Arsenal’s Wenger braced for knife-edge season

Arsene Wenger brokered a fragile truce with Arsenal’s dissenting fans by winning the FA Cup, but has little margin for error ahead of today’s Premier League opener against Leicester City.Last season was by far the most difficult of Wenger’s 21-year tenure as manager, with Arsenal’s on-pitch travails exposing him to furious protests from sections of the club’s support.Having ended months of speculation by signing a new two-year contract, he is looking forwards and says that if the team put on a united front, the fans will fall into line behind them.“A lot (of the trouble) was created by my own situation. Maybe I made a mistake,” Wenger said after Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties in last weekend’s Community Shield.“Overall I believe that it’s down to us. The trend has always to come from the team.”Undermining Wenger’s quest for harmony is the uncertainty surrounding several first-team players.Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere are among the players whose contracts expire at the end of the season.Sanchez in particular has been the subject of intense speculation about his future amid reported interest from the big-spending duo of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.The Chile forward missed pre-season after being granted extra time off following the Confederations Cup and has been ruled out of today’s game due to an abdominal strain.That Wenger is not going into the new campaign with the fans still at his throat owes much to Arsenal’s strong finish to last season.After Wenger belatedly adopted a 3-4-2-1 formation — a tactical trend sparked by champions Chelsea — Arsenal won seven of their last eight league games and stunned Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final.They defeated Chelsea again when the teams renewed acquaintances at Wembley in last Sunday’s Community Shield, winning a penalty shootout 4-1 after a 1-1 draw.Iheanacho ready for action  As well as the silverware, Arsenal’s supporters have also had a major signing to celebrate after Wenger broke the club’s transfer record to sign prolific French striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.The 26-year-old set Arsenal back an initial fee of £46.5 million ($60.3 million, 51.5 million euros) and is expected to lead the line, flanked by Sanchez and Ozil.Ozil is a doubt against Leicester, however, along with Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Shkodran Mustafi, while Laurent Koscielny is suspended.Gabriel and Santi Cazorla are definitely out.For the first time since 1997, Arsenal are going into a season without Champions League football and Wenger has pledged to rest players in the Europa League.He has said he intends “to focus completely on the Premier League”, but if such an approach fails to yield a title challenge, he can expect the protests to ramp up quickly.After going into last season as defending champions, only for a close shave with relegation to cost manager Claudio Ranieri his job, Leicester are targeting stability under Craig Shakespeare.They have spent over £50 million, strengthening each squad department with moves for goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, centre-back Harry Maguire, midfielder Vicente Iborra and striker Kelechi Iheanacho.Spaniard Iborra has been ruled out of the trip to the Emirates Stadium with a groin strain and joins centre-back Robert Huth and midfielder Danny Drinkwater on the sidelines.But 20-year-old Nigeria starlet Iheanacho, signed from Manchester City last week, has been passed fit after sustaining a knock in a friendly against Borussia Moenchengladbach.“You’ve got the season ahead to look forward to and everyone’s raring to go,” said captain Wes Morgan.“We’ve got our first game this Friday coming and we can’t wait to get started.”Premier League newcomers face survival battleBrighton and Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town are the fresh-faced newcomers in the Premier League this season, while Rafael Benitez’s Newcastle United return after a term in the Championship. We run the rule over the Premier League’s new boys.Brighton face reality check Back among the elite for the first time in 34 years after finishing second in the Championship, Brighton will not have to wait long for an indication of just how tough it will be to retain that long-prized status.When manager Chris Hughton surveys the team-sheet for his side’s opener against Manchester City, he will see an opposing line-up bolstered by over £200 million ($264.8 million, 233.5 million euros) of new signings.Hughton broke Brighton’s transfer record to sign PSV Eindhoven midfielder Davy Propper on Monday and is set to shatter that mark with a £13.5 million swoop for Club Brugge winger Jose Izquierdo before the season starts.But those deals pale in comparison to City’s spending and Hughton said: “Whatever City’s starting team is against our starting team, there’s no doubt there is going to be an incredibly massive difference.“They are expected to win league titles, Champions Leagues.Our aim is to make sure we are in the Premier League come the following season.”Against that backdrop, it would be a managerial masterstroke if Hughton can emulate Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe by keeping another modest club from England’s sleepy south coast in the top flight.Wagner has Huddersfield dreaming big As David Wagner and his players danced joyously in front of 35,000 ecstatic Huddersfield fans at Wembley last season, the Terriers manager was already starting to dream of scaling even greater heights.Huddersfield’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over Reading in the Championship play-off final was the culmination of the unglamourous Yorkshire club’s remarkable rise under Wagner’s astute leadership.Plucked from Borussia Dortmund’s reserve team two years ago by Huddersfield owner Dean Hoyle, the German coach has lived up to his billing as the protege of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.Having silenced the critics who wrote off him and his team 12 months ago, Wagner will again start this season with few giving Huddersfield a chance on their first appearance in the top flight since 1972.He will not be intimidated by the Premier League big guns and has already broken the club’s transfer record three times in the close-season in a £35 million spree on Laurent Depoitre, Aaron Mooy and Steve Mounie.Taking inspiration from his former club Mainz’s survival in Germany, Wagner said: “Mainz were promoted and got established in the Bundesliga.There are several examples comparable with a club like ours.”Newcastle transfer woes worry Benitez Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez cemented his place in the hearts of Magpies fans by staying loyal following their Premier League relegation and then leading the club to promotion as Championship winners.But winning the financial backing of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has proved much tougher and Newcastle’s travails in the transfer market over the last two months threaten to lead to a messy divorce.Frustrated by Newcastle’s failure to sign Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham and Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero, Benitez tried to shame Ashley into action.“Hopefully Mike can keep his word and we can do what we want to do,” he said. “He said he would give us ‘every last penny’. I’m confident he will.”Since his complaints, Benitez has taken his spending to £30 million, but that will not be enough to satisfy the demanding Spaniard as he bids to re-establish Newcastle as a top-flight force.  (AFP)