Think back to the 67th minute of the premiership game against Bolton on September 18th. Arsenal are 2-1 up, have played seven games so far in the season, and have won all of them. At this moment Gilberto Silva is forced off with a back injury, not to be seen again for the rest of the season. It wasn't unitll we lost him that I think anyone realised just what an important role he played. Suddenly we started conceding a spate of goals form corners and set pieces. Suddenly a chasm developed between our defence and our midfield which countless teams have exploited since. Gilberto is our Makelele and we have missed him like hell, none of our other central midfielders have the discipline to stay back and protect the defence (much as I had hoped it would prove otherwise this is the same for Flamini - like Vieira he excels at the defensive side of the game, but like Vieira he likes to get forward and join the attack).
So, what is the lesson that needs to be learned for next season? We need decent cover for Gilberto. I'm sure some of you will argue that Vieira should take up the role, and have criticised him for not doing so, but I disagree. Vieira excels at being a complete midfielder who plays both a defensive and offensive role, why waste so much of his talent by limiting him to a purely defensive role. I could imagine in a few years time when his legs start to go that this is the role he will play and Cesc will take up the more offensive role, but not yet. We don't need to (and probably couldn't afford to) spend ten millions pounds on bringing in a big name defensive midfielder to do the role (say Essien or Costinha), next year Gilberto will be back, will be first choice for the role, and will continue to do it extremely well. The player we need is a new Gilles Grimandi, a player who, like gilberto, was much maligned for his lack of offensive ability, but, who cost very little money and could be trusted to protect the defence in that defensive midfield role when Petit was out. Do I know who this player is? No idea, I don't watch nearly enough football, my consumption being pretty much limited to the premiership, but there's a wiley French manager I know of who spends all of his spare time watching football and who I bet would know a player who could do the job - I just hope he's concluded that we need such a player.
So, what is the lesson that needs to be learned for next season? We need decent cover for Gilberto. I'm sure some of you will argue that Vieira should take up the role, and have criticised him for not doing so, but I disagree. Vieira excels at being a complete midfielder who plays both a defensive and offensive role, why waste so much of his talent by limiting him to a purely defensive role. I could imagine in a few years time when his legs start to go that this is the role he will play and Cesc will take up the more offensive role, but not yet. We don't need to (and probably couldn't afford to) spend ten millions pounds on bringing in a big name defensive midfielder to do the role (say Essien or Costinha), next year Gilberto will be back, will be first choice for the role, and will continue to do it extremely well. The player we need is a new Gilles Grimandi, a player who, like gilberto, was much maligned for his lack of offensive ability, but, who cost very little money and could be trusted to protect the defence in that defensive midfield role when Petit was out. Do I know who this player is? No idea, I don't watch nearly enough football, my consumption being pretty much limited to the premiership, but there's a wiley French manager I know of who spends all of his spare time watching football and who I bet would know a player who could do the job - I just hope he's concluded that we need such a player.
