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The summers get worse, don’t they?
When times were good and we were winning trophies, summer’s were about excited anticipation: what golden player would Arsène find under a rock.
When the trophy years were just a couple of years behind, it changed slightly – the big name saviours became bigger and bigger names, and it was always Eto’o or Torres or Villa who was coming to partner Thierry and replace Dennis. And that fever allowed us to be happy when it was a Denilson or a Song who signed, because surely, surely, we were only one big name away from winning the league again?
But now it’s five years since a trophy and six since the league, and the rot’s set-in. With Chamakh coming, the rumours on strikers – always the most exciting transfer rumours of them all – are largely stalled before they start, and the only real question is "if" we’ll buy anyone at all, and not whether we can cure all the problems in the team.
It’s dead news time, but miserable talk that Arsène might not buy a new keeper, and that Djourou might be the internally promoted candidate to partner Vermaelen, is already floating. From there it’s only a small step to the press conference where Arsène says "I don’t need anyone else", and we stare down the barrel of another miserable season of hope, tempered by the knowledge that this squad just isn’t good enough.
And so the only story right now is whether Fabregas goes. Great. Thanks. That’s just the story I needed.
It’s floating now with major squall around it, and we’ve not had the customary denial. I know, I know, Fabregas is likely in deep-rehab to get himself fit for the World Cup. And I know that he’ll most likely stay: it doesn’t make sense for him to go to Barca until Xavi retires or winds down, and that’s 2-3 years away yet.
But when that’s the only story in town, you can’t help thinking. Thinking whether a wedge of cash, plus maybe Yaya Touré and one of their spare central defenders (Milito maybe) wouldn’t be so bad? Thinking whether putting Touré next to Song and Nasri or Ramsey, with Arshavin in front behind a front-two of van Persie and Chamakh, might not, somehow, release the genius inside the little Russian for all to see? But then remembering that there’s no combination that makes us better than when Fabregas is fit, motivated and at the heart of the team.
And then you look elsewhere and see how simple it could be to solve our problems. It’s watching Chelsea win the double, knowing full-well that Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho are on the market this summer, and knowing those two would both improve our weak-positions out wide-right and in defence significantly that’s depressing me.
Maybe I just need a story to latch onto. Something to give me hope. Because right now we’ve got nothing, just a blank wall of silence. All I can think is that miserable disappointment is coming. And that’s a terrible, terrible place to be.
