Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sports
Despite the post-match comments from Arsene Wenger, there is really only one true feeling that nearly all Arsenal fans will be experiencing tonight and that is a feeling of being let down.
As Arsenal slipped to a catastrophic defeat at home to Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League, something became a reality. All summer Gooners have watched and listened to the various big-name and big-money signings enter the Premier League, from their rivals Tottenham to lower clubs like Norwich. But despite that all, Arsenal fans have been to told to wait, to be patient and have hope that new additions will come.
Fans once again went into the game with hope that once again the squad available would be able to produce a satisfactory performance. But reality hit.
That hope peaked when Oliver Giroud finished off a nicely worked move, but the cracks soon began to appear. An injury to Kieran Gibbs occurred and the weaknesses in the squad became obvious once again. Just days before the Champions League qualifier that they had all worked so hard for, the squad is on its knees.
Arsenal fans have stood strong and had faith in what their owners have been telling them and in what their manager has been telling them. Yet, it’s become evident now that it is all rubbish.
It seems to be nothing more than PR work: statements that will keep the businessmen happy and the fans returning for another season. Just days before the season ticket deadline this summer, Arsenal stated that they had the funds to invest heavily in new talents to help challenge at the top once again.
Well what happened? Arsenal fans are justified in their anger. With the Premier League’s most expensive tickets, where exactly is the money going?
Whether that is the board or Wenger’s fault, as a collection. they are letting their own fans down. They say wait until the end of the transfer window, which still may prove to be right — but the season began on the August 17, not September 2. Any momentum that they could have gathered has been completely wiped out. It’s gone.
The squad that ended last season so well was in all honesty a decent and impressive unit. But since then, their competitors have taken leaps forward. Arsenal hasn’t spent a penny; yet five players left the club in one day. I think Arsenal fans deserve answers; it’s becoming painful for even outsiders to watch.
They are a club who takes pride in being classy. Their lack of spending in the past has helped them further that status, as they achieve with developed products. But now that’s gone too far. The lack of spending is becoming to look a farce and it is cheating their own fans.
We’ll see what work can be done for Arsenal in the rest of the transfer window, but it is fair to say that if Arsenal fans are let down once more, then someone needs to stand up and take the blame and more importantly, explain — without safe playing phrases and hopeful pleas.
Stowe Gregory is an English featured Soccer and Sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him or tweet on Twitter @stowegregory. Or add to circles on Google +
