England

Tom Oldfield

Cast your minds back a year to the 2007/08 season which began extremely brightly for Arsenal. A powerful start, inspired by Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor, put the Gunners in pole position in the title race. They played beautiful, crisp attacking football, leaving opponents floored with their pace and movement.

But Arsenal eventually ran out of steam. A lack of squad depth was exposed as the team tired in the final few months and Manchester United and Chelsea hit top form at the right time to take over the title race. Having been well placed, the Gunners ended the campaign empty-handed. In no time at all, they had been dumped out of the FA Cup 4-0 by United, eliminated from the Champions League by Liverpool and forced out of Premier League contention. Can this year be different?

With Hleb and Mathieu Flamini heading the list of summer exits – to Barcelona and AC Milan respectively – Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has once again been forced to rebuild his side during the close season. The Frenchman loves this type of challenge and Gunners fans are holding their breath as another new look Arsenal line-up is unveiled for the 2008/09 campaign.

What they are aiming to achieve:

The Gunners have not lifted a trophy since 2005 and so clearly collecting silverware in any competition would be considered progress. However, the main aims will be success in the Premier League and the Champions League as Wenger has appeared less interested in the FA Cup and Carling Cup in recent seasons. Expect to see him use more products of the youth system in the Carling Cup again this year. The Gunners will certainly feel that another season without a league or European trophy would be a failure.

But before they can think too hard about marching towards the big prizes, they must gel as a unit. This must be achieved rapidly and Wenger will be aiming to find a rhythm early on. Losing Flamini and Hleb leaves two big holes in the Arsenal midfield and their replacements – Samir Nasri and either Denilson or Abou Diaby – must make an immediate impact to ensure the Gunners start well.

Last season, Arsenal showed they have the character to sustain a title bid. What they did not have was the squad depth. Therefore, Wenger will be looking to bring more youngsters into the fold so that he can rest some of his stars. For the Arsenal boss, developing his younger players will be another key aim and he will want to see the best of Theo Walcott this season.

In an ideal world, Arsenal would put together a successful title bid and return to the Champions League final to make amends for their defeat against Barcelona in Paris in 2006.

How likely are these aims?

Success on one front is very achievable for the Gunners, though managing to compete in Europe and domestically could be beyond them. Much will depend on Fabregas as the team’s talisman. His team-mates look to him more and more to find the vital contribution in tight games and he will need to replicate his fine goalscoring start to the 2007/08 campaign.

Adebayor and the now seemingly injury-free van Persie will renew their partnership in attack and have the quality to fire the Gunners towards the title. Undoubtedly, Arsenal will once again play flowing, attractive football and the classy duo up front will look to cash in. Walcott must also come to the party. He has clearly made progress over the past few years but he needs to make 2008/09 his breakthrough season.

As mentioned above, the midfield departures are the biggest concern and this could hinder Arsenal’s chances of reaching their targets. Hleb offered inventive passing and movement while Flamini provided an excellent defensive shield. Replacing their contributions will be extremely difficult, despite the fine players at Wenger’s disposal.

Similarly, the lack of experience within the squad could prove costly and losing Brazilian anchorman Gilberto Silva further exposes the youthful nature of the squad. With Wenger’s staggering track record in the transfer market, it seems naïve to question his decision-making yet he has seemingly failed to address the problems from last season. The Gunners still appear to lack squad depth and the know-how to sustain trophy challenges.

If Arsenal hit the ground running, anything is possible. But they might have to accept a cup triumph if the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea prove too powerful and too savvy.

Expectations of boardroom and fans:

Wenger is fortunate to have a good relationship with his board and will not come under the same pressure as Felipe Scolari at Stamford Bridge. The Arsenal board understand his methods and have given him tremendous backing. However, they will be desperate to end the barren spell at the club, incredibly dating back to an FA Cup triumph in 2005, with a Premier League or Champions League success.

The supporters saw last season that Arsenal could challenge for the title and play attractive football at the same time. They will be hoping for more of the same, but also that the players can sustain that style of play throughout the whole campaign. Losing out to Manchester United and Chelsea has grown more frustrating and embarrassing each year and the fans crave success more than ever. Seeing stars move to other top clubs in Europe has been demoralising over the summer but they believe in Wenger and have high hopes for the likes of Walcott and Nasri this year.

So long as the entertaining approach has an end product, Gunners fans will be happy and able to dream of the team lifting trophies in May.