If Arsenal finish without silverware next season will it be blamed on the players or manager? Or will fingers simply point back to their captain walking out on them?
It is seven years since Arsenal last won a trophy, but we know all that, and Gooners are sick of hearing it. It is time to put it right.
The board know it, the manager knows it, and you can bet your arm the players know it.
By and large the club have gone about their business very well this summer, acting early to tie up two top strikers in Podolski and Giroud who will both be expected to each score well into double figures next season.
Van Persie fired a rocket up them in early July, attacking the club for a lack of ambition, but the Santi Cazorla signing – pound for pound the best acquisition of the summer – shows the club are heading well in the right direction.
Losing Alex Song would be another blow, but Arsenal are expected to replace him with Yann M’Vila. Fans would ideally like one more goalscorer signed to replace their soon-to-be former captain.
Replacing a striker who bagged 30 Premier League goals is the toughest of tasks, and how well the club can could make the difference between success and failure.
What we are asking is, ‘Is the time for excuses over?’ – Or has it been delayed by 12 months?
In recent seasons one of the main reasons the club have failed to win trophies is because of the continued selling off of their star players. Van Persie has sadly continued that tradition. The question is whether Arsenal have done enough in the transfer market to offset his departure?
Fans are fed up with hearing about ‘transitional seasons’ and ‘potential’. Arsenal seem to have repaired the latter problem, by signing established and renowned stars.
Arsene Wenger has batted off questions over his own future which began to be asked 12 months ago, but there is only so long he can go on without winning a trophy.
We suspect that having his star man, who he had invested so much time and faith in, ‘betray’ him as some have suggested, will elicit him some sympathy and buy him extra time should his Arsenal side falter again this season.
What do you think? If Arsenal finish without a trophy do they have a ready-made excuse? Or should they be judged solely on what happens between tomorrow and May?
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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