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The Premier League is already in full force. Clubs are struggling to rise higher on the table. Some of the teams that were expected to be among the early-risers have stood up to be counted while some have been very disappointing.
Among the teams whose rise to the top has been a fairytale are the likes of Leicester City, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace. On the other hand, the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Everton are yet to make their fans happy.
Although, it appears the fight for the Champions League places is still on for Tottenham and Arsenal, yet, performance-wise, the season appears to be over for the Gunners. They currently lie in 10th place, a whooping 31 points behind league-leaders, Liverpool and 9 points behind 4th-placed Chelsea.
That isn't to say that they are still not in with a shout. As long as they try to remain consistent and results elsewhere favour them. But, their level of performance at present does not ooze confidence and their fans could do themselves a world of good by proceeding on the fact that come next season, there would be no European football available at the Emirates Stadium.
With the axing of former head coach, Unai Emery and the acquisition of the free-flowing football ex-Gunners star, Mikel Arteta to be at the helms of affairs at the Emirates, it appears the board of the team is still bent on making something out of Arsenal’s sinking ship.
In this piece, we'll look at key areas where the Gunners need to strengthen during the current transfer window if they are really bent on getting something out of this season. Be aware though that team-building is a continuous thing and does not stop in a season. The areas highlighted here are where it is noted that The Gunners are poor or weak in and need to do something about:
#3 Attack
It is something that has been said in whispers for a while now that the Gunners attack is an area that calls for concern over the years. How so? It’s been a while that we saw The Gunners have a very impressive goal haul in the Premier League. In fact, the last time they had such decent goal glut was during Alexis Sanchez’s era at the Emirates.
As it stands, The Gunners have a negative goal aggregate (-2). That does not make for a very impressive attacking unit. The inclusion of Nicolas Pepe to the offensive line does not seem to improve anything. Rather, it appears to be a downgrade on the outputs.
This is not to say that the attackers are not good, but sincerely speaking, they don’t appear to be great together. Mesut Ozil is creating enough chances; Alexander Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe are as wasteful as they could be.
The match against Chelsea and Manchester City are good places to look at to know how wasteful the three can be. Lacazette throwing away a sitter and the look on his face says the whole story. Nicolas Pepe smashing the ball towards the stands when he should have buried it was another of their wasteful adventures. Aubameyang shooting when he should have passed to someone who was in a better position to score too, is another part of the game that cost Arsenal those two matches, as well as some other matches this season.
#2 Goalkeeping
Well, Bernd Leno appears to be a decent shot-stopper for the Gunners. Only God knows where they would be on the table without him. But, he looks jaded already. True, goal-keepers don’t have that much to do on the football pitch, but not the Gunners guardian.
The kind of clownish defense that is in front of him cannot be trusted. That is why poor Leno is always kept busy. That isn't very pressing but not having a backup that Arsenal can be confident in to stand in for him is the problem. As a saying goes, “Never overwork a good horse”. In Leno’s case, he is being overworked and burdened with saving the day for the Gunners at most times. Not having enough to show for his works must be killing him.
Look into the transfer market, get a good option at goal-keeping to deputise for Leno and see the lots of Gunners change for the better. Why David Ospina was sold in the first place is still something that is baffling. How can you sell someone decent when you don’t even have anyone to fill his shoes?
#1 Defense
This is something that is out there for everyone to see. So much for all the tinkering of Unai Emery! The man changed defenders as if they were clothes, yet, all we saw was one shambolic display after another. The right-back position does not have another established option apart from Hector Bellerin.
But where has the Spaniard been all season? Ainsley Maitland-Niles seems to be doing a good job behind Hector’s back, but his propensity to get carded is a cause for alarm. Calum Chambers, on his part, creates more problems than help when he was deployed at that position.
The Arsenal board must be gnashing their teeth now when they remember the day they agreed to let Unai move Nacho Monreal on. They'd have realized the folly of that decision by now. There is not a single player in the current Arsenal squad who can man that position better than Monreal. The new signing, Kieran Tierney, only shows signs of becoming a great option at the position. Unfortunately, there is no older player from the same position to nurture him.
The centre-back positions have seen a lot of tinkering - the pairing of Sokratis and David Luis, Chambers and Luis, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis, and, of course, the pairing of Mustafi and Luiz - all to no avail. In fact, they keep displaying one terrible performance after another, such that it is very difficult to mention a single defensive pair that will work for the Gunners.
If they can dip into the transfer market and sign a centre-back to make a good pair with either of David Luiz or Sokratis Papastathopoulos - those two appear to be the best options for the Gunners in the centre-back position. A right-back or right wing-back to cover up for Bellerin and Niles and a good left-back that has English Premier League experience who can help nurture Tierney to his full potential.
