Arsenal Season Preview

Roster Moves

In: Petr Cech

Out: Abou Diaby, Ryo Miyaichi, Semi Ajayi, Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill, Ainsley Maitland-Niles (loan), Lukas Podolski, Carl Jenkinson (loan), Yaya Sanogo (loan), Wojciech Szczesny (loan)

It’s always the big question of the summer. Will Arsene Wenger buy what everyone perceives him to need or will he sabotage Arsenal’s chances of a real title challenge by holding back on an obvious purchase. The arrival of Petr Cech was a huge upgrade but the perception is that the Gunners need someone to either improve upon or at least back up Francis Coquelin as a midfield destroyer. There is also a nagging suspicion that Olivier Giroud isn’t quite good enough as a main striker to get Arsenal to a title so a “world class” forward is also on the wishlist of supporters and the media. Arsenal appear to have the money but so far have only seen Cech as an upgrade. Wenger left himself open to significant criticism by letting media/supporter wished for signing Morgan Schneiderlin sign at Old Trafford while Arsenal signed Mikel Arteta to a one year extension. There is still time left but so far this summer Arsenal have made one significant upgrade, cleared out some spare parts and mostly stood pat.

Goalkeepers – Petr Cech, David Ospina, Emiliano Martinez

Petr Cech’s arrival is the biggest story at the Emirates this summer and maybe in the entire Premier League. As far as the potential upgrade for a top team at a single position goes, this could be the biggest one available. The only reason for fantasy managers to keep their enthusiasm in check is that Arsenal don’t concede enough shots on target for Cech to record enough saves to be among the top few fantasy goalkeepers. In leagues that reward wins and clean sheets over saves, Cech should be among the top players picked at goalkeepers.

Defenders – Nacho Monreal, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Hector Bellerin, Mathieu Debuchy, Kieran Gibbs, Gabriel Paulista, Calum Chambers, Isaac Hayden

Arsenal’s center back pairing is set in stone and very solid. Neither are statistical stand-outs when it comes to any particular statistic because most weeks Arsenal have the ball too much for them to pile up passes intercepted or tackles won or any of the other defensive stats that have come into Premier League fantasy in recent years. The real questions at the back for Arsenal come at the outside spots. Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin ended the season very much entrenched as the starters but Mathieu Debuchy on the right and Kieran Gibbs on the left make those positions tenuous at best. If Bellerin starts even as many as 30 matches at right back then he’s the star of this group. The risk is that Debuchy starts closer to 15 matches in the league and keeps Bellerin’s stats depressed.

Midfielders – Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Mikel Arteta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere, Mathieu Flamini, Tomas Rosicky

This group is deep and talented but also injury-prone and somewhat overlapping in their skill sets. Coquelin is a strong acquisition in formats that reward clean sheets and defending stats from midfielders but not terribly useful in formats that focus on goals and assists. Ozil is the other obvious standout here. If he can stay healthy and play 30+ games for the Gunners then he should be a top 5 midfielder in most scoring systems. Santi Cazorla could join Ozil as a top midfielder but if Arsenal are healthy then the question is how many minutes the diminutive Spaniard plays. The reason for that question is the presence of Aaron Ramsey who, when fit and on his game, is one of the best midfielders in the world. The questions with Ramsey are, how many matches will he be healthy for and where does he play? Arsene Wenger seemed to be trying to fit Ramsey in at the right attacking spot over Theo Walcott late last season with Cazorla partnering Coquelin at the base of midfield but you could easily see Ramsey getting some minutes next to Coquelin with a healthy Walcott pushing his way into the team. If any of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wilshere and even Rosicky get significant minutes then they could be effective fantasy options as well but as of right now none look to be even half-time starters and should only be picked as handcuffs for Cazorla/Ramsey/Ozil.

Forwards – Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Chuba Akpom

Alexis Sanchez is one of the top three or four players in the Premier League overall and in almost every fantasy format. Giroud gets a lot of criticism for his goal-scoring record in matches against big clubs but his combination of goal-scoring, hold-up play, and creativity from the center forward spot is the perfect combination to orchestrate Arsenal’s enviable collection of peripheral attackers. If healthy and starting regularly Giroud should be counted on for 20 goals and at least 8 assists which, if they came from someone named Rooney, would be hailed as exceptional. Giroud is a potential source of value in drafts and auctions given the bad press he’s received and the unlikely but highly publicized possibility that Arsenal buy his replacement in late August. Walcott, along with Ramsey and Cazorla, is the other real wildcard in the Arsenal squad when it comes to fantasy. With Giroud, Sanchez, Ozil, and Coquelin highly likely to start a vast majority of league matches, only two of the remaining highly talented three are going to start. If Walcott gets more than his share of starts then he’s still the guy who scored 14 goals while contributing 10 assists in less than 30 starts in 2012-13. He could also be injured or a “super-sub” which would mean you over-drafted him. Given their profiles, it is highly unlikely anyone is going to be in a position to draft all three of these Arsenal midfielders so either someone is going to get a bit of a value or everyone who drafts one of the three is going to be very disappointed.

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