Is it too early to panic? | Midfield crisis! | Arsenal August Review

If you asked me to describe what I feel about Arsenal Football Club in the month of August, I would say, describing it as the weather, I would say sunny with some slight clouds. And what I mean by that is I think there's plenty of reasons to still be optimistic and not panic, bearing in mind this three games into the season. And I'm defo not doing the negative pile on stuff. But I think there's reasons to be cautious or, you know, balanced, I would say. I think there's reasons to be excited. There's reasons to be cautious on the face of it. August has been a mixed bag from us on both the football front and also the transfer market. Now, on the face of it, where transfer news is concerned or the transfer window, I've done a more in-depth opinion on that. Check out that video. But in short, we have addressed all areas. David Rye's move was made permanent. I know he's injured currently. Mikel Mourinho was obviously, you know, made permanent. And that actually adds to what I mean by the clouds, because in true Arsenal fashion, we ain't even got to see the man kick a ball. Whatever you say about Raheem Sterling, we've brought an experienced, versatile attacker. And I think everybody's excited about Ricardo Californi, especially with what we saw of him at Bologna, obviously in the Euros and what we've seen in the cameos. So I do think we've got stronger squad, stronger 11 options. I don't necessarily think the squad. I think we've done well to, you know, deal with the lemon's life throughout us in the transfer market. But I don't feel we did everything that we could of people. Where the football's concerned, it wouldn't be an Arsenal season without referees, people. And we've got early doors. We've got referees. We've got transfer market opinions and depth opinions. We've got injuries. We've got it all, people. You know, the ref did us dirty against Brighton. Potentially controlling the variables that we can control. We had chances in either half to kill the game. Against Wolves, it wasn't pretty. It wasn't terrible, but we got the job done. Aston Villa, we got out of jail. Let's be brutally honest with that regards, people. But we got three points on the face of it. Seven points from nine for me in the first available games. I don't necessarily feel that is the baddest of things. Yes, two points dropped or a point gained, depending on where you look at the Brighton game and the backdrop of Manchester City, the big bad bullies chasing their, you know, five in a row. And also Pep Guardiola has said after the international break, it's now serious business. So I don't think it's bad. I do think in the games, I don't think we've been playing at 100%. I think collectively, we need to find a way to kind of set up differently because teams are playing mid blocks, not allowing us to play centrally. I don't think our players are moving the ball and playing that quick, free-flowing football. Collectively, they can. I think individually, you can see players are not necessarily fit. I think Partey is doing a lot better than people make out, but there's still struggles there. I think Declan Rice is far from his best. I don't think Odegaard has been terrible. But in terms of decisiveness, he's had two weeks in a row where he could have scored. In fact, you know, I do think Timber's done very well. I think Saliba and Gabriel definitely could have done better against Brighton, but generally done all right. I would say the standout stars for me in the month of August would be Mr Kai Havertz. He's been doing the business. Mr Bakayo Saka, he's been doing the business. And David Ryer has been absolutely superb. They would be the three players. Heylock, Timber as well. Of course, now with the red card, with the red card that we suffered with Declan Rice, with the injury to Mikel Moreno, the backdrop of Tommy Yasu, Gabriel Jesus not being fully fit, and us just not necessarily believing we've got depth. It's a mixed bag where August is concerned for me. You know, as I said, we got the job done against Wolves. We nicked it against Aston Villa. We, you know, we were the villains against Villa. The referee was then the villain against Brighton because it only looked like Brighton would be in it when it was 10 Arsenal men against 11 Brighton players, 12 if you include the referee. No disrespect to Brighton. I'm not asking us to be at our free-flowing best three games into the season. If this was 10 or so games into the Premier League, I'd be looking with a lot more concern, if I'm brutally honest. Of course, you know, you've still got concerns on the left-hand side. Raheem Sterling's addition adds something to the mix, but Martinelli's not looked convincing. It's difficult to judge Trosser off of one start, but he didn't really convince against Brighton in his start after being the superman off the bench against Aston Villa. Our net spin at the end of August obviously is more positive where transfer dealings are concerned, but it doesn't feel like we have enough depth and nor did for me the transfer window feel like one in which we moved the needle and raised the ceiling of our side, although we raised the floor. We did also fail to get a number of first-choice targets on the transfer front and allegedly people at the club are unhappy with our scrambling around the goalkeeping situation. So heading into September, you know, it could be better, it could be worse, but we know we've got Mikel Moreno out until the next international break. Declan Rice has a one-game ban. We hope Tommy Assu and Gabriel Jesus are fit. We hope individually and collectively we can get back to playing how we can, because again, it was one game a week at the start of it. After this international break that we find ourselves in, people, it's about to get real. You've got two games every week, three games every 10 days. You know, again, in and amongst the Spurs away trip and playing Manchester City, we've also got an away trip in the Champions League. So we're actually away from the Emirates. The fixture list is condensed and congested, people. Obviously, with the way the Champions League has turned, it's a lot of football from now to the end of the year and even the January period, you know, and again, there's going to be no hiding place because for me personally, three games into the season, I think there's concerns. I think there's reasons to be optimistic. I don't quite think there's reasons to panic yet, although with it being technically Mikel and what's expected to be our third title challenge, I cannot say I'm necessarily bullish about us getting over the line, even though I think we'll put our best foot forward and aspire with that. You're seeing what Liverpool are doing now. You know what Manchester City are about. We know the territory we're in. Now, for me, it's the time for togetherness and to show Arsenal fans that we want to, you know, where the players are concerned, they want to do something serious. The narrative for me, I would describe within Arsenal fan base as mixed. But if you go and beat Spurs, you get something against City and you keep the winning run. Narratives change. As we know, a week is a long time in football. So I think it's a mixed bag. Ultimately, there's reasons to still be optimistic. But I am cautious. As I said, there's no need to panic. But I cannot pretend that everything is rosy and great. It's a mixed bag. What we want to do with that, where we go from this, I don't know people and I am concerned about the depth. I don't really feel we've got the depth. You keep hearing me say that in this video. So with that being said, let me know your thoughts. Don't forget to like, comment and subscribe and tell me how you're thinking with August. You know, we've got a tough round of fixtures to come upon us people. Hopefully we can stand up to be counted on that note. Like, comment, subscribe. Let me know your thoughts. Peace.