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After being written off during pre-season, the spotlight is ironically on Arsenal as the club look to build on their excellent start to the season against Portsmouth tomorrow. The Gunners are sitting in third position having played a game less than their rivals and having the same goal difference as table-toppers Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal brushed aside Everton 6-1 on the opening day of the season in a match that had the pundits scratching their heads and frantically re-writing their headlines. They had all but written off the North London club’s title challenge but Arsenal had just easily taken apart one of the more difficult sides to play against in the country.
With both Manchester United and Liverpool already notching their first losses of the season after only two games played, the question is being asked if the sales of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Touré haven’t weakened the Gunners’ at all, but instead improved team spirit. In contrast, the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso may have had a larger impact on both United and Liverpool.
Manager Arsène Wenger seems to share this view, admitting that he was surprised that both United and Liverpool didn’t do more to replace two key players in their squads with the transfer money gained from the sales.
Speaking to the official club magazine, the Frenchman said: “The big task for United is replacing the goals that Cristiano Ronaldo scored over the last few seasons. You can say whatever you like about Ronaldo, but you have to admit he had two fantastic qualities.
“Firstly, he was never injured. Secondly, he put the ball in the back of the net. I’m surprised that they didn’t reinvest more of the money they got for Ronaldo, but they may do that in January.
“Manchester United, of course, will continue to be a major force in the championship, but you can see that where we drew four times 0-0, they won them 1-0, sometimes because Ronaldo made the difference.
“Michael Owen is worth a gamble I think, because he can be an impact player. Also you would hope that he can put his injury problems behind him at some stage. I don’t believe he can ever be back to his complete best, but even if he gets to 95 per cent of what he was before, he will be a fantastic player.
“Alberto Aquilani will be a good player [for Liverpool], but they have lost a great player in Alonso. He was the brain of the game for Liverpool last season. I don’t expect them to struggle this season, but people might have a little question mark about how they replace Alonso.
“I still think that Chelsea will be a main threat for the championship, but their squad is a year older which might have an impact when they have to repeat the games in short succession.
“The question this season is who will cope the best with what has happened during this transfer market. Let’s make sure it is us.”
