It was a season opener that provided us with so much expectancy, only to be let down in spectacular fashion once again as Liverpool sank Arsenal 4-3.
But this isn’t pre-season anymore, and Arsene Wenger has less than a week to change the mood in camp before heading to the Premier League champions, Leciester City.
Claudio Ranieri’s men suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to new boys Hull City, so this is a game where both sides are looking to get off the starting blocks with three points under their belt.
It may be an away tie for Wenger to cope with, but travelling to the King Power stadium could do the squad a world of good not having to put up with the negativity of the Emirates crowd.
Nevertheless, Wenger has got to do something in the next few days to ensure something in the atmosphere changes for the good, and we’ve picked out three ways he can do that.
1 – Announce Mustafi
Whilst this probably comes as no surprise, confirming the signing of Shkodran Mustafi needs to happen this week for more reasons than one.
It’s been a week to forget for the Arsenal supporters and a pick-me-up is well overdue considering they’ve had one major outfield signing to cheer about in two years.
The Emirates Stadium was awash with boos and jeers at the manager on Sunday and if Wenger is looking for a quick fix then announcing Mustafi will take some of the pressure off.
This is a deal like no other, because not only is it going to help us on the pitch, but more importantly it will settle the atmosphere off it, a story we’ve become so used to after the season opener.
Coming in to partner Koscielny, it will sure up our defence against the champions, and the arrival of the German international will take some of the pressure away from new boy Rob Holding.
He was thrown into the side having trained with his new club for just three weeks, and it won’t be a game for him to remember having concede four goals in front of 60,000 people.
That’s not his fault, that’s down to Wenger’s complacency to agree a fee with Valencia in time, and as the season gets even more intense there is no other distractions from the market.
Some fantastic performances and results in pre-season were enough to paper over the cracks in this Arsenal side, but when points are being dropped so early, a reaction is needed.