I understand your genuine concern.
To be perfectly honest, we did ride a bit of luck last season along with a superlative performance from Not Slave that is unlikely to be repeated.
At one point in time, Arsenal were threatening to run away with the title with a commanding lead of 5 points but suddenly suffered injuries to some key players, most notably Fabregas, and simultaneously dropped some unexpected points in the next few games. The rest was history.
And Chelski were totally shell-shocked by the sudden departure of Mourinho and were way off the pace but somehow or rather, by sheer grit and determination, slowly and consistently pushed us all the way to the final game.
But of course, the 42-goal phenomenal feat from Not Slave played a major part too. A fewer goals would have so easily meant more than 2 points dropped, which would have effectively crowned Chelski as Champions.
What about this new season?
Chelski is looking even stronger and more formidable, now that they have a new result-oriented and highly decorated coach, 2 excellent new signings and the majority of last season's squad retained.
And Arsenal's young guns would also be more seasoned and mature after another year's experience under their belts. Their major signing, Nasri, already looks like a good signing, pulling all the strings in the absence of Fabregas and seamlessly fitted in their play. And how to forget that our very own Silvestre will be bolstering their weakest link and most probably playing in the heart of their defence.
Sadly for us, however, we have injuries, suspension, Olympics commitment, family bereavement and what have you, and were badly exposed in the first terrible game against Newcastle. Despite the widely acknowledged need of a striker, we have yet to sign anybody except for a young Totti-like Italian who is not even old enough to sign a professional contract for crying out loud. And to make matter worse, Fergie seems to get himself and us all confused, from first wanting a 4th striker to suddenly realising that our squad is good enough (right after the terrible Newcastle game???). But not to worry, we are supposed to trust Fergie wholeheartedly, right?
And as our Mr Positive, RFR, so rightly pointed out, we should be excited that there are so many exciting youngsters waiting in the wings to break through and break out. Some remain with us and some are out on loan for further exposure. It would also be the very first time since the famous Fergie's Fledgings in the early 90s that we are having such a good core group of really promising stars that only bodes well for us in the future.
So do I sound like I have thrown in the towel? Nah, far from it.
I am expecting the same resilient and reliable defence, bigger performances in the midfield, especially from last year's signings of Nani, Anderson and Hargreaves, and a major striker to be eventually brought in to complement Tevez and Rooney, and hopefully Manucho too. And last but not least, our top scorer, Not Slave, will be returning in September if the commentator for the Newscastle game was truly right about that.
And if all else still fail, I do have a last resort. Just go to the Don't Panic thread and read it from start to end...
So don't.... don't.. panic.
