After a pace-infused, five-
star performance against
Benfica had wiped away the
indignity of becoming the first Premier League outfit to
lose to a side from Major League Soccer , Arsenal's
pre-season campaign crashed back down to earth
with a 1-0 defeat by Monaco that thwarted their hopes
of ending a four-year wait to lift the Emirates Cup in
their own back yard.
The off-season has nevertheless been encouraging
for the Gunners, even if that optimism is primarily
based on their activeness away from the pitch. The
club moved swiftly to replace Bacary Sagna, brought
in a young, versatile and hugely promising
Englishman, found cover and competition for Wojciech
Szczesny to keep the Pole on his toes and, in Alexis
Sanchez, made the undisputed signing of the summer.
Yet it feels like there is still one piece of the puzzle
missing. The squad boasts a vast array of options,
with both youthful exuberance and steadfast
experience in the back line, while the newfound
blistering speed of the attack is teamed with the more
seasoned, understated vision of the club's batch of
delicate playmakers. One thing which they are still
without, however, is a thoroughbred, specialist
defensive midfielder.
Last summer that particular void was artificially filled
by free agent Mathieu Flamini, a player whose
aggression and hot-tempered attitude can disguise
his unnaturalness in shielding the back four. The
Frenchman is an all-rounder whose tenacity is
mistakenly taken as a token of his defensive
awareness, when in fact eight players in the Arsenal
squad averaged more tackles per game than the 30-
year-old, while Yaya Sanogo (50 per cent) was the
only outfield player with a lower tackle success rate
than Flamini (64.1%).
Instead Arsenal's primary ball-winner for the last
three seasons has been Mikel Arteta. The former
Everton skipper moved to the Emirates Stadium as a
cultured, creative force but was redeployed in a
deeper, more destructive role to good success. No
Arsenal player has come close to matching the 500
combined tackles and interceptions Arteta has made
over that three year period (5.3 per game) while he is
also the team's most prolific passer.
WHERE'S THE PROTECTION? | Arsenal's primary
holding midfielders, Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta,
fall some way short of the best defensive midfielders
in Europe
But the wizened Spaniard is far from a true defensive
midfielder – his reading of the game merely
remoulded by Arsene Wenger – and there are serious
question marks over his mobility and athleticism. The
32-year-old is the side's most dribbled-past player
and lacks the speed to devour the space Arsenal's
into which style of play allows opposing teams to
break, which in turn can expose the leaden-footed
Per Mertesacker. Humbling collapses against the likes of Liverpool and
Chelsea last season were brought about, in large part,
by a lack of solidity in the middle of the park. Games
became too open and stretched and the serenity with
which Arteta & Co. can operate against lesser sides
was blown apart as waves of electrifying
counterattacks pierced through a pliable midfield
barrier.
Neither Arteta nor Flamini have the pace needed to
cover the advances of Arsenal's attack-minded full-
backs, nor the stamina to press opposition
playmakers for 90 minutes, which exposes the side's
higher line to teasing through-balls in behind and has
made them incredibly vulnerable on the turn. A
hallmark of their maulings last season was watching
an exposed and isolated centre-back pairing hurriedly
scurry backwards as streams of runners bore down
on goal.
It is curious, therefore, that Wenger has yet to sign a
player capable of curing this weakness and seems so
reticent towards signing a powerful, tough-tackling
midfield patroller – especially odd when you consider
that the club's imperious Invincibles side were
anchored by the leggy Patrick Vieira and the
destructive Gilberto Silva.
MIXED FORTUNES | Despite keeping the second-most
clean sheets in the Premier League last season,
Arsenal conceded 22 goals in eight games against the
rest of the top five
Aaron Ramsey, too, would benefit from such a player.
The Wales international was in sensational scoring
form last season and his line-breaking, energetic
forays forward during pre-season suggest that his
appetite to attack remains as strong as ever. But that
instinct is best utilised alongside a disciplined holding
midfielder who can grant Ramsey the freedom to
burst into the box and roam forward, rather than
having to spend time tracking back and helping out his
defence.
Wenger, though, considers the 23-year-old a player
capable of filling in as a holding midfielder when
required and, despite links with William Carvalho and
Morgan Schniederlin, is happy with his options in that
area. "We have Flamini who can play there. Last
season we played with Arteta and Ramsey there in
many games in that position," said the French boss,
batting away suggestions of needing to bolster his
midfield core.