STYLE OF PLAY: 7/10
Arsene Wenger has a very stylish way of making his players play and as we have seen this season, the Gunners have been flamboyant most of the times, and have been great in their victories. Arsenal have had to struggle with injury issues and to cope up, they had to play a variety of players time and again and there was no consistency in the team, yet Wenger’s philosophy of playing the right way has stuck with the team.
Though Arsenal are pleasing to watch because of their quick and urgent football, they have sometimes been frustrating because of their lack of finishing or lack of stability in defensive midfield. Arsenal are a team that are usually at their most vulnerable moment when they are attacking with full force, because they don’t have the players who would efficiently fall back and defend a counter attack or maintain the balance of the team.
Players like Sanchez and Welbeck have been important in this regard as they are naturally hardworking, but overall, the central midfield and the way they work defensively has been a worry for Arsenal fans. The shifting of Cazorla to a central midfield position seemed to get their season back on track. Arsenal have now adopted a more neutral approach towards their brand of football with their recent win against Man City, where Wenger finally decided to let his team play on the counter attack and thus used tactics to outwit Pallegrini.
CLOSING THE GAME/KILLING THE GAME: 8/10
Arsenal are very good in closing out the game, like any top team in the Premier League and have fought their way to the third spot so far. There have been matches where they have dug deep and have seen out the closing stages, or have scored enough to take the sting out of the game.
There have been a couple of matches where they haven’t made the full use of their dominance, like in the case against Man Utd, where they absolutely made the game theirs except for scoring enough goals to kill the game. Also the game against Man City saw them concede a goal in the last minute as the Champions escaped with a draw from the Emirates. However, barring these few cases, Arsenal have been consistent in their performances in the final minutes, especially in the Premier League.
Predicted Finish: 3rd