A Bit of Squad Analysis for the Gunners Midfielders

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For any team hoping to compete for top level honours cum the end of the season, Roger Maris Jersey  having a strong midfield is vital. For a side like Arsenal, who pride themselves on playing football the right way and dominating games, it could be argued that this vital cog in the machine is more crucial than usual. However, getting the perfect balance in this area has been a task which Arsne Wenger seems to have struggled with at times, as many feel the players in the middle of the park are too lightweight for a league such as Englands, and are too easily bullied by more physical opponents, obvious examples in recent years being Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City, and Chelsea.As well as this, the Gunners midfield can often fail to provide sufficient cover for the fragile defence; the best sides find it too easy to bypa s the midfield and then have an easy run on goal or the defence, which is sometimes also weakened by full backs, or occasionally even central defenders marauding upfield in search of a goal, sides this season such as Barcelona and Manchester United, who both dealt Arsenal embarra singly large defeats for a side as ambitious as Arsenal.The problem would, therefore, seem to lie in the defensive side of the midfield. Playing a 4-3-3 system this season means one defensive midfielder and two central, more attack minded players ahead of him in the middle of the park. The player who has been set the role of a sort of midfield-anchor this term has been Cameroon international Alexandre Song, a player who has improved immensely over the last two seasons from a player whose second touch always seemed to be a tackle (and a bad one at that) because his first touch was so bad, into an accomplished and composed figure in the middle, who can not only break up play, but start attacking moves off himself, and is starting to show an increased flair for moving forward with some impre sive pa ses and dribbles. Gunners midfielder Alexandre song has had an impre sive seasonSo if Arsenal have a midfielder in the shape of Song who is quickly becoming a real top cla s defensive midfielder, what is the problem?The problem may lie in two areas: number one, the rest of the midfield isnt providing the required cover. Football, more often than not, involves more than one player working in a specific way; Song cant stop all the attacks from midfield on his own. If so many players are upfield, the threat of the counterattack will be too great. Secondly, Song himself is not yet the finished article, and can be caught out of position, either not picking up his man properly, or is occasionally on a run of his own upfield.A task of Wengers would  Adam Wainwright Jersey seem to be to purchase another quality holding midfielder in the summer, as also there is very little back up in this area when Song is not playing or, ehem, not on song. The back up in this area at the moment is Denilson, who still manages to split opinion amongst the Arsenal faithful. A player with good pa sing capabilities, he also strikes the ball extremely well, and has scored some impre sive goals from distance in his time at Arsenal, including a scorcher from distance against Newcastle two seasons ago. However, his tackling is somewhat infrequent and weak for such a vital role, and doesnt have too muscular a build Lou Brock Jersey ; he often finds himself bullied out of some 50:50 situations. It also seems as though the defensive midfield role is not his preferred one, which is instead the more forward positions occupied this term more regularly by Frenchman Abou Diaby and captain Cesc Fabregas. The other options in this holding role are youngsters, such as Craig Eastmond, who, although has shown promise to be an excellent player po sibly in the future, can certainly not be relied upon for the next couple of season to turn out consistenly top cla s performances in such a competitive league as this.The players who can play the more forward positions in the midfield are much greater in numbers; as well as the previously mentioned Diaby and Fabregas, both of whom have had great seasons in which they have both scored vital goals in big games, Wenger also has the likes of Tomas Rosicky, the afore mentioned Denilson, Aaron Ramsey (who will recover from his broken leg in time for the new season reports now suggest), Fran Merida, Samir Nasri, and even Emmanuel Eboue can do a job in this role, although he lacks a certain level of disciple in his positioning. These players seem to be great enough in number, but are they in quality?Fabregas, widely thought to be the most accomplished central midfielder in England this season, and is now making a claim to have that said of him on the continent, is a player the team greatly relies upon for goals, a sists, and inspiration. The most vital cog in the whole system, the 22-year-old belies his years with consistenly mature and world-cla s performances which leave the Gunners fans on the edges of their seats. Cesc Fabregas  world cla sDiaby has proved excelled foil for Fabregas this season, acting as more of a physical presence on the field, creating chances and destroying opponents attacks, as well as scoring some big goals, most notably netting the winner at home to Liverpool. Czech captain Rosicky provides a great amount of experience and creativity, as well as the odd remarkable goal, scoring the goal Steve Carlton Jersey  which proved to be the catalyst for Arsenals remarkable come-back from the brink when 2-0 down at home to Bolton earlier in the campaign. Nasri also provides this, as well as more support in attack, and Eboue in also an experienced international who has the potential to create something out of nothing which a clever pa s or jinky run through a tight defence, although a real lack of consistency can be the Ivorians foe as he struggles to come up with the big performances week in week out; the same can often be said of Denilson. Merida and Ramsey are ones for the future, immensely talented, Ramsey especially has proved himself  Whitey Herzog Jersey a player of vast potential with some fantastic displays before horrendously breaking his leg in the away league game to Stoke. Aaron Ramsey has shown great promise this seasonAgain however, the problem seems to lie not with the technical quality of these players, but with the physical strength of them, which is often questioned. However, this term has seen wins home and away to Stoke and Bolton, while last season Arsenal managed to win at Stamford Bridge, so maybe their incredible technical abilities can see them though past their slight builds. This would certainly seem the case when in po se sion, as they can keep the ball away from the opposition which their quick, incisive pa sing, but when they dont have the ball, it can be harder to win it back again.For the biggest prizes, strength in depth is required, and so more than one defensively minded player in the midfield will be e sential for challenge on all fronts next year. The merge of beauty and the beast is what is need, but the beauty is certainly there.