Pre Season Review

Welcome back to Mr Arsenal Blog for the new season. I have been away for from the blogging scene for the past month or so but now I'm back with a bang. With just 4 days until the trip to Anfield, I still have many concerns over how capable we are of mounting a challenge this season. With just two signings made this season, the squad is looking very fragile and susceptible to the same problems we had last year.

Pre Season this season has seen the great form of Samir Nasri, goals from Marouane Chamakh, as well as Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong stating their claim for a first team spot. How ever we have also seen defensively we are far from solid. We are still conceding far too many goals. The young lad Koscielny at the back looks like a very capable defender but I have major doubts over whether him and Vermaelen can form a partnership that is capable of playing week in week out in the Premier League this season. I feel Koscielny still has a lot to learn and a lot of bulking up to do in order to deal with physical side of the Premiership. An experienced centre back is definitely needed. Per Mertesacker looked like he was a prime candidate, but that looks unlikely now that he has committed his future to Werder Bremen. Many names have been thrown into the hat but as a spectator you can never tell what is true or not, all we can do is just hope and pray Wenger doesn't have a mad moment and sign Titus Bramble, like he did with Mikael Sylvester.

The goalkeeping situation is particularly worrying, waking up to see Fabianski claiming he believes he will be our number one this season, has pretty much messed up my whole day. I'm sorry but no matter how much the kid believes he is a good keeper, he will never be good enough for this club. I would sooner take my chances with the other young pole Wojciech Szczesny. Rumours circulating Schwarzer's future at Fulham seem to be on a stop start basis. Reports suggested that Mark had handed in a transfer request, but Fulham moved quickly to deny these rumours, and illustrated their ambitions to keep hold of the Aussie keeper. Almunia seems to have been frozen out of the scene, but I would still say he is the best keeper available to us at this point in time. Personally I would do all that is possible to sign Shay Given, Joe Hart seems to be the favourite to claim the number 1 jersey at Man City, and Shay has made it very clear he does not wish to be a bench warmer. Shay Given should have been an Arsenal keeper 5 years ago, why on earth we did not save him from his Newcastle nightmare I have no clue, but his quality is unquestionable and he has been without a doubt one of the best keepers in the world in recent years.

Going forward however we don't seem to have a problem, I'm convinced we have enough fire power, with Van Persie, Chamakh and Bendtner. This season will be a very big season for Carlos Vela, its about time he stepped up to the plate and started showing his potential on a consistent level. Its going to be a big season for many players, we need to see more from Arshavin and Rosicky than we have seen over the past 2 seasons. I believe this season will belong to Samir Nasri, not going to The World Cup may well have been a blessing in disguise for the silky Frenchman. Samir's form in pre season has been magnificent, of course you cant look too much into pre season, but you can always tell when someone is bang on form. I also believe this season Abou Diaby will have a big part to play and its time he started showing consistently that he is one of the best centre mid fielders around. Abou showed at the World Cup that he is a force to be reckoned with and was probably the only silver lining to a very dark cloud for the French World Cup campaign.

Whether this is Fabregas's last season or not, I have the utmost faith in the little Spaniard to perform and lead us to success this season. The critics of course will be waiting for Cesc to have a below par game so they can write their article about Fabregas not wanting to be at the club, but his honesty and loyalty has shone through. I think Cesc completely understands the situation and will do his best for the club as he has done since he first signed for us. However I don't suppose that will stop Barcelona from their usual antics, I think it is remarkable that FIFA have not got involved and punished Barca for their behaviour. It will just be great to see Fabregas in an Arsenal shirt for another season.

Well its been a long time coming but that's all for today folks, catch my next one tomorrow, please lets all pray that we don't hear the story line of 'Titus Bramble signs for Arsenal' Thanks for reading.