Arsenal’s three most improved players in the 2013-14 season

Aaron Ramsey

With the second half of the Premier League season underway, the leaders of the table are Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. It is fair to say that you would have got pretty decent odds at the beginning of the campaign for this to be the case at this stage, especially following their home defeat to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season. The acquisition of Mesut Ozil late in the transfer window certainly had a huge effect on the Gunners dressing room but they owe plenty to the improvement of some of their much maligned squad members who have managed to silence their critics and win over a wealth of admirers.

Let’s take a look at three Arsenal players that have improved dramatically this season to help guide their club to the summit of the Premier League as 2014 got underway.

Aaron Ramsey

The Welshman is probably the most improved player in the whole of Europe. Ridiculed for his poor performances by many Gunners fans in the past, he has been utterly phenomenal so far this season. Ramsey has, in fact, been one of the best players in the Premier League this season and has managed to rack up a Squawka Performance Score of 643. He is currently nursing a thigh injury, but the midfielder has already contributed to 14 goals in his 18 league appearances, scoring eight times and making six assists.

Ramsey has transformed into an all-action midfielder, winning 56 tackles and 19 interceptions already this season. He has maintained an 84% pass accuracy; his 64.1% forward pass rate makes this statistic all the more impressive. With the ball, Ramsey is regularly either feeding Ozil and Arsenal’s other midfielders in between the lines or timing his runs off the ball to find the space himself. The improvement in the Welshman is evident both statistically and when watching an Arsenal match.

Per Mertesacker

Mertesacker was often criticised for being a yard off the pace when he first moved to England, but his improvement in his time at the Emirates has been absolutely exceptional. The no-nonsense German defender has forged a sturdy defensive partnership with Laurent Koscielny, which has enabled Arsenal to have the strongest defence in the league. They have conceded 18 goals in their 20 league games so far.

Mertesacker has won 48 headed duels at a 72% success rate and has won 52% of his 33 attempted tackles. But it is his reading of the game that has seen the most significant improvement. He has completed, on average, eight defensive actions per game in the league. This includes 110 clearances, 28 interceptions and seven blocks.

Despite two lapses in concentration which have led to goals, Mertesacker has been very solid at the heart of the Arsenal back four this season, and they will need this sort of form to continue if they are to hold onto top spot.

Wojciech Szczesny

Szczesny has been known to be extremely dodgy in between the sticks at the Emirates in the past but it has been a completely different story for him this time around – his Performance Score of 504 is the first statistic which proves this. The Pole has been ever present for Arsenal this season, keeping nine clean sheets already. Only Everton’s Tim Howard can boast that amount of clean sheets in the league this season.

Szczesny has conceded just 0.9 goals per game, making an average of 2.44 saves in between each goal which is mightily impressive. He has only failed to claim five crosses all season and has completed an average of 2.2 saves per game, so it is not like he has had nothing to do.

Arsenal will be hoping that Szczesny can keep the mistakes down to a minimum like he has so far this season because he is finally beginning to fulfil his potential.