HBL
Established Member
I think we need at least four starting XI quality players and then another 2-3 to improve squad depth. When city are at full strength they will have Bernardo Silva, Gundogan and Jesus on the bench. Whilst we have Iwobi and Welbeck, it just isn’t good enough. I’m not saying we’ll ever have players of that quality on the bench but we need a big improvement on what we have currently.I think we could debate a few things at length: how many players we need overall, what sort of GK, what sort of winger etc etc. But along with a new manager I'd say unequivocally there are two things Arsenal lack and need desperately.
The first is at least one or two central defenders whose main strength is defending and who take pride in defending. The second is at least one central midfielder who is combative and whose primary objective every game is to stop the opposition and beat them.
What encompasses both those things is a need not for particular technical qualities, but for character and personality. We need players for whom the very idea of losing makes them sick, who give their all not because they're told to but because it's the only way they know. Players like Keane and Gattuso aren't legends of the game cos they were technically better than others, they're legends cos they cared and worked more than others. You don't necessarily always need 11 players like that, just a few to motivate the others. But if you have none then you're f*cked.
It's harder to target players based on their character, I don't know who will be the next John Terry or Arturo Vidal. Jamaal Lascelles is a defender known for his strong leadership qualities, Lewis Dunk too. Players like Lucas Torreira and Santiago Ascacibar look like potential central midfield warriors also.
Sometimes it feels like there are no longer players out there who care as much as players of old, but that's a fallacy. They are still out there, and we'll be going nowhere without them.
Whilst we will all agree that the attacking play away from home this season has been awful, the defensive core has to be the priority. We have to sign a GK, Cb, Dm and a winger to improve the starting XI. I actually think a lot of the current attacking problems stem from the back 6, we don’t have a keeper that’s comfortable on the ball and I don’t think Bellerin/Kolasinac are particularly great on the ball either. Neither is Mustafi, Kosc is very good on the ball but always feels like he has a stupid pass in him. The biggest problem of all is that our DM, isn’t comfortable on the ball, doesn’t take enough risks and when pressed looks like he can give the ball away every time he gets it. We can’t get our impact players like Özil, Mkhi & Wilshere on the ball in between the opponents midfield/defence, which is where it matters.