Arsenal FC Need A Defensive Midfielder

By Guest Author
11 years Ago

Arsenal have been criticized in recent years for their perceived ‘lack ofAi?? steel’. While they have two good central midfielders in Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, the Gunners need to buy a defensive-minded midfielder to bring the best out of the team.

After all the noise Arsenal FC made about their ability to spend, it has come to nothing. Okay, it has come to Yaya Sanogo, but you get the point. Obviously, this side needed upgrades at a few positions, in order to realistically compete for the title. Not only do Arsenal need upgrades to strengthen those particular positions, but they need upgrades to allow the players on the roster to play to their strengths. In particular, Arsenal need an actual holding midfielder who can decrease the defensive responsibilities of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.

To be overly simplistic, one would call Wilshere and Ramsey runners in midfield. They like to get up and down the pitch. They like to press the ball with a kind of chaotic energy. Essentially, they are very English, all-action type midfielders, with a few differences. Comparing the two, Wilshere has superior dribbling and creative abilities, while Aaron Ramsey has more athleticism and protects possession a bit better. However, stereotypical of English midfielders, neither Wilshere nor Ramsey seem to have a keen understanding of positioning or the discipline needed to properly play together at the base of Arsenalai??i??s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. Saturdayai??i??s match at the Emirates made this painfully clear for Arsenal.

Watching the match against Aston Villa, the first 15 minutes saw the duo successfully press the center of the pitch, which led to them limiting Villaai??i??s passing options and constricting the space in the center. However, after that first 15 minutes, Ramseyai??i??s and Wilshereai??i??s pressing helped to kill Arsenalai??i??s defensive shape. Their enthusiasm to run at the ball left them out of position. Their undisciplined pressing sometimes left one directly behind the other. By positioning themselves this way, they failed to limit the passing options of the Villa player with the ball. This made efforts to press futile, as the Villa player could just play the ball into the open space on the flank. Once Aston Villa got used to Arsenalai??i??s energy to start the match and Arsenalai??i??s energy started to decline, when Ramsey or Wilshere left to press, Villaai??i??s players more readily occupied the space vacated by the two Arsenal midfielders. From a deeper central position, a quick pass to the flank would open up a passing lane to a Villa player in a more dangerous central position. This new central position gave the Villa a player the ability to run at the Arsenal back line. It was in this manner that Gabby Abonglahor created Villaai??i??s penalty chance. With the wide usage of the 4-2-3-1, it is not like the failure of this duo was a surprise. Fielding two runners, this lack of solidity was inevitable. Fielding two destroyers (like Holland at the 2012 Euros) can lead to a bifurcated team with a back 6 and a front 4. The best teams that play this formation look for a balance in their midfield base pair.

Arsenal vs other midfields

Under Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid often played a 4-2-3-1 with Xabi Alonso and Sami Khedira at the base. Last season, the colossus that was Bayern Munich played with Javi Martinez and Bastien Schweinsteiger at the base. Both contain a midfielder who stays deep and plays a more defensive role. Offensively, for Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso operated as a regista, and for Bayern Munich, Javi Martinez, maybe the best all-around midfielder in the world, could do whatever Bayern needed him to do on the ball. Both had a keen sense of positioning and tactical awareness, with Javi Martinez having substantially more athleticism than Alonso. Next to them, both teams employ runners who use their energy to spring counter attacks, arrive late in the final third, and provide defensive support. (If you want the best example of this player, look at Arturo Vidal of Juventus whose energy and athleticism does the defensive work of two midfielders, allowing Pirlo to play the regista role in their 3-5-2.) These midfields pairs have found a balance of solidity and fluidity, with Bayernai??i??s midfield having an added dimension of unpredictability as Martinez and Schweinsteiger can more adeptly swap roles compared to Alonso and Khedira. In fact, while playing different formations, Arsenal have had their greatest success with a balanced midfield pair. In their best seasons, Arsenal had a combination or Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Patrick Vieira, and Mathieu Flamini (in his one fantastic 07/08 season) with Cesc Fabregas. The first two pairs functioned in a similar manner as Martinez and Schweinsteiger. The final pair operated more like a destroyer/creator pairing that came to define many of the central midfields of the late 90s and early 2000s, especially the successful ones that included Zinedine Zidane. Given his knowledge of the game and his own history of success, one would find it hard to believe that Arsene Wenger does not see the need to sign a player who can play that deeper holding midfield role.

So, with a combination of the injuries to Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the obvious flaws of a Ramsey/Wilshere pairing, Arsenal need to acquire a holding midfielder. (Someone like Luis Gustavo would have been perfect and someone like Geoffrey Kondogbia would be perfect). However, if Wenger wants to play Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere together, in addition to acquiring a holding midfielder, he must look to change his formation to a 4-3-3. In addition to not being suited to a holding role, at their point in their careers, neither Ramsey nor Wilshere are suited to the No. 10 role. They lack the shooting ability, the final ball, and sophistication in their movement (think of the skills Mesut Ozil has as the skills these two would need) to play them in that role over an all-action central midfield role. Instead, Arsenal could look to play a 4-3-3 with a holding midfielder behind Wilshere and Ramsey in central midfield positions. This would allow Wilshere and Ramsey to use their energy and enthusiasm to wreak havoc in the midfield, without destroying the solidity of their midfield. When Wilshere and Ramsey find themselves in poor positions, Arsenal would still have their holding midfielder along with their two central defenders behind them. If the opponents have two forward players, then Arsenal have a free man with which to defend, instead of have a 2v2 situation with the slow-footed Per Mertesacker. Against teams that play with three forward players, then it would be 3v3, which is still quite an upgrade over a 2v3 situation. If Arsenalai??i??s fullbacks exhibit more discipline about going forward, then Arsenal could have four defenders back when in possession. Given Sagnaai??i??s lack of pace and pedestrian crossing ability, he often gets stuck in advanced positions to only have counter attackers fly past him. In fact, that kind of discipline in going forward is what made Eric Abidal so important for those Barcelona sides under Guardiola, especially in big matches. Abidalai??i??s willingness to stay back and help keep things solid, along with a much fiercer pressing mentality, made that side difficult to break down. Now, with the two fullbacks and Gerard Pique often getting forward, and a less intense pressing strategy, Barcelona can be counter attacked with great success, much like Arsenalai??i??s current 4-2-3-1.

Problems implementing a 4-3-3

Now there are some problems with Arsenal attempting to implement such a formation. A big one would be that this formation calls for a player up top that Arsenal do not have, a ai???false 9ai???. Ideally, Arsenal would have a player like Luis Suarez in that role. A player like Erik Lamela at Roma could also play that ai???false 9ai??? role with great ability. Olivier Giroud should not be played in a ai???false 9ai??? role. At the same time, Giroud is not good enough to play in a 4-3-3 as a complete center forward that matches Arsenalai??i??s ambitions. In a 4-3-3, with a center forward staying high, you want a player who can create their own goal scoring opportunities and pick out the runs of their teammates. Think of players like the Marco Van Basten or Thierry Henry as an ideal fit. While Giroud is a solid center forward, he does not have anywhere near the requisite skill as an attacker to match Arsenalai??i??s aspirations. His lack of pace and energy also hurts Arsenal defensively, as it prevents him from becoming an effective presser/squeezer of space when defending. So, in order to play Wilshere and Ramsey together, successfully, Arsenal would need to go out and acquire more than just a holding midfielder.

A change in formation could help Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey play more to their strengths and less to their weaknesses. However, Arsenal do not appear to have the pieces (at least ones that are fit) to properly execute either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, without major issues. Both Wilshere and Ramsey are young and may learn, with time, how to play with one another in a base pair or with one properly executing the holding role. However, Arsenal are not in a low enough position to let the youngsters take their lumps. With what looks like five or six teams competing for the Top 4, throwing Wilshere and Ramsey into the deep end could cost them a Champions League place. Failure to qualify for the Champions League comes with its own terrible consequences, especially when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. So Arsenalai??i??s failure in the transfer market not only hurts the fans, but it hurt two of their prized youngsters and the future of the club.

Written byAi??Naveen Maliakkal

Categories: Arsenal FC, English Premier League, Features
Tags: Aaron Ramsey Arsenal FC Jack Wilshere

Arsenal vs other midfields

Problems implementing a 4-3-3

Written byAi??Naveen Maliakkal

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