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The bad
The Nasri and Fabregas deals closing so late basically screwed Arsenal’s transfer. The deals seemed rushed and Arsenal possibly picked up their second choices instead of their first because those first choices either needed longer negotiation than 3 days (such as M’vila and Cahill) or were already signed by other clubs (such as Juan Mata).
The second really bad thing is that the huge number of signings we have made coupled with the loss Cesc who was such a key player in midfield (which means that we will need to change the way we play) basically means that Arsenal have not really had a pre-season. We should have had a pre-season with these signings. Instead they are arriving when things are underway with the team suffering key injuries and therefore most of them will be going straight into action without having had time to gel. All experimenting will happen when points are at stake which means there will be less risks taken in trying to find out how we will play without Cesc. Taking less risks when trying to find a solution screws the quality of the solution.
In summary, we don’t seem to have bought the players that we had the money to buy and the ones we wished for. Then we bought 5 players who are going straight into action without a pre-season.
The good
Wenger has bought three captains Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun and Park Chu Yung. We have a leadership problem and this should help. We have bought four experienced players, two of whom have premiership experience.
I must confess I know nothing about any of the players apart from Benayoun. I have seen Arteta in the premiership but have never really paid any attention to his game. I cannot remember seeing Santos in action ever and only seen a little – an impressive little of Park with his national team. However, I have always fancied Benayoun as a player.
A few years back, I suggested here that Wenger should get him from West Ham but Benitez got him instead. I was not surprised when Ancelotti got him from Liverpool. Benayoun is not only technically good, he has bags of premiership spirit, and is very direct. Benayoun may just be what Gervinho and Chamakh need to make Arsenal’s attack even more direct in the premiership. If Arteta can deliver a pass, the combination of Gervinho and Benayoun with van Persie might get very interesting. With Walcott based on speed and Arshavin not, Arsenal has an imbalance of style on the left and right and that creates a problem in attack. Cesc used to manage that well but I don’t think any other playmaker can. It will certainly be interesting with Park in there in place of van Persie sometimes. Benayoun gives us something in Europe and away in the premiership.
The last good thing is that we have players that Wenger cannot change easily. They are mature and will do things their way on the pitch. Arsenal tend to lose direction when things don’t go their way. That’s when it looks like we have no leaders. We find comfort in passing when things are not working. Now we have attacking and midfield recruits who will find comfort in what they used to do before – something more direct. It is what I referred to as Arsenalisation of players. Wenger will find it harder to Arsenalise his new recruits as they are older and already "done". It is easier to Arsenalise one new recruit in the team like Chamakh but when four experience players come in and go into the team, it is harder. That could very well serve Arsenal better since they are a team that easily gets "stuck" or it could be an interesting problem.
The interesting
This is not quite the team that Arsène built but it is the one he has to manage. Can he do it? Will he work with what new virtues the new players bring or will be he try to change them?
Wenger has inherited an experienced team before and made winners out of them. That’s what happened in his first 18 months at Arsenal. But the premiership has come a long way since then. The majority of Arsène’s career is comprised of him building his own team from youngsters and moulding them into the players he wants. In fact, one cannot find many examples of Wenger managing players with the age range of 28 – 30, players who cannot run fast anymore playing for a coach that loves pace. How will he cope? Can he do it or are we looking at a cycle of Wenger trying to change players and being frustrated when they can’t change while the players get frustrated that they too cannot and then they spiral into a kind of Chamakh situation?
We all have to wait and see but this is significant for the simple reason that Wenger usually has a tight grip on attack and midfield. Wenger does not teach defence, it is not his thing. The defence will stay as is and anything that Mertasacker and Santos add will be welcome and Santos will be coached by Wenger on his attacking play. But Wenger usually has a lot of control over midfield and attack and that is where there has been a serious overhaul. It is where all his successes of growing of players have come – he has not created a defensive genius but has created a lot of midfielders. How will he cope with an entirely new crew in his area of control?
Gervinho, Benayoun, Arteta and Park are all new. You add Ramsey and Chamakh who might as well be considered new and on top you add Song and van Persie who have to figuring out new partners and cope with Fabregas absence and finally the absence of Nasri and you quickly conclude that the one part of the team (attack and midfield) that Wenger usually has strong control over has dramatically changed. It has changed without a pre-season to fine-tune it. So the interesting thing is that the balance is delicate over whether this turns into a good or bad thing. We have to wait and see.
