Arsene Wenger may have shocked some Arsenal fans this week after claiming that the Gunners are stronger now than they were last season.
The Frenchman said:
‘The squad is stronger. If you look at the squad we have now and imagine Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby coming back into midfield, plus players like Thomas Vermaelen who will come back soon – we have a more mature squad.’
After beating Swansea on Saturday it does appear that Arsenal are looking more like themselves than they have all season. However, I honestly believe it is too early to tell if our squad is stronger than last season, although, I can see Wenger’s point.
Defensively, I believe by the time Vermaelen comes backs from injury we will be stronger in this department, whether we continue to play Kieran Gibbs or Andre Santos remains to be seen. However, I believe Per Mertesacker will be a brilliant partner for the Belgian centre-back in defence.
Our midfield looks stronger than it did a few weeks ago, with Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun coming in. However, it is too early to judge how well they will do for Arsenal, but I am positive they will have an impact.
Our strike force. Currently, it’s very difficult to judge, especially with Gervinho being suspended and Park Chu-Young not making an appearance having yet. Hopefully RVP will find his international form soon.
In my opinion, the only position that we are stronger in than last season is in goal. Wojciech Szczesny has been a breath of fresh air at Arsenal and I know some comments will be related to the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford. However, he has made some fantastic saves already this season and lets be honest the Man Utd game had nothing to do with Szczesny’s ability.
The problem Arsenal currently have is the same one we have every year and that is injury occurrence. Several key players are out yet again, Wilshere may not play much before November and Vermaelen will probably be back in mid October.
Arsenal are going to need the likes of Laurent Koscielny to be on the top of his game week in week out, and hope that the new players continue to grow into the side and make us stronger.
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As u said,a perenial problem of arsenal’s is d injury crisis,and it has happened too many times i no longer take it 2 b coincidence. Look at a club like barcelona,up until this season where they added sanchez n cesc 2 their middle,they’v always played wit xavi busquets/keita/toure,d latter in man city nw 4 d past 2 seasons, but yet they r fit f most of the season.even in the premier league,we always seem 2 b the unlucky out of all d top clubs when it comes 2 missing key players 4 a long time.this means that there has 2 b somthin wrong,maybe its d trainin schedule,or d physical trainer,or maybe theres some colney/emirates injury voodoo,who knows. Having said this though,i feel this is all the more reason arsenal needs a huge squad,cos 4 some reason,we will almost certainly have several of them injured,wenger shd go out,buy m’vila,hazard,cahill,kaka so we know we always hav quality players 2 step up
if only Walcott could offer or at least appear to offer his best week in week out, if only Arshavin could show his EURO 08 form more often than not, if only we could attack more with the ferocity and focus of 2004-2005 squad, if only Van Persia could stop wasting clear cut chances, if only, if only, if only….!!
I wonder when we’ll ever enjoy our own fair share of good luck and do away with all these alibis that have become so detrimental to our success!
I wonder when the professor will change or at least fuse artistry with grit, wenger knows is becoming a hollow mantra with each passing week, and nothing vindicates this more than the fact that we even struggle to create decent and clear cut chances against minnows such as swansea, I wonder what Blackburn holds for us…… am out mr vampire.