Arsenal News

Do Arsenal need a completely new defence?

It is no secret that Arsene Wenger hasn’t been happy with our Arsenal defenders this season as he has complained so many times about their errors after defeats this season, and it only takes a quick glance at the ‘goals against’ columns in the EPL table to see that we have a real problem on our hands. The Boss also made it clear that he wanted to bring in a new top centre-back in January.

The fact is that Laurent Koscielny (32 years old with ongoing achilles problems); Per Mertesacker (33 and in his last year of competitive football); Nacho Monreal (the youngster at 31, but although he seems to be our most consistent and effective defender he is also getting on in years) and Petr Cech (35) are all getting very close to their sell-by dates.

We do also have Calum Chambers and Rob Holding, but Wenger doesn’t seem to trust them very much and you could say they are not gaining much top-level experience sitting on the bench either. So how on Earth is Arsenal going to sort this out?

According to Ian Wright the answer is simple, and he didn’t beat about the bush either! “Arsenal need a proper defensive midfielder and they need two centre-halves, not just one,” Wright said. “I would also start looking for a goalkeeper as well.”

Well that’s all well and good for him to say that, but just how much would it cost to fill all those positions with top-class additions in one transfer window? Virgil van Dijk sold for 75m and even West Brom wanted 25m for the 29 year old Jonny Evans. Can anyone come up with a solution to our defensive problems?

Admin

Posted by

40 Comments

    2. Tony Adams was great player but failure as a coach and remember good players don’t make good coaches Gullitt Maradona

  2. Koscielny & Monreal are getting on a bit need to look for replacements & we definitely need a new goal keeper! And a beast in midfield….. New manager…. New board……. anything else??

    1. And there starts the Wenger bashing, clearly stated that he wanted a good center half and was not provided with. Is it his fault that that sven chap gave him an unknown Greek defender, these guys were so engrossed with PEA transfer, they did nothing to sign a defender and now Wenger gets the blame.He was wise enough to play Chek or else we would have been spanked. Was it Wengers fault that Laca missed 2 sitters, else we would have won.BTW Wenger never wanted laca and welbeck in the first place, they were forced into the team, and now he gets the blame for these non performing players, how much can he be blamed? And what is Sanchez doing at United? Why no blame for Jose? And also united lost to Spurs, everyone has forgotten that.The media and plastic fans are all against Wenger, but we respect him!

      2. Gunner22……He said we couldn’t afford Jonny Evans!!
        Who’s we btw gunner22????
        I’m not a United fan, I’ve stated on here before that I can’t stand them or Maureen if you’d bothered to read my posts!
        How happy you must be with being knocked out of the fa cup at the first hurdle, no champions league, 6th in the league, will we ever win an away match, poor display against our fiercest rivals! Oh you must be an ecstatic gooner!!!!!

        1. Sue I wouldn’t even bother explaining yourself, for years Arsene kept his job because he kept the money coming in (champions league). This will be the second season he hasn’t and all the AKB are starting to worry that he’ll go and they’ll have to support a different team next year.

        1. Gunner23, anyone who thinks Lacazette’s first chance was a “sitter” knows nothing about football. How about he gets some credit for carving out the chances. If Arsenal had have drawn with Spurs it would have been undeserved.

    2. New owner?

      I know it wont happen and we have to hope that he allows AFC to invest what they make and boost share prices by asset worth rather than money in bank…

  3. “Can anyone come up with a solution to our defensive problems?”
    A manager who can coach defenders to defend would help, I am still at a loss though, Steve Bould one of our best ever center backs sit next to Wenger, can Steve not coach or does Wenger not let him?

    1. Simon Says, you are spot on. The lack of apparent Steve Bould involvement in coaching has been the biggest unanswered question (of many!) the past few seasons.

    2. The team were defensively well organised in the first half against Spurs. The idea that they get no coaching is absurd. Repeating silly accusations does not make them true. The reason Kane scored was not that our defence was out of position but because he is a great striker who jumped early and then illegally prevented Kos from jumping for the ball by pressing down on his shoulders. It is true that the defence panicked a bit in the second half. But the real problem was that we were too defensive, allowing Spurs to play on the front foot for most of the match. Aubameyang ,Ozil and Mkhitaryan needed to help out in midfield where we were getting overrun by bigger, more powerful players.

      2. It’s not absurd at all, the last five seasons at least have been defined by poor defending and the defending in that period has been in my mind the sole reason we haven’t challenged for the league nor champions league, winning cups makes you a cup team, not a good team. You name one team that has won the league which haven’t been a decent defensive unit. Steve Bould played in the most organised defence the English game has ever seen yet he coaches one of the most unorganised we’ve had over the last 30 years. Either he’s a rubbish coach in which case why is Wenger still employing him or he’s not allowed to coach in which case why not. This isn’t just about the scum game.

  4. Adams said Wenger couldnt manage himself out of a paper bag. Everyone slated Adams about his own horrid time as a manager.

    He probably had a strong point.

    No one says Wenger is a great manager. Most of the players say hes “like a father figure.”

  5. I don’t often agree with Wrighty but on this occasion I do and we should have done it last summer. Wenger spent £105m on two attackers and a total of £1.8m on one young defender, I rest my case, it’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ management and guess who’s the Mad Hatter?

    Oh, and by the way, we couldn’t afford Jonny Evans. Pathetic!!

    1. All us fans was crying out for a top CF and so many was begging for Laca, that was done in the summer and Sven had a big say in the winter window in getting Mkhi and Auba along with Mavrop. They wasn’t Wenger signings.

      Wenger wanted AFC to push for Martial instead of Mkhi which meant Auba wouldn’t have come and maybe some of that money could have been used to buy a CB which Wenger did want.

      I am glad for Sven, I like Auba and I’m a fan of Laca, I am glad we got them both. I hope AFC do work on the def next and get that equally sorted.

      Sounds like Raul Sanellhi is planning on getting Enrique in to replace Wenger.

      Wenger doesn’t have ultimate say, his power was being the turn to guy at AFC when it came to footballing related matters, Gazidis has removed that with Sven and Raul.

  6. Firstly we need to get rid of Wenger – there is no excuse for not strengthening defensively in January.
    Secondly, and this could be because he’s over Wenger like the majority of us… but, is it me or does Steve Bould seem to just ignore Wenger’s rants on the touch line…
    Bouldy will just nod and chew – not taking his eye off the game.
    Either he has no power to make changes even if he wanted to, or he too is inadequate and we need to invest in a new defensive coach…

    End of the day, Ian Wright is right! Two center halves and a new keeper are imperative.
    I’d even say get rid of Bellerin while we can still get god money from Spain, he quick but that’s all he has to offer. Basically just the wing-back version of Walcott.

  7. Ian Wright is correct.At present Arsenal do not have one top quality defender including goalkeeper on their books..They have a number of promising young centre backs who ought to be given an opportunity to prove themselves for the remainder of the season in the EPL matches.They simply cannot be worse than the rapidly declining Koscielny and Mustafi who cannot cope with the likes of Swansea,Bournemouth etc. let alone a team like Spurs.The lack of steel at the back impacts on our more attacking players as they know they need to score 2/3 goals to have any chance of producing a win.As usual Elneny has come in for criticism but the real culprits are our centre backs and Xhaka who seems to be a fixture regardless of being bang average. The side also needs a left back who is defensively secure.In Scotland fans even of Rangers will confirm that Tierney of Celtic is superior to Robertson of Liverpool who is doing well.

  12. 1. Kolsanic and Monreal are excellent LBs
    We are fine at LB ??
    2. Bellerin needs competition. We need to sign a top RB.
    3. We aren’t good at CB ??. Sign 2 Top CBs with Kos and Mustf as back up
    4. Use Chambers, Holding, Mavrapanos in league and FA cup or loan them out to develop
    5. FFS Sign a Top defensive midfielder during my lifetime???

    But first sign a new Manager ?to replace Wenger ?

    1. I agree dude, couple of manager rumors have me excited, Enrique and Sarri. Both top managers.

      Sarri would help with our def but Enrique does produce exciting football and already has a relationship with Raul Sanllehi…

      I would however say that Mustafi could be sold and let Chambers replace him, if it is backup then Chambers is just as good, Mustafi and Chambers both have a error in them but Chambers is younger and fills HG numbers. Keep Kos as backup and to help transition to the new def setup but he is on his way out unfortunately 🙁

  13. Wenger success came also due of him inheriting a strong core of players which Wenger did not manage beforehand, those players where exaclty classis english men who happened to be strong leaders and mostly defenders

    Them gone and gone with them Wenger went

  14. I am guessing wba valuation of Evans was way above market value so we didn,t meet the evaluation, I think the ” couldn’t afford” comment is more like “we’re not paying that” might have sniff at 3 million if you go down.

    So a new keeper, 2 CB are needed, holding and chambers at at the level required yet so need to get time together to see if they can create a partnership, but 2 established CB needed asap. Obvious that we need a cdm who does the ugly stuff, shield the back line, stay in postion and smash a few people here and there, keep it simple, break up play and pass the ball on. Left backs seems ok, hector needs someone to challange him.can Wenger then build an motivate the team. I believe he still desperately wants the team to be successful bit I wonder if he still knows how.

  15. If we can get a CB that covers Mustafi flaws then we only need 1 CB otherwise sell Mustafi and buy 2 top WC CBs.

    IMO go for Koulibaly and Manolas, both top CBs and right age.

    Might not be the tough tackling DM but Jorginho is an intelligent break up play type of player and happy to sit deep being an aggressive deep lying playmaker that has mobility! Sell Xhaka and bring this guy in.

    DEF4: (Bellerin/Hysaj)(Manolas/Chambers)(Koulibaly/Mavrop)(Monreal/Sead)
    CM3: (Wilshere/ElNeny)(Jorginho/AMN)(Mkhitaryan/Rambo)
    ACM: (Ozil/Nelson)
    CF2: (Auba/???)(Laca/Nketiah)

    Instead of GK, I would get another RB to compete with Bellerin, to push him and also to have him push the new signing. Hysaj.

  16. Of course they need a new defence but this Manager MUST NOT BE IN THE JOB WHEN WE COME TO CHOOSE AND BUY THE QUALITY DEFENDETS NEEDED.
    These are the players who have played CD this season who are not recognised for that position before Wenger decided they were up th the standard HE felt we needed.
    MONREAL-a left Back/Wing Back who rarely lets the team down in whatever position he plays.But he is an MAKESHIFT CD not a recognised one.
    DEBAUCHY-FFS He was an injury prone RB who was more often than not asked to fill in as a CB.WHY FFS when we have recognised CB’s such as Beilic,Chambers and Holding.
    ELNENY-What a F***ING JOKE THAT WAS.He is a HOLDING MIDFIELDER and NOT A VERY GOOD ONE AT THAT.
    COQUELIN-YES THAT IS WHERE WENGER PLAYED HIM AWAY AT CITEH.He iwas a ditto of Elneny at best.
    KOLASINAC-Started the pre season and Charity Shield there.WHY when we have CB’s in the squad?
    Mertesaker-That performance away at Forest told its own story.He should NEVER play for us again.FFS he has the turning radius of an OIL TANKER and far less speed than one.
    Wenger is finished.Do not allow him to spend another penny of OUR MONEY.Sven and Raul must take over.Ivan G MUST SACK HIM AT THE END OF THE SEASON.
    No sentimental farewell.No parading around the pitch at the end.Just F**k him Off out of it once and for all.
    PS TAKE THAT F**KING YES MAN BOULD WITH YOU.

  17. I believe we have great players in defense. They might a bit short in size but excellent in abilities. The problem is the lack of proper defensive cover. What we need is a real defensive midfielder to stabilize that area. With Xhaka there it is too weak and messy. as soon as we play against a good team our defense is left exposed too often.

    1. Guys, What we need is a NEW MANAGER. Get Wenger Out and Bring in Luis Enrique. This is not rocket science. ARSENE WENGER IS THE PROBLEM.

      WENGER OUT. ENRIQUE IN.

  18. All Arsenal need is defensive organization
    but we all know wenger cant offer that
    no matter the quality of defenders we sign
    there won’t work

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors