Arsène Wenger has recently claimed that talk of Arsenal being title contenders is ‘ridiculous’ and that the title race is wide open. Considering that we are only 6 games in to the season, he’s not wrong.
We currently sit at the top of the premier league, Southampton are occupying 6th place and the ever-present title contender Manchester United are struggling down in 12th place.
There is a lot of football still to be played and the league table will most likely read a lot differently come the end of the season.
In a recent article I wrote, I said that Arsenal’s best chance of silverware would be the FA Cup, but the league is doing weird and wonderful things at present, so who knows?
What we can do in full confidence at this point is evaluate the team we have and predict whether or not they are capable of sustaining a serious title challenge.
We’ll start between the sticks. Our number one, Wojciech Szczesny, has split opinion amongst Arsenal fans. On his day he is a fantastic keeper, capable of saving a game and standing out as a key player in the team. He is however, prone to the odd silly mistake.
A lot of fans simply believe he isn’t good enough and others quite rightly point out that he can be very inconsistent. Personally, I believe we have ourselves a keeper who will be at the club for many years to come and will develop in to one of the premier league’s best.
In terms of competition, Fabianski and Viviano are the ones who will be keeping Wojciech on his toes. We know Fabianski is a decent keeper, but he’s never been able to claim a permanent spot in the first team. He has also revealed his frustration at constantly being seen as a number two at Arsenal, so just how much longer he’ll be at the club remains to be seen.
That brings us to Viviano, who, unless you follow Serie A, is relatively unknown to Arsenal fans. Given that he is yet to make an appearance for the club, just how much competition he can provide Szczesny with is yet to be determined.
Many pundits and opposition fans still seem to believe that our defence is one of our main problems. But the Mertesacker/Koscielny partnership has proven to be a very good one and centre back isn’t a position I’m particularly worried about.
Vermaelen has just returned from injury and although he didn’t have his best season last year, he will undoubtedly return to his best at some point. At the moment, Laurent and Per will not lose their places in the team following their fantastic form, but should one of them get injured, having Vermaelen ready to step back in hardly provides cause for concern.
Similar to Vermaelen, Sagna didn’t have his best season last year either, but his performances at the start of this season have been much improved. Add this to his valuable experience and we have a right back we can feel safe with.
Gibbs and Monreal will be slugging it out all season to be first choice on the team sheet at left back. In them, we have ourselves two very capable defenders, one of which provides good experience and another, which will continue to develop under the guidance of Arsène.
It could be argued that we boast the most creative midfield in the Premier League. The combination of Özil, Cazorla, Wilshere and Ramsey is a strikers dream. The creativity of Mesut and Santi is unquestionable and Jack’s vision and change of pace is worrying for any defender.
Add that to Ramsey’s current form, both assisting goals and scoring them, and you’re left with a very exciting mix of talent. Let us not forget that Rosicky and Arteta have also come back from injury, which will add quality cover to the midfield if an injury or a drop in form occurs.
The main attribute we have on the wing is pace. Walcott, Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain are all capable of running straight at opposition wingbacks, knocking the ball past them and beating them for pace. Podolski in particular is more than capable of popping up with a couple of goals, courtesy of his thunderous left foot.
We also have two youngsters who have been newly promoted to the first team. Serge Gnabry, who scored his first Premier League goal against Swansea at the weekend, and Ryo Miyaichi, who’s speed is second only to Theo.
They are of course vastly inexperienced, but they have to start somewhere, and where better than behind two fully established internationals.
Finally we arrive at the top, where Olivier Giroud is seemingly holding the fort on his own, or so the press would have you believe. The main concern is, what if Giroud stops firing, or he gets injured? Luckily, our midfield is interchangeable.
Walcott and Podolski both have the ability to play upfront, and, where that would leave one wing short, Chamberlain can step in or Cazorla can move to the wing. If Cazorla was to move to the wing, we have plenty of talented midfielders who can move in to the middle to take over. In that department, we’re spoilt.
A lot of the success of this season will be decided by injuries. Yes, we have cover in a lot of areas, but two or three injuries in the wrong areas could cause a huge problem.
Saying that, it has been almost a decade since Arsenal last lifted the Premier League trophy and it would appear that this is our best chance to be competitive again.
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Header Photo via cactusbeetroot – http://www.flickr.com/photos/cactusbeetroot/