5 Reasons why Arsenal will be a team to watch out for next season

#2 Steel

Hercules: Arsenal's new signing Sokratis isn't afraid of making a tackle.

One of the biggest knocks against Arsenal over the past decade has been that no matter how beautiful the football they play is, they are very easily bullied off the pitch. Teams such as Stoke City and Chelsea have found great success against Arsenal because they know that the team could never deal with the physicality of their game.

This was taken advantage of by many teams last season as Arsenal had one of the worst away records in the league. Gone were the days of Vieira and Adams. The once feared Arsenal were being rag-dolled by teams who were a lot inferior to them in terms of quality.

Unai Emery has been quick to address this issue. The additions of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Sokratis Papasthatopoulos and Lucas Torreira have gone a long way in adding the grit and physicality that Arsenal's game has been missing for so long. In LIchtsteiner and Sokratis, Arsenal gain experienced heads who add strength, aggressiveness and resolve to an otherwise mushy backline.

Both players collected a plethora of bookings last season, with Sokratis having a total of 9 yellow cards and 1 red card for Borussia Dortmund. Lichtsteiner was booked a total of 10 times, with no direct red cards. This shows that they aren't afraid to be aggressive while defending, something which the Arsenal backline has been lacking for more than a decade.

Torreira brings the trademark South American doggedness ('La Garra Charrua' is what they call it in Uruguay) in midfield, the likes that Tevez and Suarez (and a certain Chilean who shall not be named) use to terrorize defenders to gain back possession. Also, Torreira is an engine in midfield, and when paired up with Aaron Ramsey, will give Arsenal a tireless double pivot in front of the back four.

In terms of defensive contributions, Arsenal's pre-existing midfielders in Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny pale in comparison to Torreira. Last season, Torreira attempted the most tackles out of the four midfielders with an average of 2.8 tackles completed per 90 minutes, with an overall success rate of 68%. Xhaka places 2nd in the list with a total of 2.1 tackles per 90 minutes with a success rate of 63.6%. Elneny, although boasting a higher success rate at 70.6%, only completed a total of 1.2 tackles per 90 minutes.

Ramsey rounds off the list with 1.7 tackles per game with a success rate of 48.6%. The Uruguayan also dominates in terms of interceptions, with an average of 2 per game. Ramsey follows with 1.2 while Xhaka and Elneny average 1 interception per game. Torreira is the player that Arsenal has been missing for years. With him acting as a screen in front of the back four, the Arsenal attackers are provided with the freedom to showcase their abilities.

This newly acquired armour will help Arsenal against the more physical sides in the Premier League and in the Europa League.