Can we start again, please?

I've given it until the transfer window closed and the interlull is over with to comment, something I've not done since post-Leicester. And I've essentially got two main points to make:

Firstly, the fairly routine victory over Watford shows that it makes a hell of a difference when you put your best player back into the team; Ozil was majestic, as we have come to expect, and his work with Sanchez - a player on his wavelength - was a joy to behold. We saw an excellent first half performance, and then a drop-off in the second half once the game was essentially won. Solid performances from Xhaka - one awesome diagonal to Walcott must be mentioned - and from Kos, who held things together at the back. There will be tougher tests. Of some concern was that the team still don't look fully wound up to last 90 minutes, and that's somewhat inexplicable.

Secondly, the transfer window. I've got no issue with the signing of Lucas Perez - although I'd actually never heard of him. By all accounts he is a pacy, tricky player who can play out wide as well as though the centre, and there are parallels in his career to that of Vardy, in that he has had to work very hard to get where he is today and will surely be looking to make the most of his opportunity at a big club. One must imagine that he was nowhere near Wenger's first choice and that he was holding out for a bigger 'name', but on the whole he's a typical Wenger signing and I reckon he will do well.

We may never find out the truth about the daly in the Mustafi transfer, and I sincerely hope that it wasn't down to Arsenal haggling over the fee. However, the frustration is that I would imagine that if he had been signed earlier we would not have lost to Liverpool on day one, and would therefore be closer to our rivals than we find ourselves. And that's why I'd like to start again, please; the three clubs we fear most all have 100% records, and we're playing catch-up. This will probably come back to bite us. But I'm happy with the make-up of the squad, and feeling considerably more optimistic than I did before. And on another level delighted that I'd shoehorned Ozil into my Fantasy Football team as soon as I could!

I cannot leave without discussing the loans out. Chambers I understand; if he's not going to play with so many in front of him - and it looks like Holding has overtaken him - send him out and see how he gets on with plenty of games. Although it does feel like Wenger has given up on him as being able to make it at Arsenal; we shall see.

Now Jack Wilshere is another matter. I can only assume that it's the player - seeing his way to the first team blocked by Xhake, Cazorla, Elneny, Coquelin, Ramsey and of course Ozil - who has asked for the move in order to finally get some get some game time (and hopefully stay fit). If that's the case, then good for him, and hopefully he can come back next year a different player, ready to take his rightful place in the heart of Arsenal's midfield and finally fulfil his potential. Personally, I'd prefer to see him go abroad and play at a higher level of club, but Eddie Howe's philosophy is similar to that of AW, and he is sure to be first choice in the Bournemouth midfield. Good luck to him, and I for one will be watching what he does very closely.

That's all till next week. Here's to three points against Southampton, and pushing on up the table. COYG

It's deja-vu all over again

Ok; so having decided to resist the temptation to blog in anger on Sunday evening or Monday, here's my take on what we saw.

In summary; a bright start, a lead taken, 15 or so minutes of abject capitulation and humiliation, and then some apparent 'mental strength'. Same old, same old...

So what did we learn from the match, from Wenger's and the team's response to situations that evolved, and from the manager's comments afterwards?

Firstly, it is quite clear that, as previously seen in the early stages of a new season, the team was ill-prepared and poorly set out. The central defensive partnership was a recipe for disaster, and I cannot understand that Xhaka would not start. Ramsey, who had done well for Wales over the summer, does not look suited to the Number 10 role and I am starting to wonder how much of a square peg he is becoming at Arsenal. Up front, not many predicted that Walcott would start and for all his qualities Alexis is not and never will be a centre forward capable of ploughing a lone furrow.

Secondly, compared to Liverpool Arsenal did not look physically ready for the challenge. For all the bright start and taking of the lead, it felt inevitable that accidents were waiting to happen all over the pitch.

Thirdly, the way the game panned out felt like watching Groundhog Day. But with standard Wenger's Arsenal Embellishments. The bright start that you'd expect, with fairly crisp passing and little end product. Having won the penalty, the choice of Walcott - the flakiest of flaky characters - as designated penalty taker left me flummoxed. Give the ball to Alexis, for goodness' sake!

The concession of a needless free kick in first half injury time and the ball inevitably arrowing into the top corner. The embarrassing concession of three goals in a 15 minute spell. The inevitable rally that never quite got the team back into the game.

Anf fourthly, the manager's reaction. As we went 4-1 down - and by the way all of Liverpool's goals were things of beauty - I looked over to the Arsenal bench. Where Wenger sat, as per the photo above, not moving from his seat. I don't know what message that sends out to the players, but it made me even angrier than finding ourselves 4-1 down in the first game of the season.

Bear in mind, of course, that the squad deficiencies are problems known to as yet undiscovered Amazonian tribesmen. Yet the manager, who has the power to do something to rectify them, has failed to do so. Our rivals have done their business, yet Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

We need a centre-half before pre-season started, yet despite losing BFG and now Gabriel, and with a replacement apparently lined up, still he dithers - with disastrous results - and we're going into the next match with the same defensive issues. Fortunately, we won't be up against a counter-attacking side whose pace may expose the inherent lack of pace and experience in our central defence...

We need a centre-forward. Not, I add, just A Centre Forward, but an upgrade on Giroud. Two games into the new season, nothing appears to be happening.

So there's the two missing pieces of the jigsaw - still missing. And all of our rivals won, so we're three points behind all of them. Already.

The team got booed off. Slightly unfair on the team, if you ask me. It is clear where the finger of blame needs to be pointed. What amazes me is that the level of criticism of the manager remains so low. I, for one, am utterly fed up with him. He must 'spend some f*cking money.'

I'm back! And this time it's personal (I'm talking to you, Arsene)

Hello again :-)

I've been away from this page for months now, and I'd accordingly like to apologise to my thousands (?) of followers. Personal reasons and all that... but those are pretty much solved now, and it is my avowed intention to post a blog a minimum of once a week, and certainly after every Arsenal game, from now on. I'm sure that you can all hardly wait.

I thought I'd start with a summary of Arsenal's summer, and if you spot a theme... well, that's because it's really not been too dissimilar to Arsenal's last 10 or so summers. There's been one big addition to the squad..

... we we await more. 

Here we are again, approaching the start of the new football season. Last Premier League season will never be forgotten for the totally unexpected success of Leicester City, for the shocking (and highly entertaining) fall from grace of Jose Mourinho - more on him later - at Chelsea, and from an Arsenal fans point of view for the highly amusing last-day embarrassment of Tottenham Hotspur, a team who just when everybody thought had finally stopped being 'Spursy' did the 'Spursiest' thing ever seen. Coming third in a two horse race is quite a feat!

But last season's emotional roller-coaster was a microcosm of what being an Arsenal fan has become. Manchester City underperformed. Chelsea vastly underperformed, the meltdown of Mourinho causing massive amusement to the entire football world - some Chelsea fans of my acquaintance included. Manchester United hardly made up any ground. The astute appointment of Klopp pointed Liverpool in the right direction, but from a lower starting point, Tottenham ultimately flattered to deceive (as usual). And yet... and yet... from out of nowhere, and completely merited by the way, Leicester City motored past everybody to run away with the title. It was inevitable, I suppose, that the team most likely to take advantage if the Big clubs slipped up ended up second in the table. Arsenal blew their chance, and who knows when they might have another opportunity that big?

Because the landscape in England has changed massively again over the past few months. Untold billions of pounds of television money have swelled the already obscene coffers of Premier League clubs, meaning that the likes of West Ham, Sunderland and Everton (following their change of ownership) have been spending fortunes. Chelsea and Manchester City have inevitably strengthened, Liverpool have splashed the best part of £100m, and Tottenham have also added to their squad. Suddenly, the list of Wenger's management rivals ready like a Who's Who of management talent: Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte, Klopp, Pulis... the only one really missing from the list is Allardyce!

Manchester United's appointment of Jose Mourinho has formed the most horrendous Axis of Evil witnessed since World War Two (OK, I'll accept that ISIS might be a bigger threat to World Peace, but only just) - plus they have added some formidable players to their squad...

And Arsenal? In the immortal words of Gary Barlow, 'Everything Changes But You'.

Arsenal will - alone amongst the possible title challengers - start the season with a poorer squad than 12 months ago. I can't knock the astute signing of Granit Xhaka, who looked top class at Euro '16 and appears sure to be suited to English football. But in typical style, Arsene Wenger has failed to address the other glaring issues with the squad.

Even before the injuries to Mertesacker and now Gabriel, they looked light in central defence (and lest we forget Koscielny is unlikely to be rushed back after his summer exertions). BFG is not getting any younger or quicker, and Gabriel is yet to convince, and due to the injuries to the latter two it looks like we'll possibly be starting with Chambers and Holding in central defence on Sunday; something which, despite their promise, doesn't fill me with much confidence. Get it done with Mustafi, Wenger. What on earth are you waiting for?

In central midfield there is now an embarrassment of riches - for all that Ramsey is probably not quite cherry ripe and Cazorla lacks battle hardening after his extremely long layoff (I am choosing not to discuss Jack Wilshere - the Darren Anderton of the decade - at this point).

In the wide positions and up front, things are somewhat of a muddle for the next week or three. Alexis needs a bit more time to get up to speed and Ozil won't be back for a week or two either. Nor will Giroud. Iwobi shows massive promise and Campbell is a useful squad man. And The Ox is coming back from yet another layoff, but is probably merely flattering to deceive once more. As for Theo?... well, it's impossible to have any faith in Theo any more, I'm afraid.

Now, it's possible that there is enough there to cover and deal with issues in the wide positions, but having decided that Xhaka was a better buy than Kante (a moot point, perhaps), and having failed (and I can't get over this) with a bid for Vardy, I'd be chucking the best part of £50m at Leicester City for Riyadh Mahrez if I was managing Arsenal. He's young, is certain to improve the squad, and will have a sell-on value, thereby ticking every box for the manager. Come on, Wenger, show some ambition!

And, of course, there is the matter of fire power. For all that he had a successful Euro '16, the tournament also showed up Giroud's shortcomings. And with due respect to Chuba Akpom he's the ONLY bona fide centre forward in the entire squad! Wenger has - along with all of us - known this for months - yet where are we on this issue today? I'll tell you where we are; clubs all over Europe are lining up to extort medium-sized fortunes from Arsenal for their prize centre forward, and there's only one place to point the finger of blame for that.

On top of all this, to hear Gazidis bleating about still being unable to compete with the richest clubs for players from the very top table is disingenuous and incredibly depressing. And, looking at the amount of money in Arsenal's coffers, patently not true. They could have afforded Pogba; they could have afforded Ibrahimovic. Do you know what; they could probably afford Cristiano Ronaldo! This is not good enough from Arsenal; the apparent lack of ambition and proactivity is soul-destroying to the fan base.

If Arsenal go a goal down on Sunday, I'm pretty sure that the chants of 'Spend some f*cking money' will start immediately. And I might even join in! We've got a tricky start to the season, it's more competitive than ever before, and nobody can quite work out what Wenger is waiting for.

As they say in Wenger's home country, 'Plus ca change'. It's like the world is merely passing him by, whilst he sits on a park bench eating a croissant and staring into space. I, for one, am totally fed up.