Arsenal fans have finally received the news they’ve been patiently waiting for this week with the Petr Cech transfer now complete, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The Chelsea goalkeeper has agreed a move to Emirates Stadium and the Czech Republic international will undoubtedly become Arsene Wenger’s new number one option between the sticks.
The transfer is being described as a game changer in most quarters with Arsene Wenger having developed a blind spot for goalkeeping talent in the past.
David Seaman and Jens Lehmann aside, the other goalkeepers used during Wenger’s tenure haven’t blown anybody away with their performances and with this area set to be upgraded massively for 2015/16, this is all getting our resident Gooners rather excited.
The consensus is that after the signing of Cech, Arsenal need to go out and buy another defensive midfielder and a striker in order to sufficiently challenge the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United next season.
Although securing moves for players in these positions would draw Arsenal closer to the title, there is no guarantee that everything can go to plan with injuries often striking and players going through difficult patches.
That’s why today our resident Arsenal fans have compiled a list of five players who they expect more of next season in 2015/16. Do you agree with their choices?
[ffc-gallery]
Click on the image below to reveal the 5 Arsenal stars that must improve next season.
[/ffc-gallery]
Danny Welbeck
There is no denying that Danny Welbeck enjoyed a good debut season at Arsenal in 2014/15 but in order to win the majority of Gunners fans over long-term, he needs to transform good form into great form next time around.
Throughout Welbeck’s career to date, the forward has often been described as a good team player and you can understand why with his tracking back abilities, energy and unselfishness when another team-mate is wide open.
However, despite these positive abilities, you feel Welbeck needs a ruthless streak in his game to ultimately succeed and Gooners received glimpses of this as he scored that goal against former employers Manchester United in the FA Cup this past season.
There must be a reason why he hasn’t been able to usurp the likes of Wayne Rooney and Olivier Giroud as the recognised lone striker so far in his career and this reason is because he simply doesn’t score enough.
There is no doubt that he is anything but a wasted talent out on the left but in order to truly be recognised as an indispensable cog at Arsenal, he needs to improve his conversion rate and transform good compliments into great ones.
Jack Wilshere
Perhaps a controversial choice given the way in which he ended the 2014/15 campaign for both club and country but the fact of the matter is that on an injury front, Jack Wilshere simply needs to improve his record for next season.
Wilshere boasts a poor injury record for a player of his age and despite finishing the season in buoyant style with the FA Cup victory and brace against Slovenia, you would be extremely naive to think that his injury troubles are now behind him.
The England international has already come out and claimed that he won’t be changing his game and that is music to the ears of Arsenal fans given his tenacity, never-say-die attitude and willingness to fight for the club he loves.
That said, Wilshere does need to work on the moments when he must pull out in order to avoid getting injured.
Given his slight frame and low centre of gravity, Wilshere often goes into 50-50’s where he looks like he’s going to get injured and in terms of the improvement theme as discussed in this gallery article, this is what this player needs to improve as there is no question over his obvious talent.
Moreover, there will be an onus on Wilshere to stay fit next season because Arsenal probably boast the strongest midfield options in the Premier League and he may eventually lose his place due to his injury issues.
Wojciech Szczesny
For a completely different reason to Wilshere, Arsenal fans think Wojciech Szczesny has to improve simply because of his below-par performances for the Gunners during 2014/15.
Prior to his mistakes on New Year’s Day against Southampton that ultimately cost the Polish international his first team place for the remainder of the campaign, Gooners have grown used to Szczesny suffering from concentration-based issues.
Whether rushing out to claim a ball from a corner and failing or partaking in a game where Arsenal are dominating only to be caught by a sucker punch and a goalkeeping mistake, Arsenal fans have unfortunately become accustomed to their Polish stopper being prone to an error or three.
With Petr Cech arriving and David Ospina all set to be sold, Szczesny can count himself very lucky to be receiving a reprieve from Wenger who brought him through from the youth ranks.
Szczesny will be awarded the cup games next season plus any games in which Cech is injured and it is then when his desire and concentration levels will again be judged.
The Pole will simply have to improve these in order to come again and challenge Cech long-term and perhaps the incoming Chelsea goalkeeper will bring the best out of Szczesny in training.
Mathieu Debuchy
Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, they didn’t see as much of Mathieu Debuchy in his debut season of 2014/15 than they would’ve liked.
The former Newcastle United man succumbed to injury troubles that kept him out for many weeks during the campaign and despite this, Arsenal fans never really missed him too much given the incredible form of youngster Hector Bellerin who stepped into Wenger’s first team plans admirably.
Young Spaniard Bellerin hasn’t looked back since a shaky first team debut away to Borussia Dortmund and gives Arsenal something different with his blistering place from right back, not to mention his crossing abilities that have sometimes been lost in this Arsenal team previously.
You would usually expect that when everybody is fit and firing, Debuchy would step back into Wenger’s starting eleven but this may now not necessarily be the case with Bellerin having really got the bit between his teeth last season and producing some truly superb performances, most notably against Liverpool at home where he opened the scoring.
Therefore there will be an onus on Debuchy to produce his best form after returning from injury in order to fight off the stiff competition from Bellerin.
Calum Chambers
Like Welbeck and Debuchy mentioned previously, Calum Chambers enjoyed a good first season at the club but there will be an onus on the former Southampton man to improve.
This is simply born out of the fact that competition for places at Arsenal is now more tougher than ever before with Arsenal fans still keen to find out what Chambers’ best position is long-term.
Deployed at right back for the majority of his Arsenal career to date, every Gooner was reminded of just how young and raw he still is away at Swansea City in a 2-1 loss for the Gunners whereby Jefferson Montero caused him an absolute nightmare that day.
The feeling is that given his stature, Chambers’ best position is actually at centre back but with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny having enjoyed a positive partnership in recent seasons, not to mention competition from the no-nonsense Gabriel Paulista, you wonder when you’ll next see Chambers at centre half again.
A loan switch away can’t totally be ruled out but when you consider Chambers’ versatility, he is likely to be retained while Carl Jenkinson will be sold on a permanent deal.
Chambers will just have to remind everybody of his undoubted ability when awarded first team playing chances next season.
