So far, so good in the league for Arsenal, 1 defeat followed by a run of 8 unbeaten, 7 wins and a draw in that run, although our easy start can be mentioned, but with a run of Liverpool, Dortmund, Manchester United and Southampton, it should show if Arsenal our the real deal this season.
Arsene Wenger was highly criticised in the summer for his transfer dealings, from me also, but there was clear proof and reason for this. Gonzalo Higuain was ours for the taking, we'd agreed a fee, he was supposedly having a medical, then somehow he's ended up at Napoli, we missed out on going for Christian Benteke, couldn't get Luis Suarez and didn't go for a coup in Etienne Capoue added to half the squad being sold. In the end 4 signings were made, the main ones, the masterful free transfer of Mathieu Flamini, returning to the Emirates, a great signing I must say. Then the transfer all us gooners love, the £42.4m signing of Mesut Ozil, a club record and a signing to silence any critics, despite the hefty price tag. He's had more assists in the last 3 seasons than Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Ronaldo, so surely he's perfect for Arsenal? If we can add a striker in January, I've heard about possibly Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski and even Stephan El Shaarawy, it'll make Ozil even better and possibly be the final piece to Arsene's latest jigsaw.
So our start was sloppy against Aston Villa, we were shocking at the back but had a bad referee as shown with the red card given to Laurent Koscielny, however, the mental toughness to bounce back in the way we have and be top of the league somehow is always great to see. I believe we won't last and drift into another battle for 4th place, we don't have the squad depth to challenge for the title and so far against the big teams we've fallen short, against Dortmund and Chelsea. Our run coming up is difficult to say the least, I predict we can get 4 points from these 4 games, hopefully beating Southampton and drawing with Liverpool or United. Liverpool will be a big game, with both sides high in the table, there defence has improved drastically and the 'SAS' are the best partnership in the league, however, the way we've played we can trouble any team, even in our two defeats, we were robbed against Dortmund and refused to shoot against Chelsea, so we should bounce back against Liverpool and put in a better display.
In other competitions, we're obviously out of the Capital One Cup, sadly. The UEFA Champions League is a struggle to even get through the groups at this current moment, with away ties against Dortmund and Napoli, we need at least two points from these games to go through and it'll be tough but against Napoli I fancy us to get something out of it, hopefully a tight 1-0 win will satisfy me. The FA Cup is achievable, we will undoubtedly get a hard draw on the way but we need to put out a strong side and aim to win it, as at the moment any competitive trophy will settle.
I predict for us to finish 4th this season and sneak the FA Cup and at drastic measures a Europa League title, hopefully we won't be in it to win it though, but i'm covering all bases. Additions in January are needed, a CB, CDM and ST are needed. My checklist would be Adil Rami, Cheick Tiote and Karim Benzema, 3 players who could slot right into the team if signed and could improve our side. Rami would add depth and quality at the back and is a proven international. Tiote is a tough-tackling, does the dirty work and not afraid of a collision, someone we lack without Flamini. Benzema would bring the best out of Giroud and in linking up with Ozil again, re-find his form from last season at Madrid.
All the best gooners and good luck to the boys! COYG
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