Mikel Arteta has to Move Forward With the Young, the Bold and the Brave

I’m excited about the new season but like every Arsenal fan who’s seen the opening fixtures, there’s a sense of failure early doors. The recent additions of White, Lokonga and Tavares have certainly helped soothe the pre-season jitters and I’m told that Mikel Arteta wants a few more players and Arsenal aren’t finished yet.

Whether that equates to more additions or not is another thing, but it appears that Arsenal are still trying to add to the squad whilst ridding itself of players who aren’t part of the plans of Mikel Arteta. The aforementioned trio will have a huge bearing on our season are excellent purchases and I can’t wait to see what they can do together with the likes of Saka, Martinelli, Tierney and Smith Rowe.

Let’s also take a moment to recognise the excellent work to secure the services of those I’ve just named on longer contracts, thus avoiding the tiring game of press transfer speculation that follows the close of every season. Names continue to be linked with the club at a steady rate but nothing much is going on in terms of negotiations with 80% of those mentioned inside the back pages.

There is room for further excitement when a source close to the club told me that one of the signings that Edu and Arteta are after is “very complex and it may go down to the final hour of the final day”. “Don’t tell me that and then not give me a clue”, I said.

He changed the subject and I knew I had to follow suit. Perhaps, all this optimism is false but whilst considering that prospect, I had an epiphany. I wanted to stress less about results and concentrate on enjoying football again, being entertained by wholehearted performances from a group of success hungry youngsters that play for the pride of the badge.

You see it rarely these days, badge kissing is like breathing until the agent calls with a better offer, but in the likes of Saka, Tierney and Smith Rowe, there appears to be a genuine fondness and appetite to succeed. That’s what we’ve waited for for a while, the replacements for the likes of Wilshere, Cazorla and Ramsey who played with real pride and passion. They left nothing in the changing room and gave everything they had on the pitch for the fans.

You see, it’s relatively simple. Arsenal fans can forget a defeat if they see application and effort. They can suffer a negative result if they are entertained and can relate to what they’ve witnessed. That’s what this fledgling team offers.

As George Graham once had to do at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta has to move the club forward with the young, the bold and the brave to resurrect this wonderfully magic club. Let’s hope the majority of fans share my epiphany.

Are you looking forward to the new season? How are you going to approach the new campaign?

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