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The Arsene Wenger Era at Arsenal is finished. The Frenchman stepped out from Arsenal's bench at the end of the last season. His replacement on the bench will be Unai Emery. The former PSG manager has come to the club to start a real revolution. He is a real winner because he has been successful in every club that he has managed so far apart from Paris Saint Germain. His PSG tenure was good domestically but he couldn't get them to European glory.
Emery's first task at the club will be to bring the joy and faith back to the Emirates Stadium. They were very good in the preseason matches so it is a reason for Arsenal fans to be excited about the new season. Arsenal made some good signings this summer. Stephan Lichsteiner, Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno, Sokratis and Mattéo Guendouzi are the new faces at the Emirates Stadium. These are very good players and they will surely add more quality and depth to the team.
Emery usually sets up his team in a 4-3-3 formation. In the picture below, you can see Arsenal's ideal starting lineup for the upcoming season.
Emery kicks off his era at Arsenal against Manchester City. It is going to be very hard for them to beat reigning champions.
Goalkeeper
Who should start in the goalkeeper position? This is going to be Emery's dilemma at the new club. He must choose between Bernd Leno and Petr Cech. The German goalkeeper came to Arsenal from Bayer Leverkusen this summer. On the other side, Cech is now 36 years old and despite his very good preseason, Emery should choose Leno as his starting goalkeeper. Leno is very comfortable on the ball and that can help in Arsenal's build up from the back. He is also a confident shot-stopper. Last season Leno kept 10 clean sheets at Bundesliga. He will surely want to increase this number with his new club in the upcoming season. He definitely posses the talent and temperament to succeed at Arsenal.
Defenders
Arsenal's defence for this season should ideally be: Right-back: Hector Bellerin, Centre-backs: Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis, Left-back: Nacho Monreal.
Despite Lichsteiner's arrival, Bellerin should be the starting right back for this season. Stephan Lichsteiner came from Juventus this summer. He is 34 years old and it's hard to believe that he will be the first choice for this position. However, he will surely bring some competition and Bellerin will benefit from that. So, we can expect him to be in a very good form this season. His speed is his biggest strength and that will help a lot in Emery's transition system. Last season he scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists. Arsenal fans expect big things from him this season.
Laurent Koscielny is Arsenal's first captain and surely their best centre-back. However, he is currently injured and this is a big loss for Unai Emery. Sokratis Papastathopoulos came from Borussia Dortmund this summer. He is a decent buy for Arsenal. Sokratis is a solid defender with great experience. He was one of the best defenders in Bundesliga for most of his time at Dortmund. He also has some great leadership qualities which will help while Koscielny is out. His partner in the heart of the defence should be Mustafi. Mustafi has had a very good preseason and he deserves praise for sure. When he is on top of his game, he is Arsenal's best centre-back after Koscielny. He will surely get even better in Emery's well-structured system.
Nacho Monreal should occupy the left back position. His competition for that position is Sead Kolašinac. Emery wants his team to get the width from his attacking fullbacks and in that terms, Monreal is better than Kolašinac. He will join attack constantly and their defensive midfielder will drop deep to form a back 3. Last season Monreal was probably Arsenal's best player. He scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists in 28 matches in Premier League.
Midfielders
Lucas Torreira, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil could form a very interesting midfield trio. Lucas Torreira is definitely Arsenal's best signing of the summer. He is exactly the kind of dynamic midfield player they have been missing for over a decade now.
He can play as a deep-lying midfielder or as a box to box midfielder. He will take Arsenal's midfield to a whole new level because he is a mobile, intense and team-oriented player. The Uruguayan will add much-needed fighting spirit to their squad, He’s already a top player but still has so much more room for improvement. Last season, he played 36 games for Sampdoria in Serie A. He scored 4 goals and also provided 1 assist. Aside from these stats, he was also the key man in Sampdoria's attractive style of play.
Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil should play in front of Torreira in more attacking roles. They are two players that are irreplaceable for a club like Arsenal.
Ramsey's stats from the last season are quite impressive. He scored 3 more goals and provided 1 more assist than Ozil. Ramsey has many of the characteristics that Emery looks for in midfielders. He is very good on the ball, is a good dribble, can create and score goals. Also, he covers a vast amount of the pitch thanks to his energy. He can play in a deeper midfield position too.
Mesut Ozil could really thrive under Unai Emery. After the World Cup in Russia, Ozil announced that he will no longer play for Germany. So, he can now totally focus on duties in the club. He will have less defensive work to do because there is Torreira who will do a dirty job. He has Laccazette and Aubameyang in front of him so he could deliver a big amount of assists this season.
Forwards
The attacking line-up for Arsenal should ideally be: Left winger: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Right winger: Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Centre-forward: Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsenal's weakest positions are wingers. So, Emery must improvise something. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a very versatile player who can play as an attacking midfielder and can also play on the wing. So, in this formation, Mkhitaryan should play on the right wing. This position isn't strange for him.
Aubameyang prefers to play as a centre-forward. But, in absence of a really good winger, he should start on the left wing position. It's important to say that he played in this position at the beginning of his career. He is very quick and we can expect him to cut inside because he is right footed.
And finally, Lacazette should be Arsenal's main attacking force in this season. His first season at the Emirates was good but not brilliant. He scored 14 goals and provided 5 assists in 32 matches in the Premier League. He lost his spot in the starting lineup in January when Aubameyang came in the club.
