Arsene Wenger is about to manage Arsenal for the last time tomorrow.

After twenty-two years, the Frenchman will walkaway from the North London club.

Now the Gunners have still to identify his successor but their recruitment team can’t stand still and wait until a new gaffer is in place, they need to try and bring in new faces that can improve the first team squad and enhance Arsenal’s chances of returning to the top four next term.

It doesn’t take a footballing genius to spot that Arsenal have problems defensively and it’s that area that they need to strengthen this summer.

In attack, they have plenty of good and strong options. They actually have the third best scoring record in England’s top flight this season.

Liverpool and Manchester City have been transformed by recent defensive arrivals and I think Arsenal could see a similar impact if they are smart in the transfer market this off-season.

No other team in the top seven have conceded as many as the Gunners, who have let in a whopping fifty-one goals in thirty-seven Premier League games. In truth, Arsene’s men have conceded more than promoted sides Newcastle Utd and Brighton.

The central defensive pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi have had a miserable season and neither one of them has shown the confidence that there experience should afford them.

French centre-back Koscielny has constant issues with his achilles and a fresh injury will see the defender missing the next six months. I don’t think he’ll comeback any better than he was before this latest setback.

German World Cup winner Mustafi offers no leadership at the back and he’s also too inconsistent with his performances. The Gunners team as a whole lacks leadership and Shkodran highlights that perfectly.

With club captain Per Metesacker retiring this month, then the need for new centre-backs this summer is great!

A player based in the Premier League that could fit the bill at centre-half could be Burnley’s James Tarkowski.

Burnley might be one place adrift of Arsenal in the league table but Sean Dyche’s side have conceded less than the superstars from the capital.

Tarkowski has played a big part in that.

He’s averages 1.4 tackles per game and 1.6 interceptions. Impressively he’s averaging 7.2 clearances and 4.9 headers in a game. Arsenal could be doing with a dominant central defender who can bully forwards in the air.

The defender is pretty calm with the ball at his feet, although he could maybe improve on his passing stats.

The Manchester born centre-back started off at Oldham in League One before moving onto Championship side Brentford. After three seasons there, James finally tasted Premier League football at Turf Moor.

He has worked his way up and he’s conquered every challenge he’s had to face. Unlike so many privileged stars that currently ply their trade at the Emirates, Tarkowski has fought hard to get to where he is today.

That determination saw him win his first England cap in March against Italy.

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate singled the Burnley man out for praise after his international debut:

“It was really good to see James Tarkowski, we’ve got people we feel can play in a back three, and have done well, but he showed he can cope with international football, against good opposition.

“He was very comfortable on the ball and played some really calm moments.”

In Italy, only Juventus have conceded less than Inter Milan’s twenty-six goals.

Summer signing Milan Skriniar has greatly improved Inter’s backline and the twenty-three year old has shown that he can handle the pressures of playing at one of Europe’s top clubs.

The Slovakian has the tactical awareness to change his style to suit the opposition that’s playing ahead of him. He is strong in the tackle, winning on average 2.3 tackles per league game this term. His concretion levels are also commendable and his 91% passing success rate is another fine stat for a central defender.

In truth Arsenal might struggle to bring in an already established world class centre-back, so going after a solid, smart and young defender like Skriniar could prove to be a genius move from the Gunners.

Experienced teammate Miranda is extremely complimentary about his defensive partner:

“Skriniar is a great player; he’s doing well,”

“It was easy for me to get used to playing with him, and he can become amongst the five best defenders in the world.”

Another role that Arsenal should look at improving, is the defensive midfield position.

Granit Xhaka is another performer who seems to go missing all too often and his disciplinary record is appalling. The Gunners need someone in there that can marshall in front of the back four or three and win the ball back higher up the field.

With that in mind, I’d test Leicester City’s resolve with a big bid for Wilfred Ndidi.

The Nigerian international had the daunting task of replacing N’Golo Kante and this season the twenty-one year old has shone in that pivotal position.

No player in Europe has a better tackling average, with Wilfred averaging 4.2 tackles per league fixture. The midfield man is also strong in the air and has a 3.5 average in winning aerial battles.

His role in the team would be cutting off potential opposition attacks and then giving the ball to the attack minded players that can create for this strikers. It sounds easy enough but Arsenal have struggled in that area for years now. Ndidi could the be one that could slot in and solve that problem.

If Arsenal can finally fix these defensive issues, then maybe just maybe they can challenge for the big trophies once again under their new boss.

Posted on May 12th, 2018 by scott
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