After
ending their trophy drought last season with a FA Cup win followed by a Community Shield win now, Arsene Wenger is encouraged his side can perform much
better this season. Arsenal managed another 4th spot last season but after
adding some really nice signings to their squad, their fans will hope that the
Gunners will be more consistent and can challenge for a Premier League title
this term. As Arsene Wenger looks to build on his FA Cup Win and a 4th spot
finish, we look at how Arsenal can cope with all the pressure.
Completed Transfers:
Alexis Sanchez:
From Barcelona for £35 Million
Callum Chambers:
£16 Million from Southampton
Ospina:
£3 Million from Nice
Debuchy:
£10 Million from Newcastle.
This transfer window can be taken as a source of encouragement
as the gunners haven’t lost any of their star player to rivals.
With
all these transfers, Arsene Wenger not only strengthened his squad but also
added much needed experience and star players to his team. Last, although Olivier Giroud
scored 15 goals still his conversion record against the top 4 was awful and
Arsenal in-ability to land any striker in January cost them the title. This
season with the return of Joel Campbell from loan period and Yaya Sanogo making
his presence felt will add some comfort in the Arsenal bench.
Defence:
One field where Arsenal was strong as rock last season is their defence. They have been tight lipped when it comes to conceding goals. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker defence partnership was really successful for Arsenal. Koscielny is a fast aggressive defender while Mertesacker likes to sit back. When this defence partnership started a match together in 2013-14, they were dribbled past only 0.7 times per game. This partnership averaged 4.5 interceptions per game.
One field where Arsenal was strong as rock last season is their defence. They have been tight lipped when it comes to conceding goals. Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker defence partnership was really successful for Arsenal. Koscielny is a fast aggressive defender while Mertesacker likes to sit back. When this defence partnership started a match together in 2013-14, they were dribbled past only 0.7 times per game. This partnership averaged 4.5 interceptions per game.
Szczesny was the golden glove winner last season alongside
Chelsea stopper Petr Cech.
Although
these stats doesn’t portray a perfect picture, still this is one of the best
partnerships in Premier League. If Laurent Koscielny can stay fit for whole
season, Arsenal will stage a solid backline. Arsenal have got a bright
replacement for their central defenders in form of Chambers. Last season, Bacary Sagna
was vulnerable to counter attacks. He was good going forward but his
contributions to the defence were meek. Replacing him with another Frenchman
Mathieu Debuchy will add much firmness to this defence.
Midfield:
Arsenal’s midfield was one of the strongest in Premier League last season. But towards the end, injuries of Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil made all sorts of problems for Wenger. With the signing of Alexis Sanchez, one can easily see the inclusion of more goals in this midfield. The Chile International has shown his class in Brazil. But Arsenal still needs someone who can control the game with his physicality. Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta nay be good midfielders, but defensively, their contributions were not as great.
Arsenal’s midfield was one of the strongest in Premier League last season. But towards the end, injuries of Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil made all sorts of problems for Wenger. With the signing of Alexis Sanchez, one can easily see the inclusion of more goals in this midfield. The Chile International has shown his class in Brazil. But Arsenal still needs someone who can control the game with his physicality. Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta nay be good midfielders, but defensively, their contributions were not as great.
As
in some games last season where Arsenal passing and creative game was stopped
by oppositions, there was no other option. In the games against Chelsea, Manchester City
and Liverpool, the Gunners were heavily dismantled, it was their midfield which
lacked something there. Gunners need a Midfield Destroyer in their ranks.
Arsenal
needs someone like Yaya Toure, Nemanja Matic or Steven Gerrard who has the required
power and shows some physical presence in the mid. Gunners are currently linked
with Sami Khedira and William Carvalho and if they can get anyone of these two, there
midfield will be much compact.
Squad Depth:
Last
season, Arsenal fell short of Premier League title due to lack of depth and
ever growing injury list. So rightly so, Wenger has laid his emphasis on
during this transfer window on the deepness of squad. And so far, he is quite
successful in bringing his squad to that level where his team can fight on 3
fronts without much trouble.
So
Arsenal may need a couple of more signings, but this squad in itself is well
capable of competing for title. With the likes of Ozil, Ramsey, Sanchez in
Midfield and Mertesacker-Koscielny defending partnership, Arsenal will be a team to
defeat this season and the Community Shield game has shown just that.
Amir Bashir follow him on Twitter.
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