Arsenal: Competition for places paying dividends for Arsene Wenger

Arsenal have looked a revitalized team in recent games and Arsene Wenger can look towards the competition he has cultivated for one reason why.

Arsenal weren’t looking all that great after two games of the new Premier League season. A 4-3 home loss to Liverpool was followed up by a 0-0 draw with Leicester City. Same old Arsenal. But the games that followed saw the Gunners come firing back.

First of all, the way the team is setting up this season is different. Alexis Sanchez is a striker suddenly. Alex Iwobi has been showing he is ready to stick around, not just pay a flying visit. And Theo Walcott has been performing well once again on the right wing. Where did he come from?

Throw Mesut Ozil in the middle and you’ve got an extremely versatile, fast, technical and fluid attacking foursome. The rest of the team have stepped up to the plate too, but it is the attack where the competition for places is clearly pushing players to new levels.

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Iwobi has made himself undroppable since he burst on the scene last season. But to get Iwobi in, somebody has to be benched. Walcott it was initially. And that only fuelled the Englishman to come back stronger for this season.

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Walcott regained his place. Now Iwobi’s on the left wing. Sanchez’s position at risk? The Chilean ends up playing as a striker – and, so far, doing a decent job. So now Olivier Giroud finds himself benched. How will he bounce back?

This is the chain reaction that this kind of competition generates. You can’t afford to coast by anymore. You have to be firing or else you’ll be back on the bench. The team have scored 15 goal this season. The 3-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday being the peak of their recent form.

However, if either Iwobi, Walcott, Ozil or Sanchez drop their level, Wenger can move things around and they can sit on the bench instead. Very easily. The pressure is always there to perform now.

Walcott has been re-born this season – three goals in six games. But his level drops, and Iwobi, Sanchez or Ozil could all play in his position. Giroud, Lucas Perez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla can all enter the front four in a re-shuffle.

You’re not competing with one player for you’re spot, you’ve got five or six that can indirectly effect you and your starting place. Aaron Ramsey can play higher up the pitch when he returns.

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Danny Welbeck is another attacker who is expected back from injury at some point this season. Wenger has developed versatility and competition for places, perhaps, like he never has before. And especially within his attack.

It’s still early in the season, and it all might come to nothing. But right now, the Gunners’ competition for places has motivated and revitalized Wenger’s attack. The results speak for themselves.

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