The new "Premier" league season will start on August 13th, which means that the English championship battles will begin tomorrow. As the competitions are rapidly approaching, Eurofootball.com will provide you with a review of all twenty "Premier" league teams. This time, we will review the team that finished second in the "Premier" league last season, the "Arsenal" team, which, despite recent rumors of potential newcomers, has not been shaken by the transfer market. "Arsenal" History: The team was founded in 1886 and will play its 25th season in the "Premier" league. The best finish in this league is 1st place (3 times). "Arsenal" has been playing in the "Premier" league continuously since the establishment of the league. Last year's season: In the 2015-2016 "Premier" league season, "Arsenal" was still leading the league after 22 rounds, but inconsistent play in the second half of the season and several unsuccessful matches eliminated them from the race for the "Premier" league gold. In the last couple of months, the team dropped to third place, and they only climbed to second place after the last round, when they benefited from the loss of "Tottenham Hotspur". Changes after last season: After last season, "Arsenal" parted ways with three veterans - midfielders Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, and Mathieu Flamini. Meanwhile, in the transfer market, the "Gunners" only made headlines at the beginning of the summer when they purchased midfielder Granit Xhaka for 45 million euros. Later, they failed to make significant moves in the transfer market, and the other two players are still young and unlikely to secure a place in the starting lineup next season. 20-year-old center-back Rob Holding arrived from the "Bolton Wanderers" for 3 million euros, and 21-year-old forward Takuma Asano moved to "Arsenal" from his homeland "Sanfrecce Hiroshima" team. The London team paid a 4 million euro transfer fee for the Japanese. However, team manager Arsene Wenger claims that the team is still looking for additions, and there are rumors in the press that they will soon be joined by center-back Shkodran Mustafi. Players to watch: Granit Xhaka. Representing the "Gladbach" team last season, Xhaka successfully did everything a defensive midfielder should do. The Swiss player thwarted opponent attacks, successfully won balls, positioned himself in the right areas, and initiated his team's attacks with accurate passes. His play convinced the "Arsenal" club to release a 45 million euro fee for him, and Xhaka will have to demonstrate his abilities in the "Premier" league next season. A 23-year-old midfielder is talented enough to become one of the key players for the London club next season. Jack Wilshere. Wilshere is the most unpredictable player in the next season's "Arsenal" squad. Due to injuries, he did not play even 1000 minutes in the "Premier" league over the past two seasons, and he only returned to action at the end of last season. Nevertheless, this did not prevent him from making the England national team and playing three matches in the European Championship. He failed to shine there, but if the midfielder stays healthy, Arsene Wenger is willing to give him opportunities to perform in the "Premier" league. Before the season, Wilshere talked about changing his playing style to avoid injuries, and we will see how he adapts to that on-field during the next season. Mesut Ozil. Last season should be divided into two completely different parts for Ozil. The first part, which was in the first half of the "Premier" league, was simply fantastic for him - the German was directly involved in at least one goal for the team in 11 consecutive matches at one point. This brought excellent results to his club. In total, Ozil made 16 assists in the first half of the season, and under his leadership, the "Arsenal" team topped the "Premier" league after 19 rounds. However, his productivity in the second half of the season did not come close to the results previously demonstrated - Ozil made only three assists, which affected the overall game of "Arsenal", and the team failed to compete successfully for the "Premier" league title. The midfielder should be the leader of the team next season, so it will be interesting to see if the German can return to the form he showed at the start of last season and if he can maintain stability in the coming years. Team strengths: Ball control-based game. Last season, "Arsenal" was the team that mostly controlled the ball in the league. They had 59.9% of the ball possession during the matches, which they managed to achieve through successful passing distribution - they also led the league in passing accuracy. By making the most passes in the league, they successfully created opportunities for themselves and prevented their opponents from creating them - they ranked fourth in created chances and conceded goals to only two teams in the league. Creating opportunities in the opponents' penalty area. Last season, "Arsenal" rarely tried their luck with long-range shots, as they found opportunities to shoot when already in the penalty area. They attempted more shots from the penalty area than any other team in the league, and they also scored the most goals from the opponents' goalkeeper. This successful attacking play allowed them to forget that they only scored four goals from outside the penalty area throughout the "Premier" league season. Successful play in the midfield area. Last season, "Arsenal" relied heavily on playing in the midfield area. They were one of the teams that conducted most attacks through the midfield, and in terms of shots from this zone, they only lagged behind the "Southampton" team. However, their successful play in the middle was not only about attacking but also defending. They gave opponents the fewest opportunities to shoot from the middle area, so their opponents were forced to seek opportunities on the edges. Interesting facts about "Arsenal": The nickname "Gunners" was given to the London team because it was founded in 1886 by a group of cannon-makers; In the 2003-2004 "Premier" league season, "Arsenal" achieved something that no one else has repeated in the league - they did not experience a single defeat throughout the entire season. They secured 26 wins and played 12 draws. Their unbeaten run ended after reaching 49 unbeaten matches when they lost 0-2 against "Manchester United" the following season; " Arsenal" was the first English team to defeat Madrid's "Real" club at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, beat "Bayern" at the "Allianz Arena," and defeat "Milan" at the "San Siro"; In 1993, "Gunners" became the first team to win both the FA Cup and the league cup in the same year; In December 2003, Cesc Fabregas became the youngest player to score a goal in an official match for "Arsenal." At that time, he was 16 years and 212 days old. A year later, he became the youngest player to score for the club in the "Premier" league, and a few months later, he also became the youngest player to score in European tournaments; In 1998, Arsene Wenger became the first foreign coach to win the "Premier" league; David O'Leary played the most matches for "Arsenal" in the club's history - 772. The most goals were scored by Thierry Henry - 228.
