*Buy a DM in January. Strootman has been linked. I don't know how he would fair at Arsenal, he looks like a good box to box player, but he'd still be a gamble. *Try and identify another DM available in the transfer window, might not be an easy task in the January window. *Frimpong will be back in January, play him there. *Play one of Vermaelen or Koscielny at DM *Wait for Diaby to get back to fitness *Sack Wenger
M'Vila for me. Unfortunately Diaby cant be relied upon - who knows when he'll be fit and for how long?
M'Vila would probably have to be a summer signing, we should have signed him this one just gone. We can't rely on Diaby and Wenger made a mistake by not providing any replacement or cover for Song and Diaby.
And is Diaby a real DM? He is a box to box player. Like Wilshere in a way. Not a disciplined guy who does the dirty work.
I don't think we need a new DM, defending hasn't been our problem this season, SCORING and CREATING has been the problem, we need a new top quality striker, and a new top quality creative midfielder, ideally, one that can play out wide, because Gervinho will be gone in January, and even if he wasn't gone, the guy's completely **** that we need another creative player who can play out wide.
He is a box to box MF. I'm not denying that at all. But he does do his defensive share of duties. One of Diaby's strengths is pressing and trying to win the ball back. Strootman could be another similar type of player.
Diaby would work well with Arteta since he (arteta) doesn't mind tracking back when someone goes forward. Nevertheless, having him back would be great. We just have to wait 3 weeks
Diaby and Arteta were working well, as were Song and Arteta. Trouble is Song is gone and Diaby is completely unreliable (not his fault)
Still baffled that people on this thread still think that diaby is a DFM, how can you watch him play and say that he is a defensive midfielder? When do you ever see him breaking up the game, in all honesty it's lazy people that label him that because of his physique and size and the comparison to viera etc. But diaby's main assets are when he has the ball and when he goes forward, thats one of the major reason why we were so good at the start of the season. Also one thing that wenger said today, it has nothing to do with the DM position but it is very true nonetheless "In England, the response is always to sort out your problems by buying players. It's one way to do it and if we need it we'll do it. "But from 3 December to 1 of January [when the transfer window opens] we have 28 days and many big games. So what is important is immediately to do something about it." - wenger And it is true, we can talk about targets etc but we have alot of games to play until the january transfer window and its the players that we have right now that will determine a large part of our season, who knows we could be going into that window off the back of a good run and we have 3 huge games in january aswel as the window. So there is still alot to be done before we bring in players and yes i think that strootman would be a very good player for us.
I would love an aggressive, committed midfielder like Daniele De Rossi. I know we have no chance of getting De Rossi and he's probably too old anyway but that's the kindof mentality we need. Cheik Tiote is having a stormer for Newcastle at the moment, he would fit the ball although he's a little short.
Mate, nobody has said that Diaby is a DM. We're saying that he plays well in that role as a box to box player. He is good going forward, but he also does his defensive duties. If you watch his performances, he does tackle and try to win the ball back. I think you're right to point out that it's the players we've got that we need to concentrate on. They are the ones who are going to determine what happens this season. We need to get them playing better and that might mean playing a different formation. But if we can add a DM (or box to box player) in January, then I think we should definitely do it.
Personally, I'd change the formation. Either a 4-4-2 (which might suit Walcott and Podolski better) Or a 3-5-2 with a central DM in front of 3 CBs
-------------------Szezza------------------- Sagna----Merts-----Vermaelen---Gibbs ------Wilshere----M'vila-----Arteta------- -------------------Carzorla------------------- ---------Llorente--------Podolski-----------
I think the idea is to move Cazorla onto the wing, and push Wilshere into the attacking midfield role. Arteta would be the deep-lying playmaker (CM) he was for us last season when Song was covering for him. It's where he seems to be most effective. I'm simply not sold on Cazorla as part of a midfield-3. If we're getting outplayed and outpassed in the middle by Swansea, then we need a more combative player in there to win it. Cazorla would be great on the left, cutting inside and creating chances from more advanced positions than he is currently. Regardless, we have to drop Podolski from that position anyway. Let Pod compete with Giroud for the forward role, left wing isn't his cup of tea.
Why exactly is there consensus that the lack of defensive midfielders is our real problem? The most obvious concern for me is that we haven't created good chances. In some games it looks like we actually have possession and create chances, but they are all really really bad build ups that don't end up in a clear scoring opportunity. I don't buy the CF issue either. If we provide enough decent chances Giroud is able to convert. The chances we have created have just been pretty ****. Cazorla has adapted quickly yes, but I think we were missing Wilshere and Diaby (and even Song if he was here) who often prefer the 'shortcut' pass through the middle to a longer build up. Cazorla is good as someone who can start things but he rarely attempts an ambitious pass. I think the few highlights of the Swansea game was Wilshere making forward runs and dangerous passes through the middle. If we had more of that we could test their keepers much more often. We haven't looked bad defensively, most of our points were lost by not being efficient with the ball, not being bad off it. Swansea goals came after we were already desperate looking clueless in attack.
Kevin Strootman is not a DM. He is basically a dutch Arteta. It would solve no issues whatsoever. We need a bruiser, someone who's willing to get stuck in, and take some bookings if necessary. Even someone like Wanyama from Celtic would be a decent option. He's looked alright every time i've seen him play.
For me it looks like the root of our problems are that we're being overrun in MF, which then causes problems for our attacking players. There's no pressing in MF, so oppo teams are bypassing us and putting the defence under pressure, therefore the attacking players are seeing less of the ball and being pulled out of positon when they do try to help out defensively. When the defence try and play the ball out, there's no linking MF player with the attack. The defenders are bringing the ball out and then passing sideways and backwards. Also as mentioned, Giroud will do okay if he gets good service, but for that to happen I think we need a player who can supply players who want to go forward. At the moment, we look like we've got a defence and and attack with no players in the middle who can link the play together. There are massive gaps in our midfield, the games against Villa, Everton and Swansea exposed these gaps badly. I think we need a DM, but I also think this team needs to defend from the front and press the oppositon. We're giving teams far too much time on the ball. When we press them, we win the ball back and can create quick counter attacks. When we try and build from the DF, we're so slow and all of our players seem to get bunched up in the final 3rd, along with 10 oppo players behind the ball, our attacks break down and then with no DM, we're on the back foot again . . .
I don't know why people are against strootman he's actually my preference. You have to realise arsenal don't play with a pure dm anymore and anyone playing in that position has to have well rounded attribute. Strootman may be box to box but he isn't afraid of surging into tackles and play hard ball. I think he's perfect and relatively cheaper option too.
