Pre-season is the time for fans to dream. Part of the fun of being a football supporter is the fact that every new campaign offers a clean slate and a new realm of possibilities. Arsenal fans are no different, and a good many of them will have spent much of the summer trying to convince themselves that this could be the year when everything finally clicks and Arsene Wenger reclaims the Premier League title.
In this piece, Bleacher Report’s James McNicholas attempts to throw fuel on the fires of optimism that now rage around the Emirates Stadium by finding five reasons why Arsenal really could win next season's Premier League.
1. They finally have a natural goalscorer
Arsenal will be hoping Alexandre Lacazette can fire them to the title.Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images Although Sead Kolasinac was the new boy who made the scoresheet and the headlines against Chelsea, Alexandre Lacazette is the summer signing you'd expect to find the net more regularly over the course of 2017/18.
Lacazette scored 37 goals in 45 games for Lyon last season, and Arsene Wenger will be eager to see him bring that prolific form to England as soon as possible. The Gunners boss seemed happy with Lacazette's adaptation thus far after the Chelsea game, per arsenal.com:
2. The new formation
This is the first time in years that Arsenal start the season with a new formation. For the past decade, the Gunners have effectively played a variant on 4-3-3, but this year they will line up with three at the back.
Wenger adopted the formation towards the end of last season, with spectacular results: Arsenal won nine out of their last 10 fixtures, including victories over Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. Add in the Community Shield, and it's clear this is a system that can deliver Arsenal results.
3. No Champions League
Arsenal will be sad to be absent from the Champions League. They have become accustomed to facing off against Europe's elite, and the Europa League will feel like a step down.
However, perhaps it will free Arsenal up to focus on a Premier League challenge. Per Goal, Wenger suggested he is planning to leave out his stars for Europa League fixtures:
"I will always play a team that has a good chance to win the next game. In the Europa League, if we can afford sometimes to rest some players, we will do it."
Midweek breaks will allow Arsenal's players to be fresh for domestic games. If Wenger can stick to his rotation policy, Arsenal ought to have an advantage over the teams fighting on two fronts.
4. The improvement of Granit Xhaka
After a mixed first season in English football, Granit Xhaka is primed to play a major part next season. In an ideal world, Wenger would have had time to bed Xhaka into the Arsenal team. His plan was presumably to slowly introduce the Switzerland international with Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin holding the fort in the midfield.
Although he is a powerful player, Xhaka tends to control the midfield with his outrageous range of passing. Few can match his ability to pick out his team-mates with perfectly clipped passes from inside his own half.
Midfield was a huge problem for Arsenal last season. However, Xhaka looks ready to be the solution.
5. They have kept their stars
This may be the most crucial point of all: Arsenal have managed to hold on to their two marquee players, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
With both men now under a year away from the expiry of their contracts, it looked as if Wenger faced an uphill task to keep them at the club. However, Wenger has been bullish about his desire to keep his key men, and so far he has been successful.
In this piece, Bleacher Report’s James McNicholas attempts to throw fuel on the fires of optimism that now rage around the Emirates Stadium by finding five reasons why Arsenal really could win next season's Premier League.
1. They finally have a natural goalscorer
Arsenal will be hoping Alexandre Lacazette can fire them to the title.Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images Although Sead Kolasinac was the new boy who made the scoresheet and the headlines against Chelsea, Alexandre Lacazette is the summer signing you'd expect to find the net more regularly over the course of 2017/18.
Lacazette scored 37 goals in 45 games for Lyon last season, and Arsene Wenger will be eager to see him bring that prolific form to England as soon as possible. The Gunners boss seemed happy with Lacazette's adaptation thus far after the Chelsea game, per arsenal.com:
2. The new formation
This is the first time in years that Arsenal start the season with a new formation. For the past decade, the Gunners have effectively played a variant on 4-3-3, but this year they will line up with three at the back.
Wenger adopted the formation towards the end of last season, with spectacular results: Arsenal won nine out of their last 10 fixtures, including victories over Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. Add in the Community Shield, and it's clear this is a system that can deliver Arsenal results.
3. No Champions League
Arsenal will be sad to be absent from the Champions League. They have become accustomed to facing off against Europe's elite, and the Europa League will feel like a step down.
However, perhaps it will free Arsenal up to focus on a Premier League challenge. Per Goal, Wenger suggested he is planning to leave out his stars for Europa League fixtures:
"I will always play a team that has a good chance to win the next game. In the Europa League, if we can afford sometimes to rest some players, we will do it."
Midweek breaks will allow Arsenal's players to be fresh for domestic games. If Wenger can stick to his rotation policy, Arsenal ought to have an advantage over the teams fighting on two fronts.
4. The improvement of Granit Xhaka
After a mixed first season in English football, Granit Xhaka is primed to play a major part next season. In an ideal world, Wenger would have had time to bed Xhaka into the Arsenal team. His plan was presumably to slowly introduce the Switzerland international with Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin holding the fort in the midfield.
Although he is a powerful player, Xhaka tends to control the midfield with his outrageous range of passing. Few can match his ability to pick out his team-mates with perfectly clipped passes from inside his own half.
Midfield was a huge problem for Arsenal last season. However, Xhaka looks ready to be the solution.
5. They have kept their stars
This may be the most crucial point of all: Arsenal have managed to hold on to their two marquee players, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
With both men now under a year away from the expiry of their contracts, it looked as if Wenger faced an uphill task to keep them at the club. However, Wenger has been bullish about his desire to keep his key men, and so far he has been successful.
