Simple question. Does the midfield trio of Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla work? I was at the match against Everton, and the midfield was bypassed very easily - immediately Everton were at the back 4 as the midfield offered no protection. Cazorla clearly doesn't have much defensive responsibility as he's predominantly an AM, but Arteta & Wilshere don't seem to be offering much protection. Is a dedicated DM required? Or even just someone with a bit more bite in their tackle such as Rosicky?
Arteta in the dm role is the problem for me, he should be playing playing further forward or not at all. When Rosicky is back to fitness i'd like to see Cazorla played in the front 3 in the kind of role Nasri used to have
Yes midfield is the MAIN problem. It is the focal point of our attacking play and defensively suspect. Areteta is good at what' he does but that's not being a dm. What he does is more of a defensive cm who participates in attack. We need a midfield enforcer who pushes and hassles the opposition. For now the only option we have is coq but we need to buy a dm in jan my preference being strootman. Arteta should alermate with wilshere. Cazorla is exhausted and I would play someone else for the next match because as matters stand he is ineffective. We have other problems but that's for anther thread!
We desperately need a DM. We have great players in MF, but they are all attack minded. Arteta is wasted playing a holding role. Our MF is getting bypassed far too easily and that's why our back four are under pressure. I hate to say it but we are badly missing Song. For all the criticism he got for being out of positon, he actually did a lot of defensive mopping up.
I dont think our system works with the personnel we have. It worked better when he had Diaby in there because he added some pace and athletecism. Personally I would like to see us sign a striker and defensive midfielder. (although Wenger is already started contradicting himself when it comes to bringing personnel in.)
Diaby is the player we need in there, but Wenger gambled on him staying fit and didn't buy a proper DM in the summer. That was a mistake. I'm often the first to defend him, but that was negligent in my opinion.
A little while ago you were saying that Arteta, Wilshire and Cazorla were the best midfield in the PL!
I agree, i think we need to go and buy a DM in either january or the summer. The worrying thing for arteta however is that if we do then he will not get in the team, i would take diaby wilshere and cazorla all over arteta. There just doesn't seem to be any link up play in midfield and if there is then it's slow and predictable. I think the wingers and giroud also have a huge part to play in that aswel. As i've mentioned before we seem to be a team that is disjointed and no two players seem to be on the same wave-length. Maybe it will click in together but we are once again becoming the team that is far too easy to turn over. One paper our midfield looks good but maybe all the players are too similar, in physique and the way we play. You do need someone in their that is going to stick their foot in and win the ball. And i think that all of us over-looked the importance of song leaving, maybe because we had wilshere coming back and coquelin and frimpong making the step up and obviously rvp's departure. But in order to find a solid defensive midfielder that can pass the ball well we are going to have to spend over £20m i would have thought.
We used to have 5 midfielders and the striker who were all good at Wenger's quick passing game, our front 3 these days just arn't that type of player anymore
This is the team we could have right now: --------------------- Szezsney-------------------------- Sagna--------Mertesacker-------Vermaelen--------A.Cole -----------------Flamini--------Wilshere----------------- Cazorla-----------------Fabregas-------------------Nasri ------------------------Van Persie----------------------- How times change
Exactly right, we have too many players out of position. Arteta doesn't work against passing teams like Swansea. He is too old and tired do what what is needed. We need an energetic, in your face midfielder who is going to pressure the ball and win it back. The best prospects are Kevin Strootman and Yann M'Vila. One of these players should be our top priority. Arteta's forward passing was our strength earlier in the season. Now he's being told to sit back even more, we're missing it. It's a cache-22. Someone behind him would solve our problem. Cazorla would never work in a 2-man midfield so it's a waste to put him in a 3-man midfield. The advantage of a 3-man midfield is to dominate the opposition, not to waste the position on a flair player. Krome is right to say Cazorla should be in the front 3. It should definitely be at the expense of Podolski. Team: --------------Szczesny--------------- Sagna--Mertesacker--Vermaelen--Gibbs -----------Strootman/M'Vila----------- ----------Wilshere---Arteta----------- Walcott-----------------------Cazorla ------------Giroud/Pod---------------
Couldn't agree more. Wenger put all his hopes on Diaby being fit all year which was a massive mistake considering his injury record over the last couple of years. Arteta is a great player but he is wasted in that DM role and him in that role is highlighting his and our defensive fragilities. We need someone in there that is going to get in your face and break up play like song did. Yann M'Villa would be my choice to go in there but i'd be just as happy with strootman or tiote
We have apparently sent steve rowley to holland to watch strootman in the game at the weekend between psv and ajax which psv lost 3-1. But strootman does look like a good player seems to have everything in his game and at 22 seems to be the right age. Would be very excited if we signed him.
Your system also leaves your full-backs very exposed, which is exaggerated by the attacking style of those players. I'm not convinced that your formation is suited to your personnel.
FELLANI!!! He will be 20mn plus in Jan unfortunately - could have got him in the summer for 15mn said it then will say it now massive oppertunity missed. Although i still feel are ineptness in attack is our biggest problem it always leads to overcommiting and then we get hammered on the counter. We use too many personal in attacks because we are so ineffective going forward.
