Before the first set of Premier League matches that takes place on the weekend of 17th and 18th of August, every club tries to prepare its players so that they are in peak mental and physical condition to encounter the rigors of the Premier League head-on.
The Premier League is a tough and physically-draining league which goes on for the best part of ten months from August to May. It’s just not possible for a club to call its players back from holiday in the first week of August, train for a couple of weeks and start the season in confident mood.
So, all the squad players are summoned to report in early July and after a heavy dose of physical conditioning, the players begin training and play some ‘friendly’ matches to get as close to match fitness and speed as possible.
As much as these matches are designed to gear up players for the start of the season, it is an additional source of revenue for the clubs which are essentially meaningless matches. Supporters go to see these friendlies in order to ascertain how their clubs are shaping-up for the new season and also to judge the new talent which might be on display.
But, one thing they don’t usually do, usually, is boo their own team and, that too, at half-time. Granted, the Gunners put up an uninspired display and were rightly 2 goals down, but at the end of the day, it’s just a friendly. And the team did prove them wrong by coming back into the match to earn a commendable 2-2 draw.
However, what might have stoked the fire is that there was no new talent on display for fans to shout about for the upcoming season. Much has been said about Arsenals new ‘financial firepower’ in the transfer market but these claims are yet to be backed up.
Eight years without a single trophy have made Arsenal fans impatient and Wenger needs to realize that soon the minority of supporters calling for his head could turn into the majority unless a marquee signing doesn’t come in who can help to change the fortunes of the club.