Pre-Season 2010-11 Part 1

The 2010 World Cup is over and attention will be given to the preparation of major league clubs across Europe for the season 2010-11.

The favourite discussion during the pre-season is the potential signing of new players by these clubs as they seek to strengthen their squad, especially for those which will compete in both domestic and continental competitions.

After another season which saw no silverware coming to the Emirates, many Gooners are hoping more players will be recruited in key areas which many think are the goalkeeping and the defensive unit. This is supported by the 41 goals that we conceded in the Premier League last season, not a championship winning credential according to Arsene Wenger himself.

One piece of good news is Wenger has made his move to strengthen the defence with the acquisition of Laurent Koscielny from French League Un side, Lorient. Whether he will be another Thomas Vermaelen is remained to be seen.

Norwegian Havard Nordtveit has returned from his stint with Bundesliga side FC Nurnberg. Perhaps Wenger has seen the experience has done the young defender a world of good as he has been included in the squad that has gone to the pre-season camp in Austria.

Another defender that is hoping for a good season is Johan Djourou. The Swiss international has not been lucky with injuries which saw him out of action for most of last season. With French veterans William Gallas and Mickel Silvestre are unlikely to sign a new contract with Arsenal, it seems Wenger is opting for a young defensive line-up.

In the goalkeeping department many fans are not convinced with the performances by Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski and are hoping for a more established international quality goalkeeper will make his way to the Emirates. Earlier there were rumours of Gigi Buffon was interested but somehow those rumours had died down.

Perhaps the performance of Wojciech Szczesny during his loan spell at Brentford at the end of last season has convinced his boss not to open his cheque-book.

Despite this there are also rumours that Fulham's Mark Schwarzer has been offered a player-coach position at the club. The Aussie is indeed a good short-stopper, not spectacular but reliable. His experience will be a bonus and it could his last chance to play for one of England top clubs. It will be nothing more than a short term solution.

The Arsenal front-line has been reduced with the departure of Eduardo 'Dudu' da Silva to Ukraine side, Shakhtar Donetsk. The Croatian international has been unfortunate during his time with us and was never really able to prove himself in the Premier League, especially after the horrific injury inflicted on him by Birmingham City defender, Martin Taylor.

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