Arsenal: How the defense should line up to start the year

Arsenal’s defense has received reinforcements, but beyond that, they just need to shift some people around. Here is how they should line up.

Arsenal‘s defense surrendered fifty goals for the first time in, like, ever, so changes need to be made. Odd as this may sound, the changes should be relatively simple. It was not necessary to completely uproot the entire system and start from scratch, but some changes are required.

As such, with so many new faces and some lingering ones, I thought it might be useful to wrap our heads around what to expect from the defense as a unit at the start of next season.

Obviously this doesn’t account for where the season will go from then on, as mistakes will happen (or maybe not?) and changes will have to be made on the fly. But for now, the realistic back line to expect goes something like this:

RB, Hector Bellerin. Despite the addition of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bellerin still holds the keys to the mint. Young, fast and capable of contributing to the attack like so few modern fullbacks are, he just need some fine-tuning. I would not be surprised if he loses his spot at some point in the year, however, as Lichtsteiner is as reliable as they come.

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Still, to start the season, Bellerin has the opportunity to cement himself amidst the refreshing competition.

LB, Sead Kolasinac. I wouldn’t consider this that revolutionary of a change, but it’s still likely to happen. If Nacho Monreal isn’t sold, which is suddenly looking like a possibility, Unai Emery is going to need that pace and energy that Kolasinac provides over the “old veteran” of Monreal.

The true change comes at centerback, where our typical duo of Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny should be removed entirely. And not just because Koscielny is injured – he should have been replaced anyway. These changes should be coming because they need to come.

CBs, Calum Chambers and Sokratis. Inspiring? Not really. Game-changing? You wouldn’t think so. But here you have two guys that are here to provide one improvement – eliminating the errors. Mustafi and Koscielny combined for double-digit errors leading to goals. That is pathetic even at the lowest level of football.

Chambers has become so no-nonsense that I found him the most trustworthy of all our defenders last year.

Next: Arsenal's End Of Season Player Rankings

And Sokratis? Well, as long as he doesn’t screw up, we have no reason not to like the changes.

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