Arsene Wenger looks to end Arsenal’s trophy drought
Arsenal are once again going into a football season with high aspiration and one thing they can be sure of is that Arsene Wenger will give it his best shot to end the 5-year trophy drought for the Gunners. Wenger is the least favourite manager to be sacked by his club after Sir Alex Ferguson.
Bookies have given Wenger odds of 66-1 to be out of the job, making him the 19th favourite.
Arsenal finished the last season with a disappointing 3rd when they at one point in the season had the initiative with them to win the league but player injuries and more importantly their goalkeeping crisis let them down. Same was the story in every other competition as they bowed out of the FA Cup in the fourth round and crashed out of the Carling Cup and Champions League at the quarter final stages.
But this season Wenger has done some shrewd business in the market buying Laurent Koscielny from Lorient for 8,5 million pounds, Maruane Chamakh from Bordeaux for free, Kyle Ebecillo from Feyenoord for free and Phil Roberts from Norwich City for free as well.
But there has also been departures from the club with Eduardo, Sol Campbell, Fran Merieda, Philip Sanderos, William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre all leaving the club for various destinations.
More players have left the club than the ones who have joined but most importantly Cesc Fabregas is staying at the club and that is a big boost for Wenger and Arsenal.
Arsenal is the team that are the best exponents of beautiful football in England but when they came against the true artists from the Catalunya their frailties were brutally exposed. There was a big gap between Wenger’s young boys and Pep Guardiola’s Spanish artists.
Same is the story in England for Arsenal, Wenger has assembled one of the most talented sides in English football but there still lies a gap between them and the top two and its time now for Arsene’s side to take the final step.
There is no doubt that Arsenal will be under immense pressure especially with Manchester City looking to spend their way past the Gunners. But in football money can’t buy everything as City learned last season when they lost out on a 4th place finish to Spurs.
At Arsenal Wenger has assembled a side that is committed to the cause and beautiful football is their way of playing the beautiful game. Arsenal’s ethos are much different to those of City’s, who believe in assembling a team via a chequebook but Wenger has different ideas and his foundations are much stronger.
The new home grown rule will help Arsenal as much as it will put limits on City. The same limits that did not affect Chelsea, when Roman Abrahamovic began the era of financial doping.
Despite winning the league in his very first season, the odds of Ancelotti being sacked are half that of Wenger’s. That is just because of the inherent instability at Stamford Bridge and given the fate that his predecessors, Mourinho and Scolari suffered.
Wenger believes that good things come to those who wait and he has certainly waited long and hard and perhaps this is his time and his shrewd transfer dealings have suggested that his team mean serious business this season.
But if this is to be the season when Wenger’s faith is to be rewarded, then a win in their opening fixture at Anfield will go a long way in making a statement of intent. Their next game is at home against Blackpool which will not pose much of a threat to Wenger’s troops. The following games against Bolton and West Brom can only be classified as winnable for a side that is bidding for the title.
The fixture list has been kind to Arsenal this season but they have made a flying start to a season many times before only to falter at the final stages. Follow bettor.com to see if Wenger’s men could be up to the task this time around
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