Analyzing Arsenal's needs, squad options and players
Moving on at the right back position, it is well known and we are informed that Sagna’s definitely leaving the club this summer after rejecting our contract offer several times this year, no harsh feelings and in all honesty, it’s the right time for him to depart as we would’ve needed a younger option anyways. Thankful to him for his services and a good servant to the club. People have been going wild out on the possibility of us singing Aurier this summer and I do rate him and I do like him but at this stage, I wouldn’t prioritize that position due to the potential of Carl Jenkinson, who’s interview for the Evening Standard indicates that he will fight and work hard for that position.
Fans underrate Carl which p*sses me off the most, they’ve written him off because they don’t have confidence in him but they fail to realize that he needs game time in order to improve and develop. Whenever given the proper chance he has been very impressive and has shown his quality. If you doubt him then I’ll guide you a bit and I’ll reveal what Lee and Keown had to say regarding Carl and his abilities, all thanks to the brilliant Dave Seager who helped me with this, have huge respect for Dave.
Lee: ‘He has a huge amount of work to do on his game yet but Arsenal are in a position where they are close and I am not sure Carl is ready yet to strengthen the team’
Keown: ‘If Arsene doesn’t show more faith in Carl, it will destroy him. Carl has the ability but needs to be given a good run in the team’.
Lee then agreed with Keown that if we sign a new right back, it will kill him off but on the other side both agree he could make the grade but just needs a good run in the team. These two legends, club legends, rating and praising Carl tell you that there is something in him that many don’t see. I wouldn’t rush with the decision on buying a right-back, although I wouldn’t want to miss out on Aurier, but if you ask me, I’d stick with Jenkinson and see where his development goes, it can’t get any worse but it can get better. Carl has the potential and can show that with proper game time. Allow him to do so and stop underrating and undervaluing him just because of a few poor performances. In order for him to be consistent and reliable, he needs to be a regular starter, so in that case, you writing him off because of his inconsistency or because he is unreliable is irrelevant. He needs games more than anyone else.
Moving on to our centre backs, we have the brilliant Per and Koscielny plus the great back-up Vermaelen in this position however we need a 4th centre back due to Bacary leaving but we might end up needing two if Vermaelen leaves but from what I see things have changed and he could stay beyond the summer. This summer, we need a younger 4th/3rd choice CB and in that case, I’d be willing to bring Caulker from Cardiff or Schar from Basel. I’m also up for the idea of promoting Ajayi, Hayden or Pleguezuelo this summer. We really don’t have a problem with our left back position as we have two great left backs in Gibbs and Nacho.
Here comes the most interesting part, the defensive midfield position, we have been banged up, crushed due to missing the proper powerhouse in our team. Arteta’s been Arsene’s greatest signing over the last few years and has done really well. Very intelligent and a great leader but some fans undervalue and underrate him due to one poor season. He has been phenomenal since he joined but now he is older and slower than ever so we need someone younger but Arteta would be a great squad option to have.
Flamini’s here as well and he did well at times this season and he’s another decent backup option. We have so many talented and gifted midfielders, most of our team is attacking minded but we have the brilliant Ramsey in our team which gives us an advantage. Fans including myself have been going nuts about the possibility of Cesc coming home. Trust me, if someone tells you that they don’t want Cesc then they are lying. Cesc is simply brilliant, world class and has been here before and we can’t and we won’t reject him but he isn’t a priority. We will sign him but we have to wait for another PL club to bid for him so we can activate our clause. I’d take him because we need depth and we need more options for rotation and all that but a defensive midfielder is more important, having someone like Schneiderlin would improve our team massively and we should use Southamptons current situation to snap him up. He would be the best one to play alongside Aaron.
