After two goalless draws with Sunderland and Stoke in the first games of the season, Arsenal finally found their feet and got back on track with a convincing win at Anfield against Liverpool. I had my doubts prior to kick off – mainly regarding our third-choice keeper Vito Mannone – but also recognizing that something just didn’t quite work in the offensive department in the past couple of games. Something was missing: probably the best way to describe it is that our new players weren’t “clicking”.

 You could see it best against Stoke, I suppose. We had our three new gunners in attack – Olivier Giroud took up the Center Forward role, Lukas Podolski played on the left and Spanish wizard Santi Cazorla played in the hole behind the striker. But in that game something wasn’t gelling: they seemed to be confused about movements off the ball, what each other’s position limits were, and who was allowed to float, where, and when.

 Combine that with the fact that it was Abou Diaby’s first full game in god knows how long, and that he was understandably fighting rustiness. This situation led to the fact that two … Read More »

Arsenal’s 2011-2012 season was hell. There is no other way to put it. It was a complete inferno.

It began with months of speculation over three key first-team players: Captain Cesc Fabregas, and the two first-team regulars, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri. The Spanish master went to his boyhood club Barcelona, while the French couple went off to fulfill their futures at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Incoming transfers were last minute and unconvincing, with yet another two raw youngsters coming into the squad, and the mandatory Wenger Ligue-1 star signing in Gervinho.

All this was followed by a very shaky pre-season, which saw the team losing its own Emirates Cup, failing to win against lesser sides such as Boca Juniors and New York Red Bulls, and eventually losing to Benfica as well in the Eusebio Cup. After this kind of pre-season, fans already knew something isn’t right.

But even before that, things were not looking very positive at all for Arsene Wenger and the club. The team had failed to win a single domestic or international title for the past seven years, and speculation regarding Le Professeur’s future at the club was … Read More »