Arsenal legend Lee Dixon believes that Gael Clichy and Andrey Arshavin must be dropped from the starting XI following their performances at Old Trafford on Monday. However, is it a justified statement?
The former Gunners right-back thinks its now time for Arsene Wenger to drop the 25-year-old Frenchman once Kieran Gibbs recovers from his latest injury woe. The man who was once part of Arsenal’s famous back four believes that the current left-back has gone backwards in terms of development. He was quoted in the press as saying:
‘We were not strong enough mentally centrally at the back and Clichy is going backwards.’
He goes onto say
‘We all have a bad time at some point maybe he needs to have sometime out to look from the outside. It sometimes helps.’
A fair number of Arsenal fans will share, and agree with Dixon’s views on the Frenchman. Gael Clichy has not hit the heights as he did a few years back, and a couple of times already this season has made some very elementary mistakes in big games (the Shakhtar Donetsk game springs to mind). Many Arsenal fans will believe that Clichy needs to seriously improve in the upcoming weeks.
Of course in defensive terms Andrey Arshavin does very little to help his side, especially Gael Clichy. Arshavin is a great attacking player but his lack of commitment is visible to everyone including Lee Dixon. The Match of the Day pundit echoed what all Arsenal fans have known for months about the Russian, but doesn’t blame the 29-year-old for making fundamental errors:
“Andrey Arshavin’s body language in the tunnel before the game was not great, either, but he is not the one making basic wrong decisions.”
It seems to be a very fair statement made by Dixon on both Arsenal players, but should they be dropped from the starting line-up?
As I don’t speak for every Arsenal fan out there I can only give my views on the matter, so here they are. I totally agree with Lee Dixon’s assessments on both players, Clichy appears to have gone backwards defensively and Arshavin’s body language continues to confuse, but in terms of dropping them, I think only Clichy should be considered. Although Arshavin may not help the side as much as others do, the diminutive Russian offers bags of creativity and can be a great attacker when he can be bothered. For me, Clichy looks like a sheep that has lost his way. The Frenchman does not look the same player as he once was and Wenger should seriously give him a long rest once Kieran Gibbs returns from injury.
What do you guys think? Are Dixon’s claims true? Should both Clichy and Arshavin be dropped? Or is it a harsh statement made by the Arsenal legend? Let us know.
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I agree with lee dixons comments, both need to to be dropped.
Clichy progress is going backwards and has been ever since Birmingham 2 years ago. We have gibbs waiting in the ranks who in my opinion is better than him defensively and offensively, when he is fully fit he should be put in the team and clichy should be given a rest.
Arshavin also needs to be dropped as he is inconsistant, when he plays he is brilliant but that is when he plays. He needs to step his game up for the benefit of the team because on his day he is right up there with the best players in the world.
I think he needs a rest but lets face it who is good enough to replace him. We have vela who is not ready, rosicky who is inconsistant as well or mr indecisive himself theo walcott who again has the capabilities of being a great player but seems to panic and doesn’t know what to do with the ball.
I hope both these players prove me wrong and step their games up.