The Club:
The Gunners look as if they are in serious danger of going the Liverpool way and falling out of their status of making up the Big Four. Once again, there is no great spending on the horizon for the financially sound London Club, and so they rely again on their academy and system to breed new players. Granted Arsenal looked a really strong title contender at one period last season, where they were simply humming along, but they just could not maintain it and completely shut down by the end of the season. Another fruitless outing from the Gunners is just hinting that a major shake up is needed if you are looking for Arsenal betting. There is nothing wrong with their style, their football is still some of the prettiest to watch, and while no-one can argue that, it has brought the results the play deserves. So, you can be assured that they are not going to change the way they play, so they need the right personnel to do the job that Wenger wants. Will this season be Wenger’s last chance?
Players/Manager:
Arsene Wenger must be a man under a great deal of pressure, and that has to be taken into consideration for Arsenal Premier League betting. The Gunners need to deliver silverware, because for all their patience on the pitch, the fans in the stands are getting very restless. They want to see their team deliver results, to bring home some much needed silverware. Has Arsene Wenger taken the club as far as he can? What can he do to push on? Well, there have been big names linked with moves away from the club, with Barcelona continuing their long saga in pursuit of Cesc Fabregas, while Gael Clichy moved north to Liverpool and a supposed wrangle over the services of Samir Nasri raged on between the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United. Sadly, Arsenal cannot afford to lose such influential players. The direction in which they should be heading is bring in more players, spending a bit of cash to accentuate the strengths they have there. A firmer hand in midfield is needed, some extra suport in the form of a commanding figure in the back line is needed, a top quality keeper is needed, and some more prolific back up to Robin van Persie is also required. It is unlikely that we are going to see any big moves which will fill these holes, and while the club has said they’ll hang on to Nasri, arguably their best player last year and risk losing him on a free transfer next summer, they seem to be doing their business all wrong. More players of Nasri’s calibre should be heading to the Emirates, not leaving. Arsenal are probably going to be found wanting just a little bit more, if they don’t fill their squad out before the start of the season. There is quality there of course, it just needs to be accentuated. They have added Ivory Coast striker Gervinho to their ranks, and he looks to have made an immediate impact in a pre season friendly out in Germany. He should be able to weigh in heavily given the chance and that is exactly what Arsenal need to do. The lack of strengh in defence though is still a major concern for Arsenal though.
Last Season: 4th
The Gunners finished fourth last season, a big twelve points back of winners Manchester United. Without a league win in their last three games, and only two in their last eight, raised some serious questions about their level. Can they really push on? Can anyone really see them doing better than that this season? While they were a comfortable fourth, they have fallen behind Manchester City, and with the projected rise of Liverpool, and Tottenham making a nuisance of themselves, even that may not be as secure as they would hope next season.
2011/12 Arsenal Premier League Betting Projection:
Arsenal should be so much better than they are, but they just have not got the fight. There are glaring holes in their team which only money is going to solve unfortunately. That is not going to happen though, and so they are only going to hold themselves back. Still, over the course of the season, you expect them to be better than 75% of the Premier League, so they should be in contention for finishing in the Top Four. However, they may have more of a fight on their hands this time around. Worryingly, if they do not get off to a strong start, then they may very well have more upheaval as Wenger’s job could be on the line. Don’t realistically expect them to finish higher than fourth again because as shown again last year, they just haven’t got the grit and fight when it comes to taking points off the other main title contenders.
Position: Champions League Challenger (4th)
Premier League Winner Odds:
10/1 at William Hill
First Three Fixtures
August 13th: Newcastle v Arsenal
August 20th: Arsenal v Liverpool
August 28th: Man Utd v Arsenal
