What the Arsenal team could look like next season – statistics
With the summer transfer window now open, speculation is rife in the Premier League. Arsenal are set to destroy their past transfer records on some big stars in order to carve them into title challengers, so here we look at what their team could look like going into their first game of the season against Aston Villa.
4-2-3-1
Goalkeeper
Julio Cesar
Despite the fact that Wojciech Szczesny performed strongly in most parts of last season Arsene Wenger is supposedly close to striking a deal with Brazil international Julio Cesar, who was relegated with QPR last season.
Cesar played 24 games for the Rs, keeping six clean sheets and making an average of 3.5 saves per game.
Right-back
Carl Jenksinon
With Bacary Sagna looking increasingly likely to be heading out of the club in the coming weeks, Wenger may have to rely upon the man who replaced him in the opening stages last season, Carl Jenkinson.
The young full-back flourished in north London in the first eight league games but fell behind his French teammate when he returned from injury. Jenkinson played 14 league games overall and accumulated a pass success of 85%, a shot accuracy of 67% and created nine chances.
Centre-backs
Laurent Koscielny
The Frenchman blossomed last season with big German Per Mertesacker and was branded as one of the best centre-backs in Europe by his manager. With Barcelona and Bayern Munich both on his tail it will take some persuasive words from the gaffer to hold him at the Emirates.
Koscielny played in 25 games last season and scored two goals. He won 66% of his duels and made an average of seven defensive actions per game.
Per Mertesacker
As touched upon, these two were monumental at the back for the Gunners in large parts of the season and to see them split would be catastrophic, in my opinion. Mertesacker proved himself to be more than a lumbering tower at the back with his pass completion coming in at 91%, and he also scored three and created a further three chances in his 34 games last season in the topflight.
Left-back
Nacho Monreal
The Spaniard arrived in the capital in January from Malaga and was first choice almost instantly. His fine form saw him complete 87% of his passes, create seven chances and score a goal all in 10 games.
With a pre season under his belt and a bit of rest over the summer Monreal could be a real contender for a spot in the end of season Team of the Year.
Central midfield
Jack Wilshere
One of the country’s most promising midfielders is likely to play a major role in any success that Arsenal have next season. He amassed 25 league games last season but failed to score, although he created 47 chances for his colleagues and had one of the strongest duel successes at the club.
Wilshere is the pivot in Wenger’s side and will continue to be so next season.
Lars Bender
The German midfielder was in impeccable form last season and helped Bayer Leverkusen finish third in the Bundesliga table. His powering performances in the central spots have seen him labelled as a Steven Gerrard-like player and he also has experience in playing in a wider role, although it is the former which he flourished.
If Wenger can strike a deal with the German club then Arsenal fans can understandably start thinking about challenging for the title.
Attacking positions
Mikel Arteta
Arteta has blessed us with his silky performances for some years now, and after moving to Arsenal he has only continued his fine form. The Spaniard has the guile and creativity to make what he does seem effortless, but often played in a deeper role than used to his creativity has been capped.
In a tremendous season for the Gunners Arteta finished with a pass success of 91%, scored six goals but created just 25 opportunities in his 34 games.
Santi Cazorla
The little Spain international is a real pleasure to watch when on form. His jinking dribbles and incredible vision has made him a firm crows favourite at the Emirates and his debut season was an incredible success. As well as creating a whopping 95 chances for his teammates, Cazorla scored 12 goals, won 69% of his duels and had a shot accuracy of 53%.
Wayne Rooney / Theo Walcott
It is difficult to keep Theo Walcott out of the team considering he finished on 14 league goals last season, but if a deal was there to be had with Wayne Rooney then surely the club bosses couldn’t turn that down. Okay, they’re completely different players, but with the number of strikers currently at the squad, and also coming in, Rooney may be asked to take up a deeper role should a move happen. Watch this space.
Forward
Gonzalo Higuain
Who else? It has been on the cards for a while now but the move looks to be in the final stages to bring the Real Madrid man to London. The Argentina international scored 16 goals in 28 games season and hit the target with 65% of his shots.
You get the feeling that this is the sort of signing that could make or break Arsene Wenger and the club’s chances of winning silverware this season.
Bench
Wojciech Szczesny
Thomas Vermaelen
Kieran Gibbs
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Serge Gnarby
Yaya Sanogo
Lukas Podolski
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