Arsenal make a promising start to their bold new era under Unai Emery

When the Premier League fixture list first appeared in the middle of June, Arsenal supporters may have greeted their early calendar with a sense of trepidation.

First up is the Champions Manchester City, and then comes a trip to Chelsea. Guardiola's side beat Arsenal three times last season with an aggregate score of 9-1 while Arsenal have lost five of their last six top-flight trips to Stamford Bridge.

As Arsenal enter this bold new era beyond Arsene Wenger, the fear may have been that the air goes out of the balloon before Unai Emery's feet are under the table. Manchester United had a similarly foul beginning to life under David Moyes and the Glaswegian never did recover from failures to beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City within a month of the season starting.

Yet as Arsenal's pre-season begins to take shape in Singapore, a rosier picture emerges. Goalkeeper Petr Cech noted on Wednesday that Arsenal are in the privileged and rare position as a top six side of having the majority of their star names available from early on in pre-season and a quick look at the team-sheets as Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea toil suggests Emery could have his side a step ahead.

He has had players such as Hector Bellerin, Aaron Ramsey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mikhtaryan, Alexander Lacazette and new signings Sokratis and Bernd Leno at his disposal for much of pre-season. Mesut Ozil, too often indulged in the Wenger era, cut his holiday short by three days to fly out to Singapore, has now had nearly a full week's training with the squad, while new additions Stephan Lichsteiner and Lucas Torreira will link up next week and get two matches under their belts against Chelsea and Lazio in Dublin and Stockholm.

Emery is using the time wisely. His side have had double training sessions on many days, even returning after pre-season matches back home to their London Colney training base for additional routines. The Spanish manager, whose grasp of the language is improving steadily with regular lessons, is insisting his multi-lingual group speak only in English on the training ground and his rule with his Spanish backroom staff is that they must now communicate in English.

Back home in London, his female English teacher has even watched on by the side of the pitch during training in case Emery feels the need for extra assistance during a session, while she has also sat behind him during matches. Emery has also had most players in for one-on-one meetings several times, in which he has spelled out their individual roles within the time, using video analysis to support his points.

Upcoming tests against Atletico Madrid and Emery's former side Paris Saint-Germain will offer a clearer indication of Arsenal's prospects but the mood of pre-season is decidedly positive. Henrikh Mikhtaryan spoke on Wednesday of being at his happiest so far in English football, while forwards Aubameyang and Lacazette are developing a close bond on and off the field.

Arsenal's team spirit was enhanced by the furore that engulfed Mesut Ozil's international situation in Germany, with chief executive Ivan Gazidis winning rousing applause for a speech defending the player at a club barbecue while a host of players have been on hand to support and advise Ozil privately.

Emery is also one of the few managers - along perhaps with Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp - who is genuinely satisfied with his club's summer transfer business. He has added the experienced goalkeeper, full-back, centre-half and central midfielder he felt the team needed and the focus for the final fortnight of the window is shifting out the deadwood rather than scrambling around for additions, as was so often the case in the later years under Wenger.

The tension between boardroom and the coaching staff has now cooled down with Emery's arrival, with the new head coach at his most comfortable with working with recruitment directors such as Sven Mislinitat and Raul Sanllehi, while Gazidis has attended sessions in Singapore and meets regularly with the Spaniard. The only concern will be the growing prospect of Gazidis departing the new project he has orchestrated for AC Milan, with the Italian club increasingly confidence of poaching the executive.

Yet regardless, the framework is in place and a director is not a goalscorer and Arsenal will survive the blow should it transpire.

The outlook differs elsewhere, where the top six clubs agonise for varying reasons. As Jose Mourinho ignites fires in the Manchester United dressing room, the Portuguese appears to be on an accelerated path towards self-combustion. Chelsea spent most of the summer pontificating over recruiting a manager and now face the losses of Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard.

Manchester City faced Liverpool on Wednesday night with Riyad Mahrez, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva as the only likely starters for a Premier League fixture. Tottenham are yet to recruit a single player and are without their substantial English and Belgian contingents for most of pre-season. All of a sudden Arsenal's early fixtures against the big boys represent an opportunity rather than a curse.

Arsenal, therefore, are in a promising place. The portents are positive, the spirit is growing, now they must grasp the nettle and embrace the chance to steamroll the club back into the top four picture.