How on Earth are we having a mini injury crisis one week into the new season?! The injuries to Eboue and Rosicky means we have to look at the reserve squad to provide cover on the flanks, and of course Adebayor's injury means we've only got cover up front in the shape of 19 year old Nicklas Bendtner. We've also got one natural defender on the bench (Senderos) and one central midfielder fresh from injury (Denlison) covering for Cesc and Flamini- can our squad make it through the entire season? Is our early season enthusiasm misplaced, or do we really possess the necessary credentials to challenge for that title?
Looking back at the 'Invincibles' squad of the 03-04 season, things aren't as bleak as we might think they are. Back then we had 4 strikers - Henry, Bergkamp, Kanu and young Aliadiere - just as we do now with Van Persie, Eduardo, Adebayor and young Bendtner. Differences? In terms of experience, they are vast as Henry was at his prime while Kanu and Bergkamp were nearing the end of their careers. However, in goalscoring terms, our young lads need not not be overwhelmed. Henry had the lion's share with 30 league goals, while the rest couldn't surpass the 10 goal mark in the league even if their tallies were added together. It is obviously down to Van Persie to come up with the most goals; however, if Adebayor can improve on last year and pass that ten-goal mark and Eduardo can come up with a few himself, our attackers might be able to outscore the foursome of '04. Back then, we also had Wiltord who was deployed both as a forward and a winger by Arsenal, although he managed just 3 goals in the league. Alex Hleb is being given a similar role this season and is already just 2 away from surpassing him.
It is in the middle of the park where the main concerns lie. In Robert Pires, we had a free scoring midfielder who outdid all our forwards bar Henry, chipping in with 19 precious league goals. Think of Cristiano Ronaldo and his role in securing the title for United last season. It is this gap that Arsenal have failed to fill in recent years, and the same might become true come May. Tomas Rosicky is seen as his direct replacement, and although he does have a knack of scoring from long range, he was never the prolific goalscorer Pires was. However, Wenger would argue that Rosicky is now approaching his prime and the coming season should be his best yet. In addition to Pires in '04, we had the likes of Vieira, Ljungberg, Edu, Parlour, and of course Gilberto Silva in our ranks. Although none of them were prolific they did manage more than 10 league goals between them, an amount hard to match with the current crop of players at our disposal. We do have sufficient numbers with our eight remaining midfielders - Gilberto, Cesc, Flamini, Eboue, Denlison, Walcott, Song and Diaby - however, the same applies when it comes to experience. Only Gilberto can really be seen as a man at his peak as well as a goalscorer as he netted 10 times last season (albeit mostly from penalties). Cesc is yet to get his goalscoring act together and while he does contribute a lot of assists, he along with the others will have to do more in terms of scoring.
The depth of our defence is reassuring when everyone is fit; however, it's yet to be seen if they can be as stern as our back four of '04. Toure's partner, William Gallas, replaces Sol Campbell with the likes of Clichy, Traore, Sagna, and Hoyte vying for the places of Ashley Cole and Lauren. This same back four (with the exception of new boy Sagna) looked frail at times last season and let in 35 league goals compared to just 26 in that now infamous season. The goalkeeping department is safe in Lehmann's hands for now just as it was back then, but let's hope for a better showing from all our defenders this time around.
At this early stage it seems Arsenal's season hinges on a number of factors. It is absolutely crucial that the team avoids lengthy injuries especially to key players. More goals will have to be scored compared to last season with our best hope coming from our strikers. Also, Gallas and co. will have to form a more solid backline and secure more cleansheets.
Stage 2 of 38 comes up later tonight, let's hope the Gunners can come up with an important win!
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