Long live Arsene

Morning everyone.

I was planning to round off my review today, but the last two days were so news-packed, that you'll have to wait for the final part till Monday.

The news is both good and bad, so I'll start with the bad pieces.

Sagna has confirmed he will leave Arsenal when his contact expires on July 1st and I have to say, that's a blow. However slim were the chances of Bac staying, it was hard to imagine the Frenchman will never put on a red-and-white shirt again. I've become so used to his presence over the course of these seven years, that picturing our defence without him gives me the sense of irreality.

Whatever path Bac chooses after he's through with Arsenal, I wish him only the best. He's been rock-solid for us, never gave less than 101% on the pitch and his devotion and loyalty have (and never will be) questioned. He leaves us, yes. Does he leave us, because someone else offered him more? Yes. Do I have a problem with that? No.

Unlike Clichy, Nasri, Adebayor, van Persie, etc. etc., Bacary has stuck with Arsenal through the hard times. Unlike the aforementioned players, he's not leaving us at the peak of his career. And, unlike some of the players that has left Arsenal down the years, it's not instant success the Frenchman craves for. If he did, he would have stayed, having won his first major trophy with us.

Therefore, Bac only leaves to make some money to ensure his (and his children's) well-being after he hangs up his boots and I wish him all the luck. I'm happy he's leaving Arsenal on a high. I'd still prefer to see Sagna play somewhere in Europe, rather than pick a club in England, but I won't begrudge him joining City or Chelsea, if he so chooses. Farewell, Bac.

In other (more positive news) Arsene has signed a three-year contract extension.
I've already expressed my thoughts on the subject mere 10 days ago, when I first caught sight of it in the Guardian, so instead I'll focus on the interesting snippets from his interview.

On what this new contract means:

"The club has always shown faith in me and I'm very grateful for that. We have gone through fantastic periods and periods where we have to stick together and every time when that togetherness was tested I got the right response. I think I have shown some loyalty as well towards this club and hopefully we can make some more history. I am sure we can".

Well, I can mostly talk about the bad periods. Or, rather, period. I've started supporting Arsenal in 2005 and when they've won that FA Cup, I was still small too comprehend the enormity of that win. I do not even remember the reaction I had after that final. Had someone told me it would the last trophy I would see in nine years, I would probably not have believed them.

Down the years, I've become used to the feeling of falling just short of a trophy. Champions League final in 2006, Fa Cup final a year later, a loss to Birmingham in 2011, all the excruciating pain I've felt I remember almost too vividly. I could not believe my eyes when I saw these results. We were 1-0 up when I've been ushered into bed in 2006, could not get my hands on a broadcast in 2011 and, unfortunately, had sat through the entire game against Chelsea in 2007, when Walcott's strike was cancelled out by a brace from Drogba. I still hate the Ivorian for that.

And there's always been one person, that has suffered along with me. There were, of course, millions of devastated fans worldwide, but I could not see their reaction, therefore it's hard for me to relate to them. Our manager, however, is an entirely different story. I've seen Arsene endure all this suffering on the touchline, only it was much tougher going for him, than for me. I could always turn the TV off and go around the house punching the furniture, or just lie in bed for hours, staring apathically into the ceiling.

Arsene, meanwhile, could only restrict himself to this, and had to watch his side, the side he's put so much work into, being taken apart time and again, including this year's heavy away defeats. Therefore, words cannot express how happy I am that Arsene has been the one to put this trophy drought to an end. When he lifted the cup, everything he has endured suddenly was thrown into the light. The hard work, the emotional strain and the relief at finally breaking the deadlock were reflected in the look of sheer joy on his face.

However, back to the interview. On whether Arsenal is in a strong position now:

"I believe so because the fact that we have built a stadium, the fact that we have paid a big part of the debt back and the weight of the debt back now is not as strong and heavy as it was before. The fact that the Financial Fair Play rule comes in hopefully will stop [the] craziness that happened on this [transfer] market. With these two [things] together, I think we can fight on a more even level than before".

And that's another side of our manager. Not only did he stay with us through all the hard times, he's guided the Club through them. Arsene had a plan of how to make this club strong as early as 2003 (2002?) and he's persevered at reaching this goal. Arsene knew it would take time, he knew it'll be hard for us to compete for years to come, but he looked at a broader picture. He asked himself, whether he wants to be successful for a short period, or whether he wants to lay foundations for this Club to be successful for decades to come. And I think we all know how Arsene answered this one.

On whether the position the Club is currently in will help him build a new team:

"It's time for another one [to emerge]. It's the start of a new team and I believe [the FA Cup] victory was crucial in that belief. We have shown signs the whole season that we can be a great side and now it's [important] of course to have another successful season. We know we have to… have a successful June and July, that's where you strengthen the team. It's very important that we are good now in the next two months until the end of August, that we can give to the team some more quality and go into next season with the belief we got from [the FA Cup] win".

The mentality this side possesses is, frankly, outstanding. For all the setbacks we had had, the microscope the press had put our performances under, we had responded every time. The comebacks in the FA Cup are prime examples of how psychologically strong this side is.

The more interesting bit comes right after, and is further elaborated by this:

"What I can promise is that we work very hard on a market that is very, very congested with many people who have a lot of money. But we have a big advantage, players want to join us and if we find the right quality I'm sure we can strengthen the team".

Finally, transfers. And you know, I like the sound of it. Sure, it looks a bit familiar, with all the talk of how we will strengthen only in case we find the right players, but it's different nonetheless. For example, Arsene has talked of how we need to sort out the futures of Sagna and Fabianski and he we are. June hasn't kicked in yet, and we already know what will happen with these two. It's not the kind of outcome we had hoped for, but at least we know we'll have to strengthen in these positions. We have a lot of time to do this.

And of all this time, Wenger has singled out June and July to add to his squad. He understands it's important to be ready before the season starts and, as you all know, our first game will take place on August 9th against the moneybags. So let's hope for a productive transfer campaign before that.

Phew, that's it for today. Also, have a look at the rather impressive infographic from the official website, which analyses how well Arsenal faired under Arsene Wenger. Also, check out the latest part of my review, if you missed it, cause there was something wrong with the heading. And I'll return on Monday with an overall review of our season.

Until then, have a good weekend