Arsenal Preview/Prediction - 2014/15 season

A look Ahead... Arsenal 2014/15

So continuing on with the 'A look ahead' series, the next team that I'll be looking at will be indeed.. Arsenal. Now as a Man Utd fan ever since the treble, it's pretty much guaranteed that Arsenal were and somewhat still are rivals of my favoured team. The Arsenal teams around the 2003,2004,2005 era's were the most deadly teams to face in the Premier League. The 'Invisibles' team specifically was the team that stands out the most for really; the likes of Henry, Bergkamp, Viera, Pires were just godly on their day. Although in recent years Arsenal haven't the force they used to be due to fact that they haven't really made any high-profile signings and star players such as Fabregas and Van Persie have gone on to join rival clubs, I believe that this upcoming season we will see a revival of a new dominant Arsenal side.

Ozil: A player that certainly needs to strengthen up this season

Some of you who are reading this right now are probably thinking 'dominant Arsenal side this season?.. REALLY?!' and don't get me wrong you guys could be right about this. Last season for Arsenal was a real roller-coaster ride in terms of how they performed in the Premier League, the signings and of course the F.A Cup which they won. I thought the Club record signing of Ozil was a monumental leap for Arsenal from being a no-where team to becoming a team to challenge the best. Whilst Ozil did get off to a really good start providing that creativity for Arsenal and allowing Giroud to become the 'killer', injuries and lack of strength to contend in the Premier League really took it's toll on Ozil. Even though I don't expect an immediate effect to strike straight away for Ozil, I would at least expect him to strengthen up more to cope with the Premier League and sparkle everyone with his majestic play-making. For Arsenal this season they really do need their big players to lead and to get them through games that are going to be challenging; Ozil without a doubt is one of those leaders at Arsenal now and long-lasting are out of the question if they are to win another trophy this upcoming season. 

The reason into why I said that the Arsenal of old could return this upcoming season is because of the signing they have made so far. The Signing that Wenger has made already have been really well-thought out and smart due to how before in certain areas, they were lacking depth. The Obvious big signing which I think will have a major impact on Arsenal attacking dominantly and swiftly is of course the striker/winger Alexis Sanchez.  There is no question of doubting Sanchez's ability on the ball and the way he strikes the ball. The way he played at the World Cup with Chile this Summer proves he's really hyped to play the 'main man' role for Arsenal. Even if he doesn't play in his preferred role mostly during this season, I highly think he'll play as an attacking winger like he did do for Barcelona. The only worry I have for Sanchez is his capability to play in the Premier League. This scenario reminds me of Ozil and how over time he couldn't cope with the quickness and strength of the Premier League; I do have my doubts over Sanchez in how he'll manage to keep up with the speed of the game since he did play in slow-tempo league with mediocre teams. Like Sanchez, Debuchy is another signing which is well thought-out due to their other Right Back Sagna left to Man City. For me, Debuchy had a rather decent campaign with France at the World Cup this summer, his way of playing and decision making whether to storm up or track back is a really good trait to have as a defender. The signing of David Ospina (the Goal-Keeper who played for Columbia in this years World Cup) is again another smart signing due to the fact that Arsenal aren't really blessed with high-quality Keepers other than Szczesny and how they really did need another safe pair of hands in case of back-up. Even though this isn't a signing, the return of Joel Campbell for Arsenal in my opinion is a huge one. Not only does it provide back-up for the wingers, it's also a sign of the future and how Arsenal may turn out. I remember Campbell playing against Man Utd Last season with Olympiakos and he just ran the game scoring a wonderful goal and causing problems up each wing. His performance at the World Cup for Costa Rica is just the cherry on the cake as Arsenal are concerned. 

As for the experienced Arsenal Players there are something to dress over. Firstly there is the issue over Wilshere and how he'll perform for both Club and Country. The fact that he has been in another controversial story relating him to smoking again really doesn't help the position he is in.

A player who does need to shine..

I remember when Wilshere burst on to the scene and everyone was regarding him as the ideal replacement for Paul Scholes.. what a load of non-sense that was. 22 years of age and still he hasn't really gone on to what people expect from at all. Whilst a complete 180 has indeed been great for the likes of Aaron Ramsey and how he performed incredibly well last season. The one thing I'd expect Ramsey to do is to keep fit and not get any injuries when the important games arrive. It's fair to say that everyone expects a stellar performance from him now especially on the international stage where he for once can be a leader for Wales and not just Bale. Although it was a hard season him due to injuries, Podolski is probably the only striker looking to redeem himself and really put him-self out there as the 'number one'. it'll be hard for Podolski understandably and where he'll fit into this new team is a definite question to be answered. As far as defence is concerned however, things are really efficient as far as Koscielny and Mertesacker are concerned. Surprisingly, even though they came 4th last year in the League, statistics wise, their defensive record with Mertesacker and Koscielny playing together was really solid. Even if Varmaelen leaves Arsenal this summer, I'm sure Arsenal will be perfectly fine in terms of Centre backs and Full backs. 

So looking at Arsenals season ahead, even though the signing s they have made so far have covered the areas that needed attention and have brought it quality players that could take them all the way and put their status back near to the old Arsenal, again it'll be hard for Arsenal to win the League due to the fact that there are other teams that are in contention who have bigger and better squads that can destroy teams. I think there main rivals for 4th or 3rd spot will be either Man Utd or Liverpool since all these teams will be eager to get back to ways of old and dominate. The only way I see Arsenal winning anything this year would be either the domestic cups of the Capital one Cup or the F.A Cup.

My Arsenal Team using 4-3-3 (Attacking)

                                                      Szczesny

Debuchy                    Koscielny                            Mertesacker               Gibbs

                                 Wilshere                            Ramsey

                                                         Ozil

Walcott                                                                                               Sanchez

                                                       Giroud

Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Cazorla, Podolski, Monreal, Flamini, Campbell