By Daniel Okotako.
When Arsene Wenger announced his resignation as Arsenal manager, there was an undeniable sigh of
relief from the vast majority of the clubs long time supporters following his last ten years of mediocrity.
Nevertheless, some are weary of this change in light of Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure from Manchester united in 2013. The legendary scot, managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013 which saw him win 38 major honours. Despite this, following Ferguson’s departure Manchester United declined and struggled to mount a title bid the following season with David Moyes. So, should Arsenal be worried with Unai Emery’s appointment? There is an understanding that simply changing managers after a long period of having the same one doesn’t equate to a smooth transition. Different coaching philosophies, tactics and player management, are some of the changes that may take years to implement properly.
However, Mr Emery has started his tenure as Arsenal manager with a bang by signing Swiss right back Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer from Juventus. There were some raised eyebrows due to his age, but the reality is Arsenal need some experience and leaders, considering that has been their Achilles heel for many years. Arsenal also signed Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund, the experienced 29-year- old centre-back from Greece. So, calls for leadership in the spine of the team has been met.
Arsenal have successfully completed the signings of Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi; both
are young midfielders from Sampdoria and Lorient FC respectively. Torreira, 22, impressed at the
World cup for Uruguay and is highly rated considering the bargain price of £26 million in
today’s football transfer market.
Arsenal have made great progress in this year’s summer transfer window, despite having to let
go of Jack Wilshere to West Ham on a free transfer because of a lack of playing time in the starting
eleven. It seems like Arsenal were successful in getting all their summer business done before the new premier league season which starts on the 12th of August for Arsenal. In contrast, Arsenal under
Wenger have had quite a laid back approach in the summer windows. So will we see a rejuvenated
Arsenal? Only time will tell.
Daniel is currently a student studying mathematics with computer science at the university of Essex and has a strong passion for technology, specifically machine learning. Daniel is also interested in hip hop, Japanese culture and poetry and sports. In his spare time he loves creating websites and making music.
Twitter: @_dantako
