It’s a whole new world at the Emirates, to steal the words from the pulsating soundtrack to Aladdin. The 2018/19 season will be the first in 22 years where Arsène Wenger won’t be managing Arsenal in the Premier League. This is how we live now, in a world where we can’t go around poking fun at a 68-year old for failing to zip up a longline sports jacket.
A world without Arsenal starting well, putting together a formidable title challenge pre-Christmas before collapsing and scrambling to finish fourth either side of getting battered by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
This is all too different. Nobody likes change.
It’s the start of a new era in N5. The Unai Emery era.
Nobody really knows what to expect from Arsenal this year, least of all Arsenal fans, but quietly something has been going on at The Emirates this summer and bubbling under the surface could be a team capable of stopping Manchester City from running away with the league.
Firstly, it’s important to note that the new man in charge comes with a fantastic reputation from spells abroad and is someone who cannot be underestimated.
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It was hardly an announcement that provoked feelings of Christmas Day when the Spaniard was announced as Wenger’s successor, but the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss arrives in London with some pedigree.
Emery won the Europa League three times in a row when in charge of Sevilla, in 2013-14, 14-15 and defeating Liverpool 3-1 to claim success in 15-16.
The Europa League. A competition Arsenal are competing in this season and may have to win to qualify for next season’s Champions League, where the club feels they rightfully belong.
“Aided by Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat, Arsenal’s recruitment drive has been savvy, if not ground-breaking.”
It also can’t be overlooked that Emery led PSG to the Ligue 1 title last season, winning by 13 points, which is a success even when you have the advantage of the resources of a fresh-from-payday-geezer heading to Kraków to take advantage of £1 pints.
The 46-year-old is a strict tactician who favours a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 formation and whose past record suggests he would be looking to instil the steel and discipline this Arsenal side have been missing. The summer transfer business certainly suggests this is something Emery has been aiming towards.
Aided by Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat, Arsenal’s recruitment drive has been savvy, if not ground-breaking.
One of the many criticisms of Arsenal for a long time has their been supposed ‘lack of backbone’, so the signings of Borussia Dortmund central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira are aimed at solving that issue.
£27-million signing Torreira could well be the swashbuckling yet gritty midfielder the Gunners have lacked since the days of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva. The capture of German goalkeeper Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen is an intriguing one and says it all about the decline of Petr Cech over the last couple of seasons.
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It also cannot be forgotten that January signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have now had a full pre-season behind them, and along with Mesut Özil, pose an attacking threat that most clubs worldwide would die for.
Add Alexandre Lacazette, who could be reborn under a new manager, and an Aaron Ramsey who is looking for a new contract (or a new club) and the guys at ArsenalFanTV can be forgiven for licking their lips.
That first Super Sunday of the season is one to watch out for.
A new manager, in his first game, at home against the Champions Manchester City.
A fan base refreshed and recharged ready to get behind their new man.
What a statement Arsenal could be making by inflicting City’s fourth defeat in 39 games on Sunday. Arsenal have been crying out for a change for a long time.
The change has arrived. What happens next nobody knows, but the Gunners are definitely going to be worth keeping an eye on one way or the other.
By Joel Sanderson-Murray
@joelsmurray
A speculative effort at football journalism. 
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