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Why Arsenal Should Be Happy To Stay Out Of The Limelight

Jason reckons there’s no better place for Arsenal to be than underdogs.

While the Gunners are currently second in the table, level on points with leaders Liverpool albeit with an inferior goal difference, nearly no one apart from their fans have even mentioned their names with regards to who will be competing for the title come May 2008. Liverpool will finally do it is the cry, or that Manchester United and Chelsea will both recover from their shaky starts to reclaim their places at the top. The young Arsenal side is written off as being too youthful, too experienced- how can they do it when the average age of their first team is so low?

Although many Arsenal fans may be irritated with this, the reality is they should be happy- the Arsenal team always thrives as the underdog. This was best shown in the run to the Champions League final during the 2005/06 season- the Gunners outclassed and outplayed all opponents that neutrals and football pundits alike thought would destroy them; first relying on a magnificent Thierry Henry goal and some brilliant defending to beat Spanish giants Real Madrid, then running rings around an ageing Juventus side. In fact, in the first knockout round that Arsenal were expected to comfortably dispatch their opponents they had problems- while they won the first leg by a single goal against Villareal, the second leg was a tense, nervous affair that could have gone either way. However, luck stayed with the Gunners as Riquelme missed his penalty, and although they were thwarted in the final by a star studded Barcelona side, they were arguably the better team for large spells of the game- despite having a man less for all but the first eighteen minutes.

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So Who Looks Good For The Title? Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea?

With the Premier League getting back underway, Jason looks at the Big Four’s challenge for the title. No offense to Manchester City (well, maybe a little).

Although the Premiership is well known for its twists and turns, seemingly impossible happenings and teams rising from the lower echelons to shock the world, it would be foolhardy to suggest that the title is not going to be won by one of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal. Despite Jose Mourinho’s claims that Tottenham will be part of the pack that will contest England’s ultimate trophy, it is unlikely that they can make the step up while other teams in the Premiership simply do not have the money or the quality to make the leap into the top four.

In this article I will compare and contrast the qualities of last season’s top four teams, taking into account their new signings, present players and manager as well as other factors that could affect a title push.

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Ten Young Premiership Stars To Watch

Jason takes a look at the obvious, and not so obvious, young players who need a little attention next season.

While the start of the Premiership season is still over a month away, eager fans have no doubt frantically checked the schedules for when their derby matches are, bought their supply of beer and locked up their non-supporting spouse in the cupboard to avoid being irritated during matches. Here, I give you a list of the top ten young players who will need watching this Premiership season for different reasons, some of them being spoken about worldwide, others seemingly unheard of.

If you have your own young player to nominate, slap them in the comments and let us know why.

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Do We Really Have Too Many Foreigners?

With the transfer season firmly underway, Jason takes the issue of immigration firmly upon his shoulders.

A foreign player quota; that is a limit on the amount of foreigners you can have in your squad.

Discussed by world football’s leaders, many have blasted leading clubs to take into account players born in the country they play in, as those clubs prefer to sign cheaper foreign alternatives. The influx of foreign players in the English Premiership in particular has long been drawn up as a reason why England constantly fails on the international stage.

While just eleven ‘foreigners’ were listed to start in the first week of fixtures at the start of the Premiership in the 1992/93 season, a massive 59% of players that took to the field in last year’s campaign were foreign and if this summer’s transfer activity is anything to go by, that percentage is only on the way up.

Fans of the England international team will suggest that those foreigners are taking up valuable squad places for English youth, but is that the case? If those English youth players are good enough, they will be able to realise their dreams of moving to a top four club - as Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) and Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea) have all done.

That’s not to say a stint at a top four club is the best for young English players because they will often get limited playing time. Often, a spell at a smaller club can benefit those youngsters greatly- the likes of Leighton Baines at Wigan, Micah Richards at Manchester City and Fabrice Muamba at Birmingham can testify to this. Whereas at a top four club the trio would be mostly bench players, they are allowed to flourish in an environment with less pressure and, if they have not already, they will get their first England caps in the coming months. Even though the top clubs do not really take gambles on those players from the lower divisions, clubs further down in the Premiership do - as shown when Everton paid what could be an eventual £5m to bring Joleon Lescott to Goodison Park.

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Forget New Signings, Here’s How To Make Arsenal Better Now

With Henry leaving, the club chairman looking generally a bit lost, and no particularly re-assuring news from Arsene Wenger, COS new boy Jason looks at what Arsenal can do to improve without spending a pound.

Now that everyone is probably bored with the transfer talk, and the much talked about departure of an Arsenal legend (no names!), I thought I’d start question the grey cells on something different. What would you like to see tried out in pre season training, or the various friendly tournaments Arsenal are due to play in? Things that you think would improve us, or just things you’d like to see done, whether it’s formations, player positions or set pieces.

My shortlist:

- The 4-3-3 formation, would like to see it tried out as we all know we have the players for that kind of setup. Would like to see Adebayor or Bendtner up front as the lone striker with two deep lying wing forwards playing off him.

- Kolo Toure in midfield. The guy has everything you could want a midfield enforcer to have- controlled aggression, loping runs and crunching tackles. Is one of the most eager players to get us into games when we are behind and undoubtedly his energy is better suited to midfield, especially as his lack of heading ability is often exposed in defence.

- Eboue in midfield. We’ve all seen how good he is going forward, although some feel he is suspect defensively. Could he handle the lesser space afforded to him in midfield? If this was pulled off, we may not even need a winger, although some would question Hoyte’s capability as a first choice right back for the entire season.

- Rosicky playing as a shadow striker, in the Dennis Bergkamp role just behind Adebayor. Although Rosicky’s performances on the wing have by no means been poor, he works better controlling the play from Cesc’s position or being a free role as Ronaldinho is for Barcelona. He could accomplish much playing off Adebayor up front, perhaps this could be used if Van Persie gets injured at any point this season.

- Worked set pieces, ones that have been practiced by the club and then can be put into place in matches. An example of this is the one England used in the U21 Championships, where Lita scored with a diving header from two yards out. If executed properly, these can cause havoc

- Lastly, the Van Persie-Bendtner partnership. In a few games as we’ve seen Bendtner shine in the Championship and Van Persie shine in the Premiership, and the duo compliment each other perfectly. Unlike Adebayor, whose finishing at times is erratic Bendtner can put the ball past the keeper like the best of them and the Premiership saw how devastating Van Persie was last season. Put them together and do you have an unstoppable force? Hopefully!?

With no new big signings anywhere on the horizon, what would you do to improve Arsenal with the squad we have right now?