Arsene Wenger’s plan of creating a team capable of competing with the best in England is slowly falling apart and things are not looking very promising for the Emirates outfit. Arsenal have just finished the fourth successive season without trophies and the title drought is likely to continue. Apart from Thomas Vermaelen, who is not really a world class player, Wenger failed to sign any new players, whereas a couple of Gunners are nearing the exit door. Hence, another disappointing season is on the horizon and Arsenal should be happy if they achieve a top 4 finish.

Arsenal fans have had a horrid time in the past few years and the only comfort is that Spurs are in even bigger problems. Four years without silverware is too much for a club like Arsenal and they fans have even turned against Arsene Wenger, and rightly so in our opinion. His stubborn policy of signing only talented youngsters is one of the reasons of club’s decline and that was evident when he finally gave in and signed Andrei Arshavin. The Russian playmaker did more in six months than Wenger’s kids did in the last couple of years and the French manager was expected to finally change his transfer policy.

Nevertheless, the only player Wenger has signed so far is Ajax defender Thomas Vermaelen, whereas he has missed out on a couple of players that could really make a difference at Arsenal. That last one of these was Felipe Melo, an outstanding midfielder, who chose Juventus even though Gunners had looked to be winning the race. It is no wonder that world class players no longer want to join the Gunners, and who can blame them.

Considering that Emanuel Adebayor is nearing the exit door and that Wenger has already stated that he would sell Fabregas if a good offer came in, Arsenal fans do not have much to hope for from next season. Top 4 finish is all they can hope for, although if City continue to reinforce the squad, Gunners could end up missing out on the Champions League as well. Therefore, you might consider overlooking Arsenal when trying to find best football picks next season.

Arsenal were given good chances to enter the title race before the start to the current season and they were ranked as third favourites behind Manchester United and Chelsea. The odds on Arsenal to win the Premier League were nothing special (5.50) as many pundits believed that Wenger’s youngsters have matured enough to mount a serious title challenge. However, numerous injuries to Wenger’s star players denied the Gunners a chance to enter the race with Manchester, Liverpool and Chelsea and they ended up fighting for the top four finish.

The Gunners had a very poor start to the season and they were unable to reach the form that had served them so well the previous season. Arsene Wenger’s team were quickly out of the title race, and people started criticizing Wenger’s coaching methods. He was blamed for sticking with his tactics of playing talented but too inexperienced players and even the fans turned against him. He was also blamed for letting the players like Flamini, Giberto and Hleb leave the club without bringing decent replacements. The French manager was going through the worst stages of his career at the club, and numerous injuries to the star players only added to the worries. At one stage to the season, Arsenal were trailing seven points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa and they seemed to be out of the race for the Champions League place but all that changed in the space of just few weeks.

Wenger seemed to have finally broken under pressure as he signed experienced playmaker Andrei Arshavin in January to boost his injury-depleted squad. In the absence of injured Fabregas, Walcott and Rosicky, the team desperately needed some creative spark and Arshavin was the perfect answer to the problems. The team started playing much better since his arrival and Gunners quickly closed the gap on Aston Villa. The injured players started returning from injuries and the Gunners finally played to their potential. What seemed to be a very disappointing season could still turn into one of the most successful seasons in club’s recent history as Arsenal will definitely achieve a top four finish in the Premier League, whereas they are still in contention for the title in both Champions League and FA Cup. You could argue that the Gunners are unlikely to win both Champions League and FA Cup, but not many people believed that Arsenal will catch Aston Villa in fourth, let alone create an eight-point advantage in such a short period of time. If you are a true Arsenal fan and believe that this is possible you may be interested to put your money where your mouth is as Expekt gives odds of 20.00 (1/19) on Arsenal to win both FA Cup and Champions League. With Expekt bonus (100% on the first deposit) for new customers you may even double that odds and eagerly await the end of the season.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger dismisses rumours that he wants to sign Ghana captain Stephen Appiah.

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There are thirty more days…

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hinted he will continue to name William Gallas as his captain.

Alisher Usmanov is reportedly planning to increase stakeholding in Arsenal by
15 per cent.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes Emmanuel Adebayor will remain at the club, but has warned the unsettled striker that he will not break his wage structure to keep him.

Adebayor has been linked with several moves away from the Emirates Stadium t…

Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure would be delighted to welcome Arsenal star Emmanuel Adebayor at Camp Nou next season to replace Samuel Eto’o.

Turin based sports newspaper ‘Tuttosport’ claim Juventus have sent scouts to the Czech Republic to monitor Spanish Under 19 International Fran Mérida Perez.

Fran missed Monday evenings 2-1 defeat to Germany, with some reports suggesting he was suspended, and others claiming he was injured. He is expected to start tomorrow’s must win fixture [...]

Peter Hill-Wood is unaware of any fresh developments over Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor’s future.