Pundits have a job to do and some of them are insightful and entertaining but most are not, they come out with so much waffle that the only conclusion you can draw is that they are saying certain things just to keep themselves in a job and not necessarily because they actually believe what they are spouting.
You see, there are so many pundits fighting to get their voices heard that they make controversial statements just so they can be heard above the crowd and I have found that former Gunner Paul Merson is one of those types of pundits.
However, he does occasionally come out with interesting comments that are worthy of debate and he has done just that with his latest column on Sky Sports.
He wrote this
In Xhaka, Guendouzi and Torreira, Arsenal have three players who are not creative. They are three holding players, but every time Tottenham broke, they had the freedom of the Emirates. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. It was reminiscent of when Arsene Wenger was managing.
Arsenal’s front three are as good as any in the Premier League, on a par with Manchester City and Liverpool without a doubt, but great attackers rely on service. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you’re not getting the ball you’re not going to score. It’s a simple as that.
Now, I have no interest in his Wenger comments, there was no need for that and it is irrelevant but he does make a solid point about the sort of midfielders that Arsenal currently has, there is a huge lack of creative players.
Ceballos may be the answer but playing him just behind the front three is very risky, same with Ozil, it leaves the two central midfielders truly exposed to the counter-attack but they remain an option to be considered.
Arsenal is lacking a holding player with vision and Guendouzi, Torreira and Xhaka do not have that attribute within their game, they rarely take advantage of the supply lines, their passing ability is not the best.
That is why playing all three at the same time when you have Pepe, Aubameyang and Lacazette up front was never going to work.
Basically, the maximum holding players that Arsenal should be fielding at any one time is two, they have to have another central midfielder that can open up a defence like a can of beans.
Playing that sort of player too far forward is playing with fire, it has to be a central midfielder and not an attacking one.
Until that particular player is identified then Arsenal will struggle, and I for one am not sure we do in fact have that sort of player in the squad.