da winzada777： Jamie Redknapp labelled Manchester United’s ad-hoc defence in the second half of the Manchester derby as the worst Red Devils backline of all time, consisting of Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Patrick McNair and Luke Shaw, but Arsenal have fielded some pretty ropey back fours too this season.
da dobrowin： In the Capital One Cup for example, we saw Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Isaac Hayden and Francis Coquellin – a defence with an average age of 20 and an average career appearances of just 37 – lose 2-1 to Southampton, providing further evidence of Arsene Wenger’s apathy towards a tournament he’s yet to win in eighteen years.
And for the best part of the last two months, full-back Nacho Monreal has deputised at centre-half for the injured Laurent Koscielny. Despite the 28 year-old’s performances ranging from average to oblivious, he’ll probably continue to do so until the Frenchman returns to fitness.
It’s hard to think of a defender in world football less equipped to be a Premier League centre-back than the Spain international; he measures in at just 5 foot 10, isn’t particularly quick or strong and throughout spells with Osasuna, Malaga and now the Gunners, has only ever impressed for his contributions going forward. Defensive awareness, on the other hand, is commonly viewed as Monreal’s predominant weakness, one that’s been exposed on countless occasions in the Premier League before – even in his preferred left-back role.
But Arsene Wenger made Arsenal’s bed in the summer and now they’ll have to lie in it. With Koscielny and right-back Mathieu Debuchy both likely sidelined for the next two months, the Gunners have already hit the bare bones of their defensive depth – in fact, it was reached by the end of August – so until the January window, when the Emirates gaffer will almost certainly remind us that a returning crocked star is the equivalent of a new signing, the north Londoners will simply have to make do.
This was an easily avoidable situation however, had Wenger not committed the unforgivable sin of completely ignoring his backline’s fragility throughout the summer.
Arsenal have dropped nine points from winning positions this season, the most of any Premier League side, not to mention their capitulation against Anderlecht in the Champions League, throwing awat a three-goal lead. Rather tellingly, Monreal featured at centre-back against the Belgians, in addition to the lead-squandering draw against Hull City and the loss to Swansea City on Sunday afternoon.
Resultantly, instead of being within a victory’s-distance of Premier League pace setters Chelsea, Arsenal are already twelve points behind, and the planned title charge – inspired by the momentum gained from winning last season’s FA Cup in combination with the summer addition of world class forward Alexis Sanchez – is already over. Bizarrely, Wenger appears to have no shame in admitting his side are out of the title race as early as November, after just eleven games.
One can only ponder how Wenger thought this season would pan out during the summer, or whether he gave it any genuine thought at all. Despite the resolve of Arsenal’s defensive depth being tested enough times last season, the north Londoners parted with three defenders this summer – Carl Jenkinson, Thomas Vermaelen and Bacary Sagna – but replaced them with just two, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy.
This isn’t the first Arsenal campaign plagued by injury issues and it won’t be the last, so the logic of reducing the Gunners’ defensive numbers by one is quite frankly, completely lost on me – especially amid the most lucrative transfer window in the club’s history.
It’s not as if cheap centre-backs were somehow barred from participating in the last transfer window. Southampton for example, signed Atletico Madrid’s Toby Alderweireld, a versatile defender that’s already put in a number of decent Premier League performances, on a season-long loan, as did West Ham with former Gunner Alex Song – a player that would have not only improved Wenger’s options in defence, but also added variety to the midfield.
Then there’s Ron Vlaar, Winston Reid and Fabian Schar, three contract rebels that were available for the £5million-£10million mark, Tottenham’s £8million-release-clause acquisition Federico Fazio and then-Feyenoord’s-now-Lazio’s-via-£7million Stefan de Vrij.
Considering the detrimental impact the absence of a recognised fourth centre-back has already had on Arsenal’s season, even the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Joleon Lescott and Rio Ferdinand could have proved inspired on a one-year deal. Take how effectively Jose Mourinho has utilised 36 year-old striker Didier Drogba this season, for example.
Wenger’s made plenty of mistakes over the last ten years but I find this one of the most troubling. This isn’t a debate of philosophies or transfer policy, two issues the Arsenal boss appears immovable on; this is simply a case of negligent naivety. In another industry, it would probably be labelled as malpractice.
It’s certainly not the only reason Arsenal are currently in sixth place after winning less than half of their games this season. Clearly there are questions over leadership, mentality and balance throughout the starting XI.
But whereas another proven centre-back could have at least improved the Gunners’ defensive performances in certain fixtures, the absence of one has already affirmed Arsenal’s fate this season – another campaign where Champions League qualification for the umpteenth year in a row is the only reward.
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