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.
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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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