Now is the time to consider expectations

Realistic targets for the season ahead

Now is the time to consider expectations, in my opinion.

Inevitably, pundits and bloggers alike preview each new season before a ball has been kicked in anger. I tend to reserve any pre-season star gazing for after the close of the transfer window.

Conventional wisdom dictates that a season is founded upon the legacy of the first ten league games. I prefer to take the broader view, since we are supposedly capable of mounting a challenge on three domestic fronts and in Europe.

The transfer window is now shut. The optimist in me recognises that we have retained the services of Cesc Fabregas, probably until May. Chamakh's performances to date suggest that he will add another dimension and no little quality. I like Koscielny's tenacity, but worry about how easily Diouf brushed him aside for Blackburn's goal. Squillaci looks more psychopathic than The Verminator. If he becomes as intrinsic, I would certainly applaud his signing. Time will tell. The goalkeeping situation remains risible: perhaps we should ask what Gerry Payton is being paid for.

Are we good enough to mount the requisite challenge(s), as things stand? I have substantial doubts. The perennial frustration is that we are close, but the only cigar within sight accompanies Peter Hill Wood's favourite tipple. That said, matchday support does not rely on belief alone.

Spurs away in the Carling Cup. We know about Gallas, but he won't be clinching the title at The Grove: Sol Campbell did at White Hart Lane. What Gallas does have, is more winners medals than the entire squad he will face on 21st September. Regrettably, I fear that experience (and rabid fervour) will out.

The FA Cup has recently dropped in Arsene Wenger's list of priorities. Cup draws are impossible to predict - but our squad, talented as they are, may not have enough in reserve for potential bigger ties. Indeed, an inability to prevail against the foremost teams remains unresolved in all competitions.

I am confident of progression in the Champions League, where the resultant draw will again dictate expectations.

As for the "bread and butter" of the league? The group stages of the Champions League nearly all precede key fixtures. Those will clearly be telling indicators.

If nothing has been learned from last season's collapse, it never will be. Whilst other clubs set their own benchmarks, we are again invited to postpone judgment until May.

With the definition of success no longer limited merely to silverware, what other successes would constitute a prosperous campaign?

Further reduction of the debt is assured. The Club will continue speculating to accumulate with the "Arsenalisation" process. Other ventures, from the Fanshare innovation to plaques on seats will contrive to enhance both revenue and brand.

On the pitch, I would consider improvement in the fundamentals a portent of success:

• The ability to concentrate for 90 minutes every game,

• Linked inextricably to concentration, a meaningful reduction in "soft" goals conceded,

• Better management of injuries (although I recognise that luck, referees and the integrity of opponents make this unlikely,

• Sad as it is to have to ask, 100% commitment throughout the squad. There are individuals who are content to coast; whilst others strain themselves - quite literally - to maintain a standard,

• Team selection based on form, rather than hierarchy,

• Evidence of less profligacy in front of goal; for the sake of a pass when a shot is clearly on.

Whilst the basket case formerly known as Manchester City and the Phoney Russian Franchise will affect our season, I consider United a more comparable barometer. Those three will expect a top four place. It is up to Arsenal to ensure that any pretenders again aspiring to displace them are denied. That is a reasonable expectation and one that the Club cannot afford not to meet, if trophies are not the prioritised currency of trade.

Source: TFG, The Online Gooner on 7 Sep 2010