Arsenal
How was the season for you?
By Jack Is The Truth
July 6 2015
How was the season for you? Jack Is the Truth the username of a regular poster on this forum posed the following questions:
What are your thoughts on this season, have you enjoyed it?
Have we made progress on last season?
Has it been the most frustrating season to date?
What have you found to be the most pleasant thing about the season?
Is Wenger the man to take us through the next season?
How many players need to be sold or released?
How many new players do we need to get and where?
There were quite a lot of answers, and I will be highlighting some of the best over the coming weeks. I have not edited the replies, so any errors are of the poster, not the editor.
Matt Sadler was first to reply with a well thought out post:
What are your thoughts on this season, have you enjoyed it?
This season has been a strange one. Going into the season a centre half short and still without a defensive midfielder was insanity and clearly cost us, as we were very weak defensively. We also missed Giroud. Without Koscielny, Mertesacker is a very weak player and was exposed a lot. We also often got things wrong tactically and formation-wise, with our performances generally being poor and, more often than not, the results reflected that. We were very lucky in the fact that Alexis pretty much carried us on his own and kept us within touching distance of the top four, and that the likes of Monreal, Chambers and Debuchy somewhat filled the Koscielny-shaped hole in our defence.
Strangely, injuries appeared to work in our favour for once in December, as it forced Wenger to recall Coquelin, who has provided a solution to a long term problem in our midfield. It also saw Cazorla dropping deeper, where he excelled during December, January and February, and us taking a more compact, conservative approach to games against big sides, especially compared to last season. As other key players like Koscielny, Giroud, Ozil and Ramsey returned from injury strongly, we have gathered momentum and steamrolled through most of the Premier League in 2015, picking up some fantastic results on the way, with the Man City and Liverpool wins being the ones that really stand out. We may have stuttered somewhat in our last two matches, but generally 2015 has been pretty great.
Have I enjoyed this season? Up until late November/ early December it was incredibly frustrating. Draws against Everton, Leicester, Tottenham and Hull weren't good enough, as were the defeats against Southampton, Swansea, Man United and Stoke. There were probably more bad results I've missed out. December onwards has generally been a joy to watch.
Have we made progress on last season?
Yes, I think so. As I mentioned previously, the first half of the season was very frustrating but our performances in 2015 have been some of our best in a long time. We're likely to finish 3rd, and could even finish 2nd if we're lucky, so a top 2 or 3 finish is a definite improvement on a top 4 finish, and not having to play a sh*tty Champions League qualifier would be excellent, and maybe even benefit us in the transfer market. Hopefully we will win the FA Cup, making it two seasons in a row with silverware. That'd be a successful season and a definite sign of progress.
We lost Fabianski, Vermaelen and Sagna and replaced them with Ospina, Chambers, Debuchy and, eventually, Gabriel. Plus Bellerin broke through. We also lacked pace in attack at times last season, but in Alexis, Welbeck and, to a lesser extent, Joel Campbell, we have added pace in abundance. I think all the players we have bought in have been fairly successful. Ospina hasn't really done anything wrong yet, though he hasn't exactly been tested either. Chambers will be a fantastic player, he just ran out of steam in December. Debuchy is solid but has been unlucky with injury. Alexis is genuinely top drawer. Welbeck may divide opinion but he is a versatile attacker, a willing runner, a likeable lad and, despite not scoring enough, he has still scored some important goals. We haven't seen loads of Gabriel yet but he looks like he will prove to be a great addition as the early signs have been good.
Monreal, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud have all shown considerable improvement this season, as has Ozil since he returned to fitness. Cazorla has been much, much better than last season. Bellerin has shown he is probably one of the best young right backs around. Walcott's return to fitness has been successful as he has not lost any of his pace, it has just taken time. We've shown this season that, when our players are fit, we have one of the best squads in the country.
Has it been the most frustrating season to date?
I don't know if it has been our most frustrating to date, but it was pretty frustrating as our problems at the start of the season were completely avoidable. The injuries some of our key players have suffered have been frustrating as well.
I don't care too much about the League Cup to be honest, but the way we bombed in the first round against Southampton was beyond pathetic. Monaco was the most winnable Champions League tie we have had in years and we completely tossed it up. Us completely failing to beat Tottenham this season is unacceptable as well.
What have you found to be the most pleasant thing about the season?
Hard to pick just one as it'd probably change depending on what day you ask me. For now, I'd probably say Coquelin's return from the cold has been one of the stories of the season. Honourable mentions to Bellerin, Monreal, Alexis, Cazorla, Ozil and Giroud though.
Is wenger the guy to Take us through the next season?
If Wenger does what is needed in the transfer market then I will happily back him, but if he leaves us short again then I'm afraid I just cannot defend him. We have money now so there aren't any acceptable excuses for it.
We need to be more fluid tactically though and have a plan B.
How many players need to be sold or released?
Definitely sell/ release
Mikel Arteta, Abou Diaby, Mathieu Flamini, Ryo Miyaichi and Lukas Podolski.
Only sell if we can sign a definite improvement
Joel Campbell, Per Mertesacker, Tomas Rosicky and Sanogo.
Unsure
Wellington Silva.
How many do we need to get and where?
Although we did leave ourselves a player or two short, last summer we improved the squad considerably by signing five players. If it was down to me, I'd be looking to do the same thing again. A top goalkeeper, a more mobile improvement on Mertesacker at centre back, a versatile central midfield all-rounder and a mobile/ pacy forward would be my four main targets. The fifth would be a young left back who could step in for Monreal over the next year or two.
The discussion that followed can be seen and joined in here
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Stumbleupon06/07/2015 19:25
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:07:06:19:27:38 by Padre Pio.
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