Arsenal's Midfield

Our recent revival I believe has put quite a dilemma on Wenger's hands when it comes down to our midfield. For most of the season (me included) we have been calling for a new creative attacking midfielder to be brought to the team, but let's just think of this for a second, assuming we bring in a new creative middle man, who will make way for him?

You look at our current 3 in the middle, Rosicky, Song, and Arteta, and that is a midfield that has been producing top top top class quality, Rosicky as our attacking creative middle man has been absolutely brilliant for the past few months, I mean can we really take this guy out of the starting 11 when he's on this form? Then you have Arteta who once again produced a great performance with a fabalous goal, and what's more special with Arteta is he provides a lot of protection in the middle of the park for the back 4, would anyone seriously demote Arteta out of the starting 11 with the way he's played for us this season? As for Song, nothing needs to be said for him, you cannot possibly take this guy out of the starting 11.

So we have 3 quality players in the middle, and then just to compound the selection trouble, we have Wilshere returning!!!!!! Now if Wilshere continues to play like he did before his injury (which i think he will), then you've got to ask yourself where a new creative middle man fits in with all of these 4 top performing midfielders? If I'm honest, I am totally satisfied with our midfield as it is, not to forget we also have coquelan coming back, and if Diaby remains (which i think he will) and stays fit, then he too will be a very good option and that's 6 midfielders right there, more than enough for a squad (including Ramsey cough).

The way I see it is that if we do get a new creative middle man, he should be employed down the wings, on the left hand side, as Gervino has underperformed and I think it is there where we could provide some strengthening. On the right wing we look good at the moment with Walcott and OXO (who can also play left), but it's on the left where we look limited with Gervino so the new creative middle man should be positioned there, but rumours have it that we will sign Podolski, which if we do, he will most likely play out wide on the left, which brings us all the way back to a new creative middle man, just where will he feature?

I mean just ask yourselves, with the way our midfield has been performing, who on earth would you take out? Song? Arteta? Rosicky? And with Wilshere returning would you also demote and sacrifice him in place of a new creative middle man?

Tough tough choice.

PISKIE said:

I still think we need a replacement for one of Fabregas or Nasri

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But who you going to take out of the team? Song? Arteta? Rosicky? Wilshere? All of them deserve their places in the starting 11.

something people also need to realise is the more our midfield play together, the more they learn from each other, and the better they get. the most important thing on a pitch is to be a TEAM, that's why Barcelona are fantastic, they have a great understanding with each other, and that's what we are currently doing/having with our midfield, you can see there is a very very good balance and understanding amongst our midfield starters, and money CANNOT BUY THAT, and the more they play with each other, the more better they will get as a unit, and if we buy a new star man, then that simply disrupts that.

It's team mates who make other team mates look very good, and it's team mates who allow other team mates to play their game, for example because Arteta sits back a bit and does the defensive work in the middle of the park, this allows Song to move up more and play his attacking game, and because Song also does defensive work, this allows Rosicky to push forward and have license to be a great attacking midfielder, it's all because of the understanding and partnership he receives from his team mates.

If you look at our unbeaten team, they had a great understanding with each other, they could just pass the ball with their heads down to the forward positions and know someone would be there to receive the ball and attack, that's the most important thing to have in a team, to be a UNIT, to understand one another, and that's what we are getting at the moment, it let's each player play more freely etc.

PISKIE said:

They do, but how many times have they all played together this season ?

I think there are more than enough games in a season, given all competitions, injuries, fatigue and potential loss of form for the above players plus a top quality attacking midfielder to play.

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Sure, they can't play EACH GAME, sometimes they will miss 1 or 2 games, and that's where a squad player can come fill in (Coqualan, Ramsey, and Diaby), but they are still our MAIN PLAYERS, in other words, when they are fit, when we don't have a cup game, or an easy European game, then they are the players for the starting 11.

For most of the season the reason why we never had the combination of Song, Arteta, and Rosicky is not because of injury, but because Wenger was playing Ramsey as the middle 3! Song and Arteta have been consistently playing for us this season, there was a point in the season where Arteta missed I think 1-2 games because of injury, but nothing serious, and again, that's where a squad player can come in, unless you actually want to buy someone like Goetze to simply be a squad player to fill in when someone's out injured!