Football Special Report: Arsene Wenger and his midfield problems
Arsenal’s woes continued at the weekend, as they were humbled at their own den by the newly promoted West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in their latest outing in the Premier League. Manuel Almunia was at fault for at least one of their goals but he also saved a penalty
for them early in the first half, so it wasn’t totally Almunia’s fault that they lost the match, in fact to be true, Arsenal were simply abysmal and deserved nothing more than they got on the night.
First of all, one of the main causes of their defeat was the absence of their midfield talisman Cesc Fabregas from the match, Samir Nasri was deployed in the position of the holding midfielder and Nasri let them down in the game.
Nasri is definitely not the man to play in that position, he is a godly talented footballer undoubtedly but sitting in front of the defenders, linking defence with attack is just not his cup of tea.
The mistake perhaps came from Arsene Wenger, as he deployed Nasri in the centre of the midfield in a 4-3-3 formation, with him being asked to control and dictate the pace and flow of the play. In a formation of 4-2-3-1 it is very difficult for the central
attacking midfielder to control the pace of the play and in fact it is the job of the two deeper lying holding midfielder and that’s exactly where it went wrong for Arsenal in the game.
Wenger went into the match with a 4-3-3 formation at the start of the game with Nasri playing in the central midfield, when they failed to control the proceeding Wenger switched to 4-2-3-1 and this time employing Nasri as the central attacking midfielder’s
role just behind the lone striker.
The position suits Nasri no doubt but it is very difficult for a CAM to control the flow of the game, as he has very little space to work in. It is in fact the duty of the two holding midfielders who play deep in the formation and have much more space to
work with.
The problem with Arsenal is that in the absence of Fabregas, they don’t have a holding midfielder who can dictate the pace of play. The only person who is capable of doing so is Jack Wilshere, but he is still too young and needs further nurturing before
being thrown into the deep end.
The best that Arsenal have played with Nasri in place of Fabregas was their first half against Spurs in the Carling Cup, when Nasri combined with Wilshere, pulled the strings to mesmeric effect. However, Wislhere’s magic wilted in the second half and Arsenal
lost control in the middle of the park. It was not until the extra time when Tottenham players began to tire and give Nasri room and space in the midfield to control the game and Nasri did the needful with aplomb.
Against West Brom, it was not the case as Nasri was starved of any space in the midfield and looked out of sorts, although he managed to score two goals for his team but that was down to his positioning in the play rather than the space given to him by the
opposition.
If Arsene Wenger is to challenge for the title, he certainly has do it with the right man in between the posts, which he does not have. Secondly, in the absence of Fabregas, Wenger needs a man who has a better reading of the game than Nasri. Somebody like
Rosicky or Abu Diaby or even Song but all of the aforementioned players have been used in the position and have been patchy at best, one day they are sublime and the very next day they are anonymous on the pitch.
Given his goalkeeping problems, Wenger needs to sort his midfield out fast or else Arsenal fans can brace themselves for another trophy less season.
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