Arsenal: The wait through the transfer window begins

Arsenal’s problem in the middle of the park

I am sure you can guess I left the midfield to the end. Starting with the attacking roles, the biggest question is who gets cut loose. All fingers seem to point to Rosicky. He is a very skilled player, but prone to injury. More importantly, he can still bring in a good transfer fee. The perpetual loanee, Ryo Miyaichi, is another candidate, though it would appear he is currently on Arsenal’s released list.

For me, Mesut Ozil has not lived up to his price; unfortunately, I can’t see us recovering enough on his transfer fee to let him go. Someone needs to work with him on toughness, both into and against the tackle.

If Gnabry comes back from injury, we would be spoiled for choice between him and the Ox. Perhaps Gnabry goes out on loan.

Cazorla has cemented his place by improving on his defensive duties, opening up several of the midfield spots to him. That brings us to the homegrown boys, Wilshere and Ramsey. This season has not been the best from either of them. Ramsey has been guilty of numerous errant passes, Wilshere of his bad habit of letting the ball get too far ahead of him – led to exactly the injury I thought he would be prone to.

However, since his return from injury, I have seen Wilshere unleash not one, but three, lightning strikes – the first against West Brom and two for England against Slovenia yesterday. If he can keep that up, defences won’t be able to just clog the box. Can Ramsey return to last season’s form? He will need to remember that nothing is automatic, he needs to concentrate all game long.

Defensive midfield – forever my bugaboo. The new and improved Coquelin at least showed us what was possible with a good defensive midfield presence in front of the back line. We were lucky that Coquelin didn’t pick up any significant knock during the run in. If he had, we would have been back to Flamini and a recovering Arteta.

This is the spot that needs a complete overhaul. Flamini and Arteta must go. Bielik will need at least another two years, even if he lives up to his full potential. This is the position that should draw the big money transfer and the Gunners should go after it early, as they did with Alexis.

There are several decent candidates, many already in the rumor mill. Schneiderlin has always been on the brink, though we may now be competing with deeper pockets for him. He has excellent size and plays for a very similar system at Southampton. The downside is that he is prone to injury. Arturo Vidal, who seems to be part of a predicted but inexplicable Juventus midfield fire sale, is the second. The downside to him is that he is a booking magnet.

Geoffrey Kondogbia received widespread praise for his performances against Arsenal

One who isn’t mentioned as much is Kondogbia of Monaco. He caught my attention in the two Champions League fixtures. With his size, speed and two-way ability, I am almost tempted to invoke that term “the next Patrick Viera”.

Last, but not least, a guy who has been linked with the Gunners in the past, Carvalho. I have only seen him play as a sub for Portugal, but he operates very self-assuredly in that holding role and shows plenty of skills on the front foot as well.

Of the four, I like Kondogbia the best; Carvalho may represent the best price-performance value. Having any one of them would be the most important piece in pushing the Gunners into contention for the big prizes – the League and the Champions League.

Wenger could play counterattack in tough away games, with two defensive midfielders and alternate them in home games or against lesser opposition. Ah, one can but dream of such luxuries. The wait begins.