Squad Analysis

[Feet]

Also Cesc and Tom? As in Tomas Rosicky? Thats a midfield that would be eaten alive by any team with the balls to attack us.

Have to disagree. Tom's defensive ability is very much underrated.

If we all cast our minds back several years to the last time Tomas played, then yes he was very responsible in tracking back and putting pressure on the ball when he played RM. In the absence of a proper first choice DM\CM (Denilson, Diaby and Song still are not Premiership winner quality for me), you could do worse than put Rosicky in there next to Cesc (a case I put forward a few times in the Lobby when Flamini and Gilberto left).

It'll never happen though, you've got to be robust to take a defensive responsibility in the centre and it's not clear if Rosicky will now be akin to a chinadoll when he does eventually return. When everyone is fit I think our best XI is more or less,

Al
Sagna Gallas Toure Clichy
Nasri Cesc Denilson Arsharvin
RvP Ade

The two weak links are Ade and Denilson for me. I believe Ade will face a very real threat from Eduardo for his auto-pick spot up front if he returns to form quickly. Denilson will have to do for now, he's the best of a bad bunch of players we have in that position. If Rosicky does make a comeback then he'd get Nasris position. We have quality options on the bench too now. Exciting times.

 

[Biggus]

Why are all of you posting formations with no defensive ability in the midfield? It's really silly.

They're working within the present reality: we don't have a DM as it is.

I think it's Wenger's ultimate ambition to win the league with 10 pint sized attacking midfielders. :|

 

[ivansen]

Why are all of you posting formations with no defensive ability in the midfield? It's really silly.

They're working within the present reality: we don't have a DM as it is.

I think it's Wenger's ultimate ambition to win the league with 10 pint sized attacking midfielders. :|

But I don't want us to use a dm, I just feel we need a physical prescense with some discipline next to Cesc. Vieira was never a dm, but he had the physicality and positional awareness to prevent our midfield from being run over.

And as a note, I don't like us becoming shorter and shorter all the time. We will suffer at set pieces as well as lose physical battles.

 

[Biggus]

But we need a defensive minded midfielder because Cesc is no box to box marauder like Vieira was.....Vieira was almost the complete player. We need a Petit or Flamini to do the dirty work for Cesc.

 

[Anzac]

But we need a defensive minded midfielder because Cesc is no box to box marauder like Vieira was.....Vieira was almost the complete player. We need a Petit or Flamini to do the dirty work for Cesc.

not to mention that our defensive patterns are so fraked up that we need a more robust defensive presence in midfield........

 

[General]

btw lol at flams, heard hes going napoli

Fantastic if true. He was one of my favourite Arsenal players in modern time. The stupid idiot didn't realise what he had when he left.

Yepo. Gilberto said how the players are really looked after at Arsenal and that really hit a chord. He really didn't know what he had and is also now playing in a technically more demanding league. I'd be surprised if he ever hit the sort of heights he did here. I'm sure the money AC threw at him was nice but at the expense of what....his career??

On the topic itself, I believe the DM issue will resolves itself over the summer (injuries permitting) with an internal solution. Any new buy in will most likely be for depth purposes.

--------------Almunia---

Sagna-----Gallas---Djourou---Clichy

Arsh----Cesc---Song/Denilson/Diaby---Rosicky

--------RVP------Ade/Eduardo

This is will be a match for any team.

 

[patrick42uk]

Lol "internal solution". Wenger is a good salesman.

 

[patrick42uk]

Controversial as this is, but, in my opinion, no cesc = no midfield problem

 

[kel varnsen]

with arshavin, our biggest issue is in fact solved. we will, when rosicky returns, have more than just two quality options on the wings. the creative and mobile wingers are absolutely key to the way we play. as soon as the likes of hleb, rosicky and nasri are replaced with eboue, denilson, walcott etc; our performance level drops significantly. in the long run. there are of course outliers here and there.

last season, i have always been of the opinion that rosicky's injury played a large part in our "collapse". not because he's the greatest player ever, but because the winger position needs to be occupied by players possessing certain qualities. with arshavin, we now have three playmakers available there. once cesc is back, i expect us to start producing brilliantly on a consistent and fairly regular basis again. of course, we still have certain problems to deal with: central midfield and centra defense.

however, i think this is the best move possible wenger could have done. he has seen the problems and done whatever he can possibly do to fix them. some of my faith in wenger is definately restored. regardless of how we perform over the next couple of weeks. possibly even if we finish fifth. what matters is that once cesc and rosicky returns, we will see three "playmakers" in midfield once again and the level of our performances will improve. sharply. if we can do that, then we are back on track.

 

[hesham]

Song has developed well and can form a decent partnership with Cesc when he returns imo.

 

[Gurgen]

Controversial as this is, but, in my opinion, no cesc = no midfield problem

I agree.

 

[irishgunnerz]

Big statement Patrick

I can see where youre coming from but I still rather him in than out!

 

[hesham]

Controversial as this is, but, in my opinion, no cesc = no midfield problem

It depends what you are looking for from your CM
If you mean defensively the yes we are probably better, but attacking wise and creatively speaking, were **** from CM. That to me is a problem.

 

[patrick42uk]

But if its about team balance? With Arshavin, creativity might be less of a problem. We have looked much more solid since his injury. Whats frustrating for me is that we dont really need Cesc to be as blaise as he is. He can be effective from deep but he has an obsession with glory and goals.

If Cesc is long term than a DM is vital.

 

[Zico]

Given our options in midfield, it is impossible to imagine choosing to drop Cesc. He did not look great before he got injured, but that is all relative. He was still streaks ahead of the Three Stooges. Given Cesc's special quality, the goal should still be to get a top-notch combative central midfielder, who can help us squash opposition counter attacks, and also give us strength (and height, if possible).

 

[outlaw_member]

Controversial as this is, but, in my opinion, no cesc = no midfield problem

It's no coincidence, that we have become solid in the middle, ever since he's been out.

I think below is the best formation and line up we could possibly deploy.

---------Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Djourou-Clichy
------Song--Denilson/Diaby
RVP------Cesc------Arshavin
--------Edu/Ade--------

 

[JazzG]

As long as we have a strong defensive player in midfield I see no reason for Fabregas not to do well in this side. I think Fabregas needs to pace himself and time his runs better, in the past he has been a bit gung ho and I think he needs to choose his runs and opportunities to get forward a bit better.

 

[hesham]

But if its about team balance? With Arshavin, creativity might be less of a problem. We have looked much more solid since his injury. Whats frustrating for me is that we dont really need Cesc to be as blaise as he is. He can be effective from deep but he has an obsession with glory and goals.

If Cesc is long term than a DM is vital.

Yeah, with a DMC definitely or we would be shipping to many goals,
Agree with Kel, would like to go back to the way it was at the beg of last season with 3 creative midfielders, and 1 DM. Song isn't ideal but he is the best option we have for that role.
Cesc obsessed with glory? that's a bit harsh Pat.. Cesc is best going forward so we should try and make him focus on that area imo.

 

[Illusion]

Song has done well with Fabregas on a few occasions this season and I think he's the best partner for him. Most notably he did rather well against Man Utd earlier in the season, he gave their midfield a difficult time and helped to keep our defence protected at least a little bit.

I do wish people would stop trying to put Denilson into a defensive role because that clearly doesn't work. He's not built for it, he's a Fabregas back up. All of his best games are when he's allowed to roam further forward and develop attacks. He actually makes runs and gets in a fair few shots at times. He's definitely not a defensive option, he's a great way to rest Fabregas in my opinion.

Out of Denilson, Song and Diaby I would say Denilson is the most consistent and best player right now, but he's not a defensive midfielder and every time he's played in that role he's looked poor. The best defensive midfielder out of those three is Song.

With actual quality on the wings we should be seeing a much stronger midfield since the likes of Diaby/Eboue/Denilson wont be regularly stuck out wide where they aren't that good. No longer will the ball be passed to Eboue only for him to make a nice run that ends in a dive rather than avoiding the tackle and crossing the ball.

The biggest question for us is can we keep winning until our team returns to full strength and can we even win every game then?

 

[General]

Lol "internal solution". Wenger is a good salesman.

There is nothing funny about that. Next season, it is going to be either one of Song, Denilson or Diaby partnering Cesc. My best bet is Song. This is the reality of the situation we are in whether people like it or not and you can quote me on this.

If we buy a new DCM, it would be for depth purposes only. We paid the price for assimilating these guys into the first team earlier than necessary and whether we agree with Wenger or not, he isn't going to throw it all away for a new signing.

Besides, despite the fact that I would've preferred a better player to partner Cesc, I can acknowledge that these 3 have made progress and we look more stable in midfield than we ever did this season. Those expecting a new messiah to partner Cesc are going to be very disappointed.

If we manage to hang on to every one over the summer, I would expect perhaps one or 2 acquisitions (opportunistic ones), if any at all. Perhaps a CB, but even this looks a distant possibility.