Now, we present the second half of our preview. Part 1 is below, and was also put up today.
Strikers:
Front Midfield Three:
7 – Tomas Rosicky
9 – Lukas Podolski
11 – Mesut Ozil
14 – Theo Walcott
15 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
17 – Alexis Sanchez
19 – Santi Cazorla
27 – Serge Gnabry
31 – Ryo Miyaichi
35 – Gedion Zelalem
9 – Lukas Podolski
11 – Mesut Ozil
14 – Theo Walcott
15 – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
17 – Alexis Sanchez
19 – Santi Cazorla
27 – Serge Gnabry
31 – Ryo Miyaichi
35 – Gedion Zelalem
Look at those first seven names. I mean…just LOOK at it.
What an embarrassment of riches. There are some managers in the world that would
take a flamethrower to a basketful of puppies to get their hands on half of
that array of talent.
Mesut Ozil serves as a litmus test for me – I immediately
write off as unserious any person who claims that he had a poor first season in
English football. Was it entirely in line with his prodigious abilities? No, of
course not. But, the man dished out plenty of assists and in fact created more
scoring chances than anyone else in the division. Players like him generally
show drastic improvements in their second season in any case, but I’m inclined
to believe that he will take a further step forward than that. Now that Arsene
has given him more weapons to work with, I believe Ozil has serious Player of
the Year potential.
The biggest of those weapons, of course, is our new Chilean
import Alexis Sanchez. Like Ospina, Sanchez came out of the World Cup with full
marks. Whether he starts out on the left or as the central striker is up for
debate, but I imagine that he will begin life with Arsenal as part of the front
midfield three. I can’t say I have seen much of him before (I have an active
and rabid dislike for Spanish football), but I do know that he has a cannon of
a shot and a willingness to use it.
The main question around him is if he can
handle the physicality and pace of the Premier League. I hope that we Gooners
give him time – few players, even of this caliber, jump right in and dominate
proceedings immediately. I feel that we may need the rest of the side to pick up
the slack in the early going, but I can also envision a title run-in where
Alexis is scoring for fun and winning us points single-handedly.
Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are interesting
cases. Both are coming off of serious injuries, but both also have the
potential to play crucial roles for us. We can afford to bed them back in
slowly with the added options available, but when they return they can give us
the track-meet pace that is lacking in other areas of the squad. They really
are almost the same player – quick, unable to effectively cross, more
inside-forwards than wingers as they cut into the penalty area to shoot or lay
off a pass across the six-yard box. Still, teams that like to play high
defensive lines (the Bayern Munichs of the world) would not enjoy seeing Ox on
the left and Theo on the right, ready and waiting to latch onto high balls over
the defense.
That, in short, is what I love about this set of players. We
have been guilty for far too long of playing one-dimensional tippy-tappy
football, with no Plan B on those days where it doesn’t come off. Now, we can
start with the crafty passing and silky skills of Santi Cazorla, and switch to
the track meet crew if we can’t break an opponent down. Speaking of, I think
the Spaniard will massively benefit by not having to take on so much of the
load creatively in the squad. He’s no spring chicken, and at times he seemed
jaded towards the end of last season. I expect him to go from strength to
strength this time out with the luxury of the Boss picking his spots to deploy
him.
Another who will not play all the time but whose importance
is obvious when he does is Tomas Rosicky. He is all direct play, all the time.
Go go go go go go go go. We need someone
to harry an opposing attacking midfielder? Tommy’s our guy. We’re struggling to
maintain possession and need someone to win the ball in attacking areas? Paging
Super Tom! He can’t play every day at his age, but used effectively he can
still be our secret weapon. There are more talented guys in the squad than
Rosicky, but I don’t know if there’s an outfield player who I love to watch
play more than him right now.
I’m not sure what to make of Lukas Podolski’s prospects this
season, though. Our resident social media maven seems like a great guy to have
around a squad, and his hammer of a left foot is well-known. Sometimes, Podolski will
hit one that would leave an exit wound in the goalkeeper if he were stupid
enough to get in front of it. The problem is that Poldi can ghost his way
through games on occasion, and he is not the most diligent in his defensive
duties. Sure, we’re playing on four fronts this season and everyone will likely
get a few games, but with the raft of options at Arsene’s disposal I don’t
think Podolski is going to see the field as often as he would like. I would
love to see him as a super-sub who ends up netting 10-12 goals this season, but
sadly I think a January exit is as likely as anything else.
Serge Gnabry, Gedion Zelalem and Ryo Miyaichi will only play
in the League Cup unless some calamity happens. It’s a bit of a shame as the
former two especially have prodigious talent, but they will have to develop it
out on loan in all likelihood.
Strikers:
12 – Olivier Giroud
22 – Yaya Sanogo
28 – Joel Campbell
38 – Chuba Akpom
22 – Yaya Sanogo
28 – Joel Campbell
38 – Chuba Akpom
I said in Part 1 that few things divide Goonerdom like our
prospects in central midfield. What I should have done was amend that to say “…other
than Olivier Giroud”. I have to admit that I am utterly baffled at the rage and
bile directed at a guy that scored 23 goals last season. To hear some people
talk – and the crazy thing is that it’s not just the lunatic fringe – you would
think that our main striker is Helen Keller shot up with tranquilizer darts. Look,
no one is claiming that Giroud is the top marksman in the division or anything.
He unquestionably misses sitters more often than he should. However, how much
of that is down to his ability, and how much of that was Arsene playing him
into the ground last season? You may recall that after the Aston Villa fiasco
on the opening day, Giroud caught fire and ended up bagging goals by the boatload
until exhaustion caught up with him. Also, the "he only scores against shit teams" lark is utterly and amazingly stupid. The strikers for all the other teams play against the same opponents, and how many of them scored as often?
Honestly, the Giroud haters fill me with rage.
Anyway, now with some added support in Joel Campbell and
potentially Alexis playing through the center? You can put me down for Giroud
getting 25-30 in all competitions, barring serious injury.
Beyond that, Giroud’s hold-up play is generally excellent.
Assume for a second that we are playing a front midfield three of Ozil, Alexis
and Cazorla. We don’t even need Giroud to score that often in that scenario –
all he has to do is hold the ball up with his back to goal, allow them to arrive, and let them work their magic. On
top of that, in that same scenario, that allows Giroud to arrive late in the
area – perhaps alongside Ramsey – and now those same magicians have that many
more options.
Believe this – if we get these combinations right, we are going
to absolutely stomp the shit out of teams.
Speaking of Campbell, the Costa Rican started well in the
World Cup before petering out somewhat towards the end. Lest we forget though,
the Ticos played in several extra-time contests, often with our man plowing a
lone furrow up top. He ran selflessly for his cause, so it stands to reason
that the goals dried up for him by the time Holland knocked them out. That
said, he’s an unknown quantity in the Premier League. He’s been out on loan for
so long with work permit issues, it’s hard to say what impact he will have on
the scoresheet. What we can be more confident about though is the simple fact
that his presence will ease the pressure on Yaya Sanogo to perform, and it
potentially will give Giroud more opportunities for a breather.
Those loan spells didn’t quite work out for him in France or
Spain – 3 goals for Lorient and 2 for Real Betis – but he found the net more
frequently last season for Olympiacos. His strike rate for his country – 10 in
38 – is also nothing to sneeze at. Will it translate to England? Who knows?
But, his presence alone will give opponents one more thing they have to
game-plan for.
Sanogo, since we’re on the subject, is another great unknown.
We all know the “Sanogoals” jokes, of course. Last season he was often beyond
dreadful, obviously out of his depth but thrown out there because Giroud’s legs
were about to fall off. The fact that Campbell is around should take off some
of that pressure, and his four-goal explosion against Benfica in the Emirates
Cup last weekend belatedly showed us some of what Arsene sees in the kid.
Anything we get from him is a bonus, but I can see a more relaxed Sanogo
finding the net in the League Cup and maybe the odd league game.
Finally, Chuba Akpom is still around for the moment, but I
imagine he’ll go on loan somewhere before the window closes.
Season Predictions:
We may as well start with the big one. I have us slotted in 2nd place, finishing just below the Chavs. Much of that is
contingent on them replacing the sneakily-declining Petr Cech with the
second-best keeper in the world in Thibault Courtois, and it assumes that Diego
Costa beds in and scores goals. But, should Courtois wilt under the physicality
of the league, or if Costa flames out like he did with Spain, we can easily win
the title. I see Liverpool as having taken a tremendous step back, Manchester
City as strong but with no significant improvements from last season, and Manchester
United needing a year to recover from the David Moyes Debacle.
Beyond that:
- Chelsea
- Arsenal
- Manchester City
- Liverpool
- Manchester United
- Everton
- Scum
- Hull City
- Stoke City
- Crystal Palace
- Newcastle United
- West Bromwich Albion
- Southampton
- Sunderland
- Queens Park Rangers
- West Ham United
- Swansea City
- Leicester City
- Aston Villa
- Burnley
Golden Boot: Sergio Aguero
Player of the Year: Mesut Ozil
Golden Glove: Thibault Courtois
Most Assists: Mesut Ozil
Manager of the Year: Ugh. I'm not even going to type it.
Most Beers Drunk at O'Hanlon's, The Blind Pig and Woodwork: Me. :)
Enjoy the season, Gooners! Always feel free to say hi if you catch me at any of the pubs - I'll be rotating between the three all season.
