Published: 15 August, 2013
by STEVE BARNETT

THE big kick-off is finally here and Arsene Wenger says he is “optimistic” about the coming season, but admits he still needs to bolster his squad before September’s transfer deadline day.

Arsenal start their campaign by welcoming Aston Villa to the Emirates on Saturday afternoon and despite all the talk of having money to spend have only signed French Under-20s striker Yaya Sanogo.

The one real plus point for the Gunners is that, for once, their pre-season preparations haven’t included selling any of their key players, something Wenger believes will help them get off to a flying start.

“I’m an optimist. That’s why I do this job,” he told Arsenal.com. “Overall I think we finished last season well. In the last 10 games we had eight wins and two draws and we’ve kept the squad together for the first time for a number of years.

“We didn’t lose any regular players so that makes me very positive for the new season.

If we stick together more in the first month we can continue our good run that we had at the end of last season.”

With the likes of Wenger and Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis insisting that the club was ready to splash the cash fans had plenty of reason to share the optimism that, come August, they would be cheering on title contenders.

So they will be started and somewhat frustrated that the pre-season headlines have been more about the players leaving, with Marouane Chamakh, Gervinho, Andre Santos, Andrey Arshavin and Francis Coquelin among the names who have exited the Emirates.

Wenger has at least acknowledged the fact that, with so many departures, the squad he has isn’t strong enough, especially with a Champions League qualifier against Turkish side Fenerbahce around the corner.

“We have big games in front of us because we play, of course, Aston Villa at home and then in the Champions League so it’s important that we don’t lose players now,” he said.

“I think what is important is the strength of the squad. We want to play 55 games and we are, maybe, a bit thin squad-wise to go through a whole season.”