Let’s start by saying that a 2-0 reverse at Germany’s second best club, in front of 65,000 vociferous fans, doesn’t represent a crisis in itself. The tempo and quality of Borussia Dortmund’s play would have left many top teams struggling. The German side reminded us of Liverpool at their fluent best last season, when they regularly destroyed sides with a first half bombardment that few could live with.
But it’s the déjà vu manner of the defeat which will leave so many Arsenal fans concerned that old problems haven’t been addressed. Yes the defence was poor at times but the main problem was how badly the back line was exposed by a lightweight midfield devoid of grit.
We have always been big admirers of Arsene Wenger but his utter blindness toward the need for a decent anchor man in midfield is way beyond a bad joke. It’s becoming a disgrace.
Arsenal’s need for an athletic destroyer in the side has been so obvious for so long that it’s simply astonishing that Wenger has failed to acquire one – he’s had ample opportunity over the last few years. He might argue that noone of requisite quality has been available at the right price. But his prudence only seems to extend to defensive-minded players.
Because Wenger has spent the thick end of £80m on attacking midfielders – Ozil and Sanchez – over the last year or so. Both could be called ‘luxury’ goods and the former seems to be getting worse by the week. Keeping Ozil and declining Fabregas looks like another massive oversight.
And those quality anchormen have surely been gettable. Any of Nigel De Jong, Morgan Schneiderlin, James McCarthy, Victor Wanyama, Sami Khedira or William Carvalho could have made Arsenal more difficult to play through. The don’t necessarily need a world-beater. They just need a specialist for that position to redress the balance.
Source:http://soccersweep.com
No comments:
Post a Comment