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This is the position Arsenal must strengthen in the summer; and it’s not CM or CF…

The two most talked about positions Arsenal fans think the club need to strengthen at is central midfield and center forward.

These two positions are certainly where the Gunners can do better with better personnel. But there is another place which should be on the minds of the Gunners hierarchy

It is the right back slot. Despite signing Japanese international Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna on deadline day, I believe an attacking right back will only help Arsenal in the long run.

Tomiyasu is just 23 and has already shown what he is capable of doing on a football pitch. The young defender, however, does not have a rounded game.

Crossing and a better involvement in the opposition box is where he needs to upgrade his game. His young age means he has a lot of time in his bag.

However, it’s not 100% certain that he’ll ever be an excellent attacking full back.

That is where signing an offensive option would benefit Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s men can be more unpredictable if they have an offensive option in their armory.

In the end, until when we can play this lopsided formation where Kieran Tierney/Nuno Tavares bomb forward, while Tomiyasu slots into central midfield?

After a point you’ve got to try different stuff to break down teams. A tactic which is working at the present may not bear fruit in the future.

The other reason why I am certain the club would be looking to bring in a right back sooner or later is the situation we have with our other options.

Calum Chambers’ contract is set to expire, Ainsley Maitland-Niles looks set to depart for Roma and Cedric will be 31 next year. Whereas I can’t imagine Hector Bellerin at Arsenal anymore.

That’s why I think right back should be a high priority, right after central midfield and center forward.

If Arsenal have a player with qualities different to Tomiyasu, they can become an even tougher side.

Some of the players that I appreciate are Max Aarons, Tariq Lamptey, Sergino Dest and Ridle Baku. All of them have been linked to the North London outfit previously.

Thus, it won’t be surprising if technical director Edu knocks on their agents’ door.

With a good recruitment plan for the upcoming winter and especially the summer, Arsenal can become a different beast altogether next season.

That is what fans will like. That is what will make fans love their club even more.

Yash Bisht

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25 Comments

  2. The MOST important asset of Tommy is his defensive capabilities. He is part of one of our biggest Assets, a very strong defense

    But oh no, we need a full-back who acts as a right winger the article says. If we get a right back, I hope he is a defender first!!

    Let Saka be our right winger, hitting crosses into our NEW CENTER FORWARD and hopefully ESR.

    1. JW, how delightfully quaint but more importantly, COMPLETELY CORRECT! A fellow Gooner who agrees that a full backs first and prime duty is to defend properly.

      After all the woeful and laughable seasons attempts by dismal Bellerin, who could not defend Fort Knox from a a moth, what a treat to see Tomi, A REAL DEFENDER, at last in the RB slot.
      It helps that Tomi is built like a man, not a 14 year old kid on a fashion parade!

      1. Hi Jon,

        As much as I adore and have been so impressed with Tomiyasu, I think Yash is right to think that an attacking right back equivalent to Tierney would have a huge impact and I’ll explain why.

        Have you watched the Sunderland game earlier this month?
        Do you remember how Pepe was cutting inside with his left foot and Cedric overlapped on the right wing?
        That’s an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders.
        Actually Cedric playing so high up the picture cost us one goal but he brought at least one goal too and with better finishing skills in the box could have brought a few more.

        Full backs now are no longer first and foremost defenders, they are the wingers we saw 25 years ago. It’s down to CM/DM to cover for them defensively.

        Tomiyasu is so good that I hope he can add the attacking side to his game but I fully agree that having an attacking right back combined with the adequate cover up in midfield could turn Arsenal into a demolition machine.

        1. What Tomi brings is balance. For me he is very good at reading when to go forward and when to stay back, and when he does try to play more advanced his commitment and speed in recovery is excellent. Its all well and good saying that we should use two marauding full backs, but if we don’t have someone in midfield to sit and cover a la Fernadninho/Rodri at Man City then we’re going to get caught out.

    2. Thank you JW, I don’t understand some arsenal fans, we said Bellerin pumped forward too much and doesn’t know how to defend and crosses, we bought Cedric, then we said only thing Cedric can do is to crosses and nobody to nod it then we managed to put Chambers there, also we complained about chambers then we bought a Japanese Mr no nonsense man Tomi, they are complaining about him again that he doesn’t know how to attack and cross again, the basic duty of any defender is to defend, attacking should be secondary and when necessary in which Tomi is doing, we blamed Bellerin for attacking too much while abandoning his duty( defend)…. Please leave these coaches alone and allow them to do their job, they are the one with them on a daily basis and we should not teach them their job……

  3. I agree, a new RB would be nice for the next summer transfer window. But let’s not take our eyes off the main prize – for the second half of the season. And this is finishing in the top 4 and qualifying for Europe. In this regard we need to find a new striker and attacking midfielder either on a short term loan or outright purchase. Anything less would be a failure.

  5. Arsenal must strengthen in the January transfer window to consolidate its top four finish and therefore must buy a quality Striker, defensive midfielder and a creative attacking midfielder too,like Arthur Cabral (tmv 13m pounds), Boubacar Kamara (tmv 21m pounds) and
    Dominik Szoboszlai(tmv 24m pounds). But, Arsenal must also sell players like Torriera, Kolasinac , Mari, Chambers, Guendouzi, Aubameyang, Nketiah and Maitland-Niles for anything close to their transfer market value in January to fund the purchase of new players needed and open up spaces in the squad for them. The wage bill will be reduced significantly too.

    1. 3 signings in January

      Come summer fans would want more signings

      these new players will want first team football

      most of the players you mentioned Torriera, Kolasinac , Mari, Chambers, Guendouzi, Aubameyang, Nketiah and Maitland-Niles already do not get sufficient games or on loan

      unless you want the first team players to warn the bench or new signings will still be warming the bench

  6. Baku provided 6 goals and 8 assists in the last campaign and a right full back. So amazing. We should go after him not Lamptey

    1. Noussair Mazraoui…
      24, experienced, RB/CM/DM, tough, 1.83m, skillful, does it all (defend, assist, score), and his contract with Ajax ends in the summer , is the PERFECT player to buy in my opinion. Will hit the ground running, no question.

  7. Do we need competition/cover for Tomi: yes, absolutely. Is that need as pressing as a new striker considering that we could lose Laca, Nketiah and even Auba: absolutely not.

  8. Ainsley Maitland-Niles 31yo next year???

    hes only 24yo….how did he age so much?

    if we sign another quality right back mean either Tomi or the new right back will leave eventually

    no player wants to warm the bench

  9. at this moment in time, considering what has transpired with Auba and the fact that come season’s end we will likely lose both Laca and Eddie, it’s clear that our most pressing position of need will be up top…it will be interesting to see how this particular administrative team will attempt to address this situation, as this will likely be a tipping point moment

    if we take a flyer on a younger prospect, the chances of achieving greatness are substantially reduced, at least early on, but the economic ramifications will be invariably less than if we pursue a more established alternative, whereas if we shoot for the stars and invest heavily in a legit proven entity, our odds for success will rise exponentially, but if we shoot and miss the financial consequences could be felt for a considerable period of time

    from what I’ve witnessed thus far, I suspect that Arteta/Edu will attempt to find a more middling option, in the hopes of reducing the progression timeline without breaking the bank…unfortunately, this cake and eat it too approach to team building has bit them in the ass before, even though I can understand the thought-process behind just such an option, so I hope for their sake and ours they don’t try to cheat the process

    in my estimation, this will be the most important positional decision they will have to make and I can only hope they will treat it as such…if it were up to me, I wouldn’t mess around with relatively unproven prospects…I would identify and aggressively target a few Strikers who best meet the tactical requirements of whatever offensive scheme MA envisions moving forward, with little regard for the asking price, as our window for success, with our current youth project, is realistically 3 to 4 years, so time is of the essence…of course, no one is expecting the Kroenke’s to shell out 125+M for Mbappe, or the like, but anything short of 100M should be contemplated, especially considering our willingness to pay above the number for a relatively untested CB, when we were already supposedly grooming a blue chipper who plays in the exact same position

    1. So who would you try to sign to fill the perceived impending vacancy at CF? While I do not see the signing of another RB as a priority, Nathan Patterson of Rangers would be my target.Young, quick, very proficient going forward and links well with others.Having just established himself in Scotland’s first eleven , international exposure is likely to increase his transfer value which in the real world is around 20m tops.Rangers are no longer a wealthy Club and would find it difficult to turn down an offer of around 20m ,particularly as Patterson is currently their second choice RB behind the Club captain Taveneer, who is a decent player, and a very influential leader on the pitch.

      1. I wish I could give you a variety of potential choices but I’m not even sure what MA’s tactical philosophy will be moving forward…of course, many have suggested that he will ultimately pursue a 4-3-3, much like Pep, but we’ve never seen that formation deployed during his tenure, so it would be difficult to suggest that this is a forgone conclusion…that said, I just hope that whomever is chosen, they’re at the top of their proverbial wish-list and not someone they’re willing to settle for, as that will almost assuredly come back to haunt us…if this underwhelming 4-2-3-1, Xhaka-based formation is in the cards, we’ll need to spend considerably more to achieve any success, both here and abroad, so we can only hope that Ode has some influence over Haaland when it comes to his next landing spot(lol)

    2. Well said. I’m still surprised that in our search for a most suitable CF that will fit in well with the new MA attacking formation, that we are overlooking st.Maxima of Newcastle United. He trumps other suggested options in my opinion. He is tested in the premiership, he has the speed, flair, technique and physique for outstanding results. Play him in this current atta king set-up, and I’m sure he won’t disappoint. Age is on his side too. Another option could be Jimenez of Wolves. Good options for our CF.

  10. Agree with TRVL’s thinking on this one and I use Chelsea as an example.
    They went out and bought Lukaku and look how that has paid dividends.

    However, we still need a real deal back up or challenger for that right back position, as we saw when Tomi was injured.

    Lamptey would be my choice and why wouldn’t Silent Stan invest again?
    He has shelled out so much already and he would be protecting his investments?

    1. Have to agree to differ on this one Ken. Lamptey to me is only effective as a RWB ,and is decidedly ropey as a conventional RB in the back four set up favoured by Arteta.With regard to Lukaku, whilst he is physically imposing, he brings with him a danger of creating a one dimensional system of attack which is in fact impairing the fluid football we saw from Chelsea when he was not in the side.Certainly, Chelsea are not as formidable as they were earlier in the season.

      1. ASTUTELY NOTICED GRANDAD. To my way of thinking , mobility and pace in passing plus speed in personal movement across the whole team are the critical differences between the Citys, Liverpools and the inferior teams.
        On balance, I agree that Chelsea has lost fluidity since Lukakus return and that has much reduced their team effectiveness. Fluidity is of overriding importance!

        I never have and never will understand how or why any manager who knows the game could ever allow a monstrously slow, very immobile and hotheaded into the bargain, walking disaster like Xhaka to play or even be at the club at all. It makes no sense to me at all!
        I see nothing whatever special in Lamptey as a defender and to me, a full back must first of all be a defender.

        1. “monstrously slow, very immobile and hotheaded into the bargain, walking disaster” seems a bit strong, considering your umbrage taken with saying that Tomiyasu has done brilliantly so far, or are you the only one allowed to use hyperbole when it suits your agenda?

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