Arteta, Song, Ramsey & Wilshere – Four into three will go!

After the performance of our midfield trio against Chelsea on Saturday many have asked on Twitter and on blogs, myself included I should add, who will miss out when Jack is fit?

The work rate and the quality of Arteta and Song was a joy to behold at Stamford Bridge and it was the performance of vision and creativity we all knew that Ramsey had in his locker, but were waiting to truly see. The signing of Arteta has been inspired, but not for the reasons I thought. I felt he was an excellent short-term replacement for Cesc in the advanced centre midfield role, but he has turned out to be a perfect stand in for Jack instead.

The form of Song, so much more than a defensive holding player and Arteta, and the coming of age of Rambo gives Arsene Wenger a lovely dilemma when Jack Wilshere is fit hopefully by February. Of course add to this a resurgent Tomas Rosicky and the young talents that are Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong. However, with the games coming thick and fast in February and March with the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League and hopefully a Carling Cup return, I am in no doubt that Wenger will need to call on all these players with regularity and to be shrewd with his rotation.

So assuming we reach a cup final and were I asked which three of the four main men I would play, I would have to honestly answer that I do not know or perhaps I might say Jack plus two, but what I do know is that history tells me we will need all four and more with regularity between February and May. Despite many of us debating a return to a four man midfield, Wenger shows no inclination to return to the formation that won him his titles, but looking back at 2002 and the record breaking 2004 season with only a central pairing will illustrate how many players we might need to keep the team fresh and strong for the run in next Spring.

In 2002 the main central pairing was Vieira and Ray Parlour, who played in 53 and 41 matches between them including starts and substitute appearances. But the main pairing was ably supported by van Bronckhorst, Grimandi and Edu, with 31, 40 and 27 appearances between them across the four competitions. With starts and substitute appearances, Wenger was able to keep five central midfielders happy and all five won Premiership medals.

In 2004, during our ‘Invincibles’ campaign, Wenger was very fortunate with injuries, but still only operating with two central midfielders was able to keep four top quality internationals occupied on our path to glory. Vieira and Gilberto were the first choice partrnership and managed 44 and 46 appearances each, but Edu and Parlour both contributed a huge amount playing 48 and 41 times respectively, albeit obviously often from the bench.

So given our current fortunes when it comes to injuries, the reason of course Abou Diaby does not get a mention, and the number of games I hope we will play, I see Arteta, Song, Ramsey and Wilshere all playing a huge role in wherever this campaign takes us. I also see Rosicky playing a superb supportive role with his guile and experience, as he did against Chelsea.

However there are still two questions Gunnersphere readers…If you were picking the midfield trio for a cup final who would miss out? (as in a one off game) – four into three just doesn’t go! And if these four are as strong as I believe they are, do we still need to buy in that area in January?

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