Squad balance and stability the only things Arsenal really needs to win the title

"We are not going to challenge unless we buy a DM and that world-class striker. Giroud is not good enough to win us the league, while we are one injury away from using Arteta whose legs have gone". Apparently Arteta's legs have left Colney in Diaby's pockets on his way out, but I'm not here to defend either Mikel or Giroud (because I a) have already done that b) don't think they need defending). I'm also not here to point out United have won the league with Carrick, who's exactly the type of player Arteta is... Oh, wait. Seems I have already pointed it out.

Anyway, Arteta is perfect back-up to Coquelin and I won't dwell on the matter any longer as an abundance of articles have been written on the subject in the immediate aftermath of our lego-haired Spaniard signing a one-year contract extension. In my view Arteta is a great leader, both on and off the pitch, a consummate professional and is perfectly capable of 15-20 games a season to allow Coquelin some rest and/or offer something different to Francis.

Rather, this article will be about squad balance and why I believe we can win the league even without further additions. To prove my point I'll do a very simple thing: set a benchmark.

I think we can all agree Chelsea won the league deservedly this season? Yes, yes, we hate the club, the owner, the manager, a certain racist captain and a lot more about Chelsea, but let's not deny Chelsea finished the season top of the table for a reason: they were the better team over the course of the WHOLE campaign. And so I'll go over what I believe helped them win the league and search for these ingredients in our side.

But first an important note: the team is the microcosm of the manager. It adopts the manager's respective style. Chelsea won the league relying heavily on their rock-solid defense, especially in the second half of the season when they were robbed of Costa and Fabregas suffered the usual dip in form.

That doesn't mean the only way to win the league is to play defense-first. In fact, Chelsea has won the league for the first time in five years and I don't remember them playing boring, boring football under Ancelotti. Before that their last league success happened under Mourinho, in 2006.

In ten years Chelsea won the league three times, the other seven times were shared between City (two titles) and United (five!). Neither team played the kind of football Mourinho preaches. So it's entirely possible to win the league playing beautiful attacking football.

With that in mind, let's go!

Defensive stability

Chelsea went into this campaign with one (!) right-back in Ivanovic, two left-backs in Azpilicueta and Luis and 3 recognised centre-backs (Terry, Cahill, Zouma). You can also count in Kalas and Omeruo, depending on how much you trust them.

Now get this: Terry and Ivanovic played ALL league games. Every single minute. 38 goddamn appearances. Cahill clocked 36 outings.

The left-back duties were shared more evenly: 29 appearances for Azpilicueta and 15 for Luis. Nonetheless, Chelsea had a truly stable back four the entire campaign.

On paper, ours defense that season looked better, dare I say: two right-backs in Debuchy and Bellerin, two left-backs in Monreal and Gibbs and three centre-backs in Mertesacker, Koscielny and Chambers. Our downfall was injuries: by Christmas we have played around 15 different combinations of these 7 players.

This year our defense looks even better. We can truly count on Bellerin, Chambers is chomping at the bit at centre-back, while the addition of Gabriel made us reach the Promised Land: two defenders for each position. In fact, our defense looks so good we had to ship out Jenko on loan once more. We showed how a team can benefit from a stable defense in 2015, if we manage to keep our defenders fit, they no doubt have the requisite quality to win us the title.

DM. D-M. DeeeeeM.

Yes, Chelsea have a romping DM: Matic. However do they have back-up? Yes, Obi Mikel. He made a whopping 15 league appearances.

But, you'd say, that's a lot? True, however, here's another fact: Matic played 36 games. Don't you think Coquelin, you know, incidentally, can also play 36 or even more?

Even if he doesn't wrack up that much, do you honestly think Obi Mikel is a better player than Arteta? More capable? So explain to me, why the hell should we spend ridiculous money on Kondogbia or Schneiderlin to play him 10-15 times a season?

If you want backup at backup prices, Arteta is your guy. If you think Schneiderlin is a better destroyer then Coquelin stop watching football now. If you think Schneiderlin should partner Coquelin in midfield look at our bench. Then at Schneiderlin and at our bench again. If Wilshere can't make the squad and Ramsey was forced out wide to get some minutes, how probable it is that Schneiderlin will play a lot alongside Coq?

Striker

Yes, Costa is a better forward than Giroud. But he also operates differently, facing the goal. Giroud's role is more subtle: he is a springing board for our wingers: as such he plays with his back to the goal.

Nonetheless, Giroud scored 14 goals in 27 league games last season. A goal every two games is a decent return for any striker in any league.

When Costa suffered a series of injuries in the second half of the campaign, Chelsea's goals dried up. In the period from mid-January till the end of May Chelsea almost couldn't rely on Costa. They played 16 league games during that spell, only scoring more than two goals three times - and in two of these three occasions Costa was present. They had to rely on their defense and occasional goals from Loic Remy to wrack up points, narrowly escaping draws and even losses on more occasions than one.

Unsurprisingly, our hardest period (September till beginning of December) coincided with Giroud being out. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's hard to score goals when your main striker is not starting week in, week out.

However, that's not my point. Rather, who did Chelsea have as back-up? That's right, the aforementioned Loic Remy. With all due respect to the man, he's not much better (if at all) than our backup options: Walcott and Welbeck. Walcott on form is just lethal (however he was also out from September till December!), while Welbeck is also far from the flop people make him out to be.

A couple of words on midfield

We have (and had last season since no one was brought in yet) the best midfield in the league. It's not the Arsenal fan speaking in me, I genuinely believe we have a brilliant midfield.

The problem was, you guessed it, injuries to Ozil and Arteta. Coquelin was yet to resurface early in the campaign. How do you think Chelsea would have fared without Cesc, Matic and Obi Mikel? Not nearly as good as they did with them, I'm sure of it.

Wrapping it up

I’ll make a bold statement: we are a better team than Chelsea. I’ll go even further: we were the better team at the outset of the last season. Why didn’t we win the league then?

Simple: stability. We lacked stability all over the pitch, not the least because key players spent a lot of time on the sidelines. As soon as they returned, we started killing it. Our last five league games weren’t nearly as good as we hoped, but I put it down to securing a Champions League place early. The players kind of...burnt out.

Chelsea won because the spine of their team played together for the whole campaign. If we could keep our players fit for the duration of the season, we will challenge, even without additions.

Over and out from me

We are larger than Tottenham: this shouldn't even be a debate

For a couple of years now I’ve tried to grasp the concept of Arsenal and Tottenham hating each other on all levels: from fans to the board. I do realise that emotions are irrational. You hate someone just because you hate someone. Full stop. And yet, and yet…

Surely fans aren’t born with this. It’s a cultivated feeling. If you are born into the Gooner family (and I don’t mean that thing on Twitter, I mean mommy and daddy), chances are they’ll raise you to hate Spurs. Works the other way around too, of course.

It will probably remain a mystery to me, but I genuinely don’t understand how the hate feeling can be cultivated. You can’t be made to hate someone because of the fact of their existence, especially if you didn’t feel any negative emotions towards them in the first place. However, it’s not the point of this article.

The point is rather this: how can there be a debate about which Club is bigger? Hatred aside, I’ve seen grown men having heated arguments that “Arsenal/Spurs is bigger than Spurs/Arsenal because…” In my view, it’s completely nonsensical.

I may not understand the hate concept because I wasn’t born in London, or into the family of one of the respective clubs, but the ongoing debate about which Club is bigger wasn’t at any point something that needed proving or having arguments about. In my view, comparisons and head-to-head battles can only take place when the opponents are worthy matches. Which is not the case here. Simply put, Arsenal are a big club, while Spurs are irrelevant. Here’s why.

History (honours)

Just looking at the list of honours the Clubs have should put the argument to bed. The last time Spurs won a trophy was in 2008 (it was the League Cup). Their last FA Cup was won in 1991 (24 years ago), while their last league triumph came in 1961 (54 years ago!). On overall they have 2 league titles, 8 FA Cups, 4 league cups and 2 UEFA Cups. If we are counting the Community Shield, Spurs have won it 7 times, 3 of which being joint winners.

Arsenal’s last major cup came in, well, 2015. Before that, in 2014. We have won the league 13 times, set the record for most FA Cup wins with 12. We haven’t won any UEFA Cups, but claimed the Community Shield as ours 13 times, sharing it just once.

Spurs have recorded 1 Double, Arsenal have 3 (two of these in recent history). Furthermore, Arsenal went unbeaten in the league in 2004, claiming the only existing Golden Trophy.

Managers

I’ll say just one word: continuity. Over their 129-year history Arsenal has changed a mere 18 managers (!). It means Arsenal managers averaged 7 years at the helm! Our longest-serving manager is our current one: Arsene Wenger, who’s just year short of reaching 20-years-in-charge milestone. He is followed by George Allison (13 years), Bertie Mee (10 years), George Graham, Herbert Chapman and George Whittaker (all 9 years).

What about Spurs? They have changed 41 managers (!) in 133 years. Their longest-serving manager is Bill Nicholson (16 years), followed by Peter McWilliam (15 years) and Keith Burkinshaw (8 years). Everyone else held out 6 years or less. Furthermore, they have changed 25 managers in the last 31 years. For comparison’s sake, we’ve only changed 7 in the same time frame, out of which 4 were caretakers, prior to appointments of George Graham, Bruce Rioch and Arsene Wenger respectively (Stuart Houston and Pat Rice shared duties for a very short period).

Stadiums

Arsenal played at Manor Ground at the very beginning, apart from a three-year stint at the nearby Invicta Ground between 1890 and 1893. After that the Gunners moved to Highbury (in 1913) and it has been the Club’s home for 92 years. Now we play at the Emirates, a state-of-the-art modern stadium opened in 2006.

Tottenham played at different public pitches at the outset, for a period of about 6 years, before moving to their current ground, White Hart Lane. To give you some context, White Hart Lane’s capacity is 36 thousand, while Highbury’s was 38 thousand. Even after countless renovations Tottenham’s stadium remained smaller than Highbury, to say nothing about how Emirates is bigger than White Hart Lane.

Why did I bring the subject up altogether? Simple: Spurs are planning to build a new ground, one which will seat 500+ more people than the Emirates currently does. It’s very obviously a stab at Arsenal, but this transition is irrational at its highest for Spurs.

While we needed a new stadium because Highbury was no longer capable of giving all the fans a chance to attend a game, Spurs don’t have such a problem. Their average attendance last season was a thousand or so below the maximum capacity of White Hart Lane. They won’t fill their new stadium. They simply don’t have that many fans.

The verdict

I could probably go on and on, talking about players and such, but I see no point really. On top of all the facts I mentioned, I will add one more that’ll further rub the salt into Spurs fans’ wounds: they haven’t finished above us for at least twenty years. Frankly, I see no further grounds for comparisons.

I can compare us to United or Liverpool, even to Chelsea and City. I say “even” because the latter two clubs have only become successful quite recently. Comparing Tottenham to us makes no sense. Apart from occasional wins in North London derbies, they don’t have anything to demonstrate their superiority. Especially since said wins usually start a comeback for Arsenal and a downfall for Spurs.

Cheers!

My top ten moments as a Gunner (2005-2015)

In what is essentially a follow-up to Gary’s worst 10 moments, I decided to liven things up with my BEST 10 moments. Keep in mind I can only talk about those I’ve seen with my own eyes, so I’ll only cover the period from 2005 onwards. I’ll list them in chronological order. Hope you’ll enjoy the ride!

FA Cup final: Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United (5-4 on pens)

Two moments still stand out for me: Arsenal had a dire attacking performance due to being injury-stricken (no Gilberto and Henry, while Wiltord left the Gunners a year earlier) and backs-to-the-wall defending with some brilliant Lehmann saves.

We had to rely on Bergkamp leading the line alone (I think it was his last official game for the Club), a young Robin van Persie and Jose Antonio Reyes who failed to adapt. So Arsene did the very unusual thing for him and set out not to concede. In a cup final against Manchester United with the likes of Ronaldo, Keane and Giggs all still on top form.

And it worked. Lehmann bailed us out of trouble time and again, before finally saving a penalty from Scholes in the shoot-out. Viera cooly converted his spot-kick (his last game for the Club too) and won our only trophy for the next 9 years.

2006 Champions League run

Yes, I know we lost it in the end and I still fear we missed our best chance of winning the trophy on that night in Paris, but hear me out. As a fan who has just started supporting the Club witnessing Arsenal overpower European giants time and again by relying on a rock-solid defense and a brilliant keeper was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Lehmann set a record that season, a record which hasn’t been bested still, of stringing together 10 clean sheets. Ha came close to 1000 minutes without conceding a goal before being sent off in the final.

Nonetheless it was a joy to watch. Our Invincible squad was still mostly intact (Viera and Bergkamp) exempting, but we were hit hard by injuries and got to the final playing a back four of Eboue, Senderos, Toure and Flamini, with Henry also swinging in and out the squad. And yet we made it to the final, beating Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal (thank you, Jens!) in the process. It was the first time Arsenal reached semi-finals and the final itself.

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona (2011)

I watched that game while on winter vacation in Thailand. The TV was old, but it worked properly and showed the thing I couldn’t have missed: the last sixteen tie against Barcelona. Our squad was still pretty shambolic at that stage: only Fabregas, Nasri, van Persie and, to a lesser extent, Arshavin and Rosicky were up to scratch against the mighty Catalans. Oh, and let’s not forget about Jack Wilshere. Walcott was injured (I think), Arshavin and Rosicky started the game on the bench.

The first half was all Barca. They pressed, played their tika-taka and went in front through David Villa. However in the second half Arsenal mounted an unlikely comeback. Van Persie struck on the 78th minute from an unbelievably tight angle, while Arshavin (who entered the fray ten minutes prior to our equaliser) took his chance from a swift counter attack. 2-1, and an Arsenal side with Eboue, Senderos and Koscielny (in his debut season) came out on top against the overwhelming favourites.

Arsenal 1-0 Leeds United (2012)

Just a 3rd round FA Cup game on the face of it. But I’m sure you all understand why I brought this game up: it marked the return of the King.

That’s right, Thierry Henry made his grand entrance that night. After Gervinho went to play at the African Cup of Nations, we needed cover in attack. Thierry Henry was training with the team during that period, as he always did ahead of a new season in MLS. The season wasn’t bound to begin for a few more months, so Arsene asked Red Bulls’ permission to loan Thierry. They did not object.

And so Thierry Henry was introduced to the proceedings in the 68th minute, after we couldn’t break Leeds down. It took him only ten minutes to score, something he did in his usual fashion: by cutting in from the left and slotting the ball into the far corner. I will say no more, just leave you with this video:

Bayern Munich 0-2 Arsenal (2013)

We made an utter mess in our home game at the Emirates (sounds familiar?) and went into the game as complete underdogs, needing to either win 3-1 to take the game into extra time or win by three goals. At the Allianz Arena. It was a monumental task for three reasons:

1. Bayern were having a bloody good campaign both domestically and in Europe. They haven’t conceded twice in one game for God knows how long
2. No one in Europe managed to beat Bayern at their turf by two goals
3. Our campaign was on a negative spiral (I believe that’s the phrase, Andre?) We have just lost to Tottenham, 4th was slipping out of our reach. On top of all that, our first-choice keeper (Szczesny) and our captain (Vermaelen) were abysmal. Both were dropped for that game (Szczesny was suspended, truth be told)

Our plan was to score a quick goal and then shut shop. We did just that. Giroud scored from a Walcott pass in the 3rd minute, Fabianski produced a brilliant performance between the sticks and then Koscielny headed home in the 86th minute. Bayern were scared out of their wits at that point and kept the ball at the corner flag for the remainder of the game.

Topping the table in 2013-2014

No one expected us to do that. Yes, we signed Mesut Ozil (Ya Gunners Ya), but still the form we demonstrated was out of this world good. Ramsey was phenomenal, Ozil was phenomenal, our back 5 (Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs and Szczesny) was phenomenal.

We won 17, drew 4 and lost only 3 games (the first loss came in the first game). We deservedly were at the top till early February, at one stage 5 points clear of 2nd-placed City (or was it Chelsea?). Unfortunately, injuries to Ozil, Giroud and Ramsey sent our season to kingdom come, however, a nice surprise was awaiting the fans at the end.

Winning the FA Cup in 2014

We had a very tough run and the toughest games were the ones everyone thought were a bit easier: Wigan and Hull. Before that we had to take down Tottenham, Liverpool (with rampaging Suarez and Sturridge) and Everton in brilliant form.

Then we almost lost it against Wigan (thank you, Per Mertesacker!), before mounting an almighty comeback against Hull in the final. Two goals down inside 8 minutes, Gibbs header off the line and then Cazorla’s free-kick. Koscielny equalised from a corner deep into the second half, before we finally broke down a stubborn Hull side with a little help from Ollie Giroud and man-of-the-season Aaron Ramsey. Watching a happy (and completely soaked in champagne) Arsene lift the cup still brings a smile to my face.

Signing Alexis Sanchez (2014)

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, not Mesut Ozil. Why? The answer is simple: while I knew Ozil was a great player, I haven’t really seen much of him prior to his switch. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t calm down for a week when we snatched Ozil on deadline day, but Sanchez represented something more.

The Chilean's capture confirmed Ozil was not a lucky bounce. It showed we really are capable of signing world-class players from the biggest clubs in Europe. Furthermore, I was watching Alexis Sanchez play all June for Chile and dreamed of us getting him. What a player, I thought. If only we could sign him…

And then we did sign him. Even before Germany were crowned champions. Sanchez went on to have a massive campaign, almost instantly becoming a favourite among the fans for his sheer passion, hunger and desire to succeed. What a man.

Manchester United 1-2 Arsenal (2015)

That fateful night we lifted the curse of Old Trafford. We lifted it in the best way possible: by dominating a toothless United side throughout. Monreal scored a typical Arsenal goal after Oxlade danced through Red Devils defense. Rooney’s header cancelled our goal goal out, however.

Then Welbeck stepped up. Pouncing on an underhit backpass from Valencia, he rounded off De Gea and slotted the ball into the empty net, before celebrating with gusto. The irony of a player who Van Gaal named “not up to scratch” knocking out your team still makes me sneer.

FA Cup success in 2015

We had once again made it to the final, though our route was easier than last time around. However, I’ll remember that win for the emphatic performance in the final itself.

We dominated the entire game, with Aston Villa failing to record a single shot on target. Meanwhile, we scored four goals, Sanchez screamer standing out among them. One success in the cup can be coincidence, two consecutive trophies are not: Arsenal is back.

Wrapping it up

That’s it, ladies and gentlemen. Hope you enjoyed re-living these moments with me. I know I did. Share your own best moments in the comment section below.

Cheers!

Arsene has rediscovered his ruthless touch and it's good to know

Hello everyone.

It’s been a while since I last wrote. Unfortunately, it’ll be the case for the entire month of July, as I’ve decided to gain a bit of working experience and thus took up work as an intern for a firm providing legal services. Ah well, I guess I had to do it at some point. Not that I regret the decision, far from it, the whole experience just drains me and leaves little desire or energy for anything else.

However, back to Arsenal matters and the euphoria from us signing Petr Cech still hasn’t died down. For a couple of days (Monday and Tuesday) my timeline was unreadable: it was a big chunk of Cech happiness. A nice change from the usual scepticism about our acquisitions in the summer transfer window.

Comparisons are now made how the last two times Arsenal signed a world-class goalkeeper (David Seaman in 1990 and Jens Lehmann in 2003 respectively) we went on to win the league title next season, losing just one game in 91-92 and none in 03-04. Make no mistake: Cech is world-class. He averaged 15 clean sheets in a season for the last 11 seasons, has a save percentage of 78% in his last three campaigns. He has also won everything there was to win at Club level with Chelsea and set the new record for most clean sheets in the BPL.

However, I’ve come to treat stats with caution. For example, David Ospina’s save percentage over his last two seasons is 83-84% (that includes his season with Nice, Arsenal and two international tournaments), yet few are convinced he is the long-term answer. As we can see, even Arsene is unconvinced, so much so he went out and bought Cech. It probably signals the end to Ospina’s career, unless the Colombian suddenly changes his mind and decides he wants to play back-up to Cech. Seems unlikely to me, so farewell David Ospina. You can read my tribute to him here.

So while I still consider Cech world-class based not only on his stats but also his performances for Chelsea, I’ll do the unthinkable and judge him on his performances for us. Also his attitude, which I quite liked from the bits I’ve seen, like this classy interview. Watch it. Finally, I think Cech’s experience will be hugely beneficial to our back four. It is much easier playing behind a commanding and calm goalkeeper.

What makes this signing even more pleasing, is that Arsene got one over Mourinho, who explicitly said Cech left against his wishes. Isn’t that delicious. Mourinho refused to sanction the deal, he told he’d rather Cech rot on the bench than join rivals from PL. So Cech went over Maureen’s head and Abramovich sanctioned the move, something that Cech confirmed in his farewell letter. Now Mourinho has gone bonkers publicly, saying he believes Chelsea made a mistake in letting Cech come to Arsenal, made it abundantly clear again he was against it & said he hopes such a thing never happens in the future.

Get this: he basically went on record and accused Abramovich of making a decision he disagreed with. The Russian oligarch was soft-hearted enough to grant Cech his wish, however I doubt he’ll be as lenient towards his employees when they so publicly go against him. It’ll be interesting to see how this one develops. Abramovich didn’t hesitate to fire Mourinho once, I’m sure he won’t hesitate to do it again.

However, I’m writing this article not so much as to laud Cech as a player and a person. I’m not even writing this to glee about Mourinho’s lividness and his obvious strained relationship with Mr. Abramovich, though whatever makes Maureen angry makes me happy. Rather, I detect signs of ruthlessness from Arsene Wenger. Ones that started to become evident last summer, after Wenger signed Debuchy and Chambers and shipped Jenkinson out on loan. Arsene recognised Jenko wasn’t good enough for the here and now, so he went and bought two players. While Chambers’ stock will only rise with the years, Debuchy’s won’t. A player who we bought for 12 million pounds will have little to no re-sell value when his contract expires.

Sounds familiar? It should, because it’s exactly what Arsene did with Cech. Cech is 33, he’s a proven, world-class goalkeeper, but we bought him for roughly 10 million and by the time his current deal runs out (it is rumoured to run till 2019), he’ll be 37. Definitely in the twilight of his career, with hardly any re-sell value. I believe this thought was originally expressed by @Arseblog. In short, Arsene just spent 10 million he’ll never get back. And he’s done it for the good of the team, for it’s short-term future, for it to stand a real chance to challenge next season, not in 3-4 seasons.

Having done that, Arsene also ended a career of one of our current goalkeepers. most likely Ospina. After only a period of adaptation, very good season for Ospina too, one in which his mistakes were few and far between, Arsene is selling David. After just one season. An international goalkeeper 26 years of age.

He also very obviously leaves Szczesny on the bench and Martinez still waiting in the wings. He basically says: “I’ve brought in a class act and you lads watch and learn from him. We’ll see how it goes”. He has three goalkeepers: 26-year-old, 25-year-old and 23-year-old. Nonetheless he buys a 4th one and is intent on making him first-choice. This is what I call ruthless.

It’s not that Arsene hasn’t shown his ruthlessness in the period of financial abstinence. He benched Vermaelen and Szczesny in 2013 after the Tottenham debacle. These aren’t the only examples, just the most recent ones.

It doesn’t mean Arsene doesn’t trust his players, on the contrary: he gives them countless chances. It was also the case with Chezza and Verminator. It’s not that he doesn’t prefer his players to outside solutions. Every transfer window he states that he does, his words are usually back by his actions, when he refuses to buy and instead gives players like Ramsey a chance. This trust often pays off. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes Arsene reaches his inner limit.

He looks to have reached this one in January, after Szczesny’s weak display against Southampton. He benched the Pole, played Ospina in all the remaining league games and now bought Cech. Something tells me Arsene would have sold Woj, had Ospina expressed his desire to stay.

I have to say I like the ruthless Arsene Wenger. One which won't tolerate mediocrity and/or shortcomings of his players for only so long. One which can go and splash the cash on a player with no re-sell value in the future. One that addresses not only our long-term problems, but also our burning needs.

This deal is good from a footballing point of view, but it also sends out a message. That we can both nick players from our direct rivals and won’t give our current crop a carte blanche to do whatever they please and still remain on the books.

Roll on the new season

Our targets are slipping away...or were they our targets at all?

I'll tell you something you'd probably never believe: in a way, Twitter ruined me. Yes, I got the sense of not being alone by joining it and I'm happy I did. But there's a downside (isn't there always?): I now find it really hard to formulate a definitive opinion on something.

I like to call that phenomenon information overload: there are too many voices, facts, rumours on Twitter. Everyone has his own opinion, sometimes even his own agenda. Because of the excessive amount of information thrown at me, I (like everyone else on here, I guess) have two ways out: either change my opinion quite often, or stand firm whatever. Both aren't ideal options.

You'd be amazed, but there are a lot of things I haven't given much thought prior to joining Twitter. For example, I have never doubted that Wenger is the man to lead us forward. Funny thing is, if someone asked me why, I'd struggle for an answer. Maybe because I haven't known Arsenal without Arsene and was scared of change. Most likely I'd say I had an inner feeling that Arsene is the best man for job.

But I'm getting sidetracked here. The reason I'm writing this article is not to wax lyrical on some rhetorical question: rather, I wanted to discuss the concept of buying players. Fear not, I won't wander into the transfer rumours territory. Rather, I'll try to explain why all Arsenal fans shouldn't do it and why we shouldn't clamour for players only to subsequently be disappointed at the fact they signed for someone else.

There are a couple of things you should keep in mind when a new rumour surfaces. However likely it seems, however you want to believe it, take it with a gigantic piece of salt. With a few notable exceptions, you’ve been duped, lured by clickbait.

Don’t believe the press (part 1)

It’s the first rule. With not much to chew on in the summer, the press (sometimes spoon-fed by agents), prints transfer stories, 95% of which have zero credulity. For me, only the following sources are credible sources of information:

BBC
David Ornstein
Guardian
Sky Sports
Kike Marin
Jeremy Wilson

If these have confirmed the transfer, start enjoying the fact. Write articles, make videos, tweet about it. It’s as good as done. You can also believe these guys on rumours.

Don’t believe the ITKs

It’s a temptation, I know. When you see a fellow blogger claim a transfer is close, it’s hard not to get excited. However, the more I watch such accounts, the more I come to the conclusion what they do is pure guesswork. They are just a little better at guessing than everyone else.

I highly doubt any of those have an “inside source at the Club”, unless it’s the bus driver or the photographer. People who deal with multi-million transfers sign confidentiality agreements. I doubt they’ll risk their place by informing someone on Twitter. So ignore the ITKs.

Don’t believe the press (part 2)

You shouldn’t only ignore the press when they run the rumour story or claim for the deal to have been completed. You should also do likewise when sentences like “Arsenal miss out on” and “Liverpool (or United, or City) beat Arsenal to the signing of”. Especially if the Club that “has beaten us to the signing of” is way less prestigious/competitive at the moment. Just look at the recent transfers.

Dybala joins Juventus

We were accused of “missing out on” Dybala, who joined Juventus “instead”. You know how much Juve paid for the Italian? 32 million euros + 8 million in add-ons. Almost 30 million pounds for a player who had one successful season. Now, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have blossomed in PL, players far less successful at their previous clubs did (Henry & Bergkamp being the most prominent examples), but I’ve seen nothing to suggest we were in for him. Apart from clamouring from fans and some articles in Mirror/Metro/Sun (pick any).

Kondogbia signs for Inter

Another player who “slipped from our grasp”. The accusations flying around with him were almost hilarious, simply because Arsenal fans accused Arsene, Ivan, the board and whatnot on the basis of one good game in the CL. Kondogbia cost Inter around 25 million pounds. Whatever anyone says, you don’t buy a player like that to bench him and chances are we would have done just that after Coquelin’s renaissance. Moreover, I have once again seen no respectable sources confirming our interest.

“Gunners target Jackson Martinez joins Atletico”. What? Who said the guy was ever our target? Him and his agent? These people are talkers. Any player can say “Arsenal are interested in me”, it doesn’t mean we are. Remember Zigic? Anyway, I forgot to cite his transfer fee - 25 million pounds. For a 28 year old (or is he 29?) You telling me we should have flushed 25 million down the drain when we have Giroud and Welbeck, who fit the same mould? At a time when we have other areas to strengthen?

Wrapping it up

You know what all these rumours have in common? The clubs where these players have ended up. Unless you are planning to tell me Juventus, Inter and Atletico are bigger than Arsenal and offered these players something we cannot, then it means we were never in for any of those players. Martinez himself said he fancies Arsenal, so why didn’t we buy him? That’s right, we were not interested. The other two haven’t (if I recall correctly) at any point said they wanted to join Arsenal or have already received offers from the Club.

Do you think they would have refused to go and work with Arsene Wenger, who’s a renowned specialist in developing young talent? Look at what Vlad Dragomir (our first actual signing this window, a 16-year-old Romanian player) said:

“The Arsenal offer seemed the best to me, I felt that this is my place.”

Vlad Dragomir is our first summer signing

He then went on to say he couldn’t miss the opportunity to work under Arsene Wenger for the reason I mentioned above: because Arsene knows how to nurture young talent.

So don’t believe the rumours. Don’t shed bitter tears when we “miss out” on players. No point getting yourself down when we weren’t even in the mix. Trust me, we will sign the players we need (Cech *cough* Cech). They just don’t have to be the ones hyped up by the press.

Until later