Who needs strong pre-season to save their Arsenal career?

Pre-season training and the increasingly commercial and lucrative tours that clubs like Arsenal go on may be just a pale shadow of the competitive action of the Premier League and the domestic and European cup competitions, but it is still very important for a number of reasons.

Arsene Wenger is clearly hoping to get the new Premier League season off with a bang as he has planned a busy schedule for the Arsenal players in the build up to it, with two games in Australia then two games in China before the Emirates Cup and the Community Shield.

Now as well as being important in getting the Arsenal first team players ready for action, this period could be crucial for some members of the squad who are on the fringe and who the manager may be thinking about letting go, but which of the Arsenal players are most in need of a strong showing in pre-season to secure their futures with Arsenal?

For me I would say that Theo Walcott is one, especially after we signed Lacazette and are being linked with another wide forward, either Lemar or Mahrez. Giroud’s place, in the squad at least, seems to be safe but there have been Arsenal transfer rumours linking Walcott with West Ham so I think he needs to show Wenger that he can have a big say on the season.

Other players I think need to be shining over the next month or so are Francis Coquelin, Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and maybe even Granit Xhaka. Who do you think has a lot to prove to the boss?

Bob.

6 Comments

  1. Personally I don’t think pre-season matters too much. Many pre-seasons we took some youngsters who showed great promise but were never seen again after the season started.

    Wenger has his mind made up about the likes of Ramsey, Theo, Giroud. If anything Lacazette is the only one who needs to impress not to end up like Perez.

    For the rest of the squad the pre-season should be used to gain proper fitness at the right developmental pace in the hope to avoid injuries later in the season. Train too hard to quickly and you become susceptible to injury, later on, train too light and you are not ready when the season starts. per-season is crucial when it comes to setting up a season free of injury.

  2. All players have good and bad seasons but as paying fans we have the right to expect more consistency but this has not been the case otherwise we would be in the CL this coming season. I agree with the article that some players need to pull their fingers out of their backsides (Walcott, Coquelin) but there are also players who have been injured that need to prove they can stay fit (Wilshere, Cazorla, Welbeck).

  3. Walcot:
    We all know the deal with Walcot – he’s efficient in front of goal. Even though we want more. Can go missing Sometimes.

    Only played half the season and was our 2nd highest goal scorer though! 19 goals, 2 assists.

    He actually has better goals per minute ratio than Sanchez – so he won’t be going anywhere! And shouldn’t with those stats.

  4. These are the players I think will be under the magnifying glass

    Iwobi:
    Lost his place as a starter after we changed formation. Needs to add goal threat to his game. Hope he has good season.

    Ramsey:
    Has so many good bits in his game. Really carried Wales – was outstanding. Won us the FA Cup. But in other matches doesn’t always stamp his authority on the game. Hope he can return to his best form 2 seasons ago. Scoring 12+ goals.

    Oxlade:
    Has best season yet. Needs to continue that form. My hunch is he will. And will become fixture in the starting line up.

    Perez:
    Has great goals per min ratio (better than Sanchez). But I think Wenger already decided to sell him. He’d need to do something special pre-season for Wenger to change his mind.

    Wellbeck:
    I think he’ll only ever be our third backup striker. And honestly he good enough for that. He’d also need to do something very special to move up the list.

    Xaka:
    Will need to see continued improvement. Otherwise replacement might be needed by Jan window. As critical role. We have good backup in that position. But not yet a devastating player that other teams fear.

    And…

    Jack Wiltshire:
    Personally I’d sell him. He didn’t standout in his loan season. It was a bold and Brave move by him. But didn’t work out. Not sure we’ll see him in top-flight again. Shame – love the guy. And want him to be big success.

  5. We need all players to show determination n desire in every game.A friendly or competetive march winning mentality . All players nid to improve we had a bad season

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