{"id":1324,"date":"2020-09-07T20:42:12","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T19:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2020-09-11T16:40:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T15:40:33","slug":"season-preview-the-difference-a-trophy-makes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1324","title":{"rendered":"Season Preview \u2013 The Difference A Trophy Makes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When I sat down to write this preview the first thing that struck me as I pondered the upcoming season was how much the whole vibe around the club, the players and the supporters had been changed by our FA Cup win, benefits both tangible and intangible were gained that day. If we had not so steadfastly put Chelsea to the sword a month ago this would be a very different season preview. Potless in more ways than one, the discussion would have been around our worst league position in a millennium, our inability to win big games and our lack of resources to meet the challenge ahead. We would not have watched another Wembley win, this time over Liverpool, or even had the simple pleasure of chuckling over trips to Bulgaria for the neighbours. But we did win and thank Dennis I am not writing that preview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead we go into the new season with reasons to be cheerful indeed. One two, three for starters \u2013 firstly, the trophy cabinet is freshly stocked as we\u2019ve remembered how to win, secondly new players have been brought in with more to come if Edu is to be believed and thirdly, our current crop of youngsters \u2013 Saka, Martinelli, Saliba, Smith-Rowe, Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Nketiah, Willock, Tierney and now the new Gabriel are all plausibly challenging for regular starting places though the jury is still out on some.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, I\u2019m a blockhead as there are far more than three. We have the strongest keeper duo in the PL, we have a core of experienced players through the spine of the team, we have Auba to sign, we have Dani back and I haven\u2019t even got to the really good news yet. This season will start with a fan base united behind our bright young manager after what seems like an eon of pointless bickering and mistrust, the players seemingly fully committed to the plan and actually understanding what it is, and then we have Mikel himself talking the talk and walking the walk like, well, like a top class manager. Truly our cup runneth over and buoyed by success we bounce into the new season; that is the difference a trophy makes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course the problem with\nbouncing is that you come down again eventually and as I think more deeply about\nthe coming season there are, as ever, more questions than answers. Rather than\ntake those questions one by one I would like to look at them as they relate to\nour challenges in the coming PL season. As Mikel Arteta himself has already pointed\nout it is great to win cups and to beat big clubs in one-off games but the real\ntest for this team is to win consistently and to return our club to the top of\nthe table. In terms of that challenge I see 3 fundamental questions \u2013 1) Are we good enough?<\/strong> 2) Do we have the will? 3) Do we have the\ndepth?<\/strong> Be nice to answer yes, yes and yes and finish this piece with a\ncheery \u201csee you in Islington for the trophy parade\u201d but they are difficult\nquestions to answer and the fact that the transfer window closes nearly a month\nafter the season starts doesn\u2019t help \u2013 that is not a criticism as it was I\nthink unavoidable \u2013 for the simple reason that key areas of the team will most\nlikely see changes in personnel between now and mid October. A look at our\nresults since the restart doesn\u2019t really help much as a form guide either other\nthan to show Mikel was absolutely right to point to a lack of consistency as\nour biggest challenge internally. The external challenges I will deal with\nsummarily later. On then to the first of those questions\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we good enough? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past two or three weeks on\nGoonerholics Forever saw some excellent analyses of the strengths and weaknesses\nin various areas of the pitch. I will not go over old ground other than to say\nyou\u2019d have to travel a long way to find a gooner who is satisfied with our\ndefence in the central areas or our creativity going forward. However,\ncontrarily I will answer my own question with a tentative yes. Why tentative?\nSaliba and Gabriel must prove capable of hitting the ground running, in all\nhonesty that is a big ask as we have already seen from the large number of\ncentre backs we have signed and discarded over the last few seasons but it must\nbe done and it can be helped by the second caveat – we must sign at least one\nplayer in central midfield with the speed of thought and movement to both win\nthe ball and then use it to drive us forward. Finally, Auba must stay fit. I am\nsure that between them Pepe, Laca, Eddie, Martinelli, Saka, Nelson and now\nWillian (quite the supporting cast now that I put all the names on paper) can\nprovide goal-scoring support but Auba is our only top class 20 goal a season\nstriker. So much for the why tentative, now to the why yes. It is possible with\nthe caveats above that for the first time in a few seasons we can field a\nstrong side in all areas of the pitch next season, certainly good enough for\nthe Top 4. A cheery thought. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we have the will? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch us against Wolves or\nSouthampton away after the restart, never mind Chelsea and Man City in the cup\nand I would say the answer is yes. Watch us against Brighton and Villa or\nindeed any of the bottom six last season, with the exception of West Ham bless\n\u2018em, and the answer is to me no. We dropped 15 points against the bottom 6\nsides last season and we cannot do that again and expect any improvement in our\nposition this season. The odd bad result yes, after all Liverpool lost at\nWatford and Man City at Norwich just from memory last season but 15 points is\nnot acceptable. This is not a matter of ability and it is a problem we have had\nfor several seasons. Personally, I think it is Mikel\u2019s biggest challenge, one\nthat he certainly hasn\u2019t solved yet and one that I must regretfully accept may\nnot be solved this coming season. I am not blaming individuals, it is a team\nproblem \u2013 the players can see it happening and they are the ones who must be\ndriven enough to do something about it. I would love to see progress in this\narea, flat-track bully is not an insult to me in football terms. Confidence\ngained from winning the FA Cup will help but it is not a matter of confidence\neither, it is a matter of determination to win every time you walk on the pitch.\nThe players talk the talk well but then do not walk the walk. That is possibly\nharsh but some of our performances both before and after the restart were infuriating.\nThis is where Mikel must earn his money \u2013 he\u2019s explained the plan, the players\nget it and now they must produce \u2013 and I hope he will be ruthless with\nslackers. I was as angry as Guen after the Brighton game but it was our own\nfault not Maupay\u2019s regardless of his sneaky assault. Seeing is believing on\nthis question at this stage but I am as always hopeful. Fulham away is a good\nplace to start. One thing that could help is the better- balanced squad that\nMikel & Edu have talked about. We are going to need it and it also takes us\nto the next essential for success in what will be a brutally congested season.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we have the depth?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As has already been widely predicted this season will be tougher than an ageing warthog, and there will be more injuries than usual, particularly muscle injuries and that\u2019s without the damned virus. In all honesty I\u2019d have preferred some competitions to be suspended for a year but the time for that discussion is past as greed has once more prevailed in a 1st<\/sup> Rd KO. In the circumstances, having every position effectively covered is even more critical than usual. In seasons past both Leicester and Liverpool have won the league with weaker squads than Man City but I\u2019m doubtful that will be the case this season. The balance must be right of course. It is pointless having three great left backs if we have no one to cover at right back. However, at this moment I would answer yes on the depth with the same caveat applying in central midfield. Again, the transfer window makes a definitive answer impossible but personally I would not like to see either Hector or Laca sold \u2013 much as I like them both I am not yet convinced that Eddie or AMN are the answers at CF or RB \/ RWB through several months of games. Squad depth is the reason I would sell AMN before Hector, Laca or either of our goalkeepers this season if we must sell to strengthen. I understand people will disagree and point to the excellent job AMN has done in recent big games on the left and they would be right to, but we have new center backs, which should free KT for that role and Saka is a good choice when we want to be more attacking. The right concerns me more. We can\u2019t sell Cedric and I\u2019d honestly rather keep Hector than AMN at this moment to play either RB or RWB though there\u2019s less in that there was and time may prove me wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suppose when we look at\nwhat we need to get back to the top of the table as Mikel wants (all of us too\nno doubt) \u2013 and by the top I mean challenging for the title and not scraping\ninto the Top 4 though I\u2019d take that for this season \u2013 then two out of three\nain\u2019t bad with some judicious buys \/ holds between now and the end of the\ntransfer window. Of course there are more factors involved but our fixture list\nis reasonable,\u3000our team doctor is staying and our executive\nteam looks less cluttered. I should also say something about the board I\nsuppose as it is, after all, running the club and therefore I will duly note\nthat they exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what of the external\nfactors then? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man City and Liverpool must\nbe our two main targets this season. In Man City\u2019s case Silva is gone and\nAguero aging plus Pep seems recently to have lost his pip and pop, the poor pup\nis down to the pap. Still, they will be a challenge even with their Shitty defence.\nAs for Liverpool and Klippity Klopp, well we won\u2019t talk about Klep and Klap in\nthis case as one is a sensitive issue for the bindippers and the other\nshouldn\u2019t be discussed in a family blog. However, few teams retain the title\nand they haven\u2019t looked the same force for several months now. A quality side\nbut we\u2019ll see whether they can raise their game again. Man Utd and Chelsea have\nboth spent money but I don\u2019t see that it\u2019s money spent wisely and their mangers\nare both overrated. Though of course Mikel will treat all our opponents with\nrespect, as will the players I have no such constraints. The rest are little\nteams and should be dispatched accordingly. Well, I did say I would deal with\nthe externals summarily so you were warned. In all seriousness I\u2019m a firm\nbeliever in putting our own house in order rather than worrying about the\nopposition and if we can improve our attitude under Mikel\u2019s guidance then I\nbelieve we have the quality and depth to challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, buy a decent CM,\nturn up for every game this season and the results will look after themselves\nbecause you have quality. Easy for me to say of course but it is not actually\nimpossible for Mikel and the players to do, so just do it lads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot finish without mentioning my biggest hope for the season \u2013 our fans return, everyone stays safe, and we get through the coming winter in the best of health. A happy and prosperous 20\/21 season to all the gooners everywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I almost forgot\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HolicsRopeyLeague<\/strong> is running again in the Fantasy League this\nseason and the more the merrier so please just let us know with a quick post in\nthe comments section if you\u2019d like to sign up and we will send you the code. I\nlook forward to crushing you there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I sat down to write this preview the first thing that struck me as I pondered the upcoming season was how much the whole vibe around the club, the players and the supporters had been changed by our FA Cup win, benefits both tangible and intangible were gained that day. If we had not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1334,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}