Analysis: In Arsene’s defence

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville said Arsene Wenger suffers from “arrogance or naivety” for not signing a defensive midfielder. Wenger’s own former charge Thierry Henry claimed Arsenal cannot win the title with Olivier Giroud. It was clear to everyone that Arsenal, on the brink of “something special”, needed a defensive midfielder and a striker.

Late in July, club director Lord Harris claimed the Gunners have £200 million in their transfer chest and can sign anyone bar Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Forty days later, the transfer window shut with only £10 million Petr Cech coming in.

The Emirates, where blind optimism and utter gloom visit on alternating days, continues to see Arsenal struggle in front of goal. Once again Wenger’s methods have been called into question; albeit after two consecutive FA Cup trophies, not as loudly as before.

But as is often the case with such media circuses, there is more panic-mongering and imaginary crises than there are facts backing up the claims.

Neville’s comments, especially, were particularly poorly timed as they came in the wake of Arsenal’s goalless draw against Liverpool. Francis Coquelin, Wenger’s defensive midfielder of choice, was the outstanding outfield player for either side; providing superb cover to inexperienced centre-back duo Calum Chambers and Gabriel Paulista, and making several last-ditch challenges to bail out the defence. The man of the match, of course, was Wenger’s only signing Cech.

While Coquelin was praised last season, especially since his virtuoso performance against Manchester City gave Arsenal a 2-0 win at the Etihad, he has come in for some criticism this season. His performance against Crystal Palace, where he was lucky to not receive a second yellow, highlighted the need for a calmer head anchoring the midfield.

It was not like there weren’t players available. Manchester United new boy Morgan Schneiderlin reportedly preferred the Emirates to the Old Trafford. Sevilla’s Grzegorz Krychowiak, Inter signing Geoffrey Kondogbia and Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho were linked time and again with the Gunners.

But none of these would have come on the cheap or would have been happy to sit on the bench. A manager as stubbornly enterprising in his football as Wenger would never play two defensive midfielders, which would mean Coquelin would have to be dropped.But the stats of the young Frenchman, famously on loan at Charlton as recently as last season, positively overshadow those of the men Wenger was being pressured into bringing in. Coquelin has completed 15 successful tackles in four games, with Schneiderlin being the closest of the lot in second with 10.

Schneiderlin, however, has a success rate of 37% while Coquelin’s stands at 68%. Kondogbia has two successful tackles out of five in two games, Carvalho has zero out of three in one game, Krychowiak has three out of five in two games. For comparison’s sake, Chelsea’s much-heralded shielder Nemanja Matic has seven tackles at a 30% success rate in four games.



In terms of regaining possession, his main task as a defensive midfielder, Coquelin blows away the competition.

Criticism often levied at the young Arsenal man is that he is not tall enough and therefore doesn’t win enough aerial duels. While this may seem the case when Coquelin’s numbers are compared to Matic’s, who has won 10 duels to Coquelin’s five, none of Arsenal’s targets have won more.

Another problem, they claim, with Coquelin is that he is not very good with the ball at his feet. But here he further pulls away from the chasing pack, as they must be called. His passing success rate of 91% surpasses those of the others.

He does lag behind in chances created — one compared to Schneiderlin’s two and Matic’s three — but if there is one thing Arsenal don’t lack then it is creative midfielders.

“If we had bought Coquelin at Christmas for £40 million, everyone would say ‘what a signing’. I am sorry he didn’t cost any money,” said Wenger aptly.

Many believe Arsenal should have signed someone to provide competition and cover for Coquelin but all of these players would have demanded first-team football.

While Arsenal do not have a like-for-like replacement, they do have skipper Mikel Arteta returning from injury. Arteta’s superior retention of the ball allows him to be paired in the middle with Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal’s outstanding player of two years ago through the middle pushing Santi Cazorla further up. This gives Wenger the luxury of something different in the base of midfield.

In the other ‘problem position’ of the number 9, the situation is even clearer. With 14 goals and 28 chances created in 27 league appearances, 21 starts, Giroud is clearly no dud. This immediately leaves just a handful of strikers that could be potential upgrades. Most of these are already at top clubs, leaving Wenger very little to work with.

Their pursuit of Karim Benzema was canny and shrewd — the Real Madrid man may have found himself out of new boss Rafa Benitez’s plans and could then have been persuaded to join Arsenal. However, that didn’t turn out to be the case. Simply put, no other top striker was available as Tottenham, United and Chelsea would attest.

Arsenal’s top scorer last season, Alexis Sanchez, is also expected to be playing up front and considering players tend to improve upon their debut season during their second, it seems Arsenal are not that short of strikers as it is made out to be.

The Gunners, it must be remembered, scored only two goals less than eventual champions Chelsea last year.

Wenger hit the nail on the head recently when he remarked that he is often asked two questions, usually one after the other: how does he manage to keep so many top-quality players happy and why doesn’t he buy more top-quality players?

While one stat being thrown around is that Arsenal are the only club in Europe’s top five leagues to not buy an outfield player, one that is conveniently being forgotten is that Arsenal had more points in 2015 than any other team in the league. The last time Wenger only signed a goalkeeper, his side went on to become The Invincibles by the end of that season. It is not all doom and gloom at The Emirates.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd,  2015.

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