Given that Arsenal spent much of last season at the top of the Premier League table (more than any other club, in fact) and added players like Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez to their squad, you’d have thought that they would have kicked on as a team this year.
Unfortunately that just hasn’t been the case. Arsenal’s defense has been nigh on non-existent at times this season and they are yet to gel as an attacking unit. With players like Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil all out of form, is it any real surprise that the club hasn’t been able to produce the goods?
The Anderlecht clash will have done little to convince Arsenal fans that their club is ready to compete for more silverware. I wonder what these fans will make of comments that emanated from Anderlecht star, Steven Defour after the game. Check them out:
“Arsenal were hoping for a moment of brilliance from Alexis Sanchez or Danny Welbeck and didn’t have many runners from midfield. Dortmund’s midfielders seemed to be coming from everywhere three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, Dortmund outplayed us and we have to accept they were the better team, but I don’t think Arsenal were stronger than we were.” (Source: The Metro)
Arsenal know all about Dortmund’s midfield runners. They were overrun in the same way a few weeks back as they sank to a 0-2 defeat by the rampaging Germans. Whilst having more midfielder runners doesn’t make you a better team, I think it’s fair to say that Borussia Dortmund are a more daunting prospect than Arsenal at the moment.
Defour’s also right to say that Arsenal are too reliant on Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez. If The Gunners can’t get service into these men (as was the case last Wednesday) they tend to struggle.
With that in mind, it’s time for Arsenal’s midfielders to take some responsibility. If The Gunners want to improve, they’re going to need to see more from Santi Cazorla, more from Aaron Ramsey (who is admittedly just returning from an injury lay-off), more from Jack Wilshere (particularly in the goal-scoring sense) and a lot more from Mesut Ozil when he returns from injury.
These are well paid footballers who just aren’t performing as expected at the moment. Something has to give.
What’s your take? Are Arsenal too reliant on Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck? What can Arsene Wenger do to rectify the situation?
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