Why Arsene Wenger's Arsenal may be ready to prove themselves at the big stage again

Arsenal will go into the new season with optimism after having a strong finish to last season

11 years since the ‘Invincibles’ season, Arsene Wenger has moved to a new home, survived an exodus of players and lost to Blackburn in the FA Cup in 2013. After the Emirates was built in 2006 for a stunning 390 million pounds, a prudent Wenger was content with academy players, who often did not have the ‘big-game’ mentality.

This was seen in defeats to Liverpool (2008) and United (2009) in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Champions League. Wenger, with the full backing from Stan Kroenke has been splurging over the past two seasons, with additions such as Ozil, Sanchez and Cech to the squad.

Here we try to see the reasons as to why Arsene Wenger will be crucial in the Gunner’s title challenge this season:

The Winning Habit and addressing injury concerns

After 8 years without a trophy, Wenger finally laid his hands on one with the 2014 FA Cup trophy. Heavily criticized for trying to play ‘Perfect Football’, this Arsenal side seem keen on attacking, taking even the full-backs forward.

Wenger has instilled a sense of confidence and ruthlessness in the squad, seen in their victories over Manchester City and Liverpool, both of different kinds. While Arsenal scored 68 goals in the 2013-14 league, with an average of 1.79 per game, the 2014-15 saw them score 71 goals an average of 1.86 goals per game.

Wenger brought in Shad Forsythe, a performance analyst with EXOS, an American organization that details athlete performances. EXOS was also looking after the German National Team during their 2014 World Cup win.

Shad Forsythe’s arrival has coincided with lesser injuries at Arsenal

After major injuries to Giroud, Debuchy and Ozil at the beginning of the campaign, Arsenal’s winning streak in the second half of the season was due to lesser injuries. This culminated with an FA Cup win.

Wenger will be hoping that injuries do not hamper his side next season like it did in the 2014/15 season. This will be crucial to pose any sort of title challenge as they will need all their key players fit for the whole season.

A Combination of Youth and Experience

The current Arsenal squad has an average age of 25.7 years while the Arsenal side which faced United during its painful 8-2 defeat, had 6 of its players aged 22 or below. The Invincibles had its midfielder’s average of 183 centimeters while the 2010-11 team of Fabregas and Co had its average of 178 centimeters.

Wenger’s Arsenal have the fifth youngest squad in the Premier League, with Newcastle, Manchester United, Southampton and Liverpool in front of them. A good blend of experience and youth will be crucial to get the best out of the team.

It is important to have a good blend of experience and youth at the club which will culminate in a healthy average squad age. Wenger looks like he has realized that having only youth is not sufficient at the club and has made sure experienced players are around to help the youngsters.

The current squad has a good mix of youth blended with experience, seen in World Cup winner Ozil and Copa America winner Sanchez. The defense consists of Bellerin and Chambers, both 20 years old and raring to go.

Wenger has a positive headache, with plenty of youth available in each option. Chuba Apkom, who has impressed on their Asia tour will be an ideal replacement for Giroud in the cup games while Wojciech Szczesny will have to learn to control his brash nature under Petr Cech. Wenger has recently said in an interview,” Age balance key to building squad”.

Wenger himself

Arsene Wenger is once again building a squad capable of challenging for the title

Wenger is itching to prove himself on the main stage, i.e. the Premier League and the Champions League. In the 2013-14 season, the Gunners spent 128 days at the top, only to fade out in the second half of the season. The following season saw the opposite, with Arsenal dropping too many points at the beginning of the campaign.

A last Champions League quarter-final appearance was in 2010, with Arsenal being eliminated in the Round of 16 for the past 5 seasons. Wenger has his ammunition, can he consistently maintain his ‘Arsenal’ throughout the campaign?