I really hope that the former Arsenal, Celtic and Scotland star Charlie Nicholas is proved wrong about the current state of the Arsenal defence, but he is certainly not alone in bringing it up. The 52-year old TV pundit has warned that Arsene Wenger’s failure to strengthen the Gunners options at the back sufficiently has left the team teetering on the brink of disaster.
Arsenal fans everywhere are hoping that the January transfer window and the easing of our crippling injury problems sort out the weakness at the back that has cost us dear already this season, but Champagne Charlie is worried that it might be too late by then.
With a trip to Liverpool on Sunday followed by a home tie with QPR and two away games with West Ham and Southampton before the manager even has a chance to sign any players, Nicholas reckons that the Gunners are just one injury from big trouble. And the way things have been going for us on that front, who would bet against another knock?
He told Sky Sports, “[Wenger] let it go too long in the summer. As soon as Thomas Vermaelen was sold, I don’t know for the life of me why he let [Carl] Jenkinson out on loan, it didn’t make sense.
“We just don’t have the numbers at Arsenal. Even the youngsters have been out injured.
“They must sort this out. It’s a lot for us to expect the defence will hold out.
“Nacho Monreal at centre-half was never a position that Arsenal should have found themselves in. It wasn’t his fault but you could see it was too much for him.
“January is going to be important. I just worry that over this festive period defensively they will show more frailties.”
Arsenal have just about managed to scrape by so far, but do you think we can somehow get through the next month or so until Wenger can bring in at least one decent defender?