Under Arsene Wenger, a lot of Arsenal players got away with a lot of things. Players were not benched after inconsistent displays but a new sheriff is in town. Unai Emery may not be known as a disciplinarian, but the Spanish tactician is known to demand high standards from his players.
He favours a 4-2-3-1 formation, which many Top Betting Sites have suggested could be the undoing of a number of players. After strengthening the defence, Emery has changed his focus to the middle of the park, signing the pair of Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira. The latter is highly rated having come for £25m from Sampdoria. A tough tackler who is diminutive yet very strong, Torreira offers solidity and protection of the backline. Alongside him should be Aaron Ramsey who will be licensed with the freedom to cause damage in a box-to-box role.
The odd man out is Swiss midfielder, Granit Xhaka. The 25-year-old started to show signs of improvement and discipline last term but will not be afforded the same level of time under Emery. While he is still the best long ball distributor at the club, Xhaka is slowly becoming dispensable and unless he works on that, he could find himself grasping at straws when it comes to playing regularly.
He loses focus at crucial times and is too inconsistent. In the World Cup Round of 16 game against Sweden while playing for the Swiss national team, Xhaka showed his familiar failings of lacking focus. If he does that for Arsenal on a regular basis in the coming months, he is only calling for a place on the bench. He must make good use of the time he has on the pitch. The presence of a new manager means every player has the same chance to impress the new manager. The added fact that he is still on holiday following his World Cup exertions could work against him.
Most of the other players are available and are already getting to grips with how the new manager wants his teams to shape up. Xhaka may yet play regularly but will need to do better than he’s doing at the moment. Emery doesn’t take prisoners.