Arsenal: Petr Cech Highlights The One Key Title Winning Difference

Petr Cech has stated that Arsenal’s improved strength in depth is helping them in the league. It is the one key title winning difference from past squads.

Many have said that last season was – if there was ever to be one, which is a far more uncertain thought than perhaps would like – the best chance for Arsenal to finally end their now 12 year Premier League hoodoo. As everyone and their dog knows, they didn’t.

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It was the Foxes that outran the Gunners last year. With the traditional big title hitters struggling for a whole host of reasons, from inept managers to pathetically apathetic players, there has perhaps never been a season in which the league was as up for grabs as it was just a few short months ago.

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Arsenal missed out, primarily, because of injuries – an issue that is always prevalent and often plaguing for the North London side. The squad was not capable of dealing with the long-term absences of Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez, the continual fitness and form concerns of Per Mertesacker and Aaron Ramsey, and the revolving door policy at right wing, with no one able to nail down the starting role with any security or force.

That, though, has changed. At least according to goalkeeper Petr Cech. Now in his second year with his second London club, Cech stated that this Arsenal squad, unlike the one of last season, or many seasons before that, which is an utterly depressing truth, has a greater depth and variety to deal with the inevitable onslaught of injuries:

"“I think the first [quality we have] is the strength in depth. When we were unlucky with long-term injuries last season, we had to use the same players in so many games and you lack energy in certain parts of the season. We dropped points because we couldn’t rotate. This season we have strength in depth, you could see in the Champions League and domestic cup [games] and for the Premier League we keep using different players or can use the same players. The league is very competitive but I think we are one of the teams who has all the qualities to compete for the title and we know that.”"

Arsene Wenger has, in no uncertain terms, assembled in a quietly efficient manner, the best squad since the great Invincibles era. The high-end quality of Ozil, Sanchez and Cech, the depth from players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mohamed Elneny and now the experience, gifted by the many years that the majority of the current players have toiled through in unsuccessful Arsenal sides of old all point to this being a different collection of players from the notorious title bottlers of years gone by.

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This is a formidable squad that Wenger has at his disposal. It could well be the reason that, although last season lacked the competition, this is the season that the title comes to the Emirates for the first time. At least, that’s what Cech believes, and he’s won plenty before.