Arsenal have had an incredible pre-season which saw the team go unbeaten if the match was not played behind closed doors. A major reason for the positive start to pre-season was due to the early success in the transfer window for the Gunners.
During pre-season Arsenal managed to sign five players, and get them integrated into the first-team before the start of the competitive campaign. The impressive start to the season puts Mikel Arteta’s side in much better stead than the previous year which saw the Gunners lose their three opening games.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher’s comments which praise Arsenal for their transfer business opposes his colleague Gary Neville’s strong comments about Edu’s policy from the previous campaign, and this highlights the impressive progression for the Gunners.
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Speaking to Sky Sports about Arsenal’s transfer strategy after the loss to Brentford on the opening day of the 2021/22 season, Neville said: "I don't know the plan at Arsenal. The recruitment has been really poor. They're poor at it compared to other clubs. They just are, they've been poor in the last few years,"
His criticism was followed up a few weeks later, as he said: “I’m not quite sure what the strategy is of Arsenal with respect to the transfer market, it just seems a bit all over the place. Maybe there is a strategy, but it’s not explained very well, it’s not clear,”
“Sometimes you might see a signing out of left-field that you think ‘Well, okay. You can see where that one’s come from.’ But there’s quite a few of them, and I’m not sure what style of play they’re sort of moving towards.”
Despite the poor start to the previous campaign, there is a lot of anticipation that Arsenal will have a better beginning this season. And a major reason for this is due to Edu’s impressive business in the transfer market.
So far, the Gunners have signed Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Olexsandr Zinchenko. And it seems that the business is not yet over for the north London side.
Arsenal’s impressive transfer window has also been hailed by Jamie Carragher, with his opinion opposing Neville from the previous campaign. The former Liverpool defender said: “I think the signings Arsenal have got are really good. I think [Gabriel]Jesus is a great signing. Look what Arsenal have done in pre-season. I know it’s pre-season games, but to beat Chelsea by that score-line was pretty impressive.”
The quotes by Carragher that differ from Neville’s from the previous campaign highlight the progression for Arsenal, and the backing from sections of media that had been missing in the previous season. Arteta can prove the Arsenal progression with an impressive start to the season which begins on August 5 against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
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