Arsene Wenger is accustomed to starting seasons burdened by great expectations, but the Arsenal boss is preparing for Saturday's English Premiership curtain-raiser with Aston Villa weighed down by a different type of pressure.
The Gunners welcome the Midlanders to their new 60,432-seat Emirates Stadium, just around the corner from Highbury which was their north London home for 93 years, after a turbulent pre-season.
As if recuperating from the disappointment of their Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in May was not enough, the Frenchman has also been confronted by a stream of players clamouring for the Emirates exit door.
Veterans Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp have both departed, while the futures of Ashley Cole and Jose Antonio Reyes appear more uncertain with each passing day.
Cole has effectively ostracised himself from his Arsenal paymasters with a series of public criticisms of the club and is the subject of long-running interest from champions Chelsea, while Reyes has made no secret of his desire to move to his boyhood heroes Real Madrid.
Transfers for both players -- who are unlikely to feature against Villa -- could be completed next week.
Wenger will be perturbed at the exodus, even if he was content to let Pires leave and Bergkamp retire, but a club which has convinced Thierry Henry to sign a new contract can never expect to elicit too much sympathy.
The France striker may have endured disappointment in last month's World Cup final against Italy, but his enthusiasm for Arsenal remains undimmed and there are plenty of reasons to be upbeat.
Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas proved with his Champions League performances last season that his reputation as one of the continent's brightest young midfielders is well deserved.
And with the Czech Republic playmaker Tomas Rosicky recruited for 6.8 million pounds (12.9 million dollars, 10 million euros) from Borussia Dortmund, there should be no shortage of chances for Henry to feed upon.
The one question-mark surrounding Arsenal remains their occasionally brittle defending, which resulted in nine away defeats last season.
But Henry insists his team-mates should not compromise their trademark fluency as they attempt to stiffen their resolve this time around.
"It can be done, to dig in still as a team and play football," he said.
"In the Champions League, we did not concede a goal for something like 10 games and that did not stop us playing beautiful football.
"I remember some games, especially when we were in the unbeaten run (49 Premiership matches between May 2003 and October 2004), teams had a go at us, tried to kick us and we still managed to do it because we dug in as a team and when we had the ball, we were still playing."
Villa have sour memories of Arsenal's cavalier style, having been thrashed 5-0 at Highbury last season.
However, they travel to London in buoyant mood following the arrival of new manager Martin O'Neill -- the former Celtic boss who replaced David O'Leary earlier this month -- and the imminent takeover of the club by US businessman Randy Lerner.
A first win at Arsenal since 1993 might be asking too much, but the club's long-term future appears to be in safe hands.