Arsenal: Not all doom and gloom just yet

It has been a quiet summer at the Emirates thus far in terms of transfer activity, but Arsenal fans should save their criticisms until the end of the window.

In a spirited letter directed at Stan Kroenke and KSE, 16 Arsenal supporters’ groups and bloggers voiced their displeasure with the club’s hierarchy. It is a thoughtful and purposeful memo, not merely asking for money to be spent, but also calling out the tone being set at the very top, which has been one of passivity and a general lack of accountability.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — The Big Season Review

KSE’s self-described ambitions for Arsenal are for the club to compete ‘consistently to win the Premier League and the Champions League.’ The results of the past few seasons have obviously fallen short of these standards, so the frustrations are completely justifiable.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

There was a swift response from the owners, with Josh Kroenke penning a letter to Arsenal fans as well as participating in multiple interviews in response to the backlash. While some of his comments were a bit wishy washy, I will give him a bit of credit for responding and actually demonstrating an interest and understanding of the club’s affairs, which has been such a rarity in the past.

One quote that instantly jumped out at me was his acknowledgement of a major issue Arsenal have been dealing with: ‘It’s no secret that we have a Champions League wage bill on a Europa League budget right now. That’s a fact. And one that we’re figuring out how to face internally at the moment.’ This has been obvious to fans for some time, but to actually hear it from someone in a position of Josh Kroenke’s power was quite refreshing.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Actions speak louder than words, and I can certainly relate to the ongoing skepticism. Nonetheless, when asked about the transfer market, Kroenke said fans should ‘be excited’ and that ‘we know we have key areas we want to address in our squad, both now and in the future.’ I, for one, am inclined to believe that he would not just make such a statement if there weren’t at least a couple of deals being done behind the scenes, especially with all of the negative headlines this week.

Furthermore, Unai Emery later reiterated that thought, stating quite plainly that Arsenal are trying to sign some ‘very big, very expensive players’ this summer, and that the club’s target is ‘to achieve three or four players who really improve our team and our squad now.’

Emery’s job will almost certainly be on the line this season and there must have been conversations on the U.S. tour between him, Josh, Raul Sanllehi, and the recently appointed Edu. We will have to wait until August 8th to see if these comments bear fruit.

I will remain positive, perhaps to my own detriment, until that point. I am excited to see what Edu brings to the table as Technical Director; Arsenal seemed to lack a clear-cut identity and style of play last season, so it will be interesting to see what he approach he takes both internally and in our transfer strategy.

Furthermore, Freddie Ljungberg’s promotion to assistant first-team coach signals that greater efforts will be made this season to integrate the youth into the first team setup, something we should all be getting behind. Who knows, Arsenal may discover the next Harry Kane or Trent Alexander-Arnold.

So I’ll hold off on the critiques for now. There is still time for the Kroenkes to wipe clear the doom and gloom. Were these simply more empty words or an actual indication of changes to come? Time, as always, will tell.