Arsenal’s 2014/15 Premier League campaign will be regarded as one of progress. Despite finishing with a lower points tally than in the preceding year, they have finished one place higher up the table and showcased a new-found ability to cope with elite opposition.

The squad is stronger than it has been in many years, both in terms of depth and mental fortitude. However, there remains one major regret that they take away from this campaign: their dreadful start to the season. As Arsene Wenger said, per Matt McGeehan of the Press Association (h/t Daily Mail):

We were not consistent enough. After eight games we were 11 points behind Chelsea. If we win our game in hand (against Sunderland on May 20) we are 10 points behind Chelsea. That means in the first eight games we lost our championship and that’s what we have to address next season and start strong.

The reasons for Arsenal’s sluggish start to the campaign are manifold. The first and most obvious is the World Cup. Arsenal had a number of stars competing in Brazil throughout the summer, and in fact three members of the Gunners squad went all the way to the final: Mesut Ozil, Lukas Podolski and Per Mertesacker.

The effect of the summer exertions was particularly clear on this trio. Mertesacker started the season even more slowly than usual, while Ozil seemed to lack the physicality required to cope with the rough and tumble of the Premier league. Podolski, meanwhile, was so poor that he eventually found himself loaned out to Inter Milan in Italy.

Perhaps Wenger could have mitigated against this fatigue fact by undertaking more work in the transfer market. However, Wenger left key gaps in the squad, after failing to add a defensive midfielder and centre-half. It was only midway through the season that Francis Coquelin stepped up and Gabriel Paulista was signed from Villarreal to cover these yawning gaps.

That’s not to say he hadn’t been busy in the transfer window. Arsenal made five signings in the summer of 2014, strengthening the squad but simultaneously creating an instability and uncertainty in the starting XI. That may also have contributed to their indifferent beginning to the campaign, as Wenger fought to discover an alchemic balance that would prove successful on the pitch.

Arsenal also had to cope with the hurdle of the Champions League qualifier. That tie against Besiktas proved a significant distraction, but having now achieved automatic qualification for next year’s competition, they will look forward to starting a Premier League season without that particular shadow hanging over them.

In the end, Arsenal won just two of their opening eight Premier league games. After 11 matches, they were already 12 points behind leaders Chelsea. At the end of the campaign, the gap remained the same. Arsenal’s bad beginning handed Chelsea an insurmountable lead. If the Gunners are serious about challenging for the title next season, they cannot afford such an inauspicious start again.

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