Arshavin is another man Wenger is letting his best years waste away. The Arshavin wing project failed like the Podolski one will almost certainly do, but that does not mean the Russian maestro is by any means finished. We saw his devastating effect in the Euros, where he played in the hole, with the team marking for him and he replicated it with assists in the demolition of Reading in the basketball game score-line of the Capital One Cup. Arshavin is another super sub we have who should have been coming on to play in the hole behind the striker and even relieving Carzola sometimes. But Wenger prefers to play Ramsey.
A certain German, who plays like and emulates Rosicky with quick passing, intelligent running and quick transition, Thomas Eisfield must even be considered before Ramsey. I also like to state that due to experience, Rosicky is the best attacking midfielder at Arsenal, closely followed by Wilshere and having a young replica in Eisfield is a double delight for the manager. Whatever Wenger is waiting for, as regards this man’s inclusion in the first-team, is still a mystery.
This team seems to be leaking goals and with a captain/central defender, who has a knack for scoring goals and darting forward, slotting Johan Djourou into the midfield to act as a foil for Vermaelen when he pushes forward would be a good idea.
You can ask Steve Bould about the on-field experience of playing a five-man defence. If Vermaelen bombs forward, we can rest assured of a real defensive cover in Djourou lies in the waiting.
How long will Arteta be made to play as a deep-lying playmaker when it is obvious that one of the major strengths of this position is long range passing. Unfortunately, Mikel doesn’t possess this ability despite having a host of short range passes on him. Arsene should realize some teams press high and won’t let Arteta breathe.
Anyway enough tactical talk, on to potential January reinforcements.
This team certainly needs reinforcements and talk of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, strikers and co. still bemuses when we should be thinking of acquiring a solid cover in the middle. One addition that catches the eye is Montpellier captain Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, who played twice against Arsenal in Europe this season and excelled like a beacon of light. As a holding midfielder in England he would do extremely well, as he is impressive in his marking, reading of the game and transition play. The simplest yet most accurate description of this man is the fact that he is better and more mobile than Song.
Why Yann M’Vila is not an Arsenal player today remains a mystery. If a certain punk-barbing Patrick Vieira can be calmed down back then even with boiling opposition from the beastly Roy Keane, why not the rugged and robust Rennes enforcer?
Although Huntelaar is a ‘Klaas’ act, I’m of the opinion that shutting our midfield up will make our attack livelier, as we will have the ball more to spread up-front. Defending seldom helps score goals except in counter cases but hey, Arsenal are an attacking side after all.
All hope may not be lost, but it’ll take a high degree of ingenuity from Wenger to turn this brewing disaster around and give his naysayers nothing to mull over.
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