Again, as every gooner says at the beginning of each season, "Arsenal are going to win the Premier League this year, just watch", and as with every year, they're so wrong. However, from watching the first 4 games of the season, I do see Arsenal putting up quite a challenge. Before you think I'm being biased, not in the slightest, I'm a Manchester United fan, so this is purely my own opinion from studying the first few games of the season.
Let's start with the defense. A solid back-line of
Jenkinson,
Mertesacker,
Vermaelen and
Gibbs - pretty average, but seeming to work, with either
Vito Mannone or
Wojeich Szcezeny in goal. One thing which shows good quality in this starting back-line for me, is how this week (vs. Southampton) Arsenal's best defender last season, one
Laurent Koscielny, only made the substitutes bench, and didn't even appear. The shear height of Mertesacker in conjuction with the raw power and determination of captain Thomas Vermaelen, is seeming like a lethal partnership so far - especially as they've only conceded 1 goal in 4 games. On to wing-backs, although Jenkinson is only there to fill the role left by the injured
Bacary Sagna, he seems to be dealing with opposing Left Midfielders very well - just take a look at Arsenal's 2-0 win at Anfield against Liverpool only a couple of weeks ago, he made Raheem Sterling look like a fool every time he touched the ball. Jenkinson shows some touches of class, however (especially significant in the Southampton match) he can make some errors by lunging unnecessarily into challenges - but he's only 20, he'll learn. And finally there is Kieran Gibbs (22yrs); personally, I'm not his biggest fan, but that is with me comparing him to previous Arsenal Left-Backs, including Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy, however he has shown some glimpses of maturity over the course of the summer break, which has resulted in him confidently taking part in the attacking phases, as well as swiftly sorting out his defensive duties. A special mention to
Steve Bould - the new Arsenal assistant and ex-defender, who is the mastermind behind Arsenal's, so far, impressive defensive displays.
For Midfield, 2 words -
Santi Cazorla. Consistent, versatile, confident, an all-round midfielder of class, and for around £15 million, BARGAIN! Him, mixed with his Spanish team mate
Mikel Arteta, are seeming like an unfathomable midfield partnership where any other central-midfielder can slot in with them at any point (e.g.
Francis Coquelin vs. Southampton,
Abou Diaby vs. Liverpool). There honestly isn't much more I can say about Arsenal's central midfield, even with the loss of Alex Song, the capture of Santi Cazorla is looking like the buy of the season so far in the Premier League. Remember, Arsenal still have young
Jack Wilshere raring to get back to first team action, so when he's back from injury, Arsenal's midfield will be a hard force to get past.
In Attack, in my view, there are far too many options, and far too many AVERAGE options.
Lukas Podolski, for me, is the only quality striker Arsenal have. They have over 7 wingers, all of which aren't of great quality (although
Oxlade-Chamberlain does impress), and they're new Frenchman,
Olivier Giroud, isn't turning out to be as fantastic as was hoped (the next
Marouane Chamakh?). I for one quite like Olivier Giroud, although he hasn't scored, to a more in-depth football analyst, you will notice that the runs he makes to receive passes and crosses are quite magnificent, many times the only problem for him has been the lack of quality of passing from the long list of wingers which clog up Arsenal's wage bill. Yes, Giroud has missed 2 sitters, but he needs to settle, he is still showing glimpses of promise, so my advice for Arsenal fans is to be patient with him, and not to treat him like Marouane Chamakh was - who is now wasting away, clogging up your wage bill, holding you back from signing new players.
In summary, Arsenal's future is most definitely bright. It's early days, only 4 matches in, having conceded only 1 goal, whilst scoring 8, not to bad for a team that lost their top goalscorer last season and they're best midfielder. I'd say, if Arsenal can perhaps get rid of some useless players in January (e.g. Chamakh,
Arshavin,
Walcott?) and then spend that money and wage on 1 quality winger, they could certainly be pushing for Top 3, instead of just aiming to scrape Top 4.
Good Luck!
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