Arsenal 2007 Side vs. Arsenal 2016 Side: Which Is The Better Team?

Arsenal 2007/08 vs Arsenal 2015/16

Arsenal might be five points behind Leicester City in the Premier League standings but bookmakers have made them the favourites for the title this season. This could be the first time they win the league since the 2004 title, something they probably should have done in the interweaving years.

The Gunners do seem to have one of the best squads in the Premier League, in fact, Arsenal have always had a good squad but this season every player seems to be playing to their best ability, even when players like Joel Campbell star for the team in a few games, it speaks volumes about the manager and the form the side have.

2007: A class of their own?

Many do believes that the 2007 team was one of the best that Arsenal had but let’s have a closer look comparing the two sides. In 2007 the goalkeeping department did have a lot of depth in Jens Lehmann, Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone and Manuel Almunia but the pairing of Petr Cech and David Ospina certainly look better on paper at least, well Cech actually beats them all with one hand tied behind his back.

When it comes to the defence only Gael Clichy from the 2007 squad can actually stake a claim in this current lineup. William Gallas and Kolo Toure seem to be good defenders but Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker are better, well the German Mertesacker could be replaced by Toure who in his prime was one of the best players in the league.

There is no comparison with the rest of the defence, Hector Bellerin is one of the best in the league and the likes of Emmanuel Eboue, John Djourou, Armand Traore and Justin Hoyte could never break into this squad, though the club did have Bacary Sagna in 2007, who could be still playing for the Gunners if it wasn’t for Manchester City.

A better midfield in 2016

The midfield that Arsenal have at the moment certainly is better than what they had in 2007. Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini are certainly better than Cesc Fabregas, Denison, Abou Diaby, Aleksandr Hleb, Alex Song and Gilberto Silva, and we haven’t even spoken about Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere this season that have been injured for a long time.

The attack also is miles better than what they had back then, Olivier Giroud, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez can slot into any of the top sides in the league when in 2007 the Gunners had Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner, alright maybe you could bring in a Robin van Persie from 2007 to this squad an you could have Arsenal miles ahead of the rest of the teams but that is a whimsical wish to say the least.

Arsenal do look a better team now overall when compared to 07, now if only they can help their fans dream like they did in 04 when they won the league.