Priscilla Dunder
With the new season now well and truly underway, Arsenal fans are beginning to see just how strong this year’s squad is, and whether it is one capable of challenging for honours come the end of the campaign. While the summer saw a number of exciting arrivals come through the door, a lot of Gooners couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment that certain areas of the squad weren’t addressed by Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal board.
The question is now whether or not this Arsenal squad is stronger than the one that won the FA Cup last season and while there have been more positives than negatives from the early stages of the year - especially in the Premier League - the real proof of what this squad is capable of will likely come after Christmas, when the landscape is much clearer. With hopes of challenging for honours on all fronts this season, any weakness in this squad will be exposed during the course of the year and we could find ourselves in the familiar position of watching on as Arsenal’s challenge dies and the season drifts to an unsatisfying climax.
Don’t get me wrong, the summer was a productive one in a lot of aspects. The inevitable departure of Bacary Sagna was cushioned by the arrival of Mathieu Debuchy, and Calum Chambers has already made more of an impact in his first three games than Carl Jenkinson did in three seasons. Alexis Sanchez has already proved his worth to the club by scoring the goal that saw the Gunners reach the Champions’ League group stage, and Danny Welbeck has produced some extremely encouraging performances since his deadline day move. But, despite this, the early stages of the new season have already left some asking why an out-and-out goalscorer wasn’t added to the squad during the summer.
But before we all start rushing to Betfair to back Arsenal to be in the mix for silverware come the end of the season, or lay your previously-confident bet on the Gunners winning a trophy or two, let’s have a closer look at the strength of the current squad.
Goalkeepers
Wojciech Szczesny has cemented himself as the Arsenal number one in recent years and the Polish stopper has started this year in impressive form behind a defence that have often needed him. Widely-considered to be one of the Premier League’s best young goalkeepers, Szczesny hasn’t really been pushed for his place over the past couple of seasons at the club but that may have changed this season. While the likes of Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone never really threatened to displace Szczesny during their time at the club, the arrival of Colombian number-one David Ospina this summer means Wenger has a genuine alternative should the Poland international’s form drop at any point this season.
Defence
Adding strength in depth in defence had been one of Wenger’s most pressing concerns heading into the summer, but, rather than adding another one or two centre backs to the current crop, Wenger allowed Thomas Vermaelen to leave for Barcelona and only added two right backs to the squad. The signings of Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy were smart pieces of business from Wenger, but the Frenchman’s failure to address the lack of depth in the middle of defence during the summer has already cost Arsenal this season. Aside from Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker, Wenger finds himself in the incredible position of not being able to call upon any other established senior professional – not even a Pascal Cygan or a Sébastien Squillaci-type that have become synonymous with Wenger’s Arsenal during his long reign as manager. It certainly looks as though if anything is going to kill the Gunners’ chances of silverware this season, it’s going to be the lack of numbers in the centre of defence. Wenger will be hoping to still be in the mix for trophies by the time he has chance to strengthen the defence in the January transfer window, even if it means shelling out Ozil/Sanchez level transfer fees in order to sign a world-class centre-back.
Midfield
There is a decent argument to claim the Arsenal midfield is one of the most creative in the Premier League, if not Europe. With Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at his disposal, Wenger knows he has enough attacking threat coming from his midfield to create plenty of chances and score plenty of goals this season. But all that attacking talent needs someone to do their dirty work, that “Claude Makélélé” type of player we’re all sick of hearing about - and the moment Wenger decided not to add a defensive midfielder to the squad might end up being the moment Arsenal’s hopes of being genuine title contenders vanished. Theoretically, Abou Diaby could do a decent job in that deep-lying midfield role, but with just 41 appearances to his name over the course of the past four seasons, Arsenal fans won’t be hanging their hat on the injury-plagued Frenchman. Mathieu Flamini has battled manfully since his return to the Gunners from AC Milan to prove he is the man to fill that role, but the Frenchman is yet to convince many he is the top class defensive midfielder this team really needs.
Forwards
While some will claim the club are still without a 20-goal-a-season striker, you’d be hard-pressed to find an Arsenal fan who would argue the attacking options available to Wenger this season aren’t significantly better than last year. If the signing of Sanchez from Barcelona sent a statement to the rest of the league, the deadline day move for Welbeck could end up being viewed as one of the best pieces of business done in the summer transfer window. The impending return to action of Theo Walcott will add another dimension to the Gunners’ attacking unit, and Lukas Podolski has begun to show glimpses that he may finally be coming good in an Arsenal shirt. And before we know it, Olivier Giroud will have recovered from his injury and Arsenal will have the attacking options capable of making up for the deficiencies elsewhere in the team, and Yaya Sanogo.
From the state of the current squad, it seems that the only thing stopping this Arsenal side from at least bettering last year’s performances will be the depth of the defence, but if the Gunners can stay in the hunt for silverware by January, some key squad additions could prove the catalyst for success at the club for a second successive season.
