Arsenal vs Sunderland

First game of the season, home to Sunderland, who loves to just sitback and hope for a counterattack, as they did under Martin O'Neill last season. They certainly 'parked the bus' and set out to frustrate Arsenal, with the Sunderland goalkeeper even resorting to time wasting only 20 minutes into the match.

Except for one chance where Sunderland got through a little too easily early in the game, where the shot was directed straight at Szczesny, it was all Arsenal. Possession and the chances were going on all game.
However it was not to be, Arsenal despite a few good chances, and one glorious chance, could not break down the resolute Sunderland defence.

Cazorla had a good debut. A few times he looked a little too complacent, losing the ball and misplacing passes on a couple of occasions, but when he clicked into gear, he created some glorious chances. Podolski had a fairly quiet league debut, despite the good performances against his former club in a friendly.
Giroud could have had a great debut as a substitute, but somehow put it wide.

Frustrations grew with the fans as they got more and more restless as the game continued. One of the major gripes I had was the tempo was far too slow with no real urgency throughout the game.
Arteta should have been pushed up more, but now that we have lost Song to Barcelona (again), one wonders about the DM position. Arshavin came on late and despite people willing to give him another chance after a brilliant Euro 2012 performance for Russia, unfortunately he looked like the player we are used to who gives balls away and doesn't seem to 'try'.

After the match, Wenger had this to say, "We played in a good spirit and tactics... with creativity and the chances we created, we couldn't finish" and also admitted its difficult without RVP as he would have surely put that chance away that Giroud missed.

It is disappointing to not win the first game, especially home, but I think its far too early to feel all doom and gloom about it. We just have sit and wait and be patient. Something that by now we as Arsenal fans are good at.

Lets hope in the next couple of weeks, we do bring in at least a couple of more players, as on the face of it, we need it.

Robin Van Persie to Manchester United

Well, I think most people realised that Van Persie was leaving Arsenal sooner or later, and more than confirmed when Wenger bought in both Giroud and Podolski. 

Still, it is a shock that he has left to join Manchester United.

It is in stark contrast to some of his ex-team mates, that he refused to move to Manchester City. However it is small consolation for Arsenal fans. I cannot help but feel this is a strange move on part of Van Persie. 
Yes, there have been no trophies, and yes the last couple of seasons losing 2 very important players had been a massive morale hit, but still it feels more like a sideward step. 

Wenger had this to say regarding the transfer "To strengthen an enemy is the other negative point of this loss," Wenger told TF1.

"We wanted to avoid it but we couldn't. Honestly, I'd rather sell him abroad, to Paris Saint-Germain for example.

"Manchester United know him and know his qualities. He's really an exceptional player, believe me."

I think even if we lost out on around £5 million pounds of the transfer, he should have pushed through the deal with a team abroad. One of the main gripes I have with Arsenal's transfers is that they do tend to sell quite a few players to league rivals, when other options might have been viable. Of course it could be that the player themselves might not have been interested in a move abroad.

Looking at the positives however, the reported £24million is an excellent price to get for a 29 year old that has a long history of injury problems. And with Podolski and Giroud, along with Santi Cazorla pulling the strings from behind (as was witnessed in the 4-0 hammering of FC Cologne), I think Arsenal fans have a lot to looking forward to. We need to build on the 3rd place of last season and really push the sails out.

Cazorla comes to the Emirates!

Wow, wow, wowwwwwww!

What an incredible signing, this has changed the whole mood of Arsenal fans and make everyone quickly forget all about the RVP fiasco.

For those of you who do not know much about Santi, he is a very versatile attacking midfielder who is ambidextrous with both feet. He is also a Spain international usually used as a central attacking midfielder, and thats no mean feat when considering who he has to jostle with for the positions (Xavi, Iniesta, Silva anyone?).

He has great control (as you would expect from a Spanish international), great vision and one hell of a long shot. He is also a free kick specialist. He's also a very experienced Champions League player, having played in the competition for many years with Villareal.

Having brought in 2 strikers, including the highly impressive Podolski (who also, lets face it, Arsenal needed, as he will simply attempt to blast the ball at every opportunity, as opposed to walk the ball in), having a creative midfielder like Santi will be sure to supply that needle eye accurate passes.

Now we will see if RVP changes his mind and decides to stay, but with the striking signings and Arsenal having already made a statement that they can live without him, it has now become less important whether Robin stays or not.

Here comes another great season and a rollercoaster ride that is being an Arsenal fan.