Time for the second part of my article looking into the current Arsenal team and analysing what we really need to have a title winning squad at the Emirates once more. Having looked into the goalkeepers and defence, it is now the turn of the weak midfield and the strikers to pass under the microscope.
Wingers: Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, Emmanuel Eboue, Abou Diaby
Now a massive part of our problems have been blamed instantly on the centre of defence, and the lack of a defensive midfielder. But I am starting to believe in another source of our problems. Under Wenger we haven’t always had the most reliable defenders, especially when you consider the Champions League run we had in 2005/06 with the record breaking defence that consisted of Flamini at left back and two very young Swiss centre backs alongside a young and erratic Eboue. So maybe, just maybe, it is our offensive and defensive midfielders that should take the blame. Remember that back four I mentioned had Pires, Reyes, Ljungberg and Hleb to take possession and push the opposition backwards constantly.
Nowadays we only have three (already) quality players in Rosicky, Nasri and Walcott but when you factor in Rosicky’s awful injury-hit career, and Nasri and Walcott’s inexperience and inconsistency there is definite room for improvement which could help other areas of the pitch as well.
Rating: 6/10 – Another experienced, high quality signing in this area could push us on massively. Arshavin please….
Central Midfield: Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Alex Song, Abou Diaby, Aaron Ramsey
The list above, bar Fabregas, reads like a list of potential midfield stars. But that isn’t enough for us at the moment and there is no doubt a partner for Fabregas needs to be found. However, with Fabregas’ injury one central midfielder is the minimum requirement for January in my opinion. Denilson has been pressurised into being a partner for Fabregas when they are too similar and he wasn’t ready for regular football at Premiership level, and this has battered his confidence. Diaby has no consistency or footballing maturity, and Song could be a great partner for Fabregas – in 3 years time.
Rating: 4/10 – We need an ageing stop gap measure and a competitive, energetic midfield battler – players in the vein of Jimmy Bullard and the midfield-playing twin of Bacary Sagna is what I’m hoping for.
Forwards:
Finally a more positive area of the field to talk about. Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie have scored 21 goals between them already this season and unbelievably the Flying Dutchman has even managed to keep fit thus far. But even if the worst was to happen and another forward needed to step in, Carlos Vela has looked fantastic in the games he has got this season, scoring 4 goals in just 5 starts, and on his day Bendtner is more than capable of linking play and providing a challenge for defenders.
Rating: 9/10 – Definite improvement needed to be as good as the other top four defences.
So looking through the 2 part analysis of our team, I have created a shortlist of what we need and would like to become as good as the sides we once had.
We NEED:
1st – Defensive Midfielder – Energetic with a competitive spirit
2nd – Creative Midfielder – Able to play wide, experienced and clever
Ideally we also WANT:
1st – Central Defender – Someone who can battle in the air and is a reliable performer.
2nd – Central Midfielder – A great pro with real experience to fill a gap for a while and provide cover when Cesc returns.
In the next few days I will create a run down on all our possible targets analysing how well they’d suit us, where they’d fit in, their cost and whether we will actually buy them.
