Arsenal 2015/16 season preview: Can Wenger fire his Gunners to victory despite

Manager Arsene Wenger moved to strengthen the squad with the £10million summer addition of veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech, and Arsenal continue to be linked with a big-money bid for Real Madrid’s France worldwide forward Karim Benzema.

Unfortunate not to be number one after a fine season last year, David Ospina will now have to make do with a place on the bench, behind the excellent Petr Cech, who is a great signing by Arsenal.

If that wins them the Premier League this season then next year the AST might even get a 100 per cent satisfaction rating.

Too often, Wenger’s men have been considered a soft touch, their gung-ho attacking philosophy picked apart by quality opposition.

To that end, Arsenal sources say that Wenger has been working tirelessly in training on team shape, particularly on staying compact defensively in central defense and central midfield. The club’s title hopes could hinge on the form and fitness of a player who was on loan at Charlton as recently as December.

Well, they have just won a second consecutive FA Cup and finished in the top four again.

The AST survey asked the following: “This season has seen a debate about style of football played by teams and terms such as “boring” and “parking the bus” levied”.

That confidence is largely based on the huge strength in depth when it comes to Arsenal’s attacking options, supplemented by the psychological boost of marquee signings in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez over the past two years.

Arsenal know they must make a faster start than last year to avoid being cast adrift of the leaders and Per Mertesacker, their German defender, has warned his team-mates against getting carried away.

Don’t be surprised to see Olivier Giroud lead the attack against West Ham on Sunday because Theo Walcott’s pace might have got him the nod against Chelsea at Wembley. In recent years, there’s been plenty of talk about his future at The Emirates. Their coverage of the new Premier League season begins with Chelsea v Swansea City this coming Saturday at 5.30pm. Sir Alex Ferguson retired a victor in 2013 and his old enemy will be desperate to do the same.

“As a manager you’ve got to be a bit of a role model, and not just to the team itself, but to youngsters at the club as well”.

Recently, one of the narratives has been about Arsene Wenger’s record against Jose Mourinho and the fact Arsenal hadn’t scored against a Mourinho side since 2007.