Arsenal should forget about trying to sign forwards like Nabil Fekir and Anthony Martial until they have overhauled their abysmal defence, writes Martin Green.
The Gunners continue to be linked with the likes of Fekir, but that cannot be considered a priority right now as the need for investment is greater in other areas of the team.
They have conceded more goals than newly promoted Newcastle this season and that is simply unacceptable for a team harbouring title-challenging aspirations. It is little wonder they are so far behind their rivals as we enter the business end of the season.
Arsenal find themselves 33 points behind leaders Man City and 13 points behind fourth placed Tottenham, and they are on course for their worst Premiership finish in Arsene Wenger’s 22-year tenure. They are all but certain to finish sixth, with their lowest Premiership points tally since the Bruce Rioch era, and that is because their defending has been atrocious.
True, they do not play the exciting, free-flowing attacking football of yesteryear, and they could do with a dynamic attacking talent to line up alongside Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Alex Iwobi simply does not cut it and nor does Danny Welbeck – but there are bigger issues to deal with.
Ideally they would need a goalkeeper, at least two centre backs, a right back and a holding midfielder. This has been the case for years, and Wenger seems incapable of identifying the problems that many fans can see, but he may not even be in charge when the transfer window reopens. If he is, fans can only pray he starts rebuilding from the back.
Petr Cech is past it, a shadow of his former self, as he demonstrated with his horror show against Brighton, and he needs to be ushered out. David Ospina does not look capable of taking up the mantle. Laurent Koscielny has been Arsenal’s best defender for years, but his confidence is shot to pieces and he will only get slower, while Shkodran Mustafi looks like one step away from a mistake. Per Mertesacker is retiring, and Calum Chambers and Rob Holding have regularly underwhelmed when called upon. Hector Bellerin has great pace, but lacks positional awareness and defensive nous, and he also seems to want out.
It is a far cry from the magnificent defence of Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon that Wenger inherited. Only Nacho Monreal looks worthy of hanging onto his place, and Arsenal are long overdue a clear-out at the back. Wenger did build up a good defence in Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure, Ashley Cole and Lauren, but they benefited from the presence of Gilberto Silva and Patrick Vieira in front of them. The likes of Granit Xhaka, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey are unable to form an effective screen for the defence, and a genuine defensive midfield with positional discipline and the ability to get stuck in would be a real boost for the team’s fortunes.
It seems totally unrealistic to expect Wenger to bring in a defensive midfielder, three or four defenders and a goalkeeper, but you would imagine that is what someone like Max Allegri or Diego Simeone would do if given the job. At the very least, Arsenal should ship out Cech and bring in a new goalkeeper, and bring in a commanding centre-back to replace Mertesacker, while also seriously considering a holding midfielder after selling Francis Coquelin in January. They have been failing for a couple of years now and they have started throwing money at the problem – with Aubameyang and Lacazette arriving in huge deals – but they seem to be throwing it at the wrong end of the team and until they change their strategy they will probably continue to disappoint.
Check YouWager and find the best odds available and you will see that their top four dream is dead for another year. It is now Europa League or bust for Wenger and his beleaguered troops, and they are the second favourites to pull it off. But it pits them against a team that represents their polar opposite: Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone’s men are the clear favourites for the tournament and their game is based upon having the best defence in Europe.
No team in the top five leagues across the continent has conceded fewer goals than Atletico, and their organisation and discipline will be hard for Arsenal to live with if they make it through to the latter stages of this competition.
It serves as another reminder that Arsenal badly need to invest in their back-line and overhaul their tactical approach if they are to compete with heavy-spending domestic rivals, as Atletico have done so well.