Arsenal fans in the Football Transfer Tavern are ignoring all of the jibes that are being sent in their direction right now with Gooners on cloud nine having just enjoyed an incredibly positive pre-season.
Having won the unofficial treble in scooping the Barclays Asia Trophy, Emirates Cup and Community Shield most recently against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday, Arsene Wenger’s troops are entering the new campaign high on confidence and hope that they can finally win the Premier League again.
In pre-season thus far, only the likes of David Ospina, Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez have been missing and with most of the squad fit for once, you can really appreciate how much strength in depth the Gunners now boast across the park.
For many Gooners, to add another top class defensive midfielder and the likes of Karim Benzema to this squad would really turn Arsenal into a different animal altogether and with the window shutting on September 1st, there is still time for Arsene Wenger to further strengthen.
Still refusing to be drawn on the Gunners’ interest in Benzema, this is classic Arsene Wenger with the French boss never publicly revealing who the club have designs on signing.
While that deal will be hard to pull off of course, Arsenal fans aren’t as irate as they would’ve been with the current crop having covered themselves in glory on the field.
That said, everybody knows that anything less than three points in the first competitive fixture of the season against West Ham United will be considered failure so today in the bar, we’ve devised five reasons why Arsenal can 100% win the Premier League this season.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 reasons why Arsenal will 100% win the Premier League this season.
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They’ve overcome some key mental hurdles of late
When you take winning away at Manchester City in the Premier League and away against Manchester United in the FA Cup last season, it’s clear that this Arsenal team have overcome some difficult mental hurdles of late.
The most recent of these of course came against Chelsea on Sunday and with the Gunners having proved that they can get through these fixtures on the victorious side, this doesn’t only spell belief for the players but also the fans as well.
It wasn’t so long ago that Arsenal got smashed away at Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the 2013/14 season but since those forgettable days, you can see that Arsene Wenger has closed the gap in the way in which he’s set up his side since.
If Arsenal are to win the Premier League this season, Chelsea are likely to be their strongest competitors and proving that they can beat the Blues on Sunday – albeit in pre-season with lower fitness levels – this will only add to their new found confidence against the big four.
Winning mentality now instilled
Lets not forget that this Arsenal side went nine years without a trophy so to win the FA Cup and Community Shield back-to-back, not to mention starting to win the mini pre-season tournaments, it shouldn’t be underestimated what these experiences are giving to the group.
Of course, the Gunners would like to make more of an impression in the Premier League and Champions League but winning what they have in the last two seasons is a basis to go on to achieve bigger things.
The likes of Per Mertesacker, Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud have now been influential figures in tasting success with Arsenal and this will only want the players to achieve more in their time spent in North London.
With the likes of Walcott penning a new deal worth £140,000-a-week recently, not to mention Santi Cazorla, there is clearly a feel good factor around the Emirates Stadium right now and the belief that great things can be achieved sooner rather than later.
The evidence is they are starting to use a plan B more
How many times has Arsene Wenger and Arsenal been lamented for their one dimensional tactics in trying to play the Barcelona way despite the opposition they were coming up against?
While Jose Mourinho will use the jibe that the Gunners deserted their attacking principles to set up defensively in the second half of the Community Shield on Sunday, these are the tactics that Wenger needs to employ more.
At Manchester City last season in Arsenal’s 2-0 victory, this was the classic away Premier League performance with the Gunners catching Manuel Pellegrini’s side on the break while strangely for an Arsenal side, giving nothing away in the centre of the park.
In the key top four battles, Arsenal can’t expect to sweep everybody aside with their attacking flair so will need to rely on the likes of Sunday’s Community Shield performance to ensure they grab the big three points on certain occasions.
The fact of the matter is that Francis Coquelin now balances this Arsenal time better than in seasons past and gives this Gunners side more of a spiky edge in the middle of the park rather than their previously much publicised soft centre.
They boast fantastic strength in depth
As alluded to at the outset, with pretty much everybody available to Arsenal in pre-season, you’ve finally been able to appreciate just how competitive their first team squad is.
Probably boasting the best midfield choices in the entire Premier League, the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky can’t be described as definite starters despite their individual pedigree.
A bone of contention for Arsenal supporters last summer was the fact Arsene Wenger didn’t move to replace Thomas Vermaelen quick enough but with Gabriel Paulista now having been signed up in January, the Gunners now boast four centre backs if you include Calum Chambers.
At right back they have Hector Bellerin and Mathieu Debuchy while at left back they can call upon Nacho Monreal and Kieran Gibbs.
Up top, they can alternate between Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck right now but every Arsenal supporter knows the club need an out-and-out upgrade on Giroud.
Much has been made of Shad Forsythe’s arrival in the Arsenal medical team and the fact most of the Arsenal squad were kept fit in the second half of last season is being put down to his skills in the treatment room.
The simple matter is that if Arsenal can keep the majority of their squad fit for longer periods this season, they will stand that much more of a chance of finally landing the Premier League again.
They now have a fantastic goalkeeper to marshal the back four
Could Petr Cech’s transition into this Arsenal team have gone any better?
We don’t reckon it could have after the former Chelsea man scooped three trophies in his first three appearances for Arsenal.
Despite it only being pre-season, Cech has looked his usual sharp self but this has meant so much more to Arsenal supporters given the fact that many errors of yesteryear have laid at the feet of the likes of Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny.
On Sunday, many Arsenal fans started to appreciate just how big and commanding Cech looks between the post and with balls dropping out of the air, the stopper is able to treat these like food and drink.
A leader in his own right to boot, Cech has spoken about how tight this Arsenal squad are as a group and with team spirit high right now, the Czech Republic international is quite simply the signing of the summer at £10.9 million, no matter how you look at it.
