The Big Four

Unquestionably, the four most important members of the Arsenal squad last year (and going forward) were Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Alex Song and Thomas Vermaelen. The Big 4, as they should be known, are an essential part of the Arsenal squad and their health could be a deciding factor in the 2010 season.

The below chart shows Arsenal's record in 2009 when The Big 4 played.

The Big 4	W	D	L	Gm	Pts	Pts/Gm	Win %
All 4 Played	7	1	1	9	22	2.4	77.8%
Missing 1	7	1	5	13	22	1.7	53.8%
Missing 2	7	3	1	11	24	2.2	63.6%
Missing 3	2	1	2	5	7	1.4	40.0%

Arsenal played just 9 out of 38 games with The Big 4 all involved, but they averaged the most points per game when they were all involved. Arsenal averaged 2.4 points per game when The Big 4 played, but just 1.8 points per game when at least one member was hurt. Robin van Persie's long term injury certainly makes the number of games missed more than it should be, but the fact that Arsenal still played five matches with only one of their four most important players involved is a cringe worthy thought. All five of those games where three members of The Big 4 were missing were played without Song and Fabregas, the two essential members of the midfield.