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ARSENAL - WEAKNESSES
Poor defense
Petr Cech kept the 199th Premier League clean sheet of his career on 19 December 2017 in a 1-0 victory over West Ham, but had to wait almost three months until the 11th of March 2018 to get his 200th clean sheet, as Arsenal went on a run of 12 consecutive Premier League games in which they conceded.
Arsenal's wobbly defense contributed in a large way to their underperformance last season, as the center-back pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi struggled to get to grips with the demands of marshalling the defense of a top-quality Premier League side.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech had the most errors (6) leading to goals in the Premier League last season, which was also the highest for a goalkeeper across Europe's top five leagues, while Granit Xhaka was not too far behind with three direct errors leading to goals. In total, the Gunners committed a league-high 12 errors leading to opposition goals last season, and sorting out their defensive mix-ups should be high on Unai Emery's to-do-list if he is to restore Arsenal to the pinnacle of English football.
Lack of on-field leaders
One of the hallmarks of a great team beyond having fantastic players is the strength of character possessed by the players, and it is a factor which the Gunners have been sorely lacking in recent seasons.
In times past, Arsenal's dressing room was replete with on-field leaders like Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira, Lee Dixon, Ray Parlour etc who were always there to lift their teammates with words of encouragement and scolding when necessary to get the team going even when things were going against them.
In recent seasons, Arsenal have lacked that on-field leadership, heads are quick to drop when they are faced with adversity, and there are no vocal leaders to urge their teammates on when they are faced against the odds. Furthermore, the retirement or departure of previously key players such as Jack Wilshere, Per Mertesacker and Santi Carzola will only highlight the problem more.
The lack of on-field leaders is a problem that has plagued the Gunners in recent seasons, and one that will likely still persist owing to the departure of the aforementioned players.
