Highbury House

That’s in the headlines today.

Nuri Sahin was tipped to join Liverpool within the next few days on a season long loan but it seems that Arsenal have asked him to have a re-think. Alex Song appears to be on his way to Barcelona and Wenger wants Sahin to fill the void left. The player prefers to be at a club playing in the Champions League and it’s reported he favours joining us in any case, so we could yet see Nuri in an Arsenal shirt this coming season.

One we can’t wait to see fit and playing this season is Jack Wilshere and he’s our new number ten. The club are expected to confirm the squad numbers today before the new campaign kicks off tomorrow and of course the new captain will be announced. Thomas Vermaelen has to be favourite with either Mikel Arteta or Laurent Kosceinly as his deputy or maybe even Bacary Sagna?

Kyle Bartley, despite being given a squad number already this summer has now joined Swansea City in a deal believed to be around £1 Million. This makes me believe Arsene Wenger has plans to add a more experienced defender to the squad.

Hopefully one who can play anywhere across the back line, certainly left back as we still look vulnerable in that position.

That’s the gossipy stuff out the way…..

A year ago, Francis Coquelin was very much one of our promising young players, on the fringe of things.

Expectations for him were a run in the Carling Cup, maybe an appearance or two in the Premier League and Champions League.

Just 12 months later and Le Coq is very much a part of this Senior Squad with the prospect of playing a full part in the forthcoming season.

As well as Coquelin, we could also see a genuine home-grown lad emerging in Nico Yennaris.

Nico is a player of high technical ability and also one with a mature tactical head on his shoulders, a player who hasn’t looked out-of-place in an Arsenal XI.

These two are in the vanguard of an exciting generation of young players, one which begun with Jack Wilshere, that will gradually be fed into the Senior Squad from our increasingly productive Academy.

Believe me, we have a whole bunch of talented youngsters on the cusp of making the breakthrough.

Serge Gnabry, Thomas Eisfeld, Kristoffer Olssen, Chuba Akpom, all of these lads are quality…

Fortunately they have had the benefit of joining a Senior Squad that is now full of experienced, quality Internationals as Wenger’s transfer business over the last 12 months has seen a re-balancing of the squad with the likes of Arteta, Mertesaker, Podolski, Cazorla etc.

The balance between youth and experience looks right. There is a tightness to our team, a good shape and our defence looks like it can defend again which should help form the bedrock of a winning team.

It’s been a long time since I looked forward to a season with as much enthusiasm as i’m looking forward to this one!

I feel that Arsene has finally rediscovered that formula that he had temporarily lost, a trophy winning formula.

You can tell that we Arsenal fans are not alone in these feelings of optimism. Positive vibes can be picked up from the Press/Media.

A Media/Press that is staunchly anti-Arsenal..

Even those harbingers of doom cannot rain on our parade.

Those in the Media/Press have some of the biggest ego’s you’ll ever come across, they love to be right and they love to tell everyone about it when they are!

So if those egotists in the media are picking up the positivity, then we must have one hell of a good squad.

Not even the departure of one man can change that….

Written by Allezkev