Arsenal's Completed Transition

Right quick poll, how many of you have used the words ‘Transitional Period’ to describe Arsenal in the last two years. I’m sure most of you will have, I know I have. And this statement has certainly been true in the past. After the sale of talismanic front man Thierry Henry in 2007, only two years after the sale of Arsenal’s midfield general, Patrick Vieira is one obvious example. Results have backed up this evaluation too, I’m sure most of you have noticed that the trophy cabinet at Ashburton Grove has not been added to for five years now, even the likes of Pompey and (although it kills me to say it) Spurs have added more silverware to their collection than the North London club in the last five years.

However, if you were to say the words ‘Transitional Period’ to me now, I’d say you were wrong. This summer will mark three years without record goal scorer Henry and five years since Vieira moved onto pastures new and this year’s Arsenal squad finally looks like they have got over the loss.

Skipper, Cesc Fabregas has taken over Vieira’s roll as star midfielder, and although their roles in the centre of the park couldn’t be more different, Fabregas seems to have found an ability to motivate players just as highly as Vieira did. Plus in Alex Song, the Gooners have found a man who looks finally ready to fill Vieira’s shoes as the ball winner in midfield. Robin Van Persie has evolved into a world class striker and looks like a man who could easily bag 25+ goals a season, if he could only stay fit for more than 2 months at a time. The list continues on and on: players like Andrey Arshavin, Theo Walcott, Thomas Vermaelen, Samir Nasri etc show that Arsenal squad is steeped in talent.

Of course, as in any squad, there are still worries. Against just United and Chelsea, Arsenal conceded 10 goals this season, and the back 4s ability to keep out world class strikers has come into question. The goalkeeper position has also come under close scrutiny, with many suggesting that Manuel Almunia is out of his league in the ‘big four’ whilst under studies Vito Mannone and Lukasz Fabianski have been error prone when brought in as cover. It has also been questioned whether there is enough strength in depth at the club, especially up front.

With most clubs, you would expect big money transfers in the next transfer window to solve these problems; however Arsenal is not most clubs. It would not surprise me in the slightest if at the start of next season, there are no new big name faces in the Arsenal starting line up. This maybe because of Arsene Wenger’s faith in his youngsters or maybe due to the transfer kitty being as low as ever since the move to the Emirates Stadium, but Wenger will no doubt be tempted to keep his cheque book in his pocked for another season.

I’m sure many people will no doubt be backing United or Chelsea for this year’s Premier League title; however I’m not one of them. Call it bias towards my beloved Gooners, or a love to back the underdog, something has changed this year, most notably since the horror injury to Aaron Ramsey. Many compared the injury to Eduardo’s two years ago, but the reaction of the players this time is a stark contrast. Two years ago William Gallas threw his toys out the pram. Two years ago the squad fell apart. Two years ago Arsenal finished third. This time round players have vowed to win the title for Ramsey. This time round the injury has galvanized the squad. This time round Arsenal may just end their trophy drought.