by Stephen Bradley

‘Are we good enough?’

If there was one sentence that summed up the collective thinking of Arsenal fans at the moment, it would be that. The era of ‘Spend some f***ing money’ has been superseded by the era of ‘Spend some more f***ing money’. The decade-long worry about finishing 4th in the league has passed, and it has been replaced with the worry of not having enough in the squad to compete for 1st.

But for as much as possible shortcomings at Arsenal have been discussed and written about, that whole discussion misses one crucial point. It doesn’t really matter how good we are, we only have to be better than everyone else to win. Obviously it’s a lot harder than it sounds, but Chelsea showed last year that being a good team in a league that is having a below-average year in terms of quality is more than enough to win a title.

We often fall into the trap of using last season’s form as a benchmark for the following season, hoping to use that form as a foundation and then add on to it. But it is simply impossible to achieve perpetual improvement, so to aim for it is a waste of time. In order to be competitive this season, we need to be as good as, or better than, everyone else this season.

So, are we as good as everyone else this season? Let’s have a look at our rivals.

Chelsea

Won the league at a canter last year and all their key players are returning. They seem set for another title challenge, yet not all is serene at Stamford Bridge. Whilst Arsenal have improved their first team with the addition of Petr Čech, Chelsea have only added Asmir Begovic to replace Čech on the bench and Radamel Falcao on a loan deal to their squad.

Chelsea have lost legendary goalkeeper Petr Čech to title rivals over the summer. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Chelsea have lost legendary goalkeeper Petr Čech to title rivals over the summer. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

This, accompanied by the sale Filipe Luis back to Atletico Madrid and the protracted attempts to sell Juan Cuadrado and Mohammed Salah back to Serie A, has left Jose Mourinho in a bit of a huff. Any time he feels he hasn’t got as much financial backing as his rivals, he complains to the media about it.

Many have interpreted his attempts to label Arsenal as bigger spenders than Chelsea as a jibe at Arsene Wenger, but subsequent reports of a £20m+ bid for Everton defender John Stones would indicate that it wasn’t Wenger whom his comments were aimed at, but Roman Abramovich.

It’s clear that Mourinho doesn’t think his squad is good enough to compete all season, and the way the team tailed off after Christmas would suggest that it needs reinforcing. Yet as of today, it hasn’t happened.

Manchester United

It’s pretty safe to assume that Manchester United will be better than they were last season, but it’s important to remember that it’s more to do with them not being that good last season, rather than down to who they brought in over the summer.

Yes, Memphis Depay and Bastian Schweinsteiger are big-name signings who when fit will make United a better team, but Bayern Munich sold Schweinsteiger because they were afraid of his injury record over the last two seasons, and Depay, whilst immensely talented, will need time to get used to playing in a bigger league.

Despite spending £230m in just over a year, United still have question marks at goalkeeper, centre-back and striker. This is a team that could easily fall away from a title challenge with just one or two key injuries.

Tottenham

Another season, another f………… [Editor’s note: It’s happened again!]

Wait. I said I’d only look at our rivals, didn’t I? Sorry. My bad. Moving on.

Manchester City

The fact that City found themselves in a position where the best case scenario for them was spending £49m on Raheem Sterling, should indicate what a hole they’ve dug for themselves. We’ve seen over the last few years just how good City can be when Sergio Agüero, David Silva, Yaya Touré and Vincent Kompany are at the peak of their powers, but also how ordinary they can be when one or more of them are injured or misfiring.

Manchester City have added England internationals Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph to their squad. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Manchester City have added England internationals Fabian Delph (L) and Raheem Sterling (R) to their squad. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

City needed to restock their squad with fresh legs, but their options were hugely limited. And it’s not like Manuel Pellegrini can start any long-term planning, what with all the reports of Pep Guardiola being signed to start work there at the beginning of next season. Consistency is key to any team’s success, and City are desperately searching for it.

Liverpool

15 months ago, Luis Suárez, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge almost won the league by themselves. Now, the first two are gone and the latter started only seven league games last season because of injury and won’t be available to play this season until at least October.

Liverpool have not held back in their attempts to replace all those departed goals, but whilst we may mock Manchester United for their “Supermarket Sweep”-style antics in the transfer market, at least they’re doing their shopping in Harrods. With the additions of Danny Ings, James Milner and Roberto Firmino, Liverpool look like they’re doing their shopping in Lidl.

Raheem Sterling has followed Luis Suárez out of the exit door. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
Raheem Sterling has followed Luis Suárez out of the Anfield exit door and Liverpool seem to have reinvested poorly once more. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Christian Benteke obviously isn’t a bargain-basket signing, but the assumption that he’ll succeed at Liverpool is based on Liverpool adjusting the way it plays in order to suit his skill-set. But such a tactic very rarely succeeds, no matter who the player is. Zlatan Ibrahimovich was a flop at Barcelona, Dimitar Berbatov was not the same player at Manchester United that he was at Tottenham, and as we saw at Arsenal, Marouane Chamakh was unable to incorporate his aerial prowess into our game.

Brendan Rodgers was hired by Liverpool to implement a particular style of football, a passing-based game that the club believes to be one of its hallmarks. For Benteke to succeed at Liverpool, that style of football will need to change. And even if it does, will that by itself be enough to bridge the 13-point gap between them and Arsenal, who have also improved?

As good

As you can see, it’s not all about whether Arsenal can be better than we were last season, it’s whether we can be better than everyone else this season. We might only need to be as good as we were after Christmas to win the league this year, and right now there’s no reason to suggest we won’t be.