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So far Arsenal’s summer has been full of departures and rumors. The first team lost Petr Cech (retirement), Aaron Ramsey, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Danny Welbeck. Other losses included academy prospects Charlie Gilmour and Cohen Bramall, and U23 captain Julio Pleguezuelo, who signed with Twente.
The majority of the remaining senior players have seen their names swept up into transfer season’s rumor mill - Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil, Torreira, Xhaka, Koscielny, Mustafi, etc. Meanwhile, the transfer in column remains empty. The Premier League starts in 43 days. And while Arsenal have been linked to a fair share of potential signings, the roster remains unchanged. So as we head into July what would Arsenal’s depth chart look like in a 4-2-3-1, a wing back system so often deployed last season, or the 4-3-3 which Emery used at PSG?
This is under the assumption that everyone is fit. We don’t currently know exactly when Hector Bellerin or Rob Holding will be fully fit to start.
The 4-2-3-1
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- This is a fairly standard formation that favors experience and gets both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette on the field.
- With As little as Unai Emery seemed to rate Mohamed Elneny, Joe Willock is plausible moving into that fourth center midfielder spot.
- Alex Iwobi and Reiss Nelson are great attacking options off the bench.
The 5-2-1-2
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- Emery utilized the three CB system often last season, and while Arsenal have a lot of center backs at their disposal (add Krystian Bielik to the list above), everyone concedes that the defense desperately needs new faces.
- This formation would get Aubameyang and Lacazette both on as strikers, but force Iwobi and Nelson out of position and put a lot of pressure on Mesut Özil - something unlikely to happen, and scary to rely upon, at the moment.
The 4-3-3
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- In this one, Özil moves out wide right, splitting time with Nelson, while Mkhitaryan or Maitland-Niles takes up the right hand midfielder role.
- Those moves see Carl Jenkinson in as the backup right back and Smith Rowe dropped from the depth chart.
And for fun.....
The Youth Revolution Starting XI
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Lacazette and Leno are the only players over 25, but the left side of defense with Kolasinac and Mavropanos would be terrifying on Arsenal fan’s nerves for 90 minutes.
With no new names available to select from at this point, what is your preferred starting formation and lineup? What tactical and personal switches would you make to start the 2019/20 season off in a different direction than how last year finished?