The fixtures for next season were released today and so I'm going to analyse what months should be easy and those which could see Arsenal slip up.
August Games: 6
The first month definitely looks the hardest but part of this is down to the Champions League Qualifiers which are must win games. Just a week after our final pre-season friendly, we face Newcastle away. Now I should be thinking 3 points in the bag but after last season, I'm not to sure. Thankfully however, the Magpies will have no Andy Carroll to push defense and goalkeeper around or Kevin Nolan who was arguably their most creative player. Instead now we just have to watch Tiote and Barton as the only main threats and should we lead 4-0 again at half time, I'd expect the team to hold on this time. After that is the first leg qualifier for Europe. This may see the same squad that played Newcastle as this is a crucial game. I would like to see a very attacking outfit so we can get 4 or 5 goals, allowing the youngsters to play the second leg. If not then it would be likely that 14 players will play the majority of the first 5 games which also include Liverpool at home and a trip to Old Trafford. I'd be extremely happy if we got 9 points and got to the group stage of the Champions League but even so a draw to Man United would be great considering previous visits to their ground.
September Games: 4/6
After an international break which is likely to see at least one Arsenal player injured, we welcome newly promoted Swansea to the Emirates. We need to use this fixture to show we mean business and also boost the goal difference. Next is hopefully the first group game in the Champions League followed by Blackburn away. This could be Samba returning to Ewood Park but nevertheless I predict a similar result to last season, just without the Van Persie injury. We end the month with the Carling Cup third round, a home game vs Bolton; which I can see a 2-0 win for the Gunners then game two in Europe. Much easier than August and we should see 9 points and hopefully plenty of goal.
October Games: 4-6
The North London Derby (away) starts what looks to be another tricky month. Another international break precedes that, then it's Sunderland (H), game 3 in the CL, Stoke (H), a possible Carling Cup match and then finally Chelsea away. Prepare for anything in October as this is usually a month in which we struggle. Despite this, it's very balanced and a minimum of two wins would be upsetting.
November Games: 3-6
On paper, one of the less challenging months. Two European games and maybe a quarter final in the Carling Cup are accompanied by league games against West Brom at home, a trip to Norwich then Fulham at the Emirates. We may have struggled against West Brom last season but we had Almunia in goal for both of them games. We also found it difficult against the Championship teams that we automatically promoted so that includes Norwich this year. Hopefully, we will be stronger this year and if we lose I will never hear the end of it as I live close to Norwich surrounded by Yellow and Green everywhere I go. There's no doubting that Paul Lambert will put up a fight and with 24,000 fans that treat Saturday as a religious day for football in Norfolk, it might need some class to win.
December Games: 6/7
Another balanced month for the Gunners. An away game to Wigan shouldn't be too much of a problem but then again, we were saying that last season and the one before. Then it's the final champions league group game which is hopefully a meaningless game for the youngsters. Next it's three tough games against Everton, then trips to Mancini's blues and then to Villa Park. This said we could beat all three of those teams as long as Man City don't park the bus. Over the festive season it's a little easier with what will probably be two relegation strugglers; Wolves then QPR.
January Games: 5-8
It remains simple for Wenger's team at the start of the new year; a trip to Fulham is followed by an FA cup round three match then a journey to Swansea. One week later, it gets a lot tougher with Man United visiting the Emirates. Despite this, we had a good home record last season, losing only to Tottenham, West Brom and Villa. We even beat United and Chelsea at the Emirates so we should no longer be afraid of the big teams.The month ends with a likely 4th round FA cup match and an away match against Bolton. There is also the possibility of two Carling Cup semi-finals should we reach that far in the competition. Overall a fairly manageable month with just one mid-week game, that being the Bolton match so plenty of recuperation time for the players.
February Games: 3-5
February could see Arsenal play as little as 3 times providing we aren't in any cup competition (which I doubt). Therefore the month is more likely to see a couple more fixtures added. In the league, we face Blackburn, Sunderland and then Tottenham on Carling cup final weekend. We also play our first knockout game in the Champions league and a possible FA cup game.
March Games: 5-7
As we get towards the end of the campaign, March could be vital in success. We start away to Liverpool who will be fighting for Europe. That's followed by a Champions League 2nd leg, the visit of Newcastle and then either Everton away or an FA cup quarter final. It continues, we then play Villa at home and possibly again in the Champions League. Finally, the Gunners end a tough month at Loftus road to new-boys QPR. Whether we have a successful season will largely swing on March. Win all our games and we will be in the semi-final of the FA cup, halfway into the same stage in Europe and also have a strong position in the table. On the hand, if this doesn't happen, the same questions will be asked.
April Games: 5-8
The penultimate month is equally if not harder than the previous. A possible quarter-final second leg kicks the month off which is quickly preceded by a home match against Manchester City. Just two days later we travel to Wolves then return to play Wigan or go to Wembley for the FA cup semi final. What follows will be crunch time for Arsenal. Should we remain in the Champions League, we'd play twice in a week with Chelsea in the middle. Wenger would have a massive dilemma on his hand if this happened as he'd have to choose between league and cup then play a stronger team to co-inside with this. Finally, it's a trip to play rugby in Stoke. In terms of must-win, this is definitely the toughest month although the first team may be given rests for Wolves and Wigan to save some energy for the final sprint.
May Games: 2/3
Eventually, the campaign will end with a game against Norwich then finally a trip to West Brom. Now, your final games are never the easiest in the year as everyone is fighting for something but you could ask for a lot harder so should we be top of the league, we would expect to remain at the top then celebrate into the night. I have to also add there is the Champions League final in Munich but I'm not going to be too greedy.
Thanks for ready. I know it was quite long so I will make sure my next post isn't an essay. If you would like to say anything about this then please mention me on twitter where my name is @davidarsenal95
There are many reasons why Barcelona won't buy Cesc, the main one being Barcelona's financial problems. It's rumoured that the Spanish giants have around £40million in the kitty and if Pep Guardiola wants more, he has to raise it from sales. However I can't see them selling that many players so realistically they will have maximum transfer funds of about £50-£60million. But there's more problems their side of the deal. The first is that they want to buy Sanchez from Udinese. They have to compete against Man City for the Chilean winger and currently the price on his head is around £40million which is probably double what he's actually worth. If they succeed in this signing, they would be likely to miss out on Fabregas due to a lack of money. The second problem caused by themselves is that they are unwilling to offer more than £35million. That is a very low valuation for someone who, in just 303 appearances for Arsenal has 100 assists and 57 goals. Just in the league alone last season, Fabregas had 3 goals and 14 assists in just 25 games. That's an average of 1 assist every 1.8 games and that's considering Arsenal don't score nearly as much as Barcelona do. That is very good reading yet Barcelona don't think Fabregas has improved since last year. Did they watch the World Cup? In extra time, Iniesta scored the winner thanks to a pass from none other than Cesc Fabregas which meant the Spanish won the World Cup. In 10, 20 or 30 years time, when Spanish people re-live that great moment they will see Fabregas setting up the goal which gave his country the World Cup. Purely for this, the Catalan club should stop embarrassing themselves with offers below what Cesc is worth.
If Barcelona eventually stump up around £45million for Fabregas, there is still a large obstacle in the way. This is Arsene Wenger. He has built the Arsenal team around Fabregas so to let it all go down the pan for nothing, would be unthinkable. Should his reluctance to let our captain go finally give in then it would have to be on his terms. 