For the last few seasons I’ve been asked what I think it would take for Arsenal to really push for the Premier League title. In truth I don’t think they are missing all that much, I do however believe a few tweaks are necessary.
First of all, Arsene Wenger has a real eye for spotting good young talent; no-one can deny that. My problem with Wenger is that over the last few years he’s never been able to find the correct balance in the team. Certain times in certain games, everything just simultaneously falls apart for them.
Why is this? Let’s go back to the game against Liverpool in April. Van Persie converts a penalty right at the death to give his side the lead. At this point all you need to do is see out the last few moments, right? I watched on that day as Arsenal crumbled to a 1-1, wondering how they let this happen.
The simple answer is; they have no team leader. Fabregas & Van Persie are seen as the two most senior players in the squad, yet neither of them is willing to stand up and take charge when it really matters. A team leader needs to organise the team, keep them calm under pressure and lead by example. As soon as Liverpool got the game back underway you could see the fear in the Arsenal players’ eyes. A strong inspiring captain would have got his team together before the restart, re-focused them, told them to press the game as high up the pitch as possible and see the game out, instead they sat back, gave away a silly foul outside the box and then subsequent penalty.
Please don’t take this as an attack on Fabregas or Van Persie as footballers. They are both magnificently talented individuals who would be an asset to any team; I just feel they are not leaders on the pitch. To me, Arsenal require a player like Nigel De Jong, someone who will break up play in the middle of the park and feed the more creative players. Some would argue that Alex Song is that type of player, but in my opinion he’s still learning his trade and would benefit from an experienced defensive midfielder at the club to help mould him.
Arsenal also need some fresh blood at the back, a lot has been made of how many unnecessary goals they ship. I’ve heard Wenger has a lot of interest in PSG wonderkid Mamadou Sakho. From experience in watching this player I can tell you he’s a hell of a talent, and I can only imagine the reason Arsene has not snapped him up before now is due to the large transfer fee required. Again though, if he were to invest in Sakho, you need to get the balance right. He would have to be partnered with a strong, experienced centre back like Vermaelen, leaving Djourou & Koscielny as stand-ins.
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If Fabregas do leave, then this is what I think Wenger should do. Offload him to Madrid instead (I am sure he will be keen still) and exchange him for Benzema + 20mil (assuming Benzema does cost 25mil and Fabregas seems to have a value of 45mil). Then use the 20mil to get Hazard.
Then sell off Denilson, Squillaci and Bendtner and with whatever we can get from these clowns + the fund that the BOD says is available for use, buy Cahill or Samba to replace Squillaci and Parker or another good DM (Inler, Matuidi, etc) to replace Denilson and challenge Song and a decent keeper to challenge Szczesny.
If Cesc were to go, we should even revert back to a 4-4-2 playing Benzema and RVP together, moving Nasri to the middle and have Hazard and Walcott on the wing.
A strong CB pair of Cahill / Vermaelen + Sagna and Clichy (or if he does go, perhaps Baines) will ensure that we have a solid team with great backups to come in when anyone gets injured.
You make some good points. I had heard Arsenal were interested in Hazard, he’s a great young player. With that midfield you are leaving Wilshere & Ramsay on the bench though?