Time to look forward to next season 11 May, 2010

So we did it, we secured third with an easy win over Fulham who obviously had one eye on this week’s Europa League Final. No match report from me because I didn’t really see a lot of it to be honest, I drifted in and out with several dying feeds but what I did pick up is that we had no problems seeing them off 4-0. In the end we didn’t need to win as Spurs threw away a 2-0 lead at Burnley to lose 4-2, which was quite funny, but we can’t say we haven’t done similar in recent weeks. It’s nice to end the season on a high though after everything that’s happened and we can start the preparations for next season.

Wenger says we conceded too many to win the league which is a fair assessment really. At least we can look at that and improve for next year. William Gallas wasn’t at the Fulham game so we can all but assume he is off now, there’s been no talk of a new deal for Silvestre and nothing has been sorted out for Sol Campbell yet. So surely we must be in the market for a central defender as well as a goalkeeper this summer. Djourou came on for half an hour on Sunday – his first appearance of the season. If he can stay fit next year then that’s another option but I feel we need another top signing that can come straight in to our defence with Vermaelen. Wenger might see Johan as our new first choice defender but I think we should at least bring someone in to compete with him, we’ve hardly seen Djourou all year so we’ve got nothing to go by to suggest he’s good enough.

I’m sure there’ll be plenty of transfer speculation to come over the summer so we’ll have to just wait and see. I wouldn’t say signing a striker is a priority but we’re getting a pretty good deal on Chamakh and we know Wenger loves a bargain. It’ll be great to have a bit of competition up front and Robin van Persie is looking forward to his arrival. We’ll have a wealth of attacking talent if Chamakh completes his move so I think it’s now time for Wenger to start looking further towards the back of the XI.

It won’t be long until we have to start talking about a deal for the manager himself. Wenger has got one year left on his deal and despite saying he is very happy here he has denied signing a new deal already. I’m not worried and Ivan Gazidis isn’t either, he’s confident that Arsene will extend his deal again to beyond next year. I know there are a few Gooners that are looking for us to make a fresh start and call it a day on Arsene but I don’t think his project is over yet. I was glad to hear him say recently that we don’t need any more kids; it’s now time to take those youngsters that he has brought through the ranks onto the big time. This year wasn’t quite our turn, injuries, mistakes and a bit of immaturity left us short but we are so close now to fulfilling our potential, I’d be very surprised if Arsene left without guiding his legacy to the top.

There’s more than just transfer plans to sort out this summer. The Arsenalization scheme has major plans this summer, which include the renaming of the stands North, Clock, East and West, the stones to be laid outside the Armoury, a new Clock End clock to put inside the stadium and more. I’m looking forward to coming back for the Emirates Cup at the end of July already.

However whilst Arsene and Ivan are busy preparing us for next season most of our lads will be thinking towards South Africa now. The provisional England squad was named today and Theo Walcott is our only inclusion. Sol Campbell wasn’t expecting anything but was still hoping he might get a call up, however it’s probably going to take an injury to someone for him to get on that plane to the World Cup. It’s a shame because this is certainly his last chance to pull on and England shirt and to have Ledley King picked over you must not be nice. He won’t mind though, it would’ve just been a massive bonus to an up and down season for Sol. I guess it’s good from an Arsenal point of view because if we do sign him up again he’ll be a bit fresher in August.

Still, it’s a shame not to see him involved in the World Cup and it means we have just the one Gooner going to South Africa this summer. It’s going to be hard getting behind most of the names representing England but I guess I’ll just have to get over that. I’m still looking forward to the World Cup, at least we’ll have something to watch over the break before we get to see Arsenal again in July. The fantastic guys at SoccerPro.com have sent me this brand new England World Cup Jersey for the tournament. I quite like the new goalkeeper shirt and I will be wearing my whites greens with pride! If you haven’t checked SoccerPro.com out already they have a whole load Soccer Gear and Soccer Uniforms on the site and a massive range of World Cup Apparel so go check them out if you haven’t already got your shirt for the summer. Thanks again to them for the shirt.

Well the season’s finally over now and it’s time to look ahead to 2010/11. I must admit it’s a bit of a relief to have finally reached the summer but I’m already raring to go in August. Hopefully Wenger will make the necessary improvements we need and we can go that step further next season. News, reactions, signings and whatever else comes our way to come on The Cannon all summer long. Until next time, thanks for reading.