Arsène Wenger has seemingly started the season plunging into his toy box in order to find players which are good enough to utilise – and by what we’ve seen so far, he seems to like variety. There are some old favourites that have taken precedence over the newer, more expensive flavour of the month toys.
This is one thing we know about Arsène, he is a loyalist in every sense of the word. He prefers to stick with those he’s groomed over a period of time rather than throw in a new signing that isn’t as in tune to the Premier League as proven talent.
Rarely before have we seen so many completely varying line-up predictions just to see them blown out of the water by Wenger making choices we can’t predict, perhaps neither can the opposition (and perhaps that’s the point). It’s been met with frustration from some fans, I included, but are we wrong to judge so quickly? In football it’s all too easy to spout certainties at situations that we’ve barely seen the surface scratched on.
Coming from me, such a question borders on the absolutely ridiculous…impossible even. Though I am not suggesting that Arsène Wenger should look to sell our prized German maestro, this piece is more of a tactical look at if Arsenal would not only be able to push on without one of the best number ten’s in world football, but also thrive.
Let me first just say that anyone who knows me, on any sort of level in regards to football, knows that I have defended the Gelsenkirchen native for the entirety of his Arsenal career to date. Having followed him from his Schalke days, through his rise to stardom at Werder Bremen and then his confirmation of greatness orchestrating the Real Madrid attack, I absolutely believe that he is one of the most gifted footballers on the planet. But football is a funny old game, one that provides us with constant reminders that the ability of a player doesn’t always guarantee that they are classified as a necessity.
The international break can often be a boring time for football fans. A full 10 days without their beloved club side in action and the underwhelming prospect of watching England travel to Eastern Europe to claim a slender victory.
But during this spell one tweet did catch the eye. It came from Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi, who like many pros took to social media after training to broadcast to the world about his hard day’s graft.
Arsenal in the transfer window has been a recurring theme – we wait, hope and pray and inevitably watch the window slam shut on deadline day needing 2 more players. It seems that Groundhog Day this year has been cancelled, though. The imminent signings of Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia and Lucas Pérez from Deportivo bring a much needed injection of hope and options.
At the end of last season it was clear the spine of our team was far too vulnerable – now we can have a legitimate and realistic hope that we have a wealth of options in every area. The jury is out on Lucas Pérez but Mustafi is a World Cup winner, has been in La Liga team of the season and you better believe if Wenger spends £35m on a centre back they have to be pretty good.
