At long last, Arsenal broke their trophy-less drought with an FA cup triumph over Hull City in May. The next step for the North Londoners is to once again hoist the premier league trophy. Not since the days of Bergkamp, Henry, Ljungberg, Veiera, and Campbell (among many others) have the Gunners won England’s greatest footballing prize. That season, the Gunners did not lose a single game, a feat that seems near impossible in the competitively hostile fixture list that is the premier league today. Ironically enough, the 2013-2014 Gunners were drawing invincibles comparisons last season from some, but those parallels quickly faded, as did Arsenal’s title bid.
Arsenal are looking to improve on a 4th place finish (something I’m getting tired of saying every summer) and stay in the title race throughout the season, rather than fade at the midway point as they did last year. A big reason for Arsenal’s demise was the fact that their players spent more days on the sidelines than any other premier league team. Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Theo Walcott all missed very large chunks of time on the field throughout last season. At the time when Ramsey, Wilshere, and Ozil went down, Arsenal were top of the table, which is where they had spent most of the season.
From then on out, it was a second half of treading lead-laced water for the North London club. It’s imperative that Arsenal stay healthy this term, something Arsene Wenger addressed immediately following the season. The introduction of Shad Forsythe to Arsenal’s training staff signals a major change in fitness regimens at the Emirates, at least one would hope. Forsythe, a 40-year-old American who was hired by Jurgen Klinsmann in 2004, recently returned from Brazil where he finished his decade-long term as head trainer for the German national team. This has to be encouraging for Gunners fans who had to endure so much time without seeing their stars on the field.
Another question mark is Jack Wilshere and his fitness. Wilshere has seemed to develop an allergy to staying fit for long amounts of time, and his identity as the golden boy of the Arsenal academy is fading fast. Wilshere, the great talent left behind from the Fabregas era, was pegged to be the next superstar at the Emirates. He has failed to do so, and Gunners fans are going impatient. The same question remains with Wilshere going into preseason; can he stay fit? When he’s fit, he changes the game, but that’s not enough. Even when he was fit last season, he would be hard pressed to either complete 90 minutes and/or be effective for the same 90. Wilshere must perform this year or his future at the club may not be as crystal clear.
The next question facing Arsene Wenger in the transfer market is the task of adding a defensive midfielder. Chelsea and Manchester City have gone out and signed atypical defensive midfielders in the last year in Nemanja Matic and Fernandinho. Arsenal currently have Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini as their defensive mids, and neither has youth on his side. William Carvalho appears to be the latest option for Arsenal, who have seen their interest in Sami Khedira wane while Morgan Schneiderlin has voiced his desire to move to Tottenham. Lars Bender seems bound by a stubborn Leverkusen club who has already sold Emre Can to Liverpool this summer.
Thus, Carvalho looks like the most logical choice given the Gunners’ financial firepower these days. Sporting Lisbon seem desperate for cash right now, and although Carvalho didn’t feature as much in Brazil as he probably should have, his potential to be in the mold of a Patrick Veiera still remains. Furthermore, his representatives have been pushing for a big money move (no surprises there) to the Emirates. At 22, he still has time to develop under Wenger, and bringing him now would buy time for Arteta and Flamini to be phased out of the club in years to come. I’ve had the argument with a friend of mine several times that Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey could form a deep-lying box-to-box partnership, but the physical presence of Carvalho would make my quibble obsolete. At the right price, Carvalho would be a terrific signing.
Finally, the age old (or at least two year-old) question remains about Arsenal’s attacking options. When the Gunners purchased Alexis Sanchez, it was thought that he would feature on the wing almost exclusively. Wenger, however, has assured people Alexis can feature in every attacking position. While at Barcelona and also for Chile, Alexis plays out on the right, occasionally flipping positions to the left. I think we will see him play not only on the wings, but through the middle as well. Additionally, he has an excellent fitness record and will take pressure off of every Arsenal forward or winger to play as many games as last season. It’s my belief that the arrival of Sanchez will spark Olivier Giroud to a breakout season that will shed the title of ‘flop’ or ‘under-performer.’ However, even with Alexis’ versatility, I disagree with Wenger’s notion that Arsenal don’t need another striker.
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