Are you excited for the new Season?

[Arsenal Tone]

Been thinking about this thread...

We've needed a centre forward since RVP left and if we'd signed Lacazette last summer most of us would have been over the moon.

Monreal has been a stop gap at LB, a 'good enough' player who could also cover CB. In Kolasinac we now have a player ready to make the position his own for the long term.

We have plugged two gaps, so why the negativity? If it wasn't for the Alexis/Ozil contracts and constant rumours about Alexis leaving I think we'd all be a lot more confident about things.

The Alexis situation should have been sorted by now!

[ESR10]

Been thinking about this thread...

We've needed a centre forward since RVP left and if we'd signed Lacazette last summer most of us would have been over the moon.

Monreal has been a stop gap at LB, a 'good enough' player who could also cover CB. In Kolasinac we now have a player ready to make the position his own for the long term.

We have plugged two gaps, so why the negativity? If it wasn't for the Alexis/Ozil contracts and constant rumours about Alexis leaving I think we'd all be a lot more confident about things.

The Alexis situation should have been sorted by now!

Our CM options don't fill me with confidence at all. We don't have a real engine CM with huge effort and decent technical abilities. Xhaka and Ramsey are decent, but both have their flaws. Cazorla and Wilshere don't really count with their injuries, even if they are not bad, if fit.

We are a Ramsey injury and a Xhaka red card away (both happens a few times a season) from starting Neny and Coquelin as CMs. I don't think this is a midfield challenging for the PL title.

[PairyGrows]

Been thinking about this thread...

We've needed a centre forward since RVP left and if we'd signed Lacazette last summer most of us would have been over the moon.

Monreal has been a stop gap at LB, a 'good enough' player who could also cover CB. In Kolasinac we now have a player ready to make the position his own for the long term.

We have plugged two gaps, so why the negativity? If it wasn't for the Alexis/Ozil contracts and constant rumours about Alexis leaving I think we'd all be a lot more confident about things.

The Alexis situation should have been sorted by now!

My greatest concern is Wenger's management. We know he's obsessed with free-flowing football, and he doesn't enjoy detailed tactical planning. Free-flowing football works until it doesn't, and when it doesn't, we need something to fall back on. The problem is that there's nothing there; there's no back up plan. The only plan is to "play the Arsenal way" - but what does that mean?

For that reason we're very prone to inconsistency. When our game flows, we look bloody unstoppable. Then we face a team capable of countering "the Arsenal way", and from that point on things go sour. We keep trying to force the game to flow again, and often it's a train wreck.

Wenger has a point to prove this season. However, I don't see any signs of him changing.

[Fenice]

Free flowing football works until it doesn't is one of the realist things I've seen on this forum. When we are on our game, and the other side hasn't adjusted or prepared properly, we are one of the most beautiful clubs in the world to watch. However we've been found out by too many now and it isn't working. We either need to throw 100's of millions of quid at this team, or stop being stubborn and create a damned plan B. Remember when we were chasing a game and we'd end up basically having all our forwards on the pitch? In the past 6 or 7 years how often has that happened?

[Godlop]

No.
Arsenal still has the same old problems

-Average Goalkeeper
-poor defence
-inconsistent midfield(Özil/Xhaka/Ramsey)
-No reliable back ups for Sanchez, Özil, Xhaka and Koscielny
-possibly still a striker problem
-bad off the ball movement
-the way we play is to predictable
-passing and ball control lacking for an Arsenal side under Wenger


Imo the best we could do is a 4th place finish.

[PairyGrows]

Free flowing football works until it doesn't is one of the realist things I've seen on this forum. When we are on our game, and the other side hasn't adjusted or prepared properly, we are one of the most beautiful clubs in the world to watch. However we've been found out by too many now and it isn't working. We either need to throw 100's of millions of quid at this team, or stop being stubborn and create a damned plan B. Remember when we were chasing a game and we'd end up basically having all our forwards on the pitch? In the past 6 or 7 years how often has that happened?

I can't recall many occasions like that over the last six or seven seasons. It's actually a bit startling to notice that, considering that the last ten years or so we've seen a more detailed approach to management where managers emphasize individual games and even situations in these games more than ever before. It seems we're not keeping up with time.

Anyway, I think us being good in possession is a myth. Far too often we don't work off the ball to create pathways for passes or space for teammates. Thus, we'll keep the ball but we don't do anything of substance with it - possession for the sake of possession. Then we'll hope that an individual moment of magic bail us out.

Keeping the possession is something we revert to so often is, I think, due to nothing else really being practiced at Colney - and even that is done poorly as the above observations suggest. Arsenal have lost their Way, and they need to find it very soon.

In other words, before looking for a plan B, we should get good at executing plan A first.

[Dejan]

Been thinking about this thread...

We've needed a centre forward since RVP left and if we'd signed Lacazette last summer most of us would have been over the moon.

Monreal has been a stop gap at LB, a 'good enough' player who could also cover CB. In Kolasinac we now have a player ready to make the position his own for the long term.

We have plugged two gaps, so why the negativity? If it wasn't for the Alexis/Ozil contracts and constant rumours about Alexis leaving I think we'd all be a lot more confident about things.

The Alexis situation should have been sorted by now!

WHy I am negative? Because first of all im not quite confident that Lacazette is what we needed.

Secondly I dont think our centreback position is good enough. Mustafi has been dissapointing for me and other than that we have none.

Lastly, we need a CM. Badly.

[indy23]

Our midfield is pretty ass average, would love to see xhaka improve but he would literally need to turn into xabi alonso to save it. Teams walk through us and thats why there is negative energy oh and our attacking play is so boring now too..

Hope Lacazette can become a instant impact player cuz we wont be in top 4 if he doesnt.

[Va-Va-Voom]

Midfield is a problem.

Outside of Ramsey/Xhaka, we have Coquelin and Elneny.

Can't really count Cazorla or Wilshere due to injuries.

[indy23]

Just get a budding midfield star... I doubt we are actually after seri. We screwed up with lemar too.... Im hopin wilshere can give us a healthy year.

[Skeelman]

I don't know how anyone can be excited since this year is plainly going to be a rinse and repeat.

I don't expect us to win the league but it would be nice to still be somewhat in the running in early March. That's plainly not going to happen.

The most likely exciting thing that could happen is for us to be down in 10th-12th come January and for the Emirates to turn into a cauldron of hate.

God this situation is really getting to me. I've followed Arsenal properly since I was about 8, so 35 years and nowadays it's just making me depressed and vitriolic. Not good.

[Cripps]

No

Haven't watched a game live yet. Only MOTD

And that's for fantasy football only

[Nuggets]

Not really to be honest. This team doesnt really excite me.

This.

Still feel the same, same old bollocks.

[diesel]

I did until it started

[theHotHead]

Its funny reading the last couple of pages before the season started - what was predicted has come true.

People are not negative jist to be negative or because its easier to be negative, we see the same unresolved problems season after season. How can anyone hope for a different outcome?? Madness I tell you.