A thoroughly comprehensive Community Shield performance and win over Manchester City at the weekend sets Arsenal up nicely for the new season. Of course, when you've won that particular game it's all fabulous - and if you've lost it's 'just a friendly'. However, the manner of the victory is what we should be taking out of the game. With added alarm bells for City; which I'll discuss later.
As it happens, there's lots to get through in this post. Especially because due to technical issues - me trying to post whilst using a VPN whilst on holiday - my review of last season essentially failed to post correctly. So a small section on that will make up some of the middle portion of this post.
So in here I'll give some quick views on the World Cup, then rapidly go over last season - and here's a quick and timely reminder, if you needed one, that Arsenal are Prenier League Champions! - and finally my thoughts on pre-season and the Community Shield, and where the club are regarding squad building and our prospects for the seaon. Let's crack on:
World Cup thoughts
On Spain - worthy winners. Rodri - majestic. And the team itself an absolute machine.Cubarsi looks at almost Saliba levels; at the age of 19. Their full backs (much disliked by Arsenal supporters for their Premier League affiliations) were absolute standouts. And they always found a way, despite Yamal being well off his best following injury; thanks, on two occasions, to our very own Mikel Merino.
As for Argentina; well, I've literally nothing positive to say. I don't think that I've ever seen such a large group of dislikable players assembled together in a single squad. They ought, frankly, to be ashamed of themselves for bringing the beautiful game into such disrepute.
I'm not going to go into too much detail regarding any other side except England. But it was fun to see Germany depart early, a shock to see Brazil do likewise (although they're a pale shadow of previous squads, and I've no idea how Joao Pedro didn't make the 23), and a surprise to see a Saliba-less France shuffle out so meekly in the semi-final.
As for England... well, they ought to have reached the final. Which would have been an immeasurably better game had that occurred. I'd imagine that Thomas Tuchel will continue to have nightmares about the tactics he chose to employ, and the personnel he chose to use - or not - in those final 30 minutes. If England's performance in the 3rd/4th place playoff was anything to go by, then the way forward is clear. There are a number of absolutely outstanding players in the England squad; around whom Tuchel must build. Bellingham, Rice and Saka to name the three most obvious.
Meanwhile, don't get me started on Gianni Infantino!
2025-26 - recap
Mikel Arteta and his squad finally reaped their reward for sustained consistency and excellence over the previous years of near misses. The Premier League trophy, two cup final appearances and a further quarter final make for a pretty decent season in my book. And - as we saw in the scenes all over and around Islington in the aftermath - a beast has been released; and that beast is the Arsenal fan base!
Before I give out a few flowers for last season, just a few words regarding the pathetic and embarrassing torrent of abuse that accompanied Arsenal's season/success. And also on the level of achievement that our team has reached.
In this age of social media, instant reactions and attempts to shock and wind up others mean that this nonsense is what we have come to expect these days. It happens at school and work, in politics, and in sport fandom; in every aspect of life, in fact. People think that they can say or do what they like whilst hiding behind a keyboard, and it's usually things they won't say to your face. Some of the most obscure and pointless people end up as minor celebrities/shock jocks - and all for spouting complete nonsense; simply for effect. Supporters of clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City have been coming up with some of the most bizarre and absolute jokes of takes on last season... and now the upcoming season too.
Jokers. Clickbait. Remove them from your lives, guys; you don't need to waste your valuable time or energy on them. Sometimes it's difficult not to rise to the bait, but please remember this, Arsenal fans; we are above/better than these people, and have the forces of good on our side. As for these fools... well, they're essentially jealous.
Also, do not lose sight of the fact that in both Manchester City and PSG, Arsenal are and have been up against teams financed by literal nation states. Those clubs appear to be able to act with impunity in everything they do - those 115+ charges are still outstanding for City, and in the case of PSG you may or may not be aware that if you add up the wages they pay their players, you'd need to compare the aggregate of what the next FOUR clubs in Ligue Un pay their players in order to reach equivalent levels. Talk about tilted playing fields!
So for Arsenal to beat City to the Premier League title (with relative comfort in the end), and to come within a penalty shootout of conquering a PSG side who played considerably fewer matches over the season, and in a vastly less competitive league, is a measure of how well they performed. Sure, Arsenal are hardly paupers when it comes to football finances, but there is no comparison here - especially as Arsenal’s money has been earnt organically - so do not allow anybody to belittle their achievements in the face of such stiff/unfair competition.
Right then; let's quickly crack on with my Arsenal Awards for 2025/26 - and then we can get on to more important things i.e. the season that's about to start.
Player of the Season - Declan Rice (with close competiton from David Raya and the imperious William Saliba here)
Most Disappointing Player of the Season - Noni Madueke (or Noni Noendproduct, as I call him)
Goal of the Season (so many from which to chose) - Eze's winner vs Newcastle (home); and here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArsenalFC/comments/1svh6qy/eeze_9_arsenal_10_newcastle/
Moment of the Season - "After Review: West Ham's number 19 commits a foul"... Love it!: https://x.com/Splendor117/status/2066843790636134619/video/1
Worst Moment of the Season - Bournemouth at home. The whole afternoon. A nightmare...
I think that’ll do as regards awards. It all feels a little bit too late tbh. But I’d like to give extra flowers to Mikel (obviously), to Nicolas Jover, and especially to Gabriel Heinze who - whilst Carlos Cuesta had done an excellent job in his time at the club - appears to have injected a streak of steel and ruthlessness into the players.
It was great to see everyone pulling in the same direction; from Board and Management to the playing staff and also to the fans, who really began to get their act together and started to turn the stadium into a fortress. The scenes prior to the Atletico tie won’t escape anybody’s memories any time soon, and the tifos have really hit the mark.
So… what’s next? Well, the switch in Chief Medical Officer announced soon after the end of last season would appear to mean that the club have acknowledged certain issues; after all, we’ve seen the likes of Havertz, Odegaard, Saka and Timber out for far longer than may have been expected during the course of the season. But it’s what happens next personnel-wise that’s going to be most interesting, as the club look to kick on further.
But squad-building is complicated. And to me there feels like there may be a danger of Mikel being unable to see the wood for the trees. There are areas of weakness, but also areas of incredible depth and strength. Let's take a closer look:
Goalkeeper
David Raya is the undisputed number one. But behind him there are definitely issues. Kepa appears finished, and whilst Meslier has looked good on the fleeting occasions we saw him in pre-season, there's got to be a good reason why he fell from first choice to third choice goalkeeper at Leeds United over the course of two seasons. Raya needs to stay fit; and I certainly wouldn't be averse to moving Kepa on and picking up a new number two number one.
Defense
Hmmm... with Saliba out for several months with his back problem, and with Jurrien Timber several weeks away from returning by all accounts, Arsenal do look light on the right hand side of defence with just White and Mosquera available. And we all know what happens if Arteta over-plays Ben White. This is an area of short-term concern, as there has to be a question mark against throwing Marli Salmon in at the deep end at his tender years; for all his undoubted promise. The news coming through as I type that a deal has been agreed for Ezri Konsa feels like a sensible decison; although the size of the log jam once Saliba and Timber are back does make things somewhat complicated. But it's not exactly an easy start - the first few games of the season include a number of difficult hurdles.
On the left, a combination of Gabriel, Hincapie and Calafiori (with MLS in emergency) would seem to be more than adequate. No worries here, I don't think.
Midfield
Here, Arteta has an absolute abundance of riches from which to choose. Frankly - in my opinion - too many; certainly to keep them all sweet. How can he possibly shoehorn the following into three spots in the side? - Rice, Bruno, Zubimendi, MLS, Odegaard, Eze, Merino... I wouldn't know where to start, and those who are left out are probably entitled to feel aggrieved. I know that it's going to be another long season, but nonetheless...
How is he going to set up? How are we going to see the style of play evolve? I guess that we'll have to wait and see - although I do hope and expect to see a more free-flowing style; especially with Odegaard looking back to his dynamic and creative best:
Forwards (and I'll look at this in sections)
On the right, Bukayo Saka is clearly a shoo-in. With Madueke as his understudy, as things stand. However...
Look; I know that we all want to see all of our top youth players make the breakthrough to the first team, but we have exceptional talents in Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman both waiting in the wings; and both are equally as capable of deputising for Starboy at any given time. I sense that both of the teenagers may be eventually earmarked for number 8/10 roles as opposed to being out and out wingers (and - lest we forget - Arteta did actually experiment with Saka in a more interior role on a couple of occasions last season), but that area of the pitch is already ridiculously overcrowded.
So I for one would be very sad to see the extremely talented and promising Nwaneri jettisoned at this stage of his career - for all that he would command £40m+ of 'pure profit' to the club - and especially if, as seems pretty certain, Madueke stays. Let's face it; the whole of England saw enough of the maddening side of Madueke - the side of him that we had to suffer for a lot of last season - to understand what the problems are with him.
If Arteta is going to keep Noni, then we have no choice but to bow to his judgment. But I'd be looking to send Ethan out on a season-long loan to another Premier League club, see how he develops, and retain his registration (I typed that on Tuesday, btw, and the BBC are reporting that to be the case today; Wednesday). I'd hope to see Ethan return next season like we saw Saliba waltz into the side a few years ago as the finished product. And with Super Max coming up behind, that's quite some production line!
In the middle, with Jesus about to depart this looks like a straight fight between Havertz and Gyokeres. Horses for courses? There has been talk, but I cannot see the Swede being allowed to leave unless something massive drops Arsenal's way in the next fortnight. Would Ohsimen be that massive thing? - difficult to envisage. And I for one am not sold on Julian Alvarez like others are (especially as he would much prefer to go to Barcelona).
On the left, we come to the £34m bargain that Arsenal appear to have obtained in Christos Tzolis. The way he has performed in pre-season makes him a certain starter on Friday. But cover is needed. With Trossard gone, and Martinelli looking to be on his way out (something I'm very much 50/50 on), it would appear that Arsenal need something more there. The dalliance with Vinicius Jnr had us all salivating, I'm sure, but there are other alternatives out there, like Yildiz for example. I expect movement in this area.
To summarise the squad: departed - up to this point just Trossard (and thank you, Leo, for everything you did for the club) and Norgaard. With surely Jesus, Vieira and Nelson to follow. After that, perhaps Martinelli and Nwaneri (you know my thoughts). Perhaps something else needs to 'give' for something major to happen on the incomings front?
As regards arrivals, we have Bruno and Tzolis up to this point; but I'd hope and expect to see reinforcements on the right hand side of defence (looking like Konsa), and also on the left flank. But, frankly, Arsenal already look formidable - although perhaps not at PSG/Barcelona levels.
But - and I say this in all honesty - if you put a gun to my head I couldn't name a clear-cut First XI. Although perhaps, if everyone was fully fit and the Champions League final was tomorrow, I'd suggest: Raya - Timber - Saliba - Gabriel - Calafiori - Rice - Bruno - Odegaard - Saka - Havertz - Tzolis.
What is abundantly clear is that there’s a clear opportunity for Arsenal to eatablish themselvesd as a dynasty, with the opportunity to dominate for 5 years from here. They absolutely dominated City on Sunday, and that looks to be a real statement of intent. Tzolis looks to be areal bargain at this early stage. The hardest thing for Arteta may wll be juggling his troops. As for the contenders:
- How on earth are Manchester City going to bounce back from the loss of all of Guardiola, Bernardo Silva and Rodri in one summer? Remember, it was Bernardo and Rodri who dominated Arsenal in the Carabao Cup Final last season, and made the difference for them; as they did every time they played together. And with those charges still hanging over them? The task looks impossible; especially if the Community Shield was anything to judge them by. Perhaps this may be the beginning of the end for them. I'm sure that we all hope so
- Manchester United are due a culture shock, as they suddenly need to play more than one game a week. And they surely haven't done anything like enough in the transfer market in order to be able to cope with that
- Liverpool still require plenty of work; for all that I'd expect Iraola to be a major upgrade on Slot. They will certainly be better than last season, and we are going to see much more of both Wirtz and Isak this season, but they still need reinforcements in defence and midfield
- Aston Villa are in a transition phase. The loss of Rogers, Tielamans and Konsa is going to make life extremely difficult for them
- Chelsea are an absolute looney bin of a football club. It does look like a lot of the financial issues are going to come home to roost sooner rather than later, with rumours of Boehly looking for a way out. following his ill-judged attempts at squad building and suggestions in some quarters that their financial commitments may lead to them going into Administration in two or three years time. And wouldn't we enjoy that?!? And finally, as I am duty-bound to mention them; Tottenham Hotspur
- Tottenham are... well, frankly... still Tottenham no matter what you do with them. They have bought well - if expensively. But they surely have far too much ground to make up
For me, the way is clear. Arsenal should retain the title (for all that is always a difficult task). The other main priority then has to be the Champions League. Anything else... a bonus. But I am worryingly optimistic about this season.
Just to finish off, here’s a bit of fun. Help is needed to put together a Top XI of The Most Punchable Faces in the Premier League. We have lost some big players in this category over the summer - the likes of Romero, Cuccurella, Rodri and Bernardo Silva for starters; and it looks like Emi Martinez may go too. So who have you got to add to this list?
Bruno Fernandes
Richarlison
Alejandro Garnacho
Cole Palmer
Erling Haaland
Arsenal players are disqualified, obviously...
Now, I am going to explore possibly doing an 'On The Whistle' video at the end of every home game. If I can work out how to upload it to YouTube, that is... anyway, watch this space. And I'll be back over the weekend following Friday night's season opener at home to Fat Frank's Coventry City.
COYG!
