Arsenal again scrapped their way through to secure third spot in a season that started out so poorly, improved significantly and dipped right at the end, which luckily didn't cost us the all important third place. It really eased worries about qualification and living in fear whether Chelsea will grab fourth spot by winning the competition. Chelsea indeed won the Champions League and 'overruled' Spurs for Champions League football next season. Overall, Arsenal's season was another failure. The two big stars we lost were key to our problems and our replacements were not winning quality. On the positive side, we outperformed a lot of expectations that we might not be getting Champions League football and at the beginning of the season even a few cheeky remarks of us facing relegation.
My analysis today would be a bit different. I have opted to divide Arsenal's season into three categories; Good, OK and Ugly. For clarity's sake.
Good: The positives
OK: The things we did as expected
Ugly: The things we did very poorly
GOOD
It was an improvement in league position (4th last year) where we do no need to go through the nerve-wrecking qualifying matches with so much at stake, reportedly some 45 million pounds. Last year's match against Udinese was something we do not want to go through again. Szczesny's save from Di Natale from the spot proved invaluable and it single-handedly shaped our European football season. Our income from the Champions League carries so much weight to our financials (and yet the damn CEO said we could survive without it, which is absolute rubbish) and our ability to continue being competitive while servicing our stadium debt. CL football goes beyond the money, it's the status of the club and it determines a club's market power in attracting the best talents with exception of some very rich clubs.
Some key players had a fantastic season and were drivers of the team. Exceptional ones were Van Persie, Alex Song and Mikel Arteta. Rocking Robin had his best season in an Arsenal shirt and his career with a career high of goals in a season. Our captain was influential and instrumental to our achievements this season. He scored some astonishing goals which which got us the vital three points on many occasions. We achieved third place by 1 point, how big of a difference he has made. He won two prestigious awards, the PFA and Football Writers award, which is pretty rare for a player outside a top-two club. He also will be awarded the golden boot for being the top scorer in the league. Alex Song has become a true leader in the team, he plays the one of the most important roles in the team, fighting for possession and protecting the back four. He has played so well in the middle of the park, covers for the centre backs when required and provides some amazing passes and assists. Robin's goals against Everton and Liverpool were stunning and both assists came from him. He has now become our prized asset we need to keep for a long time.
Arteta came into the team to replace no other than our now ex-captain Fabregas, which was probably the toughest thing in his career. Fabregas was the heart of the team and our 'transplant' actually worked wonders. It was a very tough call Wenger made but it definitely answered all the doubts and critics. Arteta is not Fabregas and will never be, but he worked his own magic and contributed so positively to our season. It was indeed a fantastic first season for him. A special mention also goes to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, our biggest signing of the summer. Up to 15 million pounds for an 18 year old, again it was such a difficult judgment call in a dreadful transfer window. His full debut against Manchester United was sensational and he has quickly established himself as a fan favourite. His strength, pace and quality has already started to justify his price tag. It's surely going to be a blockbuster next season for him.
We had some vital and notable wins this season as well. Victories over champions Man City, Liverpool courtesy of 'the' Robin volley, the comeback win against over rival Spurs and the 5-3 thriller at Stamford Bridge. At the end of the day, each and every one of those results were equally important. Any points dropped would have made things much harder for us.
OK
Considering the last minute dealings in the transfer window, including not having a medical test for Arteta, I thought the outcome was OK. Andre Santos, not a great defender but he did put some good performances and a few goals including one against Chelsea and West Brom on the final day. He does have good control on the ball and puts in some very good crosses but yet I still don't think he's the quality we are looking for. Per Mertesacker for 8 million pounds. He did OK. A very mixed season indeed. He did struggle when he first joined and showed improvement forming a good partnership with Koscielny. I think he can play an important role for us next season. One of the biggest surprises for us, the rejoining of legend Thierry Henry which rolled back years of unforgettable memories. At his age, we knew he wasn't quite the same player but he scored the winner on his re-debut against Leeds and a last min goal against Sunderland. What we expected from Titi? Yes indeed.
The 4-5-1 formation was key to some of our wins this season. But the reliance on Robin as the sole striker did put a lot of strain and burden on our captain. Although the formation carried us through the season but it wasn't a sustainable formation in the long run. I would like to see a more 4-4-2 in the future.
Tomas Rosicky was a surprise this season. I picked up some early signs in the beginning of the season where he showed agility, sharp passing and good possession. He probably played his best season in an Arsenal shirt. He contributed significantly in the 5-3 win over Tottenham and has performed relatively consistently this season. It has taken such a long time for him to find his feet and to overcome injuries and thus I'll give him an OK.
Ugly
Now that we've seen the more positive news, let's have a look why Arsenal's season was another failure.
Despite doing extremely well under such tough circumstances in the transfer window, I do not believe Arsenal needed to resort to those kinds of last minute dealings. We had a full summer to plan our transfer window, having money in the bank as well as no distractions internationally. Already knowing we had just dealt with another run-in meltdown, I really thought the writing was on the wall and we could act much quicker in the transfer window and bought some quality players early on. Instead our biggest dealings were Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain, hardly showing any conviction on our ambitions. Our two big players were always certain to leave, and when they did we had no immediate response. We apparently made bids to sign a few players and failed (Juan Mata and Eden Hazard). It was really terrible dealing, we couldn't put in competitive bids and we were always not looking to blow our 'record' of 16mil, set by Arshavin. The CEO Gazidis who has been involved with transfer dealings has to take blame for this. I am starting to doubt his ability of transferring his expertise from the MLS to Europe.
The market conditions have changed, market power has shifted to the richer teams like Man City, Chelsea, PSG and Anzhi who have attracted some top talents in the business. When Man City won the title, Chelsea lifting the Champions League and Man Utd being trophyless, it's pretty obvious the footballing scene has made a dramatic shift. Money has dictated the game very strongly and Arsenal are big victims because of that. I am proud of how the we have grown our books and teams 'organically', but in today's world that is not going to be good enough anymore. Our trophy record in recent years is a testament to that. We need to spend more if we want to achieve anything. When Man City wins the Champions League (if they do), it will signal Arsenal becoming irrelevant in terms of silverware.
Defensive frailties.We have yet to resolve this longstanding problem since the days of Tony Adams and Sol Campbell. We simply haven't found our solid man with the exception of some good seasons by Kolo Toure. We have conceded many poor and soft goals over the last few seasons and it has cost us on so many occasions. Our defence this season was plagued by injuries and poor performance. We lost all our full backs on some parts of the season and were always hanging on the edge of mediocrity. When things didn't swing our way, we occasionally get 'accidents' like the 8-2 defeat to Man Utd and a 4-0 defeat to Milan. To concede so many goals is a huge fundamental problem the current players cannot fix. Players like Squillaci and Djourou need to make way immediately. We seriously need a John Terry for Chelsea, Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic for Man Utd or a Vincent Kompany of Man City. We simply do not have rock solid Mr. Reliable. Even our best defender Vermaelen has had some poor performances this season. It's still the same story after all these years, our defensive frailties.
Unacceptable defeats and results. The way we exited the FA Cup to Sunderland was another blunder by the club. Seemingly our only hope for silverware, we played a terrible game and lost it.With luck pulling us to safety right on the last day, however it shouldn't be forgotten what got us into this mess. Football is an unpredictable game but the defeats to Swansea, Fulham and QPR clearly shows we were very inconsistent with our performances. On one hand we have wins over big teams but on the other losing to teams that aren't suppose to beat us.
Under performance of players. Ramsey, Arshavin, Gibbs, Chamakh, Chu Yong and Gervinho were probably planned as the key players for the season. Unfortunately, that plan has gone horribly wrong. They have not been up to standard for various reasons and it has been dead weight for the club. Players like Ramsey, Gervinho and Arshavin who have played regularly this season, have put in some shockingly poor performances. Ramsey has not improved as much as we like and the amount of times he has been caught out for possession has been disappointing. He contribution of goals also has been a big miss. Gervinho's case would be very different, he has put a lot of threat in his attacks but his finishing in the last quarter has been below par. 4 goals all season is awful for a player like him. Arshavin might have played his last season with us. His decline has been quite severe since they days of his 4 goals against Liverpool. I'm really not sure what has affected his performances but he has been a big disappointment.
It's some of the toughest periods being an Arsenal fan. We are still a top team today but the glory days seem to be behind us. The game of football has not changed much, but new football forces have arrived in our game. Arsenal cannot afford to continue with their history of transfer dealings because it will be very damaging to our history books. The football environment has changed and Arsenal need to change the way they 'play' the game or else the drought will continue.
~deyao~
