As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
northbank123 wrote:At the end of the day there will be one or two outliers but over the course of a season you're never going to win the league conceding as many goals as we did.
agreed
but still think our 'outliers' came whilst
a) we were still involved in team restructuring - personally I think the transfer window has to shut before the season starts
b) we were focussed on hugely important and very difficult CL draw. Spanish and Italian fixtures are organised so tough games dont come early on, helpful for Euro qualifiers - Prem should look at that.
Agree 100% that the transfer window should shut august 1st with no exceptions BUT wenger knew how tough our opening league fixtures were from the middle of june so leaving his transfer dealings until end of august should not have been an option for him You could maybe argue that an easy start to the season eases the pressure to get signings in early (if you only bringing in 1 or 2) but the scousers, manc and barcodes away plus a crucial champs lge qualifier meant it was negligent management from all those involved
I agree wholeheartedly about the transfer window closing before the season starts. Wenger shouldn't have left everything until the end but at the end of the day plenty of deals will naturally happen at the end of the window because that's when teams and players get desperate (although that was obviously no excuse for us as Fab and Nasri were always going).
What I worry about is that we have a similarly difficult start this year. I'm not under any delusions and know we've got no chance of winning the league even if we make one or two signings, but the first 3/4 fixtures set the tone for the next few months because of the timing before the international break. If we take 7/9 points from these games it'll really give us a kick going forward for the first half of the season, but if we take 1/3/even 4 points the negativity will set in again.
If he (JW) ever does make it back - And I hope to Bog he does - It will take him a long while just to get mentally sharp again...something flash has been trying to do since he was born!
09.26: Interesting word from Spain now, where Sport are reporting that Barcelona are mulling over a bid for Alex Song.
Apparently they're keen on him as a replacement for Seydou Keita, and his ability to pay in defence doesn't hurt. The offer will be for around £11.7million.
Jaysus the first one for ages and you don't even bother with it! And I got it from Twitter!
Young midfielder Serge Gnabry has signed professional terms with the Club.
The Germany youth international, who turned 17 earlier this month, joined Arsenal as a scholar from VfB Stuttgart last summer and enjoyed an impressive first season in north London.
You could maybe argue that an easy start to the season eases the pressure to get signings in early (if you only bringing in 1 or 2) but the scousers, manc and barcodes away plus a crucial champs lge qualifier meant it was negligent management from all those involved
