However, over the next few seasons Arsenal will become a lot more competitive in a commercial sense and with that, Arsene will have greater freedom to implement his plans whether that be through investment directly into the first team or adding to the talented crop of youth, or indeed .

It feels like ages since that wonderful afternoon in Liverpool where real football was played and three glorious points were returned to London. That game was one of the more enjoyable that I have watched in recent times. All of the players were excellent but I particularly enjoyed Diaby’s individual midfield masterclass, Podolski’s goal followed by his celebration and our third consecutive clean sheet.

However, that is not what I wish to discuss today. In this article I will comment on a few things concerning our great club and hope to provide some sort of perspective.

The Manager

It seems as good a place as any to start this off by discussing the manager and the possible extension of his contract of employment. What I can’t understand, and never have, is why anybody thinks that we would be better off without him. Ok I know, we have not won anything for 8 years but that completely overlooks the fact that Arsene has continued to perform at a very high and consistent level, in my humble opinion.

We all know that our financial position has been constrained considerably since the move from Highbury to the Emirates and that has taken its toll on our silverware cabinet for sure. But the fact that Arsene has guided the club into the group stages of the Champions League, whilst also finishing in the top four of the Premiership every year since, is nothing short of a miracle.

I can’t confess to knowing that much about players and managers outside of the club, but is there really a manager out there who could have achieved what Arsene has, and better still, won some trophies at the same time? I don’t think so.

However, over the next few seasons Arsenal will become a lot more competitive in a commercial sense and with that, Arsene will have greater freedom to implement his plans whether that be through investment directly into the first team or adding to the talented crop of youth, or indeed both.

What I do believe is that Wenger has got us into a very good position to become more competitive over the next few seasons, and possibly beyond. He will guide us to trophies once again I am sure.

I for one seriously hope that he stays with us for many years to come, and manages to get the success that his patience and commitment to date well and truly deserves.

Transfers

There is the opinion that Arsene does not like to spend money, or is afraid to do so. I don’t believe that is the case at all. I am sure that he is actually willing to spend money, but that he will only do it if the right opportunities arrise.

What he will never do is throw money away on sensational transfers just to excite the media, like spending £35million on Andy Carroll for example. I’ve not got anything against Andy Carroll, but no way did he deserve that price tag. Sure, not all transfers work out as expected and that happens at every club.

The players that we have added over the last year or two are top quality in my opinion (ignoring Park of course who was unproven), Podolski, Cazorla, Giroud, Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jenkinson, Arteta, Mertesaker and Santos.

I know some people have doubts over Gervinho and Giroud but I personally am confident that they will both contribute to the success of the team in a positive way.

Looking Ahead

The biggest challenge that I think we’ll face going forward, despite our anticipated increase in revenue, is the power that our star players have in orchestrating big money moves to other clubs.

I imagine that this situation is made worse for a club such as Arsenal, as aside from the two Spanish Giants and perhaps PSG, the only other clubs that are able to pay such wages are our direct rivals in the Premier League. A tripple-edged sword, weakening our squad while strengthening theirs and then having it rubbed in our faces every week thereafter when watching match of the day.

We know that we cannot, and probably never will be able to compete with these clubs on players wages, so what can be done?

Unfortunately not much, but perhaps we could plan better for the inevitable. We should seek to avoid building the team around one individual, as we have done with Fabregas and more recently, Van Persie. A team set up like we have now is what is needed, where the emphasis is on the whole team to contribute equally, rather than always trying to get the ball to the star man.

Another contingency that could be made is to try and have other players on standby to bring in to replace these individuals when they eventually leave – whether this be a list of transfer targets or promotion from within. I suppose an example of this would be similar to bringing through Wilshere to replace Cesc – having someone ready and eager to step up and fill the gap. There would of course be a drop in ability in the short term, but teams adapt.

Hopefully we will not have to deal with such a situation for a while as what we need now more that anything else is a settled team.

In conclusion, I remain very confident in the manager and this group of players and I am certain that silverware will be deposited into our trophy cabinet in the near future.

Wishing you a happy and successful season, fellow gooners.

Mean Lean’s Response

Well since that wonderful afternoon at Liverpool, we have experienced yet another wonderful afternoon of Arsenal football. I could really get used to this and am quite amazed at how losing two first team players and gaining another two (from Saturday’s game) can transform a team so much.

Moving onto the manager, I am very intrigued to know what will happen beyond 2014. A very pivotal year for the club. It could be the year where the playing field has been levelled out somewhat, the year where we can untie that left arm in our fight for trophies but currently, it is also the year where Arsene is free to do as he pleases.

Does he sign a new deal and finally reap what he has sowed or does he fix the half broken sports car only to hand the keys to a new driver who cannot believe his luck.

That will be very interesting but for now, I want to put all my energies into enjoying the manager and the players we have today. I must say, I am the most excited about a group of players as I have been for some time.

To read my thoughts on Gervinho and his new role click here.

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