Date: 31st August 2015 at 4:30pm
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The topic of Arsenal’s midfield has divided opinion, with some calling for further reinvestment. Physicality in particular has been called into question, with skeptics quick to assertĀ that the smaller and lesser built Arsenal players though fantastic footballers, are not imposing enough to win titles.

For me the fault in that argument is that it implies that Arsenal constantly get bullied off the pitch. There is no real evidence to prove that any of Arsenal’s dropped points are a direct result of being physically overpowered in midfield, and to suggest that the current crop cannot win the title is a little off base.

The last two league winners in Chelsea and Man City only possessed one midfielder over six feet tall in Nemanja Matic and Yaya Toure respectively (not including John Obi Mikel who didn’t feature much for Chelsea).

The same can be said for Barcelona’s treble winning side, with only Busquets providing size, and Bayern Munich’s all conquering side with only Xabi Alonso and Javi Martinez six feet tall or taller.

You would be hard pressed to find a strong enough argument that proves that these players were the sole reason their sides won the title. The argument that having technically gifted footballers isn’t enough has no real backing, and has been discredited on several occasions.

In fact, Arsenal’s midfield is the squad’s best corps and probably the league’s best as well. Arsenal’s engine room has balance, cohesion, and all sorts of variety.

Physical strength is null and void when our lads are on form, as the combination play and quick decisive passing blows sides away (not to mention the likes of Sanchez and Coquelin and Ramsey are hardly diminutive when it comes to strength despite their height).

By combining box to box midfielders (Ramsey, Wilshere), with holding (Coquelin, Arteta, Cazorla) and attacking (Ozil, Sanchez, Chamberlain) midfielders, Arsenal has all ground covered in the middle of the park.

Wenger’s tactic of compartmentalizing the responsibilities in midfield works brilliant when the side is on form, and if you throw in the fact that most of the players can interchange in their roles, the result is a nearly unstoppable force.

 

8 responses to “Why Arsenal have the best midfield in the Premier League”

  1. Me says:

    Funniest thing I have read.

    Walcott – runs around like a headless chicken with no footballing brain
    Wilshere – always injured, appalling attitude
    Ramsey – Very inconsistent
    Ozil – Lazy and inconsistent
    Cazorla – one very good season but started this one poorly
    Sanchez – World class but not given time to recuperate from long season before – will not play as well this season
    Coquelin – good season last time round and playing reasonably well but not the answer to our problems

    And they are all very similar physically – no real balance of physicality and footballing skill.

    This is NOT the best midfield in the premiership – not the worst but not the best..

    • Midoki says:

      Seems you dont watch Arsenal and only read the papers.
      Walcot runs around like a headless chicken? If you watch the games then you’ll see that his runs will either be a direct threat from himself or to create space as defenders are scared of his pace, before the red card at Newcastle Theo was doing very well, his movements was giving our AM plenty of space to create oppertunities… Even our RB got into the box and should of had a penalty. That is evidence that Theo can move smartly, the problem came when they was a player down and Theos pace/movement wasn’t having much of an effect, this is something that Theo will need to learn to deal with if he is to become a truely great CF.

      Wilshere is always injured šŸ™

      Ramsey inconsistant? Kinda harsh to say since he has played out of position a lot, when he has moved into the middle as a B2B he has done well. When he is given game time in that role he can perform fantastic and be a real goal scoring threat on a regular basis, need you be reminded the last time he had a truely good run at B2B was when he was scoring regularly and putting in tough tackles regulalry?

      Ozil lazy? Really? Care to tell everyone how much this ‘lazy’ player runs compared to Cazorla? Or Ox? Compare him to never stopping Alexis… you’ll be surprised if you look things up for yourself.

      Coquelin not the answer? He is doing the job and doing it fantastically well, if he maintains his form then you’ll be eating your words. Everyone is entitled to an off day, I recall Vieira having some games which wasn’t up to his best… but that is an unfair comparison as Vieira was a B2B player, it was Silva who was the holding one.

      Learn football.

  2. foreverinourshadows says:

    Walcott is not good enough to be the main striker, nor is the lamp post Giroud, Ozil is class, Ramsy is not good enough, Ox needs to work on his shooting and defensive duties, Carzola is not suited to his position, Coquelin hopefully will get better, but he does impress. Wilshire does have problems with injuries and this may become a blight on his career, Arteta is a joke, it’s a good midfield on it’s day but lacks leadership and bottle

    • JGD says:

      Ramsey not good enough? Fully match fit he’s the best CM in the PL. Forgotten 2013/14 already? He almost single handedly carried Arsenal to the top of the PL table, and their challenge collapsed when he got injured. I suppose Viera was making it up when he called him the best CM in the PL?

      Ox is 20. Cazorla is just fine a CM or AM, and has played both before many times in his career.

      Giroud on his day is fine, and scored more frequently than Benzema and Lewa last season. Maintaining that form is key.

      Wilshere? The jury’s out as he’s made the team worse when he’s played ever since his break out season,.

      People dont half write some tosh.

      • foreverinourshadows says:

        Ramsey one season wonder, loses the ball too much wayward shots on target, he has been awful for the last two seasons, how he gets to remain on the pitch for ninety mins is a joke, AKBs like you make me laugh,Giroud needs too many chances to score, I take it you don’t go to any games otherwise you will see the lamp post giroud at his best

  3. JGD says:

    Agreed – all this nonsense in the press about not being physical enough is exactly that – nonsense. Amazes me the muppets that buy it.

    Coqulein from a purely defensive aspect was the best DM in the PL last season.
    Ramsey is a solid tackler, and was actually leading the PL for tackling in 2013/14 season, and has ahuge engine.
    Sanchez is a tough cookie all round.

    The only lightweight player we have is Ozil.

    • foreverinourshadows says:

      Ozil lightweight what a fool you are, other AKB who doesn’t go to games, how can Ozil perform when he has the hapless Giroud to work with as a striker, a player who can not beat defenders one on one, two slow.