Arsenal 2013-14 season preview
Santi Cazorla
The duo of Martin Tyler and Alan Smith on FIFA 13 try extremely hard to make an individual feel upbeat with their customary “it’s time for optimism as we begin a new season”.
Closer to home, unsurprisingly, it would be daunting for any Arsenal fan to be buoyant ahead of the new season. With almost two weeks to go, which was deemed to be one of the best for the clubs, both in terms of the funds available and the (departing) personnel, has been a let down until now.
While the club’s major rivals (except Manchester United) have strengthened significantly, Arsenal find themselves bracing themselves for (hopefully) a frenzied end to the transfer window. Here’s a preview to the new season:
What went right last season
For a club which had gained the reputation of having a keen interest in eleventh hour signings, Arsenal, by their usual standards managed to finish up their transfer business early by bringing in the likes of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla to fill the huge attacking void left by the departing club captain, Robin van Persie.
Cazorla flourished and became an instant hit, started 37 of the 38 Premier League games, scored 12 goals and laid on 14 assists, winning the club POTY award in the process.
Podolski and Giroud, on the other hand, threw themselves about and finished the season with impressive stats considering it was their first.
Giroud lacks the skill and finesse of a world-class striker, yet he comes off as a guy who is willing to work hard for the team. While Podolski arguably failed to live up to his big reputation, being branded as ‘lazy’ and ‘inconsistent’ in the process. The following season will be huge for the two forwards.
Among the rest, Walcott, Koscielny, Ramsey and Arteta stood out. Walcott, after being embroiled in a contract saga in the early part of the season, showed that he was ready to come of age.
Koscielny has come a long way from his blunder against Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final two years ago and has established himself as one of the best centre halves in the league right now. Ramsey stepped up to the plate and silenced his critics who wrote him off after his injury. And Mikel Arteta was the captain, both on and off the pitch, especially in the latter stages of the season.
Not to forget, the impact of the former Arsenal defender Steve Bould, who took over from Pat Rice as the assistant manager at the club.
Arsenal had the second best defensive record the Premier League, conceding just 14 on the road- the best in the division. It was down to this defensive cohesion that the club went on a run to win eight of the last ten games that ultimately tipped them to a fourth place finish.
What went wrong last season
A slow, stuttering start to the season, again. Blame it on the players taking more time to settle or the lack of fire power in the first place, the club managed just four wins in the first ten games, an Achilles’ heel of sorts since the past few seasons.
With no new apparent signings and the new season being just an arm’s length away, one would imagine that if and when Arsenal bring new players on board, they’ll still struggle to hit the ground running.
Another subject of concern was their performances against the clubs which finished amongst the top five in the league last season, managing a measly five from a possible 32 points, whereas Tottenham who finished just a point behind Arsenal in the standings picked up 11.
Which brings us down to the individual defensive errors that directly/ indirectly lead to conceding of goals. If statistics are to be believed, 40% of the 37 goals conceded in the league were down to defensive blunders. Thomas Vermaelen, the club captain was one of the casualties of the inconsistencies in defence, ultimately being dropped after the North London derby in March as a consequence of being involved in errors that lead to both goals.