New season, old woes

Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 3

One game in and Arsene Wenger immediately found himself on the back foot, forced to mount a rearguard defence of his approach to the economics of squad building in the face of a rising tide of protest supported by the now obligatory viral online fan-rant.

It was the more old-fashioned, inescapable protest that rolled down from the stands following Antonio Luna’s breakaway goal five minutes from time will have struck more tellingly at the beleaguered manager and his supportive board. The message was clear following a summer when the only new arrival was Yaya Sanogo, a raw young striker, despite the club’s healthy balance sheet: spend some money.