Niall Quinn believes it’s not the defence Arsene Wenger needs to improve over January but adding a defensive enforcer like Nemanja Matic should be on top of the Frenchman’s list.
Wenger has been heavily criticised in the past for failing to address his side’s defence but has also come under-fire because he has not managed to find someone who can protect the back four.
The Gunners have been linked with a number of defensive midfielders in recent months, like Sami Khedira and William Carvalho, but have failed to land in this position. Instead, Wenger opted to re-sign Mathieu Flamini in summer 2013 and although he added depth to the midfield, the 30-year-old isn’t what he used to be.
And Quinn, who spent seven years at Arsenal from 1983-1990, believes the lack of a midfield enforcer – someone in the mould of Matic – is the missing piece to Wenger’s puzzle.
Quinn said:
‘All of us have been saying for some time, strengthen that back four. If you strengthen that back four you have all the other things going forward.
‘Throw Matic in front of them (Arsenal defence), then I’ll happily back them.’
I couldn’t agree more with Quinn – you could have the best defence in the world but if there isn’t a solid midfielder in front of them to protect them then they will eventually crumble.
We need to find someone like Matic to add to our midfield, someone with strength, hard to knock off the ball and protect the back four. There are players out there like Matic and while many of us blame our defence for our failings, we should ask what those in front of them have been doing as well. If you bring in a solid midfielder, who just sits in front and protects the back four, you will see a different Arsenal side altogether, especially defensively.
william cavalho is a better option. Easy to teach