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The fixtures for the 2015-16 Premier League season have been released and we have some great match-ups for the opening day of the season.
Arsenal is always an interesting prospect come the start of the season, with Gunners fans chanting their way through the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, it’s their longest running cheer, since their last title-winning season in 2004 dubbed, ‘The Invincibles Year’.
Arsenal’s first five games of the season are all very winnable, Crystal Palace and Newcastle away, and West Ham, Liverpool and Stoke at home, I can see them securing wins, regardless of the transfers either of those teams make.
I can see at least four wins and a draw in those first five games, which is 13 points. Chelsea will have a tough time starting off with Swansea, Manchester City, West Brom, Crystal Palace and Everton, which could give Arsenal the chance to lead the table heading into September.
How can Arsenal challenge for the title? First they must keep Sanchez on the wing, sell Theo Walcott and build Welbeck.
At times we saw Sanchez stationed in the centre-forward position because of the Giroud’s injury – and sometimes we saw him naturally drift into that position – but he is more effective on the wing.
Sanchez scored four goals in all competitions in the centre forward position and managed only one assist in the seven games he played their, those stats aren’t too bad. But compare that to 21 goals and 11 assists in all comps on the left or right wing, and you’ll see where he is more effective.
The wing position is more suited for assisting and chipping in with a goal as well sometimes. Sanchez averaged an assist every three games and a goal every 2.3 games in the winger position, they are great stats.
If you are keeping Sanchez on the right, where he should be, then that means you should get a striker with a little more quality and class than Olivier Giroud.
Giroud scored 14 goals this season, while that is a good number, when you compare him to Aguero (26 goals) or Kane (21 goals), the other top strikers in the Premier League last season, he is a small fish in a big pond.
You’d also want a striker that is capable of getting plenty of goals in the Champions League as well, especially if you are playing only one striker.
While he was injured with a fractured foot and only made two appearances scoring one goal last season, he featured in seven of Arsenal’s eight Champions League games and still scored only two goals.
Danny Welbeck, with proper preparation, is capable of scoring 18+ goals a season. He has also shown he can score in the Champions League, scoring a hat trick against Galatasary.
If Wenger would prefer to buy another player, then he should sell Theo Walcott. Walcott is no longer useful to Arsenal anymore after his season ending injury last season.
Contributing only ten goals and two assists over the past two seasons is a sign that Wenger should be thinking he should be getting Walcott out the door. He averaged a goal every two games and an assist every seven games, so compared to Sanchez, he is no match.
Keep Mesut Ozil in the No. 10 spot and not left wing and promote Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Ozil was moved around the front of the park a lot last season, often being shifted to the left wing position, and even striker twice this season. It’s movements like that that make me question Arsene Wenger’s philosophy.
Ozil only amounted four goals and six assists in the Premier League last year compared to seven goals and 14 assists in his first season in London.
Last season he played the entire campaign in the No.10 spot and got more goals and more assists.
Before moving to the Gunners at Real Madrid, he got ten goals and 24 assists in all competitions and did not move from the attacking midfield spot.
Wenger has to keep Ozil in No.10 where he is able to be dynamic and put passes anywhere, including chipping in with a goal. That is how Ozil is most effective, and Wenger has to see that this season.
Of course this leaves open the left wing spot, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the perfect suit.
A young England player with first team experience, Oxlade-Chamberlain has scored 12 goals and gotten 19 assists in all competitions since moving to Arsenal in 2011.
Give the lad more game time and he could be banging in goals and creating them in no time, since he has averaged an assist every 4.9 games since 2011.
Wenger must also buy a faster and stronger centre-back and sell Per Mertesacker.
I don’t think winning the title with Mertesacker is possible, with or without the ball he is a liability with his pace and awkwardness on the ball.
It doesn’t suit Arsenal who play a fast paced passing game. Defensively, we have seen people able to get past him with ease with pace, for example Kun Aguero or even Wayne Rooney. We have also seen players beating him on corners, running to the near post.
Wenger has to sell Mertesacker and find a centre-back that suits his faster style of play.
Could these changes give Arsenal the edge to a title challenge next season?
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