If our inconsistency post Carling cup continues way into the season then the risk of losing a Champions League place is very real. Personally I think we will find our rhythm and iron out most of our funk plus I don’t think that highly of either Liverpool or Tottenham. Even if the worst comes to the worst and we finish outside of the Champions League places we will not suffer financially according to Ivan Gazidis
Morning all,
Sounds weird saying that but I am looking to make a slight adjustment to the timing of the blog. Over the last few years the blog has gone up in the afternoon but pushing out articles during that time may be a problem nowadays due to one of life’s changes, so the plan is to get them out in the morning just in time to put you off your cornflakes.
Our start to the season has left us dangling around areas of the league table that has left Gooners up and down the country more than a little uneasy. If our post Carling cup inconsistency continues way into the season then the risk of losing a Champions League place is very real.
Personally I think we will find our rhythm and get out of most of our funk, plus I don’t think that highly of either Liverpool or Tottenham. Especically over the course of a whole season.
Even if the worst comes to the worst and we finish outside of the Champions League places we will not suffer financially according to Ivan Gazidis.
His comments are all over the press today but this isn’t anything new. It has been mentioned on many occasions as the stadium was in the process of being built that the club would not rely on Champions League football to survive, that would not be clever as you can never assume that finishing in the top four is a guarantee, especially as so many clubs are throwing money around in order to reach the holy grail. While I am sure the club will be able to make ends meet if we finished outside the top four, there is no doubt that CL football being absent from next season’s fixture list would be a huge problem to the short term.
We have some very important players coming towards the end of their contracts and trying to convince them to sign new contracts without the prospect of playing at the highest level might be asking for a little too much. It would also potentially affect our transfer budget. Without the CL income, I expect their to be plenty of powder being kept dry so while it is a possibility in October, there is a hell of a long way to go until we are close to knowing where we will finish this season.
Our early season inconsistency is largely down to the amount of changes made to the team, yet many people wanted even more changes to the squad.
It brought me back to a quote from Arsene Wenger back in 2009 about changing too much of the squad can be a technical risk.
“Sometimes when the players are extremely intelligent they adapt very quickly and it can also click very quickly. But it’s rare”
Wenger said this 2-3 years ago and I assume that it is all very relevant today. We have changed at least one player in each area of the pitch (apart from keeper) and it is going to take plenty of time for the whole squad to adjust. It would have been nice for all these players to have practiced the whole settling in period thing whilst on tour in Asia but I am very bored of talking and listening about that but it is still very hard to talk about players not settling in without boring the person next to you with the same summer complaints.
Per Mertesacker has spoken to the German media about still needing to adapt to the English game. He is yet to find a permanent home and is still adjusting to the language. Not only this but he has already had to play with various different partners in his short time in a new league.
This is why I have hope that we will turn around our fortunes. I have watched too many Arsenal greats struggle with the start of their Arsenal careers. Wonderful players like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and plenty more looked anything like the players that reached their peak at our great club.
Mertesacker, Arteta, Gervinho, Santos, Park, Chamberlain and Benayoun have a little while yet before they can walk around the Emirates with their eyes closed and know where they are going.
The youngest of them all continues to make a mockery of a crisis of confidence at the club. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues to impress as he scored a hat-trick for the England under 21s against Iceland u21s. He has already scored in his first Carling cup start and then in his first Champions League start.
When a player is making that type of impact then it is hard to ignore him. Jack Wilshere, Nicklas Anelka and Cesc Fabregas have all starred for Arsenal at 17-18 and I imagine that it is only a matter of time before the Ox will be scribbled on that list.
His third goal was a little bit of a fluke as he tried to cross the ball in but his skill to beat three men before that was just what doctor fortune ordered. I think he needs to be on the bench every week, at least until some stronger players are available.
I should add the ‘we ought to be careful and patient’ line but I won’t because there is no need. If you’ve watched him play then you know where this kid is going. We are not looking at another Jermaine Pennant that is for sure. As long as he has brains then he should be fine.
In other news Mikel Arteta has spoken about how he does not want to be compared to Cesc and also that he didn’t undergo a medical before joining Arsenal.
Before I disappear for another day, I just wanted to inform you of a rather interesting piece coming up by Squid Boy where he provides some great in depth data about the top teams who have lost leads over the last few years. You may well be quite surprised. Keep your eyes pealed.
If you are not into pealing your eyes then just subscribe to the Arsenal Vision RSS feed. Why not I say.
Back tomorrow.
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