EPL Losing its Luster? and Arsenal Blues

I like to largely ignore the silly season, otherwise known as the transfer window, but it’s hard for an Arsenal fan hopeful that this will be the year we will finally stop our miserly ways. This summer Gooners were promised a spending spree, with a 70 million pound war chest at our disposal. As we approach the halfway point, however, all we have to show for our high hopes is a free transfer of a future prospect. We have been rumoured to be in for some big names from a dramatic Cesc Fabergas return (unlikely), to a first-class striker signing. So far we have elided our early interest in Jovetic (just signed by Man City), appear to be losing out on Higuian (who would be a great signing in my estimation, but could be headed to Napoli or maybe even Chelsea (though that rumour seems bizarre), will probably lose out on a spectacular move for Rooney (to Chelsea or some overseas team) and might be in a futile battle to prise away Luis Suarez. Any of the latter three would clearly signal a dramatic change in philosophy and ramp up a charge for a first league title in nine years, but it is quite plausible we could lose out on all of them. We still arguably need a central defender (with Ashley Williams still linked), a defensive midfielder (Wanayama has already signed for Southampton though Fellaini is an admittedly expensive option), another goalkeeper (the loan move by Napoli for QPR’s Cesar just fell through) and maybe another midfielder. One hopes the summer doesn’t end with more heartbreak, though us Gooners really only live on hope these days.

Overall, it has been a bit of a reality check for the EPL’s contention that it is the best league in Europe. Far too many top targets have chosen Italy, Germany, Spain or even France over the birthplace of the beautiful sport. Falcoa and Cavani arguably chose the money in going to Monaco and PSG, respectively. Alcantara chose to move to Bayern with old boss Guardiola just as he seemed on the precipice of signing with Manchester United and Kevin Strootman chose Roma over the Red Devils. Lewandowski would rather see out the final year of his contract at Dortmund and move on to Bayern than test the waters in England and teammate Goetze has already made that move over overtures from several EPL clubs. Several top targets even chose Russia over top English clubs. What does all this tell us? Is it merely the tax structure and weather in England? That certainly doesn’t seem to be the case when compared with Russia. Is it the recent decline in form in European competitions, ignoring Chelsea’s near miracle run to the Champion’s League title last year and their Europa League title this past season? Is there a sense the English football is just more physically taxing and less technically interesting than Spain or Germany (who has fundamentally changed its approach at the national and club level)? Tevez and Balotelli are gone, many more have moved on, the two best players in the world play in Spain, the assumption is the best player in the EPL (Bale) will ultimately move to Spain, the best club in the world is arguably Bayern Munich and signs abound that there is a general decline across England. On the other hand, Man City has made a number of quality signings grabbing players from Spain and Italy, one of the best coaches in the world just moved from Real to Chelsea, mid-tier teams like Southampton, Stoke and Sunderland have made impressive signing improvements to their squads and Liverpool and Arsenal could be on the ascendancy. It is also too often forgotten that Arsenal were very close to going 2-2 in the first leg of their UCL tie with Bayern before giving up a silly third goal and had a chance, blown by Giroud (what a surprise), to still win the aggregate score against the future champions in the return leg.

There are still signings available, for both Arsenal, and the other top clubs. One hopes some are made and it should certainly be an interesting race for the title, with Man United and Chelsea doing little to improve so far, Man City strengthening considerably (though maybe losing a key figure in Tevez) and Arsenal still itching to add the few ingredients that could make us contenders (lest us forget we would have won the league if it started in February, though that argument is clearly absurd). And I do still believe the EPL is the most exciting league in the world, even if it can no longer claim to be the best (though with substantially more parity than Spain and Germany (and arguably France and Italy as well)). One more month to go!