What have Eduardo, Fabregas and Sagna all got in common. They were shrewd Wenger signings, acquired on a shoestring budget and announced before anyone in cyber space got much wind of it. Also, crucially, they weren’t rated as world beaters and were unheard of by most gooners when they signed. Fast forward to the present day and we have got ourselves top end footballers who have at least achieved the respect and recognition their talent deserves if not the silverware.

The moral of this story is lets wait and see who Wenger picks up this summer before we panic about our finances, chances of winning silverware or selling Fabregas to Spain etc. Were we to get 1 or 2 more classic wenger esque signings all our perceived troubles would fade into the distant background. A major trophy would take the pressure off Wenger, ease Fabregas into thinking he is at the right club and copper fasten gooner belief that we are on the brink of another golden era. If not then all is not lost. With the seasons opening game against the might of Barnet now only days away my overriding wish for the coming season is that we stay injury free and instead of signing a few more potential wonder kids for the future lets get to see the current bunch blossom.

With Sky Sports giving regular updates on the Adebayor to the Middle Eastland’s one wonders who or if we should get a replacement. Having spent 2 seasons in his shadow is it now time for Bendtner to step up to the plate. In the past we were at our most potent with Adebayor and Eduardo up front. It’s a little ironic but The Brazilian born, Croatian national seems to prosper most on quick knock downs from a traditional type English centre forward but has joined a club who are looking to play with Brazilian flare and eye for goal.

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.

In light of United’s recent behemoth sale of CR7 a couple of things struck me. Firstly its not just Arsenal players that get their head turned by big money clubs on foreign shores. We may have sold Henry, Vera, and Anelka in the relatively recent past but United have lost Beckham, Stam, Van Nistleroy and now Ronaldo in the same time. Secondly, when Perez won the Real Madrid presidential elections alarm bells should have started ringing at football clubs all over the world. Were we now trying to sign Arshavin instead of last January I would imagine we would have a lot more competition on our hands and as a consequence most likely lose out on the player.

United have fallen into the trap we narrowly avoided. Were we to sell Fabregas in the hope of getting a similar player one would hope that Wenger would first get the replacement and then sell the original. Having signed Vermaelen we have already plugged one of our major weak spots from the season gone by. We also have a young midfield who were thought the tough way last season and as a consequence should be all the better for it next season. Allied to that a certain little Russian, little Mexican and little Mozart and we’re not looking so shabby.

Having said that I wouldn’t object to seeing someone with a mentally tough attitude joining the dressing room to help iron out the defeatist attitude that seemed to inhabit our players at vital times last season.
Going down to United at Old Trafford is no disgrace, failing to throw everything at them until the final whistle is. Considering Wenger is quite obviously a brilliant judge of talent and has pulled off a small
miracle keeping us close to the big boys on a budget similar to a midtable team I am willing to let him judge what we should do next and keep my energy for getting to the Emirates to watch a grand master plan unfold and allow one of the great managers and footballing philosophies of our time get the recognition they truly deserve.