VivB gives a seasons thoughts…

If a football season is the equivalent to one of those childhood journey’s in the back of your Dad’s car this season has been a trundle through the flat wastes of East Anglia. Watching a monotonous landscape repeat itself through the window with only sporadic excitement to relieve the predictability.

I can think of very few highs this season, indeed after being able to attend home games regularly again for the first time since they knocked down the North Bank, I spent much of my time head in hands despairing of the seeming lack of direction on the pitch. It soon became apparent most teams would arrive at the Emirates aiming to stifle play and leave with a point. Too many games followed the same pattern of dominance undermined by mistakes leading to a goal.

Undisputedly the club is in transition, the players the club’s recent success has been built on have gone or are now prone to injury. Many Season Reviews mention the loss of Pires, Bergkamp and Campbell, followed later by Lauren. However the only regular contributor last season was Pires and as fate had it his season in the Spanish sun was severely hampered by injury. To the list of absent players we can add Henry who has become more prone to injury over the last 2-3 seasons, but there are not many players who have performed this season after losing both the Champions League and World Cup Finals. Replacements came in the form of Walcott, Rosicky, Gallas and Baptista with the loss of Cole and Reyes. All were injured for extensive periods of the season. In addition Hleb should have acclimatised to pace of the Premier League and now able to show what he can do.

However poor home form and defeat at man City ensured the team were never in contention for the title. Manchester United’s version of Arsenal’s fast counter-attacking football supported by a spine of seasoned pros ensured that Champions League qualification was the best we could hope for. However the team showed greater resilience than last season away from home, no more than the 1-0 victory at Old Trafford. Despite this the team lost to Manchester City, Sheffield United, Fulham, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool and West Ham United (twice). These are games that they need to win or draw if they are to contend for the title. They overshadow our record against the top 4 clubs which, thanks largely to the double over United, was the best.

Wenger managed to avoid the season ending in true disaster by completing the improbable double victory over Liverpool at Anfield in January. This was after effectively scrapping through the Champions League group, after
unnecessarily losing away in Moscow (Henry’s wrongly disallowed goalwithstanding) and missing so many chances at home. If the season had effectively ended then would Wenger still be at the club?

The cup competitions demonstrated the potential of the squad but also it’s limitations. The failure of the referee to award a penalty allowed Blackburn beat an injury ravaged squad at Ewood Park and a last minute winner. However the performances of second string players saw the club through to the Carling Cup final, the highlight being the defeat of the Spurs first choice side in the semi’s. Maybe Wenger misjudged the final, while playing the squad players meant defeat felt like a victory, it soon was forgotten with the defeats to Blackburn and PSV (who showed how poor they were by being rolled over by Liverpool in the next round). Maybe if Wenger had played a motivated Gallas, Drogba would have been shackled and silverware would have been secured. As we know too well no one remembers the runners up.

Any fair review of the season must appreciate that the squad while unbalanced at the season’s beginning by inexperienced players and a lack of wingers was weakened further by injuries. Add to that the inevitable inconsistency that comes with young players and maybe we should be grateful that we ended the season with 1 more point than last with less defeats, and champions league qualification secured before the last game of the season. However the second half performance against 10 man Chelsea and stuttering form against Fulham meant the team stumbled over the finishing line rather than last season’s winning run that wound in and then piped Spurs to 4th leaving us eagerly anticipating this season.

The flowing football of the last two seasons has been replaced by short intricate passing moves great to watch but with many players receiving the ball back to goal easy to defend. Indeed Man United’s success (with no recognised striker) is based on playing ‘our’ way. My only criticism of Cesc is that sometimes he holds onto the ball a split second to long slowing moves down, where Dennis or Robert would play it 1st time. This has been combined with a lack of leadership. No one seems to take control, players pass when they should be selfish and go for goal.

On top of that this season saw boardroom upheaval and open debate over the clubs’ ownership. This has created an unpleasant cloud of uncertainty over the club and the undisputed loss (maybe temporary) of Dein and his extensive network of football contacts. After a flurry of activity the corporate manouvering has now quietened down and I’m sure the matter will be settled in the usual Arsenal way quietly and behind wooden panelled walls presumably over a good cognac.

Irrespective of the debate over ownership and ‘outside investment’ the club have invested in players, Henry will have cost the club £6.24m this season in wages, compare that to Spurs whose salary cap is currently £2.1m. However to keep the stadium sold out and those corporate boxes full the team needs big name players to create a buzz. The enhanced TV deal will add unforeseen revenue for the club, surely this allows it to compete more readily on the transfer market. Wenger knows his squad can perform it just needs quality and experience to ensure the teams potential is realised. However another season like this one and we will all be reaching for the car door handle.

Player of the Season: Fabregas

Game/Performance of the Season: 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb (A)

Goal of the Season: Van Persie v Charlton Athletic (A)