Every year it is the same. There will be a club that will drop the Gunners down from the top four. Two years ago, it was Spurs. Last year it was Villa. This year it is City. Each and every year, the club has proved them wrong. For a lefty publication, The Guardian really digs high flying big spenders.
I think getting rid of Adebayor will open up the attack tremendously and with Arshavin set to for his first full season, a 4-3-3 looks very possible. Fabregas who looked a bit spent because of last summer's Euro 2008 campaign will start fresher. And I have always been impressed by Tomas Rosicky. He is actually an excellent box to box player. With Arshavin and Rosicky the jets will be on. Throw in Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey and the midfield looks awesome.
Bendtner is much improved and ended the season on a very productive note. Eduardo is back after a long injury layoff and we have seen some delectable stuff from him when he was healthy. Then there is RVP, hopefully those niggling injuries related to his molars have been taken care of with dental surgery. A healthy RVP will be good for 15 goals and may create an additional 10 more.
There are some question marks on defense and hopefully by the end of the season Wenger can come up with one more experienced centerback and a holding midfielder. Alexandre Song, Denilson, and Abou Diaby remain the weak links.
I think it is still to early to say that Man city will displace Arsenal from the top four. I will wait for another month or so, maybe 2 up till the Liverool game. Their next 3 games look winnable - Villa(A), Wigan(A) and Fulham(H) does not look like real challenges. But it will be interesting to see if they can win all three, especially against Wigan after what Wigan did to Chelsea.
KJB,
City went down to SA for the Vodacom challenge and lost to the Kaizer Chiefs. They had Adebayor in their squad. I agree there will always be growing pains with a new cast of players. But Hughes struggled with Robinho, Micah Richards, Elano, and Jo in their first season. So it is not going to get any easier for him.
I don't disagree the result was bad, but corrent me if I'm wrong it was the first friendly match City have played so they're bound to be a little rusty.
And I agree with you on the Hughes front. I think he's good in a relegation battle, but will struggle to maintain himself at the other end of the league. Perhaps he isn't right for the job.
Personally, I think City need a new manager and a season to gel their quality stars together before yielding top 4 results. But that's just my opinion.
http://www.footybanter.co.uk
KJB,
City was beaten by Rangers. A team we had no problems putting away in the Emirates Cup. Their problem is an imbalanced team with many attacking options but questionable defense. Hughes has to find a way to manage all this international talent when he is actually better suited for the role of a smaller more English club. I don't think he is the man for the job.
I think the weakened Arsenal side have every chance of finishing fifth, if the Man City team can gel together well enough. Last year, it was Villa's squad size that let them down in the second half of the season and City don't have them worry.
Van Persie is already injured I hear, though judging from the Emirates cup Eduardo looked lively in front of goal enough to make me feel confident enough to put him in my fantasy football team.
http://www.footybanter.co.uk
FB, actually we have to assume the Gunners will play hurt. They are injury prone. Samir Nasri is already out for the next two months or more. I think Wenger is on track with his attack. Arshavin and Rosicky together are going to be a handful. Its the defensive part of the equation that is worrying. We do not have a quality holding midfielder. That is why someone like Yaya Toure or Sergi Busquets is so attractive. Barca is fortunate to have someone like them in the ranks.
Any of the top four can go down, but for sure Manchester City are in top four.
http://sportsnews247.blogspot.com/
But, what if either Arshavin, Eduardo, Van Persie, or Song get injured? What if all of them or most of them get injured, what then? Shourin, trust me, I love Arsenal's idealistic football. Yet, there is something fatalistic about playing glorious football with no adequate replacements. Enlighten me, please.