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Five Years of Shaping: Comparing this Year’s Arsenal to 2010 Arsenal, Part One

By Timothy Spenser

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Part one of comparing the Arsenal of 2010 to 2015 will outline the difference in the Arsenal front line five years after the stunning 2-1 home win against Barcelona in a year when we were the only side to win a game against them in Europe.  Arsenal’s striking options now boast great versatility not only in terms of player depth, but player style as well; when looking at the 2010 attacking options, the same cannot be said.

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The front line of 2010 was incredibly underwhelming, being led by Robin van Persie, Carlos Vela, Theo Walcott, Lord Nicklas Bendtner, and Marouane Chamakh. With one player topping 20 goals(RVP), and the other four forwards scoring less than 15 while playing over 30 matches each, bar Vela who only played in 13 matches.

Furthermore, look at where their careers have gone, RVP and the little boy inside him had one fun year at United before his decline started to rapidly coincide with his hair going gray. Now he is plying his injury prone trade in Turkey.

Lord Nick Bendtner, extremely entertaining off the field, has never reach anything close to the stardom he always thought he was destined for, rather, he has become known only as a joke.

Chamakh is playing at Crystal Palace, and although Vela has improved, playing at Real Sociedad is right level for him.

Finally, There’s Theo, who at the time really didn’t have the final ball down and was just a road runner who spread the pitch.

The difference in quality is quite noticeable when looking at our current crop of forwards. The line being led by the brilliant link up play and deft finishing ability of Olivier Giroud, a French international who has proven he belongs in the conversation of the top forwards in the world for his overall play.

Then there is the absolute world-beater Alexis Sanchez, coming from the top club in the world, Barcelona, he has dazzled England with his blasts from long-range, cheeky dribbling and incomparable work rate. Not to mention he can play anywhere across the front three.

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Similar in terms of Alexis’s versatility is Danny Welbeck. Yes, there is a drop in quality when he is mentioned, however he is much better in regards to overall play then Chamakh, Vela, or Bendter were. Welbs works very hard defensively, can play anywhere on the front line and still has a promising future.

Finally there’s Theo, who has grown tremendously over this five year period, drastically improving his final ball and becoming ready to move into a central striker role, while still being able to cause havoc on the wing.

While the current front line didn’t rack in more goals over the course of the season compared to 2010, they contribute to the overall play of the team much morec and they are much more of a link to the midfield that can drop into deeper areas and play intricate passes the Arsenal way.

Part two will discuss and compare the 2010 midfield led by Cesc Fabregas to the our current midfield led by Santi and Ozil.

Next: 5 Gooners to Debate over in Fantasy

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