Written by EJ Sunday, 07 August 2011 17:56

GunnerTalk Blog

By EJ

The Arsenal is a club that is close to my heart  just as I'm sure is close to everyone else's on gunnertalk. However, my prediction for the season is more like a predilection.

Never have I gone into a season feeling this uncomfortable with the Arsenal. This is not even taking into cognisance our pre-season results. As we all know, this has been one of our most uninspiring pre-seasons...we haven't won that many games and have only kept two clean sheets. The most pressing issues concern our players. Not those who are angling to leave lose Cesc and Nasri but those who remain like Squillaci and Traore.

I have just finished watching the community shield between United and City and I do not see how Arsenal can compete with United. There is no way that Arsenal will finish above United in a league spanning 38 games. We just do not have the defence to keep that many clean sheets. Without saying, we need to get rid of the likes of Squillaci. I just do not see us winning anything with him in the squad. He was not a key player for Sevilla that's why they sold him. Why should we be the dumping ground for a player like him. I could go on to criticise a few other members of the squad but it would serve no purpose.

To the subject of Fabregas and Nasri- it makes economic as well as football sense to sell them. Nasri to Man City for £22 seems more than fair for a player with a year left on his contract. For Cesc, his his heart and head are no longer with us. We should do the honourable and part ways amicably.

This brings me to my actual prediction for the season. For the first time under Arsene Wenger,  I will be very surprised if we claim a top 4 finish. In fact, I expect Arsenal to finish behind United, Chelsea, City and Liverpool in that order. That makes 5th. Sorry Arsene..