This Premier League season has been full of surprise. The summer transfer window saw players change clubs and shift loyalties. A number of top football talents departed the league in search for a ‘new challenge’ while many came to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 to try their luck
in the world’s best league.
Arsenal was one such club who saw a major player leave this summer. Captain and last season’s top scorer Robin Van Persie left the club to join Manchester United. The Dutchman became the sixth player to leave the Emirates in four years. Many had already
written the Gunners off after the prolific striker moved to Old Trafford.
The club also lost midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604. Two of Arsenal’s most influential and effective players had left the club, and there were growing concerns with Theo Walcott’s contract situation.
Critics and doubters started labelling Arsenal as a feeder club, and said that they had no chance of winning anything this year.
The club however completed its summer dealings early and were perhaps more than prepared to deal with this new exodus. The club bought Olivier Giroud, last year’s top scorer in the French Ligue and German forward http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lukas-Podolski-c22896.
Santi Cazorla was their third and last signing. The Spanish playmaker arrived from Malaga, and is considered a bargain at the price that Arsenal acquired him for.
All eyes were on this new-look Arsenal team. The club started its season at home against Sunderland, but were unable to grab a victory. Giroud had the best chance of the game, but misfired his shot and was unable to make an impact on his debut.
The second game of the season was against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke have been Arsenal’s bogey team in recent seasons. The club, known for its physical and imposing style of play, has cause upsets against the Gunners and have always bothered
them with their intimidating approach.
A tough fixture awaited Arsenal, but the team showed resilience and were up to the physically demanding task on the afternoon. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Vermaelen-c35002 were solid at the centre, and kept Stoke relatively quiet.
Olivier Giroud won most of his aerial duels, and made http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robert-Huth-c31243 work hard to keep him at bay. Cazorla was again brilliant in the centre, orchestrating attack and linking up with the defence.
Two draws in two games was still considered a slow start for the club. It wasn’t until the trip to Anfield that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429’s season really started.
Arsenal emerged as victors on the day, scoring two brilliant goals courtesy of Lukas Podolski and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Santi-Cazorla-c32505. The team recorded its third clean sheet of the season and put in an amazing performance.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Abou-Diaby-c3453 and Santi Cazorla were again brilliant in the game, and showed more of an understanding. The Spanish midfielder also linked up pretty well with Podolski, and they both assisted each other with their respective goals.
Giroud has still not scored, but looked sharp and was fast in his movement. Arsenal had already shown their defensive ability, but now had finally demonstrated the attacking flair they’re famous for.
Next up, Arsenal faced Southampton at home. The team scored 6 goals, but finally conceded their first goal of the season because of a goalkeeping error by Szczesny. However, the goal was more of an annoyance than a cause for concern.
The major plus point of the afternoon was the way Arsenal dominated and linked up. The team finally looks like one, and with the new arrivals settling in, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 will seem like a distant memory.
Arsenal are currently third in the league, and look set for a major title challenge this season. However, it is still premature to make a prediction about their prospects. However, as it stands, you would be wise not to count them out.
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