because that’s how everyone seems to feel at the moment.
The Pogba deal was always going to happen. We all knew it. Anybody would be mad to turn it down and in an age where the transfer fees have become farcical, who else would it be other than Mourinho, to go for the highest transfer fee of the summer by a mile. And this is a summer where we’ve seen a £75million deal for a 28 year old.
I’m not going to be all ‘holier than thou’ and pretend I’m not really nervous about our lack of planning and foresight at the moment though. I, sadly, don’t have that much blind faith. I see what we’ve gone through in the last 12 months and I fear a similar outcome to 12 months ago. When that window shut we all looked at one another a little be used as to why the manager would leave us short in squad depth, given our history with injuries, so this season I’m not going to think it unthinkable that we won’t bring anyone in. We have form in that regard, you see.
It is getting desperate at the moment though. I like to consider myself a relatively moderate fan. I’m not anti-manager this, pro-boss that, but I am finding the way the club is conducting its business bizarre to the point of negligent. Yesterday I logged in to my computer at work and had a little look on Sky Sports. Nothing. But I thought “hey, the club will have just flown back, they’ll have arrived in the UK and so come on. There will surely be something by the end of the day. They know the pressing need as much as we do”. But when I checked back at the end of the day? Silence.
I’m not somebody who likes to count down the clock and go a bit more mental, but come on guys, we’re down to five days and counting and given how long it seems to take us to conclude any deal, surely the first stages of any transfer should be being leaked by now?
Unless there isn’t anything. Unless the ‘grand plan’ is to fast track an unfit Koscienly back in to the team, risking potential injury or poor form from the first game of the season. You really have to laugh at the ineptitude. You have to, because if you don’t, you might just cry. We are one of the world’s biggest footballing institutions, with a global reach and one of the top ten revenue earners in the world, and we can’t get our sh*t together with five days to go before the season starts? I’m not even angry. I’m impressed at the levels of stubbornness by the club and mainly the manager, to block out all of the despair and essentially shove two fingers up to the world. You’ve gotta hand it to them, they won’t be turned, in any way, shape or form.
I’m in a weird place right now, footballistically speaking, because on the one hand I fear the first few games of the season as I don’t think we’re ready defensively, but on the other hand I just want the season to start now. That way, at least we’ll have something to talk about, anything is better than this right now. A game with which to analyse and over-analyse feels like nectar for my parched throat.
The problem is, however, that the lack of transfer activity will polarise the fanbase to such an extent that a result either way will seem fanastic or despairing. If we beat Liverpool on Sunday, everyone will breathe a sigh of relief, the joys of the football being back will give all Arsenal fans respite for a week and it will also quell some of the transfer angst. However, if we lose to the scousers, all of the rage will return in triplicate. The failings of this summers activity will be magnified and used to demonstrate by many that he manager is doing more harm than good. It’ll be a similar level of toxicity to when we were defeated to Villa on the opening day a few years back.
If you’re an Arsenal fan, I mean a true Arsenal fan, you want victory for the club all of the time. You don’t care whether it’s Arsène Wenger or Tony Adams who is running the show as the boss, you just want to see the team winning. It doesn’t matter if victory allows Arsène to make comments about signings in some sort of cryptic manner, because you show up to watch The Arsenal win.
That’s why I can’t wait for the season to be here. I don’t want to be bogged down in agendas or stories about stuff that isn’t on the pitch. I just want to watch Arsenal win.
Let’s just get this week over and done with and deal with the consequences of the clubs inaction after we’ve at least seen a game of football.
Catch you tomorrow.
Nice post, first time here.
I’m with you on the fact that i just want to see some football, though my biggest fear is that of bringing back Koscielny too early and he’ll get injured as well….
If i was to decide it would be a back 4 of Bellerín, Chambers, Monreal & Gibbs against Liverpool.
I think Holding is better than Chambers, and has more potential, but Chambers is a little more experienced.
And we do need a little bit of experience in there….that’s why i opt for Monreal as one of the CB’s.
As you said, let’s just get the season going….win or lose, i just want to see some football…
Thanks Ray, I’d agree re: Monreal. I do wonder if Arsène will panic though and bring Kos back too early. Gamble….
I absoloutley agree with you,but the fans deserve more than they are getting..welbeck crocked 3 months ago-no replacement…..BFG crocked 1 month ago no replacement which is quite alarming, and as you mentioned no irons in the fire, now with Gabriel out for possibly ??months still no activity does someone wanna knock on his door to remind him that Sunday is 5 days away? no frontline striker(Don’t count Akpom)no captain……Rob Holding looks pretty decent! but against premiership oppo Liverpool opening game his arsehole must be going and it aint even sunday and let’s be honest we look so disjointed…maybe we might get a result Sunday but why does he have to wait until we get a thumping
to realise that we need PLAYERS Xhaka Needs more granit if he is going to hold our midfield together.
Excellent well written article. It is just beyond belief that we are here again. For the last 4 years we have signed 1 player almost as the transfer window has opened. (ozil part) Wenger has then spent the next 6 weeks promising 2 or 3 more signings but complaining how hard it is to sign anyone. It is pure and utter lies. If a club like Arsenal come calling 99% of players would come running. The truth is he doesn’t want to buy anyone and as you say his complete stubbornness almost needs to be commended!! The worst thing ever to happen to our beloved club was losing David Dein, since his departure we have failed on every front . The board are a footballing joke and The manager has become so delusional it’s worrying . We all know that we will start the season with a couple of draws a few wins and a loss. We will then win 6 on the spin, all think we are going to win the league,(buy an average player in January) then February will come when we don’t win in 8, get two major injuries, probably in the same position, and be out of every competition by March. We will then have the nervous last 6 games to finish in the top 4 above Spurs. Not that our seasons are predictable !!!!