Written by Towsif Nawaz Monday, 08 August 2011 17:54

GunnerTalk Blog

By T Nawaz

With the new season just around the corner, our defensive frailties still unaddressed and the Fabregas and Nasri sagas still rumbling on, the future looks really dark for the gunners faithful. Large doubts still loom as to whether the team will finally end its barren run and win some silverware.

To be honest, I'm not expecting any miracles from the team. Like everyone else, I really hoped that Mr.Wenger would dip into his transfer funds and sign a defender or two. In fact, I expected to see new faces in defence within the first week of July. And as i have already mentioned, with so many issues still unresolved, it is difficult to expect a bright future. But when we address the team's drawbacks, we often tend to solely blame the defence and let other departments off the hook. Lets get something straight; our defence fully isn't the crap everyone makes it out to be. 17 goals from open play isn't exactly a lot is it? And credit to Djourou and Koscielny, because last year was their 1st ever full season in the top flight. We all know our defence tends to mess up in some very simple situations, but can you  really blame them? They don't have an experienced CB to look up to. If we had a CB who'd been playing with Arsenal for several years now, maybe our current CBs would have been better than what they are now.

Set-pieces are our real Achilles heel. We have struggled to cope against teams which pose an aerial threat and this is solely down to the personnel in the squad. Other than our defence, most of our players are short, thin and definitely not cut out to battle with players like Kenwyn Jones or Andy Carrol in the air. Even Wenger admitted he prefers to buy lighter players because they suit Arsenal's passing game. Wenger needs to change this habit, and fast. We need taller and stronger players, not only in defence but also in other areas of the pitch so that Arsenal learn to defend set-pieces as a 'team' and not simply rely on defenders to do the dirty work.

Another weakness of this team is submitting to pressure. Whenever we go a goal down, our players panic, we look devoid of any ideas and usually leave ourselves exposed to counter-attacks. Even in the Newcastle game, when we were four goals up, our midfield crumbled. Just because Diaby was sent off and Newcastle heated things up in midfield. Don't get me wrong, our midfield is one of the finest in the world and possibly only 2nd to Barcelona and Real Madrid. But at times, this midfield lacks the steel needed to hold on to the ball when defending a lead or to to give the side an extra boost when chasing a game. And since our play concentrates solely on the midfield, if the boys in the middle of the park don't turn up, the team usually fails too.

As far as solutions are concerned, I'd get a CB playing in the EPL(preferably Cahill) and another established CB plying his trade abroad. And I would also prefer to sign a defensive winger ( a winger who performs both attacking and defensive duties). Maybe a player or two in the 10 mill region who would add more steel to the midfield(Parker would be best). The team needs to sell Fabregas and Nasri quickly so that it can get onto more important business. I do believe the team is working on set-plays(both offensively and defensively) buy maybe getting a few tall players whom we could use to close out matches will help.

My prediction, I think we will finish 2nd or 3rd in the PL because team isn't quite ready to win a championship over the course of 38 games. But I think we will win the Carling cup or FA cup with our present squad. Only time will tell.