20 Aug 2026 09:12:57
Great news!
No BBC pundit has predicted us to win the league. Most have us third or fourth and some not in top four.
I'll get my cigar and champagne in for early May in
20 Aug 2026 09:25:39
I was saying this to a friend yesterday. For the 24/25 season, most had us outside the top 4, and we won the league. Last season, they all had us walking the league and, well, we all saw what happened there.
20 Aug 2026 09:31:43
I was listening to the radio this morning and an Arsenal fan called in. The radio host asked him who he was most worried about this season, and he said Liverpool.
I'm paraphrasing, but he said something like "Liverpool are going under the radar and it will suit them not being talked about as challengers. Isak will come good, Wirtz has had his season to settle in, and they've signed 2 new defenders who we don't know just how good they might be."
As fans, we don't often appreciate what we have when we're too close to the situation emotionally.
If we were to sign Barcola, then we have a hell of an attack. Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Isak, Barcola, Gakpo and Ekitike are a £550m force to be reckoned with.
20 Aug 2026 09:36:42
Wow! 25 BBC pundits and Wayne Rooney are proving they are as clueless as the rest of us.
Rooney is reportedly on £800k per year. The rest? Who knows, but I could see an opportunity to save some license payers cash.
20 Aug 2026 09:43:27
I agree MK, the squad is not in as bad a shape as some think.
Adrian Durham (total numpty) had us outside the top 7 and cited our shaky defence in preseason as a reason. He obviously missed the fact that we played Endo and Chambers at centre back for half of it.
He also said Arsenal will win the league by more than 20 points.
Let people talk, they are pretty much always wrong and just after sensationalist headlines. We need a couple of signings but otherwise we are in good shape.
20 Aug 2026 09:48:05
In fairness, on paper (and I stress this on paper part), no one really looks to be in a good position to challenge. Too many unknown factors, and unless ur sticking ur neck out (which many people won't), that is what I expect most people's predictions to be, with Arsenal expected to win again.
imo, Iraola will do really well, but I do see many people try to adopt Arsenal's corners and set pieces, but I really hope we go the other way around and place 3-4 players up front for a counter. Would love to see Barcola and Isak at the end of counters from set pieces. One can only hope.
20 Aug 2026 10:08:50
Are these lists ever reviewed at the end of the season, where the pundits get to see how their predictions panned out?
20 Aug 2026 10:09:18
I think the general consensus is third or fourth.
A lot will depend on the first six matches, even though the season's long. We could easily be top given the run of fixtures, which would set us up nicely for top three.
Similarly, though, if the other contenders like Man Utd or Chelsea get off to a good start, and we don't, it could be a hard slog.
The chatter and pressure will mount, even though fans at the moment say they're happy with transition and top 5 contention, the pressure would be on the club rather than aimed at Iraola.
20 Aug 2026 10:17:50
To be fair, everyone had us as walking the league last season with the signings we made. A lot can happen over the course of a season, I'm just thankful we don't have to watch any horseshoes this season.
20 Aug 2026 10:25:22
I agree with Mks. The strike force we have can be lethal if Iraola can get the front 3 working together. Speed demon wingers with a finisher CF. We've seen very little of the defense, but what we saw was full of experience and ability.
Midfield is a worry, still somewhat, but getting Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, and Wirtz to work well together will be Iraola's biggest success or failure.
20 Aug 2026 10:54:33
For me, a lot depends on the rest of the window. We’ve still got a lot of work to do to address the gaps in the squad.
On paper, at least, we look very light in attack, especially.
Isak, even when at his best and fully fit, needs a back up and we currently don’t have anyone who can do a decent job there. We have players who can fill in like Gakpo, but he’s rubbish up top. Would like to see another proper striker who can finish brought in, even if it’s just a loan (with Ekitike in mind).
We also look very light on the wings currently, but I do believe Barcola will be a good signing and obviously we need a similar signing for the right.
I was really worried about right back, but I think the loan of Araujo might solve a lot of those problems. I can see him or Jaquet playing a kind of right back/centre back hybrid role, and us going to almost a back 3 with Kerkhez bombing on when in possession and reverting to a back 4 when not.
Having 3 solid defenders on the pitch at the same time, I am hoping negates the need for this number 6 everyone is craving.
Midfield clearly needs some work. Jones is going and hopefully Macca as well. So we will need to sign a player or two here.
All in all, so many changes to the squad doesn’t suggest we will win the league unless all our new signings hit the ground running and we have an absolute ton of luck.
Too many players learning each other's game for me, and every single player learning a new manager's system.
I don’t think it’s going to be a disaster by any means and I see us beating last season's take, but I just can’t see us leapfrogging Arsenal.
Top 4 for me and I’m happy with that because I know the football we will play will be a riot. Any cups or even a shock league win will be the cherry on top.
20 Aug 2026 11:14:41
Too weak and too soft in midfield to win the league. Easily played through, and our defence will be far too exposed again. Arguably a weaker squad than last year at this point (and I'm not expecting a flurry of activity, I personally doubt Barcola will happen as we've spent so much time dithering that it's open for someone else to gazump us, particularly given that City are clearing their deadwood to sign a new winger, I think he ends up there with the usual voices on this page declaring that Elliott can replace Salah and will be like a new signing).
I personally am of the view that we'll end this window with none of the issues having been adequately addressed. Iraola has a free pass because he's been let down by the clowns above him.
20 Aug 2026 11:16:26
Most pundits are pretty stupid and react to news/hype rather than doing any of their own analysis. Their predictions are about as good as my nan's.
But at the same time, we are days away from the start of the season and we have not addressed the positions we set out to at the start of the summer. There was a broad consensus that we needed to address RB, CB, DM, LW, RW and possibly GK. I would argue we have only solved CB so far.
The squad should be measured across different dimensions - fitness/conditioning, depth, balance/suitability for the game model and quality.
We are clearly working on the fitness/condition, which will take some time. We have lots of quality.
But, we lack depth and balance/suitability.
That can still change with the window open, but we still have a lot to do.
20 Aug 2026 11:22:25
Arsenal fans are deluded.
Except this one, of course. ?
20 Aug 2026 12:56:09
That's right, JK. Arsenal have a better squad because they spent money!! It's that simple.
20 Aug 2026 16:19:08
Yeh but Szobozlai is now a CM, Gakpo most likely goes to Spurs and Ekitike probably won't kick a ball till near Spring time. In fairness it's not the attack I give out about. I see us starting the season with Isak, Hugo, Barcola, a new signing, Rio and Munoz. And fair enough that's a very good group. It's the midfield and defensive weaknesses that mystify me.
Jones has to be replaced. Bloke played 32 full 90's worth of minutes and we expect Nyoni, for all his talent, to cover that? While all our rivals strengthen? Then there's the RB situation. I don't rate Tsimikas at LB but I suppose he can do a job and he's popular among the players. Our rivals will be stronger. So far I don't think we are. We need a big next 12 days.