Tuesday 20 August 2013

Arsenal should forget about signing strikers, their problems begin at the back - Telegraph.co.uk

And up-front, while lacking the world-class goalscorer that Wenger has been trying to attract, they are almost on a par with the rest of the top teams with the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain only going to get better.

But if those guys in the attacking half of the team are not able to perform, the defensive players will be the Achilles heel time and time again, and those are the players that Wenger should have improved upon this summer.

In goal, Wojciech Szczesny has had good and bad times at Arsenal and you would say that his performances have been 50-50 in terms of positive and negative. But that just isn't good enough for a goalkeeper because that ratio really needs to be 99-1 if you are going to win things.

In front of Szczesny, you have Per Mertesacker at centre-half, but he is just too slow to be of any use to Arsenal. His lack of pace causes too many problems, and is made worse by his habit of going forward as he struggles to get back, which leaves holes that opposing teams have, and will, exploit.

Then there is Laurent Koscielny, who was sent off in the defeat against Aston Villa. He is another 'maybe' because there have been too many occasions when his decision making has let him and the team down.

Arsenal are also susceptible at full-back, on both sides. The lack of a leader in midfield is another glaring area of weakness.

During Tottenham's win at Crystal Palace on Sunday Jan Vertonghen was giving orders and issuing directions to his team-mates within the first couple of minutes of the game and he is not even the captain.

You never see anybody doing that in an Arsenal shirt and every time they take to the pitch, their fate seems to be in the lap of the gods. It is as though their attitude is, 'We'll go on the pitch and if it goes well, fine.' Too often, though, it isn't fine and this is why Wenger should have identified and added key personnel in defensive areas this summer.

Arsenal will spend this season locked in a three-way fight with Tottenham and Liverpool for the fourth Champions League spot because they do not possess the ability to win while playing poorly which Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City have.

When Arsenal play well, they win, but when they play poorly, as they did against Villa, it ends in disaster.

This has not happened overnight. Arsenal's failings are a recurring theme and that is why they are facing a pressure week – and a season that could see them finally slip out of the top four.

Having been soundly beaten by Villa, they face Fenerbahce in a really tough Champions League qualifier before travelling to Fulham on Saturday. Those games will be accompanied by unbelievable pressure on Wenger and his players.

But even if they come through this week and qualify for the Champions League group stages, Arsenal still have a challenge ahead of them if they are win the race between themselves and Liverpool.

Despite winning their opening game on Saturday, Liverpool are still outsiders for fourth in my opinion, with Arsenal and Tottenham more likely to get there.

But it is not inconceivable that Arsenal will be found wanting this time and that Wenger will not be able to pull it off again. Wenger has two weeks left in the transfer window to rectify his team's problems and he has the money to do that, but if he continues to put all his efforts into signing Suárez or another striker, it will not solve any of the real issues that threaten Arsenal's progress.

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